TL;DR

• BTC experienced a significant decline on December 20th, dropping by 4.21%, while ETH followed suit with notable downward movement.
• Among altcoins, Terminal of Truths, PolitiFi, and Wallet saw price increases.
• The major U.S. stock indices had mixed performances, spot gold saw a slight increase, and the Fear & Greed Index declined slightly to 74.
• Popular tokens such as USUAL, FARTCOIN, and IDOODLES (Doodles Fraction Token) have been attracting significant attention in the market.
• The Hyperliquid platform reached new trading volume highs, while the SEC approved the launch of a new crypto index ETF.
• Deutsche Bank forecasts that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates next year, and MetaMask is expanding its crypto payment card pilot program.
• Plume Network is offering airdrop opportunities and focuses on Layer 2 blockchains for Real World Assets (RWA).

Market Analysis

According to Gate.io market data, as of December 20th, 4:00 UTC +0[1]

• BTC — On December 20th, the current price of BTC is 96,875.5 USDT. The price has shown significant fluctuations during the day, reaching a high of 102,773.5 USDT before falling to a low of 95,701.7 USDT, marking a 4.21% decline from 24 hours ago. All short-term moving averages (9, 10, and 30 hours) indicate a downward trend, while the stability of trading volume suggests that market sentiment has not experienced dramatic fluctuations. Although the MACD is slightly above the signal line, the momentum is weak, and market uncertainty remains. The current price is close to the lower end of the fluctuation range between 95,701.7 USDT and 108,314.7 USDT, which could provide support. If the price continues to fall, this level may attract buying interest[2].

• ETH — On December 20th, ETH experienced a downward fluctuation, reaching a high of 3,390.38 USDT anx qd a low of 3,354.80 USDT. The ETH price is currently below the MA 9 and MA 10, indicating that there may be some downward pressure in the short term. Both the fast and slow lines of the MACD are running below the zero axis, and the MACD histogram shows negative values, suggesting that market momentum is leaning toward a bearish trend, suggesting uncertainty in the market. Trading volume remains relatively stable, with no significant increase or decrease, indicating cautious market sentiment. The price is currently fluctuating within a recent range, and if it breaks below the current support level, it may continue to decline further[3].

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• ETF — According to Farside Investors data, on December 19th, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net outflow of $671 million, while Ethereum spot ETFs experienced a net outflow of $60.5 million[4].
• Altcoins — The Terminal of Truths, PolitiFi, and Wallet sectors saw respective gains of 17.1%, 3.0%, and 2.2%[5].
• U.S. Stock Indices — The S&P 500 index fell by 0.09%, the Nasdaq index dropped by 0.47%, and the Dow Jones index rose by 0.04%[6].
• Spot Gold — The price of spot gold reached $2,600 per ounce, marking a 0.24% increase during the day[7].
• Fear and Greed Index — The Fear and Greed Index decreased from 75 yesterday to 74, with the market still in a state of greed[8].

Top Performers

IDOODLES (Doodles Fraction Token) — The token saw a daily increase of approximately 58.4%, with a market capitalization of $249 million.
Doodles Fraction Token is a solution proposed by Gate.io to address the high prices and liquidity issues of top NFTs. It offers a fractionalized token version of Doodles NFTs[9].

The wealth effect triggered by the issuance of PENGU tokens seems to be prompting NFT projects to follow suit. Recently, Doodles founder “burnt toast” posted a cryptic tweet on social media, the first letters of which spelled out “token is coming,” hinting that Doodles may soon launch its own token. This news has further fueled speculative enthusiasm in the market. Additionally, a major whale has been making large purchases of other top NFT projects, driving up their trading volume and prices, which in turn contributed to the rise in IDOODLES token prices[10].

USUAL (Usual) — The token saw a daily increase of approximately 40.71%, with a circulating market capitalization of $747 million.
USUAL is the governance token of the multichain infrastructure protocol Usual. Usual has minted USD0, a stablecoin pegged to tokenized real-world assets (RWA) from entities like BlackRock and Ondo. USUAL holders receive rights to the platform’s actual revenue, future earnings, and infrastructure ownership[11].

Recently, USUAL partnered with $ENA. USUAL has created a cycle where the value of its token is encouraged to rise by combining rewards from mining contracts with returns similar to U.S. Treasury bonds, and by offering subsidies that enhance the token’s yield (APY). This creates a positive feedback loop that drives up the price of the token. Additionally, the total value locked (TVL) in USUAL has surpassed $1.2 billion, demonstrating strong market growth momentum. Its deflationary model and community-driven governance have further bolstered market recognition of the token’s value, attracting significant investor interest and contributing to the token’s price growth.

FARTCOIN (Fartcoin) — The token saw a daily increase of approximately 20.75%, with a circulating market capitalization of $1.204 billion.
Fartcoin is a meme coin driven by the concept of Terminal of Truth, set against the backdrop of AI worship culture. On this platform, users can customize chat settings to allow two AIs to freely converse without restrictions[12].

