As the cryptocurrency market continues to be sluggish, the huge gap between the actual market value of many blockchain projects and their early venture capital valuations has been thoroughly exposed. CryptoRank summary data shows that many crypto startups once favored by venture capital firms and valued near or even reaching unicorn levels now have a market value in the secondary market that is only a small fraction of their previous valuation, reflecting a systemic valuation reset amid tightening liquidity.
Data shows that Humanity Protocol was once valued at nearly $1 billion in venture capital funding, but its current market value is about $285 million. Fuel Network was also valued close to $1 billion during its funding stage, but its current market value is only about $11 million. Bubblemaps has a similar situation; its venture capital valuation was once high, but now its market value is only about $6 million.

The US Treasury is facing unprecedented pressure. In the fiscal year 2025, the interest payments on the US federal government debt will exceed $1 trillion for the first time, surpassing defense spending and also exceeding Medicare expenditures, setting a record high. This change has sparked widespread discussions about the sustainability of US finances and has also brought significant attention to the role of stablecoins in the macro financial system.
Data shows that in the fiscal year 2020, the US net interest expense was only $345 billion, but by 2025, it has approached $970 billion; including all public debt interest, the total officially exceeds $1 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the next ten years, cumulative interest payments will reach $13.8 trillion, nearly double the amount of the past twenty years. Some institutions even warn that in a more pessimistic scenario, annual interest expenses could rise to $2.2 trillion by 2035.

As the large-scale Bitcoin options expiration approaches, the derivatives market structure is changing. Market participants believe that Bitcoin's price is expected to break out of the sideways trading range of $85,000 to $90,000 since December and make a push towards higher levels. Previously, amid a strong US stock market and gold reaching record highs, Bitcoin was confined to a range-bound oscillation for a long time, disappointing many investors. The key reason behind this was the hedging mechanism in the options market.
Near the current price, a large number of options are expiring. Options give traders the right to buy or sell Bitcoin at a specific price, while option sellers typically hedge dynamically through spot and futures markets. Their behavior is influenced by "Delta" and "Gamma." When the price approaches the high Gamma zone, traders need to buy and sell frequently to hedge risks, which suppresses price volatility.

The debate over whether airdropped tokens should be held long-term or sold as soon as possible has once again become the focus of the crypto market. A recent on-chain and market data analysis shows that most airdropped tokens perform far below expectations after issuance, with rapid price declines becoming the norm. This has led to the view that "cash out immediately" is increasingly seen as a more rational strategy.
Crypto trader Didi shared his airdrop records over the past year on the X platform, with quite a harsh result: out of 30 received airdrops, only 1 token is currently trading above its issuance price (TGE). Among them, M3M3 has dropped 99.64%, Elixir 99.50%, USUAL 97.67%; even well-known projects like Magic Eden have fallen 96.6%, Jupiter 75.9%, and Monad over 39%. The only token with a positive return is Avantis, which has increased by 30.4%.

Gate News Bot Message, December 24th, according to CoinMarketCap data, as of press time, XMR (Monero) is trading at $434.88, up 0.09% in the past 24 hours, with a high of $497.16 and a low of $407.63. The current market capitalization is approximately $8.022 billion, ranking 14th.
Monero is a private, decentralized cryptocurrency dedicated to protecting users' financial privacy and security. As a true currency, XMR can be used to privately exchange goods, services, and other currencies, with extremely low transaction fees. Users can acquire Monero through various methods, including mining, providing services in exchange, or trading on exchanges. The Monero project is driven by a decentralized community of hundreds of volunteers from around the world, including the Monero Research Laboratory (MRL), composed of researchers and cryptographers, dedicated to continuously improving and enhancing the project.

As the end of the year approaches, the performance of Bitcoin and gold in terms of gains and losses has once again become a core topic in the cryptocurrency market and the macro investment circle. As two widely regarded "store of value" assets, Bitcoin and gold have shown very different price trends over the past two years, but their final returns are surprisingly close. This phenomenon has sparked a rethinking among investors about risk structures and asset attributes.
Data shows that although Bitcoin and gold have had markedly different market rhythms over the past two years, their cumulative returns are almost the same. However, based on this year's performance, gold has clearly outperformed Bitcoin, with a significantly higher increase within the year. Market forecasts indicate that if current trends continue, by 2025, gold prices may outperform Bitcoin by approximately 79%, highlighting the appeal of safe-haven assets in uncertain environments.