heat

According to official social media news, the decentralized contract trading platform SunX will hold a themed live broadcast titled "Bull and Bear Divergence: TradFi is Hot, Should We Trade Cryptos or US Stocks?" today at 20:00 (UTC+8). At that time, crypto KOLs including Jack C., Sister Mao, DaDa, Shizi Yang|Golden.S, and Qiu Rong will attend to discuss the current divergence trends between the US stock market and the crypto market, the rotation logic of funds between traditional finance and crypto assets, as well as trading strategies and risk control in different market environments. They will also provide forward-looking assessments of potential opportunities and asset allocation paths for the future market.

According to CoinGlass data, the trading activity of crude oil contracts continues to rise. In Brent crude oil (XBR), the Gate platform has a position of approximately 4.89 million USD and a trading volume of about 9.7 million USD, ranking first in the world. In WTI crude oil (XTI), the Gate contract trading volume is approximately 22.15 million USD, also ranking first globally. In terms of positions and trading scale, Gate maintains a leading position among major trading platforms.At the same time, the trading heat of technology stock-related contracts is also rebounding. The Gate platform has a position of approximately 2.53 million USD for Nvidia (NVDAX) contracts and a trading volume of about 2.9 million USD, far ahead of other major trading platforms. For Apple (AAPLX) contracts, Gate has approximately 1.57 million USD in positions, also maintaining a leading position globally. In a multi-asset volatile environment, funds are concentrating towards leading platforms, and the trading activity in the derivatives market continues to rise.

The discussion surrounding Bitcoin Improvement Proposal BIP-110 continues to heat up. Bitcoin pioneer and Blockstream co-founder Adam Back retweeted to remind the community that Bitcoin's upgrade capability may be suppressed. This proposal, although described as a temporary soft fork to clean up "garbage data" on-chain to curb the on-chain data inflation brought by protocols like Ordinals, may hinder Bitcoin's future upgrade capabilities because it disables the OP_SUCCESS opcode in Tapscript, which is seen as an important reserved mechanism for future soft fork upgrades of Bitcoin.Additionally, BIP-110 will limit the Taproot control block size to 257 bytes, which may affect the development of potential Layer 2 technologies like BitVM that rely on extensive script execution. Although BIP-110 is positioned as a "temporary measure," Bitcoin soft fork upgrades typically require years of coordination, and restricting upgrade interfaces during this period may have long-term impacts.

According to Bloomberg, Tether Holdings SA Chief Investment Officer Richard Heathcote announced his resignation and will transition to a non-executive advisory role, no longer responsible for daily operations. His deputy, Zachary Lyons, will succeed him.During his tenure, Richard Heathcote led the management of Tether's reserve assets and drove a series of diversified investments for the company, covering areas such as football clubs and humanoid robots.

Recently, with the launch of Sui ETF ($SUIS) on Nasdaq and the release of the USDsui stablecoin, the financial infrastructure of the Sui public chain is continuously improving. The traditional funding channels and the on-chain liquidity system are being enhanced in tandem, leading to a sustained increase in ecological activity. Meanwhile, the Sui DeFi sector has also seen frequent new developments, such as the NAVI Protocol and other core protocols continuously driving the growth of lending and liquidity markets, further enhancing the efficiency of ecological funds. Against this backdrop, the Premium Exchange (PRE DEX), incubated by the NAVI Protocol Foundation, is also steadily advancing its ecological layout. As the Sui financial system gradually takes shape, DeFi projects like PRE DEX are expected to play a more significant role in ecological trading and value discovery.

Matrixport's analysis states that since early February, Bitcoin has maintained a sideways consolidation. Despite escalating geopolitical tensions, weakening U.S. employment data, and a general pullback in global stock markets (with the South Korean stock market experiencing a significant drop at one point), Bitcoin has still demonstrated strong resilience.Even with a sharp rise in oil prices over the weekend, Bitcoin only retraced to the support level around $66,000, and this level continues to provide support. The institution also mentioned in its previous daily report that the possibility of Bitcoin strengthening again and returning to the $70,000 to $80,000 range is increasing. As the market gradually digests the impact of the Iran conflict, Bitcoin is expected to break free from the disturbances of geopolitical factors and repair towards a higher trading range.

