Trump‑era tariffs, bruising rate realities and a burned‑out memecoin cycle are forcing crypto to shed its Peter Pan phase and build tokens with real utility, says Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu. For Animoca Brands co‑founder Yat Siu, 2025 will be remembered as “the Trump year,” not because US President Donald Trump saved crypto, but because the industry bet too heavily on him and mispriced everything from tariffs to rate cuts. Trump was supposed to be crypto’s cheat code in 2025. Instead, Bitcoin (BTC) is limping into the year’s end, facing its fourth annual decline in history. Memecoin liquidity has been sucked into political side quests, and one of the sector’s longest‑running builders thinks the market over‑trusted the new president. “If I had to give it a grade, I would say B-/C+,” Siu said. Traders treated Trump as if crypto were his “first child,” he says, when in reality, “we’re probably his third, fourth or fifth child, maybe even an eighth child.” Read more
Mirae Asset Group is reportedly in talks to acquire South Korea’s crypto exchange Korbit in a deal valued at up to $100M, according to local media. Mirae Asset Group is in talks to acquire Korbit, South Korea’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange, in a deal valued at roughly 100 billion to 140 billion Korean won ($70 million to $100 million). The potential acquisition would be led by Mirae Asset Consulting, a non-financial affiliate of the group, which has reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with Korbit’s major shareholders, according to a Sunday report from The Chosun Daily. Korbit is primarily owned by NXC and its subsidiary Simple Capital Futures, which together hold about 60.5% of the exchange. SK Square owns an additional 31.5% stake. Read more
Bitcoin analysis said that while a retest of $93,500 could still occur by the yearly close, a red 2025 candle would threaten the four-year cycle theory. Bitcoin (BTC) eyed weekend highs into Sunday’s weekly close with the yearly candle in focus. Key points: Bitcoin sees an eerily calm weekend as analysis eyes a three-day bullish divergence locking in. Read more
Spot Bitcoin ETFs extended a six-day withdrawal streak as analysts point to seasonal factors rather than weakening institutional demand. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded heavy outflows over Christmas week, with investors pulling a combined $782 million from the products, according to data from SoSoValue. The most significant single-day withdrawal during the period occurred on Friday, when spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs posted $276 million in net outflows. BlackRock’s IBIT led the losses with nearly $193 million exiting the fund, followed by Fidelity’s FBTC at $74 million. Grayscale’s GBTC also continued to see modest redemptions. Total net assets across US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs fell to roughly $113.5 billion by Friday, down from peaks above $120 billion earlier in December, even as Bitcoin prices held relatively steady near the $87,000 level. Read more
Uniswap has removed 100 million UNI from circulation after its fee-burning proposal passed with near-unanimous support. Uniswap has executed a major token burn following the approval of its long-anticipated fee burning proposal, removing 100 million UNI, worth roughly $596 million at current prices, from the protocol’s treasury. Onchain data shows the burn transaction was completed at around 4:30 am UTC on Dec. 28, confirming the first large-scale implementation of the governance decision passed earlier this week, according to analyst EmberCN. The transaction permanently reduced Uniswap (UNI)’s token supply, marking one of the largest burns ever carried out by a decentralized finance protocol. The highly anticipated Uniswap protocol fee switch, dubbed “UNIfication,” passed on Thursday with 99.9% support. More than 125 million UNI tokens were cast in favor of the proposal, compared with just 742 tokens voting against, underscoring broad consensus among token holders. Read more
The Bitcoin-to-gold ratio has strengthened because Bitcoin spent the past year in a “stagnant stage,” while gold enjoyed a “tremendous year,” according to Lyn Alden. Bitcoin doesn’t need to wait for a pullback in gold and silver prices to continue its upward trajectory, according to analysts. “Surprisingly unpopular opinion,” Glassnode lead analyst James Check said after making the statement in an X post on Friday, adding that Bitcoiners who think otherwise “don't understand any of these assets.” Echoing a similar sentiment, macroeconomist Lyn Alden said in a podcast published to YouTube on Saturday that while “a lot of people phrase it as competition,” she is “not in that camp.” Read more
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 ...