PA Daily News | Venezuela reportedly has over 600,000 Bitcoins in its "shadow reserves"; Binance HODLer airdrops Brevis (BREV).

Today's top news highlights:

Venezuela holds 240 bitcoins, and analysts estimate that its "shadow reserve" of bitcoins may exceed 600,000.

Financial Times: PwC is actively expanding into the cryptocurrency sector.

Starting today, Bank of America is allowing wealth advisors to recommend 4% Bitcoin allocations.

Japan's Finance Minister has designated 2026 as the "Digital Year Zero," supporting the promotion of digital assets through exchanges.

The market capitalization of the Memecoin sector rose 23% this week, while trading volume surged 300%.

CoinShares: Global digital asset inflows reached $47.2 billion in 2025, slightly lower than the record set in 2024.

Binance HODLer airdrop has now launched its 60th project, Brevis (BREV).

Bitcoin mining company MARA transferred 288 BTC to Wintertermute

Macro & Regulatory

Japan's Finance Minister has designated 2026 as the "Digital Year Zero," supporting the promotion of digital assets through exchanges.

According to CoinPost, Japan's Minister of Finance and Financial Services, Saki Katayama, stated at the Tokyo Stock Exchange's New Year opening ceremony that 2026 will be designated as the "Year Zero of Digital Assets," emphasizing the crucial role of commodity and securities exchanges in promoting the widespread adoption of digital and blockchain assets. She pointed out that to ensure the public truly benefits from digital assets, their adoption should be driven by exchange infrastructure. She also mentioned the trend in the US of using ETFs to hedge against inflation, suggesting that Japan should actively promote similar developments, and stated that as Minister of Finance, she will fully support exchanges in creating an advanced digital asset trading environment.

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda: If economic outlook expectations are met, interest rates will be raised at an opportune time.

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda stated that if economic and price trends align with their forecasts, the Bank of Japan expects to continue its pace of interest rate hikes.

Project Updates

Binance HODLer airdrop has now launched its 60th project, Brevis (BREV).

PANews reported on January 5th that, according to an official announcement, Binance's HODLer airdrop has now listed the 60th project – Brevis (BREV), a smart, verifiable computing platform that provides infrastructure for scalable, trustless computing across blockchain, data, and AI systems. From 08:00 on December 17th, 2025 to 07:59 on December 20th, 2025 (UTC+8), users who subscribe to BNB-based capital-protected earning products (fixed-term and/or flexible) or on-chain earning products will receive an airdrop allocation. HODLer airdrop information is expected to be available within 24 hours, and the new tokens will be distributed to users' spot wallets at least one hour before trading begins. Binance will list BREV on January 6th, 2026 at 22:00 (UTC+8) and open trading pairs against USDT, USDC, BNB, and TRY, subject to seed tag trading rules. The BREV deposit channel will open on January 5, 2026 at 20:00 (UTC+8). *Please note that BREV will be listed and traded during the Binance Alpha event (time to be announced later), but BREV will no longer be displayed on Binance Alpha after spot trading opens.

Starting today, Bank of America is allowing wealth advisors to recommend 4% Bitcoin allocations.

According to The Bitcoin Historian, Bank of America, with $1.7 trillion in assets, is now officially allowing its wealth advisors to recommend up to 4% of their portfolios to clients in Bitcoin allocations.

Binance will launch spot trading pairs AVAX/USD1, BCH/USD1, and UNI/USD1.

Binance will launch the AVAX/USD1, BCH/USD1, and UNI/USD1 spot trading pairs on January 6, 2026 at 16:00 (UTC+8). Trading bot services will also be available for these pairs simultaneously.

Insider trading suspected in the Maduro affair in Venezuela on Polymarket, possibly involving addresses associated with WLFI.

According to Andrey_10gwei's on-chain analysis, an insider allegedly placed a bet of approximately $32,000 on Polymarket hours before the Maduro incident, subsequently winning $400,000. On-chain data shows that the account was funded by two wallets that only interact with Coinbase. The fund flow of one address traces back to addresses with ENS names "STVLU.sol" and "StCharles.sol," which deposited 252.91 SOL into Coinbase, a timing highly consistent with the insider account's receipt of funds. Furthermore, another related wallet had $11 million in transactions with an address named "StevenCharles.sol," suspected to be Steven Charles Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Finance. Notably, this Polymarket account withdrew approximately $440,000 in winnings to Coinbase 18 hours prior, and within the following 14 hours, $170,000 worth of Fartcoin was transferred from Coinbase to the aforementioned STVLU.sol wallet, sparking speculation that insider profits were used to purchase Fartcoin. Although the on-chain evidence did not directly lead to a conviction, the multiple ENS names, funding paths, and timelines highly overlapped, raising questions about whether insider trading occurred.

