Two wallets linked to Pantera Capital transferred a combined 5,264 ETH (about $15.39–$15.4M) into Coinbase Prime on December 27, according to Onchain Lens. The on-chain deposit moves a sizable amount of Ether into a regulated institutional custody and prime brokerage platform, signaling institutional allocation toward Coinbase’s custody layer. Such inflows can indicate preparation for trading, OTC execution, custody consolidation, compliance or liquidity management. The transfer provides real-time transparency into institutional fund flows and is consistent with growing institutional activity in prime custody venues. No comment was reported from Pantera or Coinbase. Traders tracking large inflows to regulated venues may view this as a monitorable signal of potential selling, rebalancing or increased trading activity in ETH.
Ethereum has seen sustained spot-ETF outflows since Dec. 11, totaling roughly $853.9 million over two weeks, with only Dec. 22 recording a notable $84.6 million inflow. Major withdrawals have come from BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Ethereum Fund (FETH), signaling an institutional year‑end pullback. ETH traded near $2,900–$2,964 at the latest checks, down from August highs and roughly 12% lower week‑on‑week in earlier reports. Trading volume, derivatives volume and open interest have fallen, indicating reduced leverage and lower conviction. Technical indicators (RSI <50, MACD bearish, lower highs/lows) point to short‑term downside bias; key supports are $2,880–$2,980 with $2,500 flagged as a critical level if outflows continue. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw larger concurrent outflows (~$1.538B over the same period). By contrast, XRP ETF flows showed steady inflows and net assets above $1.16B, reflecting stronger institutional interest. For traders: monitor ETF flows, spot liquidity and on‑chain whale activity; manage risk with position sizing, stops near support levels, and watch RSI shifts for early divergence that could signal a reversal.
Solana (SOL) is trading under a bearish structure after failing repeatedly to reclaim the $150 resistance, leaving $120 as the immediate critical support. In 2025 Circle has minted roughly $55 billion USDC on Solana, including a recent $500 million mint — a large on-chain liquidity injection that has increased trading and DeFi activity but has not produced clear bullish momentum for SOL. On-chain and chart data (Onchain Lens, TradingView) show prolonged sideways chop, raising speculative pressure and potential volatility. Whale positions are divided: reports show a major leveraged long (around 20x) now carrying roughly $5.88 million in unrealized losses after earlier profits, while short-side whales have realized about $27.7 million in gains. The concentration of leveraged longs alongside large short profits increases the risk of liquidation cascades. For traders: monitor $120 closely — a decisive break lower could trigger rapid leveraged liquidations and sharp downside; reclaiming and holding above $150 would be required to restore bullish structure. Primary keywords: Solana, SOL price, USDC mint, whales, liquidity. Secondary/semantic keywords: support level, resistance, leverage, liquidations, on-chain activity.
Industry monitors report at least $2.53 billion in crypto exploits in 2025, with social engineering now the dominant attack vector, responsible for about 55.3% (~$1.39 billion) of losses. Private key compromises account for roughly 15% (~$0.37 billion), while infinite-mint attacks and smart-contract bugs make up the remainder. Chainalysis and other trackers estimate total crypto theft in 2025 at $2.7–$3.4 billion and attribute about $2.02 billion to North Korea-linked groups, a roughly 51% increase from 2024; that figure includes a reported $1.4 billion extraction from Bybit. Analysts say improved automated auditing and formal verification have reduced large-scale smart-contract breaches, shifting attackers toward human-targeted methods: phishing, impersonation, poor key management and operational lapses. For traders, this means higher personal-wallet and custodial risk, potential sustained sell pressure on affected tokens, and elevated counterparty risk for exchanges and custodial services. Key takeaways: prioritize secure key custody, tighten counterparty due diligence, monitor tokens tied to breached platforms, and expect state-sponsored groups to remain a major theft vector.
