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

On February 23, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) announced via social media: "This morning, a coordinated attack was launched against USD1. The attacker gained unauthorized access to accounts belonging to multiple WLFI co-founders, hired key opinion leaders (KOLs) to spread panic, and placed heavy short positions on WLFI assets in an attempt to profit from the orchestrated turmoil. However, the attack was unsuccessful. Thanks to USD1’s robust minting and redemption mechanisms and full 1:1 asset backing, USD1’s trading price held steady at its par value. No fraudsters could shake the entire WLFI team’s or the co-founders’ long-term commitment to USD1. Users are advised to only obtain accurate information through verified official channels."

Crypto.com, the cryptocurrency exchange platform, announced Monday, Feb. 23, that it has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to apply for a national bank federal charter. The approval will enable the firm to offer digital asset custody and staking services under federal regulatory oversight.

February 23 — Per Onchain Lens monitoring data, a dormant Bitcoin whale deposited 650.76 BTC (currently valued at ~$43.05 million) to Gemini exchange 3 hours ago, netting a $25.37 million profit. The whale originally withdrew these coins from Coinbase at an initial cost of $17.68 million.

On February 23, former U.S. President Donald Trump posted on TruthSocial, stating that any country looking to "play games" regarding the absurd Supreme Court ruling — particularly those that have "taken advantage" of the U.S. for years, even decades — will face far higher tariffs than they recently agreed to, with potentially worse consequences. Trump later added that as president, he would not need congressional approval to impose tariffs.

On February 23, Eric Trump—son of former U.S. President Donald Trump and co-founder of World Liberty Financial (WLFI)—retweeted an official WLFI post stating: “Very excited to bring the Trump Group to the Maldives and merge these two incredible worlds: hard assets and digital assets. World Liberty Financial will lead the way.” Previously, BlockBeats reported that Eric Trump deleted a retweet of another official WLFI post claiming “More USD1 trading pairs will be listed on Binance.” Following that, WLFI briefly dropped by over 8%, and USD1 temporarily broke its peg to 0.98 USDT.

Bitget Market Data (February 23) — At the opening bell of U.S. equities markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.33%, the S&P 500 Index fell 0.15%, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.13%. Crypto-related stocks trended broadly lower, with the following moves: - Coinbase (COIN): -4.46% - Circle (CRCL): -1.41% - MicroStrategy (MSTR): -3.00% - Gemini (GEMI): -1.37% - Bitmine (BMNR): -4.00% - StrongNode (SNODE): -3.42% - Bit Digital (BTBT): -1.22% - ETHZilla (ETHZ): -3.05% - ALT5 Sigma (ALTS): -3.12% - American Bitcoin (ABTC): -4.00% - Kindly Medical (NAKA): -4.33% - Solana Co (HSDT): -3.45%