Weekly Editor's Picks (0124-0130)

marsbitPublished on 2026-01-31Last updated on 2026-01-31

Abstract

Weekly Editor's Picks (0124-0130) by Odaily Planet Daily features in-depth articles from the past week. Key topics include: - **Investing & Startups**: Analysis suggests the silver rally, driven by capital flight, monetary devaluation, and industrial demand, may continue. Silver is seen as having a "Bitcoin moment," transitioning from "poor man's gold" to an industrial necessity. Concerns about a potential COMEX silver delivery failure by March 2026 are highlighted. The tokenization logic of gold (e.g., XAUt) and on-chain silver trading on platforms like Hyperliquid are also discussed. - **Policy & Stablecoins**: The real competition in stablecoin issuance lies in compliance, liquidity, redemption efficiency, and bundled services, not just the technical ability to create a token. - **Ethereum & Scaling**: In an interview, Vitalik Buterin expressed concern about the gap between Ethereum's technical capabilities and its original purpose of building decentralized applications (DeSoc, smarter DAOs). He noted that SocialFi faces structural issues where financial incentives can overwhelm social ones. - **CeFi & DeFi**: A report on on-chain stock perpetual contracts details their mechanisms to handle unique market structures and their role in merging traditional finance with crypto. The Trump family's crypto ventures, which added $1.4 billion to their wealth, are also examined. - **Web3 & AI**: A contrarian view bets against AI's success, arguing that excess production could th...

"Weekly Editor's Picks" is a functional column by Odaily Planet Daily. While Planet Daily covers a vast amount of real-time information weekly, it also publishes many high-quality in-depth analysis pieces. However, these might be hidden within the information flow and hot news, passing you by.

Therefore, our editorial team will select some articles worth spending time to read and收藏 from the content published in the past 7 days every Saturday. From perspectives like data analysis, industry judgment, and opinion sharing, we aim to bring new inspiration to you in the crypto world.

Now, let's read together:

Investment & Entrepreneurship

Silver Moon in the Sky, How Long Will Silver Keep Rising?

Silver at $103 is not the end, perhaps not even the midpoint. The driving factors (capital flight, currency devaluation, solar energy demand, supply constraints) have not changed and are accelerating. These same dynamics are spreading to other metals, particularly copper.

Signals worth watching for a turn include: China actively addressing the real estate debt crisis; the US shifting towards fiscal responsibility; a more peaceful world; non-Western elites reaching some agreement with the US.

What is Driving the Super Cycle for Gold, Silver, and Copper, a Once-in-45-Years Event?

The new highs for gold, silver, and copper are not a cyclical rebound but a fundamental change in the global valuation logic for hard assets.

In 2025, the Silver Miners ETF achieved a staggering 195% return, and this trade is not over yet.

The达成 of peace agreements, the emergence of material substitutes, and short-term market corrections could lead to price pullbacks of 20% to 40%.

Silver in the Eyes of Traders is the Next Bitcoin

The narrative around silver is shifting from "the poor man's gold" to "an essential for industrial growth," its fundamentals undergoing a profound structural reshaping. Whether from industrial demand, monetary属性, institutional movements, or ETF inflows, silver seems to be having its "Bitcoin moment."

Silver Facing a "Delivery Failure" Crisis? March Could Be a "Critical Moment" for Precious Metals

The New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) might face a physical silver delivery default as early as March 2026, which would completely destroy the credibility of the existing pricing mechanism and trigger a chain reaction spreading to the gold and credit markets, leading to a collapse of the entire financial system.

The New Narrative of the $5000 Era: The "Old King" Returns, How to Understand the Tokenization Logic of Gold?

The real watershed for digital physical gold is the shift from "on-chain" to "usable"—in the Web3 environment, XAUt can not only be traded but also combined with other assets, exchanged, and even connected to payment and consumption scenarios.

