This Week in Review | Base Ecology Meme Frenzy; HYPE Skyrockets and Over 274 Million HYPE Airdropped
BlockBeats will compile the industry's key news from the week of November 25th to December 1st in this article, and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and industry trends.
Base Ecosystem AI-Related Meme Frenzy, Virtual Protocol Ecosystem Token Continues to Rise, Base Mainnet Accumulated Bridge Storage TVL Surpasses $4.1 Billion
On November 26, the Base ecosystem AI tokens collectively surged, with VIRTUAL and CLANKER hitting new all-time highs. On November 28, the Base network TVL surpassed $11 billion, reaching a new high. On November 29, according to Dune data, the Base mainnet's accumulated bridge storage TVL exceeded $4.1 billion. Bithumb listed the VIRTUAL-KRW trading pair, and influenced by this news, the Virtual Protocol ecosystem token continued to rise, with VIRTUAL's market cap hitting new highs. Popular tokens in the Virtual ecosystem, such as GAME by Virtuals (GAME), VaderAI by Virtuals (VADER), Bark Ruffalo by Virtuals (PAWSY), The Css God by Virtuals (WEBSIM), saw significant gains. Related reads: "AI Coin Issuance Mistake but Hundredfold Surge in Three Hours, Hot Money Flows into Base", "Decoding Clanker: The Multi-Million Dollar Meme Factory on Base", "Rise of AI Proxy New Force, Taking Stock of Potential Tokens in the Virtuals Ecosystem"
Binance Launches Thena (THE) with Continuous Price Surge After Listing
On November 27, according to an official announcement, Binance launched Thena (THE) USDT perpetual contract on November 27. THE saw a continuous surge after listing, with the current price at $3.01. Related read: "Wealth Effect Erupts, What Other Projects and MEMEs are Worth Paying Attention to on BNB Chain?"
Price Plunge After Binance Lists WYH and CHEEMS Contracts, Community Suspects Insider Trading
On November 25, Binance listed 1000WHYUSDT and 1000CHEEMSUSDT perpetual contracts, which subsequently caused a short-term crash in the prices of WHY and CHEEMS. WHY experienced a short-term drop of over 30%, while CHEEMS saw a short-term drop of over 57%. This triggered intense community discussions, with suspicions of Binance engaging in "insider trading." Subsequently, a post by Formula News stated, "To the insider traders participating in Binance perpetual contract listings, please sell your chips more slowly next time. The crash of WHY and CHEEMS that you caused this time resulted in a 100% loss for everyone involved in trading, and you are disrupting the trading sentiment."
ZKasino Team Misappropriates User Funds to Continuously Leverage Long ETH, Currently Holding $3.22 Million in Unrealized Gains
On November 23, according to on-chain data analyst Ember Monitoring, the ZKasino address started misappropriating "funds ready to be returned to users" to leverage long ETH on-chain. They deposited 5,270 ETH into Aave as collateral and borrowed 11.589 million DAI, subsequently increasing their position by 3,500 ETH. On November 28, the ZKasino team borrowed 9.36 million DAI to purchase 2,603 ETH, after pledging 10,535 ETH from users into Aave as collateral. They have now borrowed a total of 53.77 million DAI to purchase 15,645 ETH for leveraged long positions. The average price of the ETH bought through leverage is $3,437. As ETH surged, the ZKasino team's leveraging of users' ETH as collateral for long positions has resulted in unrealized gains exceeding $3 million.
