Compiled by: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
Important Information:
Former US President Carter dies, US to hold state funeral
Malaysian regulator asks Bybit to shut down local operations and stop advertising
Cryptocurrency venture capital to reach $13.7 billion in 2024, up 28% year-on-year
Hong Kong Legislative Council Member Wu Jiezhuang: Bitcoin can be included in the Hong Kong Exchange Fund assets on a trial basis
The central bank released the (China Financial Stability Report), mentioning the progress of Hong Kong's cryptocurrency compliance
Hamster Kombat will build an L2 blockchain on the TON chain
The ETF Store President: 8 top ETFs launching in 2024 are all related to cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin mining company Rhodium sells its Temple mine for $40.6 million, and the co-CEO has resigned.
"What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?"
Former US President Carter has passed away, and a state funeral will be held in the US.
According to China News Network, on December 29, 2024, former US President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100.
According to CNN, US President Biden stated that on the day of Carter's passing, he would order a state funeral to be held in Washington, D.C. Biden stated in a statement, 'To honor this great American, I will order a formal state funeral in Washington, D.C.'
Malaysian regulators have instructed Bybit to close its local operations and stop advertising.
Bybit Technology Limited and its CEO Ben Zhou have been warned by the Malaysian Securities Commission (SC) for operating a digital asset exchange (DAX) without registration.
The Securities Commission stated in a statement that Bybit and Ben Zhou have been listed on the investor warning list of regulators since July 2021.
The SC has instructed Bybit to close all its websites and applications within Malaysia and stop advertising to Malaysian investors within 14 working days starting from December 11, 2024. Additionally, Bybit must terminate its Telegram support group for Malaysian users.
In 2024, venture capital in the cryptocurrency sector reached $13.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28%.
According to The Block Pro's financing dashboard, in 2024, venture capitalists invested approximately $13.7 billion in cryptocurrency and blockchain startups, a 28% increase compared to $10.7 billion in 2023. However, this figure is still far below the peak levels of $33.3 billion in 2022 and $29 billion in 2021.
Rob Hadick, a general partner at Dragonfly, stated that despite Bitcoin rising over 150% this year to date, venture capital funding has not accelerated, mainly because limited partners (LPs) remain relatively calm, and many venture capital firms do not yet have enough confidence to commit remaining funds before raising new funds.
Early-stage financing dominated the market in 2024, with pre-seed deals hitting a record high, reaching 1,180 transactions, a year-on-year increase of 68%. Total financing for seed stage was $3.4 billion, close to $3.8 billion in 2021. A round financing exceeded 175 transactions, raising $2.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 46%. Late-stage financing saw a decline.
Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang: It is possible to take the lead in incorporating Bitcoin into Hong Kong's foreign exchange fund assets.
According to (Hong Kong Wen Hui Bao), Hong Kong Legislative Council member and chair of the Web3 Virtual Asset Development Committee Wu Jiezhuang stated in an interview that Hong Kong needs to study how to maintain national financial security under the turmoil caused by the US in Bitcoin and its impact on traditional asset markets.
He suggested that Hong Kong should leverage the advantages of the 'One Country, Two Systems' policy to take the lead in incorporating Bitcoin into foreign exchange fund assets and explore ways to revitalize the Bitcoin in hand for the country. Regarding whether holding Bitcoin helps the Hong Kong government combat fiscal deficits, Wu Jiezhuang believes that while the government can use Bitcoin as a tool for asset appreciation, significant effects can only be achieved with substantial holdings. Currently, the government's fiscal deficit has surpassed 100 billion HKD, so only holding a small amount would not help much in reducing the deficit; the value-stabilizing function of holding Bitcoin would outweigh its appreciation function.
The central bank released the China Financial Stability Report, mentioning the compliance progress of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong.
The People's Bank of China recently released the China Financial Stability Report (2024), which mentions global cryptocurrency regulatory dynamics, including the compliance progress of cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong.
The report notes that given the potential spillover risks of crypto assets on financial system stability, regulatory authorities in various countries are intensifying their regulation of crypto assets. Currently, 51 countries and regions worldwide have introduced prohibitive regulations on crypto assets, and some economies have adjusted existing laws or re-legislated regulations.
