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The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the Producer Price Index (PPI) for December rose 0.5% from the previous month, surpassing the market forecast of 0.2%. The PPI is often considered a leading indicator for the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Falcon Finance has launched a $50 million ecosystem fund to support the development of yield-generating infrastructure backed by real-world assets (RWA) like tokenized U.S. Treasurys and gold, the company announced on its official website. The fund will concentrate its investments in three main areas: government bonds and fixed-income products, tokenized RWA protocols, and infrastructure based on precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum. Half of the total funds will be allocated to capital investments, with the remaining 50% structured as FF token incentives subject to vesting conditions.

Decentralized perpetual futures exchange Aster announced via X that it will begin the sixth stage of its airdrop, dubbed "Convergence," on Feb. 2. This phase, described as the most stringent of the entire airdrop, will distribute just 0.8% of the total token supply and includes a six-month lock-up and a burn mechanism. The stage six airdrop will run for approximately eight weeks until March 29, with a total of 64 million ASTER tokens to be distributed.

OKX announced that it will list ZAMA for spot trading at 1:00 p.m. UTC on Feb. 2.

Nubank, Latin America's largest digital bank that supports cryptocurrency trading, has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a branch in the United States, CoinDesk reported. Upon final approval, Nubank would be able to offer digital asset custody services alongside deposit accounts, credit cards, and lending services under the federal regulatory framework. The bank had previously initiated preparations for its U.S. expansion, pursuing the establishment of hubs in Miami, the San Francisco Bay Area, Northern Virginia, and North Carolina's Research Triangle.

Hong Kong authorities have announced plans to launch a stablecoin licensing regime and will submit a bill to the Legislative Council this year to regulate digital asset custody. Additionally, the government intends to introduce a reporting framework and amend laws to facilitate the automatic exchange of tax information on crypto assets between jurisdictions, starting in 2028.

Bybit has announced that it will list ZAMA for spot trading.

U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the central bank, Aggr News reported. In a post on Truth Social, Trump praised Warsh for his extensive research in economics and finance, adding that he would become one of the greatest Fed Chairs in history. While Warsh has traditionally been viewed as a monetary policy hawk, recent assessments suggest he has also shown dovish tendencies. He has consistently emphasized the Federal Reserve's independence and discipline. Within the cryptocurrency market, Warsh has faced criticism for reportedly viewing digital assets as speculative instruments that would disappear with the end of a low-interest-rate environment, while also stressing the importance of real interest rate hikes and reduced liquidity.

An accelerating exodus of Bitcoin miners could push the price below $60,000 in the medium term, Cointelegraph reported, citing data from Capriole Investments. The analysis suggests that short-term downward pressure is increasing, based on current mining costs and hashrate indicators. As of January this year, the average electricity cost to mine one Bitcoin was approximately $59,450, with the total mining cost at around $74,300. With Bitcoin currently trading near $82,000, there is still room for a price correction before miners begin to incur substantial losses. The report noted that historically, Bitcoin's price has tended to revert to a level reflecting mining electricity costs following prolonged downturns. If this pattern repeats, a potential price bottom could form between $59,000 and $74,000.

Decentralized exchange Aster has announced a trading competition for users of its Shield Mode feature with a total prize pool of $15,000. The event will run from Jan. 30 to Feb. 8. The first-place prize of 10,000 USDF will be awarded to the trader who records a profit of over $50,000. An additional $5,000 will be distributed among all participants who make at least one profitable trade during the competition. Aster's Shield Mode features private order execution, zero slippage, fees charged only on profits, and leverage of up to 1,001x.

Bitcoin's six consecutive months of underperformance against gold is mirroring a pattern from 2019-2020, according to an analysis by CoinDesk. The outlet noted that the BTC-to-gold ratio has fallen 23% this month alone, indicating that investors have favored the traditional safe-haven asset amid geopolitical uncertainty. This dynamic echoes the period between August 2019 and January 2020, after which Bitcoin went on to outperform gold for the following five months. While some analysts suggest the ratio may have bottomed out, others reportedly express concern that any recovery could be merely a technical rebound.

An address believed to be linked to the Bhutanese government deposited 100.82 BTC, worth $8.31 million, to trading firm QCP Capital, OnchainLenz reported.

Bitcoin could fall to the $50,000 range if no significant catalyst emerges to drive a rally, according to an analysis reported by CoinDesk. Keith Alan, co-founder of the crypto market data platform Material Indicators, noted that Bitcoin's current weekly chart trend is similar to the 2021-2022 bear market. He suggested that while short-term bounces are possible, a meaningful upward trend is unlikely without a new catalyst. Alan added that if a rapid, short-term decline occurs, the $50,000 range could emerge as a more attractive price level later this year.

Binance has announced it will list MEGA/USDT pre-market perpetual futures at 12:30 p.m. UTC on Jan. 30. The new offering will support up to five times leverage.

Bybit has announced that it will list ELON for spot trading.

The depegging of sUSD, the stablecoin of the Synthetix (SNX) protocol, has worsened. According to CoinMarketCap, sUSD is currently trading at $0.7215, down 25.47%. The stablecoin previously experienced depegging events in April and November of last year.

Spot gold has fallen below $5,000 per ounce, just two days after surpassing $5,598.750 on Jan. 29. The precious metal is currently trading at $4,988.600, down 7.08% from the previous trading day. Meanwhile, spot silver has also declined more than 15% to trade at $98.697.

