Airdrop tokens continue to be a prominent trend in the crypto community, with a distribution value of up to 15 billion USD in 2024. As the new year begins, a host of new opportunities emerge from DeFi, blockchain, Web3, and liquidity staking projects. Below are notable airdrop programs in the first week of 2025.
1. Midas Yielder: Explosive Opportunity
Midas, a prominent blockchain platform, has launched the Midas Yielder mini Telegram app, where users can earn GM points through:

Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and former German Finance Minister, has expressed strong support for incorporating Bitcoin into the national reserve portfolio. He also believes that the European Central Bank (ECB) needs to seriously consider this idea.
Lindner noted that the United States is considering recognizing Bitcoin as a federal reserve asset, and Germany should quickly catch up with this trend to avoid falling behind in the cryptocurrency field. He believes that using Bitcoin will help enhance the diversity and resilience of the national reserve.

Bitcoin mining has achieved the target that Elon Musk set three years ago, when he called for at least 50% of the energy used for mining to come from renewable sources. To date, miners have reached a rate of 54%, marking a significant step in reducing the environmental impact of the Bitcoin mining industry.
Elon Musk's renewable energy goals and Tesla's decision
In May 2021, Elon Musk suspended the acceptance of Bitcoin as a payment method for Tesla, citing concerns about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining. He criticized Bitcoin mining for consuming a large amount of electricity, much of which comes from polluting energy sources like coal. Elon Musk stated at the time:

Memecoins continue to prove their appeal in the cryptocurrency industry, with a vibrant community and a loyal fan base. Below is the story of two memecoins, MOODENG and MIRA, which have achieved impressive growth, drawing significant attention in the market.
MOODENG Surges Over 80% After Vitalik Buterin's Donation

Exceptional Growth
The price of MOODENG tokens has increased by over 80% in just a few hours, despite Bitcoin struggling to maintain a price above $95,000. From a daily low of $0.00012, MOODENG surged to a high of $0.00025, with a market capitalization reaching $88 million, up 71%. The trading volume of this token also astonishingly increased by 763% in a day.

Litecoin (LTC) recorded an impressive price increase in 2024, with a nearly 50% rise. However, the recent market volatility briefly pulled the price of this altcoin below the $87 threshold. Selling pressure then eased, and the LTC price has now recovered, trading steadily above $107.
The surge in network activity of Litecoin
The Litecoin network has seen a significant increase in activity. According to data from IntoTheBlock, the average number of daily active addresses reached 401,000 this year, up from 366,000 in 2023. In particular, at the beginning of January, network activity peaked at 1.37 million active addresses in just one day – far exceeding the daily transaction volume of both Bitcoin and Ethereum at the same time.

The value of stolen cryptocurrency has surged to $2.2 billion in 2024, an increase of 21% compared to the previous year, according to a report dated December 19 from Chainalysis. This increase is closely linked to the surge in cyber attacks, particularly from cybercrime groups associated with North Korea.
Increasing cyber attack situation
The crypto industry faced 303 cyber attacks in 2024, up from 282 in 2023. These attacks caused significant damage, with the majority of stolen funds — up to $1.58 billion — occurring between January and July, accounting for 72% of the total stolen funds in 2024, an increase of 84% compared to the same period in 2023.

Caroline Crenshaw Leaves SEC: Major Change for Cryptocurrency
Caroline Crenshaw, a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will officially leave her position in January 2025 when her term ends. The Senate has decided not to re-nominate Crenshaw, who is known for her tough stance and criticism of cryptocurrency. This is seen as a significant victory for the cryptocurrency industry, which has faced considerable pressure from strict policies during her tenure.

Solana (SOL) continues to solidify its position as one of the leading blockchains, achieving a significant milestone with unprecedented network activity on December 17.
According to data from Artemis, this network processed 66.9 million transactions in a day, an impressive achievement reflecting the growing popularity and efficiency of Solana.

Daily transactions of Solana
This strong increase has helped Solana surpass its competitors, with transaction volumes exceeding the total transaction volumes of all major blockchains combined. Meanwhile, the network also leads in user engagement, accounting for more than half of the daily active addresses on leading blockchain platforms during the same period.

