Latest Crypto News | Bitcoin, Ethereum and Altcoin Updates

Quantum computing advances in 2026 — including milestones like Microsoft’s Majorana 1 — have accelerated research and investment but do not pose an imminent threat to Bitcoin or major blockchains. Cryptography experts say practical quantum attacks that can run Shor’s algorithm at scale against ECDSA remain years to a decade or more away because they require millions of low-error qubits, long coherence times and material and fabrication breakthroughs. The primary near-term risk is archival: adversaries are already collecting on-chain public keys and encrypted data today to decrypt later once quantum capability matures (“store now, decrypt later”). Analysts estimate roughly 25–30% of BTC (about 4 million BTC) is held in addresses exposing public keys, increasing potential vulnerability. ECDSA digital signatures are the weakest link; SHA-256 hashing is comparatively more resilient to quantum attacks. Recommended actions for traders and holders: avoid address reuse, keep public keys hidden until spending, and prepare to migrate to post-quantum wallets and signature schemes when viable. Industry responses include proposals for quantum-resistant signatures, vendor products offering quantum-grade randomness and post-quantum encryption for hot wallets (e.g., Qastle), and regulatory attention from bodies like the US SEC. Market impact is limited in the short term — the narrative is shifting from ‘if’ to ‘when,’ making wallet hygiene and strategic planning for post-quantum migration important for long-term risk management.

A Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime report concludes the Central African Republic’s (CAR) rapid crypto initiatives — including making Bitcoin legal tender in 2022 (later rolled back), the Sango hub and Sango Coin, and a government‑linked memecoin ($CAR) tied to speculative land tokenisation — are unrealistic, opaque and vulnerable to criminal exploitation. The projects were launched despite severe infrastructure limits (low electricity and internet access) that prevent broad citizen participation. Sales and market performance have been weak (Sango sales far below targets; CAR memecoin collapsed from a reported peak to deep losses). The IMF and regional central bank raised legal, transparency and macroeconomic concerns; local courts struck down some measures. The report flags concentration of gains among foreign investors and a domestic elite linked to President Faustin‑Archange Touadéra, and names intermediaries allegedly connected to cross‑border crypto fraud. It warns the 2023 tokenisation law for natural resources (oil, gold, timber, land) and poorly regulated platforms could create channels for money‑laundering, foreign influence and transnational organised crime while delivering scant benefits to ordinary citizens. For traders: the revelations and regulatory pushback increase counterparty, legal and reputational risks for CAR‑linked tokens and any listings tied to the country’s projects, heightening volatility and reducing project credibility.

Husky Inu AI (HINU) logged a modest pre‑launch uptick, moving from about $0.00024028 to $0.000243 during ongoing fundraising that began April 1, 2025. The project has raised roughly $907.9k and has cleared several fundraising milestones ($750k, $800k, $850k, $900k) after a period of sluggish momentum. The team continues to use pre‑launch mechanics to fund development and will review the official launch timing in scheduled governance meetings (past reviews: 2025‑07‑01, 2025‑10‑01; next: 2026‑01‑01). Broader crypto markets posted a Boxing Day recovery after a small Christmas dip: BTC and ETH rebounded (BTC near $89k, ETH around $2.9k), though sentiment remains cautious. For traders: HINU’s price move signals renewed investor interest but the token still faces low liquidity and execution risk common to pre‑launch assets. Monitor fundraising velocity, order‑book depth, official launch announcements, and BTC/ETH momentum before initiating positions. Key SEO keywords: Husky Inu AI, HINU pre‑launch, fundraising, pre‑launch token, Boxing Day crypto recovery.

