TL;DR

• Bitcoin surged 8.39% over the past seven days to $100,550, breaking through the $100K milestone and setting a new all-time high.
• Ethereum rose 6.16% over the past 7 days to $3,852.58, maintaining its upward trend with key resistance at $3,600.
• Grayscale files to convert its Solana Trust into a spot ETF.
• Bitcoin’s new all-time high is accompanied by a surging Coinbase premium, showing strong buying pressure from U.S. market participants.
• Mara announces plans to issue $700 million in bonds for Bitcoin purchases.
• Wormhole introduces W token staking program, offering minimum rewards of 50 million tokens.
• Multiple projects successfully completed fundraising this week, spanning applications in infrastructure and other fields, with a total of $103 million raised.

Market Analysis

Review and Insights

• BTC Market— Over the past seven days, Bitcoin prices rose by 8.39%, currently trading at $100,550. The overall trend during this period has been an upward consolidation. Between December 2 and December 6, the price dropped to a low of approximately $93,000 but quickly surpassed $100K following factors such as the nomination of a crypto-friendly SEC chair. After reaching a new all-time high, attention should be paid to whether previous resistance levels can now act as support during any pullbacks. [1]

• ETH Market — Over the past seven days, ETH prices rose by 6.16%, currently trading at $3,852.58, with a weekly high of $3,886. The price remains in an ascending channel, with short-term fluctuations expected between $3,600 and $3,900. If the $3,900 resistance level is effectively breached, higher targets could be tested. Future trends will depend on a breakthrough in key support and resistance levels. [2]

• Altcoins — Over the past seven days, the altcoin market was significantly influenced by BTC’s performance, showing an overall upward trend. The Perpetuals sector gained 142.9%, the Internet of Things (IoT) sector rose by 60.6%, and the Outlier Ventures Portfolio sector increased by 55.5%. [3]
• Futures Market — The overall sentiment in the futures market remains positive, with bulls dominating. Bitcoin’s buy-sell ratio is positive, reflecting optimism about its short-term price movement. Weighted funding rates have consistently stayed positive, indicating strong expectations for long positions. In the crypto market, call options accounted for 64.35%, while put options made up 35.65%. In the past 24 hours, total market liquidations reached $630 million, with $340 million from long positions and $290 million from short positions. [4] \
• Macro Data — In November, U.S. ADP employment increased by 146,000, the smallest gain since August 2024 and below market expectations of 150,000. Additionally, October’s data was revised downward from 233,000 to 184,000. However, trends in employment growth remain steady despite the impacts from hurricanes and strikes. Recent U.S. Economic data included: the ISM Manufacturing Index at 48.4, surpassing the previous 46.5 and expectations of 47.7; JOLTS non-farm job openings at 7.74 million, exceeding the prior 7.372 million and expectations of 7.51 million; and the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index at 52.1, below the previous 56.0 and the expected 55.5. [5]
• Stablecoins — The total market cap of stablecoins rose by 2.47% to $196.2 billion, with additional inflows of over-the-counter capital. [6]
• Gas Fees — Ethereum network activity has been high recently, with the highest daily consumption reaching 205 Gwei and the daily average gas fee at 27 Gwei. [7]

Trending Concepts

This week, Bitcoin prices fluctuated widely between $94,000 and $103,000, with mixed performance across altcoin sectors. According to data from CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap, the Perpetuals, Internet of Things (IoT), and Outlier Ventures Portfolio sectors posted significant gains, rising approximately 142.9%, 60.6%, and 55.5%, respectively, over the past seven days. These three sectors demonstrated unique characteristics and strong growth trends in the market. [8]

Perpetuals — Perpetuals are financial instruments commonly used in trading, offering investors specific opportunities and strategic options. Influenced by overall market activity and their inherent trading advantages, this sector saw significant growth over the past seven days, with a 142.9% increase as of December 5, 12:00 (UTC+8).

One notable event was Hyperliquid’s large-scale token genesis airdrop for its native token, HYPE, on November 29. A total of 310 million tokens were airdroped, valued at $620 million, making it one of the largest airdrop projects of 2024. This event significantly boosted market sentiment.

