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<p class="is-style-lead">Crypto hedge funds post exceptional returns, Riot secures massive funding, and North Korean hackers set new crypto theft records in today’s edition of the weekly recap.</p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="hedge-funds-ride-bitcoin-wave">Hedge funds ride Bitcoin wave</h3>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
 <li>Bitcoin (<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/price/bitcoin/">BTC</a>) reached an all-time high of over <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/bitcoin-blasts-past-108000-is-210000-next/">$108,000 on Dec. 17</a>.</li>
 <li>Cryptocurrency-focused hedge funds achieved 46% gains in November, pushing their 2024 returns to 76%, according to <a href="https://crypto.news/these-crypto-hedge-funds-riding-bitcoin-historic-rally/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Hedge Fund Research data</a>. The performance outpaces the broader hedge fund industry’s 10% gain for the year.</li>
 <li>Riot Platform <a href="https://crypto.news/crypto-vc-funding-roundup-riot-raises-594-4-million/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">secured</a> a $594.4 million investment in the third week of December, marking one of the largest capital raises in the Bitcoin ecosystem this year.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="nfts-show-resilience">NFTs show resilience</h3>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
 <li>CryptoSlam data <a href="https://crypto.news/nft-sales-surge-33-percent-pudgy-penguin-goes-494k/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reveals</a> strong NFT market performance despite crypto volatility, with total sales volume reaching $302.2 million.</li>
 <li>An unlucky trader tried to front run the Pudgy Penguins crypto airdrop on <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/pengu-trader-flipped-10k-to-3-on-pudgy-penguins-tokens/">Dec. 17</a>. While the Pudgy Penguins (<a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/price/pudgy-penguins/">PENGU</a>) token surged over $3 billion in market cap just hours after debuting, one investor bought the coin at a ridiculous $14 trillion capitalization.&nbsp;</li>
 <li>Their initial $10,000 investment turned into less than $3 within minutes, according to on-chain data and community observers.</li>
</ul>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="saylor-says">Saylor says…</h2>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
 <li>MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor <a href="https://crypto.news/saylor-bitcoin-national-asset-may-generate-81-trillion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">proposed</a> establishing a strategic Bitcoin (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) reserve, suggesting potential wealth generation of $16-81 trillion for the U.S. Treasury to offset national debt.</li>
 <li>During an appearance on the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsl9ZHeMUto" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Dec. 18 episode</a> of the Open Interest show on Bloomberg Television, Saylor <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/michael-saylor-is-willing-to-advise-trump-on-the-crypto-policy/">voiced</a> his willingness to advise President-elect Donald Trump on crafting a digital assets policy for the U.S.</li>
</ul>
<p>You might also like: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/send-surges-360-dforce-jumps-160-while-btc-hovers-97k/"> SEND surges 360%, dForce jumps 160%, BTC struggles to reclaim $100k </a></p>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="tether-s-ai-ambitions-and-security-breaches">Tether’s AI ambitions and security breaches</h3>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
 <li>Tether, the $140 billion stablecoin issuer, <a href="https://crypto.news/usdt-operator-tether-hints-at-ai-plan-in-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announced</a> plans to venture into artificial intelligence by Q1 2025, as confirmed by CEO Paolo Ardoino on X.</li>
 <li>Vivek Ramaswamy’s X account was <a href="https://crypto.news/vivek-ramaswamys-x-account-hacked-to-promote-fake-crypto-partnership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">compromised</a>, with hackers posting false claims about a partnership between the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency and stablecoin issuer USUAL.</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="network-developments-and-cybersecurity">Network developments and cybersecurity</h3>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
 <li>Pi Network <a href="https://crypto.news/pi-network-developers-issue-a-crucial-mainnet-launch-update/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">reported</a> major progress in KYC verification, with over 18 million pioneers completing the process as the project moves toward mainnet launch.</li>
 <li>North Korean hackers <a href="https://crypto.news/north-korean-hackers-stole-1-6b-crypto-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">stole</a> $1.6 billion in cryptocurrency during 2024, according to Chainalysis. This is a dramatic increase from $660.5 million in 2023.</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="major-protocol-updates">Major protocol updates</h3>
<ul class="wp-block-list">
 <li>Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin has <a href="https://crypto.news/ripples-rlusd-goes-live-on-global-exchanges/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">gone live</a> on major cryptocurrency exchanges following its December 16 announcement.</li>
 <li>The Avalanche (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/avalanche/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">AVAX</a>) Foundation <a href="https://crypto.news/avalanche-launches-new-avalanche9000-upgrade-with-reduced-deployment-cost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">unveiled</a> its Avalanche9000 mainnet upgrade, promising over 90% reduction in deployment costs and C-Chain fees.</li>
</ul>
<p>For the previous <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/bitcoin-etfs-hit-50b-milestone-microstrategy-expands-holdings-avalanche-raises-250m-weekly-recap/">weekly recap, click here</a>.</p>
<p>Read more: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://crypto.news/hype-horizen-imx-top-cryptocurrencies-watch-this-week/"> HYPE, Horizen, IMX: Top cryptocurrencies to watch this week </a></p>

Crypto hedge funds set records, Saylor proposes Bitcoin reserve, Riot Platform raises over $594m | Weekly Recap

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