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

May 10 — Bitcoin could face weaker support next week as the U.S. releases its inflation report, raising the risk of a pullback to $70,000. The Cleveland Fed’s latest real-time inflation forecast projects April’s year-over-year CPI will rise to 3.56% — up from March’s 3.3% — while the monthly CPI is seen at 0.45% (down from 0.9%). Core CPI is forecast to hit 2.56% year-over-year and 0.21% month-over-month, compared to prior readings of 2.6% and 0.2%. The official April CPI report drops May 12. This keeps the inflation picture messy: while monthly inflation slowed and core inflation held steady, overall CPI is still expected to reaccelerate — not a great environment for risk assets. A stronger annual CPI reading could reinforce the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates quickly, often weighing on speculative trades like Bitcoin. But Bitcoin has dodged deeper retracements after hot CPI prints before: after March’s CPI showed overall inflation jumping from 2.4% in February to 3.3%, BTC rose m

**May 10 —** The value of cryptocurrency held by South Korean investors has been halved over the past year, dropping from 121.8 trillion KRW ($83.3 billion) at the end of January 2025 to 60.6 trillion KRW ($41.4 billion) by February 2026’s end. Daily trading volume on South Korea’s top five exchanges also plummeted to $3 billion in February—down from $11.6 billion in December 2024. Korean won deposits on exchanges fell from 107 trillion KRW at the end of 2024 to 78 trillion KRW. The decline is linked to two factors: falling crypto prices and capital inflows into the stock market. Stablecoins, however, have trended in the opposite direction. Their holdings rose from $60 million in July 2024 to a peak of $597 million in December, before dropping to $41 million in February—a decline far smaller than the overall crypto market’s contraction. As the market shrinks, regulators are preparing to tighten oversight. The financial watchdog plans to roll out revised Anti-Money Laundering (

May 10 — Former U.S. President Donald Trump previously expressed hope that Russia and Ukraine would “significantly extend” the ceasefire. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov responded by noting there is currently no plan to extend the May 9-11 ceasefire. Separately, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on May 9 that reaching a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine still has a long way to go, with many complex details involved. While the U.S. is eager to see progress, patience remains necessary right now.

May 10: Crypto analyst Murphy posted a note that retail investors haven’t been overwhelmingly shorting Bitcoin’s current trend. He noted wallets holding fewer than 1 BTC saw their combined balance jump by 23,074 BTC over the past 30 days, with three distinct accumulation phases around $66k, $70k, and $80k. Murphy added most retail investors still active in Bitcoin during this cycle are seasoned “old hands” who’ve navigated altcoin and derivatives cycles. At the same time, whales holding 10,000+ BTC began massive accumulation around $66k, with their peak balance gain hitting 140,699 BTC over the past 30 days — the largest net growth in nearly two years, signaling clear accumulation behavior. Murphy stated markets always gravitate toward levels of lower resistance; with stronger support below current levels, prices naturally tend to rise until hitting stronger resistance.

**Circle to Release Q1 USDC Issuer Financial Report May 11** Per an official announcement, Circle—issuer of U.S. dollar stablecoin USDC—will publish its first-quarter financial report ahead of the U.S. stock market open on May 11. A conference call to discuss results and business progress is set for 8:00 PM Beijing time that day. Market expectations: - Q1 revenue: ~$715M (down ~7% QoQ from Q4 2025’s $770M, but up ~11% YoY) - GAAP EPS: $0.18; adjusted EPS: $0.27 - Average analyst price target: $144.36 In ratings updates: - Oppenheimer retains an **Outperform** rating with a $152 target - Needham keeps a **Buy** rating but cuts its target to $130 (from $190) Per Bitget data: Circle’s market cap is $28.1B, with shares currently trading at $113.67. ### Notes on American English adjustments: - Used concise phrasing (e.g., "ahead of the U.S. stock market open" instead of "before the U.S. stock market opens") - Leveraged common abbreviations (QoQ/YoY, EPS) and symb

May 10 — A Qatari LNG tanker has transited the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Arabian Sea, bound for Pakistan, per the latest shipping tracking data from the Maritime Traffic Website (updated May 10). This marks the first Qatari LNG vessel to pass through the strait in roughly 70 days, since the U.S. and Israel carried out military operations against Iran. The ship used a new route recently opened by Iranian authorities. It transmitted position data via the Automatic Identification System (AIS) on May 9 (indicating entry into the Strait of Hormuz) before going silent on location signals for an extended period. The May 10 update confirms it has cleared the strait and entered the Arabian Sea. (Xinhua)