Key News from Last Night and This Morning (December 7 - December 8)

Farcaster Announces Strategic Shift: Focus Moves from Social-First to Wallet-Driven Growth

Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero announced on social media that the project is now focused on building a wallet to attract more users. After four and a half years of trying a social-first strategy without success, and with the wallet business continuing to grow, they decided to increase investment in this area. This means new features and product positioning will center around the wallet. Romero emphasized: “We’ve pivoted, and the product is now focused on wallet users. The most important feature of our wallet is transactions. That’s the core. People can use the product without the wallet, but we’re focused on wallets/transactions.”

HumidiFi: New Token Public Sale to Start at 11:00 PM on December 8

HumidiFi announced on X that its new token public sale will start at 10:00 AM EST the following day, which is 14 hours from now, or 11:00 PM Beijing time on December 8. Previously, HumidiFi said its initial public sale was disrupted by bot activity, preventing regular users from participating. The public sale will restart next Monday with a new token airdrop, proportionally distributed to Wetlist and JUP staking users.

A Whale Goes Long on 1.38 Million HYPE, Now Facing $12.01 Million Unrealized Loss

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, a whale went long on 1.38 million HYPE at $38.6 per token (totaling $41.36 million) and is now facing an unrealized loss of $12.01 million. The position liquidation price is at $23.7.

Robinhood to Enter Indonesian Market Through Acquisition of Brokerage and Crypto Trading Platform

According to Reuters, Robinhood stated in a blog post on Sunday that it will acquire Indonesian brokerage firm Buana Capital Sekuritas and licensed digital asset trader Pedagang Aset Kripto, marking its official entry into one of Southeast Asia’s major crypto hubs. Indonesia has over 19 million capital market investors and 17 million crypto traders, highlighting its appeal in stock and digital asset trading. Acquiring a brokerage helps companies meet regulatory requirements and establish a local presence for smoother market entry, while acquiring a licensed digital asset trader accelerates access to crypto product channels. Robinhood did not disclose financial terms, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026. The major shareholder of both Indonesian companies, Pieter Tanuri, will continue as Robinhood’s strategic advisor.

Bloomberg: Median Share Price of US and Canada-Listed DAT Companies Down 43% This Year

According to Bloomberg, the median share price of digital asset treasury (DAT) companies listed in the US and Canada has fallen 43% this year. By comparison, Bitcoin is down about 6% year-to-date. Ethereum treasury company SharpLink’s share price is down 86% from its peak, with a market cap even lower than the value of its held digital tokens. The current share price is about 0.9 times its Ethereum holdings. SharpLink previously announced it would abandon its gaming business and instead issue stock to buy Ethereum, causing its share price to soar over 2,600% in a few days. Greenlane, despite holding about $48 million in BERA tokens, has seen its share price crash over 99% this year. WLFI treasury company Alt5 Sigma, once supported by two of Trump’s sons, has seen its share price drop 86% since its June peak. Some lucky DAT companies still hold market values above their underlying holdings, but most investors who bought near the peak are now at a loss, and 70% of companies may end the year with share prices below where they started. The worst performers are those that avoided Bitcoin and invested in smaller, more volatile tokens. The volatility of these stocks is partly due to heavy borrowing when acquiring crypto assets. Meanwhile, for lesser-known, smaller DAT companies, falling crypto prices and waning investor enthusiasm have made fundraising even tougher.

Bittensor’s First Halving on December 14, TAO Daily Issuance to Drop to 3,600

According to Cointelegraph, AI project Bittensor will undergo its first halving on December 14, reducing TAO’s daily issuance from 7,200 to 3,600 tokens.

CZ Zhao: Binance Registered Users Surpass 300 Million

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao posted on X: “Binance registered users have surpassed 300 million.”

Ethena Withdraws Another 25 Million ENA from Bybit, Worth $7.05 Million

Onchain Lens reports that Ethena has withdrawn another 25 million ENA from Bybit, worth $7.05 million. The wallet now holds 779.89 million ENA, valued at $207.7 million.

ZKsync Plans to Retire Early Network ZKsync Lite in 2026

According to The Block, ZKsync announced Sunday that it plans to phase out ZKsync Lite (formerly ZKsync 1.0)—the original zero-knowledge rollup launched on Ethereum in 2020—sometime next year. ZKsync described this as a planned, orderly system phaseout; the system has fulfilled its mission and no other ZKsync systems will be affected. The team will announce more details, dates, and migration guides next year. L2BEAT data shows that, although ZKsync Lite now handles fewer than 200 transactions daily, about $50 million in user funds remain on the network. ZKsync says funds are safe and L1 withdrawals will function normally throughout the process. The shutdown will not affect other products. Matter Labs, the company behind ZKsync, launched the fully functional zkEVM—ZKsync Era—in March 2023, which supports arbitrary smart contracts and ended active development on ZKsync Lite. Future focus will be on systems built on ZK Stack, Prividiums, and the wider ZKsync network.

