Risk assets react to Powell comments, IRS tax rule, and first billion-dollar crypto AI agent

Crypto prices showed mixed performance during the last week of December. The Nasdaq Crypto Index™ (NCI™) dropped by 1.1%, mainly due to Bitcoin’s decline of 1.8%, while Ethereum rose by 2.1% and Solana saw a gain of 6.2%. Such mixed performance extends the frustration around Powell’s hawkish suggestion that the current cycle of rate cuts in the US might not be as strong as previously anticipated by the market. In addition, last week’s mixed price action can also be interpreted as the continuation of a natural correction after a long streak of positive weeks.

IRS finalizes “DeFi brokers” tax rules

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has finalized an updated regulation that obliges “DeFi Brokers” to collect information about their users’ trades, much like what traditional brokers are required to comply with. Although this proposal isn’t exactly bullish for crypto (actually we believe that it can be detrimental to its adoption), we believe that regulation maturity in the US is a very likely protagonist for 2025 (as we outlined in our 2025 Crypto Investment Outlook), and this piece of news reiterates interest by government institutions to regulate crypto, further aiding its link to the traditional financial world.

AI agent reaches $1.5 billion market cap

On December 29, the AI agent “ai16z” broke a major milestone becoming the first Solana token extension to reach a $1.0 billion market cap, despite not being listed in any major exchanges. The integration of AI and blockchain is a key trend to watch this cycle, as also highlighted in our 2025 Crypto Investment Outlook. This case is likely one of many showcasing the convergence of these disruptive technologies.