ChainCatcher news, according to Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett, U.S. House Republican Whip Tom Emmer and Congressman Ritchie Torres are joining forces to establish the Congressional Crypto Caucus, a bipartisan initiative aimed at promoting crypto-friendly policies in the House.Unlike the Congressional Blockchain Caucus established in 2017, this caucus will operate more as a voting bloc, mobilizing support for the digital asset legislation (including stablecoin and market structure bills) being developed in the House. Congressman Emmer stated that the formation of this caucus is in response to millions of American voters supporting candidates who prioritize the development of digital assets and blockchain technology in the November elections.

ChainCatcher news, the prediction market Polymarket data shows that the probability of the United States establishing a national Bitcoin reserve by 2025 has surged to 62%. This sudden spike occurred after Trump expressed support for establishing a cryptocurrency strategic reserve. The trading volume of this prediction contract has reached $979,994, with a deadline of December 31, 2025.

ChainCatcher news, Trump's recent comments on cryptocurrency reserves have influenced the likelihood of "Establishing a strategic Bitcoin reserve within 100 days of Trump's presidency" on Polymarket, which has risen to 22%, with a betting amount of around $7.74 million.Previously, on January 20, the day Trump was sworn in as president, the likelihood of this bet had once risen to 48%.

ChainCatcher news, according to the prediction market Polymarket data, the probability of the Solana ETF being approved in 2025 is currently reported at 85%, and the total trading volume of the prediction contract is $88,177.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Pi Network responded to Bybit CEO Ben Zhou's controversy questioning its legitimacy. Previously, an X account claiming to be the "unofficial technical team" of Pi Network stated that the project rejected Bybit's listing proposal, and Zhou subsequently accused Pi Network of being a "scam," citing warnings from Chinese authorities.Pi Network told Cointelegraph that it is not associated with the X account and confirmed that Bybit has never submitted a Know Your Business (KYB) verification request. Regarding the warning from Chinese police, Pi Network clarified that the related incident involved malicious actors impersonating the project, rather than the company itself.In response to the user count controversy, Pi Network explained that the 60 million users it promotes are app users, while the 10.8 million users shown on the blockchain explorer are the number of users who have created wallets on the mainnet.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Bitcoin (BTC) fell below the 200-day simple moving average during the Asian trading session on Friday, with a weekly decline expanding to 16%. Driven by renewed concerns over U.S. tariff policies, which increased demand for the dollar, Bitcoin's price briefly dropped below the $80,000 mark for the first time since November 10.U.S. President Trump announced on Thursday plans to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting March 4, while also doubling the 10% general tariff on Chinese imports. In a client report released on Thursday, ING stated, "We expect U.S. tariffs to regain focus and drive the dollar to continue strengthening." The dollar index rose to 107.30, continuing the rebound from a low near 106.15 on Wednesday.

ChainCatcher news, the IEEE P3220.02 working group meeting led by the decentralized data infrastructure CESS Network was successfully held. During this meeting, the working group completed the final confirmation of the privacy policy, ensuring compliance in the standards and standard-setting process. The working group further advanced the framework for decentralized data solutions, focusing on how to achieve scalable and secure data management, laying a solid foundation for the standardization of decentralized storage.It is reported that IEEE P3220.02, proposed and led by CESS, is the first industry standard for decentralized storage protocols, which will promote the normalization and application of decentralized storage technology globally. The working group members include experts and corporate representatives from major industries such as State Grid, Southern Power Grid, Shutu, China Aviation Information, Inspur, Qulian, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, IoTeX, among others. CESS co-founder Joseph Li serves as the chair of this working group.

ChainCatcher news, Optimum announced the completion of its angel round financing, with investors including the CTO of Polychain, the founder of DeFiance Capital, the CEO of Bitget, the co-founder of Wormhole, the co-founder of Polygon, and managing partners from Jump Crypto, among other well-known figures in Web3.Optimum was co-founded by Professor Muriel Médard, the NEC Chair of the MIT Department of Computer Science, Dr. Kishori Konwar, and Kent Lin, the president of the Harvard Blockchain Association, based on MIT's research achievements in Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC), creating the world's first full-chain scalability solution—high-performance memory for the World Computer.Optimum provides high-performance memory infrastructure for L1/L2 blockchains and node operators, including a P2P data communication layer and a decentralized memory layer (deRAM), breaking through the scalability bottleneck of blockchain to achieve fast data transmission, efficient storage, and real-time access. The financing will be used to accelerate product development and bring infrastructure upgrades to the Web3 ecosystem.

