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

According to a report by AXIOS, sources said the United States has not yet discussed with regional allies the possibility of imposing transit fees for securing the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier, Trump posted a statement announcing the immediate resumption of the blockade on Iran and a 20% fee on cargo shipments.

The Bolivian government is evaluating integrating Tether-issued stablecoin USDT into its national payment system, with plans to make it a compliant payment option alongside the Bolivian boliviano and U.S. dollar. The proposal remains in the technical assessment phase, with no specific implementation details released, and USDT is not being granted legal tender status. Bolivian Economy Minister José Gabriel Espinoza noted that the government is developing a regulatory framework for banks, digital wallets and payment service providers, while strengthening anti-money laundering oversight to meet regulatory requirements amid the country’s continued placement on the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) grey list. Since Bolivia’s central bank lifted crypto asset trading restrictions in June 2024, local cryptocurrency adoption has grown rapidly. Official data shows crypto transaction volume hit $294 million in the first half of 2025, a sharp rise from $46.5 million in the same period of 2024; total national crypto trading volume has increased by around 630% since the restrictions were lifted. Against the backdrop of persistent tight U.S. dollar liquidity and a shift to a floating exchange rate regime, more Bolivian businesses and residents have turned to stablecoins for cross-border payments and value storage. Earlier, state-owned energy firm YPFB announced plans to use cryptocurrency for energy import payments, while Yasta Wallet operated by state-owned Banco Unión launched a USDT purchasing service in April this year for international payments and remittances.

US President Donald Trump said that to honor late Senator Lindsey Graham, the US Senate should be pushed to pass the Clarity Act as soon as possible. Trump noted Graham was a key supporter of the bill, adding that the Clarity Act is critical to America’s competitiveness in the digital asset sector. He warned that other countries are seeking to fully dominate this major financial transformation and the artificial intelligence space, while the US currently remains in a leading position.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz is open and will remain open regardless of Iran’s presence. We will resume the "Block Iran" operation, named as such because it only blocks Iranian vessels or clients from entering or exiting the strait. All other countries will use the waterway fairly and openly. Going forward, the U.S. will be known as the "Strait of Hormuz Guardian". However, as the guardian and in the interest of fairness, the U.S. will impose a 20% fee on all cargo transits to compensate for all costs required to provide security and safety in this volatile region. Relevant procedures and setup work will commence immediately. Thank you all for your attention to this matter!

Global oil prices rose across the board, with WTI crude oil climbing above $75 per barrel, up 5.01% on the day. Brent crude surged 5.00% intraday, trading at $79.74 per barrel as of press time. Crude oil futures main contracts rallied in the short term, with SC crude oil’s gain expanding to 2.21% to 481.5 yuan per barrel. Low-sulfur fuel oil (LU) rose 1.92% to 4,195 yuan per ton; fuel oil gained 2.51% to 3,312 yuan per ton; and asphalt climbed 3.13% to 3,960 yuan per ton. On the news front, US President Donald Trump stated that the Strait of Hormuz is open and will remain open regardless of Iran’s presence. The US will resume the "Blockade Iran" operation, named as such because it only blocks Iranian vessels or clients from entering or exiting the strait. All other countries will use the strait fairly and openly. Going forward, the US will be known as the "Strait of Hormuz Guardian". As the guardian and out of fairness, the US will charge a 20% fee on all cargo shipments to compensate for all costs required to provide security in this volatile region.

Japan’s largest securities token issuance and management platform Progmat has completed its migration to the Avalanche blockchain, moving all its managed tokenized assets worth over 452 billion yen (approximately $2.7 billion) from the Corda 5-based permissioned blockchain to a dedicated Avalanche Layer 1. The migration, announced in February this year, was completed as planned without disrupting the normal operations of financial institutions. Progmat stated that the new architecture no longer relies on a single blockchain, enabling future multi-chain expansion. All smart contracts have been migrated to the EVM environment; while retaining all original functionalities, the processing speed of asset equity transfers has increased 3 to 5 times, and transaction finalization time has been shortened to less than 2 seconds. Originally incubated by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank (MUFG), Japan’s largest bank, Progmat became an independent operation in 2023. It is currently backed by major Japanese financial institutions including Mizuho Bank, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, and SBI, holding a 53% market share in Japan’s securities token market and accounting for 64.6% of the total issuance scale of securities tokens. Its business covers most tokenized real estate and corporate bond projects. Additionally, Progmat established a working group on Japanese government bond tokenization and on-chain repo in May this year, collaborating with asset management institutions, banks, and securities firms to research tokenized Japanese government bonds and explore use cases such as 24/7 trading and T+0 real-time settlement.