Morning News | Silver price breaks through the $71 mark for the first time, while gold reaches over

The price of spot gold exceeded the $4,500 per ounce mark for the first time this year, with a cumulative increase of over $1,870.

Market trends

Market developments yesterday

● The US consumer confidence index for December was lower than expected

The US Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for December was 89.1, lower than the expected 91, and higher than the previous figure of 88.7.

● The US plans to impose tariffs on Chinese semiconductor products starting in 2027

The US claims that China engages in unfair trade practices in the semiconductor industry, but no additional tariffs will be imposed on chips imported from China until at least mid-2027. The USTR announced its findings regarding China’s chip industry after nearly a year of investigation, stating that it is appropriate to impose tariffs on Chinese semiconductors. The initial tariff rate is set at 0%, and it will be increased to a later rate announced later in 2027, on June 23rd. The tariff rate will be announced at least 30 days in advance. USTR stated that actions taken by China to gain dominance in the semiconductor industry have imposed burdens or restrictions on American businesses, and therefore the US can take action.

● Silver broke through the $71 mark for the first time, while gold exceeded $4,500 per ounce. The bull market for precious metals continues to expand

Amid escalating geopolitical tensions and expectations of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve, gold and silver have once again reached record highs. On Tuesday (December 24th), spot gold prices exceeded $4,500 per ounce, with a daily increase of 0.47%, continuing to set new highs.

● The Fed avoided confronting Trump publicly during its meeting

According to The Washington Post, in spring this year, the chairpersons of the Federal Reserve districts held a closed meeting in Philadelphia. The Fed’s leadership decided to adopt a strategic approach to avoid conflicts with President Trump’s administration. By enduring some of the shocks without publicly reacting, the Fed aims to maintain its independence in setting interest rates. The Washington Post confirmed the details of the meeting and noted that if the Fed does not adjust certain policies or respond publicly to Trump’s calls for interest rate cuts, Trump may try to dismiss several current board members, including Powell.

● Atlanta Fed predicts GDP growth of 3% in the fourth quarter

On December 24th, the Atlanta Fed released preliminary forecasts showing GDP in the fourth quarter growing by 3%.

● Wintermute: Bitcoin and Ethereum will dominate the market by the end of 2025, while altcoins face pressure

Wintermute’s today’s market report indicates that the crypto market experienced significant fluctuations last week. Bitcoin’s price dropped below $85,000, while Ethereum’s price fell below $3,000, resulting in approximately $1.4 billion in liquidations. The market structure has become more concentrated, with Bitcoin continuing to dominate, while altcoins perform poorly due to supply pressures.

Data shows that institutional investors have been buying mainstream currencies since the summer, and retail investors are also shifting from altcoins to Bitcoin and Ethereum. Despite short-term volatility, the trend of traditional financial institutions entering the crypto market is expected to provide support for prices in the medium term.

Analysts expect that as the holiday season approaches, market activity will slow down, and prices will remain volatile within a certain range. Investors will continue to prefer assets with higher liquidity.

● Wall Street is currently conducting settlement, payment, and asset tokenization operations on Ethereum

. These operations involve transactions related to settlement, payment, and asset tokenization, but the name of Ethereum itself isn’t mentioned directly.

● Gnosis Chain has undergone a hard fork, recovering $116 million from funds stolen by hackers during the attack on Balancer in November

According to Financefeeds, Gnosis Chain successfully completed a hard fork, recovering the funds lost due to the $116 million hack that occurred in November.

Gnosis confirmed through the X platform that the hard fork was successful, and the stolen funds are now under control. Most verification nodes took emergency measures during the soft fork in November to minimize losses. Philippe Schommers, head of Gnosis’ infrastructure team, said that the recovered funds will be placed in a wallet controlled by the DAO, and the community will decide how these funds will be distributed in the future.

Previously, Balancer reported that its decentralized exchange and automated market maker were attacked in November, resulting in a loss of over $116 million. White-hat hackers and internal efforts led to the recovery of approximately $28 million.

● ETH Strategy holds 11,778 ETH, worth $34.4 million

ETH Strategy updated its operational data on the X platform, revealing that it owns 11,778 ETH, with a total value of about $34.4 million. Its leverage ratio is 1.10 times, and its adjusted total asset value (mGAV) is 0.88 times. Since its establishment, ETH Strategy has generated a profit of $1.7 million, representing a return rate of +5.0%.

● Trump: Most economists underestimated GDP data for the third quarter. “The real action is still ahead.”

U.S. President Donald Trump posted on social media, stating that the GDP growth rate in the third quarter reached 4.3%, far exceeding the expected 3.2%. Out of 61 Bloomberg economists, 60 predicted incorrectly, but “Trump” and some other experts were able to make accurate predictions. This success can be attributed to good government governance and tariff policies. Consumer spending is strong, net exports have increased significantly, imports and trade deficits have decreased significantly, and there is no inflationary pressure! Thanks to my tax reform legislation and tariff measures, investments are reaching record highs. Trump’s economic golden age is progressing at full speed—the real achievements are yet to come!

