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Министр финансов Антон Силуанов высказался в поддержку предложения Банка России допустить непрофессиональных инвесторов на рынок криптовалют. Доступ должен быть возможен лишь при условии жестких лимитов на объем вложений и только если торги будут на официально зарегистрированных российских площадках, заявил чиновник в интервью телеканалу «Россия 24».

Председатель комитета российской Госдумы по финансовому рынку Анатолий Аксаков объявил, что россияне могут начать получать заработную плату цифровыми рублями с 1 сентября 2026 года.

Криптовалютная биржа Binance приостановила прямой вывод средств на банковские карты систем Visa и MasterCard для клиентов из Украины. Ограничения вступили в силу с 29 декабря, объявила биржа.

Верховный суд Республики Корея приговорил сотрудника криптобиржи к четырем годам тюрьмы за подкуп военнослужащего, согласившегося раскрыть Северной Корее тайные военные сведения за биткоины. Название криптобиржи не указано, но известно, что она южнокорейская.

Сохраняющая анонимность владельцев криптовалюта Zcash продемонстрировала стремительный рост в октябре — декабре, преодолев $540. Причиной стал растущий спрос на активы, обеспечивающие приватность транзакций, объяснили аналитики компании Grayscale.

Децентрализованная биржа Lighter выпустила собственный токен Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT). Проект базируется в США, а токен выпускается напрямую от американской C‑Corp, которая продолжит управлять протоколом на безубыточной основе.

Адрес Эфириума, связанный с эксплойтами двух протоколов децентрализованных финансов (DeFi) Kyberswap и Indexed Finance, активизировался после года затишья — его владелец продал токены на сумму более $2 млн.

Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi published a category-by-category set of 2026 crypto predictions on X late Monday, arguing next year will “surprise, both to the upside and to the downside” even if “the trend lines mostly continue.”

Bitcoin And Crypto Predictions For 2026

His headline macro call pairs a bullish bitcoin target with a broader market rebound. “BTC is > $150K by year-end, but BTC dominance decreases in 2026,” Qureshi wrote. But he rejected the idea that this automatically implies a blow-off alt cycle: “I don’t think it will be wild enough to call it alt season. I think alts will rebound nevertheless, just not to crazy highs.”

Moreover, Qureshi said “the recent crop of fintech chains” will not meet expectations on usage and value flow. “Despite the excitement around the recent crop of fintech chains, their metrics will underwhelm,” he wrote, pointing to “daily active addresses, stablecoin flows, and RWAs.” He named Tempo, Arc, and Robinhood Chain as likely laggards, while adding that “Ethereum and Solana will overdeliver” and that “best developers will continue to build on neutral infra chains.”

On enterprise rails, he expects more large companies to launch networks, skewing toward regulated incumbents. “Many more Fortune 100s launch blockchains, although increasingly concentrated among banking and fintech players,” he wrote, adding: “Expect Avalanche to be a standout here, alongside OP stack, Orbit, and ZK Stack.”

Qureshi also predicted a major distribution move from consumer tech: “A big tech company (Google, Facebook, Apple, etc.) launches or acquires a crypto wallet in 2026.” And he offered a contrarian timing call on Monad: “Monad gets written off as dead by CT, but metrics take off in the latter part of the year after analysts have already forgotten about it.”

On infrastructure, he said DoubleZero adoption broadens: “At least 3 other chains connect to DoubleZero to improve their latency & throughput metrics. DoubleZero hits 80%+ stake on Solana.”

DeFi And Stablecoins

Qureshi forecass a more concentrated perpetuals market structure. “Perp DEX market share consolidates to something like 3 big venues a la HBO (market share something like 40 / 30 / 20), followed by a long tail of smaller players who compete over the leftovers (last 10%),” he wrote.

He also expects product expansion into equities. “Equity perps take off, becoming >20% of total DeFi perp volume by EOY,” he wrote, alongside “significant growth in RFQ compared to CLOBs/AMMs, both on spot and perps.” He added a reputational tail risk: “Some DeFi-related insider trading scandal hits mainstream media.”

Qureshi predicts a large expansion in stablecoin supply while remaining overwhelmingly dollar-based. “Stablecoin supply expands by ~60% in 2026, and USD remains 99%+,” he wrote. He expects Tether to cede some share: “USDT dominance declines moderately to ~55%.”

His strongest distribution claim centered on payments. “Stablecoin-backed cards grow 1,000% in 2026—insanely fast growth,” Qureshi wrote. “Becomes the dominant way that stablecoins land and expand in emerging markets. Rain is the biggest winner here.”

