ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Bank of America Global Research states that we believe the rate-cutting cycle has ended; our baseline assumption is that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged for an extended period; however, we believe the risk of the next move leans towards an interest rate hike.

ChainCatcher news, the Galxe ecosystem Web3 AI tool Alva has now integrated the RootData API, which consolidates on-chain and off-chain data to obtain comprehensive project data such as introductions, related personnel, funding rounds, and valuations, enriching its AI corpus. Alva currently covers a wide range of data from on-chain token flows to off-chain project news, providing users with comprehensive, accurate, and reliable Web3 answering services.It is reported that Alva is an AI assistant customized for research and exploration in Web3. It continuously gathers the latest cryptocurrency information in the Web3 field, providing a one-stop knowledge center for Web3 enthusiasts. Alva aims to eliminate market noise, offering exclusive bearish, bullish, and neutral signal analysis, as well as in-depth project analysis and data.

ChainCatcher news, UK Judge Keyser KC dismissed the application of Welsh Newport IT engineer James Howells to recover a Bitcoin hard drive worth $735 million buried in the Newport landfill, citing environmental risks. The Newport City Council has consistently refused to enter the landfill where the hard drive was accidentally discarded in 2013. According to the BBC, the judge believed that the case had "no realistic prospect of success" at trial.Howells mined Bitcoin in 2009 when the mining cost was only a few cents and stored it on a hard drive that was later mistakenly discarded.

ChainCatcher news, VanEck's Head of Digital Asset Research Matthew Sigel pointed out that the fintech company Block is expected to become the first publicly traded company in the S&P 500 index to hold Bitcoin.After achieving profitability in the first quarter of 2024, the company has met all the inclusion criteria for the S&P 500, including a market capitalization of over $18 billion, a public float of over 10%, and profitability for five consecutive quarters. According to historical data, eligible companies are typically included within 3 to 21 months (except for LULU, which took 65 months).Sigel noted that the current financial sector's share in the S&P 500 is 13.9%, lower than the overall market level of 14.6%, which is favorable for Block's inclusion as a financial stock in the index.

ChainCatcher news, according to Scam Sniffer monitoring, three phishing ads impersonating Virtuals Protocol have appeared in Google search results, an increase from the previous one. These scammers are stealing users' crypto assets by purchasing Google ads.Scam Sniffer reminds users not to easily click on the ad links at the top of search results and connect their wallets to avoid asset loss. Users are advised to verify the authenticity of official links before taking any action to ensure asset safety.

ChainCatcher message, Binance co-founder Zhao Changpeng responded to community questions on platform X, "After completing the academy for children, will you consider raising funds to support disease prevention? For example, donating to laboratories?"Zhao Changpeng stated that DeSci can help scientific research laboratories raise funds.

ChainCatcher news indicates that the correlation between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 index has risen to 0.88, suggesting a renewed synchronization between the two markets. This marks a shift from the previous divergence trend (since Trump's election, Bitcoin has risen by 47%, while the S&P 500 index has only increased by 4%).Bitwise's Head of Research for Europe, Andre Dragosch, attributes the re-emerging correlation to macroeconomic factors, including the Federal Reserve's revised interest rate cut forecasts and the strengthening dollar, which continue to exert pressure on both cryptocurrency and traditional markets. Despite Bitcoin having strong on-chain support, its movements are increasingly influenced by broader market trends, indicating potential short-term risks ahead.

ChainCatcher news, Bitwise Research Director Ryan Rasmussen stated that over the past year, the number of Bitcoins held by enterprises increased from 262,635 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 590,649 in the fourth quarter of 2024, a growth of 63%.

ChainCatcher message, according to the latest monthly market insights report from Binance Research, the crypto market is expected to continue growing in 2025, driven by accelerated institutional adoption, evolving regulatory frameworks, and the expansion of the DeFi ecosystem.The Binance report emphasizes that Bitcoin's dominance in global assets has increased, and despite a significant pullback in late December last year, the overall market still shows strong fundamentals.December last year was a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency market, as the Federal Reserve decided to reduce the planned interest rate cuts for 2025 from four to two, leading the cryptocurrency market cap to rise to a record $3.91 trillion before falling to $3.41 trillion.This pullback wiped out $500 billion in market cap, but Bitcoin remains firmly in the seventh position among global assets (by market cap), surpassing Saudi Aramco and silver.Bitcoin's market cap grew by 123.4% last year, driven by the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs and their subsequent record growth, as well as MicroStrategy's inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 index and continued adoption by institutional investors. This year's growth made Bitcoin the second-best performing asset among the top ten global assets, only behind Nvidia.The report points out that speculation around the U.S. potentially adopting Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset further fueled Bitcoin's momentum. As capital shifts from altcoins to Bitcoin, its dominance continues to strengthen, solidifying its position as a leading asset class.Although the market has experienced volatility, Bitcoin's strong fundamentals and the increasing adoption in traditional finance may pave the way for continued growth in 2025.The report indicates that if current trends continue, Bitcoin could challenge higher positions in the global asset rankings, coming closer to gold.The DeFi sector has also witnessed significant growth, with decentralized spot and perpetual contract trading volumes reaching new highs of $326 billion and $356 billion in December, respectively.Hyperliquid is a major driver of this surge, accounting for over 60% of the total trading volume in decentralized perpetual contracts. Meanwhile, lending and liquid staking protocols also set historical highs of $55 billion and $71 billion, respectively.The stablecoin market has undergone a significant shift, with Ethena's USDe surpassing USDS to become the third-largest stablecoin by market cap at $5.9 billion.Additionally, Binance Research highlights the emerging role of AI agents in the crypto ecosystem. Leading AI agent tokens now have a market cap in the billions, with increasing adoption rates in trading and entertainment sectors.Despite adjustments at the end of the year, the report concludes that favorable regulatory developments, rising institutional participation, and technological advancements in DeFi and AI will enable the cryptocurrency market to continue expanding in 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to the "2024 DePIN Status" report jointly released by Messari DePIN research analyst Dylan Bane and Escape Velocity Ventures co-founder Salvador Gala, the Distributed Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) sector is expected to achieve significant growth in 2024:Market Performance: The total market capitalization of DePIN reaches $50 billion, covering 350 tokens, with an annual revenue price-to-earnings ratio of about 100 times.Device Contribution: Over 13 million devices globally participate in DePIN operations daily.Network Competition: Solana leads in the infrastructure sector, while Base excels in consumer and market domains.Capital Inflow: In 2024, DePIN projects raised over $350 million in seed and early-stage funding.Application Expansion: Local governments are beginning to utilize DePIN to address infrastructure issues, such as cross-border payments and logistics network optimization.Looking ahead to 2025, the DePIN sector is expected to achieve 100-1000 times growth in emerging markets and break through in broader application scenarios.

