Fundstrat’s head of digital asset strategy Sean Farrell has told private clients that Bitcoin could retreat to a $60,000-$65,000 range in the first half of 2026, with Ethereum and Solana also projected to revisit significantly lower levels. The call follows a prolonged failure by Bitcoin to reclaim $100,000, weakening technical indicators, and U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reportedly turning into net sellers in Q4 2025.

A crypto user mistakenly sent 49,999,950 USDT to a look‑alike address, an incident attributed to address poisoning, according to SlowMist. The funds were rapidly moved into ETH, split across wallets, and partly routed via Tornado Cash; on December 20, 2025, Cos shared the involved addresses. The wallet had been active about two years with frequent USDT transfers.

Led by the Blockchain Association, 125 crypto and fintech organizations sent a letter on December 18, 2025 to Senate Banking leaders Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren opposing efforts to widen the GENIUS Act's stablecoin yield ban beyond issuer payments. The coalition argued the move would suppress consumer rewards and shield traditional banks, and disputed Treasury's $6.6 trillion deposit-flight projection.

On December 19, the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 0.75%, the highest level in around 30 years, while indicating real rates would remain deeply negative. Bitcoin briefly slipped below $86,000 after the announcement but rebounded to trade above $87,000–$88,000 as analysts debated how Japan’s tightening, diverging from anticipated Fed cuts in early 2026, could shape near-term crypto volatility and price targets up to $200,000.

On December 18, 2025, Aptos outlined AIP-137 introducing SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s as its first post-quantum signature option, according to an Aptos post. The scheme yields 7,856-byte signatures and about 294-microsecond verification, trading efficiency for security while keeping Ed25519 as the default. Governance can enable the new scheme when quantum risks warrant activation.

Intercontinental Exchange is in discussions to take a stake in MoonPay as part of a new funding round that could value the crypto payments company near $5 billion. MoonPay has been expanding into regulated custody via a New York Limited Purpose Trust Charter and broadening partnerships, while ICE builds its digital asset footprint through Bakkt, Polymarket and Chainlink.

Coinbase has obtained approval from India's Competition Commission to acquire a $2.45 billion minority stake in CoinDCX, strengthening its push into India and the wider Middle East. The deal follows CoinDCX's $44 million security breach in July and comes as Coinbase resumes direct operations in India after a two-year pause, with plans to add rupee deposits and fiat trading by 2026.

On-chain data shows Bitcoin active wallets have dropped to 2023 lows while the Fear & Greed Index has fallen to 11, pointing to extreme fear and thinning liquidity as the year-end approaches. Analysts note that Bitcoin’s price is hovering near $86,000 above the $81,500 True Market Mean Price, identifying $81,000 as key downside support and $100,000 as the level that must be reclaimed to negate bearish momentum.

On Tuesday, American Bitcoin Corp said its bitcoin holdings now exceed 5,000 BTC after adding another 54 BTC, placing the firm among the top 20 public bitcoin treasuries. Bitcoin is consolidating near $85,000–$87,000 as whales amassed 269,822 BTC worth $23.3 billion over the past 30 days, with traders eyeing a potential push toward $95,000 before December's end.