Из жизни альткоинов

Charles Hoskinson says Cardano is entering a new phase centered on what he described as a “ChatGPT for privacy,” positioning the Midnight project as a cross-ecosystem application layer designed to make advanced cryptography usable at scale.

Cardano Is Entering A New Phase

Speaking in a Dec. 18 livestream titled “Rays of Sunshine in 2026,” the Cardano founder argued that Midnight marks a shift away from incremental performance battles toward privacy-first, hybrid applications that can plug into Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, and beyond.

“I wanted to make a video to talk about the good stuff and talk about the fact that we’re leading the market for the first time in a long time,” Hoskinson said. “And it feels right. This time really does.”

The heart of the pitch was that Midnight’s early traction is not just a hype spike, but a sign the market is tired of the usual crypto incentive loop and looking for a new “paradigm.” “People deep down inside, they know that a new generation is starting,” he said. “We need a new paradigm and we have to have a reset and we have to launch things and do things differently. And they’re just tired of the way things have happened before. They’re tired of it.”

Hoskinson spent time distinguishing Midnight from the category it will inevitably be filed under. “When you looked at Midnight, Midnight is not a privacy coin,” he said. “Midnight is what will enable rational privacy and selective disclosure, but it’s so much more. It’s the platform for intents. It’s the platform for hybrid applications. It’s the platform for capacity exchange, for dual tokenomics. It’s the platform for multi-resource consensus.”

He acknowledged the underlying toolkit—“snarks,” “roll-ups,” “recursion and folding”—but argued those buzzwords miss the point. “It’s never been about roll-ups, recursion, folding, snarks from a scalability perspective,” he said. “It’s about real world applications.” The claim, in his telling, is that Midnight is one of the few projects positioned to handle “trillions of dollars worth of transactions,” precisely because it targets applications where selective disclosure and privacy are features, not trade-offs.

To make the case that Midnight is already outperforming comparable narratives, Hoskinson cited market-cap and volume figures for other ZK and privacy-adjacent projects and contrasted them with Midnight’s reported activity. He cited Starkware at $410 million market cap with $72 million volume, zkSync at $279 million market cap with $29 million volume, and Mina at $97 million market cap—before highlighting his own project: “Midnight, $1 billion market cap, $1.8 billion trading. It doesn’t even have Binance Spot yet.”

A major reason he believes the market has leaned in, Hoskinson argued, is launch structure—specifically, avoiding the standard fear that insiders will overwhelm liquidity. “And they said, well, can I believe in it? Is there an ICO? Is there an insider? Who the f*** is going to dump on me?” he said. “They just gave it away. Eight different ecosystems, seven chains. All the VCs wanted in, they got nothing. They didn’t get in. We gave it to the people.”

He later tied distribution directly to observed trading intensity. “We have about 1.5 million people that got night tokens,” he said. “That’s why the volume is so f***ing high.”

Midnight Is The ‘ChatGPT For Privacy’

For Cardano itself, Hoskinson’s most pointed strategic claim was that “better, faster, cheaper” is not a durable wedge—even if upcoming upgrades land. “Let’s say Leios ships and Hydra ships and we’re better, faster, and cheaper. Great,” he said. “What reason does someone have to leave Solana? And what reason does someone have to leave Ethereum? Because the transaction fee is 3% less. Okay.”

Instead, he argued Cardano can win by being first to build hybrid applications that route through Midnight and unlock privacy-first financial primitives. “They could go through midnight to Cardano and they get privacy,” he said. “They do something new and different […] private prediction markets, private DEXs, private stablecoins.”

He extended that thinking to Bitcoin-adjacent flows: “Maybe just maybe all those Bitcoin people are going to want to trade on a private DEX instead of a public DEX,” he said. “And maybe we’ll have volumes in the billions of dollars of turnaround every single day.”

Hoskinson repeatedly returned to a simplifying metaphor: Midnight as an abstraction layer that makes heavy cryptography usable. “Everybody else gets jealous. So they’ll go use Midnight too because it’s the ChatGPT of privacy,” he said. “Just send stuff and stuff comes out.” He later described a product-like cadence of improvement: “You basically just have this API. You send something in, you get something back. And every six months it gets better.”

