Crypto Market Fear Subsides Significantly, Today's Fear and Greed Index at 45

On December 16, cryptocurrency wallet provider Rainbow Foundation announced its RNBW token’s Token Generation Event (TGE) is scheduled for February 5, 2026. Additionally, the foundation will become Rainbow Company’s largest single shareholder upon token issuance, holding a 20% equity stake in the firm. Token holders and shareholders will enjoy the same benefits. In the event of a future acquisition of Rainbow, the foundation will gradually dissolve and distribute its net assets—including proceeds from its 20% equity stake—to token holders.

On December 16, asset management firm Bitwise released its top 10 cryptocurrency market predictions for 2026, plus an additional forecast: 1. Bitcoin will break its four-year cycle and surge to a new all-time high. 2. Bitcoin’s volatility will fall below that of Nvidia. 3. ETFs will absorb more than 100% of the new supply of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, with institutional demand accelerating. 4. Crypto-related stocks will outperform tech stocks. 5. Polymarket’s open interest will reach a new high, exceeding levels seen during the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 6. Stablecoins will face accusations of destabilizing emerging market currencies. 7. On-chain treasuries (dubbed “ETF 2.0”) will double their assets under management. 8. Ethereum and Solana will surge to new highs—provided the CLARITY Act passes. 9. Half of Ivy League endowment funds will allocate capital to cryptocurrencies. 10. The U.S. will list more than 100 crypto-linked ETFs. Additional forecast:

On December 16, Stable Swap—a Uniswap fork protocol deployed by blockchain dev service provider Protofire—was integrated into Stable, bringing Uniswap V2 and V3 functionality to the platform.

On December 16, U.S. stock markets opened lower across the three major indices, per market data: - Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA): Down 0.02% at open - S&P 500 Index: Dropped 0.13% at open - Nasdaq Composite: Fell 0.19% at open In contrast, cryptocurrency-related U.S. stocks rose against the broader market trend, with these moves: - MicroStrategy (MSTR): +2.5% - Circle (CRCL): +5.1% - Coinbase (COIN): +1.7% - Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA): +2.4% - Riot Platforms (RIOT): +0.04% - BitMine Immersion (BMNR): +0.7% - SharpLink Gaming (SBET): +0.68%

December 16, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Shanghai Head Office reminded the public that the digital renminbi (e-CNY) is a digital form of legal tender, operating under a two-tier system involving the central bank and digital currency operators. There are no private promotion centers for the e-CNY, and no "digital renminbi promoter exam" exists. The e-CNY has no room for speculation. There are no so-called "exchange subsidies," "transaction rebates," high commissions, or promises of high returns on holdings. It will never induce users to disclose personal sensitive information or participate in pyramid schemes. When faced with offers of "high returns" or "risk-free profits" from alleged "digital renminbi investments," stay alert, don’t be gullible, and guard against scams to avoid financial losses. If you suspect a scam, contact police right away.

**Dec. 16 (CoinDesk) —** Strata protocol developer Frontera Labs has closed a $3 million seed funding round, led by Maven 11 Capital, with participation from Lightspeed Faction, Halo Capital, Heartcore Capital, Anchorage Digital Ventures, Nayt Technologies, Split Capital and others. Frontera Labs launched the decentralized risk-layering protocol Strata, which packages on-chain and off-chain revenue strategies into tokenized risk-layering products—each layer featuring distinct risk-return profiles.