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Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid experienced net outflows of over $430 million this week, marking the third-largest weekly outflow in its history, Wu Blockchain reported. The exchange's assets under management have also declined, falling from $6 billion in September to a current level of $4 billion.

Swedish digital asset manager Virtune announced on Dec. 19 that it has launched a Bittensor (TAO) exchange-traded product (ETP) on Nasdaq Stockholm, the largest stock exchange in the Nordic region. According to Virtune, the product aims to provide investors with a secure and cost-effective way to invest in TAO. This follows the October launch of a Staked Bittensor ETP on the Swiss stock exchange SIX by German crypto ETP provider Deutsche Digital Assets (DDA). TAO is currently trading at $228.82, up 0.66%, according to CoinMarketCap.

A group of individuals has been referred to South Korean prosecutors for allegedly attempting to purchase the stablecoin Tether with 400 million won (around $290,000) in counterfeit banknotes, News1 reported. The suspects are accused of an unsuccessful attempt to trade bundles of fake 50,000 won bills for the cryptocurrency in front of Cheonan-Asan Station in the city of Asan.

A newly created anonymous wallet withdrew 3,500 ETH, valued at $10.23 million, from Binance in its first-ever transaction earlier today, according to The Data Nerd. The wallet subsequently withdrew an additional 2,135 BNB ($1.79 million) from Binance and 3.743 million USDT from Bybit.

Despite the cryptocurrency market falling 13% year-to-date and BTC undergoing an 8% correction, some analysts argue this is a healthy adjustment rather than the start of a bear market. According to CryptoPotato, Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas noted that BTC has surged 468% over the past two years, an annualized return of 138% that is eight times that of U.S. stocks. He assessed that this year's correction represents giving back only a small fraction of those substantial gains. Futures trader Toni added that the market is in a healthy consolidation phase, not a downturn. He emphasized that several factors have supported a bull market this year, including a pro-crypto policy stance in the U.S., record highs in stock and commodity markets, institutional investor inflows, and an expanding global money supply. Toni also remarked that market rebounds typically begin when traders are exhausted and frustrated, not when they are optimistic.

Bitcoin has moved out of its oversold state, according to crypto analyst MorenoDV in a contribution to CryptoQuant. The analysis points to the NVT (Network Value to Transactions) Golden Cross indicator, which has rebounded from -0.58 to 0.32. A reading above 2.2 on this metric typically indicates overbought conditions, while a level below -1.6 signifies an oversold market. The analyst explained that the NVT Golden Cross reached its lowest level of the current cycle, which could structurally suggest a short-term bottom has been established. He added that the indicator is now entering a gradual recovery phase.

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) is pushing to enact a new Digital Financial Security Act aimed at preventing hacks on virtual asset service providers, Digital Asset reported. The FSC disclosed the plan on Dec. 19 in a business report to the presidential office, citing the recent hack at the South Korean exchange Upbit, which resulted in the loss of 44.5 billion won ($32.2 million) in virtual assets, as a key example. The proposed legislation is expected to cover financial companies, electronic financial service providers, and virtual asset service providers. The FSC also stated it plans to strengthen its response system for new types of offenses, including cross-border crime and money laundering. Additionally, the commission intends to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets that includes rules for stablecoins.

Ontology (ONT) announced via its official X account that it has updated the tokenomics for Ontology Gas (ONG), burning 200 million tokens and setting the new total supply at 800 million ONG.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $88,000. BTC is trading at $88,010.44 on the Binance USDT market.

Magic Eden is evolving beyond a simple NFT marketplace into a crypto entertainment platform aimed at a mass audience, according to a report from Asia-based Web3 research and consulting firm Tiger Research. The report stated that Magic Eden first built its financial infrastructure with multi-chain wallets and asset exchange tools. It then enhanced user engagement and rewards through gamified elements like "Lucky Buy" and "Packs," alongside a token buyback program that uses 30% of its revenue. Tiger Research added that the platform is leveraging its rapid execution and market judgment to expand into high-value areas like prediction markets and integrate mobile wallets, aiming to become a key gateway for entering Web3.

Binance Alpha has announced the removal of nine tokens—BUZZ, DARK, FROG, GORK, MIRAI, PERRY, RFC, SNAI, and TERMINUS—at 7:00 a.m. UTC on Dec. 19.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has announced it will delist APM Coin (APM) at 6:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 19, 2026. The exchange stated that materials submitted by the project's foundation were insufficient to resolve the issues that led to the token's placement on an investment warning list. Bithumb added that a comprehensive review of the foundation's disclosures and the project's viability and sustainability concluded that APM no longer meets the criteria for continued trading support.

