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

February 2: Newly unsealed Epstein documents show he secured an investment allocation from Coinbase. Epstein provided $3 million to Brock Pierce to invest in the crypto exchange, though it remains unclear if the final transaction was completed. In a follow-up email to Epstein, Pierce noted he had wired $15 million to invest in Coinbase—and would receive $15 million in equity plus a $5 million cash return if the deal ultimately closes.

February 2: Crypto journalist Kyle Torpey revealed that newly unsealed Epstein documents show Jeffrey Epstein told Bitcoin developer Jeremy in August 2018 he had ethical concerns about manipulating cryptocurrency prices. Epstein rejected the proposed transaction, noting he’d be more open to funding other initiatives but couldn’t publicly tie himself to the ethical issue. Separately, the newly disclosed documents include an interesting email from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to investors. In February 2016, Armstrong emailed investors that Coinbase was working behind the scenes to ensure the network wouldn’t be held back by “early idealists” and expected a hard fork to a 2MB block size within the next month or two. That hard fork never materialized—its last attempt was scrapped in fall 2017 over being seen as corporate-driven and lacking community support.

February 2nd – Meme coin trader and influencer Murad has seen his meme token portfolio plummet nearly 86% over the past six months, with current losses totaling $58 million. His holdings peaked at $67 million in July 2025 but have since shrunk to $9.1 million, with top positions in meme tokens SPX, MOG, and POPCAT.

Feb. 2 — Former hedge fund manager and CNBC host Jim Cramer said this morning that when Bitcoin falls to $77,000, he expects aggressive buyers to step in, pushing the cryptocurrency back to $82,000. ### Notes on U.S. style adjustments: 1. **Date format**: Used *Feb. 2 —* (dash instead of colon) for concise, newswire-style timing. 2. **Simplification**: Replaced repeated "the price of Bitcoin" with *it* (clear pronoun reference) and *cryptocurrency* (optional, for variety without redundancy). 3. **Concision**: Reworded "buyers to step in aggressively" to *aggressive buyers to step in* (more active, newsworthy phrasing). 4. **Readability**: Kept full dollar amounts ($77,000/$82,000) for precision (k-shorthand is fine too, but full numbers are standard in formal financial briefs). This aligns with U.S. financial news conventions—concise, active, and focused on key facts.

On February 2nd, Cathie Wood—CEO of ARK Invest, nicknamed "WoodGoat"—noted that per Truflation data, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate has fallen to 0.86% year-over-year, sharply below the 2-3% range seen over the past two years. Further downward pressure on inflation remains possible, with a chance of turning negative. While the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has pulled back recently, it has not collapsed. Should current U.S. government policies lift the nation’s capital returns relative to other global regions, the dollar could stage a resurgence akin to the strong uptrend during the 1980s Reaganomics era.

On February 2nd, per DefiLlama data, Clanker— the Base Network launcher—fueled by the recent Moltbook-driven AI Agents craze, saw its protocol fees hit $8.02 million last week, marking a new all-time high. Yesterday, Clanker minted a record 12,971 tokens, approaching its mid-March 2025 peak.