He also framed 2026 as an execution year, sketching an outward-facing expansion plan where Midnight is integrated across major ecosystems in tight succession: “We’re going to do Cardano Midnight. Show them how it’s done. Then we’re gonna do Midnight Ethereum. Two months later, three months later, Midnight Solana… Midnight Avalanche… Midnight Bitcoin.”

The broader ambition, he said, is to move crypto past siloed tribal finance toward one interoperable market. “This is the last generation,” Hoskinson said. “It’s gonna unify the marketplaces and it’s gonna get rid of DeFi and TradFi. And there’s just going to be Fi.”

At press time, Cardano traded at $0.36.

Crypto pundit Finance Bull has advised XRP investors against selling their holdings now despite the market downturn. This came as the pundit explained that the CLARITY Act could pass next year, which he predicts will positively impact the altcoin’s adoption. 

Why XRP Investors Should Think Again About Selling Their Coins

In an X post, Finance Bull told XRP investors to think again if they are considering selling their coins right now. He reminded them that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse confirmed that the CLARITY Act is expected in early 2026, which the pundit indicated will benefit the token when that happens. 

Finance Bull explained that when the CLARITY Act passes, Ripple will be forced to declare the fate of its XRP in escrow, and that when that happens, the company won’t sell its holdings. Instead, he predicts that they will pre-allocate it to bank corridors, sovereign rails, liquidity hubs powering cross-border settlement, institutional infrastructure, and countries integrating next-generation payment rails. 

Finance Bull further remarked that this flips the entire conversation, as what looks like overhead supply is already reserved, meaning that XRP won’t face a sell-off as some investors may fear. He added that the real move is locked liquidity flowing into banks, FX routes, and custody frameworks, which would boost the altcoin’s adoption. 

The pundit stated that this isn’t about market-making but about monetary wiring and that once Ripple releases its official escrow roadmap, the re-pricing will be instant, irreversible, and demand-driven. 

Interestingly, Finance Bull claimed that BlackRock will be one of the institutions that will adopt the altcoin when there is regulatory clarity through the CLARITY Act. Notably, BlackRock is one of the crypto ETF issuers that has yet to file for a spot XRP ETF, but the pundit has suggested that could change soon. 

Ripple Secures Another Institutional Partnership

In a press release, Ripple announced a strategic partnership with TJM Investments, providing a boost for XRP’s adoption. The crypto firm stated that under the terms of the partnership, it has invested in THM and will continue to provide best-in-class infrastructure to support TJM’s execution and clearing services. 

This builds on the existing relationship between Ripple’s multi-asset prime brokerage platform, Ripple Prime, and TJM. Ripple stated that the expanded partnership will enable TJM offer its clients improved capital and collateral efficiency as well as enhanced clearing stability and balance-sheet support. 

This development comes as Ripple continues to explore ways to enhance the utility of RLUSD and XRP. The firm recently announced plans. The firm recently announced plans to begin testing RLUSD on Base, Optimism, Unichain, and Ink. 

At the time of writing, the altcoin price is trading at around $1.80, down almost 4% in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Large on-chain movements involving Bitcoin whales have a way of putting the market on edge, especially when they involve transfers to centralized exchanges. A new transaction involving 5,152 BTC moving into Binance has now raised questions around potential sell pressure at a time when Bitcoin’s price action is fragile, highly reactive, and struggling to get a hold of bullish momentum.

Bitcoin Whale Moves 5,152 BTC Worth $445 Million To Binance

On-chain data identified by whale transaction tracker Lookonchain has revealed that a long-term Bitcoin holder deposited 5,152 BTC, valued at approximately $444.73 million, into Binance. The data, sourced from Arkham Intelligence, shows the wallet belongs to an entity tagged as Bitcoin OG (1011short), a trader known to hold a massive combined long position estimated at around $695 million across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

The size and destination of the transfer immediately drew attention, as coins sent to exchanges are typically interpreted as becoming available for trading activity. Moving such a large amount of BTC onto Binance increases immediate sell-side liquidity and shows that the whale address is in preparation for selling. This follows the recent trend of whale addresses selling their Bitcoin holdings and a general lack of buying pressure for the cryptocurrency.

