Today's news tips:
1. Montenegro's Prime Minister says extradition of Do Kwon to the US has been completed
2. The IRS issues temporary relief measures for cryptocurrency taxation, allowing CeFi exchange users to bypass tax regulations in 2025
3.Sonic SVM: 57% of the total SONIC tokens will be allocated to the community, and TGE is scheduled for January 7, 2025
4. SPACE ID discloses 2025 roadmap: plans to expand business beyond Web3
5. FLock.io announces the launch of mainnet and token generation activities on Base
6 Musk twice published tweets containing frog elements
7. Dragonfly Managing Partner releases predictions for six major areas in 2025: The difference between L1 and L2 is disappearing, and EVM market share will continue to grow
8. Messari releases six predictions for 2025: Hyperliquid’s outstanding performance may have ended, and ETH will outperform SOL
9. NFT sales will reach $8.83 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%
Regulatory News
Montenegro PM says extradition of Do Kwon to US completed
According to Bloomberg, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said on Tuesday that Montenegro has completed the extradition of Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the United States. Spajic wrote on the X platform: "This extradition demonstrates our unwavering commitment to international justice and the rule of law."
Do Kwon faces prosecution in New York and Seoul for the collapse of the $40 billion TerraUSD stablecoin in 2022. He was arrested in Montenegro last year for traveling on a forged passport. In April, Terraform and its founder Do Kwon were convicted of fraud following a civil trial over charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Terraform has agreed to pay $4.5 billion to settle with the SEC.
The Swiss federal government has officially begun reviewing a referendum proposal titled "Building a Financially Strong, Sovereign and Responsible Switzerland (Bitcoin Initiative)". The proposal has been published in the Federal Gazette and has entered the signature collection stage, aiming to incorporate Bitcoin into the Swiss national financial system through a constitutional amendment.
According to Bitcoin.com, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a temporary relief measure that will allow cryptocurrency holders of centralized exchanges to bypass strict tax regulations in 2025, thereby retaining the flexibility to report and track digital asset sales. The IRS's temporary relief allows taxpayers to continue to use their own records or tax software to identify the specific units sold. Chandrasekera said: "This means that if you sell assets within a cefi broker, you can still use your books and records/crypto tax software to record the specific units you are selling." The relief period only applies to cefi transactions from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025. After this date, taxpayers will need to formally select an accounting method with their brokers.
Ten Russian regions completely banned cryptocurrency mining on January 1, and another three regions implemented a partial ban. The government decree, passed on December 23, stipulates a complete ban on mining from January 2025 to March 2031, and in the other three regions, partial restrictions on mining in each heating season until 2031 (November 15 to March 15 of the following year, except for the first year from January 1, 2025, when the ban takes effect). Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in late December that the number of regions banning cryptocurrency mining may increase if requests are received from governors. Authorities in the Republic of Khakassia have asked the Ministry of Energy to restrict mining activities in the region.
Syria proposes legalizing Bitcoin to boost economic recovery
The Syrian Center for Economic Research has proposed a plan urging the transitional government to adopt Bitcoin and other digital assets to combat inflation, stabilize the economy and attract global investment. The plan comes as the country faces huge reconstruction challenges after decades of war and financial disaster. The proposal focuses on Bitcoin as a lifeline for Syrian citizens and their shaky financial system. It suggests establishing a regulatory framework to legalize the use of Bitcoin in trading, mining and financial transactions.
Project News
Binance Labs: 2025 will still be "focused on infrastructure" rather than price trends or market hype
Alex Odagiu, investment director of Binance Labs, said that the company will continue to support startups in Web3, artificial intelligence and biotechnology regardless of the market cycle. Binance Labs expects cryptocurrency venture capital to remain strong in 2025, but it remains "focused on infrastructure" rather than price trends or market hype. Odagiu emphasized that projects with real application scenarios, high product-market fit, strong teams and sustainable revenue models are most likely to succeed.
Tangem wallet accidentally collected users' mnemonics due to email-related glitch
Tangem, a cryptocurrency wallet service provider, recently fixed a major security vulnerability in its mobile app, which caused some users' private keys to be accidentally collected via email. Previously, Reddit users questioned this, pointing out that Tangem exposed users' private keys to email accounts and its employees, threatening the safety of investors' funds. User u/areklanga specifically pointed out that Tangem did not respond appropriately to the problem, and that users' private keys may be retained in multiple email histories and work order tracking systems, posing a security threat to all Tangem users.
On December 30, Tangem acknowledged the problem and explained that it was a bug in the log processing of the mobile application, which has now been resolved. When creating a wallet through a mnemonic phrase, the private key was mistakenly recorded in the application log, which can be accessed when interacting with the support team. On the same day, Tangem released an application update, but the official website did not mention the specific details. Tangem also confirmed that all logs and attachments sent to the support team have been permanently deleted to ensure that no data is left.
