Hyperinsight data show whale address 0x50b30 opened a 20x leveraged short position on 798.73 BTC, worth about $70.72 million, on Dec. 31. The address also established an 18x leveraged long position on 5,626.42 ETH, valued at roughly $16.71 million. Combined positions currently show an unrealized loss of $240,000.

Bank of China will pay interest on digital yuan real-name wallet balances starting Jan. 1, 2026, BlockBeats reports. The bank announced on Dec. 31 that balances in these wallets will accrue interest at its demand deposit rate, with calculation and payment rules matching those for demand deposits.

The Ethereum network processed about 2.2 million transactions in a single day this week, which crypto analytics outlet Wu Blockchain described as a record. Average transaction fees were around $0.17 during the period, according to Wu Blockchain, which noted that fees have declined from levels above $200 reached in May 2022. The outlet also reported that Ethereum’s staking queue turned net positive for the first time in six months, with the amount of ETH awaiting staking nearly double the amount scheduled to exit.

Centralized exchanges saw a net inflow of about 105,800 Ethereum on December 31, according to Coinglass. Binance led with 115,600 ETH in inflows, while Bitfinex and Gate.io also posted gains. Bybit recorded the largest outflow at 7,858 ETH, reflecting shifting investor positioning.

Binance Alpha will launch a token airdrop on Dec. 31 at 15:00 (UTC+8), the company announced. Users holding at least 240 Binance Alpha points are eligible to claim tokens on a first-come, first-served basis until the pool is depleted or the campaign ends.

Perpetual contracts platform Pacifica will halve trading fees across all markets for nine days from 17:00 Dec. 30 to 17:00 Jan. 8 Beijing time, lowering the base rate from 0.015% to 0.0075%, BlockBeats reports. Trader Ron (X: Ron521520) estimated the cost per point at approximately 0.3825 USD previously and around 0.19 USD under the reduced fees; assuming a 22-week points program and 25% airdrop ratio, each point may redeem 1.136 tokens, Ron said. Pacifica was founded in January 2025 by former FTX Chief Operating Officer and two co-founders, reaching 83 billion USD in cumulative trading volume within five months of launch with over 34,000 users. Some traders have used high-frequency strategies to accumulate platform points, and Coinbob launched Coinbob Pacifica (@CoinbobPAC_bot) to enable users to track and copy such strategies for potential airdrop opportunities.

Whale address 0x5d2f4, known as "Ultimate Short," now holds a short position of 59,208 LIT with 3x leverage at an average entry of $2.8, currently showing a slight profit, Hyperinsight data show. The same address maintains a 20x leveraged short on 499.9 BTC valued at approximately $44.2 million, with an unrealized profit of $11.53 million (413%), an average entry of $111,500 and a liquidation price of $102,380.

Whale address 0x6031d closed a $16.48M BTC long position with a realized profit of $63K about four hours ago, Hyperinsight data show. The address has executed seven trades this week, with only one position closed via stop-loss.

Federal Reserve officials are sharply divided on the 2026 rate path, with views nearly evenly split between zero, one or two cuts, the Dec. 31 dot plot showed, after three rate reductions in 2025 brought the target to 3.5%–3.75%, BlockBeats reports. CME data show market-implied probabilities of a January cut at 20% and 45% in March, with most forecasts pointing to only one reduction in 2026. Analysts said that if employment weakens and inflation remains contained, one to two cuts could support risk assets, while a rebound in inflation could pause rate cuts and pressure equities and crypto. Jerome Powell is set to step down in May, and a potentially more dovish successor is viewed as an additional variable for the 2026 crypto market, according to BlockBeats.