According to Cailian Press, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its December monetary policy meeting on its official website on Wednesday local time. The minutes show that considering that inflation risks are still high, Federal Reserve officials have taken a new stance on interest rate cuts and decided to slow down the pace of interest rate cuts in the coming months. The minutes pointed out that participants said that the committee believed that the interest rate level was close to or at a time when it was appropriate to slow down the pace of interest rate cuts. They believe that the pace of interest rate cuts may be slowed down in the future and enter a more cautious operation phase. And a series of factors indicate that in the current complex economic environment, Federal Reserve policymakers believe that monetary policy needs to be adjusted carefully to avoid the negative impact of overly aggressive policy adjustments. For example, too fast interest rate cuts may lead to a resurgence of inflationary pressures. Participants expect inflation to continue to move closer to 2%, although they point out that recent higher-than-expected inflation data and the impact of potential changes in trade and immigration policies indicate that this process may be longer than previously expected. Some participants pointed out that the anti-inflation process may have temporarily stalled or pointed out possible risks. Nick Timiraos, the "Federal Reserve mouthpiece," pointed out that the Federal Reserve minutes further showed that officials were generally willing to keep interest rates unchanged at the upcoming meeting at the end of this month. "Participants indicated that the committee was at or near levels appropriate to slow the pace of policy accommodation," the minutes said. Officials believed that based on their current outlook for economic activity, the Fed was likely to continue cutting interest rates at a slower pace than in recent months.
Four people familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to provide a legal basis for imposing a large number of general tariffs. The declaration would allow Trump to use the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA) to enact a new tariff schedule, which unilaterally authorizes the president to manage imports during a national emergency. One of the sources noted that Trump likes the law because it gives broad jurisdiction over how to implement tariffs without strict requirements to prove that the tariffs are motivated by national security concerns. The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.
According to Jinshi.com, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ending January 4 was 201,000, the lowest since the week ending February 17, 2024. The expected number was 218,000, and the previous value was 211,000.
According to Cryptoslate, citing Fox Business News reporter Eleanor Terrett, the transition team of US President-elect Donald Trump is looking for cryptocurrency-friendly candidates to serve as the next chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Those competing for this position include current CFTC Commissioner Summer Mersinger, a16z Crypto Policy Director and former CFTC Commissioner Brian Quintenz, and Kraken's Chief Legal Officer Marco Santori.
According to people familiar with the matter, they called Quintenz and Mersinger the "favorites" for the position, and both of the alleged favorites have extensive experience and crypto policy credentials. Mersinger is considered a thought leader at the intersection of crypto innovation and consumer protection. She frequently speaks at industry events and has been an advocate for balanced regulation to promote the growth of the industry. At the same time, Mersinger has been an active advocate for a regulatory environment that can accommodate crypto innovation, a position he honed during his tenure as a CFTC commissioner and in his current position at a16z. If elected, either of the two candidates could lead the agency to develop policies that prioritize clarity and innovation in the U.S. crypto industry.
While Quintenz and Mersinger are leading, several others remain on the shortlist, including Republican CFTC Commissioner Caroline Pham, who has a strong regulatory background, Neal Kumar, who has held senior positions at the CFTC and is considered a regulatory expert, and Josh Sterling. The Trump transition team has reportedly reviewed at least six candidates for the position, reflecting the administration's focus on finding a leader who aligns with its vision for the crypto industry.
According to CoinDesk, Rostin Behnam, chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), focused on cryptocurrencies and their regulation in his last public speech before leaving office, and emphasized the need to promote the CFTC as a cryptocurrency regulator. Behnam will step down on January 20 to make way for future appointees of President-elect Trump. In his speech at the Brookings Institution, he said that cryptocurrencies "run through every stage of my tenure." Behnam pointed out: "In the absence of federal legislation, customer protection, increased fraud and market abuse, market resilience, and financial stability are becoming increasingly serious. History has repeatedly proved that placing a large amount of financial activities outside of regulation will ultimately lead to bad results." He directly called on industry "innovators" to protect investors who "are eager to include digital assets in their portfolios" and emphasized: "The role of market regulators is crucial. They ensure that financial innovation is integrated into a regulatory and compliance culture that protects consumers and provides legal certainty." He also said that he has never supported a law enforcement-led regulatory approach. In contrast, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. SEC, has long been criticized by the industry for taking the approach of "replacing regulation with law enforcement."