Internet of Things (IoT) — The Internet of Things (IoT) aims to connect various devices via networks for data exchange and smart control, offering extensive application prospects across numerous fields. Driven by increased attention to emerging technologies, the sector posted a 60.6% gain over the past seven days as of December 5, 12:00 (UTC+8).

XYO Coin stood out with a surge of over 120%, briefly entering the top 100 market cap rankings and attracting widespread attention. The project recently completed its Gamma phase token sale, launched its mainnet, and announced that it had received listing proposals from 10 leading exchanges. It also successfully listed on LA Token, boosting investor confidence significantly.

Outlier Ventures Portfolio — The Outlier Ventures Portfolio encompasses a range of distinctive projects with unique investment logic and growth potential. Supported by industry development and the growth of individual projects, the sector gained 55.5% over the past seven days as of December 5, 12:00 (UTC+8), with notable standout performances.

Among them, Celo’s token price increased by 26.8%. The project has recently gained widespread attention due to community dissatisfaction with its L2 migration plan, as well as controversy surrounding cLabs’ proposal to retain L1 and rename it Celo Gold.

Top Performers

According to Gate.io data, the top-performing tokens over the past 7 days are as follows: [9]

XYO – Up approximately 166.29% over seven days, with a circulating market cap of $359 million.
XYO is a technical protocol dedicated to enhancing data validity, certainty, and value. Through building a data marketplace, XYO provides high-standard solutions for applications, websites, and blockchain technologies that rely on trusted data.

Recently, XYO has gained market attention due to the rise of its DePIN concept, using blockchain technology to reshape infrastructure and data sovereignty, addressing efficiency and security issues in centralized systems, while aligning with trends in data privacy protection and sustainable development.

XVG – Up approximately 159.74% over seven days, with a circulating market cap of $303 million.
XVG is the native token of the Verge blockchain, known for its focus on privacy and anonymity. It supports fast, low-cost cross-border payments and is compatible with multiple payment protocols.

The recent strong performance of XVG may be attributed to increased community interest in privacy technologies and their payment use cases. Additionally, Verge’s network updates and expansion plans have bolstered investor confidence in its potential.

ARTY – Up approximately 147.9% over seven days, with a circulating market cap of $25.87 million.
ARTY is the core token of the Artify project, designed to support the creation, trading, and management of digital artworks while promoting the development of a decentralized art ecosystem. Artyfact is a gaming metaverse that integrates a Play-and-Earn model, allowing players to explore virtual worlds, participate in games, showcase and trade NFTs, and host events, offering an immersive multifunctional interactive experience.

ARTY’s recent surge is primarily driven by the listing of the $ARTY/USDC trading pair on a well-known exchange. This move significantly increased $ARTY’s liquidity while providing a new trading gateway for users in USDC-supported regions, creating more opportunities for traders and investors.

Weekly Spotlights

Hot Topic Review

Grayscale Applies to Convert Solana Trust to Spot ETF
Grayscale Investments recently filed an application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its Solana Trust into a spot Solana ETF, with the ticker symbol GSOL. If approved, this ETF will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), providing investors with direct exposure to Solana (SOL). As of the application date, the Grayscale Solana Trust manages approximately $134.2 million in assets, making it the largest Solana investment fund globally. This application is part of Grayscale’s broader strategy to transform cryptocurrency trust funds into regulated ETFs and marks another milestone in this effort. Earlier this year, Grayscale successfully converted its Bitcoin and Ethereum Trusts into spot ETFs, which received positive responses from the market.

Although the SEC remains cautious about cryptocurrency ETFs, citing concerns about market manipulation, liquidity, and investor protection, Grayscale and other firms remain optimistic about the approval as the crypto market matures and regulatory frameworks improve. Grayscale’s move is seen as a crucial step towards broader regulated investment options in the crypto industry, and could potentially lay the groundwork for ETFs of other blockchain assets.[10]

Bitcoin Hits New All-Time High as Surging Coinbase Premium Shows Strong U.S. Buying Power
Bitcoin has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing $100K, setting a new all-time high. The Coinbase premium, which measures the price difference between Bitcoin on Coinbase and other exchanges, has shown a notable increase. This premium is widely regarded as a key indicator of U.S. market buying strength, and its current elevation suggests robust demand from American investors. This increased interest can be attributed to favorable macroeconomic conditions and substantial institutional capital inflows.