Financial Times: PwC is actively expanding into the cryptocurrency sector.

According to the Financial Times, as the Trump administration embraces digital assets, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting firms, has decided to increase its investment in cryptocurrencies after years of caution. Paul Griggs, PwC's U.S. head, stated in an interview that this strategic shift occurred last year against the backdrop of the U.S. appointing pro-crypto regulatory officials and Congress passing several new laws regulating digital assets such as stablecoins. Griggs said, "The Genius Act and the regulatory details surrounding stablecoins, I believe, will enhance market confidence in this product and asset class. Asset tokenization will inevitably continue to evolve, and PwC must be in this ecosystem." His statement highlights that the Trump administration's series of actions on cryptocurrency policy have finally convinced blue-chip companies that they can truly enter this long-avoided digital asset market.

Binance Alpha will list Depinsim (ESIM) at 8 PM today, with an airdrop threshold of 257 points.

According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha will list Depinsim (ESIM), and Alpha trading will begin on January 5, 2026 at 20:00 (UTC+8). After trading begins, users holding at least 257 Binance Alpha Points can claim an airdrop of 375 ESIM tokens. This is on a first-come, first-served basis. If the event continues, the point threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every five minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours; otherwise, they will be considered to have forfeited their airdrop.

Michael Saylor has released another Bitcoin Tracker update; he may disclose his accumulating data next week.

Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted Bitcoin Tracker information again on the X platform, and may disclose data on his increased holdings next week.

WLFI: The governance vote to accelerate USD1 adoption using a portion of treasury funds has been approved.

The Trump family's crypto project WLFI announced on the X platform that its governance proposal to accelerate USD1 adoption using partially unlocked treasury funds was passed with 77.75% of the votes in favor.

Unitree Technology clarified: It has not been involved in applying for a "green channel" and its listing process is proceeding normally.

According to a report by Securities Times cited by Jinshi, recently, some media outlets published reports related to Unitree Robotics' IPO, which were widely reprinted by numerous media outlets, online platforms, and self-media. Unitree Robotics stated that the content of the report regarding the company's IPO process is inconsistent with the facts, and that Unitree Robotics has not applied for any "green channel" related matters. The report misled public perception and has seriously infringed upon Unitree Robotics' legitimate rights and interests. Unitree Robotics has reported the matter to the relevant authorities and urged the relevant parties to retract the false reports. Unitree Robotics hereby solemnly declares that it reserves the right to pursue legal action. Currently, Unitree Robotics' IPO process is progressing normally, and relevant progress will be disclosed in accordance with laws and regulations. We thank the public for their concern and support.

Warning: Multiple suspicious transactions involving agency contracts have occurred on the ARB network, potentially resulting in losses of approximately $1.5 million.

According to Cyvers Alerts, multiple suspicious transactions involving proxy contracts were detected on Arbitrum (ARB), with an estimated loss of approximately $1.5 million. Initial analysis suggests that a single deployer of the USDGambit and TLP projects may have lost access to their accounts. The attacker then deployed a new contract and updated the proxy administrator (ProxyAdmin) privileges to gain control. The stolen funds were subsequently bridged to the Ethereum network and deposited into Tornado Cash.

Analysis & Opinions

Venezuela holds 240 bitcoins, and analysts estimate that its "shadow reserve" of bitcoins may exceed 600,000.

Data from Bitcoin Treasuries shows that Venezuela has held 240 Bitcoins since December 31, 2022, with a current balance of approximately $22.33 million. Previously, in May 2024, the Venezuelan government banned Bitcoin mining citing energy load and power supply stability; in September 2024, opposition leader Maria Corinna Machado proposed including Bitcoin in the national reserve assets. Meanwhile, the government-led national digital currency, the Petro, ceased circulation in January 2024. However, other analysts estimate that Venezuela has been "laundering" assets into Bitcoin since 2018 through gold swaps and oil settlements in USDT, estimating holdings of approximately 600,000 BTC, worth between $56 billion and $67 billion; some sources indicate that in 2018, approximately $2 billion worth of gold was used to purchase about 400,000 BTC at an average price of $5,000, equivalent to approximately $3.6 billion at current prices. This scale is close to the holdings of MicroStrategy and BlackRock. If the U.S. Department of Justice seizes and freezes assets for an extended period, it could lead to supply lock-in and short-term volatility, making rapid liquidation less likely.

Analysts: The depreciation of the yen gives Metaplanet a greater financial advantage compared to its US counterparts.