Regulation And Prediction Markets

Qureshi predicted a US legislative deal next year, but with caveats on what the industry gets. “Clarity Act gets signed into law in 2026 after some significant markups and horse trading,” he wrote. “A bit of buyer’s remorse from crypto insiders.”

He also forecast political scrutiny if Democrats take the House. “Dems win the house, and there is a parade of hearings about anything in crypto that touched TRUMP / WLFI,” Qureshi wrote.

“The underlying deals get subpoenaed.” In his scenario, Trump distances himself: “Trump insists he was never involved and didn’t know anything about it (and thus these deals are not protected by executive privilege). Anyone who signed a stupid deal gets publicly embarrassed.”

Qureshi expects prediction markets to expand rapidly amid unresolved US legal fights. “Prediction markets grow like crazy,” he wrote, citing “big legal fights over sportsbetting regulation and federal pre-emption,” but adding that “nothing major gets resolved next year, so status quo continues through 2026.”

He argued Polymarket extends its cultural edge and distribution. “Meanwhile Polymarket continues to steamroll the culture,” Qureshi wrote. “Prediction markets are perceived as cool and smart, and so are allowed to throw up odds everywhere.” He added that as domestic expansion ramps, “it starts winning more and more domestic market share from Robinhood and sportsbooks.”

Most competitors, in his view, will not matter. “The explosion of other platforms tacking on prediction markets mostly flop,” he wrote. “90% of prediction market offerings are totally ignored and then wind down by EOY.”

Qureshi said “B2B partnership-driven distribution underperforms, direct-to-consumer outperforms,” with demand concentrated in “Polymarket, Robinhood, and Kalshi frontends (plus traditional sportsbooks).”

AI And Privacy

Qureshi argued crypto’s practical AI use remains narrow. “Primary AI use cases in crypto remain within software engineering and security. Everything else remains a prototype,” he wrote. “Wallet automation remains minimal.” He added: “AI agents will still not be ‘paying each other’ or spending any meaningful money in 2026.”

On spam and identity, he dismissed the near-term feasibility of a Worldcoin-style gate despite theoretical promise. “Worldcoin has verified 17 million identities—that’s 1 in 500 people,” Qureshi wrote. “Being at 1/500 distribution is way too small of an identity base for any service to transition to using Worldcoin as an identity gate.” He suggested an alternative path: “ZK Passports are probably more likely in the short-medium term, because much more of the world’s population as an NFC-enabled passport and can scan it with their phones.”

Asked about privacy as a major theme, Qureshi demurred. “I think privacy is going to be a laggard,” he wrote. “Zcash will likely do well because people want to believe, and there will be some adoption of private transactions on Arc, Tempo, etc.” Still, he returned to his overarching frame: “I predict mostly people will keep doing things in 2026 the way they’ve already been doing them.”

At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.93 trillion.

Дальнейшее развитие крипторынка теперь определяют не розничные трейдеры и инвесторы, а институциональные игроки, заявил аналитик инвестиционного банка Cantor Fitzgerald Бретт Кноблаух (Brett Knoblaux).

Власти Южной Кореи отложили принятие закона о регулировании стейблкоинов — обсуждение ключевых положений перенесено на следующий год, поскольку правительство не может определиться, каким именно компаниям будет разрешено выпускать стейблкоины.

К концу 2026 года курс биткоина может превысить $150 000, однако темпы роста первой криптовалюты будут ниже, чем у альткоинов, заявил топ-менеджер венчурной компании Dragonfly Capital Хасиб Куреши (Hasib Qureshi).

On Monday, December 29, 2025, Michael Saylor’s Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) announced its latest Bitcoin purchase. The company had acquired over $100 million worth of the digital asset again, keeping in line with its consistent buying over the years. While Strategy’s large Bitcoin buys have often been a cause for celebration in the crypto community, not everyone believes that this is a good strategy. Mainly, world-renowned economist Peter Schiff has blasted the move, highlighting its profits so far as subpar.

Strategy’s Bitcoin Move Would Have Been Better With Any Other Asset

Schiff’s comments come hot on the heels of the Strategy announcement, showing a total of 1,229 BTC was bought at approximately $109 million. The average purchase price for the coins came out to around $88,568 once the purchase was done, adding to the already considerable Bitcoin holdings of the publicly-held company.

