Federal Reserve Governor Bowman: Supports the December rate cut as the 'last step' in policy adjustment.
According to Jin10 news, Federal Reserve Governor Bowman stated on Thursday that she supports last month's rate cut, considering it the 'last step' in the Fed's monetary policy adjustment, due to rising inflation risks and the need for caution in the future. 'We should also avoid prejudging the future policies of the new government,' Bowman stated in a speech prepared for the California Bankers Association. 'Instead, we should wait for clearer signals and then seek to understand their impact on economic activity, the labor market, and inflation.' This is the first time Bowman has made such remarks since becoming a leading candidate for the next top bank regulator at the Fed. Barr announced this week that he will resign as vice chair responsible for supervision at the Fed by the end of next month. Bowman stated: 'This year will see a turnover of leadership in banking institutions, which I expect will translate into a shift in priorities and approaches.' She reiterated her ongoing call for more targeted regulation and a more 'pragmatic' approach to policy-making.
Cynthia Lummis is preparing to lead the newly established U.S. Senate Digital Assets Subcommittee.
According to The Block, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee plans to appoint pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis to lead the newly established Digital Assets Subcommittee, fulfilling the commitment of the new chair. Some Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee have preliminarily selected leaders and members for the subcommittee, but a committee vote for confirmation is still required. Senate aides revealed that Lummis will lead a Digital Assets Subcommittee that includes pro-crypto Senators Bill Hagerty and newly elected Senator Bernie Moreno. Incoming committee chair Tim Scott previously stated that he would establish a subcommittee focused on digital assets if elected. Current chair Sherrod Brown has a critical stance toward the crypto industry, calling for a crackdown on illegal activities related to it. The leadership of the Senate Banking Committee is also crucial, as the chair holds significant legislative financial power, including over crypto-related bills.
According to yesterday's news, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee appointed Bryan Steil as chair of the Digital Assets Subcommittee.
Bloomberg: With Trump's inauguration day approaching, CEOs of several crypto companies are vying for opportunities to connect with Trump.
According to Bloomberg, with less than two weeks until Trump's inauguration, executives from the crypto industry are competing for opportunities to connect with Trump himself and to secure positions on the planned cryptocurrency advisory committee, which is expected to be established shortly after Trump takes office. Insiders reveal that industry figures intend to leverage this committee to influence the new government's digital asset policy, which may consist of around twenty CEOs and founders. Most potential appointees have reportedly already established connections with Trump and have visited him in recent months. Trump and his inner circle, including incoming White House AI and cryptocurrency expert David Sacks, are still weighing potential appointments. Since Trump's re-election in November, Mar-a-Lago has hosted a large number of crypto industry figures, including Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Additionally, companies like Circle, Coinbase, Kraken, and Ondo have all pledged to donate to Trump's inauguration.
Google donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund.
According to CNBC, Google donated $1 million to President-elect Trump's 2025 inauguration fund, becoming the latest tech company seeking to establish a good relationship with the new government. Karan Bhatia, Google's head of global government affairs and public policy, stated that the company will also provide a live stream of the inauguration on YouTube and a direct link on its homepage. Additionally, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta, Amazon, and Apple CEO Tim Cook have also announced or reportedly donated $1 million to the fund. These donations indicate that major tech companies are seeking to maintain and improve their relationships with the new administration before it takes office.
Circle has donated $1 million in USDC to Trump's presidential inauguration committee.
According to a tweet from Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, Circle has donated $1 million in USDC to Trump's presidential inauguration committee.
Zhou Xiaochuan: Global public debt is about to exceed $100 trillion, and the impact of crypto assets on global finance needs to be watched closely.
At the 'Boao Forum for Asia New Year Outlook 2025' event, former Governor of the People's Bank of China Zhou Xiaochuan stated that the world will face profound changes and challenges by 2025: the international environment remains full of uncertainties, great power competition is intensifying, and economic globalization is hindered; the recovery of the world economy is unpredictable, and industrial chains are being forced to reshape due to trade and technological decoupling; the rapid development of general artificial intelligence presents both opportunities and risks; the climate change crisis is intensifying, and sustainable development faces significant challenges. At the same time, he emphasized that several major aspects will remain unchanged in 2025: the trend of the global South countries accelerating growth will not change, the direction of Asian countries promoting inclusive economic globalization will not change, and China's determination to reform and open up will not change. Zhou Xiaochuan pointed out in his speech that global public debt is about to exceed $100 trillion, increasing external financing costs and currency depreciation pressure on emerging markets and developing countries, posing challenges to fiscal sustainability in developed countries. The impact of digital crypto assets on global financial stability and security needs to be watched closely. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted in its October 2024 Fiscal Monitor Report that global public debt is at a very high level (with U.S. debt exceeding $36 trillion). By the end of this year (2024), global public debt is expected to exceed $100 trillion (93% of global GDP); by 2030, it will approach 100% of GDP. This is 10 percentage points higher than the ratio in 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic).
