🟪 Setting the tempo

It’s all about the memes as we enter 2025.

I mean, what other conclusions can one draw when fartcoin is up some 18% in the past day, per CoinGecko. 

(Disclaimer: I’m writing this Friday, so who knows how fartcoin will be doing as of Sunday — and that’s the point.)

One imagines that memecoins, at least for the time being, will continue to drive the overall crypto market narrative. 

Sure, maybe Trump and/or his administration will throw some energy into the mix from time to time. But the gears of politics are by nature slow and deliberate, whereas memecoins are ephemeral, lightning-quick — perfectly suited for the never-gonna-sleep mentality of the degens. 

Perhaps others will emerge. As linked below, growth signs are unmistakable in the realm of decentralized infrastructure. Real-world asset porting, too, is drawing strength. And let’s not forget about the wave of ETFs likely to pile into the market in the coming months, should a more permissive regulatory environment take hold.

But the memecoins may well still set the tempo, for better or for worse, as 2025 plays out. Here’s hoping the memes get funnier, at least.

And now, on to the roundup:

— Michael McSweeney

1. Franklin Templeton eyes more ETFs, tokenized fund in 2025

2. This Solana swap app is trying to make sandwich attacks more costly

3. Crypto is welcoming its new AI overlords

4. Making sense of the AI agent meta

5. Could ‘January effect’ lift markets?