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Visa-backed crypto cards recorded a sharp rise in consumer spending last year, with total net spend jumping 525% from January to December. According to data compiled from on-chain trackers, spending moved from $14.6 million in January to $91.3 million by the end of December.

Major Cards Driving The Growth

Most of the rise was concentrated in a small group of cards. Data shows that EtherFi’s Visa card accounted for $55.4 million of the total, more than double second-place Cypher’s $20.5 million. The six cards tracked include offerings from GnosisPay, Cypher, EtherFi, Avici Money, Exa App, and Moonwell.

Spending Patterns And Data Source

Data from Dune Analytics shows the figures measure net spend on Visa-issued crypto cards run by blockchain projects partnering with Visa. The growth appears to be steady across the year rather than a single spike, with month-by-month net spend rising through 2025.

According to Polygon researcher @obchakevich_ on X Sunday, these numbers show that crypto cards are gaining traction with users and highlight how important crypto and stablecoins have become for Visa’s worldwide payment network.

. @Visa continues its expansion into crypto, steadily increasing spend volume through crypto cards such as @gnosispay, @ether_fi cash, @Cypher_HQ_, @AviciMoney, @Exa_App, @MoonwellDeFi card, and others.

Looking at the analytics for 6 crypto cards on Visa, we can see rapid… pic.twitter.com/Z5JzpBggI9

— Alex (@obchakevich_) January 4, 2026

What This Means For Payments

Analysts and researchers say this jump suggests some crypto cards are moving into regular everyday use for certain groups of customers. Based on reports, cardholders are using crypto balances to pay for routine purchases instead of always converting to fiat first. That shift could make stablecoins and crypto rails more relevant for payments firms and banks.

Visa Moves On Stablecoins And Advisory Work

Visa has been active on the stablecoin front and has signaled plans to support broader stablecoin infrastructure for payments. Reports show Visa launched initiatives to help banks and partners build out stablecoin solutions and set up advisory work around tokenized money late in 2025. Those moves line up with the card-use data, which some observers see as a practical test of crypto payment flows at scale.

Growth on a small set of cards does not mean mass adoption yet. Observers caution that regulation, consumer protection, and merchant acceptance remain key constraints. At the same time, the numbers do show that crypto-linked payments are no longer just a niche experiment; they are being used for real transactions by measurable groups of users.

Featured image from Cebuana Lhuillier, chart from TradingView

Гендиректор Galaxy Digital Майк Новограц (Mike Novogratz) назвал две криптовалюты, которые, по его мнению, «стоят на краю пропасти», то есть их курс может обрушиться до минимума: XRP и ADA.

За последнюю неделю инвесторы перевели на крупнейшую в мире по объемам торгов криптобиржу Binance почти $2,4 млрд в биткоинах и эфире. Приток монет может быть связан с желанием крупных держателей продать свои активы, предположили аналитики компании CryptoOnchain.

В 2025 году мошенники похитили у жителей США свыше $333 млн с помощью криптоматов. Такую статистику привело Федеральное бюро расследований (ФБР). Показатель значительно вырос по сравнению с предыдущими годами.

XRP enters the new year attempting to stabilize after one of its most difficult periods in recent memory. Throughout 2025, the asset faced persistent selling pressure, with repeated rallies failing as uncertainty and risk aversion dominated the broader crypto market. That backdrop makes the recent move notable: XRP has gained more than 15% over the past four days, suggesting that buyers are cautiously stepping back in after months of defensive positioning.

While price action alone is not enough to confirm a trend reversal, on-chain and derivatives data point to a meaningful shift in short-term dynamics. Insights shared by CryptoOnchain explain that Binance data shows a sharp improvement in XRP’s Taker Buy/Sell Ratio, with its 7-day moving average rising to 0.991—its highest reading since late November. This metric tracks the balance between aggressive buyers and sellers, offering insight into who is willing to cross the spread and dictate market direction.

The move toward the neutral 1.0 level suggests that sell-side aggression has eased materially. Instead of sellers dominating market orders, buyers are increasingly willing to execute at market prices, a behavior typically associated with improving confidence. Importantly, this shift is emerging after a prolonged bearish phase, rather than at local price highs.

