What to Expect at Consensus Hong Kong Consensus lands in Hong Kong for the first time Feb 18-20. Here are some highlights from a packed schedule of programming and special events.

Justin Sun on Mars, Tropico, Game of Thrones, and That Banana Sam Reynolds meets TRON’s founder at home in Hong Kong.

Wisconsin More Than Doubled BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Holdings to 6M Shares The state’s investment board’s stake is worth more than $340 million at IBIT’s current price of $56.10.

SafeMoon to Launch Memecoin on Solana After Burning Most of SFM Supply SFM holders will have an opportunity to sell their tokens despite current low liquidity levels.

Meta’s Ray-Bans have sold 2 million pairs — its maker is prepping to sell 10M each year Two weeks ago, we exclusively reported Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s remarks on how many pairs of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses the company had recently sold and might theoretically sell — 1 million pairs in 2024, with the possibility of reaching 2 million or even 5 million by the end of 2025. But glasses giant EssilorLuxottica,

WhatsApp is getting themed chat bubbles WhatsApp is turning up the customization features for chats by including new theme options, custom colors for chat bubbles, and a bunch of new wallpapers to choose from. A new blog post says the feature is rolling out now and will be available globally “over the coming weeks.” There are 30 new wallpaper options to

Climate group that called for ‘free Palestine’ stripped of federal funding A grassroots environmental alliance that called for a “free Palestine” has lost the more than $50 million it was supposed to receive under the Biden administration’s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act. The Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) became the target of conservative attacks after advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza, and a grou…

Mastodon will add quote posts, even though some users don’t want them Mastodon is making a change that might have some users divided. In an update on Friday, the decentralized platform announced that it’s working to add quote posts “to help people to transition away from proprietary, billionaire-owned social media to the open social web,” as spotted earlier by TechCrunch. Mastodon initially decided against impleme…

Trump administration adds anti-trans notices to restored websites President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered federal agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to add disclaimers railing against “gender ideology” to pages restored by a recent court order, The Washington Post reported. The notice reads: Per a court order, HHS is required to restore…

Vance Tells Europeans to Stop Shunning Parties Deemed Extreme His comments, a week before Germany’s elections, seemed to specifically target efforts to sideline the hard-right Alternative for Germany.

Hagan Scotten, Adams’s Lead Prosecutor, Quits Defiantly Hagan Scotten told Justice Department officials that he would not be party to a political prosecution. He was the latest in a succession of federal prosecutors to quit.

Tensions Mount in Lebanon as Deadline Nears for Israeli Withdrawal The United States has reportedly told Lebanese officials that Israel’s military intends to remain in five strategic points inside Lebanon, but will withdraw from towns it still occupies.

Man Pleads Guilty in Shooting of Teen Who Went to the Wrong Door Andrew D. Lester, a Kansas City resident in his 80s, was charged with felonies in the shooting of Ralph Yarl, a teen who rang his doorbell.

Mayor Adams May Avoid a Criminal Trial. He Still Faces Political Peril. The criminal case against Mr. Adams may be in jeopardy, but his political future now seems more imperiled amid heightened calls for his resignation or dismissal.

Diplomats in Munich Fear Trump Is Giving Up Leverage to Putin Before Talks With Ukraine Diplomats at the Munich Security Conference were uttering “appeasement,” with all its historical resonance, to describe the Trump administration’s approach to negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

‘Joyful Chaos’: Couples Flock to Courthouses to Wed on Valentine’s Day At a midnight ceremony and in courthouses and city buildings booked months in advance, couples exchanged vows in civil ceremonies as Valentine’s Day fell on a Friday.

Why Emil Bove’s Battle Against Danielle Sassoon Is So Self-Defeating This kind of conflict was inevitable. It is extremely surprising, however, that the conflict would be sought and stoked just weeks into Trump’s four-year term, and for the sake of protecting Eric Adams.

CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Ripple (XRP) Jumps 9.4% as Index Trades Higher Stellar (XLM) was also a top performer, gaining 6.1% from Thursday.

Reality of XRP ETF Is One Step Closer After SEC Acknowledges Filing The Securities and Exchanges Commission acknowledged a filing by the New York Stock Exchange and Grayscale for an XRP ETF on Thursday.

Elden Ring Nightreign’s director isn’t sorry about how stressful it is My first time playing Elden Ring Nightreign, I was stressed the hell out. My team and I were in an underground dungeon, trying to make our way past traps and dangerous blind corners, all while knowing there was an invisible clock ominously ticking down above our heads. If we were still underground when it hit