Caroline Ellison, former co-CEO of Alameda Research and a key cooperating witness in the FTX prosecutions, will be released from federal custody and transition to community supervision on January 21, 2026. Ellison pleaded guilty in the FTX-related case, agreed to forfeit roughly $11 billion, and provided substantial cooperation that helped secure convictions, including that of Sam Bankman‑Fried. She served less than half of an initially imposed two‑year custodial sentence after transfer to community confinement and Residential Reentry Management supervision. In December 2025 she accepted a 10‑year ban on serving as an officer or director of public companies or crypto exchanges and will remain subject to post‑release supervision and regulatory restrictions. For crypto traders: this is primarily a legal and personnel development tied to the FTX collapse rather than a direct market event. It reinforces ongoing regulatory and prosecutorial scrutiny of centralized exchanges, compliance practices and executive accountability — factors that can sustain elevated regulatory risk premia in crypto markets but are unlikely to trigger an immediate price move in specific tokens.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow has held talks with US representatives about joint management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and that the US expressed interest in conducting cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) mining near the facility. Putin also suggested Russia might consider territorial exchanges in negotiations with Ukraine, but only if Donbas becomes part of Russia; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied agreeing to cede Donbas or Zaporizhzhia. Earlier reporting noted Russia’s sizable role in global Bitcoin mining (over 16% hashrate in summer, per industry estimates) and recent Russian rules formalising mining for registered companies and limiting individual miners to 6,000 kWh. Key market-relevant points for traders: discussions link a major power source (nuclear electricity) to potential large-scale Bitcoin mining demand; geopolitical claims increase regulatory and operational uncertainty for mining in the region; Russia’s prior policy moves and hashrate share highlight its material role in global mining supply. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, Zaporizhzhia, Putin, crypto mining. Secondary keywords: nuclear plant electricity, hashrate, ruble, mining regulation.

Trust Wallet confirmed a security incident affecting its browser extension version 2.68 that led to approximately $6.77 million in user funds being stolen. The attack exploited malicious code in an extension update; on-chain tracking shows the attacker moved about $4.25 million to centralized platforms including KuCoin, HTX, ChangeNOW and FixedFloat. Mobile wallet users and other extension versions were not affected; Trust Wallet urged web-extension users to upgrade immediately to version 2.69. Binance co‑founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who holds a majority stake in Trust Wallet, said the company will cover the losses. Community members raised concerns the injected code was trivially detectable and have alleged a possible insider role in the compromised update. The incident briefly pressured the Trust Wallet Token (TWT) price (from $0.82 to $0.76) before it recovered to around $0.82. Key takeaways for traders: the hack targets browser-extension users (not mobile), affected assets include BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC and BNB, immediate risk to web-extension holders remains until they upgrade, and the issuer’s promise to reimburse could mitigate longer-term reputational damage but does not eliminate governance and security concerns.

Onchain analytics provider OnchainLenz reported that a wallet labelled to QCP Capital moved 400 BTC (≈ $35.7M) and 200 ETH (≈ $597K) — roughly $36.3 million — into Binance. Large deposits to a major centralized exchange often increase sell-side liquidity and can presage short-term selling pressure, though such flows can also reflect custodial transfers, collateral posting, OTC settlement or portfolio rebalancing. Traders should treat this as a data point: monitor follow-up on-chain activity (withdrawals back to cold storage or onward transfers), Binance order-book and funding-rate changes, and broader macro and technical signals before taking positions. The transfer underscores institutional activity and tests market depth for BTC and ETH; if Binance absorbs the inflow without major slippage, it indicates demand resilience, whereas aggressive execution into the order book could produce short-term downside.

A large holder (whale) transferred 3 million TRUMP tokens to Binance after accumulating the position for about 50 days, according to on-chain data reported by COINOTAG citing Onchain Lens. At the time of transfer the position was worth roughly $14.88 million, representing a realized loss of about $7.8 million versus the original cost basis of $22.68 million. Traders should watch for subsequent TRUMP inflows to exchanges and increased selling pressure that could depress price—large exchange deposits from whales often signal intention to liquidate or increase liquidity risk. The event highlights volatility in small-cap altcoins and the value of on-chain analytics for assessing market risk. Key metrics: 3,000,000 TRUMP tokens moved; transfer value ≈ $14.88M; cost basis ≈ $22.68M; realized impairment ≈ $7.8M; accumulation period ≈ 50 days.