When Traders Start Speculating on Silver On-Chain: Hyperliquid's Full-Asset "Infiltration War"

From a trader's perspective, as long as HIP-3's open interest continues to hit new highs, as long as BTC order book depth continues to approach Binance's, and as long as precious metal trading volume keeps growing, as long as these three indicators hold, HYPE is still in an upward trend.

Also recommended: Ark Invest's "Big Ideas 2026" Crypto Edition: BTC Market Cap Will Rise to $16 Trillion by 2030

Prediction Markets

Polymarket Developer Essentials: 18 Battle-Tested Core Open-Source Tool Libraries

Policy & Stablecoins

Compliance, Liquidity, Distribution: Where is the Real Battlefield for Stablecoin Issuance?

Core issuance capabilities are converging, but aspects with high operational demands like compliance, redemption efficiency, launch time, and bundled services are not easily replaceable between providers. If you view issuers as completely interchangeable, you miss where the real constraints lie and misjudge where profits might be retained.

The article further breaks down the technology and operations stack for white-label issuance.

Stablecoins are fighting a customer acquisition competition, achieving retention through switching costs. Changing an issuer involves reserve and custody operations, compliance processes, redemption mechanisms, and downstream system integrations, so issuers are not "replaceable with a click."

Pricing power comes from bundled sales, regulatory environment, and liquidity constraints. The value lies not in "creating the token" itself, but in the entire轨道 infrastructure surrounding the stablecoin's operation.

Also recommended: Tokenized Securities Regulation Clarified, Which Hot Projects Won't Pass the SEC's Test?.

Airdrop Opportunities & Interaction Guides

2026 Potential Airdrop Project Mega Compilation & Tutorial (Part 3)

Popular Interaction Compilation | Surf Launches Points System; MemeMax Earn MaxPacks Event Ongoing (January 30)

The Ultimate Guide to 2026 Perp DEX Airdrops

Ethereum & Scaling

Dialogue with Vitalik: Technical Maturity, Application Confusion, The Most Dangerous Divide in the Crypto World

Vitalik: The biggest shift in recent years is seeing the huge divide between technology and application. Too many people seem to have forgotten the original intention of "building various decentralized applications that truly change the way society collaborates." I hope Ethereum can be like a core hub for all decentralized applications in the future, serving not just finance but also渗透 into all industries. Its core value lies in "true ownership." The types of applications I most hope developers build are: DeSoc, smarter DAOs, decentralized stablecoins. Besides fiat, decentralized stablecoins could also be pegged to real-world value, like CPI.

The biggest structural dilemma for SocialFi is: if you bind social and financial aspects too tightly, financial incentives often backlash and overwhelm social incentives.

In the long run, short-term bets on prediction markets don't hold much social significance. Theoretically, prediction markets are successful as a tool (because they work), but we need more meaningful applications. For dispute resolution, the current Oracle data sources (e.g., Web2 news sites, Twitter) have too low security standards.

Worthwhile directions for AI×Crypto include: AI's bank account, prediction markets, content authenticity.

Also recommended: Side Events May Be Drastically Reduced by Over 80%, Is ETHDenver's Halo Fading?

CeFi & DeFi

In-Depth Research Report on Stock Contracts Sector: The Next Trillion-Dollar Battlefield for On-Chain Derivatives

The US stock market has unique structures like trading hour limitations (not 24/7), pre-market and after-hours volatility, and trading halts, which require oracles to intelligently handle market state switches. Mainstream solutions incorporate market open/close markers, TWAP smoothing algorithms, outlier filtering, etc., to prevent on-chain prices from detaching from real-world anchors during US market closures and avoid price manipulation risks due to insufficient liquidity.

Regarding synthetic asset construction, stock perpetual contracts do not mint tokens representing real equity but create virtual positions linked to the underlying stock price through smart contracts. To ensure smooth liquidation, mainstream protocols incorporate cross-asset risk engines and dynamic parameter adjustment mechanisms.

