speculation

MemeCore CEO Jun tweeted that the true value of any project does not depend on short-term attention, headline valuations, or how much profit the foundation can extract, but is built on trust.Jun pointed out that while some may question MemeCore's valuation, the project's responsibility goes beyond creating temporary hype; it is to strengthen the ecosystem around the project, contribute to a healthier market environment, and build something that can exist long-term.He admitted that the blockchain industry has witnessed too many projects driven by speculation, short-term hype, and "pump and dump" behavior. Although MemeCore started as a meme project, a meme project can do much more than attract attention; it can also create culture, build trust, and contribute to a healthier market environment.Previously, on-chain detective ZachXBT questioned the review process for Kraken listing Memecore (M) spot trading and pointed out that there were anomalies in the related on-chain fund flows. Data shows that last week, M's market cap once soared by nearly $6 billion, but it has now fallen back to around $4.7 billion.

At the "Crypto 2026: From Cryptocurrency to Smart Economy" themed forum held in Hong Kong, guests including Sign partner Sarah, HashKey Chain Senior Business Development YuYi, Monad Greater China Ecosystem Head Harvey Chen, OmenX Chief Marketing Officer Gisele, and SVP Chain Market Head Celest engaged in a roundtable discussion on "The Revaluation of Crypto and the New Cycle."Regarding why they remain firmly invested in Crypto amid the AI boom, Sarah pointed out that the hotter AI gets, the more use cases there are for Crypto assets, and future transactions between AI Agents will rely on digital assets. YuYi believes that the bear market is precisely when the wheat is separated from the chaff, with compliant RWA (such as Hong Kong's first physical silver token) being implemented, speculative assets being eliminated, and the era of on-chain infrastructure arriving. Harvey Chen stated that high-performance public chains are the foundation for supporting large-scale applications, and Monad is committed to this. Gisele noted that Crypto addresses fairness and value transfer, complementing AI's focus on efficiency. Celest emphasized that AI lacks a native value system and increasingly requires Crypto to provide value authentication and decentralized trust.On the changing understanding of Crypto's value, the guests unanimously agreed that the industry is shifting from "issuing tokens for the sake of issuing tokens" to pursuing sustainable business models, with greater focus on capital efficiency, low costs, and 24-hour settlement as practical values. The value of public chains should be assessed based on real business scenarios and user transaction volumes, rather than narratives and financing.Regarding future growth engines and entrepreneurial advice, the guests generally expressed optimism about compliant RWA, AI payments, and sovereign blockchain directions, advising entrepreneurs to focus on real application scenarios, avoid empty concepts, and maintain a long-term construction mindset.

According to Cointelegraph, Nikita Bier, the head of X products, previously hinted at the launch of a product related to "fixing the crypto industry," sparking widespread attention and speculation in the market. The market generally believes that this crypto product may be related to its financial ecosystem layout, expected to involve the upcoming payment and digital wallet product X Money, potentially covering various integration directions such as Bitcoin payment integration, Solana ecosystem collaboration, stablecoin applications, and prediction markets. As of now, X has not made any official response regarding the related plans.Musk previously stated that the early public access version of X Money will be launched in April.

CryptoQuant analyst Darkfost stated that the current Bitcoin market is entering an early stabilization phase, with long-term holding behavior gradually strengthening, indicating that the market structure may be undergoing a change.Data shows that since October, the number of BTC held for over one year has increased from about 12 million to approximately 12.4 million. Although the increase is still moderate, it reflects a shift in market behavior towards long-term holding. Since mid-December, the 30-day change has consistently remained positive, indicating that investors are more inclined to continue holding rather than distributing their assets. Darkfost pointed out that this change typically signifies a transition from a speculation-dominated phase to a stronger long-term conviction phase. Historically, the proportion of long-term holdings usually declines significantly at market peaks and gradually rises during bear markets, so the current trend can be seen as an early stabilization signal for the market. However, he also emphasized that this indicator belongs to a long-term dimension and typically requires a longer time to form a clear trend, and we are still in the early stages.

Iran's New Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei Has Not Made a Public AppearanceIran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not made a public appearance for a long time, sparking strong speculation about his serious injuries. In the face of rampant rumors, the son of the Iranian president and senior relatives urgently came forward to clarify, insisting that the new leader is "safe and sound."A relative of Mojtaba told the Financial Times: "He is currently in good condition and is still busy with various tasks. For security and political reasons, he has decided not to make any public appearances for the time being. To some extent, this also creates uncertainty for his opponents, preventing them from getting accurate information about him. Let them guess slowly." The expert meeting did not clarify whether Khamenei was present during the meeting and did not provide details about the voting process.Earlier reports indicated that Iran's ambassador to Cyprus, Alireza Salarian, stated in an interview that Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei was injured in the airstrikes by the United States and Israel on February 28.

