Doohyun Hwang

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance added four assets, including Flow (FLOW), to the 'Monitoring Tag' list. On the 2nd (local time), Binance announced in a notice that it would apply the Monitoring Tag to four assets: Acala token (ACA), Dal Open Network (D), Streamr (DATA), and Flow (FLOW). Binance's Monitoring Tag is assigned to projects with significantly higher volatility or greater risk compared to regular tokens. Binance warned, "Tokens with a Monitoring Tag will be subject to regular review and may be at risk of delisting if they fail to meet the exchange's listing maintenance criteria." Under this measure, investors who wish to trade these tokens must pass a quiz held on Binance's spot or margin exchange and agree to the terms of use every 90 days. This is a procedure to confirm that investors have sufficiently understood the risks of the asset before trading.

Tom Lee, Bitmain chairman, proposed to shareholders to dramatically increase the company's authorized shares from the existing 500 million shares to 50 billion shares. It is a preemptive measure to prevent the stock from becoming excessively expensive in the event of a future surge in the price of Ethereum (ETH), and to manage liquidity through measures such as a stock split. On the 2nd (local time), according to The Block, Lee said in a recent YouTube video, "We want to increase the currently approved 500 million shares to 50 billion shares." The market took this proposed increase as good news. That day Bitmain's stock surged 14% to close at $30.93. Lee cited promoting capital market activity, preparing for mergers and acquisitions, and "maintaining an appropriate stock price" as the main reasons for the proposal. He said, "Bitmain's stock price follows the price of Ethereum," and "If the price of Ethereum rises, Bitmain's shares could become so expensive that ordinary investors would find them difficult to access." He also presented a specific scenario. Lee estimated, "If Ethereum rises to $22,000, Bitmain's stock would be $500; if Ethereum reaches $62,500, the stock would soar to about $1,500." He added, "Not every investor wants stocks priced at $500 or $5,000," and "Most want the stock to remain around $25." Bitmain is the world's largest Ethereum digital asset treasury (DAT) company, holding about 3.41% of Ethereum's circulating supply. Last week it also purchased an additional 44,463 ETH, bringing total holdings to 4,110,525 ETH. The shareholder vote deadline for this capital increase proposal is the 14th.

Analysis has suggested that Bitcoin entered a bear market already two months ago. On the 1st (local time), Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, appeared on the YouTube channel 'Milk Road' and said, "Bitcoin's price has moved below the 1-year moving average (12-month average price)," adding, "this is a technical indicator that confirms entry into a bear market." He explained, "Our own 'bull market score indicator', which combines network activity, investor profitability, liquidity, etc., turned bearish from early November last year and has not yet recovered." In fact, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $126,199 in October last year but gave back gains afterwards and finished the year at a price lower than the year's opening price ($93,576). As of that day, Bitcoin was trading around $88,700. Moreno suggested the bottom of this bear market would be in the $56,000 to $60,000 range. This figure is calculated based on the 'realized price (the average purchase price of all Bitcoin holders)'. He analyzed, "Looking at past cases, prices in bear markets tend to fall to the realized price level," adding, "this represents a decline of about 55% from the peak, which shows more positive resilience compared to past downturns that plunged 70~80%." However, evaluations say that the market's structural soundness has improved compared to the past. There are no major systemic risks like the 2022 Terra-Luna incident or the FTX bankruptcy, and institutional funds through spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are supporting the market. Moreno added, "In previous bear markets demand contracted sharply, but now there is structural demand from institutions and ETFs that buy periodically," adding, "they are absorbing sell pressure and reducing market volatility."

As the crypto assets (cryptocurrencies) market staged a short-term rebound, short sellers who had bet on declines were largely forced into liquidation. Although the price gains were limited, heavy concentrations of short positions meant liquidations concentrated even on the brief rebound, increasing volatility. According to a crypto asset data platform, on the 1st (local time) during the past hour, large-scale futures liquidations centered on short positions occurred across major assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP). In both liquidation amounts and number of traders liquidated, short positions were overwhelmingly dominant. Bitcoin, in the process of recording $88,777, up 0.89%, saw short-position liquidations of about $1.01 million and 132 traders liquidated. During the same period, long-position liquidations amounted to about $900,000, but only 10 traders were liquidated. Ethereum showed a similar trend. Ethereum rose about 1% and briefly surpassed the $3,000 level intraday. Short-position liquidations amounted to about $1.00 million and 207 traders were liquidated. By contrast, long positions were about $640,000, with only 6 traders liquidated. Solana (SOL) rose 1.6% to reclaim the $127 level, during which short-position liquidations amounted to about $270,000 and 94 traders were liquidated. Long-position liquidations were about $630,000, but only 5 traders were liquidated. XRP also rose 2.17%, with short-position liquidations totaling $19,730 and 37 traders liquidated — far more than long positions ($2,100, 3 traders).

