Luca Netz 🐧✳️ KursPENGU

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only. We’re back for season 2 of the сrypto.news Best Crypto Projects! Our annual awards recognize and reward outstanding projects, both new and established, in the crypto and web3 space.The Crypto.news choice winners were selected by our editors and subject-matter experts after multiple rounds of evaluation and review. Best New Memecoin Project Memecoins are like mushrooms after rain, there’s a new one cropping up every few minutes. But some are undoubtedly better than others. Here are our top picks for Best New Memecoin Projects of 2025, the frontrunners in today’s crypto ecosystem, taking the market by storm and rallying communities by the thousands. PENGU Official Trump Memecore Fartcoin Pippin Winner: This year’s Crypto.news Best New Memecoin Project goes to PENGU for bringing the charm of their Penguin NFTs to the real world with plushies and viral TikTok marketing, and then achieving phenomenal success with the PENGU memecoins. Go Penguins! Best Layer-1 Blockchain Network Our Best Layer-1 Blockchain award aims to bring attention to innovative Layer-1 protocols building the foundations of a more scalable and efficient blockchain ecosystem. Here are some of the leading blockchains demonstrating strong technology, growing adoption, and clear long-term potential. Apertum BNB Chain Polkadot Sui Moonbeam Winner: All the names on our nominees list are impressive in their own right; however, none stand out quite like Apertum. Apertum supports ultra-fast transactions with 0.15–1.50 seconds time-to-finality and processes over 4,500 TPS, outperforming Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, and others. Its deflationary token model burns up to 50% of transaction fees, supporting token scarcity, holder incentives, and long-term sustainable growth. The network is fully EVM-compatible, allowing developers to deploy smart contracts seamlessly without additional coding, while maintaining high scalability. Apertum emphasizes community-driven innovation, secure high-yield infrastructure, and rapid on-chain expansion. With no VC or institutional backing, the project focuses entirely on organic growth. Best DeFi Platform DeFi has changed how the world sees crypto, showcasing the many capabilities of blockchain to the global financial system. Even long-time crypto skeptics like the JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have caved, saying, “I don’t care about Bitcoin but DeFi is real.” Here are our top picks for the best DeFi platforms that stand out for their security, intuitive design, and innovative approach. Uniswap Aave MakerDAO CurveFinance Lido Finance Winner: After several rounds of evaluation, we decided to pick Curve Finance as our Best DeFi Platform of the Year for its advancements. The platform reached several notable milestones this year, including the founder putting forward a proposal for a 17.45 million CRV token grant, alongside the protocol exploring expansion efforts and potential AI-driven enhancements. Best Crypto Exchange Choosing a crypto exchange is harder than ever, with a multitude of options available today. We make it easier with our nominees. Here are the top exchanges leading the market in security and asset protection, availability and accessibility, fees and trading costs, supported cryptocurrencies, trading products, and standout features and tools. BYDFi Binance Bybit KuCoin ChangeNow Winner: This was a close contest, but we’ve chosen Bybit as our Exchange of the Year for its strong emphasis on regulatory compliance, continued expansion of institutional services through real-world asset (RWA) integration, and its efforts to deepen web3 functionality for a rapidly growing user base. Best Project with Utility Tokens Gone are the days when projects could rely on a cute mascot alone. Today’s crypto community demands real utility, even from memecoins. These are our nominees for the best projects with utility tokens that add real value and give users access to meaningful services in the ecosystem. Remittix Chainlink Aptos Polygon Winner: While all the projects on this list are notable in their own right, Chainlink stands out as our Best Project with Utility Tokens this year. In 2025, Chainlink won the SWIFT Hackathon Business Challenge, and its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) was selected by Coinbase as the exclusive bridging solution for all of its wrapped assets: just a few of Chainlink’s many accomplishments this year. Best Leader in Web3 A leader is someone who marches ahead despite adversities and inspires others to follow, and in crypto this means building trust, driving innovation, and navigating uncertainty with conviction. Here are our top picks for the best leaders in the crypto and web3 space, recognized not for their net worth (or how many times they’ve been to space), but for their leadership spirit, their vision, and their impact on the industry. Changpeng Zhao Balaji Srinivasan Brian Armstrong Anatoly Yakovenko Aya Miyaguchi Lily Liu Winner: While our editors debated at length over who our Web3 Leader of 2025 should be, we ultimately chose Changpeng Zhao as our Best Web3 Leader for demonstrating an indomitable spirit in the face of adversity. Best AI Crypto Project AI is everywhere, from customer support to content creation. And in crypto, AI plays an even bigger role by merging automation with decentralized systems. Here are our nominees for the most interesting, innovative, and exciting AI crypto projects today. Fetch.ai Bittensor Render SingularityNET Ocean Protocol Winner: Our editors have picked Bittensor as the Best AI Crypto Project of 2025. The network managed to implement a major protocol change, among other milestones this year. Disclosure: This content is provided by a third party. Neither crypto.news nor the author of this article endorses any product mentioned on this page. Users should conduct their own research before taking any action related to the company.

