Most Influential: Oleg Ogienko
A7A5, a ruble‑pegged stablecoin launched in 2025, emerged from Russia’s sanctions‑tightened financial system and aggressive capital controls. The ruble’s 40% rally against the dollar, driven by policy rather than fundamentals, created demand for a blockchain‑based payment rail that bypasses traditional banks. A7A5’s sponsorship of Token2049 in Singapore highlighted the compliance challenges such projects pose for global events, prompting the branding’s removal. Founder Oleg Ogienko later promoted the token at India Blockchain Week, underscoring its geopolitical ambitions.
Bulls Beware — BofA Fund Manager Survey Flashing Contrarian Sell Signal
The Bank of America Global Fund Manager Survey shows professional investors at peak optimism, with cash reserves falling to a record‑low 3.3% and 42% of managers overweighting equities—the highest level since December 2024. Commodities also enjoy strong backing, posting an...
Crypto Asset Manager Bitwise Says Bitcoin Will Break Its Four-Year Cycle in 2026
Bitwise’s chief investment officer Matt Hougan predicts bitcoin will break its historic four‑year halving cycle and reach new all‑time highs in 2026. He argues that the halving’s supply shock, falling interest rates and tighter leverage will be outweighed by institutional...
Number of Crypto Users in the UK Drops Even as Amount Held Increases
The UK Financial Conduct Authority reports that crypto ownership fell from roughly 7 million adults in 2024 to about 4.5 million in 2025, dropping the adult participation rate from 12 % to 8 %. Despite the contraction, the average portfolio value rose to just...
Hong Kong's RedotPay Raises $100 Million Series B to Push Global Stablecoin Payments
Hong Kong fintech RedotPay secured $107 million in a Series B round, led by Goodwater Capital and joined by Pantera, Blockchain, and Circle Ventures. The funding brings its 2025 capital raised to $194 million and supports expansion into over 100 countries. RedotPay now...
Strata Protocol Developer Frontera Labs Raises $3 Million in Seed Round
London‑based Frontera Labs announced a $3 million seed round led by Maven 11 Capital, with Lightspeed Faction as a major backer. The funding will accelerate development of Strata, a DeFi risk‑tranching protocol that separates on‑chain yields into senior and junior tokenized tranches....
Filecoin Falls on Above-Average Volume, Drops Below $1.30 Support Amid Wider Slide
Filecoin (FIL) dropped 4.2% to $1.28, briefly sinking to $1.23 before stabilizing. The decline occurred alongside a 185% volume surge, far exceeding its seven‑day average and confirming strong institutional activity. Technical analysis places immediate support between $1.278 and $1.285, with...
Crypto Bank Custodia Files Petition for a Rehearing by All Appellate Judges
Wyoming‑based crypto bank Custodia has filed a petition for an en banc rehearing before the full Tenth Circuit, challenging the October decision that upheld the Federal Reserve’s refusal to grant it a master account. The bank argues the panel gave the...
Visa Brings Circle's USDC Settlement to U.S. Banks Following $3.5 Billion Stablecoin Pilot
Visa is rolling out USDC settlement for U.S. banks, letting issuers and acquirers settle VisaNet obligations with Circle’s dollar‑pegged stablecoin on the Solana blockchain. The pilot program has reached a $3.5 billion annualized run rate, with Cross River Bank and Lead...
U.S. Bitcoin, Ether ETFs See Largest Outflows Since Nov. 20 as BTC Declines
U.S. spot bitcoin and ether ETFs recorded a combined $582 million net outflow on Monday, the largest since November 20, as Bitcoin fell to $85,100. The outflows were led by Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ($230.1 million) and the iShares Ethereum Trust ($139.1 million)....
KindlyMD Faces Nasdaq Delisting Risk After Failing to Meet Minimum Share Price Levels
KindlyMD, a health‑care and bitcoin‑treasury firm, has been notified by Nasdaq that its share price has stayed below $1 for 30 consecutive trading days, triggering a delisting warning. The company must close above the $1 threshold for ten straight days...
Bitcoin's Bearish Turn Deepens as 75 Out of Top 100 Coins Trade Below Key Averages; Nasdaq Resilient
Crypto market breadth has narrowed sharply, with 75 of the top‑100 digital assets trading below both their 50‑day and 200‑day simple moving averages. Bitcoin’s price slipped to $87,000 from a recent $126,000 peak, pulling major coins like Ether, Solana and...
