The crypto market is absolutely tiny. When we think about $2.3% trillion, nobody really gives crypto a second thought at all. If you mention crypto outside of this space, almost every single time someone's going to say Bitcoin, Bitcoin, Bitcoin.But when I look at this market and after studying everything that we have looked at over the years, it's very clear that yes, crypto is going to be the backbone for this new financial system. But you don't get a new financial system without significant events. With t ...

The USA has been in a recessionThe USA will probably go into a depression, but it won’t be like what happened in 1929 they’ll use it as an excuse to institute UBI and CBDC and enslave us.I don’t care about the textbook definitions economist create and changeCointelegraph (@Cointelegraph):🚨 NEW: Robert Kiyosaki warns private credit funds face heavy withdrawals, citing Jim Rickards declaring a US “New Depression.” https://t.co/vMCmoJrE9i ...

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US Senate votes to include banning Fed Central Bank Digital Currency in bipartisan housing bill. ...

We were promised no CBDC ever!Then we found out in a “housing bill” there was a provision for CBDC to begin in 2031.I wish CBDCs would be banned foreverRep. Ralph Norman (@RepRalphNorman):I’m proud to sign onto a letter urging House and Senate leadership to permanently ban a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).Americans deserve financial freedom, not government-controlled money.🧵THREAD: https://t.co/RXRhrJtn40 ...

🚨LATEST: 29 US LAWMAKERS DEMAND A PERMANENT BAN ON A US CBDCA group of 29 members of Congress have written to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate leader John Thune urging a permanent prohibition on a Central Bank Digital Currency in the United States.The letter argues that a proposed amendment to the Federal Reserve Act only delays CBDC issuance until 2031, calling the temporary block insufficient.Lawmakers described a CBDC as "inherently anti-American," warning it would expose citizens to financial surve ...

🔥 HUGE: U.S. lawmakers push to permanently ban a Central Bank Digital Currency. https://t.co/mdSBbhbUT1Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph):https://t.co/sbkQgp2Mof ...

RT MSB Intel (@MSBIntel)🇯🇵 BANK OF JAPAN TO TEST BLOCKCHAIN FOR CENTRAL BANK MONEY SETTLEMENT~$4.5T BOJ has launched a sandbox to test settling central bank current account deposits on a blockchain system.Gov. Kazuo Ueda said the experiment will explore interoperability with BOJ-NET and examine use cases. ...

Core Viewpoint - The digital euro aims to protect European card schemes and maintain the central role of banks in the euro zone payments system, as stated by a senior European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker [1]. Group 1: Digital Euro and Banking - The ECB's initiative for a digital euro is a response to the declining role of cash and aims to compete with private forms of money [2]. - The digital euro is designed to preserve the central position of banks in the payments landscape, despite the risks posed by stablecoins and other private solutions [3]. - Banks risk losing not only revenue but also access to crucial customer payment data, which is essential for offering additional profitable services [3]. Group 2: Payment Schemes and Fees - The ECB intends to protect European payment schemes, such as Italy's Bancomat and Spain's Bizum, by structuring the digital euro system to be cost-effective for shop owners [4]. - The fee cap for merchants using the digital euro network will be lower than that of international payment networks but higher than domestic schemes, thereby favoring domestic payment solutions [5]. - Currently, only eight out of 21 euro zone members have a national payments scheme, with the majority relying on international networks [5]. Group 3: Strategic Risks and Legislative Support - The ECB has identified the reliance on international payment schemes, like Visa and Mastercard, as a strategic risk, given that over three-quarters of transactions in Europe occur through these networks [6]. - After a two-year delay, the European Parliament has recently provided significant backing for the ECB's proposal to issue the digital euro [6].

Core Insights - China plans to start paying interest on digital yuan holdings, with payments beginning in January, to accelerate the adoption of its central bank digital currency, E-CNY [1] - The initiative is a significant milestone in the development of the digital yuan, which has been in progress since 2014, and is expected to reshape the legal and technical framework supporting it [2] Adoption and Competition - Despite pilot programs in over half of mainland China's provinces, the digital yuan has not been formally launched nationwide and competes with established digital payment services like WeChat Pay and Alipay [3] - The global expansion of the digital yuan has faced challenges, including the withdrawal of the Bank for International Settlements from the mBridge cross-border payment platform due to concerns over sanctions evasion and the US dollar's dominance [4] Current Financial Landscape - Interest on demand deposits at major Chinese banks has decreased to approximately 0.05%, raising questions about whether offering interest on E-CNY will significantly enhance its adoption [4] - Banks are experiencing high deposit inflows as households save more, while loan growth has reached historic lows, prompting the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to intensify its digital currency initiatives [5] Regulatory Environment - Unlike the US, which allows privately issued stablecoins, China continues to focus on its state-backed E-CNY, with regulators expressing concerns about the risks associated with stablecoins [6] - As of the end of November, China had processed 3.48 billion digital yuan transactions, amounting to 16.7 trillion yuan (approximately $2.38 trillion) [6]

Group 1: Lighter Protocol - Lighter Protocol is set to launch its LIT token by the end of the year after raising $68 million from notable investors including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz [2] - The decentralized exchange operates on a custom Ethereum Layer-2 zero-knowledge rollup, capable of processing tens of thousands of orders per second with a latency of 5 milliseconds, rivaling Coinbase [2] - Lighter has a total value locked (TVL) of $1.4 billion and has generated $2.94 billion in trading volume over the last 30 days [3] - An airdrop of 250 million LIT tokens is anticipated, with Polymarket odds for this event exceeding 90% [3] - Pre-market trading shows LIT priced around $3.48, with conservative targets of $5-$6 (40-70% upside) and bullish scenarios reaching $15+ (330%+ upside) if it captures 30-40% market share [4] Group 2: VeChain - VeChain completed its Hayabusa hard fork on December 19, transitioning to Delegated Proof-of-Stake and achieving MiCAR compliance under EU regulations [5] - The upgrade introduced StarGate 2.0 staking, increasing yields for active stakers from 2% to over 9% [5] - VeChain supports over 350 active business applications in sectors such as logistics and pharmaceuticals, with total value locked increasing by 800% in Q3 2025 to $6.1 million [6] - Currently trading at $0.053, conservative targets are set at $0.055 (4% upside), while bullish forecasts could reach $0.37 (600% upside) if EU Digital Product Passport mandates drive mass adoption [6] Group 3: Algorand - Algorand is trading at $0.11, down 95% from its all-time highs, but the launch of AlgoKit 3.0 is attracting developers due to its near-instant finality and low transaction costs [7] - The platform can handle nearly 1 million transactions per day and is positioned for Central Bank Digital Currency infrastructure and real-world asset tokenization [7] - Conservative forecasts suggest a price of $0.14 (27% upside), while bullish scenarios could see it reach $1.35 (1,100% upside) if a major nation selects Algorand for CBDC infrastructure [8] Group 4: Hedera - Hedera, governed by Google, processes over 10,000 transactions per second with a finality of 3-5 seconds and average fees of $0.0001 [10] - Currently trading at $0.11 with a market cap of $4.5 billion, Hedera has attracted ETF applications that may lead to increased institutional capital inflows [10] - Conservative price targets are set at $0.25 (120% upside), while bullish forecasts could reach $1.05 (850% upside) if ETF approval and enterprise adoption accelerate [10]