Previously reported, in April this year, ZKasino was already involved in a "runaway" scandal. After the project's staking activity ended, they delayed refunds in ETH and transferred user funds to Lido for staking without authorization. Until August, ZKasino had not refunded the users. Related reading: "ZKasino Refuses Refunds, Misappropriates Customer Funds to Trade Coins, Profits Exceed $3 Million"
Pump.fun Disables Live Streaming Feature, Community Plans to Release Guidelines for Transparent Usage Rules
On November 26, Pump.fun disabled its live streaming feature. Pump.fun released a community announcement regarding the previous live streaming events, stating that Pump.fun takes a firm stance against inappropriate activities, including actively removing non-compliant token images, names, descriptions, comments, and tagging any NSFW content. To ensure absolute user safety, the website will indefinitely suspend the live streaming feature until the review infrastructure is ready to handle high-level activities. In addition, Pump.fun will subsequently release guidelines to make website usage rules and regulations more transparent. Related reading: "Suicide, Dogging, Child Abuse, the Gradually Out-of-Control Pump.Fun Live Streaming"
Pump.science Wallet Key Pair Leak, Fraudulent Token Issuance Attack on pump.fun Marked as URO and RIF Tokens
On November 26, Pump Science stated on social media that due to an oversight in its GitHub repository, its wallet starting with T5j2UB was attacked, with the attacker finding the private key in the website's source code. The private key was initially used on GitHub for testing purposes, deemed unimportant by the development team; however, the wallet was actually marked as the creator of off-chain tokens for URO and RIF on pump.fun. The attacker utilized this wallet to issue fraudulent tokens. However, the official Pump.science team did not take any remedial or compensatory measures for those who mistakenly believed and bought the scam URO tokens, causing widespread attention and discussion in the community. This incident led to a drop in some DeSci concept coins, with URO and RIF both plunging over 30% in 24 hours. Related reading: "Pump.science Private Key Breach: The Full Story of Fake Coin Launch and Collapse"
Binance Labs Announces Investment in Astherus and Kernel, a Re-Staking Infrastructure on BNB Chain
On November 25, according to official sources, Binance Labs announced an investment in Kernel, a re-staking infrastructure on BNB Chain, with the investment amount undisclosed. On November 28, Binance Labs announced an investment in Astherus, a multi-asset liquidity hub. Astherus aims to address inefficiencies in DeFi by focusing on maximizing real asset yield, providing sustainable and substantial returns, and enhancing the utility and liquidity of digital assets within the ecosystem.
Justin Sun Appointed as Advisor to Trump-Supported Crypto Project WLFI
On November 27, the Trump-supported crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) announced that Justin Sun, the founder of TRON and member of the HTX Global Advisory Council, has been hired as an advisor. BlockBeats previously reported that Justin Sun announced a $30 million investment in World Liberty Financial (WLFI), becoming its largest investor.
Movement Co-founder Publicly Accuses Scroll Team of Misconduct, Damaging L2 Ecosystem Reputation
On November 28, Movement Labs co-founder Rushi Manche publicly accused the Scroll team on X platform of various issues, including: benefiting from years of community effort but rolling out a predatory incentive plan that ultimately shifted the burden to retail investors; the team selling secondary market shares for years leading up to the launch; other team members being forced to buy in at an $18 billion valuation while senior leadership was selling off; the Scroll team directly airdropping allocations into their wallets and then cashing out; designing the most predatory tokenomics aimed at harming every community member. Manche accused the Scroll team's actions of damaging the EVM L2 ecosystem's reputation and urged them to make improvements to avoid it "looking like an outright scam." Related Read: "Two Major 'VC Coins' Engage in a Public Spat, Whose Side Should You Take?"
Ethereum Co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke Transfers 20,000 ETH to Kraken on November 28, Still Holds 106,006 ETH
On November 28, according to Spot On Chain monitoring, Ethereum co-founder Jeffrey Wilcke deposited 20,000 ETH (worth $72.5 million) into Kraken, marking his fourth ETH sale in 2024, totaling 44,300 ETH ($148 million). He still holds 106,006 ETH ($384 million).