The analysis suggests that XRP appears to be transitioning out of a purely defensive regime. Whether this develops into a sustained recovery will depend on follow-through in price, volume expansion, and the ability of buyers to maintain control as broader market conditions evolve.

XRP Derivatives Data Signals Early Shift in Market Control

The latest CryptoOnchain analysis points to a notable shift in XRP’s short-term market structure, with multiple signals suggesting that selling pressure is beginning to ease. Recent derivatives data points to a meaningful change in XRP’s short-term market structure, with several signals aligning for the first time in weeks.

After spending much of mid-December under clear bearish pressure, trader behavior now suggests a gradual sentiment reset. The improvement in aggressive order flow implies that pessimism has eased, allowing buyers to re-enter without immediately facing heavy sell-side resistance.

According to the analysis, the recent rise in the taker buy/sell ratio marks a clear change from the bearish conditions observed in mid-December. During that period, aggressive sellers dominated order flow, keeping XRP under constant pressure.

The current improvement indicates that traders are becoming more confident, with buyers increasingly willing to step in at market prices rather than waiting for deeper pullbacks. This behavior typically reflects a transition from fear-driven selling to more balanced positioning.

The report also notes that this shift aligns closely with XRP’s recent price recovery. Importantly, the rebound has been supported by active demand rather than thin liquidity, suggesting that buyers are absorbing supply more effectively. This dynamic reduces the probability of sharp sell-offs in the short term, as available sell-side liquidity is being met with real buying interest.

A key level highlighted in the analysis is the near-1.0 threshold in the ratio. Sustained strength beyond this zone would signal that buyers have gained clearer control over market flow, potentially setting the foundation for a more durable recovery phase rather than a temporary bounce.

Price Faces Key Resistance as Relief Rally Develops

XRP has staged a notable short-term recovery after months of persistent downside pressure, gaining momentum from the $1.85–$1.90 region and pushing back above $2.10. On the chart, this move stands out as the strongest bullish sequence since late October, signaling that sellers are losing control after an extended distribution phase. However, the broader structure remains fragile, and the rebound is best described as a relief rally rather than a confirmed trend reversal.

Price is still trading below the declining 100-day and 200-day moving averages, which now act as dynamic resistance near the $2.45–$2.60 zone. Historically, XRP has struggled to sustain upside moves while capped below these levels, suggesting that bulls must reclaim this area to shift the medium-term bias. The 50-day moving average is flattening, indicating that downside momentum is slowing, but it has not yet turned upward.

Volume behavior adds important context. While recent green candles show improved participation compared to December, volume remains well below the levels seen during prior impulse rallies. This implies cautious buying rather than aggressive accumulation. Structurally, the $1.85 level stands out as key support, closely aligned with the rising long-term moving average, which has so far prevented deeper breakdowns.

The current bounce improves sentiment, but confirmation will depend on whether the price can reclaim higher moving averages and sustain follow-through beyond short-term resistance.

Featured image from ChatGPT, chart from TradingView.com 

Массовое накопление первой криптовалюты крупными держателями, так называемыми китами, не более чем миф. Их активность переоценена из-за искажений, связанных с работой криптобирж, заявил эксперт CryptoQuant Хулио Морено (Julio Moreno).

Автор книги о личных финансах «Богатый папа, бедный папа» Роберт Кийосаки (Robert Kiyosaki) раскритиковал традиционное образование, назвав инвестиции в биткоин, эфир, золото и серебро лучшей защитой от массовых увольнений.

Глава отдела исследований VanEck Мэтью Сигел (Matthew Sigel) заявил, что риски глубокого падения цены биткоина в текущем рыночном цикле остаются ограниченными.

Bitcoin entered the geopolitical spotlight over the weekend after a report alleged Venezuela secretly accumulated as much as 600,000 BTC, coinciding with the US capture of President Nicolás Maduro.

A new Whale Hunting investigation landed just as Washington delivered its own shock to Caracas: over the weekend, US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and transported him to the United States, where he is expected to face federal charges in New York. Against that backdrop, the report makes a massive claim: that a Maduro-era shadow network may have stockpiled Bitcoin on a scale that would instantly rank among the biggest in the world.

