DEEPSEEK
DeepSeek is an AI company and a family of large language models based in Hangzhou, China. It was founded in 2023 and funded by High-Flyer, a well - known quantitative asset management giant. DeepSeek is dedicated to developing advanced large language models and related technologies. It has released several models, including DeepSeek LLM, DeepSeek Coder, DeepSeekMath, and DeepSeek - VL. The latest version, DeepSeek - V3, which was launched in December 2024, has 67.1 billion parameters and was trained on a dataset of 14.8 trillion tokens. It uses FP8 training and open - sources the native FP8 weights. Benchmark tests show that it outperforms Llama 3.1 and Qwen 2.5 while matching GPT - 4O and Claude 3.5 Sonnet. In addition, DeepSeek - R1, which was officially released on January 20, 2025, performs on a par with OpenAI O1 in terms of mathematics, code, and natural language reasoning tasks. DeepSeek's models have a wide range of applications, such as chat and coding scenarios, multilingual automatic translation, image generation, and AI painting. With their high performance and low cost, DeepSeek's models have quickly gained popularity. For example, on February 2, 2025, the DeepSeek app climbed to the top of the download charts in 140 countries on the Apple App Store and also topped the Android Play Store in the United States
Circle Unable to Withdraw $3.3 Billion from SVB, Causing USDC Sell-Off
Circle, the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), was unable to withdraw $3.3 billion of its $40 billion reserves from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), leading to a sell-off that caused the stablecoin's value to drop below its $1 peg. Circle initiated a wire transfer to remove the funds from SVB as the FDIC-insured bank was about to shut operations, but the transfer was not wholly processed, leaving $3.3 billion of USDC reserves with SVB. Dante Disparte, Circle's chief strategy officer, warned that SVB's failure could have broader implications for the US economy.
Biden's Budget Proposal Includes Crackdown on Crypto Wash Sales and Doubling of Capital Gains Tax for Certain Investors
U.S. President Joe Biden's fiscal 2024 budget plan proposes a crackdown on crypto wash sales and a doubling of the capital gains tax for certain investors, which could raise $24 billion. The proposed changes to crypto tax treatment aim to reduce the deficit by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade. The budget proposal seeks to eliminate the tax-loss harvesting strategy used by crypto traders, which allows them to sell assets at a loss for tax purposes before immediately repurchasing them. The proposal also aims to raise the capital gains tax rate for investors making at least $1 million to 39.6%.
Bybit suspends USD bank transfers amid service outages
Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit has temporarily suspended USD deposits via bank transfers due to "service outages from a partner." Users can still withdraw funds through wire transfers until March 10, but are encouraged to do so as soon as possible to avoid potential disruptions. Bybit has exposure to the bankrupt crypto lender Genesis Global Trading and claims all client funds are safe and secure.
Vader Shuts Down Stablecoin USDV
The Vader protocol was an algorithmic stablecoin network that was intended to be comparable to the Terra network, however it ultimately failed. In order to ensure that $1 is always equivalent to 1 USDV, it was intended to promote arbitrages. The next half a year was spent by the Vader team scouring the internet for information on how to improve the app's security. Instead, the authors of the app have built a redemption gateway so that users may access the remainder of the app's treasure.
19 of the World's Largest Banks Hold Nearly $9B in Digital Assets: Basel Committee Survey
According to a survey by the Basel Committee, global banks hold nearly $9 billion in digital assets, and banks holding crypto assets may account for only 0.01% of total Bank for International Settlements (BIS) exposure.
Ethereum Worth Nearly $195M Staked in ETH 2.0 Deposit Contract Over the Past Week
More investments continue trickling into Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract based on the historic highs noted.
Ethereum to Undergo 4 Phases to Tackle the Scalability Issue after Merge
Since the Merge is the first step toward solving the scalability trilemma, Ethereum will have to undergo four more steps to solve this issue.
Signature Bank Suffers $4.27 Billion Crypto Deposit Outflows
Signature bank has suffered its major outflows with around $4.27 billion triggered by the recent crypto market downturn.
ETH Merge Will Propel Narrative of Cryptos Being Eco-Friendly: Head of Sales at Moneycorp
Once Ethereum shifts to a PoS consensus mechanism, validators will replace miners in the confirmation of blocks because they will use the staked Ether. As a result, prompting a more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly approach.
Crypto Exchange OKX Unveils Precautionary Measures Ahead of the Ethereum Merge
With the Ethereum merge just around the corner, crypto exchange OKX has given a service update that includes suspension of ETH deposits and withdrawals during the much-anticipated event.