Today, December 19, 2024, the cryptocurrency market is facing heavy losses. Major coins such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP have all recorded significant declines in the past 24 hours. One of the main reasons for this drop is attributed to the recent interest rate cut meeting of the Federal Reserve (Fed).
Reasons for the Decline

XRP recently surpassed Tether (USDT) to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, trailing only Bitcoin and Ethereum. This sudden rise was driven by the global launch of the RLUSD stablecoin from Ripple, pushing XRP's market capitalization to 147 billion USD, surpassing USDT's figure of 140.5 billion USD.
RLUSD: New Stablecoin from Ripple
On December 17, 2024, Ripple officially introduced RLUSD, a stablecoin pegged at a 1:1 ratio with the USD, aimed at enhancing liquidity and strengthening trust in institutional payment transactions. This launch immediately had a positive impact on the market, helping the price of XRP rise by 15% in just one day.

The plan to establish a strategic cryptocurrency reserve by the Trump administration is becoming a focal point of discussion in the financial community. While many opinions suggest that Bitcoin (BTC) will be the main choice, some experts, such as Vivek Ventures, argue that Ethereum (ETH) will also play an important role in this strategy.
Ethereum and Its Important Role in Cryptocurrency Reserves
Vivek Ventures likens Ethereum to 'Digital Oil', emphasizing that ETH is not just a cryptocurrency asset but also a key foundation driving the growth of the digital economy. He provides notable figures:

Ether (ETH) recorded an impressive increase of 11.6% from December 10 to 13, recovering all losses from previous days. This increase is driven by strong capital inflows into spot Ether ETF funds and increased activity on the Ethereum network, contributing to strengthening investor confidence.
Capital Flows Into Ether ETF Funds
From December 9 to 11, spot Ether ETF funds attracted net capital inflows of up to $557 million. This is seen as a key factor driving the recovery in ETH prices, as investors seized the opportunity to buy at $3,550, expecting Ethereum to maintain its leading position in the blockchain ecosystem and decentralized applications (DApp).

Solana (SOL) has recorded a 13% increase from its local bottom of $203.30 on December 10, reclaiming the $230 level. This development opens up new growth potential, supported by derivatives indicators and on-chain data. Investors are now wondering if the recent correction is over, and what could take SOL to $260 or higher.
Current status of SOL
SOL was one of the few tokens to hit a new all-time high in 2024, reaching $264.50 on November 22. However, the price then fell by 12% while the total market capitalization of the altcoin group increased by 18%.

The native token of Ripple Labs, XRP, is showing positive signals as on-chain indicators, technical analysis, and whale activity suggest bullish signs. Recently, Whale Alert – a company specializing in tracking large transactions – reported that 22.08 million XRP tokens worth $46.13 million were transferred from Binance to an unidentified wallet.
Whale activity and on-chain movements

At the Bitcoin MENA 2024 conference in Abu Dhabi, Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, predicted that China will rejoin the Bitcoin mining sector and may integrate this digital asset into its national reserves by the end of 2025. Before imposing a ban in 2021, China was the leading country in Bitcoin mining, contributing over 65% of global hashpower. Nevertheless, Scaramucci noted that about 10% of global Bitcoin mining activity is still taking place in China, despite strict regulations.

Cardano (ADA) has maintained a stable price range for most of December. However, the past week marked a significant decline with a decrease of over 17%. Selling pressure from large investors (whales) and increased profit-taking activities have pushed ADA below the $1 threshold, raising the risk of maintaining low prices in the short term.
The main reason for the price drop
1. Increased profit-taking activity from large investors

Toni Wahrstätter, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, has called for caution and patience in expanding Ethereum's gas limits, highlighting the technical challenges the network is facing.
This call comes amid a lively discussion in the Ethereum community about the possibility of raising the gas limit – a change that could enhance network performance while simultaneously posing risks to stability and security.

In the past 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market has experienced significant volatility as the price of Bitcoin (BTC) dropped more than 6%, hitting a daily low of around $94,725. This decline also dragged the altcoin sector down, with the TOTAL2 index losing more than 15%, equivalent to $258 billion. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has decreased by over 7%, hovering around $3.58 trillion on Tuesday morning (10/12) during early trading sessions in Asia.

Former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), stated that China has the potential to become one of the leading countries in building a strategic Bitcoin reserve. This statement was made at the Bitcoin MENA conference in Abu Dhabi on December 9, when Zhao analyzed the future of cryptocurrency in the national reserve strategy of major countries.
Smaller countries lead the way, China could quickly follow

The current downward momentum has raised concerns in the crypto market, making the maintenance of an upward trend for altcoins increasingly dependent on market demand and upcoming network development events.
Below are three notable altcoins this week. These altcoins are preparing for important events that could significantly impact their price volatility.
Render (RNDR)
Render's price is currently struggling around the support level of $9.88 – a critical level to maintain the recent upward trend. If it successfully closes above this level, the price will continue to maintain an upward trend and aim for the next resistance at $11.32. Otherwise, RNDR may correct downward.