The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

On December 17th, PolyBeats monitoring (via https://t.me/PolyBeats_Bot) shows that in Kalshi’s prediction market “What is the best AI by the end of 2025,” Google’s Gemini now holds a 94% win probability—up from 30% at the start of this year. OpenAI’s ChatGPT trails at 5% (down from 41% early 2024), while xAI’s Grok sits at 1% (down from 14% early 2024). Trading volume for this market has reached $14.71 million, with final settlement tied to LM Arena leaderboard data. Additionally, Google’s upcoming Gemini model release is imminent, with Google insider NCW again confirming the date as December 17th today. NCW previously accurately pinned the Gemini 3.0 Flash launch to the second half of December, netting nearly $4,000 in profits—all 4 of their historical trades relate to Gemini product release date propositions. Recently, NCW set December 17th as the Gemini 3.0 Flash launch date: they bought “No” on the 16th at an average 80 cents, and “Yes” on the 17th at 78 cents—both positions are

**December 17** U.S. non-farm payrolls (NFP) for November beat expectations by adding 64,000 jobs, though still well below the annual average. The unemployment rate rose to 4.6%—a nearly four-year high. August and September payrolls were revised down by a combined 33,000, signaling the labor market slowdown isn’t just a one-month blip but a sustained structural cool-down. Job gains concentrated in healthcare and construction, while federal government employment continued to shrink. Part-time and short-term unemployment counts climbed, reflecting a shift toward more conservative hiring practices. On the policy front, soft NFP data paired with rising unemployment reinforced market bets on an early Federal Reserve (Fed) pivot. While average hourly earnings held a 3.5% year-over-year gain, data distortions from the government shutdown and frequent revisions have eroded confidence in any single metric. Attention now shifts to trends and the Fed’s policy response framework. For cryp

December 17 IoTeX today announced it has achieved compliance with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation across all 27 European Union (EU) member states and officially launched an IOTX whitepaper compliant with MiCA standards. The move makes IoTeX one of the few blockchain infrastructure platforms to secure EU-level regulatory clarity. MiCA is the EU’s first unified regulatory framework for crypto assets, designed to set consistent standards for disclosure, issuance, and support of digital assets—delivering legal certainty for the long-term growth of Europe’s crypto industry. Now that compliance is complete, EU-based compliant exchanges, custodians, and corporate users can support IOTX assets and their ecosystem applications under a unified regulatory framework, sharply cutting institutional barriers to entry. This milestone not only boosts IOTX’s global compliance credibility but also lays a strong foundation for IoTeX to scale its "Machine Economy" and "Real-World AI"

**MGBX to Launch Christmas Carnival Celebration Limited-Time Event** On December 17th, MGBX announced the upcoming launch of its **Christmas Carnival Celebration** limited-time event, running **December 18 through 31, 2025 (SGT)** and open to all platform users. The event features a multi-reward structure centered on contract trading, covering: - Transaction point rankings - Trading volume rankings - Liquidation subsidies - Christmas Day exclusive rewards - Lucky position airdrops Total rewards are valued at **21,888 USDT**.

On December 17, OnchainLens analytics show a recently created wallet has withdrawn 775.11 BTC (valued at $67.23 million) from Binance.

On December 17, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) opened the X comment section early for his upcoming year-end Q&A, scheduled for the following day. CZ noted he will first address questions from the comment thread during the event, then take live questions. He also asked users not to use their questions to promote any cryptocurrency or project. Earlier reports confirmed the Q&A will take place this Thursday (December 18) at 8:30 PM UTC+8.