The iOS version of Grok is now available on the App Store.
The official app of Grok, the AI model developed by Elon Musk's xAI company, has launched on the iOS platform and is currently available for download in the Apple App Store in the U.S. and the Philippines. It can be downloaded via link or by searching X.AI, but no official announcement of the launch has been made yet.
Members of teams from Coinbase, Google, and ai16z have joined forces to launch the DAO organization Aiccelerate, to accelerate the fusion of crypto and AI.
According to Cryptoslate, members of teams from Coinbase, Google, ai16z, and other major players have joined forces to launch Aiccelerate, a new decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) aimed at accelerating the fusion of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI). An announcement on January 9 indicated that the DAO will focus on promoting decentralized, open-source AI development and supporting high-potential projects across different ecosystems. Additionally, Aiccelerate positions itself as a DAO that balances investment and development. Its main mission is to drive innovation in what it calls the 'agent AI' space. The DAO aims to build a collaborative community composed of top developers across multiple frameworks. These experts will contribute to a range of agents and tools designed to advance the organization's goals. Moreover, Aiccelerate will unify its various initiatives through a token called AICC. The DAO will use a portion of its profits to repurchase its native token. The development advisory board includes ai16z founder Shaw, core contributor of Virtuals Protocol EtherMage, developer relations head of EigenLayer Nader Dabit, and co-founder of Story Protocol Jason Zhao. Aiccelerate's investment advisors include Andrew Kang and Marc Weinstein from Mechanism Capital, Justin Lee from Coinbase Ventures, and Anil Lulla from Delphi Digital.
Standard Chartered Bank has obtained a license in Luxembourg to provide digital asset custody services.
Standard Chartered Bank announced that its newly established Luxembourg entity will serve as a regulatory gateway to enter the EU market, providing cryptocurrency and digital asset custody services for EU clients. Luxembourg is well-suited to meet the growing demand in the EU market due to its balanced regulatory and financial environment. Previously, Standard Chartered launched digital asset custody services in the UAE. Laurent Marochini has been appointed as the CEO of the Luxembourg entity, having previously served as head of innovation at Societe Generale. Standard Chartered stated that this move will help its institutional clients enter the digital asset ecosystem and provide strong support for the transformation of traditional finance.
InfiniGods plans to launch its native token GOD, with 17% allocated to its NFT holders.
According to The Defiant, crypto gaming company InfiniGods is currently preparing to launch its native token GOD. The GOD token will be distributed among the ecosystem's NFT holders, with 4.25% allocated to InfiniPass holders, 3.25% to Elder Gods NFT holders, and 9.5% to God Vault NFT holders. The date for the token generation event has not yet been determined, but InfiniGods' Chief Marketing Officer Bry DiSanto hinted that an airdrop is coming soon, posting on X that 'January is coming soon.' InfiniGods is a mobile gaming studio founded in 2022, having previously completed a $9 million seed round funding led by Pantera Capital, with Framework Ventures and Animoca Brands also participating. The company raised another $8 million in April 2024 and completed a $1.3 million strategic round led by Arete Capital in December.
VanEck executives: Block is expected to become the first company in the S&P 500 to hold Bitcoin.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, stated on platform X that fintech company Block is expected to become the first company in the S&P 500 to hold Bitcoin. A stock must meet six major criteria to be included in the index, including: 1) a market cap over $18 billion; 2) public float over 10%; 3) positive earnings in the most recent quarter, and the total GAAP earnings over the previous four quarters must also be positive; 4) high liquidity; 5) listed for at least 12 months; 6) company headquartered in the U.S. Block met the last criterion (earnings) after releasing its Q1 2024 financial report. However, inclusion in the S&P 500 index is not strictly formulaic but is decided at the discretion of the index committee. Historically, companies that meet all requirements have been included within 3 to 21 months (with LULU being an exception, taking 65 months). Diversification of the industry is one of the factors considered by the index committee, which aims to maintain an industry composition consistent with the overall economy. The phrase 'consistent with the industry economy' is not clearly defined, so the S&P total market index can be referenced: the financial sector currently accounts for 13.9% of the S&P 500, while in the broader index it accounts for 14.6%, indicating room for growth in the financial sector.
