debate

On November 12, Gate founder and CEO Dr. Han was invited to speak at the Oxford Union, delivering a keynote speech titled "Start Alone," reflecting on his 13 years of entrepreneurial journey since founding Gate alone in 2013. He shared experiences and thoughts on entrepreneurial resilience, rapid innovation, team building, and opportunities for entrepreneurship in the AI era.Dr. Han stated that the founding of Gate stemmed from his early experiences of losses incurred through trading on online forums. To create a more trustworthy digital asset trading platform, he started his business alone without external venture capital support. Since then, Gate has experienced multiple industry fluctuations and significant business challenges, gradually growing through continuous innovation and adjustments. He emphasized that maintaining a strong long-term belief, quickly seizing new opportunities, and continuously improving innovation and execution efficiency are crucial factors for companies to face challenges and achieve long-term development.Regarding the AI era, Dr. Han proposed the "Boss + AI" model, pointing out that AI can significantly enhance information acquisition, knowledge learning, and daily work efficiency, empowering individual entrepreneurs with stronger execution capabilities. At the same time, he emphasized that "Start Alone" does not mean always going it alone; entrepreneurs must have the courage to take the first step independently while also seeking suitable partners and team members during the development process. Through this keynote speech at the Oxford Union, Dr. Han brought Gate's 13 years of entrepreneurial journey into a broader industry discussion and, drawing from years of personal practice, provided insights and inspiration for a new generation of entrepreneurs.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde stated that the Governing Council debated whether it was appropriate to raise interest rates. The outcome of this meeting is to keep the interest rates unchanged.

According to official social media news, Huobi HTX will hold a debate themed "Should Stablecoins Pay Interest?" today at 20:00 (UTC+8). At that time, Cong Ge and George, as the affirmative representatives, will engage in dialogue with the negative representatives Mo Cheng and Wang Fugui. Both sides will clash on core topics such as the functional positioning of stablecoins, income distribution mechanisms, potential risks, and industry development, exploring the potential impact of stablecoin interest payment mechanisms on user rights, market competition, and the development of the stablecoin ecosystem.Reserve the live broadcast: https://www.htx.net.in/zh-cn/live/detail/h5?id=121522&invite_code=gui6e223&inviter_id=11351630

The founder of Arbitrum, Steven Goldfeder, and Solana co-founder, Toly, engaged in a debate over the fee model of Robinhood Chain. Toly claimed that the 10% revenue share paid to Arbitrum by Robinhood Chain is sufficient to cover four times the transaction fees on the Solana chain, suggesting that if deployed on Solana, user gas fees could significantly decrease. In response, Goldfeder stated that Robinhood could retain about 90% of gas revenue under the Arbitrum architecture, thus choosing Arbitrum to "be the landlord, not the tenant."Toly countered that Robinhood could charge fees at the application front end while utilizing a lower-cost underlying network; Goldfeder, however, indicated that a large amount of on-chain activity does not go through the Robinhood front end, and if it were merely a "tenant" of the underlying network, Robinhood would not be able to capture the revenue generated from these peripheral activities.According to market news, Robinhood evaluated both Solana and Arbitrum during the product initiation phase and ultimately chose Arbitrum, which allows for independent chain deployment.

According to The Defiant, the dispute between AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron and Robinhood over tokenized AMC stock has escalated into a debate among tokenized stock issuers about which model should become the industry standard.Gabriel Otte, co-founder of Dinari, criticized Robinhood's synthetic tokens with Ondo as "worse for end investors than regular stocks," while Uniswap founder Hayden Adams compared it to early stablecoins, stating that it meets users' demands for programmability and 24/7 trading.Currently, three models are competing in the $2.91 billion tokenized stock market: Robinhood's stock tokens are debt securities issued by a Jersey entity, available only to non-U.S. persons; Ondo, xStocks, and Dinari hold the underlying stocks through regulated intermediaries and pass on economic benefits; Securitize and Superstate directly put company-registered stocks on-chain. The U.S. SEC's Division of Corporation Finance has legally defined the three models as of January 28. Data from rwa.xyz shows that the total scale of tokenized stocks reaches $2.91 billion, with a 14.4% growth over 30 days, and Ondo leads with $869.6 million.Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo also supports Aron's position, stating that he does not wish for others to create offshore derivatives of company stocks. Brian Huang, co-founder of Glider, believes that the trading venue is more important than the packaging format, as AMMs cannot guarantee users the best execution.

Huobi HTX will hold a themed debate today at 20:00 titled "The Federal Reserve Cuts Forward Guidance: Regaining Independence or Triggering Market Panic?"The affirmative side representatives Li Qian, Guobao, Wanqu, and yuli will engage in dialogue with the negative side representatives Mr. Mis, Zizi, 0xmeg, and Qingfeng, focusing on the potential impacts of the Federal Reserve's weakening of forward guidance on policy transparency, market expectations, and asset pricing changes, as well as discussing how U.S. stocks, gold, and crypto assets will be repriced.