Earlier today, U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated that the crypto space is "full of bad actors ."
Oklahoma lawmaker proposes Bitcoin Freedom Act to allow employees to receive wages in Bitcoin
According to Bitcoin Magazine, U.S. Oklahoma Senator Dusty Deevers submitted the "Bitcoin Freedom Act" numbered SB325, which will allow Oklahoma employees to choose to receive wages in the form of Bitcoin and allow suppliers to accept Bitcoin payments. The SB325 bill ensures that participation is completely voluntary, respects free market principles, and gives employees, employers, and businesses the right to choose the payment method that best suits them. The SB325 bill is eligible for consideration in the 60th legislative session that begins on February 3.
Thailand to pilot cryptocurrency payments in Phuket in 2025 to boost tourism
Pichai Chunhavajira, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Thailand, announced that a cryptocurrency payment pilot will be launched in Phuket in 2025. Tourists can pay for goods and services with Bitcoin, which will be converted into Thai baht after liquidation. The operation is legal and does not require amendments to existing laws. The move aims to improve payment convenience and attract more tourists, while helping to solve large payment problems such as house purchases. The Phuket pilot will enhance the competitiveness of Thailand's crypto economy. Small communities such as the "Bitcoin Village" have successfully promoted digital currency payments, providing a reference for the project.
According to Bloomberg, senior EU digital officials have pledged to "actively" advance an investigation into Platform X (formerly Twitter) to determine whether it violated the Digital Services Act. The law aims to combat illegal and harmful content, and the focus of the investigation includes whether Platform X promotes far-right political content through algorithms. If confirmed to be in violation, Platform X could be fined up to 6% of its global annual revenue. The European Commission said it would reach a conclusion in accordance with the law as soon as possible.
US judge sets start date for Do Kwon's trial as January 26, 2026
According to The Block, Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon appeared in court at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday. This was his second appearance, marking the entry of this high-profile and repeatedly postponed federal case into the discovery phase. If he is convicted of the collapse of the TerraUST stablecoin, he will face up to 130 years in prison. Wednesday's "initial meeting" is intended to determine whether the U.S. case can be resolved without trial and to determine other pre-trial details. U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer set the trial start date for January 26, 2026, and encouraged plea negotiations. The U.S. government pointed out that both parties to the lawsuit submitted 6 TB of evidence to be examined for evidence discovery, including four mobile phones, social media accounts and other non-public information that Kwon carried while in prison in Montenegro, Montenegro, most of which need to be translated and decrypted. Prosecutors said that some of the data may have been collected without a search warrant and that the encryption key seemed to be "lost." Prosecutor Jared Lenow pointed out that the trial could last up to six weeks, and the prosecution alone would need four weeks. The judge also questioned whether securities laws would play a significant role in Kwon's case, saying "the jury needs extreme clarity." Prosecutors said whether Bitcoin or USDT are commodities is not important to their case, noting that District Judge Jed Rakoff ruled in a previous case that "Terraform's crypto assets are investment contracts."
Trump-themed digital card debuts on Bitcoin network via Ordinals protocol
According to Cryptoslate, the NFT series supported by US President-elect Donald Trump has launched the first 160 works on the Bitcoin network using the Ordinals protocol, called "Trump Bitcoin Digital Trading Cards". Users who receive 100 NFT cards from the "Mugshot Edition" are eligible to claim them through the NFT marketplace Magic Eden after submitting their Bitcoin wallet. As of press time, users have minted 19 of the 119 available Ordinals, and the claim period will last until January 31. Trump Bitcoin Digital Trading Cards use "Alpha sats". Users have listed 11 Trump-inspired Ordinals on Magic Eden, with the lowest reserve price currently at 0.1988 BTC, while the most expensive Ordinals in the series cost 20 BTC. Although this is the first Ordinals series related to Trump, the president-elect has a track record in the NFT field, launching multiple series over the years, including four sets of "Trump Digital Trading Cards" series, showing photos of him holding BTC and performing his signature dance.