The piece, published by Project Brazen’s Whale Hunting, says Alex Saab, long described as a key financial operator for the Maduro government, “may control $60 billion in Bitcoin” tied to the regime. If you translate that notional value into coins, the figure ricocheting around crypto X has been roughly 600,000–660,000 BTC, though that conversion is coming from social-media extrapolation rather than the report itself.

What We Know About The Venezuelan Bitcoin Reserve

Still, timing matters. The authors frame the US raid as the opening act and the money trail as the real second act. In one of the article’s bluntest passages, Whale Hunting puts it this way: “Nicolás Maduro is in US custody. Where is the money? His name is Alex Saab.”

The report does not present an on-chain attribution proving a $60 billion hoard. It says the allegation comes from HUMINT sources and “has not been confirmed through blockchain analysis.” That caveat is doing real work: the story is written as an intelligence-and-networks narrative, not a blockchain-forensics teardown.

What the authors do supply is a plausibility sketch based on Venezuela’s resource flows and historical BTC price bands. Venezuela exported “73.2 tons of gold in 2018 alone,” the report notes, roughly $2.7 billion at the time, and argues that converting even a fraction into Bitcoin when BTC traded between roughly $3,000 and $10,000 could yield outsized gains if held into the 2021 cycle peak.

They then outline an alleged operational pipeline: gold proceeds routed through Turkish and Emirati intermediaries, passed through mixers, and moved into cold wallets “beyond the reach of Western enforcement,” with access concentrated among a small group around Saab. The implied risk is simple: even if authorities can seize people, they may not be able to seize keys.

The Maduro capture immediately fused two storylines that usually live in different parts of the market’s brain: geopolitics and the strategic-bitcoin-reserve discourse. Former Bitwise exec and now ProCap CIO Jeff Park posted via X, “What if Venezuela is the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve,” crystallizing the cynical version of that mash-up in a single sentence.

Others ran the arithmetic. Crypto commentator MartyParty (@martypartymusic) suggested: “With the assumed 600-660k $BTC added to the existing 328k in the US Government wallets the total of the SBR would be roughy 928k-988k. Very close to the projected 1m Bitcoin from the original Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Senate markups.”

At press time, Bitcoin traded at $92,558.

Новая фишинговая кампания нацелена на пользователей криптокошелька MetaMask. Об этом предупредил директор по безопасности китайской компании SlowMist под ником 23pds.

Объем переводов стейблкоинов в сети Эфириум превысил $8 трлн в четвертом квартале 2025 года — это новый исторический максимум, следует из данных аналитического сервиса Token Terminal.

Following the weekend pump, leading meme coins Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have emerged with double-digit gains in an attempt to show their dominance on the market. However, these leading meme coins have fallen short of other competitors when it comes to gains, showing rising profit opportunities in meme coins with lower market caps. Thus, this report takes a look at the meme coins that have outperformed both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu with better profit margins.

PEPE’s Outstanding 67% Run

After a prolonged downtrend, the PEPE meme coin re-emerged to the frontline with an incredible rally over the last week. CoinGecko data shows that PEPE’s price is up 67% in a 7-day period, making it the top gainer among the largest meme coins by market cap.

This rally resulted in over $1 billion added to the meme coin’s market cap during this time, and solidified its position as the third-largest meme coin by market cap. Its daily trading volume also ballooned above $1.2 billion during this time as investors rushed in to take advantage of the fast pump.

BONK Follows PEPE’s Lead

Similar to PEPE, the BONK meme coin also saw a rapid ascent that put it ahead of meme coins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. In the same 7-day period, the BONK meme coin rose by over 46%, pushing its market cap above $1 billion, while its daily trading volume raced toward $500 million.

The optics around BONK have also been particularly bullish, given the rise in the Solana price as well. Solana saw approximately 8% week-on-week gains, pushing its price toward $135. As a result, meme coins domiciled on the Solana blockchain have witnessed major rebounds during this time.

PIPPIN Emerges From The Shadows To Dominate Meme Coin

Unlike PEPE and BONK, which were already established large-cap meme coins, PIPPIN is a complete underdog that has taken the market by storm. The meme coin was first created back in 2024, and “died” a quick death after its initial pump, until it was resurrected back in 2025.