A major crypto derivatives expiry is unfolding: roughly 300,000 BTC in options (about $23.7B notional) are set to expire today, and combined with Ethereum options total BTC/ETH options exposure reaches approximately $28.5B. Large expiries concentrate derivatives positioning and typically force dealer rebalancing, delta hedging and exercise/assignment decisions that can amplify short-term price moves for BTC and ETH. Traders should monitor open interest concentrations, strike distributions, option skews and spot liquidity to anticipate potential pinning, short squeezes or volatility spikes around settlement. The event does not imply a fixed directional bias; outcomes depend on prevailing positioning and liquidity. However, market-maker adjustments and heavy hedging flows often create transient liquidity stress and larger intraday swings—factors important for leverage, stop placement and short-term strategies. This expiry is viewed as a notable liquidity milestone for the derivatives market and may inform near-term risk sentiment across spot, futures and perpetual markets.

A large trader nicknamed “buddy” has built concentrated leveraged long positions ahead of a major options expiration, drawing market attention and coinciding with an ETH price rally. Monitoring firm Hyperinsight reports the trader added 525 ETH of long exposure over roughly 16 hours, closed BTC longs, and now holds: 1) an 8,000 ETH position in ETH at 25x leverage with a reported liquidation price near $2,870; and 2) an 8,000 HYPE position at 10x leverage. The moves come as a sizable options expiry for BTC/ETH approaches, increasing the potential for squeezes and heightened volatility. Key details for traders: position sizes (8,000 ETH at 25x), leverage levels (25x for ETH, 10x for HYPE), recent additions (+525 ETH in ~16 hours), and liquidation price (~$2,870 for the ETH long). These concentrated, highly leveraged positions can amplify short-term price swings, influence funding rates and order-book dynamics, and raise the risk of cascading liquidations if price moves toward the liquidation level. Traders should monitor open interest, options expiry flow, funding rates, and order-book depth around major exchanges to gauge potential squeeze pressure and manage risk accordingly.

Crypto analyst Steph Is Crypto reports that nearly 50% of XRP’s circulating supply is now underwater, with the share of supply in profit falling to about 52% on a 7-day moving average. The drop in holder profitability occurred alongside XRP’s price decline, meaning a large portion of tokens last moved at prices above current levels. Historically, this “profitability compression” has reduced immediate selling pressure from profit-takers and preceded sharp rallies when demand returned — Steph notes a comparable setup in November 2024 that preceded a 500%+ rally. The current setup suggests downside risk is more evenly distributed and that modest inflows could have outsized price impact because fewer holders are positioned to sell at a profit. The article emphasizes this is not investment advice and urges readers to do their own research.

Researchers Jonas Nick, Tim Ruffing (Blockstream Research) and Yannick Seurin (Ledger) published DahLIAS, the first formal, provably secure construction of a constant-size, fully aggregated cross-input signature scheme that operates on Bitcoin’s native secp256k1 curve. DahLIAS produces a single 64-byte signature that aggregates signatures from many signers across different transaction inputs (CISA), reducing transaction size and verification cost. Unlike BLS-based aggregation, DahLIAS works within Bitcoin’s existing curve assumptions and requires only similar cryptographic premises already used by Bitcoin. It uses a two-round interactive protocol (similar in interaction to MuSig2 but functionally distinct) and includes formal security proofs. DahLIAS is not compatible with current Bitcoin consensus rules as-is — verification takes a set of public keys and corresponding messages plus a 64-byte proof rather than the single public key–message–signature model — so integrating it would require a consensus change and a BIP. The paper’s key contribution is demonstrating that full cross-input signature aggregation on secp256k1 is possible, paving the way for future BIP proposals and implementation work (e.g., secp256k1lab) to bring smaller, more private and cheaper complex transactions to Bitcoin.

Exodus, the consumer crypto wallet developer, has announced a partnership with payments provider MoonPay and fintech platform M0 to pilot functionality for a US digital dollar. The collaboration aims to enable users to receive, hold and transmit a tokenized digital dollar through Exodus’ wallet interface, leveraging MoonPay’s on/off ramp infrastructure and M0’s stablecoin and tokenization tooling. The pilot focuses on user experience and compliance, integrating custodial and non-custodial flows and testing redemption and settlement mechanisms. Key objectives include testing fiat on/off ramps, wallet interoperability, and regulatory controls needed for a digital dollar rollout. The announcement highlights industry momentum around tokenized fiat and central bank digital currency (CBDC) experimentation, though it does not indicate a government-issued CBDC launch or specific timeline. For traders, the development signals growing infrastructure for tokenized US-dollar settlement rails, potential increases in on-chain dollar liquidity, and expanded use cases for stablecoins and tokenized fiat instruments.