According to The Block, at a meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Innovation Advisory Committee, CME CEO Terrence Duffy had a heated exchange with CFTC Chairman Michael Selig and Kalshi COO Luana Lopes Lara regarding regulatory issues in the prediction market. Duffy pointed out that some prediction market contracts are susceptible to manipulation, specifically mentioning contracts related to Trump's State of the Union address and the ousting of Venezuelan President Maduro that may be subject to manipulation. Selig interrupted, stating that these products are not listed in the United States, "this is fake news."Duffy retorted, "We can argue, I'm happy to." The two also clashed over a question from Kalshi COO about whether CME faces market manipulation issues, with Duffy stating, "I have more staff in my regulatory department than you and your entire company," to which Lopes Lara responded, "Maybe you should learn about efficiency," and Duffy shot back, "Maybe you should learn what a credible market is." This conflict comes at a time when federal and state regulators are vying for control over the regulation of prediction markets, with the CFTC having filed lawsuits against several states and proposed a regulatory framework draft.

According to Forbes, the scale of the theft in the Coldcard hardware wallet vulnerability incident has risen to approximately $130 million, involving about 2,000 BTC and over 5,200 addresses, reigniting the industry's debate over who should hold private keys. Data from Bitcoin Magazine shows that in the days following the incident, the net inflow into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs was $626 million, with some opinions suggesting that the vulnerability may drive more funds towards ETFs.Reports indicate that supporters of self-custody remain undeterred. Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp stated that confidence in self-custody should not be lost due to recent events, as custodial institutions also rely on random number generators. Bitcoin core early developer Peter Todd noted that the historical record of self-custody is far better than that of third parties. Another viewpoint argues that both reflexive choices have flaws. Onramp co-founder Michael Tanguma stated that if the only answer is Coinbase or ETFs, it poses a serious problem, as centralizing what should be decentralized assets undermines their foundation, advocating for a multi-institutional custody solution where keys are held by multiple regulated entities.

According to Cointelegraph, Ethereum is embroiled in a fierce governance debate over the source of core development funding. Last Friday, former Ethereum Foundation contributor Trenton Van Epps warned that as old support programs deplete and foundation expenditures shrink, the core development ecosystem could face a "slow-burning funding crisis" within three to nine months, requiring approximately $30 million annually to maintain over a dozen clients, research, and coordination teams.The core of the debate stems from the "validator redirect income" proposal put forward by Kleros co-founder Clément Lesaege, which suggests redirecting 0% to 10% of validator rewards to an ecosystem funding pool, estimated to generate about 50,000 to 70,000 ETH annually at current staking levels. This proposal has faced widespread opposition, with critics warning that it could entrench the power of large validators and blur the boundaries between operations and governance. Some community members previously countered that the foundation's funds are sufficient to operate for 30 years, but the foundation's actual decisions indicate that it is actively shrinking expenditures and pushing for diversified funding models.On Monday, a nonprofit organization called EthLabs was announced, initiated by five former Ethereum Foundation researchers, aiming to directly fund development through large ETH holders. On Tuesday, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the foundation is cutting its budget by about 40% according to established policies and has recently laid off 54 people.

Aave experienced approximately $8.45 billion in fund withdrawals after the KelpDAO's rsETH cross-chain bridge was attacked in April 2026, but the core functions of the protocol did not fail, successfully completing one of the largest liquidity stress tests in DeFi to date. This crisis originated from the attack on KelpDAO's LayerZero cross-chain bridge, resulting in approximately $292 million in rsETH being stolen, raising concerns in the market about the collateral value and solvency of rsETH.As rsETH is widely used as collateral in protocols like Aave, the risk quickly spread, leading to concentrated withdrawals by users, with some market utilization reaching 100% at one point, causing some users to be unable to withdraw funds immediately. In the face of liquidity tightening, the Aave risk management team initiated emergency freeze and parameter adjustment mechanisms to limit the spread of risk.Aave founder Stani Kulechov viewed this incident as proof of the maturity of DeFi, believing that the protocol continued to operate as designed under extreme pressure, demonstrating the resilience of an on-chain transparent, rules-driven system. However, several independent analysts pointed out that while Aave avoided a systemic collapse, the event exposed that the DeFi lending system still has concentration risks, liquidity risks, and contagion risks arising from high interconnectivity between protocols. The behavior of large borrowers could have an impact on the overall stability of the system that exceeds model expectations.Aave currently controls risk through multiple protective measures such as loan-to-value (LTV) limits, liquidation thresholds, supply caps, borrowing limits, Isolation Mode, E-Mode, and governance mechanisms. These mechanisms played a role during this crisis, but observers believe that the governance response speed and risk models still need further optimization to cope with future unknown systemic shocks.Analysis suggests that this incident indicates that DeFi protocols can withstand large-scale runs without external assistance, but a single stress test cannot fully prove system safety. As the composability between protocols continues to strengthen, an issue with an external asset or cross-chain bridge could still quickly evolve into a liquidity crisis for the entire ecosystem.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on stablecoin regulation and the bank charter application of World Liberty Financial (WLFI). Acting Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould denied any "endorsement" from Trump, pointing out that the only political pressure his agency faces comes from Democratic lawmakers, not Trump. Democrats questioned the compliance of WLFI's bank charter application, citing its connections to foreign investors and alleged regulatory violations involving entities such as Binance.Additionally, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairman Travis Hill stated that new rules requiring stablecoin issuers to establish customer identification programs will be proposed soon. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman provided clarification regarding the approval of a master account for the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, emphasizing that the account has limited authority and an initial term of 12 months, during which close monitoring will occur to gather experience for formal rulemaking.

