Top Interest of the Week Origin Protocol stands out as one of the most established DeFi projects on the Ethereum network, offering a multichain feature set that opens up extensive yield generation opportunities. The protocol, with its native token $OGN, also facilitates decentralized marketplaces and NFT platforms. Tools like Origin Story empower creators to effortlessly launch their NFT collections. Origin’s offerings are designed to be permissionless and composable, enabling seamless integration with innovative primitives. Recently, the price of OGN experienced a rise from 0.11 to 0.15, accompanied by a six-fold increase in spot trading volume, reflecting significant interest from investors and traders in this token.Secret Network ($SCRT) is a blockchain platform focused on enhancing privacy for decentralized applications. It employs encrypted smart contracts to guarantee the secure processing of confidential data. Over the weekend, SCRT's price skyrocketed by over 50% within 24 hours, coupled with a five-fold increase in trading volume, generating robust demand for this token on our Convert platform.Phala Network ($PHA) is a Kusama parachain that tackles the issue of trust in the computation cloud. This blockchain is a trustless computation platform that enables massive cloud processing without sacrificing data confidentiality. In a recent development, Phala Network has joined hands with an AI agent framework ai16z to launch the 2.0 version of its network. Phala combines privacy-first cloud computing with AI to create secure agents capable of handling sensitive tasks. Integrating AI and Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) has been gaining traction. Its innovation in the AI space has gained strong interest from investors, driving up strong trading demand for this token.Overall MarketSource: TradingViewThe above chart is the performance summary of the top 5 coins by market cap in 2024.In 2024, BTC, SOL, and BNB exhibited comparable performance, each reaching new all-time highs with a remarkable 130% increase over the year. Ripple ($XRP) saw a significant surge following November 5, coinciding with Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election. The anticipation of a more favorable regulatory environment under Trump's leadership propelled XRP to a staggering 320% gain, elevating its market capitalization into the top five. Conversely, ETH struggled in 2024, particularly after the Dencan upgrade rally in March. Although ETH peaked at a two-year high of $4,100 amid hopes for a crypto-friendly administration, it could not sustain that momentum and quickly fell back into the $3k range, while other cryptocurrencies achieved new all-time highs.Reflecting on the past year, Bitcoin has undeniably emerged as the cornerstone of the cryptocurrency market, serving as a catalyst that has propelled the entire sector forward. Its price movements and market trends have had a profound influence on the performance of other cryptocurrencies, with assets like Solana and BNB exhibiting high beta characteristics in relation to Bitcoin. This means that these altcoins have tended to amplify Bitcoin's price fluctuations, often experiencing more significant gains during bullish phases and sharper declines during bearish trends. In the wake of the Dencun upgrade, Ethereum faced challenges in sustaining its upward momentum. Despite the initial excitement surrounding the upgrade, which aimed to enhance the network's scalability and efficiency, Ethereum struggled to maintain the bullish sentiment that had characterized earlier periods. This stagnation was particularly evident as Ethereum's layer-2 projects, designed to alleviate congestion and reduce transaction costs, experienced mixed results. While some layer-2 solutions gained traction and demonstrated their utility, others fell short of expectations, leading to a fragmented landscape within the Ethereum ecosystem.Meanwhile, other layer 1 blockchains such as Sui, Algorand, and Avalanche have made notable strides, showcasing significant innovations that have captured the attention of investors. These platforms have introduced unique features and improvements that address various challenges within the blockchain space, such as scalability, interoperability, and transaction speed. For instance, Sui has focused on enhancing user experience and developer accessibility, while Algorand has emphasized its commitment to sustainability and speed. Avalanche, on the other hand, has gained recognition for its robust consensus mechanism and ability to support a diverse range of decentralized applications.As a result, the competitive landscape of the cryptocurrency market has evolved, with investors increasingly exploring opportunities beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. The innovations and advancements made by this emerging layer 1 blockchain have not only diversified the market but also sparked renewed interest and investment