Crypto Morning Brief: Story announces mainnet launch on February 13; spot gold breaks 2920 USD, hitting a new record high

Author: TechFlow

Yesterday's Market Dynamics

Story announces public mainnet launch on February 13, with $IP airdrop claims opening

According to official news, Story, a Layer1 blockchain focused on intellectual property, has announced the public mainnet will officially go live on February 13 (this Thursday). The $IP token airdrop claim and eligibility check functions will also open simultaneously.

Musk offers $97.4 billion for OpenAI control; Sam Altman responds: willing to buy Twitter back for $9.74 billion

According to The Wall Street Journal, an investment consortium led by Musk has submitted a $97.4 billion acquisition offer to OpenAI’s board, aiming to gain control of the nonprofit organization. This proposal could impact OpenAI’s current development plans, including its transition into a for-profit company and the "$500 billion AI infrastructure project" codenamed "Stargate."

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman responded on social media, rejecting the offer and counter-proposing to acquire Twitter for $9.74 billion. Musk replied in comments calling Altman a "fraud." Previously, both parties had already engaged in legal disputes over OpenAI’s development direction. Musk stated he would bring OpenAI back to an open-source path, prioritizing safety, but OpenAI’s official spokesperson has not commented.

FGM Research Head: Fed may not cut rates this year

According to Jin10 News, Daniel Doderer, economist and head of research at metal services firm Flack Global Metals, said: “I think the Fed is now in a great position to do nothing for now. We are transitioning from a labor market with balanced supply and demand to one that may face supply constraints while demand remains steady or even higher, suggesting the Fed is unlikely to cut rates. Therefore, our internal expectation is that the Fed won’t cut rates this year. However, compared to the possibility of rate hikes, rate cuts remain slightly more likely.”

It is reported that the Fed paused rate cuts during its January meeting, and it remains uncertain when or whether rate cuts will resume—especially as markets await developments regarding tariffs and immigration policies under Trump’s second administration.

Tomo founder Ryan announces sharing DuckChain investment returns with users, airdropping 0.1% of total DUCK supply

Ryan Fang, founder of Tomo Wallet, announced he will share his investment returns from DuckChain with Tomo users by distributing co-branded $DUCK BOX gifts.

The prize pool totals 10,000,000 DUCK tokens, representing 0.1% of DUCK’s total supply. Tomo will take a snapshot at 00:00 Beijing time on February 17. Eligible Tomo wallet users can claim their rewards; details available on Tomo Wallet’s official X account (@tomo_wallet).

In addition, Tomo will offer 300 whitelist spots to current and past holders of Tomo Key. Eligible users who register via the Google form can directly receive $DUCK BOX rewards, first-come, first-served.

Alliance DAO founder: Fully exited ETH held for 10 years, its growth potential mostly exhausted

Alliance DAO founders Imran Khan and Qiao Wang shared their perspectives on the podcast titled "On Consumer Crypto."

Imran believes “Base supporters in today’s market have shifted toward Solana.” In response, Qiao commented, “Solana makes it easier to attract users. For developers familiar with EVM, switching to Solana isn't easy—they need to learn an entirely new toolkit—but they still find it worthwhile due to Solana’s stronger user base and ecosystem support.”

Additionally, Qiao added, “I’ve actually held Ethereum since genesis. But I sold it last year after holding it for exactly 10 years. You can imagine what it feels like—holding an asset for a decade, then suddenly feeling its growth potential is largely tapped out.”

DWF Co-founder: We're currently in a 'crime' szn—anything can happen

According to DWF co-founder Andrei Grachev’s post on X, we are currently in a “crime” szn, where anything can happen and short-term trends may shift rapidly. Grachev emphasized that investors should remain cautious and do their own research (DYOR).

Wall Street hedge funds’ bearish positions on Ethereum hit record highs, up 500% since November last year

According to The Kobeissi Letter, Wall Street hedge funds’ short positions on Ethereum have reached record highs—up 40% in one week and 500% since November 2024. On February 2, Ethereum plunged 37% within 60 hours, wiping over $1 trillion from the crypto market’s total capitalization.

Data shows that despite strong inflows into Ethereum in December 2024—drawing over $2 billion in three weeks, with a single-week high of $854 million—the current price of Ethereum remains about 45% below its all-time high in November 2021 and significantly underperforms Bitcoin, whose market cap is now six times that of Ethereum, a new high since 2020.

Notably, this massive wave of shorting appears particularly anomalous given the Trump administration’s friendly stance toward Ethereum, with Eric Trump publicly stating “now is a good time to accumulate Ethereum.” Market interpretations vary, including market manipulation, hedging needs, and fundamental bearish sentiment. Analysts expect sharp volatility ahead for Ethereum due to excessive concentration of short positions, with a potential short squeeze not ruled out.

Bloomberg analyst: 90% and 75% probability respectively for Litecoin and Dogecoin spot ETF approvals

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, predicts 90% and 75% chances of approval in 2025 for spot ETFs of Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE), and 70% and 65% for Solana (SOL) and XRP, respectively.

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart added that the SEC is expected to confirm ETF filings for XRP and Dogecoin this week, and the SEC’s cryptocurrency working group with Commissioner Peirce will clarify the securities vs. commodities classification issues involved in ongoing litigation by the end of 2025.

Spot gold breaks $2920, hits new record high as Trump tariff threats boost safe-haven demand

According to Jin10 News, spot gold prices broke above $2920 per ounce, reaching a new all-time high with a year-to-date gain exceeding 11%. COMEX gold futures surged 1.70% to $2936.8 per ounce, while night session trading on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed at 682.74 yuan per gram, up 1.35%.

Gold prices are primarily driven by three factors:

First, Trump announced on February 10 a 25% tariff on all imported steel and aluminum products, affecting major exporters such as Canada, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Vietnam, triggering concerns over trade wars and inflation;

Second, Middle East geopolitical tensions have escalated again, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the six-week ceasefire agreement;

Third, markets await the release of U.S. January CPI data this Wednesday, expecting both headline and core CPI to rise 0.3% month-over-month, and 2.9% and 3.1% annually. Data exceeding expectations could push up U.S. Treasury yields, putting downward pressure on gold prices.

Market Movements

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