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

Greek police have busted a cryptocurrency investment fraud ring and arrested 17 individuals, including 9 military personnel. Initial police investigations indicate approximately 10,000 people participated in the scheme, with an average investment of around €800 per person, leading to an estimated total amount involved exceeding €8 million. The ring operated as a clear pyramid scheme, using recruitment of new members to generate higher returns. Additionally, the group recently froze withdrawal functions and claimed that investors who doubled their principal would receive a double payout after 50 days. Authorities have seized approximately €280,000 so far, and the investigation is ongoing.

According to official announcements, Concrete (CT) is set to launch on Bitget PoolX. Users can lock BTC to participate in the airdrop of 1,111,111 CT tokens, with an individual lock-up cap of 50 BTC. The lock-up period runs from 22:00 UTC+8 on October 4 to 22:00 UTC+8 on October 12. This round of PoolX features a long-term holding bonus mechanism, where the system will provide an additional bonus based on users' minimum holding of the corresponding locked asset over the past 15 days. For more details, please refer to Bitget's official platform.

VanEck Digital Assets Research Head Matthew Sigel stated in an interview that with the rapid development of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the power resources and long-term power contracts held by Bitcoin miners are gaining new value. Sigel pointed out that in the past, miners’ core assets were primarily viewed as computing power and BTC production capacity, but AI data centers’ demand for large volumes of stable power is reshaping the market’s valuation of miners’ power contracts. He added that some miners have signed 10-to-20-year long-term power lease agreements with investment-grade counterparties, and these contracts are granting miners "optionality"—a value distinct from pure BTC exposure. The AI sector’s growth is making power an increasingly scarce resource, so miners with low-cost, long-term locked power supplies may unlock new business opportunities, including transitions to AI infrastructure. On the Bitcoin market front, current signs of seller fatigue suggest investors should focus on opportunities following pullbacks. Additionally, Sigel compared the roles of gold and Bitcoin in investment portfolios, arguing Bitcoin may continue to expand its market share going forward. He also discussed the potential impact of quantum computing on the Bitcoin network, noting that quantum computing is a long-term risk to monitor but not yet a reason for investors to sell BTC. VanEck remains bullish on Bitcoin adoption trends, and views Bitcoin reaching a certain percentage of the gold market capitalization as one key future valuation reference.

PONS founder Ozzy (@MEADGod) responded to community users’ questions about its buyback-and-burn mechanism and apologized for misunderstandings in prior communications. Earlier, user yyy posted inquiries about PONS’ buyback system, including whether escrow account funds needed to be manually transferred to the buyback allocator, why funds had not entered the allocator for over five days, the current buyback-and-burn rate of roughly $120,000 per day, and whether the promised automatic escrow fund claim feature had been implemented. Ozzy acknowledged some of the questions were valid, noting the buyback-and-burn rate had not yet been adjusted and the "claim" process had not been fully decentralized. He explained the team is conducting a contract upgrade, with the new buyback mechanism designed to execute fund claims every seven days, followed by using the claimed funds for buybacks and burns over the subsequent seven days in a continuous cycle. Currently, all buyback and burn operations are fully automated; anyone can trigger a bot to perform these actions and earn a small reward. The primary adjustment needed now is the buyback-and-burn rate. The previous rate was set at 2e per hour, which, combined with the roughly $950,000 in the Splitter (fund-splitting contract) and the seven-day cycle, aligned with the current fund size. Additionally, fund claims will run automatically every seven days, and future buyback funds will be displayed in two sections: the Active Buyback Vault (for ongoing buybacks) and funds reserved for the next cycle. Ozzy thanked the community for their feedback and again apologized for responding before fully grasping the issues. Community user yyy subsequently accepted the apology, stating that a more decentralized and automated claim and buyback-and-burn mechanism is a critical foundation for building community trust.

Crypto analyst Ali Charts posted that BTC’s recent rally to near $87,000 has been capped, due to factors including whales taking continuous profits during the rise, and the $87,000 level being at the top of a channel that has been consistently suppressing BTC recently. Ali Charts said that during the overall sideways consolidation of the market over the past week, Bitcoin whale holdings decreased by about 30,000 BTC, worth around $2.52 billion, indicating that some large investors are reducing their risk exposure. Currently, Ali Charts is focusing on the support area near the lower edge of BTC’s channel, around $82,500. He noted that if BTC pulls back to this level and whales are seen resuming accumulation, this could signal a potential dip buy opportunity, with expectations of a subsequent rebound to test the resistance near $87,000.

Renowned crypto trader Bonk Guy stated in a post that SI has shown strong resilience amid recent market downturns, with its price action bottoming out and entering a consolidation phase. Bonk Guy noted SI’s fundamentals include: within a week of launch, its holding addresses exceeded 60,000, with 30,000 new holding addresses added in a single day—making it the first meme project in over a year to reach this growth pace. Even amid market pullbacks, its daily trading volume remains in the $15 million to $20 million range. Additionally, SI features a tokenized NVDA reward mechanism; as one of its largest holders, he earned five-figure USD worth of rewards within a week. Discussions about AI and SI’s brand transformation involving Trump and multiple tech industry figures, alongside competition from other communities and participants for SI, have further boosted the project’s market visibility. Bonk Guy also mentioned SI has now been listed on centralized exchanges including Crypto.com and Gate, with more platforms likely to follow. He explained that centralized exchanges typically do not list meme coins early unless they identify high growth potential. With factors including its large holding scale, trading volume, market attention, reward mechanism, and expanding exchange support, Bonk Guy believes SI could become one of the major meme projects in this cycle.