infra

AINFT officially launches its new product, Bank of AI, focusing on on-chain payments, identity, and DeFi financial capabilities for AI Agents, and has taken the lead in supporting both TRON and BNB Chain.In terms of functionality, it natively supports x402 and 8004 standards, covering on-chain payments and identity management, and allows AI Agents to participate in DeFi operations such as lending, exchanging, and earning through automation via MCP Server and Skills. Additionally, the product supports the OpenClaw extension plugin, enabling any Agent to quickly gain complete capabilities in payments, identity, and DeFi. AINFT is a Web3 native AI platform dedicated to connecting mainstream AI capabilities with on-chain asset systems. As of now, the user base has surpassed 390,000.

According to tracking data from the Web3 asset data platform RootData X, in the past 7 days, the AI blockchain data infrastructure SkyAI has been the project with the most unfollows from top figures on X (Twitter). The new influential figures on X who unfollowed this project include crypto KOL Shapolang (@wolfyxbt), crypto industry KOL Enheng (@enheng456), and Pump Man (@crypto_pumpman).In addition, the project with the most unfollows from top figures on X also includes Mask Network.

Gemhead Capital announced on platform X that it has made a strategic investment of $5 million in the cryptocurrency data infrastructure project BihuoPro. The two parties will further collaborate on modeling cryptocurrency market sentiment data and institutional-level signal infrastructure.It is reported that BihuoPro is positioned as a "private domain financial data + sentiment consensus engine + tradable signal provider," dedicated to structuring community and private domain behavior along with public opinion information, and building an indicator system that can directly serve quantitative and trading decisions.

According to market news, Coinbase has announced the launch of "Agentic Wallets," a wallet infrastructure designed for autonomous AI agents, enabling AI agents to independently hold funds, send payments, trade tokens, earn yields, and conduct on-chain transactions.The tool is built on the x402 protocol developed in collaboration with other internet institutions, aiming to achieve "autonomous crypto payments without human intervention." Agentic Wallets are plug-and-play solutions that can configure wallets for any agent and execute transactions on behalf of users. Users can pre-set permissions, and agents will operate autonomously within secure boundaries, such as automatically adjusting positions when better yield opportunities are detected.The tool supports EVM-compatible chains and Solana, and enables gas-free transactions on the Coinbase-incubated Base Layer 2 network. The system includes built-in intelligent security protections, such as programmable spending limits, session caps, and transaction controls, with private keys always stored within Coinbase's secure infrastructure, not exposed to agents or large language models.The development team stated that agents are evolving from "advisors" to "executors," transitioning from "assistive tools" to "systems that operate autonomously within trust boundaries."

According to Businesswire, digital asset infrastructure Birch Hill Holdings announced the completion of a $2.5 million Pre-Seed funding round, led by ParaFi Capital and Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Nascent, FalconX Ventures, Coin Operated Group, The Operating Group, JST Digital, Flowdesk, and Ramin Kamfar, founder and CEO of Bluerock.The company focuses on on-chain lending and tokenized asset markets, and the new funding will support its development of institutional lending strategies centered around risk management.

According to a report by Finextra, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) announced plans to connect private equity funds to its blockchain digital market infrastructure (DMI) to build an end-to-end digital distribution network for the private market, covering the entire lifecycle processes of asset issuance, tokenization, distribution, settlement, and ongoing management, enhancing fundraising efficiency and investor reach.It is reported that the related services are expected to officially launch in the first half of 2026.

At the recent "Build and Scale in 2026" themed forum held in Hong Kong, guests including Lulu, the APAC market head of Billions, Laughing, the APAC head of KiteAI, Carter Feldman, founder and CEO of Psy Protocol, and Bitcoinmaodu, CEO of Huazhi Education RWA, engaged in a roundtable discussion on the topic of "Web3 New Phase: From 'Technological Vision' to 'Mainstream Consumption'."Lulu, the APAC market head of Billions, pointed out that the fundamental challenge in the AI era is the issue of identity and trust. She emphasized that future infrastructure must strike a balance between privacy protection and regulatory auditing, and believes that by 2026, the market's core will shift from speculation to infrastructure, particularly in meeting the identity and accountability verification (KYA) required by AI agents.Laughing, the APAC head of KiteAI, focused on the payment security of AI agents. He stated that blockchain technology is needed for permission control and behavior auditing of AI agents, establishing a "responsibility attribution closed loop" to build a secure and trustworthy payment system.Carter Feldman, founder and CEO of Psy Protocol, believes that the current blockchain cannot support the billions of concurrent transactions brought by AI agents. They are building a high-performance blockchain that supports AI scale and protects privacy. He pointed out that AI agents will ultimately bring massive users and sustainable transaction fee revenue to blockchain, driving the industry into a profit-driven phase.Bitcoinmaodu, CEO of Huazhi Education RWA, shared the Web3 practical path of Huazhi Education in the private education sector. He stated that education is a long-underestimated real asset, and RWA provides a new organizational method for private education. By assetizing course content, faculty contributions, and learning outcomes, Huazhi Education is promoting the transformation of traditional private education from a "cost center" to a "sustainable value network," making education a truly accumulative and replicable asset system.The attending guests unanimously agreed that the current period is crucial for building infrastructure, as Web3 is moving from concept to addressing real pain points. Identity verification, agent payment security, and RWA compliance in the AI era will become the core driving forces for industry development in 2026.

Stablecoin infrastructure startup Levl announced the completion of a $7 million seed funding round, led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from Protagonist, Deus X, Blockchain Builders Fund, and others.The company is dedicated to providing stablecoin payment infrastructure for digital wallets and fintech companies, having served over 20 clients with an annual transaction volume exceeding $1 billion. The founder stated that its platform can help clients achieve cross-border instant payments at a lower cost without the need to build complex systems. Levl plans to double its team size and focus on expanding into the Latin American and African markets.