PENGU fell 20% after SEC-linked news triggered heavy selling and weakened market confidence. Price trades near key support as December liquidity remains thin across memecoin markets. Bulls need a breakout above $0.013 to signal any meaningful recovery. Pudgy Penguins — PENGU, suffered another rough week as price action rattled remaining holders. A sharp 20% decline erased recent gains and dragged sentiment lower across the Pudgy Penguins community. The selloff followed fresh regulatory headlines tied to early venture backers, which quickly spooked traders. Buyers attempted a bounce, but momentum faded fast, leaving many questioning whether December offers recovery or further downside. Gao said in a 2023 interview with CoinTelegraph that his firm was "work[ing] daily to maintain SEC compliance."In 2024, Fortune reported that "Gao funneled investments into a secret offshore entity he wholly owned without disclosing the arrangement to investors." pic.twitter.com/5gc9EC1EWE— Kate Irwin (@kateirwin) December 16, 2025 SEC Headlines Add Pressure as Market Confidence Slips PENGU’s price now trades nearly 69% below the all time high near $0.04. Selling pressure intensified after reports linked the SEC to venture capital exposure connected to Pudgy Penguins. Crypto journalist Kate Irwin revealed that the SEC recently sued Shima Capital and founder Yida Gao. The lawsuit alleges investor deception through undisclosed financial arrangements. Court documents referenced internal emails where Gao discussed stepping down and winding down the fund. Previous public interviews painted a different picture, with Gao claiming daily efforts toward SEC compliance. Later reporting from Fortune alleged funds moved through an offshore entity without disclosure. Shima Capital manages roughly $200 million and backed several notable crypto projects, including Pudgy Penguins. Following the news, Pengu dropped 20% to levels below $0.0097 before staging a modest bounce. That rebound lacked conviction, and volume remained thin. Market participants continue assessing how legal uncertainty may impact long term sentiment. Large holders appear cautious, showing patience rather than aggressive accumulation during current conditions. Technical structure also reflects growing fragility. Pengu declined roughly 66% during the past two and a half months. Price now sits near a key support level around $0.0093. A clean breakdown below that zone could open the door for further losses. Traders remain focused on whether buyers can defend this critical area. Can December Deliver Relief or More Pain for PENGU? Liquidity conditions offer little relief. Retail participation across memecoin markets remains muted. Holiday periods historically drain speculative capital, and December often ranks among the weakest months for memecoin performance. Lower engagement limits the probability of sustained upside moves without external catalysts. A December recovery faces significant challenges under present market