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

According to an official announcement, Starknet has launched Shadow Accounts, allowing users to participate in public DeFi activities via an independent, self-controlled address while keeping the link between this address and their main wallet confidential. Shadow Accounts are independent pseudonymous addresses on Starknet, funded by users’ protected STRK20 balances. The first integration will launch tomorrow. While the balance, transaction history, and application positions of Shadow Accounts remain publicly visible on-chain, STRK20 protects the connection between these accounts and users’ main wallets. This means users do not need to hide their DeFi activities themselves, while reducing the likelihood that external observers can trace those activities back to their main wallets.

Applied Materials (AMAT.O) said it targets a non-GAAP gross margin of 54% and operating margin of 40% by 2030. It projects its services business revenue will grow by over 20% in 2026, and exceed $12 billion by 2030. The company plans to expand its R&D labs and manufacturing capacity to more than double current levels by 2030, return 80% to 100% of its free cash flow to shareholders by 2030, and lift its wafer fabrication equipment (WFE) market share by more than 2 percentage points between 2025 and 2030.

Glassnode stated that the cost basis of investors who purchased Bitcoin at high levels continues to cap its upside potential. Following Bitcoin’s rebound to around $88,000, investors with 1 to 2-year holding periods sold off heavily, and this price level is also near the break-even point for investors who have held Bitcoin for 6 to 12 months. Bitcoin’s price subsequently faced resistance below this level, and this selling pressure has now eased significantly.

21Shares has launched a synthetic Anthropic ETP on the Vienna Stock Exchange, trading under the ticker CLAU, providing investors with non-leveraged exposure linked to the pre-IPO implied valuation of the artificial intelligence startup. The ETP does not grant investors direct ownership of Anthropic shares, either before or after the firm goes public. The product accesses this exposure via total return swaps (TRS), tracking a reference rate compiled by Kaiko, which is calculated based on Anthropic’s perpetual futures prices on Binance.

Google (GOOG.O) announced the launch of Gemini 4 Argon to developers and enterprises worldwide via the Gemini API. Gemini 4 Argon is accessible through the paid Gemini API and Google AI Ultra subscription service.

Ripple has partnered with Stripe-owned wallet infrastructure firm Privy to integrate support for the XRP Ledger (XRPL) into Privy’s developer platform. The integration eliminates the need for developers to build their own wallet infrastructure, allowing them to add XRPL wallets to their applications with features including wallet creation and management, transaction signing, plus support for XRP, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, and other assets on the network.