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Two massive Ethereum transactions have just flowed out from FalconX, with Lookonchain linking them to ETH treasury company BitMine.

BitMine Has Received 48,049 Ethereum From FalconX

In a new post on X, on-chain sleuth Lookonchain has pointed out how BitMine appears to have acquired 48,049 ETH from a hot wallet connected to FalconX, an institutional digital asset trading platform.

The coins transferred through two transactions to two different wallets. The larger transfer involved 31,867 ETH, while the smaller one 16,182 ETH. In total, the tokens were worth about $140.58 million at the time that they were transacted.

The moves have come as Ethereum has plunged alongside the wider cryptocurrency sector, with its price dropping below the $3,000 level. Thus, it would appear possible that they are a sign of BitMine buying the dip.

Originally a Bitcoin mining-focused company, BitMine transitioned to being an Ethereum treasury vehicle under the leadership of chairman Tom Lee in June of this year. Since then, the firm has rapidly accumulated the cryptocurrency and has established itself as the “Strategy” of ETH.

On Monday, BitMine published a press release announcing that its holdings reached 3,967,210 ETH. So far, the company hasn’t made any official announcement of the latest buy, but if confirmed, it would take the total reserve past the 4 million ETH milestone.

The firm has set a target of 5% of the total circulating Ethereum supply. At present, the company still has some ways to go before this goal is hit, but at about 3.3% of the supply now sitting in its wallets, it has certainly made significant progress.

With holdings valued at more than $11 billion, BitMine is the second-largest cryptocurrency corporate holder in the world, only behind Strategy. Unlike Michael Saylor’s firm, however, the Ethereum hoarder has its treasury sitting in the red right now. Nonetheless, if the two blockchain transactions correspond to purchases, then it’s a sign that BitMine is still committed to accumulating more.

CryptoQuant community analyst Maartunn has talked in an X post about how the Ethereum price has changed since BitMine started its accumulation spree. It’s visible in the chart that during the initial buying period, ETH witnessed some rapid growth.

Clearly, however, despite continued buying from the treasury company, the asset’s price first flatlined and then declined. “Big buys ≠ sustained momentum,” noted the analyst.

ETH Price

Ethereum managed to make a recovery to $3,400 last week, but the coin has once again gone through bearish momentum since then, as its price has returned to the $2,930 level.

A bipartisan bill introduced on Dec. 15, 2025 would form a national response to rising cryptocurrency fraud, aiming to give law enforcement and regulators new tools to stop scams as they happen.

According to the sponsors, the Strengthening Agency Frameworks for Enforcement of Cryptocurrency (SAFE Crypto) Act creates a coordinated federal effort to detect, track, and shut down illicit schemes that use crypto rails.

Task Force To Target Crypto Scams

The bill would set up a task force that pulls together Treasury officials, federal and local law enforcement, regulators, and private-sector experts to share intelligence and act quickly on threats.

Reports have disclosed that the legislation is pitched as a way to get real-time visibility on suspicious activity and to give local police better technical help when they investigate.

Senators Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) are listed as the bill’s proponents. The measure appears in Congress under a title that would establish a “Task Force for Recognizing and Averting Cryptocurrency Scams,” and is referenced by bill number S.3428 in congressional records. As of Dec. 17, 2025, the full legislative text had not been posted on the Congressional site.

Public Education And Local Support

The sponsors say the task force will do more than hunt scammers. It will fund public awareness work so consumers can spot fake investment pitches, phishing schemes, and impersonation fraud.

Local law enforcement would get training and access to blockchain analytics tools, the backers say, so officers can follow illicit funds and identify criminal networks before victims lose large sums.

Industry figures quoted in the announcement said crypto fraud has been large and growing. According to one industry policy lead cited by the sponsors, “Over the last two years, we’ve tracked billions in scams and fraud across the crypto ecosystem.” That warning is a central piece of the case lawmakers are making for faster, coordinated action.

ngl a lot of memecoin etc scammers will probably end up shitting themselves if this goes hard, it fills a regulatory/enforcement gap that many probably assumed is permanent/long-term https://t.co/AdKlzVPh9D

— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) December 16, 2025

Cybercriminals: Panic Mode

Gabriel Shapiro, general counsel at crypto investment firm Delphi Labs, said that if the SAFE Crypto Act is carried out effectively, it could leave crypto scammers scrambling to stay ahead of enforcement.