In the Ethereum (ETH) market, buying pressure is overwhelming selling pressure and investor sentiment is showing signs of recovery. Analysts say aggressive buying is flowing in at relatively low price levels. On the 1st (local time), according to data from CryptoOnChain, Binance-based Ethereum's taker (Taker·market) buy/sell ratio over the past two weeks rose to 1.005. This is the highest figure since July last year. The taker buy/sell ratio exceeding 1 means that the volume of buy orders executed at market price has outpaced sell orders. In other words, it indicates that investors are actively buying Ethereum at the current price levels. CryptoOnChain noted, "It should be noted that this phenomenon occurred when Ethereum's price was relatively low," and explained, "Historically, a sustained dominance of taker buy orders has often acted as a leading signal of bullish volatility." It added, "If the current buying dominance continues, it could become a strong support for a price rebound," while also saying, "additional indicator confirmation is necessary for a definite trend reversal." On the day, Ethereum was trading in the $3,000 range on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, up 0.7% from the previous day.

With the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed)'s monetary easing supplying liquidity to global markets, there are forecasts that Bitcoin will benefit this year. The analysis suggests that risk-asset investor sentiment, which had been dampened by tightening, will be revived. On the 1st (local time), Bill Barhydt, CEO of Abra, said in an interview with Schwab Network, "The Fed is already laying the groundwork for accommodative policy." Barhydt described the Fed's recent moves as a 'QE (quantitative easing) light version.' He said, "The Fed has begun buying bonds on its own to support demand for Treasuries," and explained, "Next year, with interest rates likely to fall and demand for Treasuries likely to decrease, this combination is a positive signal for all assets, including Bitcoin." Besides liquidity supply, he cited U.S. regulatory clarity and increased participation by institutional investors as upward drivers. Barhydt said, "With low interest rates and clearer regulations coming together, the digital asset market will show strong growth for years," predicting that this rise will not be a one-off cycle. However, some note that it is too early to expect a sharp rate cut immediately. According to CME FedWatch, traders see a 14.9% chance of a rate cut at the January Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. This is a sharp drop from 23% in November, suggesting that a policy pivot could be delayed compared to market expectations. A cautious view also holds that Bitcoin will show a steady upward trend rather than an explosive surge. Matt Hogan, Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer (CIO), said in an interview last week, "Bitcoin will show strong but gradual gains over the next 10 years." He added, "Expect lower volatility and steady performance rather than the explosive returns seen in past cycles."

The Flow (FLOW) Foundation is accelerating recovery efforts for a hacking loss of $3.9 million while raising suspicions that a specific centralized exchange (CEX) aided money laundering. On the 1st (local time), the Flow Foundation said on its official X that "the recovery plan has made significant progress and has entered phase 2." This is a follow-up measure after fully abandoning the blockchain rollback (reversal) option that was initially under consideration. Previously, the foundation had proposed rolling the network back to a point before the incident to recover the hacking losses, but the proposal faced strong criticism from the community that it "would undermine decentralization values and pose security risks." The foundation said, "Developers have secured a path to restore Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) functionality," and explained that "recovery work on its native language, Cadence (Cadence), and the EVM will proceed simultaneously." According to the foundation, all recovery processes will be transparently disclosed via a block explorer, and the community governance committee is executing clean-up transactions with validators' approval. The foundation also strongly criticized the response of a certain unnamed exchange in relation to the incident. In a post-incident report, the foundation pointed out, "Immediately after the hack, a single account deposited 150 million FLOW, equivalent to 10% of the total supply, into that exchange," and "this account exchanged a substantial amount into Bitcoin (BTC) within just a few hours and withdrew more than $5 million." It added, "These trading patterns are a clear failure of anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) measures," and "the exchange shifted financial risk onto users who bought the fraudulent token." The foundation requested an explanation of the trading patterns from the exchange but reportedly received no response.

