Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary column launched by Golden Finance, covering key news, mining information, project updates, technological advancements, and other industry dynamics. This article is the news week, giving you a glimpse into the major events in the blockchain industry this week.
Headlines
▌a16z Announces Completion of $15 Billion Funding Raising, Focusing on AI and Crypto Investments
a16z announced that it has just completed raising more than $15 billion. This funding includes: American Dynamism Fund ($1.176 billion), Apps Fund ($1.7 billion), Bio + Health Fund ($700 million), Infrastructure Fund ($1.7 billion), Growth Fund ($6.75 billion), and other venture capital strategy funds ($3 billion).
▌Caixin: Chen Zhi once claimed his net worth was $60 billion, but the $15 billion frozen by the US is only a quarter of that
According to Caixin's article on January 8th exposing Chen Zhi of the Prince Group, Chen Zhi's early experience was related to private servers of the game "Legend". To attract more players, private servers needed to post advertisements on private server advertising websites. The hacker group "Knight Attack Group" saw the business potential in advertising token rights and attacked and forced 13 advertising websites to shut down. In 2011, Chongqing police cracked this case of illegally intruding into computer information systems. By the time of the case, the Knight Group had profited nearly 100 million yuan. Several hackers and private server operators confirmed to Caixin that Chen Zhi was indeed a member of the Knight Group, but was not among those arrested that year.
After 2011, Chen Zhi moved to Cambodia and gradually developed into a Cambodian real estate, banking, gambling, and telecom fraud tycoon. Furthermore, a Caixin article also revealed that the former head of Prince Group's Taiwan operations stated that Chen Zhi claimed his net worth was $60 billion, and the $15 billion frozen by the US was only a quarter of that. According to Coin Bureau, US Representative Ritchie Torres introduced the "Financial Prediction Markets Integrity Act of 2026," which would prohibit elected officials and insiders from profiting through prediction markets.
Policy
▌The US Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling (on the tariff case) on Wednesday, January 14th
The US Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling (on the tariff case) on Wednesday, January 14th.
▌Ripple Receives Registration Approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority
Ripple announced that its subsidiary, Ripple Markets UK Ltd., has received registration approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority in accordance with the country's anti-money laundering regulations, allowing the company to now conduct certain cryptocurrency-related activities in the country.
Ripple announced that its subsidiary, Ripple Markets UK Ltd., has received registration approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority in accordance with the country's anti-money laundering regulations, allowing the company to conduct certain cryptocurrency-related activities in the country.
▌National Bank of Cambodia Announces Liquidation Proceedings Against Prince Bank
January 9th news: The National Bank of Cambodia announced yesterday that Prince Bank, a subsidiary of the Prince Group, has been placed in liquidation and is no longer permitted to conduct banking business, including accepting deposits or providing loans. The National Bank of Cambodia stated in its announcement that this decision was made in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The National Bank of Cambodia has appointed MorisonKakMKA auditing firm as the statutory liquidation company to take full control of Prince Bank's operations and asset disposal. According to the announcement, effective immediately, Prince Bank must cease all new banking business, including but not limited to prohibiting the opening of new accounts or deposits of new funds, and ceasing the approval and issuance of various commercial and personal loans. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior confirmed that Chen Zhi and his accomplices Xu Jiliang and Shao Jihui were arrested on January 6th and repatriated to China. The three are suspected of participating in a large-scale transnational online fraud, and related charges have been filed in a US court.
