Avalon Labs raised $10 million to expand its Bitcoin-based decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

The funding round was led by Framework Ventures, with participation from UXTO Management, Presto Labs, and Kenetic Capital.

Avalon's goal is to turn BTC from a digital asset into an active financial instrument.

Users can stake BTC to receive USDa at a fixed rate of 8%.

Several popular meme coins, including Shiba Inu (SHIB), Turbo (TURBO), and Apu (APU), have adopted the Chainlink Cross-Chain Token (CCT) standard, allowing them to become available on 12 blockchains.

On Sunday, the tokens Simon’s Cat (CAT), Coq Inu (COQ), goat (GOAT), Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR, and mog coin (MOG) joined the decentralized data streams of Chainlink.

These streams use an oracle model to continuously provide market data off-chain.

Thesis: Tether, known for issuing the stablecoin USDT, plans to launch an artificial intelligence platform in early 2025. Under the leadership of CEO Paolo Ardoino, the company is expanding its activities beyond stablecoins, investing in energy, payments, and AI. Last year, Tether acquired a stake in the firm Northern Data, highlighting its interest in AI.

Digital asset custody company Copper has withdrawn its application to register with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The decision comes as the company changes its strategic direction to focus on international opportunities, including the US, Europe and the Middle East. New CEO Amar Kuchinad will lead the global growth strategy.

Financial losses in cryptocurrencies continue for the third day in a row after the US Federal Reserve meeting. Bitcoin fell by 4.2%, Solana, Ethereum and Cardano fell by up to 9%, and Dogecoin lost 11%. The CoinDesk 20 Index fell by 5.5%. The reason for the decline was a change in expectations for Fed rates, which caused a sharp sell-off in risky assets. Traders attribute this to overly optimistic market sentiment.

Financial markets continue to feel the pressure following the Fed meeting. Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen 4.2% in the last 24 hours, while Solana (SOL), Ethereum (ETH) and Cardano (ADA) are down up to 9%. Dogecoin has lost 11%, extending its weekly losses to 21%. The CoinDesk 20 Index has fallen 5.5%, which has also affected futures markets with $890 million in liquidations.

Aptos Labs co-founder Mo Sheikh announced his departure from the position of CEO of the company. Aptos, known for its scalability and security, uses the Move programming language. Sheikh expressed pride in the company's achievements, including raising $400 million in investments. The new CEO will be Avery Ching. Sheikh will remain a strategic advisor, focusing on the future of the blockchain.

Cryptocurrency prices fell sharply after comments from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell about the slowdown in interest rate cuts next year. Bitcoin dropped by 4.8% to less than $96,000. Altcoins were hit harder: Ethereum fell by 10.8%, others by 15-20%. $1.2 billion in positions were liquidated, mainly long ones. The US dollar index and Treasury yields rose.

El Salvador reaches a deal with the IMF for $3.5 billion, making concessions on Bitcoin. The state wallet Chivo will be sold or closed, but private wallets will continue to operate. Bitcoin will remain legal tender, but its use in the private sector will be voluntary, and taxes will be paid in US dollars. El Salvador will continue to increase its Bitcoin reserves.

The founder of Curve, Mikhail Egorov, underwent liquidation amounting to 918.83 thousand CRV ($882 thousand) after the CRV price fell by more than 12% in the last 24 hours.

Egorov previously faced large liquidations after taking loans to purchase CRV. In June, $140 million was liquidated.

Egorov stated that the liquidation is related to the uWu hack in June and is a "receipt" for the return of the stolen funds.

In 2024, digital assets, particularly Bitcoin (BTC), achieved a significant breakthrough due to increased institutional adoption.

- Bitcoin is being integrated into public balance sheets as a treasury asset.
- The success of American spot ETFs, which gathered over 1 million BTC.
- Assets under management of Bitcoin ETFs surpassed gold ETFs, reaching $129.25 billion.

CME shows high activity, with open interests at 212,635 BTC.

CoinDesk Indices reports a 2.9% decline in the CoinDesk 20 to 3834.16 points. Of the 20 assets, only one shows growth. Leaders: HBAR (+0.8%), BTC (-1.6%). Outsiders: LTC (-7.6%), FIL (-6.2%). The CoinDesk 20 index covers a wide range of assets and is traded on various platforms around the world.

The Swiss company Taurus, specializing in cryptocurrency storage, collaborates with Temenos, a banking software provider. This will allow banks to quickly create crypto wallets and manage digital assets. Temenos serves over 3,000 banks in 40 countries. The integration provides access to cryptocurrencies, tokenized securities, and stablecoins.

Plume's blockchain network raised $20 million in a Series A funding round, reports CoinDesk. Among the investors are Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures, Galaxy Ventures, and others. The funds will be used to accelerate the development of its own level 1 blockchain network, the launch of which is planned for early next year. Plume aims to simplify investing in tokenized real assets.

The cryptocurrency exchange Binance published a list of "alpha watchlist tokens" in one of its Telegram channels, which led to a surge in the mentioned tokens. Later, the information was refuted, and the tokens lost their positions.

- The list included projects Wise Monkey, Happy Cat, Rifampicin, Zircuit, and ai16zeliza.
- MONKY rose by 38%, then fell by 22%.
- One trader lost $102,000 due to the sharp drop of ELIZA.

Binance did not comment to CoinDesk.

ZBD, a platform using the Bitcoin Lightning network, has received approval from the Dutch Financial Markets Authority (AFM) for a MiCA license in the EU. From December 30, ZBD will be able to provide cryptocurrency custody and exchange services on the trading block. The application was submitted in April. A list of licensed companies will be available on the AFM website once MiCA comes into force.

The NFT market shows signs of recovery, reports Galaxy Research. NFT trading volumes, which had been declining for most of the year, began to rise in November following the U.S. elections and the subsequent rally in the crypto market.

By early November, weekly trading volumes exceeded $100 million, reaching $172 million by December 2. The main contribution came from the top 25 collections by market capitalization.

The platforms Blur and OpenSea accounted for 60% and 27% of the volume, respectively. The Pudgy Penguins and Lil Pudgys collections showed significant price increases.

The second-level Fuel network based on Ethereum announced the start of token applications on December 19. 10% of the total token supply will be distributed among more than 200,000 wallets. The application window will last for a month. Fuel claims to be the fastest and cheapest solution on Ethereum, processing up to 600 TPS at a cost of $0.0002 per transaction.

Nigeria has arrested 792 people during a raid at a building in Lagos, where it is alleged that cryptocurrency fraud was being carried out, reports Reuters. The suspects, including citizens of China and the Philippines, lured victims from America and Europe with romantic offers before demanding money for fake crypto investments. Nigeria is tightening measures against illegal crypto activities.

CoinDesk Indices presented a daily market update. The CoinDesk 20 index is trading at 3997.96, which is up 2.1% since Monday at 16:00 ET.

- Eight out of twenty assets showed growth.
- Leaders: XRP (+7.9%) and XLM (+6.7%).
- Underperformers: LINK (-4.2%) and UNI (-2.3%).

The CoinDesk 20 index covers several platforms and regions.