Among them, Hong Kong is actively exploring the management of cryptocurrency asset licenses, categorizing virtual assets into two types for regulation: securitized financial assets and non-securitized financial assets. It implements a distinctive 'dual license' system for virtual asset trading platform operators, applicable to regulations and licensing systems under the Securities and Futures Ordinance and the Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance. Institutions engaged in virtual asset business must apply for registration licenses from the relevant regulatory authorities to operate. At the same time, Hong Kong requires large financial institutions like HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank to include cryptocurrency exchanges in their daily client regulatory scope.
Hamster Kombat will build an L2 blockchain on the TON chain.
Hamster Kombat announced on X that its DAO community has completed voting on the second proposal, deciding to build the Hamster L2 blockchain on the TON blockchain.
Hamster Kombat announced that it will immediately start development work.
The president of the ETF Store: The 8 top ETFs launched in 2024 are all related to cryptocurrencies.
The president of the ETF Store, Nate Geraci, posted on X stating: 'All 8 top ETFs launched in 2024 are now related to cryptocurrencies, including 4 spot BTC ETFs, 2 spot ETH ETFs, and 2 MSTR ETFs. This year, nearly 740 new ETFs have been launched in total.'
Additionally, it is stated that the spot Solana ETF will be approved in 2025.
Bitcoin mining company Rhodium sells its Temple mine for $40.6 million, and the co-CEO has resigned.
Bitcoin mining company Rhodium Enterprises' co-CEO Nathan Nichols has resigned, and the company completed the sale of its Temple mine in Texas for $40.6 million in cash.
Rhodium announced in an email to investors last week that Nichols has decided to resign, effective after the New Year. Just weeks ago, Rhodium creditors filed a lawsuit against him and other co-founders, accusing them of fraud.
Rhodium also informed investors that the company had previously obtained $15 million of the $30 million debtor financing from Galaxy Digital. After completing the sale of the Temple mine on December 18, the company used $16 million of that to fully repay Galaxy debts, including fees and interest.
Musk: BlackRock's stake in xAI is below 0.5%, making it one of many investors.
Musk stated on X that BlackRock's stake in xAI is below 0.5%, making it one of many investors.
Ripple CTO clarifies that he is not a billionaire and states that most of his personal wealth is tied to volatile assets.
Ripple's Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz clarified that he is not a billionaire. Although Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen's net worth soared to $54 billion in 2018 due to holding 9 billion XRP, Schwartz chose to hold 2% of Ripple's shares and a salary instead of XRP.
In 2019, Forbes estimated Schwartz's wealth at about $90 million, and in 2021, he stated that his net worth was still far below $170 million. He also revealed that most of his personal wealth is tied to volatile assets, which, while yielding considerable returns, still carry risks. Besides XRP, Schwartz also holds Bitcoin and several other altcoins.
Trader Eugene: December faced the largest two drawdowns to date and has positioned in ETH and its related Beta coins.
Trader Eugene posted a trading summary for December on his social platform, stating: 'This month I traded 47 times, with a win rate of 72%. This month's performance mainly boils down to two points: position size control and reducing unnecessary mistakes. December faced the largest two drawdowns to date, with a loss of $3.3 million (-7.5%) from long DOGE positions and a loss of $6.5 million (-10.2%) from long SOL positions. The main profits this month came from short-term trades in ETH and BTC, as well as some successful small altcoin longs, including ENA, PEPE, and other meme coins. In unclear market conditions, it is necessary to reduce the position size in short-term trading of highly volatile varieties.'
In summary of 2024, I achieved profitability in 11 months this year and maintained good stability at different time periods. I expect January to be a good trading opportunity for some quality altcoins, and I have positioned in ETH and its related beta coins.
Korean media: The delinquency rate of cryptocurrency account credit loans at Upbit's partner bank K Bank has reached a new high.
Data shows that K Bank's cryptocurrency account credit loan delinquency rate has reached a historical high. K Bank is the KRW account subsidiary bank of South Korea's top cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, which accounts for over 70% of the country's cryptocurrency trading volume.
After two consecutive failed listings, K Bank is preparing for an IPO next year, having been pointed out that its excessive dependence on Upbit and poor stability indicators may become obstacles to its listing.