The rapid growth of Fartcoin can be attributed to its unique AI conversation theme and the AI Meme concept, which has resonated strongly within the AI and Web3 communities. Recently, Fartcoin has become a hot topic on X（formerly Twitter）, with its market capitalization surpassing $1.2 billion, placing it among the top meme coins. The positive news about its token listing on major exchanges, coupled with its community-driven development model and humorous brand image, have led to viral growth, further driving up its token price.

Data Highlights

Animoca Brands Reports Q3 Revenue of $69 Million, a 43.8% Quarter-on-Quarter Increase
Animoca Brands released its Q2 and Q3 2024 financial reports, showing a total revenue of $69 million in Q3, a 43.8% increase from the previous quarter and a 165% year-on-year increase. The revenue mainly came from three key business sectors: $25 million from Digital Asset Advisory (DAA), $39 million from Web3 operations, and $5 million from investment management. As of end-September 2024, Animoca Brands holds $248 million in cash and stablecoins, along with $330 million in liquid digital assets, including ETH, BTC, and APE. The company also holds off-balance-sheet token reserves worth $1.6 billion, including SAND, EDU, MOCA, REVV, TOWER, and GMEE.
Animoca Brands is a Hong Kong-based Web3 gaming software company and venture capital firm. The significant growth in the company’s Q3 revenue reflects the rising popularity of Web3 gaming and an increase in active players[13].

K33 Research: Institutional Investors Purchased 859,454 Bitcoins in 2024, Equivalent to 8 Years of Bitcoin Production
K33 Research’s latest report reveals that institutional investors have accumulated a total of 859,454 bitcoins in 2024, representing about 4.3% of the total circulating supply, equivalent to eight years of Bitcoin issuance. Among these, spot ETF funds have accumulated 561,781 bitcoins, with the total assets under management in U.S. ETFs now reaching 1.4 million bitcoins. BlackRock’s IBIT fund holds the largest share, with 542,653 bitcoins worth approximately $54 billion.
Regarding publicly traded companies, a total of 297,673 bitcoins were accumulated in 2024, with MicroStrategy purchasing nearly 250,000 bitcoins through its aggressive financing strategy, bringing its total holdings to 439,000 bitcoins. The report notes that although about 230,000 bitcoins came from bankruptcies and seized assets (including Mt. Gox and German government holdings), institutional demand has effectively absorbed the sell-off pressure. Currently, about 22% of the circulating supply is available for trading, close to the peak levels of 2021. In Q4 2024, major U.S. tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft had shareholder proposals for Bitcoin purchases. Although Microsoft’s proposal did not pass, it demonstrates the growing interest in cryptocurrency among major U.S. tech firms. Going forward, more publicly traded companies are expected to participate in the crypto industry[14].

Hyperliquid’s 24-Hour Trading Volume Surpasses $13 Billion, Setting a New All-Time High
Hyperliquid set a new record for trading volume, thanks to its high-performance L1 blockchain designed specifically for ultra-fast trading. The blockchain offers a 0.2-second block packaging time and the ability to process 200,000 transactions per second, significantly improving trading efficiency and matching accuracy, surpassing traditional AMM models. Additionally, the revolutionary zero gas fees allow users to trade freely without worrying about transaction costs. Hyperliquid’s “Master Trader” vault strategy and Dutch auction mechanism have also greatly attracted users, with the platform now having over 310,000 users. The introduction of Dutch auctions has opened new opportunities for the continued growth of meme projects[15].

Spotlight Analysis

SEC Approves Hashdex and Franklin Crypto Index ETFs
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing applications for the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF and Franklin Crypto Index ETF. Both ETFs will hold Bitcoin and Ethereum spot assets, with allocation based on market capitalization and freely circulating volume. These ETFs will trade on the Nasdaq and Cboe BZX exchanges, respectively. The SEC stated in its approval document that the CME Bitcoin and Ethereum futures markets are highly correlated with the spot markets, and the comprehensive regulatory-sharing agreements between Nasdaq, Cboe BZX, and CME will ensure effective market oversight. The two ETFs are required to comply with strict disclosure requirements, including updating the fund’s reference net asset value (NAV) every 15 seconds and publishing the net asset value on the exchange websites. \
According to Farside Investors data, as of December 19th, Bitcoin spot ETFs have seen a cumulative net inflow of over $36 billion. The SEC’s approval of ETFs with BTC and ETH allocations further reflects the increasing recognition of the crypto market by traditional financial regulators[16].

Deutsche Bank: The Fed Will Not Cut Interest Rates in 2024
Deutsche Bank released a report on this week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, which strengthened its core view that a rate cut in January may evolve into an extended pause in 2025. Deutsche Bank maintains the nominal neutral rate should be around 3.75%, and the Committee needs to maintain a restrictive stance relative to this level. Therefore, Deutsche Bank reaffirms its view that the federal funds rate may remain above 4% next year, with no further rate cuts expected under the base case.
The report also indicates that some Federal Reserve participants have begun to factor in the potential economic impact of policies from President-elect Trump, which may lead to higher inflation projections for 2025 and 2026. Regarding the labor market, Powell described it as stable but pointed out that current job creation levels are lower than required to maintain a stable unemployment rate. The Deutsche Bank report has intensified market concerns over reduced expectations for rate cuts, which could lead to continued adjustments in both the stock and crypto markets[17].

