Crypto

The precious yellow metal has hit a new all-time high while its digital equivalent still lags a long way behind. 

Ethereum lost $555 million this week, while Bitcoin outflows reached $460 million, as the US Clarity Act delays fuel uncertainty and worry among investors.

CoinEx’s Jeff Ko tells Cointelegraph there likely won’t be an altseason in 2026 as liquidity will flow into the top cryptocurrencies. The typical altcoin rally is likely to wane next year, with only “blue chip” cryptocurrencies seeing the lion’s share of liquidity, says CoinEx Research chief analyst Jeff Ko. “Retail investors expecting a rising tide to lift all boats will be disappointed,” Ko told Cointelegraph. “We predict no traditional altseason; instead, liquidity will be ruthlessly selective, flowing only to blue-chip survivors with real adoption.” Ko anticipated “modest global liquidity tailwinds in 2026,” tempered by divergent central bank policies, but added that Bitcoin's historical sensitivity to the M2 money supply growth “has softened since the 2024 ETF launches, with correlation diminishing.” Read more

CFTC acting chair Caroline Pham says Monday was her last day at the regulator, with Michael Selig being officially sworn in to chair the agency. The US commodities watchdog has a new leader. Michael Selig was sworn in as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday as acting chair Caroline Pham departed the agency after nearly a year at the helm. Pham, who had been serving as the CFTC’s acting chair since January and its sole commissioner since August, said on Monday that it would be her last day at the agency. Meanwhile, the CFTC confirmed that Selig was sworn in as the agency’s 16th chairman on Monday after being nominated for the role by President Donald Trump on Oct. 27 and confirmed by the Senate on Thursday. Read more

Bitcoin perpetual open interest climbed to 310,000 BTC while funding rates doubled, signaling bullish positioning for the year-end. Crypto derivatives markets are heating up as Glassnode reports perpetual open interest has risen in anticipation of a big move at the end of this year. Perpetual open interest (OI) has risen from 304,000 to 310,000 Bitcoin (BTC) as its price briefly touched $90,000 on Monday, Glassnode said on Monday. The funding rate has also “heated up” from 0.04% to 0.09%, which suggests derivatives traders are anticipating a potential market move by the end of the year.  Read more

BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF has featured on the $13.5 trillion asset manager's homepage, representing one of three major investment themes as the market heads into 2026. BlackRock says its spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund was one of its three biggest investment themes in 2025, putting it alongside Treasury bills and the largest US tech stocks. The asset manager named its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) alongside its ETF tracking Treasury bills and another tied to the “Magnificent 7” tech stocks of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla. IBIT has attracted more than $25  billion in net inflows this year, ranking sixth among all ETFs and trailing broad index funds, despite the fund delivering a negative return so far for 2025. Read more

Ethereum’s transparency has long been one of its greatest strengths—but for many real-world applications, it has also become a structural limitation. From MEV-driven trading inefficiencies to data leakage in DeFi, gaming, and AI-driven workflows, the assumption that everything must be public in order to be verifiable is increasingly being challenged. TEN Protocol is built around […] The post TEN Protocol redefines Ethereum’s privacy with ‘compute in confidence’ approach appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Bitcoin has often surged after sustained hashrate drops, a trend that would provide much-needed relief to many struggling Bitcoin miners at current prices. Bitcoin’s hashrate fell 4% over the month to Dec. 15, which could be a positive sign for the cryptocurrency’s price in the months ahead as miner capitulation is “historically a bullish contrarian signal,” VanEck analysts say.  “When hash rate compression persists over longer periods, positive forward returns tend to occur more often and with greater magnitude,” VanEck crypto research lead Matt Sigel and senior investment analyst Patrick Bush noted in a report on Monday. They noted that since 2014, Bitcoin’s 90-day forward returns have been positive 65% of the time when the network’s hashrate had declined over the prior 30 days, compared with 54% when the hashrate rose. Read more

Midnight's NIGHT token extended weekly gains beyond 52% with nearly $8 billion in 24-hour trading volume, propelling the Cardano-based privacy blockchain past $1.5 billion market cap as technical analysts identify Wyckoff wave breakout patterns suggesting potential 200% rally toward $0.30. The post Midnight Price Prediction: Is NIGHT About to Explode Further, With 52% Weekly Spike And $8B Trading Volume? appeared first on Cryptonews.

Gold has surged past $4,475 and silver near $70 outpacing Bitcoin as it has hovered around $89K after $90K. ByteTree has said silver is starting to rival Bitcoin over time. Alphabet has agreed to buy Intersect for $4.75B, and miner Hut 8 has jumped on its HPC shift. $27.4B options expire on Deribit. The post Bitcoin Falters as Gold Hits Record $4,475, AI Stocks Command Capital appeared first on Cryptonews.

