ChainCatcher news, South Korean regulators are cautious about allowing corporate accounts to engage in cryptocurrency trading, delaying any decisions for further discussion.Kim So-young, the Deputy Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), stated: "The issue of allowing companies to open accounts, which was previously discussed, has been reviewed through extensive discussions in 12 subcommittees and working groups."FSC's Kim mentioned that the policy review process for corporate cryptocurrency trading accounts is nearing completion. "We will report the results soon and take prompt follow-up actions."

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers has confirmed that the company has hired FT Partners as an advisor to evaluate strategic investment opportunities and potential secondary market equity transactions. He emphasized that Deribit is not for sale, but has indeed received interest from multiple strategic investors.Previously, there were reports that the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken had considered acquiring Deribit but did not make a formal offer. It is reported that Deribit's valuation could be between $4 billion and $5 billion or higher.Currently, the bull market in the cryptocurrency market is driving an increase in merger and acquisition activities within the industry, including two significant acquisitions announced this week by Moonpay and Chainalysis.

ChainCatcher news, Web3 infrastructure Startale Group announced the establishment of a new investment department, Startale Ventures, which will primarily invest in the Sony L2 network Soneium and Astar ecosystem projects.In addition to providing funding, it will also offer comprehensive support including marketing, business development, and strategic planning, and will be able to leverage cloud infrastructure such as RPC nodes and account abstraction provided by Startale Cloud Services to enhance Web3 development efficiency.

ChainCatcher news, DWF Labs partner posted on X stating that they are looking for DeFAI projects for investment and support.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitget market data, TREAT opened at $0.156 and is currently priced at $0.029. The current Launchpool on Bitget is now open for investment, with a total prize pool of 87.45 million TREAT. The lock-up period is from January 14, 19:00 to January 17, 19:00 (UTC+8). Details of this round's Launchpool are as follows:BGB Lock-up Pool:Regular user staking limit: 5,000 BGBVIP user staking limit: 30,000 BGBTotal prize pool: 79.5 million TREATUSDT Lock-up Pool (for new users only):Staking limit: 2,000 USDTTotal prize pool: 7.95 million TREAT

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the YieldMax Crypto Industry & Tech Portfolio Option Income ETF will be launched.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, investment management firm Capital Group has become one of the major shareholders of Metaplant, currently holding a 5% stake. It is reported that Capital Group manages $2.3 trillion in assets, while Metaplanet holds 1,762 BTC, making it the fifteenth largest publicly traded company holding Bitcoin.

ChainCatcher news, according to market news, Fidelity Investments has reduced the management fee for the Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the Canadian region. (Jin Shi)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinShares' latest weekly report, the inflow of digital asset investment products slightly increased last week, reaching $48 million. Although the inflow was close to $1 billion in the first half of the week, the release of new macroeconomic data and the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes (indicating that the U.S. economy will strengthen and the Fed's stance will become more hawkish) led to an outflow of $940 million in the second half of the week. This indicates that the honeymoon period after the U.S. elections has ended, and macroeconomic data has once again become the main driver of asset prices.Last week, the total inflow for Bitcoin reached $214 million. Although Bitcoin experienced the largest outflow compared to other digital assets later this week, it remains the best-performing asset, with inflows of $799 million year-to-date. Ethereum suffered the largest losses last week, with an outflow of $256 million, which we believe was due to a broader tech stock sell-off rather than any specific issues with the asset. In contrast, Solana did not experience the same pressure, attracting $15 million in inflows. XRP saw inflows of $41 million last week, primarily driven by political and legal factors, indicating increased optimism ahead of the SEC's appeal deadline on January 15.

ChainCatcher news, Bankless co-founder David Hoffman posted an image on X again (narrated from the perspective of another co-founder, Ryan Adams) in response to the "AICC crash incident."Ryan stated that he and another co-founder of Bankless, David Hoffman, each invested 5 SOL in Aiccelerate in their personal capacities. Additionally, Bankless Ventures invested 2 SOL in the name of the fund, with GP Ben Lakoff being the person in charge of that investment.Afterward, Bankless Ventures sold 8% of the fund's shares (which have now been repurchased). Ryan mentioned that he and David were not aware of the sale, and Ben himself was not familiar with the situation at Aiccelerate; the sale was merely based on trading considerations. This was a huge mistake, and it was the first time such a situation occurred, which made Ben very upset.Ryan finally clarified once again that he and David have never sold their personal shares.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, in 2024, U.S. AI startup funding reached $97 billion, accounting for nearly half of the total annual startup funding, setting a new record.Several companies, including xAI and OpenAI, completed billions of dollars in funding, driving this growth. Global AI investment accounted for 35.7% of total venture capital. Meanwhile, startup funding in Europe and Asia fell to $61.6 billion and $75.9 billion, respectively, indicating that resources are increasingly concentrated in the AI sector.

According to ChainCatcher news, the AI-driven Web3 social platform Metya has announced the completion of a new round of financing, with investors including TIDO Capital, Candaq Ventures, and Oasis Labs.Metya is an innovative Web3 platform that integrates DePIN infrastructure, AI Agent technology, and on-chain social protocols. By combining AI and blockchain technology, the platform offers personalized social experiences and value-driven interactions. The upcoming AI Agent feature will further enhance the intelligence and fun of user interactions on-chain.This financing will be used to optimize DePIN network deployment, advance the application of AI Agent technology, and expand social ecosystem development. It is worth mentioning that Metya's token $MET will have its TGE on January 15, attracting significant market attention.

ChainCatcher news, last year the video sharing platform and cloud service provider Rumble, which received approximately $775 million investment from Tether, reached a cloud service agreement with the Salvadoran government to provide cloud storage (object and block storage), cloud computing, databases, load balancers, and Kubernetes integration services.In December last year, it was reported that Tether made a strategic investment of $775 million in the YouTube alternative platform Rumble.

ChainCatcher news, aimed at accelerating the integration of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI), the new decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) Aiccelerate posted on X around 1 AM: "We have noted the community's questions and concerns, and we hope to address these issues directly. Transparency and trust are at the core of our values, and we are fully committed to building lasting products rather than seeking quick wins. To reinforce this commitment:The core team will implement a vesting structure for individuals and is in discussions with advisors to execute the same, ensuring alignment with the long-term success of the DAO;We are working on developing the first AI agent (Research Agent) and creating the architecture to support a broader vision, with more information to be shared in the coming weeks;We want to reiterate that 100% of the DAO treasury funds will be used for DAO investments and the community.We will persist in the long term, and please stay tuned for further updates."

According to ChainCatcher news, a recent report by Bitwise and VettaFi indicates that the outcome of the 2024 U.S. elections may affect cryptocurrency investment sentiment. This year, 56% of financial advisors are more inclined to invest in cryptocurrencies, and client interest has also significantly increased.The survey shows that 96% of advisors received inquiries from clients about cryptocurrencies in 2024, up from 88% in 2023. The proportion of advisors allocating cryptocurrencies increased from 11% in 2023 to 22%, with institutional investors (30%) and registered investment advisors (28%) being the most active.The percentage of clients independently investing in cryptocurrencies has also risen to 71%, up from 59% in 2023. Additionally, 19% of advisors who have not yet invested plan to enter this field by 2025, while 99% of advisors who have invested will maintain or increase their investments. The report indicates that as prices rise and regulatory transparency improves, cryptocurrencies are gaining broader attention and adoption.