Highlights 🧵:

1/ Bitcoin surpassed US$100k for the first time after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell called it a competitor to gold, and president-elect Donald Trump nominated pro-crypto Paul Atkins to chair the SEC. Chair Powell's words signal the improving perception of Bitcoin in the traditional finance world, while the SEC news points towards a potential shift in US cryptocurrency regulation under the incoming Trump administration.

2/ South Korea initially planned to impose a 20% tax on cryptocurrency trading profits starting in 2021, but backlash and concerns about its impact on investors led to repeated delays, pushing the implementation to 2023, then 2025, and now 2027.

3/ PancakeSwap has launched SpringBoard, a no-code platform that allows users to create and launch tokens on BNB Chain without fees, featuring automatic liquidity pairing. This pairing links tokens to PancakeSwap’s liquidity once they achieve 100% on the bonding curve. This eliminates the need for external decentralized exchanges for liquidity, streamlining the process and enabling tokens to become tradable instantly.

With ETH dominance at multi-year lows, Ethereum finds itself at the center of a broader debate on value accrual.

Our latest #Binance Research report examines recent trends and the interplay between L2 growth and effective L1 value capture.

Read on ⬇️
https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/the-eth-value-debate/

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:

1/ El Salvador plans to relax its requirement for local businesses to accept Bitcoin as payment, making it voluntary rather than mandatory. This shift aims to secure over $3 billion in loans, including a potential $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
2/ Binance has unveiled a new version of its wallet, the Binance Wallet, featuring a unified wallet, revamped airdrop zone, and a new interface. These upgrades emphasize the "Seamless" theme, aiming to enhance asset management, streamline airdrop access, and elevate the overall user experience, making the platform easier to navigate.

3/ The Hong Kong Government has gazetted the Stablecoins Bill to regulate issuers of fiat-referenced stablecoins in Hong Kong. Set for its first reading in the Legislative Council (LegCo) on December 18, the Bill aims to enhance the regulatory framework for virtual assets, address financial stability risks, ensure user protection, and leverage the benefits of virtual assets and their technologies.

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:

1/ On December 18, 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve reduced the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a target range of 4.25%–4.5%, marking the third rate cut this year. The Fed signaled a more cautious approach for 2025, projecting only two additional rate cuts next year, down from the previously expected four.

2/ Ethena, a DeFi protocol with a market cap of US$6 billion, launched USDtb, a new stablecoin backed primarily by BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized money market fund. USDtb aims to stabilize Ethena's yield-generating USDe token during bearish crypto markets. Ethena's native token, ENA, has rallied in response to the launch. Ethena's USDe stablecoin has quickly risen in the market, contributing to the recent all-time high in total stablecoin supply.

3/ Avalanche released its largest-ever update, Avalanche9000, introducing a 96% reduction in C-Chain transaction fees and simplifying the deployment of additional blockchains within the Avalanche ecosystem (called Layer-1 blockchains, previously known as Avalanche Subnets), including a significant reduction in the cost of deployment (up to 99%). The combination of lower network fees and easier deployment of more Avalanche chains is expected to drive user growth and transaction activity within the Avalanche ecosystem, which has over 50 subnets. Avalanche recently raised US$250 million in a token sale to VCs, focusing on expanding its presence in gaming and real-world assets (RWAs).

Competition among crypto wallets is heating up! 🔥

Discover how these new-age platforms are revolutionizing the Internet in our latest #Binance Research report.

Read more now ⬇️
https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/the-future-of-crypto-wallet

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:

1/ BNB Chain released its 2024 annual report, highlighting achievements such as network consolidation under the 'One BNB' multichain strategy, advancements in opBNB and Greenfield for scalability and storage, and a focus on enabling BNB Chain as an AI-first chain. TVL grew by 58.2%, and unique addresses rose by 17.7% in 2024.

2/ Rumble announced a US$775M investment from Tether, significantly boosting its stock. Tether will purchase 103.3M shares at US$7.50 each. Of the total funds, Rumble plans to allocate US$250 million for growth initiatives, with the remainder designated for a self-tender offer of up to 70M Class A shares. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2025.

3/ Deutsche Bank launched Project Dama 2, an asset-servicing pilot utilizing a Layer 2 solution on Ethereum to tackle regulatory challenges faced by financial institutions. Announced in November, the solution employs zero-knowledge proof technology to enhance transaction efficiency and privacy, advancing institutional blockchain adoption.

In our latest report, we provide an overview of the crypto industry by highlighting projects across multiple sectors.

We spotlight themes such as Payments, AI, Memecoins, and others in this report.

Check it out 🔽
https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/industry-map-dec24

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:

1/ A proposal to add Bitcoin to Switzerland’s national reserves has been submitted to the Swiss Chancellery. Led by a coalition of ten crypto advocates, the initiative seeks to amend Switzerland's constitution, requiring the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin alongside gold in its reserves. If successful, the proposal will proceed to the Swiss Federal Assembly for review.

