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Guest: Jan Liphardt, Founder of OpenMind

Interview organized by: momo, ChainCatcher



After decades of engaging in research and teaching at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, Jan Liphardt, associate professor of physics and bioengineering, keenly observed that a profound structural transformation is occurring in the field of robotics.

On one hand, robots are accelerating from laboratories and factories into real-world scenarios, but their 'brains' remain trapped in a fragmented and closed state, with over 150 hardware manufacturers fighting their own battles, mainstream software still stuck at the mechanical control level, making it difficult for systems to collaborate, let alone achieving natural interaction between machines and humans or even value exchange between machines.

ChainCatcher message, Vitalik Buterin recently wrote that he no longer fully agrees with the old view that blockchain 'only records transaction order and does not commit to state,' and explained the reasons for the change in perspective.

Vitalik pointed out that the early opposition to this concept was primarily because if the chain does not commit to state, ordinary users either must fully validate all transactions from the genesis block or be forced to trust a single third-party service provider, both of which are not ideal choices. In contrast, designs like Ethereum, which commit to state roots in the block header, allow for the verification of any state through Merkle proofs under the assumption of 'majority honesty,' making it more feasible. He emphasized that the real change in trade-offs is due to the development of zero-knowledge technologies like ZK-SNARKs, which make it possible to verify correctness on the chain without re-executing all transactions, thus 'achieving both security and scalability.'

ChainCatcher message, according to Cointelegraph, due to the impact of the winter storm 'Fern' in the United States, Foundry USA's Bitcoin mining pool has reduced its hash rate by about 60% since last Friday. Data shows that its hash rate has decreased to nearly 200 EH/s, currently controlling about 198 EH/s of hash rate, accounting for 23% of the global pool's total hash rate. This reduction has led to a temporary block time extension to about 12 minutes.

This storm has swept across many parts of the United States, causing over a million residents to lose power. Other mining pools serving U.S. users, including Luxor, have also implemented hash rate reductions to alleviate pressure on the electrical grid infrastructure. Bitcoin miners can act as controllable load resources, shutting down during peak grid demand and starting up during low demand, thus helping to balance the grid load. The current storm is affecting parts of the southeastern, northeastern, and midwestern United States.

整理：ChainCatcher

Important News:

Galaxy Research Director: Key hearings on cryptocurrency market structure legislation will take place next week, and bipartisan lawmakers may propose amendments.

Data: Bitcoin spot ETF experienced a net outflow of $1.33 billion this week, marking the second-highest in history.

VanEck Avalanche spot ETF will be listed on NASDAQ.

Zhao Changpeng: Memoir may be published at the end of February or early March.

Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again, may disclose increased holdings data next week.

Space public sale refund details: total amount $12.3 million, with the top 5% of participants refunded 11% to 21%.

Original Title: Wall Street Pulls Back From Bitcoin's Money-Spinning Basis Trade
Original Author: Sidhartha Shukla, Bloomberg
Translation by: Peggy, BlockBeats

Editor’s Note: What was once seen as a 'sure-win' Bitcoin basis arbitrage is quietly losing its allure: The open interest of CME and Binance is shifting, and the price difference has narrowed to the point where it almost cannot cover the capital and execution costs.

Superficially, this appears to be a compression of the arbitrage space; at a deeper level, the crypto derivatives market is maturing. Institutions no longer need to rely on 'arbitrage' for profits, and traders are shifting from leverage to options and hedging. The era of high returns through simple strategies is coming to an end, and new competition will occur in more complex and refined strategies.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coinbob's popular address monitoring, the top short position address 'Air Force Commander' on the Hyperliquid platform significantly increased its short position early this morning, with an overall short position reaching $387 million (compared to $246 million yesterday), with a floating profit of $12.84 million, of which:

Shorting BTC (40x): $150 million, floating profit $5.71 million

Shorting ETH (15x): $189 million, floating profit $6.94 million

Shorting SOL (20x): $9.3 million, floating profit $645,000

Shorting KPEPE (10x): $19.74 million, floating loss $164,000

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, the market generally expects the Federal Reserve to maintain interest rates this Wednesday.

The key highlight of this meeting is the statement from Federal Reserve Chairman Powell at the post-meeting press conference, as his remarks may provide directional guidance for risk assets (including Bitcoin). The core focus of the market is whether this pause in rate cuts will be interpreted as a 'hawkish pause' or a 'dovish pause'. If Powell emphasizes inflation risks, it may suppress rate cut expectations and pressure risk assets; conversely, if he suggests that the pause in rate cuts is temporary and opens the door for resuming rate cuts in the coming months, it could boost risk assets such as Bitcoin. Additionally, if officials appointed by Trump cast dissenting votes on the decision to maintain interest rates, it may reinforce market expectations for future easing policies. Powell's explanation of the decision to maintain interest rates could provide support for the dollar, thereby putting pressure on Bitcoin priced in dollars. He may also be asked about recent housing affordability measures by the Trump administration (which could raise short-term inflation), judicial investigations targeting him personally, and issues related to bond market volatility triggered by Japan, as these statements could exacerbate market fluctuations.

Introduction: The Importance of Macroeconomic Factors in the Cryptocurrency Market

The current volatility of the cryptocurrency market can no longer be solely explained by 'narrative heat' or 'on-chain innovation.' Cryptocurrency assets are increasingly resembling 'macro-sensitive risk assets,' influenced by interest rates, inflation, dollar liquidity, regulatory frameworks, geopolitical factors, and the inflow and outflow of institutional funds. You will see the same on-chain data being interpreted as 'capital inflow' when expectations of interest rate cuts rise, and as 'risk contraction' when tariff threats and geopolitical tensions escalate; similarly, ETF inflows are long-term increments when regulatory pathways are clear, but may also become short-term sell-offs when policy uncertainty increases. Macroeconomic variables are no longer background noise but the core engine that determines market trends, drawdown depths, and structural patterns.