We bring you the latest in the Web3 and AI industry, structured in bite-sized news that you can read in a minute!
Here’s what’s happening in Web3 and AI in 1 minute.
Web3
Coinbase Challenges Tether’s Stablecoin Dominance
1️⃣ Brian Armstrong has outlined an ambitious plan to challenge Tether’s dominance, aiming to position USDC as the leading dollar-backed stablecoin. This strategy follows a strong fourth quarter for Coinbase and could benefit from potential U.S. stablecoin regulations.
Coinbase Partners with Aston Martin F1 Team
2️⃣ Coinbase secured a deal to be the official partner of the Aston Martin Formula One team. The partnership, paid entirely in USDC stablecoins, will see the Coinbase logo featured on the AMR25 race car and driver suits.
Ether Options Market Turns Bullish
3️⃣ The ETH options market is showing cautious optimism, with over 70% of open interest in call contracts, mainly at strike prices between $3,000 and $4,000. However, some large investors are hedging against downside risks with put contracts.
Argentine President Faces Impeachment Over Libra Token
4️⃣ Argentine President Javier Milei is facing calls for impeachment following his endorsement of the Libra (LIBRA) token, which collapsed shortly after launch. The token lost 94% of its value within hours, after reaching a peak market capitalisation of $4.56 billion.
KIP Protocol Denies Responsibility for Libra Collapse
5️⃣ KIP Protocol confirmed its involvement in the Libra token project but denied responsibility for its collapse. The firm stated that it was only hired to distribute funds and was not involved in the token’s creation or market making.
Pump.fun Launches Mobile App Amid Memecoin Boom
6️⃣ Pump.fun launched a mobile app for iOS and Android, making it easier for users to create and trade memecoins. This follows a surge in memecoin activity, with 600,000 new tokens launched in January alone.
Gold-Backed Cryptos Underperform Despite Market Gains
7️⃣ Gold-backed cryptocurrencies underperformed in the past week, dropping 1% despite a broader crypto market rally. The decline in gold-backed tokens follows speculation that Trump’s proposed tariffs may be a negotiation tactic.
Tether Engages with U.S. Lawmakers on Stablecoin Regulation
8️⃣ Tether is working with US lawmakers to help shape stablecoin regulatory policies. CEO Paolo Ardoino has reaffirmed Tether’s commitment to compliance, suggesting that new regulations could allow both banks and non-banks to issue regulated stablecoins.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Riot Platforms Appoints Former Hut 8 CEO Amid AI Expansion
1️⃣ Riot Platforms has appointed Jaime Leverton, former Hut 8 CEO, to its board of directors, alongside Doug Mouton and Michael Turner. The appointments align with Riot’s evaluation of its Bitcoin mining infrastructure for potential AI applications.
Elon Musk Teases ‘Scary Smart’ AI Chatbot
2️⃣ Elon Musk has revealed that xAI’s next-generation chatbot, Grok-3, may launch within weeks. Unlike ChatGPT, Grok-3 was trained using synthetic data and features a self-correcting mechanism for logical consistency.
AI Gaming Coaches Arrive with Balance.fun
3️⃣ Balance.fun launched AI gaming companions that coach and support players. Users can customise their AI agent’s personality and appearance, while the agents analyse gameplay data using reinforcement learning to provide personalised tips.
New Open-Source AI Model Challenges DeepSeek
4️⃣ The OpenThinker-32B model, developed by the Open Thoughts consortium, has matched and surpassed DeepSeek in AI reasoning benchmarks. It achieved 90.6% accuracy, outperforming DeepSeek’s 89.4%.
OpenAI’s GPT-5 to Launch in Coming Months
5️⃣ Sam Altman has announced that GPT-5 will be released within months, following the interim launch of GPT-4.5. GPT-5 will integrate OpenAI’s o-series and GPT-series models, including o3, the firm’s new reasoning model.
BNB Chain’s 2025 AI Roadmap
6️⃣ BNB Chain has announced plans to integrate AI in 2025. These include AI-powered gaming, decentralised social networks, and AI-driven finance applications. The BNB Chain will prioritise data ownership, monetisation protocols, and custom LLM training.
Scarlett Johansson Condemns AI-Generated Anti-Kanye Video
7️⃣ Scarlett Johansson has criticised an AI-generated video using her likeness to attack Kanye West. The video featured AI-generated Jewish celebrities wearing Star of David t-shirts in response to West’s antisemitic stunt but raised concerns about potential hate speech.
xAI Engineer Resigns After Grok-3 Controversy
8️⃣ A senior AI engineer at xAI resigned after refusing to delete an X post ranking AI models, which placed Grok-3 below several OpenAI ChatGPT models. xAI claimed the post contained confidential company information.