According to Cointelegraph, Bitcoin rose 5.21% on Wednesday to around $71,900, breaking through the upper trend line previously seen as a "bearish flag," accompanied by increased trading volume that weakened the bearish structure. Analysts believe that $80,000 may become the next target for this rebound.Currently, the CME gap remains unfilled at $79,660--$81,210, which has persisted since early February. Data shows that out of 10 gaps since August 2025, 9 have been filled, leading traders to typically view this range as a high-priority target. If there is no significant selling pressure near $74,000 in the short term, the probability of Bitcoin making a push towards $80,000 is increasing. Currently, the probability of Bitcoin breaking $80,000 in March on the prediction market Polymarket has risen to 40%.

Stock-related index contracts are particularly active in the cryptocurrency derivatives market, driving a significant increase in the open interest of several mainstream index contracts, indicating a growing enthusiasm for participation in index market fluctuations.According to CoinGlass data, mainstream stock index contracts have been active in the past 4 hours, with the Hang Seng Index (HK50), Dow Jones Industrial Average (US30), S&P 500 Index (SPX500), and Nasdaq 100 Index (NAS100) taking the top four spots in open interest growth, with increases of 1831.54%, 502.20%, 211.87%, and 143.03%, respectively, all from the Gate platform.Gate has pioneered global index perpetual contracts, targeting mainstream global indices and volatility indices, introducing market sentiment indicators into the cryptocurrency derivatives trading system, supporting USDT settlement and 24/7 trading, providing users with trading options that are more aligned with the global macro market.At the same time, Gate has fully laid out its traditional financial trading area, including stocks, metals, foreign exchange, indices, and commodities, continuously building a multi-asset contract system covering mainstream TradFi assets, creating the industry's most comprehensive index and traditional financial asset contract trading area.

Recently, market volatility has intensified, and the trading activity of multi-asset contracts has significantly increased. CoinGlass data shows that in the 4-hour position increase ranking, TW88 has a position increase of 3653.99%, HK50 has a position increase of 1671.68%, STEEM has an increase of 117.78%, UMA has an increase of 90.27%, and LPT has an increase of 30.98%. The tokens on the Gate platform occupy the top two positions, with TW88 and HK50 performing particularly well, becoming the focus of capital attention in a short period.Currently, Gate contracts have fully covered traditional financial assets such as stocks (48 types), metals (11 types), foreign exchange (3 types), commodities (2 types), and indices (13 types), supporting 7×24 hours of continuous trading, offering up to 100 times leverage, and continuously improving the multi-asset contract ecosystem layout.

According to Cointelegraph, macroeconomist Lyn Alden stated that Bitcoin's next surge may start when overheated AI stocks peak and funds begin to rotate back into BTC.

With the global market's risk appetite undergoing a phase of recovery, major stock indices continue to show a trend of oscillating upward, with small and mid-cap stocks and European blue-chip indices performing steadily. According to the Gate index section, the Russell 2000 Index in the U.S. reached a high of $2,669.03 in the last 24 hours and is currently reported at $2,646.42, up 1.01%, with increased activity; the FTSE 100 Index hit a high of $14,289.68 in the last 24 hours and is currently at $14,269.24, up 0.32%, continuing its high-level oscillation pattern.Gate has launched the world's first perpetual contracts based on indices, using mainstream global indices and volatility indices as underlying assets, introducing market sentiment indicators into the crypto derivatives trading system. While maintaining the advantages of USDT settlement and 24/7 trading, it provides users with trading options that are more aligned with the global macro market. Additionally, Gate has comprehensively laid out traditional financial trading sections, covering various contract trading targets including stocks, precious metals, foreign exchange, indices, and commodities, such as gold, silver, Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, the Russell 2000 Index, and the FTSE 100 Index.Currently, Gate's index perpetual contracts support trading in multiple currency pairs. As an important indicator of market uncertainty, the fluctuations of the VIX reflect changes in investors' expectations of risk and are often used for hedging and risk aversion. Its launch further provides investors with more specialized trading tools, expanding the space for cross-market trading and strategic layout.