Bitcoin outlook for next year: 'polar extremes' "Record highs achieved" vs "Worsening downtrend" JP Morgan·Standard Chartered "Spot ETF a strong support" Bloomberg·Barclays "Decline due to high-rate burden" There is a split in industry forecasts over Bitcoin (BTC) price movement next year. While some are optimistic that institutional inflows centered on spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will support prices, cautious views warning of a prolonged correction due to the macroeconomic environment and market maturation are also strong. Bitcoin has recently continued range-bound movement without a clear direction. Since the 13th it has repeatedly failed to settle at $90,000 and has been moving sideways between about $85,000 and $90,000 for roughly three weeks. On the 28th, it temporarily broke above $90,000 on the Binance Tether (USDT) market in an attempted rebound, but gave back most of the gains the next day. As of the 29th (local time), Bitcoin was trading at $87,470, down 2.8% from the previous day. "Rises next year...spot ETFs will lead the uptrend" Institutions offering bullish forecasts commonly cite structural demand centered on spot ETFs as the main rationale. Standard Chartered, JP Morgan, Bernstein, and Citigroup are representative names. Standard Chartered lowered next year's Bitcoin target from $300,000 to $150,000 but still expects a continuation of record-high runs. Jeffrey Kendrick, head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said, "Bitcoin will continue to make higher highs, but the pace of gains will be slower than in the past," and assessed that "the recent decline is not an abnormal collapse but a normal corrective phase." He also emphasized that "Bitcoin has not entered a long-term down phase like the past four-year cycles" and that "buying through ETFs will be a central pillar supporting prices." US investment bank Bernstein likewise judged that Bitcoin has moved away from the previous four-year cycle pattern into a long-term bullish phase. It analyzed that persistent institutional buying is offsetting retail selling. Bernstein said, "Even with about a 30% correction, ETF outflows remained below 5%," and set targets of $150,000 and $200,000 for 2026 and 2027, respectively. It also maintained a long-term $1,000,000 outlook for 2033. JP Morgan offered a more aggressive view. Based on a volatility-adjusted Bitcoin-to-gold comparison metric, it said Bitcoin could rise to $170,000 within the next 12 months. JP Morgan analyzed, "Bitcoin's price action is becoming increasingly similar to gold," and that "there is roughly 84% upside potential over the next 6–12 months." JP Morgan also said the behavior of the Strategy will be an important variable for Bitcoin prices. JP Morgan noted, "The Strategy recently secured about $1.4 billion in cash, which could cover dividend and interest payments for the next two years," and assessed that "the likelihood of Bitcoin sales has greatly decreased." It added, "If the Strategy remains in the MSCI index scheduled for the 15th of next month, Bitcoin could reach new record highs again," but warned, "if excluded, outflows of about $2.8 billion could occur." Citigroup also viewed ETFs and regulatory improvements positively. Citi forecast Bitcoin could rise to up to $143,000 by next year and expected roughly $15 billion to flow into spot ETFs over the next 12 months. It also analyzed that the 'Clarity bill,' which would grant crypto supervisory authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), would provide institutional investors with clear rules and increase investment confidence. "High rates and market maturation burden"…possibility of crash Those presenting bearish forecasts see the high-rate environment and structural market changes as potential long-term burdens for Bitcoin. Fundstrat, Bloomberg Intelligence, and Barclays are representative. Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat, said in an internal report that the crypto market could face a severe correction in the first half of next year. Fundstrat projected Bitcoin could fall to $60,000–$65,000, Ethereum to $1,800–$2,000, and Solana to $50–$75. These levels are well below current market expectations. Mike McGlone, senior commodity strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, presented a more conservative scenario. He said, "As competition in the digital asset market intensifies and the market enters a maturation phase, downside risk for Bitcoin could persist," and that "Bitcoin could drop to around $50,000." He also noted that if gold continues to perform strongly next year, it could weigh on stocks and the broader crypto market. In a worsening macroeconomic environment—such as declines in oil and copper prices—an extreme scenario of Bitcoin plunging to $10,000 cannot be ruled out. Barclays pointed to a slowdown in crypto market activity. It said overall crypto trading volumes are likely to decline next year, and spot trading volumes on major platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood have already noticeably decreased. Barclays assessed, "Much of the U.S. crypto-friendly environment is already priced in," and "without a clear catalyst, 2026 could be a weak year for the crypto market."

