Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below the $100,000 threshold on Wednesday evening, following remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who opposed the idea of creating a national Bitcoin reserve. Bitcoin had been above the $100,000 mark for much of the past week, during which it reached a new all-time high of over $108,000.

The U.S. stock market also saw a significant decline on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.58%, the Nasdaq Composite fell by 3.56%, and the S&P 500 Index lost 2.95%, as reported by MarketWatch.

No Plans To Change

Besides Bitcoin, several altcoins also experienced significant losses on Wednesday, with ETH declining by 6.5% and XRP plummeting by 12.64%. The GMCI 30 index, which tracks the performance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies, saw a drop of 7.18% in the past 24 hours.

The recent surge for Bitcoin was partly driven by comments by the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who reaffirmed his plan to establish a national strategic Bitcoin reserve. Additionally, various U.S. states, such as Texas, Pennsylvania, and Florida, have proposed bills to create state-backed Bitcoin reserves, further boosting optimism among traders.

However, Powell, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, stated that the central bank is not permitted to hold Bitcoin and that there are no plans to seek a law change regarding a U.S. government Bitcoin reserve.

Expectations Vs Reality

Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX and current Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom, expects a significant sell-off in the crypto market in January, as investors begin to realize the gap between expectations and reality.

Hayes believes the market will quickly adjust to the reality that Trump has, at most, one year to push through any policy changes after January 20th. This realization could trigger a sharp sell-off in crypto and other Trump-related investments.

While the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to lower interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, Powell indicated that interest rate cuts would likely slow in the coming year, noting that the decision to cut rates was a closer call than the financial markets had anticipated.

Bitcoin (BTC) has achieved a new all-time high (ATH) of $108,000, surpassing the previous record of $107,000 set just a day earlier. As of now however, the price has decreased to around $104,000 marking an approximate 3% decrease within a 24 hour period.

Bitcoin Increases While Alts Stay Mixes

The recent rally by Bitcoin really started to take shape after the flagship crypto broke through the critical $100K mark not too long ago, after which it has continuously broken new ground and achieved new ATHs on a frequent basis.

While Bitcoin continues its upward trend, the altcoin market presents a more mixed picture. Leading the pack are Patriot, which has surged to $0.005452, reflecting a 100.2% increase in just 24 hours Pepe Unchained, now priced at $0.02356, up by 59.0% and Freysa AI, currently at $0.01392, showing a 57.3% gain. Additionally, Hyperliquid (HYPE) has skyrocketed by 84.7%, reaching a price of $25.61.

However, several major altcoins are seeing losses. Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), TRON (TRX), and Binance Coin (BNB) are all experiencing declines, while coins like HBAR, Stellar (XLM), XRP, and Solana (SOL) have posted positive gains over the past 24 hours.

Crypto Market Overview

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization now stands at $3,819,825,623,882, with a daily trading volume of $279,803,356,342. The market capitalization of Bitcoin is currently at $2.11 trillion, reflecting a nearly 10% increase over the past week.

Adoption remains high however, with many big institutional names like BlackRock, Grayscale, MicroStrategy, and more steadily increasing their BTC holdings. Even entire countries are getting involved, with both Russia and the United States recently unveiling their plans of establishing a Bitcoin reserve strategy.

The debut of $PENGU, a new token by Pudgy Penguins which trades on the Solana (SOL) blockchain, has been met with mixed reactions, with the token experiencing a steep price drop shortly after its highly anticipated launch.

Launched in 2021, Pudgy Penguins is an NFT collection consisting of 8,888 unique penguin images, which represent the brand. Over time, the project expanded, introducing additional collections like Pudgy Rods.

Price Drop After Airdrop

The $PENGU token is expected to play an important role in the governance of the Pudgy Penguins project. However, in the hours following the December 17th airdrop, $PENGU dropped by more than 50% in price.

The project had distributed nearly half of its total supply, about 89 billion tokens, to its community, with 26% of the tokens allocated to NFT holders. The token initially launched with a market capitalization of $2.8 billion. However, its value quickly slid below the $2 billion mark.

Why Did This Happen?

After the $PENGU airdrop was initiated, many believe the value of the token plummeted due to intense selling pressure and because most investors involved were not actually interested in the longevity of the project but rather in making a quick buck.

