The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission recently added four new suspicious virtual asset trading platforms, all operating without licenses. Platforms such as HKTWeb3 and Hong Kong Stablecoin Exchange have falsely advertised their relationships with licensed institutions. Users are reminded to verify the legitimacy of trading platforms when choosing one, stay vigilant, and avoid scams.

【Blockchain Rhythm】The popularity of the prediction market has really skyrocketed over the past two years. According to on-chain data, the open interest on Polymarket has been climbing all year, recently surpassing $326 million, nearly 1.7 times the $120 million at the beginning of the year.
From a market structure perspective, sports, politics, and crypto are the hottest sectors, accounting for 46.6%, 21.12%, and 12.4% respectively. Especially the political sector; during the US election last year, the open interest in politics alone reached $385 million, setting a platform record of $410 million.
Interestingly, at the end of each month, a large number of contracts expire and settle, with about one-third of the positions typically being closed. This cyclical fluctuation actually reflects an increasing market activity.
Bitwise's recent 2026 crypto market forecast mentioned that next year, the open interest on Polymarket will

Phantom launches the free SDK tool "Phantom Connect" to simplify the account authentication process for Web3 applications, promote cross-application asset transfer, enhance user experience and security, and drive the development of the Web3 ecosystem.

A certain exchange announced that it will launch SCOR spot trading at 7:00 PM on December 17th, and will offer limited-time zero fees to attract investors to participate in this emerging asset at low cost. The exchange holds regulatory licenses in the US and Australia, and operates stably and securely.

【币界】刚从链上数据平台看到一个有趣的动作——某巨鲸新建钱包后，从币安大量提币。具体来说，这次一口气提走了775枚BTC（折合约6726万美金）和5767枚ETH（约1693万美金），还有不少其他币种。这种大规模提币通常意味着要么是长期持币策略调整，要么是为了增强钱包安全性。无论如何，这笔交易的规模在链上引起了不少关注。

【Block Rhythm】The large trader on Hyperliquid known for short positions has recently taken new action.
This trader's ZEC short position, after turning from a loss to a profit, has begun to reduce their holdings actively. Data from December 17 shows that their ZEC short position shrank from $16.5 million to $9.1 million, with an average entry price of $389. Interestingly, they did not close all positions but instead used part of the funds to short MON. Currently, this MON short position is about $9.2 million, with unrealized gains reaching $4.62 million—an ROI of 150%.
You should know how persistent this trader is. They started shorting ZEC as early as October 10, at an average price of $184. Since then, they kept adding to their position to average down, trying to turn the tide. But by October 17, the position was at its worst, with unrealized losses hitting $21 million, and the short position even surged to $43.2 million. So

【Crypto World】Coingecko recently shared an interesting data set on X — the global ranking of countries most interested in Meme coins. The top three are the United States, India, and Nigeria, followed by Germany, Turkey, Vietnam, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Brazil, and Indonesia.
Among them, the United States is particularly interesting. Due to adjustments in regulatory attitudes, local users' traffic accessing Meme coin-related content has actually increased by 30%. It seems policy changes can also give a boost to popularity.
However, overall, Meme coins haven't been having a good time lately. Since the beginning of this year, interest in Meme coins in the crypto market has plummeted by 81%. DOGE remains the leader in this field, with nearly 47.3% market share, while other coins can only look up in envy.
Remember that wave of hype at the end of last year? The enthusiasm for AI concept coins and the US presidential election fueled coins like GOAT and FARTCOIN.

【Blockchain Rythym】Japan's political circles have revealed the latest developments in the reform of the cryptocurrency tax system. According to sources, the government is pushing to adjust virtual currency trading profits from the current "miscellaneous income" system to an independent self-assessment system, expected to be implemented starting January 2028.
Why the delay until 2028? The official explanation is to first confirm the actual market operation after the revision of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, and then implement the new tax system. It sounds reasonable, but investors are a bit tired of waiting.
What is the current situation? Trading gains from cryptocurrencies are classified as "miscellaneous income," combined with wages, bonuses, and other income, with a top tax rate of up to 55%. In contrast, stock trading is taxed separately at only 20%, making the difference quite significant.
Industry insiders and investor groups have been calling for years, hoping that cryptocurrencies can enjoy the same 20% tax rate as stocks. This would both reduce the burden on investors and attract more capital.

The latest US employment data underperformed, indicating a weakening labor market, but consumer spending remains robust. The Federal Reserve faces pressure to reconsider interest rate cuts, with the likelihood of a cut in 2026 increasing. Although hawkish members may take over, pushing for rate cuts remains challenging, but ongoing cooling of the labor market could prompt policy easing.

【Chain News】Matrixport has transferred 1000 BTC to Binance in the past two days, equivalent to $86.9 million. This transfer was captured by Onchain Lens. Large institutional entries or cash-outs always attract market attention, so keep a close eye on these on-chain data.

Recently, the security team discovered a serious vulnerability in Futureswap. Attackers exploited flash loans to manipulate voting rights, successfully passing malicious proposals and gaining contract permissions. This incident serves as a reminder for DeFi users to stay vigilant and check wallet status to protect assets.

The Hyper Foundation proposes to confirm through validator voting that the HYPE tokens in the aid fund have been burned and permanently removed. The tokens are stored in a system address without a private key, making withdrawal impossible. The voting aims to build social consensus, ensure that future protocol upgrades do not attempt to access this address, clarify the current status, and set boundaries for protocol governance.

The crypto market generally rebounded yesterday, with BTC rising 2.01% to break through $87,000, while ETH slightly increased by 0.12%. The SocialFi sector led the gains with a 3.53% increase, and MANTRA surged by as much as 12.90%. The AI and NFT sectors experienced a pullback, declining by 1.37% and 1.68%, respectively.

The article points out that the profit model of Layer 1 public chains is changing, and investors are no longer willing to pay for infrastructure. Major public chains are facing profit pressure. Most of the stablecoin revenue is captured by the issuers, and public chains need to find ways to internalize economic benefits to change the current situation.