Bitcoin Marks 16th Birthday as Mining Difficulty Reaches New Peak

Solana's proposed "lattice-based" hashing system aims to revolutionize how the blockchain manages billions of user accounts, potentially setting a new standard for scalability. This upgrade eliminates the need to recalculate the entire state of all accounts regularly, addressing the "state growth problem" faced by high-performance blockchains.

Over HK$34 million in scam proceeds were intercepted by Hong Kong police in an operation targeting victims with AI. Arrests were made against a crime syndicate using deepfake technology and social engineering scams to lure victims into romance and investment scams.

Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve's Vice Chair for Supervision, announced his resignation, sparking optimism among crypto advocates for potential policy changes. Barr's departure follows disputes over his position and is seen as a significant development in the lead-up to the new administration.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse noted a significant shift in traditional finance leaders' interest in engaging with crypto following the 2024 presidential election. Ripple signed more new clients in six weeks post-election than in the previous six months combined, with a majority of new roles now US-based.

Sonic SVM will hold its token generation event on January 7, 2025, for its TikTok tap-to-earn game players to receive airdropped tokens based on their in-app progress. The SONIC token will be the backbone of the tap-to-earn ecosystem, with 7% of the total supply allocated for the initial airdrop claim.

Gemini Trust Company, linked to the Gemini crypto exchange by the Winklevoss twins, will pay a $5 million civil penalty to resolve a CFTC lawsuit accusing it of misleading regulators. The settlement prevents a trial scheduled for January 21.

Bitcoin's price surged above $102,000 as the U.S. dollar weakened amid reports of a potential limited tariff plan by President-elect Donald Trump's team. The plan could focus on critical imports, impacting Bitcoin's valuation due to its correlation with the dollar.

PENGU token and Pudgy Penguin NFTs are gaining value ahead of the Abstract mainnet launch by Igloo Inc. PENGU's price surge is accompanied by a rise in total holders, indicating reduced sell pressure.

MicroStrategy has purchased over $100 million worth of Bitcoin, bringing their total holdings to 447,470 BTC valued at $45.5 billion. The company has been consistently buying Bitcoin weekly since November 2024, with decreasing amounts recently due to rising Bitcoin prices.

Memecoins gifted to Vitalik Buterin were sold off, causing price fluctuations and rallies in tokens like Estee and Marvin Inu. Buterin often donates proceeds from these sales to charity, using the money for good causes.