dynamics. Memecoin interest sits near five year lows across major tracking platforms. Reduced attention weakens momentum and shortens rally lifespans. Without renewed enthusiasm, upside attempts often stall quickly. For bullish momentum to return, Pengu must reclaim the $0.013 level with strong volume support. Whale accumulation rumors continue circulating across social channels. Confirmed on chain accumulation would shift sentiment rapidly. Until evidence appears, risk remains elevated for short term positions. December may test discipline more than optimism for Pengu holders.Would you like this adapted for SEO optimization, a stronger bullish angle, or a more neutral analyst tone? Tags: Altcoin Crypto market cryptocurrency Pudgy Penguins (PENGU)

Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENE Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written byTyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minuteon Substack. GM! Today’s top news: Crypto majors mixed with BTC leading at $87,400 Coinbase rolled out several new products including prediction markets, stocks, equity perps, DEX and more DTCC to issue tokenized securites on Canton Network Citadel and other banks plan to spend $100M to counter crypto spend in 2026 elections Uniswap submits final proposal to turn fee switch on, burn 100M UNI 🎯 Robinhood Pushes Deeper Into Prediction Markets Robinhood isn’t treating prediction markets like an experiment anymore. They’re leaning all the way in. 📌 What Happened Robinhoodannouncedan expansion of its prediction markets offering, adding new NFL player-performance contracts alongside traditional game outcomes. Users can now trade on events like touchdowns and yardage totals, beyond just winners and spreads. The company also introduced “preset combo” contracts, which bundle multiple outcomes from a single game into one trade that only pays out if all conditions are met - effectively a parlay-style product. Robinhood said custom-built combos, where users create their own bundled outcomes, are planned for rollout in 2026. The firm also framed prediction markets as a standalone product line, pointing to a growing hub with thousands of live contracts across sports, politics, economics, and cultural events. And they noted that it’s their fastest-growing revenue line. 🗣️ What They’re Saying “Robinhood is ushering in a new era in which AI and prediction markets will come together to change the future of finance and news.” “I believe we’re at the very beginning of a prediction market supercycle and as it progresses, we should expect to see adoption and volumes continuing to grow, potentially into the trillions of contracts traded each year.”