Less than 30 minutes after Strategy’s announcement, Peter Schiff took to the X (formerly Twitter) platform to share his thoughts on the move. Mainly, the economist is not impressed with how the company’s Bitcoin bet has played out so far, despite sinking over $50 billion into the digital asset.

Schiff points out that despite aggressively buying BTC over the last five years, Strategy’s profits sit at only 16%. Breaking this down over the number of years that the company has been buying Bitcoin, it averages out to around a 3% annual profit on the investment.

Given this, the economist believes that the company would’ve been better off if it had accumulated any other asset besides Bitcoin. Interestingly, the prices of other assets such as gold and silver have hit new all-time highs this year, while BTC has continued to struggle.

Breaking Down Strategy’s BTC Holdings

Presently, Strategy retains its title as the publicly-traded company with the highest amount of Bitcoin holdings. According to data from the data aggregation website, CoinGecko, Strategy currently holds 672,497 BTC, which accounts for 3.202% of the total Bitcoin supply.

The entire stack has cost the company a whopping $50.44 billion to accumulate, with an average price of $74,997 at the time of the last purchase. At a 16% profit margin so far, Strategy is currently sitting on over $8 billion in unrealized profits, down from its all-time high of $22 billion in profits when the Bitcoin price crossed $126,000 back in October.

Член комитета по финансовым услугам Палаты представителей США Максин Уотерс (Maxine Waters), принадлежащая к Демократической партии, призвала изучить действия Комиссии по ценным бумагам и биржам США (SEC) в отношении регулирования криптовалют.

Минюст России предложил наказывать за нелегальный майнинг штрафом до 1,5 млн рублей или двумя годами принудительных работ. При получении крупного дохода от добычи криптовалют или в составе группы — тюремное заключение до пяти лет.

С 2026 года вступят в силу новые правила приобретения цифровых финансовых активов (ЦФА). Квалифицированные и непрофессиональные инвесторы получат разные возможности для сделок, заявили в Банке России.

В первые девять месяцев 2025 года на американском рынке не появлялось новых спотовых криптовалютных ETF, однако с октября все поменялось. Количество биржевых фондов на альткоины стало расти из месяц в месяц. В чем же причина и что это за новые ETF?

Joseph Chalom, the CEO of Sharplink, has outlined an optimistic forecast for Ethereum’s (ETH) future, emphasizing a significant increase in the total value locked (TVL) within the network in the coming year. 

Stablecoin Expansion And Institutional Interest

According to a report from CoinMarketCap, Chalom anticipates that the stablecoin market will soar to $500 billion by December 2026. Currently, the total market capitalization for stablecoins stands at approximately $308.46 billion, suggesting a 62% growth from current figures. 

Given that Ethereum is responsible for processing over half of all stablecoin transactions across various blockchain networks, the projected expansion in stablecoin  issuance and transaction volume is set to significantly elevate the network’s TVL.

Chalom further predicts that the market for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) will also witness substantial growth, potentially reaching a total value of $300 billion next year. 

This is expected to move beyond tokenizing individual securities and funds to encompass complete fund complexes, thereby increasing Ethereum’s relevance in the financial ecosystem.

Key to this expected growth is the increasing involvement of major financial institutions from traditional finance such as BlackRock, which has shown heightened interest in blockchain technologies over the past year. Chalom predicts that it could serve as a catalyst for moving significant assets onto Ethereum’s infrastructure.

Can Ethereum Overcome Price Challenges?

The rise in total value locked usually indicates increased network utilization, which can bolster market sentiment and may influence Ethereum price dynamics. Currently, data shows ETH’s TVL at approximately $68.20 billion.

Crypto analyst Benjamin Cowen recently expressed skepticism about Ethereum reaching new price highs in 2026, particularly in light of Bitcoin’s (BTC) market conditions. 

However, Chalom anticipates that sovereign wealth fund holdings and tokenization efforts on Ethereum could grow five- to tenfold in the coming year. 

This potential increase is attributed to competitive pressures that may encourage institutional investors, who have previously been hesitant about cryptocurrency exposure, to reconsider their strategies as peer adoption accelerates.

Moreover, Chalom believes that the integration of on-chain artificial intelligence (AI) agents and prediction markets will gain mainstream traction in 2026, further driving activity and adding value to the Ethereum ecosystem. 

Ultimately, Sharplink’s CEO stressed that the convergence of institutional interest from traditional finance firms, expanded applications, and the involvement of sovereign funds could significantly position Ethereum for impressive TVL growth in the near future.