Blast’s mobile platform to launch later this month alongside token economics updates
Ethereum Layer2 network Blast announced on X Platform: "Blast's mobile platform will be launched later this month along with the token economics update. All Blast Dapps should ensure that points and coins are distributed to users before these changes. There will be no coin distribution in January. All users should also ensure that they log in to the Blast website with their own wallets. The official launch date will be announced soon."
Solana Urges Validators to Test Early Version of ‘Firedancer’ Upgrade
Solana is stepping up testing of Firedancer, a software upgrade that promises to significantly increase the processing speed of the blockchain, according to CoinDesk. According to messages in the Solana Technology Discord server, the Solana core development team hopes that by the end of this week, the "vast majority" of processing power in the low-risk test network on the chain will be able to run Frankendancer (an early version of Firedancer). The call to action for Solana validators marks the biggest test Firedancer has faced so far. The upgrade has been in the works since the chain experienced frequent failures in 2022 and is seen as enhancing Solana's stability and speed. Firedancer supporters believe that the software, developed by the crypto division of trading giant Jump, will give Solana an unparalleled advantage in the race to attract global financial markets to the blockchain. They point to its theoretical speed: one million transactions per second, orders of magnitude faster than any blockchain-based system today. Firedancer itself has not yet set a release date. Currently, Jump Crypto has only launched Frankendancer, which is a combination of Firedancer and Solana's mainstream client architecture. Prior to this week, only a small number of validators had adopted Frankendancer, and many said they found it buggy and prone to crashing. On Tuesday, the Solana Foundation used this subsidy reward and penalty mechanism for the first time to directly promote the adoption of Frankendancer. Validators only have a few days to switch their testnet systems to the new client, otherwise they will lose their delegated interests.
According to Globenewswire, Grayscale announced that it has updated the fund components and weights of each product based on the review in the fourth quarter of 2024. ① Grayscale will include Livepeer (LPT) in the investment portfolio of AI Fund. ② Grayscale DEFI Fund added Curve (CRV) and removed Synthetix (SNX). ③ Grayscale GDLC Fund added Cardano (ADA) and removed Avalanche (AVAX). ④ Grayscale will include SUI in the investment portfolio of GSCPxE Fund.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov reiterates platform's support for free speech
Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on his personal channel that Telegram firmly supported the value of free speech long before it became a political security issue, and emphasized that its core values are not affected by the US election cycle. He also pointed out that although other platforms have recently announced reduced censorship, the real test will come when the political winds change again. He also said that it is easy to support something when there is no risk.
Vitalik calls on Ethereum core developers to prioritize key upgrades such as "Blob expansion"
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin said in a tweet that Ethereum core development needs to be better prioritized. He pointed out that if he needs to choose between "increasing the Blob target from 3 to 6" and "other improvements in Pectra", he will give priority to the former. This shows that data availability expansion (Blob) is what he considers to be his top priority. At the same time, he mentioned the priority recommendations for projects such as Fusaka and G*, believing that "Blob expansion" is still the key, but also mentioned the importance of L1 layer EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) improvements. He specifically mentioned the focus on full account abstraction (AA) from EOF to 7701, SIMD+EVMMAX optimization, and moderately increasing the Gas limit. Vitalik also said that he is exploring "peerdas" and suggested trying a more ambitious version to further promote Ethereum technology innovation and optimization.
Revolut becomes first bank data publisher to join Pyth Network
According to The Block, British fintech company Revolut announced that it has become the first bank data publisher to join the multi-chain Pyth Network. Revolut will integrate its digital asset quotes and transaction data into Pyth's price oracle, supporting decentralized finance (DeFi) developers to apply real-time market data to decentralized applications (dApps). The Pyth network currently provides more than 500 real-time data streams for more than 80 blockchain ecosystems (including Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, etc.), with a total transaction volume of more than US$1 trillion in 2024. Revolut said that this cooperation will promote financial modernization, provide users and developers with accurate real-time data, and help the development of DeFi applications.