Coins.ph has relaunched its mobile app as an all‑in‑one digital wallet combining everyday payments, bill settlement, bank and e‑wallet transfers, low‑cost international remittances and in‑app crypto trading. The platform — licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as a virtual asset marketplace and mobile wallet — supports the national QR Ph standard with acceptance at over 600,000 merchants and near real‑time confirmation on more than 120 bill types. Coins.ph aims to reduce friction across multiple apps and speed fund movement across banking and e‑wallet ecosystems. The company is promoting PHPC, a peso‑backed stablecoin (pending regulatory approvals), for QRPh payments and exploring PHPC use on Circle’s Arc testnet for cross‑border remittances. Recent partnerships include Sky Mavis (PHPC for QRPh), FinFan (Philippines–Vietnam remittances) and BCRemit (stablecoin remittance corridors). Amira Alawi has been appointed Global Marketing Director to lead international expansion toward a larger global platform (Coins.xyz). For traders: the relaunch centralises on‑ramp/off‑ramp rails, increases fiat‑crypto utility in the Philippines and signals potential growth in PHPC stablecoin flows if regulators approve wider use — factors that could influence local crypto liquidity and stablecoin demand.
Solana led blockchain app revenues in 2025 with about $1.3 billion, driven by meme-token cycles, AI agent activity and a late-year DeFi resurgence. Cryptorank data showed Solana surpassed Ethereum in users, transactions and app revenues for much of the year, with app-driven income dominating for over seven months. Hyperliquid’s native HyperCore chain ranked second with roughly $908 million in native-chain revenues after its first full year as a perpetual-futures DEX — $848 million came from perpetual futures trading. Hyperliquid reported $3.87 billion in deposits, about 609,000 new users, $46 million distributed to builders and nearly $1 million from ticker auctions. Ethereum generated $524 million in 2025, BNB Chain $257 million and Base $76.4 million. Several legacy networks (Avalanche, Filecoin, TON) dropped from the top 10 as apps migrated to newer L1/L2s and specialized chains (EdgeX, Axelar, Bittensor, Optimism) rose based on strong single-app performance. The broader market takeaway for traders: 2025 marked a shift from incentive-led volume to predictable, app-driven revenue streams — favoring chains and apps with real user traction rather than airdrop farming. Traders should monitor Solana metrics (users, transactions, app revenues), DEX volumes and perpetual futures flows as potential trade signals; Hyperliquid’s results also highlight the revenue and liquidity potential of perpetual DEXs and native-chain settlement models.
China’s regulators and UBS SDIC Fund Management suspended new subscriptions to the UBS SDIC Silver Futures Fund LOF Class C after the fund’s secondary-market price traded at a premium exceeding 60% to its underlying Shanghai silver futures. Retail-driven buying—amplified by step-by-step arbitrage guides on social platforms such as Xiaohongshu—pushed the fund to hit daily 10% limits for three consecutive sessions. The manager previously cut subscription caps (Class C from ¥500 to ¥100; reductions to Class A) but these measures failed to stem demand, and premiums briefly remained near 44% after the limits. Year-to-date the fund rose about 187%, outpacing Shanghai silver futures (~145%), reflecting intense retail flows into a limited set of domestic silver products. Regulators and the manager cited the large disconnect between market price and net asset value, thin underlying silver liquidity, and elevated downside risk from a potential rapid sentiment reversal as reasons for intervention. Traders should watch for spillovers into other metals LOFs, shifts in on‑shore liquidity, widening arbitrage opportunities, and heightened volatility in related commodities and safe‑haven assets. Primary SEO keywords: China silver fund, UBS SDIC, silver LOF, premium, retail frenzy. (Main keyword "China silver fund" appears multiple times.)
Strategy CEO Phong Le says Bitcoin’s fundamentals remain strong despite a roughly 29% drop from October highs. Speaking on the Coin Stories podcast (Dec. 23), Le urged investors to use disciplined, quantitative, long-term approaches — highlighting metrics such as mNAV (market cap vs. BTC treasury value), a dedicated Bitcoin treasury and a US dollar reserve. Strategy holds about 671,268 BTC (~$59B at reporting) and has set aside a $1.4B USD reserve for shareholder dividends. Le pointed to growing institutional and government engagement — meetings with US banks and talks in the UAE — and described significant US government support as a bullish catalyst toward 2026. Market context: BTC hit an all-time high in early October (~$125–126k) and traded near ~$87k at the time of reporting; the Crypto Fear & Greed Index has been in “Extreme Fear.” Key takeaways for traders: monitor mNAV and treasury metrics, expect elevated near-term volatility, prefer methodical, fundamentals-focused positioning, and watch for institutional or policy developments that could materially shift sentiment.
