Important news from last night and this morning (January 4th - January 5th)

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda: If economic outlook expectations are met, interest rates will be raised at an opportune time.

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda stated that if economic and price trends align with their forecasts, the Bank of Japan expects to continue its pace of interest rate hikes.

Bitcoin mining company MARA transferred 288 BTC to Wintertermute

On-chain data shows that Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital (MARA) transferred 288 BTC to market maker Wintermute 9 hours ago, which was worth about $26.3 million at the time.

Insider trading suspected in the Maduro affair in Venezuela on Polymarket, possibly involving addresses associated with WLFI.

According to Andrey_10gwei's on-chain analysis, an insider allegedly placed a bet of approximately $32,000 on Polymarket hours before the Maduro incident, subsequently winning $400,000. On-chain data shows that the account was funded by two wallets that only interact with Coinbase. The fund flow of one address traces back to addresses with ENS names "STVLU.sol" and "StCharles.sol," which deposited 252.91 SOL into Coinbase, a timing highly consistent with the insider account's receipt of funds. Furthermore, another related wallet had $11 million in transactions with an address named "StevenCharles.sol," suspected to be Steven Charles Witkoff, co-founder of World Liberty Finance. Notably, this Polymarket account withdrew approximately $440,000 in winnings to Coinbase 18 hours prior, and within the following 14 hours, $170,000 worth of Fartcoin was transferred from Coinbase to the aforementioned STVLU.sol wallet, sparking speculation that insider profits were used to purchase Fartcoin. Although the on-chain evidence did not directly lead to a conviction, the multiple ENS names, funding paths, and timelines highly overlapped, raising questions about whether insider trading occurred.

"On its first day, Jinjingyu added to its long position, with unrealized profits exceeding $3.4 million."

According to Onchain Lens, the on-chain address "1st Day Deposit Whale" recently added long positions totaling $32.62 million, with a current unrealized profit exceeding $3.4 million. It currently holds 17 positions, including: $BTC, $STBL, $IP, $HYPE, $XPL, $MON, $PUMP, $TRUMP, $GRIFFAIN, $VVV, $HMSTR, $FARTCOIN, $HEMI, $MAVIA, $LIT, $STABLE, and $AIXBT.

Spot gold has returned above the $4,400 mark, while silver has broken through $76 per ounce.

Spot gold has returned above the $4,400 mark, with intraday gains widening to 1.6%. Spot silver broke through $76 per ounce, rising 4.47% intraday.

Analysts: The depreciation of the yen gives Metaplanet a greater financial advantage compared to its US counterparts.

According to Cointelegraph, analyst Adam Livingston points out that the depreciation of the yen gives Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet a greater financial advantage compared to its US counterparts. Due to Japan's high debt-to-GDP ratio of 250%, the yen's continued depreciation allows Metaplanet to access financing at lower costs. Its 4.9% bond interest payments are denominated in the depreciating yen, resulting in a continuously decreasing effective cost of BTC. Currently, Metaplanet holds 35,102 BTC, making it the world's fourth-largest Bitcoin treasury company. Last week, the company disclosed that it acquired 4,279 BTC for approximately $451 million.

Ethereum stablecoin transaction volume hit a record high for the quarter, surpassing $8 trillion.

According to Token Terminal data, the total amount of stablecoin transfers on the Ethereum network exceeded $8 trillion for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2024, setting a new historical record.

Financial Times: PwC is actively expanding into the cryptocurrency sector.

According to the Financial Times, as the Trump administration embraces digital assets, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the Big Four accounting firms, has decided to increase its investment in cryptocurrencies after years of caution. Paul Griggs, PwC's U.S. head, stated in an interview that this strategic shift occurred last year against the backdrop of the U.S. appointing pro-crypto regulatory officials and Congress passing several new laws regulating digital assets such as stablecoins. Griggs said, "The Genius Act and the regulatory details surrounding stablecoins, I believe, will enhance market confidence in this product and asset class. Asset tokenization will inevitably continue to evolve, and PwC must be in this ecosystem." His statement highlights that the Trump administration's series of actions on cryptocurrency policy have finally convinced blue-chip companies that they can truly enter this long-avoided digital asset market.

Binance Alpha will list Depinsim (ESIM)

According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha will list Depinsim (ESIM) on January 5th. Eligible users can claim the airdrop using Binance Alpha Points on the Alpha event page after trading opens on Alpha. Further details will be announced separately. Please follow Binance's official channels for the latest updates on the event.