Coinbase International will launch AERO, BEAM, and DRIFT perpetual contracts.
Coinbase International announced on platform X that it will add support for Aerodrome Finance, Beam, and Drift perpetual futures contracts, with the AERO-PERP, BEAM-PERP, and DRIFT-PERP markets expected to open at or after 17:30 on January 16, 2025 (Beijing time).
Binance will launch PHA/USDC, PLN/USDC, and other spot trading pairs.
Binance will launch PHA/USDC, PLN/USDC, STEEM/USDC, and USUAL/USDC spot trading pairs at 16:00 on January 10, 2025 (UTC+8). Trading bot services will also be launched simultaneously.
The Metis network experienced intermittent downtime due to a surge in transaction volume; officials stated they are upgrading L1DTL memory to resolve the issue.
According to official news from Metis, the Metis network has experienced intermittent downtime due to a surge in mainnet transaction volume, leading to L1DTL (Layer 1 Data Transaction Layer) congestion. The team is currently upgrading the L1DTL memory to resolve the issue and is working on recovery.
MANTRA blockchain will collaborate with DAMAC Group to tokenize at least $1 billion in assets.
According to CoinDesk, the MANTRA blockchain has reached an agreement with UAE-based real estate giant DAMAC Group to tokenize at least $1 billion in assets by early 2025. DAMAC's portfolio includes real estate development, hotel management, and data centers. Through tokenization, DAMAC aims to simplify traditional investment processes and improve accessibility for retail and institutional investors. Specific details regarding the tokenized assets and products will be announced in the coming weeks. The MANTRA mainnet is set to launch in October 2024, aiming to bring traditional financial assets onto the blockchain and has reached an agreement with another Dubai developer, MAG Group, to tokenize $500 million in assets. DAMAC has already begun accepting Bitcoin and Ethereum payments since 2022.
BIO Protocol extends to the Solana chain, with bridging services provided by Wormhole
According to an official announcement from BIO Protocol, its DeSci (Decentralized Science) project has now gone live on the Solana mainnet and supports cross-chain functionality via the Wormhole protocol. Users can transfer BIO tokens (contract address: bioJ9JTqW62MLz7UKHU69gtKhPpGi1BQhccj2kmSvUJ) between the Ethereum mainnet and Solana using the bridging service provided by the official site (bridge.bio.xyz). The officials stated that this move lays the foundation for BIO Protocol to move towards a multi-chain ecosystem, and revealed that more plans will be launched in January and February.
CleanSpark's Bitcoin inventory has surpassed 10,000 coins.
Mining company CleanSpark Inc. (NASDAQ: CLSK) announced that it has self-mined 10,097 Bitcoins in its U.S. operations, marking the first time its inventory has surpassed the 10,000 mark. CEO Zach Bradford stated that each Bitcoin is supported by U.S. energy and generated in the U.S., reflecting the company's commitment to sustainable growth and global Bitcoin ecosystem innovation.
Bitcoin ETFs saw a net outflow of 4,964 BTC today, while Ethereum ETFs saw a net outflow of 4,701 ETH.
According to monitoring data from Lookonchain, the ten Bitcoin ETFs experienced a total net outflow of 4,964 BTC (approximately $458.3 million) in the past day. Among them, the iShares (Blackrock) ETF saw a net outflow of 1,319 BTC (around $121.8 million), currently holding 557,882 BTC (approximately $51.51 billion). Additionally, the nine Ethereum ETFs recorded a total net outflow of 4,701 ETH (about $15.21 million). The Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust saw a net outflow of 3,298 ETH (about $10.67 million), currently holding 471,912 ETH (approximately $1.53 billion).
Jump Trading transferred over $20 million in stablecoins to CEX in the past hour
On-chain data shows that in the past hour, Jump Trading transferred over $20 million in stablecoin transactions to several centralized exchanges (CEX), including USDT and USDC. Specifically: • 2.107 million USDT transferred to Binance, valued at approximately $2.11 million; • A total of $18 million in USDC transferred to Coinbase, including one transfer of $10 million and another of $8.913 million.
