Crypto

Several VC-backed crypto projects now trade at market capitalizations well below the valuations assigned during their last private funding rounds. Several blockchain startups once valued near $1 billion now have market capitalizations that are only a fraction of those figures, as tighter liquidity forces valuation resets. This is evident across several high profile projects, according to data compiled by CryptoRank. Humanity Protocol, which carried a venture valuation of around $1 billion, now has a market capitalization of about $285 million. Fuel Network, also previously valued near $1 billion, is trading closer to $11 million, while Bubblemaps, once assigned a similar venture capital (VC) valuation, has a market cap of about $6 million. Read more

Philippine regulators are tightening control over crypto access, signaling that global exchanges must secure local licenses to operate. Internet service providers (ISPs) in the Philippines began blocking major crypto trading platforms as regulators moved to enforce local licensing rules on crypto service providers.  Users reported that as of Tuesday, access to global cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Gemini was unavailable in the Philippines. Cointelegraph independently confirmed that both platforms were inaccessible across multiple local ISPs.  A report by the Manila Bulletin said the ISP blocks followed an order from the National Telecommunications Commission, which directed providers to restrict access to 50 online trading platforms flagged by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank, as operating without authorization. Read more

A year-end options expiry for bitcoin is suppressing volatility just as macro and risk-asset positioning turns supportive for a higher price.

CC is today's top performer, while UNI is deep in the red.

Wintermute's latest analysis shows retail capital rotating from altcoins back to Bitcoin and Ethereum as dominance trends higher, market liquidity thins, and token unlock schedules apply persistent downward pressure on risk assets. The post Wintermute Warns: Altcoin Season Is Dead as Bitcoin Dominance Soars appeared first on Cryptonews.

Trend Research’s 46,379 ETH purchase vaults the private company into the top tier of ETH treasuries, behind only SharpLink Gaming and BitMine Immersion Technologies. Trend Research purchased 46,379 Ether (ETH) on Wednesday to raise its holdings to about 580,000 ETH, making it larger than most public Ethereum treasuries tracked by CoinGecko. Only two listed companies, SharpLink Gaming and BitMine Immersion Technologies, currently report bigger ETH balances, with 859,853 ETH and 4,066,062 ETH, respectively. Trend Research is not a publicly listed company and therefore does not appear in most Ethereum treasury rankings. Still, it has drawn industry attention for its rapid ETH accumulation. Read more

HashKey Capital has raised $250 million in commitments for the first close of its fourth crypto fund amid continued institutional demand despite volatile market conditions. HashKey Capital secured $250 million in commitments in the first close of its fourth crypto-focused fund amid “significant interest” from institutional investors despite shifting market conditions. The fund, known as “HashKey Fintech Multi-Strategy Fund IV,” exceeded initial expectations at its first close and is targeting a final size of $500 million, the company said in a news release on Wednesday. HashKey did not identify its investors, but said the commitments came from a mix of global institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Read more

The XRP streak continues, while others bleed out.

Logan Paul will auction his record-setting Pikachu Illustrator card after accepting a $2.5 million advance from Goldin Auctions. The post Logan Paul Agrees to Sell Record-Breaking $5.3M Pokémon Card at Auction appeared first on Cryptonews.

Shares in the digital asset treasury slumped after it announced the sale of some of its Ethereum holdings.

Bitcoin is shaping up to end the year in the red, which will be just the fourth year in history it has done so.

Gold is rallying on rate cut expectations and geopolitical risk, while bitcoin has struggled to hold key psychological levels and remains sensitive to the same forces that tend to hit equities and other risk assets.

Investors are showing increased risk aversion, with significant outflows from crypto investment products last week.

Bitcoin and Ether ETFs have recorded sustained outflows since early November, which Glassnode says signals institutional disengagement. Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds have seen a prolonged streak of outflows, indicating that institutional investors have disengaged with crypto, said the analytics platform Glassnode. Since early November, the 30-day simple moving average of net flows into US spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) ETFs has turned negative, Glassnode said on Tuesday. “This persistence suggests a phase of muted participation and partial disengagement from institutional allocators, reinforcing the broader liquidity contraction across the crypto market,” it added. Read more

The $0.13 level is crucial; if Dogecoin can reclaim it, a short-covering bounce is possible, but failure may lead to further declines.

XRP's price action was characterized by high volume at resistance, suggesting larger players were selling into strength.

Despite volatile markets, Solana ETFs recorded $750M inflows, limited outflows, rising validator adoption, and rapid stablecoin growth.

Galaxy’s Alex Thorn says Bitcoin's $126,000 peak translates to $99,848 after being adjusted for inflation, falling short of its milestone six-figure mark. Bitcoin came just shy of hitting a milestone six figures when inflation is factored in, despite the cryptocurrency hitting an all-time peak of above $126,000 in October, says Galaxy head of research Alex Thorn. “If you adjust the price of Bitcoin for inflation using 2020 dollars, BTC never crossed $100,000,” Thorn said on Tuesday. Thorn said his adjusted price high for Bitcoin (BTC) accounted for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) decline in purchasing power incrementally across every inflation print from 2020 to today. Read more

Two new exchange-traded funds from Amplify track companies building the infrastructure for stablecoins and tokenization, blending stocks and crypto. Digital asset manager Amplify has launched two exchange-traded funds tracking blockchain projects across stablecoins and tokenization.  The company said on Tuesday that its Amplify Stablecoin Technology ETF (STBQ) and Amplify Tokenization Technology ETF (TKNQ) both went live on the NYSE Arca exchange. Both funds track a diversified index of companies working on products or infrastructure, along with projects that generate revenue from tokenization and stablecoins. Read more

The Ontario Securities Commission has cleared Matador to raise $58 million, which it intends to use to expand its Bitcoin treasury. Bitcoin financial services firm Matador Technologies has received the regulatory green light to sell up to 80 million Canadian dollars ($58.4 million) worth of company shares, which it will use to help reach its goal of owning 1,000 Bitcoin by the end of 2026. Matador said on Tuesday that the Ontario Securities Commission has permitted it to issue $58.4 million worth of common shares, warrants, subscription receipts, debt securities, or units over a period of 25 months.  Matador CEO Deven Soni said the firm is “focused on increasing Bitcoin per share over time” and would “continue to target a treasury balance of 1,000 Bitcoin by the end of 2026.” Read more