Vitalik Interviewed by Tencent: Crypto+DeAI Could Save the World
On November 25, in an interview with Tencent's "Deep Insight," Ethereum co-founder Vitalik shared his views on the intersection of Crypto and AI industries, stating: "If you're looking at how Crypto might save the world, it's not just Crypto; it's Crypto + something else. The first could be Crypto + Decentralized AI; the second could be Crypto + a tech that can substitute for AI. AI's feedback time is very fast. For a human to do it, they need to be at the computer 24/7, watching all news every minute, every second. With a DAI, you run it, and it can do it itself. I think we'll see more examples in the future. Crypto is a secure base layer, you can make a game with Crypto that guarantees the game's rules are fair. The role of AI is participation." Related Read: "Tencent Talks with Vitalik: The World Shouldn't Fall into an AI-Only Power Kingdom"
Za Bank Becomes Asia's First Bank to Offer Cryptocurrency Trading to Retail Customers
On November 25, Za Bank in Hong Kong announced that it has become the first bank in Asia to offer cryptocurrency trading services to retail users. The bank provides the buying and selling of Bitcoin and Ethereum in Hong Kong dollars and US dollars through its app. Hong Kong residents can trade these two virtual currencies on the app after opening an investment account with Za Bank, completing risk assessment, and other processes. The entry fee is $70 USD or 600 HKD, with a transaction commission of $1.99 USD or 15 HKD per trade and a platform fee of 1.5% of the transaction amount (with a minimum fee of $1.99 USD or 15 HKD per trade). The bank plans to waive commissions and reduce platform fees to 0.8% of the transaction amount by the end of June next year.
Market News: U.S. Court Rules Sanctions Against Tornado Cash Smart Contract Unlawful
On November 27, according to market news, a U.S. court ruled that sanctions against the Tornado Cash smart contract were unlawful. For more information, read: "Landmark Ruling: Sanctions Against Tornado Cash Deemed Illegal, TORN Soars Over 10x Before Retreating"
Trump Nominates 5 "Crypto Players" as New Government Cabinet Members
On November 28, U.S. President-elect Trump announced the nomination of Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture. With this nomination, all cabinet members of the new Trump administration have been confirmed. In addition to this, Trump has also nominated several other high-ranking officials in the past few weeks. Looking at the list of the new government, in addition to names like Musk and Howard Lutnick known in the crypto market, many cabinet officials are staunch supporters of cryptocurrencies and have publicly disclosed their cryptocurrency holdings. The nominees include the Vice President, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Health and Human Services, National Intelligence Director, and others.
Musk: xAI to Establish AI Game Studio to Make Games Great Again
On November 28, Musk posted on X stating that too many game studios are owned by big companies. xAI will establish an AI game studio to make games great again.
Movement Network Foundation Unveils MOVE Tokenomics, 60% of Total Supply Allocated to Community
On November 26, the Movement Network Foundation announced the tokenomics of its MOVE token. The total supply of MOVE tokens is 10 billion, with an initial circulating supply of around 22%. 60% of the total supply will be allocated to the community, including the ecosystem and community, foundation, and initial claims. MOVE tokens will be gradually unlocked over 60 months, and the team and investors will not be able to participate in staking in the early stages. The Movement Network Foundation stated that MOVE tokens will undergo a TGE on the Ethereum mainnet. After the mainnet launch (coming soon), MOVE holders can cross-chain migrate to the Movement Network. Gas fees on the Movement Network are settled in MOVE, and use cases for the MOVE token include economic security staking, gas fees, governance and decentralization, and the native assets of the Movement Network.
Hyperliquid Airdrop Goes Live on November 29, with a Total Supply of 1 Billion HYPE
On January 28, the genesis event of the native token of the decentralized derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid, HYPE, went live at 15:30 UTC on November 29. The maximum supply of HYPE is 1 billion tokens. 38.888% is allocated for future emissions and community rewards; 31.0% is allocated to the genesis allocation; 23.8% is allocated to current and future core contributors; 6.0% is for the Super Foundation budget; 0.3% is for community grants; and 0.012% is allocated to HIP-2. The tokens will be released over time, with 76.2% allocated to the community. Eligible participants in the genesis event will receive 310 million tokens, which will unlock fully. Undistributed tokens will be moved to future emissions and community rewards.
