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

According to monitoring by EmberCN, Tether allocates 15% of its quarterly profits to its Bitcoin reserve address. Approximately 5 hours ago, this address made a test transfer of 4 BTC to Binance, valued at roughly $250,000. EmberCN stated that this same address previously transferred 204.3 BTC to Bitfinex a month ago, worth approximately $14.36 million at the time, when Bitcoin’s price stood at around $70,000. It remains unclear whether these assets have been sold. Additionally, Tether appears to have not yet completed the on-chain withdrawal of new Bitcoin for Q2 2026. Per its usual practice, Tether typically transfers BTC purchased in the quarter to its reserve address on the last day of each quarter. However, more than 10 days have elapsed since the end of Q2, and no new Bitcoin deposits to this reserve address have been observed on-chain, sparking market concerns over whether it has adjusted its Bitcoin accumulation pace.

Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin treasury firm Empery Digital has sold a total of 1,400 BTC since May 7, at an average price of roughly $62,200, netting approximately $87.1 million in proceeds, cutting its Bitcoin reserve by nearly half. According to announcements, $10 million of the proceeds was used to repay debt on July 7, while the remaining funds will be allocated to previously announced real estate acquisitions for an AI data center, legal fees related to shareholder litigation, and daily operational expenses. The company had earlier announced it would invest $65 million to acquire a 25% stake in an entity developing an AI data center project in the U.S. Midwest. As of July 10, Empery Digital still holds 1,514 BTC, worth around $96.5 million at current prices, plus approximately $73.9 million in cash, with an outstanding debt balance of $45 million. Reports note that an increasing number of public companies holding Bitcoin reserves are starting to use BTC as a liquidity source rather than solely as a long-term holding asset, selling part of their reserves to meet traditional financing needs such as debt repayment, capital expenditures, and corporate operations.

According to CBS, senior U.S. officials disclosed that Iranian officials privately informed Trump administration advisors that Iran’s firing on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz was a "mistake", with the attacks attributed to a "hardline rogue faction" seeking to derail negotiations. Iran reportedly stated its willingness to continue talks. The White House demands Iran publicly acknowledge the error. The Trump administration considers the attacks on commercial vessels a violation of the bilateral ceasefire arrangement. U.S. officials said Trump has tasked a team including Vice President Vance, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to advance negotiations, which will take place in Oman. U.S. officials noted that if Iran persists in hostile actions, the U.S. will respond with military and economic measures.

According to Axios, the Trump administration has demanded that Iran issue a public statement by Saturday at the latest, confirming the Strait of Hormuz remains open and pledging to stop firing at commercial vessels. U.S. officials said the demand was conveyed to Iran via direct channels and regional mediators. The U.S. argues that recent attacks on commercial ships by Iran in and around the Strait of Hormuz violate the memorandum of understanding signed by both sides weeks ago, putting the fragile ceasefire agreement at risk of collapse. The report adds that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Omani Foreign Minister Badr bin Hamad al-Busaidi are set to meet in Muscat, Oman’s capital, on Saturday to discuss the Strait of Hormuz situation. The U.S. wants Iran to release a public statement after the meeting, pledging to halt attacks and confirming the strait’s waterways are open and toll-free. U.S. officials noted that while recent U.S.-Iran nuclear talks have made some progress, the Hormuz crisis has sparked U.S. concerns over Iran’s ability to fulfill more complex agreements. The U.S. has warned that if Iran rejects the demands, it will take further action.

According to Bit.com market data, U.S. stocks closed on Friday: the Dow Jones Industrial Average posted a preliminary gain of 0.29%, the S&P 500 rose 0.42%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.29%. SK Hynix (SKHYV.O) rallied 12.76% in its first day of U.S. trading, lifting most chip stocks: Meta Platforms (META.O) climbed 5.97%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) rose 3.1%, and NVIDIA (NVDA.O) gained 4.03%.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Bahaei said on the 10th that Iran has never put forward demands for negotiations with the United States, but agreed to allow mediators to visit Iran. Bahaei noted that the US has made a habit of breaching its commitments. Only 22 days after the signing of the Iran-US Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the US has repeatedly violated various terms of the document. "In this 14-clause MoU, the US side has violated multiple provisions under various pretexts," Bahaei added. Earlier the same day, US President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that Iran hopes to continue "negotiations" with the US, and the US has agreed to proceed with the talks.