The Chicago Fed expects the US unemployment rate to remain roughly stable at 4.4% in November.

On December 4th, Meta Platforms (META.O) surged more than 6% in premarket trading after CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to slash Metaverse spending by as much as 30%.

On December 4, per Cointelegraph, Portal to Bitcoin—a Bitcoin-native interoperability protocol—announced it has completed a $25 million funding round led by JTSA Global. Previously, investors including Coinbase Ventures, OKX Ventures and Arrington Capital have backed the firm. Additionally, the company launched its Atomic OTC trading platform, which promises "instant, trustless cross-chain settlement for OTC trades."

On December 4, the U.S. reported weekly initial jobless claims for the week ending November 29 hit 191,000 — the lowest level since the week of September 24, 2022. Economists’ expectations were 220,000. Per CME’s FedWatch Tool, following today’s claims release, the probability the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in December stands at 89.2%, versus 10.8% for holding rates steady.

December 4 U.S. initial jobless claims fell to a more than three-year low last week, with no signs of labor market deterioration. The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that for the week ended Nov. 29, seasonally adjusted initial state unemployment insurance claims dropped 27,000 to 191,000—hitting the lowest level since September 2022 and below the 220,000 market forecast. This reading covers the Thanksgiving holiday last Thursday, when claims data typically sees sharp fluctuations. Current claims levels match historical low layoff levels, easing fears of a sharp labor market downturn. Earlier Wednesday, the ADP Employment Report showed November private-sector employment posted its biggest drop in more than two and a half years. The highly anticipated November nonfarm payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), originally set for Friday release, has been delayed by a record 43-day government shutdown and is now scheduled for Dec. 16. Economists say the l

On-chain analyst Ai Auntie (@ai_9684xtpa) noted on December 4th that address 0xEb2...038cE has accumulated another $8.92 million worth of ETH after a month of inactivity. Two hours earlier, the address withdrew 2,799 ETH from Binance at a withdrawal price of $3,187.45 per ETH—those funds have since been transferred to 0xEb2...038cE. The address now holds 26,720 ETH, totaling approximately $104 million in value.

On December 4, during the closing of Binance Blockchain Week, Heco said: "CZ is history—I’m the future." Earlier reports noted that Binance had announced its co-founder Heco had officially taken on the role of Co-CEO.