Shapiro added in a post on X on Tuesday that “scammers will probably end up sh*tting themselves if this goes hard,” stressing that the US attorney general, the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the director of the US Secret Service would be among the senior officials leading efforts to pursue the bad guys.

Why Lawmakers Are Pushing Now

Lawmakers argue that criminals have grown more skilled at using decentralized systems and cross-border services to hide proceeds. The SAFE Crypto Act is being presented as a way to narrow that gap by making public and private responders work from a shared playbook. The initiative is part of a wave of digital currency-related policy moves being discussed in Congress this year.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Bitcoin is struggling to break away from the bearish market structure that has been in place since late October. Despite several short-lived relief rallies, price action continues to reflect weakness, with bulls failing to reclaim key resistance levels or generate sustained momentum.

As uncertainty and fatigue spread across the market, many participants are questioning whether Bitcoin’s current behavior fits the traditional cycle framework that has defined previous bull and bear phases.

A recent analysis by Darkfost highlights a structural shift that adds important context to this debate. According to the data, the number of active Bitcoin addresses has been in a persistent decline since April 2021. Historically, bullish phases were characterized by a clear expansion in active addresses, as new investors entered the market and on-chain activity surged. This growth typically peaked near cycle tops, followed by a contraction during bear markets as participation dried up.

This cycle, however, looks markedly different. Even during periods of strong price performance since 2022, active addresses have failed to recover meaningfully and continue trending lower. This divergence suggests that Bitcoin’s market structure may be evolving away from a retail-driven, on-chain participation model toward something more concentrated and institutionally influenced.

As Bitcoin attempts to stabilize after weeks of downside pressure, understanding these structural changes is becoming critical. The decline in active addresses may not simply signal weakness, but rather a transformation in how Bitcoin is held, traded, and valued in this cycle.

Active Addresses Signal A Structural Shift In The Market

The analysis suggests that despite Bitcoin’s strong price performance since 2022, on-chain participation continues to deteriorate. Active addresses are once again approaching the lowest levels observed during this cycle, highlighting a growing disconnect between price action and network activity. At the peak in April 2021, Bitcoin recorded roughly 1.15 million active addresses. Today, that figure has nearly halved, sitting near 680,000, a contraction that cannot be ignored.

This decline is difficult to attribute to a single cause. Instead, it likely reflects a combination of structural changes in how Bitcoin is held and accessed. One contributing factor appears to be the rise in inactive addresses. While precise classification criteria vary, the broader trend points toward a stronger long-term holding mentality, where coins remain dormant rather than actively transacted on-chain. This behavior reduces visible network activity without necessarily implying bearish conviction.

At the same time, a portion of market participants may have shifted away from direct on-chain usage altogether. Centralized exchanges, custodial platforms, and financial products such as ETFs offer exposure to Bitcoin without requiring on-chain interaction. As a result, demand for block space declines even as capital allocation to Bitcoin remains significant.

Taken together, the sustained drop in active addresses suggests Bitcoin’s market structure is evolving. The network is becoming less retail-driven and more concentrated, reinforcing the idea that traditional cycle metrics may be losing some of their explanatory power in this environment.

Bitcoin Price Tests Long-Term Support as Structure Weakens

Bitcoin continues to trade under pressure, with the chart highlighting a clear deterioration in market structure. After failing to sustain prices above the $100K–$110K zone earlier in the year, BTC has entered a corrective phase marked by lower highs and heavy selling momentum. The recent move toward the $87K area places price directly on a critical demand zone, closely aligned with the rising long-term moving averages.

From a trend perspective, the loss of the short- and medium-term moving averages is significant. The blue and green averages have rolled over, acting as dynamic resistance rather than support, reinforcing the bearish bias.

Price is now hovering just above the red long-term moving average, a level that has historically defined the boundary between bull market corrections and deeper bearish transitions. A clean breakdown below this zone would materially increase downside risk toward the low-$80K region.

Volume behavior adds further context. Selling pressure expanded notably during the sharp drawdown from the highs, while recent bounce attempts have occurred on comparatively weaker volume. This suggests that dip-buying interest remains cautious rather than aggressive. Structurally, the market appears to be consolidating after distribution, not building a strong base yet.