The traffic入口 for stock perpetuals is expanding from单一官网 (single official websites) to多元生态 (diverse ecosystems). Stock perpetual contracts are at a critical breakthrough period from zero to one. They are both a必然选择 (inevitable choice) for Perp DEXs seeking new growth narratives and a试验田 (testing ground) for the integration of traditional assets and crypto finance.

One Year of the Trump Family Crypto Project WLFI: When the Referee Joins the Race

The Trump family gained $1.4 billion from crypto appreciation in one year, accounting for 1/5 of their total net worth.

3 Major Controversies of the Trump Family Crypto Project: WLFI public sale, TRUMP Meme coin, USD1 stablecoin popularization.

The Trump Family's Insider Trading Code: "News Trading" and "TACO-style Trading" throughout.

Also recommended: Lazy Person's Financial Guide | Latest Calculation of Binance USD1 Airdrop Yield; OpenEden Launches New 26.4% APY Pool (January 26).

Web3 & AI

Sorry, This Time I Must Bet on AI's Death

One of the best gauges for measuring actual currency devaluation is M2 growth rate. The notion that stocks always go up is an illusion. The monetization of commodities is real and happening.

When the excess of "production" threatens the foundation of "plunder," interest groups will have ample motivation to make the AI revolution fail or be indefinitely delayed.

Betting on AI's "death" essentially means: shorting the race between "exponentially growing credit" and "linearly growing productivity"; going long on hard assets and anti-fragile assets; shorting organizational efficiency. In other words, betting against AI is betting on physical laws and debt mathematics; betting for AI is betting on a technological singularity and the luck of human evolution.

Also recommended: ClawdBot Viral Hands-On Test: Invest $100, "Earn" 200% Overnight.

Weekly Hot Topics Recap

In the past week, on January 30th, BTC once fell below $81,200; Trump: Nominating Kevin Warsh for Fed Chair;

Additionally, regarding policy and macro markets: The US enters a period of clearer crypto asset regulation; if the market structure bill passes, it could enhance industry predictability and benefit retail investors; Trump sues the IRS and Treasury Department, claiming $10 billion; Trump: Not worried about dollar depreciation, can make it go up and down like a yo-yo; Sources: Trump reaches funding deal with Democrats to avoid government shutdown; White House positions "US is already the global crypto hub," CFTC to follow up with rule and regulation reforms; CFTC Chair: Will formulate new rules for prediction markets;

Regarding views and voices: Viewpoint: 2026 is a key inflection point for the crypto market, the sector will shift towards new financial infrastructure construction; a16z Crypto: AI-based judgment mechanisms might solve prediction market scaling bottlenecks;

Regarding institutions, large companies, and top projects: Tether officially launches US federally regulated stablecoin USA₮ (解读 analysis); Binance lists Tesla contract; ERC-8004 standard released on Ethereum mainnet;

Data-wise: On January 26th, silver broke through $117/oz, hitting a record high (introduction to tokenized silver); On January 29th, spot gold approached $5600...... Well, another week of ups and downs.

Attached: Portal to the Weekly Editor's Picks series.

See you next issue~

Related Questions

QWhat is the main purpose of the 'Weekly Editor's Picks' column from Odaily Planet Daily?

ATo select and recommend high-quality in-depth analysis articles from the past week that readers might have missed amidst the flow of news and hot topics, providing new insights from perspectives like data analysis and industry judgment.

QAccording to the article, what is driving the current surge in silver prices and how long might it last?

AThe surge is driven by factors including capital flight, currency devaluation, solar energy needs, and supply constraints, which are not only unchanged but accelerating. The article suggests $103 silver is not the end point, and may not even be the midpoint, indicating the rally could continue for some time.

QWhat potential crisis does the article mention regarding the New York Mercantile Exchange (COMEX) and silver?

AThe article states that the COMEX could face a physical silver delivery default as early as March 2026, which would destroy the credibility of the existing pricing mechanism and trigger a chain reaction leading to the collapse of the entire financial system.