A whale moved 3,000,000 TRUMP tokens (~$14.88M) into Binance after roughly 50 days of accumulation, realizing an estimated $7.8M loss versus a prior withdrawal valued at about $22.68M, according to on-chain trackers (Lookonchain/Onchain Lens). The deposit signals capitulation and increased short-term sell-side supply, but the market absorbed much of the selling: spot price held above $4.80 and traded around a $5 pivot. TRUMP briefly broke a descending channel but failed to sustain gains above the $5.20–$5.25 resistance and has since reverted toward the $5 level. Technical indicators show neutral-to-weak momentum (RSI ≈ 46). On-chain and market metrics — including a positive 90-day CVD (CryptoQuant) and a CoinGlass 4-hour long/short ratio near 1.32 — suggest buyers have been absorbing supply without strong bullish follow-through. Liquidity clusters and liquidation heatmaps concentrate around $5.10–$5.20, making that band a likely test point and potential stop-run zone. Traders should monitor exchange inflows, spot CVD, liquidity bands, and price reaction at $5 support and $5.20 resistance for short-term volatility and possible additional selling pressure.
CryptoRank data shows Solana (SOL) and derivatives platform Hyperliquid (HYPE) led blockchain revenue in 2025, with Solana collecting about $1.3 billion in on-chain fees and Hyperliquid about $816 million; Ethereum (ETH) generated roughly $524 million. Solana’s revenue was driven by sustained transaction throughput across DEX activity, memecoin trading, DePIN and consumer apps while its TVL remained range-bound at roughly $7–$12 billion — indicating higher fee generation per unit of capital rather than TVL growth. Hyperliquid’s fees were concentrated in perpetuals and derivatives execution; its TVL rose from ~$2 billion early in the year to peaks above $6 billion before settling near $4.1 billion. Santiment and CryptoRank evidence cited in the reports point to a market shift: networks optimised for execution quality and high-frequency activity convert flow into fees more efficiently than chains that rely on deep but less active liquidity. For traders, the key takeaways are to monitor on-chain activity metrics (transaction volume, DEX swaps, derivatives volume) and fee-capture rates as leading indicators of network revenue potential. Watch SOL for throughput-driven trade opportunities and HYPE for derivatives flow — but adjust risk sizing for liquidity concentration and potential sentiment swings.
ChartNerd, a crypto analyst on X (formerly Twitter), identifies a multi-month bullish RSI-price divergence on XRP that began after price weakened from its July high. Price formed a descending-triangle structure, lost horizontal support in October and made lower lows while RSI has produced higher lows since that October low — a classic momentum divergence signaling waning selling pressure. Key technical details: XRP repeatedly failed near the ~$2.70 resistance during rallies and is trading within a narrowing range bounded by a descending resistance and a lower trendline. The divergence remains intact so long as the RSI does not drop beneath the October low and XRP respects the lower trendline. Trading implications for traders: a clean breakout above the descending resistance could target a retest of the $2.70 area, while a decisive break below the lower trendline would likely delay any sustained recovery. This is technical analysis, not financial advice.
Trust Wallet confirmed a security incident in its Chrome browser extension v2.68 that led to roughly $7 million in funds being drained. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT first flagged suspicious drains after users imported seed phrases into the extension; researchers suspect a supply‑chain or malicious update introduced the vulnerability. Trust Wallet says the issue was isolated to v2.68 — mobile apps and other extension versions were not affected — and advised users to disable the extension immediately and update to v2.69. The company published an official update on Dec 26, is conducting internal audits, has not disclosed a full technical root cause, and warns users to ignore messages outside official channels to avoid follow‑on phishing scams. Trust Wallet has committed to fully refunding affected users and is finalising the refund process. Key trader actions: monitor TWT sentiment and on‑chain movements from drained wallets, avoid interacting with untrusted extensions, consider moving high‑value holdings to hardware wallets or multisig, and verify any refund instructions via official Trust Wallet channels. Primary keywords: Trust Wallet, browser extension security, $7M loss. Secondary/semantic keywords: supply‑chain attack, seed phrase compromise, refund, on‑chain draining, extension update.