Integrated Public Chain Supra Launches Mainnet and Initiates TGE; Solv Protocol Introduces SOLV Token, TGE Coming Soon
On November 27, according to official sources, the vertically integrated public chain Supra announced the launch of its mainnet and initiated a TGE, offering MultiVM support, a native oracle, on-chain randomness, cross-chain communication, and automation features. The SUPRA token was listed on ByBit, Kucoin, Gate, and MEXC on November 27. Supra has raised $38 million from investment institutions including Coinbase, HashKey, and Animoca. Since the launch of Supra's testnet in August 2024, it has processed over 9 million transactions. On November 28, according to official sources, the Bitcoin staking protocol Solv Protocol announced the introduction of the SOLV token and will conduct a TGE soon.
Research: 76% of Crypto KOLs Have Promoted Now-Dead Meme Coins, High-Follower Accounts Perform the Worst
On November 25, according to a Coinwire report, 76% of cryptocurrency Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) on Platform X have promoted now-dead meme coins, with two-thirds of the promoted tokens becoming completely worthless. Data shows that out of 377 surveyed KOLs, only 1% of the promoted meme coins achieved a tenfold increase. The research found that 80% of the promoted meme coins crashed 70% within a week, dropped 80% in value a month later, and over 90% plummeted three months later. KOLs with over 200,000 followers had the worst promotion effect, with their projects losing an average of 39% in value after a week and expanding to an 89% loss after three months. In contrast, small accounts with fewer than 50,000 followers saw an average gain of 141% three months after promoting projects. Related Read: "Data Truth: Over 65% of KOLs Recommend Meme Coins that Have Gone to Zero, Only 1% Have Risen Tenfold"
Wintermute Market Making Meme Coin: 64% of Top 25 Holdings Now Listed on Binance
On November 26, according to @ai_9684xtpa monitoring, it is reported that currently 64% of the tokens in the Wintermute Market Making Meme Coin's top 25 holdings are listed on Binance, with only 6 of them simultaneously listed on spot and futures, while the rest are only listed on contracts. For recently added market making projects or projects with high holdings, the percentage may be even higher. Tokens not yet listed on Binance: PEPECOIN, APU, SPX, COQ, MANEKI, michi, MOTHER, REKT (a market-making project added three days ago), BENJI (the project with the lowest market value in the top 25 holdings). Commonalities of projects listed on Binance: Sufficient community hype; Pre-Binance listing market value greater than $10 million and less than $500 million; Wintermute's initial holding ratio is not less than 1%
Pantera Bitcoin Fund Surpasses 1000x Return, Current ROI Reaches 131,165%
On November 26, according to official sources, the Pantera Bitcoin Fund recently reached a remarkable milestone—achieving a 1000x return. The post-election market rebound further pushed the fund up by 30%. The fund's cumulative return on investment currently stands at 131,165%—net of fees and expenses. The catalyst has emerged: regulatory clarity in the United States. Large institutional managers like BlackRock, Fidelity, and others now provide a low-cost, efficient way for anyone with a brokerage account to invest in Bitcoin. This new convenient channel will finally allow tens of millions of investors and individuals to access this important new asset class. Further reading: "Pantera Founder Looks Back: 10 Years Ago, We Bought 2% of BTC Globally, Now Realized a Thousandfold Return"
DEXX Theft Incident Follow-up: Founder States "Hackers Have 48 Hours to Contact Us for Communication, Otherwise Will Pursue to the End"
On November 16, the user assets of the on-chain trading terminal DEXX were stolen, resulting in losses in the tens of millions. On November 25, DEXX founder Roy posted on social media, stating, "DEXX has not laid off any team members to this day. This week, we have incurred significant financial costs in pursuing the hacker's funds. We are working with law enforcement and multiple security companies to fully investigate and track down the hacker, determined to recover the stolen funds. The team is currently working on a compensation plan. If the hacker contacts us proactively within 48 hours, we are willing to communicate with a resolution-oriented approach; otherwise, we will definitely pursue it to the end." From November 26 to 29, the DEXX attack continued as large amounts of tokens on Solana addresses were exchanged for SOL. On November 28, PeckShield released a list of DEXX attacker addresses, with currently 8612 addresses identified on the Solana chain.
