Morning News | Bittensor has completed its first halving event. CME Group has released current quote

He Yi responded to the rumors that Binance Alpha will be closed: I haven’t heard any such reports.

Market trends

Market developments yesterday

● The exchange rate of the Renminbi against the US Dollar reached a 14-month high.

According to reports from Jiemian News, the exchange rate of the Renminbi against the US Dollar reached a 14-month high. On December 15th, the spot exchange rate of the Renminbi against the US Dollar reached as high as 7.0500, hitting the 7.05 level for the first time since October 9th, 2024.

In the offshore market, the exchange rate of the Renminbi against the US Dollar reached a new high on December 15th, reaching 7.046, the highest level since early October 2024.

● Ma Ji gave additional orders for ETH, depositing 249,839 USDC in Hyperliquid. However, some of his ETH positions were liquidated, resulting in a total loss of over $22.7 million.

Ma Ji deposited 249,839 USDC in Hyperliquid, opening a long position with a leverage of 25 times. Currently, he has 4800 ETH in his position, valued at $15 million. The liquidation price was $3056.8.

● He Yi responded to the rumors that Binance Alpha will be closed: I haven’t heard any such reports.

In response to the rumors circulating in the community that Binance Alpha will be closed and replaced by Aster, as well as the claims that several projects scheduled to list on Binance Alpha have had their listings canceled, Binance’s co-CEO, He Yi, said on the X platform, “I haven’t heard any such reports.”

● Crypto fund C1 Fund announced that it has purchased shares in Consensys.

The crypto fund C1 Fund has announced that it has purchased shares in Consensys, a company that provides infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem and also owns the parent company of MetaMask. However, the exact amount of investment and the proportion of shares acquired have not been disclosed yet. It is known that C1 Fund previously announced a public offering of $60 million, aiming to increase its investments in the field of digital asset technology. Additionally, they have also purchased shares in Ripple and Chainalysis.

● Federal Reserve Chairman Collins supports interest rate cuts, but says it’s a difficult decision

Federal Reserve Chairman Collins stated that he supports interest rate cuts when the risk balance changes, but this is a “difficult decision”.

● Federal Reserve Governor Williams supports interest rate cuts due to slowing employment growth

Federal Reserve Governor Williams said that the cooling labor market and reduced inflation risks provide grounds for the Fed to cut interest rates last week. Williams believes that inflation will continue to slow down. Although inflation remains “temporarily above” the Fed’s target, it is expected to decline as the effects of tariffs are absorbed by the economy next year. Williams noted that while employment conditions have not deteriorated sharply, they are gradually slowing down. These factors support the decision to cut interest rates last week.

● MetaMask adds Bitcoin support, continuing to expand its multi-chain services

According to the announcement released on Monday, MetaMask has added native support for Bitcoin. This includes the ability to transfer funds via the Bitcoin blockchain, as well as the use of EVM-native assets and the exchange of SOL for BTC. This initiative comes at a time when MetaMask, a subsidiary of Consensys, has introduced several new features, including the Polymarket platform, the launch of the mUSD stablecoin, and perpetual contracts supported by Hyperliquid.

● Bittensor has completed its first halving event. The daily production of TAO has decreased from 7,200 units to 3,600 units.

According to official announcements, Bittensor has undergone its first halving event ever. The daily production of TAO has been reduced from 7,200 units to 3,600 units.

● Aster has announced that the third-phase airdrop is now available for application. The application period lasts for one month.

According to official information, the third-phase airdrop of the decentralized exchange Aster is now open for application. The application window is from 12:00 UTC on December 15, 2025, to 12:00 UTC on January 15, 2026. Users can apply by connecting their wallets to the Aster official platform.

● BitMine increased its holdings of ETH by approximately 102,200 units last week, bringing its total holdings to over 3.96 million ETH.

As of December 14, Eastern Time, BitMine’s total holdings of cryptocurrencies and cash amount to $13.3 billion. BitMine currently holds 3,967,210 ETH (an increase of 102,259 ETH compared to last week); 193 BTC; shares in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) worth $38 million; and $1 billion in unsecured cash.

● The Trump family-backed American Bitcoin increased its holdings of BTC by 261 units.

