加密城市 Crypto City

Grayscale launched the Ethereum ETHE Trust Fund, providing investors with an additional channel to participate in the ETH market. However, how does investing through the trust fund compare to directly purchasing ETH for staking in terms of structure, returns, and risks? Which method is more suitable for oneself? This article compares the differences between 'directly holding ETH' and 'investing in the Grayscale Ethereum ETHE Trust Fund' from three perspectives: product design, sources of returns, and risk conditions, to assist investors in making a reference.

Image source: Grayscale

What is Grayscale ETHE? How to generate staking rewards?

According to the official announcement, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) has been renamed to the Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF, providing investment opportunities in Ethereum through third-party brokerage accounts (such as Robinhood, Fidelity, Interactive Broker, and other exchanges) and allocating accumulated staking rewards to investors. This fund is the first exchange-traded product for Ethereum that allocates staking rewards, and it is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (commonly referred to as the 40 Act), thus it is not subject to the same regulations and protections as ETFs and mutual funds registered under the 40 Act. Investment involves risks, including the potential loss of principal. Staking rewards are not guaranteed.

The market value of stablecoins has shrunk, and market funds are fleeing to gold.

Recently, the precious metals market has risen sharply, while the cryptocurrency market is like a stagnant pond. The blockchain analysis platform Santiment has observed clues from the data, as in the last 10 days, the total market value of stablecoins has significantly decreased by 2.24 billion dollars, which indicates that funds are gradually withdrawing from the cryptocurrency ecosystem, potentially delaying the market's recovery timeline.

Santiment pointed out that most of the outflowing funds have already shifted to traditional safe-haven assets such as gold and silver, driving precious metal prices to new highs, while Bitcoin, the overall cryptocurrency market, and the market value of stablecoins have shown a correction.

According to (Nikkei Asia) reports, Japan is expected to welcome its first cryptocurrency ETFs by 2028. The report indicates that the traditionally conservative Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan is planning to include cryptocurrencies in the category of investable assets for ETFs, while also implementing stricter investor protection measures.

(Nikkei Asia) points out that Japan's two major financial giants—Nomura Holdings and SBI Holdings—are expected to be the first to launch cryptocurrency ETFs on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE).

This move by Japan is clearly inspired by the tremendous success of the U.S. cryptocurrency ETF market. Since its launch, the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF has shown impressive capital attraction, with its net asset size reaching $115.8 billion, accounting for about 6.5% of Bitcoin's total market value.

Gold breaks through $5,100, aiming for $6,000

Gold prices broke above $5,100 per ounce on Monday, US time, setting a new historical high. This surge mainly reflects the structural rise in global geopolitical risks, including the escalating tensions from Greenland and Venezuela to the Middle East, further reinforcing gold's role as a safe-haven asset.

Regarding the future of gold prices, Societe Generale predicts that gold will reach $6,000 per ounce by the end of this year, emphasizing that this may only be a conservative estimate, with further potential for increases in the future; meanwhile, Morgan Stanley also stated that this surge may continue, providing a target price of $5,700 per ounce.

Transitioning from price tracking to asset utility, BlackRock officially submitted the BITP application documents

The world's largest asset management company BlackRock is once again leading the wave of financialization of digital assets. According to the latest disclosed regulatory documents, BlackRock submitted an S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 23, 2026, planning to launch a new investment tool called 'iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF' (tentatively coded as BITP). This is taking the cryptocurrency ETF market from simple price tracking to a new stage pursuing 'asset utility' and 'stable cash flow.' Since the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF in early 2024, BlackRock's IBIT has become the market leader, with its assets under management (AUM) surpassing 70.24 billion by mid-January 2026, firmly holding the top spot in the global digital asset ETP market.

Hideo Kojima clarifies: Metal Gear Solid 2 is not about AI prophecy

(Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty) is often regarded as a classic game predicting the AI era, but that's not the truth. Producer Hideo Kojima recently clarified on WIRED that Metal Gear Solid 2 is not about AI, but about the digital society.

During the program, a fan asked Hideo Kojima: "The idea of AI ruling society seems to be gradually becoming a reality. Metal Gear Solid 2 was seen as a work touching on this issue at the time; did you predict that this era would come?"

