US AI startups race to build low-cost AI alternatives to Chinese AI, but still face financing headwinds.

Strive CEO Matt Cole said that the $6.3 billion Binance hack has not changed his long-term investment judgment on Bitcoin. Given the scale of the attack and overall market weakness, Bitcoin’s decline was smaller than he expected, but it is still too early to determine whether prices have hit a bottom. Currently, Bitcoin trades at around $77,400, down about 4% from before the attack began on Thursday. Strive previously disclosed it held 43,000 BTC as of October 23. Cole compared the wallet attack to a bank robbery, not a failure of the Bitcoin network. Wirex Head of Financial Crime Paul Chapman also emphasized that the attack targeted a company’s systems, not the Bitcoin network itself. On the outlook, Cole believes the market is in an "early spring" recovery phase that may last another 6 to 9 months, with prices rising gradually rather than quickly hitting new highs. He stated the event will not alter his Bitcoin investment logic over any reasonable time horizon. For historical market reactions: after Bybit suffered a $1.5 billion hack in 2025, combined with overall market volatility, Bitcoin fell from near $100,000 to around $95,000, a roughly 5% drop. Separately, CNBC cited Anchorage Digital data showing that on average, Bitcoin has dropped 8.3% in the first 24 hours after past crypto exchange hacks. The attack investigation is ongoing. Blockaid CEO Ido Ben-Natan thinks the attacker may have exploited Binance’s transaction signing process; his analysis found an Ethereum transaction with 50 signature authorizations, where matching permissions allowed attacker-controlled code to execute via the wallet. Binance said as of Friday, no evidence of wallet private key leaks has been found.

Binance SAFU Fund transferred 7,500 $BTC($580.88M) to a new wallet an hour ago.

Beating AI Express reports that independent developer Wang Zan has open-sourced an Android AI assistant named Mika, which can directly control apps like WeChat and Xiaohongshu on mobile devices to help users organize chat logs and send messages. The developer demonstrated Mika’s capabilities: it can browse WeChat group chats in the background, summarize chat records, and even send messages to WeChat’s File Transfer Assistant. Throughout these operations, users can continue using other apps on their home screen without ceding screen control to the AI. Unlike the Doubao mobile assistant, which relies on system-level permissions provided by phone manufacturers, Mika uses Android wireless debugging to launch an auxiliary process with Shell permissions, creating an invisible virtual screen on standard mobile phones to run apps like WeChat. The AI reads buttons, text, and input fields via Accessibility Services to perform taps, swipes, and text input; for interfaces where controls are unrecognizable, it uses local OCR or vision models to operate based on visual content. To use Mika for the first time, users need to enable Developer Options, complete wireless debugging pairing, and grant Accessibility Service permissions. The model supports custom API configuration and login via ChatGPT accounts. It does not require a computer connection during runtime, and tools like Codex on PCs can assign tasks to it via MCP. The cross-app operation feature works on Android 12 and above. On Android 14, Mika can leverage the virtual screen’s independent focus capability, allowing it to operate in the background without seizing the main screen’s input focus.

According to on-chain analyst Ai Yi (@ai_9684xtpa), Binance’s SAFU wallet transferred 7,500 BTC worth approximately $580 million half an hour ago. The transfer is likely related to replenishing reserves for affected assets. Following the transfer, the address still holds 7,500 BTC, roughly half of its balance before the transaction. Subsequently, Binance Co-CEO He Yi announced that BTC, ETH, USDT, BNB, SOL, USDC, XRP, USD1, RLUSD, and ZEC have all resumed 100% full reserve backing.

Bitwise’s Q4 staking report shows that Ethereum’s staked ETH has reached 43.8 million tokens, accounting for 35.9% of its total supply, a new all-time high. Net staking inflows for Q3 stood at 1.99 million ETH, marking six consecutive quarters of net inflows. Solana’s active staked SOL has risen to 440.5 million tokens. However, staking yields for both networks have declined. Ethereum’s average annualized staking yield in Q3 fell to 2.63% from 2.81% in Q2, with 96.3% of that yield coming from ETH issuance. Solana’s gross staking yield dropped to around 6% from 6.38%, with nearly 90% still derived from token issuance. The above figures do not deduct service provider fees and are not equivalent to actual returns for clients. Coinbase noted that staking ETFs and digital asset treasuries are expanding participation channels. Kean Gilbert, head of institutional relations at the Lido Ecosystem Foundation, pointed out that with custodian support for staking, institutions can participate via their existing custodial relationships, and current discussions have shifted to implementation issues such as validator decentralization, code audits, and fund staking ratios. Liquidity remains a key constraint for institutions. Gilbert explained that funds typically need to meet redemptions within one to two days, while ETH un-staking can take weeks, leading institutions to hold some un-staked assets. He estimated that the average staking ratio for related products in Europe is only 50% to 60%. Liquid staking tokens can offer alternative exit channels, but actual sales still depend on market liquidity and prices.

According to Axios, a U.S. official has stated that if Republicans suffer a landslide defeat in the midterm elections, Donald Trump would be more inclined to order large-scale military operations. The official noted: “If Trump feels embarrassed or sidelined, he will take bold actions. That’s what everyone is telling the Iranians. Now is the best time for them to reach a deal.” However, a White House official clarified that the election results will not impact Trump’s decisions on Iran-related issues.