According to the "Market Insights for January 2025" report published by Binance Research, the crypto market capitalization soared to a historic high of $3.91 trillion in December 2024, driven by regulatory optimism, institutional adoption, and Bitcoin reaching an all-time high of $108,000. However, as the Federal Reserve reduced its interest rate cut plans for 2025 from four times to two, the market experienced a correction at the end of December, with a market cap evaporation of over $0.5 trillion.Bitcoin's market cap grew by approximately 123.4% for the year, becoming the seventh-largest asset globally, surpassing Saudi Aramco and silver, only behind Nvidia's performance. Key drivers included the approval of spot ETFs, Bitcoin halving, changes in monetary policy, and more crypto-friendly regulatory expectations.Additionally, the market cap of Ethena's USDe has reached $5.9 billion, surpassing DAI to become the third-largest stablecoin, thanks to its high yield and use as collateral on Aave. Decentralized spot and perpetual contract trading volumes reached historic highs of $326 billion and $356 billion in December, respectively, while decentralized perpetual trading volume grew over 370% for the year, primarily driven by Hyperliquid.The TVL in the DeFi sector also hit a new high, with lending protocols and liquid staking protocols reaching $55 billion and $71 billion, respectively. AI agents are gradually becoming an emerging hotspot in the crypto space, with related tokens reaching billions in market cap and an average daily exposure of about 100,000 times, with representative projects including Virtuals and ai16z's Eliza framework, as well as individual agents like aixbt.

ChainCatcher news, 10x Research stated in its latest report that the cryptocurrency trading environment remains complex and volatile during the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in December 2024 and the subsequent holiday season. However, there are still profit opportunities in specific areas. Bitcoin is in a consolidation phase during this period, showing no signs of a sustained upward trend, but fluctuating within a tactical trading range, which provides opportunities for strategic positioning rather than a simple bullish trend. While some initial enthusiasm is expected at the beginning of the new year, it is not the time to recreate the bullish sentiment seen from late January to March or from late September to mid-December 2024. A positive performance is anticipated at the start of the year, followed by a slight pullback before the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on January 15. If the inflation data is favorable, it may reignite optimism and drive the market up before Trump's inauguration on January 20. However, this momentum may weaken, and the market could slightly retreat before the FOMC meeting on January 29.From January to mid-November 2024, Bitcoin's dominance surged from 50% to 60%, creating significant resistance for altcoin performance. Although the dominance metric briefly plummeted to 53% within three weeks, igniting hopes for an altcoin season, it quickly rebounded to nearly 58% and then consolidated around 55%. This consolidation highlights Bitcoin's enduring dominance as the main driving force in the cryptocurrency market while also indicating that altcoins may face potential challenges—unless Bitcoin's dominance metric declines again.

According to ChainCatcher news, in an article by Zhong Yi from the China Financial Forty Forum, titled "Cryptocurrency is 'Not What It Used to Be'", it points out that the development of cryptocurrency has now given rise to at least three different types with distinct characteristics. Based on their design mechanisms and functions, private cryptocurrencies can be mainly divided into three categories: Store of Value Cryptocurrencies, Utility Tokens, and Stablecoins.As of December 28, 2024, the CoinGecko website has recorded 16,022 types of cryptocurrencies across 1,200 exchanges worldwide, with a total market capitalization of approximately $3.43 trillion and a trading volume of about $165.3 billion in the past 24 hours. In relative terms, this market capitalization is equivalent to 5% of the total market capitalization of the U.S. stock market and 35% of the Chinese stock market. In early 2014, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was only $10.6 billion, and over the past ten years, the cryptocurrency market has achieved more than 300 times growth.