In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), regional authorities are considering building cryptocurrency mining farms at the Ulugurskoye and Ergedzheyskoye gas fields operated by Ulugurneftegaz, a joint venture of Alrosa and Sakhatransneftegaz. The plan seeks to use large local gas reserves to power coin minting facilities, as Russia promotes relocating miners to remote northern regions with surplus energy and colder climates to ease pressure on grids in other areas.

On December 18, 2025, the U.S. SEC filed proposed final judgments against former FTX and Alameda executives Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh. The settlements include permanent anti-fraud injunctions, a 10-year officer/director ban for Ellison, 8-year bans for Wang and Singh, and a further five-year conduct injunction.

Updated December 20, 2025, Coinbase's 2026 Crypto Market Outlook adopts a restrained stance, comparing conditions to the mid‑1990s internet build‑out. It anticipates deeper institutional participation under frameworks such as the GENIUS and CLARITY Acts and projects stablecoin market cap could reach $1.2 trillion by 2028, while noting Bitcoin's open interest has declined.

Spot XRP ETFs have logged 25 consecutive trading days without net outflows since the Nov. 13 U.S. launch, reaching $1.070 billion in cumulative net inflows by Friday. Weekly additions of $82.04 million surpassed BTC and ETH products, which saw nearly $500 million and $650 million outflows, while Solana funds remained positive for 12 straight days.

On December 20, 2025, JPMorgan Chase's Dubravko Lakos said in a CNBC interview that the S&P 500 could climb to 8,000 in 2026 if the Federal Reserve eases more than one additional time. If the Fed delivers only one further cut, the bank's target is 7,000–7,500. Lakos added that rate reductions may support weaker parts of a "k-shaped" economy.

On December 20, a phishing incident resulted in the theft of $50 million in USDT, and the affected address is now pushing for legal action and asset recovery. The victim, working with law enforcement and on-chain researchers, has offered the attacker a $1 million white hat bounty in exchange for returning 98% of the stolen funds. The case underscores persistent security gaps in crypto markets and has drawn attention to stablecoin risks and industry protection standards.

Summit National Bank will create a $400,000 settlement fund for customers impacted by a May 2024 email-account breach that exposed names, Social Security numbers, contact details and account numbers. Eligible class members can claim up to $5,000 for documented out-of-pocket losses, plus a pro rata cash payment around $175 and three years of credit and identity monitoring, with claims due February 17, 2026.

In 2025's volatile crypto market, ChatGPT was asked to design a $1,000 portfolio for 2026 that balances liquidity, infrastructure, and growth potential. The model allocated $250 to Bitcoin and $200 to Ethereum, with the remaining funds spread across Ondo Finance, Chainlink, Celestia, Render, Kaspa, and Arbitrum. The construction favors projects tied to tokenization, scalability, and compute-heavy use cases rather than purely narrative-driven assets.