In the near term, holding the $85K–$88K range is crucial. A failure to defend this area would confirm a broader trend shift, while reclaiming the $95K–$100K region is required to neutralize the current bearish structure.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com

Cardano has moved to resolve a governance bottleneck by ratifying an on-chain vote to restore its Constitutional Committee (CC) to functional capacity, a procedural step that matters because the CC is required to evaluate constitutionality and ratify many categories of governance actions, including upgrades, budgets, and parameter changes.

Intersect, which coordinates parts of Cardano’s governance process, said on X: “On the 7th day of GA… We hit the Epoch’s end. DReps at 80%. Stake pools supporting- It looks like we have a new CC. Ratified. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, voted, and wrote rationales,Santa has been notified.”

Why The Cardano Governance Was Stuck

Cardano’s governance model is tripartite: delegate representatives (DReps), stake pool operators (SPOs), and the Constitutional Committee. The CC plays a gatekeeping role: it judges whether on-chain actions are constitutional and ratifies decisions needed for the network to adapt.

That mechanism stalled after an unexpected mid-term departure left the CC below its minimum operational size. The Cardano Atlantic Council retired mid-term in epoch 597, opening a seat and reducing the committee below quorum. The consequence was that the Cardano CC could not ratify key actions, even as the chain continued to operate normally at the protocol level.

The vote asked DReps and SPOs to ratify a newly elected CC member and restore the committee to full capacity. The candidate, Cardano Curia, was selected off-chain through a DRep vote using the Ekklesia tool, with on-chain ratification required to formalize the result.

The governance materials described the restoration as bringing the CC back to seven members and activating a clarified alternate-member process to handle future vacancies with less disruption. Approval thresholds were set at 67% from DReps and 51% support from SPOs. Intersect’s update indicates those thresholds were met as the epoch ended.

Why This Was Treated As Urgent

The vote was framed as more than housekeeping because an undersized CC effectively blocks major governance flows. Without quorum: Treasury withdrawals couldn’t proceed, the Critical Integrations Budget could not pass, hard forks could not be ratified, delaying network upgrades and several categories of governance actions were blocked, leaving only a limited subset able to move forward.

There was also a timing element: delays risk actions expiring, which would force a repeat of the voting process and extend the governance backlog. With the restoration ratified, Cardano’s governance process can resume normal throughput — reopening the path for upgrades, budget approvals, and protocol changes that depend on a functioning Constitutional Committee.

At press time, Cardano traded at $0.38.

Bitcoin is once again testing investor conviction as it struggles to reclaim the $90,000 level, a price zone that has now become a clear psychological and structural barrier. After weeks of choppy price action and repeated failures to sustain upside momentum, sentiment across the market has shifted sharply.

Fear and apathy are increasingly dominant, with a growing number of analysts and participants beginning to call for a broader bear market. For many investors, the narrative has changed from buying dips to questioning whether the cycle has already peaked.

This deterioration in confidence is occurring alongside renewed selling pressure from large, well-capitalized players. According to data from Arkham, two wallets linked to Matrixport deposited a combined 4,000 BTC, worth approximately $347.56 million, into Binance today.

Matrixport is a large digital-asset financial services platform founded by former Bitmain executives, offering products including crypto lending, structured products, asset management, and custody solutions.

Such large inflows to exchanges are closely watched by the market, as they often precede distribution or hedging activity, particularly during periods of heightened uncertainty. While not every deposit translates directly into spot selling, the timing of these transfers adds to the growing sense of caution.

Whether current demand can absorb this supply and stabilize price will likely determine if this phase becomes a deeper correction—or the start of a more prolonged bearish regime.

Exchange Inflows And What They Mean For Bitcoin

Large Bitcoin deposits to exchanges are almost always interpreted by the market as a bearish signal, since they increase the immediate supply available for sale. In most historical cases, sharp spikes in exchange inflows have preceded periods of downside volatility, reinforcing the perception that whales are preparing to distribute into liquidity. However, some investors urge caution when reading this data in isolation, as not every exchange transfer results in spot selling.

In certain scenarios, large inflows can be linked to internal treasury management, collateral rotation, or the opening of hedged derivatives positions rather than outright liquidation. Institutions may move Bitcoin to centralized venues to post margin for futures or options, allowing them to hedge downside risk without selling their underlying holdings.

