Mastercard And Visa Get Cold Feet As Both Companies Pause Crypto Push

Amazon shareholders are urging the company to consider adding Bitcoin (BTC) to its balance sheet as a hedge against inflation, following the example of other major companies like Microsoft and Tesla. This request is part of a larger trend in which businesses are exploring Bitcoin as a potential asset to safeguard their finances and increase shareholder returns.

Protection Against Inflation

The rationale behind this decision is that, with rising inflation, traditional assets like cash and bonds are less effective at preserving value. In contrast, Bitcoin has seen significant growth, increasing by 131% in 2024 alone, and over 1,200% in the past five years, far surpassing the performance of various bonds.

With $585 billion in assets, including $88 billion in cash and bonds, Amazon shareholders believe the company should consider adding Bitcoin to its reserves. This move could help Amazon shield its profits when it comes to inflation and potentially yield higher returns in the future. Following the proposal, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) suggested that Amazon could also accept Bitcoin as a payment method, further embracing cryptocurrency.

The Bitcoin Effect

Companies like MicroStrategy, which holds significant Bitcoin assets, have seen their stock prices rise, and Tesla and Block (formerly Square) have similarly added Bitcoin to their balance sheets. The proposal for Amazon to do the same is based on the belief that it would boost shareholder value.

Though Bitcoin is a volatile asset, shareholders propose Amazon start by allocating just 5% of its assets to Bitcoin. This idea reflects a broader shift where companies are viewing Bitcoin as a reliable long-term investment to combat inflation. Microsoft shareholders are also set to vote on adding Bitcoin to their balance sheet soon.

As Bitcoin gains wider acceptance among major companies, it may become a standard asset management tool. While Amazon has not yet made a decision, the increasing discussion around Bitcoin suggests more companies, including Amazon and Microsoft, may soon adopt similar strategies.

The official Cardano X (Twitter) account was hacked, and a fraudulent tweet falsely claimed that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed a lawsuit against Cardano and that support for the $ADA token would be halted.

The tweet, which was quickly flagged as fake, incorrectly stated that the Cardano Foundation would stop supporting $ADA in response to the alleged legal action. It is clear why Cardano was targeted, as between December 2023 and January 2024, Cardano processed over 4 million transactions, demonstrating a noteworthy uptick in on-chain activity.

Deception Thrives

As per the deceptive message, the Cardano Foundation stated they regret to inform their community that they have been served with a lawsuit by the U.S. SEC on December 8th, 2024. Due to this unexpected legal matter, the tweet added, the difficult decision has been made to immediately end all support for the $ADA token to comply with regulatory requirements.

The misleading tweet also falsely claimed that the Cardano Foundation would offer further updates and assistance during the supposed transition. However, the community quickly debunked the claim.

Additionally, the compromised account shared more incorrect information, such as claiming that $ADA trading will stop on all platforms starting December 9th, 2024 and that all $ADA tokens will be burned.

Damage Control

ZachXBT, an on-chain investigator, quickly flagged the incident and warned his Telegram followers, urging them not to click on any links by the compromised account. As of now, the Cardano Foundation has not publicly addressed the breach or the false SEC lawsuit claims. Official statements and updates are expected to come through verified channels.

This incident highlights growing concerns about security in the cryptocurrency space, as high-profile accounts are increasingly targeted by hackers and scammers. Experts advise the crypto community to remain cautious and avoid engaging with compromised accounts. Users are urged to avoid clicking on suspicious links or messages by the compromised X account and to rely solely on official announcements via verified Cardano channels.

Suilend secured $4M in Undisclosed Funding with support by Delphi Ventures and Figment Capital. Suilend is a decentralized lending protocol on the Sui blockchain. It was built by Save (formerly Solend).

Haven1 obtained $4.60M in a Private Token Sale with assistance by Animoca Brands. Haven1 is the REKT-resistant EVM Layer 1 blockchain, engineered to address the critical challenges of security and liquidity in Web3.

Slise raised an undisclosed amount in M&A Funding with help by W3M Ventures. Slise is a Web3-native programmatic advertising platform that focuses on privacy-preserving, blockchain-based ad services. It enables advertisers to target users of dApps using on-chain wallet data, such as transaction history and holdings, instead of traditional cookies or Web2 identifiers.

Spexi acquired $11.50M in Series A Funding with support by Blockchange Ventures. Spexi is an innovative platform that leverages drone technology to provide ultra-high-resolution aerial imagery for a variety of applications. The project is centered around its Fly-to-Earn model, which incentivizes drone pilots to capture and upload imagery using their drones.