Data submitted by the office of Congressman Kim Jae-seop (phonetic), a member of the Political Committee of the National Assembly and member of the People Power Party, to the Financial Supervisory Service today shows that as of Q3 this year, K Bank's personal credit loan delinquency rate for customers with cryptocurrency-related accounts is 1.28%, with a delinquent balance of 47.4 billion KRW. Since the bank launched cryptocurrency-linked accounts in June 2020, both the delinquency rate and delinquent balance have been reaching historical highs.
It is reported that K Bank will restart its listing next month. The effectiveness of the listing preparatory review obtained in August of this year will last until February next year, so the industry believes that K Bank may attempt to list again before then. Some analysts believe that the recent activity in the cryptocurrency market is beneficial to K Bank, as it can generate additional income by managing investor assets deposited on Upbit.
Binance will launch PHAUSDT and DFUSDT 1-75x USDT perpetual contracts.
According to the official announcement, Binance's contract platform will launch perpetual contracts at the following times, with leverage up to 75 times:
· December 30, 2024, 19:30 (UTC+8): PHAUSDT perpetual contract · December 30, 2024, 19:45 (UTC+8): DFUSDT perpetual contract.
Grayscale updates the list of the top 20 assets in the cryptocurrency industry for Q1 2025, adding HYPE, ENA, VIRTUAL, JUP, JTO, and GRASS.
Grayscale Research indicates that in Q1 2025, the focus will be on tokens that involve at least one of the following three core market themes: the US elections and their potential impact on industry regulation, especially in areas like decentralized finance (DeFi) and staking; ongoing breakthroughs in decentralized AI technology and the use of AI agents on blockchain; and the growth of the Solana ecosystem. Based on these themes, Grayscale has added six assets to the Top 20 list for Q1 2025: HYPE, ENA, VIRTUAL, JUP, JTO, and GRASS.
Galaxy Research: Predicts Bitcoin's market cap will reach 20% of gold.
According to Bitcoin.com, Galaxy Research predicts that Bitcoin (BTC) will exceed $150,000 in the first half of 2025 and may even reach $185,000 in the last quarter of the same year. The research institution believes that adoption at the institutional, corporate, and national levels is the main factor driving this top cryptocurrency to these heights.
Galaxy Research also states that it foresees BTC continuing to maintain its trend of outperforming other asset classes (including the S&P 500 Index). Regarding gold, the Galaxy team expects BTC's total market cap to reach 20% of the total market cap of precious metals. At the time of writing (December 29, 2024), BTC's market cap is approximately $1.85 trillion, while gold's market cap is estimated to be close to $18 trillion.
Binance Megadrop launches Solv Protocol (SOLV).
According to the official announcement, Binance announced that SolvProtocol (SOLV), a financial ecosystem focused on Bitcoin, will be launched on the Megadrop platform. The total supply of SOLV is 9,660,000,000, with Megadrop rewards of 588,000,000. Specific trading times will be announced later.
What are the wonderful articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?
DeepBrainChain DBC: The exploratory path of a decentralized AI public chain, supporting millions of AI agents to run permanently.
With the continuous development of various technological fields, blockchain and artificial intelligence technologies are jointly driving an unprecedented technological revolution. In this transformation, DeepBrainChain (DBC), as a pioneer of decentralized AI public chains, is leading the future development of the AI industry with its unique charm and infinite potential. Since its establishment in 2017, DBC has been committed to creating a decentralized AI infrastructure, gradually building a stable, efficient, and secure decentralized AI public chain network through continuous technological innovation and ecological expansion.
In the process of gaining insights into DBC, we had the privilege of interviewing DBC's founder, Feng. Feng shared DBC's ecological vision and plans, filling us with anticipation for DBC's future.
In a conversation with Virtuals co-founder Wee Kee: How do AI Agents make money and generate continuous cash flow?
Virtuals is an AI agent asset issuance platform launched on the Base network, currently valued at nearly $2.5 billion, with over 100,000 agents issued. Its ecosystem has birthed several notable AI agents, including the virtual person Luna who does live broadcasts and tweets, cryptocurrency 'KOL' AIXBT who provides project suggestions, and G.A.M.E which offers developers an agent development framework.
