ChainCatcher news, as of January, the venture capital funding received in the crypto space has reached $1.14 billion, representing a potential 100% increase compared to January 2024 ($653.3 million).For cryptocurrencies and small projects, the metrics for small to medium financing are more important, as they indicate the level of confidence and enthusiasm for startups. The current level of funding has returned to "normal" levels, with funding rounds ranging from $1.5 million, and multiple projects raising between $10 million and $25 million.According to statistics, the funding amount in the crypto space for 2024 is estimated to be between $11.5 billion and $13.6 billion. Optimistic forecasts suggest that venture capital funding in the coming year could reach as high as $18 billion.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the European judicial organization recently announced the successful dismantling of a multinational money laundering gang that used cryptocurrency to transfer profits among criminal organizations. Investigations revealed that the gang had at least 52 members spread across Spain and Cyprus, conducting up to 6 money laundering transactions per week. In the operation, 23 suspects were arrested, $28 million worth of cryptocurrency was frozen, and approximately $8 million in cash was seized across various locations in Africa.It is reported that the case began in 2023 when Spanish border officials discovered a large amount of funds being transported to Cyprus, with the total amount involved exceeding $100 million. The gang transported cash via commercial flights and public transport, maintaining connections with numerous commercial companies worldwide.

ChainCatcher news, analysts from the research and brokerage firm Bernstein recently stated that after discussions with diversified investors across the United States, some groups recognize that "cryptocurrency is back" and believe it is necessary to increase market activity.Bernstein analyst Gautam Chhugani wrote in a report to clients on Tuesday that investor groups focused on finance, payments, data centers, energy, growth, technology, and cryptocurrency are clearly aware of the political shifts occurring under the Trump administration.

ChainCatcher news, QCP released a daily market observation stating that DeepSeek remains at the top of the App Store rankings. Its latest AI version caused a huge stir on Wall Street and in the risk asset market yesterday, with the Nasdaq index dropping by 3%, and NVIDIA plummeting by an astonishing 17%. The AI frenzy of 2024 has pushed the Nasdaq's valuation to unsustainable levels, with a price-to-earnings ratio close to 27 times during trading. However, 2025 faces a series of new challenges, including uncertainty in the Federal Reserve's interest rate path, the impact of Trump’s policies, and the upcoming earnings reports from tech companies this week, which may pose downside risks for risk assets.Crypto-related stocks were not spared, with Core Scientific's stock price plummeting by 29%, and mining companies like Hut 8, Riot Platforms, and Cipher Mining also experiencing declines. This drop reflects their increasing integration with AI, as many companies are transforming their mining facilities into high-performance computing data centers.This trend seems to be driven more by risk-averse sentiment rather than specific crypto factors. Bitcoin (BTC) has found support and stabilized above $102,000, with more call options than put options currently. This week may test whether the correlation between BTC and the stock market has weakened, especially if a favorable regulatory environment provides potential support.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, South African fintech startup 6DOT50 recently announced a partnership with BTS and Serti Solutions to support the purchase of cars with cryptocurrency. Customers can buy new and used cars at over 1,400 dealerships using eight cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.It is said that its platform will utilize its voucher system to eliminate the risks associated with cryptocurrency by bridging the settlement gap between cryptocurrency and fiat currency. 6DOT50 claims to have processed approximately $1 million in cryptocurrency transactions at over 90,000 stores.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, VanEck's Director of Digital Asset Research Matthew Sigel stated that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency suitable for the U.S. government's reserves because it is fundamentally different from all other digital assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, President Trump signed three executive orders related to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence in his first week in office:Remove barriers to U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence;Strengthen U.S. leadership in digital financial technology;Establish a Presidential Advisory Council on Technology.

ChainCatcher news, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart posted on X that Tuttle Capital has submitted applications for 10 leveraged crypto asset ETFs to the U.S. SEC, including several meme coin products and assets that have not yet launched ETPs, as well as the first ETP applications in the U.S. tracking cryptocurrencies such as Chainlink, Cardano, Polkadot, BNP, and Melania.

ChainCatcher news, cryptocurrency payment solution provider Alchemy Pay has announced that it has registered as a digital currency exchange service provider with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). This registration will enable Alchemy Pay to provide Australian users with secure and seamless fiat-to-cryptocurrency payment services.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Spanish law enforcement has collaborated with blockchain companies Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs to freeze $26.4 million worth of cryptocurrency related to a pan-European money laundering operation.Reportedly, Tron’s security measures have reduced the volume of illegal transactions on its blockchain by $6 billion. Additionally, TRM Labs disclosed that 49% of illegal activities on the Tron chain are related to sanctioned entities, while 32% are associated with blacklisted funds.

