Today is December 30th, and there are a few market developments worth noting.

First, on the macro front: The Federal Reserve will release the minutes of its monetary policy meeting tomorrow at 3 a.m. An interesting data point—U.S. Treasury volatility may record its largest annual decline since 2009 this year. What does this indicate? It suggests that market expectations for policy are becoming more certain. However, a recent observation is that although political cycles seem to be driving the market, the performance of cryptocurrencies hasn't quite followed suit—the year's gains have essentially been wiped out.

Recently, there have been quite a few movements in precious metals. Gold and silver experienced extreme volatility, especially silver—after breaking through the $80 level, it couldn't hold steady, with intraday drops exceeding $7, setting a record for the largest single-day decline. Gold also took a hit—due to profit-taking by institutions, it fell about 4% in one go. Why such sharp moves? Simply put, liquidity has dried up. Exchanges have raised margin requirements and price limit ranges, forcing market makers to contract, and hedge funds at high positions are hesitant to take on new positions. As a result, any negative news is amplified to the extreme.

Turning to cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin's story is even more worth pondering—after reaching a historic high in early October, it experienced an unprecedented sell-off. Especially after some trade frictions escalated, triggering a $19 billion forced liquidation wave. BTC briefly fell below $81,000, then gradually formed a bottom amid volatility, and now the price hovers around $90,000.

In the short term, the market does seem somewhat cold, with some analysts suggesting we might be entering a new winter. But looking at the longer cycle, this actually aligns with the typical four-year cycle retracement pattern of crypto assets. How do institutions view this? Their attitude remains relatively optimistic; institutional funds continue to flow in despite the volatility. The key point is that cryptocurrencies are steadily moving from the fringe "gray area" into the mainstream financial system, and this big trend remains unchanged.