News & Research

According to multiple media outlets, Bitmine (BMNR), a publicly traded company known for its strategic accumulation of ETH, has announced a $200 million equity investment in Beast Industries, the corporate holding company of world-famous YouTuber MrBeast.

A growing number of DeFi protocols are suspending their Discord channels due to the platform's rampant phishing schemes, Cointelegraph reported. DeFi lending protocol MORPHO recently switched its official Discord channel to read-only mode, citing the platform's role as a hotbed for phishing. Similarly, DeFi data platform DefiLlama is also minimizing its channel activity in a move away from Discord. While the platform remains a popular communication tool for cryptocurrency users, its failure to address persistent security issues is reportedly causing a rift with the crypto community.

Blockchain infrastructure firm Global Settlement Network (GSN) has announced a pilot program to tokenize water purification facilities in Jakarta, Indonesia, Cointelegraph reported. GSN stated that it plans to pursue a $200 million tokenization project across Southeast Asia. In the initial phase, the company will tokenize eight government-contracted facilities to raise $35 million, after which it will pilot a rupiah-based stablecoin payment infrastructure over the next 12 months.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of $838.82 million on Jan. 14, according to data compiled by Trader T. This marks the third consecutive day of net inflows and sets a new three-month high for single-day inflows, surpassing the previous day's record. Inflows were led by BlackRock's IBIT with $646.62 million, followed by Fidelity's FBTC with $125.39 million. Other notable inflows included Ark Invest's ARKB ($27.04 million), Bitwise's BITB ($10.60 million), VanEck's HODL ($8.28 million), Franklin Templeton's EZBC ($5.64 million), and Grayscale's GBTC, which saw an inflow of $15.25 million.

The Algorand (ALGO) Foundation is moving its headquarters from Singapore to the United States and launching a new board of directors, DL News reported. CEO Staci Warden said the foundation is focusing on areas where blockchain can have a tangible impact, including immediate global payments, accessibility to financial products, and economic resilience. She added that by realigning its U.S. presence, the foundation aims to help the United States secure a leadership role in next-generation financial infrastructure.

Asset manager Bitwise has listed seven new exchange-traded products (ETPs) based on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL) on Nasdaq Stockholm in Sweden, Cointelegraph reported. The listing allows Swedish investors to access spot and staking-linked cryptocurrency products denominated in the local currency, the Swedish krona (SEK). The newly listed products include a spot Bitcoin ETP, a spot Ethereum ETP, staking-based ETPs for ETH and SOL, a hybrid ETP combining Bitcoin and gold, and an ETP that tracks the MSCI Digital Asset Select 20 index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott stated in an interview with CoinDesk that it would be inappropriate to insert an ethics provision targeting President Donald Trump's cryptocurrency business into a pending crypto bill. Scott argued that such an ethics debate is outside the jurisdiction of the Banking Committee and should be handled as a separate matter by the Senate Ethics Committee. He added that while discussions are possible, adding the provision to the bill as is would be more difficult than expected. The U.S. Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act this Thursday.

The FTX estate has announced it will conduct its next round of creditor repayments on March 31. The distribution will be made to creditors registered as of Feb. 14. Concurrently, the estate has submitted a revised proposal to the bankruptcy court to reduce its reserve for disputed claims. If the court approves the proposal, the total amount available for repayment is expected to increase.

Noise, a developer of a social media trend prediction market platform, has secured $7.1 million in a funding round led by Paradigm. Other participants included Figment Capital, Anagram, and Kaito AI. The platform allows users to bet on which online topics, such as specific trends, brands, or narratives, will maintain lasting influence, with the goal of measuring their cultural value. Noise has previously tested its betting service using social media data from Kaito and plans to officially launch on the Base blockchain within the next few months.

The amount of staked Ethereum (ETH) has surpassed 36 million tokens, representing nearly 30% of the total supply and valued at approximately $118 billion, The Block reported. This new high exceeds the previous record of 29.54% of the supply staked, which was set last July. The Block attributed the increase primarily to active participation from institutions such as Bitmine (BMNR). It also highlighted the growing entry of institutional asset managers, noting that Morgan Stanley is preparing to launch an ETF that includes staking rewards. The publication suggested that as the circulating supply becomes increasingly locked, price volatility could rise during periods of increased demand.