This decline also severely impacted the floor price of the Pudgy Penguins NFTs, which dropped to 16 ETH compared to its previous price of 33 ETH. Once the second-largest NFT collection by market capitalization, Pudgy Penguins now holds the third position, as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) reclaimed its spot with a floor price of 18.89 ETH.

A meeting between Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek and President-elect Donald Trump took place recently on December 16th, 2024. The meeting centered on discussions about policies influencing the crypto industry, with several ideas such as the implementation of a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve being on the agenda. 

Collaboration Is Key

The meeting also aligned with Crypto.com deciding to withdraw its lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The exchange formally dropped its legal challenge on the same day, filing to dismiss the case with prejudice in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Previously, Marszalek had announced plans to pursue legal action after receiving a Wells notice by the SEC in October. However, a spokesperson for Crypto.com explained that the withdrawal of the lawsuit reflects a renewed intention to collaborate with the new Trump administration on setting up a viable regulatory framework for the crypto industry.

The Times Are Changing

Since his election victory on November 5th, Trump has made many changes including appointing pro-crypto figures such as former PayPal COO David Sacks and former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins, whom Trump personally selected as his pick to replace Gary Gensler as the new U.S. SEC Chair.

Elsewhere, Ohio recently introduced a Bitcoin reserve bill, following similar initiatives in Texas and Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw is currently dealing with various controversies linked to her views on crypto regulation and other political shifts.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is convening for its last meeting of 2024 today, with key announcements anticipated following the session. It is widely expected that the Federal Reserve will announce a 25 basis points reduction in interest rates.

Inflation Metrics Show Rising Pressures

According to Kalshi, there is currently a 96% likelihood that the Fed will reduce rates by 25bps at the meeting. This would mark the third rate cut of 2024, bringing the total reductions to 100bps. Thus far, the Fed has already implemented two rate cuts this year.

Meanwhile, inflation has been picking up in recent months, further complicating efforts by the Fed to stabilize the economy. At the beginning of the year, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 308.417 points. By April, it had increased to 313.55 points. In October, the CPI reached its highest level for the year at 315.66 points, before slightly decreasing to 315.49 points in November.

In January 2024, the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) was at 142.683 points. By June, it rose to 144.834 points and has steadily increased since then, reaching a yearly peak of 146.493 points in November. Meanwhile, the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index began the year at 122.115 points. It hit a peak of 123.234 points in April, and after a period of steady increases, it reached 124.266 points in October, its highest level for the year.

Challenges For The Labour Market

A significant factor prompting the consideration of rate cuts is the ongoing challenges in the U.S. job market. Although there were early signs of improvement, the job market has recently begun showing signs of weakness.

In fact, the U.S. Initial Jobless Claims (IJC) Index stood at 224K on November 30th. By the first week of December, it had risen to 242K, a level not seen in the previous eight weeks. Finally, the Continuing Jobless Claims (CJC) Index also saw a rise, increasing to 1.89 million by November 30th.

Bitcoin (BTC) has surpassed the $107,000 threshold, achieving a new all-time high (ATH) after it previously recorded another ATH price at $106,000 yesterday. As of right now, the price has decreased a bit and is currently resting just above $106,600. 

Still Bullish

The price surge has been gaining pace for several months, with the recent rally breaking previous resistance levels. Although Bitcoin faced a dip below $95K just last week, the bulls have nevertheless managed to push BTC above its previous ATH.

Still, it was the $100,000 milestone which proved to be the main test, with Bitcoin hitting this level multiple times in the past week, including on December 9th, 11th, and 13th. Many believe that Russia announcing their plans to implement a Bitcoin reserve strategy of their own is what caused this sudden surge to $107K.

Mixed Bag For Altcoins

Bitcoin may continue to rise but altcoins remain a mixed bag. For instance, ETH, TRON, XRP, and BNB are all in the green, but other mainstays like DOGE, ADA, SOL, AVAX, LINK, and TON are all in the red within a 24 hour period.

The global market capitalization is now $3,911,818,417,060, and the daily trading volume for the entire crypto market is now $295,351,502,587. As of today, Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $2,108,251,640,960, reflecting a nearly 10% increase on a weekly basis.

A number of AI tokens have been experiencing notable price increases lately. Among these, Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL) stands out, with a remarkable 90.6% gain over the past week, reaching a price of $2.89.

Growing Investor Confidence

Besides VIRTUAL, AI agents like FET (Artificial Superintelligence Alliance), currently priced at $1.71, and AI16Z (AI16Z) at $0.7475 have also seen gains, with FET increasing by 3.1% over the last 24 hours, and AI16Z climbing by 9.4% in the same period.