CoinList Removes 2.4 Million Bots and Scam Accounts
CoinList announced that it has removed 2.4 million robots and fraud accounts since its inception, ensuring that each user is a unique and real individual by verifying devices, IP addresses, email addresses, etc. This initiative helps project owners build a high-quality, real investor community, while increasing the allocation opportunities of legitimate investors and promoting long-term stable development.
According to the official announcement of the crypto exchange Bullish, its German subsidiary Bullish DE Custody GmbH has been granted a crypto asset custody, proprietary trading and prime brokerage license by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Bullish plans to expand its services in the European Economic Area based on the framework of the Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA), which will come into effect on December 30, 2024. The company appointed Marco Bodewein as the general manager of Bullish DE. He has held important positions in futurum bank AG and Bitcoin Group SE and has rich experience in crypto and financial services. In addition, tradias, a crypto trading institution authorized by BaFin, has completed docking with Bullish DE and started trading. Bullish DE is actively attracting professional and institutional investors in Germany to provide safe and compliant digital asset trading services.
Starknet launches development tool SN Stack to facilitate Appchain development
According to The Block, Ethereum Layer 2 project Starknet launched its development tool SN Stack to support developers in creating independent application chains (Appchain). SN Stack includes Starknet OS (blockchain operating system), CairoVM (smart contract execution), Blockifier (block building), and cryptographic proof and verification tools. SN Stack offers three versions to meet different needs: Madara provides a flexible open source modular framework; Dojo focuses on games and advanced chain applications; StarkWare Sequencer provides a complete infrastructure for high-performance decentralized applications. The first application chain Paradex has been launched as a design partner.
According to the official website of a16z crypto, a16z crypto released 5 cutting-edge trends where AI and cryptography meet, and explored the possibility of integration. 1. Blockchain helps AI reshape the Internet: AI has subverted the traditional Internet economy, generated content has replaced user clicks, and deep fakes and false information have weakened trust. The ownership protection, identity authentication and anti-tampering functions of blockchain can protect the authenticity of content and return the Internet to openness and diversity. 2. AI centralization, Crypto decentralization: There is tension between centralization and decentralization between AI and cryptography, but the combination of the two can achieve innovations that cannot be completed independently, such as user control, privacy protection and decentralized governance. 3. The demand for proving "real identity" has surged: The false content generated by AI has surged, and "human identity proof" is needed to ensure the authenticity of the interaction. Privacy-based unique identity authentication has become the key to building a trusted digital identity and improving network security. 4. AI wallets promote autonomous behavior: After AI agents have their own encrypted wallets, they can participate in market transactions, custody assets, and be applied to scenarios such as decentralized physical infrastructure networks, expanding the role of AI and network value. 5. Trusted Execution Environment ensures autonomous applications: Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) can prove the autonomy of AI systems, enable them to manage keys and assets, and run on a permissionless decentralized network, paving the way for truly autonomous AI applications.
Binance Alpha adds LMT, PAAL, and SNAI
Binance Alpha announced a new list of projects, including LMT, PAAL and SNAI. The project introduction is as follows:
PeckShield: Orange Finance suffered a hacker attack, losing about $787,000
According to PeckShieldAlert, Orange Finance, the LPDfi liquidity management protocol on Arbitrum, was hacked and approximately $787,000 in crypto assets were transferred from its contract. Officials confirmed that the attacker controlled the administrator address, upgraded the contract, and transferred the funds to its wallet. Users are strongly advised to immediately revoke all contract authorizations related to Orange Finance to avoid further losses and stop any interaction with the compromised protocol. Orange Finance has attempted to contact the attacker through Arbiscan to negotiate the return of funds.