Since then, the PIPPIN meme coin has continued to outperform, rising from a $20 million market cap to over $650 million at its peak. The price is up more than 1,000% in the last three months, and rose over 13% in the last week alone. While expectations have been that the PIPPIN price will see a quick dump like JELLYJELLY, it has held up, resting at over $500 million market cap at the time of this report.

According to joint research cited in news reports, about $110 billion — roughly ₩160 trillion — left South Korean crypto platforms during 2025. Trading activity did not stop. Instead, much of the money moved to foreign exchanges where more products and tools are available to ordinary investors.

Market Limits Fuel Outflows

Reports have disclosed that domestic rules largely confine local exchanges to spot trading. Many complex products remain off limits for retail traders in Korea, so traders turned to overseas platforms such as Binance and Bybit. The joint study by CoinGecko and Tiger Research is cited as the primary basis for the $110 billion figure.

Banking And Rules Shape Choices

According to a joint report by CoinGecko and Tiger Research, South Korean investors moved over KRW 160 trillion (~$110 billion) in crypto assets from domestic exchanges to overseas platforms in 2025 due to local regulatory limits that restrict CEXs largely to spot trading. Korean… pic.twitter.com/KrYgFurdsm

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 2, 2026

South Korea tightened compliance and user protections in recent years. Laws designed to protect customers were passed, such as the Virtual Asset User Protection Act in 2024, but firms and users say the laws did not create a full framework for wider market services.

Lawmakers debated the Digital Asset Basic Act, but delays left gaps that some traders found limiting. As a result, a growing share of Korean-held crypto migrated to wallets and platforms abroad.

Fee Impact And User Behavior

Based on platform analyses, fee revenue from korean users on overseas exchanges became significant. Estimates in the sector put user-based fees at about ₩2.73 trillion for Binance and roughly ₩1.12 trillion for Bybit in 2025.

Reports also indicated the number of Korean accounts with large overseas balances grew by more than double year-on-year. Some capital was shifted into self-custody wallets too, showing that users split bets between exchanges and private wallets.

Authorities point to risks when money crosses borders. Regulators have focused on anti-money-laundering checks and bank partnerships for crypto firms. Traders, on the other hand, emphasize access. They want margin trading, derivatives, and other services that they cannot get at home. This tension between access and oversight is central to the movement of funds.

Trading Demand Remains High

Volume trends suggest Korean interest hasn’t waned, but shifted location. Domestic platforms handled substantial spot trading, but overall demand appears to have flowed into overseas venues instead of disappearing. The $110 billion figure tracks transfers and placements, not asset losses. In other words, value was relocated rather than erased.

Lawmakers in Seoul are said to be working on broader rules, including stablecoin provisions that many industry players have pushed for. If new statutes arrive and markets reopen to a wider set of services, some funds may return. But for now, many users keep trading outside Korea to access a wider menu of choices and tools.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

The crypto market produced one of its most disappointing performances in the final quarter of 2025, with most large-cap assets ending the year in the red. While prices struggled to make any mark in the last few months of the year, liquidity also continued to seep out of the market. 

According to the latest on-chain data, the crypto derivatives market posted its lowest trading volumes of 2025 in December. This downturn in activity reflects the shift in investors’ risk appetite, especially with prices remaining down in the last few months of the year.

Low Market Activity Signals Rising Risk Aversion: Analyst 

In a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, pseudonymous analyst Darkfost revealed that December was the lowest trading month for the crypto derivatives market in 2025. According to the on-chain pundit, this decline of derivatives market activity signals a disengagement of leveraged traders.

Using a chart showing the trading volumes of the top 10 coins aggregated across several major exchanges, Darkfost highlighted a broad decline in liquidity. The broad nature of this liquidity decline confirms that the low trading volume trend is spread across the entire derivatives market.

As observed in the chart above, the Binance exchange dominates the crypto futures market with approximately $1.19 trillion in trading volume in December. However, this figure is relatively low—its weakest trading activity in the past year—compared to its performance in other months in 2025. For context, Binance recorded almost double that trading volume in August 2025.