Torram secured an undisclosed amount in Strategic Funding with MH Ventures providing assistance. Torram is a system of AI-enhanced decentralized oracle networks, decentralized unified APIs, and decentralized indexers that enable Bitcoin developers to unlock the true potential of the Bitcoin dApp ecosystem.

interlace.money raised $10M in Extended Series B Funding with support by BitRock Capital. Interlace is a financial technology company offering enterprise-level fund management solutions. Its services include cross-border, cross-currency, and cross-system fund transfers for sectors such as Web3, cross-border e-commerce, and B2B trade.

Scrypted Inc obtained $1.50M in Pre-Seed Funding with help by a16z crypto. The Inori Network (by Scrypted) is being developed as a platform to support emerging Autonomous AI Agents. Initially, it will operate as a centralized service, integrating with Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchain networks through native tokens.

Fiamma secured $4M in Seed Funding with support by Astera Ventures and Sats Ventures. Fiamma is a verification network specializing in zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to secure and integrate blockchain ecosystems.

The Binary Holdings raised $5M in Strategic Funding with assistance by ABO Digital. The Binary Holdings is a Web3 infrastructure provider for the telecoms sector in emerging economies.

Midas acquired $5M in Grant Funding with help by Oasis. Midas is an asset tokenization platform that facilitates the exposure to institutional-grade assets on-chain. Investors can access investment-grade securities on-chain, leveraging the full suite of dApps via a permissionless ERC-20 token.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw its price remain highly volatile this week, surging to $102,000 yesterday before experiencing a slight pullback. Despite this, the altcoin market has rebounded after a correction earlier in the week, with XRP reclaiming the $2.4 level.

Bitcoin Eyes $100K

This week has been another significant one for the cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin achieved what many once considered impossible. After dipping to $93,500 on Tuesday and $94,500 on Wednesday, Bitcoin resumed its upward momentum on Thursday, gaining nearly $10,000. This push helped it break the $100,000 mark, reaching a new all-time high of $103,800.

However, following this surge, Bitcoin experienced a sharp flash crash, likely due to the high number of leveraged positions. It dropped over $10,000, briefly falling to $92,000 on Friday morning. Despite this, Bitcoin quickly regained ground, surpassing $100,000 again by Friday evening and hitting $102,000 before facing another rejection. The cryptocurrency is now just below the six-digit threshold.

Altcoins Recover

The altcoin market also saw significant fluctuations on Friday morning but has since turned positive. Ethereum briefly surpassed $4,000 yesterday evening but is now slightly below that level. XRP, which had been underperforming recently, has risen 6% since yesterday, reclaiming the $2.4 mark.

Other notable gainers include BNB, DOGE, ADA, SHIB, XLM, LINK, and APT. HBAR has been the standout performer, surging nearly 20% in one day, marking a 100% increase over the past week and an astonishing 590% rise in the last month.

The market cap of Bitcoin has also pulled back to just under $2 trillion, with its dominance over altcoins decreasing to 51.4%. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization remains close to its peak, just under $3.85 trillion.

Other Markets

Donald Trump is campaigning in Wisconsin, fueling discussions about economic policy and potential interest rate changes. As record-breaking leveraged loan deals are overshadowing underlying market vulnerabilities, Trump has also warned of many countries ditching the dollar altogether.

On the international stage, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, visited the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is advocating for trade agreements with Gulf nations, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In Ukraine, artillery units continue their operations in the Kharkiv region, while the U.S. has pledged an additional $988 million in military aid. Protests in Mozambique are disrupting power supplies, as unrest targets key infrastructure.

Finally, venture capital veteran Ethan Kurzweil provides insights into the current landscape for startups, highlighting both challenges and opportunities.

Over the last few years, the world has witnessed the rapid evolution of the crypto industry, particularly the rise of degens and their impact on market dynamics. While degens have contributed to the growth and visibility of cryptocurrencies, their behavior also introduces significant risks that deserve careful attention.

The Degen Dilemma

The fast-paced nature of degen culture, combined with the rise of fraudulent projects targeting this audience, calls for a thorough examination of the sustainability and integrity of the crypto ecosystem. Degen, short for degenerates, refers to individuals who chase high-reward opportunities without regard for potential losses.

This mindset has fueled the rise of meme coins and speculative projects. The global crypto user base has surged to over 617 million verified wallets by June 2024, with degens playing a key role in this growth. However, this mentality also creates fertile ground for scammers.