特朗普家族支持的American Bitcoin以2350万美元购入261枚BTC，目前持有超过5000枚BTC。

● Visa推出稳定币咨询业务，目前已有数十位客户

据Fortune报道，Visa推出稳定币咨询业务(Stablecoins Advisory Practice)，旨在为金融科技公司、银行和其他企业提供稳定币战略制定和实施服务。

Visa全球咨询与分析主管Carl Rutstein表示，该业务目前已服务数十家客户，包括海军联邦信用合作社(Navy Federal Credit Union)、VyStar信用合作社和Pathward金融机构。该服务将帮助企业制定稳定币战略、技术运营和实施方案，主要应用场景包括跨境支付和企业间交易。

● SEC主席称比特币和加密货币是全球最先进的金融系统

SEC主席发表了一场4分钟的演讲，表示比特币和加密货币是世界上最先进的金融系统。

● 中国国家数据局等三方签署备忘录，将开展区块链等技术合作

中国国家数据局、重庆市人民政府与新加坡资讯通信媒体发展局共同签署《关于共建数字陆海新通道合作谅解备忘录》。三方将重点围绕数字互联互通、数字技术与创新及数字人才交流培训开展合作，鼓励和支持两国企业、科研机构在人工智能、区块链、大数据等领域开展联合研发与场景应用合作。

● Ripple plans to expand its stable coin RLUSD to the Ethereum二层网络

. According to CoinDesk, Ripple has announced that it will introduce its US dollar-based stable coin RLUSD to the Ethereum二层网络. This includes integration with Optimism, Coinbase’s Base, Kraken’s Ink, and Uniswap’s Unichain.

The company stated that testing is currently underway, and widespread deployment is expected to occur next year, once regulatory approval from the New York State Financial Services Department (NYDFS) is obtained. This expansion utilizes Wormhole’s native token transfer standard, allowing RLUSD to be transferred between different chains without the need for any intermediate assets or synthetic tokens.

● NASDAQ has announced plans to extend trading hours by 23 hours per day

Nasdaq announced that it will submit documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, requesting to introduce nearly 24/7 stock trading services. As a result, the trading hours for stocks and exchange-traded products will be extended from 16 hours per week during five trading days to 23 hours per week. Currently, Nasdaq operates three trading sessions during weekdays: pre-market trading from 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET, regular trading from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and post-market trading from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. When implementing the “23/5” trading schedule (23 hours of trading per week), two additional trading sessions will be established. The daytime trading session will start at 4 a.m. and end at 8 p.m., with an hour allocated for maintenance, testing, and settlement purposes. The overnight trading session will begin at 9 p.m. and end at 4 a.m. the next day. The daytime trading session will still include pre-market, regular, and post-market trading periods, along with the usual opening and closing times at 9:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. respectively. During the overnight trading session, trades conducted from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. will be counted as part of the next day’s trading. According to the new plan, the trading week will begin at 9 p.m. on Sunday and end at 8 p.m. after the daytime trading session ends on Friday.

● CME Group will launch futures contracts for XRP and SOL with actual spot prices

The derivatives market operator CME Group has launched XRP and SOL futures with spot-based pricing. These futures will complement existing spot-based Bitcoin and Ethereum futures, and can be traded on four major American stock indices, including the S&P 500 Index, NASDAQ 100 Index, Russell 2000 Index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Additionally, these contracts allow investors to trade futures positions at spot market prices, with longer expiration dates—eliminating the need for regular rollovers.

● Ondo Finance: The largest “tokenized stocks and ETF platform” will launch on the Solana chain in early 2026

According to official announcements, Ondo Finance has announced that its platform will launch on the Solana chain in early 2026.

● Grayscale releases 2026 digital asset outlook, predicting a new high for Bitcoin

Grayscale’s latest report, “2026 Digital Asset Outlook: The Dawn of an Institutional Era,” predicts that Bitcoin prices will reach new highs in the first half of 2026. The report also suggests that the “four-year cycle” theory may come to an end. It notes that macroeconomic demand for alternative value storage and improving regulatory environments will be key drivers of the digital asset market.

The research team expects that the United States will pass legislation to establish a bipartisan crypto market structure in 2026, thereby deepening the integration of blockchain technology with traditional finance. The report emphasizes that continuous inflows of institutional capital into crypto ETF products, along with the rapid development of stablecoins, tokenized assets, and DeFi applications, will further drive up market prices.

Grayscale also identified ten key investment topics for the year 2026, including increased demand for currency alternatives, greater regulatory clarity, expansion of stablecoins, asset tokenization, demand for privacy solutions, and integration of AI with blockchain technologies. It was noted that quantum computing and digital assets will have limited impact on the market in 2026.

● Hashdex has released its predictions for the crypto market in 2026: Cryptocurrencies may begin to replace traditional dollars as a means of payment, and the market value of stablecoins could double

Nate Geraci, co-founder of ETF Institut, shared Hashdex’s predictions for the crypto market in 2026 on the X platform. He pointed out the following:

1. Key topics include: Cryptocurrencies replacing traditional dollars, the leveraging effect of tokenization driving global applications, and AI providing further support for the investment value of cryptocurrencies;

2. Predictions include: The market value of stablecoins could double, the number of tokenized real-world assets could increase tenfold, and the market size of “AI-cryptocurrencies” could reach $10 billion. Additionally, Hashdex suggests that most investors should allocate 5-10% of their funds to cryptocurrencies;

3. Key markets that will benefit from these trends include: smart contracts, platforms like Ethereum and Solana, Bitcoin, and decentralized finance applications.