2/ In December 2024, China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) introduced new regulations requiring banks to monitor and report risky foreign exchange activities, including cryptocurrency transactions. The regulations aim to curb illegal activities like underground banking and cross-border gambling, making it harder for mainland investors to engage in digital asset trading.

3/ Bitwise, a leading US asset manager, has applied for approval to launch the Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF. The fund would track companies holding over 1,000 BTC as a reserve asset. It plans to invest at least 80% of its net assets plus borrowings in the shares included in the index, providing focused exposure to Bitcoin-heavy firms.

Time to look at January's market insights!

Discover the current market landscape and key insights on:

🔸 Bitcoin Performance
🔸 USDe Growth
🔸 DEX Volumes
🔸 AI Agent Narrative

…and more.

Read here ⬇️
https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/monthly-market-insights-2025-01

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:

1/ Pump.science partners with Hedgehog to launch Solana-based prediction markets for betting on the results of longevity experiments on mice. Mice injected with longevity compounds are tested against a control group on a rotarod, assessing motor skills. Users, equipped with data on how the compound previously performed on flies, bet on which mice will excel, with trials livestreamed.

2/ Thailand is set to trial cryptocurrency payments in Phuket, a popular tourist destination, as part of a pilot program offering foreign visitors an alternative payment option. The initiative seeks to integrate digital currencies into everyday transactions, enabling tourists to register Bitcoin through a Thai exchange, verify their identities, and make purchases seamlessly.

3/ Revolut has joined the Pyth Network as one of over 100 data publishers, providing high-quality financial data to enhance decentralized applications across 80+ blockchains. By delivering real-time price updates, this partnership leverages Pyth's advanced oracle technology for low-latency, reliable data aggregation. Since May 2021, Chainlink’s share of price data feeds has decreased from 69% to 52%, while Pyth’s has increased from 0.08% to 11%, highlighting Pyth’s rapid growth and influence.

#Binance Research is pleased to release our full-year report for 2024!

Dive into the most significant developments in the past year and check out what we are excited about for 2025.

Read the full report here 🔽
https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/full-year-2024-and-themes-for-2025

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:
1/ President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a cryptocurrency working group to draft new digital asset regulations and explore creating a national cryptocurrency stockpile. The order also mandates protection of banking services for crypto companies, bans the creation of a U.S. central bank digital currency, and rolls back SEC guidance that had hindered crypto adoption.

2/ Telegram, with more than 950 million monthly users, has chosen The Open Network (TON) as its exclusive blockchain partner. TON will power Telegram’s mini-app platform and via the TON Connect wallet protocol for seamless blockchain transactions. This deepened partnership establishes Toncoin as the sole cryptocurrency for payments on Telegram, including ads, subscriptions, and rewards. Telegram also plans to tokenize digital assets, like emojis and NFTs, exclusively on TON.

3/ Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan supports integrating crypto payments into the U.S. financial system, pending regulatory approval. Speaking at the World Economic Forum, he emphasized the potential of stablecoins to streamline payments. Once skeptical, the bank now invests heavily in blockchain, holding patents and partnering with platforms like Paxos to enhance efficiency.

Decentralized Science is a fairly nascent sector that gained steam towards the end of 2024.

In our latest report, we examined the challenges in traditional science research and where DeSci could be a solution.

Check out our findings here 🔽
https://www.binance.com/en/research/analysis/from-challenges-to-opportunities-how-desci-reimagines-science

Happy Friday! Binance Bytes is an initiative by the Research team to provide a quick round-up of the week.

Highlights 🧵:

1/ Chinese AI startup DeepSeek dethroned OpenAI’s ChatGPT as the most-downloaded free app on Apple’s U.S. App Store, triggering a major sell-off in global tech stocks, with Nvidia falling 17% and the Nasdaq dropping over 3%. Investors were shocked by DeepSeek’s ability to develop a highly competitive AI model at a fraction of the cost of U.S. rivals, raising concerns about China’s growing AI dominance despite U.S. chip export restrictions.

2/ Czech National Bank governor Aleš Michl proposed investing up to 5% of the country's €140B foreign reserves into Bitcoin, potentially making Czechia the first Western central bank to hold crypto assets. Michl acknowledged Bitcoin's volatility but highlighted growing investor interest and political support, particularly in the U.S., where major financial firms have launched Bitcoin ETFs. While the Czech cryptocurrency market is rapidly expanding, Michl cautioned that any large-scale central bank investment in Bitcoin could significantly impact its price.

3/ Igloo Inc., the team behind Pudgy Penguins, has launched Abstract Chain, a layer-2 blockchain on Ethereum built with ZKsync’s ZK Stack to enhance Web3 accessibility. Through The Portal, users can access over 100 apps with just an email, blending Web2 ease with Web3 technology via features like account abstraction and social logins. Focused on “consumer crypto,” Abstract aims to integrate blockchain into daily life, beginning with gaming and entertainment and expanding into broader financial applications.