Senator Warren called the application "the most despicable" presidential corruption scandal, pointing out that the UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan's related investment firm invested $500 million in WLFI four days before Trump took office, acquiring a 49% stake, of which approximately $187 million flowed to Trump family entities.Warren urged Gould to reject or suspend the review of the application, stating that approval would make him "an accomplice to corruption." Gould, however, refused to intervene, stating that he would process the application according to standard procedures and countered that the only political pressure felt came from Warren. 41 House Democrats had previously written to the Treasury Secretary, warning that approving the license could threaten "the legitimacy of the U.S. banking system and its independence from foreign actors."

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform SunX will hold a themed live broadcast titled "Fire Horse New Year: Success in the 2026 Crypto Market is Just Ahead!" today at 20:00 (UTC+8). At that time, crypto KOLs such as Crypto Xiao Wu, Jing Yi|Bird, Niu Mo Wang OP_CAT, Gui Gu Yan Xuan, and Li Qian Grace will be invited to attend, engaging in in-depth discussions on the macro trends, hot tracks, asset allocation strategies, and potential investment opportunities in the 2026 crypto market, providing users with forward-looking and practical market insights.

Neo founder Da Hongfei posted on social media that he and Erik Zhang have agreed to stop their previous disputes, believing it to be harmful to Neo and the community.Da Hongfei stated that he is busy preparing the financial report and plans to release a comprehensive preview by February 15. This preview report will contain sufficiently detailed information for financial verification, budget planning, and governance reform. Relevant information will be updated regularly before the final version is released.

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform SunX will hold a live stream today at 20:00 (UTC+8) titled "Gold and Silver Reach New Historical Highs | Is This a Flight to Safety or a New Round of Asset Pricing Reconstruction?" At that time, prominent crypto KOLs such as Big Brother, Xiao Zhi, Cong Ge, and Xihe will be invited to discuss the macro background of the recent historical highs in gold and silver prices, focusing on analyzing the risk-hedging logic behind the strength of precious metals, inflation expectations, and changes in liquidity. They will also further compare the pricing differences between gold, silver, and risk assets like Bitcoin in the current cycle.

According to CoinDesk, PwC stated in its "Global Cryptocurrency Regulatory Report" that as legislation progresses from draft to law worldwide, cryptocurrency regulation will become clearer this year, and countries with more transparent cryptocurrency rules will lead the industry development.The report suggests that the environment will be less defined by regulatory debates and more shaped by jurisdictions competing to attract capital and establish legitimacy. The trend of cross-border collaboration is strengthening, aimed at enhancing market integrity, preventing financial crime, and protecting investors. For cryptocurrency companies, this means higher compliance costs, but it will also bring clearer rules, potentially fostering new products, banking channels, and deeper institutional participation.

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform SunX will hold a themed live broadcast today at 20:00 (UTC+8) titled "CRS 2.0: Will Crypto Assets No Longer Be Invisible? Is the Era of Crypto Tax Exemption Completely Over?" At that time, crypto KOLs such as Mike Banana, 7w, Amber, and Lao Tie will be invited to attend and discuss the disclosure of crypto asset information under the CRS 2.0 framework, trends in cross-border tax compliance, and their potential impact on crypto trading platforms and investor behavior.

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform Sun Wukong (SunX) will hold a live event today at 20:00 (UTC+8) titled "Sun Wukong 72 Debates: The Chinese Meme Wave | Why Are Internet Memes Igniting the Crypto Market?" At that time, crypto KOLs such as Tingting, Anyao Yao, Meta, Youyou, and Feifei will be invited to attend and discuss the narrative evolution of the Chinese Meme sector, as well as how investors can capture early value opportunities in the current market heat.