Musk referred to the release of the Grok new model this year, with the current probability of release during the year standing at only 23%.

**December 16 Update:** The public sale of FUN tokens for Football.Fun—Basechain’s sports prediction app—kicks off tonight at 9 p.m. UTC+8 on both the Legion and Kraken platforms. Participants will need to use USD1 on the Ethereum mainnet to join. The total fundraising target is $3 million, with 50% of the allocation earmarked for Legion and the remaining 50% for Kraken. Up to 50% of tokens are reserved for Sport.Fun community members and long-term supporters, while 20% goes to users ranked highest by social score.

On December 16th, BlackRock transferred 47,463 ETH (valued at roughly $140 million) to Coinbase, per OnchainLens data.

WEEX announced on December 16 that it has completed a $2 million WXT repurchase, acquiring 72,571,028 WXT tokens at an average price of 0.027559 USDT per WXT. This repurchase is intended to reward users for supporting the platform’s “Contract Mining” campaign. Since the campaign launched on November 26, user participation has remained strong. To give more users ample time to join and continue earning mining rewards, the campaign has been extended through December 25. During the campaign, users who sign up and trade contracts receive real-time fee rebates in WXT. Rebate rates increase with trading volume, topping out at 30%. WXT has posted its largest surge since its July 2024 launch, rising over 358%. The token has undergone three repurchase-and-burn events, with a burn ratio exceeding 41.24%.

December 16: The Trump administration launched the "U.S. Tech Force" initiative this Monday—a two-year program to place tech experts across federal agencies. It aims to recruit around 1,000 engineers and tech specialists, assigning them to bodies including the Treasury Department and Department of Defense, where they’ll work on AI infrastructure and other critical tech projects. Coinbase and Robinhood are among nearly 30 private-sector partners, alongside major tech firms like OpenAI, Nvidia, and Microsoft. Participants will earn an annual salary of $150k to $200k, with the chance to pursue roles at private-sector partners post-government service. Sources say the move signals the crypto industry’s shift from a "regulated entity" to a government-recognized tech provider.

Axios reported on December 16 that Elon Musk could run as a Republican in the 2026 midterm elections. He has begun funding 2026 midterm campaign efforts for Republican House and Senate candidates — a sign his relationship with former President Donald Trump has thawed after their rift earlier this year. This summer, amid a dispute with Trump, Musk threatened to launch a third party called the "American Party" to challenge the U.S. two-party system. Now, however, he has firmly returned to the Republican fold.

As of December 16, DefiLlama data shows 24-hour trading volumes for top perpetual DEXs have rebounded sharply from the prior day. Aster leads the pack, with Hyperliquid and Lighter trailing closely. Here’s a breakdown of key metrics for selected platforms: - **Aster** (via https://www.asterdex.com/en-US/referral/aboter): 24h volume ~$9.27B, TVL ~$1.32B, open interest ~$2.5B - **Lighter**: 24h volume ~$7.65B, TVL ~$1.41B, open interest ~$1.72B - **Hyperliquid** (via https://app.hyperliquid.xyz/join/NTOD): 24h volume ~$7.29B, TVL ~$4.33B, open interest ~$7.3B - **EdgeX**: 24h volume ~$4.46B, TVL ~$391M, open interest ~$762M - **ApeX**: 24h volume ~$2.79B, TVL ~$46.34M, open interest ~$87.78M - **Variational**: 24h volume ~$1.52B, TVL ~$66.18M, open interest ~$319M - **Backpack**: 24h volume ~$1.19B, TVL not disclosed, open interest ~$2.02B - **Pacifica** (via https://app.pacifica.fi/?referral=pacbot): 24h volume ~$0.888B, TVL ~$41.45M, open interest ~$59.11M *Note: Me