Morning News | Binance discloses blacklist of "listing agents"; Exodus to collaborate with MoonPay to launch a USD stablecoin; OpenAI reportedly plans to raise at least $10 billion from Amazon
Overview of Important Market Events on December 17整理：ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Binance Releases Project Listing Path Framework and Application Guide
- Hyper Foundation Proposes to Treat HYPE Held by the Aid Fund as Destroyed, Permanently Removing it from Circulation and Total Supply
- Former Aave CTO Initiates Proposal to Transfer Control of Aave Brand Assets to Token Holders
- Crypto Wallet Provider Exodus Partners with MoonPay to Launch Dollar-Pegged Stablecoin, Expected to Go Live in January 2026
- OpenAI Reportedly Plans to Raise at Least $10 Billion from Amazon and Use Its AI Chips
- Binance's "Listing Agent" Blacklist: Includes Web3Port Partners and Former Pantera Capital Members
- Tether Launches Decentralized Password Manager PearPass, Eliminating Cloud Dependency
What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours?
Tether Launches Decentralized Password Manager PearPass, Eliminating Cloud Dependency
According to ChainCatcher, Tether has released an open-source password manager PearPass, which uses end-to-end encryption and peer-to-peer device synchronization, allowing recovery with user keys, with all credentials stored locally and not passing through the cloud or servers.
The official statement claims that it has passed an independent security audit by Secfault Security and supports free cross-platform use.
According to ChainCatcher, The New York Times reports that as U.S. President Trump openly embraces cryptocurrency, his policies and personal statements are profoundly changing the structure of the U.S. capital markets, with a surge of new public companies centered around crypto assets emerging rapidly, while also amplifying market risks.
Trump claims to be the "first crypto president," having ended the previous strong regulation of the crypto industry, promoted pro-crypto legislation, and publicly endorsed crypto investments multiple times, even launching a meme coin named TRUMP. This series of actions has rapidly brought the previously marginal crypto industry into the mainstream financial system.
Against this backdrop, over 250 public companies have begun to incorporate cryptocurrencies into their balance sheets this year, attracting investor attention by accumulating large amounts of Bitcoin and other digital assets. Some companies even lack mature core businesses, with their primary "business model" being to hold crypto assets and bet on their price increases.
Analysis indicates that unlike previous crypto bull markets that were mainly limited to exchanges and retail investors, under Trump's policy push, crypto risks are spreading to a broader range of investors through the stock market. The tightening of regulations, the strengthening of political endorsements, and the structural "cryptoization" of public companies are prompting investors to take on higher volatility and valuation risks.
According to ChainCatcher, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded on the X platform to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' proposal to pause the construction of large AI data centers.
Vitalik believes that the truly effective approach should be to prepare the ability to "cut 90-99% of computing power" at critical moments in the future, rather than just slowing down immediately; he also supports distinguishing between "super-large clusters" and consumer-grade AI hardware, advocating for decentralized development.
According to ChainCatcher, The Block reports that the Ethereum block space futures market ETHGas has announced the completion of a $12 million token round financing, led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Stake Capital, BlueYard Capital, Lafayette Macro Advisors, SIG DT, and Amber Group. The project previously completed an undisclosed pre-seed round of approximately $5 million in mid-2024.
This round of financing started in July and was completed last month, conducted entirely in token rounds using the SAFT (Simple Agreement for Future Tokens) structure, consistent with the pre-seed round. In addition to financing, ETHGas also announced that Ethereum validators, block builders, and relayers have committed approximately $800 million in support for its market and product development. Lepsoe emphasized that these are not cash investments but liquidity in the form of Ethereum block space, with participants supplying block space to the ETHGas market in exchange for higher and more predictable returns.
ETHGas has built a futures market for Ethereum block space, allowing block space to be bought and sold in advance, rather than just bidding in real-time when blocks are generated. Block space is the capacity within Ethereum blocks that determines whether transactions are included, their order, and their cost. ETHGas operates upstream of the existing Ethereum block production process (i.e., proposer-builder separation) and does not replace the current system but interfaces with it.
Binance's "Listing Agent" Blacklist: Includes Web3Port Partners and Former Pantera Capital Members
According to ChainCatcher, Binance disclosed part of its "listing agent" blacklist today, which includes BitABC, Central Research, May / Dannie, Andrew Lee, Suki Yang, Fiona Lee, and Kenny Z. Binance stated that this list is not exhaustive and cautioned against trusting any "listing agents." The information about the above individuals or entities was obtained from public channels:
BitABC is a crypto consulting, incubation, and project acceleration company, primarily providing project promotion, community building, liquidity incentives, market consulting, and other services, claiming to help crypto projects gain exposure and growth in the early stages on trading platforms.