Michael Saylor has released another Bitcoin Tracker update; he may disclose his accumulating data next week.

Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted Bitcoin Tracker information again on the X platform, and may disclose data on his increased holdings next week.

Data shows that tokens such as HYPE, ENA, and APT will undergo significant unlocking, with HYPE unlocking value estimated at approximately $313 million.

According to Token Unlocks data, tokens such as HYPE, APT, and ENA will see large-scale unlocks next week. Specifically: Hyperliquid (HYPE) will unlock approximately 12.46 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 6th, representing 3.61% of its circulating supply, worth approximately $313 million; Aptos (APT) will unlock approximately 11.31 million tokens at 10:00 AM Beijing time on January 11th, representing 0.70% of its circulating supply, worth approximately $21.6 million; Ethena (ENA) will unlock approximately 171 million tokens at 3:00 PM Beijing time on January 5th, representing 2.37% of its circulating supply, worth approximately $42 million; and Linea (LINEA) will unlock approximately 1.38 billion tokens at 7:00 PM Beijing time on January 10th, representing 6.34% of its circulating supply, worth approximately $9.8 million. Movement (MOVE) will unlock approximately 164 million tokens at 8 PM Beijing time on January 9th, representing 5.77% of the circulating supply, worth approximately $6.1 million.

WLFI: The governance vote to accelerate USD1 adoption using a portion of treasury funds has been approved.

The Trump family's crypto project WLFI announced on the X platform that its governance proposal to accelerate USD1 adoption using partially unlocked treasury funds was passed with 77.75% of the votes in favor.

Unitree Technology clarified: It has not been involved in applying for a "green channel" and its listing process is proceeding normally.

According to a report by Securities Times cited by Jinshi, recently, some media outlets published reports related to Unitree Robotics' IPO, which were widely reprinted by numerous media outlets, online platforms, and self-media. Unitree Robotics stated that the content of the report regarding the company's IPO process is inconsistent with the facts, and that Unitree Robotics has not applied for any "green channel" related matters. The report misled public perception and has seriously infringed upon Unitree Robotics' legitimate rights and interests. Unitree Robotics has reported the matter to the relevant authorities and urged the relevant parties to retract the false reports. Unitree Robotics hereby solemnly declares that it reserves the right to pursue legal action. Currently, Unitree Robotics' IPO process is progressing normally, and relevant progress will be disclosed in accordance with laws and regulations. We thank the public for their concern and support.

Infinex's public offering has only raised $491,000 so far, leaving 90.17% remaining to reach its target.

According to data monitored by crypto KOL AB Kuai.Dong, Infinex raised only $491,000 in the approximately 30 hours after opening its ICO public offering, with 304 participants, leaving 90.17% remaining. It's worth noting that the public offering includes a one-year lock-up period (early unlocking incurs penalties and inflates the valuation). Previously, Infinex announced that its INX token sale would take place from January 3-6, offering 5% of the INX supply, with a final FDV of $99.99 million, locked for one year, with the option to unlock early.

Market news: Unitree Robotics' IPO green channel has been halted.

According to Beijing Business Today, reports indicate that Unitree Robotics' green channel for its A-share listing has been suspended, but the listing process itself has not been halted. The so-called "green channel" for listing is a mechanism designed to optimize the review process and shorten listing time, improving efficiency through priority processing and simplified procedures. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) website shows that Unitree Robotics completed its IPO preparatory work in November. The announcement indicates that Unitree Robotics intends to apply for a domestic IPO, with CITIC Securities serving as its advisor. Beijing Business Today reporters sought confirmation from relevant personnel at Unitree Robotics regarding the suspension of the green channel, but had not received a response by press time.

A certain whale has cumulatively swapped all 22,344 ETH into 774.1 WBTC.

According to on-chain analyst Ember, the whale that started swapping ETH to BTC yesterday has completed the swap of its remaining ETH, and has exchanged a total of 22,344 ETH (US$70.06 million) for 774.1 WBTC, with an average cost of US$90,505 for WBTC.

Trader pension-usdt.eth deposited nearly 30 million USDC into his contract account and opened a new 3x leveraged short position on ETH.

According to Hyperbot data, 10 minutes ago, trader pension-usdt.eth deposited 29,999,699 USDC into his contract account and opened a new short position in ETH with 3x leverage. Currently, his ETH short position has increased to 453 ETH (approximately US$1.425 million).