A recent investigation by blockchain researcher ZachXBT into Serpent, a former Fortnite player, uncovered a web of fraudulent activities that resulted in the theft of $3.5 million through meme coin scams. These activities included hacking high-profile social media accounts, promoting fake meme coins, and running pump-and-dump schemes.

The Need For Change

The prevalence of such scams is concerning, as many crypto founders abandon their projects after the initial hype, leaving investors with worthless tokens. This undermines trust in the crypto space and stifles genuine innovation.

Presently, many in the crypto community believe that the focus must shift toward building real value. Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, famously stated he is not against memes but that meme coins are getting a bit weird now and that people should instead build real applications with blockchain instead of just fooling around.

Many would agree that AI-powered meme coins have quickly become a genuine technological frontier, ushering in the rise of on-chain autonomous agents. These AI tokens are taking the crypto world by storm with decentralized agents fueled by communities of online personalities and their wild, unfiltered content.

As we approach 2025, AI meme coins are quickly becoming the latest trend in crypto, and those who fail to engage may miss out on a revolution. Besides the mainstays such as SingularityNET (AGIX), Virtuals Protocol (VIRTUAL), Spectral (SPEC), NetMind Token (NMT), and Dolos The Bully (BULLY), there are three AI meme coins in particular that everyone has their eyes on nowadays.

Goatseus Maximus

No discussion of AI meme coins would be complete without Goatseus Maximus and its parent token, GOAT. The project began with an autonomous agent on X (formerly Twitter), named Terminal of Truths (ToT), which quickly made waves with its unfiltered and often bizarre content.

The wild antics of ToT attracted attention by big names in the crypto world, including VC Marc Andreessen, who donated $50,000 in BTC. Soon, ToT began promoting the GOAT token, based on its satirical goatse gospel pseudo-religion, which sparked a 7,000% surge in the value of the token in just under a week.

GOAT briefly surpassed a $1 billion market cap, solidifying its place in the annals of AI meme coin history. After a brief lull, GOAT is seeing renewed interest, with significant upside potential as it continues to dominate the AI meme coin sector.

Zerebro

Another standout in this space is Zerebro, an AI agent that has proven itself not just as a meme creator but also as an artist. Zerebro made headlines as the first AI agent to drop a mixtape on Spotify, with tracks like Gutter Boy gaining attention for their surprisingly solid sound. Beyond music, Zerebro has a Twitter account which is indeed a treasure trove of generative art, philosophical musings, and sharp critiques of Web3 and Internet culture.

Zerebro is more than just a social media personality, it is a full-fledged AI agent with its own token, ZEREBRO, which peaked at a market cap of over half a billion dollars in November 2024. Its success demonstrates the long-term potential of AI meme coins, solidifying Zerebro as a key player in the rapidly growing sector.

iDEGEN

Arguably one of the most unique and controversial projects in the AI meme coin space is iDEGEN. This AI agent is being trained in real-time by the wild and unpredictable denizens of Crypto Twitter. What makes iDEGEN truly stand out is that it starts with zero pre-programming, ethical guidelines, or boundaries.

This meme coin actually learns and evolves purely via interactions with its audience, responding to every mention and posting every hour, regardless of content. Memes, NSFW images, social commentary, and conspiracy theories are all fair game.

The iDEGEN experiment has already caused massive waves, raising an astonishing $1.7 million in just nine days through an adaptive auction that has led to a jaw-dropping 38,173% price increase. With exchange listings scheduled for January 1st, 2025, this token is poised for even greater heights, making it a prime candidate for early investors to capitalize on before the open market takes notice.

The Future Of AI Meme Coins

As 2024 winds down and the meme coin supercycle gains momentum heading into 2025, AI meme coins are becoming impossible to ignore. These tokens are not only redefining the role of AI in cryptocurrency but also reshaping internet culture itself.

Whether you are eyeing the early success of iDEGEN and its social experiment, the continued dominance of GOAT, or the artistic prowess of Zerebro, there is plenty of opportunity to get involved before these projects explode into the mainstream.

The Pudgy Penguins token, initially built on Ethereum (ETH), will be transferred to Solana (SOL) to leverage the scalability and low transaction costs of the blockchain. The token is scheduled for release by the end of 2024, with a total supply of 88,888,888,888 tokens.

Distribution Details

The token distribution includes 25.9% allocated to the Pudgy Penguins community, 24.12% to other communities, 29.28% to the team and company, and 12.35% designated for liquidity support. The remaining portion will be used for promotions, public projects, and rewards for FTT holders.