A similar trend of liquidity decline can be seen across other major exchanges. For instance, OKX recorded only $581 billion in trading volume, while Bybit was limited to $421 billion. “These levels further confirm a significant liquidity contraction in the derivatives markets, mechanically reducing risk appetite and the use of leverage,” Darkfost added.

Furthermore, the crypto analyst noted that this fall in trading volume shows how investors behave in an unfavorable market condition. 

Darkfost said:

The increase in liquidations, combined with a period of heightened market uncertainty and unclear directionality, has reinforced risk aversion. In such conditions, market participants clearly prioritize capital preservation over performance.

Darkfost concluded that this level of decline in derivatives has historically often aligned with transitional phases, where the market flushes out excess leverage ahead of building a stronger and healthier trend.

Total Crypto Market Capitalization At $3.17 Trillion

As of this writing, the total cryptocurrency market stands at about $3.17 trillion, reflecting a 0.3% jump in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data.

Ilya Lichtenstein, the man at the center of the 2016 Bitfinex theft, has been released from federal custody after serving roughly 14 months of a five-year sentence, according to reports.

He had been sentenced in November 2024 for a money-laundering conspiracy tied to the theft of about 120,000 bitcoin, one of the largest crypto thefts on record.

The move has reignited debate over how prison credits and reform laws affect high-value cybercrime cases.

Bitcoin Hacker’s Release Credited To First Step Act

According to Lichtenstein’s public posts and interviews, he credited his early freedom to the First Step Act, the prison-reform law signed by US President Donald Trump in 2018.

Reports say he was placed on home confinement after qualifying for earned time credits and program participation, a process allowed under federal rules.

He posted on social media a short message thanking Trump and saying he hopes to work in cybersecurity going forward.

Thanks to President Trump’s First Step Act, I have been released from prison early. I remain committed to making a positive impact in cybersecurity as soon as I can.

To the supporters, thank you for everything. To the haters, I look forward to proving you wrong.

— Ilya Lichtenstein (@cipherstein) January 2, 2026

The Theft And The Sentence

Based on reports from federal prosecutors, the Bitfinex breach involved nearly 120,000 bitcoin, which at the time was worth roughly $71 million and later ballooned in value as markets rose.

Lichtenstein pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in US District Court on November 14, 2024. The Department of Justice described the laundering operation as complex and said prosecutors recovered the bulk of the stolen funds.

Details Of The Case

Reports have disclosed that Lichtenstein and his then-partner Heather Morgan used layered transfers, fake identities, and conversions across services to obscure the source of funds.

The couple were arrested in 2022 after agents traced a set of private keys and other evidence back to their accounts.

Morgan, known online as Razzlekhan, pleaded guilty as well and received a shorter sentence; she was also reported to have been released early.

The case drew wide attention because agents later seized a large portion of the assets tied to the hack.

Bitcoin Recovery, Seizures And Public Reaction

Federal filings and news agencies say investigators recovered more than 90% of the stolen Bitcoin and the government seized billions in crypto-linked assets, a recovery that prosecutors called one of the largest in US history.

The sale and custody of those assets remain part of ongoing administrative steps. Many legal experts and members of the public have pushed back on the timing and optics of the early release, arguing that cases involving billions in stolen property raise unusual questions about deterrence and fairness.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView

Турецкая биржа криптовалют BtcTurk, одна из старейших и наиболее крупных в стране, сообщила, что злоумышленники получили доступ к горячим кошелькам платформы. Специалисты по блокчейн-безопасности из AnChain.AI оценили ущерб в примерно $48 млн. В 2024 и 2025 годах криптобиржа уже сталкивалась с аналогичными атаками.

The positive start of the Bitcoin price to the new year was threatened on Saturday, January 3, as the cryptocurrency market reacted negatively to the recent United States military action in Venezuela. The flagship cryptocurrency briefly lost its hold above the $90,000 mark after US President Donald Trump announced the capture of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolas Maduro.

While the long-term impact of the latest US military strikes on the cryptocurrency market remains unknown, the Bitcoin price seems to be gearing up for an upward move in the short term. Interestingly, the latest on-chain data suggests that the cryptocurrency market leader could potentially reach a correction low.

Could A Bottom Be Forming For BTC Price?