Crypto Now "Fundamentals at their best, sentiment will turn around" "If the market does not recover, it may be pushed to 60,000 dollars" Around Christmas, after expectations for a 'Santa rally' in the digital asset market went unmet, major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have continued to consolidate within a narrow range. Market attention is now focused on whether institutional investors' portfolio reshuffling in the first quarter of next year will lead to a rebound. According to CoinMarketCap on the 28th, Bitcoin recently showed 1% percentage-point volatility and traded at the 88,000-dollar level. Around Christmas it briefly fell into the 86,000-dollar range, dampening investor sentiment, but there was no sharp sell-off. Despite price stagnation, experts are paying attention to internal improvements in the market. According to CryptoQuant, whale (large investor) funds flowing into Binance this month have plunged by about 50% compared to the previous month. This suggests that a significant portion of the short-term selling pressure that had been weighing on the market has been resolved. Pong Li, Strategy CEO (CEO), said, "Bitcoin's fundamentals are at an all-time high," adding that "this is a time to focus on long-term intrinsic value rather than short-term price volatility." Global asset manager VanEck also pointed to Bitcoin's relatively poor performance versus the Nasdaq this year, identifying it as an asset that would show the most elastic rebound when liquidity is supplied. Market outlooks for early next year are mixed. Optimists expect that institutional investors' 'portfolio rebalancing' funds in the first quarter of next year will become a powerful catalyst for the market. CoinCare predicted, "Once the year-end liquidity gap passes, new institutional funds will flow in early next year and sentiment will reverse." Cautionary views are also strong. Jeff Park, an adviser at Bitwise, warned, "If volatility does not pick up, meaningful sharp rises may be difficult next year as well." Research firm Fundstrat said in a recent report, "If market momentum is not restored, Bitcoin's price could be pushed down to 60,000 dollars in the first half of next year."

Decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap (UNI) permanently burned 100 million of its own tokens following the passage of a governance proposal. Valued at about $596 million at market prices, it was recorded as one of the largest burns in DeFi protocol history. On the 27th (local time), Uniswap completed a burn transaction that permanently removed 100 million UNI from the protocol treasury. This was a follow-up to the previously passed fee burn proposal, "UNIfication." The proposal passed with more than 125 million votes in favor and was approved with an overwhelming 99.9% support rate. There were only 742 votes against. Industry figures including Jesse Walden, founder of Variant; Kain Warwick, founder of Infinex; and Ian Lapham, a former Uniswap Labs engineer, also expressed support. Uniswap Labs said, "UNIfication has been formally executed on-chain," and added, "The interface fee previously charged by Uniswap Labs has been adjusted to 0, and protocol fees arising from some v3 pools on Uniswap v2 and the Ethereum mainnet have been activated." Fees generated on Unichain will also be used as burn funds after operating costs are deducted. The market reacted immediately to the large-scale burn. On Binance Tether (in the USDT market), UNI's price rose more than 5% over the past 24 hours, breaking above $6. The burn reduced UNI's circulating supply to about 730 million out of a total supply of 1 billion. Meanwhile, separate from the burn, the Uniswap Foundation plans to continue supporting ecosystem expansion. The foundation said, "The developer support program will continue without interruption" and "we plan to establish and allocate a 20 million UNI growth budget for ecosystem development and expansion."

In the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market, while large amounts of capital flowed out of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), which rank first and second by market capitalization, buying pressure concentrated on major altcoins such as Solana (SOL) and Tron (TRX). On the 27th, according to cryptocurrency data analytics platform CoinGlass, over the past 24 hours, excluding stablecoins, Solana took first place in net inflows. Solana recorded a total net inflow of $12,513,800 during the day, receiving the most investor interest. Tron followed with net inflows of $12,242,700, ranking second. Third was Sui (SUI) with net inflows of $6,762,700. Next, Cardano (ADA) recorded net inflows of $4,840,500, and Zcash (ZEC) recorded net inflows of $4,617,500, placing them fourth and fifth respectively. Meanwhile, market-leading assets faced heavy selling pressure. Bitcoin experienced net outflows of $64,895,300 over the past 24 hours, marking the largest sell-off among all assets. This is about three times the net outflows of Ethereum, which ranked second with net outflows of $22,364,300. GAS recorded net outflows of $10,838,100, ranking third, and Flow (FLOW) saw $8,931,200 in outflows, placing it among the top net outflows.