“Post-1011 Flash Crash Short Whale” Now Holds $164 Million in Longs, Facing $950,000 Unrealized Loss

Hyperbot data shows the “Post-1011 Flash Crash Short Whale” now holds 54,277.3393 ETH in long positions ($164 million), with an average entry of $3,048.31, and is facing about $950,000 in unrealized losses. Five hours ago, the whale placed a limit order to buy 20,000 ETH at $3,000 ($60 million), which has not yet filled.

“Post-1011 Flash Crash Short Whale” Opens New ETH Longs After 9 Days

According to on-chain analyst Ai Auntie, the “Post-1011 Flash Crash Short Whale” opened new ETH longs after 9 days, now holding 9,010.4 ETH ($26.77 million) at an average entry of $2,959.4, with an additional limit order for 989.6 ETH at $2,958. If filled, the position will total exactly 10,000 ETH.

Michael Saylor Posts Bitcoin Tracker Info Again, May Announce More Purchases Next Week

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor posted Bitcoin Tracker info on X, writing “₿ack to Orange Dots?” Historically, Strategy often discloses new Bitcoin purchases the day after Saylor posts such updates.

Analysis: Current Market Shows Parallels with Early 2022 Bear Market, but Investor Sentiment Stabilizing

Glassnode’s latest weekly report notes that current market conditions are similar to early 2022 bear market (crypto winter). From November to December, open interest has continued to decline, indicating lower risk appetite, especially after the October 10 flash crash. Options market sentiment is cautious, with investors more likely to sell than chase upside; earlier this week, as Bitcoin neared $80,000, put buying dominated, but as prices stabilized, fear subsided and funds moved to calls. Perpetual funding rates have remained neutral, briefly dipping negative, while funding premiums have dropped, signaling a more balanced, less speculative environment. ETF demand continues to weaken—IBIT has seen six consecutive weeks of outflows, the longest streak since launching in January 2024—with over $2.7 billion in redemptions in the past five weeks. Derivatives data further confirm reduced risk appetite.

Data: USDT Total Supply Surpasses 190 Billion, Sets New All-Time High

According to the latest Coingecko data, USDT, the dollar stablecoin issued by Tether, has surpassed 190 billion in total supply, now reaching 191,099,037,578 (with 185,632,100,913 in circulation) and a market cap of $185,929,020,830, all setting new records.

Data: APT, LINEA, CHEEL and Other Tokens Set for Large Unlocks, APT Unlock Worth About $19.3 Million

Token Unlocks data shows several tokens will undergo large unlocks next week, including:

• Aptos (APT): Unlocking about 11.31 million tokens at midnight on December 12 Beijing time (0.83% of circulating supply), worth about $19.3 million;
• Linea (LINEA): Unlocking about 1.38 billion tokens at 7:00 PM on December 10 Beijing time (6.67% of circulating supply), worth about $11.1 million;
• Cheelee (CHEEL): Unlocking about 20.81 million tokens at 8:00 AM on December 13 Beijing time (2.86% of circulating supply), worth about $10.8 million;
• BounceBit (BB): Unlocking about 29.93 million tokens at 8:00 AM on December 9 Beijing time (3.42% of circulating supply), worth about $2.7 million.

A Whale Deposits 3 Million USDC to HyperLiquid and Opens 10x Leveraged ETH Short

Onchain Lens reports a whale deposited 3 million USDC to Hyperliquid and opened a 10x leveraged ETH short position.

Suspected Wintermute Wallet Accumulates About $5.2 Million in SYRUP Tokens Over Two Weeks

According to Arkham, a wallet suspected to belong to Wintermute has been actively accumulating SYRUP tokens, withdrawing a total of $5.2 million worth of SYRUP from multiple exchanges and transferring them to a market-maker-linked wallet over the past two weeks. The wallet now holds about 20.397 million SYRUP tokens, valued at $6.1 million.

A Newly Created Wallet Deposits 3 Million USDC to Hyperliquid and Opens 10x Leveraged HYPE Long

Onchain Lens reports a newly created wallet deposited 3 million USDC to Hyperliquid and opened a 10x leveraged HYPE long position.

Head of CAC: Accelerate Innovation in Blockchain and Digital Intelligence Tech, Enhance Blockchain Service Capabilities

According to People’s Daily, Zhuang Rongwen, director of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said in an interview that CAC will enhance its sense of responsibility and urgency in modernization and informatization, first by accelerating breakthroughs in network information technology and innovation in digital intelligence technologies such as AI and blockchain; second, by advancing the development of the industrial ecosystem, empowering the real economy with digital intelligence, and enhancing blockchain’s general service and support capabilities.

Analysis: “Smart Money” on Hyperliquid Still Betting on Short-Term ETH Decline, Short Exposure Rising

Blockchain analytics platform Nansen data shows that “smart money” (usually the group of top-performing traders) on Hyperliquid continues to bet on a short-term decline in Ethereum, with short positions increasing by $2.8 million in the past 24 hours, and net ETH shorts on the platform now exceeding $21 million. The analysis also finds ETF demand, a key driver of ETH liquidity, remains weak—Farside Investors data shows spot ETH ETFs had net outflows for two consecutive days this week, with $75.2 million and $41.5 million withdrawn, respectively.