DuckChain releases DUCK token economics, 77% allocated to community and ecosystem development
According to DuckChain's official tweet, its governance token $DUCK was officially released with a total supply of 10 billion. 77% of it is allocated to community and ecological development, including 50% airdrops, 4% liquidity, 3% marketing and 20% ecological support. Of the rest, 10% is allocated to investors, 10% to the team, and 3% to consultants. DUCK TGE will be launched on TON, followed by DuckChain (after the public mainnet is released), Arbitrum, Base, etc. $DUCK, as the core token of DuckChain, supports functions such as governance, staking, and paying gas fees. DuckChain aims to provide on-chain support for Telegram's more than 1 billion users and dApp developers through AI tools, EVM-compatible technologies, etc., and promote the large-scale application of blockchain technology. $DUCK tokens will be launched on multiple centralized and decentralized exchanges on January 16, 2025, and the specific platforms are to be announced. In addition, DuckChain announced that the airdrop allocation can be queried through MiniApp at 12 PM UTC today and received on the OKX exchange.
According to Fortune, Movement Labs, which focuses on the development of Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain, is close to completing a $100 million Series B financing, with an estimated valuation of $3 billion. This round of financing is jointly led by CoinFund and Nova Fund (Brevan Howard Digital Asset Division), and investors will receive shares in the company and its token Move, with an emphasis on the token form. Movement Labs previously completed a $38 million Series A financing in April 2024, led by Polychain Capital. The completion of this round of financing is expected to be achieved at the end of January. Movement is based on the Move programming language developed by Facebook. Different from independent public chains Aptos and Sui, it adopts a Layer 2 structure and makes full use of the Ethereum ecosystem. Its mainnet beta and Move tokens were launched in December 2024. Move's current market value is about $2.25 billion, which has nearly doubled since its launch.
Crypto data platform SoSoValue completes $15 million in financing to launch multi-currency index
According to Fortune, AI-driven crypto data platform SoSoValue announced the completion of a $15 million Series A financing round, with a valuation of $200 million. This round of financing was led by Hongshan (Sequoia China), SmallSpark, Mirana Ventures and Safepal. SoSoValue said that this round of financing was completed at the end of December, and the funds were mainly used for the reserve fund of SoSoValue Indices (SSI). SSI is an innovative spot crypto index protocol that aims to promote efficient investment in the crypto market and make SoSoValue the first institution to introduce spot indexes to the market in the form of tokens. SoSoValue is committed to providing retail investors with real-time market data and ETF fund flow tracking. Its SoSoValue Indices Protocol packages digital assets into cross-chain cryptocurrencies through smart contracts. SoSoValue has launched four indexes at the end of December, namely: MAG7.ssi, MEME.ssi (tracking the top ten meme coins), DEFI.ssi and USSI (hedge type). SoSoValue completed a seed round of financing of US$4.15 million in mid-2024. With this round of financing, the total financing amount of the project is close to US$20 million. The number of registered users of the SoSoValue platform has exceeded 8 million.
PANews reported on January 9 that according to on-chain analyst Ember’s monitoring, a whale transferred 80,000 SOL (about $15.56 million) to Coinbase Prime 5 hours ago. He earned $4.63 million (+36%) through staking and SOL appreciation. This whale withdrew 87,000 SOL (12.81 million US dollars) from Coinbase Prime at a price of $147 six months ago and pledged it until it was redeemed three weeks ago. After the redemption, his SOL was transferred to Binance and Coinbase Prime at an average price of $194, realizing a profit of $4.63 million (+36%).
El Salvador buys another 11 Bitcoins for its strategic reserve
According to Cointelegraph, El Salvador has just purchased another 11 Bitcoins as its strategic reserve, worth more than $1 million.
Bitcoin ETF has a net inflow of 2,586 BTC today, while Ethereum ETF has a net outflow of 20,884 ETH
According to Lookonchain monitoring, Bitcoin ETFs had a net inflow of 2,586 BTC (about $248 million), of which iShares (Blackrock) had a single-day inflow of 6,078 BTC (about $583 million), and its total holdings reached 559,201 BTC (about $53.62 billion). Ethereum ETFs had a net outflow of 20,884 ETH (about $70.69 million), and Fidelity had a single-day outflow of 19,999 ETH (about $67.7 million), and its current total holdings are 460,501 ETH (about $1.56 billion).
Ethereum Foundation sells 100 ETH for 336,000 DAI
Arkm data showed that a few minutes ago, the Ethereum Foundation address sold 100 ETH at an average price of US$3,363 in exchange for approximately 336,000 DAI.