This interview features Benjels, co-founder of pump.science, who, with the support of CZ and Vitalik at an event in Bangkok, brought a lot of attention to desci. The interview discussed the innovation brought by DeSci and its future development direction, mentioning the practical significance of raising experimental funds through token transactions to promote medical and longevity technologies. Benjels also shared new Alpha information, stating that pump.science will launch nearly 20 new experimental tokens around Christmas.
"Suicide, Dogging, Child Abuse: Pump.Fun Livestream Slowly Gets Out of Control"
In May of this year, Pump.fun first launched its livestream feature, but it did not gain the expected popularity. In November, the official platform once again vigorously promoted the feature, successfully sparking a trend of "livestream with memes." However, in less than a week, Pump's livestream gradually began to get out of control. Due to lax content moderation on the platform, livestream hosts, in order to attract attention, resorted to various extreme behaviors, even making direct threats to others, putting this Solana ecosystem killer app at legal and regulatory risk. On November 26, Pump.fun announced the disabling of the livestream feature.
"Tencent Talks with Vitalik: The World Should Not Fall into the Monopoly of an AI Power Kingdom"
Recently, Ethereum founder Vitalik participated in an interview with Tencent News's "Deep Dive." While discussing the differences between artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto technology, Vitalik pointed out that the two represent different technological philosophies. AI emphasizes centralization, power, and data concentration and may become the mainstream global force in the future, while Crypto advocates decentralization and equality, more suitable for addressing trust issues. Buterin believes that AI's development may exacerbate centralization tendencies, especially as technology advances, privacy and security issues become more significant. Nevertheless, he remains hopeful about decentralized AI, suggesting that distributed AI can avoid overreliance on centralized tech giants. He also mentioned that although AI is a powerful tool, crypto technology still has unique advantages in solving trust issues and achieving global applications.
"Wealth Effect Erupts, What Other Projects and MEMEs Are Worth Paying Attention to on BNB Chain?"
The BNB Chain has recently attracted market attention, especially after launching multiple new MEME tokens and DeFi projects on it. Binance introduced 1000WHYUSDT and 1000CHEEMSUSDT perpetual contracts and further invested in the DeFi infrastructure Kernel of the BNB Chain. With the rise of representative DeFi projects like Thena, the trading volume and market cap of BNB Chain have significantly increased, leading to continued market focus on its ecosystem. Simultaneously, the AI MEME concept has also begun to gain traction on the BNB Chain, with projects like $AICELL and $NMT showing strong performance. Additionally, multiple MEME tokens like $COOKIE and $BOB have attracted investors' attention, bringing more fund inflows and market enthusiasm to the BNB Chain.
The Pantera Bitcoin Fund has achieved significant returns since its launch in 2013, with the current return rate reaching 131,165%. The fund's success began with the decision to purchase 2% of the world's Bitcoin during a price downturn. Despite Bitcoin's price experiencing dramatic fluctuations, the fund manager believes that Bitcoin is still in its early stages with tremendous growth potential. Especially as the US regulatory environment gradually clarifies and large financial institutions get involved, Bitcoin's market is expected to continue expanding. The author firmly believes that Bitcoin will become part of the global monetary system, potentially experiencing multiple-fold growth, becoming a global payment and store of value tool, surpassing traditional financial assets.
Michael Saylor, the founder of MicroStrategy and known as the "Bitcoin Oracle," shared his personal and company's successful transformation experience, delving into the uniqueness of Bitcoin and its investment value. He believes that in times of economic uncertainty, concentrating investments in Bitcoin is wiser than risk diversification because Bitcoin is the only digital commodity with global liquidity and scarcity. He recounted his journey from skepticism to firm belief in Bitcoin and emphasized that Bitcoin is not just an investment tool but also a means of global wealth empowerment. Saylor also outlined how MicroStrategy, through innovative methods like issuing convertible bonds, leverages Bitcoin's high volatility and liquidity to create higher returns for investors. He predicts that Bitcoin will become the primary global wealth storage tool in the future, estimating that by 2045, the price of each Bitcoin will reach $13 million.
