Walther has completed the interview, with Polymarket's prediction market currently indicating a 14% probability of him being the next Chair of the Federal Reserve.

On December 19, Bitwise Managing Director Bradley Duke noted: “Despite gold’s strong price performance in 2025, fund inflows into Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) have outpaced those of gold ETPs this year.”

On December 19, U.S.-listed Bitcoin mining firm Cango announced via X that it mined 125.8 BTC this week. As of now, its total Bitcoin holdings stand at 7,290 BTC.

Dec 19 — CoinGlass data shows total network liquidations reached $61.8 million in the past hour, with $4.59 million in long positions and $57.2 million in short positions liquidated.

On December 19, HTX market data shows Bitcoin topped $89,000, up 1.37% over the past 24 hours. Ethereum crossed $3,000, posting a 24-hour gain of 2.54%.

The Federal Reserve announced Friday it’s seeking feedback on creating limited “payment accounts” for certain financial institutions. These accounts would let institutions use the Fed’s payment services for clearing and settling transactions—but won’t grant the broader access to facilities that banks currently enjoy. Fed Governor Christopher Waller noted such accounts could “support innovation” while safeguarding the payment system’s security. If established, the accounts would be separate from the Fed’s master accounts, earn no interest, and not have access to the Fed’s credit services. They’d also be subject to balance limits. Waller first floated the idea last October, as the Fed aimed to balance enabling wider use of its payment services by fintech firms and other entities—without giving full master account access to less-regulated groups. (Jinse Finance)

December 19th — On-chain analyst Ai Auntie (@ai_9684xtpa) notes that CZ holds over $2 million worth of ASTER tokens, with an average entry price of roughly $0.913 per token. ASTER’s current market price is $0.729, leaving CZ with an unrealized loss of about 20%. Separately, crypto influencer EnHeng withdrew 1,001,444 ASTER tokens from Binance 15 minutes ago. The withdrawal totals around $704,000, with the tokens pulled at a price of $0.7064 each.