Crypto analyst Darkfost revealed in a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform that the most reactive group of Bitcoin investors, known as short-term holders (STHs), have remained under pressure, as the BTC price oscillates between the $85,000 and $92,000 levels.

Darkfost shared that the Bitcoin short-term holders have their estimated cost basis around $103,000, after accounting for the on-chain impact of Coinbase’s recent large BTC transfers. Based on data from CryptoQuant, the average unrealized losses for this investor cohort stand at around 15%.

As Darkfost explained in their Quicktake post, this figure was arrived at based on the percentage deviation from the short-term holder cost basis. “Using this approach makes it possible to identify periods when the most reactive and sensitive investors in the market are under stress,” the on-chain analyst said.

From a historical perspective, when Bitcoin short-term holders witness significant drawdowns, and their average unrealized losses stand at around 15%, the formation of a correction low is often next for the premier cryptocurrency. According to Darkfost, BTC could be staring at a similar situation here.

However, the crypto analyst noted that this signal could be false, especially if the Bitcoin price is at the start of an extended bear market. A deep or prolonged bear market could cause the STH’s unrealized losses to stay above 15% for longer periods or open the door to persistent distribution.

Bitcoin Price At A Glance

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $91,160, reflecting a more than 1% jump in the past 24 hours. According to data from CoinGecko, the flagship cryptocurrency has increased by nearly 4% in the past seven days.

Мошенники обманули двух пожилых жителей Индии на сумму более $380 000. Аферисты убедили своих жертв инвестировать в фейковую платформу для торговли акциями и криптовалютами.

Аналитики Lookonchain обнаружили три криптоадреса, которые собрали на платформе прогнозов Polymarket прибыль в $630 484, сделав ставки на отстранение президента Венесуэлы Николаса Мадуро (Nicolás Maduro) от власти. Ставки были сделаны за несколько часов до задержания Мадуро американским спецназом.

Phishing losses fell drastically in 2025 by over 83% compared to the previous year. However, the underlying data show that reduced figures do not translate to a decline in security threats.

Crypto Phishing Losses Down From $494M To $84M In 2025

A phishing attack occurs when an unsuspecting user is tricked into giving up sensitive information or signing off on malicious transactions. In the crypto space, signature phishing attacks are a major security concern and are facilitated using wallet drainers.

According to Web3 security outfit Scam Sniffer, total phishing losses in 2025 were valued at $83.85 million across 106,106 victims, representing respective drops of  83% and 68% from 2024. There were also 11 large cases of theft over $1 million compared to 30 in 2024. Meanwhile, the single largest theft was a $6.5 million loss via a permit signature attack in September, which was 8x lower than that of 2024.

While the latest figures represent a significant decline from the previous year, Scam Sniffer analysts state there is no direct translation to decreased market threat as losses moved in parallel with the market cycle. Therefore, losses increased or decreased in relation to the global crypto user activity. 

Notably, monthly losses varied from $2.04 million in December to $12.17 million in August. However, Q3, which was the busiest market period, accounted for the largest portion (29% i.e $31 million) of the yearly losses. However, figures dropped to $13 million in Q4, as user activity cooled off.

Related Reading: Aave Founder Responds To Governance Tension With Strategic Plan – Details

EIP-7702 Emerges As Latest Phishing Signature Type

According to Scam Sniffer’s report, EIP-7702 exploitation emerged as a new threat in the signature-based wallet-drainer ecosystem. Leveraging account abstraction introduced in the Pectra upgrade in May 2025, attackers can bundle multiple malicious operations into a single signature. 

Notably, the largest EIP-7702 losses, with two incidents culminating in $2.54 million, were recorded in August. Meanwhile, Permit/ Permit2 signature types lead the space, accounting for $8.72 million in losses across three major incidents, I.e. 38% of all large-case losses. 

Beyond signature phishing types, Scam Sniffer also highlighted other phishing attack types that threaten the crypto space. The Bybit incident in February stands out, after the Lazarus group breached a Safe (Wallet) developer machine and launched a program that imitated the multi-sig interface, resulting in losses of $1.46 billion.

In conclusion, while reported signature phishing losses have declined, the threat landscape remains active. Moreover, the fall in trackable losses may suggest attackers are employing harder-to-track vectors such as private key breaches or targeted social engineering.