in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem. Overall, the past year has been marked by significant developments, with Bitcoin leading the charge while other projects strive to carve out their own niches in this dynamic and rapidly changing environment.Our team is optimistic about the continuation of the bullish trend for BTC and the wider cryptocurrency market in 2025. We anticipate several pullbacks exceeding 15% as we move forward, particularly following the inauguration on January 20. Investors are keenly awaiting Donald Trump’s new policies regarding crypto assets for further insights. The market is likely to face increased volatility and be heavily influenced by news headlines during the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency.Looking ahead, we believe that a more favourable legislative environment for cryptocurrencies will emerge in the U.S. over the next four years. Additionally, ETFs will serve as a bridge for traditional finance to engage with and benefit from the rapid expansion of the crypto sector. These advancements are expected to bolster the crypto industry, attract new capital, and draw in fresh talent. As the market remains in its early stages, we foresee ongoing price volatility. However, we expect the fluctuations in BTC to gradually lessen over the next decade, leading to a more stable upward and downward trend.Macro at a glance Last Monday (24-12-23)US durable goods orders experienced a decline of 1.1% in November, which was more significant than the expected decrease of 0.3%.As measured by the Conference Board, consumer confidence unexpectedly fell from 112.8 in November to 104.7 in December, falling short of the predicted 112.9.New home sales in the US were recorded at 664,000 in November, slightly below the anticipated figure of 666,000.Last Thursday (24-12-26)US initial jobless claims have decreased further, with this week's report showing 219,000 new claims, below the expected figure of 223,000.On Monday (24-12-30)The Chicago PMI recorded a value of 36.9 in December, falling short of the anticipated 42.7 and indicating a further decline into contraction territory. This may imply that purchasing managers are seeking greater clarity regarding upcoming policy changes following the inauguration day.On Tuesday (24-12-31)China's manufacturing PMI for December was recorded at 50.1, slightly below the anticipated 50.3.On Thursday (25-01-02)Caixin's Manufacturing PMI for China was reported at 50.5 in December, falling short of the anticipated 51.6 and November's figure of 51.5. The uncertainty surrounding Donald Trump's new trade policies with China may be a significant factor contributing to the decline in the PMI index. In the US, initial jobless claims remained low, with a report of 211,000 this week, which is below the expected 222,000. S&P Global Manufacturing PMI indicated a reading of 49.4 in December, slightly down from November's 49.7 but surpassing the forecast of 48.3. The US stock market experienced a downturn on the first trading day in 2025, while the US dollar index reached its highest level in over two years as investors braced for Trump's return. Conversely, Bitcoin demonstrated resilience, recovering to 97,000 during the US trading session, contributing to the overall upward trend in the cryptocurrency market.Convert Portal Volume ChangeThe above table shows the volume change on our Convert Portal by zone. Bitcoin tested the $92,000 support level during the Christmas holidays, demonstrating its resilience as we welcomed the new year of 2025. This testing phase was significant, as it highlighted the cryptocurrency's capacity to sustain stability amid market volatility. Our team has been diligently observing the trading environment and has identified a notable increase in activity, especially within the AI sector and among medium-cap tokens, indicating a rising interest from investors in these areas.In the Polkadot zone, trading volume surged 169.1% last week. This increase was largely driven by the impressive performance of Phala ($PHA), a project that has garnered substantial market attention.The AI zone also saw a significant 21.5% rise in trading volume during the same timeframe. This growth can be primarily linked to the heightened demand for Phala ($PHA), which has established itself as a prominent player in the AI domain.Meanwhile, the Infrastructure zone recorded a modest yet encouraging 5.6% increase in trading volume last week. This growth was mainly propelled by the trading interest in Phala ($PHA), further highlighting the token's impact across various sectors.Why trade OTC? Binance offers our clients various ways to access OTC trading, including chat communication channels and the Binance OTC platform (https://www.binance.com/en/otc) for manual price quotations, Algo Orders, or automated price quotations via Binance Convert and Block Trade platform (https://www.binance.com/en/convert) and the Binance Convert OTC API. Email:
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