StraitX to Debut Singapore and U.S. Dollar Stablecoins on Solana for Quick Currency Exchange
StraitX will debut its Singapore‑dollar (XSGD) and U.S.‑dollar (XUSD) stablecoins on the Solana blockchain in early 2026, allowing users to swap SGD and USD instantly on‑chain. The tokens already hold market caps of $13 million and $50 million and have processed over...
New React Bug that Can Drain All Your Tokens Is Impacting 'Thousands Of' Websites
A critical remote‑code‑execution flaw in React Server Components, catalogued as CVE‑2025‑55182 and dubbed React2Shell, is being actively exploited. The vulnerability impacts React versions 19.0 through 19.2.0 and any framework that bundles these packages, such as Next.js, putting thousands of websites...
ARK Steps in as Crypto Stocks Extend Multi-Day Selloff
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest added roughly $59 million to crypto‑related equities on Monday, buying Coinbase, Bullish, Circle, Bitmine Immersion Technologies and CoreWeave as the sector endured a multi‑day selloff. Prices across the group fell between 6% and 11% during the session,...
SBI, Startale to Launch Regulated Yen Stablecoin for Global Settlement
SBI Holdings and Startale Group have signed an MOU to create a fully regulated, yen‑denominated stablecoin for global settlement, with issuance handled by Shinsei Trust & Banking. The token will complement Startale’s USDSC dollar stablecoin and aligns with Japan’s new...
PayPal, Issuer of PYUSD, Applies for Utah Industrial Bank License
PayPal has filed for a Utah industrial bank license to launch PayPal Bank, a new lending arm that will provide business loans and interest‑bearing savings accounts. The company also applied for FDIC deposit insurance, signaling a move beyond its payments and...
Nasdaq, Home of Coinbase, Strategy Stocks, Seeks 23-Hour Trading Amid Investor Demand
Nasdaq announced plans to file with the SEC for a 23‑hour trading schedule, extending stock and exchange‑traded product sessions to five days a week. The new timetable would run a day session from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, a one‑hour pause,...
U.S. SEC Chief Warns Watchdogs Need to Be Limited in Tapping Crypto's Power to Snoop
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins warned that unchecked government access to blockchain data could turn crypto platforms into a mass‑surveillance tool, likening it to a financial panopticon. He emphasized that while crypto can enable privacy‑preserving compliance solutions, current policy gaps risk...
UK Supreme Court Refuses BSV Appeal, Narrowing $13 Billion Lawsuit Against Crypto Exchanges
The UK Supreme Court refused to hear Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) investors' appeal, leaving in place lower‑court rulings that sharply narrowed a $13 billion lawsuit against major crypto exchanges. The decision underscores that UK courts will not enforce claims based on...
BlackRock Expands Crypto Bet with 7 Senior Hires Across U.S. and Asia
BlackRock announced seven senior digital‑asset hires—six in the United States and one in Singapore—to accelerate its crypto and tokenization initiatives. The U.S. roles will expand the iShares digital‑asset ETF suite, including the $70 billion‑AUM iShares Bitcoin Trust, while the Singapore position...
Hedera Slides to Lowest Point in a Year as Crypto Market Plunges
Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR) fell 5.8% to $0.1127, its lowest level since November 2024, after failing to breach the $0.1194 resistance. An 86% volume surge validated the ceiling but triggered a cascade of selling that pushed the price through key support zones....
Bitcoin Hashrate Sees Sharpest Post Halving Drop Since 2024 Amid China Machine Shutdowns
Bitcoin’s 30‑day simple moving average hashrate posted its steepest post‑halving decline since April 2024, dropping about 8% after roughly 400,000 machines were shut down in China. Former Canaan chairman Jack Kong reported the offline equipment removed roughly 100 exahashes per second, pulling...
Bank of America Says U.S. Banks Are Heading for Multi-Year Onchain Future
Bank of America’s latest report says U.S. banks are entering a multi‑year transition toward on‑chain finance as regulators outline a clear perimeter for stablecoins and tokenized deposits. The OCC’s conditional approval of national trust charters for five digital‑asset firms and...
