By December 24, 2025, US regulators under the Trump administration and Paul Atkins' SEC had begun expanding retail access to crypto and private credit, including within retirement plans. New spot crypto ETFs and interval funds are being fast-tracked, with expectations that more than 100 additional crypto ETFs could launch by 2026, raising concerns among advisors that everyday investors may not understand the complex risks and liquidity issues involved.

On Dec. 24, 2025, XRP community figure BearableGuy123 resurfaced with a "589"-themed image and a 2026 message. Upbit recorded three deposits totaling 51,231,999,673 SHIB within roughly eight hours, and Bitcoin's monthly Bollinger Bands show price under the midband with the lower band near $52,187.

CryptoQuant data shows that decentralized borrowing on Aave has dropped sharply since August 2025, with weekly USDT and USDC loans falling from $6.2 billion to $1.9 billion by late November. At the same time, Nexo's weekly retail credit withdrawals fell from $34 million in mid-July to $8.8 million in mid-November before rebounding to $23 million, suggesting users increasingly prefer borrowing against collateral over selling in a weak market. Overall, CeFi lenders appear to be acting as a liquidity backstop while DeFi leverage contracts.

In Q3 2025, US GDP rose 4.3% while core PCE hit 2.9% quarter-over-quarter, pointing to a Goldilocks-style backdrop of strong growth and easing inflation. Against this macro setup, large investors are building positions in Ethereum, Sui, Worldcoin, Hyperliquid and presale token Bitcoin Hyper, with several wallets committing multi-million-dollar sums. The combination of supportive data and whale accumulation is driving speculation about the next major crypto bull phase.

US exchange-traded funds amassed $1.4 trillion of net inflows in 2025, with more than 1,000 new products debuting and trading activity reaching annual highs. On December 23, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a $189 million net outflow, led by BlackRock’s IBIT at $157 million, while Ethereum spot ETFs saw $95.52 million exit.

In 2025, data from Memento Research shows that 118 major token generation events took place and 100 of those tokens, or 84.7%, now trade beneath their opening fully diluted valuations, with the median drawdown at 71%. Analysts link this to a "low float, high FDV" launch model, a liquidity vacuum created by ETF-driven flows into Bitcoin and Ethereum, and a shift in institutional behavior as liquid funds reportedly stopped buying new tokens at TGE over two years ago.

On December 23, 2025, the Central Bank of Russia published a draft framework for cryptocurrency investing that introduces separate rules for qualified and unqualified investors. The proposal caps annual investments by unqualified investors at 300,000 rubles in highly liquid assets subject to a basic test, while qualified investors may access non-anonymous tokens after risk checks, with full regulatory rollout targeted between July 2026 and July 2027.

On 24 Dec 2025, Spain confirmed it will apply the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework from July 2026 instead of the earlier December 2025 target. Crypto-asset service providers will have up to 18 months from the main MiCA start date in late 2024 to obtain authorisation or cease serving Spanish clients. The revised timetable aligns Spain with the maximum transition period allowed under supervisory guidance.