Hyperliquid confirmed this week that a wallet tied to a former employee dismissed in Q1 2024 executed large short trades against HYPE. On December 17, the address deposited about $53,000 USDC and opened roughly $223,000 in leveraged shorts, including a $180,000 HYPE position. The exchange reiterated a zero‑tolerance policy on insider trading and defended the protocol's solvency.

Spot Solana ETFs in the United States have accumulated $750.10 million in net inflows by December 22, with outflows occurring on only three trading days since their October 28 launch. Over the same period, the Solana network has seen growing adoption of the Frankendancer validator client, wider use of the DoubleZero mesh network, and a sharp rise in stablecoin circulation from about $1.8 billion in early 2024 to roughly $12 billion by November 2025.

On Tuesday, BTC slipped 2% and struggled to hold $88,000, while Alphractal said total on-chain fees are at their lowest since January 2011. CryptoQuant flagged positive miner transfer spikes to Binance on December 11, 17, and 19, hinting at selling intent. Analyst Mr Wall Street reported a long filled at $84,550, targeting $98,000–$104,000, but still sees $64,000–$70,000 in 2026.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies said its combined crypto, cash and "moonshot" holdings total about $13.2 billion, after adding 98,852 ETH in the past week to reach 4.07 million ETH and 193 BTC. The ETH trove equals roughly 3.37% of the 120.7 million circulating supply, and its shares averaged $1.7 billion in daily volume as of December 19.

On December 23, 2025, decentralized exchange Aster will begin Stage 5 of its ASTER buyback program, channeling up to 80% of daily platform fees into token repurchases. The plan combines an automatic on-chain daily buyback with a flexible strategic reserve, and follows recent price volatility that has left ASTER under pressure despite a brief rebound around $0.725.

Pseudonymous analyst Doctor Profit projects a short-term Bitcoin move toward $97,000–$107,000 while saying no major downside is likely before February or March 2026. Another analyst, Mr Wall Street, expects a relief rally to $98,000–$104,000 but warns of a bull trap, eyeing $64,000–$70,000 in late Q1 or early Q2 2026.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan anticipates Bitcoin will set new all-time highs in 2026, even as the current market appears bearish. He argues that the traditional four-year cycle is weakening, while institutional adoption, lower volatility, and reduced correlation with equities are reshaping BTC's market profile.

On Tuesday, Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov presented a 2026 roadmap built around Aave V4, Horizon, and a new Aave App. The plan aims to redesign the lending protocol, grow Horizon's real-world asset markets beyond its current $550 million in net deposits, and onboard the first million users via the consumer app. This long-term vision follows the conclusion of a four-year SEC investigation into Aave.

World Liberty Financial has put forward a proposal to allocate about 5% of its WLFI treasury, valued at roughly $120 million, to support the USD1 stablecoin. The plan targets expanded USD1 adoption via select CeFi and DeFi partnerships after the token's total value locked climbed to around $2.7 billion within six months of its March launch.