Anchorage Digital Buys Securitize’s RIA Platform to Expand Wealth Management Business
Anchorage Digital has acquired Securitize For Advisors, bringing the RIA‑focused crypto wealth‑management platform in‑house. The deal formalizes a partnership where Anchorage already custodied 99% of SFA assets, now adding trading, custody and client tools under one roof. Financial terms were...
CME Group Expands Crypto Derivatives With Spot-Quoted XRP and Solana Futures
CME Group has introduced Spot‑Quoted futures for XRP and Solana, extending its crypto derivatives suite beyond Bitcoin and Ether. The new contracts mirror existing Spot‑Quoted structures, tracking the underlying spot price directly and eliminating typical futures premiums or discounts. CME...
Ondo Finance to Offer Tokenized U.S. Stocks, ETFs on Solana Early Next Year
Ondo Finance will launch tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on the Solana blockchain early next year, enabling 24/7 trading with near‑instant settlement. The platform already manages roughly $365 million in tokenized assets, making it the industry’s largest RWA issuer. This Solana...
Bitcoin Miner IREN’s 47% Slide Flagged as a Buying Opportunity by B. Riley
Bitcoin miner IREN has plunged 47% from its 52‑week high, yet B. Riley retains a buy rating and a $74 price target. The decline is attributed to weak AI sentiment rather than a break in fundamentals, as the company pushes a...
Prediction Markets Are Quietly Turning Into a New Asset Class, Citizens Says
Citizens Bank reports prediction markets have reached roughly $10 billion in monthly volume, positioning them as a nascent asset class despite being tiny versus $10 trillion U.S. equities. Platforms such as Robinhood, Kalshi and Polymarket are expanding beyond sports into macro‑economic and...
Most Influential: Pavel Durov
Telegram’s CEO Pavel Durov is positioning the messaging platform as a mainstream crypto on‑ramp by embedding a native TON blockchain wallet directly into the app. In 2025 the company raised $1.7 billion through convertible bonds, drawing interest from BlackRock, Mubadala and...
Most Influential: Sergey Nazarov
Sergey Nazarov, co‑founder of Chainlink, spent 2025 expanding the oracle network into a full‑stack infrastructure for tokenized funds, cross‑chain messaging, and real‑world data integration. Chainlink now underpins more than $27 trillion in on‑chain transaction value and powers over 70% of DeFi...
Most Influential: Roman Storm
The Manhattan trial of Tornado Cash co‑founder Roman Storm concluded with a guilty verdict on the unlicensed money‑transmitting conspiracy charge, while the other two counts hung. Prosecutors portrayed Storm as profiting from illicit use of his privacy‑preserving mixer, whereas the...
Most Influential: ZachXBT
ZachXBT remains the crypto world’s unofficial detective, using on‑chain forensics to expose fraud and recover victim funds. In 2025 he uncovered a high‑profile whale who was a convicted fraudster, linked a Monero price surge to a massive hack, and estimated...
Most Influential: Todd Blanche
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a four‑page memo directing the Department of Justice to pause "regulation by prosecution" of digital assets until regulators provide clear frameworks. The crypto industry praised the guidance as a move toward certainty, though attorneys...
Ripple Expands $1.3B RLUSD Stablecoin to Ethereum L2s via Wormhole in Multichain Push
Ripple announced that its $1.3 billion RLUSD stablecoin will be deployed on several Ethereum layer‑2 networks—including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain—using Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers protocol. The pilot phase will begin now, with a broader rollout slated for next year pending...
Kula Brings $50M of Impact Investing Onchain With Community-Governed RWA Model
Kula, a decentralized investment firm, has placed $50 million of impact‑investing capital on‑chain using a community‑governed real‑world asset (RWA) model. The firm issues governance tokens tied to projects such as a Zambian limestone concession, a Nepali hydropower plant, and East African...
Bitcoin Doesn’t Need Another Bull Run. It Needs An Economy
Bitcoin’s network is increasingly idle, with over 60% of coins unmoved for more than a year, causing on‑chain activity and fee income to drop. Miner rewards now rely heavily on block subsidies, while transaction fees contribute less than 1% of...
Real-World Asset DeFi Moves Into Sports Finance With Tokenized Football Club Revenues
The Decentral protocol on the Chiliz blockchain is launching a DeFi model that tokenizes football clubs' future media and broadcasting revenues. By converting these receivables into on‑chain assets, clubs can tap a $1 million USDC liquidity pool with a 90‑day lock‑up...
