Musk: Grok 4.20 to be released in approximately three weeks, while Grok 5 is scheduled for release in a few months.

On December 11, a16z released its annual report covering key blockchain and crypto industry areas: stablecoins, tokenization, payments & finance, privacy, security, AI, and oracles. Notably, the report highlighted that stablecoin transaction volume hit $46 trillion in 2024—20 times PayPal’s annual volume and nearly three times Visa’s. It also noted progress in traditional asset tokenization, where assets like U.S. stocks, commodities, and indexes are being brought onto blockchains via cryptographic techniques. Additionally, a16z discussed the outlook for AI-crypto integration and predicted decentralized payment systems will see widespread adoption by 2026.

**December 11: Powell’s Aggressive Rate-Cut Push—His Most Divisive Fed Tenure Move** In his *Wall Street Journal* “Fed Whisperer” column, Nick Timiraos reported that Jerome Powell pushed aggressively for a rate-cutting plan—one of the most divisive decisions of his nearly eight-year term at the Federal Reserve. The softening of that pro-rate-cut stance also sent a clear message to President Trump and future administrations: rate cuts aren’t as straightforward as they may seem. By 2026, three paths could enable rate cuts: 1. Wait for clear signs of cooling inflation (a process requiring at least some time). 2. Gather mounting evidence of a sharply deteriorating labor market—a scenario signaling economic weakness no president wants. 3. Overhaul the makeup of the Fed’s policy-setting committee (the group that meets in its boardroom). Investors are closely tracking this dynamic: the Trump administration’s recent challenges to Fed institutional norms have been likened to a ve

On December 11, CZ referenced Brenda—a U.S. lottery winner from Quebec—who 20 years ago rejected a $1 million lump sum in favor of a $1,000 weekly lifetime annuity. He advised her to cash out the annuity and invest in Bitcoin or BNB for higher returns. Assuming Brenda lives to age 100, her total annuity payout will be approximately $5.2 million (not inflation-adjusted). Returns from a $1 million investment in Bitcoin (currently $90,000 per coin) or BNB ($865 per coin), by comparison, would far exceed that amount. “We’ll see,” he noted.

**Terraform Labs Founder Do Kwon Set to Face Sentencing Ruling From Manhattan Judge Today** Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon is scheduled to receive a sentencing ruling from U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in a Manhattan court later on December 11th. Prosecutors have requested the court to sentence Kwon to 12 years in prison, citing his guilty plea among other factors. Earlier, at a hearing before Federal Judge Paul Engelmayer of the Southern District of New York, Kwon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and telecommunications fraud. In January of this year, he had pleaded not guilty to nine charges in the case, including securities fraud, telecommunications fraud, commodities fraud, and money laundering. (Source: Decrypt)

On December 11th at the Solana Breakpoint Conference, Sunrise CEO Saeed noted that the first asset listed by Sunrise on Solana is the MON token. This non-native token—originally not issued on Solana—was integrated into the Solana ecosystem on day one, even its first minute of launch. It competes not only with all other on-chain exchanges but also major centralized exchanges (CEXs). Within 24 hours of listing, MON’s trading volume outpaced well-known platforms including Hyperliquid, KuCoin, Kraken, Coinbase, Bybit, Bitget, and Gate—some of which boast user bases exceeding 1 million. Most impressively, it offers tighter spreads than these established CEXs, higher trading volume, and all this is backed by Solana’s native ecosystem user base.

On December 11, He Yi responded to a question about "how to become a Binance content editor" on X, saying: "It’s a high-risk profession. One person has been arrested, another is under investigation, and the individual who added me on WeChat is being pursued. There’s no need to dig for angles in official announcements or focus on content editors. I won’t engage with memes of this kind going forward."