According to official news, Tether Investments announced a strategic investment in LayerZero Labs. LayerZero Labs is a developer of interoperability protocols, and its technology is widely used to support cross-chain value transfer in the global digital asset ecosystem. The investment aims to support LayerZero Labs in developing efficient and secure cross-chain technology.LayerZero Labs' technology has been used to support cross-chain transfers of assets such as USDt0 and XAUt0. Since its launch, USDt0 has achieved over $70 billion in cross-chain value transfer in less than 12 months, validating the global scale interoperability of its technology. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that LayerZero Labs' technology provides critical support for real-time cross-chain transfers of digital assets, particularly suitable for micropayment scenarios in the AI agent economy.

At the "Build and Scale in 2026" themed forum held by ChainCatcher in Hong Kong, Michael, co-founder & CEO of the ZK verifiable computing platform Brevis, delivered a keynote speech on "The Infinite Computing Layer Where Everything Can Be Computed," sharing how ZK technology is driving a fundamental transformation in the blockchain computing paradigm.Michael pointed out that the current on-chain computing costs are high and the speed is slow. The "verifiable computing" paradigm proposed by Brevis can offload heavy computations to off-chain, requiring only low-cost verification on-chain, achieving decoupling of computation and verification while supporting privacy protection scenarios.The speech showcased the performance breakthroughs of Brevis's core product, Pico ZKVM: its latest generation, Pico Prism, can complete Ethereum block proofs in an average of 6.9 seconds, with 99.6% of blocks completed within 12 seconds, achieving real-time proof (RTP) for Ethereum for the first time. Currently, Pico ZKVM, as an "on-chain ZK data co-processor," has been applied in various scenarios such as privacy-preserving incentive distribution, high-performance DeFi, and trustless on-chain data computation, providing Rust programming support for developers with zero ZK development experience.Michael predicts that in the next 10 years, 99% of blockchain computing will occur off-chain, verified through ZK proofs. Brevis is driving this process through its verifiable computing infrastructure.

The Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms announced that it will relocate its headquarters from Canada to the United States, and it will also be renamed Keel Infrastructure. The related matters must be approved by shareholders, the stock exchange, and the court. It is reported that Keel Infrastructure will be a company established under the laws of Delaware, and after the change of registered office is completed, its common stock will trade on the updated Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange.

Stablecoin provider Circle announced a partnership with Polymarket to enhance the stablecoin infrastructure for prediction markets. Circle will introduce a transparent, fully-backed stablecoin infrastructure for prediction markets, improving settlement reliability and reducing friction to support the next phase of development for on-chain financial markets.

The a16z crypto team pointed out that as AI systems scale, the internet lacks a native way to distinguish between humans and machines, and the trust system faces challenges. Blockchain technology can provide solutions. The article summarizes the following five key roles:Increase the cost of AI impersonation: By using decentralized human verification systems (such as World ID), the scale of false identity generation is limited, raising the cost of attacks.Decentralized identity verification: Blockchain gives users control over their own identities, avoiding single points of failure in centralized identity systems while protecting privacy and resisting censorship.Create a universal "passport": A blockchain-based identity layer allows AI agents to operate across platforms, carrying permissions and payment information, enhancing interoperability and preventing lock-in effects.Support machine-scale payments: Utilizing blockchain micropayments and smart contracts enables low-cost, granular payment distribution, supporting economic activities between machines.Enhance privacy protection: Through zero-knowledge proofs, users can verify their identity without exposing specific data, preventing AI from misusing information for impersonation.a16z believes that blockchain is a necessary infrastructure for building an AI-native internet, capable of restoring trust and supporting the healthy development of AI systems.

According to official news from the Coinbase Platform, Coinbase has expanded its Solana infrastructure to Jito BAM, which is the latest deployment following Agave, Jito-Agave, Firedancer, and Harmonic.The company stated that Coinbase is leveraging Jito BAM to support its latest community validator "Coinbase 05." This expansion aims to provide customers with more options and enhance the robustness and resilience of the network by increasing client diversity.

According to a report by Businesswire, U.S. digital asset market infrastructure provider Prometheum announced that it has secured an additional $23 million in funding since early 2025, with investments from a group of high-net-worth individuals and institutions.The funds will be used to support its commercial expansion in the U.S. digital market. Specific directions include: providing digital asset corresponding clearing services for U.S. broker-dealers, enabling their clients to trade digital assets through existing brokerage accounts; and accelerating the issuance of blockchain-based digital native and tokenized securities products, which will be distributed through its broker network.

According to DLNews, VCs invested $1.4 billion in crypto companies in January 2026, a 14% increase from January 2025. Although the number of financing events dropped from 85 to 60, the amount per deal was larger, indicating a more concentrated bet from investors.This month's top investors include Wall Street firms such as Bank of New York Mellon, Fidelity, Citadel Securities, and Bain Capital, as well as crypto-native VCs like Arthur Hayes's Maelstrom Fund, Lightspeed, and Paradigm. With the clarity of U.S. regulations, funds are primarily flowing to U.S. startups focused on stablecoins, payment cards, and infrastructure.The largest financing deals in January include: crypto payment platform Rain completing a $250 million Series B round led by Iconiq Capital; institutional custody firm BitGo raising $213 million through an IPO; and trading platform LMAX Group receiving a $150 million strategic investment led by Ripple, aimed at connecting traditional markets with the blockchain settlement layer.