May / Dannie are partners of the previously disclosed improper market maker Web3Port, with core figure May Liu and her team establishing a "brokerage pipeline to Binance," from Spark Digital Capital to Web3Port, and then to Whisper. Spark operates in the name of VC, actually running market outsourcing + FA business, relying on VC investments in projects to obtain free tokens. After the industry competition in 2021 and 2022, project parties were unwilling to provide tokens for free, prompting Spark to shift to an incubator model, establishing Web3Port to provide project packaging and VC connections in exchange for 1-3% of token shares.
Suki Yang is a crypto quantitative trader and investor, a former member of Pantera Capital, who has worked at several crypto platforms (such as CertiK, Hyype, etc.) and founded the Solana chain meme launcher Lmao.fun.
Andrew Lee is a practitioner in the crypto industry who has participated in several blockchain projects (such as Handshake, Purse.io, etc.), possibly involved in project promotion or mediation.
Fiona Lee and Kenny Z have limited publicly available information, suspected to be personal project consultants or intermediaries, possibly engaged in listing coordination or project liaison.
Central Research may be a crypto research or consulting firm, with few details publicly available.
According to ChainCatcher, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng stated, "Anyone claiming they can help you list on Binance (listing on Binance) is a scammer. If you see anyone (including so-called intermediaries, consultants, former employees, or current employees) making such claims, please report them. Relevant individuals will be blacklisted, and in some cases, may even be publicly disclosed.
Recently, even a national president inquired whether I could assist with a listing, and I made it clear: I cannot help."
OpenAI Reportedly Plans to Raise at Least $10 Billion from Amazon and Use Its AI Chips
According to ChainCatcher, The Information reports that OpenAI is negotiating with Amazon to raise at least $10 billion and use Amazon's AI chips. One insider stated that this investment would push OpenAI's valuation beyond $500 billion.
It is reported that Amazon and OpenAI have explored commercial cooperation opportunities. OpenAI aims to turn ChatGPT into a shopping center and plans to earn commissions by directing customers to retailers. It is unclear whether the collaboration between Amazon and OpenAI will involve such features for ChatGPT or arrangements related to AI shopping functionalities that Amazon is developing for its own applications. Insiders indicated that OpenAI also hopes to sell enterprise versions of ChatGPT to Amazon.
Tencent Cloud Partners with Thailand's Bitkub for Digital Asset Services
According to ChainCatcher, Techinasia reports that Tencent Cloud has formed a strategic partnership with Thailand's blockchain and digital asset company Bitkub Group. Bitkub operates a large digital asset exchange in the country. Under the cooperation agreement, Bitkub will leverage Tencent Cloud's infrastructure, database, and AI technology to support its digital asset services.
After evaluating factors such as security standards, technical support, and cost-effectiveness, Bitkub chose Tencent Cloud as its partner. Both parties plan to collaborate on database management, risk control, and application stability using Tencent Cloud's services.
Former Aave CTO Initiates Proposal to Transfer Control of Aave Brand Assets to Token Holders
According to ChainCatcher, former Aave CTO Ernesto Boado initiated a proposal on the governance forum to transfer control of Aave brand assets (including domain names, social media accounts, naming rights, etc.) to AAVE token holders. The relevant assets will be managed through an entity controlled by a DAO (specific form to be determined later) and strict anti-encroachment protection mechanisms will be established.
Robinhood CEO: We Are at the Beginning of a Super Cycle in Predictive Markets
According to ChainCatcher, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev stated, "I believe we are at the early stages of a super cycle in predictive markets, and as it develops, we should see user adoption and trading volume continue to grow, with the contract size traded each year potentially reaching trillions."
Aave Founder: The Three Strategic Pillars for Next Year Are Aave V4, Horizon, and Aave App
According to ChainCatcher, Aave founder Stani stated on X that the three strategic pillars for Aave in 2026 are Aave V4, institutional lending solution Horizon, and the mobile application Aave App.
Crypto Wallet Provider Exodus Partners with MoonPay to Launch Dollar-Pegged Stablecoin, Expected to Go Live in January 2026
According to ChainCatcher, Coindesk reports that crypto wallet provider Exodus is launching a fully dollar-backed, fully reserved stablecoin through a partnership with fintech company MoonPay, officially entering the stablecoin market. MoonPay will be responsible for issuing and managing the stablecoin with the support of stablecoin infrastructure provider M0. The token is expected to go live in January 2026, with specific network and product details to be announced later.
It is reported that the Exodus stablecoin is core to its upcoming product "Exodus Pay," which aims to enable everyday payments in cryptocurrency without sacrificing user self-custody.
According to ChainCatcher, the Hyper Foundation stated on social media that it proposes to conduct a validator vote to formally acknowledge that the HYPE held by the aid fund has been destroyed and to permanently remove these tokens from circulation and total supply.
As background information, the aid fund automatically converted transaction fees into HYPE during the L1 execution process. Similar to a zero address, the system address of the aid fund has never possessed the private keys to control its funds. Unless a hard fork occurs, the funds cannot mathematically be recovered.