Currently, Ethereum is trading at around $2,930, marking a 13% year-to-date decline for the leading altcoin. Compared to its all-time high of $4,964 reached earlier this year, the cryptocurrency is currently trading 40% below this level. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Recent reports claim that the internal turmoil of a crypto treasury company backed by the Trump family has deepened as the firm risks being delisted from Nasdaq and has appointed an audit company facing regulatory scrutiny.

Crypto Treasury Company’s Turmoil Intensifies

On Monday, Nasdaq-listed crypto treasury company Alt5 Sigma is facing renewed scrutiny after appointing a new audit company with an expired and inactive license earlier this month, the Financial Times initially reported.

The Las Vegas-based company rebranded from a biotech company to a Digital Asset Treasury Company (DAT) earlier this year, seeking to become the first publicly traded firm to accumulate WLFI, the token of US President Donald Trump’s crypto ventures, World Liberty Financial.

As the report noted, the company’s financial position has turned murky over the past few months due to its failure to file quarterly results on schedule. Now, its recent switch of auditors has deepened its current position as the newly appointed firm, Victor Mokuolu CPA PLLC, was allegedly fined by accounting regulators and failed an inspection under the standard peer review process.

According to the Financial Times, filings in the state of Texas show that the company’s licence expired in August. Meanwhile, the board’s records show that its license has not been renewed by December 26. Therefore, state regulations prohibit the firm from doing any audit work until the licence is renewed.

The audit company has reportedly been working for over two years to address its deficiencies, which previously resulted in a failing grade under the accounting profession’s peer review process in 2023.

This year’s failure to renew its license follows the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy and another US regulator’s actions against the firm for “repeatedly failing to file regulatory paperwork on time.”

In a statement to the news media outlet, Alt5 Sigma affirmed that the auditor is “undergoing a peer review per Texas State Board of Accountancy regulations and will be completed by the end of January 2026, at which point the auditor expects the firm’s licence to be active.”

The Trump-backed crypto treasury firm emphasized that “No reviews or audits of Alt5’s financial statements will be issued by our auditor until the firm’s licence is active.”

In an update, the Financial Times added that Alt5 Sigma fired the audit firm on Christmas Day following its inquiries about the issue. A regulatory filing made on Monday reportedly shows that the company has hired LJ Soldinger Associates as its new accounting firm.

Alt5 Sigma Risks Nasdaq Delisting

The controversial December 8 appointment comes amid a period of turmoil for the company, the report noted, as it already risks being delisted from Nasdaq, where it trades under the ticker “ALTS.”

The company failed to submit its quarterly results for the period ending in late September, blaming the delay on the “timeliness and responsiveness” of its previous auditor, who seemingly quit last month. This has opened the door to a potential delisting from the stock exchange.

In August, World Liberty Financial unveiled its partnership with Alt5 Sigma and became an investor in the technology firm, which sought to raise $1.5 billion for its crypto treasury strategy based on WLFI.

As a result, multiple World Liberty Financial co-founders joined Alt5 Sigma’s board. Notably, Zach Witkoff, son of President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, was appointed as chairman of the crypto treasury firm.

Similarly, Eric Trump joined the company’s board as a director, while Zak Folkman became a board observer. Nonetheless, Trump stepped down from his position in September, just weeks after being appointed, as revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing

Jonathan Hugh, Alt5’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), left the company after just three months, while chief executive Peter Tassiopoulos resigned in October. Meanwhile, board member David Danziger parted ways with the firm in November.

This also puts the company “in violation of a requirement to have an audit committee of a certain size and with accounting experience,” the report concluded.

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a significant retracement of over 30% from its all-time high of $126,000, which was reached in October. This decline comes at a time when precious metals like gold and silver are achieving new records, marking a robust fourth quarter for these commodities. 

To understand Bitcoin’s next potential move, analysts at Bull Theory have suggested that historically, Bitcoin tends to rally after gold and silver have reached their peaks.

The Liquidity Effect

A look back at the events following the March 2020 market crash, the Federal Reserve (Fed) injected substantial liquidity into the financial system, and the first assets to respond were gold and silver. 

Gold, for instance, rallied from approximately $1,450 to $2,075 by August 2020, while silver experienced an impressive increase from around $12 to $29. 

During this entire phase, Bitcoin appeared stagnant, trapped in a trading range of $9,000 to $12,000 for five months. This inactivity followed a significant liquidation event triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As gold and silver peaked in August 2020, capital began to rotate into riskier assets, marking the beginning of Bitcoin’s ascent. From that point, Bitcoin surged from $12,000 to $64,800 by May 2021.