The overall positive trend reflects growing investor confidence in AI-related projects. Other tokens within the AI space are also showing solid growth, such as PAAL (PAAL), which has seen a 6.5% increase in the past 24 hours, and AGIX (SingularityNET), up by 3.2%. 

SUI On The Rise And Future Outlook

SUI Agents (SUIAI), built on the Sui blockchain, offers a platform for launching and trading AI agents. Its price is currently at $0.183, having seen a significant 14.9% increase in the past 24 hours. With SUI Agents, users can design personas, configure behaviors, and share public profiles. The platform also utilizes the SUIAI token for premium customization, tokenized agent pairing, liquidity, and funding projects like IDOs.

The broader AI token market is seeing increased volume and attention, with many of these projects experiencing robust 7-day growth. For instance, Spectral (SPEC) has seen an impressive 7.3% rise over the last 24 hours, priced at $12.93, while Oraichain (ORAI) continues to make strides with a 6.3% increase, currently valued at $10.46.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) recently unveiled an exclusive airdrop for its newly introduced meme coin, Shifu (SHIFU), aiming to reward its dedicated community members. Currently, SHIB is trading at a price of $0.00002695, according to CoinGecko.

Key Details

As per an official post via the Shiba Inu X (Twitter) account, users who hold 100,000 SHIB tokens and 100 Bubble (BUBBLE) tokens, which is the native cryptocurrency of the Imaginary Ones ecosystem through which Shiba Inu launched Shifu, will qualify for about 22% of the total supply.

Furthermore, 4% of the supply is reserved for holders of Shib Games, Doge Killer (LEASH), Bone ShibaSwap (BONE), and Shiboshi and Sheboshi NFTs. Another 4% is allocated to participants of the Imaginary Ones Carnival and NFTs.

An Intriguing Partnership

SHIFU marks the latest addition to the growing Shiba Inu ecosystem, with Shytoshi Kusama, the head of the project, partnering with Kaal Dhairya and the Imaginary Ones team to bring the new meme coin to life.

Imaginary Ones aims to combine digital art, gaming, and NFTs to create an immersive ecosystem. In order to further facilitate the growth of both Imaginary Ones and Shiba Inu, the teams initiated the airdrop as part of a collaborative promotional strategy.

CyberKongz, a reputable NFT platform, recently received a Wells notice by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On December 16th, CyberKongz revealed that the SEC does not believe the platform has the proper registration required to issue ERC-20 tokens. CyberKongz has been given 30 days to respond to the notice.

The Wrath Of The SEC

The concerns by the SEC are believed to center on the sale of Genesis Kongz NFTs in April 2021. However, CyberKongz clarified that this was a contract migration and not a primary sale. The platform emphasized that it has operated primarily on a self-funded basis, without raising capital, and has a small treasury, despite enduring scrutiny for over two years.

CyberKongz speculated that the actions taken by the regulatory agency may be part of a broader effort to slow the growth of the Web3 space. The team is hopeful that the situation will improve under newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump, and it remains committed to advocating for NFT projects across all platforms.

Showing Resilience
Despite receiving the Wells notice, the CyberKongz NFT market has shown resilience. According to CoinGecko, the floor price for CyberKongz NFTs rose by over 19% in the last 24 hours, reaching an average of 8.59 ETH, or approximately $26,900.

This marks the second notable Wells notice served to a gaming and NFT firm in recent months, following a similar notice to Australian-based Immutable on November 1st. CyberKongz has also received backing by Axie Infinity co-founder Jihoz Zirlin, who believes the persecution of Web3 innovators will eventually end under the new Trump administration.

Bitcoin (BTC) has shattered the $106,000 mark, hitting a new all-time high (ATH) and continuing its upward trend. Although the price has dipped slightly to $104K, it has already recovered to touch $105K.

A Safe Haven

BTC has been steadily climbing for months. Although it had struggled last week when it dipped below $95K, the bulls managed to propel it to a new ATH. The $100,000 mark was the true test for Bitcoin, as there were multiple times when it reached this point in the last 7 days including on December 9th, 11th, and 13th. 

This rally also comes at a time when traditional financial markets are facing challenges, such as inflation and geopolitical instability. Bitcoin, often viewed as a safe haven asset in uncertain times, has drawn in both retail and institutional investors like BlackRock, Grayscale, and MicroStrategy.

