Pre-market Crypto Stock Watch: Mixed Performance, CRCL Down 1.35%

Dec 29 – Liquid Capital (formerly LD Capital) founder Yi Lihua addressed Trend Research’s multiple large ETH purchases today in a social media post: “We’re continuing to buy the dip with $1 billion. In the 2026 bull market cycle, the play is to go long—not short. There’s only one constant in crypto history: buy in bear markets, sell in bull markets.” Previously, BlockBeats noted that on Dec 24, Yi posted: “Trend Research is lining up another $1 billion to keep buying ETH. We walk the talk. Strongly advise against shorting—this is undoubtedly a historic opportunity.”

On December 29, per Ai Auntie’s monitoring, Trend Research—Yi Lihua’s subsidiary—withdrew another 5,011 ETH (worth $14.68 million) from Binance one hour later. Its latest on-chain ETH holdings total 612,609 ETH, valued at $1.79 billion overall. The average cost per ETH is $3,109.58, with an unrealized loss of $107 million.

Binance Alpha’s second-round MetaArena (TIMI) airdrop is now live as of December 29, per an official announcement. Users need at least 241 Binance Alpha Points to claim 1,000 TIMI tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If rewards aren’t fully distributed, the points threshold will drop by 5 points every 5 minutes. Note: Claiming the airdrop will cost 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours—otherwise, they’ll forfeit the airdrop.

On December 29, per monitoring from HyperInsight (via its Telegram channel @HyperInsight), key whale position shifts between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM ET today are as follows: ### **Bullish Camp** - The whale nicknamed *"30-time long and never give up"* actively opened long positions this morning (targets: NEAR, ETH, HYPE). This afternoon, it continuously rolled positions, boosting its HYPE long holdings by over 58,000 coins. By day’s end, it closed out positions: took profits on SEI and ETH, and stopped out on NEAR. - *"Buddy Huang"* added 40,000 HYPE long positions this afternoon (a slight position increase), with total holdings now ~$1.3 million. Bullish on HYPE short-term, it fully closed stop-loss positions within the past hour. - The *"LIT on-chain Lighter largest bull"* placed multiple high-level take-profit orders on LIT contracts (target >$4.1). Despite floating losses, it has held firm without reducing positions. ### **Bearish Camp** - The *"ZEC largest bear"* opened a

On December 29, Bitget announced via an official statement that it has launched the USD-denominated MAGMA perpetual contract, with leverage options ranging from 1x to 20x. Contract trading bots will also launch simultaneously.

December 29 As Trump launches his “2.0 era,” the Federal Reserve faces unprecedented political pressure. Trump has publicly clashed with Fed Chair Jerome Powell (rarely in public settings, per reports) and repeatedly criticized the central bank’s monetary policy. He has also been reported to seek undermining Powell’s influence via a “shadow chairman” arrangement, raising market concerns about the Fed’s independence. Reports note Trump has accused Powell of “politically motivated rate cuts” and targeted other Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members—including efforts to oust Fed Governor Lisa Cook. The case is set for trial in January 2025, marking a major test of the line between the White House and independent federal agencies. Against this backdrop, a pattern of “selective silence” has emerged among Fed officials and staff, who stress policy is rooted solely in economic data to avoid further political friction. While analysts say the Fed’s institutional independence and m