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

Strive CEO Matt Cole has published a lengthy bullish article on Bitcoin, citing the Bitcoin-to-gold ratio chart to note that BTC has broken through against both the U.S. dollar and gold. He argues this signals the end of the bear market and reinforces his view that the next cycle will be the strongest in Bitcoin’s history. Cole points to three converging forces creating an unprecedented favorable market environment for Bitcoin: long-term U.S. dollar weakness, rising demand for scarce assets amid the AI era, and the re-strengthening of the BTC/gold ratio.

According to HTX market data, today’s crypto secondary market gainers are led by high-quality DeFi tokens represented by SPK and MORPHO. Details are as follows: SPK rallied over 26% in a single day, with a weekly gain of 44.8%; MORPHO rose 20.84% daily, currently trading at $2.751; AAVE gained 16.76% in 24 hours, now at $144.07; PENDLE climbed 14.34% daily, priced at $1.847; ENA surged 13.64% in a day, currently at $0.1685, with a weekly jump of 96%; additionally, ETHFI, LDO, and MET all rose more than 10%.

Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev praised the work of builders on Robinhood’s blockchain during a recent appearance on the popular podcast *The Iced Coffee Hour*. Tenev noted that on-chain developers have built unique liquidity pools and protocols the company did not initially anticipate, combining meme coins, core crypto assets, and stock tokens. Meme coins act as an “entry point” or “reward mechanism” to connect users to actual stock tokens. Looking ahead, Tenev outlined a vision to raise the share of U.S. households holding stocks from roughly 50% before Robinhood’s launch to around 65%, with a long-term goal of pushing that figure above 95%. He emphasized tokenization as a critical tool, stating it will make U.S. blue-chip stocks and other real-world assets more accessible for global distribution. Separately, Binance’s CZ (Changpeng Zhao) also commented on crypto-stock memes on X yesterday, writing: “This is certainly fresh and interesting. But we need to ensure issuers can actually fulfill their obligations.”

This week, global markets will face multiple risk events, and the crypto market’s long-awaited rebound will be put to the test. The renewed tensions between the US and Iran will be the primary focus of market attention. US Treasury Secretary Bessent stated that the Trump administration will announce new sanctions against Iran on Monday. Trump previously warned that any country providing support to Iran could face economic consequences. Key events to watch (Beijing time): Monday: US Treasury Secretary Bessent holds a press conference on specific actions to escalate economic sanctions against Iran. Wednesday: US data releases include July core PCE price index year-over-year, July personal spending month-over-month, Q2 real GDP annualized quarterly rate revision, and July core PCE price index month-over-month; Nvidia releases its earnings report after US market close. Thursday: The Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Conference runs from August 27 to 29, with Federal Reserve Chair Waller delivering his first speech on August 28; Nvidia holds its earnings call. Friday: US data releases include August Chicago PMI, preliminary 2026 nonfarm payrolls benchmark revision, final August University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, and final August 1-year inflation expectations.

According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, institutional crypto custodian Ceffu has withdrawn 120 million USDC from Ethena’s Coinbase Prime custodial wallet via six transactions over the past day. The most recent withdrawal, totaling 30 million USDC, took place approximately six hours ago.

Renowned crypto trader Killa posted a statement yesterday, noting that compared to Bitcoin’s 2022 bottom pattern, he expects the current Bitcoin pullback after a rally to be shallow, with $70,000 to $73,000 likely marking the bottom, and backing a subsequent breakout above the $80,000 mark. “I expect a range to form, allowing accumulation of long positions from chasing highs and liquidity building. The market may even see another liquidation sweep above $79,500 before finally heading toward the $70,000 low, followed by expansion,” Killa said. As a BTC-focused quantitative trader, Killa previously predicted the peak of this bull market in May 2025 and boasts over 200,000 followers on X. In mid-April, he shorted Bitcoin at $74,688, then shifted to long positions during the broad market sell-off on June 5.