Good Morning,

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: Crypto heavyweights slam 5% wealth tax in California, Coinbase announces arrest in India over insider data breach, Netflix goes into production on crypto-themed romcom, Daycare fraud journalist tokenizes content, Crypto M&A hits record $8.6B, and so much more

Happy New Year’s Eve! - Let’s dive in.

Market Snapshot

Click here to learn more about the Gannon’s portfolios and subscribe to the strategies on Autopilot.* Since inception (7/7/25), Gannon’s Crypto Portfolio is up +19.14%

• Crypto markets remain range-bound as year-end illiquidity and rotation define price action

  • Bitcoin briefly pushed above $89K but stalled again

  • Long-term BTC holders have turned net accumulators, easing a key sell-pressure headwind, while ETH whales also continue to build positions

  • Altcoins lagged as year-end selling lingered: ETH stayed below $3K, SOL and ADA slipped, though XRP strength stood out with exchange supply at 8-year lows

  • XRP ETFs extended a 29-day inflow streak, bucking broader ETF softness and reinforcing demand

• Macro rotation persisted as gold and silver outperformed crypto, with silver’s volatility surpassing bitcoin’s

Prediction Markets

• Bettors on Polymarket are predicting Fed decision in January?

• Track and trade live odds on any event, only on Polymarket

Headline Roundup
^{_{The major headlines driving crypto markets}}

• Crypto heavyweights slam 5% wealth tax in California (CT)

• US eyes crypto mining at nuclear plant in Russia-Ukraine conflict (TB)

• Ex-Alameda CEO released from custody next month (TB)

• Circle says platform tokenized gold and silver swaps is fake (CD)

• Trump Media moves $174M BTC (CD)

• Netflix goes into production on crypto-themed romcom (DC)

• Pudgy Penguins characters appear on Vegas Sphere (DC)

• David Beckham-backed firm quits Bitcoin buying (TB)

• Daycare fraud journalist tokenizes content (TD)

• Sberbank issues Russia's first crypto-backed loan (CD)

• Binance confirms Visa and Mastercard withdrawal pause (CT)

• BlackRock's BUIDL hits $100M in payouts (CT)

• Trump family-linked USD1 supply up $150M (CT)

• Institutions use Bitcoin options playbook for altcoins (CD)

• Bitmine adds 44,463 ETH and starts staking (TB)

• Winklevoss-backed Cypherpunk adds $29M in ZEC (TB)

• Grayscale files for spot Bittensor ETF (TB)

• Ethereum sets record of 8.7M contracts deployed (CT)

• UNI falls after Uniswap Labs burns 100M tokens (TD)

• Stablecoins become crypto’s first mainstream use case (TD)

• Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin defends prediction markets (FM)

• Google search volume for 'crypto' craters (CT)

• Coinbase named a top three fintech at Clear Street (CD)

• Memecoins sink 65% in a year (CT)

• Prediction markets expand from DeFi to news sources (TD)

• ETH entry queue hits double the exit queue (CT)

• PUMP plummets as legal dispute escalates (TD)

• Trend Research makes 46K ETH buy (CT)

• RWAs top DEXs to become 5th-largest category in DeFi (CT)

• Bitmain slashes ASIC prices amid turmoil (CT)

• USX briefly depegs on Solana DEXs (CT)

• Solana treasury Upexi files $1B shelf registration (CT)

• Lighter users report withdrawal issues after launch (TD)

• IREN claims the crown for Bitcoin mining (CD)

• ZORA drops as creator coins disappoint (TD)

• Offchain Labs boosts ARB stake (CT)

• Aave founder denies buying tokens to influence vote (CT)

• Synthdata's network for financial AI works on Polymarket (BL)

Venture Capital

• Downturn reveals gap between VC valuations and market cap (CT)

• HashKey Capital closes the first round of fundraising for its fourth crypto fund, securing $250M from institutional investors, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals (CD)

• Architect, operator of the AX perp futures exchange, raises $35M Series A round led by Miami International Holdings and Tioga Capital with participation from others (PRN)

• Haven, an on-chain fixed-income RWA marketplace, closes an undisclosed seed round at $30M valuation with participation from Candaq, Apus Capital, ZC Capital, and BlockPulse Digital Asset Management (TB)

• iPower secures $30M convertible note facility from an undisclosed US institutional investor to fund a DAT (PL)

• Brazilian real-backed stablecoin startup Crown raises $13.5M Series A led by Paradigm (LI)

• Bitcoin miner Cango Inc announces that Enduring Wealth Capital Limited increased its investment by $10.5M (CD)

• SocialGood, a crypto rewards platform, raises $5.6M Series B consisting of equity and debt led by i-nest capital (PR)