Trust Wallet’s Chrome extension (v2.68) was compromised in a supply-chain/phishing exploit on December 25, allowing private keys to be exfiltrated and roughly $6–7 million stolen from over 600 wallets across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and other EVM chains. On‑chain investigator ZachXBT first flagged multiple thefts; Arkham and other trackers showed attacker addresses moving funds in small increments and still holding millions on-chain. Trust Wallet released an emergency update (v2.69) and urged immediate upgrades; Binance co‑founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) confirmed the loss, called user funds “SAFU” and pledged reimbursement while the team investigates how a malicious extension version was published. Some community members have raised insider-risk suspicions given the delivery vector. Market context: the incident comes amid softer Bitcoin performance in December and option expiries that can amplify short-term volatility. Immediate trader actions: update Trust Wallet to v2.69, avoid using or reinstalling unverified extension versions, monitor the known attacker addresses and on‑chain flows, and be cautious around BTC/ETH option expiries and liquidity events that could magnify price moves. Primary keywords: Trust Wallet, Chrome extension exploit, Trust Wallet hack, patch v2.69. Secondary keywords: wallet security, supply-chain phishing, insider risk, on‑chain investigation, Binance CZ, reimbursement.

Strategy CEO Phong Le said Bitcoin’s fundamentals for 2025 are exceptionally strong despite recent price declines and market fear. Speaking on a podcast, Phong Le urged investors to ignore short-term volatility and focus on long-term adoption, citing growing support from the U.S. government, major banks and meetings with traditional banks in the U.S. and UAE. He noted catalysts such as SEC innovation and Vanguard allowing Bitcoin ETF trading, which helped trigger roughly $400 million in short-covering during a recent rebound. CoinMarketCap data: BTC hit an all-time high of $125,100 on Oct 5, then fell nearly 30% to about $88,700 at the time of reporting. The crypto fear & greed index has shown ’extreme fear’ since Dec 12. Strategy holds $1.4 billion in cash reserves to deploy into market weakness and emphasizes risk-managed frameworks like mNAV, a Bitcoin reserve and USD reserve. Phong Le remains bullish into 2026, aligning with institutional narratives that increased ETF flows and government reserves could drive further adoption, though some forecasters warn of potential retracement to $60,000 amid liquidity tightening and regulation. Key names and figures: Phong Le, Strategy, Michael Saylor, Vanguard, SEC. Primary keywords: Bitcoin, BTC, fundamentals, ETF, institutional adoption.

Uniswap governance approved the UNIfication package on Dec. 25 with overwhelming support (125,342,017 UNI for, 742 against), clearing quorum. Key actions: a one‑time burn of 100 million UNI (~16% of supply) from the treasury; activation of protocol fee switches for Uniswap v2 and selected high‑volume v3 pools that redirect a portion of swap fees into a programmatic burn; routing Unichain sequencer revenue (after L1 costs and Optimism’s 15% cut) into the burn engine; disabling of frontend, wallet and API fees at Uniswap Labs; and a separate 40 million UNI allocation to Uniswap Labs vesting over two years for development. Fee mechanics: v2 LP fees move from 0.30% to 0.25% with 0.05% directed to the protocol; v3 will set protocol fee rates per fee tier (for example, 25% of LP fees on the 0.01% and 0.05% tiers). The burn engine uses TokenJar and Firepit contracts to accumulate and periodically destroy UNI; third‑party models estimate annual burns of roughly $280M–$700M at 2025 fee levels. Voter turnout exceeded 20% of outstanding UNI and investor reaction lifted UNI toward $6 on Dec. 26. For traders: the immediate 16% supply cut plus ongoing protocol-driven burns materially tighten UNI’s supply dynamics. Short-term price volatility is likely around on‑chain execution (timelocks, the executed 100M burn), vesting schedule flows (40M to Labs), and market repricing of reduced float. Medium- to long-term price direction will depend on sustained DEX volumes, Unichain sequencer revenue, protocol fee capture vs. LP economics, and whether governance adjusts fee allocations or incentives that offset burn effects. Traders should monitor on‑chain signals: the actual burn transaction, protocol fee revenue and burn rates, LP flows across v3/v4, and any governance moves to add incentives or change fee splits.