TRON (TRX) has traded in a tight range between $0.27 and $0.29 since early November, with the price currently around $0.278–$0.288. Buyers repeatedly pushed TRX above short-term moving averages but were rejected at the $0.29 resistance on multiple attempts. Short-term charts show Doji candlesticks and price oscillating around the 21-day and 50-day simple moving averages, indicating market indecision. On the 4‑hour chart TRX has slipped below the 21-day SMA several times while holding near the 50-day SMA, suggesting limited upward momentum until moving-average resistance is reclaimed. Immediate support sits at $0.27, with a downside target near $0.25 if that level fails. Wider supports noted at $0.20, $0.15 and $0.10; upside breakout levels to watch are $0.33–$0.35 and longer-term resistances at $0.40–$0.50. For traders, the setup points to a sideways/ranging market with limited short-term upside unless buyers retake $0.29; failure to do so keeps TRX capped by moving-average resistance and raises the risk of a break toward $0.25. This summary is for informational purposes and not trading advice.
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TRONTRXTechnical AnalysisSupport and ResistanceRange-bound Trading
Nicholas Crypto Income ETF (BLOX) has outperformed both YieldMax’s LFGY and a spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) over the past six months, returning +15.51% versus IBIT’s -14.62% and LFGY’s capital-depleting performance. Earlier coverage described BLOX as an income-first product using ETP holdings, crypto equities and options-writing to target high distributions (much classified as return of capital). The later, updated analysis credits BLOX’s recent outperformance to a diversified portfolio mix — spot Bitcoin ETFs, crypto equities and flexible options strategies (put spreads and covered-call-like structures) — and to income from physical assets plus options premiums. By contrast, LFGY relies on a synthetic options approach that the author argues produces higher beta, structural capital erosion and larger NAV drawdowns during Bitcoin sell-offs. A stress test cited in the updated piece estimates a 20% Bitcoin drop could cut BLOX NAV by ~18–25% but LFGY NAV by ~35–45%. Analysts rate BLOX a Buy for its structured asset selection and income generation, and assign LFGY a Hold due to higher downside risk. Key takeaways for traders: BLOX offers income overlay and lower downside volatility versus pure-spot BTC exposure, benefits from options premium and diversified holdings, and may trade with lower beta to BTC/ETH; however, many distributions are return of capital (affecting tax timing and cost basis) and payout sustainability depends on ongoing options income and market volatility. Short-term implication: BLOX can cushion BTC drawdowns but may lag strong crypto rallies. Long-term implication: BLOX is more defensive in prolonged bear markets but will underperform in sharp bull runs.
On-chain data show large Bitcoin holders (100–1,000 BTC, dubbed “sharks”) sharply increased net purchases in late 2025 while BTC traded in a narrow range. Glassnode-derived metrics and estimates indicate these wallets accumulated up to roughly $23.5 billion of BTC in recent weeks, though totals vary with cohort definitions, custody reshuffles and price assumptions. Over the same six-month window, traditional safe-haven metals outperformed: gold rose ~38% and silver over 100%, while Bitcoin’s market cap fell about 17% from highs above $110,000. Price action has retraced from >$110k into a tight consolidation between roughly $85,000 and $92,000, with long-wick candles and compressed volatility signalling two-way trading and market absorption of prior selling. Net inflows into some U.S. spot BTC ETFs persist, pointing to continued institutional demand. Analysts caution on-chain accumulation can be skewed by exchange/custody address moves but say sustained buying by large wallets often reflects longer-term bullish positioning by smart money. For traders: large-wallet accumulation is a bullish structural signal for BTC, metals’ outperformance suggests capital rotated into safe havens (risk-off flows), and the current technical compression raises the odds of a decisive breakout or breakdown — watch support, resistance and ETF flows for triggers and liquidity dynamics.
