Today's news tips:
1. El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserves reach 6,000, worth approximately $569 million
2. The Italian Parliament passed the 2025 budget, and the cryptocurrency tax rate will be increased to 33% in 2026
3. Siqi Chen, the largest MIRA holder: has locked up about 1/3 of his assets for a year
4. Modular blockchain Sophon completes mining migration and opens mainnet mining
5. NFT transaction volume fell by about 50% in the past week, of which Pudgy Penguins transaction volume fell by 76.65%
6. The market value of artificial intelligence tokens has dropped to the $50 billion range, down about 28% from the peak in early December
7.ai16z founder: ai16z has no control over AI Pool and cannot access private keys
8. The whale who received 200,000 ETH from the genesis block transferred 3,370 ETH to Kraken 9 hours ago
Regulatory News
Italian Parliament Passes 2025 Budget, Cryptocurrency Tax Rate to Increase to 33% in 2026
According to Jinshi, the Italian Parliament finally approved the 2025 budget a few days before the end of the year deadline, which is an important victory for Prime Minister Meroni. Meroni and his Finance Minister Giorgetti jointly developed a tax cut plan aimed at winning voter support while complying with EU fiscal rules. The government plans to reduce the national deficit to 3.3% of GDP next year and fall below the EU's 3% cap in 2026. Among the last-minute adjustments to the budget was the decision to maintain the cryptocurrency tax rate at 26% in 2025 and increase it to 33% in 2026, instead of the originally proposed 42%. The Italian prime minister promised to cut taxes for middle- and low-income groups, which will help consolidate his ruling position, but it also means that the pace of returning to fiscal stability will be slower by EU standards.
The decline of US stocks on Friday frustrated investors' expectations for the so-called "Santa Claus rebound". With the New Year's Day holiday approaching, global financial markets may also tend to remain calm in the coming week. The US ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) may be the only focus of economic data next week, but any policy-related headlines about Trump may also stimulate market volatility. The following are the key points that the market will focus on in the new week:
- At 23:30 on Monday, the U.S. Dallas Fed Business Activity Index for December
- Thursday 9:45, China's December Caixin Manufacturing PMI
- At 21:30 on Thursday, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending December 28
- At 22:45 on Thursday, the final value of the US S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for December
- At 23:00 on Friday, the US December ISM manufacturing PMI
If the economic data smacks the Fed, the dollar's rise may fade. The number of initial jobless claims next week may also be a major driving force for the dollar's trend. Any data that shows that the Fed is too cautious about inflation and too optimistic about the labor market may cause the dollar's recent rise to collapse.
Project News
ai16z founder: ai16z has no control over AI Pool and cannot access private keys
In a recent interview, ai16z founder Shaw responded to the market attention of the AI Pool project, which he had supported many times on social media. Shaw said that AI Pool was created by partner Skely, so it is mainly his project, but it is built on ElizaOS technology, showing an application process similar to pump.fun, but this process happens in a fairer way on social media, so users don't need to go elsewhere. This also shows a real autonomous agent, which is completely autonomous - ai16z has no control over it and cannot access private keys. It cannot withdraw funds or manipulate it, it runs autonomously.
CryptoQuant CEO: Bitcoin appears to be filling the ideological space once occupied by gold
Ki Young Ju, founder and CEO of CryptoQuant, wrote on the X platform: "Throughout history, whenever the United States has felt that its dominance in the global economy is threatened, gold prices have soared and the debate around the gold standard has gained attention. In the late 1990s, Peter Schiff advocated that gold is the true form of currency, just as Bitcoin extremists today advocate for Bitcoin. These supporters, known as "gold bugs," want to restore the gold standard. However, despite a resurgence of interest during economic crises, the United States has always avoided such a shift, relying instead on creative solutions to maintain growth. For the past 50 years, the gold standard has been a relic of the past. Now, Bitcoin seems to be filling the ideological space once occupied by gold. I personally support the idea of the Bitcoin standard.