According to Cointelegraph, analyst Adam Livingston points out that the depreciation of the yen gives Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet a greater financial advantage compared to its US counterparts. Due to Japan's high debt-to-GDP ratio of 250%, the yen's continued depreciation allows Metaplanet to access financing at lower costs. Its 4.9% bond interest payments are denominated in the depreciating yen, resulting in a continuously decreasing effective cost of BTC. Currently, Metaplanet holds 35,102 BTC, making it the world's fourth-largest Bitcoin treasury company. Last week, the company disclosed that it acquired 4,279 BTC for approximately $451 million.

Analysis: The recent increased correlation between cryptocurrencies and broader risk assets reinforces bullish expectations from the beginning of the year.

Singapore-based crypto investment firm QCP Capital analyzed that after most of December's narrow trading range, cryptocurrencies broke upwards in early Asian trading, with Bitcoin and Ethereum surpassing $92,000 and $3,100 respectively. This surge coincided with a rise in stock markets and a decline in oil prices following US action that led to the detention of Venezuelan President Maduro. The recent increased correlation between cryptocurrencies and broader risk assets may signal a shift in the market landscape and a strengthening of bullish narratives in the new year—especially given the end of year-end tax-deductible selling and the impending enactment of new crypto legislation. While these narratives may already be largely priced in, Washington's sudden action against Venezuela could still be a catalyst for Bitcoin in the near term. In addition to the deflationary effects of falling oil prices, rumors have resurfaced that Venezuela may control a substantial "shadow" Bitcoin reserve, potentially comparable in size to Strategy's holdings. These claims have not yet been confirmed. If true, Venezuela would become the largest sovereign holder of Bitcoin. Furthermore, if the US includes potentially confiscated Bitcoin in its strategic reserves, the likelihood of a forced sell-off will decrease. In the options market, the positioning structure is shifting towards a more positive direction: put skew across all maturities has decreased, and over 3,000 call options expiring on January 30, 2026, with a strike price of $100,000 have been bought since last week. Demand for straddles to position for further gains is also significant, reflecting some short covering during Bitcoin's upward movement. If spot prices continue to rise, it could trigger a gamma-driven acceleration. However, recent US trading sessions have often seen pullbacks, and caution is advised until this pattern is broken.

mechanism

Bitcoin mining company MARA transferred 288 BTC to Wintertermute

On-chain data shows that Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital (MARA) transferred 288 BTC to market maker Wintermute 9 hours ago, which was worth about $26.3 million at the time.

Important data

CoinShares: Global digital asset inflows reached $47.2 billion in 2025, slightly lower than the record set in 2024.

According to a CoinShares report, digital asset investment products ended 2025 with a total global inflow of $47.2 billion, slightly lower than the record high of $48.7 billion in 2024. Last Friday, the market saw inflows of $671 million, a good start to the year, and despite outflows earlier in the week, the overall weekly inflow still reached $582 million. The US attracted the majority of inflows in 2025, totaling $47.2 billion, but this was a 12% decrease compared to 2024. Germany saw the most significant growth in inflows, with $2.5 billion flowing in in 2025, compared to an outflow of $43 million in 2024. Canada also saw a similar recovery, with $1.1 billion flowing in in 2025, compared to an outflow of $603 million in 2024. Switzerland saw a slight increase in interest in digital assets in 2025, with inflows reaching $775 million, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%. Bitcoin underperformed last year, with inflows declining by 35%, and is projected to reach only $26.9 billion in 2025. Affected by the price drop, investment products shorting Bitcoin saw inflows of $105 million in 2025; however, these products remain a niche market, with total assets under management (AuM) of only $139 million. Ethereum saw the most significant inflows, reaching $12.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 138%. In 2025, XRP and Solana saw inflows increase by 500% ($3.7 billion) and 1000% ($3.6 billion), respectively. Other altcoins experienced a decline in popularity, with inflows decreasing by 30% year-on-year ($318 million).

Japanese and South Korean stock markets surged, with South Korea's KOSPI index hitting a record high.

Japanese and South Korean stock markets surged today. The Nikkei 225 index closed up 1493.32 points, or 2.97%, at 51832.80 on Monday, January 5th, led by gains in chip and heavy industry stocks. South Korea's KOSPI index closed up 147.89 points, or 3.43%, at 4457.52 on Monday, January 5th, a record closing high, again led by gains in chip and defense stocks; Samsung Electronics rose 7.47%, its biggest single-day gain since March 24, 2020.

Binance's average monthly Bitcoin inflow has surged 34-fold, with a significant increase in activity from large investors.

According to CryptoQuant data, the average monthly inflow of Bitcoin per transaction on the Binance exchange has increased to approximately 29.7 BTC in recent months, nearly 34 times higher than at the beginning of 2021, reflecting a significant increase in the activity of large Bitcoin holders (whales) on the platform. This metric represents the average amount of Bitcoin per inflow transaction, suggesting that institutional or large funds are accelerating their entry into the exchange.

