HashBandit

The article discusses the rights of token holders and the governance paradox, suggesting that they should be redefined as "user investors" rather than mere owners. Overemphasizing shareholder value can lead to short-termism and impact long-term health. In the crypto space, focusing on practicality and ecosystem vitality is more important than power, maintaining freedom.

The article discusses the performance of the crypto market in January, noting that Ethereum has an average return of +20.63% in January over the past 9 years with high volatility, while Bitcoin's average return in January over 13 years is only +3.81%, showing more stability. The author advises traders to focus on current market liquidity, institutional movements, and policy changes rather than relying solely on historical data.

【Blockchain Rhythm】On December 31, a leading exchange released its 2025 annual summary data, with impressive results.
The most direct growth is reflected in user scale — the global user base has surpassed 300 million. What does this mean? Put another way, on average, 1 in every 27 people worldwide is using crypto assets. This level of penetration reveals an important trend: the crypto industry is gradually evolving from a niche community into a part of everyday life, no longer just the domain of geeks and investors.
You can better feel this shift by looking at trading data. In 2025, the total trading volume on the platform reached $34 trillion. Breaking it down, retail-led trading volume increased by 125% year-over-year, indicating a significant rise in retail participation; institutional trading, while growing at a more moderate rate (21% YoY), still contributes a substantial amount due to its large base. Interestingly, nearly half of all BTC and ETH transactions worldwide are conducted on this platform.

India's tax authorities are investigating cryptocurrency income for the 2024-25 fiscal year, using exchange data and withholding tax records for tracking. Trading profits are taxed at 30%, and a 1% withholding tax is required on transactions. The regulatory stance is shifting towards active enforcement, and traders must proactively disclose assets and trading activities to ensure compliance.

Many blockchain projects overlook decentralization during planning, leading to system risks and vulnerabilities caused by concentrated power. Decentralization requires proactive design and innovation. Project teams should treat it as equally important as the business model to address the challenge of balancing flexibility and decentralization.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes show that policymakers have a balanced view on interest rate cuts, reflecting internal discussion space on monetary policy. This subtle change could influence capital flows and sentiment in the crypto market, and traders should pay attention to actual policy actions.

Zama mainnet officially launched, marking the practical application of privacy computing technology. The privacy stablecoin cUSDT based on the Zama network completed its first cross-chain transfer on Ethereum, demonstrating new possibilities for privacy financial applications. Fully homomorphic encryption technology is also gradually entering the stage of actual transactions.

HTX Huobi launched the LIT/USDT perpetual contract on December 30th, supporting up to 20x leverage. At the same time, a one-week contract trading party was launched, with a prize pool of $10,000. Participants need to reach a total trading volume of 10,000 USDT. New users can also enjoy exclusive platform benefits.

【Crypto World】An interesting perspective: Harvard University's admissions system looks like Bitcoin—rules are clear and the total supply is fixed—but its underlying operational logic is actually more similar to Ethereum governance.
It sounds a bit convoluted, but think about it—Harvard packages its admission quotas tightly, as if they are rules engraved in stone. But in reality? There is a lot of room for human adjustment, with various social consensus and layered policies constantly at play, which is somewhat like how the Ethereum community adjusts protocols through governance.
What’s most ironic? Harvard desperately claims "we just follow the quotas," using this number as a shield, but in fact, it’s hiding a truth—the entire admissions decision process is fully programmable and entirely mutable. The real issue isn’t the total number limit itself, but who holds the decision-making power behind these limits, and whether that power is accountable.
This kind of "excuse mechanism" to evade transparency is actually rare in Web3. Or

Unleash Protocol experienced a major security incident, where an external address gained management rights through a multi-signature governance mechanism, leading to unauthorized smart contract upgrades, resulting in large-scale withdrawals and transfers of assets such as WIP and USDC. Unleash has suspended all operations and acknowledged that the issue stems from its own governance and permission design.

【Crypto World】Recently, there has been an interesting phenomenon—Binance's presence in Bitcoin futures is becoming increasingly prominent. According to data, Binance has now become the largest trading platform for Bitcoin futures, with a position volume of 125,000 BTC, equivalent to approximately $11.2 billion.
In comparison, the traditional financial veteran CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) is not having such a good time. Their BTC holdings have fallen to 123,000 BTC, hitting a new low since February 2024. This change is quite intriguing—from a certain perspective, it reflects that the focus of the crypto market is gradually shifting towards leading exchanges, and Binance's advantages in market liquidity and trading depth are quite evident.
Of course, this may also indicate that traditional financial institutions are adjusting their participation in BTC futures. Market structure changes always come with opportunities and risks, so it’s still necessary to keep an eye on these data changes.

The latest data shows that on December 30th, both Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs experienced net outflows of funds. Bitcoin saw a net outflow of $19.3 million, and Ethereum saw a net outflow of $9.6 million, reflecting selling pressure from institutional investors on these two major cryptocurrencies.