AI Concerns Weigh on U.S. Equities as Bitcoin Tests 88k Support
Summary
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Macro Environment: Last Friday, hawkish signals from Fed officials opposing rate cuts, combined with market rumors that Oracle may delay the completion of OpenAI’s data center, prompted traders to reassess expectations for further monetary easing next year and the valuation outlook for the AI sector. U.S. equities came under pressure as a result. Looking ahead, the U.S. will release its first set of key data following the government shutdown, including nonfarm payrolls, consumer inflation, and retail sales, which will help assess economic conditions and provide further guidance for asset prices.
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Crypto Market: Bitcoin declined in tandem with U.S. equities and, after consolidating sideways over the weekend, continued to test support around 88k. Altcoin market-cap dominance edged higher, but trading-volume share declined, indicating persistently tight liquidity. Overall market sentiment has fallen back into the Extreme Fear zone.
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Project Developments:
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Hot tokens: NIGHT, XAUT, TAO
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The U.S. SEC Crypto Task Force held a roundtable on financial regulation and privacy, driving gains in privacy-related tokens such as NIGHT, FHE, H, and CC.
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XAUT: Gold briefly rose to USD 4,350, marking a seven-week high.
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TWT: TWT partnered with Revolut to offer instant cryptocurrency purchase services.
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TAO: Completed its first halving on December 14; Grayscale launched the Bittensor (TAO) Trust.
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ICE: After being delisted by multiple CEXs, ICE surged more than 50% against the broader market trend.
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Major Asset Performance
Crypto Fear & Greed Index: 16 (vs. 21 24 hours ago), Extreme Fear
Today’s Agenda
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U.S. SEC Crypto Task Force hosts a roundtable on financial regulation and privacy
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Cboe Futures Exchange launches Bitcoin and Ethereum continuous futures trading
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FOMC permanent voter and New York Fed President John Williams speaks on the economic outlook
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Fed Governor Stephen Miran participates in a moderated discussion
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Starknet (STRK) unlock: ~127 million tokens, ~USD 13.2 million
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Sei Network (SEI) unlock: ~55.56 million tokens, ~USD 7.1 million
Macroeconomy
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Donald Trump: Prefers Warsh or Hassett as Fed Chair and hopes rates will be at 1% or lower within a year
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Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee: Advocates waiting for more data before cutting rates
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Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson: More concerned about potential labor market deterioration than upside inflation risks; expects inflation to cool next year
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Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid: Inflation remains too high; while the labor market has cooled, it is still broadly balanced
Policy Direction
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The U.S. SEC released new guidance on crypto custody
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SEC Chair stated that DTCC can directly transfer tokenized securities into other participants’ registered wallets
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UK Treasury is drafting new regulations for the crypto market
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Polish government resubmitted the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act without amendments
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U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved trust charters for Ripple, BitGo, and three other institutions
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Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India warned about stablecoin risks
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Belarus has blocked access to Bybit, Bitget, and OKX
Industry Highlights
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KuCoin won BeInCrypto’s Best CEX award
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Michael Saylor again posted Bitcoin Tracker updates; additional purchases may be disclosed next week, and Strategy will remain in the Nasdaq-100
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Grayscale launched the Bittensor (TAO) Trust
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Pakistan to collaborate with Binance on tokenizing up to USD 2 billion in assets, including sovereign bonds
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Moody’s proposed a reserve-quality–focused stablecoin rating framework
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Interactive Brokers now supports stablecoin deposits
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Kalshi formed a prediction market alliance with Coinbase, Robinhood, and others
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Firedancer is now live on the Solana mainnet
Industry Highlights Extended Analysis
KuCoin won BeInCrypto’s Best CEX award
KuCoin receiving the "Best Centralized Exchange (CEX)" award from BeInCrypto signifies high recognition from the global crypto community and independent media platforms. This honor not only validates KuCoin's performance in platform security, user experience, trading depth, and globalized services but also establishes a strong brand trust and competitive edge in the increasingly fierce global exchange competition. This recognition helps attract more users who prioritize compliance and service quality.
