OpenAI will launch GPT-5 Trump may meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia

Headline

▌OpenAI will launch GPT-5 in the coming months

OpenAI CEO Altman announced that OpenAI will launch a model called GPT-5 in the coming months, which will integrate a lot of OpenAI's technologies, including o3, and apply it to the chatbot ChatGPT and API platform. Therefore, OpenAI no longer plans to release o3 as a standalone model. According to Altman's post, before the launch of GPT-5, OpenAI plans to release the GPT-4.5 model, code-named "Orion", in the next few weeks.

▌Trump: May meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia

US President Trump: and Russian President Putin are expected to meet eventually, possibly in Saudi Arabia. The meeting will involve the Saudi Crown Prince.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $97,548.43, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.7%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $2,729.14, with a daily increase or decrease of +4.6%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $697.83, with a daily increase or decrease of +8.4%；

SOL's latest transaction price is 196.20 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of -0.8%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is 0.2628 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +3.9%；

XPR's latest transaction price is 2.46 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.0%。

Policy

▌New York State Senator Initiates Proposal to Establish a State Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Research Working Group

New York State Senator James Sanders Jr. initiated a proposal to establish a New York State Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Research Working Group to provide the Governor and Legislature with information on the widespread use of cryptocurrencies and other forms of digital currencies and their supporting systems, including but not limited to blockchain technology.

▌Cboe BZX Submits Amendment Application to the US SEC to Allow 21Shares Ethereum ETF to Be Collateralized

Cboe BZX Exchange has filed a Form 19b-4 document proposing to allow the 21Shares Core Ethereum Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to be collateralized with Ethereum, and is currently awaiting further action from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

According to the content of the document, the exchange plans to amend some provisions of Eth ETP Amendment No. 2 to allow Ethereum held by the trust to be pledged. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that this is the first ETF to file an application with the SEC to allow staking. Last year, the SEC approved the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF, along with ETFs from institutions such as BlackRock and Fidelity. Previously, many companies removed staking clauses from their registration statements before the SEC approved them. Under former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the SEC had said that proof-of-stake (PoS) tokens were securities. However, under the Trump administration, the SEC is expected to take a friendlier stance on cryptocurrencies and has set up a crypto working group to classify some tokens as "non-securities." ▌ Fed Governor Waller: I believe stablecoin regulations will be passed quickly Fed Governor Waller said payment providers don't necessarily have to be banking institutions. I believe stablecoin regulations will be passed quickly.

▌Trump Picks Crypto-Friendly, Former Bitfury Executive Jonathan Gould to Lead Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

US President Donald Trump has appointed former blockchain executive Jonathan Gould to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Gould previously served as Bitfury’s chief legal officer, and before that, he served as senior deputy comptroller and chief counsel at the OCC, which regulates and oversees national banks and federal savings associations. 

Ron Hammond, senior director of government relations at the Blockchain Association, said Gould will be in “the best position to hit the ground running.” Gould may also emulate the leadership of former OCC chief Brian Brooks, who briefly served as CEO of Binance.US.  

Hammond said: "In addition, his expertise in cryptocurrencies ensures that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will be able to engage substantively with Congress as it begins to develop legislation around stablecoins and market structure."

▌U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: Meme coins may not be regulated by the SEC

In an interview with Bloomberg, U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said that many Meme tokens may not fall under the SEC's regulatory scope because current regulations do not clearly classify them as securities. She pointed out that if Congress or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) wants to intervene, it will be their decision. Peirce believes that Meme tokens have no intrinsic value and are more like digital Beanie Babies or baseball cards. She said: "If people are willing to buy tokens that lack long-term value, they are free to choose, but they should not be surprised by the price plunge."

Blockchain Application

▌io.net launches IO Intelligence platform, plans to combine 25 open source AI models such as DeepSeek

Solana ecosystem DePIN protocol io.net announced the launch of the IO Intelligence platform, which combines Vector Database as a Service with up to five intelligent agents and 25 open source AI models (including DeepSeek, Meta Llama and Mistral).

Cryptocurrency

▌Analyst: Investors should not be too optimistic about Goldman Sachs' ETF holdings, and its holdings are only for arbitrage trading and hedging

CoinDesk senior analyst James Van Straten said that Goldman Sachs' disclosure of its small stake in spot Bitcoin ETFs in its 13F filing caused a heated discussion on Twitter in the crypto space, but the facts were not as expected.

First, these ETFs are not exactly bets on the price of Bitcoin (BTC) by Goldman Sachs' trading floor. These shares are almost certainly held by the bank's asset management arm, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, for its clients.  

