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

February 12 – Thailand is advancing plans to integrate cryptocurrencies into its regulated derivatives market. The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced it will expand the scope of permitted underlying assets under its derivatives regulatory framework to include digital assets and carbon credits. This move follows the Thai Cabinet’s recent approval of a proposal to align the country’s derivatives market with international standards, while upholding robust regulatory oversight, risk mitigation, and investor protection measures. The SEC’s update formally recognizes digital assets (including cryptocurrencies) as a legitimate investment asset class eligible to serve as underlying assets for regulated derivatives. This means futures, options, and other contract products tied to assets like Bitcoin could launch on platforms such as the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) in the future. The regulator intends to establish complementary regulatory details: am

February 12 — CoinDesk reports that OKX Ventures has made a strategic investment in STBL, a stablecoin and yield infrastructure provider, with the specific investment amount undisclosed. STBL was co-founded by Reeve Collins (a Tether co-founder) and Avtar Sehra (founder of Libre Capital). The firm says it plans to build a real-world asset (RWA)-backed stablecoin on X Layer, OKX’s Ethereum-compatible Layer 2 blockchain.

**Trump-Tied World Liberty Financial to Launch Forex Platform World Swap as USD1 Stablecoin Ecosystem Expands** February 12 — World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project linked to the Trump family, is set to launch foreign exchange platform World Swap as part of its USD1 stablecoin ecosystem. At the Consensus Hong Kong conference, co-founder Zak Folkman said World Swap aims to streamline cross-border transfers—directly challenging traditional remittance providers that typically charge 2% to 10% per transaction. Folkman added the firm is building a broader financial product suite around its cash-backed USD1 stablecoin, including the recently launched lending platform World Liberty Markets, which drew hundreds of millions in deposits within weeks of its debut. With the forex business previewed, the USD1 stablecoin’s product line is growing rapidly. The project positions itself as a full-stack financial ecosystem and plans further announcements later this month at an eve

Binance will delist the following spot trading pairs and halt trading starting at 16:00 Beijing time on February 13, per official sources on February 12, following recent audit results: AT/BNB, AVAX/BNB, BANANA/BTC, COTI/BTC, FF/BNB, HIVE/BTC, IO/BNB, LRC/BTC, MANA/BTC, SAGA/BNB, W/FDUSD, XPL/BNB, ZK/BTC.

**Arkham Releases 2026 Report on Top Ethereum Holders** On February 12, Arkham published its report *Who Holds the Most Ethereum? Top ETH Holders of 2026*, outlining the largest ETH holding addresses in the current market. **Key Data Points:** - Over 60% of total ETH supply resides in the ETH2 deposit contract: 77,186,906 ETH (valued at ~$241.39 billion, accounting for 63.23% of total supply). - The largest individual holder is Rain Lohmus (250,000 ETH, ~$786 million) — but he cannot access the funds due to a lost private key. - Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin is the largest holder with accessible funds: 240,000 ETH (~$754 million). Additional data is available in the accompanying chart. **BlockBeats Note:** Rain Lohmus is a co-founder of LHV Group, a leading Estonian financial firm (operating as LHV Pank/Bank). During Ethereum’s 2014 ICO, he invested ~$75,000 to acquire 250,000 ETH (priced at $0.30 per token at the time). None of these ETH have been transferred, a

February 12th — Per Coinbob On-Chain Address Monitoring (https://t.me/Coinbob_track_CN), the on-chain trader address 0xfc66... recently liquidated a $40 million short position on the ETH/SOL exchange rate and a $30 million long position tied to on-chain gold. Post-liquidation, the address has continued to add to its holdings in the U.S. stock storage sector today, with total related short positions now totaling $17.6 million. Its key positions include: - 3x Micron (MU): ~$10.3 million position size, average entry price $390, ~$860k unrealized loss - 3x SanDisk (SNDK): ~$7.3 million position size, average entry price $603, ~$430k unrealized loss - 3x NVIDIA (NVDA): ~$6.97 million position size, average entry price $186, ~$180k unrealized loss - 3x Google (GOOGL): ~$4.91 million position size, average entry price $320, ~$120k unrealized gain Notably, this address has focused on on-chain crypto asset contracts. Since January 8th, it has steadily reduced leveraged short posit