UBS enters the digital asset space, targeting Switzerland's top private banking clients

According to a report by Bloomberg, UBS Group AG, the world's largest wealth management institution, is planning to launch cryptocurrency trading services for some of its private banking clients. The Swiss banking giant currently manages assets totaling up to $4.7 trillion to $6.6 trillion. According to informed sources, UBS has conducted months of internal discussions regarding this proposal and is in the process of selecting external partners to establish a comprehensive trading and custody process.

From peak to exit, the old NFT platform officially enters the countdown

Once regarded as one of the representatives of the NFT wave, Nifty Gateway officially announced on Saturday (1/24) that the platform will cease operations entirely on February 23, 2026. The platform has already entered 'withdrawal only' mode, and users can no longer conduct transactions or list works, only transferring NFTs, Ether ($ETH), or dollar assets from their accounts before the deadline.

According to the official announcement, users can choose to transfer assets to their Gemini exchange accounts or withdraw directly to their bank accounts via Stripe. The platform has also displayed a shutdown notice on its homepage and has been sending emails to remind users still holding assets to complete the transfer process as soon as possible to avoid facing processing risks after the deadline.

Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger is reported to be evaluating the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO), with the NYSE New York Stock Exchange listed as a potential listing location. If the plan goes ahead, the company's valuation could reach $4 billion, but the related timeline and arrangements are still undecided.

Could go public as early as 2026? Ledger is still in the preliminary planning stage.

According to reports from the Financial Times citing informed sources, Ledger is assessing the feasibility of an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange, which could be completed as early as late 2026. Currently, the related planning is still in the preliminary discussion stage, and the listing schedule, location, and structure may change due to market conditions or adjustments in company strategy. A final decision has not yet been made. Ledger has not publicly responded to specific details.

Showing off becomes a flaw, private recording reveals evidence of wallet control

On-chain investigator ZachXBT revealed last Friday (1/23) a major cryptocurrency fund flow event exposed due to a 'showing off mistake'. The incident was triggered by a leaked private recording from the end of 2025, which showed a threat actor claiming to be 'John' arguing with another hacker in a group chat and engaging in so-called 'band for band' asset comparison behavior. During the process, John directly shared his screen, displaying the real-time balances of multiple cryptocurrency wallets, effectively providing evidence of wallet control.

Is the U.S. government going to shut down again? Market predicts a 76% chance

Is the U.S. government going to shut down again? Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer clearly stated that unless funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is removed from the spending bill, Democrats will block its passage, significantly increasing the risk of a partial government shutdown.

This controversy stems from an incident last Saturday when federal agents shot a man in Minneapolis, prompting Democrats to call for reforms in the Department of Homeland Security. Schumer emphasized that, due to the Republicans' refusal to address the abuse of police powers, the bill is severely inadequate, and he will vote against it.

The AI character replacement videos that are currently going viral on social media have amazed everyone with their facial detail and body fluidity, making people wonder what is real on the internet. In the past, technologies like 'Video-to-Video' often required high-end computers and complex code, but now you can easily achieve it by just opening a browser and using many affordable or even free tools available on the market.

This article is based on the previous article on X that garnered 1.7 million views, introducing the current strongest AI video generation and recommendation models, as well as key prompt techniques. Welcome to try it out.

(Goodnight Bubu) Asano Ichinichi O Chat AI

Generative AI is rapidly impacting the creative field, causing anxiety among creators. The author of the acclaimed 'depressing classic manga' (Goodnight Bubu), Asano Ichinichi O, recently posted: 'The more you understand AI, the more you can feel that 'interesting' and 'boring' can coexist,' and lamented: 'Will I still be able to draw manga next year?'

Image source: X (Goodnight Bubu) Asano Ichinichi O Chat AI

In response to a question from netizens about whether AI finds it difficult to imitate his unique drawing style, Asano candidly admitted that AI is actually good at mimicking the styles of highly skilled artists, but he believes that his unique creative quirks are still hard to fully replicate.

Coinbase's industry report in January (From the Unbanked to the Unbrokered: Unlocking Wealth Creation for the World) delves into the core issues of global wealth inequality. The report points out that the key to accumulating wealth in today's society is no longer determined by income levels, but rather by the barriers to entering the capital markets. Coinbase believes that achieving 'asset tokenization' through blockchain technology will be the key turning point to break down this high wall, enabling billions of people worldwide to transition from mere 'depositors' to 'investors'.

From 'unbanked' to 'unbrokered', how does blockchain liberate the wealth freedom of 4 billion people worldwide?