Growing doubts about the profitability of Big Tech's AI investments and the resulting decline in tech stocks have triggered a sharp downturn in the cryptocurrency market, according to an analysis by DL News. Kraken Vice President Matt Howells-Barby noted that concerns over Big Tech's AI investments failing to generate expected returns are unsettling the broader risk asset market. He suggested that Bitcoin could potentially fall below the $80,000 level again. The report highlighted that Microsoft (MSFT) saw its market capitalization decrease by approximately $357 billion in a single day due to a drop in its stock price. This has fueled a wider risk-off sentiment, with even the price of gold falling by nearly 3% as investors hedge against market risks. Adding to the market uncertainty are renewed fears of a U.S. federal government shutdown. Amid these pressures, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen below the $3 trillion mark.

Binance plans to complete repayments to users of the South Korean exchange Gopax's GoFi service this year and aims to become the top exchange by market share in the country, The Block exclusively reported. In an interview with the publication, SB Seker, Binance's Head of Asia Pacific, stated that once the GoFi repayment process is finished, the company will introduce its global standard technology and security systems to Gopax. The focus will then shift to new business areas such as stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and attracting institutional investors. Seker added that Binance intends to expand its business over the next 12 months to challenge the market currently dominated by Upbit and Bithumb, expressing confidence in its ability to navigate regulatory risks like restrictions on major shareholder stakes. GoFi funds were frozen in 2023 after its partner, Genesis Global Capital, halted withdrawals. Binance's acquisition of a stake in Gopax initiated a rescue plan, but the process was delayed by a holdup in local regulatory approval. The repayment wallet currently holds 11 cryptocurrencies, including 775.11 BTC, 5,766.62 ETH, and 706,184 USDC. Binance plans to repay users in the original quantity of their crypto assets, not their equivalent value in Korean won.

Binance has announced it will list perpetual futures for Intel (INT) and Robinhood (HOOD) stocks on Feb. 2. The INT/USDT contract is scheduled to go live at 2:30 p.m. UTC, followed by the HOOD/USDT contract at 2:45 p.m. UTC. This follows an earlier announcement from the exchange that it would support trading for Astar-based U.S. stock perpetual futures.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin announced on X that he will commit 16,384 ETH from his holdings to support the open-source hardware and software ecosystem. The move comes as the Ethereum Foundation (EF) enters a period of moderate fiscal tightening. Buterin stated the decision is aimed at completing Ethereum's roadmap, which seeks to balance performance and scalability with robustness, sustainability, and decentralization. He added that the goals also include ensuring the foundation's long-term viability and protecting user sovereignty and privacy. Looking ahead, Buterin plans to focus investments on open silicon, encrypted messaging, and privacy-preserving operating systems, rather than corporate-led closed ecosystems. He emphasized that Ethereum will be the central axis of this effort, built as a decentralized collaborative infrastructure.

Tron founder Justin Sun announced on X that the project will increase its Bitcoin holdings at the request of Binance. The move follows Binance's recent announcement that it is adjusting the asset structure of its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) by gradually converting its $1 billion stablecoin reserve into BTC.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated on X that the recent decline in Bitcoin (BTC) is unsurprising amid a contraction in U.S. dollar liquidity. He noted that dollar liquidity has fallen by approximately $300 billion in recent weeks, while the U.S. Treasury General Account (TGA) balance has increased by about $200 billion. Hayes suggested this is likely due to the U.S. government securing cash in preparation for a potential shutdown.

During a CoinNess Night Live event on Jan. 29, Brevis CEO and co-founder Michael explained that the project is a verifiable computing platform based on zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. It processes complex, costly, and slow computations off-chain, then uses a small cryptographic proof to verify the results on-chain. Michael described the project's "infinite computing layer" as a structure where the blockchain only verifies proofs rather than re-executing computations. This model allows for virtually unlimited off-chain scaling of high-cost operations like transaction history analysis, AI inference, and cross-chain verification. He noted that Brevis technology is already being used for functions such as volume-based fee discounts and reward distribution, with users experiencing the benefits seamlessly as all calculations are handled off-chain and verified with ZK proofs. Key products from Brevis include: - Pico: A Rust-based modular zkVM that proves Ethereum blocks in real-time. - ZK Data Coprocessor: Enables smart contracts to trustlessly access historical on-chain data. - ProverNet: A decentralized marketplace for ZK proof generation, currently live on mainnet. - Incentra: A trust-minimized platform for incentive distribution using off-chain computation. Regarding its role in the Ethereum Foundation's roadmap, Michael stated that Pico is already operational within the Ethproofs infrastructure. Brevis is working to enable faster proofs on lighter hardware, aiming for a future where anyone can participate in Ethereum validation from a mobile device. He also revealed that Brevis is testing its Pico Prism in a 16 GPU environment, down from the previous 64 GPUs, to make Ethereum block proofs cheaper and more accessible. The project is also preparing to integrate new functionalities related to privacy and AI verification.

Crypto analyst and IntoTheCryptoverse founder Benjamin Cowen has suggested that Bitcoin (BTC) may continue to underperform the stock market as the current cycle concludes. According to Cointelegraph, Cowen said in a recent video that Bitcoin will likely continue to show weakness against stocks. He added that a capital shift from gold and silver to Bitcoin is unlikely in the short term, cautioning against the optimistic view that a rally in precious metals would immediately lead to a rise in Bitcoin.