YM Lee

Multi-chain Layer 1 blockchain network Creditcoin (CTC) announced that it will launch the testnet for its decentralized exchange (DEX) Penguinswap on the 9th (local time). Creditcoin plans to assess the service stability of Penguinswap through the testnet and gather community feedback before officially launching on the mainnet. This testnet implements all core DEX functions such as △ token swap △ liquidity provision and pool creation △ fee earning. Creditcoin stated, "Based on the bugs and improvements identified during the testnet phase, we aim to complete a more stable and robust user-friendly exchange." Creditcoin developer Gluwa recently participated in the Nigerian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) improvement project and continues to expand its ecosystem through partnerships with Spacecoin, which successfully launched the world's first decentralized satellite, Layer 1 blockchain network SUI, and blockchain storage solution Walrus.

SuperWalk (GRND) announced on the 9th that it has become the first domestic Move-to-Earn (M2E) project to be listed on the global cryptocurrency exchange HashKey Global. HashKey Global is a cryptocurrency exchange established by the Hong Kong-based digital asset investment firm HashKey. With this listing, SuperWalk plans to focus on expanding its ecosystem by securing additional users in Greater China regions such as Hong Kong and Singapore, based on the influx of new users. Currently, SuperWalk has successfully expanded its service range to 20 countries, including Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe, securing a total of 360,000 users. To commemorate this listing, SuperWalk is conducting a launch pool with HashKey Global, offering a total of 3.3 million GRND as a reward for staking HashKey (HSK) and SuperWalk (GRND) tokens. Kim Tae-wan, CEO of Proground, stated, "HashKey Global is an exchange with a stable trading environment and solid recognition in Greater China, which will serve as a foundation for the further growth of the SuperWalk ecosystem. We will focus on the global expansion and stabilization of SuperWalk to build a sustainable tokenomics."

Ethereum (ETH) Layer 2 StarkNet developer StarkWare has unveiled a new developer toolkit, SN Stack. According to a report by CoinDesk on the 8th (local time), Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, stated, "From now on, developers can build app chains based on the convenience and low-cost standard ZK-STARK encryption that was only possible with Optimistic Rollups through SN Stack." SN Stack includes various developer options such as the open-source and modular framework Madara for flexibility, Dojo for game and on-chain optimization, and the StarkWare Sequencer for high-performance infrastructure.

SteemDollars (SBD), designated as a cautionary asset on the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, is experiencing an unprecedented surge. As of the 8th, SteemDollars is trading at over 15,000 KRW on Upbit's KRW market, marking a 320% increase from the previous day. On December 30th, Upbit designated SteemDollars as a cautionary asset, citing multiple deficiencies in its purpose, function, trading, and adoption status, which could potentially harm users.

Bitcoin (BTC) is expected to establish itself as a strategic reserve asset for nations starting this year. According to a report by CoinDesk on the 8th (local time), Fidelity Digital Assets stated in a report that "Bitcoin will undergo a groundbreaking change in terms of acceptance and adoption," and "more countries, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and treasuries are expected to establish strategic positions through Bitcoin." Fidelity anticipates that government agencies will consider allocating assets to Bitcoin, taking into account macroeconomic headwinds such as rising inflation, currency depreciation, and fiscal deficits. According to the report data, while many governments, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Bhutan, and El Salvador, currently hold Bitcoin, it is still mostly in the form of seizures related to criminal activities.

The macroeconomic indicators released last night in the United States showed worse-than-expected figures, leading to a continued decline in risky assets, including Bitcoin (BTC). As of the 8th (local time), Bitcoin is trading at $94,600 on Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange, down 6.14% from the previous day. As the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) and the November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTs) recorded higher figures than the market expected, inflation concerns have resurfaced, causing a sharp decline in the prices of risky assets such as the U.S. stock market and cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Canaan announced the launch of the Avalon Mini3, a heater-miner, and the Nano 3S at CES 2025, a stage for new technology announcements. On the 8th (local time), Canaan unveiled the home-use Bitcoin miner Avalon Mini3 and Avalon Nano 3S at CES 2025 held at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Among them, the Avalon Mini3 offers a unique dual-purpose solution combining Bitcoin mining capability with a hash rate of 37.5Th/s and home heating.

Due to the U.S. job openings and services sector data released last night, concerns about inflation are deepening, and there are forecasts that Bitcoin (BTC) may enter a downward phase. On the 8th (local time), the cryptocurrency specialist media Cointelegraph reported, "Bitcoin's decline continues due to macroeconomic concerns in the United States." Darkforest, an analyst at the on-chain analysis platform CryptoQuant, predicted, "As the December Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) and the November Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTs) recorded higher figures than the market expected, the selling pressure on Bitcoin has significantly increased. The decline in risk assets may continue in the future." The well-known trader Skew analyzed, "The major short-term price level for Bitcoin spot will be $95,000, and buyers will form a support line at the $88,000 level."

Mokaverse, the global non-fungible token (NFT) project by Animoca Brands, announced that it will support the relief efforts for the Jeju Air disaster at Muan International Airport with 1 million MOCA. On the 2nd (local time), Mokaverse stated on its official X (Twitter), "Korea is starting the new year with a national mourning period due to the plane disaster. We will donate 1 million MOCA (approximately 3.8 billion KRW) to support the victims, survivors' families, and emergency relief efforts." They encouraged participation in donations from the project and community by revealing a public donation wallet. Mokaverse expressed, "All funds and transactions will be transparent, and we hope to share our love for Korea."

