Important news from last night and this morning (December 2nd - December 3rd)

MetaMask launches "Transaction Shield," a transaction protection service offering up to $10,000 in compensation per month.

According to a MetaMask announcement, the new "Transaction Shield" feature is now live, providing up to $10,000 in monthly compensation for transactions that pass its security verification, limited to 100 transactions. This service is currently available to extended users, supports multi-chain interaction, and costs $9.99 per month, with a discounted annual price of $99. New users can try it free for 14 days, and it will be expanded to mobile devices in the future.

The USDC Treasury minted an additional 500 million USDC on the Solana blockchain.

At 9:29 and 9:30 (UTC+8), the USDC Treasury minted 250 million USDC on the Solana chain, for a total value of $500 million.

Pump.fun transferred another $75 million USDC to Kraken two hours ago, bringing its total outflows to $555 million.

According to Ember's monitoring, pump.fun transferred another 75 million USDC to Kraken two hours ago. Since November 15, it has transferred a total of approximately $555 million USDC from its ICO sales to the exchange.

Coinbase will launch Dash perpetual contract trading on December 4th.

According to a Coinbase Markets announcement, Dash (DASH) perpetual contract trading will launch on December 4, 2025, with an expected start time after 9:30 AM UTC on that day, subject to liquidity conditions. The contract will be available to retail users in specific regions via Coinbase Advanced, while institutional users can access it through Coinbase International Exchange.

Sources familiar with the matter: Anthropic has begun IPO preparations and could list as early as 2026.

According to the Financial Times, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has hired law firm Wilson Sonsini to begin preparations for one of the largest IPOs in history, potentially as early as 2026. Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the company is in talks for a private funding round with a valuation exceeding $300 billion. Multiple sources also indicated that the company has discussed potential IPO plans with several major investment banks. However, these discussions are still in the preliminary and informal stage, and the company is not yet close to selecting IPO underwriters. An Anthropic spokesperson stated, "For a company of our size and revenue level, operating as efficiently as a publicly traded company is fairly standard practice." "We have not made any decisions regarding when or even if we will go public, and there is no information to share at this time."

CME launches Bitcoin volatility index, similar to the VIX in the stock market.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) announced the launch of new crypto benchmarks, including the Bitcoin Volatility Index (BVX), to quantify market uncertainty. The index references the implied volatility of Bitcoin and Micro Bitcoin options, similar to the VIX in the stock market, aiming to optimize option pricing and risk management. The Bitcoin volatility benchmark launched by CME and CF Benchmarks includes the real-time index BVX and the settlement index BVXS. Both are the first benchmarks to directly measure 30-day forward implied volatility, derived from the CME Bitcoin and Micro Bitcoin options order book, and use variance swap pricing to isolate volatility exposure. BVX is published every second during trading hours, while BVXS is published at 16:00 London time.

Celestia-based AstraNetwork has terminated its shared sorter network.

According to The Block, Astria Network, based on Celestia, "intentionally ceased" operation on December 2nd at block 15,360,577, marking the official shutdown of its shared orderer network. The project, launched in 2023, aimed to provide a decentralized orderer solution for L2 networks and had received a total of $18 million in funding. However, due to limited adoption, the gradual shutdown of key components, and development disruptions, it ultimately decided to withdraw completely, without disclosing detailed reasons for the shutdown.

BitMine's new wallet received over 18,000 ETH, worth over $55 million.

According to Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet under BitMine received 18,345 Ethereum from BitGo, worth approximately $55.25 million at current prices.

Coinbase has included five new tokens in its listing roadmap, including WET, ZKP, and PLUME.

According to Coinbase Markets, Humidifi (WET), zkPass (ZKP), Plume (PLUME), Hyperlane (HYPER), and Jupiter (JUPITER) have been added to Coinbase's listing roadmap, involving Solana, Ethereum, and the Base network. The official statement indicates that official trading launches are subject to market-making support and technical readiness conditions; specific trading times will be announced separately.

Trump has been actively hinting that Hassett will be the next Federal Reserve Chairman.

During a White House meeting, President Trump introduced Hassett, stating that the potential Federal Reserve Chair was "here." Earlier, Trump had indicated he might announce his nominee for Fed Chair early next year, adding that Treasury Secretary Bessett did not want the position.

