This Week in Crypto: Leading Gainers, Market Dips, and ICO Trends

Dear Readers,

Bitcoin reached a new all-time high (ATH) of $107,780.58 recently and is currently trading at $107,391, reflecting a 24-hour gain of 2.47%, as institutional interest in digital assets remains strong. The broader cryptocurrency market mirrored this trend, with Ethereum (ETH) surging 1.68% to $4,020, while Solana (SOL) saw a minor gain of 0.81%, settling at $221. Over the past 24 hours, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization has stabilized, rising by 1.80% to reach $3.76 trillion.

Highlights Of The Week

• Xaman wallet experiences a spike in activity due to renewed interest in the XRP Ledger and excitement over the upcoming Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin launch.

• Analysts foresee Ether surpassing its all-time high in Q1 2025; Santiment reports an average of 130,000 new Ethereum addresses created this month and record-high whale wallet holdings at 57% of total Ether supply.

• Eliza Labs, developer of ai16z, partners with Stanford’s Future of Digital Currency Initiative to explore how AI agents can enhance Web3.

• El Salvador grants Bitget a Bitcoin Service Provider license, allowing the exchange to offer Bitcoin-related services, including fiat exchanges, payments, and secure custody solutions.

•  Ethena Labs’ USDtb stablecoin, backed by BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund, reached $65.4 million in total value locked on its opening day.

• Lido announces the discontinuation of staking services on Polygon due to low adoption, allowing users to withdraw staked MATIC until June 16, 2025.

Top Weekly Gainers

In the fast-changing and often unpredictable world of cryptocurrency, experienced traders excel by pinpointing the most promising assets each week. By closely monitoring market trends and price movements, investors can seize opportunities and adapt their strategies to maximize profits. The crypto market remains a hub of dynamic developments and notable price shifts across a wide range of tokens.

DeepBook Protocol (DEEP), a decentralized central limit order book (CLOB) built on Sui, leverages Sui's parallel execution and low transaction fees to provide a high-performance, low-latency on-chain exchange. Currently priced at $0.1162, DEEP has surged 62.06% with a trading volume of $38.33M.

Aave (AAVE), currently priced at $374.10 with a 37.37% increase and a trading volume of $1.42B, is considering ceasing operations on Polygon. This move stems from concerns over an impending review of bridged assets' risk profiles on the network.

Morpho (MORPHO), an open and resilient platform for yield optimization and borrowing, enables lenders to utilize noncustodial Morpho Vaults for optimized yields while borrowers can access assets via Morpho Markets. MORPHO is priced at $2.65, reflecting a 44.72% rise, with a trading volume of $59.42M.

Bitcoin re-staking project BounceBit (BB) has integrated Ondo Finance’s tokenized real-world assets into its CeDeFi V2 platform, a key step towards its 2025 vision of merging real-world assets with decentralized finance. BB is priced at $0.4912, up 36.77%, with a trading volume of $113M.

Lido Finance has announced its decision to sunset its products on Polygon following a DAO vote, with operations set to cease in the coming months. Lido DAO (LDO) is currently priced at $2.26, up 20.94%, with a trading volume of $327.04M. The move aligns with decisions made by LDO token holders, as announced on December 16.

Top Weekly Losers

The cryptocurrency market is constantly evolving, characterized by recurring phases of growth and decline. The "Top Weekly Losers" list highlights how asset prices can be significantly impacted by factors such as regulatory changes, market fluctuations, and media coverage. While this week reflects a downturn, it also offers traders and investors a chance to reassess their strategies and aim for improved outcomes moving forward.

Luminous (LUM), a token symbolizing the synergy of human-AI collaboration, is currently priced at $9.80 with a decline of 62.17%, and trading volume reaching $1.83M.

Base God (TYBG), a meme-driven project inspired by Coinbase and the onchain revolution, reflects the ethos of its community, currently trading at $0.0001249 with a 42.21% drop and volume of $996.89K.

Meanwhile, BarnBridge (BOND), a DeFi protocol for tokenizing risks, saw its price fall to $0.7478 (-31.58%) with an $6.92M volume.

Shieldeum (SDM), leveraging AI-powered Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) to secure computing power for 440 million crypto users, is now at $0.1101, down -35.66%, with $2.91M in volume.

Lastly, RETARDIO (RETARDIO), the embodiment of Solana's meme-driven spirit, continues to defy convention at $0.08745, declining by -28.70% but maintaining strong volume at $14.26M.

