Crypto

Binance, OKX, Bybit, and Bitget together control over 60% of total derivatives trading volume.

The “fast-moving retail crowd” is one of the reasons Bitcoin is ending the year lower than it started, according to Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. Bitcoin may post steady returns over the next ten years, but exceptionally large year-on-year gains are unlikely, according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan. “I think we’re in a 10-year grind upward of strong returns. It’s not spectacular returns, [but] strong returns, lower volatility, some up and down,” Hougan said on CNBC on Friday. Hougan is sticking with his forecast that 2026 will be a positive year for Bitcoin (BTC), an outlook he first shared in July ahead of Bitcoin’s run to a new all-time high of $125,100 in October. “I think next year will be up,” Hougan said. Read more

A crypto analyst says Bitcoin’s current market setup resembles that of 2019, SEC picks a crypto regulation “dream team”: Hodler’s Digest US President Donald Trumps AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, has signaled that the White House may have all the pieces in place for digital asset regulation following the confirmation of Michael Selig to chair the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In a Monday X post, David Sacks said the US was at a critical juncture for crypto regulation, and that Selig and Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins made up a dream team to define clear regulatory guidelines. Sacks comments were in response to Selig saying that the US Congress was preparing to complete work on a crypto market structure bill.  We are at a unique moment as a wide range of novel technologies, products, and platforms are emerging, retail participation in the commodity markets is at an all-time high, and Congress is poised to send digital asset market structure legislation that will cement the US as ...

The complaint alleges seven entities misused AI buzzwords and crypto promises to defraud US retail investors of $14 million.

The following is a guest post and opinion from Anurag Arjun, Founder of Avail. The global stablecoin narrative is about to shift fast. What began as a US-dominated experiment in digital liquidity is morphing into a multipolar fight over who controls the rails of tomorrow’s monetary system. And the most consequential moves are unfolding in […] The post Asia is quietly building a counterweight to the dollar stablecoin empire, and the West isn’t ready appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Giving crypto companies and fintech startups access to accounts at the Federal Reserve is a hedge against debanking by commercial banks. Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, a pro-crypto United States lawmaker, said the recent proposal from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller to give crypto companies access to “skinny” master accounts would end debanking under Operation Chokepoint 2.0. Waller proposed the idea at the Payments Innovation Conference in October, allowing crypto and fintech startups, including payment-only banks, access to accounts at the Federal Reserve similar to the “master accounts” used by banks, but with restrictions. Lummis said: Operation Chokepoint 2.0 was described as a coordinated effort to deny banking services to crypto companies and their founders. More than 30 tech founders were debanked under the operation, according to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen. Read more

The low levels of internet search volume signal that retail investors are not interested in the crypto market, a stark contrast from January. Worldwide Google search volume for the term “crypto” is hovering above the 1-year low and has reached a 1-year low in the United States as 2025 comes to a close, indicating weak crypto investor sentiment. The Google search volume scale ranges from 0-100, with 100 indicating the highest levels of search volume. Worldwide search volume for “crypto” hit 26 on Monday, just two points above the 1-year low of 24. Worldwide search volume collapsed during the crypto market crash in April, due to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff policy. US Google search volumes for “crypto” followed the same pattern but fell to a 1-year low of 26 on Monday. Mario Nawfal said: Read more

Meme coins, AI, DeFi, and DEX narratives all fell sharply, while RWA emerged as the standout winner this year.

Advances in quantum computing this year clarified timelines and forced a reassessment of Bitcoin’s future security

In 2025, crypto regulation stopped being mostly about courtroom theater and started focusing on actual infrastructure. Debates over how or whether to regulate crypto became less philosophical and more operational. Regulators spent the year answering the “boring” questions that decide whether a market can scale: who is allowed to issue a “digital dollar,” what backs […] The post We mapped every major 2025 crypto regulation change to show you which rules actually protect your wallet appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Developing economies that lack entrenched financial market infrastructure will adopt tokenized real-world assets before developed countries. The tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market will continue to grow in 2026, fueled by adoption in emerging market economies, according to Jesse Knutson, head of operations at crypto exchange Bitfinex.  Emerging market economies experience “friction” in capital formation and attracting foreign investment, Knutson told Cointelegraph Tokenizing real-world assets, the process of representing physical or traditional assets on blockchain networks, fixes this by enabling onchain capital formation and bypassing traditional financial intermediaries, he said. Kunston added: Read more

Governments worldwide shifted from watching crypto to embedding Bitcoin and digital assets directly into state policy in 2025.

Bitcoin whales emerged from their slumber in 2025, some after a decade or more, moving billions and cashing in as BTC surged to new highs.

Ethereum remains locked in a sideways structure, trading just below the psychological $3k mark. Despite multiple attempts, buyers have struggled to generate follow-through momentum. The recent price action reflects a market caught in indecision, with weakening bullish conviction and no real dominance from sellers. Meanwhile, on-chain data is starting to stir, hinting that the next […]

Bitcoin remains under structural pressure as price continues to trade within a well-defined corrective environment. Recent price action shows hesitation and compression rather than trend continuation, suggesting the market is waiting for a decisive catalyst before the next directional move. Technical Analysis The Daily Chart On the daily timeframe, Bitcoin is still respecting a broader […]

The market remains technical, with DOGE and SHIB's movements reflecting broader risk sentiment and liquidity conditions.

XRP remains in a tight trading range, with sellers defending the $1.90 resistance and buyers supporting the $1.86 level, indicating a potential decisive move soon.

Pump.fun led 2025 token sales, after raising $600 million in minutes, while Trump-backed World Liberty Financial followed with $550 million.

How did 2025 shake out for crypto?

Trust Wallet's Chrome extension shipped a malicious update in December, exfiltrating wallet data and draining roughly $7 million from hundreds of accounts before the company pushed a fix. The compromised version 2.68 was live for days, auto-updating in the background, the way browser extensions are designed to. Users who followed every standard self-custody rule, such […] The post How browser extensions expose crypto to a fatal design flaw the industry ignored, bleeding $713M in 2025 appeared first on CryptoSlate.