Bithumb announced it will delist EVZ and stop all EVZ trading at 06:00 UTC on January 26 after the EVZ foundation failed to provide required explanatory materials following an “investment warning” designation and a past security incident. The exchange cited compliance, transparency and security concerns as reasons for removal. Users must either sell their EVZ before the trading halt or withdraw tokens to a compatible wallet within a subsequent withdrawal window (final deadline to be announced). The delisting underlines stricter exchange listing standards and signals increased regulatory and operational scrutiny. Traders should act quickly, confirm wallet compatibility and addresses, and monitor EVZ listings on other platforms; exchanges may review EVZ independently. Main keywords: Bithumb delist EVZ, EVZ delisting, withdrawal deadline, exchange compliance, token transparency.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) fell sharply in 2025, hitting a multi-year low of $0.0000066 after most altcoins lagged despite Bitcoin and Ethereum reaching new highs. The article weighs bullish and bearish cases ahead of 2026. Bullish factors: potential passage of the CLARITY Act boosting institutional flows, Zama’s Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) slated for Shibarium (privacy smart contracts), and speculation about ETF exposure following Coinbase’s regulated futures. Bearish factors: lack of sustained price response to past milestones (Shibarium launch, K9 Finance staking), anonymous and often unresponsive core team behavior (notably Shytoshi Kusama and silence after the Shibarium hack), enormous circulating supply (~589 trillion SHIB) with sharply reduced daily burns, and unfinished utility projects (AI initiative, SHIB: The Metaverse, layer‑3 privacy network). Market commentator Neil Patel warns SHIB lacks compelling real-world utility versus stronger alternatives. Conclusion for traders: SHIB presents high risk — possible short-term upside tied to regulatory or tech catalysts but structurally constrained by supply, weak burns, slow product delivery and governance concerns. Traders should treat SHIB as speculative: consider position sizing, tight risk controls, and watch for on-chain metrics (burn rate, token flows), Shibarium FHE deployment, regulatory developments (CLARITY Act) and any signs of team transparency before increasing exposure.

Trust Wallet’s Chrome extension update to version 2.68 triggered a major security incident that led to rapid wallet drainings. Users reported that entering seed phrases in the updated extension allowed attackers to empty wallets within minutes. On‑chain researcher ZachXBT identified coordinated transfers that drained BTC, ETH and BNB balances and routed funds through multiple intermediary addresses. Public chain analysis links at least $4.3 million to suspicious addresses, though total losses may be higher. Trust Wallet said the issue only affected the 2.68 extension (not mobile apps or other extension versions), advised users to disable the extension immediately and upgrade to v2.69, and urged migrating assets to the mobile app (which supports biometric protection) and monitoring transactions. The team is investigating and has issued security guidance but has not announced reimbursements. Traders should treat browser extensions as higher risk: update extensions, avoid entering seed phrases into browser extensions, prefer mobile or hardware wallets for larger holdings, diversify custody, and monitor on‑chain flows and exchange deposits (several millions were routed to centralized exchanges).

Gate has launched the 17th edition of its VIP Super Friday event, running from 2025-12-26 15:00 to 2026-01-01 23:59 (UTC+8). The promotion guarantees a 100% chance to win for participants; VIP level 5+ users who sign up immediately receive an airdrop and can win up to 8,888 NIGHT. The event features a pool of 2,352 NIGHT gacha prizes, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. Users can obtain additional gacha chances by completing deposit, wealth-management, and trading tasks. The announcement emphasizes limited quantity and encourages early participation. The notice is informational and does not constitute investment advice.