Tether Treasury mints an additional 1 billion USDT on the Tron network.

According to Whale Alert, at 23:34 Beijing time, Tether Treasury minted an additional 1 billion USDT on the Tron network.

A trader who had previously maintained a nine-game winning streak closed his short positions, incurring losses exceeding $1.78 million.

According to Lookonchain, trader 0xFC78, who had previously maintained a nine-game winning streak, just closed his short position, incurring a loss of over $1.78 million. He had previously earned $2.12 million in profit through nine consecutive winning trades, but this single trade resulted in a loss of over $1.78 million, erasing most of his gains.

Ethereum mainnet gas fees have dropped to as low as $0.02, even lower than some L2 networks.

According to on-chain analyst Ember's monitoring, Ethereum mainnet gas has dropped to as low as 0.1 Gwei. A transaction on the Ethereum mainnet now costs only $0.02 in gas. This is a significant improvement compared to the previous fees of tens or even hundreds of dollars per transaction. The transaction fees for several major L2 blockchains are: ARB $0.004, OP $0.006, and BASE $0.03. The gas fee for BASE, an L2 blockchain, is even higher than that of the mainnet.

VanEck announced that it will extend the zero-fee policy for its Bitcoin ETF until July 31, 2026.

VanEck announced on its X platform that it will extend the zero-fee policy for the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (ticker symbol: HODL) until July 31, 2026.

Sonnet BioTherapeutics receives shareholder approval for a business merger with Hyperliquid Strategies, Inc.

According to market sources, Nasdaq-listed biotechnology company Sonnet BioTherapeutics has received shareholder approval for a business merger with Hyperliquid Strategies, Inc. Previously, it was reported that Sonnet planned to change its name to Hyperliquid Strategies through the merger, and was expected to hold 12.6 million HYPE tokens and $300 million in cash.

Kraken to acquire tokenized asset platform Backed Finance

According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced its acquisition of tokenized asset platform Backed Finance. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated in an interview that Kraken already offers stocks and ETFs issued by Backed, and plans to more tightly integrate these products into its platform following the acquisition. Sethi said, “While everyone is talking about tokenized stocks, we’re already putting it into practice. We’re focused on long-term investing, not hype.” Kraken did not disclose the terms of the transaction. Data from rwa.xyz shows that Backed Finance is currently the second-largest platform in the tokenized listed stock space, with a market share of approximately 23%. Backed’s xStocks product offers exposure to over 60 tokenized stocks and ETFs, all backed one-to-one by underlying assets.

Tether Data Introduces New LLM Inference Runtime Environment and Fine-Tuning Framework: QVAC Fabric LLM

According to its official blog, Tether Data announced the release of QVAC Fabric LLM, a new comprehensive large language model (LLM) inference runtime environment and fine-tuning framework that supports running, training, and customizing large language models directly on everyday hardware such as consumer GPUs, laptops, and even smartphones. Tasks that once required high-end cloud servers or specialized NVIDIA systems can now be accomplished locally on users' existing devices. QVAC Fabric LLM also expands the capabilities of the llama.cpp ecosystem by adding fine-tuning support for modern models such as LLama3, Qwen3, and Gemma3. QVAC Fabric LLM supports training on a wide range of GPUs, including AMD, Intel, NVIDIA, Apple chips, and mobile chips, breaking the long-held assumption that meaningful AI development requires specialized hardware from a single vendor. Tether Data has released QVAC Fabric LLM as open-source software under the Apache 2.0 license and provides multi-platform binaries and ready-to-use adapters on Hugging Face. Developers can begin fine-tuning with just a few commands, lowering the barrier to AI customization.

Circle established the Circle Foundation, dedicated to promoting global financial inclusion.

According to its official blog, Circle announced the establishment of the Circle Foundation, a new philanthropic initiative dedicated to advancing financial resilience and inclusion in the United States and globally. The Circle Foundation, seeded by a 1% equity commitment from Circle, aims to support organizations that can strengthen the financial system, including institutions that work with small businesses in U.S. communities and international organizations that modernize humanitarian aid infrastructure. The Foundation will initially focus on strengthening the financial resilience of small businesses across the United States by providing grants to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). Globally, the Circle Foundation will partner with international organizations to modernize humanitarian financial infrastructure.

