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What happened today?

There’s a sea of red in the market today as whipsaw price action on Bitcoin leads to weakness across alt-coins. Just as we mentioned last week, as the year finishes off and people are off relaxing on the holidays, we probably won’t see any huge movements. So far this has been true, with every pump getting sold on and vice versa. While things may feel quiet now, it’s important to remember how big a catalyst Trump’s inauguration could prove to be, and we are now a matter of weeks away.

Everyone is talking about how bullish his presidency will be for Bitcoin, namely given the potential for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, however I don’t think the market has fully realized how important a regulatory shift this is for Ethereum and other smart contract-based chains. For years it’s been extremely difficult for companies and teams in the US to launch DeFi protocols or even tokens, as the guidelines for what was “ok” were nonexistent. With Trump now stepping into office as someone who has backed the launch of a protocol and token himself (World Liberty Finance), the game is on again.

Biggest Headlines

The Beluga intern has been hard at work gathering all the most important crypto news stories so you have them in one place!

The Majors

• Bitcoin drops to $92,000 as long-term holders keep taking profit

Alt Coins and Stocks

• DEX’s $463bn record not ‘just a fleeting trned’ experts say and urge centralized exchanges to keep up

• AI agents capture attention as AiXBT, ai16z, and Virtuals surge

Regulatory

• Sovereign Bitcoin gets hot as German political leaders weigh role in Europe’s top economy

New Launches

• HyperLiquid releases native staking as HYPE token extends its rally

Miscellaneous

• The Scoop’s year-end special: From memecoins to MicroStrategy and 2025 outlook

• Crypto scammers are now stealing from other crypto thieves

Trading Talk

I just spent a few paragraphs talking about how quiet things are right now, so let’s take a look at something that has been the absolute opposite: AI agent tokens continue to steal the spotlight from memecoins. The insane run of $AIXBT (up another 250% this month) and the whole Virtual Protocol ecosystem has been seriously impressive, and while I still believe the majority of these “agents” are really just chatbots, where there’s smoke there’s usually fire. The growth of $AIXBT is highly reflexive, as it has become the highest mindshare Twitter account on CT (source: Kaito) and thus the token calls that it makes tend to attract buyers in, which in turn influences positive price action and makes the agent look highly intelligent.

As we see more and more of these agents become successful, it attracts more legitimate developers and AI researchers to try their hand in the space. While having a token attached to your project invites speculation and volatility you wouldn’t find in any traditional setup, it also attracts potential power users and more importantly funding. Just as these agent tokens have reflexive price action, the influx of new developers and teams should also grow rapidly.

Tweet of the Day

Man I hate when I profit tens of thousands of dollars because of a misclick, poor guy.

The content on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. While Beluga strives to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of information, there may be discrepancies when comparing our data to that of financial institutions, service providers, or specific product websites. Always consult with a professional before making any financial decisions.

Will McKinnon is the Head of Content for Beluga and has spent every day for many years trading coins. For that reason there are too many to name, however his largest holdings by a significant margin are Ethereum and Bitcoin. NFA DYOR