Market data shows that BTC has fallen below $96,000, currently reported at $95,963.33, with a 24-hour decline of 0.94%. The market is volatile, please take proper risk control.

▌Federal Reserve's Goolsbee: Inflation rate still expected to reach 2%.

Federal Reserve's Goolsbee stated that the inflation rate is still expected to reach 2%, and today’s data shows that the recent inflation surge is merely a 'bump.' He also mentioned that his prediction is that the interest rate path in 2025 will be slightly lower. In the next 12 to 18 months, interest rates could drop significantly.

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

The recent trading price of BTC is $97,368.45, with a daily fluctuation of +0.3%;

The recent trading price of ETH is $3,468.03, with a daily fluctuation of +1.4%;

The recent trading price of BNB is $682.60, with a daily fluctuation of +2.2%;

The recent trading price of SOL is $195.01, with a daily fluctuation of -0.2%;

The recent trading price of DOGE is 0.3276 yuan, with a daily fluctuation of +3.4%;

The recent trading price of XPR is $2.27, with a daily fluctuation of -1.3%.

Policy

▌U.S. Republicans launch Plan C to avoid government shutdown.

U.S. House Republicans are looking for ways to avoid a government shutdown, as their second funding proposal was rejected on Thursday night. There are only a few hours left until the Friday deadline. House Speaker Johnson stated earlier on Friday that Republicans have reached a Plan C to avoid a government shutdown and plan to vote soon. Senate Republicans expressed frustration over the failure of two proposals to fund the government through Christmas that they witnessed in the House, calling it a 'chaotic farce' and a 'miserable failure.' Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (Republican) stated as he left the Capitol: 'I think everything is back to square one.'

▌Japanese Liberal Democratic Party promotes cryptocurrency tax reform, proposing a separate tax rate of 20%.

On December 20, news reported by Coinpost stated that the Web3 working group of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, led by member Akihisa Shiozaki, reported that the party’s policy research council formally approved an urgent proposal on December 19 regarding converting crypto assets into beneficial assets for the national economy. The report pointed out that under the current tax system, income generated from cryptocurrency trading is generally classified as miscellaneous income and is subject to comprehensive taxation at a maximum rate of 55% (combined income tax and resident tax), which is stricter than in other countries. In light of these points, and whether crypto assets should be regarded as financial assets for public investment, the following should be considered: Change the taxation of gains and losses from cryptocurrency trading to a separate declaration tax system at a 20% rate; allow losses from the amount of crypto asset income to be carried forward for deduction (usable within the next three years); apply the separate declaration tax system to cryptocurrency derivatives trading as well.

Blockchain Applications

▌Saga will launch Vaults 2.0 in 2025.

On December 20, news broke that the modular blockchain Saga announced on Twitter that it will launch Vaults 2.0 in 2025. Vaults 2.0 will provide features for unstaking and restaking; introduce new LP rewards, staking on Saga Uniswap and providing liquidity to maximize returns; wallet staking and LPing bonuses. LPing rewards will be generated based on fees incurred, liquidity provided, and tokens held.

▌Mantle Network will launch ZK Validity Rollup through Succinct SP1.

On December 20, news reported that the modular L2 network Mantle announced a partnership with ZK proof startup Succinct to launch a ZK Validity Rollup testnet through Succinct SP1 in the first quarter of 2025, representing Mantle's transition from the current Optimistic Rollup model to a ZK Validity Rollup model. Mantle stated that 'with ZK Validity Rollup, the finality time can be reduced from 7 days to 1 hour, bringing Mantle Network economically closer to Ethereum L1, thus achieving better exchange market price differences, lower slippage, and better money markets.'

Cryptocurrency

▌Trump's cryptocurrency project WLFI increases holdings by 759 ETH.

According to ARKM monitoring, Trump's cryptocurrency project WLFI spent 2.5 million USDC to exchange for 759 ETH 6 minutes ago.

▌French regulator authorizes BPCE subsidiary to conduct cryptocurrency business. The French financial market regulatory authority, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has approved the French bank BPCE to conduct cryptocurrency business. According to the official notice released by AMF on December 20, BPCE's cryptocurrency subsidiary Hexarq has been authorized as a crypto asset service provider (CASP). With this approval, Hexarq is officially authorized to provide a range of crypto services, including crypto custody and buying, selling, and trading cryptocurrencies against euros. Digital bank and blockchain platform Metallicus acquires Bonifii, connecting over 70 credit unions to the Metal blockchain. Metallicus announced the acquisition of financial technology service company Bonifii, which is a credit union service organization (CUSO) connected to 70 credit unions. This acquisition brings the total number of Metallicus's credit union partners to over 80, with more than 16 already utilizing Metal blockchain technology. Prior to the acquisition, Bonifii raised about $20 million in several rounds of early investment and seed funding. The financial details of Metallicus seem not to have been disclosed yet, and CoinMarketCap reports that the market value of the Metal blockchain is $13.65 million.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌The three major U.S. stock indices opened lower collectively, and cryptocurrency concept stocks fell collectively.

The three major U.S. stock indices opened lower collectively, with the Dow down 0.36%, the Nasdaq down 0.94%, and the S&P 500 index down 0.57%. Cryptocurrencies plummeted, and related concept stocks fell collectively. Coinbase, Bit Digital, and Canaan Creative fell over 3%, while MicroStrategy fell over 2%.

▌Today's Fear and Greed Index has dropped to 73, still categorized as Greed.

Today's Fear and Greed Index has dropped to 73, still categorized as Greed. Note: The Fear Index threshold ranges from 0 to 100, including indicators: Volatility (25%) + Market Trading Volume (25%) + Social Media Heat (15%) + Market Surveys (15%) + Bitcoin's Proportion in the Whole Market (10%) + Google Trends Analysis (10%).

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is Rollup?

Rollup is a method of processing transactions on Layer 2 protocols, which can free up valuable space on the base layer. Rollups fold transactions on the second layer individually, sometimes folding them dozens of times before rolling them together and sending the data back to Layer 1. There are mainly two types of Rollups: optimistic and zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs. Optimistic Rollup is a fairly straightforward term. It means that the Rollup operates under an 'optimistic' approach, assuming transactions are valid unless a validator proves they are not. They only check the validity of transactions in the event of a dispute. ZK Rollup proves transactions without revealing any transaction data, hence the name 'zero-knowledge.' ZK Rollups provide instant finality because cryptographic proofs guarantee data validity. In many ways, Rollup is to your standard blockchain transaction what Calzone is to regular pizza slices. By rolling up, you can fit more in.

The content of the published article is for informational reference only and should not be considered actual investment advice. Everyone should establish a correct investment concept and enhance risk awareness.