【ChainWen】Another publicly listed company’s布局 in the crypto space has surfaced. ALT5 Sigma (NASDAQ: ALTS) latest quarterly shareholder letter reveals that the company holds approximately 7.3 billion WLFI tokens, valued at over $1 billion at current prices — several times higher than the company's total market cap of $156 million, demonstrating strong confidence in this asset.
On the business front, the performance is even more impressive. Its subsidiaries ALT5 Pay and ALT5 Prime have processed over $5 billion in digital asset transactions, proving that payment infrastructure can be effectively implemented in real-world scenarios. More importantly, the company has partnered with AlphaTON and PagoPay to participate in Mastercard’s crypto spending program — this indicates that traditional payment giants are also beginning to embrace on-chain assets.
Notably, the company is testing integration with World Liberty

【BlockBeats】On December 18th, a founder of a leading exchange shared an interesting perspective during a year-end review — that AI and robots will adopt cryptocurrencies on a large scale in the future, which is almost an inevitable trend.
Why do they say that? Their logic is quite straightforward. The traditional financial system is completely incompatible with intelligent agents — opening a bank account requires KYC verification, selfies, and card swipes, operations that are simply impossible for lifeless robots. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, are inherently designed for program interaction — 24/7 operation, no intermediaries, no identity verification, pure peer-to-peer value transfer.
This industry insider also mentioned a new concept — deep payments(deep payments), believing it could become the main interaction layer for robots in the digital world. Simply put, it refers to micro-payments and value exchanges between intelligent agents conducted via cryptocurrencies, which will support the entire

Xie Jiarui stated during the live broadcast that the goal is to transform the exchange from a follower to a leader, emphasizing that "user interests first" should be put into action. He believes that the VIP system needs substantial innovation, building a complete service ecosystem around the needs of high-net-worth users, including exclusive asset management plans and customized services, rather than relying solely on fee discounts.

【Chain Wen】American fintech giant SoFi Bank recently made a big move — issuing its own USD stablecoin SoFiUSD, backed by a 1:1 cash reserve. What does this mean? SoFi has become the first nationwide bank in the U.S. to issue a stablecoin on a public blockchain.
On the technical side, SoFiUSD is already live on Ethereum, offering a 24/7, near-instant, low-cost settlement experience. Whether for interbank clearing, fintech companies, or enterprise users, they can all access it. Even more interesting, the cash reserves are directly held in Federal Reserve accounts, and the earnings can be shared with partners — providing a strong incentive for traditional financial institutions to participate.
What are the application scenarios? SoFi has planned many use cases: card network payments, retail settlements, cross-border transfers with SoFi Pay, and even payments via POS terminals. In the future, access will gradually be opened to ordinary SoFi users.

【Blockchain Rhythm】Recently, the founder of a leading exchange mentioned quite a few data points during the year-end event when discussing the development of their public chain. It sounded quite encouraging.
He admitted that this public chain has indeed been somewhat "neglected" over the past few years, but this year it finally turned around. The investment of manpower and resources has clearly increased, and ecosystem construction has accelerated. Numbers speak for themselves — the annual transaction volume has increased by nearly 600%, which means a sixfold growth.
User growth is even more impressive. According to his disclosure, the number of daily active addresses has already exceeded 2 million. The official data was around 2.4 million, so the actual number of users might be slightly less, but probably not too far off. This scale is considered quite good within the chain ecosystem.
As for transaction frequency, he believes that the current transaction volume of this chain is already at a top-tier level, although he also frankly said he doesn't constantly compare data with other chains. However, he encourages developers to continue building on this chain.

The Bank of England announced on December 18th that the benchmark interest rate will be lowered from 4.0% to 3.75%, marking the fourth rate cut in 2025. This reflects a delicate balance between slowing economic growth and inflation pressures. Governor Bailey emphasized the gradual nature of the rate cut, demonstrating the complexity of the central bank's policy and a cautious attitude for the future. Investors should pay attention to global central bank developments.