The surge has also been linked to recent political developments, mainly Donald Trump once again becoming United States President and immediately replacing SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler with Paul Atkins. 

Alts Mostly In The Green

As Bitcoin continues to rise, many altcoins are also increasing. Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Binance Coin (BNB), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Cardano (ADA) are all in the green, as is most of the market. However, some such as Ripple (XRP), Chainlink (LINK), Stellar (XLM), and Hedera (HBAR) are among the few in the red.

The global market capitalization is now $3.88 trillion, up 0.61% in the last 24 hours and 133.05% in the previous year. As of today, Bitcoin has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, reflecting a 53.56% domination. Meanwhile, stablecoins have a cumulative market cap of $208 billion, accounting for 5.36% of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization.

A man posing as an Uber driver in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been arrested for allegedly stealing a total of $300,000 worth of cryptocurrency by scamming two unsuspecting passengers. The incidents reportedly occurred in March and October of this year.

How The Scam Unfolded

According to a December 12th report by Fox10 Phoenix, the Scottsdale Police Department identified the suspect as Nuruhussein Hussein. Authorities claim Hussein targeted victims outside the upscale W Hotel in Scottsdale, pretending to be the Uber driver they had ordered. To make his deception convincing, Hussein allegedly greeted the victims by their names, though investigators have not disclosed how he obtained this information.

Once inside the car, Hussein allegedly asked the passenger if he could use their phone, claiming his own was broken. In one case, he offered to troubleshoot the Uber app after the passenger questioned why it appeared their ride had not officially started.

Police say Hussein exploited the phones to transfer funds through their Coinbase accounts. He allegedly conducted crypto transfers between phones and then moved the stolen assets to cold storage wallets, ensuring they were untraceable.

Intimidation And Arrest

When one of the victims grew suspicious and demanded their phone back, Hussein reportedly threatened them, warning them to relax or something bad would happen to them. The Scottsdale Police Department, in collaboration with U.S. Secret Service agents, arrested Hussein on December 11th. He faces charges of theft, fraud, and money laundering.

Prosecutors successfully argued for a $200,000 secured cash bond, along with electronic monitoring if Hussein posts bail. His next court appearance is scheduled for December 18th, and investigations into the case are ongoing.

Offline Crypto Thefts On The Rise

The case highlights a concerning trend of offline crypto-related thefts. According to data provided by GitHub, there have been at least 19 such incidents across various countries in 2024 alone, compared to 17 in 2023 and 32 in 2021.

These crimes often involve direct confrontations or innovative schemes targeting crypto holders. A notable historical case occurred in 2014, when an unknown individual reportedly attempted to extort 1,000 BTC via Hal Finney, a pioneer in the crypto space. More recently, on December 3rd, a group of thieves in Melbourne, Australia, made headlines by ramming a vehicle through a shopping center to steal a Bitcoin ATM. The machine was later discovered in a park, pried open and set on fire.

A cryptocurrency trader has reportedly transformed a modest $27 investment in the Pepe meme coin into an astonishing $52 million profit. On December 14th, Lookonchain revealed that the anonymous trader, who had held onto the Pepe tokens for 600 days, transferred a massive 2.1 trillion PEPE tokens, worth around $52 million, to a new address. This move resulted in a monumental 1.9 million times return on their initial investment.

Meme Coins Soar

Despite their lack of intrinsic utility, meme coins like Pepe have generated massive profits for investors, with one individual turning $3,000 into $46 million earlier this year by trading Pepe, yielding a remarkable 15,700% return.

The meme coin market has shown impressive performance in 2024, with Pepe surging over 1,600% year-to-date, making it the second-best performer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies. It is only surpassed by the Solana-based meme token Dogwifhat, which is up 1,400%. However, the governance token Mantra (OM) has outperformed all meme coins, soaring over 16,600% this year.

Risky Business

While technical analysis often falls short when applied to meme coins, some traders believe there is still significant upside for Pepe. Some even speculate that Pepe could mirror the success of Dogecoin, positioning it as a dominant force in the current bull run.

Meme coins have quickly become a form of rebellion for disillusioned investors who feel that the opportunities their parents enjoyed are no longer available. However, it is important to note that trading meme coins remains highly volatile. During the $1.7 billion crypto market liquidation on December 10th, some of the top meme coins experienced significant declines, demonstrating the risks involved in such investments.