Ripple released XRPL v3.0.0 and has opened five protocol amendments for validator voting through January 2026: fixAMMClawbackRounding, fixIncludeKeyletFields, fixMPTDeliveredAmount, fixPriceOracleOrder and fixTokenEscrowV1. These changes correct AMM clawback rounding, add identifying fields to ledger objects, restore DeliveredAmount metadata for MPT payments, enforce canonical asset-pair ordering for price-oracle entries, and fix escrow accounting for MPT transfers with fees. Collectively they improve oracle reliability, on-chain accounting and AMM behavior — reducing operational risk and improving price and risk-model inputs for traders. Separately, Ripple engineer Edward Hennis announced an on-ledger institutional XRPL Lending Protocol targeted for validator voting in January 2026. The protocol will use Single Asset Vaults, provide fixed-term/fixed-rate underwritten credit, and allow private or public contributions; intended use cases include market-maker inventory borrowing, PSP prefunding of merchant payouts and short-term working capital for fintech lenders. Traders should monitor validator votes, amendment activation timelines, oracle behavior after activation, MPT escrow flows and AMM liquidity shifts. The immediate amendments mainly reduce execution and accounting risk on XRPL; the prospective lending protocol is a structural change that could raise on-ledger demand for XRP and related stablecoins (e.g., RLUSD) if adopted, potentially affecting supply dynamics and yields.
Tokenized commodities — blockchain-backed digital representations of physical metals — have climbed to an estimated $3.93 billion after rising about 11% in the past month, driven by record highs in precious metals. Spot gold peaked near $4,530/oz and silver briefly hit $74.56/oz. RWA.xyz data show Tether Gold (XAUt) leads the market at roughly $1.74 billion and Paxos Gold (PAXG) follows at about $1.61 billion. Tokenized precious metals enable on-chain transfers outside traditional market hours, but pricing, liquidity and redemption remain tied to legacy markets and off-chain infrastructure.
Ethereum dominates tokenized real-world assets (RWA), holding approximately 65% of tokenized RWA value (~$12.7B), with BNB Chain around 10.5% (~$1.85B). Standard Chartered projects tokenized RWA (excluding stablecoins) could expand to $2 trillion by 2028, with about $250 billion flowing into less liquid asset classes such as private equity and commodities. On-chain activity from RWAs is increasing Ethereum fees (Ethereum recorded ~$11.41M in fees over the past 30 days) but remains small versus stablecoins and fungible-token trading; chains dominated by stablecoins (Tron, BNB Chain, Solana) currently capture larger fee shares.
For traders: rising tokenized commodity market caps and record metal prices signal growing institutional and retail interest, especially for Ethereum-based tokenized assets. Expect potential increases in on-chain trading volume and liquidity for XAUt and PAXG, greater correlation between crypto and precious-metal markets, and persistent counterparty and redemption risks tied to off-chain custodial and pricing mechanisms. Watch Ethereum activity and fee metrics for signs of growing RWA flow, and monitor liquidity/redemption terms of individual tokenized metal products before trading.
Upbit’s 24‑hour trading volume rose to $13.39 billion (a 28.2% increase from the earlier report), driven mainly by KRW‑denominated pairs, according to Coinotag citing CoinGecko. XRP/KRW was the largest single KRW pair, accounting for about 10.38% of daily turnover. Other high‑volume tokens on Upbit during the period included 0G, BTC, ZKP and CPOOL. Earlier reporting had shown a decline in volume to $11.73 billion with XRP/KRW at a larger 17.61% share, indicating the market moved from a lower‑liquidity phase to a liquidity inflow between the two snapshots. For traders, the development signals concentrated activity in KRW markets and renewed liquidity on Upbit — factors likely to narrow intraday spreads, deepen order books for popular KRW pairs (notably XRP/KRW), and create KRW‑denominated arbitrage opportunities. Monitor order‑book depth and pair‑level volumes closely: rapid shifts in Upbit’s KRW liquidity can produce short‑term volatility and execution slippage for large orders, while sustained inflows could support tighter spreads and improved market resilience.