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies skyrocketed by almost eight times during the same period, illustrating the impact of the liquidity-driven rally initiated by the Fed.

Future Recovery Potential

Fast forward to today, gold is nearing record highs around $4,550, while silver has surged to roughly $80. These commodities are currently experiencing upward momentum, while Bitcoin has largely remained in a sideways trend below the key $90,000 mark, similar to its behavior in mid-2020. 

Additionally, Bitcoin has had to contend with another significant liquidation event that took place on October 10th, paralleling the March 2020 scenario, and as a result, it has spent months moving sluggishly since then.

However, the context surrounding this cycle is notably different from 2020. While liquidity from the Federal Reserve served as the main driver back then, 2026 is poised for multiple catalysts that could underpin Bitcoin’s recovery. 

The Fed has already resumed liquidity injections, and expectations for further rate cuts loom on the horizon. Additionally, banks may receive Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) exemptions, enabling more leverage within the system.

Analysts Predict A Positive Outcome For Bitcoin

Moreover, clarity on crypto regulations is improving, and anticipation surrounding the introduction of more spot crypto ETFs—especially those focusing on alternative coins—is also building, alongside increased access to cryptocurrency for large asset managers. 

Lastly, a new pro-crypto chair at the Federal Reserve is expected to inspire market participants to front-run forthcoming policy changes.

The analysts concluded that the ongoing rise in gold and silver prices should not be interpreted as a negative signal for cryptocurrencies. In fact, this pattern has historically indicated an early signal for what could follow.

If this trend continues, Bitcoin and the broader crypto markets may not take the lead initially. Instead, Bull Theory analysts believe they could begin to move after the metals have paused, suggesting that the current period of sideways action in Bitcoin is not indicative of a bear market but rather a calm before a potential storm. 

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com 

Bitcoin treasury company Strategy has capped off the year 2025 with one final Monday acquisition, adding $108.8 million worth of BTC.

Strategy Has Dropped Another $108.8 Million On Bitcoin

As announced by Strategy Chairman Michael Saylor in an X post, the company has completed a fresh Bitcoin acquisition involving 1,229 BTC. The purchase took place in the period between December 22nd and December 28th, and cost the firm $88,568 per token or $108.8 million in total.

According to the filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the acquisition has been funded using sales of the company’s MSTR at-the-market (ATM) stock offering.

Last Monday, Strategy didn’t make any Bitcoin purchases, but it did announce a new addition to its recently-created USD reserve. The firm initially allocated $1.44 billion to this reserve at the start of December, which rose to $2.19 billion with its $748 million expansion last week.

The BTC treasury company made this new reserve to be better able to navigate short-term market volatility and ensure that dividend payments are made on time.

Like is usually the case, Saylor made a Sunday X post with the company’s Bitcoin portfolio tracker before the latest purchase as well. This time, the chairman hinted at a return to Bitcoin buying, with the caption: “Back to Orange.”

This Monday was the last for 2025 and since Strategy has a history of Monday BTC acquisitions, it may be safe to assume that this was the last purchase announcement for the year from the treasury firm.

In total, Strategy now holds 672,497 BTC, acquired for $50.44 billion. At the current exchange rate, these holdings are worth about $58.94 billion, so the company is currently in a net profit of 16.85%.

Saylor’s firm used to be in a much bigger gain earlier in the year, but the bearish price action between October and November meant that the cryptocurrency closed some of the distance to its cost basis.

Currently, Strategy’s Bitcoin break-even level lies at $74,997. Back in November, BTC came relatively close to this mark, but since that low, the asset has found some stability, so it only remains to be seen whether the coin will retest the level anytime soon.

BTC Retraces After Fast Surge In Open Interest

Bitcoin and Ethereum witnessed a surge in the Open Interest during the past day, as CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has pointed out in an X post. The “Open Interest” is an indicator that measures the total amount of positions related to a given asset that are currently open on all centralized derivatives exchanges.

It’s visible in the below chart that the 24-hour percentage change in this metric shot up to 6% for Bitcoin earlier in the past day.

The surge in Open Interest for Bitcoin and Ethereum came as the markets witnessed a rally. Often, fast heating in this metric tends to be a signal for volatility, and the warning has held this time as both assets have seen a quick retrace.

Bitcoin went to as high as $90,300 during the rally, but its price is now back at $87,500, as the below chart depicts.