I. Attention Value - Market Highlights
1. Market Trends
(1) Macroeconomic Environment:
l US December CPI Data Released: Easing Inflation Boosts Market Optimism
Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on January 15 showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.9% year-over-year in December 2024, while the core CPI (excluding food and energy costs) increased 3.2% year-over-year. Although the core CPI rose only 0.2% month-over-month, the overall CPI increased 0.4% month-over-month, the largest increase since March last year. The data reflects factors such as declining hotel accommodation prices, slower growth in healthcare services, and moderate rent increases, effectively curbing inflationary pressures. This easing has alleviated bond market selloffs and revived market expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, although investors generally believe rate cuts may not occur until after June. The stock and bond markets subsequently rebounded, with the S&P 500 index rising nearly 2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring over 700 points. At the same time, the cryptocurrency market also performed strongly, with Bitcoin returning to the $100,000 level, demonstrating its sensitivity to macroeconomic trends.
(2) Web3 Sector:
l US Crypto Transactions to Require Third-Party Reporting from 2025, Submitting Tax Information Directly to the IRS
Starting in 2025, US crypto transactions will face third-party reporting requirements for the first time, with all transaction information on centralized exchange platforms like Coinbase and Gemini to be submitted directly to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Under the new regulations, custodial exchange platforms, digital asset wallet providers, crypto ATM operators, and digital asset payment processors will need to track users' buy and sell transactions throughout the year and submit related reports to users and the IRS in early 2026. The implementation timeline shows that crypto asset cost basis information reporting will begin in 2026, while peer-to-peer transactions on decentralized platforms (such as Uniswap and SushiSwap) will be delayed until 2027, with only total transaction amounts required to be reported. Additionally, newly listed Bitcoin spot ETF trades will also be reported through Form 1099-B or 1099-DA, including share transactions and taxable events within the fund.
2. Trending Events
(1) Macroeconomic Environment:
l Global Pension Funds Begin Allocating to Bitcoin, Focusing on Emerging Asset Classes
According to a report in the Financial Times, multiple pension funds are experimenting with purchasing Bitcoin. The pension funds of the US states of Wisconsin and Michigan have become major holders of US stock market funds focused on cryptocurrencies. As of the end of September, the Wisconsin Investment Board became the 12th largest shareholder in the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF, with a stake worth about $155 million, while Michigan was the sixth largest shareholder in the Grayscale Ethereum ETF, with a stake worth $12.9 million. At the same time, some pension fund management firms in the UK and Australia have also made small allocations to Bitcoin through funds or derivatives. The UK pension consultancy Cartwright has facilitated the first Bitcoin transaction, with a small pension plan directly investing around £1.5 million in Bitcoin. Additionally, more than 50 individual savers have expressed a desire to transfer their entire pension funds to cryptocurrencies. Although crypto investments in the pension industry remain a minority, with most advisors taking a cautious approach to client exposure in this area, an increasing number of pension funds are beginning to focus on this emerging asset class.
(2) Web3 Sector:
l South Korea's Financial Services Commission Reports First Unfair Trading Case Under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea announced the first unfair trading case under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act on January 16. The Act came into effect in July 2024, requiring local Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to report and investigate suspicious transactions and unfair trading patterns. According to the FSC's disclosure, the suspect used a "pump and dump" scheme to manipulate the market, initiating multiple buy orders to inflate the price of a certain cryptocurrency, and then quickly selling the pre-purchased large amount of assets. The entire manipulation process was typically completed within 10 minutes, causing the underlying asset price to fluctuate violently and illegally generating hundreds of millions of won in profits within a month. This case marks an important step for South Korea in cracking down on misconduct in the cryptocurrency market.
3. Trending Narratives
l XRP Market Cap Reaches $170 Billion, Surpassing Asset Management Giant BlackRock
Longing for XRP price to break through $3 for the first time in the past 24 hours, reaching the highest level since 2018, with a 15-day gain of 40%. XRP is now only 17% away from its historical high of $3.84, with a market capitalization exceeding $170 billion, surpassing the asset management giant BlackRock. This surge is mainly driven by the expectation of crypto-friendly policies and the push for digital asset regulatory reform in the US, particularly the long-standing legal battle between Ripple and the SEC. Abra trader Diego Cardenas points out that XRP's skyrocketing is due to new partnerships, the launch of the Ripple stablecoin RLUSD, and speculation about a potential XRP spot ETF. Ripple President Monica Long expects a spot ETF to be approved soon, and Ripple's leadership is engaging with the incoming US government, which may foster a regulatory environment favorable to digital assets. Additionally, "whales" holding between 1 million and 10 million tokens have continued to accumulate, providing support for this rebound. Santiment reports that these addresses have added 140 million XRP, worth about $380 million, since November. Furthermore, Google Trends data also shows that XRP search volume has surpassed that of Bitcoin.II. Attention Value - Trending Projects
1. Project Introduction
l $sora | AI | @labs_sora
- Sora Labs is an AI organization focused on the Solana ecosystem.
- The main projects developed include: Zen, an open-source AI chatbot framework built with Go, aimed at simplifying and making chatbot development more flexible, with features like hybrid matching, support for multiple AI models, personalized chatting, and memory; Hana, a Twitter AI agent based on the Zen framework, showcasing Zen's capabilities; Toolkit, tools developed in Go and Rust to help manage seamless collaboration with AI models; Solana Toolkit, an extension toolkit providing specific functionalities for Solana. All projects are open-source.
- Token economics: DEV has purchased 100 million tokens, of which 99.2 million are locked until March 12, with a linear unlock of 2.475 million tokens every two weeks, the next unlock being on January 29. Additionally, 829.6K tokens have been transferred to the streamflow contract but not yet locked.
- The top 100 addresses hold 61.95% of the tokens, with the largest holder accounting for 9.92% of the locked portion, and the average buy-in price of the top 100 has doubled.
III. Attention Value - Sector Rotation
1. Trending Sectors
Source: Dune, Dot Labs
Source: Dune, Dot Labs
2. Sector Dynamics
Source: Dune, Dot Labs
