In a 2026 interview, Maelstrom CIO Arthur Hayes argued that global liquidity conditions, rather than politics or regulation, were the key forces behind crypto's rally and subsequent turbulence in 2025. He attributed much of that year's momentum to DAT-driven demand and linked Bitcoin's April bottom to market reactions after a Trump administration tariff shock. Hayes keeps an aggressive 2026 base case of $250,000 for BTC and $5,000 for ETH, tied to US deficits, stealth QE, and potential banking rule changes, while warning that most altcoins could trend toward zero as capital rotates into revenue-generating protocols.

On January 16, 2026, Atomic Wallet reported online that it could not verify a user’s allegation of losing 633 Monero (around $479,000) through its platform. The company said no support ticket had been filed, screenshots were insufficient proof given Monero’s privacy, and noted unusual activity on the complainant’s X account. The user, posting as Nicolas van Saberhagen, blamed reliance on closed-source wallet software after claiming his XMR balance dropped to zero as the Monero network processed valid transactions.

On January 15, 2026, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the company has withdrawn support for the US Senate's crypto market structure bill after a 48-hour review of the Banking Committee draft. According to his post on X, the text would ban tokenized equities, constrain DeFi, expand SEC authority, weaken CFTC oversight, and curb stablecoin rewards.

In 2025, crypto saw fewer rug pulls but larger losses. Major collapses included Mantra's OM, which plunged over 90% in April as roughly $6 billion evaporated, plus Pi Network's post-mainnet dump and the MetaYield Farm disappearance. Overall theft reached $3.4 billion, with February's $1.5 billion Bybit hack and politically themed memecoins inflicting heavy damage.

Arkham Intelligence data indicates that crypto wallets associated with the US Government transferred more than $225 million in USDT, funds allegedly seized from pig-butchering fraud schemes. The size of the transfer aligns with a stablecoin seizure exceeding $225 million that the US Department of Justice disclosed in June 2025, linked to a large money-laundering network and hundreds of victims. Court documents describe how US Secret Service and FBI investigators traced hundreds of thousands of crypto transactions as part of the operation.

On December 24, 2025, India's Enforcement Directorate conducted coordinated searches under the PMLA, raiding 21 residential and office locations across Karnataka, Maharashtra, and New Delhi. The case names 4th Bloc Consultants and involves allegedly fake crypto investment platforms that targeted investors in India and abroad; no arrests have been announced.

A major Pump.fun whale moved about 3.8 billion PUMP tokens worth roughly $7.3 million to FalconX, crystallizing an estimated $12 million loss after accumulating the position between September 12 and November 4 at around $19.5 million. Over the past 90 days PUMP has fallen more than 71%, while another large holder shifted over 16 million Ethena (ENA) tokens to Coinbase Prime at a steep drawdown, underscoring broader weakness in speculative altcoins.

On December 10, 2025, Rep. Keith Self criticized House leaders over a National Defense Authorization Act deal that excluded his "Anti-CBDC Surveillance State" amendment and other anti-CBDC language. His proposal would have barred the Federal Reserve from issuing or testing a central bank digital currency or any Fed-backed digital asset and added protections for open, permissionless dollar systems. Several Republicans, including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Warren Davidson, warned that CBDCs could endanger financial freedom. The global crypto market fell by almost 2% in the past 24 hours, and Bitcoin traded around $93,682.

On December 8, 2025, India’s finance ministry renewed its push for coordinated global rules on cryptocurrencies. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said authorities have uncovered more than ₹4,190 crore ($465 million) in crypto-linked crimes in recent years. She added that tax officials have identified ₹888.82 crore in undisclosed cryptocurrency income and issued over 44,000 notices to traders in Virtual Digital Assets, according to the ministry.