Following Coinbase’s Dec. 17 system update, JPMorgan and Benchmark said the company’s broadened product slate strengthens the upside case for COIN by expanding use cases and engagement. Benchmark reiterated a Buy rating and a $421 target, while analysts highlighted stock trading, prediction markets, and derivatives aimed at reducing reliance on spot crypto volumes; Deutsche Bank recently initiated with Buy and a $340 target.

On 18 December 2025, Cardano's ADA fell about 6% in 24 hours and nearly 17% over the week, trading close to 90% under its $3.10 all-time high from 2021. Technical indicators show weak momentum and persistent selling, while a governance vote approved a ₳70 million Critical Integrations Budget that has yet to meaningfully improve market sentiment. The funding aims to boost interoperability and real-world use cases, but investors remain focused on whether development progress can eventually translate into price recovery.

On 18 December 2025, Bitcoin dipped toward $84,000, extending its weekly decline beyond 7%, while Ethereum's seven‑day loss topped 13%. Derivatives liquidations over the past 24 hours exceeded $513 million, led by $167 million in BTC and roughly $127 million in ETH, as RSI and MACD on the 4‑hour chart pointed to persistent bearish momentum.

Bitcoin is trading around $85,600 after November CPI came in softer, while on December 18, 2025 the Bank of England cut rates and the ECB left key rates unchanged. A daily close below $85,000 risks a slide toward $83,000–$80,600, whereas reclaiming $90,200 would be an early sign of stabilization.

SoFi Bank introduced SoFiUSD on December 18, 2025, positioning a USD-pegged, fully reserved stablecoin for banks and fintechs, according to a company statement. The firm says it runs on a public, permissionless blockchain with near-instant, 24/7 settlement, and reserves are held in cash at the Federal Reserve with 1:1 redemption.

On December 18, 2025, Wall Street economists questioned the reliability of November's CPI after a six‑week government shutdown curtailed data collection. According to Cryptopolitan, headline inflation was 2.7% versus a 3.1% forecast, with core at 2.6% against 3.0%, figures the BLS compiled with extensive imputation. Markets initially reacted but the moves faded.

Claims of a renewed Xinjiang mining crackdown spread this week, but the Miner Weekly by TheMinerMag shows the Bitcoin hashrate drop was brief and overlapped with U.S. power curtailments. Most pools rebounded within days, leaving a net decline of roughly 20 exahashes per second versus early talk of approximately 100 EH/s.

On December 18, 2025, Chainlink announced a partnership with 24 major financial institutions to deploy an infrastructure aimed at improving corporate actions processing. The system uses the Chainlink oracle network, blockchains, and AI to extract, validate, and distribute corporate actions data across multiple chains. The initiative builds on a prior Phase 1 project and is moving into Phase 2, which targets faster, more accurate, and standardized delivery of corporate actions information for asset managers.