Interestingly, Lookonchain data shows that the same Bitcoin OG (1011short) wallet recently added another 12,406 ETH to its long exposure, pushing its current holdings to 203,341 ETH worth about $577.5 million, alongside 1,000 BTC valued near $87 million and 250,000 SOL worth roughly $30.7 million. Despite increasing exposure, the wallet is now down more than $70 million, having seen profits fall from over $120 million to less than $30 million at the time of writing.

Bearish Whale Behavior Is Not Isolated

This Binance deposit is not occurring in isolation. Lookonchain also noted activity from another whale address, 0x94d3, which has taken explicitly bearish action over the past several hours. According to the data, the whale sold 255 BTC worth approximately $21.77 million at an average price of $85,378 before opening a 10x leveraged short position on 876.27 BTC, valued at about $76.3 million. The same wallet also initiated a leveraged short on 372.78 ETH worth roughly $1.1 million.

Bitcoin’s recent price action makes these whale moves especially impactful. The leading cryptocurrency has failed to hold above $90,000 again and recently fell to a 24-hour low of $84,581. This movement has seen Bitcoin trading in a volatile range, repeatedly revisiting support zones around the mid-$80,000 region. Upside follow-through above $90,000 has been limited, and this has left the cryptocurrency vulnerable.

Interestingly, a careful look at on-chain data shows that any movement that looks like accumulation in recent days is not organic buying but only reshuffling among wallets.

Новая вредоносная программа Stealka крадет пароли криптовалютных кошельков и данные банковских карт с компьютеров под управлением Windows, сообщили специалисты российской компании «Лаборатория Касперского».

Ethereum’s price may be hampered by selling pressure, but the leading network continues to experience heavy utilization from developers and users. After robust interaction from the participants,  the blockchain giant emerged once again as the leader in Decentralized Finance (DeFi) lending.

DeFi Lending Still Pays Best On The Ethereum Network

A recent report has underscored Ethereum’s growing dominance within the blockchain sector. The network is solidifying its position as the financial foundation for decentralized finance lending, and the data is starting to present a convincing picture.

A look at the data shared by Leon Waidmann, a market expert and the head of research at On-Chain Foundation, shows that ETH is now the revenue center of DeFi lending. This implies that most of the revenue flowed through the ETH ecosystem, outpacing other major chains like Base, Plasma, and Arbitrum. 

From borrowing fees to interest paid by active users, the ETH network continues to be the key settlement layer where value is persistently created. ETH is at the center of the revenue outlines the network’s usage in addition to its ongoing dominance as the fundamental infrastructure driving DeFi’s most lucrative lending activity.

As seen on the chart, Ethereum mainnet steadily secured over 80% to 90% of all DeFi lending revenue and activity, reinforcing its increasing role in the financial landscape. Interestingly, this share has remained a dominant force even with the vigorous expansion of the Layer 2 and alt-Layer 1 chains.

Data shows that usage may be fragmented, but fees do not. Meanwhile, at the protocol layer, Waidmann highlighted that concentration is quite stronger. Amid this rising DeFi revenue lending, Aave is the core revenue engine on the Ethereum mainnet, attracting more than 50% of the total lending funds. 

This part of the network was also responsible for over 60% of all active loans on ETH. In the end, the project generated approximately $885 million in fees in 2025 alone, reflecting the significant usage of the network.

While Ethereum mainnet secures balance sheets and profits, layer 2s are optimizing execution and User Experience (UX). Waidmann noted that where confidence and liquidity are greatest, DeFi credit markets converge. “Ethereum Mainnet is not being disrupted, but is being reinforced,” the expert added.