Michael Saylor's Strategy Made Second Consecutive $1B Bitcoin Purchase Last Week
MicroStrategy (MSTR) completed its second back‑to‑back roughly $1 billion Bitcoin purchase, acquiring 10,645 BTC for $980.3 million at an average $92,098 per coin. The buy raised the firm’s total holdings to 671,268 BTC, representing a cumulative $50.33 billion investment at an average cost...
Bitcoin's Parabolic Arc Snaps: Trader Peter Brandt Eyes $25K Crash Floor
Veteran trader Peter Brandt warns that Bitcoin’s signature parabolic rally has broken, opening the possibility of a sharp correction toward a $25,000 floor. The cryptocurrency peaked at $126,000 in October 2025 before retreating to just under $90,000, slicing through the...
Weekend Sell-Off Hits EdgeX’s Nasdaq-Linked Perp as $13M in Longs Liquidated
A weekend sell‑off in EdgeX’s Nasdaq‑100‑linked perpetual futures market triggered roughly $13 million in liquidations. A newly created wallet executed a six‑hour TWAP short of about $10 million, pushing the XYZ100 price down more than 3.5 % in minutes. The cascade caused a...
Fear and Greed Index in Fear 30% of the Past Year, Bitcoin Back in Extreme Fear
Bitcoin’s Crypto Fear and Greed Index has slipped to 17, placing the market in extreme‑fear territory. Over the past twelve months, fear or extreme fear accounted for more than 30% of all readings, underscoring heightened investor anxiety. A November death‑cross...
Doha Bank Issues $150M Digital Bond Using Euroclear’s DLT Platform
Doha Bank completed a $150 million digital bond that settled instantly on Euroclear’s permissioned distributed ledger platform. The bond was listed on the London Stock Exchange’s International Securities Market, with Standard Chartered serving as sole global coordinator and arranger. The issuance...
Compliance, Credibility, and Consumer Trust in the New Age of Crypto ATMs
Crypto ATMs have surged to nearly 40,000 worldwide, turning cash‑based kiosks into a primary on‑ramp for digital assets. As the network expands, regulators and industry players are tightening AML/KYC, transaction limits, and real‑time scam warnings to protect consumers, especially seniors....
YO Labs Raises $10M to Scale Cross-Chain Crypto Yield Optimization Protocol
YO Labs announced a $10 million Series A round led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Scribble Ventures, and Launchpad Capital. The capital will accelerate YO Protocol’s cross‑chain yield‑optimization platform, which automatically reallocates assets across multiple DeFi protocols based on...
From Wall Street to the World Cup: How Football Became Crypto’s Biggest Gateway Drug
Bitcoin dropped over 25% in a month, yet institutions doubled down, treating the cryptocurrency as a long‑term reserve asset. Simultaneously, football’s fan‑token ecosystem—dubbed SportFi—has expanded to nearly 100 clubs, generating daily trading volumes near $1 billion. Token prices now move minute‑by‑minute...
Spanish Authorities Bust Crypto Kidnapping Ring After Deadly Attack
Spanish police dismantled a transnational kidnapping ring that targeted a couple for access to their cryptocurrency wallets, resulting in the murder of the male victim. Five suspects were arrested in Spain and four accomplices were charged in Denmark, with two...
These Three Metrics Show Bitcoin Found Strong Support Near $80,000
Bitcoin has rebounded above $90,000, a 15% gain from its November low near $80,000, while three on‑chain cost‑basis metrics converged around the $80k‑$84k range. The True Market Mean sits near $81,000, the U.S. spot ETF cost basis is about $83,844,...
After 2025’s Test Run, Crypto IPOs Face Their Real Trial in 2026
2025 served as a test case for crypto initial public offerings, with Circle, Bullish, and Gemini successfully listing. Industry experts say the real test arrives in 2026, when investors will judge whether digital‑asset IPOs can sustain momentum amid price volatility....
NFT Project Pudgy Penguins Takes Over Las Vegas Sphere in Holiday Campaign
Pudgy Penguins, the 2021 NFT collection of 8,888 cartoon penguins, has purchased a $500,000 advertising slot on the Las Vegas Sphere for Christmas week, featuring multiple animated segments. The high‑profile placement signals the brand’s push into mainstream, real‑world consumer markets. Under...
