1 hour ago
Bitcoin’s terms continued to autumn arsenic 2025 neared its end, declining 4% successful December.
Despite a slump successful markets, Strategy capped disconnected the twelvemonth with monolithic Bitcoin buys. In December alone, the bundle institution turned Bitcoin concern conveyance picked up implicit 22,000 Bitcoin (BTC).
In the US, prediction markets are inking deals with large media outlets and scoring approvals from large national agencies. However, successful 11 states, gambling and gaming regulators are taking ineligible enactment against platforms similar Kalshi and Polymarket. Watchdogs authorities that specified markets represent a signifier of gambling, a assertion the companies themselves dispute.
As crypto grows much mainstream, hackers and scammers are progressively targeting investors and protocols. In December, crypto exploits topped $22.5 million. Chainalysis besides released its yearly scam report, stating that crypto thefts deed $3.4 cardinal successful 2025.
Here’s December by the numbers:
Strategy accumulates implicit 22,000 Bitcoin
Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin concern vehicle, Strategy, picked up different stack of Bitcoin successful December. The publically traded institution bought 22,628 BTC this month, according to Strategy’s Bitcoin acquisition disclosures.
This brings the company’s full Bitcoin holdings to 672,497 BTC, oregon astir 3.3% of the 19.9 cardinal Bitcoin presently successful circulation.
The purchases successful December capped disconnected a twelvemonth of assertive accumulation by Strategy. The institution disclosed Bitcoin purchases successful 41 abstracted weeks of 2025. That’s a marked summation from 18 weeks successful 2024 and conscionable 8 successful 2023.
Related: Strategy’s latest 2025 Bitcoin acquisition caps progressive twelvemonth of accumulation
Strategy’s occurrence successful offering indebtedness to money caller Bitcoin purchases has inspired different companies to go “Bitcoin treasury firms” — i.e., companies that clasp Bitcoin connected their equilibrium sheets. According to BitcoinTreasuries.net, 192 nationalist companies hold astir 1.1 cardinal BTC successful their treasuries.
Bitcoin terms slumps 4%
Bitcoin’s terms fell implicit 4% this period and is trading astatine $88,000 astatine publishing time. The plus is slated to extremity the twelvemonth down beneath wherever it started, astir $94,000, and good beneath its all-time precocious of $124,000 acceptable successful October.
Date arsenic collected and existent arsenic of Dec. 30.Some traders say that Bitcoin is acceptable for further losses, perchance down to $40,000; that is, if the traditionally understood four-year boom-and-bust rhythm is inactive intact.
Not everyone is convinced, though. Nick Ruck, manager of LVRG Research, antecedently told Cointelegraph that organization request done things similar exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and firm treasuries has softened the blow.
“While the bull marketplace whitethorn look near-term consolidation amid macroeconomic pressures, we expect it volition widen into 2026 with enactment from ongoing structural inflows and evolving marketplace dynamics,” helium said.
Betting markets look ineligible battles successful 11 states
Betting markets are making headway successful the US. On Dec. 4, CNBC signed a declaration with Kalshi to integrate real-time forecasting information from the betting marketplace connected CNBC’s TV, integer and subscription platforms.
But authorities regulators are not pleased. That aforesaid week, Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection sent letters to Kalshi, Crypto.com and Robinhood, ordering them to cease operations successful the state. There are present 11 states successful which prediction markets are facing ineligible enactment from regulators.
Kalshi likewise received cease-and-desist letters successful Ohio, Illinois, Arizona, Montana and New York. Regulators successful those states cited that the marketplace was offering unlicensed gambling, a assertion that Kalshi rejects.
In Massachusetts, authorities prosecutors claim that Kalshi has disguised sports betting arsenic “event contracts.” Kalshi said the authorities is “trying to artifact Kalshi’s innovations by relying connected outdated laws and ideas.”
A spokesperson for the institution antecedently told Cointelegraph, “It’s precise antithetic from what state-regulated sportsbooks and casinos connection their customers. We are assured successful our ineligible arguments and person filed suit successful national court.”
Scammers stole $22.5 cardinal successful crypto successful December
In December, hackers made distant with $22.5 cardinal crossed 10 incidents, according to information from DefiLlama, a driblet successful the bucket compared with different months this year.
In February, hackers stole $1.4 cardinal successful assets from the crypto speech Bybit. Blockchain analytics steadfast Chainalysis said successful its yearly crypto hack study that this year’s crypto thefts totaled $3.4 billion. It added that idiosyncratic wallet attacks person “grown substantially, expanding from conscionable 7.3% of full stolen worth successful 2022 to 44% successful 2024. In 2025, the stock would person been 37% if it weren’t for the outsized interaction of the Bybit attack.”
Sophisticated attacks from state-sponsored actors person been a peculiar occupation for large, centralized organizations similar crypto exchanges. Cybercriminals associated with the authorities of North Korea reportedly stole $2.02 cardinal successful cryptocurrency this year.
RWAs overtook DEXs with $19 cardinal successful distributed plus value
The full distributed plus worth of real-world assets (RWAs) rose 3% successful December, surpassing $19 billion. The largest conception of these assets is tokenized US Treasurys astatine $8.7 billion, followed by commodities astatine $3.5 billion.
This places RWAs arsenic the fifth-largest plus class successful decentralized concern by full worth locked, according to DefiLlama, overtaking decentralized exchanges (DEXs).
“At the commencement of this year, they weren’t adjacent successful the apical 10 categories,” DeFiLlama noted.
A fig of tokenized money products similar the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), Circle’s USYC, Franklin Templeton’s BENJI and Ondo’s OUSG are driving accrued valuation with tokenized Treasurys.
Vincent Liu, main concern serviceman of Kronos Research, antecedently told Cointelegraph that for further maturation successful RWAs, “the constraint is nary longer tokenization itself, but liquidity and integration into TradFi.”
Magazine: Big questions: Would Bitcoin past a 10-year powerfulness outage?
English (US) 