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According to Cointelegraph, the Ethereum client team is testing a mechanism called Fast Confirmation Rules (FCR), aimed at compressing the deposit confirmation time from L1 to L2 networks and exchanges to about 13 seconds, reducing it by up to 98% compared to existing solutions. This mechanism was proposed by Ethereum researcher Julian Ma.FCR determines whether a block can be considered confirmed by evaluating the validators' attestations, rather than relying on the traditional block depth counting method. Its operation is based on two premises: that network message propagation is fast enough, and that no single entity holds more than 25% of the staked ETH. Currently, most users rely on canonical bridges to complete asset transfers, which typically require waiting about 13 minutes; some exchanges and L2s have adopted "k-depth" confirmation rules to shorten the wait, but this method lacks formal security guarantees.FCR can be deployed without a hard fork, and nodes can independently enable it without the need for coordination across the entire network. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed support for this, believing that the mechanism can provide "hard guarantees" for transactions within a single time slot (about 12 seconds) under specific network conditions. However, there are still voices of skepticism in the community, with some users concerned about whether its trust assumptions can hold up under network pressure. Currently, client and API integration work is still ongoing.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published an article introducing a new Ethereum fast confirmation rule mechanism. This mechanism allows users to receive a hard guarantee that Ethereum transactions will not be reverted (Non-revert) after just one Slot (12 seconds). Vitalik pointed out that the security of this rule is based on two premises: first, that the vast majority of validators are honest nodes, and second, that network latency is below approximately 3 seconds. Although its security is slightly lower than economic finality, it already possesses strong reliability for many application scenarios.

Vitalik Buterin posted on the X platform, stating that there is an important synergy between the FOCIL mechanism and the account abstraction proposal Ethereum's EIP-8141 (based on 7701). EIP-8141 elevates smart accounts (including multi-signature, quantum-resistant signatures, key changes, Gas sponsorship, etc.) to "first-class citizens," meaning that operations from these accounts can be directly packaged as on-chain transactions without additional encapsulation.At the same time, privacy protocols can achieve a multi-tenant account model through the paymaster or 2D nonce mechanism, thereby gaining the same level of native support. FOCIL provides a censorship-resistant fast transaction inclusion mechanism. With the combination of both, various transactions, including smart wallet transactions, Gas sponsorship transactions, and privacy protocol transactions, can be included in blocks by one of the 17 roles (proposers or inclusions) randomly selected for each time slot.Vitalik stated that this design can ensure that transactions are almost guaranteed to be completed on-chain within 1-2 time slots in adversarial environments. In the current version, each FOCIL volume is approximately 8kB, which is relatively small, but there is a path for future expansion that could support most transactions in a block entering through the FOCIL channel. This architecture is similar in characteristics to the multi-parallel proposer (MCP) design, but differs in that FOCIL does not control the "last look" related to MEV, which is still allocated through the ePBS auction mechanism.Vitalik emphasized that even if 100% of block time slots are monopolized by adversarial parties through the proposer-builder separation (PBS) mechanism, refusing to connect to the public mempool or discriminating against specific applications, FOCIL can still ensure that all transactions receive fast inclusion. Although this design does not eliminate the centralization risk of the proposer role, it significantly weakens its power. Under the EIP-8141 framework, transactions from smart wallets or privacy protocols can be directly received by FOCIL inclusions through the public mempool without additional intermediaries or encapsulation processes.Vitalik concluded that Ethereum is accelerating the advancement of core architecture upgrades.

According to CoinDesk, the fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake stated that its decision to accept Bitcoin payments nine months ago has significantly boosted same-store sales.In a statement released on the X platform on Monday, the company said that Bitcoin payments would go directly into its strategic Bitcoin reserves, which would then be used to distribute bonuses to employees. Earlier this year, the company revealed that it had increased its corporate financial reserves by acquiring $10 million worth of Bitcoin, creating a self-reinforcing cycle: customers pay with BTC, sales rise, and crypto revenue flows back into the reserves.Steak 'n Shake began accepting Bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network in May of last year. Since then, its same-store sales initially recorded a 10% increase. The company's Chief Operating Officer, Dan Edwards, revealed that when customers pay with cryptocurrency, the company can save about 50% on processing fees. In October of last year, the fast-food chain launched a Bitcoin-themed burger and donated a small portion of the proceeds from each Bitcoin meal to open-source Bitcoin development projects.

According to market news, the American fast-food chain Steak 'n Shake announced that it will grant Bitcoin bonuses to hourly employees at its company-owned stores, accumulating at a rate of $0.21 per hour worked starting from March 1, with a two-year vesting period before they can be redeemed.Based on a 40-hour work week, employees can accumulate approximately $436.8 worth of Bitcoin each year. The final value will depend on the market price of Bitcoin two years later. The chain began accepting Bitcoin payments at select locations last year, with all Bitcoin sales revenue going into the company's "strategic Bitcoin reserve."

Economists at BNP Paribas have stated that, given Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's expansionary fiscal policy may further boost inflation, the Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates at a slightly faster pace than previously anticipated.Analysts expect the Bank of Japan to raise rates in April, followed by continued tightening every four to five months until the policy rate reaches 2%. The report noted, "Depending on future exchange rate trends, the possibility of the next rate hike being brought forward to March cannot be ruled out." Japanese officials have previously warned that the government is prepared to take measures against excessive fluctuations of the yen.