Ethereum (ETH) is trading around the critical $3,000 zone after recent consolidation and mixed flows across spot ETFs and derivatives. Early reports showed a rebound above $3,000 supported by renewed ETF inflows, whale accumulation (~14,618 ETH, ~$185M) and improved technicals, while later updates noted spot ETF outflows, large whale buys (single wallet ~$16.1M; reports of ~220,000 ETH bought in a separate week), and a concentrated $3.8B options expiry with max-pain near $3,000. Open interest rose, increasing leverage and liquidation risk in the $3,100–$3,200 area. Key levels: support $3,000, $2,960, $2,732; resistance $3,200, $3,270 (38.2% Fib), $3,520 (200-day MA) and higher targets toward prior highs if momentum continues. Short-term catalysts traders should monitor: spot ETF flows, whale accumulation and disclosures, options expiries and open interest, and daily closes above/below $3,000. Bull case: sustained daily closes above $3,000 with rising ETF inflows and continued whale accumulation could drive breakouts to $3,200→$3,270→$3,500–$3,520 and beyond toward prior highs. Bear case: failure to reclaim $3,000 or rejection near $3,200 may trigger corrections to $2,960, $2,850 or back to $2,732; a decisive breakdown below $2,732 points to a mid-term bearish trend. Longer-term bullish arguments cite large-scale accumulation and scheduled network upgrades (Glamsterdam and Hegota forks in 2026) as potential catalysts, but traders should weigh heightened volatility from options expiries and elevated leverage when sizing positions.
A supply‑chain attack on Trust Wallet’s Chrome browser extension (v2.68) was disclosed on 26 December 2025 after an official update injected malicious code that phished seed phrases and drained users’ wallets. Approximately $6.7–7.0 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana was stolen from hundreds of addresses, with individual losses ranging from ~ $50,000 up to $3.5 million. On‑chain investigators (ZachXBT, Lookonchain and others) traced laundering routes through services such as ChangeNOW and FixedFloat and observed funds moving towards exchanges including KuCoin and HTX. Trust Wallet released v2.69 to remove the malicious code, advised users to uninstall v2.68, assume seed compromise and migrate assets to new wallets; mobile Trust Wallet and core private‑key infrastructure were reported unaffected. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao confirmed Binance (owner of Trust Wallet) will fully reimburse verified victims and said core systems remain secure. For traders: expect short‑term sell pressure and heightened caution around browser‑extension custody, possible exchange inflows as attackers cash out, and a spike in on‑chain monitoring activity. Actionable steps: monitor on‑chain movement and exchange deposit flows (KuCoin, HTX), avoid interacting with suspicious extensions, and advise affected counterparties to move funds to new wallets or hardware wallets. Primary keywords: Trust Wallet, Chrome extension hack, supply‑chain attack; secondary keywords: seed phrase theft, Binance reimbursement, wallet security.
USDC treasury addresses minted 90,000,000 USDC on the Ethereum network, as detected and reported on-chain by monitoring service Whale Alert. Earlier reports noted a 60,000,000 USDC mint; the later update indicates a larger 90M issuance. Reports provide no on-chain context about recipients, purpose, whether the mint corresponds to new fiat backing or internal treasury reallocation, nor any immediate redemptions or transfers. For traders: a sizable USDC mint increases stablecoin supply and on-chain liquidity, which can enable larger flows across DeFi protocols and exchanges. Without accompanying transfer or redemption data, the short-term price impact on USDC is unclear; market effects are more likely to show up as shifts in stablecoin availability and potential changes in lending/borrowing dynamics and stablecoin-based funding across DeFi. This update is informational and not investment advice. Primary keyword: USDC. Secondary keywords: USDC minting, Ethereum, stablecoin supply, Treasury.
Ethereum plans two protocol-level upgrades in 2026: Glamsterdam (mid‑2026) and Heze‑Bogota (late‑2026). Glamsterdam targets throughput and node costs by introducing parallel transaction processing, a major gas‑limit increase (projected ~60M → 200M), and a shift toward ZK-based validation for validators. Early tests show multi-fold throughput gains (developer estimates range from severalx to orders of magnitude), with potential to reduce L2 congestion and lower fees. Heze‑Bogota focuses on privacy, censorship resistance and decentralization by reducing exposed transaction data and limiting reliance on centralized infrastructure while maintaining auditability. The upgrades are sequenced: Glamsterdam first to boost speed and capacity, then Heze‑Bogota to add privacy protections. Market context: ETH traded under $3,000 (~$2.8–$2.9k) at reporting, with $3,000 as immediate resistance; a technical indicator cited suggested a bullish close to 2025 and a strong start to 2026. Traders should monitor developer calls, testnet deployments, gas‑limit changes and ZK validation milestones. Realized benefits and any material price upside depend on successful implementations, testnet results, broader crypto market conditions and potential short‑term bearish pressures.
