Odaily Planet Daily reports that Goldman Sachs predicts gold prices will gradually climb, reaching $5,400 per ounce by the end of 2026, with diversification providing upside potential. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs expects central bank gold purchases to accelerate again in 2026, at the pace seen in 2025. Their core view is that central bank demand, coupled with increased holdings by private investors (primarily in response to Fed rate cuts), will support a steady rise in gold prices. Goldman Sachs points out that if private sector diversification efforts (especially call option structures) increase, the market will face significant upside risks. Furthermore, while the medium-term trend remains upward, significant volatility is possible. (Golden Ten)

Huoxun Finance News, February 20th - According to Globenewswire, Nasdaq-listed Robinhood released its operating data for January 2026, revealing continued growth in users, assets, and transaction volume. As of the end of January, the platform's total assets reached $324 billion, a 1% increase month-over-month and a 59% increase year-over-year; notional stock trading volume reached $227.3 billion, a 21% increase month-over-month and a 57% increase year-over-year; cryptocurrency trading volume reached $22.9 billion, an 8% increase month-over-month and a 12% increase year-over-year, with $8.7 billion in transactions on the Robinhood App and $14.2 billion on Bitstamp; and event contract trading volume reached 300 million contracts, a 17% increase month-over-month. Robinhood also disclosed that as of February 17th, it had repurchased approximately 2.1 million Class A ordinary shares in the current quarter, totaling approximately $173 million, more than double the amount repurchased in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Odaily Planet Daily reports that FreeRide, an AI-powered automated trading platform, announced today that it will hold a 7-day live quantitative trading competition, "AI Trading Battle Royale," on February 24th. The platform grants its AI a high degree of autonomous decision-making power and incorporates an institutional-grade risk control framework at the execution layer, organically combining AI with high trading standards. This competition will apply eight AI models to a real-world crypto arena, divided into two opposing teams: the East Team (DeepSeek, Qwen, Minimax, GLM) and the West Team (Grok, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude). All eight models will use the same prompt for fully autonomous live trading, competing based on real ROI. In addition to the technical competition, FreeRide has also opened an incentive channel for users to participate. Users do not need to invest capital; they only need to accurately predict the winning team, the highest-yielding model, or the lowest-yielding model to share the total prize pool. FreeRide is also launching a points program; completing registration and predictions will unlock points, which can be redeemed for PRO membership and are the sole proof of future access to the platform's native token airdrop. Freeride AI stated that following this event, it will invite community users to test its self-developed AI Trading Agent. This agent features a modular design, integrating cutting-edge AI model research and engineering with institutional-grade trading frameworks and risk control standards.

Huoxun Finance News, February 20th - According to Financefeeds, electronic trading platform Tradeweb Markets announced a strategic investment in prediction market operator Kalshi, acquiring a minority stake. Specific investment amounts and equity percentages were not disclosed. The two companies will integrate event-driven market data and explore new infrastructure for trading event contracts through the Tradeweb electronic platform. Tradeweb stated that it will integrate Kalshi's real-time event probability data into its rate and credit trading platform, including the user interface, API, and data download tools, enabling institutional clients to directly reference prediction market probabilities within their existing macro trading processes.

Huoxun Finance reported on February 20th that Simon Georgech, CEO of the Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet, responded on the X platform to anonymous accounts inciting public opinion and accusing the company of "dishonest information disclosure" without any responsibility. He stated that the claims were inconsistent with the facts, and that he and the company were willing to take full responsibility for all their words and actions. The company's long-term, systematic strategy of accumulating Bitcoin remains unchanged. Georgech stated that in the past six months, amidst rising volatility, the company has increased its allocation to income-generating businesses, obtaining premiums through the sale of put options and spread strategies, and allocating some funds to long-term Bitcoin holdings. All Bitcoin purchases are disclosed immediately after the decision is made, and all of the company's Bitcoin addresses are publicly available. Shareholders can view their holdings through a real-time dashboard. Regarding the accusation of "buying at a high price in September without disclosure," he stated that four Bitcoin purchases were made in September, all of which were promptly announced. The company's strategy is not market timing, but rather a long-term, systematic accumulation of Bitcoin. Furthermore, the sale of put options is not simply a bet on price increases, but rather an acquisition of Bitcoin at an effective cost below the spot price. Recurring losses primarily stem from fluctuations in the unrealized fair value of Bitcoin held long-term and not sold; interpreting this as a strategic failure is a misinterpretation.