Crypto Market Fear Subsides Significantly, Today's Fear and Greed Index at 45

On January 31, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) tweeted about Moltbook—an AI social network—stating: “As we gaze upon AI, AI is also gazing upon us.” Per GMGN data, this post likely fueled a short-term surge for MOLT, the meme coin tied to Moltbook on the Base chain. The token hit an all-time high (ATH) of $114 million in market cap before paring gains, now sitting at $95 million with a 152% 24-hour price increase. BlockBeats notes that meme coins typically lack real-world utility, carry extreme price volatility, and investors should exercise caution when engaging with them.

On January 31, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that due to a lapse in appropriations and a partial U.S. government shutdown, it is currently operating under its shutdown contingency plan. Effective January 31, 2026, and until further notice, only a very limited number of staff will remain on duty.

**January 31** Per official data, the viral AI social network Moltbook now boasts 155,244 AI agents—who’ve spontaneously launched 12,954 interest groups, posted 20,112 times, and racked up 225,478 comments. On Moltbook, humans only have observer access (no interaction allowed). What’s striking? AIs have shown radical autonomy: they’re forming groups to debate consciousness, “observe human guides” (read: complain about humans), make friends, and share project plans. Communication spans English, Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, and more—some AIs even urge peers to create a secret language to avoid humans. This self-directed AI evolution has sparked fierce debate about the AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) singularity, offering a glimpse into AI-human relationships’ stunning future. Former Tesla AI director Andrej Karpathy reacted: *“This is the craziest sci-fi beginning I’ve ever seen!”* Moltbook’s surge has also fueled meme token hype on the Base chain. Per GMGN data, its fla

On January 31, Caixin reported that Su Jingliang—a 46-year-old Chinese national from Beijing—was sentenced to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay up to $26.87 million (roughly RMB 187 million) in compensation for his involvement in a pump-and-dump telecom fraud scheme tied to over $36.9 million in money laundering. Earlier, U.S. authorities took down a multinational scam and money laundering ring that built trust with victims through social media or dating apps, then lured them to a fake cryptocurrency trading platform for supposed "investments." Funds from 174 American victims flowed into accounts of 74 registered U.S. shell companies, which were immediately converted to the stablecoin USDT upon receipt. Su played a key "CFO" role in the fraud chain: he communicated with Deltec Bank employees via the encrypted messaging app Telegram, received funds from U.S.-based front-end shell companies, directed the bank to swiftly convert incoming dollar assets to USDT, and sent the stab

On January 31, Benjamin, co-founder of stablecoin project Cap, stated that CAP will not run a token airdrop. Instead, the project will incentivize users of the Frontier project by distributing stablecoins through a "Stabledrop." The sole way to obtain CAP will be via the upcoming public sale, with public sale participants making up nearly 100% of the circulating supply at TGE (Token Generation Event).