The Governor of the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, stated at the press conference on the economic theme of the Fourth Session of the 14th National People's Congress that, overall, in the past year, financial risks in key areas of our country have been resolved in an orderly manner, the financial system and financial market have operated smoothly, and risks in key areas have continued to converge. The People's Bank of China, together with relevant departments, has maintained a high-pressure crackdown on illegal financial activities such as illegal fundraising, speculative trading of virtual currencies, and underground banks.In the next step, the People's Bank of China will orderly resolve risks in key areas to prevent financial risks and maintain financial stability, continue to carry out a high-pressure crackdown on illegal financial activities in collaboration with industry regulators and law enforcement departments such as the police, closely monitor and assess the impact of external shocks, and utilize macro-prudential and financial stability policy tools to timely weaken or block risk contagion.

The head of the Solana protocol Meteora, Zen @realdezen, stated that since taking over in March last year, the team has taken insider trading risks seriously and has established practical protective measures.Zen referred to Meteora as a permissionless platform, with the main focus over the past 12 months on enhancing the robustness and reliability of the infrastructure, allowing projects to go live without manual intervention from the team. As a result, the team only became aware of relevant situations after certain projects went live or were integrated. In the related prediction markets, Meteora once became the most probable and ranked first among guesses.

Vitalik Buterin posted on the X social platform, stating that the current prediction markets are overly focused on short-term cryptocurrency prices and high-dopamine products like sports betting, lacking long-term social information value, which may lead to unhealthy product-market fit.He suggested that prediction markets should be encouraged to develop towards "risk hedging," making them tools for reducing asset or real expenditure risks. Buterin also envisioned constructing a stable mechanism to replace fiat currencies through personalized prediction market shares based on price indices, thereby providing users with more sustainable value hedging solutions. He called for the establishment of a new generation of financial systems, rather than merely relying on speculative flows.

RTFKT's NFT series Clone X has recently shown strong price performance. NFT Price Floor data indicates that the Clone X floor price is currently at 0.38 ETH, reaching a new high since April 2024, with a 7-day increase of 339.8%. The series briefly touched 0.44 ETH last weekend, with a significant increase in trading activity. The price fluctuations of Clone X are mainly influenced by the news of "Nike selling RTFKT."Nike quietly completed the sale of RTFKT in December 2025, and the identity of the buyer and specific terms remain confidential. The market generally expects that after separating from Nike, RTFKT may follow the path of NFTs like Pudgy Penguins and Moonbirds, which saw a resurgence after being acquired, achieving a brand revitalization. Currently, Improbable co-founder Herman Narula, BAYC parent company Yuga Labs, and billionaire collector Adam Weitsman have all explicitly denied involvement in the acquisition. The most speculated potential buyers include LVMH and Pudgy Penguins.Among them, the LVMH group and its family members are seasoned players in the NFT space, and the brand has a deep historical collaboration with Clone X creator Takashi Murakami; Pudgy Penguins has close ties with RTFKT. According to crypto KOL @baofuliu's analysis, RTFKT founder Zaptio attended a co-founder gathering with Pudgy Penguins last year and subsequently posted "Clones are so back," hinting at a project revival. Additionally, Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz has held Clone X NFTs for four years and has successful experience in NFT revitalization. It is important to note that the above acquisition information is purely market speculation and has not been officially confirmed, and does not constitute investment advice.

CZ posted on the X platform that many people often ask him where he thinks the next big opportunity lies, and his answer is always "watch where I spend my time."CZ pointed out that this logic is not complicated, but market participants often choose to ignore it, instead chasing so-called "10x overnight" opportunities, which have a very high probability of failure. His statement aims to emphasize that long-term investment and sustained focus on a direction often reflect truly potential opportunities better than short-term speculation.

DWF Labs stated that in 2025, over $19 billion in liquidations cleared excessive leverage from the crypto market, shifting the market from a speculation-driven cycle to a balance sheet-driven market structure.The supply of stablecoins grew by over 50% year-on-year, with more than $20 billion allocated to yield-bearing stablecoins, indicating that the crypto industry is moving from being merely a payment tool to focusing on asset management.The on-chain real-world assets (RWA) scale expanded from approximately $4 billion to $18 billion, while the proportion of derivatives trading on DEX and CEX increased to four times the original, marking the crypto market's accelerated transformation into a credible financial infrastructure.

According to Jinshi, U.S. Treasury Secretary Basant stated that speculation about the Federal Reserve Chair nominee will be announced in early January, and the Supreme Court will make a ruling on tariff issues in early January.