ChainCatcher news, Mind Network today announced partial updates for 2025, including Hub expansion, a brand new homepage, and CitizenZ benefits upgrades.It is reported that Mind Network will launch the 2025 Voters for 2025 campaign on January 2, opening 1,500 Voter registration slots, and will go live with two new Hubs on January 3, providing 525 Voter slots. Meanwhile, the newly upgraded official website has added 30+ trusted AI and FHE ecosystem use case displays.In addition, Mind Network announced the official launch of the CitizenZ Advocate Program next week, introducing a referral code and leaderboard system, where participants can share 1% of the token pool rewards. CitizenZ Passport holders can participate and enjoy airdrop benefits and other rights.

ChainCatcher message, Lin Chen, Head of APAC Business at Deribit, posted on X stating that the largest BTC block options trade today was: a user paid a premium of $984,000 to buy 400 BTC of $96,000 call options expiring on January 10 (next Friday).

ChainCatcher news, Bitget's Chinese head Smith Tse published an open letter on social media, stating that in 2025, the focus will be on the following directions: First: Strengthen the selection of spot first launches to amplify the wealth effect. Improve spot depth and liquidity, explore quality projects, and continue to serve as the first stop for quality assets; Second, a core operations team will be formed to explore more hardcore application scenarios around BGB, focusing on three parts: on-chain application scenarios, PayFi payment scenarios, and in-platform rights scenarios, allowing BGB to become a mainstream asset deeply integrated into popular public chains and leading DeFi ecosystems. Finally, strengthen compliance operations to promote healthy industry development. In 2025, efforts will be intensified to actively apply for compliance licenses globally to ensure legal operations in different markets.On January 2, 2024, Bitget announced the appointment of Smith Tse as the new head of the Chinese region, overseeing brand building, integrated marketing, and ecosystem development in the region. As of the time of publication, he has officially completed one year in the position.

ChainCatcher news, according to Haseeb, managing partner at Dragonfly Capital, the craze for AI agents will continue into 2025 but will ultimately fade away. He pointed out that existing AI agents are merely chatbots with memecoins, possessing almost no real intelligence aside from posting content on social media. As these tools become ubiquitous, people may grow weary of them.He believes that the real game-changer for the industry will be software engineering agents. With AI cloud computing, entrepreneurs can launch applications with $10,000, significantly reducing software development costs and driving explosive growth in on-chain applications, making self-funded projects like Hyperliquid and Jupiter the norm rather than the exception. Additionally, AI-driven security analysis and monitoring tools will become widespread, enabling everyone to enhance blockchain security more easily.Haseeb also mentioned that the combination of AI and crypto will have a profound impact on payments, decentralized model training, and user experience, especially in the post-AI wallet space, where these wallets will greatly simplify cross-chain operations and optimize user experience.

ChainCatcher news, Xu Youxi, the president of the Financial Investment Association, stated in his New Year's address that he will promote the expansion of the digital asset market as a future growth driver for the capital market by advancing token securities legislation and virtual asset ETFs. He will also strive to innovate financial infrastructure to help financial investment companies find new growth opportunities in the digital asset market.He committed to supporting the business expansion and capability enhancement of financial investment companies, assisting large securities firms in becoming top securities companies in Asia, and promoting the expansion of comprehensive financial investment companies into overseas markets. In addition, the president also stated that he will actively promote policy reforms, including corporate payment and settlement, and support measures such as the BDC system and expanding financing channels for small and medium-sized securities companies.

ChainCatcher news, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley posted the Bitwise 2024 review on X, stating that as they enter 2025, the team has many plans and will continue to focus on helping investors understand and access opportunities in the field.2024 Review:Customer assets grew from approximately $1 billion to about $12 billionThe team expanded from around 65 people to about 100, spread across the U.S. and EuropeTwo acquisitions were madeExpanded to over 4,000 RIAs, wealth teams, family offices, and institutional clients in the U.S.Over 15 banks and broker/dealer wealth platforms in the U.S. approved productsAchieved two years of outstanding performance in alpha strategiesEntered Europe with a growing suite of institutional-grade ETPsEntered Ethereum and now Starknet staking businessLaunched several exciting new productsConducted over 12,000 meetings and calls with investors, 79 events, 25 webinars, produced two national TV commercials, nearly 100 research memos and reports, and received over 1,000 news mentions/quotes/appearances

ChainCatcher news, Steno Research recently released a report stating that its bullish forecast for BTC and ETH prices reflects "an unprecedented favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies, a supportive macroeconomic environment marked by declining interest rates and improved liquidity, and historically strong performance following Bitcoin's halving."It also mentioned, "In addition, institutional adoption is expected to reach unprecedented levels, and significant capital inflows into U.S. Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs further drive this trend."Steno expects net inflows for BTC and ETH ETFs to reach $48 billion and $28.5 billion, respectively, by 2025.Furthermore, the report states that DApp TVL is expected to exceed $300 billion by 2025, far surpassing the approximately $180 billion peak in 2021.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Baidu founder Robin Li sent a letter to all employees in the evening stating, "For 25 years, we have always been at the forefront of technology, and we firmly believe that technological innovation is Baidu's core competitiveness."The letter expresses expectations for 2025, "Although super applications have not yet emerged, the actual penetration rate of AI is already not low, and it will continue to experience explosive growth in 2025."