Hot ICOs To Watch

Active ICOs

Fuel Network (FUEL)

Fuel Network is hosting its IDO on Impossible Finance, with the sale having started on December 13, 2024, and set to end on December 18, 2024. The fundraising goal is $1.8M. FUEL is an operating system designed specifically for Ethereum Rollups, enabling them to address PSI (parallelization, state-minimized execution, interoperability) without compromising performance.

Ringfence

Ringfence launched its sale on December 9, 2024, and will run through December 19, 2024. The platform has already raised $1.5M across three rounds. Ringfence is a generative artificial intelligence platform that allows creators to receive payments for the use of their original works in content creation.

Help Steps (HSX)

Help Steps has started its SHO on DAO Maker on December 12, 2024, with the sale ending on December 19, 2024. The project aims to raise $750K. HSX is a Web3 Move2Earn application that promotes both health and charity. The mobile app encourages users to contribute to social responsibility campaigns by taking steps for donations, while earning off-chain HS points for their efforts.

Upcoming ICOs

Nansen

Nansen is set to launch the NSN Points Program in 2025, a new initiative designed to reward its community of stakers and subscribers. Through this program, users will be able to accumulate points by participating in various activities, which can later be redeemed for exclusive rewards and features. Notably, the points will be retroactively calculated. To date, Nansen has raised a total of $88.2 million across four fundraising rounds. Known for its powerful analytics platform, Nansen combines on-chain data with an extensive and ever-growing database that includes millions of wallet labels.

Staynex (STAY)

Staynex is set to revolutionize the travel and hospitality industry with its innovative Web3-powered platform. The sale will begin in December 2024, with a fundraising goal of $1 million. Staynex aims to create a seamless, commission-free, membership subscription experience, focusing on a user-centric approach to travel, and integrating cutting-edge Web3 technology with real-world expertise to reshape the way users interact with the travel industry.

CratD2C (CRATD2C)

CratD2C has officially announced the tentative date for its Token Generation Event (TGE), which is expected to take place this month. The platform has raised a total of $1.21 million across five rounds. CratD2C is a pioneering blockchain platform that combines Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) with Layer-1 architecture, aiming to set a new standard in security, speed, and scalability within the blockchain space.

Ended ICOs

Terrace (TRC)

Terrace concluded its sale on December 16, 2024, raising a total of $4.7 million across two rounds. Terrace is an all-in-one trading terminal and portfolio management system tailored for the cryptocurrency market, offering a seamless experience for traders and investors alike.

Vana (VANA)

The Binance Launchpool sale for Vana also ended on December 16, 2024, with the project raising $25 million in five rounds. Vana is a distributed network that focuses on private, user-owned data, with the aim of enabling user-owned AI. The platform allows users to own, govern, and earn from the AI models they contribute to, ensuring a decentralized and secure environment for data management and AI innovation.

MyStandard (MYST)

The IDO on SeaPad for MyStandard wrapped up on December 15, 2024, having raised $1.9 million in four rounds. MyStandard is an innovative employment and talent acquisition service designed to give users ownership and control over their personal data. The platform aims to transform the hiring process while ensuring privacy and data sovereignty for its users.

Hottest Airdrops

Portal to Bitcoin

• Visit the Portal to Bitcoin testnet page by connecting your wallet to the platform.

• Generate your unique referral link.

• Install the Portal to Bitcoin Extension by visiting the Chrome Web Store.

• Click “Add to Chrome” and complete the installation.

• Complete Testnet Missions by heading to the missions dashboard.

• View available tasks and their spark rewards.

• Complete missions to earn sparks.

• Track your progress on the leaderboard.

• Participate in Epochs by joining the weekly Epochs.

• Complete special missions during each Epoch.

• Maintain consistent participation across all six Epochs.

• Monitor ranking on both Epoch and overall leaderboards.

Hyperliquid

• Visit Hyperliquid and connect/sign with your wallet. This link gets you an instant 4% discount on fees.

• Bridge USDC from any chain to Arbitrum using Rhino and deposit it into your Hyperliquid account.

• Access spot trading by navigating to “Trade.”

• Click “Select instrument.”

• Choose “Spot.”

• Select from available trading pairs.

• Use the Hypurr Fun Telegram bot to find new launches and trade spot tokens.

• Hold “Strict list” spot tokens (examples: HYPE, PURR, HFUN, CATBAL) to get potential airdrops from other ecosystem projects.

• Engage in perpetual futures trading by going to “Trade.”

• Click “Select instrument.”

• Select “All Coins.”

• Choose your preferred trading pairs.

  
  Best Regards,
  Crypto Recorder Team
  
  P.S Got a question, suggestion or general feedback? Feel free to reply to this email. I'll get back to you asap!