Active ETH Addresses Targeting Its Peak

Another instance of robust engagement across the Ethereum network is a spike in active wallet addresses. Joseph Young, a crypto enthusiast, previously highlighted that the active users on the network are drawing close to its all-time high. Such a rise in active addresses suggests a resurgence of interest and conviction among larger and retail investors.

At the time of the post, about 2.4 million wallet addresses were actively interacting with the network every week. This is an indication that tokenization, stablecoins, and privacy infrastructure are all converging on Ethereum. Currently, Young stated ETH is dominating the big three metas, while expressing his conviction in the network’s prospects.

Комиссия по ценным бумагам и биржам США (SEC) обвинила 37-летнего основателя майнинговой компании VBit Technologies Дана Си Во (Danh C. Vo) в мошенничестве, а также присвоении и растрате клиентских $48,5 млн.

Предпоследняя полная неделя 2025 года прошла для криптовалют почти полностью в минусе. Несмотря на достаточно много позитивных новостей, инвесторы предпочитают не рисковать, обходя цифровые активы стороной. Что будет дальше?

According to David Sacks, the White House’s artificial intelligence (AI) and crypto Czar, the long-awaited crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, which aims to define how regulatory bodies will oversee cryptocurrency markets, is reportedly closer to passing. 

Markups For Crypto Market Structure Bill Set For January

In a recent post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Sacks shared insights from a fresh meeting with Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott, indicating that a markup for the CLARITY Act is slated for January. 

The CLARITY Act is designed with a core framework that classifies digital assets into three categories: digital commodities, overseen by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); investment contract assets, regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and permitted stablecoins. 

This structure aims to establish distinct regulatory roles for the CFTC and SEC, require registration for cryptocurrency exchanges, define Qualified Digital Asset Custodians (QDACs) with strict key management protocols, and introduce anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) rules.

However, the bill has faced delays over recent months, primarily due to an extended US government shutdown and ongoing negotiations between Democratic and Republican lawmakers. 

As recent reports by Bitcoinist have indicated, Democrats are advocating for additional time to discuss various crucial issues, including market integrity, financial stability, and ethical considerations surrounding President Trump’s family’s business dealings in the crypto space.

Despite these hurdles, a spokesperson for Chair Scott emphasized the significant progress made by the Senate Banking Committee in creating a robust regulatory framework. 

Meanwhile, the crypto industry is also striving to address concerns regarding the recently passed GENIUS Act, which includes provisions that could exert further limits on stablecoins. 

Contention Grows Over GENIUS Act 

A letter led by the Blockchain Association, signed by over 125 industry players, criticized attempts to reinterpret and expand the existing prohibition on interest linked to stablecoins within the GENIUS Act.

Signed into law by President Trump in July, the GENIUS Act aims to establish a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens, which are widely known as stablecoins. The act contains a provision that prevents stablecoin issuers from offering “any form of interest or yield.” 

This aspect has ignited a contentious debate between the crypto and banking sectors regarding the extent of the interest prohibition and whether adjustments are necessary.

Banking representatives argue that the prohibition on interest should extend to other entities that provide rewards to stablecoin holders, labeling any attempt to exclude them a “loophole” that contradicts the law’s original intent. They also lobbying Congress to revise the GENIUS provisions as part of the crypto market structure bill.

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

При наличии устойчивого бычьего тренда через десять лет цена биткоина может превысить $2,95 млн, заявили аналитики компании CF Benchmarks.

Суд Южного округа Нью-Йорка приговорил жителя Мексики Магдалено Мендосу (Magdaleno Mendoza), старшего промоутера криптопирамиды IcomTech, к 71 месяцу тюремного заключения. Суд также обязал мужчину выплатить пострадавшим от пирамиды $789 000 компенсаций.

A coalition of leading cryptocurrency firms is urging lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee to reject specific provisions concerning stablecoins outlined in the recently passed GENIUS Act. 

This push, coordinated by the Blockchain Association, comes as more than 125 participants from the crypto industry voice their opposition to a proposed reinterpretation of an existing prohibition on stablecoin interest.