Solstice and Cor Prime executed the first institutional stablecoin-for-stablecoin repurchase agreement (repo) on a public blockchain, settling via Membrane’s post-trade infrastructure. The deal used tokenised USD stablecoins — one as collateral to borrow another — creating a collateralised short-term loan structure familiar to TradFi but settled atomically on-chain through smart contracts and identity-verified institutional addresses. Key outcomes: it proved technical feasibility for institutional-grade, on-chain cash-management primitives; reduced settlement times and counterparty risk through collateralisation and atomic settlement; and demonstrated a regulated-friendly model for custody, KYC/AML and auditability. Traders should note implications for capital efficiency (stablecoin holders can obtain liquidity without off‑ramping to fiat), 24/7 liquidity management, and potential reductions in fiat banking frictions. The pilot could accelerate development of decentralized repo markets and broader TradFi–DeFi integration, potentially unlocking trapped liquidity and changing institutional treasury operations if adoption widens.
Aave’s governance dispute escalated after an ARFC proposal to transfer brand assets (domains, social accounts, naming rights) from Aave Labs to the DAO was decisively rejected (≈994,800 against vs ~63,000 for) with a large abstention (~41%). The conflict followed community claims that Aave Labs rerouted front‑end swap fee flows when switching aggregators (ParaSwap → CowSwap), potentially diverting substantial revenue away from the DAO — estimates suggested up to ~$200k weekly. Founder Stani Kulechov defended Aave Labs, noting the DAO generated roughly $140M this year and saying his $10–15M AAVE spot buy was not used to influence votes. Market reaction was immediate: a major holder executed a programmed sell of ~230,000 AAVE (≈$38M notional), crystallizing heavy selling pressure after buying earlier at higher prices. AAVE price fell roughly 20% during the week (from high $180s to mid $140s), with perp funding turning negative and volatility spiking. Aave Labs has initiated an ARFC snapshot to resolve brand-control issues while pledging clearer communications on value delivery to the DAO. For traders: expect elevated volatility and downside risk in the short term — key support sits around $140–$142; a decisive break lower would likely accelerate exits, while governance clarity, a large buyer, or institutional fixes would be needed to restore confidence and remove the governance discount.
Trust Wallet confirmed a security incident in its Chrome browser extension version 2.68 after on-chain investigator ZachXBT reported multiple user wallets drained on Dec 25. The attacker injected malicious code in an extension update, draining approximately $6–7 million in user funds. Cybersecurity firm PeckShield estimated over $6M stolen, with roughly $2.8M still in hacker-controlled addresses and more than $4M moved to centralized platforms including KuCoin, HTX, ChangeNOW and FixedFloat. Binance co‑founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who holds a majority stake in Trust Wallet, said the company will cover losses for affected users. Trust Wallet advised web-extension users to disable the extension immediately, enable Chrome Developer mode to inspect, and upgrade to version 2.69 — mobile wallet users and other extension versions are not affected. Independent investigators are collecting theft addresses to trace on-chain flows; affected users should contact Trust Wallet support. Trader actions: check your Trust Wallet extension version, disable and update if on 2.68, move high-value assets to cold wallets, avoid interacting with suspicious extension prompts, and monitor on-chain flows and exchange deposits tied to the exploit.
Lugano has expanded its Plan ₿ program so residents and merchants can pay and accept municipal invoices and everyday purchases using Bitcoin (on‑chain or Lightning) and USDT. Payments route over Lightning or are processed by Bitcoin Suisse and are immediately converted to Swiss francs, with an embedded ~1% FX/processing fee; the city does not hold crypto on its balance sheet. The MyLugano app offers up to 10% LVGA token cashback at participating merchants; LVGA can be spent on municipal services, creating a city‑backed circular payments loop. Over 350 merchants accept Lightning payments and the Plan ₿ Forum attracted more than 4,000 attendees in October 2025, indicating growing real‑world usage. For traders, the rollout increases localized, persistent utility demand for BTC (more hot‑wallet receipts and Lightning onboarding) while creating steady sell‑side conversion pressure as receipts are flipped to CHF. Near‑term price impact is likely limited — liquidity, ETF flows and funding rates remain dominant drivers — but the initiative strengthens structural demand and broadens use‑case narratives that can support long‑term price floors for BTC.
