Weekly Highlights丨The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by another 25 basis points, and the crypto market rebounds; several industry experts judge that the four-year cycle has failed.

PANews Editor's Note: PANews has selected high-quality content from the week to help everyone fill in the gaps during the weekend. Click on the titles to read.

2025 Review and 2026 Outlook

a16z Predicts 2026: Four Major Trends Unveiled

The four investment teams at a16z have provided key insights for 2026 from the perspectives of infrastructure, growth, healthcare, and the interactive world.

Seven Major Future Trends for 2026: From Application Chain Revival to AI-Driven Crypto Networks

From the revival of application chains to AI-driven crypto networks, we are about to enter a more mature crypto world.

Bitwise CIO: The Crypto Market in 2026 Will Be Strong, but the Driving Forces Have Changed

We are now just standing at the entrance of the next huge growth cycle.

Four Key Words to Ring in the 2025 Crypto Four Seasons Song

"The Trump Effect," DAT, stock tokenization, and "TACO" trading have accompanied a year of crypto mainstreaming.

For more related content, please visit the special topic—Seeing Through the Fog: 2025 Review and 2026 Outlook

Macroeconomic Perspective

Interview with Cycle Research Expert: Bitcoin is Finding Its Bottom and Will Enter the Most Bullish Seasonal Period of the Year

Bitcoin is searching for a bottom, gold will consolidate, and the dollar may rebound. The "everything bubble" may burst in 2026, with the MOVE index as a key warning signal.

"Cornered Beast": Crypto Treasury Companies are Losing Their Bottom-Fishing Ability

The collective silence is not merely due to "ammunition" being exhausted at high points or panic, but rather a structural paralysis of the financing mechanism that heavily relies on premiums during a downturn.

Why is it Said that the Bottom of the Crypto Market May Have Passed?

The real reasons behind the cryptocurrency crash in December.

Federal Reserve Cuts Rates Again: Internal Divisions Highlighted, Three Votes Against Seen for the First Time in Six Years

This decision highlights unusual divisions within the Federal Reserve, marking the first instance of three votes against since 2019.

Munger's "Error List": Bitcoin is Excrement, Jack Ma is Too Arrogant, Elon Musk is Crazy

Charlie Munger has commented on Bitcoin and Musk; looking back today, some of his views may be right, some wrong, and some of his reflections on errors may not be correct (for example, he believes his investment failure in Alibaba was due to it being a "damn retailer").

AI Boom

Pantera Leads Investment, Coinbase Ventures Follows: What Makes Surf AI Stand Out?

The co-founder of Cyber is starting a new venture.

x402 V2 is Here: What Major Upgrades Does the New Protocol Bring?

x402 V2 supports multiple chains by default and is compatible with traditional payment channels.

OpenMind Teams Up with Circle to Enable Robots to Achieve Real-Time Payments of Thousands Per Second Using x402 Protocol

The x402 protocol has become a hot topic as the grand narrative for AI Agent payments, attracting attention from all sides.

The True Holy Grail of DeAI: Talus's "Full Chain" Solution

Talus has found a feasible path in the three dilemmas of the DeAI track, somewhat filling the gap in decentralized AI infrastructure, but the road to decentralization for AI Agents remains long and arduous.

Seizing Opportunities

Bear Market: A Review of the Seven Most Popular New Projects Recently

Includes participation guidelines and details.

Under Global Easing Expectations, ETH Has Entered the Value "Strike Zone"

In the context of relatively loose expectations in China and the U.S., suppressing asset downward volatility, ETH remains in a good buying "strike zone" amid extreme panic, with funds and sentiment not fully recovered.

High-Leverage Stablecoin Arbitrage Tool? A Detailed Explanation of Fluid's 39x Leverage Strategy and Its "Low Liquidation Penalty" Duality

Fluid is an interesting, complex, and highly controversial DeFi protocol.

Market "Discount Season": What Are the Whales Hoarding?

During Bitcoin's volatile period, whales are quietly accumulating XRP, ADA, UNI, AAVE, and other tokens, positioning themselves in payment, Layer 1, DeFi, Meme, AI, and storage sectors, seizing the opportunity to build positions ahead of a rebound.

Web3 Matters

Did the "Tether's Favorite Son" Mess Up the Launch? Can Stable Stage a Comeback?

After the launch of the Tether-supported stablecoin public chain Stable, the token price plummeted over 60%, mired in a trust crisis due to insider trading, although it optimized payment experience using USDT as gas fees, its token economic model and fierce competition cast doubt on its future.

Brazil: The Top Player in the Latin American Crypto Market, an Underrated "Honor Student"

As one of the top ten economies in the world with a unique geographical position, Brazil is attempting to extend its dream of becoming a strong nation into the cryptocurrency world and is becoming the main battlefield for digital asset experiments in Latin America.

UAE: The "New Switzerland" for Crypto Giants

From ubiquitous crypto payments on the streets to national sovereign funds getting involved, and a clear and transparent regulatory framework, the UAE has rapidly risen to become a crypto hub connecting East and West. Particularly in Abu Dhabi, with recent gatherings of crypto giants like Binance, Tether, Circle, and Ripple, this bustling city is becoming a new crypto stronghold that the world is targeting.

Hyperliquid Whale Chronicles: Some Strike it Rich Overnight, Others Die from Obsession

By delving into on-chain data, these whales exhibit diverse styles; some are "contrarian indicators" who hold large sums yet repeatedly fail, while others are "snipers" who lie in wait for months to strike decisively, and some are "cold-blooded machines" that harvest retail investors every second using algorithms.

Aevo Co-Founder: I Wasted 8 Years in the Crypto Industry

Aevo co-founder Ken Chan reflects in a post, stating that he wasted eight years of youth in the crypto industry, believing it has become the largest casino in human history, deviating from the original intention of decentralized finance, exposing issues of faith confusion and value collapse.

120 Seconds to Change Trading Perception: Why Day Trading for Retail Investors is Just Gambling?

Many people think making money in trading isn't that hard, but the real challenge is how to keep the money earned.

The World Beyond SWIFT: Russia's Secret Economy with Crypto

If measured by mining, on-chain transaction volume, stablecoin inflows, and trade settlement reliance, Russia is a crypto power center that cannot be ignored globally.

The World Beyond SWIFT (Part II): Moscow's Underground Ledger

In this network, USDT is the blood, PSB's ruble deposits are the skeleton, Garantex / Cryptex are the capillaries, and A7A5 is a newly grown heart valve—its existence is to keep this circulation beating outside of SWIFT.

Montenegro's Cryptocurrency Investigation: Wild Growth of Street OTC in a Regulatory Vacuum

Montenegro's cryptocurrency trading has fallen into a "gray area" due to regulatory gaps, with cash transactions conducted through Telegram groups and intermediaries, reaching annual trading volumes of millions of euros and involving money laundering risks. Although the legislative process has begun, progress is slow.

From Finney to Saga to Xiaomi: Web3 Phones Entering the "Experience-Driven" Mass Market Era

After years of niche experimentation, are Web3 phones really ready to enter the mainstream public eye?

USDT Rating Controversy: S&P's "Stability Gauge," Tether's "Market Debate," and the Transformation of the "Shadow Central Bank"

ME and CoinFound analyze the USDT rating controversy from event review, historical structural changes to market trends.