Aave stated on December 16 that the SEC had closed its four-year investigation, referencing a letter the team received in mid-August. Founder Stani Kulechov said the process drained resources and declared "DeFi will win." Following the update, AAVE fell about 4% to $183, while Binance Altcoin Netflow pointed to exchange outflows and possible accumulation below $200.

On December 17, 2025, Whale Alert tracked a 3,000 BTC transfer worth $260,387,071 into Binance's "15KX2" deposit address. Arkham tied the sending wallets to Matrixport, and two Matrixport-linked wallets moved about 4,000 BTC ($347.56 million) to Binance the same day. Bitcoin hovered near $86,600, with no confirmed spot selling visible in the order book.

HashKey, described as Hong Kong’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, began trading on the HKEX main board on Wednesday after completing a $206 million IPO. The deal was sharply oversubscribed across retail and international tranches, but the first trading session saw the share price briefly rise before slipping below the IPO level. The offering, which sold 240 million shares and attracted nine cornerstone investors, is seen as part of a broader lineup of crypto firms targeting public listings in 2025.

On 17 December 2025, Russian authorities restated that cryptocurrencies cannot be used for domestic payments, and the ruble remains the sole legal medium of exchange. According to Anatoly Aksakov, chair of the State Duma's Financial Markets Committee, digital assets may be held and traded as investments but will not be treated as money within Russia.

On December 17, 2025, the article highlights a cooling white-collar labor market as the Labor Department put unemployment at 4.6% following Tuesday's report, with tech and finance shedding roles in October and November. A November New York Fed survey shows degree holders now assign a 15% layoff risk versus 11% three years ago, and only 47% expect to find new work within three months, down from 60%.

KuCoin announced an exclusive multiyear partnership with Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium for 2026–2028, becoming the festivals' sole crypto and payments partner. The initiative follows KuCoin EU Exchange obtaining a MiCA crypto asset service provider license in Austria and will embed digital payment rails across ticketing, merchandise, and onsite purchases.

Bhutan unveiled a Bitcoin Development Pledge on Tuesday, committing up to 10,000 BTC worth about $1 billion to fund Gelephu Mindfulness City. The plan uses collateralized lending and risk-managed yield to finance infrastructure while keeping sovereign holdings intact. King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck announced it during his National Day Address.

Bitcoin is trading around $86,500 after nearly a 30% slide from its October high above $126,000. Analysts say a decisive break above $88,000 is needed, or attention may shift to $83,000 and $80,000, with some highlighting a deeper $72,000–$75,000 area. Longer-term signals turned cautious as weekly Supertrend support was lost and liquidations drove recent downside.