Although Tangem said the vulnerability only affected a small number of users, some members of the crypto community still expressed dissatisfaction with its low-key handling. As of December 31, Tangem has not published any related announcements on social media. To prevent the potential risk of private key leakage, all Tangem users are advised to update their mobile applications immediately.
CryptoQuant contributor Darkfost wrote that Binance's stablecoin reserves reached $31 billion on December 11, a record high. It is worth noting that Binance's stablecoin reserves were only $7 billion in June 2023, and have increased nearly fivefold since then. An increase in stablecoin reserves usually means that buying pressure is rising. The current reserves remain around $30 billion, which shows that investors are still active in the market and may continue to maintain strong buying pressure.
SPACE ID reveals 2025 roadmap: plans to expand business beyond Web3
The decentralized domain name protocol SPACE ID disclosed its 2025 roadmap in its official blog: 1. It will continue to expand identity recognition functions to more blockchains and ecosystems; 2. It has begun planning to expand its business beyond Web3 and provide integration between Web2 and Web3 domain names; 3. It is designing a new way to simplify the on-chain transaction process and create a customized solution to unify wallet addresses; 4. It will explore new cooperation in 2025.
5 Pudgy Penguins sold for a total of $175, but the seller may have misread the price
According to Cointelegraph, someone sold five Pudgy Penguins NFTs for a total of $175 today. Some speculated that the seller mistook the unit price of 35 USDT for 35 ETH (US$117,000), resulting in a loss of more than US$500,000.
Coinbase CEO calls on Platform X to adopt USDC for payment integration
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has expressed his interest in integrating Circle’s USDC into the payment system of the X platform. In a post on December 29, Armstrong suggested that USDC payments would be a valuable addition to the platform and called on the X team to explore implementing this feature.
This public call follows a similar suggestion by Coinbase’s chief engineer Travis Bloom, who was curious about when X’s owner Musk would implement the ability for users to send and receive USDC on the Base network. Market observers noted that implementing such a feature fits into X’s broader vision of introducing a payment system to transform the social media platform into a “universal app.”
In January, X unveiled plans to launch a peer-to-peer payment service similar to PayPal. While details remain unclear on whether the currency used by the service will be fiat or cryptocurrencies, the platform has yet to launch the plan. However, X has made significant progress in obtaining money transmission licenses across the United States. Its subsidiary X Payments currently has licenses in 33 states, including California, Illinois, and Virginia.
FLock.io announces mainnet launch and token generation event on Base
Decentralized AI training platform FLock.io announced the official launch of its mainnet on Base. The launch coincides with the token generation event (TGE) of its native token FLOCK, which will serve as a utility token for the FLock ecosystem by incentivizing and rewarding community participation.
FLOCK tokens will be airdropped to users participating in the incentivized testnet during today's Token Generation Event (TGE). Users can access the platform to participate in decentralized AI training and earn FLOCK tokens. These tokens will play an important role in the FLock.io ecosystem, facilitating collaboration between data providers, training nodes, and computing providers.
Earlier news, FLock announced token economics and airdrop plan: 66.7% was allocated to the community and ecosystem.
Sonic SVM, the SVM blockchain on Solana, announced the token economics of its native token SONIC. SONIC will serve as the native token of the Sonic SVM and Multi-SVM ecosystem to promote long-term growth and development.
The total supply of SONIC is 2.4 billion, of which 57% is allocated to the community, including community and ecological development (30%), initial claims (7%) and HyperGrid rewards (20%). TGE is scheduled for January 7, 2025, and the initial circulation accounts for 15% of the total. SONIC will be distributed within 6 years, at which time all SONIC will be fully circulated, with most of it allocated to the community. In the first 12-18 months after launch, no team and investor tokens will be unlocked, and locked tokens cannot be staked.
The SONIC initial claim snapshot was completed on December 31, 2024. 7% of the total SONIC supply has been allocated to the initial claim. The eligibility check tool for the initial claim program will be launched on January 3, and users can use the tool to verify whether their wallets meet the claim conditions. At the same time, the SonicX TikTok airdrop event will continue to be open until January 6, providing more users with the opportunity to obtain SONIC.
UXLINK announces 10% of total supply for airdrop in Q2
Web3 social platform and infrastructure UXLINK announced the second season airdrop token distribution in its official blog. UXLINK will distribute 10% of the total supply of UXLINK to users and ecosystem partners in Season 2, the same as Season 1. Anti-Sybil technology will also be used to ensure that real community contributors receive airdrop rewards.