Among the organizations backing this letter are the Bitcoin Policy Institute, the Crypto Council for Innovation, the DeFi Education Fund, the Solana Policy Institute, the Digital Chamber, as well as major players like a16z Crypto, Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, and Ripple.

Stablecoin Law Sparks Conflict

The GENIUS Act, signed into law by President Trump in July, is designed to set a regulatory framework for dollar-backed digital tokens, commonly known as stablecoins. A key element of this legislation is a provision that prevents stablecoin issuers from offering “any form of interest or yield.” 

However, this provision has ignited a contentious debate between the crypto and banking sectors regarding its extent and the necessity for any amendments.

Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, addressed these concerns in comments to The Hill. “Reopening the issue before we have even started rulemaking just doesn’t make sense,” she stated, emphasizing the importance of maintaining legislative certainty. 

She argued that if Congress can revisit a bill immediately after it has been enacted, it raises questions about the law’s reliability for the marketplace.

The banking industry contends that the prohibition on interest should also apply to other entities that provide rewards to holders of stablecoins. They describe this stance as a crucial measure to address what they view as a “loophole,” asserting that it undermines the original intent aimed at stabilizing the financial ecosystem.

In contrast, the cryptocurrency sector maintains that the existing law strikes a careful balance that enables stablecoins to remain competitive in the payment services market. The letter from industry leaders outlines this perspective, stating: 

Congress prohibited stablecoin issuers from paying interest or yield to those holding stablecoins while intentionally preserving the ability of platforms, intermediaries, and other third parties to offer lawful rewards or incentives to consumers. 

Crypto Industry Challenges Banking Sector Claims

At the heart of the debate are concerns from banks about potential deposit outflows. Financial institutions fear that allowing rewards could incentivize individuals to shift funds into stablecoins, thereby reducing the amount of capital available for lending.

In response to these concerns, the crypto industry has cited an analysis from Charles River Associates, which found no significant correlation between the adoption of stablecoins and levels of deposits at community banks.

Furthermore, they pointed out that it seems contradictory to claim that banks are truly constrained by deposits when approximately $2.9 trillion in bank reserves are currently earning interest at the Federal Reserve (Fed) rather than being utilized for loans.

The industry’s letter challenges the banking sector’s position, stating, “Opposition to stablecoin rewards reflects protection of incumbent revenue models, not safety and soundness concerns.”

Democrats believe that it is possible to find a balanced approach, stating, “Congress can find solutions to this issue that protect the banking system while still permitting rewards and incentives.”

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

Генеральный директор платформы Real Vision Рауль Пал (Raoul Pal) заявил, что несмотря на рост цены сохраняющей анонимность владельца монеты Zcach, перспективы бычьего тренда актива в 2026 году выглядят неопределенными.

Суд в Лондоне приговорил к шести годам тюремного заключения бывшего старшего разработчика платформы для запуска мемкоинов Pump.fun Джарретта Данна (Jarett Dunn), известного под прозвищем «Криптовалютный Робин Гуд».

Гендиректор Tether Паоло Ардоино (Paolo Ardoino) заявил в подкасте Bitcoin Capital, что главным фактором риска для биткоина в 2026 году станет «пузырь искусственного интеллекта» (ИИ).

В правительстве России утвердили перечень бюджетных расходов, в которых цифровой рубль может быть использован уже в 2025 году. В него вошли соцобеспечение и заработная плата, сообщили в Минфине.

Аналитики американского банка JPMorgan объяснили, почему рынок стейблкоинов вряд ли достигнет $1 трлн к 2028 году. Они назвали эту цифру слишком оптимистичной.

On-chain data shows the distribution of the underwater Bitcoin supply has been shifting recently with the share of long-term holders rising.

23.7% Of Bitcoin Supply Is Currently Being Held At A Loss

In its latest weekly report, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode has discussed about the latest trend in the Bitcoin Total Supply in Loss. This metric measures, as its name suggests, the total amount of the cryptocurrency’s supply that’s currently carrying a net unrealized loss.