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Bitcoin paymentsLightning NetworkLugano Plan ₿Stablecoins (USDT)Merchant adoption
Crouton Digital, an institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure provider based in Riga, raised $1 million in strategic funding to expand validator operations, public and private RPC endpoints, archive nodes, Node-as-a-Service (NaaS) and institutional staking products across 45+ networks. The firm is shifting from a validator-focused operator to a full-spectrum Web3 infrastructure provider, emphasizing bare-metal, multi-region deployments, internal telemetry, dashboards and high-availability architecture to support low-latency, high-throughput, mission-critical workloads during congestion, upgrades and peak usage. Crouton participates in early validator alignment and support programs for next-generation and existing protocols including Monad, Starknet, Somnia Network, Story Protocol, IOTA and Walrus, aiding incentivized testnets, mainnet launches and governance activation. The company holds a verified AAA (VSP) reliability rating from Staking Rewards and has begun SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 certification processes to meet institutional compliance expectations. Funding will be used to scale global multi-region validator operations, roll out RPC and archive node services, grow institutional staking offerings (delegation, white-label validators, reporting) and enhance observability and automated reliability tooling for protocols, funds, custodians and enterprise clients. Key SEO keywords: Crouton Digital, RPC nodes, Node-as-a-Service, institutional staking, validator operations.
Deribit processed a record $28+ billion notional options expiry on Dec 26, 2025, combining monthly, quarterly and annual settlements and removing more than half of the platform’s open interest (OI). Pre‑expiry platform OI was about $42 billion. Key figures: ~267,000 Bitcoin options expired (BTC notional ≈ $23.6B) with a put‑to‑call ratio of 0.35 and BTC maximum‑pain near $95,000; ~1.28M Ethereum options expired (ETH notional ≈ $3.71B) with ETH maximum‑pain at $3,100. The settlement concentrated post‑expiry OI into March contracts (roughly 30% of OI), shifting directional risk forward. Strike clustering moved BTC interest toward downside strikes (most concentrated at $75,000; large pockets at $80k–$85k) while call interest grows above $90,000. The expiry occurred amid low year‑end liquidity, elevated short‑term volatility and a crypto Fear & Greed Index in the mid‑20s, prompting institutional hedging and repositioning that likely amplified intraday price moves. For traders: watch clustered BTC put strikes at $75k–$85k for downside hedging flows, liquidity and liquidation risk around the $90k resistance band, and March expiries for near‑term directional gamma and order‑book squeezes. Large notional and low put‑to‑call ratio point to significant sensitivity to future expiries and heightened short‑term volatility; manage size, monitor order‑book depth and expiry rolls for trading and risk decisions.
XRP is trading around $1.85, down ~15% in December, but analysts attribute the weakness to derivatives-driven pressure ahead of a large global options expiry included in a $7.1 trillion event. Market analyst Zach Rector warns that leveraged long liquidations tied to the expiry could push XRP briefly to $1.60–$1.70 as a short-term washout to clear leverage. Rector and other observers note ongoing structural demand: five U.S. spot XRP ETFs (Canary Capital, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, 21Shares) launched in mid-November and have recorded roughly $1.14B net inflows with AUM near $1.25B, absorbing selling pressure while BTC/ETH ETFs saw outflows. Ripple executives highlight XRP’s utility for liquidity and cross-border settlement, and institutional interest — plus potential adoption catalysts such as Japanese bank integrations (e.g., SBI) and FX volatility — could support medium-term revaluation. Social metrics show unusually negative retail chatter, historically a contrarian signal during institutional accumulation. Key signals for traders: (1) watch the global options expiry as a likely short-term volatility catalyst and possible stop-run that could create a buying opportunity; (2) monitor continued ETF inflows as a structural demand indicator; (3) expect potential short-lived shakeouts to $1.60–$1.70 before a medium-term repricing toward analyst targets of $3–$5 by 2026 if institutional flows and adoption persist.