The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

Due to escalating shipping risks in the Middle East, oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen to its lowest level in two and a half months, pushing oil prices back to near $100 per barrel. Vessel tracking data shows only one oil tanker passed through the Strait of Hormuz on July 23, the lowest figure since May 7. By contrast, three tankers transited the strait on July 22. Data indicates the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) New Giant departed the strait that day, carrying around 2 million barrels of Iraqi Basra crude oil and is expected to arrive at China’s Rizhao Port in mid-August. No vessels entered the strait on that day. The U.S. military stated it had completed its 13th consecutive night of military strikes on Iran, further intensifying market concerns over the security of Middle East energy shipping. Meanwhile, shipping activity at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait has partially recovered: 32 oil tankers transited the strait on July 23, up from 26 the previous day, with 14 heading to the Red Sea and 18 bound for the Gulf of Aden. Amid regional risks, some oil tankers have begun rerouting. Data shows some tankers bound for Asia are choosing to detour via the Suez Canal instead of the traditional Bab el-Mandeb route, which could extend their voyage by nearly three times. Additionally, Saudi Aramco has started offering extra crude loading options via Egypt’s Mediterranean port of Sidi Kerir, as an alternative to loading at Red Sea ports, to mitigate the impact of regional conflicts on exports.

According to Politico, U.S. Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego has criticized the ethics provisions of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) recently tabled by Senate Republicans, dismissing the draft as "not a serious effort." This Wednesday, Senate Republicans unveiled the CLARITY Act draft, which includes digital asset ethics restrictions that would ban all U.S. federal officials—including former President Donald Trump—from issuing or supporting any digital assets. Democrats argue the ethics provisions are insufficiently robust. Gallego said he will collaborate with Republican Senator Thom Tillis and others to put forward a new counter-proposal. "We are still in this fight and will submit new provisions," Gallego stated. Republicans, for their part, counter that the relevant ethics rules are already strict enough. Senator Bernie Moreno claimed the draft contains "the strongest ethics provisions in U.S. history." The CLARITY Act is designed to clarify the regulatory framework for the U.S. digital asset market, but its provisions addressing conflicts of interest between government officials and crypto assets have emerged as the main point of contention in bipartisan negotiations.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, the whale address starting with 0x511 is still holding onto its high SK Hynix (SKHX) long positions. The address currently holds 4,034 SKHX longs with 3x full leverage, at an average entry price of $1,622.6, with a position value of roughly $4.942 million and a liquidation price of $923.67. Its unrealized loss stands at $1.6034 million (-73.5%), making it the address with the largest unrealized loss on SKHX. This long position was opened on the early morning of June 26 (Beijing time), and has been held for 28 days. At the time, SKHX was trading around $1,900. The whale’s first entry was 325.5 contracts at an average price of $1,898.5, which is now 55.1% higher than the current price. As the price trended downward, it added to its position four more times at approximately $1,659, $1,678, $1,436, and $1,361, respectively. After its final position increase on July 15, the holding has not been adjusted since. Holding the position has been a constant financial drain: since opening the long, the whale has paid a net funding fee of about $198,200. The current hourly funding rate is around +0.00955%, with longs still paying, leading to an estimated hourly outflow of roughly $472 based on the existing position. Looking at its track record, this is a trader known for patience: all of its previous large trades were long-held US stock-linked longs—Micron for ~45 days, Marvell for ~29 days, and Cerebras for ~39 days, generating a total net profit of around $494,500. That same patience was once its profit source, but it has now dug the whale deeper into a losing position on SK Hynix... Data shows that SK Hynix (SKHX) on Hyperliquid hit a daily high of $1,302.8 before quickly falling to $1,214.3, marking a 6.8% intraday pullback.

Crypto trading platform BitMEX has accelerated the delisting of derivative contracts and trading pairs in July, removing a total of 65 trading products—far exceeding the 19 delistings recorded in the first six months of this year. Data from BitMEX’s website shows that at the start of July, the platform delisted 21 derivative contracts, and two weeks later, it removed 9 spot trading pairs due to insufficient trading interest. This Thursday, BitMEX announced another delisting of 35 derivative contracts, pushing July’s total delistings to 65. BitMEX stated that the adjustment is mainly attributed to "insufficient trading interest" in the relevant contracts and the exchange’s shutdown plan. Earlier, BitMEX announced it would cease all exchange services at 4:00 UTC on September 23, 2026. The platform noted the shutdown decision followed a "strategic review" of its business and the broader crypto industry, though it did not disclose specific reasons. Industry insiders believe BitMEX’s exit reflects structural pressures facing mid-sized centralized exchanges, including factors such as further concentration of market liquidity in top-tier platforms and rising regulatory compliance costs.

Binance announced in an official statement that starting July 24, 2026, it will add Across Protocol (ACX), Lisk (LSK), and Stacks (STX) to its "Monitoring Tag" list. Binance noted that tokens with the monitoring tag have higher volatility and risk compared to other listed assets, and the platform will closely monitor the relevant projects and conduct regular reviews. Such tokens face the risk of failing to meet Binance's listing standards and potentially being delisted in the future. Binance added that factors including the project team's level of commitment, quality of development activities, trading volume and liquidity, network security, smart contract stability, information disclosure status, changes to token economic models, and presence of any improper conduct will all be included in subsequent assessments. Binance stated that other services related to ACX, LSK, and STX will not be affected for the time being, and the monitoring tag will be updated after the announcement is released.

According to sources, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is shifting its focus to whether companies will pass rising cost pressures on to households, and will continue to warn at next week’s policy meeting that inflation could stay above the 2% target for a prolonged period. Sources said the BOJ is expected to signal that the risk of short-term inflationary shocks triggered by rising oil prices has eased since April, though overall price pressures remain a concern. Additionally, the BOJ is likely to maintain its current policy guidance of continuing its interest rate hike path. Markets expect the BOJ to determine the pace of future monetary policy adjustments based on wage growth, service prices, and corporate pricing behavior.