The indicator works by going through the transaction history of each token in circulation to see what price it was last moved at. If this previous transaction price was lower than the latest spot price for any token, then that particular coin is assumed to be underwater right now.

The Total Supply in Loss adds up all coins of this type to produce a net situation for the network. A counterpart metric called the Total Supply in Profit accounts for the tokens of the opposite type.

Now, here is the chart shared by the analytics firm that shows the trend in the 7-day moving average (MA) of the Total Supply in Loss over the last few years:

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Total Supply in Loss witnessed a sharp surge as the asset’s price crashed in November. Since then, the metric has stayed inside the 6 to 7 million BTC range, with its current value being 6.7 million BTC. This phase corresponds to the highest degree of loss on the network since 2023.

Glassnode explained:

Persisting within the 6–7 million BTC range since mid-November, this pattern closely mirrors early transitional phases of prior cycles, where mounting investor frustration preceded a shift toward more pronounced bearish conditions and intensified capitulation at lower prices.

The report has also shed light on how this loss supply is distributed between the two main divisions of the Bitcoin investors based on holding time: short-term holders (STHs) and long-term holders (LTHs). The cutoff between the two groups is 155 days, with investors who purchased inside this window falling in the STHs and those with a longer holding time in LTHs.

As the below chart shows, the Bitcoin loss supply spike last month was initially dominated by STHs.

With the cryptocurrency ranging low since then, the distribution of the loss supply has seen a shift between the two cohorts: LTHs have gained some notable share.

Of the 23.7% Bitcoin supply in circulation that’s underwater right now, 13.5% is held by STHs and 10.2% by LTHs. “This distribution suggests that, much like in prior cycle transitions into deeper bearish regimes, loss-bearing supply accumulated by recent buyers is gradually maturing into the long-term holder cohort,” noted the analytics firm.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading around $85,400, down more than 5.5% over the last week.

Власти Якутии рассматривают возможность размещения мощностей для майнинга на Улугурском и Эргеджейском газовых месторождениях. На них работает совместное предприятие «Алросы» и компании «Сахатранснефтегаз» – «Улугурнефтегаз».

In its latest effort to provide clearer regulatory clarity, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published detailed guidelines for broker-dealers on the custody of crypto assets.

SEC Clarifies Crypto Custody Standards For Broker-Dealers

On Wednesday, the SEC’s staff of the Division of Trading and Markets issued a statement addressed its views on the application of paragraph (b)(1) of Rule 15c3-3 to crypto assets that are considered securities, including tokenized versions of an equity or debt security.

Under Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Rule 15c3-3 requires any broker-dealer to “promptly obtain and thereafter maintain physical possession or control of all fully paid and excess margin securities it carries for the account of customers.”

The new guidelines clarify how “any broker-dealer that carries crypto asset securities for customers, including broker-dealers that conduct a traditional securities business” can maintain compliance with this rule despite tokens being on the blockchain.

According to the SEC’s statement, a broker-dealer can consider itself to have “physical possession” of the crypto assets if it has direct access to the asset and the capability to transfer it on the associated distributed ledger technology (DLT).

Broker-dealers must also conduct and document an throughout assessment “of the distributed ledger technology and the associated network where transfers of ownership of a crypto asset security are recorded prior to undertaking to maintain possession of the crypto asset security, and at reasonable intervals thereafter.”

In additions, they must establish, maintain, and enforce “reasonably designed written policies and procedures” to ensure the assets’ security, the protection of private keys, they have adequate plans to address unexpected disruptions to its possession of the crypto assets, including theft, unauthorized used, network attacks, and hard forks.

This circumstance emphasizes that a broker-dealer has policies, procedures, and controls reasonably designed to help ensure that no other person, including the broker-dealer’s customer or a third-party (including the broker-dealer’s affiliate), has access to the relevant private keys and the ability to transfer the asset without the authorization of the broker-dealer.