Michael Saylor: MSTR Financial Operations’ BTC Return Rate Since the Beginning of Q4 Is 47.8%
MicroStrategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor posted on the X platform that since the beginning of the fourth quarter, MSTR's financial operations have achieved a BTC yield of 47.8%, bringing a net gain of 120,600 BTC to the company's shareholders. Based on $96,000 per BTC, the revenue for this quarter is $11.6 billion.
Re-staking protocol ether.fi launches Berachain incentive deposit vault
Ethereum re-staking protocol ether.fi tweeted that it has launched the Berachain incentive deposit vault, which supports deposits of weETH, WETH, stETH, eBTC, wBTC, cbBTC and LBTC. After the Berachain mainnet is launched, deposits will remain locked for 90 days.
According to previous news , Ethena's Berachain incentive deposit vault has been launched.
According to Forbes, Africa currently accounts for 3% of the global Bitcoin mining hash rate as of December 2024, with Ethiopia alone contributing 2.5% of production, more than double the entire continent's production in 2023, and entirely through renewable energy. According to the Ethiopian Electric Power Company (EEP), Ethiopia has earned more than $55 million from the sale of electricity for Bitcoin mining this year alone, accounting for 18% of its total revenue.
Following Ethiopia’s approval of Bitcoin mining earlier this year, local Bitcoin mining operations have grown significantly, with spending on mining infrastructure reportedly exceeding $1 billion by 2024, and other countries such as Kenya have joined the ranks of African countries keen to use Bitcoin mining to promote economic growth, electrify communities, and manage green energy projects. Africa is a popular location for global Bitcoin miners because it has some of the cheapest green energy in the world, with prices of 3.2 cents per kilowatt-hour in Ethiopia, for example.
RWA stablecoin protocol Usual tweets hinting at turning on token fee switch
RWA stablecoin protocol Usual tweeted that it would turn on the token fee switch: "The fee switch era begins. 2025 marks a turning point for DeFi: real value, real distribution. January 7th, get your USUAL ready."
Musk twice tweeted about frogs
Musk reposted a tweet about frog elements at 3:57 am today, with the caption "Kek". In addition, at 5:00 am (Beijing time), he tweeted "Brothers in Arms" with a picture of Pepe in the image of a Roman general.
Earlier news , Musk changed his personal avatar and nickname on the X platform to Kekius Maximus. "Kekius Maximus" is a word that combines Internet culture and ancient Roman naming tradition. The "Kek" here comes from Internet slang, which is common in meme culture, especially in the 4chan community, where "kek" is used as a substitute for "LOL" to express laughter or humor.
Dragonfly Managing Partner Haseeb Qureshi released his cryptocurrency predictions for 2025, divided into six parts: L1s/L2s, token launch, stablecoins, regulation, AI agents, and crypto x AI.
1. L1/L2
The distinction between L1 and L2 is disappearing. Users can no longer perceive the difference between L1 and L2. Despite the strength of SVM and Move, EVM's market share will actually grow in 2025. Solana will force more blockchains to optimize for low latency.
2. Token Release
The era of massive airdrops where everyone is doing it through a points program is over and we are moving towards a dual track world.
Track 1: If a project has a clear metric, like an exchange or lending protocol, they will distribute tokens based purely on points.
Track 2: Projects without clear indicators (such as L1 and L2) will turn to crowdfunding. They may conduct small-scale airdrops to reward social contributions, but most tokens will be distributed through crowdfunding.
Memecoins will continue to steal market share from “AI agent” coins.
3. Stablecoins
Stablecoin usage will surge, especially among small and medium-sized businesses. Not just trading and speculation, real businesses will start using on-chain dollars for instant settlement. Banks are expected to announce stablecoins by the end of 2025. They don't want to be left behind. But especially with Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce, Tether will remain number one. Expect Ethena Labs to attract more capital, especially as Treasury yields continue to fall over the coming year.
4. Regulation
The US passed stablecoin legislation while broader market infrastructure reforms (FIT21) were delayed. Stablecoin adoption is accelerating while Wall Street adoption, asset tokenization, and other TradFi integrations will lag behind. Under Trump, Fortune 100 companies will be more willing to offer cryptocurrencies to consumers, with tech companies and startups showing a higher appetite for risk.
5. AI Agents
The AI agent craze may last until 2025. But it will eventually die down.
6. Practical cryptocurrency combined with AI
AI will have an impact on cryptocurrencies, but cryptocurrencies will also have an impact on AI; truly autonomous agents will pay each other with cryptocurrencies. Once there are loose stablecoin regulations, you will start to see even large companies running AI agents use stablecoins for agent-to-agent payments, as they are easier to start than bank accounts; you will also see more and larger-scale decentralized training and inference experiments.
