**General News:**
• The U.S. gave its clearest signal yet on Tuesday that it will look to cripple Russia’s economy — which would likely lead to immense pressure on Putin, both from the Russian people and the country’s business leaders — if Moscow invades its neighbor again.
• Microsoft shares rose 2% in after-hours trading after the company issued better-than-expected quarterly revenue guidance and riding off the news of the Activision purchase.
• A prominent European Union court has overturned a $1.2 billion antitrust fine that was levied against U.S. chipmaker Intel in 2009.
• The National Football League is nearing $2 billion in partnership agreements from betting firms and technology companies helped the NFL lure a record $1.8 billion in sponsorship revenue.
• Chinese tech company Baidu and auto manufacturer Geely are putting more money into the electric car venture Jidu that they partnered on just about a year ago. Both companies announced they are putting nearly $400 million into Jidu in a Series A financing round.
• FTX U.S., the American affiliate of cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced it raised $400 million in its first external fundraising round – the investment gives FTX U.S. a valuation of $8 billion.
• Bentley Motors plans to spend about $3.4 billion over the next decade to become a fully electric luxury brand by 2030.
**Cryptocurrency News:**
• FTX U.S., the American affiliate of cryptocurrency exchange FTX announced it raised $400 million in its first external fundraising round – the investment gives FTX U.S. a valuation of $8 billion.
• Crypto asset manager Valkyrie has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to list its exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering exposure to stocks in bitcoin mining companies on Nasdaq.
• Executive directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have urged El Salvador to remove Bitcoin’s status as legal tender in the country, according to a January 25 announcement from the organization.
• Justin Roiland, co-creator of the Rick and Morty animated series, collaborates with two researchers from crypto investment firm Paradigm on a new mechanism for non-fungible token (NFT) sales.
• YouTube is exploring the idea of helping its content creators to capitalize on NFTs, according to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki in an annual letter to content creators,
• Authorities in Belarus have no intentions to adopt stricter rules for the country’s crypto space. That’s despite neighboring Russia, a close partner in many areas, considering a blanket ban on а number of activities related to cryptocurrencies as suggested by the central bank in Moscow.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has signed a partnership agreement with the Argentinian Soccer Association, one of the biggest soccer federations in the world, to become its main sponsor. With this deal, Binance will become the main sponsor of all the Argentinian national soccer teams for the next five years and issue a new fan token.