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Pantera Capital general partner Lauren Stephanian expects "some large acquisitions" to occur in 2025.She explained, "Strategists have been accumulating capital, and as token prices rise, the scale of funding has also expanded. Many companies and protocols are now seeking to absorb competitors and increase their output in this market."

ChainCatcher news, according to CNBC, the crypto financial services company Matrixport stated that the price of Bitcoin could reach $160,000 by 2025.Matrixport's head of research, Markus Thielen (also the founder of 10x Research), said: "This outlook is supported by the ongoing demand for Bitcoin ETFs, favorable macroeconomic trends, and the expanding global liquidity pool."Thielen also noted that due to the growing number of dip buyers for Bitcoin, along with strong institutional support, the expected pullback in 2025 will be "less pronounced."Matrixport had previously predicted in 2023 that Bitcoin would reach $125,000 in 2024.

ChainCatcher message, Matrixport shared market insights on its social platform:In 2024, Ethereum's performance has been disappointing, with its weak performance clearly starting after the launch of the Ethereum ETF, as the inflow of funds has been far below market expectations. Meanwhile, on July 31, 2024, Senator Lummis proposed a Bitcoin bill, suggesting that Bitcoin be positioned as a strategic reserve asset.In contrast, Bitcoin has successfully established its status as "digital gold" and a potential reserve asset, while Ethereum lacks a similarly compelling narrative among traditional finance (TradFi) investors. The absence of clear use cases may be one of the core reasons for Ethereum's underperformance.Looking ahead, ETF issuers may need to take on the responsibility of creating and promoting a more attractive narrative for Ethereum by 2025. Without additional support and market positioning, it may be difficult for Ethereum alone to bridge the gap with Bitcoin.

ChainCatcher message, Messari released six predictions for 2025 on platform X, as follows:The outstanding performance of Hyperliquid may have endedVIRTUAL FDV will surpass TAO FDV within three monthsPudgy Penguins will surpass CryptoPunks to become the hottest PFP seriesPeaq will surpass all L2s in 2025ETH's performance will outperform SOL in 2025The AI agent framework will peak in the first quarter of 2025 and will not recover

ChainCatcher news, according to Jin Shi reports, The Leuthold Group's Chief Investment Strategist Jim Paulsen stated in his blog that although policy officials and investors seem increasingly concerned about the possibility of overheating economic growth, he believes that an unexpected economic slowdown is more likely to occur in 2025, which could ultimately lead to a stock market correction of at least 10%.Jim Paulsen pointed out that based on historical data since 2003, fluctuations in bond yields typically lead to unexpected economic outcomes; a decline in yields indicates that the economy will improve in three months, and vice versa. In his view, bond yields hovering around 4.6% (which reached 4.63% last week) suggest that the economic surprise index will slow to -35 in the first quarter, and GDP will also slow down.Jim Paulsen stated that if the economic unexpected slowdown exacerbates concerns, the stock market may pause its upward trend, even if it is not a correction of 10% to 15%.

ChainCatcher message, Trader T posted on platform X that the 20 millionth BTC is expected to be mined on June 28, 2025.

ChainCatcher message, analyst Ali pointed out that the TD Sequential indicator shows a buy signal on the Bitcoin 12-hour chart. If Bitcoin can maintain above $94,700, it is expected to rebound to $97,500. However, if it falls below the support level of $92,500, the bullish signal will be invalidated.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Steno Research's latest report predicts that Ethereum will outperform Bitcoin by 2025. The report indicates that the price of Ethereum is expected to double to at least $8,000, while Bitcoin is projected to rise from the current $94,000 to $150,000.Analyst Mads Eberhardt stated that the ETH/BTC ratio is expected to rise from the current 0.0357 to 0.06. The report also predicts that a Trump victory would be more favorable for the altcoin market, with Bitcoin's market dominance potentially dropping from the current 56.6% to 45%. The total value locked in DeFi is expected to reach a new high of $300 billion. Additionally, the potential launch of new ETFs in the U.S. will further drive unprecedented cryptocurrency adoption among institutional investors.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem has faced criticism from users for collecting their recovery phrases due to an application vulnerability. The company confirmed the issue on December 30, stating that the vulnerability stemmed from an error in application log handling, which resulted in users' private keys being recorded and potentially accessible by the support team.Although Tangem has promptly fixed the issue and deleted all related logs, users have expressed dissatisfaction with the company's response, feeling that it has not adequately addressed the situation. Tangem stated that this vulnerability only affected a small number of users and has proactively contacted those impacted. All users are advised to update the application immediately to avoid potential recovery phrase leaks.