However, I doubt that the United States will continue to grow while other economies stagnate and adopt Bitcoin as a strategic asset. For this debate to gain significant ground, the United States needs to see a real threat to its global economic dominance. Currently, market sentiment indicates confidence in the continued dominance of the United States. While it is conceivable that the US government may purchase Bitcoin for risk management or economic leverage, its motivations may be very different from what Bitcoin holders imagine. The idea of buying Bitcoin to prepare for the Bitcoin Standard or as a tool to defend the dollar system seems far from current reality. With global capital flowing into the United States, many people still believe that the dominance of the US dollar is secure. Even before taking office, Trump constantly warned other world leaders that there is a power gap between the United States and other countries. This rhetoric, coupled with increased capital inflows into the US dollar, may revive people's confidence in the hegemony of the US dollar. Around me, many Koreans choose the US dollar as a safe haven instead of gold or Bitcoin, especially as the won depreciates.
If Trump succeeds in demonstrating the resilience of the US economy, consolidating the hegemony of the dollar and boosting his approval ratings, it is unclear whether he will continue the strong pro-Bitcoin stance he displayed during the campaign. He could easily abandon his advocacy for Bitcoin, citing a change in priorities, without alienating his voter base. It is undeniable that Trump is a skilled politician with the ability to strengthen the US position. However, the extent to which he intends to live up to his campaign rhetoric about Bitcoin remains uncertain. At the Bitcoin Conference, Trump mentioned that Bitcoin is a strategic asset. Is this a real step in his preparation for the Bitcoin Standard, or is it just a calculated move to gain votes?
Ethena’s Berachain Incentivized Pre-Deposit Vault is now live
Ethena Labs tweeted that Ethena's Berachain incentivized pre-deposit vault is now live, accepting USDe, sUSDe, and USDC/USDT deposits. Concrete launches 2 Ethena pre-deposit vaults for Berachain's deposit program. After the Berachain mainnet is launched, the pre-deposit vault will deploy liquidity on the whitelisted protocols in the Berachain ecosystem. Deposits of USDe and sUSDe will be eligible for Ethena rewards, Concrete Points, BERA, and native ecosystem rewards.
Modular blockchain Sophon completes mining migration and opens mainnet mining
Sophon, a modular blockchain based on ZKsync, said it has completed the mining migration and started the second phase (PHASE 2), and the mainnet mining is now open.
According to previous news , the Sophon mining migration timeline was announced, and the mainnet mining will start on December 28.
Siqi Chen, the largest MIRA holder: About 1/3 of the assets held have been locked for one year
Siqi Chen, CEO and CFO of Runway, a startup financial platform (and the largest holder of MIRA), tweeted that he has locked about 1/3 of his holdings for a year, and has also suspended the liquidation plan, and will start liquidating at a slower rate of 50,000 MIRA per hour after 24 hours, as promised in advance, in order to maximize funding for rare disease research in the long run. He is still considering what to do next, but has reiterated that he will continue to use 100% of all token funds in wallets associated with MIRA at any time to support rare disease research (minus taxes). Porcelain Doll is also committed to putting the remaining 80% of MIRA tokens into a lock or multi-signature wallet controlled by someone trusted by the community.
According to previous news , Siqi Chen gradually sold the Mira coins he received as donations to the Ccancer laboratory, and Mira's market value once fell to 14 million US dollars.
Mining company Blockware: Bitcoin may reach $150,000 to $400,000 in 2025
Cryptocurrency mining company Blockware Solutions said that depending on Donald Trump's strategic Bitcoin reserve plan and the Federal Reserve's policy, the price of Bitcoin could rise fourfold to $400,000 by 2025, or increase 58% to $150,000 in the worst case scenario.
Blockware Solutions said in a market forecast report that a bear market target of $150,000 is possible if Donald Trump “does not comply” with the strategic Bitcoin reserve. At the same time, a bear market target is also possible if the Federal Reserve “further reverses” its rate cuts and long-term holders (those who have held BTC for more than 155 days) “aggressively” sell Bitcoin.