Although the full details regarding the token launch and its utility remain undisclosed, this move aligns with the rising popularity of fun tokens and meme coins, which are gaining traction due to their liquidity, affordability, and viral potential.

Maintaining A Market Presence

Since the NFT market downturn after the 2021 to 2022 bull run, Pudgy Penguins has remained one of the few NFT collections still relevant. The project has expanded beyond digital assets, with its notable venture into physical products like Igloo, which sells Pudgy Toys. These toys, igloos, and plush collectibles have generated $10 million in less than a year since their launch in major retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Amazon.

In the past three years, Pudgy Penguins has cultivated a robust community, selling over 1.5 million stuffed animals across more than 10,000 supermarkets globally and generating more than 50 billion social media impressions. This strategic diversification positions the project to remain a key player in the evolving crypto and NFT spaces, with the PENGU token furthering its influence.

There has been a lot of buzz lately around whether Shiba Inu (SHIB) could ever hit the $1 mark. With Ripple (XRP) recently crossing that threshold and analysts predicting that Dogecoin (DOGE) could follow suit, many are wondering if SHIB can make a similar leap.

However, reaching $1 for SHIB seems highly unlikely when you consider its enormous market supply compared to global wealth. SHIB has a total supply of a staggering 590 trillion coins, meaning a price of $1 would push its market cap to $590 trillion, far beyond the $454 trillion total global wealth in 2024.

Strong And Steady

The idea of a meme coin surpassing global wealth in market value seems almost impossible. That said, SHIB could still see substantial growth if it follows a trend similar to XRP which saw an impressive fourfold increase after breaking above a three-year compression pattern, and SHIB is showing a comparable trend, nearing the end of its own four-year compression phase.

If SHIB manages to break out, the target price based on its chart pattern would be $0.000114, representing a potential gain of about 265%. More modest mid-term targets could include revisiting early 2024 highs or reaching $0.000065.

Looking at its momentum though, the weekly RSI of SHIB is edging toward overbought territory, signaling that the trend is strong, though not overly stretched. Historically, SHIB has hit local peaks when its RSI has gone above 80, like in 2021 and early 2024, suggesting there is still room for growth based on past performance.

Growing Interest

In terms of supply dynamics, the market conditions are also favorable for SHIB. Santiment data shows that the coin has not yet reached the same selling pressure levels (red zone) it saw at the peak of the 2021 cycle, when supply hit 220 trillion. Today, that selling pressure has decreased to 144 trillion coins, meaning there is less selling pressure and more room for upward movement.

Moreover, interest in SHIB is on the rise, with a noticeable increase in active addresses. While the number of users has not yet matched the highs of early 2024 or 2021, this growing interest could lead to a surge in demand, driving the price even higher. While a $1 SHIB may not be in the cards, there is plenty of reason to believe that Shiba Inu could experience significant growth, especially if the trends continue to unfold in its favor.

Bitcoin (BTC) has officially reached a historic milestone by hitting $100,000 for the first time on December 5, following a year of remarkable growth in the cryptocurrency market. This achievement comes just weeks after surpassing the $90,000 mark on November 12th.

Various Factors

The price of Bitcoin also peaked at a new all-time high of $103,679 shortly after breaking the $100,000 barrier. In 2024, Bitcoin experienced more than $31 billion in net inflows via spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the United States, along with a tighter supply due to the fourth halving in April.

Factors contributing to the price surge include Donald Trump becoming U.S. President once again, rising speculation about a national Bitcoin reserve, and greater corporate adoption, especially by Michael Saylor.

Additionally, Trump recently nominating crypto supporter Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as the SEC chair could ease regulatory challenges faced by the industry under the Biden administration. Trump also appointed Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnik to head the Treasury and Commerce departments, signaling a potentially more crypto-friendly cabinet.

More To Come

Since the beginning of 2024, Bitcoin has increased by a whopping 126%, which is a staggering increase of around $44,000 since January. This growth has helped the market capitalization of Bitcoin soar to $2 trillion for the first time.

However, this rally, while significant, is not its most extreme. In 2017, Bitcoin saw a 1,900% increase, rising to $20,000 in December even though it was only $1,000 in January of that year. It also surged 1,250% in March 2020, when the pandemic began, to $69,000 in November 2021.

MicroStrategy remains firmly committed to acquiring Bitcoin (BTC), regardless of market fluctuations.

As November ends and December begins, the business intelligence leader has made significant progress in its Bitcoin strategy, increasing its holdings to over 400,000 BTC.