- Vlad Tenev, Robinhood CEO “Robinhood and Coinbase going hard on Prediction Markets and every major company looking to adopt one or build a strategy around them.” - Farokh Sarmad, President and Co-Founder of Myriad “Some people have already started to realize that using prediction markets can be cheaper than conventional fire, flood, and hurricane insurance.” - Vlad, Robinhood pic.twitter.com/mSSDvJqUVs — coughdrop (@CoughdropPeter) December 17, 2025 🧠 Why It Matters Prediction markets are clearly booming. What’s missing is deep liquidity, distribution, and scale. Power players like Robinhood leaning in can help solve those issues. A lot of innovative use cases of prediction markets (i.e. insurance, hedging against bad weather, etc.) are great in theory but not operationally possible right now due to limited market size. Once these markets are more mature, with more players and deeper liquidity, these kinds of use cases can be unlocked. So everyone who is pro-prediction market should be cheering this on. Robinhood shareholders should be cheering this on as well, as the stock popped 3% on the news of their prediction market direction (on a red day) and has jumped 20% since their original announcement. Robinhood is clearly betting on a prediction market supercycle—let’s see if they can help manifest it into reality… amp;amp;lt;span data-mce-type="bookmark" style="width:0px;overflow:hidden;line-height:0" class="mce_SELRES_start"amp;amp;gt;amp;amp;lt;/spanamp;amp;gt; 🌎 Macro Crypto and Memes A few Crypto and Web3 headlines that caught my eye: Crypto majorswere mixed;BTC+0.3% at $87,400; ETH -2% at $2,870; BNB -2% at $838, SOL -3% at $124 BEAT (+26%), Pippin (+9%) and CC (+4%)led top movers Coinbaseannouncedseveral new products last night, including prediction markets, stock trading, equity perps, AI advisors, borrowing, full DEX integration and more Senatorsproposedthe SAFE Crypto Act, creating a federal task force to coordinate agencies on crypto scam enforcement and investor protection The DTCCsaid it will issue tokenized securitieson Canton Network, starting with tokenized U.S. Treasuries Ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellisonleft federal prisonafter 11 months, moving to another government facility or home confinement to serve the rest of her 2-year sentence The acting CFTC Chair Caroline Phamleft to join MoonPayas its chief legal and administrative office Citadel and other big banksare planning to spend $100Min the 2026 midterms, potentially opposing pro-crypto spending Circleannouncedits Arc Builders Fund, meant to support early-stage teams building apps and services on Arc In Corporate Treasuries / ETFs The Bitcoin ETFssaw $457M in net inflowson Wednesday, the most in over a month Hut 8sharesjumpedafter the miner announced a $7B AI/data-center deal involving Google financing In Memes / Onchain Movers Memecoin leadersare mostly red;DOGE -2%, Shiba -5%, PEPE -4%, PENGU -6%, BONK -5%, TRUMP -2%, SPX -8%, and FARTCOIN -22% dydxannounced a partnershipwith Bonk to launch Bonk DEX 67(+86%), ALCH (+20%) and ACT (+25%) led top movers 💰 Token, Airdrop Protocol Tracker Here’s a rundown of major token, protocol and airdrop news from the day: The Rainbow Walletteamshared new detailson its class F token structure, solving the issue of tokens not equating