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.

In its newly released 2026 outlook, crypto analytics firm Presto Research projects Bitcoin could climb to $160,000 and expects tokenized assets and stablecoins to approach $490 billion in value. The report anticipates a maturing market shaped by institutional adoption, confidential DeFi reaching $10 billion, and growing focus on regulation-ready products and measurable cash flows.

On December 20, 2025, Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina said cryptocurrency mining is among the factors supporting the ruble’s strength. She noted the sector’s gray-market share makes its impact hard to measure. The ruble was a little over 80 per U.S. dollar, after rising above 110 in January and touching around 76 earlier in December.

On December 20 2025, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky detailed a new infostealer malware called Stealka that is being distributed through pirated mods and cheats for Roblox and other Windows games. The malware targets browser data, crypto wallet extensions, standalone wallet apps, password managers, 2FA tools, and messaging and VPN clients to capture credentials and digital assets. Kaspersky reported detections mainly in Russia with cases also seen in Türkiye, Brazil, Germany, and India, and urged users to avoid unofficial mods, secure their accounts, and limit sensitive data stored in browsers.

Bitcoin is trading above $88,000 after several failed attempts to break $89,500 and earlier rejections near $94,500, while its market capitalization stays above $1.750 trillion. ZEC has recorded another double-digit price increase to above $450, as major altcoins such as Ethereum, XRP, ADA, DOGE, HYPE, CRO, UNI, and CC also post notable daily gains.

On December 20, 2025, performance data showed gold and silver-focused funds led 2025 rankings. Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund returned 184.33%, with multiple UK and EU strategies posting gains above 150%. Record gold above $4,300/oz and silver crossing $60/oz were cited as drivers, alongside easing-rate expectations and macro uncertainty.

On December 19, 2025, the U.S. SEC filed proposed final consent judgments in the Southern District of New York against Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh. The trio consented, without admitting or denying, to permanent antifraud injunctions under Section 17(a), Section 10(b), and Rule 10b-5, plus five-year conduct-based limits and multi-year officer/director bans tied to alleged misuse of FTX customer funds.