Babylon Co-Founder: Pledges Will Determine Bitcoin’s Place in the Global Digital Economy
Fisher Yu, co-founder of the Babylon project, writes that pledges will determine Bitcoin’s place in the global digital economy next year. In addition to benefiting retail investors by allowing them to receive passive rewards from their BTC holdings, Bitcoin pledging offers an attractive opportunity for corporations and governments, which, as of August 2024, hold about 2.2 percent of the global supply of Bitcoin.
According to the article, the enormous opportunity presented by bitcoin pledging promises to transform bitcoin from a store of value and medium of exchange to an active asset, further incentivizing wider participation in decentralized systems and digital assets. Bitcoin pledges may be just the beginning of Bitcoin’s role as a foundation for innovation. 2025 may see the rise of other native use cases that will continue to solidify Bitcoin’s position as a foundational asset in the global financial ecosystem.
Ripple Officially Goes Live with Stablecoin RLUSD
Ripple is now officially live with the stablecoin RLUSD.
OpenAI Opens API for Full-Blooded o1 Model, Costs Drop 60%
In the early morning of the 18th, OpenAI opened the 9th day of technical sharing live, officially released the o1 model API, and the real-time API to support WebRTC. o1 model API compared with the previous preview version, the cost of thinking is reduced by 60%, and comes with advanced visual features; GPT-4o audio cost is reduced by 60%, and the price of mini version is plummeted by 10 times. GPT-4o’s audio cost has been reduced by 60%, and the mini version has seen its price plummet by a factor of 10. OpenAI also released a new preference fine-tuning methodology, which allows large models to better grasp user preference styles through direct preference optimization algorithms.
Crypto Advocates Sent Tens of Thousands of Emails to the U.S. Senate in the Past Week Opposing U.S. SEC Commissioner Crenshaw’s Re-Election
Tens of thousands of emails from crypto advocates have flooded the U.S. Senate over the past week urging them to oppose the re-election vote of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw.
According to a statement released on Tuesday, 52,000 supporters of the nonprofit Standwith Crypto sent about 107,000 emails to U.S. senators. This happened about a week after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee canceled its vote on the re-election of SEC Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw for the second time.
US House of Representatives in Ohio Introduces Bill to Create Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
The US House of Representatives in Ohio has filed a bill to create a strategic bitcoin reserve for the state.
Fox reporter: Democrats could reintroduce nomination of SEC commissioner Crenshaw, but it will be up to Trump
After the Senate Banking Committee dropped its push to nominate anti-encryption SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw for re-election, Crenshaw remains on the committee and could serve until her successor is confirmed or until Congress adjourns for the next year, according to a post by Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett on the X platform.
Under congressional procedure, the minority party (in this case, the Democrats) usually recommends candidates to fill the minority seats on the commission. The president can listen to their recommendations at his own discretion, but he is under no obligation to do so. As a result, Democrats may reintroduce Crenshaw’s nomination at Elizabeth Warren’s request, but it will be up to Donald Trump to decide whether to renominate her.
U.S. Treasury: it has cracked down on shutting down a North Korean cryptocurrency money laundering network
The U.S. Treasury Department said Tuesday that it has cracked down on shutting down a North Korean cryptocurrency money laundering network that laundered millions of dollars for North Korea a major player in global crypto crime.
According to a press release issued by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a UAE-based front company called Green Alpine Trading, LLC was found to be exchanging cryptocurrencies for cash to fund North Korea. The U.S. government’s sanctions division has blacklisted the company.
ANALYSIS: MicroStrategy’s Market Capitalization Will Surpass Starbucks and Nike If Bitcoin Rises to $138,000
MicroStrategy’s market capitalization will surpass Starbucks and Nike if bitcoin rises to $138,000 USD.
With 439,000 BTC, MicroStrategy is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, 985% higher than Marathon Digital’s 40,435 BTC holdings. Analysts say that monitoring the price of BTC can be a direct predictor of MSTR’s market capitalization potential. According to MicroStrategy’s net asset value (NAV) worksheet, its fully diluted market capitalization is $114 billion, which yields an MSTR NAV of about $40 billion. In the case of MicroStrategy’s BTC holdings, MSTR’s market capitalization increases by about $440 million every time BTC rises by $1,000. Therefore, a mere 11% rise in Bitcoin to $118,810 would put MicroStrategy’s market capitalization above Starbucks’ valuation ranking. A 32% rise in BTC to $140,000 per BTC would put MSTR’s market capitalization ahead of Nike. Overtaking Nike’s market capitalization assumes MicroStrategy does not increase its current BTC holdings.
BlackRock Releases 3-Minute Bitcoin Science Education Video
BlackRock released a 3-minute educational video explaining what Bitcoin is, stating that “Bitcoin is an emerging alternative to fiat currency, and time will tell to what extent it is widely adopted”.
Three major U.S. stock indexes closed collectively lower, with the Dow on its longest losing streak in nearly half a century
The three major U.S. stock indices closed collectively lower, with the Nasdaq down 0.32%, the S&P 500 down 0.39% and the Dow down 0.61%. Among them, the Dow recorded daily nine consecutive losses, the longest losing streak since February 1978, the Dow. Most of the large technology stocks fell, Intel, Nvidia fell more than 1%, Nifty, Google, Amazon, Meta fell slightly; Tesla rose more than 3%, Apple, Microsoft rose slightly. Among them, Nvidia entered the pullback zone; Tesla, Apple rose are renewed record highs.
Fat Penguins PENGU Airdrops Detonate Markets, Where Does the Market Go From Here?
Pudgy Penguins announced the airdrop of tokens PENGU, holders and users who bought Pudgy Toys can claim them.The total supply of PENGU is 88,888,888,888, which is allocated to the community, team and marketing, etc. After PENGU is launched, the market is concerned about whether its market value can be stabilized. Historically, NFT project coin offerings have often triggered value shifts, and the market expects PENGU may repeat a similar script. Investors may consider selling NFT or buying PENGU when the market pulls back.Pudgy Penguins’ parent company, Igloo, plans to launch Abstract Chain, and there may be more development opportunities in the future.
Bitcoin Surpasses $107,700, Hits New High, Analysts Predict $115,000 in Sight
Bitcoin’s price surpassed $107,700 on Dec. 16, hitting a new all-time high, driven by a surge in spot market trading volume, an influx of institutional funds and improved market sentiment. Continued additions to positions by institutional investors such as MicroStrategy and Semler Scientific, as well as the successful landing of the Bitcoin Spot ETF, have further raised market expectations. Analysts predict that Bitcoin is on track to challenge $115,000. Inflationary expectations and an easing liquidity environment in global economies have favored Bitcoin as a safe-haven asset.
25,000-word Research Report | CoinShares 2025 Crypto Outlook: the Industry’s Most Transformative Era Is Here
As 2025 approaches, the cryptocurrency industry is undergoing rapid change, influenced by political, technological, and market dynamics.CoinShares’ report analyzes key trends, including the impact of political changes in the U.S. on bitcoin mining, the growth of Solana and ethereum, and the potential of bitcoin as a global trade tool. The report also explores the success of Bitcoin ETFs, corporate adoption of Bitcoin, and technological innovations such as the Lightning Network and parallelization driving the industry. Moving forward, regulatory reforms and technological advances will continue to shape the cryptocurrency landscape.