Norwegian travel retailer Travel Retail Norway has introduced Bitcoin payments at the duty-free store at Oslo Airport. Customers can pay via the Lightning Network and have the payment instantly converted to Norwegian Krone without additional fees. This service is planned to expand to other city stores, reflecting the growing acceptance of digital currency payments in traditional retail.

Pacifica has updated the funding rate comparison feature, allowing users to compare trading fees across multiple platforms, helping high-frequency traders choose the lowest-cost trading pairs and reduce trading slippage. At the same time, combined with on-chain data copying tools, users can replicate high-frequency trading strategies in real-time, accumulate trading points, and are suitable for users participating in potential airdrops.

There is a new development in the Fed Chair candidate race, with Wash's nomination probability dropping to 25%, Hasset rising to 52%, and Waller decreasing to 13%. Trump has already interviewed Waller and Wash, and both remain the top choices. This decision will impact Federal Reserve policies and influence liquidity and risk appetite in the crypto market.

A leading game developer is attempting to introduce cryptocurrencies like XRP into in-game payments, potentially offering low-cost, instant transactions, especially suitable for virtual item trading. This move will promote the widespread adoption of blockchain among ordinary consumers, shifting its value from investment to user experience.

【Crypto World】Security organizations reveal exchange vulnerability issues. On December 18th, well-known security team SlowMist discovered serious security vulnerabilities on two trading platforms, which directly threaten user funds. Even more upsetting, SlowMist repeatedly tried to contact these two platforms, but either couldn't reach them or received no response after public communication.
Regarding the size of these two trading platforms, they are quite substantial. One has a 24-hour trading volume of $3.7 billion, and the other has a daily trading volume of $240 million. Logically, such large platforms should have relatively comprehensive security teams, but from this incident, it seems there may be some lapses in security emergency response.
According to tweets from the official SlowMist account, they did proactively contact a trading platform called ICRYPEX Global recently to report these vulnerabilities. The failure to address these security risks in a timely manner poses a hidden danger to users.

Recently, the SOL market has been quiet, with prices rising initially and then falling back, and trading volume shrinking. The technical indicators remain weak, with MACD showing strong bearish momentum, and KDJ in neutral. Support level is at 122.0, resistance at 132.0, and short-term observation is recommended.

A leading exchange will optimize the tiered level rules for the PIPPIN perpetual contract on December 18, 2025, aiming to enhance market liquidity. This adjustment involves parameters such as margin requirements and leverage multiples. Traders should familiarize themselves with the new rules in advance to avoid operational risks. The actual implementation time may vary due to market fluctuations, so please stay updated with official announcements.

The Ethereum spot ETF market has recently shown signs of capital inflow, but on December 17th, it still experienced a net outflow of $22.4264 million. BlackRock's ETHA faces the greatest outflow pressure, but its long-term performance remains steady, with a total net inflow exceeding $12.85 billion. The overall market total asset net value is $17.344 billion, and institutional investors' demand for allocation to this ETF continues to grow.

Bloomberg's ETF analysts predict that the crypto asset management sector will experience an ETF product explosion next year, with over 100 new products potentially launched, but most will struggle to survive. The US SEC currently has 126 ETP applications pending review, with fierce competition and serious product homogenization. A wave of liquidations is expected by the end of 2026 to 2027, and investors should exercise caution when selecting products.

【BitPush】Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market listed company TORICO announced an important capital partnership. This company, which operates multiple content platforms, has reached an agreement with Mint Town, a Web3 gaming platform expansion-focused company, to conduct in-depth financing cooperation.
According to the details of the cooperation, TORICO plans to raise approximately 4.7 billion yen (about $30.17 million) through investment funds under Mint Town. More notably, the specific use of the funds—TORICO will allocate all the raised capital to purchase Ethereum, a move that fully demonstrates recognition of Ethereum's long-term value.
From an equity structure perspective, this cooperation will also reshape the company's shareholder landscape. The investment fund operated by Mint Town will become TORICO's largest shareholder, with a voting rights ratio of approximately 23.36%, indicating that Web3 forces will play a significant role in the company's governance.