Montenegro's Prime Minister: Do Kwon's extradition procedure has been completed.
According to Mars Finance, Montenegro's Prime Minister Milojko Spajić stated on social media that Montenegro has completed the procedure to extradite Do Kwon to the United States, and he may soon go to the U.S. to face criminal charges.
The ecosystem of Virtuals Protocol continues to rise, with VIRTUAL reaching a new high.
According to Mars Finance, based on GMGN data, the ecosystem tokens of Virtuals Protocol continue to rise, with VIRTUAL and GAME both reaching new highs. Among them, VIRTUAL is currently priced at $3.93, with a 24-hour increase of 18.8%;
GAME is currently priced at $0.3281, with a 24-hour increase of 46.03%;
AIXBT is currently priced at $0.5972, with a 24-hour increase of 18.7%;
LUNA is currently priced at $0.15, with a 24-hour increase of 29.8%.
Venture Capital Summary: Crypto financing reached $13.6 billion in 2024, expected to reach $18 billion in 2025.
According to Mars Finance, based on data from the DeFi report, venture capital financing for blockchain startups reached $13.6 billion in 2024, accounting for 4.9% of the total $279 billion in venture capital that year. These figures reflect a recovery from the $10.1 billion in venture capital obtained by crypto companies in 2023. However, the industry is still far behind the peak of 2021, when crypto startups secured $32.4 billion in funding.
One of the highlights of 2024 is that Monad Labs raised $225 million to build a Layer-1 smart contract network, while Berachain raised $100 million to support its modular blockchain development platform. Additionally, the Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon raised $70 million, and the tokenization platform Securitize received $47 million in investment from BlackRock.
Looking ahead, PitchBook's forecast shows that the crypto sector will attract over $18 billion in capital in 2025, with significant growth expected.
Analysts at Galaxy Research also expect that the surge in venture capital activity will be driven by a combination of declining interest rates and increased regulatory clarity in the crypto space, which will enhance investor interest in venture capital opportunities.
"Funding for crypto venture capital has traditionally lagged behind the trends of the overall crypto market, and a certain degree of 'catch-up' is expected in the next four quarters," said Alex Thorn and Gabe Parker.
USDC Treasury burned 94.32 million USDC on the Ethereum chain.
According to Mars Finance, Whale Alert monitoring shows that around 23:39 today, East 8 time, USDC Treasury burned 94.32 million USDC on the Ethereum chain.
Ethereum's annual increase in 2024 is 48%, with a mid-year high surpassing $4,100.
According to Mars Finance, based on market information, Ethereum's annual increase in 2024 is 48.57%, with a year-end price of $3,404. Throughout the year, Ethereum opened at $2,282.11, showing an 'N' shape trend, gradually recovering after reaching an annual low of $2,127 in August, and hitting an annual high of $4,105.53 on December 16.
Bitcoin's annual increase in 2024 is 125%, with a mid-year high of $108,000.
According to Mars Finance, based on market information, Bitcoin's annual increase in 2024 is expected to reach 125.32%, with a year-end price of $95,331. Throughout the year, Bitcoin opened at $42,258, experienced a halving on April 20, and slightly retreated after reaching an annual high of $108,364 on December 17.
Michael Saylor: Since the beginning of Q4, the BTC yield from MSTR's financial operations has been 47.8%.
According to Mars Finance, Michael Saylor, co-founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, stated on the X platform that since the beginning of the fourth quarter, the BTC yield from MSTR's financial operations has been 47.8%, bringing net gains of 120,600 BTC to the company's shareholders. Based on a price of $96,000 per BTC, the revenue for this quarter is $11.6 billion.
ai16z's price increased over 42% in 24 hours, setting a new historical high.
According to Mars Finance, GMGN data shows that ai16z's maximum increase in 24 hours exceeded 42%, currently priced at $1.86, with a market cap of approximately $2.007 billion and a trading volume of $361 million in 24 hours.
Analysis: The U.S. economy may experience an unexpected downturn next year, and the stock market may at least correct by 10%.
According to Mars Finance, Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at The Leuthold Group, stated in his blog that while policy officials and investors seem increasingly concerned about the possibility of overheating economic growth, he believes that an unexpected economic slowdown is more likely to occur in 2025, which could eventually lead to a market correction of at least 10%. Jim Paulsen pointed out that based on historical data since 2003, fluctuations in bond yields often lead to economic surprises, with declining yields indicating economic improvement three months later, and vice versa. In his view, bond yields hovering around 4.6% (reaching 4.63% last week) suggest that the economic surprise index will slow to -35 in the first quarter, and GDP will also slow down. Jim Paulsen stated that if the economic surprise exacerbates concerns, the stock market may pause its upward trend, even if it is not a correction of 10% to 15%.
Year-end Summary | The Surging 2024: The Top Ten Unexpected Events in Cryptocurrency.
The cryptocurrency industry experienced dramatic changes in 2024, with Bitcoin breaking the $100,000 barrier, the rise of AI tokens and new public chains, a strong recovery in DeFi, a surge in meme coin investments, and unexpected rebounds in established currencies such as XRP and TRX. At the same time, the Ethereum ecosystem is weak, and the Bitcoin inscription market has burst. Policy easing and technological innovation drive market development, and the future of cryptocurrencies remains full of potential and opportunities.