QWhat are some of the key application types that Vitalik Buterin hopes developers will build on Ethereum network?

AVitalik Buterin hopes developers will build DeSoc (Decentralized Social) applications, smarter DAOs, and decentralized stablecoins that can be pegged to real-world value, such as the CPI, not just fiat currency.

QWhat is the core argument presented in the section 'Sorry, This Time I Must Bet on AI's Death'?

AThe core argument is to bet against AI's success, essentially shorting the race between exponentially growing credit and linearly growing productivity, going long on hard and anti-fragile assets, and shorting organizational efficiency. It posits that powerful interest groups have an incentive to make the AI revolution fail to protect the foundations of their 'plunder' from the threat of overproduction.

Related Reads

Bitcoin's 'Rally Ends,' Officially Entering the Later Stage of a Bear Market?

Bitcoin prices declined 13% this week, reversing the recent rebound and signaling a likely transition into the later stages of a bear market. Key on-chain metrics deteriorated, with the short-term holder cost basis falling below the Realized Price—a pattern last seen in early 2022, characteristic of bear market maturity. The rally to ~$82k proved to be a bear market bounce, as evidenced by the 90-day realized profit/loss ratio failing to sustain above the bullish threshold of 2. Daily realized losses surged to $1.35B, including significant selling from long-term holders who accumulated near cycle tops, indicating ongoing supply redistribution. Price was rejected almost precisely at the aggregate US spot ETF cost basis of ~$83k, turning that level into resistance and leaving the average ETF investor underwater again. Spot market selling pressure intensified, with the 7-day volume delta turning significantly negative to its weakest level since February. While a major long liquidation event cleared over $400M in leverage, spot demand has not yet stepped in to absorb the resulting supply. Options markets continue pricing in higher future volatility (elevated volatility risk premium) and maintain a skew toward put options, reflecting persistent demand for downside protection, though not yet panic. Overall, market structure remains fragile. Sustained recovery likely requires a reclaim of the ETF cost basis, a shift back to positive spot demand, and a slowdown in realized loss-taking. Until then, the market risks further downside or extended consolidation within the broader bear trend.

Foresight News25m ago

Bitcoin's 'Rally Ends,' Officially Entering the Later Stage of a Bear Market?

Foresight News25m ago

How Risky is the "Death Spiral" of MSTR and STRC?

Summary: This article explores the perceived "death spiral" risk between MicroStrategy (MSTR), its Bitcoin holdings, and its perpetual preferred stock (STRC), drawing comparisons to the LUNA-UST collapse. While both systems feature price anchors, high yields for holders, and potential feedback loops, their core mechanisms differ fundamentally. The MSTR-STRC structure relies on continuous financing to sustain its high dividend payouts, primarily through stock ATM offerings. A negative feedback cycle could occur: falling MSTR stock price makes raising equity capital harder, increasing pressure to sell Bitcoin, which undermines STRC confidence and further depresses MSTR. However, unlike LUNA-UST's automated, direct linkage, the MSTR-STRC loop is weaker and has brakes: STRC dividends can be deferred or rates lowered, and STRC holders have a $100/share liquidation preference in bankruptcy, providing a price floor. The company's sustainability hinges on its ability to continue financing. Its current ~$900 million USD reserves cover only about 6.3 months of its ~$1.71 billion annual interest/dividend burden. The next six months are critical, aligning with both the potential bottom in Bitcoin's four-year cycle and the depletion timeline of its reserves. While a LUNA-style catastrophic collapse is deemed highly unlikely due to structural differences, the key question is whether MicroStrategy can navigate this period through healthy deleveraging to restart its capital engine.

Foresight News44m ago

How Risky is the "Death Spiral" of MSTR and STRC?

Foresight News44m ago

How Much Debt Does Strategy Really Have? Is There a Risk of Implosion?