According to Forbes, discussions about the impact of cryptocurrencies on the traditional financial system have significantly intensified in the context of the 2026 Davos Forum. Analysts point out that Bitcoin is becoming one of the key assets in the "Anti-Dollar Trade," reflecting global investors' concerns about the uncertainty of U.S. policies.Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan, who publicly called Bitcoin a "scam" in 2017, has shown a notable shift in stance. In November 2025, JPMorgan became the first major U.S. bank to issue dollar deposit tokens on a public blockchain. Although Dimon has not fully embraced Bitcoin, he has acknowledged that "blockchain is real" and continues to promote blockchain services for institutional clients. This move is seen as paving the way for further development in the crypto industry.Meanwhile, deVere Group CEO Nigel Green warns that structural cracks are emerging in the dollar's dominance. He points out that the frequent fiscal standoffs and government shutdown risks in the U.S. are undermining the three pillars that support the dollar's status as the global reserve currency—institutional stability, fiscal credibility, and policy predictability. The current partial government shutdown threatens over $1.2 trillion in federal spending, exacerbating market pricing of U.S. political risks. Green believes that in this context, a multipolar currency system is becoming more realistic. In addition to the euro, yen, and some emerging market currencies, digital assets are also beginning to be included in strategic hedging discussions. Central banks around the world have been continuously reducing their dollar reserves and increasing allocations to gold and other currencies in recent years, while political shocks are accelerating this trend.

With the cryptocurrency card infrastructure company Rain completing a $250 million Series C funding round this month and reaching a valuation of nearly $2 billion, competition in the crypto payment sector around "how stablecoins are truly spent" is rapidly intensifying.Research firm Artemis data shows that the scale of cryptocurrency card payments is growing at an annualized rate of 106%, with an annualized transaction volume reaching $18 billion, close to the scale of approximately $19 billion in stablecoin peer-to-peer transfers. Artemis researcher Patrick Kim expects that by the end of this year, cryptocurrency cards will become the primary retail payment scenario for stablecoins.Currently, this "payment stack battle" is unfolding along three main paths: first, the full-stack issuance model. Rain, in collaboration with Hong Kong-based Reap, has become a principal member of Visa, integrating complete infrastructure such as card issuance and settlement, bypassing the traditional banking system. Rain disclosed that its card user base has grown 30 times year-on-year, with payment volumes increasing 38 times, and the platform now has over 200 clients.Second, the orchestration layer model. Stripe's acquisition of Bridge for $1.1 billion and the approximately $1 billion valuation of Zero Hash represents a bet by large tech and financial infrastructure companies on "chain-agnostic" solutions, helping merchants accept and settle stablecoins without concern for the underlying blockchain.Third, payment-specific blockchains. Some new players believe that general-purpose chains like Ethereum were not designed for payments. Supported by Bitfinex, Stable is set to launch a payment-focused blockchain by the end of 2025 and has already secured approximately $2 billion in pre-funding, aiming to achieve a stablecoin transfer experience without additional gas costs.Geographically, emerging markets are the core driving force behind the growth of stablecoin payments. The real payment demand in Africa, Latin America, and South Asia is significantly higher than in Europe and North America. Data shows that Visa currently holds over 90% of the on-chain card payment market share, primarily due to its support for USDC in native stablecoin settlement pilots, while USDT has not yet been incorporated into this system.

