Month: January 2026

Ethereum AI Agent Standard ERC-8004 Launches This Week

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An Ethereum smart contract standard enabling trustless artificial intelligence agent communication on the network is “probably” going to be deployed on mainnet on Thursday, according to Marco De Rossi, head of AI at MetaMask. Further development of ERC-8004 has been “frozen […] and we will go to mainnet midweek, probably around Thursday, 9 AM ET,” said De Rossi on a Telegram channel for developers of the protocol on Monday.  On Tuesday, the official Ethereum X account said the protocol is going live on mainnet “soon.”  “By enabling discovery and portable…

Ethereum Price Breaks Back To $3K As Traders Question Follow-Through

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Ethereum price started a recovery wave from the $2,800 zone. ETH is now trading near $3,000 and might aim for more gains if it clears $3,050. Ethereum managed to stay above $2,850 and started a recovery wave. The price is trading above $2,950 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. There is a bullish trend line forming with support at $2,970 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). The pair could start a fresh increase if it stays above the $2,880 zone. Ethereum Price Starts Recovery Ethereum price…

4 in 10 US Merchants Now Accept Crypto: PayPal

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Almost four in ten US merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout as customers have shown increasing interest in crypto for payments, according to a recent survey report from PayPal. Nearly nine in ten US merchants stated that they’ve received customer inquiries about crypto payments, PayPal reported on Tuesday, citing data from a National Cryptocurrency Association survey. The survey was conducted in October, with 619 payment-strategy decision-makers across several industries taking part.  “What we’re seeing both in this data and in conversations with our customers is that crypto payments are moving…

Rodeo Announces Closure, Becoming The Second NFT Marketplace This Week

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Social NFT marketplace Rodeo has become the second NFT platform this week to announce its closure amid a tough market climate for nonfungible tokens. Rodeo launched via Apple’s iOS store in March last year and was designed to be a social-media-focused NFT collecting platform, with an emphasis on creators getting rewarded for posting over purely buying and selling NFTs.  It utilized complex crypto and blockchain features to make it simple for mainstream users.  However, Rodeo CEO and co-founder Kayvon Tehranian said in an X post on Tuesday that the platform…

SoftBank aims for additional $30B investment in AI expansion at OpenAI

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SoftBank strengthens its stake in cutting-edge AI innovation with major new investment in OpenAI. SoftBank is in talks to invest up to $30 billion more in OpenAI, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The Japanese technology investment firm already holds approximately 11% of OpenAI following a $22.5 billion investment in December 2025. The additional funding under discussion would further cement SoftBank’s position as one of the largest shareholders in the AI developer. OpenAI is seeking to raise as much as $100 billion in total new funding, which could value…

Bitcoin Bears Hold Advantage In Friday’s $10.8B Options Expiry

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Key takeaways: Bearish options strategies maintain an edge unless Bitcoin secures a decisive price breakout above 90,000. Traders are using $100,000 call (buy) options as income tools rather than direct bets on a massive Bitcoin rally. Bitcoin (BTC) has rebounded multiple times from the $87,000 level over the past two months, but traders remain skeptical about a decisive breakout above $95,000. Friday’s upcoming $10.8 billion BTC options expiry represents a pivotal moment for bulls, especially as call (buy) options dominate overall market interest. The aggregate $6.6 billion in call options…

Bitcoin Price Marches Upward, But $90K Could Decide The Next Act

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Bitcoin price started a recovery wave above $88,000. BTC is slowly moving higher and might rise further if it clears $89,600. Bitcoin started a minor recovery wave above the $88,000 level. The price is trading above $88,500 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There is a rising channel forming with resistance at $89,600 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair might recover further if it manages to settle above $89,600 and $90,000. Bitcoin Price Starts Recovery Bitcoin price remained stable above the…

Crypto Must Be Indispensable if Bill Fails to Pass: Bitwise

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The crypto industry will need to become ingrained in everyday life in the US should Congress fail to pass a crypto market structure bill, or risk being set back by a change in administration, says Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan. Hougan said in a note on Monday that legislation making its way through the Senate to clarify how regulators police crypto “would cement the current pro-crypto regulatory environment into law.” If the bill fails, Hougan said a future administration “could reverse today’s pro-crypto push,” and the industry will have three…

Morgan Stanley Appoints Head of Digital Asset Strategy

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Morgan Stanley has tapped veteran executive Amy Oldenburg to lead the investment bank’s new crypto unit, just weeks after announcing plans to launch three crypto exchange-traded funds and a crypto wallet. Oldenburg will transition to head of digital asset strategy after working in Morgan Stanley’s emerging markets equity team since 2001, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. Oldenburg has been leading the emerging markets team since November 2021, where she was tasked with driving the division’s digital asset strategy. Job listings on LinkedIn show the $2 trillion investment bank is also looking…

OpenAI launches Prism, a free LaTeX-native AI workspace powered by GPT‑5.2

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OpenAI has launched Prism, a free AI-native workspace designed to modernize how scientists write, revise, and collaborate on research. Powered by GPT-5.2, the cloud-based platform integrates AI directly into scientific workflows through a LaTeX-native environment. The tool consolidates fragmented research tasks, including drafting papers, managing citations, formatting equations, and coordinating across teams, into a unified platform. Researchers can collaborate in real time with unlimited contributors, search and cite academic literature, convert handwritten equations into LaTeX, and revise manuscripts without switching tools. Prism builds on Crixet, a cloud-based LaTeX platform acquired…