The Federal Reserve has a 77.9% probability of holding rates in January and a 22.1% chance of cutting by 25 basis points, CME FedWatch data show as of Dec. 20. BlockBeats reports the update from CME FedWatch.

Crypto markets recorded $125 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours, Coinglass data show. Long positions accounted for $60.7 million, while short positions totaled $64.26 million.

U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded cumulative net outflows of $497.1 million for the week ending Dec. 20, Farside data show. U.S. Ethereum spot ETFs saw net outflows of $643.9 million over the same period.

An address that lost 50 million USDT in a phishing attack filed an official case and posted an on-chain message to the attacker on December 20, on-chain researcher Specter reports. The victim stated it has gathered substantial intelligence on the attacker's activities with support from law enforcement, cybersecurity firms and blockchain protocols, and the attacker's wallet is now under 24/7 monitoring. The attacker has 48 hours to return 98% of the stolen assets to a specified address and may keep 1 million USDT as a white-hat bounty for disclosing the vulnerability, provided there is full cooperation. The victim said it will close the matter if funds are returned, but warned non-cooperation will lead to escalation through legal and international law-enforcement channels to pursue criminal and civil liability.

Two addresses linked to the same entity bought 5,678 ETH on-chain in the past hour at an average price of $2,985.7, spending $16.95M, on-chain analyst Ai 姨 (@ai_9684xtpa) reported on December 20. The entity previously executed a swing trade between December 3 and December 12, investing $14.97M and realizing a $137,000 profit.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold 55,000 KNC for 12,150 USDC and 1.05 billion MUZZ for 1.89 ETH on Dec. 20, on-chain data show. BlockBeats reports the 1.89 ETH was worth approximately $5,640.

A whale address that won only 1 of 14 ETH trades this month opened a new 25x leveraged short position about 9 hours ago, shorting 351.92 ETH worth around $1.05 million at an average entry of $2,983.47, HyperInsight data show. The position currently shows a small unrealized loss.

Strategy (MSTR.O), which holds significant Bitcoin reserves, faces potential removal from MSCI benchmarks and other major stock indices, a move that could reduce equity demand by up to $9 billion, Reuters reports. MSCI proposed in October to exclude companies whose digital asset holdings exceed 50% of total assets from its global benchmark indices, arguing such firms resemble investment funds, while affected companies contend they are operating businesses building innovative products and call the proposal discriminatory against the crypto sector. MSCI is conducting a public consultation and will announce its final decision on January 15, with analysts noting other index providers may follow if digital asset treasury companies are excluded.

A whale shorting 35,221 ETH with 15x leverage at an average entry of $3,332.52 is sitting on an unrealized profit of $12.55 million, HyperInsight data show on Dec. 20. The position, valued at about $105 million, has generated $3.14 million in funding fees, with liquidation set at $3,855.54.