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According to Deep Tide TechFlow, on December 20, foreign media reported that TAE, a nuclear fusion startup that Trump Media & Technology Group intends to merge with, has been repeatedly accused of failing to pay suppliers and vendors. In the past 16 months, at least nine suppliers have filed lawsuits alleging unpaid invoices for specialized components, recruitment fees, and rent. TAE Technologies stated that the company is conducting a comprehensive review of overdue supplier bills and will handle verified debts in an orderly and responsible manner according to financial controls and long-term operational plans. (Golden Ten Data)

PANews reported on December 20 that the foundation behind the EigenLayer restaking protocol has proposed a governance change aimed at introducing a new incentive mechanism for its EIGEN token and adjusting the protocol’s reward strategy to prioritize efficient network activity and fee generation. According to the plan, a newly established Incentives Committee will be responsible for managing token issuance, prioritizing rewards for participants who ensure AVS security and expand the EigenCloud ecosystem. The proposal includes a fee model that returns AVS rewards and EigenCloud service revenue to EIGEN holders, which could create deflationary pressure as the ecosystem develops.

Jinse Finance reported that CryptoQuant stated in an article that the demand growth for bitcoin has significantly slowed, indicating that a bear market is imminent. Since 2023, bitcoin has experienced three major spot demand waves—driven respectively by the launch of US spot ETFs, the results of the US presidential election, and the bitcoin treasury company bubble—but demand growth has fallen below trend levels. This suggests that most of the new demand in this cycle has already been realized, and the key pillar supporting prices has also disappeared. Institutional and large holder demand is currently contracting rather than expanding: US spot bitcoin ETFs turned into net sellers in Q4 2025, with holdings decreasing by 24,000 bitcoins, in sharp contrast to the strong accumulation in Q4 2024. Similarly, the growth of addresses holding 100 to 1,000 bitcoins (representing ETFs and treasury companies) is also below trend, echoing the deteriorating demand trend seen at the end of 2021 before the 2022 bear market arrived. The derivatives market confirms the weakening risk appetite: the funding rate for perpetual futures (365-day moving average) has dropped to its lowest level since December 2023. Historically, its decline reflects a reduced willingness to maintain long positions, a pattern that usually appears in bear markets rather than bull markets. Price structure has worsened as demand weakens: bitcoin has fallen below its 365-day moving average, a key long-term technical support level that has historically served as the dividing line between bull and bear markets. The demand cycle, rather than halving, drives bitcoin’s four-year cycle: the current decline further indicates that bitcoin’s cyclical behavior is mainly governed by the expansion and contraction of demand growth, rather than the halving event itself or past price performance. When demand growth peaks and begins to fall back, a bear market often follows regardless of supply-side dynamics. Downside reference points suggest a relatively small bear market magnitude: historically, bitcoin bear market bottoms have been roughly in line with the realized price, currently close to $56,000, which means the pullback from recent historical highs could reach 55%—the smallest pullback ever. The medium-term support level is expected to be around $70,000.