Podcast Source: Empire
Broadcast Date: December 8, 2025
Guest: Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Bitwise
Compiled and organized by: BitpushNews
---
This article compiles content from the latest episode of the crypto podcast Empire, titled "Institutional Flows Will Overpower the 4-Year Cycle." The guest is Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise.
In the program, Matt engages in an in-depth discussion around key topics such as "Is the influence of Bitcoin's four-year cycle weakening?", "Are institutional funds accelerating their entry?", and "Is there a real risk of forced Bitcoin selling in strategies?" and more.

Author: Prathik Desai
Original Title: Gold, Bills, Thrills
Compiled and organized by: BitpushNews
---
When I think of stablecoins, I often see them simply as a bridge between the US dollar and the blockchain, nothing more. They can serve as powerful infrastructure components, quietly supporting the operation of on-chain products in ways that are often easily overlooked.
As a business model, the income of stablecoin issuers is straightforward and directly linked to the interest rates published by the US Federal Reserve. The higher the interest rates, the more income issuers earn from US Treasury bonds backing their stablecoin circulation.
However, in recent years, the world’s largest stablecoin issuers by circulation have adjusted their reserve strategies to better adapt to the macroeconomic environment.
In this quantitative analysis, I will delve into why Tether has

Author: Dingdang, Odaily Planet Daily
Original Title: Bull vs Bear Debate: Is Stablecoin Leader CRCL Worth Buying? Why Strong Growth Financials Aren’t Lifting the Stock Price
---
Recently, the Chinese X community has been engaged in heated discussions around "Is Circle (NYSE: CRCL) worth buying?" The debate has clearly split into two camps. One side sees it as a valuable asset in the stablecoin sector with significant regulatory advantages, while the other frequently questions the fragility of its profit model and potential cyclical risks. The clash of opinions reflects the market's radically different judgment logic and expectation levels for innovative projects.
Based on extensive public discussions and rational analysis within the community, Odaily Planet Daily summarizes the core arguments and reasoning paths from both sides, aiming to present readers with the deeper structural differences behind the controversy—beyond emotion and bias.
Background Brief
Circle (NYSE: CRCL

Author: Pickle Cat
Translation: TechFlow
Original Title: Losing Retail Investors Are Trading, Profitable Retail Investors Are Resting
---
Want to stop losing money in the crypto market? First, stop your day trading!
Because for the average investor, day trading is structurally a "scam."
This article is long, but if you're willing to spend 120 seconds reading it, I guarantee you'll thank yourself years from now.
I've been trading since my teenage years.
I've had victories that made me feel like "Batman," and I've also suffered devastating losses that I'm still recovering from to this day.
I've tried every trading strategy an ordinary investor can find.
There was even an entire year when I was obsessed with day trading, thinking it could finally turn things around for me, but I failed so miserably that every time I think about it, it still stings.
My PNL (Profit and Loss Statement)

After five years of operation, raising a total of about $180 million, and reaching a valuation that once approached $1 billion, Farcaster has officially admitted: the path of Web3 social networking has not succeeded.
Recently, Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero posted a series of messages on the platform, announcing that the team will abandon the product strategy centered on social networking and instead fully focus on the wallet direction. In his words, this is not a proactive upgrade, but a choice forced by reality after a long period of attempts.
> "We tried for 4.5 years to lead with social, but it didn't work."
>
>
This assessment not only signals Farcaster's transformation but also once again brings the structural challenges of Web3 social networking into the spotlight.
Gap between ideals and reality: Farcast

A decade of evolution in crypto prediction markets: from early technical barriers and regulatory pressures to the 2024 US presidential election as a catalyst, the sector is gradually experiencing a breakout. Improvements in user experience, regulatory friendliness, changes in market narrative, and institutional involvement have all contributed to increased trading volume and liquidity. Not all disproven tracks are without potential; there may still be opportunities in the future.

