Headlines
BTC falls below $88,000
Market data shows that BTC has fallen below $88,000 and is currently trading at $87,991.97, a 24-hour drop of 0.08%. Market volatility is high; please manage your risk accordingly.
The crypto fear index rose to 17, indicating the market remains in a state of extreme panic.
According to Alternative data, the cryptocurrency fear and greed index is 17 today, indicating that the market remains in a state of extreme fear. Note: The fear and greed index ranges from 0 to 100 and includes the following indicators: volatility (25%) + market volume (25%) + social media buzz (15%) + market surveys (15%) + Bitcoin's share of the overall market (10%) + Google trending topics (10%).
Market Trends
As of press time, according to CoinGecko data:
The price of BBTC is approximately $88,000, with a 24-hour change of approximately -0.3%.
The price of ETH is approximately $2,965, with a 24-hour change of approximately +0.5%.
BNB price is approximately $848, up about 1.0% in the last 24 hours;
The price of SOL is approximately $125, with a 24-hour change of approximately +0.9%.
The price of DOGE is approximately $0.130, with a 24-hour change of approximately +0.2%.
XRP is priced at approximately $1.92, with a 24-hour change of approximately +1.3%.
The price of TRX is approximately $0.282, with a 24-hour change of approximately +0.8%.
The WLFI price is approximately $0.133, with a 24-hour change of approximately -0.8%.
policy
BlackRock's Chief Investment Officer, Rick Riddell, will be interviewed for the position of Federal Reserve Chairman at Mar-a-Lago.
BlackRock's chief investment officer, Rick Riddell, will be interviewed for the position of Federal Reserve chairman at Mar-a-Lago. Other candidates include Kevin Hassett, Kevin Warsh, and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.
The US Department of Justice has released two more batches of Epstein case documents, with over 550 pages blacked out.
The U.S. Department of Justice has released two more batches of court documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, including partial grand jury transcripts and legal documents from past cases involving Epstein and co-defendant Gislan Maxwell. At least 550 pages of the released documents have been completely blacked out and are unreadable. One set of three consecutive documents, totaling 255 pages, is entirely obscured, as is a 119-page document labeled "New York Grand Jury." In addition, at least 180 pages appear in files that are "partially readable and partially obscured." Although the newly released materials include photos of several prominent figures associated with Epstein, interior footage of his residence, and investigation records related to serious sexual assault allegations, the extensive redactions have sparked outrage. The Department of Justice responded that the handling of these materials complies with procedural and legal requirements.
US lawmakers draft new bill to exempt capital gains from stablecoin transactions under $200 from taxation.
U.S. Representatives are drafting a cryptocurrency tax bill called the Digital Asset Parity Act, which would exempt stablecoin transactions below $200 from capital gains tax and provide a five-year tax deferral option for staking and mining rewards.
Blockchain applications
Ethereum's "Glamsterdam" upgrade is targeted for launch in 2026, aiming to reduce MEV abuse.
Following the recent successful Fusaka upgrade and reduced node costs, Ethereum developers have begun full-scale planning for the "Glamsterdam" upgrade, aiming for a 2026 launch. The name "Glamsterdam" is a combination of two simultaneous upgrades to Ethereum's two core layers. The execution layer (where transaction rules and smart contracts reside) will undergo the Amsterdam upgrade, while the consensus layer (coordinating validators and finalizing blocks) will undergo the Gloas upgrade. At the heart of this upgrade are the separation of proposer and builder (ePBS) and block-level access control lists, which reduce opportunities for manipulation and abuse related to the Maximum Extractable Value (MEV).
Klarna partners with Coinbase to allow institutions to make payments in stablecoins.
Swedish digital bank and payment services company Klarna announced a partnership with Coinbase to raise short-term, stablecoin-denominated funds from institutional investors through Coinbase's digital infrastructure. This will provide Klarna with a new funding channel denominated in the USDC stablecoin, in addition to its existing traditional funding sources, including user deposits, long-term loans, and short-term commercial paper. This approach will help Klarna directly reach more institutional investors and access stable funding sources similar to the US dollar. Klarna stated that this move is a "first step" in exploring how digital assets can synergize with traditional financing channels and will continue to advance its crypto and stablecoin-related business development for consumers and merchants, with continued progress expected in 2026.
Tether's mobile crypto wallet will integrate AI and will only support Bitcoin, USDT, USAT, and XAUT.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino revealed that Tether is developing a mobile cryptocurrency wallet with integrated AI capabilities. It will only support Bitcoin, USDT, its new stablecoin USAT, and the tokenized gold token XAUT, and will integrate a local private AI through QVAC. Yesterday, it was reported that Tether was recruiting a lead software engineer for the mobile cryptocurrency wallet. The wallet will be powered by WDK and QVAC. WDK is Tether's open-source wallet development kit, and QVAC is its decentralized AI platform.
Cryptocurrency
The Ethereum Foundation sets strict 128-bit encryption rules for 2026.