In other cases, funds prepare liquidity for over-the-counter settlements or cross-exchange arbitrage, activities that do not necessarily translate into sustained selling pressure on the spot market.

Looking ahead, Bitcoin’s price action over the coming months will likely depend on whether these inflows are followed by a clear increase in realized selling volume. If demand continues to absorb supply near the $85K–$86K zone, the market could transition into a prolonged consolidation phase, allowing sentiment to reset.

However, if exchange balances continue to rise alongside weakening spot demand, downside risks remain elevated. In that scenario, Bitcoin may revisit lower support levels before any durable recovery can begin.

Price Tests Critical Long-Term Support

Bitcoin’s higher-timeframe structure shows a clear loss of momentum after failing to hold above prior highs. On the weekly chart, BTC is now consolidating around the $86,000–$87,000 zone after a sharp rejection from the $110,000–$120,000 region. This area has become a critical demand zone, as price is currently hovering near the rising 200-day moving average, which historically acts as a key trend filter during cycle transitions.

The short-term structure remains fragile. Bitcoin is trading below the 50-week moving average, which has started to roll over, signaling weakening upside momentum. Meanwhile, the 100-week moving average is still trending higher and sits below the current price, suggesting that the broader macro trend has not fully broken but is clearly under stress.

From a price-action perspective, BTC is forming a lower high relative to the previous cycle peak, while volatility remains compressed. This often precedes a larger directional move. If bulls fail to defend the $85,000 support decisively, the next downside targets sit near the $78,000–$80,000 region, where previous consolidation occurred.

Conversely, any structural recovery would require a reclaim and weekly close above $90,000, followed by sustained acceptance above the 50-week average.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com

Hyperliquid (HYPE) is slowly approaching a decisive governance moment as analysts and market participants reassess the protocol’s long-term outlook against the backdrop of a proposed large-scale HYPE token burn.

After months of declining prices and heightened volatility across crypto markets, attention has shifted from short-term price action to structural changes that could improve HYPE’s supply dynamics and investor expectations.

At the center of the debate is a governance proposal by the Hyper Foundation to formally treat all HYPE held in the Hyperliquid Assistance Fund as permanently burned. While these tokens are already locked in an address without a private key, the vote seeks to codify their removal from performance.

If approved, the decision would mark one of the most significant supply reductions in the protocol’s history, removing more than 37 million HYPE, over 10% of circulating supply, through a validator-backed consensus.

Governance Vote Puts Hyperliquid Supply Structure in Focus

The Assistance Fund accumulates HYPE through an automated mechanism that converts trading fees generated on Hyperliquid’s perpetuals exchange into the native token. These tokens sit in a system address that has never been controlled by a private key, making them inaccessible unless a protocol-level upgrade is authorized.

Under the current proposal, validators are being asked to establish a binding social consensus that no such upgrade will ever occur. Voting is stake-weighted, with validators signaling their positions by December 21, and final results are expected on December 24.

Approval would effectively lock in a more restrictive supply model, preventing the Assistance Fund from being used for grants, liquidity support, or emergency measures in the future.

The proposal follows earlier, unadopted discussions around broader supply cuts in 2025, suggesting a renewed effort to clarify HYPE’s long-term monetary framework rather than pursue incremental adjustments.

Market Reaction and Longer-Term Outlook

Hyperliquid (HYPE) has stabilized near the $26 level after several days of losses, with market data suggesting the proposed burn is not yet fully priced in. Futures open interest has climbed above $1.5 billion, and funding rates have turned positive, pointing to growing bullish positioning ahead of the validator vote.

In contrast, spot market activity remains muted, as trading volumes have edged lower and technical indicators continue to reflect lingering bearish momentum.

Beyond short-term price action, analysts are increasingly focused on Hyperliquid’s longer-term valuation framework. Cantor Fitzgerald has cited the protocol’s fee-driven and deflationary design as a potential driver of sustained growth, projecting billions in annual fees if adoption expands.

From this perspective, the Assistance Fund burn is seen as a test of whether stricter supply discipline can help rebuild confidence, with the vote outcome likely shaping how Hyperliquid’s economic model is evaluated into 2026.

Cover image from ChatGPT, HYPEUSD chart from Tradingview