Second, while the filing (a snapshot of ownership as of Dec. 31, 2024) shows a $288 million stake in the Fidelity Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) and a $1.3 billion stake in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF (IBIT), it also shows a put option position with a notional value of over $600 million (as well as a small call option position).  

James said: "Goldman Sachs' position is similar to many other banks and hedge funds, and is not a net long position. This is a strategy that reflects basic trading, also known as cash and carry trading, balancing the potential profits and risks of Bitcoin price fluctuations. The ETF recently received option approval, so this is likely to be a directional hedge."

▌Bitwise CIO: Altcoins may bring considerable returns in the long run

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said in a report to clients that there is currently an interesting dichotomy between institutional and retail investors in the cryptocurrency field: on the one hand, institutional investors' sentiment towards cryptocurrencies is the most optimistic in history, while retail investors are in despair. Investment professionals now see cryptocurrencies as an area where institutional capital is allocated in record amounts through ETFs; however, for retail investors, it is almost like living in another reality, and Bitwise's own on-chain sentiment score shows that it is currently one of the lowest readings ever.  

Matt Hougan said he firmly believes that institutions are right. So far this year, ETFs and companies have purchased more than 100,000 BTC, while the number of mined BTC is 18,000. And in the long run, the configuration of altcoins is stronger than at any time in history, but the situation of altcoins is more complicated. With the clarity of the regulatory agenda, the United States regards stablecoins as a "national priority" and the growing confidence of institutions, the crypto industry is bound to push DeFi applications to the masses, and its impact will be self-evident and unstoppable.

▌HashFlare co-founder pleads guilty, the amount of fraud exceeds US$550 million

Crypto mining service HashFlare co-founders Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin pleaded guilty in the United States and admitted to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As part of the plea agreement, they agreed to give up all digital assets frozen by the United States. HashFlare, operated by the two, defrauded users of more than $550 million between 2015 and 2019, and raised $25 million from investors in 2017 through a fake digital bank Polybius project that was never established. The two were arrested in Estonia in 2022 and extradited to the United States in May 2024. They originally faced 18 charges and eventually pleaded guilty to one. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 8, with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Plume Network and Mercado Bitcoin will tokenize assets worth $40 million, according to a statement. RWA companies Plume Network and Mercado Bitcoin have partnered on a plan to tokenize $40 million worth of Brazilian "asset-backed securities, consumer credit, corporate debt and accounts receivable," according to a statement.  

Mercado Bitcoin plans to leverage Plume Network’s infrastructure and layer 1 blockchain to allow cryptocurrency exchanges to offer global customers exposure to Brazilian tokenized assets.  

Plume Network has been actively growing its portfolio of real-world assets since raising $10 million in a seed round led by Haun Ventures last year, and the company subsequently closed a $20 million Series A round that included participation from Brevan Howard Digital, Galaxy Ventures, and Haun Ventures.

Key Economic Developments

▌Bank of America: U.S. tariffs will eventually weaken the dollar if other countries fight back

U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, while initially boosting the dollar, will ultimately weigh on it, Bank of America said. "The dollar may not like tariffs after all," Athanasios Vamvakidis, the bank's head of G-10 foreign exchange strategy, said in a report on Wednesday. "If the United States imposes tariffs on the rest of the world and is retaliated against across the board, the dollar may weaken."

▌The probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in March is 97.5%

According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in March is 97.5%, and the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 2.5%. The probability of maintaining the current interest rate unchanged by May is 86.8%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 12.9%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 0.3%.

▌Musk's X Company agrees to pay $10 million to settle Trump's lawsuit

Musk's X Company (formerly Twitter) has agreed to pay about $10 million to settle Trump's lawsuit against the company and its former CEO, according to people familiar with the matter. This will make X Company the second social media to reach a settlement with Trump.  

Previously, these platforms suspended Trump's account due to the "January 6" Capitol riots. Trump and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Twitter and its then-CEO Jack Dorsey in 2021 (when Twitter was not acquired by Musk). Musk unblocked Trump's Twitter account in November 2022. According to some people familiar with the matter, the Trump team considered letting the lawsuit fade away, arguing that Musk had a close relationship with the president and that he spent $250 million to help Trump get elected. But in the end they decided to move forward with the settlement. A spokesperson for Company X did not respond.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is DeFAI?

DeFAI is about combining the decentralized financial ecosystem of DeFi with AI-driven analysis and automation. The market size of these solutions will soar from about $1 billion to $10 billion by the end of 2025. DeFAI is still in its early stages, focusing mainly on momentum trading similar to memecoins, so there is still a lot of room for rapid development. DeFAI represents a turning point in the Crypto asset industry, combining the decentralized spirit of DeFi with the computational intelligence of artificial intelligence.

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for information reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish a correct investment philosophy and be sure to raise your risk awareness.