Market analysts point to the upcoming spot Bitcoin ETF launch as a major driver of institutional investment. Bitcoin’s inherent scarcity and its role as a hedge against economic uncertainty have also garnered increased attention. However, despite the positive momentum, investors should exercise caution given potential market volatility. It remains crucial to closely monitor technical indicators and macroeconomic developments for informed decision-making.[11]

Mara Plans to Issue $700 Million in Bonds to Purchase Bitcoin
MARA Holdings, a global leader in digital asset computing focused on supporting energy transformation, has announced plans to issue $700 million in zero-coupon convertible senior notes through a private placement to qualified institutional investors. These notes are set to mature in 2031.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the issuance for the following purposes:

1. Repurchasing Existing Debt: Allocate up to $200 million to repurchase part of the existing convertible notes due in 2026 through privately negotiated transactions.
2. Purchasing Bitcoin: Use the remaining funds to increase Bitcoin holdings, enhancing the company’s digital asset reserves.
3. General Corporate Purposes: Including working capital, strategic acquisitions, expansion of existing assets, and repayment of other outstanding debt.

Additionally, MARA Holdings has granted initial purchasers an option to buy an additional $105 million in notes within 13 days of the issuance date. The notes are unsecured senior debt and do not bear regular interest unless special interest becomes applicable under certain conditions. As Bitcoin continues to reach new highs this year, this represents one of the methods for traditional financial institutions to gain Bitcoin exposure. [12]

Security Incident

XT Suspends Withdrawals for All Tokens
Cryptocurrency exchange XT.COM has reportedly been hacked, resulting in the loss of approximately $1.7 million in crypto assets. The stolen funds have been converted into 461.58 ETH and transferred to the address 0xB43f…8F83. XT.COM announced that it has suspended withdrawals for all tokens due to wallet maintenance and upgrade, stating that the resumption of withdrawals will be announced at a later date.

Additionally, according to monitoring by the “BitJungle - Zhong Kui System,” XT.COM’s hot wallets on multiple chains, including ETH, Polygon, and OP, have shown abnormal fund outflows. The affected assets include DOGE, TRUMP, and other tokens, all of which have been exchanged for ETH, with a total value of approximately $1.67 million. [13]

Project Highlights

Wormhole Launches W Token Staking Program with a Minimum Reward of 50 Million Tokens
Wormhole, a leading cross-chain protocol, has launched its W Token Staking Rewards Program (SRP). As a decentralized universal messaging protocol, Wormhole enables developers and users to create cross-chain applications that leverage multiple blockchain ecosystems. The platform now supports W token staking across Solana and various EVM chains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base. Starting retroactively from June 6, 2024 (when EVM chain staking began), the program will distribute a minimum of 50 million W tokens as rewards.

Users can access the program through the new W Dashboard, which offers comprehensive stake management, metrics visualization, and reward tracking features. Looking ahead, Wormhole plans to introduce MultiGov, a multi-chain governance system, in Q1 2025. This system will empower stakers to participate in and execute cross-chain governance decisions. Of the initial 1.7 billion token issuance, approximately 858 million W tokens are currently available to the community. [14]

Data Highlights

BlackRock and MicroStrategy Each Hold Over 400,000 Bitcoin
Bitcoin is becoming a core asset for institutional funds. BlackRock holds 496,854 BTC, valued at approximately $4.7 billion, representing 2.37% of total supply; MicroStrategy holds 402,100 BTC, accounting for 1.91%. Bitcoin ETF holdings have reached 6%, increasing by 1% over the past 5 months. Currently, there are 1,106,775 bitcoins yet to be mined, representing 5.3% of the total supply, valued at approximately $110 billion.