Recently, Clanker has repeatedly hit all-time highs, bringing Farcaster back into the spotlight. In this podcast interview, we can see how a crypto industry veteran who emerged from Coinbase is leading Farcaster from its early stages to become a pioneering platform exploring decentralized social networks. From expectations for Frames V2, to collaboration with Base, to foresight on Bitcoin's strategic reserve, Dan not only shares his vision but also confronts the ups and downs of a decade in the industry, admitting, "The peak is not as high as you imagine, and the low is not as low as you think."
"Decoding Clanker: The Multi-Million-Dollar Meme Factory on Base"
Clanker is a Web3 project that integrates AI agents, a social meme platform, and a token issuance tool, dedicated to automating meme token issuance. Since November 2024, Clanker has rapidly risen in the Base ecosystem, successfully issuing meme coins with market values exceeding tens of millions of dollars, such as LUM and ANON, and has attracted the attention of Ethereum founder Vitalik through its combination with zk-agnostic technology. Unlike other platforms like Solana's pump.fun, Clanker emphasizes the integration with AI technology and adopts a more transparent model in terms of transaction fees and revenue sharing. It represents the rise of "application-type memes" in the Base ecosystem and may become a significant breakthrough for the Ethereum ecosystem in the meme race.
"Missed the First Crab Leg, These AI Agents Coins Are Still Exploding"
Recently, the MEME sector continues to focus on existing AI agents and meme patterns, refining and innovating gameplay. On the BASE chain, several emerging projects have performed well, even diverting some funds from Solana's chain. This article summarizes the latest popular and promising AI agent coins.
"Two Major 'VC Coins' Engage in Public Dispute, Whose Side Should You Take?"
In a recent development, the Scroll and Movement teams were embroiled in a heated argument stemming from accusations regarding technology and the tokenomics model. Former Scroll team member Toghrul criticized Movement, claiming that their "postconfirmations" terminology was merely a renaming of an existing concept. Toghrul also accused Movement of code plagiarism and immature technology. In response, Movement criticized Scroll for over-reliance on the community, implementing unfair incentive policies, and having an unreasonable token distribution, which led to community backlash. The debate between the two parties not only delved into technical details but also touched upon issues such as team management, community relations, and tokenomics, sparking widespread discussions and criticisms. From a public opinion standpoint, Movement seemed to have the upper hand, with many people believing that Scroll's management and public relations strategies had significant flaws, undermining the fairness and transparency of the blockchain ecosystem.
"Opportunities Abound, What's Happening in the Most Degen Crypto Narratives?"
This article points out that as cryptographic technology is gradually embraced by mainstream tech, with relaxed crypto regulations, the expansion of accelerationist bubbles, and the emergence of iconic cases driven by crypto, early trends seen in DePin, DeSci, and AI fervor indicate opportunities and trends. In the future, more innovators will harness crypto + tech for project funding and development, and the next four years may witness an explosion of truly applied cryptographic technology.
"Data Revealed: Over 65% of KOL-Recommended Meme Coins Have Gone to Zero, Only 1% Have Risen 10x"
A study revealed that with the rise of Memecoins, many X influencers packaged them as get-rich-quick investment opportunities. However, most Memecoins have already "died," leading investors to significant losses. Analysis shows that 76% of influencers have promoted "dead" Memecoins, with the majority of these tokens losing value rapidly post-promotion, experiencing a 90% drop within three months. Only 1% of Memecoins have seen a 10x increase, and the more followers an influencer has, the poorer the performance of the promoted Memecoin. Despite this, influencers can still earn substantial income by promoting these tokens, indicating that their primary motivation is economic gain rather than benefiting investors. Investors should be wary of the risks associated with influencer-promoted tokens and rationally assess the true value of these coins.
The bull market in 2024 is very different from 2021, lacking new narratives and the entry of new retail investors, as well as the absence of significant capital inflows into high FDV projects. However, Trump's policy favorability has provided a new opportunity for Bitcoin and meme coins, especially with BTC breaking through multiple key levels of resistance under his support. Meme coins such as Dogecoin and Pepe have also performed well with the support of Western capital. BTC and meme coins attracted significant funding, and although there was no traditional "altcoin season," funds flowed into US stock assets related to crypto, such as Coinbase, MicroStrategy, and other companies. With Trump potentially pushing for the approval of a crypto ETF, the dominant logic of this bull market has become clear: investing in assets related to Trump and Western capital will be the most cost-effective choice.