Do you believe in the power of time? A Threads user born in 1982, mr_ntmy, has been executing the plan to "buy one share of TSMC every day before getting a girlfriend" since June 2024. So far, it has been 577 days, and with additional reasons for increasing his holdings, he currently holds 913 shares of TSMC. On the 557th day of his regular investment in TSMC, he shared a screenshot showing his TSMC stock position exceeding 1.36 million TWD, with a cumulative return rate of 42.31%, and paper profits reaching 404,000 TWD.

A netizen born in 1982 is executing the plan to "buy one share of TSMC every day before getting a girlfriend."

This netizen started a plan in June 2024 to "buy one share of TSMC every day before getting a girlfriend," and has been posting about it on the Threads platform since then. Each month, he also motivates himself to buy an additional 10 shares and has actively increased his holdings for reasons such as winning gold at the Olympics. He states that he was born in 1982 and runs a livestock business in Tainan.

Alex Honnold free climbs Taipei 101, Netflix live on 1/24

Recently, the Taiwanese community has been buzzing about Netflix's special program (Free Solo Taipei 101: Live) launching on 1/24 at 9 AM, where legendary climber Alex Honnold challenges himself to free climb one of the tallest buildings in the world, Taipei 101. Recently, people have captured footage of him preparing for the climb, and it seems he is getting fully ready.

Honnold's challenge to climb Taipei 101 this time is different from the previously recorded documentary; he will undertake a fully live climbing challenge without ropes, safety nets, and without the chance to redo it.

On-chain data shows abnormal capital flow, HOYA BIT confirms hot wallet was attacked

Early this morning, an on-chain analyst on Threads observed that a set of wallet addresses related to a specific exchange (address starting with: 0xBA5cfbc) exhibited abnormal activity, with a drastic drop in fund balance in a very short period, suspected to be under attack, with a total of 147 transactions continuously transferred, amounting to approximately 1,000,000 USD, raising community concerns about the security of the exchange.

Source: Arkham on-chain data shows abnormal capital flow, HOYA BIT confirms hot wallet was attacked

In response to community concerns, Taiwan's cryptocurrency exchange HOYA BIT confirmed this morning that it indeed discovered abnormal withdrawals of certain hot wallet assets during yesterday's routine operations. The official emphasized that this attack only involved the platform's own assets within the hot wallet and does not affect the security of user assets.

YouTube Shorts has a daily view count of 200 billion, officially making short videos the core of traffic.

Short videos have become the main battlefield for global content platforms. YouTube recently revealed that the daily views of its short video product Shorts have surged to 200 billion, indicating that short content is fundamentally rewriting users' viewing behaviors and creators' business models. This number not only highlights the importance of Shorts on the platform but also signifies that YouTube is gradually narrowing the gap with other short video platforms in terms of usage duration and interaction density.

Source: YouTube The daily views of YouTube's short video product Shorts have surged to 200 billion.

Bitmine Immersion (stock code: BMNR), the listed company with the most Ethereum globally, announced that it increased its holdings by purchasing another 35,268 Ethereum last week, officially surpassing a total of 4.2 million coins.

According to the statement, as of January 30, Bitmine held a total of 4,203,036 Ethereum, valued at approximately 12.8 billion USD, accounting for 3.5% of the total circulating supply of Ethereum.

In addition to Ethereum, Bitmine also holds 193 Bitcoins, equity in Eightco valued at 22 million USD, and 979 million USD in cash, with total assets approximately 14.5 billion USD.

On the other hand, Bitmine has currently staked 1.83 million Ethereum, an increase of 580,000 from the previous week, accounting for about 43% of the total holdings. Chairman Tom Lee stated that Bitmine is the single entity with the most staked Ethereum globally, and once fully deployed, it is expected to generate more than 370 million USD in staking rewards annually.

Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ) discussed the risks of the cryptocurrency industry, the slower-than-expected progress in payments, the high speculation of meme assets, and the fundamental issues of global regulatory fragmentation at the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) 'New Era for Finance' forum. He emphasized that technological acceleration will not bring more risks, but will expose problems faster, and that the design of traditional banks is the real 'structural weakness' in the financial system.

Payment progress is slower than expected: promoted for ten years but still not mature.

CZ admitted that despite promoting cryptocurrency payments for the past decade, it has not yet become mainstream. 'If you had asked me ten years ago, I would have promoted Bitcoin payments; ten years later, we still haven't really achieved that.'