The influx of institutions demonstrates confidence in Bitcoin’s future, with asset management giants like BlackRock gradually bringing BTC into mainstream assets. The growth of Bitcoin ETFs has further lowered investment barriers, attracting more capital inflow. As Bitcoin’s scarcity intensifies, its price may continue to rise due to limited supply and increasing demand, gradually evolving into a global wealth reserve tool. However, high institutional concentration of holdings may bring risks of market volatility and over-financialization. The market needs to maintain a balance between decentralization and institutionalization to ensure long-term stable development.[15]

November Crypto Trading Volume Surpasses $10 Trillion for the First Time, Setting a Record High
In November 2024, global cryptocurrency trading volume surpassed $10 trillion for the first time, demonstrating rapid market activity growth. The surge in trading volume primarily came from spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, while DeFi sector activity also showed a significant increase. The launch of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs attracted substantial institutional capital into the market, providing strong momentum for trading volume.[16]

Behind this growth lies macroeconomic uncertainty. Driven by risk-hedging needs, investors are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the expanding scope of blockchain technology applications and new products like on-chain asset tokenization have injected more vitality into the market. These innovations have not only improved trading efficiency but also attracted more users to participate.

In trading activity, the Asian market has shown particularly strong performance. Data indicates that Asian trading volume accounts for over 40% of the global total, reflecting the region’s high interest and active participation in crypto assets. Both institutional investors and individual users in the Asian market have demonstrated strong growth potential. Despite record-high market data, risks remain present. Price volatility and regulatory policy changes may have significant impacts on future trading activity. Against this backdrop, the market’s long-term direction remains to be seen.

TRON Network Achieves Record Revenue
TRON founder Justin Sun announced on the X platform that the TRON network reached a historic revenue milestone on December 3, with daily revenue surpassing $20 million and hitting $21.66 million. Of this, staking revenue accounted for approximately $16.52 million (76.27%), while burn revenue contributed around $5.14 million (23.73%). This achievement not only highlights TRON’s robust growth but also underscores its significant role in the global crypto ecosystem.

Recent political turmoil in South Korea had a profound impact on the market and served as a key driver behind TRON’s record-breaking daily revenue. The sharp depreciation of the Korean won caused market panic, leading to the collapse of major centralized crypto exchanges in South Korea. Investors rushed to transfer funds to overseas exchanges. Against this backdrop, TRON’s TRC20-based USDT became the preferred tool for Korean investors, functioning both as a store of value and a hard currency to stabilize the market. This event once again demonstrated the reliability and critical role of the TRON network in the global market. [17]

Market Opportunities

Project Airdrops

Airdrop Project to Watch This Week: Namada

Cosmos ecosystem privacy blockchain Namada launches mainnet and a token airdrop. The project’s core feature is “multi-asset shielded pool” technology, allowing users to hide asset details in DEX liquidity pools and enable cross-chain private transactions. The project will be deployed in five phases, with staking and governance functions opening in the first phase.

The total supply of NAM tokens is 1 billion, with the first batch of unlocked tokens being distributed to community members, early contributors, and future development plans. The Anoma Foundation states it will not operate validator nodes to ensure the network is fully controlled by the community. Eligible users can immediately claim NAM token airdrops and participate in staking and governance.[18]

How to Participate:

Users can participate in the Namada airdrop program:

1. Open the official website
2. Select login method
3. Install and create a new wallet
4. Connect wallet and import address
5. Click the Claim button to receive

Note:
The airdrop program and participation methods are subject to change. Users are advised to follow Namada’s official channels for the latest updates. Additionally, users should exercise caution, be aware of potential risks, and conduct thorough research before participating. Gate.io does not guarantee the distribution of future airdrop rewards.

Weekly Fundraising Report

Multiple projects successfully completed funding this week, covering various fields including infrastructure, DeFi, and gaming applications. According to RootData, between November 29 and December 5, 16 projects announced funding totaling $103 million. Here are the top three by funding size: [19]

USDX completed $45 million in funding on November 29, with investments from Dragonfly, NGC Venture, UOB Venture, and others. USDX (USDX.Money) is a synthetic USD stablecoin built for the crypto ecosystem. It provides a crypto-native stablecoin solution that doesn’t rely on traditional banking infrastructure, featuring censorship-resistance, scalability, and high stability. Additionally, it offers a multi-tier savings tool covering various options, from flexible fund rates to stablecoins, supporting global users’ access in USD.

