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

Dec. 21 – U.S.-listed mining firm Bitdeer disclosed its latest Bitcoin (BTC) holdings data Wednesday, showing 1,996.7 BTC held as of Dec. 19. The company mined 144.1 BTC this week and sold 141.5 BTC in the same span, with total holdings down nearly 20% from the prior month.

As of December 21, Nansen data reveals Dragonfly Capital has transferred a total of 6 million MNT (valued at approximately $6.95 million) to cryptocurrency exchanges over the past 7 days. The firm still holds 9.15 million MNT (worth roughly $10.76 million) across multiple wallets.

On December 21st, Maksim Balashevich—founder of crypto market analysis firm Santiment—stated that social media hasn’t shown enough panic sentiment to confirm a market bottom. Bitcoin could still drop to roughly $75,000, marking a potential 14.77% decline from current levels. Balashevich noted that many users remain optimistic about a short-term trend reversal, but true market bottoms typically don’t form under such conditions. On Thursday, Jurrien Timmer—Fidelity’s Global Macro Research Director—suggested Bitcoin could “pause for a year” in 2026, with prices potentially falling to around $65,000. In contrast, Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan predicted 2026 will be Bitcoin’s “year of ascent.”

December 21: Etherealize co-founder Danny Ryan said the crypto sector needs to “prove its worth” before President Trump leaves office to avoid potential policy reversals under future administrations. The U.S. government is currently pushing legislation that backs crypto and strengthens regulation—but this favorable landscape won’t last forever. The sector needs to move quickly to institutionalize and integrate with capital markets. If crypto can’t show real-world utility while the current administration is in office, future political players could rethink their support for these policies.

On December 21, Nansen’s monitoring data shows Arthur Hayes received around 137,000 PENDLE tokens from Flowdesk roughly 15 minutes ago—valued at approximately $260,000. Yesterday, Hayes noted in a post: “We’re in the process of reallocating from ETH to high-quality DeFi tokens, and we believe these will outperform the market as fiat liquidity improves.”

**December 21st** Next week is set to bring a Christmas market surge, with U.S. stock markets closing early Wednesday and remaining closed all day Thursday for the holiday. Market focus centers on whether former President Trump will announce his Federal Reserve Chair nominee over Christmas. Latest nomination odds (per tracking): - **Kevin Hassett** (White House National Economic Council Director): ~54% (leading) - **Kevin Warsh** (ex-Fed Governor): ~21% - **Christopher Waller** (current Fed Governor): ~14% ### Key Macro Events & Data Next Week - **Tuesday**: U.S. Q3 preliminary real GDP (annualized); Q3 preliminary real personal consumption expenditures (annualized); Q3 preliminary core PCE price index (annualized) - **Wednesday**: Bank of Canada Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes; U.S. initial jobless claims (Dec 20 week) - **Thursday**: BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda speaks at Japan Business Federation; Japan November unemployment rate ### Market Closure Reminders