Grayscale Chainlink Trust ETF, a new spot ETP, has been listed on the NYSE Arca.

According to Globenewswire, Grayscale announced that the Grayscale Chainlink Trust ETF (ticker symbol GLNK) has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange Arca and will soon begin trading as a spot ETP. GLNK is an exchange-traded product and is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, therefore it is not subject to the same regulations and protections as ETFs and mutual funds registered under Act 40.

Analysis: Suspected PIPPIN insiders control half of the supply, worth $120 million.

Blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps published an article on its X platform claiming that suspected insiders control half of the PIPPIN supply, worth $120 million. They discovered that 50 linked wallets purchased $19 million worth of PIPPIN tokens. These wallets share the following characteristics: they all received HTX funding within a short period, received similar amounts of SOL, and had no prior on-chain activity. Furthermore, they found that 26 addresses withdrew $96 million worth of PIPPIN from the Gate exchange within two months, representing 44% of its total supply. Most withdrawals occurred on October 24th and November 23rd, and most of these wallets were newly funded. In the past two weeks, the price of PIPPIN tokens has increased tenfold, with its market capitalization rising from $20 million to $220 million.

Musk predicts: A $38.3 trillion "crisis" could trigger a surge in Bitcoin prices.

According to Forbes, Elon Musk has again warned that the United States is rapidly heading towards a "debt crisis" that could trigger dramatic fluctuations in Bitcoin prices. Against the backdrop of traders bracing for potential major policy changes from the Federal Reserve in December, Musk predicts that "money as a concept will cease to exist," and energy will become the only "real money." In an interview with Nikhil Kamath, Musk stated, "That's why I say Bitcoin is based on energy; you can't create energy through legislation." He also mentioned that "the United States is significantly increasing the money supply through a deficit of about $2 trillion." Musk further predicted that within three years, the development of artificial intelligence will cause the growth rate of goods and services output to outpace inflation. "In about three years, the growth rate of goods and services output will exceed the growth rate of the money supply. At that time, there may be deflation, interest rates will drop to zero, and the debt problem will be much smaller than it is now." Musk previously helped Trump return to the White House through campaign rallies and warnings about the ever-increasing US debt (currently exceeding $38 trillion), but his relationship with Trump deteriorated sharply after Trump failed to control government spending. While Musk's support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has waned from its peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, he continues to endorse Bitcoin and Dogecoin. After leaving the White House, Musk stated that his "American Party" would favor Bitcoin over the US dollar, calling the dollar and other non-asset-backed currencies "hopeless." Previously, in October, Musk stated that Bitcoin relies on unforgeable energy, while fiat currencies suffer from the problem of fiat currency issuance.

Binance Alpha has launched the second round of OVERTAKE (TAKE) airdrop rewards, with a minimum of 253 points required to claim.

Binance Alpha has announced the launch of the second round of the OVERTAKE (TAKE) airdrop rewards. Users with at least 253 Binance Alpha Points can claim an airdrop of 105 TAKE tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully allocated, the score threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha Events page within 24 hours; otherwise, they will be considered to have forfeited their airdrop claim.

Crypto wallet Trust Wallet launches prediction market, initially integrating Myriad.

According to Cointelegraph, Trust Wallet, the self-custodied cryptocurrency wallet owned by Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, has become the latest wallet to enter the prediction market. The company announced on Tuesday the launch of a new native "Prediction" feature, allowing users to trade and profit from real-world events in a fully self-custodied manner. Starting today, Trust Wallet's "Prediction" feature will integrate market information from multiple platforms, enabling users to trade on a wide range of topics, including cryptocurrencies, politics, sports, entertainment, and global events. Trust Wallet's foray into prediction markets begins with integration with the Web3 prediction market protocol Myriad, and plans to expand to major platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket soon.

BlackRock transferred approximately 1,634 BTC to Coinbase Prime.

According to Solid Intel, BlackRock transferred 1,633,875 BTC (worth $142.6 million) to Coinbase Prime.