Author: Ken Chan, Co-founder of Aevo
Translated by: Hu Tao, ChainCatcher
Original Title: Deep Reflection: I Wasted Eight Years in the Crypto Industry
---
Initial Motivation
I was very interested in politics during my teenage years. Of all the books that radicalized my thinking, Ayn Rand’s works (The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged) had the greatest impact. In 2016, with a heart full of libertarian ideals, I donated to Gary Johnson. Besides being a devoted follower of Rand, I was also very interested in computer programming, so cryptocurrency was a natural fit for me. I was deeply attracted by the spirit of cypherpunks. The idea of Bitcoin as a private bank for the wealthy fascinated me. Being able to cross borders with a billion dollars in assets has always been a profoundly powerful concept to me.
However, as time went on, I felt

In the past month, Bitcoin has experienced intense fluctuations around $80,000 to $90,000 for most of the time, while altcoins have generally corrected by 15%-40%. However, this has actually provided whales with the most comfortable “private accumulation” window. According to real-time on-chain monitoring data from Santiment and others, whales are quietly building positions in the following sectors, with accumulation intensity for some coins even reaching new highs in 2025.
1. Payments/Cross-border Settlement Sector: XRP Becomes Whales’ Favorite
With the settlement between the SEC and Ripple finalized, the XRP ETF has also moved from expectation to reality, further stimulating accumulation behavior among whales. Over the past 30 days, XRP has seen the most dramatic net inflow from whales among all altcoins:
- Addresses holding 100 million–1 billion XRP saw a net increase of 970 million XRP
- Addresses holding more than 1 billion XRP saw a net increase of 150 million XRP
- The two types of addresses combined for an inflow exceeding $2.4 billion
- Exchange XRP balances

Author: zuccy
Original Title: The Case for Avici
---
Stablecoins and new banking have been two of the most prominent themes of the past cycle. Avici, a new banking project in the Solana ecosystem, is aiming to tap into this narrative and plans to differentiate itself in the competition through a series of upcoming features.
Currently, Avici mainly provides credit card and virtual fiat (EUR and USD) bank account services. In addition to these basic features, the team also plans to launch unsecured loans and mortgage products, which will be backed by on-chain liquidity pools and will introduce a user credit scoring system.
This test product allows users to generate cards and fiat accounts, which can be topped up using cryptocurrency.
At present, Avici allows users to deposit crypto assets from Solana as well as numerous EVM networks. 1Avici is currently

Author: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily
Original Title: Countdown to the Fed’s “Changing of the Guard”: 5 Finalists Revealed—Who Will Be the Ultimate Winner?
---
As 2025 draws to a close, the time for current Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s “departure” is approaching, and the market continues to speculate about the next Fed chair.
According to previous statements from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the list of candidates has been narrowed down to five, which includes both “Trump faction” figure Kevin Hassett and the hawkish Kevin Warsh. The eventual winner among these five finalists will lead the Federal Reserve—the “heart of the US economy and finance”—for years to come.
Although Kevin Hassett currently leads the “Trump’s Fed Chair Nominee” prediction market on Polymarket...

BiTou editors' daily selection of Web3 news for you:
[U.S. Treasury debt surpasses $30 trillion mark, doubling since 2018]
According to BiTou, the total amount of sovereign debt issued by the U.S. Treasury has surpassed $30 trillion for the first time, more than doubling since 2018. Data released on Thursday shows that as of November, the total outstanding amount of U.S. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds reached $30.2 trillion. This $30.2 trillion debt is the main component of the total U.S. federal debt. As of November, the total U.S. national debt reached $38.4 trillion, including amounts owed to the Social Security Trust Fund, savings bondholders, and others.
According to data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, in 2020, the U.S. raised $4.3 trillion by issuing the above three types of treasury securities. That year, the fiscal deficit

Author: zhou, ChainCatcher
Original Title: ETFs Are Launching in Clusters, But Prices Are Falling—Is ETF Approval Still Considered Good News?
---