Meanwhile, the agency explained that “a broker-dealer does not deem itself to possess a crypto asset security if the broker-dealer is aware of any material security or operational problems or weaknesses with the distributed ledger technology and associated network used to access and transfer the crypto asset security or is aware of other material risks posed to the broker-dealer’s business by custodying the crypto asset security.”

SEC’s Path To Clearer Rules

The SEC affirmed that the statement is part of its efforts to provide greater clarity on the application of federal securities laws to crypto assets. Notably, the regulatory agency recently published guidelines to help educate retail investors about the ways they can hold crypto assets and is pushing to modernize its rules to facilitate an positive market environment.

Earlier this month, the US regulator revealed it is evaluating tokenization to modernize the issuance, trading, and settlement of public equities. SEC chairman Paul Atkins asserted that “Distributed ledger technology and the tokenization of financial assets, including securities, have the potential to transform our capital markets.”

Moreover, Atkins recently stated that the Commission could issue innovation exemption rules for crypto firms in early 2026.  The agency has been considering the rule exemption since July to “permit novel ways of trading and more narrowly tailored forms of relief to facilitate the building of other components of a tokenized securities ecosystem.”

The change would allow crypto firms to quickly launch products without having to comply with “burdensome prescriptive regulatory requirements that hinder productive economic activity.” Instead, they would “be able to comply with certain principles-based conditions designed to achieve the core policy aims of the federal securities laws.”

In a recent crypto crime report, blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis has uncovered a troubling trend in crypto theft. As of now, over $3.4 billion worth of digital assets has been stolen, surpassing the total amount reported in the previous year. Notably, North Korean hackers have been implicated in the majority of these thefts.

Crypto Theft Escalates

The report, published on Thursday, highlights significant alterations in how these thefts are occurring. One alarming statistic shows that compromises of personal wallets have surged, escalating from just 7.3% of the overall stolen value in 2022 to a staggering 44% in 2024. 

Even if the Bybit attack hadn’t dramatically skewed the figures, the share for 2025 would still stand at 37%. Meanwhile, centralized services are facing increasing losses due to private key compromises.

Although such compromises are comparatively infrequent, their scale often accounts for a vast majority of stolen volumes. In fact, private key compromises were responsible for an overwhelming 88% of losses in the first quarter of the year.

Chainalysis also noted a stark escalation in the scale of these attacks, with the ratio between the largest hack and the median of all incidents exceeding 1,000 times for the first time in 2025. 

This implies that funds taken in the largest hacks are now 1,000 times greater than those stolen in typical incidents—a worrying trend that eclipsed even the peak activity during the 2021 bull market.

Record-Breaking Year For DPRK Theft

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to be the most formidable nation-state threat to cryptocurrency security, claiming a record year for digital asset theft despite a substantial decrease in the reported frequency of attacks. 

In 2025, North Korean hackers reportedly stole at least $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency, signifying a 51% increase from the previous year. This is the highest value ever recorded for DPRK-related crypto theft, with these attacks contributing to a record 76% of all service compromises.

The rise in stolen funds can be attributed in part to the DPRK’s tactics. Cybercriminals linked to the regime have increasingly embedded IT workers within cryptocurrency services, allowing them privileged access to high-impact compromises. 

However, a notable evolution in strategy has emerged: DPRK operatives are now impersonating recruiters for well-known Web3 and artificial intelligence (AI) firms. 

This approach involves orchestrating fake hiring processes, which culminate in technical screenings intended to harvest sensitive credentials, source code, and access to systems at current employers.

158,000 Cases Logged In 2025

In a significant finding, the report indicates that personal wallet compromises in 2025 accounted for 20% of the total value stolen. This marks a decline from 44% in 2024, reflecting an evolution in the types and scales of attacks. 

The number of theft incidents skyrocketed to 158,000 in 2025, a threefold increase from the 54,000 recorded in 2022, while unique victims surged from 40,000 to at least 80,000 in the same timeframe. 

Despite this increase in incidents and victims, the total value stolen from individual victims has decreased from $1.5 billion in 2024 to $713 million in 2025. This suggests a shift in focus, where attackers target a larger number of users but steal smaller amounts per person.

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