Kraken Research: 85% of US Surveyed Investors Say They've Invested in Meme Coins

On December 17, former President Donald Trump posted on social media that Venezuela is surrounded by the largest fleet in South American history. The fleet will only expand, and Venezuela will face unprecedented consequences—until it returns all oil, land, and other assets it is alleged to have stolen from the U.S. Trump also noted the Venezuelan regime has been designated a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). He ordered a full blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering or exiting Venezuela, accusing the "illegitimate" regime of using oil from these alleged stolen fields to fund itself, terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping. This move marks an escalation of the Trump administration’s pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Last week, the U.S. seized a sanctioned oil tanker near the Venezuelan coast.

December 17th: Per Alternative Data, today’s cryptocurrency Fear and Greed Index stands at 16 (yesterday’s reading was 11), signaling the market remains in “extreme fear.” Note: The index ranges from 0 to 100 and incorporates the following metrics: Volatility (25%) + Market Trading Volume (25%) + Social Media Activity (15%) + Market Surveys (15%) + Bitcoin Dominance (10%) + Google Trends (10%).

On December 17, Aave CEO Stani.eth announced in a social media post that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has concluded its four-year investigation into the Aave protocol. To safeguard Aave, its ecosystem, and the broader decentralized finance (DeFi) space, the process required substantial effort and resource allocation from the team and founders. In recent years, DeFi has faced unfair regulatory scrutiny. Aave is pleased to break free from these constraints and enter a new era where developers can truly build the future of finance. DeFi will prevail.

December 17: Boston Federal Reserve President stated the 2026 dot plot does not include any rate cuts, noting the economy is expected to perform more strongly with GDP growth around 2.5%—meaning policy still needs to remain restrictive.

Boston Fed (Dec 17): Aimed to keep monetary policy unchanged at the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting. If the labor market sees a broad-based cyclical slowdown, other signals of meaningful economic weakening will emerge. The labor market is cooling, but a significant economic slowdown is not anticipated. Further interest rate cuts would push monetary policy into or toward accommodative territory, posing risks to inflation and inflation expectations. Source: FXStreet

Dec. 17 President Trump announced on social media Wednesday that he will deliver a primetime national address at 9 p.m. ET (10 a.m. Beijing Time Thursday). The speech lands as his first year back in the White House winds down—a critical moment marked by slipping approval ratings and economic headwinds. Over the past year, Trump has focused on overhauling U.S. economic and national security ties: he imposed tariffs on trade partners and key sectors, clashed heatedly with allies over defense spending, immigration, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and domestically pushed executive power boundaries, restructured the federal government, carried out large-scale undocumented immigrant deportations, and tightened legal immigration pathways. The address gives Trump a platform to tout his achievements and lay out next year’s priorities as Republicans aim to hold onto Congress in next year’s midterms (which typically see the president’s party lose seats). The White House says Trump