According to Jinshi News, Nasdaq is considering introducing a "fast track" rule to accelerate the inclusion of newly listed large companies. This amendment allows newly listed companies to join the Nasdaq 100 Index after the first 15 trading days, significantly shorter than the current waiting period of at least three months. This move aims to make the index more timely in reflecting the market. In the current environment, companies often delay going public for years, and once they enter the public market, they can release a massive market capitalization.Companies expected to go public this year include SpaceX, which has a potential valuation of up to $1.3 trillion, making it one of the largest companies by market capitalization in the Nasdaq 100 Index. The "fast track" rule is part of an industry consultation plan, with relevant discussions expected to conclude later this month. If approved by the Nasdaq Index Management Committee after the consultation, the adjustment will take effect after the March quarterly rebalancing.

Wintermute posted on X that it is clear we are in a bear market, which has actually been ongoing for some time—especially considering the performance of altcoins, the extreme concentration of rebounds, and the market sentiment on X. However, what distinguishes this bear market is that it is not triggered by structural collapses like FTX, Luna, or 3AC, but rather driven by changes in the macro environment and cyclical trends, representing a relatively natural deleveraging process, with its core driving forces stemming from changes in positions, risk appetite, and market narratives.This point is crucial. Due to the absence of bankruptcies and systemic contagion, this cycle may end more quickly than previous bear markets. The infrastructure is more robust, the adoption of stablecoins is still growing, and institutional interest has not disappeared; it has merely retreated to a wait-and-see stance. Once the environment improves, attention and capital may quickly return—most likely occurring in the second half of 2026, when macro uncertainty decreases and the Federal Reserve's policy path becomes clearer.In the short term, positions have clearly lightened after the liquidation, but market confidence remains insufficient. After two months of range-bound fluctuations, we have returned to the price discovery phase. It is still too early to talk about any meaningful upward trends, but if they do occur, their form may be clearer than the reversals seen in previous bear markets—because this time, the crypto ecosystem has not suffered structural damage.

The Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, stated that they will not assist the Republicans in quickly passing the federal government funding plan. U.S. media pointed out that Jeffries' statement implies that the U.S. government shutdown may last longer than expected. The U.S. Senate passed the funding bill for several federal departments for the remainder of the fiscal year on January 30, which will be sent to the House for consideration. However, the House is currently in recess and may vote on the funding bill as early as February 2.It is reported that the operational funds for several federal departments, including the U.S. Department of State and the Pentagon, were exhausted as of January 30, causing the U.S. federal government to enter a partial "shutdown" starting at midnight on January 31.

The American fast-food brand Steak 'n Shake announced the purchase of $10,000,000 in BTC for its strategic Bitcoin reserves. The organization refers to this model as a self-reinforcing system, aiming to combine sales growth, food quality improvement, and long-term Bitcoin accumulation.

CryptoQuant combines on-chain data to point out that the holdings of addresses with 1,000 to 10,000 BTC have decreased by 220,000 BTC year-on-year, marking the fastest decline since 2023. It is noteworthy that a similar situation occurred in 2021-2022, after which prices reached their peak.

According to Newsbtc, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson believes that the competitive landscape between Solana and Ethereum will vary due to the different time spans. Solana may quickly gain an advantage due to its rapid development speed, while Ethereum tends to build a broader, slower-developing system, which may have a greater impact in the future.Hoskinson stated that the Solana network processes a large number of transactions daily and can upgrade more quickly. This speed advantage helps project teams bring tokenized stocks and other financial instruments on-chain. It has been reported that the total value of tokenized stocks on the Solana platform has recently reached approximately $185 million.

According to James, the head of ecosystem at the Ethereum Foundation, most stablecoin transaction counts on Ethereum come from P2P (accounting for 67%), but the transaction volume only accounts for 24%. Data from the past 12 months shows that B2B transaction volume surged by 156%, with the average transaction size increasing by 45%, while P2B transactions grew the fastest at 167%, becoming the category with the highest growth rate.The report indicates that institutions are not increasing the frequency of payments, but rather the amount per transaction is continuously expanding, reflecting the growing maturity of stablecoin applications in large commercial settlements. Consumer payments to businesses are the fastest-growing category for Ethereum stablecoin payments.

According to CoinTelegraph, Keith Grossman, president of the crypto payment company MoonPay, stated that tokenization will change the financial industry at a faster pace than digital technology has disrupted traditional media (such as printed newspapers, physical music copies, and other analog formats).Grossman mentioned that while many are concerned that digitization will destroy media, it is actually forcing media to transform. The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), which is the process of representing traditional assets on-chain, will compel traditional institutions to make adjustments. This is no longer hypothetical; BlackRock is offering tokenized funds; Franklin Templeton is operating tokenized money market funds on public blockchains; major global banks are piloting on-chain settlements, tokenized deposits, and real-time asset transfers.

According to Cointelegraph, as Bitcoin has pulled back about 30% from its peak and is hovering around the key support level of $85,000, on-chain data shows that medium-sized holders and some institutional funds are accelerating their accumulation.Glassnode data indicates that "shark addresses" holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC have accumulated approximately 54,000 BTC over the past week, increasing their total holdings from about 3.521 million to 3.575 million BTC. The pace of accumulation has reached the fastest level since 2012, indicating significant bottom-fishing behavior despite the substantial pullback. However, the upward potential in the market remains constrained by selling pressure from larger holders.Data shows that long-term and "OG" whales holding over 10,000 BTC have been continuously reducing their positions over the past two months. Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, pointed out that record institutional buying is being absorbed by long-term holders at a pace not seen in years, which may continue to suppress Bitcoin's price performance in the short term.Additionally, veteran trader Peter Brandt warned that Bitcoin has fallen below a key parabolic support level, and if historical patterns repeat, there is a risk of a deeper pullback.

According to Jinshi reports, Federal Reserve Governor Mulan stated that a faster pace of interest rate cuts will bring the Federal Reserve closer to the neutral interest rate.

According to Jinshi, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell stated that we have reached adequate reserve levels faster than expected.