🖥 Cryptocurrencies Kick Off 2025 with Growth: Bitcoin Surpasses $97K Again 📈

The crypto industry started 2025 with a recovery following recent losses, fueled by renewed investor optimism.

1️⃣ Key Facts:

✅ Bitcoin: Price increased by 3%, reaching $97,234.80, with a total growth of nearly 4% since the start of the year.
✅ CoinDesk 20 Index: The cryptocurrency market rose by over 3%.
✅ Solana: Leading among altcoins with a nearly 7% increase.
✅ Crypto Stocks: Coinbase and MicroStrategy shares rose by 3.5% each.

2️⃣ Reasons for the Growth:

✅ Regulatory Changes: The promise of more favorable regulations by President-elect Donald Trump is creating positive conditions for cryptocurrencies.

✅ Legislation: Investors are hopeful that Congress will pass the first-ever crypto-focused legislative initiative, possibly related to stablecoins or market structure.

✅ IPOs and Reserves: Anticipation of public crypto market launches and progress in creating a national strategic Bitcoin reserve.

3️⃣ 2024 Recap:

✅ Crypto assets ended the year with over 120% growth.

✅ Long-term holders locked in profits, while some sold assets due to uncertainty about potential Federal Reserve interest rate changes in 2025.

4️⃣ What to Expect in 2025:

The cryptocurrency market is expected to continue evolving under the influence of regulatory initiatives and increasing institutional investments. Investors should be prepared for volatility and take advantage of emerging opportunities to grow their portfolios.

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📁 Weekly Crypto Updates: What’s New?

Here are the key events from the crypto world over the past few days:

1️⃣ Forbes Forecast: Seven Key Industry Trends by 2025

✅ G7 and BRICS may create strategic Bitcoin reserves.

✅ Stablecoin market capitalization is expected to reach $400 billion.

✅ Rapid growth of Bitcoin-based DeFi is anticipated, driven by L2 solutions like Stacks and BOB.

2️⃣ The Combined Wealth of the Top 500 Billionaires Surpasses $10 Trillion

The wealth of Binance CEO CZ increased by 60%, reaching $55 billion. The rise was fueled by Bitcoin’s price surge past the $100,000 mark after the US elections.

3️⃣ Binance Labs Plans a Rebrand

Binance’s investment division completed 46 deals in 2024 and plans to expand into OTC trading and the secondary market. CZ is personally involved in project evaluations and interactions with founders.

4️⃣ Former German Finance Minister Calls for Bitcoin in EU Reserves

Christian Lindner urged the ECB and Bundesbank to consider adding crypto assets to reserves to strengthen economic resilience.

5️⃣ IRS Introduces Temporary Tax Relief for Crypto Investors

In 2025, CeFi users will be able to choose their asset accounting method to reduce taxes. Experts warn that if no method is chosen by 2026, the default FIFO rule will apply, leading to higher capital gains taxes.

6️⃣ Syrian Transitional Council Legalizes Bitcoin

Bitcoin is planned to be used to attract investments and combat inflation. There is also a discussion about integrating cryptocurrency into the banking system and opening up energy resources for mining.

7️⃣ a16z Supports Lawsuit Against the US Treasury

a16z Crypto backs a lawsuit against new reporting regulations, which they believe threaten DeFi’s growth. Industry lawyers are confident they can protect innovation.

8️⃣ Strive Files for a Bitcoin-Backed Bond ETF

The fund will invest in bonds issued by MicroStrategy and other companies holding large BTC reserves. Bitwise also plans to launch an ETF focused on companies with more than 1,000 BTC on their balance sheets.

9️⃣ Debate on the Future of AI Agents

Hasib from Dragonfly stated that the hype around AI agents is temporary and will be replaced by more practical engineering solutions. Meanwhile, the market capitalization of AI memes reached $11 billion, with a daily trading volume of $2.46 billion.

1️⃣0️⃣ MicroStrategy, CleanSpark, and Tether Increase Their BTC Reserves

✅ MicroStrategy: Purchased 2,138 BTC for $209 million, bringing its total holdings to 446,400 BTC.

✅ CleanSpark: Acquired 3,158 BTC, raising its total reserve to 9,907 BTC.

✅ Tether: Withdrew 7,628.9 BTC from Bitfinex, increasing its reserves to 82,983 BTC worth $7.68 billion.

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🌐 2024 Highlights: China vs. the US in the AI Race

Over the past 18 months, China has significantly narrowed the gap with the US in artificial intelligence development.

📊 Facts and Figures:

⚪️ In 2023, China lagged behind the US by 30.12% in the race for leadership in LLMs (SuperCLUE benchmark).

⚪️ By October 2024, the gap had shrunk to a record 1.29%, but OpenAI’s new model, OpenAIo1, widened it back to 8%.

⚪️ In the open-source domain, China not only caught up but surpassed the US in tests conducted in Chinese.

🇨🇳 Key Achievements by China:

1️⃣ Open-Source Models Leading the Way: Chinese Qwen2.5-72B-Instruct scored 68.90 points on SuperCLUE, nearing the performance of the top closed-source models.

2️⃣ Model Diversification: The top three leaders remain US models, but they are closely followed by three Chinese models outperforming Google DeepMind Gemini.

3️⃣ Resource Optimization: Despite US export restrictions on advanced chips, China has achieved remarkable results by focusing on medium-complexity tasks.

💡 Insight:

China has proven that "money doesn’t solve everything" in AI development.

Through strategic adaptation and resource optimization, the country has significantly bolstered its position.

✅ Bottom Line:

The AI leadership race remains a showdown between two giants.

The US maintains its lead in top-tier models, but China demonstrates strength in open-source and shows that restrictions can be overcome.

The path to AGI is becoming increasingly competitive, with 2024 marking a pivotal year in this technological contest.

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