Union successfully completed a Series A funding round of $12 million on December 3, led by gumi Cryptos Capital and LongHash Ventures, with participation from Borderless Capital and others. Union is an efficient interoperability protocol connecting all blockchains and rollups in any ecosystem. It is based on consensus verification and doesn’t rely on trusted third parties, oracles, multisigs, or MPC.

Earos completed a $10 million Pre-seed round funding on December 4, invested by Lemon Ltd. Earos is a decentralized AI ecosystem (digital twin earth) that allows global nodes to collaborate on AI model training, deployment, and validation, where developers can also create and deploy their own AI agents. The project will use tokens to reward participants who provide computing power, perform AI agent workstation validation, and run nodes.

What to Watch Next Week

Token Unlock

According to Token Unlocks data, next week (December 6-12, 2024) will see several significant token unlock events in the market, with the total unlock value surpassing $704 million. [20]

Here are the top 3 unlocks for next week:

JTO will unlock approximately 135 million tokens at 12:00 AM UTC+0 on the 7th, accounting for 102% of its current circulating supply, valued at approximately $491 million. Since the unlock amount exceeds the current circulating supply, this event may cause significant price volatility for JTO, and holders should remain vigilant.

APT will unlock 11.31 million tokens at 4:00 PM UTC+0 on the 11th, accounting for 2.11% of circulating supply, valued at approximately $153 million. This unlock includes tokens for founders, core contributors, investors, and the community. This event may cause some price volatility for APT, and holders should stay alert.

ENA will unlock 18.53 million tokens at 12:00 AM UTC+0 on the 6th, accounting for 0.05% of circulating supply, valued at approximately $22.61 million. Given the relatively small unlock amount, this is unlikely to significantly impact ADA’s price movement.

Crypto Calendar

Several significant events next week (December 6-12, 2024) will impact the cryptocurrency market, global economy, and energy markets. The decentralized Web3 social protocol Farcaster will release a major update with new features on December 6. Meanwhile, the ai16z founder is in talks with a16z regarding a physical organization, and plans to launch ai16z DAO’s autonomous trading features this week. On December 6, the U.S. government will also release the November unemployment rate data. This key economic indicator, which reflects the state of the labor market, could influence cryptocurrency market trends in the coming month.[21]

References

1. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/price/bitcoin-btc
2. Sosovalue, https://sosovalue.xyz/assets/etf/us-eth-spot
3. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/bigdata/estimate
4. Cryptoquant, https://cryptoquant.com/asset/btc/chart/derivatives/taker-buy-sell-ratio?exchange=all_exchange&window=DAY&sma=0&ema=0&priceScale=log&metricScale=linear&chartStyle=line
5. Coinglass, https://www.coinglass.com/pro/AvgFunding/ETH
6. Defillama, https://defillama.com/stablecoins
7. Etherscan, https://etherscan.io/gastracker#chart_gasprice
8. Coingecko, https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories
9. Gate.io, https://www.gate.io/price/
10. Cointelegraph, https://cointelegraph.com/news/grayscale-files-spot-solana-etf-sec
11. CoinDesk, https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/12/04/
12. Mara, https://ir.mara.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1380/mara-holdings-inc-announces-proposed-private-offering-of-700-million-of-zero-coupon-convertible-senior-notes
13. XT, https://xtsupport.zendesk.com/hc/zh-cn/articles
14. Wormhole, https://wormhole.com/blog/w-staking-rewards-program
15. Saylor Tracker, https://saylortracker.com/
16. CoinMarketCap, https://coinmarketcap.com/zh/charts/
17. X, https://x.com/justinsuntron/status/1864230752625545472
18. Namada, https://namada.net/
19. Rootdata, https://www.rootdata.com/Fundraising
20. Tokenomist, https://tokenomist.ai/unlocks
21. PANews, https://www.panewslab.com/calendar/index.html

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Disclaimer
Investing in the cryptocurrency market involves high risk, and it is recommended that users conduct independent research and fully understand the nature of the assets and products they are purchasing before making any investment decisions. Gate.io is not responsible for any losses or damages caused by such investment decisions.