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

South Korea’s KOSPI index extended its intraday decline to 5.00%, with a cumulative drop of over 20% from its June peak. The Korea Exchange has activated circuit breakers for the KOSPI index, suspending program trading. Samsung Electronics’ share price extended its loss to 6%.

According to Hyperinsight monitoring, SK Hynix (SKHX) opened with an 11% surge today before pulling back sharply, now trading at $1,423, having given back most of its intraday gains. Over the past half hour, two large whales that entered low positions on Hyperliquid overnight and early today have closed out all their long positions, totaling approximately $4.95 million. The address starting with 0x1cb closed 2,362 SKHX long positions at an average price of $1,438, worth around $3.4 million. As of press time, this address has flipped to short positions: it currently holds SKHX short positions (10x leverage) worth $1.63 million, at an average price of $1,457, with a liquidation price of $1,529, and an unrealized profit of roughly $51,000 (+23%).

According to GMGN market data, the on-chain meme coin CASHCAT on Robinhood’s chain has extended its rally, briefly surging past $110 million to hit a new all-time high; it has now pulled back to $104 million, marking a 24-hour increase of over 13.9 times. CASHCAT was the early mascot of Robinhood’s US stock app, later rebranded as Robinhood. On July 1 this year, Robinhood launched its own Layer 2 public chain, Robinhood Chain, which focuses on on-chain finance and real-world assets (RWA). Robinhood co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev posted on X today that while the company is building Robinhood Chain into the top public chain for real-world assets (RWA), it is also "very suitable for trading meme coins". BlockBeats reminds users that most meme coins have no intrinsic value and are highly volatile, so trading them requires caution.

Over the past seven days, the stablecoin supply on Robinhood Chain, the blockchain platform operated by Robinhood, has surged 155% to $246.97 million. Stablecoins now account for 93% of the chain’s total value secured (TVS) of $266.35 million, while the network’s total value locked (TVL) has risen 172% over the same period. Data shows that of the $266.35 million in total assets on Robinhood Chain, roughly $212.5 million is native-issued assets, with an additional $53.85 million transferred into the network via cross-chain bridges in the past week.

Harlan Ullman, chairman of Kylowen Group and a retired U.S. Navy officer, described the current U.S.-Iran tensions as "very serious" and warned they could escalate into a regional war. "This is an extremely dangerous moment—anything could happen, including further escalation. The coming days are crucial, and the situation is very grave right now. However, both sides have motives to exercise restraint, as a large-scale regional war benefits no one," Ullman said. Ullman blamed Iran for the attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, arguing the strikes reflect Tehran’s well-calculated strategic considerations. He noted the timing of the attacks coincided with the multi-day funeral of the assassinated Iranian top leader and the NATO summit in Turkey. Tehran may believe Washington will face constraints in its response, as any military counterattack could spill over to funeral processions across the country—an outcome that would be viewed internationally as a war crime. "In my view, Iran’s move was deliberate, aimed at increasing pressure on the U.S. to boost its bargaining power in negotiations," Ullman stated. He added that the tensions could drive up global oil prices, which in turn "will put greater pressure on Trump."

According to Bitget market data, South Korea’s KOSPI index plunged 4% intraday. SK Hynix is currently up 1%, while Samsung fell 3.55%.