PA Daily丨ai16z rebrands to ElizaOS; US South Dakota and Kentucky lawmakers propose Bitcoin reserve legislation

Today's news tips:

DeepSeek was recently attacked by a large-scale malicious network attack from a US IP

Multiple Trump Brand Authorized Websites Now Accept TRUMP Token Payments

ai16z co-founder Shaw: A comprehensive brand reshaping plan will be implemented, and the project will be renamed ElizaOS

Binance will launch VVVUSDT perpetual contract at 16:15 today, supporting up to 25x leverage

Regulatory/Macro

Nick Timiraos, the "Federal Reserve mouthpiece": Tariff policy may be a barometer of when the Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates

According to Jinshi.com, Nick Timiraos, the "Federal Reserve mouthpiece," wrote that as Trump considers using tariffs more boldly, a key question hangs over the Fed: To what extent will any price increases stimulate public expectations of higher inflation? When or whether the Fed resumes cutting interest rates depends largely on the inflation outlook, which in turn may depend on whether Trump makes good on his threat to raise tariffs.

South Dakota and Kentucky lawmakers to introduce Bitcoin reserve legislation

Lawmakers in Kentucky and South Dakota are preparing to introduce legislation to establish a Bitcoin reserve in the coming weeks, according to statements on Jan. 28. South Dakota Rep. Logan Manhart announced that he will introduce a bill in the South Dakota House of Representatives to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. He added that this is “one of the few opportunities” for the government to take the initiative.

SEC's lawsuit against Ripple goes to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the SEC has removed the related civil lawsuit from its website

As the U.S. SEC's lawsuit against Ripple enters the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the SEC has removed the civil lawsuit related to Ripple from its website, marking a critical stage in the ongoing legal battle over XRP's classification.

South Korean prosecutors to formally establish a joint investigation team for cryptocurrency crimes

South Korean prosecutors will formally establish a special unit dedicated to solving cryptocurrency crimes and punishing cryptocurrency price manipulators and fraudsters. The Joint Investigation Unit (JIU) for Virtual Asset Crimes, operated by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, will be officially launched “as early as February or as late as March.”

Czech Central Bank Governor Proposes Investing Billions of Euros in Foreign Reserves in Bitcoin

The head of the Czech central bank wants to put the country’s billions of euros in foreign exchange reserves into Bitcoin, a groundbreaking move that could make it the first Western central bank to hold the crypto asset.

AI

Financial Times: OpenAI says there is evidence that DeepSeek used its model for training

OpenAI said it found evidence that Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek used its proprietary models for training. The company said it had seen some evidence of "distillation," a technique used by developers to get better performance on smaller models by using the output of larger, more powerful models, allowing them to achieve similar results on a specific task at a lower cost.

Presto Research analyst: AI industry turmoil caused Bitcoin to fall, and the initial market reaction may be a bit excessive

DeepSeek’s success points to growing competition from China in artificial intelligence, heightening concerns about whether lofty valuations for U.S. tech stocks can last. The risk for the cryptocurrency industry is that such anxiety could dampen broader speculative enthusiasm and blunt the boost from Trump’s executive order backing regulation of digital assets.

SoftBank in talks to invest in robotics startup Skild AI, valued at $4 billion

SoftBank is reportedly in talks to invest $500 million in robotics startup Skild AI, which is currently valued at $4 billion (currently approximately RMB 29.061 billion).

OpenAI announces a new customized version of ChatGPT for the US government, ChatGPT Gov

According to official news, OpenAI announced the launch of ChatGPT Gov, a new customized version of ChatGPT for the US government. Agencies can deploy ChatGPT Gov in their own Microsoft Azure commercial cloud or Azure government cloud, which are based on Microsoft Azure's OpenAI Service. Self-hosted ChatGPT Gov enables agencies to more easily manage their own security, privacy, and compliance requirements, such as strict cybersecurity frameworks (IL5, CJIS, ITAR, FedRAMP High).

Project News

Yzi Labs announces $16 million investment in token distribution on-chain infrastructure Sign

According to official news, Yzi Labs announced an investment of $16 million in Sign, an on-chain infrastructure for token distribution and credential verification. It is reported that Sign is aggregating verified credentials on the chain to build a larger network, thereby creating a more transparent and secure token distribution infrastructure.

Movement Labs refutes insider trading: no “direct communication” with Trump family DeFi project World Liberty Financial (WLFI)

In response to questions about "insider trading," Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche said in an interview on Tuesday that the organization had no "direct communication" with the Trump family's DeFi project World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

Aerodrome: Two contributors suspended due to suspected insider trading in VVV token issuance

Aerodrome, the Base ecosystem DEX protocol, announced that a small amount of trading activity around the release of VVV was flagged by internal monitoring in less than 30 minutes - triggering an internal investigation. The investigation resulted in the suspension of two contributors within three hours of the release.

Sushi Labs acquires DeFi infrastructure firm Shipyard Software

According to official news, Sushi Labs acquired DeFi infrastructure company Shipyard Software. Shipyard founder Mark Lurie (multi-exit founder and DeFi leader) and AMM research pioneer Abe Othman will join Sushi Labs as consultants.

Viewpoint

Cathie Wood: Bitcoin is the leader of a new asset class and a global monetary system

“In the case of Bitcoin, it is the leader of a new asset class and a global monetary system,” said Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest.

"New Bond King" Gundlach: The Fed faces the most predictable "standstill" in years

Gundlach, the "new bond king," said the Fed's upcoming interest rate decision is the most predictable "holding fire" in recent years. However, although the vast majority of people expect the Fed to keep interest rates stable at this week's meeting, traders have increased their bullish bets on U.S. Treasuries because they hope that Fed Chairman Powell will signal a possible rate cut at the March meeting.

Important data

Cryptocurrency VC funding is expected to grow 100% year-over-year in January, reaching $1.14 billion so far

Venture capital funding in the crypto space has reached $1.14 billion so far in January, which is expected to be a 100% increase compared to January 2024 ($653.3 million).

Deribit data: BTC and ETH options with a notional value of approximately $9.9 billion will expire on Friday

Deribit data shows that BTC options with a nominal value of approximately US$8.1 billion and ETH options contracts with a nominal value of US$1.8 billion will expire and be delivered on Friday (January 31); the maximum pain point price of BTC is US$98,000, and the maximum pain point price of ETH is US$3,300.

Solana Ecosystem DEX Meteora's January trading volume reached $33 billion, a 33-fold increase from the previous month

Solana ecosystem liquidity platform Meteora achieved unprecedented growth in January. Its trading volume was $33 billion, a 33-fold increase from $990 million in December last year. The DEX currently accounts for about 9% of the total market share, ranking among the top five DEXs in the world.