*(Note: According to the latest information, BeInCrypto awarded the "Best Centralized Exchange" award to other exchanges like LBank and BTCC in 2025, but the expansion here is based on the original text provided by the user.)
Michael Saylor again posted Bitcoin Tracker updates; additional purchases may be disclosed next week, and Strategy will remain in the Nasdaq-100
Michael Saylor again posted updates regarding his company's Bitcoin Tracker, hinting at potential new Bitcoin purchases to be disclosed next week, while confirming that the company's stock will remain in the Nasdaq-100 index. This indicates that the company's firm "Bitcoin Standard" strategy is unwavering, and the continued accumulation of Bitcoin will solidify its position as one of the largest publicly traded corporate holders of Bitcoin globally. Remaining in the Nasdaq-100 ensures that its stock continues to receive passive investment from large institutions and index funds, indirectly channeling the value of Bitcoin to a broader base of traditional financial market investors.
Grayscale launched the Bittensor (TAO) Trust
Grayscale launched the Bittensor (TAO) Trust, marking the first time a mainstream institution has provided a standardized investment vehicle for a project focused on the decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) sector. The Trust allows qualified traditional accredited investors to gain indirect exposure to the TAO token through a regulated financial product (like the OTC market), significantly boosting TAO's institutional accessibility and liquidity as a leading project in the AI sector. This is expected to attract substantial traditional capital into the intersection of AI and cryptocurrency, reinforcing Bittensor's leadership in Web3 AI infrastructure.
Pakistan to collaborate with Binance on tokenizing up to USD 2 billion in assets, including sovereign bonds
Pakistan announced a collaboration with Binance to explore the tokenization of assets worth up to $2 billion, covering various Real World Assets (RWA) including sovereign bonds. This collaboration is an important national-level Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization pilot, aimed at using blockchain technology to enhance the transparency, liquidity, and international market accessibility of these financial assets. This move not only opens up new international financing and investment channels for Pakistan but also signals a substantial step forward in a major economy's recognition of blockchain as a foundational financial infrastructure.
Moody’s proposed a reserve-quality–focused stablecoin rating framework
Credit rating agency Moody's proposed a stablecoin rating framework centered on the quality of reserve assets. This initiative demonstrates that traditional financial giants are actively introducing their mature credit evaluation standards into the crypto asset space, attempting to bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance. The implementation of this framework will provide institutional investors with objective, quantifiable standards for stablecoin risk, helping to differentiate the credit and operational risks of various stablecoins, thereby driving the wider institutional adoption and regulatory acceptance of high-quality stablecoins.
Interactive Brokers now supports stablecoin deposits
Interactive Brokers (IBKR), a top US brokerage primarily catering to professional traders and institutional investors, now supports stablecoin deposits. This new feature allows clients to fund their brokerage accounts directly using stablecoins (such as USDT), bypassing the complexities and delays of the traditional banking system. This greatly increases the efficiency of fund transfers between cryptocurrency and traditional financial accounts, representing another substantive milestone in the traditional financial service sector's recognition of digital assets' practicality.
Kalshi formed a prediction market alliance with Coinbase, Robinhood, and others
Prediction market platform Kalshi formed the "Prediction Market Alliance" (CPM) with industry leaders like Coinbase and Robinhood. The alliance aims to advocate nationwide for the safe, transparent, and open access to prediction markets under federal regulation, pushing for regulatory clarity. This represents a concerted effort by crypto and FinTech giants to bring this tool into the mainstream compliant financial system, recognizing its public interest value as a technology that aggregates real-time collective expectations.
Firedancer is now live on the Solana mainnet
Firedancer, the validator client developed by Jump Crypto, is now officially live on the Solana mainnet. The introduction of Firedancer brings a multi-client architecture to Solana, a significant upgrade to network stability and resilience, reducing reliance on a single software implementation and thereby lowering the risk of network outages. While its promise of millions of transactions per second remains an ongoing effort, this mainnet deployment fundamentally strengthens Solana's infrastructure and is expected to provide a more robust technical foundation for its long-term development as a high-performance public chain.