Velo partners with WLFI in a strategic collaboration to bring USD1 into the ecosystem

**December 22 (CoinDesk) — Prediction markets outperformed Wall Street consensus forecasts for inflation over 25 months, with their average error 40% lower than traditional economist and analyst expectations, according to a study from prediction market platform Kalshi.** Kalshi’s research found the edge stems from aggregating diverse trader information via economic incentives, tapping the "wisdom of the crowd" to react more nimbly to shifting conditions. The findings position market-based predictions as a valuable complementary tool for institutional decision-makers, especially amid high uncertainty. The platform compared its inflation forecasts (focused on year-over-year CPI changes) with Wall Street consensus from February 2023 to mid-2025. Traders’ accuracy outpaced traditional forecasts by 40% on average — and by up to 67% when actual data deviated sharply from expectations.

December 22 — JPMorgan is weighing offering cryptocurrency trading services to its institutional clients, Bloomberg reported. Insiders familiar with the matter said the bank is evaluating what products and services its markets division could offer to expand its crypto footprint, potentially including spot and derivatives trading. The move comes as client interest has risen amid shifts in the U.S. digital asset regulatory landscape; specific plans will hinge on assessments of sufficient demand, risk and opportunity, and regulatory feasibility.

On December 22, Onchain Lens reported that Circle has just minted an additional 5 billion USDC on the Solana network. Since October 11, Circle has minted a total of $18 billion in USDC on the Solana network.

Federal Reserve Governor Milan said Wednesday (Dec. 22) that last week’s inflation data contained anomalies tied to the government shutdown, which distorted the housing inflation index and pushed year-end CPI sharply above its expected path. Recent data is likely to tilt sentiment toward dovish policy views, he added, warning that failure to adjust policy would raise recession risks further. “We expect policy rates to ultimately be cut,” Milan noted. (Source: FXStreet)

December 22 — Per LookOnChain data, whale address 0xDDC4 reentered the market following six months of inactivity, using 500 ETH (≈$1.53 million) to purchase 9,629 AAVE. Over the past year, the whale has accumulated 39,213 AAVE total, with a total cost of ~$6.2 million and an average entry price of $264. At current prices, its holdings are facing an unrealized loss of ~$4.15 million.

**December 22 — BitMine announced today that its combined cryptocurrency holdings, total cash, and strategic investments have reached $13.2 billion, per official sources.** As of 3:00 PM ET on December 21, the company’s assets include: - 4,066,062 ETH - 193 BTC - A $32 million investment in Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS) - $1 billion in cash BitMine Chairman Thomas “Tom” Lee (also of Fundstrat) commented: “BitMine has steadily expanded its ETH holdings, adding 98,852 ETH last week to cross the 4 million ETH mark — a major milestone hit in just 5.5 months. We’re moving quickly toward our ‘5% Alchemy’ target and already seeing synergies from our large ETH position. We’re a key bridge between Wall Street and the blockchain tokenization shift, and we’ve kept close partnerships with leading players at the forefront of the DeFi community.” BitMine’s ETH holdings account for 3.37% of the total ETH supply (120.7 million ETH).