ChainCatcher news, on January 24, the MZCC Foundation announced its lead investment in the crypto payment project MIRO, which is one of its key investment directions for 2025. MIRO optimizes on-chain payment processes through AI technology, enhancing the transaction efficiency of Bitcoin and strengthening its connection with the global economy.MIRO has partnered with Web3 projects such as Infinimos, SocialTox, Nexus Launch, Collably Network, HeLa, and Orbler, covering areas like DeFi solutions, Web3 marketing, and AI infrastructure, to further improve its crypto payment ecosystem.The MZCC Foundation has long focused on the development of crypto payment infrastructure and believes that this field is ushering in new growth opportunities. Leading the investment in MIRO is an important step in its strategic layout for crypto payments in 2025, aiming to promote more convenient and efficient on-chain payment solutions.

ChainCatcher news, according to the crypto research firm Santiment, the Ethereum network added 206,290 new addresses between January 24 and 25, marking the highest increase since October 8, 2022.

ChainCatcher news, BenPay has launched the first on-chain red envelope, supporting multi-currency stablecoin transfers, including BUSD (USD), BINR (INR), and more. Users can send red envelopes through the BenPay APP to celebrate the 2025 Year of the Snake Spring Festival, and it supports localized stablecoins from various Asian countries such as BJPY (JPY), BKRW (KRW), BTHB (THB), and BMYR (MYR).Product highlights include transaction security and traceability, support for custom passwords and blessings, various red envelope modes (regular red envelope, password red envelope, lucky draw red envelope), and convenient zkLogin login.It is reported that, as a core ecological product of the BenFen public chain incubated by the Bixin Group, BenPay integrates functions such as deposit and withdrawal, exchange, staking and lending, and offline consumption.

ChainCatcher message, according to SoSoValue data, the entire crypto market sector has retraced, with the DeFAI and AI Agents sectors experiencing the largest declines. The DeFAI sector saw a 24-hour drop of 28.73%, with all four tokens in the sector falling over 20%. GRIFFAIN, ORBIT (GRIFT), Hive AI (BUZZ), and neur.sh (NEUR) dropped by 25.97%, 22.52%, 35.61%, and 22.14%, respectively. The AI Agents sector had a 24-hour decline of 16.91%, with the leading project Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) down 12.74%, Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) down 22.11%, and mainstream AI tokens ai16z (AI16Z), AIXBT, and AI Rig Complex (ARC) dropping by 13.70%, 13.22%, and 27.61%, respectively, while ACT rose against the trend by 2.42%.The Meme sector continued to decline, with a 24-hour drop of 8.27%. Among them, traditional Memes saw the largest drop, with Pepe (PEPE) down 11.33%, having already halved from its previous high. Notably, Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) rose against the trend by 3.64%.In other sectors, Layer1 had a 24-hour decline of 5.79%, the PayFi sector dropped by 4.80%, the CeFi sector fell by 4.34%, and the DeFi sector decreased by 5.10%, with Jupiter (JUP) and Onyxcoin (XCN) rising against the trend by 8.70% and 11.48%, respectively. The Layer2 sector declined by 5.72%.

ChainCatcher news, according to TASS, Russia's largest energy supplier Rosseti plans to launch a cryptocurrency mining business, allowing specific power supply centers to collaborate with Bitcoin mining companies.Rosseti stated that the company will act as "the operator coordinating the deployment of crypto mining infrastructure," focusing on "low-utilization power supply centers." Cryptocurrency mining can not only improve the utilization of idle capacity but also increase grid load and tariff revenue, thereby promoting the development of the Russian economy and tax growth. Rosseti is exploring various tools to incentivize low-load power centers to participate in mining, including adopting special electricity pricing policies while leveraging the grid's load management capabilities to ensure the reliability of power supply.

ChainCatcher news, Animoca Brands Chairman Yat Siu commented on Trump's plan to exempt domestic cryptocurrencies from taxes in the United States. He pointed out several issues with the plan: first, most token foundations are registered in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, or Singapore; second, the origin of Bitcoin is unknown and most mining occurs outside the United States; furthermore, decentralized blockchains inherently possess a borderless nature.Yat Siu emphasized that due to previous SEC regulations, American institutions have almost exclusively issued tokens abroad. He suggested attracting foreign crypto companies to invest and build in the U.S. through inclusive tax incentives to create job opportunities, rather than implementing differentiated tax policies solely based on the location of token issuance.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Street, Eric Trump, the son of Trump, recently confirmed that domestic crypto projects in the U.S. such as XRP and HBAR will enjoy a zero capital gains tax in the future, while non-U.S. projects will face a 30% tax rate.At the same time, Senator Ted Cruz plans to challenge a controversial IRS rule using the Congressional Review Act, which requires DeFi brokers to report user data and transaction income. Cruz believes this rule hinders innovation, infringes on privacy, and increases the compliance burden on decentralized platforms.