Federal Reserve policy and crypto-friendly regulation could be setting the market up for a bullish 2026, but there are still a handful of hurdles investors should be aware of. 2025 was a blockbuster year for Bitcoin (BTC) and the wider crypto market as crypto-friendly legislators platformed growth-focused regulation and Wall Street finally accepted Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), and numerous altcoins as a valid asset class worthy of inclusion in an investment portfolio.  The global bid on Bitcoin, Ether and Solana’s SOL (SOL) token was near immeasurable, with total net flows into the spot Bitcoin ETFs reaching $57 billion and the total net assets across the ETFs reaching $114.8 billion.  Going into 2026, the real question is, will the pace of institutional, corporate and government-level adoption, which were critical price drivers in 2025, continue? Since October, the robust inflows to the spot Bitcoin ETF tapered off and, in some cases, turned into a sellers' market for weeks on end, and this was followed by a 30% co...

Luckey-backed Erebor raised $350 million at a $4.35 billion valuation as OCC and FDIC approvals signal momentum for crypto- and AI-focused banking. Erebor, the digital bank co-founded by tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey and backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, has secured a $4.35 billion post-money valuation after raising $350 million in a funding round led by Lux Capital, according to Axios sources. The valuation milestone, which underscores growing institutional appetite for banking models tailored to crypto, AI and stablecoin-friendly customers, comes as Justice Department regulators take swift steps toward chartering the company.  Erebor recently received preliminary conditional approval from the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), a key regulatory hurdle toward becoming a fully licensed bank.  Read more

The Council of the European Union endorsed the launch of the European Central Bank’s digital euro in both an online and a privacy-focused offline version. The Council of the European Union (EU) the European Central Bank’s (ECB) digital euro design, A Friday document outlined the council’s position on the digital euro, including alignment with the ECB on launching online and offline variants simultaneously ECB President Christine Lagarde that t rest with EU lawmakers Read more

Bitcoin is heading to its worst Q4 since 2018, down nearly 22% as macro pressure and fading demand weigh on prices.

Solana Mobile has ended software update and security patch support for its Saga smartphone. The company warned that compatibility with new software or services “cannot be guaranteed,” and that Saga-specific customer support is now limited to general inquiries, according to Solana Mobile’s help-center notice. Solana Mobile said the change “does not affect Seeker devices,” which […] The post Solana Mobile ended Saga security patches, exposing owners to a critical wallet risk you can’t ignore appeared first on CryptoSlate.

ETHZilla has sold 24,291 ETH for $74.5M to redeem secured convertible notes, trimming holdings to about 69,800 ETH. The Nasdaq firm has dropped its mNAV dashboard and has shifted disclosures to revenue and cash flow as shares have fallen about 96% from August highs. The post Peter Thiel-Backed ETHZilla Dumps $74.5M in ETH, Abandons Treasury Strategy – What Went Wrong? appeared first on Cryptonews.

The transaction highlights growing pressure on crypto treasury companies to prioritize debt reduction as token prices remain volatile. Crypto treasury company ETHZilla said in a filing with US regulators that it sold part of its Ether holdings to repay outstanding convertible notes amid a broader market downturn. The company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission the sale of 24,291 Ether (ETH) for $74.5 million at an average price of $3,068.69 per token, leaving about 69,800 ETH on its balance sheet as of Friday. The company said it expects to use all or a significant portion of the proceeds to redeem its outstanding senior secured convertible notes. Read more

Two bills and one resolution proposed by state lawmaker Wendy Rogers could allow Arizona voters to change the state's taxation laws applied to digital assets and blockchain. Arizona state Senator Wendy Rogers has proposed two bills and a resolution in an effort to change the state’s laws on taxing digital assets. In legislation prefiled with the Arizona Senate on Friday, Rogers proposed amending state statues to exempt virtual currency from taxation (SB 1044), barring counties, cities and towns from taxing or fining entities running blockchain nodes (SB 1045), and amending the state constitution’s definition of property taxes to clarify rules on digital assets (SCR 1003). The blockchain node bill may move through the state legislature, but the crypto tax bill and resolution would require a vote by Arizona voters during the next general election, in November 2026. Read more

New trading pairs will become available on Binance Spot on December 24.

Monero Price Prediction: XMR has traded above its 2021 high, posting 146% gains year over year and 27% in 30 days. Traders have watched $500 for a breakout, while a pullback toward $400 remains possible. Bitcoin Hyper, a Layer 2, has reported $29.50M raised and staking up to 39% APY into early 2026. The post Monero Price Prediction: Can XMR Reach $500 In 2025 – 146% Gains YoY Make It Possible appeared first on Cryptonews.