Virtuals was founded in 2021, originally as a gaming guild called PathDAO. However, as Axie Infinity fell from grace, running a gaming guild became increasingly difficult. During this time, the team attempted multiple transformations and developed different platforms, including social networking apps, AI music projects, and lending aimed at gamers. It wasn't until 2023, with the release of GPT, that the team realized the importance of AI, and Virtuals officially began to focus on AI as its main direction.
The popularity of GOAT has sparked a wave of AI agents in the Web3 field, but beyond Meme, what other imaginations can AI agents have?
ChainCatcher interviewed Wee Kee, co-founder of Virtuals, who believes AI agents can autonomously create a continuous cash flow asset. Tokenizing them can generate quality returns for investors while incentivizing more developers to create better AI Agents. He used Virtuals' most famous agents, Luna and G.A.M.E, as examples to illustrate the money-making mechanism and tokenization process of AI agents.
In the future, WeeKee hopes to create a community composed of AI agents and humans, forming a true economic cycle between AI and AI, as well as between AI and humans, which can greatly liberate human productivity.
In this conversation, we discussed with Wee Kee the money-making mechanism of AI agents on Virtuals, the development ecology, and his vision of an AI society.
Envious of Tether's billions in profits, banks are rushing to issue stablecoins.
The stablecoin USDT, the 'anchor of the crypto world', is quietly disrupting the traditional financial industry.
More and more banks are starting to enter the stablecoin market. According to Bloomberg, banks such as Société Générale in France, Germany's Oddo BHF, the UK's Revolut, and even the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are all beginning to lay out their strategies in the stablecoin market, hoping to get a piece of the pie.
Previously, the world's largest stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Ltd. expected its net profit for 2024 to exceed $10 billion. CEO Paolo Ardoino stated in an interview that the company has already invested more than half of its net profit this year.
Naveen Mallela, co-global head of digital assets at JP Morgan Kinexys, stated that stablecoins issued by banks are expected to accelerate development and become mainstream products within the next three years. With the improvement of policy frameworks and technological advancements, stablecoins are expected to become an important part of future financial markets.
2024 AI Agent popular projects review: the transformation from Meme to infrastructure tokens.
In the bull market of the second half of 2024, in addition to the pure Meme projects sweeping the market, the AI Agent sector has shown a strong discussion heat and a shocking 'wealth creation effect' due to its unique technological innovations and practical applications. As a pioneering field of deep integration between Crypto and AI, the rise of AI Agents has not only attracted widespread attention within the industry but also drawn a significant influx of on-chain capital.
In the Web3 world, security and transparency are always core principles, while AI relies on efficient parallel computing and presents numerous challenges due to its 'black box' nature. The emergence of AI Agents not only addresses these integration challenges but also offers new possibilities for the combination of both fields. It can be anticipated that AI Agents are destined to become one of the most promising and noteworthy sectors in 2025. Before looking ahead to 2025, Odaily Planet Daily will take everyone to review the representative leading projects that experienced rapid development in the AI Agent sector in the second half of 2024.
An article that explains MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy.
Compared to the BTC ETFs or other Spot Bitcoin ETPs launched by companies like BlackRock, MicroStrategy's Bitcoin strategy is more aggressive. It purchases Bitcoin through corporate idle funds, issuing convertible bonds, and increasing shares, allowing the company to gain potential profits from Bitcoin's appreciation while bearing the risks of Bitcoin's decline, while ETF/ETPs focus more on price tracking.
An article interprets the current status of ai16z and Virtuals: they occupy more than half of the AI Agent market share but face challenges of ecological centralization.
With the gradual improvement of infrastructure and the gradual implementation of application scenarios, the cryptocurrency AI Agent ecosystem is thriving, displaying a new market development trajectory, with liquidity and user participation continuously rising. In this wave of AI Agents, ai16z and Virtuals Protocol are undoubtedly two of the most powerful representative projects, attracting active capital seeking opportunities.
Meme Popularity List.
According to data from the meme token tracking and analytics platform GMGN, as of December 30 at 19:30:
In the past 24 hours, the top five Ethereum tokens were: RAI, SEN, KEKIUS, ULT, MYSTERY.
In the past 24 hours, the top five Solana tokens were: VIRTUAL, LOCKIN, CLO, Artpump.fa, BRETT.
In the past 24 hours, the top five Base tokens were: COPE, SKICAT, MOEW, CLANKER, BRETT.