The Ethereum Foundation states that the only acceptable end goal for L1 is "provable security," not "security based on the assumption that conjecture X holds true." They set a target of 128-bit security, aligning with mainstream cryptographic standards bodies and academic literature on long-term systems, as well as with real-world recorded computations demonstrating that 128 bits is practically unattainable for attackers. EF highlights several specific tools designed to achieve the 128-bit target, less than 300 KB. They emphasize WHIR, a novel Reed-Solomon proximity test and a multilinear polynomial commitment scheme.
Strong demand for US Treasury bonds led to weak demand for Bitcoin.
According to the CME FedWatch tool, the probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates at its January 28 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting fell to 22% on Friday from 24% the previous week. More importantly, demand for U.S. Treasuries remained strong, with the 10-year Treasury yield holding steady at 4.15% on Friday after briefly dipping below 4% at the end of November. This trend suggests increasing risk aversion among traders, which also contributed to weak demand for Bitcoin.
Hilbert Group acquires Enigma Nordic for $32 million to enhance its cryptocurrency trading advantages.
Swedish investment firm Hilbert Group (HILB), which focuses on algorithmic trading in the cryptocurrency market, has acquired high-frequency trading platform Enigma Nordic for $32 million. In a press release, the company stated that this move allows Hilbert to utilize Enigma's proprietary trading system, which executes market-neutral strategies on cryptocurrency exchanges globally.
Uniswap has begun the final governance vote on the Unification proposal.
Uniswap has begun the final governance vote on the Unification proposal, the core of which is a comprehensive governance proposal called "Unification." The name reflects the proposal's goal of integrating Uniswap's economic incentives, governance structure, and development efforts into a unified framework. If approved, the proposal will implement protocol fees in Uniswap v2 and a subset of v3 liquidity pools, channeling these fees into a programmatic mechanism for burning UNI tokens. The proposal also includes a retroactive burn of 100 million UNI from the treasury, designed to simulate the amount of UNI that might have been burned if Uniswap had implemented the protocol fee mechanism from the beginning.
A certain whale has accumulated $2.55 million in the past two weeks.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a whale withdrew 272,201,182 PENGU tokens from Binance, worth $2.52 million. In the past two weeks, this whale has accumulated 273.08 million PENGU (worth $2.55 million) and 405.84 TRUMP (worth $2,240).
▌Etherealize co-founder: Crypto industry needs to demonstrate practical applications before Trump leaves office
Etherealize co-founder Danny Ryan stated that the crypto industry needs to "prove its worth" before Trump leaves office to avoid policy reversals after a change of administration. He pointed out that while the US government has currently promoted legislation and regulatory improvements supporting crypto, this environment will not last forever. Therefore, the industry should expedite the implementation of these policies and their integration into capital markets. Ryan stated that if crypto fails to demonstrate practical applications during the current administration's term, future political forces may re-evaluate these policy supports. He emphasized that now is the industry's "window of opportunity" to integrate crypto into the financial system, rather than waiting for political changes to create uncertainty.
Important economic developments
▌WTO Report: Artificial Intelligence Could Drive Nearly 40% of Global Trade Growth by 2040
On October 20th local time, the World Trade Organization (WTO) released its World Trade Report 2025, which indicates that, with supporting policies in place, artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to increase cross-border trade in goods and services by 34% to 37% and global GDP growth by 12% to 13% by 2040 by improving productivity and reducing trade costs. The report emphasizes the need to bridge the digital infrastructure gap, strengthen skills training, and maintain an open and predictable trading environment to ensure more inclusive growth. WTO Director-General Iweala stated that trade can play a crucial role in enabling AI to "benefit all economies." (CCTV News)
Golden Encyclopedia
▌Predicting how the market exacerbates insider trading and credit risk
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are booming, with trading volumes reaching billions of dollars. However, observers are concerned about the ethical issues and potential credit risks posed by large prediction betting platforms. In recent weeks, concerns about false reporting and insider trading have intensified, with some analysts arguing that this is further exacerbating credit risks. Prediction markets open up a wide range of possibilities for betting events, from specific aspects of sporting events to the outcome of wars. In some cases, this has led to insider manipulation of the market for specific purposes.
Allegations of market manipulation are not limited to insider trading. A report released in November by researchers at Columbia Business School showed that fictitious trading—that is, "buying and selling securities to artificially inflate trading volume without holding actual net positions"—has rebounded to nearly 20% of total trading volume by October 2025, and averages 25% of all trading volume on Polymarket.
This year, prediction platforms have received several significant regulatory approvals. Others argue that this could pose a risk to the financial and credit system. These risks could strain credit quality, and the online gambling market "presents a new kind of risk to lenders that they have never encountered before, and underwriting models may need to be adjusted." In addition to the lack of proper gambling licenses, these platforms also pose a "serious risk" to consumers, who may not realize that betting on these illegal platforms does not guarantee the security of their funds or information.
