Headline
▌OpenAI Announces $110 Billion New Investment at a Valuation of $730 Billion
OpenAI announced that it has secured $110 billion in new investment at a valuation of $730 billion. OpenAI's funding includes $30 billion from SoftBank, $30 billion from Nvidia (NVDA.O), and $50 billion from Amazon. OpenAI and Amazon (AMZN.O) will develop custom models. OpenAI will utilize 2 gigawatts of Trainium chip computing power through Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. SoftBank's cumulative investment in OpenAI is estimated at $64.6 billion, giving it approximately a 13% stake in OpenAI after the transaction.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published an article on the X platform outlining Ethereum's scaling plan, covering short-term Gas optimization and long-term phased deployment of ZK-EVM. In the short term, the Glamsterdam upgrade will introduce a block-level access list for parallel verification, ePBS will allow for a larger proportion of time slots to be used for block verification, and Gas repricing will ensure that operational costs are aligned with actual execution time. A multi-dimensional Gas mechanism will be implemented in phases. First, in Glamsterdam, the cost of "state creation" will be separated from the cost of "execution and calldata," with state creation Gas not included in the approximately 16 million transaction Gas cap. At the EVM level, a "reservoir" dimension mechanism will be introduced, prioritizing the consumption of dedicated dimension Gas by default, and consuming from the reservoir when insufficient. Later, a multi-dimensional pricing mechanism will be implemented, with different dimensions having different floating Gas prices. Long-term scaling includes two parts: ZK-EVM and blob. Regarding blob, the plan is to continuously iterate PeerDAS, aiming to achieve a data processing capacity of approximately 8MB per second. In the future, Ethereum block data will directly enter the blob. ZK-EVM will be implemented in phases: in 2026, validator clients supporting ZK-EVM will be available, allowing approximately 5% of the network to rely on it; in 2027, this will expand to a larger proportion of a minority of nodes, while simultaneously advancing formal verification; once conditions are ripe, it will transition to a three-out-of-five mandatory proof mechanism, ultimately continuously improving the security and formal verification level of ZK-EVM, and involving VM changes such as RISC-V. As of press time, according to CoinGecko data: BTC price is $65,865.85, a 24-hour change of -2.5%; ETH price is $1,930.04, a 24-hour change of -5.0%; BNB price is $614.11, a 24-hour change of -2.0%. The price of SOL is $81.71, a 24-hour change of -5.0%; the price of DOGE is $0.09324, a 24-hour change of -3.9%; the price of XRP is $1.36, a 24-hour change of -3.4%; and the price of TRX is $0.2829, a 24-hour change of -0.9%. WLFI price is $0.1105, a 24-hour change of -4.4%; HYPE price is $27.28, a 24-hour change of -3.8%. Policy: ▌SEC Chairman Paul Atkins: Missed Crypto Opportunities During Gensler's Tenure, Accelerating the Reshaping of the Regulatory Framework. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the SEC is attempting to regain momentum in crypto regulation and make up for previous "significant misses." At a University of Texas event, he criticized the SEC for failing to adapt to innovation during Gary Gensler's tenure. Atkins pointed out that since the Donald Trump administration took office, the SEC's stance has become more industry-friendly, establishing a crypto task force, dropping several enforcement cases, and launching "Project Crypto" to modernize regulatory rules. He emphasized that while the price of individual cryptocurrencies may fluctuate, he is more optimistic about the potential of distributed ledger technology in payment clearing and settlement systems. This week, the SEC approved WisdomTree's digital currency market fund to enable 24/7 trading and instant settlement. Atkins also stated that tokenized bank deposit products will be launched in the future.
▌Coinbase Litigation Head: Some US States "Mislead" the Public on Prediction Markets
Coinbase's Vice President of Legal Affairs and Head of Global Litigation, Ryan VanGrack, stated that some US state governments have "misled" the public on prediction markets, attempting to rewrite the scope of Congress's authorization for derivatives regulation.
Previously, after launching a prediction market in partnership with Kalshi, Coinbase had filed lawsuits in Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, and Nevada. Some state regulators issued stop-loss orders or public warnings, stating that sports event contracts constitute illegal gambling. VanGrack stated that these actions pose a "real and imminent" risk to customers, forcing the company to seek clarification on regulatory jurisdiction in federal court. Senator Warren and OCC Chief Discuss WLFI-Related Crypto Bank Application Senator Warren called the application "the most despicable" presidential corruption scandal, pointing to investment institutions related to UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoonbin Zayed Al Nahyan investing $500 million in WLFI four days before Trump's inauguration, acquiring a 49% stake, of which approximately $187 million went to Trump family entities. Warren urged Gould to reject or suspend the review of the application, stating that approval would make it "an accomplice to corruption." Gould refused to intervene, stating that he would process the application according to standard procedures, and countered that the only political pressure he felt came from Warren. Forty-one House Democrats had previously written to the Treasury Secretary, warning that approving the license could threaten "the legitimacy of the U.S. banking system and its independence from foreign actors."
Blockchain Applications
▌Barclays is evaluating the construction of a blockchain platform to process payments and deposits
Barclays has sent requests for information to some potential technology vendors to evaluate how to build a blockchain platform to process banking services such as payments. Its applications may include stablecoins and tokenized deposits, with the goal of finalizing vendor selection as early as April. The application of stablecoins in the payment field is expanding; Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that annual stablecoin payment transaction volume could exceed $50 trillion by 2030. Meta has also previously tested integrating stablecoin payments into its applications.
