CZ: Any information claiming to assist with listings is a scam. Recently, a certain national president's inquiry was also rejected.

On December 17th, AirSwap founder Michael Oved announced in a post that Harbor—a chain-agnostic DeFi liquidity layer—completed a $4.2 million seed funding round this spring and summer, led by Susquehanna Crypto and Triton Capital. Triton Capital—formerly Kraken Ventures—is the venture capital arm of Kraken, a leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. Additional investors include market makers Selini, Auros, Hermeneutic, and Kronos Research, plus several prominent crypto family offices and top angel investors. Harbor has officially launched. Built from the ground up for professional liquidity providers, the chain-agnostic DeFi liquidity layer offers narrower spreads, a predictable trading experience, and real, verifiable performance. Over time, the protocol will expand its suite of DeFi primitives to include Bitcoin and stablecoins, with plans to eventually cover all on-chain global assets gradually.

Nvidia (NVDA.O) shares fell to a three-week low on December 17th, declining 2%, according to FXStreet.

Dec. 17 U.S. Stock Open: Major indices edged higher: The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12%, the S&P 500 added 0.03%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.07%. Crypto-related stocks performance: - MicroStrategy (MSTR): +0.46% - Circle (CRCL): +2.00% - Coinbase (COIN): +2.57% - DraftKings (SBET): +0.21% - BMNR: +0.54%

**December 17th** Lael Brainard—current Federal Reserve Board member and a finalist for the next Fed Chair—said Wednesday the U.S. labor market is “very weak” and employment growth “not optimistic,” adding the central bank still has room to cut interest rates. She backs further rate cuts to return the Fed’s policy rate to neutral, while noting policymakers don’t need to rush the move. Brainard expressed confidence in stable inflation expectations and dismissed concerns about renewed price pressure acceleration. When asked by a CNBC reporter if she would emphasize Fed independence in a meeting with Trump, she replied, “Of course.” Trump has repeatedly commented on Fed decisions, accusing the central bank of cutting rates too slowly. He has harshly criticized Fed Chair Jerome Powell—whom he appointed—and publicly said he considered firing Powell before his term ends. Brainard was appointed by Trump and confirmed by the Senate to the Fed Board in late 2020. She has since eme

December 17 (Tuesday) — U.S. nonfarm payrolls data shows the November unemployment rate rose from 4% during the Trump administration to 4.6%. While the jump is concerning, such increases are not unprecedented historically. Per Wall Street Journal (WSJ) statistics, since 1953, six U.S. presidents have seen an increase in the unemployment rate in the first 10 months of their first term (Trump was in his second term, but terms were non-consecutive). They include: - Eisenhower (2.9% → 3.5%) - Nixon (3.4% → 3.5%) - Ford (5.5% → 8.8%) - Reagan (7.5% → 8.3%) - George W. Bush (4.2% → 5.5%) - Obama (7.8% → 9.9%) Ford took office after Nixon’s resignation, making his data less comparable. Of the other five presidents, all except George W. Bush saw their party lose at least 12 House seats in the subsequent midterm elections. Bush’s 2002 midterms focused on national security (not the economy) due to the 9/11 attacks. Obama faced the biggest setback — calling it a “shellacking” —

Dec. 17 — Spot gold jumped more than 1% intraday, last trading at $4,345.40 an ounce.