● Etherscan will cease indexing and supporting ZKsync Era starting from January 7, 2026

ZKsync has announced that Etherscan will no longer index and support ZKsync Era starting from January 7, 2026. Users will need to switch to the ZKsync native block explorer to access block, transaction, and contract data. Developers who rely on the Etherscan API must complete the migration by the deadline.

● Bloomberg: Russia plans to allow retail investors to participate in domestic cryptocurrency trading

According to Bloomberg, the Russian Central Bank has established a framework for regulating the domestic cryptocurrency market, allowing retail investors to purchase cryptocurrencies under certain conditions.

Under this framework, non-qualified investors can purchase the most liquid cryptocurrencies after passing a knowledge test, with a maximum annual transaction limit of 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,800) through a single intermediary. Qualified investors can purchase any cryptocurrency except anonymous tokens, provided they pass a risk awareness test.

● a16z合伙人：隐私将成为加密货币领域最重要的护城河

据a16z普通合伙人Ali Yahya发文指出，隐私将成为加密货币领域最重要的护城河。Ali表示，由于秘密信息难以迁移，隐私功能足以使新链与其他链区分开来，并创造链上锁定效应。当用户在公共区块链上时，可以轻松与其他链上的用户交易，但在隐私链上，用户选择的链更为重要，因为一旦加入某条链，用户不太可能冒险暴露自己而转移到其他链。

Ali认为，这将创造赢家通吃的局面，由于隐私对大多数现实世界用例至关重要，少数隐私链将占据加密货币生态的大部分市场。

● 香港10亿日元虚拟货币找换店抢劫案：被抢者为内地人，已拘捕15人，部分嫌犯有黑社会背景

据港媒香港01报道，一家经营虚拟货币及名牌手袋的日本公司在香港上环遭遇抢劫，损失10亿日元(约合5000万港元)。事发于12月18日上午，4名持刀匪徒仅用30秒就抢走了装有现金的4个行李箱。

香港警方已拘捕15人，部分嫌犯有黑社会背景，其中7人已被落案起诉"串谋行劫"罪。警方表示已将涉案人士一网打尽，包括主谋在内，但赃款下落仍在追查中。

据了解，被抢劫的39岁男事主为内地人，持双程证来港，当时与一名司机协助拖运行李。两人为一间经营虚拟货币及名牌手袋的日本公司职员，原计划将从日本带来的营业额通过香港找换店兑换成虚拟货币和港币，却在前往目的地途中遭遇抢劫。

● 前FTX US总裁新创企业Architect Financial Technologies融资3500万美元

据The Information报道，前FTX US总裁Brett Harrison为其新创立的Architect Financial Technologies完成3500万美元融资，估值约1.87亿美元。其旗下交易所AX主打传统资产永续合约(股票与外汇)，而非加密永续。该平台在百慕大受监管，仅向非美国机构投资者开放，原因是美国尚未批准永续期货产品。

● 贝森特：美联储有调整通胀目标2%的空间，1.5%-2.5%或1%-3%值得讨论

美国财政部长贝森特支持在通胀率稳步回落至2%之后，重新审视美联储的这一通胀目标。贝森特建议，一旦通胀目标重新锚定，可以讨论将其转变为一个区间，例如1.5%-2.5%，或者1%-3%。贝森特承认，民众对生活成本的担忧，表示“我们理解美国人民正深陷痛苦”，并将其归咎于拜登政府时期的物价高企。

● SOL财库公司Upexi向SEC提交申请，拟融资最高10亿美元

According to CoinDesk, Upexi, a company listed on the US stock market, has submitted a shelf registration application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company plans to raise up to $1 billion through the issuance of common shares, preferred shares, debt instruments, warrants, or other securities. Currently, Upexi holds approximately 2 million SOL tokens, valued at about $248 million. This makes Upexi the fourth-largest publicly traded company holding Solana assets. The company stated that the funds raised will be used for operational expenses, research and development, acquisitions, and debt repayment. Notably, Upexi’s stock price fell by约7% on Tuesday, reaching $1.85 per share. Since the beginning of the year, its stock price has decreased by approximately 50%, while the price of SOL has dropped by 34%. In addition to cryptocurrency assets, the company also manages several consumer brands, including Cure Mushrooms medicinal products and Lucky Tail pet care products.

● Trump criticized the market for not responding positively to positive conditions, warning those who oppose the Federal Reserve to beware.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted a tweet on social media, praising the GDP data for the third quarter. He noted that the GDP growth rate reached 4.2%, far exceeding the expected 2.5%. However, the market reaction is unusual: while good news in the past usually drove prices up, now good news often leads to market declines or stagnation. This is because Wall Street always fears that good news could trigger interest rate hikes to prevent “potential” inflation. Trump said, “This makes it difficult for us to replicate the prosperous markets of our nation’s rise. A strong market by itself doesn’t cause inflation; it’s wrong policies that do. I hope that the new chairman of the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates when the market is positive, rather than suppressing the market unnecessarily. I hope to see a market that has never existed in decades: a market where prices can rise when they should, and fall when they should. A market that behaves as it should.”