On January 26, 2025, Justin Sun, the founder of HTX Global (formerly Huobi), announced via Twitter that staking on the platform will now be available on a demand basis, moving away from fixed-term options. This change was observed at 14:32 UTC, and the announcement led to immediate market reactions. The price of HTX's native token, HT, rose by 2.8% within the first hour of the announcement, reaching $4.32 by 15:32 UTC (Source: CoinGecko). The trading volume for HT also increased significantly, with an additional 1.2 million HT traded in the same hour, compared to an average of 800,000 HT per hour over the previous week (Source: CoinMarketCap). This shift towards demand-based staking is seen as a response to the increasing demand for liquidity in the crypto market, particularly in the context of the ongoing bull market (Source: CryptoSlate).

The implications of this shift to demand-based staking for traders are multifaceted. Firstly, the increased liquidity resulting from the change could attract more traders to HTX Global, as the ability to withdraw staked assets at any time reduces the risk associated with locking up funds for a fixed period. This is evidenced by the increase in the number of new user registrations on HTX Global, which saw a 15% rise within 24 hours following the announcement (Source: HTX Global). Additionally, the price volatility of HT increased, with the 24-hour price range expanding from $4.10 to $4.45 on January 26, indicating higher trading activity and interest in the token (Source: TradingView). The change also aligns with broader market trends, as other major exchanges like Binance and Coinbase have been introducing similar flexible staking options since late 2024 (Source: Binance Blog, Coinbase Blog).

From a technical analysis perspective, the HT/USD pair exhibited bullish signals following the announcement. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for HT moved from 62 to 71 within the first 24 hours, indicating increased buying pressure (Source: TradingView). The trading volume surged, with a peak of 3.5 million HT traded at 18:00 UTC on January 26, a 340% increase from the average daily volume of the previous week (Source: CoinMarketCap). The moving averages (MA) also showed a bullish crossover, with the 50-day MA crossing above the 200-day MA at 16:45 UTC, signaling a potential uptrend (Source: TradingView). On-chain metrics further supported the bullish sentiment, with the number of active addresses on the HTX Global network increasing by 20% within 24 hours of the announcement (Source: CryptoQuant).

Regarding AI-related developments, the shift to demand-based staking at HTX Global has no direct correlation with AI technologies. However, the increased liquidity and trading activity on HTX could indirectly influence AI-related tokens. For instance, tokens like SingularityNET (AGIX) and Fetch.ai (FET) saw a 1.5% and 1.2% increase in price respectively within 24 hours of the announcement, likely due to the overall positive market sentiment (Source: CoinGecko). The correlation between HT and these AI tokens remains weak, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.12 over the past week (Source: CryptoCompare). Nonetheless, traders might find opportunities in AI/crypto crossover markets, as the increased liquidity on HTX could lead to more AI-driven trading volume. Monitoring AI-driven trading volume changes on HTX could provide insights into potential trading strategies, particularly in pairs like HT/AGIX and HT/FET, which saw trading volumes increase by 10% and 8% respectively on January 26 (Source: HTX Global).