Coin Telegraph

HashKey claims it has no connections to the suspicious links added to the SFC's list.

Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) flagged 33 additional suspicious websites masquerading as HashKey, one of the city’s licensed cryptocurrency trading platforms, taking the total number of identified impersonators to 45.

HashKey, the second exchange to obtain a crypto license from the SFC in November 2022, reported the suspicious links. The exchange said that the fraudulent websites slightly altered official links associated with the exchange to mislead its clients.

“HashKey Exchange declares that it has no connection with the aforementioned fraudulent websites,” it said in a notice to its clients.

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AI DAO ai16z has rebranded to ElizaOS, distancing itself from name confusion with Andreessen Horowitz.

AI decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) ai16z has changed its name to ElizaOS following concerns from tech venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) over brand confusion.

The rebrand was announced on Jan. 28 by Eliza Labs founder Shaw Walters.

“As we continue to expand across multiple countries, develop our core technology, and foster an incredible community of builders, we are implementing a comprehensive rebranding initiative to ElizaOS,” Walters wrote on X.

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Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission has issued two new crypto trading platform licenses, bringing the total to seven since mid-2024.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong issued the first set of operational licenses of 2025 to two crypto trading platforms. The regulator has issued seven crypto licenses in total since it started a licensing drive in mid-2024.

On Jan. 27, the SFC awarded operational licenses to two Hong Kong-based crypto exchanges — PantherTrade and YAX. According to public records maintained by the Hong Kong government, both entities were registered under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO).

List of virtual asset trading platforms licensed by Hong Kong SFC. Source: HKSFC

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The Czech National Bank may invest up to 5% of its reserves in Bitcoin, potentially acquiring $7.3 billion in BTC as part of its diversification strategy.

The Czech National Bank (CNB) may become the first European central bank to invest in Bitcoin as part of its diversification strategy for the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

CNB Governor Aleš Michl is set to present his Bitcoin (BTC) acquisition plan to the bank’s board meeting on Jan. 30, he told the Financial Times.

If approved, the investment may amount to over $7.3 billion in Bitcoin purchases, given the CNB’s total reserves of more than $146 billion, according to André Dragosch, head of research at Bitwise.

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Crypto.com will delist USDT and nine other tokens in Europe on Jan. 31 to comply with MiCA regulations, giving users until March 31 to convert assets.

Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com is among the first platforms to announce the delisting of Tether’s USDt and nine other tokens in Europe following the implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework.

Crypto.com will suspend purchases of Tether USDt (USDT) along with nine other tokens in line with Europe’s MiCA regulations on Jan. 31, a spokesperson for the exchange confirmed to Cointelegraph on Jan. 29.

After disabling deposits, the exchange will continue to support withdrawals for the affected tokens until the end of the first quarter of 2025, with full delisting scheduled for March 31.

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Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed Howard Lutnick, Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Department of Commerce, over his ties and interest in stablecoin issuer Tether.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren has pressed US President Donald Trump’s Commerce Secretary pick, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, over his investment firm’s connection with stablecoin issuer Tether.

In a Jan. 27 letter, Warren said she has “serious concern” about Lutnick’s “deep involvement with and support for Tether, a known facilitator of criminal activity that has been described as ‘outlaws’ favorite cryptocurrency.’”

“While you have agreed to divest your interest in Cantor Fitzgerald, which holds a 5% stake in Tether, and serves as Tether’s asset manager, this divestment does not end the questions about your deep personal ties to the company or its affiliates,” wrote Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee. 

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Bitcoin’s pullback slightly increased the chance of it hitting $75,000 in the first quarter of the year, but the likelihood is still under 10%, says Derive’s Sean Dawson.

Bitcoin has a slight chance of dropping nearly 26% in the first quarter of 2025 to around $75,000, a crypto analyst says — but other crypto commentators are less confident about a fall.

Derive head of research Dr. Sean Dawson said in a Jan. 28 markets report viewed by Cointelegraph that the probability of Bitcoin (BTC) falling below $75,000 by March “has risen to 9.2%, up from 7.2% in the last 24 hours.” 

Still, Bitcoin (BTC) moving closer to $100,000 has slightly bumped that probability.

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Security researchers at Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, detected suspicious data extraction from the firm’s API in the fall of 2024, Bloomberg reported.

Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly investigating whether data from the artificial intelligence firm’s tech stack was improperly obtained by a group linked to Chinese AI startup DeepSeek.

Microsoft security researchers detected suspicious large-scale data extraction through OpenAI’s application programming interface (API) in late 2024, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 29, citing people familiar with the matter.

Microsoft, OpenAI’s largest investor, notified the firm of the activity, which could violate the ChatGPT maker’s terms of service or could mean the group removed restrictions on how much data they could gather.

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The bill now needs to pass by majority vote in Utah’s House and Senate before being approved by state governor Spencer Cox, who appears to be pro-crypto.

A Utah House committee has passed a bill that would allow the state to invest a portion of public funds into crypto, with the measure now heading to the House for a vote.

The Utah House Economic Development Committee passed HB 230, the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments, by an 8-1 vote on Jan. 28.

Utah Representative Jordan Teuscher proposed the bill on Jan. 21. It would give the state’s treasurer authority to allocate up to 5% of certain public funds to buy “qualifying digital assets,” such as those with a market capitalization over $500 billion or approved stablecoins.

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Cboe BZX Exchange made multiple refilings for Solana ETFs on behalf of fund issuers that the Securities and Exchange Commission knocked back last year.

Cboe BZX Exchange has resubmitted filings on behalf of four asset managers looking to list a spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US this year.

The exchange refiled 19b-4 filings for spot Solana (SOL) ETFs from Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital on Jan. 28 after the Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly rejected the applications late last year.

The refreshed filings effectively restart the SEC’s review process under the regulator’s new, more crypto-friendly acting chair, Mark Uyeda.

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