Several banks have already begun deploying blockchain systems. JPMorgan previously launched JPM Coin, a deposit token for institutional clients, for payments. HSBC plans to expand its tokenized deposit service to corporate clients in the US and UAE in the first half of this year. OpenAI Executive: ChatGPT Daily Active Users Exceed 900 Million, Paid Subscribers Reach 50 Million. OpenAI executive Nick Turley stated that ChatGPT's daily active users have exceeded 900 million, and paid subscribers have reached 50 million. Cryptocurrency ▌JPMorgan Chase: Market to Boost if Crypto Market Structure Bill Passes JPMorgan Chase states that even with current market sentiment remaining weak, the crypto market could see a significant boost in the second half of the year if the US legislature passes a comprehensive crypto market structure bill before mid-year. In a research report, the bank noted, "If the bill passes, it will reshape the market structure by clarifying regulatory rules, ending 'enforcement instead of regulation,' promoting asset tokenization, and encouraging greater institutional participation." ▌Tether's Secondary Market Valuation Could Reach $375 Billion, Largest Shareholder's Wealth Could Surpass Buffett According to Forbes, stablecoin issuer Tether's valuation could reach $375 billion, placing its owners among the world's richest people. Industry sources say Tether's trading price on the secondary market ranges from $350 billion to $375 billion. Based on conversations with cryptocurrency investors and executives, Forbes currently values Tether at approximately $200 billion, still significantly higher than the $50 billion valuation a year ago. At a $200 billion valuation, CFO Giancarlo Devasini, holding approximately 44-45% of the shares, would have a net worth of approximately $89 billion; CEO Paolo Ardoino and former CEO Jean-Louis van der Velde, each holding approximately 19%, would have a combined net worth of approximately $38 billion; and General Counsel Stuart Hoegner, holding approximately 12%, would have a net worth of nearly $25 billion. If we use the lower end of the secondary market valuation of $350 billion, Devasini's stake would be worth over $156 billion, enough to place him among the world's top ten richest people, surpassing Warren Buffett's current net worth of $147.8 billion. Former Mt. Gox CEO Proposes Bitcoin Hard Fork to Recover $5.2 Billion in Stolen Assets Mark Karpelès, former CEO of the defunct exchange Mt. Gox, recently proposed a Bitcoin hard fork to recover approximately 79,956 BTC stolen in the 2011 hack, worth about $5.2 billion at current prices. The proposal targets a wallet address associated with the 2011 Mt. Gox system breach, which received nearly 80,000 Bitcoins after the attack and has remained untouched for over 15 years. Under current Bitcoin rules, these funds can only be transferred if the corresponding private key is held. According to the proposal, the new rules would allow the unspent outputs in an Mt. Gox recovery address to be controlled via signatures, thereby bringing the funds into the existing judicial oversight and compensation process to repay Mt. Gox creditors. Karpelès stated that this proposal is only a starting point for discussion, intending to limit the rule change to a single address and activate it at a specific block height in the future. However, the proposal also acknowledges that this plan requires a coordinated upgrade across the entire network, and if some community members refuse to support it, it could lead to a blockchain split risk. It should be noted that these approximately 80,000 BTC are not currently part of the assets allocated to Mt. Gox creditors, nor are they controlled by the bankruptcy trustee. According to market news, Block, Inc., the payment company owned by Jack Dorsey, just disclosed that it added 340 BTC to its holdings in the fourth quarter of 2025, worth $22 million. Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital) founder Yi Lihua responded to rumors of a "Jane Street sell-off" on social media, stating that he is currently waiting for confirmation of the bottom before buying. He clarified that he is not engaging in conspiracy theories; the trend is downward, and he is currently waiting for confirmation of the bottom before buying. Amundi purchased 3.77 million shares of MSTR, bringing its total holdings to $641 million. According to market news, Amundi, a French asset management company with $2.8 trillion in assets under management, disclosed that it purchased 3.77 million shares of MSTR, bringing its total holdings to 4.79 million shares, worth $641 million. This represents a 373% increase in its MSTR holdings. **▌Bitcoin Mining Company Mara Holdings Increases Holdings by 572 Bitcoins** According to market news, publicly traded Bitcoin mining company Mara Holdings (stock code $MARA) has increased its holdings by 572 Bitcoins, bringing its total holdings to 53,822. **▌US 2-Year Treasury Yield Falls to Lowest Level Since 2022** The yield on the US 2-year Treasury note has fallen to its lowest level since 2022. **▌Trump: Fed Chair Powell Will Soon Leave the Fed** US President Trump stated that Federal Reserve Chair Powell will soon leave the Federal Reserve.
Golden Encyclopedia
▌What is the value of BTC?
BTC is often compared to "digital gold," but its core value is actually the "promise of immutable scarcity." First, BTC has monetary properties, but it is not a currency because it lacks a stable unit of account. It is a pure "monetary property," that is, a consensus game among humans regarding "what can serve as a store of value." Gold also has this core value, but gold's scarcity depends on the physical constraints of geology, while BTC's scarcity depends on mathematics and game theory—it's a scarcity at the information level.
But what makes BTC truly unique is not the coin itself, nor the "digital gold" narrative, but rather that blockchain is the first permissionless, unclosable value settlement layer in human history. This is a completely new category of infrastructure. No sovereign entity can unilaterally prevent the final settlement of a BTC transaction.
This attribute may be underestimated in peacetime, but it will be repriced during periods of geopolitical conflict and escalating capital controls. BTC is a systemic hedge. It doesn't hedge against inflation, nor does it hedge against the US dollar. It hedges against the structural degradation of institutional trust. In other words, BTC's value is not endogenous, but reflexive: the more people believe it has value, the more valuable it becomes, and vice versa. Therefore, BTC is the financialized expression of humanity's distrust of its own institutional capabilities. Its ceiling depends on the depth and breadth of this distrust, and its floor depends on the existence of a superior alternative.
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