Across the top three crypto futures exchanges by open interest, the aggregate long/short ratio for BTC perpetual futures over the last 24 hours is 49.77% long to 50.23% short. The breakdown by exchange is as follows: - Binance: 50.08% long / 49.92% short - OKX: 50.52% long / 49.48% short - Bybit: 49.81% long / 50.19% short

Jack Yi, the founder of LD Capital, stated on X that the recent Bank of Japan interest rate hike was the last major headwind for the cryptocurrency market, which he expects will resume its upward trend after a short-term correction. He described the latest volatility as a final offensive by short sellers in the futures market. For those focused on long-term investment rather than short-term trading, Yi argued that now is the most suitable time to buy spot cryptocurrencies. He predicted the industry will experience significant growth next year, driven by policy shifts, a quantitative easing cycle including interest rate cuts, and wider blockchain adoption. Yi emphasized that investors must tolerate volatility in the hundreds of dollars to achieve gains in the thousands.

South Korean investors' net purchases of overseas cryptocurrency-related stocks have surged more than threefold year-over-year, reaching approximately 10 trillion won ($7.14 billion) between Jan. 1 and Dec. 18, Digital Asset reported. This marks a significant increase from the roughly 3 trillion won ($2.14 billion) recorded during the same period last year. The most heavily purchased individual stock was Bitmain Immerse Technologies, with net buys totaling $1.33 billion, representing 20% of all investments in the category. Products related to Strategy also saw strong demand, though investors primarily favored derivative instruments over the company's direct stock. A Strategy options exchange-traded fund (ETF) attracted $513.8 million in net purchases, while a 2x leveraged Strategy ETF drew $411.94 million.

Solana-based decentralized exchange (DEX) Lifinity is shutting down, SolanaFloor reported. The move follows a proposal to cease operations that was submitted to the project's community on Dec. 10 and subsequently passed unanimously. In line with the proposal, the Lifinity DAO will distribute its $42 million in assets to LFNTY token holders. Holders are estimated to receive between $0.90 and $1.10 per token.

A solo miner successfully mined Bitcoin block 928,351 on Dec. 18, receiving a reward of 3.152 BTC worth approximately $271,000, Cointelegraph reported.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen to an eight-month low, raising the possibility of further short-term corrections, Cointelegraph reports. According to data from Coingecko, the market cap is now $2.93 trillion, down approximately 33% from its peak in early October. Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe suggested that if BTC declines further into a sell-off, altcoins could face an additional correction of 10% to 20%. Conversely, blockchain analytics firm Santiment noted that market sentiment remains at a level of extreme fear. The firm observed that historically, strong pessimism among retail investors has often served as a signal for a market rebound.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated on X that investors should not bet against the Bank of Japan. He noted that the central bank's explicit policy is to maintain negative real interest rates. Hayes predicted this will lead to the yen weakening to 200 per U.S. dollar and Bitcoin reaching $1 million.

A U.S. court has sentenced Magdaleno Mendoza to six years in prison for his role in the IcomTech crypto scam, Decrypt reported. Mendoza was indicted by the Department of Justice for defrauding investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars by recruiting them into a Ponzi scheme that promised guaranteed daily returns from cryptocurrency trading and mining.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $97.67 million in net outflows on Dec. 18, marking the sixth consecutive day of outflows, according to data from TraderT. BlackRock's fund led the trend with $103.3 million in outflows. In contrast, Grayscale's ETHE and Mini ETH funds saw net inflows of $2.74 million and $2.89 million, respectively. The remaining ETFs reported no net flows for the day.

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $160.65 million (237.6 billion won) in total net outflows on Dec. 18, reverting to outflows after just one day of net inflows, according to data compiled by TraderT. BlackRock's IBIT was the only fund to see positive movement, attracting $33.44 million. In contrast, Fidelity's FBTC experienced significant withdrawals of $170 million, while Bitwise's BITB and Ark Invest's ARKB saw outflows of $11.54 million and $12.27 million, respectively. Flows for the remaining ETFs were flat.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $87,000. BTC is trading at $87,019.65 on the Binance USDT market.

The Bank of Japan has raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points as expected, moving it from 0.5% to 0.75%. This marks the highest level for the rate in 30 years, since 1995. The central bank ended its 17-year negative interest rate policy in March of last year by raising the rate to 0.1%. It followed with gradual increases to 0.25% in July of last year and to 0.5% in January of this year.

Coinbase has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. states of Connecticut, Michigan, and Illinois over the regulation of prediction markets. Paul Grewal, the company's Chief Legal Officer, stated on X that some state governments have tried to control or block these markets by treating them as subject to gaming and gambling regulations. He argued that this approach not only violates the law but also stifles innovation. Grewal asserted that prediction markets fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), not state governments.