XRP spot ETF saw a net inflow of $43.16 million last week, while SOL spot ETF saw a net inflow of $10.43 million.

According to SoSoValue data, from December 29, 2024 to January 2, 2025 (Eastern Time), the XRP spot ETF saw a net inflow of $43.16 million in a single week. Among them, Franklin's XRPZ saw a net inflow of $21.76 million, with a historical cumulative net inflow of $252 million; Bitwise's XRP ETF saw a net inflow of $17.27 million, with a cumulative inflow of $265 million. Canary's XRPC, however, recorded a net outflow of $1.18 million. Currently, the total net asset value of the XRP spot ETF is $1.37 billion, representing approximately 1.14% of the total XRP market capitalization, with a cumulative net inflow of $1.18 billion. During the same period, the SOL spot ETF saw a net inflow of $10.43 million in a single week. Bitwise's BSOL saw a net inflow of $6.23 million, with a historical cumulative inflow of $625 million; Fidelity's FSOL saw a net inflow of $2.53 million, with a cumulative inflow of $115 million. Currently, the total net asset value of the SOL spot ETF is $1.02 billion, representing approximately 1.38% of the market capitalization, with a cumulative net inflow of $775 million.

Bitcoin spot ETFs saw net inflows of $459 million last week, with BlackRock's IBIT leading the way with $324 million.

According to SoSoValue data, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw a net inflow of $459 million last week (December 29th to January 2nd, Eastern Time). The BlackRock ETF (IBIT) saw the largest net inflow of $324 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $62.38 billion. The Fidelity ETF (FBTC) followed with a net inflow of $106 million, bringing its historical total net inflow to $12.2 billion. Conversely, the Grayscale ETF (GBTC) experienced the largest net outflow last week, with a net outflow of $53.67 million, bringing its historical total net outflow to $25.24 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs was $116.95 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market capitalization as a percentage of Bitcoin's total market capitalization) of 6.53%, and a historical cumulative net inflow of $57.08 billion.

The market capitalization of the Memecoin sector rose 23% this week, while trading volume surged 300%.

According to Cointelegraph, with the start of 2026, the Memecoin sector has rebounded strongly, with its overall market capitalization rising 23% in the past week, from $38 billion on December 29th to $47.7 billion in early January. Trading volume also surged from $2.17 billion to $8.7 billion during the same period, an increase of 300%. DOGE and SHIB rose by over 20% and 19.9% respectively, while PEPE rose by over 65%. Analysts believe that Memecoin's strong comeback reflects a recovery in market risk appetite, which may drive other altcoins higher, with Solana potentially being one of the beneficiaries.

Ethereum stablecoin transaction volume hit a record high for the quarter, surpassing $8 trillion.

According to Token Terminal data, the total amount of stablecoin transfers on the Ethereum network exceeded $8 trillion for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2024, setting a new historical record.

Infinex's public offering has only raised $491,000 so far, leaving 90.17% remaining to reach its target.

According to data monitored by crypto KOL AB Kuai.Dong, Infinex raised only $491,000 in the approximately 30 hours after opening its ICO public offering, with 304 participants, leaving 90.17% remaining. It's worth noting that the public offering includes a one-year lock-up period (early unlocking incurs penalties and inflates the valuation). Previously, Infinex announced that its INX token sale would take place from January 3-6, offering 5% of the INX supply, with a final FDV of $99.99 million, locked for one year, with the option to unlock early.

Data: HYPE, ENA, APT and other tokens are experiencing large-scale unlocking, with HYPE unlocking value estimated at approximately $313 million.

According to Token Unlocks data, tokens such as HYPE, APT, and ENA have seen large-scale unlocking, including:

Hyperliquid (HYPE) will unlock approximately 12.46 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 6th, representing 3.61% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $313 million.

Aptos (APT) will unlock approximately 11.31 million tokens at 10:00 AM Beijing time on January 11th, representing 0.70% of the circulating supply, with a value of approximately $21.6 million.

Ethena (ENA) will unlock approximately 171 million tokens at 3 PM Beijing time on January 5th, representing 2.37% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $42 million.

Linea (LINEA) will unlock approximately 1.38 billion tokens at 7 PM Beijing time on January 10th, representing 6.34% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $9.8 million.

Movement (MOVE) will unlock approximately 164 million tokens at 8 PM Beijing time on January 9th, representing 5.77% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $6.1 million.

A certain whale has cumulatively swapped all 22,344 ETH into 774.1 WBTC.

"On its first day, Jinjingyu added to its long position, with unrealized profits exceeding $3.4 million."

James Wynn increased his long position in BTC, with unrealized profits exceeding $750,000.

Trader pension-usdt.eth deposited nearly 30 million USDC into his contract account and opened a new 3x leveraged short position on ETH.