Crypto currents | Money, Games, News.

☠️ The Truebit project was reportedly hacked for 8,535 ETH (approximately $26.4 million).

🇪🇺 The EU's DAC8 directive is now in effect, enabling automatic exchange of crypto tax information among member countries.

Bitcoin turns 17! Launched on January 3, 2009, it marks its birth with the mining of the "genesis block," the inaugural set of transactions in the blockchain. The anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, embedded a hidden message in this initial block—a headline from The Times: "Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks." This reference underscored Bitcoin's role as an alternative to traditional finance, where taxpayers bail out banks. The genesis block reward was 50 bitcoins—initially worthless without an exchange rate. Fast forward, Bitcoin now trades at $90,000, ranking among the world's top eight assets, trailing only behind gold, silver, and leading tech stocks.

Any Dota 2 fans here? GiftMeFive got inspired by Dota 2’s item crafting system and added crafting for Telegram gifts Upload your gifts and craft more valuable ones. You can also join the queue for a unique gift for just 25 Stars ⭐️

2025 Asset Performance Highlights: 🔘Metals Silver: +128.4% Gold: +66.5% Copper: +35.4% 🔘Indices S&P500: +19.3% Nasdaq: +19.7% Russell 2000: +12.5% 🔘Cryptocurrencies BTC: -5.7% ETH: -11.5% Altcoins: -42.2% Looks like Peter Schiff's advocacy for gold paid off: in 2025, it proved to be more reliable than every other sector! 🙈

Thank you to those who stayed with us. Now, times are changing and Telegram activities are down, but we believe next year there will be more projects. Now focus is on Telegram gifts.

🇧🇹 Bhutan Launches Gold-backed Token TER on Solana Blockchain This exciting project is a key component of Bhutan's strategy to develop its digital economy and attract investors.

🇰🇷 South Korea plans to introduce regulations requiring crypto exchanges to compensate clients for losses caused by hacks or system failures, even if the platform isn't at fault.

🐣 We've taken flight! Our decentralized confidential compute network, Cocoon, is now live. Users' AI requests are being securely processed with 100% confidentiality. GPU owners are already earning TON. Visit cocoon.org for docs and source code. 🤔 Unlike centralized providers like Amazon and Microsoft, who inflate costs and compromise privacy, Cocoon tackles these issues by eliminating costly intermediaries and enhancing confidentiality. 🚀 Now, it’s time to scale. In the coming weeks, we'll welcome more GPU suppliers and attract developers to join Cocoon. Expect fresh AI features built on 100% confidentiality, restoring control and privacy to users where they belong. 🤖

📈Gift Growth Surge Over the past week, most gifts have increased in both TON and USD—indicating the market's gradual recovery. Top 10 Gifts by Growth This Week: 🗓Desk Calendar — +32.87% 🎁Snow Globe — +32.87%🎁Faith Amulet — +28.09%🐸Kissed Frog — +26.62%🎁Santa Hat — +24.71% 🎁Winter Wreath — +23.4%🎁Snow Mittens — +23.17%🎁Candy Cane — +21.21%🎁Cookie Heart — +20.21%🎁Jingle Bells Additionally, capitalization has increased by 7.34%—reaching 61,308,866 TON (≈ $97,515,910).

🇫🇮 In Finland, heat from data centers is now being used to warm homes and saunas. Previously, the heated water was simply discarded, but now it's being redirected to the municipal heating system. This reduces heating bills, lessens the strain on power plants, and cuts CO₂ emissions.

🎁Gift Fest — Treat Yourself This Christmas All you have to do is merge gifts inside the app to level them up — and eventually unlock real prizes. 🎁 🎁 A massive $400,000 prize pool will be raffled on December 29, and among the rewards you can find iPhones, AirPods, digital gold, U.S. stock shares, exclusive Telegram gifts, and much more. 🎁 To boost your chances, you can also complete tasks and invite friends. The project’s partners include major players like Catizen, DOGS, and Wallet, so the event is definitely worth paying attention to. If this caught your interest, jump into Gift Fest and start upgrading your gifts as early as possible — with that much money on the line, you’ll want every advantage you can get. 🎁