NonFungibleDegen

Despite the poor price of Ether, developer enthusiasm remains high, with new smart contract deployments surpassing 8.7 million in the fourth quarter, reaching a record high. Factors driving the development boom include the tokenization of real-world assets, iterations in the stablecoin ecosystem, and infrastructure improvements. The value of the settlement layer reflects the long-term signals from developers.

[Crypto World] The recent crypto market has once again stirred up waves. Some large-scale crypto projects are facing increasing scrutiny, including flagship stablecoin products and various meme tokens.
It is reported that relevant regulatory authorities are intensifying their focus on these types of projects. Among them, a cluster of projects with a funding scale of approximately $800 million has attracted strong concern from policymakers due to multiple risk factors. Critics point out that these projects concentrate control over financial power and regulatory authority, creating unprecedented conflicts of interest—from stablecoin mechanism design to the issuance of meme tokens, there is a clear imbalance of power within the ecosystem.
What’s more noteworthy is that the potential risks behind these projects go far beyond the surface. The association of certain trading platforms (such as a well-known DEX) with these products has raised attention, especially regarding the potential risks of illegal financial activities. Federal investigations officially commenced in December last year, focusing on

Economist Peter Schiff pointed out that many stock investors are in denial, with silver prices soaring over 35% while related stock ETFs only increased by 11%, highlighting asset expectation disparities. This phenomenon may reflect market re-pricing.

【ChainNews】Gate.com has just launched the pre-market trading of BREV perpetual contracts. This new product supports USDT settlement, with leverage options from 1x to 10x. If you want to get ahead of BREV's trend, now you have the opportunity to participate in perpetual contract trading during the pre-market phase.

【Crypto World】Japanese publicly listed company Metaplanet recently announced a significant increase in Bitcoin holdings, purchasing an additional 4,279 Bitcoins with a transaction value of approximately $370 million. This move has pushed its total Bitcoin holdings to over $3 billion, further solidifying its position in the global institutional-grade crypto asset allocation. As a typical example of traditional listed companies venturing into digital assets, Metaplanet's continuous expansion strategy reflects institutional investors' recognition of Bitcoin's long-term value. Such large-scale position changes often serve as important market sentiment indicators.

A top trader has recently been frequently building short positions, initially making a profit of $3.08 million on ETH, then increasing the short position to $132 million. They continued adding to their positions on ZEC and MON, with ZEC short positions reaching $20.29 million, a floating loss of $4.48 million, while MON short positions yielded a profit of $2.95 million. The total account short positions increased from $113 million to $163 million.

A Canadian named Haby impersonated a customer service representative of a well-known trading platform, using social engineering tactics to scam over $2 million in cryptocurrency assets, and then squandered the funds. This case serves as a reminder for everyone to be vigilant against customer service impersonation scams and to protect account information.

Cryptocurrency company ALT5 Sigma encounters trouble due to expired audit credentials and is unable to operate legally in Texas. Although the company is working on renewal, its stock has plummeted by 77%, investors are concerned about its situation, quarterly reports have not yet been submitted, and it faces the risk of delisting from NASDAQ. This case highlights the importance of compliance risks.

Trend Research recently purchased 27,598 ETH, investing approximately $83.05 million, demonstrating continued confidence in Ethereum. Its total on-chain holdings have increased to 607,598 ETH, and despite currently experiencing an unrealized loss of about $117 million, it remains actively deploying DeFi strategies.

A short-selling expert strikes again, shorting with 10x leverage during Bitcoin's pullback, holding a short position of 409.58 BTC worth $36 million. The entry cost was $87,892, indicating their confidence in the bearish market and their judgment of a subsequent decline.

On December 29th, a major trader closed a SOL short position, earning $58,300, but then increased their short positions on ETH and BTC to $46.07 million and $77.05 million respectively, increasing risk and experiencing significant unrealized losses, facing liquidation risk.

Rainbow Six Siege recently experienced a severe hacking incident, with hackers taking control of the game's core systems and distributing 2 billion virtual currency R6 points to each player. Ubisoft responded swiftly by revoking recent points and suspending the game servers, striving to restore order. This incident has seriously impacted the game's economic balance and player trust.