Chen Zhi's Cambodian citizenship, previously obtained, was officially revoked by royal decree in December 2025. According to the New York Times, US President Trump stated in an interview that he has no intention of pardoning former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his involvement in the collapse of FTX. He also stated that he would not consider pardoning others, including music producer Sean Combs and former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez. Trump also defended his family's ties to the crypto industry, claiming that he gained voter support through his support of crypto. SBF was convicted in March 2024 of seven felonies, including misuse of customer funds, and is currently awaiting an appeal verdict; the market previously expected a low probability of him receiving a presidential pardon. According to @bwenews, Wall Street and crypto industry leaders made "progress" on crypto legislation in a closed-door meeting. According to Bloomberg, Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) launched a tokenized deposit service, allowing customers to transfer funds through a blockchain network. This tokenized deposit is an on-chain representation of deposits held by BNY customers in their bank accounts. It can be used for collateral and margin trading and operates 24/7 to expedite payments. Currently participating institutions include Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), Citadel Securities, DRW Holdings, Ripple Prime, Baillie Gifford, and Circle. Stablecoin company Rain has announced the completion of a $250 million funding round at a $1.95 billion valuation, led by ICONIQ, with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Dragonfly, Bessemer, Lightspeed, and Galaxy Ventures. This brings the company's total funding to over $338 million. Rain helps customers launch stablecoin cards on the Visa network. The company plans to use the capital to expand its presence in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and will also use the funds to help adapt to the rapidly changing global regulatory environment. In a letter supporting Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated, “I have supported Roman Storm’s work from the beginning, both because I firmly believe in the importance of privacy and because I actively use privacy tools, including those he has developed. Many people assume that personal privacy can be violated by the public, but that governments, police, and intelligence agencies should have access to the public’s information to ensure security. I strongly disagree with this view. In reality, government databases are frequently hacked, and information often falls into the hands of hostile foreign powers. I have personally used his software to complete transactions, and when purchasing software for personal use, my name is not included in corporate databases. His applications continue to function even years after development was terminated.” According to market sources, Morgan Stanley plans to launch a digital wallet later this year to support tokenized assets. Vitalik Buterin, in an article published on the X platform, stated that Ethereum can be compared to BitTorrent or Linux: the former represents decentralization and scale, while the latter is a model of open source, public trust, and widespread application. He emphasized that Ethereum L1 should become the financial, identity, and governance foundation for individuals and organizations seeking autonomy, unleashing the full potential of the network without relying on intermediaries, and pointed out that enterprises' need for open, censorship-resistant systems is highly consistent with "trust minimization".
Cryptocurrency
▌Analysis: January May Be a New Turning Point in Bitcoin's Four-Year Cycle, Structural Divergence Emerges Regarding Historical Patterns
The validity of Bitcoin's four-year cycle has once again become a major topic within the ecosystem. Some argue that the four-year cycle should not continue into 2026 because ETFs have absorbed $57 billion in inflows. However, the opposing viewpoint argues that the four-year cycle remains intact to date, and there are coincidences in the timing based on historical patterns. For example, the most recent local bottom for Bitcoin occurred on November 21, 2025, at a price of $80,524, while the low point of the previous cycle was $15,460 on November 21, 2022—the two dates are exactly the same.
Important Economic Developments
▌Japanese Prime Minister Considers Dissolving the House of Representatives, USD/JPY Rises Rapidly
Japanese Prime Minister is considering dissolving the House of Representatives. The USD/JPY exchange rate has rapidly increased by 0.66%, reaching 157.95, a new high in the past year.
(Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan) The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that U.S. GDP growth will accelerate to 2.2% in 2026, with PCE inflation at 2.7% in 2026 and 2.1% in 2028. The U.S. unemployment rate is projected to fall to 4.6% in 2026 and further to 4.4% in 2028. The labor market in 2026 will reflect increased labor demand and weak labor supply growth. The Federal Reserve interest rate is projected to fall to 3.4% in the fourth quarter of 2026.
▌US Initial Jobless Claims for the Week Ending January 3rd: 208,000, Compared to Expected 210,000
US initial jobless claims for the week ending January 3rd were 208,000, compared to expected 210,000, with the previous week's figure revised from 199,000 to 200,000.
▌Federal Reserve Governor Milan: Expects Approximately 150 Basis Point Rate Cuts in 2026
Federal Reserve Governor Milan stated that he expects approximately 150 basis point rate cuts in 2026.
Federal Reserve Governor Milan stated that he expects approximately 150 basis points rate cuts in 2026.
According to CME's "FedWatch": the probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in January is 11.6%, and the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 88.4%. By March, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 40.3%, the probability of keeping rates unchanged is 55.4%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 4.3%.
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