MetaMask Expands Crypto Payment Card Pilot, U.S. Users Can Pay Directly from Wallet
According to a post on X by Cointelegraph, MetaMask has expanded its crypto payment card pilot program in the U.S., allowing users to make payments directly from their wallets. In February 2024, MetaMask revealed that its active user count is nearly the same as it was during the peak of the last bull market. Monthly active users have grown by 55% over the past four months, rising from 19 million in September last year to over 30 million in January this year. The ability for U.S. Users to make payments directly through MetaMask will further expand the wallet’s use cases, potentially leading to further growth in user numbers[18].

Funding News

According to RootData data, in the past 24 hours, four projects announced their fundraising efforts, with the highest amount raised being $4 million. The total funds raised exceeded $10.2 million, covering sectors such as DeFi, AI, and Privacy. Below are the top three funding amounts[19]：

Kettle Finance — Kettle Finance completed a $4 million fundraising round, led by ParaFi Capital. Other investors included Signum Capital, IOSG Ventures, and Kronos Research. Kettle is a peer-to-peer marketplace that allows users to trade the full financial value of luxury watches. Through Kettle, watch collectors can access the global 24/7 watch economy. Each watch on Kettle is fully insured, certified, and stored in the Kettle Vault in New York.

BitDCA — BitDCA completed a $2 million pre-seed round of funding. BitDCA is a fintech company based in the Czech Republic, launching a Bitcoin savings application called Littlebit. The Littlebit app allows users to automatically save a portion of their daily expenses on Bitcoin, making savings modern, accessible, and potentially profitable. Users link their existing debit or credit cards to the app, set the savings percentage, and the system handles the rest—automatically converting a portion of each transaction into Bitcoin.

FLock.io —FLock.io announced the completion of a $3 million strategic funding round. This round was led by Faction, with participation from Animoca Brands, Fenbushi Capital, and GSR. FLock aims to build a decentralized privacy protection solution for artificial intelligence. FLock has proposed a research initiative called Federated Learning Blocks (FLocks), which uses blockchain as a coordination platform between data holders for machine learning while keeping data local and private. By replacing centralized entities that collect data and organize machine learning, FLocks allows users to extract insights from their own data and decide how to monetize it.

Airdrop Opportunities

Plume Network — Plume is a fully integrated modular Layer 2 blockchain focused on Real-World Assets (RWA). It aims to simplify asset onboarding through native infrastructure and unified RWAFi-specific features across the entire blockchain. Plume is a modular, composable RWA-focused blockchain that is EVM-compatible and streamlines the process of moving funds from passive reserves to active participation. On December 18, Plume Network successfully completed a $20 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Brevan Howard Digital, with participation from Haun Ventures, Galaxy Ventures, Lightspeed, and Faction[20].

How to Participate:

1. Join Plume Game Night
2. Register to receive updates about Plume
3. Join Plume on X (Twitter)
4. Log in to the Plume Testnet

Note:
The airdrop program and participation methods may be updated at any time. It is advised that users keep an eye on Plume Network’s official channels for the latest information. Users should also exercise caution, be aware of risks, and conduct thorough research before participating. Gate.io does not guarantee the distribution of future airdrop rewards.

Reference：

1. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/zh/price
2. TradingView，https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=CRYPTO%3ABTCUSD
3. TradingView，https://www.tradingview.com/chart/sn45osjK/?symbol=CRYPTO%3AETHUSD
4. Farside Investors，https://farside.co.uk/eth/
5. Coingecko，https://www.coingecko.com/en/trending-categories
6. TradingView，https://www.tradingview.com/markets/
7. TradingView，https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/XAUUSD/
8. Gate.io，https://www.gate.io/zh/bigdata/homeindex
9. Gate.io，https://www.gate.io/zh/trade/IDOODLES_USDT
10. X，https://x.com/burnttoast
11. Gate.io，https://www.gate.io/zh/trade/USUAL_USDT
12. Gate.io，https://www.gate.io/zh/trade/USUAL_USDT
13. Animoca Brands，https://www.animocabrands.com/animoca-brands-investor-update-for-the-quarters-ending-on-30-sep-2024-and-30-jun-2024
14. K33 Research，https://k33.com/research/articles/2024-year-in-review
15. Hyperfoundation, https://hyperfoundation.org/
16. SEC，https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/nasdaq/2024/34-101998.pdf
17. Jin10，https://flash.jin10.com/detail/20241220020600372800
18. X，https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1869770629232410966
19. Rootdata，https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Fundraising
20. Plume，https://miles.plumenetwork.xyz/?invite=PLUME-WANGD&lounge=true

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Disclaimer
Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risk, and it is recommended that users conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products they are purchasing before making any investment decisions. Gate.io is not responsible for any losses or damages caused by such investment decisions.