Ripple’s dispute with the SEC concluded in 2025, preserving Judge Analisa Torres’s earlier findings on XRP’s secondary‑market trading. Under the final framework, Ripple agreed to a $125 million civil penalty tied to past institutional sales. XRP briefly rallied into the $3 range before hovering near $1.93 amid mixed broader market conditions.

Bitcoin is trading in a consolidation range beneath a descending trendline, with price capped under the $95K supply zone and supported around $80K. On lower timeframes, $85K and $90K have emerged as important short‑term levels, while a notable liquidation cluster above $90K points to potential absorption rather than a clean breakout. Until these technical and liquidity zones are convincingly broken, the market structure leans neutral to slightly bearish.

On December 21, 2025, SantaStealer was detailed as a malware-as-a-service that prioritizes crypto wallets. It is promoted on Telegram and hacker forums with monthly plans at $175 (Basic) and $300 (Premium). Rapid7 links it to BluelineStealer and notes weak evasion, while data is exfiltrated in 10MB chunks over port 6767.

U.S. Reps. Max Miller (Ohio) and Steven Horsford (Nevada) proposed a de minimis tax exemption for stablecoin payments of $200 or less. In July 2025, Sen. Cynthia Lummis advanced a similar $300 threshold that failed to pass. Banks oppose 3%-4% stablecoin yields, while industry leaders, including Tyler Winklevoss, are pushing back.

On December 21, 2025, Binance Futures launched USDS-margined perpetual contracts for ZKPUSDT, GUAUSDT and IRUSDT with leverage of up to 40x. The new instruments expand Binance's derivatives lineup and may affect trading strategies and liquidity for the underlying tokens as traders access higher-risk, leveraged exposure.

On Friday, Santiment founder Maksim Balashevich said in a YouTube video that Bitcoin could slide toward $75,000, arguing social media sentiment is still overly confident for a lasting bottom. BTC traded near $88,000 at the time, according to CoinMarketCap, implying roughly a 15% downside, while Japan's 0.75% rate hike may add short-term pressure.

ETH remains below $3,000 after pronounced 2025 swings. Whales sold $360 million over the past week and spot Ethereum ETFs logged seven straight days of outflows since December 11, with net inflows down to under $12.5 billion. On-chain data shows daily new addresses spiking above 190,000 in December, hinting at returning retail interest.

On 21 December 2025, Anthony Scaramucci reiterated his long-term bullish stance on Solana, arguing at the Solana Breakpoint conference that SOL could eventually climb to $2,500 despite recent market weakness. He attributed the token's underperformance and broader altcoin slowdown in 2025 to inflation, regulatory delays, and a strong focus on stablecoins. Scaramucci stressed that any move toward this target would likely be volatile and heavily influenced by macroeconomic and regulatory developments rather than short-term hype.