The pieces argue that narratives (political events, regulation, institutional interest) spark volatility, but measurable capital flows and liquidity determine whether Bitcoin trends persist. After the 2024 U.S. election BTC rallied ~56% alongside a spike in futures open interest, yet weak spot demand prevented a durable uptrend. Spot BTC ETFs were a primary, quantifiable catalyst — roughly $35bn net inflows in 2024 and $22bn in 2025 — with price moves closely tracking ETF flow pace; momentum faded when inflows slowed or turned negative. Stablecoin inflows to exchanges, used as a proxy for deployable buying power, fell about 50% from recent highs, reducing market capacity to sustain narrative-driven rallies. On-chain metrics (realized profit-taking by long-term holders >$1bn/day on 7-day avg in July) show significant selling pressure, while higher real yields and shifts toward defensive assets (BTC/gold ratio decline) increase Bitcoin’s opportunity cost. Conclusion for traders: watch spot ETF flows, exchange stablecoin balances, futures open interest and realized selling — narratives can trigger moves, but sustainable rallies require persistent spot-led demand and ample liquidity. No investment advice.

Ethereum plans two major hard forks in 2026 — Glamsterdam (mid‑2026) and Heze‑Bogota (late‑2026) — targeting large‑scale Layer‑1 scaling, increased Layer‑2 capacity, broader zero‑knowledge (ZK) verifier adoption and stronger on‑chain censorship resistance. Glamsterdam will introduce Block Access Lists (EIP‑7928) to enable parallel transaction execution across CPU cores and enshrined proposer‑builder separation (ePBS) to integrate MEV mitigation into consensus and unlock validator‑level ZK verification. These changes are expected to allow staged gas limit increases (current ~60M gas per block → ~100M in H1 2026 → ~200M or more later in 2026, with some estimates up to ~300M), increase per‑block blob capacity (potentially 72+ blobs) and extend the time window for generating and verifying ZK proofs. Researchers project roughly 10% of validators may verify ZK proofs instead of replaying full execution, freeing further gas headroom. Heze‑Bogota will focus on censorship resistance (e.g., Fork‑Choice Inclusion Lists/FOCIL) to let validator groups ensure inclusion of specific transactions when a subset of nodes remain honest. Secondary developments include improved L2 UX (examples: ZKsync’s Elastic Network / Atlas storing funds on‑chain while enabling fast L2 activity) and proposals for an Ethereum Interoperability Layer to ease L2 cross‑chain operations. For traders: these protocol upgrades could materially raise on‑chain capacity, reduce L2 congestion, change MEV dynamics and pressure fee volatility — factors that may shift liquidity, on‑chain flows and Layer‑2 token activity. Monitor gas limit changes, ePBS adoption, validator ZK verification uptake and on‑chain fee metrics for near‑term trading signals.

Elon Musk forecasted rapid U.S. economic growth on X, predicting double-digit expansion within 12–18 months and triple-digit growth in about five years, attributing gains to advances in applied intelligence. Traders and analysts linked his comments to improved macro conditions and potential upside for Bitcoin as Fed rate cuts and rising risk appetite support crypto demand. Bitcoin traded around $87,709, roughly 30% below October highs. Market voices differed: supporters such as Anthony Pompliano and Oryon Finance saw Musk’s outlook as bullish for risk assets, while skeptics like Artem Russakovskii and commentator Bariksis warned of continued downside or a 2026 bear market. On-chain and research signals were mixed: K33 suggested long-term holder sell pressure could be easing, while XS.com noted inflation (CPI 2.7%) still warrants Fed caution before aggressive easing. Key implications for traders include monitoring Fed policy, inflation data, liquidity conditions, long-term holder flows, and technical resistance levels (some analysts highlight potential retests of around $60k).

MGBX will list LIT (Lighter) for spot trading on December 26, 2025. Deposit channels open at 17:00 UTC+8 and spot trading begins at 18:00 UTC+8; withdrawal timing has not yet been announced. Lighter is described as a perpetual trading protocol offering a scalable, secure, transparent, non-custodial, verifiable order-book infrastructure built on Ethereum to improve on-chain liquidity and risk controls. Traders should monitor official MGBX channels for withdrawal schedules and initial liquidity details, as these will affect execution quality, spreads, and short-term price volatility. Primary keywords: LIT, Lighter, MGBX listing, spot trading. Secondary/semantic keywords: deposit open, trading start, ERC-20, on-chain liquidity, order-book, withdrawal schedule.