MicroStrategy's Debt Risk: A Turning Point in the "Never Sell" Strategy As of June 3, 2026, MicroStrategy holds 843,706 bitcoins (valued at ~$53.1B) but faces significant financial obligations. Its capital structure includes $6.75B in convertible notes and $15.48B in perpetual preferred stock (led by the $8.5B STRC series), creating an annual payout burden of ~$1.71B. With software revenue at only ~$500M, interest and dividend obligations far exceed operating income. A critical shift occurred in late May 2026 when the company sold 32 bitcoins for ~$2.5M to cover dividends, breaking CEO Michael Saylor's long-standing "never sell" pledge. This symbolic move triggered a sharp decline in both Bitcoin's price and MSTR stock, reflecting market fears about cash flow sustainability. The core of the strain is the STRC perpetual preferred stock, designed as a "permanent loan" with no maturity date but requiring high monthly dividends (currently 11.5%). Its business model relies on a three-part cycle: issuing new STRC shares, using proceeds to buy more Bitcoin and fund a USD reserve, and using that reserve to pay dividends. This cycle depends on continuous investor demand for STRC and Bitcoin's price appreciation. Analysis shows Bitcoin needs to appreciate at least 2.3% annually to cover the $1.71B in yearly obligations at current holdings. With Bitcoin price down ~22% from March 2026 highs, this pressure has intensified. The company's $900M USD reserve can only cover about 7 months of payments if STRC issuance stalls. Key risks are not immediate bankruptcy or forced Bitcoin liquidation (as BTC is not collateral), but rather: 1) The erosion of MSTR's premium to its Bitcoin holdings (mNAV), which would cripple its ability to raise cheap capital; 2) A vicious cycle where stagnant Bitcoin prices reduce STRC demand, draining the USD reserve and forcing BTC sales, further depressing prices. The period from February 2027 to September 2028 is a crucial test, with over $5.9B in convertible notes facing put options or maturity. In essence, MicroStrategy has evolved from a simple Bitcoin holder into a complex financial entity acting like a "private Bitcoin bank," leveraging its BTC holdings to create layered financial products. Its survival depends on maintaining Bitcoin's price trend, its stock premium, and market appetite for its preferred shares. The recent token sale marks not a betrayal of its Bitcoin thesis, but an admission that the leveraged strategy must eventually be paid for.

marsbit54m ago

How Much Debt Does Strategy Really Have? Is There a Risk of Implosion?

marsbit54m ago

Anthropic Cries Wolf: Is the AGI Threat Real, or Just an IPO Story?

Anthropic has published an article titled "When AI builds itself," discussing the emerging concept of "recursive self-improvement," where AI begins to actively participate in designing, training, testing, and optimizing its own subsequent versions. The company presents internal data showing that by May 2026, over 80% of code merged into its codebase was written by Claude, its AI model. Claude's capabilities have expanded to handling complex, open-ended engineering tasks, achieving a 76% success rate in such areas, and even contributing to research processes, such as optimizing code performance and conducting AI safety experiments. Anthropic outlines an evolution from human-driven development to AI-assisted workflows, culminating in the current stage where AI agents can autonomously write, run, and delegate code. The company cautions that the path toward a "closed loop," where AI continuously improves itself, is becoming visible. It calls for coordinated global mechanisms to potentially slow or pause frontier AI development to allow safety research and societal structures to catch up. However, the timing of this warning coincides with Anthropic's preparations for an IPO, framing the narrative not just as a safety concern but also as a demonstration of Claude's advanced capabilities and its integral role in accelerating Anthropic's own R&D—creating a potential "flywheel" effect for competitive advantage. This contrasts with OpenAI's recent, more policy-oriented discussion of the same risks, highlighting the competitive dynamics in the AI industry as companies position themselves in both the technological and regulatory landscape.

marsbit1h ago

Anthropic Cries Wolf: Is the AGI Threat Real, or Just an IPO Story?

marsbit1h ago

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