"Funds Net Inflow Surpasses Solana, Is the 'Base Era' Approaching?"
The future of the Base chain is widely optimistic, mainly due to Coinbase's strong support, the network effect of Ethereum, and rapidly decreasing usage friction. As the world's leading cryptocurrency exchange platform, Coinbase is actively promoting the development of the Base chain and attracting a large number of users. At the same time, Base is gradually catering to emerging trends such as AI and memecoins, and the integration of virtual delegates and Farcaster is a highlight of its ecosystem development. Despite facing high risks and bubble issues, Base has shown potential to become a significant platform in the next phase of the crypto field, leveraging the team's professionalism, the growth of fund inflows, and outstanding community performance.
"Arthur Hayes Predicts BTC to Reach $250,000 by Year End; Advises Newcomers to Cash Out Timely"
In a recent interview, Arthur Hayes made a bold prediction that if Trump comes to power in the United States, his loose monetary policy may lead to a devaluation of the US dollar, thereby driving up the prices of Bitcoin and other crypto assets. He believes that global inflation and changes in national monetary policies will benefit fixed-supply assets like Bitcoin. He also mentioned that meme coins and other crypto assets will also benefit from Bitcoin's rise, and he cautioned investors to remain vigilant during the bull market and avoid overlooking market risks due to greed. Additionally, Hayes predicted that Bitcoin could reach $250,000 by 2025 and emphasized the importance of timely cashing out.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) recently submitted applications for four Solana ETFs, reflecting the potential of the cryptocurrency ETF market. Despite Solana facing the challenge of a lack of a mature futures market, the approval outlook for a Solana ETF has become more optimistic with the changing U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory environment. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's resignation in January 2025 could lead to a shift in regulatory strategy from enforcement-centric to disclosure-based, presenting new opportunities for the approval of a Solana ETF. Solana has shown strong growth momentum, and while legal barriers and market challenges remain, its progress in decentralization and recognition of its commodity attributes have laid the foundation for its ETF applications. It is expected that if approved, a Solana ETF will stimulate significant demand in the cryptocurrency market.
"Ethereum Spot ETF Faces Staking Expectation, Which Coins Will Benefit?"
In July, the U.S. SEC approved the trading of an Ethereum spot ETF, but four months later, the traditional financial market's enthusiasm for ETH is much lower compared to BTC. The main reason is that ETH struggles to attract the traditional market, and the selling pressure from Grayscale's ETHE and the SEC's restriction on staking functionality have weakened its appeal. However, with Trump's reelection and the anticipated improvement in the regulatory environment, the Ethereum spot ETF is expected to introduce staking functionality, enhancing its investment appeal. Bitwise has acquired Ethereum staking service provider Attestant, and 21 Shares has added staking functionality to its Ethereum ETP product, which could drive the growth of ETH and the staking sector. Nevertheless, the rebound of the staking and re-staking sector is still mainly driven by market sentiment in the short term, and actual business opportunities remain limited.
"Wall Street Veterans Begin Playing with Shitcoins Too"
This week, as Bitcoin experienced a pullback, the altcoin market saw a rebound, especially with Ethereum breaking $3600, and various sectors like DeFi and Layer2 experiencing a general rise. Wall Street's cryptocurrency ETF applications were a major driver of this recovery, particularly with the ETF applications for altcoins like Solana and XRP attracting widespread attention. Changes in the regulatory environment, especially the cryptocurrency-friendly policies of the Trump administration, have increased market confidence in the approval of shitcoin ETFs. Despite regulatory challenges, traditional institutions are actively exploring cryptocurrency investment products, and it is expected that the cryptocurrency derivative market will experience a boom in the future. These factors have injected new vitality into the shitcoin market.
"Why Has RWA Recently Exploded in Popularity and Taken on a Rampant Trend?"
