BIG NEWS -Future of Disruptive Tech is being rebranded. We are changing our name to “Next Wave.” So if you see an email in your income from “Next Wave” please don’t be alarmed "(or hit spam).

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Today’s Menu

• The Rundown's 2025: 2M Readers and AI's Biggest Names

• Crypto's 2025 in Five Charts

Markets

TODAY IN AI

The Rundown's 2025: 2M Readers and AI's Biggest Names

2025 was a monumental year for The Rundown, marked by interviews with some of the biggest names in AI, rapid growth across our community, and the expansion of both our education platform and AI, Tech, and Robotics newsletters.

Our 2025 year in review: Hit our 1 million subscriber milestone for The Rundown AI in February, with the overall community growing to over 2 million readers across publications. Interviews with Sam Altman (OpenAI), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Demis Hassabis (Google), and Dharmesh Shah (HubSpot).

Scaled our AI University live workshops with brands like Canva, Zapier, and Windsurf, and launched dozens of new certificate course tracks. Expanded our coverage across industries with The Rundown Robotics and The Rundown Tech, growing to nearly 800k combined subscribers. Launched new sections including "Community AI workflows" and Monday "Rundown Roundtable."

A look into 2026: Next year, we're putting a big focus on driving more value through community. Expect more free live workshops, deeper integrations with social platforms, and more opportunities to connect and discuss with likeminded AI enthusiasts. We'll also be scaling up more exclusive Q&As with AI leaders and video content.

TODAY IN CRYPTO

Crypto's 2025 in Five Charts

2025 failed to live up to the four-year cycle expectations. Bitcoin hit new all-time highs. But most alts never came close to their prior peaks. And the year ended negative. Here's how crypto changed in 2025, in five charts.

Spot crypto ETFs: slower, but still massive. Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $21.8 billion in net inflows, down from $35.4 billion in 2024. BlackRock's IBIT dominated with $24.9 billion alone. Ethereum ETFs generated $9.8 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2024. September brought the SEC approving accelerated listing standards. Spot ETFs for Solana, Litecoin, XRP, Dogecoin, HBAR, and Chainlink followed.

Stablecoins hit $300 billion. Tether maintained dominance with $187 billion (64% market share). Circle's USDC holds $76 billion (26%).

Prediction markets went mainstream. Kalshi hit $6.3 billion in December trading volume versus Polymarket's $2.2 billion, flipping dominance after winning court approval for political contracts.

Perp DEX resurgence. Hyperliquid reignited onchain derivatives, pushing the sector to record volumes. Perpetual protocol monthly volume topped $1 trillion for the first time in October.

DAT boom and bust. Strategy topped 672,000 BTC, over 3% of total supply. But the DAT craze fizzled fast. Strategy's stock fell 66% from its peak. BitMine dropped 79.5%. Total DAT market caps plunged 46% from $176 billion to $94 billion.

The takeaway: 2025 brought institutional infrastructure and regulatory clarity. But unfortunately not the alt season four-year cycle bulls expected.

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Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Damon James