If these three factors align, a $400,000 “bull case” for Bitcoin prices is possible. First, the Federal Reserve must take a “more dovish stance” as the overall consumer price index (CPI) declines. Second, corporate adoption of Bitcoin must accelerate, and one of the “Big Seven” — Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, or Tesla — adds Bitcoin to their balance sheets. Finally, the U.S. government must not only convert its existing Bitcoin holdings into a strategic Bitcoin reserve, but also accumulate more Bitcoin.
Important data
According to CoinMarketCap data, the market value of artificial intelligence cryptocurrencies has reached $50.5 billion, down about 28% from the peak of $70.4 billion on December 7. In addition, the cumulative trading volume around artificial intelligence tokens has also declined, down nearly 11% in the past month, indicating that traders' interest in artificial intelligence cryptocurrencies has declined. However, more and more analysts expect the altcoin season to come in 2025, when Bitcoin's profits may flow into small-cap cryptocurrencies including artificial intelligence tokens.
El Salvador's Bitcoin reserves reach 6,000, worth about $569 million
According to El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office portfolio tracker, the country’s bitcoin holdings have grown to 6,000.77 BTC, currently worth $569.3 million, as of December 29. The latest purchases have brought El Salvador’s bitcoin investment returns to 108.02%, with an average purchase price of $45,450.
CryptoSlam data shows that the NFT market has seen a sharp correction in the past week, with total trading volume plummeting 49.77% to $152.7 million. Despite the sharp drop in trading volume, market participation indicators show continued interest from new and old traders. The number of NFT buyers increased by 50.97% to 531,208, and the number of NFT sellers increased by 47.14% to 308,666.
Ethereum network NFT transaction volume fell 62% to $75.3 million. Despite the decline in trading volume, the network still had 63,054 buyers, an increase of 42.91%. Bitcoin network NFT also showed a similar trend, with transaction volume falling 30% to $28 million. However, the network saw strong user growth, with the number of buyers reaching 59,311, an increase of 52.13% from the previous period. Solana network NFT maintained its third position despite a 58.71% drop in transaction volume to $13.9 million. The network continued to show strong user engagement, with the number of buyers reaching 180,111, an increase of 68.43%.
Pudgy Penguins’ trading volume plummeted 76.65% to $12.6 million, with a 69.92% drop in buyer participation. Despite a 41.94% drop in trading volume, Azuki still jumped to second place with $9.3 million in trading volume. BRC-20 NFT’s trading volume fell 30.68%, dropping to third place at $6.5 million.
Notable deals this week include:
- Azuki #3535 sold for $427,000 (125 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #6797 sold for $159,792 (49 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #3017 sold for $156,815 (47 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #704 sold for $156,488 (46 ETH)
- CryptoPunks #5792 sold for $155,949 (45.9849 ETH)
According to on-chain analyst Embers, a whale that received 200,000 ETH from the Ethereum genesis block in 2015 transferred 3,370 ETH ($11.37 million) to Kraken 9 hours ago.
He transferred 48,687 ETH (US$171.78 million) to Kraken this year, with an average transfer price of US$3,528. After eight years of continuous sales, he currently has 7,594 ETH (US$25.72 million) left.
Two whales bought a total of 4.47 million ai16z today
According to Lookonchain monitoring, two whales are buying ai16z, with a total of 4.47 million ai16z:
- AVLKwK...x1Mv spent 3.71 million USDC to buy 2.96 million ai16z today, at a price of about $1.253.
- 65FwXv...T4HE bought 1.51 million ai16z today for 10,000 SOL ($1.88 million), at a price of about $1.247.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, after 9 months of accumulation, a whale has deposited 5.76 million ONDO into Coinbase, worth 8.31 million US dollars, and made a profit of more than 3.54 million US dollars.
A new wallet withdrew 2,700 BTC from Binance in the past 14 hours, worth $256.35 million
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, in the past 14 hours, a new wallet has accumulated 2,700 BTC from Binance, worth $256.35 million.
According to the monitoring of on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, a whale who spent $10 million to buy ai16z in the past month has now made a floating profit of $16.58 million, with a return rate of 166%. Since November 28, he has hoarded 19.83 million ai16z at an average price of $0.5039, accounting for 1.8% of the total tokens, and only bought but not sold. He is currently the TOP7 holding address.
