Hut 8, a listed Bitcoin mining company, signed a $7 billion data center transaction supported by Google, driving its stock price to soar in early Wednesday trading. （Decrypt）

[Under Pressure from Trump, Venezuela's Inflation Soars to 556%] As U.S. President Trump intensifies financial isolation against Venezuela, the country's inflation rate has surged dramatically. A weekly index compiled by Bloomberg shows that Venezuela's inflation rate soared to 556% in the 12 months ending December 17, far exceeding the 219% recorded at the end of June and the annual rate of 45% for 2024. Since its launch in 2016, the index has repeatedly recorded annualized readings exceeding 100,000%. Currently, approximately 90% of private sector employees are paid in U.S. dollars.

[New Wallet Buys 113,000 HYPE, Will Continue Accumulating Approximately $2 Million HYPE] On December 18, a newly created wallet address minted $12.1 million USDC on Arbitrum, then deposited $5.1 million into Hyperliquid and purchased 113,000 HYPE (approximately $3 million) and 0.5 BTC (approximately $43,000). The wallet is using a TWAP strategy to continue buying approximately $2 million HYPE over the next 50 minutes, with around $7 million USDC still remaining on the Arbitrum network.

[A Certain Whale Partially Liquidated, Associated Address Holds Nearly $300 Million in Long Positions] Monitoring data shows that a certain whale address was recently partially liquidated. The liquidated assets include 431,000 HYPE (approximately $11.1 million) and 1,960 ETH (approximately $5.6 million). Currently, the wallet still holds 1.726 million HYPE (approximately $44.6 million) and 7,841 ETH (approximately $22.3 million). This whale also holds approximately $230 million in nominal value of XRP and ETH long positions in another account.

[DHF Capital CEO: Gold Prices May Test New Highs if Inflation Eases] DHF Capital CEO Bas Kooijman stated that despite mixed U.S. employment data, the market still expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice in the first half of 2026. Investors are focusing on the November CPI data to be released on Thursday, as signs of easing inflation may lower yields and weaken the U.S. dollar, potentially driving gold prices to test new highs. Additionally, U.S. President Trump announced the blockade of sanctioned Venezuelan oil tankers, with heightened geopolitical tensions fueling safe-haven demand.