Voting "in favor" indicates that validators agree to destroy the HYPE tokens of the aid fund. Since these tokens exist in a system address without private keys, no on-chain operations are required. This vote constitutes a binding social consensus that will never authorize any protocol upgrade to access this address.
Binance Releases Project Listing Path Framework and Application Guide
According to ChainCatcher, the official announcement states that Binance has released its project listing path framework, including options for different stages such as Binance Alpha, Binance Futures, and Binance Spot.
The announcement details the different listing paths from early projects to mature projects, such as Launchpool, Megadrop, and direct spot listing, and lists key assessment areas. Project teams must apply directly through official channels, and Binance emphasizes that it does not recognize any third-party intermediaries and remains vigilant against fraudulent activities, providing reporting channels.
According to ChainCatcher, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange announcement reveals that MemeStrategy has invested 2.4 million HKD to further purchase 2,440 SOL in the open market, using funds from the group's existing cash reserves. As of now, the company's total holdings of SOL tokens have reached 12,290, with a purchase cost of approximately 14.9 million HKD.
Additionally, MemeStrategy stated that it will use dedicated Solana validators to stake the SOL it holds, creating revenue through staking rewards and forming a new income source.
According to ChainCatcher, Eric Trump, the son of U.S. President Trump, stated on the X platform that in just 39 days, his supported crypto mining company American Bitcoin has surpassed four competitors, making it the 20th largest publicly listed Bitcoin reserve company globally.
The company surpassed Gemini on November 5, 2025, with a reserve of 4,004 BTC, surpassed GameStop on December 8 with 4,783 BTC, surpassed Procap on December 11 with 5,044 BTC, and surpassed Semlar Scientific on December 14 with 5,098 BTC.
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of December 18, 09:00,
The top five popular ETH tokens in the past 24 hours are: SHIB, LINK, PEPE, UNI, ONDO
The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: MELANIA, Fartcoin, ME, UPT, DOOD
The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: PEPE, BASED, NATO, SKYA, KEVIN
What Are the Noteworthy Articles to Read in the Last 24 Hours?
Michael Saylor Podcast Transcript: Can Bitcoin Without Cash Flow Become a Quality Asset?
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor stated in an interview on Natalie Brunell's podcast that Bitcoin's recent price movements have been flat, which is a sign of strength rather than weakness. The market is in a consolidation phase, with early holders gradually cashing out, while institutions are waiting for volatility to decrease before entering. The core focus of the interview is "reconstructing the credit market with Bitcoin."
He believes that the traditional credit market is "hungry for yield and lacks liquidity," while Bitcoin collateral can create stable cash flow without selling spot assets, integrating Bitcoin into mainstream funding channels for credit and stock indices; companies primarily pay dividends through continuous equity financing, supplemented by futures/options and other derivatives, and seek qualifications for ratings and inclusion in mainstream indices.
In-Depth Analysis of Aave Infighting Conflict, Power Struggle Between Protocol and Frontend
Recently, the dispute between Aave DAO and Aave Labs has come to light. The former is responsible for governing the protocol, while the latter is the developer of Aave products.
The focus of this dispute is the fee issue arising from the recent announcement of deep integration with CoW Swap. An Aave DAO member using the pseudonym EzR3aL pointed out that Aave Labs recently integrated CoW Swap services, originally intended to optimize user trading paths, but on-chain data shows that the fees generated from this integration no longer flow into the DAO but directly into Labs' private address. At the current rate, approximately $10 million will flow out of the DAO treasury in a year.
Crypto Coming of Age: 2025, Reconstruction of Institutions, Assets, and Regulations
In my view, 2025 will be a turning point for the crypto space: it will transition from speculative cycles to foundational, institutional-scale structures.
We are witnessing the repositioning of capital flows, the restructuring of infrastructure, and the maturation or collapse of emerging fields. Headlines around ETF inflows or token prices are merely superficial. My analysis reveals the deep structural trends that will support a new paradigm in 2026.
Below, I will analyze the 11 major pillars of this transformation, each supported by specific data and events from 2025.
Grayscale Decodes 2026: Ten Trends Reshaping the Industry Ecosystem
Grayscale's core judgment in the "2026 Digital Asset Outlook" is that the dominant force in the crypto market is shifting from retail cycles to institutional capital. Prices are no longer primarily driven by emotional explosive increases but are more influenced by compliant channels, long-term funds, and sustainable fundamentals, with the narrative of the "four-year cycle" weakening.
This article systematically outlines the ten investment themes that may shape the market in 2026, from value storage, stablecoins, asset tokenization, to DeFi, AI, and privacy infrastructure, sketching a crypto ecosystem that is gradually embedding into the mainstream financial system. The report also clearly indicates which hot topics are more like "noise" in the short term rather than decisive variables.
Risk warning
Risk warning