Gate's December transparency report shows that several core indicators continued to rise at the end of the year. Gate's global market share in the spot market remains in the top three, with a derivatives market share of about 11%, leading the industry in annual growth. Gate Launchpool, HODLer Airdrop, CandyDrop, and Launchpad launched nearly 30 projects in a single month, with a cumulative prize pool exceeding 3.5 million USD. In the same month, the number of on-chain addresses on Gate Layer surpassed 100 million. This series of data collectively outlines the steadily increasing ecological activity of Gate.At the same time, Gate continues to deepen its global compliance layout and brand influence. Gate Technology FZE, a subsidiary of Gate Group, has officially launched operations. As the official sponsor of the F1 Red Bull Racing team, Gate held a VIP viewing event during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, witnessing the team's victory at this event.These achievements have earned Gate multiple international awards. The platform was recognized as the "Outstanding Benchmark in the Crypto Industry" at the 2025 Entrepreneur Middle East Leadership Awards, topped BeInCrypto's list of the best spot exchanges in 2025, was awarded "Best High Liquidity Spot Exchange," and received the "Best Centralized Exchange" and "Best Brand of the Year" at the inaugural BeInCrypto 100 Awards. Gate is consolidating its core competitiveness in the global crypto asset trading market through a multi-dimensional approach in products, compliance, and branding.

According to Jin Shi reports, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Chief Economic Strategist Ellen Zentner commented on U.S. inflation, stating that inflation has not re-accelerated but remains above target levels. The cost transmission from tariffs is limited, and housing affordability has not improved. Today's inflation report is insufficient to support the Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates later this month.

On December 29, international gold prices experienced a significant reversal, with a daily decline of over 4%. Driven by the sharp price fluctuations, the trading activity of gold on the Byreal chain significantly increased, with a trading volume reaching 1.22 million USD on that day.The increase in trading volume directly boosted the liquidity staking yields, with the annual percentage rate (APR) of related pools reaching as high as 155%. Users can participate in liquidity staking with one click through the Alpha Farm on the Bybit platform, without the need to create a wallet or hold Gas tokens, thus earning on-chain transaction fee rewards.At the same time, Bybit is conducting a month-long Farm staking event, where users can share a reward pool of 300,000 USDT. In terms of trading methods, users can either use 500+ tokens to instantly exchange for XAUT or directly buy gold tokens through spot trading, and combine it with the DCA Bot dollar-cost averaging strategy to gradually reduce the long-term holding costs during price pullbacks.

According to the official announcement, the Binance Wallet web version has launched "Social Heat," which includes features such as: real-time heat rankings and heat rise rankings, mental share charts with historical backtracking, free switching between Chinese and English community heat, and AI intelligent summaries of hot discussion content.

According to 4E observations, the on-chain whale "Brother Ma Ji" has once again significantly increased its position. After adding 1 million USDC, it opened a long position of approximately 13.35 million USD in ETH at 2883 USD and increased its position by 830,000 USD in HYPE. The current floating profit of the ETH position is about 280,000 USD, with a liquidation price of 2716 USD, showing a clear short-term bullish tendency.On the institutional side, last week, global listed companies cumulatively net bought 13.4 million USD in BTC, but both Strategy and Metaplanet remain cautious. Notably, Strategy's STRC preferred shares rebounded after a previous correction and are currently only 2.5% lower than the 100 USD peg price, indicating a partial recovery of market confidence.Mining giant Bitmine continues to accumulate aggressively, purchasing another 69,822 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to 3.63 million ETH, accounting for 3% of the total ETH supply. Its average cost is 3988 USD, with a current paper loss of about 280 million USD (-29.6%), reflecting the mining company's firm belief in the medium to long-term valuation of ETH.On the on-chain capital allocation side, Ondo Finance announced a 25 million USD investment in the YLDS stablecoin issued by Figure's FCC to enhance the yield strategy of its flagship tokenized US Treasury fund OUSG. Currently, OUSG's locked position has surpassed 780 million USD, with allocations including traditional giants like BlackRock and Fidelity.4E Commentary: The whales and mining companies continue to increase their positions, while institutions remain cautious, leading to a market pattern of "on-chain risk-taking, secondary market stability." The inflow of USDC and heavy ETH positions release a bullish signal, while the slowdown in institutional buying suggests that overall risk appetite has not fully recovered, and short-term trends may primarily maintain a range-bound fluctuation.