Bitcoin (BTC) is expected to show steady gains over the next 10 years, but it will be difficult to record the explosive returns seen in the past. As the market enters a mature phase, volatility is expected to decrease and an institutional-led, gradual upward trend is expected. On the 27th (local time), Matt Hogan, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Bitwise, said in an interview with CNBC, "Bitcoin will draw a strong but gradual upward curve over the next 10 years," adding, "Now is the time to expect lower volatility and stable performance rather than huge returns." He also added, "2026 will be a positive year for Bitcoin." On that day, on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, Bitcoin was trading around $87,800, about 30% below its all-time high of $126,199 recorded last October. CIO Hogan analyzed the recent bear market as "the result of individual investors quickly exiting the market due to concerns about a decline following the past 'four-year cycle.'" However, he noted that the magnitude of this decline was limited. "In past cycles prices plunged by 60%, but this time the drop was around 30%," he said, explaining, "This is because steady and cautious buying by institutional investors is supporting the market." On the other hand, cautious views are also significant. Sebastian Bo, CIO of Reserve One, pointed out, "It is still unclear whether Bitcoin's four-year cycle has ended," and said, "a 30% drop from the peak is quite painful for investors." Well-known trader Peter Brandt also recently warned of further downside, saying "Bitcoin could be pushed down to the $60,000 level in the third quarter of next year." The prevailing analysis is that the Trump administration's influence on Bitcoin will be limited. CIO Hogan said, "The Trump administration is unlikely to provide much additional upside momentum to Bitcoin prices," and assessed that "regulatory clarity has already been secured." CIO Bo also agreed, saying, "It has already been clarified through the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that Bitcoin is a commodity."

Weakness in the virtual asset market, including Bitcoin (BTC), is standing out in global asset markets. International silver prices have surged relentlessly, setting a record high and rising into the top ranks of global asset market capitalization, while Bitcoin — long called "digital gold" — remains trapped in a trading range and has been slow to find signs of a rebound. According to the industry, international silver prices surged more than 10% intraday on the 27th (local time), breaking through $79 per ounce and setting a new record high. Silver is currently trading around $78.58 per ounce. According to CompaniesMarketCap data, as of that day silver's market capitalization swelled to about $4.485 trillion. This narrowed the gap with the second-largest market cap, NVIDIA (about $4.638 trillion), to less than 4%. With big tech stocks stalling, analysts say physical assets like silver are rapidly absorbing global liquidity. By contrast, the Bitcoin market still has not escaped its stagnation. Based on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, Bitcoin continued to hover around $87,000 that day with little volatility. Major altcoins, including Ethereum (ETH), also appear unable to secure clear upward momentum. Peter Schiff, a prominent Bitcoin skeptic and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital, diagnosed this as "a massive movement of funds beginning." He warned on his X (formerly Twitter) account the same day that "the surge in silver prices will have the opposite effect on Bitcoin," adding that "as investors leave virtual assets with no intrinsic value and move to commodities whose physical value is verified, Bitcoin prices could undergo a sharp correction." In fact, preference for physical assets is becoming clear even within the virtual asset market. The tokenized commodities market based on crypto assets has recently grown to around $4 billion. The interpretation is that investors are increasingly using blockchain technology while choosing physical assets such as gold and silver as their investment targets.

An analysis found that Bitcoin's year-to-date return would need the year-end closing price to exceed $93,389 in order to finish the year in positive territory. Alex Thorn, director of Galaxy Research, said on X on the 26th (local time), "For Bitcoin to close the year with a positive performance, it must trade above $93,389 on the last trading day of the year." However, Thorn noted, "Considering the stream of positive catalysts this year becoming commonplace, some portfolio managers may reassess Bitcoin in January next year." In fact, the U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) market has maintained a stable trend despite price declines. Cumulative inflows reached a record $62 billion last October, and despite the recent bear market the decline was limited to 9%. Thorn analyzed, "The relatively small outflows compared to price volatility indicate that Bitcoin is maturing as an asset class." The long-term outlook is also optimistic. Galaxy assessed that it is only a matter of time before Bitcoin follows gold's path as a hedge against currency depreciation. Thorn said, "Several large asset managers and central banks could trigger a trend of Bitcoin purchases," and forecast that institutional and national-level adoption will be a key driver of Bitcoin's revaluation going forward.