to equity (ICO ends today) Football dot Funreachedtheir ICO soft cap of $3M yesterday ahead of today’s ICO closing Gondiintroduced new trade combinationsacross token types Uniswapsubmitted its proposalfor governance vote to burn 100M UNI and turn on fee switch Hyperlendannounced its airdrop terms and conditionsahead of its airdrop, with eligible participants on a 30-day clock to accept to qualify Solsticeannouncedits ICO coming on Legion on Dec 22 🚚 What is happening in NFTs? Here is the list of other notable headlines from the day in NFTs: NFT leaderswere mixed; Punks even at 27 ETH, Pudgy -1% at 4.62, BAYC -1% at 4.94 ETH; Hypurr’s +3% at 456 HYPE Rovers(+60%) were a notable mover

CoinPoker今日宣佈CoinMasters系列賽迎來重大里程碑，玩家Symmetry成為歷史上首位在該系列賽中收集到5枚獨特硬幣的選手。這項CoinPoker錦標賽系列總獎池高達$250,000美元，並提供價值$100,000美元的職業撲克合約作為頭獎，目前賽事已進入白熱化階段。 本文包含最新的CoinMasters排行榜積分狀況，並說明當玩家集齊所有7枚CoinMasters硬幣後將會發生的後續賽程。 什麼是CoinMasters？ CoinMasters是CoinPoker獨有的錦標賽系列，總獎金達$250,000美元，其中包括一份價值$100,000美元的獨家撲克職業生涯合約作為冠軍獎勵。該賽事由頂級職業牌手Patrick Leonard、Mario Mosböck和Bencb共同設計。 談及CoinMasters，Ben表示，「這是一個非常酷的想法，我很高興CoinPoker聽取了我們的反饋。起初獎勵更多是關於金錢，直到Patrick Leonard和我提出了一個想法，給予贏家一份撲克職業合約。這不正是每個人夢寐以求的嗎？」 玩家透過參加每日和每週的多桌錦標賽(MTT)，來競爭收集7枚實體及以加密貨幣為主題的硬幣。每一枚硬幣既是獎盃，也是賽季排行榜上的進度標記。 當玩家集齊所有7枚硬幣時會發生什麼？ 一旦有玩家集齊所有7枚獨特的CoinMasters硬幣，CoinMasters冠軍決賽桌的倒數計時即刻啟動。這場特殊的競賽將在以下兩種情況之一發生時結束，首5名玩家贏得所有7枚硬幣，或者2個月時間屆滿，以先達者為準。 此倒數計時將決定誰有資格進入著名的CoinMasters Championship冠軍決賽桌，屆時勝出者將獲得價值$100,000美元的撲克職業合約。 Symmetry破紀錄的勝利 Symmetry最近在$11 DOGE CoinMasters亞洲賽事中獲勝，贏得$729美元獎金，並奠定了他在撲克歷史上的地位，成為首位集齊5枚獨特硬幣的玩家。 這意味他距離觸發CoinMasters冠軍決賽桌的倒數計時僅差2枚硬幣。 這一結果亦加速了其他參賽者的競爭節奏，因為目前緊隨其後的還有5名已擁有4枚獨特硬幣的玩家。 CoinMasters如何運作 CoinMasters建立在一個簡單但具策略性的結構之上，玩家通過贏得CoinPoker錦標賽來賺取硬幣。這些賽事分為7個不同的類別，每個類別都與特定的買入等級和加密貨幣掛鉤。 與其獎勵單純的參賽數量，CoinMasters更強調關鍵時刻的表現，一場勝利便足以改變整個CoinMasters排行榜的局勢。 CoinMasters的核心原則： 贏得一場符合資格的賽事→獲得其關聯的硬幣。 集齊所有7枚獨特硬幣→進入冠軍決賽桌倒數計時。 當5名玩家集齊7枚硬幣或2個月期限到達時，倒數結束。 5名集齊7枚硬幣的玩家將直接進入CoinMasters冠軍決賽桌。 1名至少擁有1枚硬幣的玩家將被隨機選中加入冠軍決賽桌。 1名至少擁有1枚硬幣並贏得「優勝者圈」MTT玩家加入冠軍決賽桌。 決賽桌席位鎖定後，玩家將爭奪價值$100,000美元的夢幻撲克職業合約。 值得關注的CoinMasters賽果本週戰況 CoinMasters在各個買入等級競爭依然激烈，多位玩家在其紀錄中增添重要的硬幣： Stady贏得旗艦級$150BITCOIN賽事，獲$20,059美元獎金，拿下其首枚硬幣。 Hudders贏得$100PENGU賽事，獲獎$3,164美元，增添第二枚獨特硬幣。 Infection贏得$122BITCOIN-Asia賽事獲獎$9,009美元及首枚金幣，隨後又贏得 $100PEPE賽事獲獎$3,532美元，一週內連奪2幣。 KingRecaredo拿下$25FLOKI賽事獲獎$1,410美元，贏得其第3枚獨特硬幣。 JoaoSantos奪得$88SHIBA-Asia賽事獲獎$2,044美元，鎖定第2枚硬幣。 隨著Symmetry領先群雄，剩餘硬幣的爭奪戰變得越發激烈，玩家們正為CoinMasters Championship冠軍決賽桌的席位展開激烈競逐。 最新CoinMasters排行榜 目前CoinMasters排行榜前6名如下： Symmetry(5枚獨特硬幣) ggggUnit(4枚獨特硬幣) PesPereaP(4枚獨特硬幣) Gangz93(4枚獨特硬幣) GamblersFallacy(4枚獨特硬幣) Zuza(4枚獨特硬幣) 另有12名玩家擁有3枚獨特硬幣，63名玩家擁有2枚獨特硬幣，數百名玩家則已取得至少1枚硬幣。 關於CoinPoker CoinPoker是領先的區塊鏈線上撲克網站，由玩家設計，專為玩家服務。平台以高安全性、公平遊戲以及極速的加密貨幣存取款體驗聞名。除CoinMasters外，CoinPoker亦舉辦CSOP及現金桌世界錦標賽(Cash Game World Championship)等大型系列賽事，頂級宣傳大使包括Bencb、Nik Airball、Mario Mosböck與Patrick Leonard。 針對撲克玩家的CoinPoker 優惠推廣 Fast and Furious，直播桌上的巨額Seven Deuce遊戲賞金。 CoinPoker 周邊商品抽獎活動，完成挑戰即可贏取獨家CoinPoker周邊商品。 $5,000 每月手機端免費賽，新玩家註冊並遊玩即可參加$5,000美元免費賽。 電子報訂閱者專屬免費賽，查看每週CoinPoker電子報以獲取密碼。