US SEC Chairman: Innovation Exemption for Cryptocurrency Companies to Take Effect in January Next Year

According to market sources, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Atkins stated that the innovation exemption for cryptocurrency companies will take effect in January next year.

The board of directors of Token Cat Limited, a US-listed company, approved a $1 billion cryptocurrency investment policy.

According to PR Newswire, Token Cat Limited (NASDAQ: TC) announced that its board of directors has formally approved a crypto asset investment policy, authorizing the company to allocate a portion of its cash reserves to selected crypto assets under a strict risk management framework. The board has approved a maximum overall allocation limit of $1 billion for the digital asset plan. Deployment will be phased in based on market conditions, risk assessment, and fund management needs. The initial allocation will focus on tokens from emerging crypto projects with strong growth prospects, including assets related to artificial intelligence, on-chain raw data initiatives, and token-equity hybrid models. Future expansion to other asset classes will require reassessment and approval by the board's risk committee. The company will not self-custody the purchased crypto assets. A crypto asset risk committee, led by the CFO, has been established to oversee asset allocation, manage risk controls, and report regularly to the board.

The market capitalization of Web3 gaming tokens is currently $8.83 billion, a 69% decrease year-over-year.

According to Cryptopolitan, the current market capitalization of Web3 game tokens is $8.83 billion, a 69% year-over-year decrease and a 34% drop over the past month. Amid the cryptocurrency winter, despite ongoing collaboration news, trading volume has failed to pick up. In late November, the GameFi sector experienced a brief bull run, with its market capitalization increasing by 7% to nearly $10 billion in two weeks, while trading volume surged by 103% to $6.1 billion. However, according to CoinMarketCap charts, this rebound was short-lived, with a correction on December 1st causing the sector's market capitalization to fall below $9 billion for the first time in over a year. Sentiment within the GameFi ecosystem is subdued, with little discussion on crypto Twitter and one of the lowest levels of enthusiasm in nearly five years. Many Web3 game users are using these platforms primarily for speculative purposes rather than for gameplay. This has led to the closure of at least 27 studios between January and October of this year. Venture capital interest has also cooled, with funding for new Web3 game projects drying up compared to previous cycles. For Web3 games to return to the level that the industry considers unmissable, AAA game publishers need to take an interest in Web3 games and invest more money in them.

Bank of America recommends that its wealth management clients allocate 1%–4% to crypto assets.

According to Yahoo Finance, Bank of America (BAC) has advised its wealth management clients to consider allocating a certain percentage of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies. The firm recommends that clients of its Merrill Lynch, Bank of America Private Bank, and Merrill Lynch Edge platforms allocate 1%-4% of their funds to digital assets. Its investment strategists will begin monitoring four Bitcoin ETFs (BITB, FBTC, Grayscale Mini Trust, and IBIT) starting in January 2026. Chris Hyzy, Chief Investment Officer of Bank of America Private Bank, stated in a press release: “A moderate allocation of 1%-4% to digital assets may be appropriate for investors with a strong interest in thematic innovation and who can tolerate high volatility. Our recommendation emphasizes choosing regulated investment vehicles, making thoughtful asset allocations, and clearly understanding the opportunities and risks involved. For investors with a more conservative risk appetite, the lower end of this allocation range may be more suitable; while for investors with a higher overall portfolio risk tolerance, the upper end is more appropriate.”

The Euro Stablecoin Alliance will appoint a former executive from Coinbase, Germany, as its CEO.

According to Reuters, ten major European banks, including ING and UniCredit, have formed an Amsterdam-based company to launch a stablecoin pegged to the euro, a move expected to help them counter the US dominance in digital payments. The group announced at a press conference in Amsterdam on Tuesday that Jan-Oliver Sell, formerly of Coinbase in Germany, will serve as the new company's CEO. Floris Lugt, ING's head of digital assets, will become CFO, and Howard Davies, former chairman of NatWest, will become chairman. The new company's CFO announced that BNP Paribas has also joined the group, a move initially announced in September.

Twenty One Capital's IPO progress: A shareholder vote on the merger was held on December 3rd, and the merger could be completed as early as next week.