The United States' largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), has increased its stake in the bitcoin treasury company Strategy. According to recently disclosed filings, CalPERS purchased 183,444 shares of Strategy so far this year. The estimated value is about $29 million. Strategy is perceived in the market as a de facto 'spot Bitcoin ETF' substitute or a leveraged instrument because of its massive Bitcoin holdings. CalPERS's purchase is interpreted as a strategy to secure exposure to Bitcoin's upside within the traditional market structure of stocks while avoiding the regulatory or custody burdens of directly buying virtual assets.

While the altcoin market showed mixed performance overall this year, analysis found that the Ethereum (ETH) derivatives market alone recorded explosive growth and set an all-time high. On the 26th (local time), Darkpost (Darkost), a contributor to on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, said, "This year, Ethereum showed a clear tendency for derivatives trading to overshadow the spot market." Darkpost explained, "This year was not easy for altcoin investors, but activity in the Ethereum futures market was more concentrated than ever," adding, "The share of futures trading across the crypto market has grown dramatically, and this phenomenon is most clearly seen in Ethereum." Actual data also supports this. For global crypto exchange Binance, the Ethereum futures trading volume processed this year exceeded $6.74 trillion. Darkpost emphasized, "This figure is almost double the 2024 record, which was already a historical high." Additionally, OKX set a new record with $4.28 trillion, and Bybit and Bitget recorded $2.15 trillion and $1.95 trillion, respectively. Darkpost said, "Data from all major exchanges point to one conclusion," adding, "This year Ethereum was one of the most actively traded assets in the global derivatives market, showing how speculative the market was." The problem is the extreme imbalance with the spot market. This year, according to Binance, Ethereum's 'spot-to-futures trading ratio' averaged only around 0.2. He analyzed, "This ratio specifically means that when $1 is invested in the spot market, about $5 was bet in the futures market," adding, "This is a typical indicator showing that the market is extremely dependent on high leverage." "A derivatives-led market is inherently unstable and unpredictable," he diagnosed, "Price movements tend to be excessively amplified or disorderly, and prices swing depending on liquidation volumes." He added, "This is also why, despite the record trading volume, Ethereum only marginally surpassed its previous peak," adding, "Excessive leverage has rather hindered a healthy rise and only increased volatility."

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder of Binance, owns the crypto wallet service 'Trust Wallet', which said it will fully compensate the approximately $7 million in losses from a hack that occurred on the 25th. On the 26th (local time), Trust Wallet and security firm SlowMist said the hack was identified as a 'supply chain attack' targeting version 2.68 of Trust Wallet's Google Chrome browser extension. The hacker exploited the open-source analytics library 'posthog-js', disguising it as legitimate analytics logic, and distributed an update containing malicious code. When a user who installed that version (2.68) accessed their wallet, the seed phrase was intercepted in the background and sent to the hacker's server. As a result, about $3 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC), $3 million worth of Ethereum (ETH), and multiple Solana (SOL) and EVM-compatible tokens were stolen. Total damages are estimated at about $7 million. As the damage escalated, CZ said on his X that "users' assets are safe" and that "Trust Wallet will fully cover all losses from this hack." He added that "we are finalizing procedures so that all affected users can be fully compensated." Meanwhile, Trust Wallet immediately released version 2.69 that removed the malicious code and strongly urged desktop extension users to update immediately. It also coordinated with major exchanges such as Bitget, KuCoin, and ChangeNOW to freeze the stolen funds so the hackers cannot cash out.