MicroStrategy now holds 402,100 BTC, worth around $38.2 billion, based on the current BTC price of $95,000. This latest acquisition was funded through share sales under its ongoing at-the-market program, as previously disclosed. Executive Chairman Michael Saylor hinted at this acquisition on December 1st, building anticipation in the crypto community prior to the official announcement.

Saylor Goes All In On BTC

In the past week, MicroStrategy sold 3.7 million shares of its MSTR stock, raising about $1.5 billion, which was immediately reinvested into Bitcoin. This marks the fourth consecutive week of Bitcoin purchases by the company.

As of now, MicroStrategy has approximately $11.3 billion left in its stock issuance program, part of a broader plan to raise $21 billion through fixed-income securities by 2027. As per the latest filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), MicroStrategy bought 15,400 BTC between November 25th and December 1st, at an average price of $95,976 per token. Since November 11th, the company has invested over $13.5 billion in Bitcoin through three separate transactions.

Where Does MARA Fit In?

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings (MARA) is following what MicroStrategy is doing, recently acquiring 6,484 BTC for around $618.3 million in cash between October 1st and November 30th, at an average cost of $95,352 per token. As of November 30th, MARA holds 34,959 BTC, valued at $3.3 billion at current prices.

However, MicroStrategy is currently facing challenges, as its market capitalization has seen an unprecedented four-day drop. Since peaking on November 21st, the company saw its valuation fall by over 35%, losing more than $30 billion.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a former SEC commissioner with a strong track record of supporting cryptocurrency, to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a Tuesday report by Unchained Crypto, citing three sources familiar with the matter.

Trump is currently awaiting Atkins to confirm whether he will accept the nomination. If Atkins declines, Trump will need to select another candidate. If he agrees, the nomination will move forward to the Senate for approval.

A Solid Choice

Atkins, who served as an SEC commissioner under President George W. Bush, has been a vocal advocate for the cryptocurrency sector since leaving the commission. He has co-chaired the Token Alliance at the Digital Chamber of Commerce since 2017 and has been advising digital finance firms on regulatory matters through his consultancy, Potomak Global Partners, which he founded in 2009.

Senate Republicans hold Commissioner Paul Atkins in high regard, said J.W. Verret, a professor at George Mason University and former SEC Advisory Committee member. He was the first libertarian to serve as an SEC commissioner, which was a groundbreaking moment at the time.

The New Administration

Should Atkins accept the nomination, he is expected to bring a pro-innovation, pro-crypto approach to the SEC, encouraging growth while ensuring proper regulation. Paul Atkins was always incredibly respectful and appreciative of the SEC staff, said John Reed Stark, who worked with Atkins at the SEC in 2008, praising his leadership style.

The new Trump administration reached out to leaders in the crypto industry for input on the SEC chair position before making their decision. This nomination is part of broader efforts by Trump to fulfill promises made to the crypto community.

In addition to the SEC nomination, Trump has proposed creating a Crypto Advisory Council to guide policy and a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve using government-seized crypto assets. Other possible candidates to assist Atkins include Bitcoin supporter Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary and Howard Lutnick, a backer of Bitcoin and stablecoins, as Commerce Secretary.

Following the example set by Kraken, RTFKT, known for their virtual NFT (Non-Fungible Token) sneakers, will officially be shut down by January 2025, as per an announcement made via X earlier today.

A New Website

Acquired by Nike in 2021 for an undisclosed amount, the Ethereum-based tokens of the company will still be available, even after the shutdown. To honor and preserve this pioneering legacy, the team will launch a new website highlighting the groundbreaking work that defined the RTFKT journey, the aforementioned announcement stated.

Founded in 2020, the Nike NFT project quickly became a leader in the NFT and metaverse sectors. It gained significant attention through major partnerships, including with Nike, as well as collaborations with notable figures like sneaker designer Jeff Staple and renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.

The Rise Of Digital Collectibles

The success of the project attracted significant investment, raising at least $8 million by backers such as Andreessen Horowitz before its acquisition by Nike. The meteoric rise of RTFKT also coincided with the growth of digital collectibles, with the Nike NFT project innovating by blending physical and digital items.

Early achievements included a collection on Nifty Gateway that generated $10,000 in sales and building a community through Ethereum-based NFTs and tangible products. Over its lifetime, the company generated nearly $50 million in revenue, with over $45 million coming via royalties, according to DefiLlama data.

However, despite its success, the NFT market has faced increasing challenges. Nike forecasts an even further decline in demand for physical sneakers, which may signal a broader dip in interest for digital collectibles.