Messari released six predictions for 2025 on the X platform, as follows:
- Hyperliquid's run of excellence may be over
- VIRTUAL FDV will surpass TAO FDV in three months
- Pudgy Penguins surpasses CryptoPunks to become the most popular PFP series
- Peaq will surpass all L2
- ETH will outperform SOL in 2025
- AI agent frameworks will peak in the first quarter of 2025 and will not recover
Financing News
FalconX in talks to acquire crypto derivatives startup Arbelos, announcement expected in coming days
According to Bloomberg, digital asset trading and brokerage firm FalconX is in advanced talks to acquire Arbelos Markets, a derivatives startup founded in 2023 by two crypto industry veterans. The transaction, which will be financed through a combination of cash and FalconX stock, is expected to be announced in the coming days, according to people familiar with the matter. It is not yet clear how much the transaction values Arbelos.
FalconX co-founder and CEO Raghu Yarlagadda said in October he expected a "wave of consolidation" in the industry, adding that the company would actively seek acquisition targets.
Arbelos, a crypto derivatives liquidity provider, announced a $28 million funding round led by Dragonfly Capital in May 2024. FalconX was one of the investors in this round, and other investors included Circle Ventures, Deribit, Paxos, and StarkWare.
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, FalconX was valued at $8 billion when it raised $150 million in 2022. The company is backed by investors including Tiger Global, GIC, and B Capital.
Important data
A trader turned $1,947 into $2.34 million by trading KEKIUS tokens
According to OnchainLens, a trader turned $1,947 into $2.34 million. 17 days ago, the trader bought 35.57 million KEKIUS worth $1,947 with only 0.5 ETH. So far, the trader has sold 27.93 million KEKIUS for 397.8 ETH (worth $1.34 million) and currently still holds 7,647,148 KEKIUS worth $1 million.
The KEKIUS token on Ethereum surged by about 110% after Musk changed his social media profile name to "Kekius Maximus."
NFT sales will reach $8.83 billion in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%
NFTs ended the year with strong momentum, surpassing the sales record for digital collectibles in 2023, an increase of more than $100 million. On December 31, NFT data tracking platform CryptoSlam showed that blockchain-based digital collectibles sales reached $8.83 billion in 2024. This record is more than $100 million higher than NFT sales in 2023, and last year NFT sales were approximately $8.7 billion. This marks a 1.1% year-on-year increase in NFT sales.
Ethereum remains the blockchain with the highest NFT sales in history, at $44.9 billion. Solana follows closely behind with $6.1 billion in sales, while total Bitcoin-based NFT sales totaled $4.9 billion.
NFT sales in December totaled $877 million, the fifth-best month in 2024. December’s sales growth was driven by an increase in Ethereum-based NFT sales, which totaled $482 million in monthly NFT sales. Bitcoin-based NFT sales totaled $172 million, while Solana-based NFT sales totaled $100 million in December.
Despite the increase in NFT sales, this year’s numbers are still well below sales from 2021 to 2022. In 2021, NFTs ended the year with $15.7 billion in sales, 43.9% higher than the record set in 2024. In 2022, NFT sales were $23.7 billion, 62.8% higher than this year’s record.
A certain whale bought ETH this morning and sold it in the past half hour, making $2.4 million
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, as the price of ETH rebounded tonight, a certain whale used 82.34 million USDT to buy 25,204.6 ETH at an average price of 3,322 early this morning. After the price rose tonight, it sold all of them at an average price of 3,417 in exchange for 86.12 million USDT, earning 2.4 million US dollars.
The whale made a total of 23 rounds of trading in 2024, with a cumulative profit of US$7.77 million. Among the 23 rounds of trading, there were only 4 losses and 19 profits.
Investment in blockchain startups to reach $13.6 billion by 2024
According to Cointelegraph, citing data from DeFi Report, investment in blockchain-based startups in 2024 reached $13.6 billion, accounting for about 4.9% of the total investment in 2024 ($279 billion). These data reflect a recovery in the cryptocurrency industry since 2023, when crypto companies received $10.1 billion in venture capital funding. However, the industry is still far behind the peak in 2021, when crypto startups received $32.4 billion in funding.
Among the highlights of 2024, Monad Labs raised $225 million to build a layer 1 smart contract network after Berachain received $100 million to support its modular blockchain development platform. In addition, Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon raised $70 million, while tokenization platform Securitize received $47 million from BlackRock.
Looking ahead, PitchBook’s forecasts indicate that the crypto space will see significant growth in 2025, expected to attract more than $18 billion in capital. Analysts at Galaxy Research also expect the surge in venture capital activity to be driven by a combination of falling interest rates and greater regulatory clarity in the crypto space, which is expected to increase investor interest in venture capital opportunities.