ChainCatcher message, Ethereum Foundation protocol support lead Tim Beiko updated on X about the issues with the Holesky testnet Pectra upgrade.Beiko stated that a large-scale slash will be executed on the Holesky testnet tonight to finalize the blocks on the correct chain, which may last for 2 to 3 weeks until the weight of the slashed validators drops below 33% of the entire network.Beiko also mentioned that the upgrade schedule for the Sepolia testnet will not change, in order to provide a longer testing period for the mainnet upgrade. Issues related to the mainnet upgrade will be discussed at next week's ACDC meeting, but it is unlikely that a specific date will be determined.

ChainCatcher News, SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce issued a statement saying that the SEC has officially withdrawn its civil enforcement action against Coinbase and will not take further action in this case. Peirce made it clear that she has never supported the case and criticized the SEC's previous reliance on enforcement actions to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, arguing that it harms the public interest in the United States, hinders industry development, and obstructs the normal functions of the SEC's professional policy team.Peirce pointed out that the SEC's broad application of the Howey test has led to regulatory ambiguity, making it difficult for compliant businesses to operate, while wrongdoers exploit regulatory gray areas to evade legal responsibilities. Furthermore, due to the lack of a clear regulatory framework, many cryptocurrency companies are forced to spend significant resources on legal defenses rather than on product innovation. She believes that the SEC's previous approach of making policy through enforcement not only misleads the industry but also prevents the policy team from effectively participating in the formulation of industry rules.She emphasized that the current SEC has established a "Crypto Task Force," empowering the policy team to take the lead in collaborating with the public to develop a regulatory framework applicable to the cryptocurrency industry. This withdrawal of the lawsuit does not mean that the SEC is abandoning enforcement; rather, it indicates that future regulation will focus on policy-making rather than solely relying on enforcement actions.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao sent a letter to the new U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, expressing China's concerns regarding the U.S. tariffs on Chinese products exported to the U.S.Wang Wentao emphasized that recently, the U.S. imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese products under the pretext of issues such as fentanyl. China firmly opposes this and has taken corresponding countermeasures, which is a necessary step to protect China's legitimate rights and interests.Wang Wentao stated that China also noted that President Trump signed the "America First" trade policy memorandum on January 20, which includes several investigations targeting China. He hopes that the U.S. will conduct assessment investigations with an objective, rational, and professional attitude, and increase transparency. It is normal for there to be differences between China and the U.S. in the economic and trade fields, and these concerns should be resolved through equal dialogue and consultation.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Pakistan will establish a national cryptocurrency committee responsible for legislating the industry. This decision was made after a meeting with President Donald Trump's digital asset advisors.The committee will be a dedicated advisory body composed of government representatives, regulators, and industry experts. The committee will be responsible for formulating regulatory policies and collaborating with other countries to promote the establishment of standardized frameworks, the Pakistani Ministry of Finance stated.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the autonomous Star Polaris in the Sky (formerly MakerDAO) ecosystem agent framework (Agent Framework) will connect with Berachain, with the initial focus on expanding Sky's stablecoin USDS across chains, which means USDS holders can participate in Berachain's DeFi products, such as lending, trading, or liquidity mining. Most of Sky's infrastructure (including the Sky protocol) is still running on Ethereum.

ChainCatcher news, according to Hong Kong media Ming Pao, Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan stated during the announcement of the "Budget" that a second virtual asset policy declaration is set to be published. Sources indicate that the declaration is expected to be released in the second quarter. The new policy declaration will increase the emphasis on market development and better balance development and regulation. Additionally, the scope of the policy document will be broader, not only involving individual departments such as the Securities and Futures Commission or the Monetary Authority, and there is no intention for a single agency to regulate virtual assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, U.S. Treasury investors are beginning to bet that the Federal Reserve's policy focus will shift from curbing inflation to addressing the slowdown in economic growth. Under this expectation, U.S. Treasuries have risen for six consecutive trading days, with yields falling to their lowest level of the year.Morgan Stanley strategists indicate that if the market's expectations for Federal Reserve policy shift slightly, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield could potentially fall below 4%. Currently, traders have resumed expectations for two rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year (each by 25 basis points) and anticipate further cuts next year to around 3.65%. The bank believes that if market expectations for rates drop to 3.25%, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield could fall below 4%.Recently, U.S. Treasury auctions have performed strongly, with Wednesday's auction of $44 billion in seven-year Treasuries yielding 4.194%, lower than the pre-auction market close of 4.203%, indicating demand exceeded expectations. Analysts point out that investors see reasons for rate cuts not only from economic growth indicators but also from U.S. fiscal and immigration policies, including Trump's threats to impose tariffs on major trading partners.So far this year, U.S. Treasuries have risen 2.3%, surpassing the S&P 500 index's increase of 1.3%. The personal consumption expenditures price index for January, to be released on Friday, may become a key data point influencing market expectations.