In recent times, RWA has been increasingly in the spotlight in the blockchain and crypto markets, especially as a hot topic in FinTech events in Hong Kong and Singapore. The compliant RWA market in Hong Kong is gradually developing, but currently mainly focuses on private equity funds and tokenization issuance, with the primary and secondary markets yet to be matured. The RWA projects driven by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission still face some challenges. Meanwhile, some top exchanges have also begun to pay attention to RWA and roll out related products. With the growing interest in RWA in the mainland market, Hong Kong may become a bridge connecting mainland assets with global capital. However, the RWA market still needs to address issues such as liquidity, exchange platform development, and regulatory framework improvement, which may lead to the emergence of dedicated RWA exchange platforms in the future.
In this special roundtable discussion, several leading figures in the crypto and artificial intelligence (AI) fields shared their views on intelligent agent technology and Web3. The guests discussed the rise of AI agents in social media and how crypto tokens are driving the advancement of this technology. They analyzed the pros and cons of decentralized and centralized AI platforms and discussed the future direction of agent autonomy and Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). In addition, the discussion of how agents integrate with DeFi and social platforms was also a key topic. By sharing their project progress and innovative practices, the guests showcased the enormous potential of combining AI agents with cryptocurrency and predicted that this field will continue to rapidly evolve in the future, especially in applications on social platforms and in gaming.
More and more public companies globally are incorporating Bitcoin into their reserve assets to optimize their financial structure and boost stock prices. This week, Chinese concept stock SOS Ltd. announced a $50 million investment in Bitcoin and plans to achieve stable returns through quantitative trading strategies, leading to a significant surge in its stock price. Apart from SOS, other public companies in the U.S. and Hong Kong are actively positioning themselves in Bitcoin, such as Meitu and Boyaa Interactive. Meitu holds 941 Bitcoins, with unrealized gains exceeding $40 million, but its stock price has not shown a significant increase; Boyaa Interactive holds 2,641 Bitcoins, with its stock price rising over 750% this year. Additionally, some companies like NetDragon and Coolpad have also gained substantial profits through Bitcoin investments, despite significant stock price fluctuations.
"Following MicroStrategy, How Long Can the Stock Market's 'Coin Hoarding' Craze Last?"
As the price of Bitcoin soars, more and more non-crypto companies are mimicking MicroStrategy by purchasing Bitcoin as a reserve asset. This strategy has temporarily driven up the stock prices of these companies, but its long-term effects remain uncertain. Optimists believe this will help drive mainstream adoption of Bitcoin, while skeptics see it as merely a ploy by small companies for short-term hype. Despite MicroStrategy's success in providing these companies with financing opportunities, market experts warn that this behavior may be unsustainable hype that could lead to a significant pullback as Bitcoin's price fluctuates.
Since November, DeSci has become a hot topic in the crypto space, attracting attention from key figures like CZ and Vitalik. DeSci aims to use Web3 technology to address issues such as funding difficulties and lack of data sharing in traditional research, promoting a more fair and transparent scientific research process. Currently, entrepreneurs in this field can be divided into different tiers, with founders in the first tier often having a highly vertical research background, such as Tyler Golato of Molecule and VitaDAO, and Alok Tayi of Vibe Bio. While entrepreneurs in the second tier have a more diverse resume, they also demonstrate significant influence, with figures like Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong also making moves in the DeSci space. With DeSci's rapid development, more elites with relevant experience are entering this arena, forming a competitive "disdain chain," and investors tend to support entrepreneurs with deep backgrounds.
The funding activities in the crypto market in October showed a clear lag effect, with many deals being closed only after months of effort by founders, and signs of market improvement need to be interpreted cautiously. Although the funding amount in October hit a new high, this growth primarily reflects investor confidence from months ago. Projects like Praxis, Kiva AI, and Azra Games making appearances at different funding stages demonstrate the potential of the Web3 ecosystem in overcoming technological and application bottlenecks. Overall, despite the increased funding activity, November and December are expected to see continued low transaction activity, with investors possibly postponing decisions and opting to reassess in the new year.
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