Solana-based stablecoin USX experienced a severe, short-lived depeg on December 26, 2025, trading as low as $0.10 on secondary markets before recovering to about $0.98. Blockchain security firm PeckShield first flagged the abnormal price movement. USX’s issuer says the event stemmed from an acute liquidity shortage on exchanges — sell orders overwhelmed buy-side depth — rather than a loss of collateral. The team asserted USX remains 100% collateralized and custodial assets are intact. Immediate measures include coordination with market makers to restore continuous liquidity and prevent recurrence. The episode underscores that stablecoin risk has two pillars: collateralization and market liquidity; even fully backed tokens can collapse price-wise if liquidity evaporates. For Solana DeFi, the incident highlights the need for stronger liquidity incentives, transparent communication during stress, and user education on depegs versus insolvency. Traders should monitor USX market depth, exchange liquidity provision, and statements from the USX team; short-term volatility and confidence-sensitive sell-offs are possible despite on-chain collateral remaining secure.

Analyst Murphy at COINOTAG identifies a concentrated chip (on-chain cost basis) distribution for Bitcoin around $87,000 and $84,500, with the $87,000 band representing the highest-volume bar and the strongest near-term support. Excluding a November 22 wallet consolidation event, roughly 1.12 million BTC are clustered in the $83,300–$84,500 band, and turnover within that range has effectively halved. High-volume chip stacks create a decision point where aggregated long and short positions can precipitate either a breakout or retracement. Murphy interprets the chip structure as leaning bullish: if the $87,000 high-volume support holds, Bitcoin’s immediate trajectory favors measured upside rather than speculative spikes. Traders are advised to monitor liquidity around $87,000 and $84,500 and to adopt risk-aware position sizing, using credible on-chain chip data to guide entries and stops.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest state-controlled bank, is exploring ruble loans secured by customer cryptocurrency holdings and is ready to work with regulators to build the legal and operational framework. Deputy Chairman Anatoly Popov said the bank would develop products to let clients access fiat liquidity without selling crypto, responding to client demand and broader institutional adoption trends. The bank has expanded its digital asset platform this year — hosting 160+ digital financial asset issues including tokenized real estate and oil — and market infrastructure players (Moscow Exchange, St. Petersburg Exchange) have signalled readiness to support crypto trading. Key hurdles remain: regulatory clarity, custody solutions, volatile collateral valuation, liquidation mechanics, pricing oracles and margin-management systems. Russia’s central bank still flags crypto as high risk and prefers using existing financial infrastructure. Sberbank’s initiative is still at the planning and regulatory engagement stage; if implemented, it could legitimize crypto as bankable collateral, increase demand for major liquid coins as potential collateral, and encourage competitors to offer similar hybrid banking–crypto products.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) will establish a dedicated crypto regulation division in summer 2024 to oversee virtual assets (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum) and payment-focused stablecoins. The reorganisation also adds an Asset Management and Insurance Supervision Bureau. The specialist unit aims to provide clearer guidelines, stronger consumer protections and faster, more nuanced policy responses to DeFi and stablecoin growth. Japan already restricts stablecoin issuance to licensed banks, trust firms and money transfer agents under a 2022 law; the new division will enforce those rules and could set an international precedent. Traders can expect greater regulatory clarity for licensed exchanges, potential attraction of institutional capital to Tokyo, and stricter oversight that may reduce fraud but could increase compliance costs. Key SEO keywords: Japan crypto regulation, stablecoin rules, FSA crypto division, virtual assets, regulatory clarity.

Lido DAO (LDO) has seen a 690% year‑over‑year increase in development activity, according to Chain Broker, coinciding with a short‑term price breakout on December 25, 2025. The project also ranked highly for weekly fees and revenue, recording roughly $14.3 million in weekly fees for staking products — a sign of sustained protocol usage despite broader Layer‑1 weakness. LDO rose about 7.65% that day after attempting to breach a descending trendline that intensified following the October 10 crash. Momentum indicators were mixed: RSI near neutral and MACD showing fading downside momentum rather than a decisive bullish signal. Liquidation heatmaps (CoinGlass) highlighted concentrated leverage around $0.51, indicating potential downside if momentum reverses. Overall, the combination of outsized development growth and strong fee generation appears to have bolstered investor interest and supported short‑term strength in LDO, though technical risks and liquidation clusters leave the breakout’s sustainability uncertain.