The T3 Financial Crime Investigation Team, established by the TRON (TRX) blockchain, stablecoin issuer Tether (USDT), and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs, announced that it has frozen illegal funds amounting to 100 million USDT since September. According to a report by CoinDesk on the 2nd (local time), T3 stated in a press release, "We analyzed millions of transactions across five continents. The total transaction amount reached 3 billion USDT, and using TRM Labs' intelligence monitoring tools, we froze funds related to illegal activities amounting to 100 million dollars." Chris Janczewski, Global Head of Investigations at TRM Labs, explained, "Blockchain provides too much transparency to be suitable for money laundering. We can verify victim reports on public blockchains and identify other victims."

After the comprehensive regulation MiCA for virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) by the European Union (EU) was fully implemented on December 30, Tether (USDT), facing regulatory risks, has seen a decline in its market capitalization. On the 2nd (local time), the cryptocurrency specialized media CoinDesk, citing TradingView data, reported that "USDT's market capitalization has fallen by more than 1% this week, currently recording $137.2 billion, marking the largest decline since the FTX incident in November 2022." The decline in Tether's market capitalization occurred as several exchanges based in the EU delisted trading pairs for USDT, citing non-compliance with the MiCA regulations that came into full effect on December 30. Users residing in the EU can still hold USDT in non-custodial wallets, but cannot trade it on centralized exchanges that comply with MiCA. Karen Tang, APAC Partnership Lead at Orderly Network, explained, "These concerns may be unfounded claims, and the negative impact will be limited to the Eurozone. Most cryptocurrency trading occurs in Asia and North America."

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the launch of perpetual futures contracts for three assets, including AI16Z. On the 2nd (local time), Binance revealed through its official channels that it plans to start perpetual futures for Griffin, AI16Z, and Zerebro. The newly listed perpetual futures contracts will begin trading with Griffin, starting at 13:30 (UTC) on the 2nd, with trades commencing at 15-minute intervals.

The Solana meme coin platform Pump.fun has recorded its highest ever daily revenue. On the 2nd (local time), cryptocurrency specialist media Cointelegraph, citing data from Dune Analytics and DeFiLlama, reported, "The Solana meme coin creation platform Pump.fun recorded a daily revenue of $14 million. This suggests that the growth trend of the Solana meme coin ecosystem is continuing." According to Lookonchain data, Pump.fun has so far earned approximately 2,016,391 SOL (about $398 million) in fee revenue, with more than $300 million worth of SOL tokens deposited into Kraken.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it will designate two cryptocurrencies, including StormX (STMX), with monitoring tags. On the 2nd (local time), Binance announced through its official channel that it has registered StormX (STMX) and Troy (TROY) as assets with monitoring tags, while removing the monitoring tags from Convex Finance (CVX) and Sun (SUN). Tokens with monitoring tags are those that exhibit significantly higher volatility and risk compared to other listed tokens, and are subject to thorough monitoring and regular review by the exchange.

Last December, the monthly inflow of Ethereum (ETH) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surpassed $2 billion. On the 2nd (local time), cryptocurrency-focused media The Block, citing SoSoValue data, reported that "nine Ethereum spot ETFs recorded a net inflow of $2.08 billion last month, nearly double the net inflow of November." According to the data, approximately $1.4 billion flowed into BlackRock's ETHA Fund alone, with a consecutive net inflow record of 13 days. Nick Luck, Director of LVRG Research, explained, "As interest in the Ethereum ecosystem, decentralized finance (DeFi), and artificial intelligence (AI) applications increases, the inflow of funds into spot ETFs is also rising."

Bitcoin (BTC) is expected to face a strong adjustment this January. According to a report by Daily Hodl on the 2nd (local time), renowned cryptocurrency analyst Benjamin Cowen mentioned the possibility of a decline in Bitcoin. Benjamin Cowen explained, "Bitcoin has always faced a significant adjustment in January following the halving year. Both in 2017 and 2021, there was a large-scale adjustment of about 30%, so a similar event could occur this January as well." However, he also noted that there are clear differences in technical analysis compared to the past. He stated, "In the past, the year-end after the halving showed a pattern of rising followed by a decline. In 2016, there was a rise in December followed by a decline in January, and the same happened in 2021, but this year, the market is continuing after a decline in December."

The bullish distortion phenomenon of MicroStrategy (MSTR), once called a leveraged stock in the Bitcoin (BTC) bullish trend, has significantly weakened. On the 2nd (local time), cryptocurrency specialized media CoinDesk reported, citing Market Chameleon data, "Currently, MicroStrategy has fallen 44% from its all-time high, and the 250-day put-call skew, which indicates the difference in implied volatility between options, has rebounded from -20% to 0 in just three weeks." This means that asymmetric call options due to potential rises in underlying assets are not trading at abnormally high premiums. Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, explained, "MicroStrategy is currently trading at a price 44% lower than its peak. As more companies adopt Bitcoin as a strategic asset, the narrative momentum for the Bitcoin theme seems to be weakening." MicroStrategy began adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet in 2020 and has accumulated approximately 446,400 BTC (about $42.6 billion) so far.