Jack Mallers, CEO of Bitcoin finance company Twenty One Capital, disclosed the latest developments regarding XXI on the X platform: Cantor Equity Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: CEP) will hold a shareholder vote at 10:00 AM local time on December 3rd to approve its business merger with Twenty One Capital. If the vote is approved, the two companies could complete the merger as early as next week and officially begin their IPO process. He hopes all CEP shareholders will participate in the vote. Previously, it was reported that Twenty One would seek to trade under the ticker symbol "XXI" after the merger. Related reading: Masayoshi Son plans to join forces with stablecoin giant Tether to create a $3 billion crypto joint venture; is the Bitcoin hoarding strategy entering a 2.0 era?

The Central Bank of Russia has confirmed that Russia may relax regulations on cryptocurrencies.

According to Cryptopolitan, last week, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov stated that financial regulators are prepared to abandon a single regulatory definition that only allows a small group of "highly qualified" investors access to decentralized digital currencies such as Bitcoin and their derivatives. Vladimir Chistyukhin, First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, confirmed to reporters: "Indeed, our colleagues in the Ministry of Finance correctly pointed out that we are discussing the feasibility of using the term 'highly qualified' in the new cryptocurrency regulations." On Monday, in an interview, he explicitly stated that the Central Bank of Russia now believes it is "very likely" to relax regulations, adding: "In addition to targeting this extremely narrow group of investors, the rules for the circulation of crypto assets should also be relaxed, especially considering the current restrictions on Russian legal entities and individuals using conventional currencies for overseas payments."

An ancient whale has sold off 3,000 ETH again after a week, nearly liquidating its entire holdings.

According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, the "ancient whale" holding 254,900 ETH in the ETH ICO appears to have sold another 3,000 ETH, worth $8.4 million, after a week's hiatus, nearly liquidating his entire holdings. This OG has deposited a total of 23,000 ETH into exchanges in the past week; if sold, he would profit $66.53 million, with a cost as low as $0.31 per ETH. Currently, he only has 69.83 ETH remaining on-chain, worth approximately $195,000.

The Polish president vetoed a bill that would have imposed strict regulations on the cryptocurrency market.

According to Cointelegraph, Polish President Karol Nawrocki's refusal to sign a bill imposing strict regulations on the cryptocurrency market has won praise from the cryptocurrency community but drawn sharp criticism from the government. In a statement released Monday by the president's press office, Nawrocki vetoed Poland's "Crypto-Asset Markets Law," stating that its provisions "significantly threaten the freedom, property, and national stability of Poles." One of the main reasons for the veto was that the bill would allow authorities to easily block cryptocurrency market websites; the president's office stated that "domain blocking laws are opaque and could lead to abuse." Furthermore, the bill was criticized for its length and complexity, reducing transparency and leading to "over-regulation," contrasting sharply with the simpler regulatory frameworks of countries like the Czech Republic. Nawrocki also emphasized that excessive regulatory costs would stifle startups and benefit foreign companies and banks. The bill, introduced in June, drew criticism from industry figures such as Polish politician Tomasz Mentzen, who anticipated the president would refuse to sign it after parliamentary approval. Cryptocurrency advocates viewed the veto as a market victory, while several government officials condemned the move, saying the president "chose chaos" and must be held accountable for the outcome.

A major whale shorted a basket of 21 altcoins and has now made a floating profit of $6.417 million.

According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, address 0xa31...8aD1E has consistently adhered to a "short altcoin" strategy since June of this year. Since the flash crash on October 11, profits have increased significantly, with the total account profit exceeding $78.86 million. Currently, only ENA is a long position with a floating loss among his 22 positions, while the remaining 21 short positions are profitable. The top short position is ASTER (floating profit of $1.955 million). The total floating profit of the 21 short positions is currently $6.417 million.

Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed that it holds $1.28 million worth of Solana ETFs.

According to Cryptopolitan, Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald disclosed that it holds $1.28 million worth of Volatility Shares Solana ETF shares, marking the first time the firm has been revealed to hold regulated Solana products. The filing, submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in mid-November, lists 58,000 shares of the Volatility Shares Solana ETF (NASDAQ: SOLZ). At the time of the filing, its Volatility Shares Solana ETF holdings were valued at $1,282,960.