• Web3 payments startup MPay raises $3M strategic investment round led by Mason Labs and Atlas Capital (MF)

• HPVideo, a decentralized AI video generation startup, raises $3M strategic funding round led by Helios Prime Capital (OP)

• BOHR Chain, a decentralized-compute Layer-1 protocol, secures $3M strategic investment led by Alpha Capital (TF)

• AI-driven trading startup Lucid Capital raises $2.5M Seed round led by Tharawat Holding Company with Singular Link participating, and secured an additional $200M in capital commitments (WM)

• easy.fun, an on-chain trading arena, raises $2M seed round led by Mirana Ventures with participation from strategic angel investors (CD)

• Rocket, a crypto prediction market, raises $1.5M pre-seed round led by Electric Capital with participation from Jsquare, Bodhi Ventures, Tangent, and Amber Group (MX)

• HodlHer, an AI agent–powered Web3 OS startup, raises $1.5M strategic funding round from Chain Capital, Bitrise Capital, CGV, and other investors (CW)

• Crypto platform Rudiq raises $1M investment round led by Simya VC with participation from Repie GSYO and Savco Yatırım (EG)

• Investment platform Paidax raises $1M seed round from Aloqa Ventures, White Hill Capital and the GWM Capital syndicate (ER)

• Riga-based web3 infrastructure provider Crouton Digital raises $1M strategic funding round from undisclosed investors (PM)

• Huawentong Digital Assets, a culture-plus-blockchain crypto platform, raises $190k angel round from undisclosed investors (MC)

• Latvian ESG fintech Upwood raises $60k pre-seed round from ZAS Ventures to expand its forestry-backed investment platform (AIN)

• Oumla, a crypto custody infrastructure startup, secures an undisclosed extension seed round led by Core Vision Investment and Avalanche with participation from more (SM)

• DebitMyData, a blockchain-based AI infrastructure startup, closes an undisclosed Series A round from undisclosed investors (PM)

Access the complete VC deal flow on Fundable.

M&A Announcements

• Crypto M&A hits record $8.6B (CD)

• Mirae Asset Group negotiates to acquire Korbit, a South Korean crypto exchange, for $70M to $100M (TB)

Launches

• Amplify ETFs for stablecoins and tokenization go live (CT)

• Lighter launches native token LIT (TB)

• CARF tax rules go live Jan 1 (CT)

• Hyperliquid launches portfolio margin (TD)

• Grayscale moves toward exchange listing for TAO trust (CT)

• Shift4 launches multi-chain stablecoin support (TD)

• Ethereum ‘Hegota’ upgrade slated for 2026 (CD)

• Phemex upgrades RPI ecosystem (CD)

• St Mary Capital launches custom alert builder (CD)

• New FUN/USDC pair goes live on MEXC (CD)

Regulation

• Coinbase CEO slams bank lobbying (CT)

• China lets banks pay interest on digital yuan (TB)

• South Korea's stablecoin bill stalls over dispute (TB)

• Russia considers relaxed crypto rules (TB)

• EU crypto tax reporting starts in January (CD)

• South Korean lawmaker faces scrutiny over ties to crypto exchange (CT)

• Stablecoins and RWA tokenization shape Asia's crypto rulebook (TB)

• SEC Finance Director retires after shaping crypto guidance (TB)

• Hong Kong targets 2026 legislation for crypto rules (CD)

• Russia targets crypto miners with criminal penalties (CT)

• Rep Waters bashes SEC chair on crypto (CD)

• Sling Money receives approval to offer crypto services in UK (CD)

Cybersecurity

• Coinbase announces arrest in India over insider data breach (TB)

• JPMorgan freezes stablecoin accounts over sanction concerns (CT)

• SEC charges $14M crypto investment scam targeting social media (TB)

• CZ proposes fix after investor loses $50M (CT)

• Trust Wallet launches $7M compensation process for hack victims (TB)

• Unleash hacker launders $4M in ETH (TB)

• Polymarket cites third-party vulnerability in account hack (TB)

• Ubisoft halts game after hackers give players $13.3M credits (CT)

• ZachXBT links fake Coinbase support scam to $2M in losses (CT)

Extra Reads

• From Trump's policies to bitcoin all-time highs, OG whale moves, a DAT craze and the $1.4B Bybit hack - Here’s crypto's 12 biggest stories of 2025

• From McDonald’s to municipal taxes, Lugano is proving that Bitcoin adoption is not about predicting the future; but about building infrastructure to handle it - Inside the Swiss city where you can pay for almost everything in Bitcoin

Chart of the Day

Google searches for crypto hit yearly lows

Meme Dump

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*DISCLAIMER: Investment advice provided by Autopilot advisers LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing carries risks including the risk of the loss of principal. Performance doesn’t include fees. See more here.