Trump Imposes Full Blockade on Entry and Exit of Sanctioned Venezuelan Oil Tankers, Saying Fleet Has Fully Encircled Venezuela

On December 18, Coinbase announced that its Base App—previously available only by invitation—has opened to the general public. Over 1 million people had been waiting patiently for access as the team gradually expanded spots. Over the past few months, the team has continuously gathered feedback, rolled out updates, and worked to refine the experience daily. Today, the invitation-only phase officially concludes, and the all-new Base App is now accessible to everyone.

December 18th — Monitoring from HyperInsight (via its Telegram channel) and CoinGlass shows the largest single liquidation event in the past 24 hours hit $11.08 million, stemming from a HYPE long position held by an address starting with 0xbad on Hyperliquid. This address saw three major liquidations this morning totaling approximately $26.3 million, for a total loss of $8.0029 million. As of now, its next liquidation price is $23.6, with a position size of roughly $26.81 million, an average entry price of $31.2, and an unrealized loss of $7.7 million (-143.6%). Additionally, the largest HYPE long position is held by a “HYPE Bull” whale. This whale has an unrealized loss of $19.77 million (-294%), a position size of around $33.61 million, an average entry price of $38.6, and a liquidation price of $20.65. The address previously established a large long position ahead of Robinhood’s October 23rd announcement that it would launch HYPE spot trading.

**December 18** Per Coinglass data, funding rates across major centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges signal an overall bearish market for leading crypto assets. Specific funding rates for mainstream coins are outlined in the accompanying chart. **BlockBeats Note**: Funding rates are fees set by crypto exchanges to align perpetual contract prices with underlying asset values. They represent a fund transfer between long and short traders—**no charge is applied by the platform itself**. The rate adjusts traders’ holding costs or profits to keep contract prices close to spot values. **Benchmark Context**: - 0.01% = benchmark rate - >0.01% = bullish market sentiment - <0.005% = bearish market sentiment ### Key adjustments for American English/financial news style: 1. **Conciseness**: Replaced wordy phrases (e.g., "according to" → "per"; "maintain balance between" → "align...with") 2. **Structure**: Used bullet points for benchmark rules (easier to scan,

**December 18 — Per a Wall Street Journal report, former President Donald Trump recently met with prominent attorney Alan Dershowitz at the White House to discuss the possibility of staying in office after the 2028 election and pursuing a third presidential term.** Dershowitz, who advised Trump during his first impeachment, submitted a book draft to Trump titled *Can President Trump Serve a Third Term Under the Constitution*—it explores hypothetical paths to circumvent the U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which explicitly limits presidents to two elected terms. Trump expressed interest in reading the draft and asked for Dershowitz’s take on the legality of a third term. In an interview, Dershowitz noted the Constitution is not “entirely clear” on the issue, framing it as more of an “academic and intellectual discussion.” He doubts Trump will actually govern or run for a third term before 2032. One scenario Dershowitz put forward: If the Electoral College fails to secure the

On Wednesday, December 18, Coinbase announced during a press conference the launch of a custom stablecoin service enabling enterprises to create branded stablecoins—hosted by Coinbase and fully backed 1:1 by collateral assets. Key benefits include: - Yield tied to usage and transaction activity - Seamless cross-chain interoperability - Access to Coinbase’s global distribution network

As of December 18, data from Coinbob Popular Address Monitor reveals updates on key crypto trading addresses: 1. **pension-usdt.eth** Fully closed an ETH short position in the past 9 hours, incurring an unrealized loss of ~$2.09 million. The prior 3x-leveraged ETH short had a notional value of ~$75 million. 2. **BTC OG Insider Whale** Still holds an unrealized loss exceeding $74 million with no position changes today. Primary holdings are ETH long positions: - Unrealized loss: ~$65.6 million (-60%) - Average entry price: $3,167 - Position size: ~$539 million Also holds BTC and SOL long positions (both in unrealized loss). Total account position size: ~$655 million—now ranks 1st on Hyperliquid’s ETH long position leaderboard. 3. **Ultimate Short** Closed another ~$5.97 million BTC short position this morning, realizing a profit of ~$1.75 million. Current status: - BTC short size: ~$50.38 million - Unrealized profit: ~$14.56 million (