A forecast says the Total Value Locked (TVL) of the Ethereum (ETH) network could surge nearly 10-fold next year. The analysis says the expansion of the stablecoin market, tokenization of real-world assets (RWA), and inflows from sovereign wealth funds could combine to drive explosive ecosystem growth. On the 26th (local time), Joseph Shalom, co-CEO of Sharplink Gaming, said on his X, "Next year will be a year in which Ethereum adoption diversifies," stating this. Sharplink currently holds approximately 797,704 Ethereum (ETH). CEO Shalom cited the expansion of the stablecoin market as a prerequisite for a sharp increase in Ethereum TVL. He predicted, "The current stablecoin market capitalization of about $308 billion will swell to $500 billion by the end of next year." Since more than half (54%) of all stablecoin transactions are conducted on the Ethereum network, the expansion of the market size will directly lead to increased activity on the Ethereum network and a rise in TVL, he explained. He also expressed expectations for the tokenization market of real-world assets (RWA). CEO Shalom analyzed, "Next year the assets under management in tokenization will grow 10-fold to reach $300 billion," adding, "The entry of Wall Street giants such as JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Franklin Templeton is acting as a catalyst for market growth." He also expected sovereign wealth funds to move faster. He emphasized, "In the past, observing the crypto market was a safe choice, but the situation has changed due to intensified competition," and "Sovereign wealth funds' Ethereum holdings and tokenization activities will surge about 5 to 10 times next year." He also predicted that the spread of on-chain artificial intelligence (AI) agents and prediction markets will inject new vitality into the Ethereum ecosystem.

A pessimistic outlook has emerged that Ethereum (ETH) will find it difficult to surpass its previous high and reach a new peak next year. Analysts say it will be hard to expect an Ethereum-only rally while Bitcoin appears to have entered a bear market. Benjamin Cowen, a virtual asset (cryptocurrency) analyst, appeared on the Bankless podcast on the 23rd (local time) and said, "If Bitcoin has truly entered a bear market, it would be very difficult in reality for Ethereum to rise on its own." Cowen warned that even if Ethereum were to recover the all-time high of 4878 dollars recorded last August, it is likely to be a 'bull trap' rather than a trend reversal. He predicted, "A likely scenario is that Ethereum surges near the previous high and then plunges again to around 2000 dollars." On the 26th, based on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, Ethereum was trading around 2973 dollars, up about 1.1% from the previous day. To recover the previous high of 4878 dollars, an increase of about 40% or more from the current price is required. Cowen also expressed a skeptical view on altcoins in general. He said, "Ethereum is the only altcoin that still has a chance to set a new all-time high in this cycle," and evaluated, "The rest of the altcoins are already done in this cycle; coins that failed to surpass their previous highs will have difficulty rebounding in the future."

Bitcoin (BTC) prices plunged nearly 30% from their all-time high, freezing investor sentiment. However, Pong Lee, CEO of Strategy, signaled a buy, saying "market fundamentals are at an all-time high." On the 25th (local time), according to Cointelegraph, Lee appeared on the podcast 'Coin Story' and said, "The fundamentals of the Bitcoin market this year couldn't be better," indicating he is unconcerned about the recent price weakness. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin touched an all-time high of 125,100 dollars on October 5, then fell about 30% and is now hovering around 87,000 dollars. The market fear and greed index has remained in the 'extreme fear' stage since the 12th. Lee advised that investors should focus on long-term value rather than short-term performance of assets. He emphasized that "short-term price movements are an unpredictable area," and added, "The reason we focus on the multiple of net asset value (mNAV) and the Bitcoin treasury strategy is to pursue a systematic and mathematical approach, not an emotional one." He pointed to the change in the U.S. government's stance as the key basis for stronger fundamentals. Lee stated, "The U.S. government is supporting Bitcoin more broadly than ever," and said, "Traditional financial institutions in the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), among others, are meeting with us as they consider how to catch up in adopting Bitcoin."

During the Christmas holiday period, the virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) market showed a consolidation phase instead of the expected 'Santa rally'. Bitcoin edged down and hovered around $87,000, and at one point slipped to the $86,000 level intraday. Market attention is focused on a large options expiry scheduled for tonight. On the 25th (local time), according to global crypto exchange Binance, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $87,160, down 0.8% from the previous day. At one point, Bitcoin's decline intensified, sliding intraday to $86,934. During the holiday period it appears to be maintaining a slightly weak trend without finding any special upward momentum. Altcoins fell relatively more. Ethereum (ETH) recorded $2,897, down 1.68% from the previous day, surrendering the psychological support level of $2,900. Solana (SOL) was also pushed by selling pressure, breaking below the $120 level. As a result, the total market capitalization of virtual assets shrank to $2.94 trillion. The key factor heightening market tension is today's 'record-breaking' options expiry. According to data from CoinGlass, about 300,000 Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire on the day. Their notional value alone amounts to about $23.7 billion. When including Ethereum options, the total amount of derivatives expiring that day approaches $28.5 billion. This is twice as large as the same period last year. Contracts related to BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF 'IBIT' are also set to expire, about 446,000 of them.