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

January 22 – As the crypto market extended its decline, the "Strategy Whale" significantly boosted long positions in BTC, ETH and SOL over the past two hours, per monitoring from HyperInsight (via Telegram: @HyperInsight). Key moves: - Added 15,468 ETH long positions (~$45M) - Added 488.8 BTC long positions (~$42.9M) - Added 142,986 SOL long positions (~$18.15M) As of press time: - Total position value: $402M (over $400M) - Weekly loss: $27.6M - Current floating loss: $6.82M (offset by a small DASH short position with $790k floating profit) Position details: - BTC Long (20x): $1.27M floating loss - ETH Long (15x): $5.99M floating loss - SOL Long (20x): $356k floating loss

January 22 – Per HyperInsight monitoring, as Ethereum dropped to the $2,900 level, the "BTC OG Insider Whale" saw its unrealized losses widen to $16.85 million. No new moves have been made since adding leverage to long ETH five days ago. Current positions are as follows: - BTC Long (5x leverage): Unrealized Loss = $3.77M - ETH Long (5x leverage): Unrealized Loss = $60.24M - SOL Long (10x leverage): Unrealized Loss = $1.89M - Cumulative Funding Fees: Loss = $8.124M - Position Value: $797M

On January 22, Farcaster founder Dan Romero announced via social media that Neynar is acquiring Farcaster. Over the coming weeks, the existing team will transfer the protocol’s smart contracts, codebase, the Farcaster app, and ownership of Clanker to Neynar. Neynar will take over operation and maintenance of all subsequent work. The company is the most suitable candidate to lead Farcaster forward and will soon share a new vision focused on builders. “This wasn’t an easy decision to make,” Romero said. “Farcaster and the people building on top of it mean a lot to the founding team. We’re incredibly proud of what our team built—and what the community built alongside us. But after five years, it’s clear Farcaster needs a new approach and new leadership to fully unlock its potential.” Some members of Merkle (Farcaster’s founding company), co-founder Varun Srinivasan, and Romero himself will gradually step back from day-to-day work on Farcaster to pursue new projects. Neynar is

January 22 – Per HyperInsight monitoring data, "Buddy" continued to ramp up its Ethereum (ETH) long position tonight. As of press time, the holding is valued at $4.057 million, with 25x leverage on the ETH long position and 1,400 ETH held. The liquidation price stands at $2,784.

On January 22, per HTX market data, Bitcoin briefly dropped below $88,000, last trading at $87,768 and down 2.71% over the past hour.

Jan. 22 — Market sources report the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to reject Donald Trump’s request for the immediate dismissal of Federal Reserve Board member Lisa Cook.