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Nillion (NIL), a decentralized blind computing platform, announced it will officially launch a buyback program to restore market order following the unauthorized sale of NIL tokens by a market maker. The Nillion Foundation plans to use a portion of its funds to absorb the tokens released into the market without authorization. The program will continue in phases until market stability is restored.

Poland's lower house of parliament has re-passed the Crypto-Asset Market Act, sending the bill to the Senate for further deliberation, CoinDesk reported. The legislation was previously vetoed by President Andrzej Duda. The bill is intended to align the country's digital asset regulations with the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.

On-chain analytics firm Bubblemaps has uncovered evidence of organized insider activity involving the Solana-based artificial intelligence token Ava (AVA) a year ago, Cointelegraph reports. According to the analysis, 23 wallets linked to the AVA issuer acquired approximately 40% of the token's supply immediately after its launch. Bubblemaps also noted that other wallets associated with these initial buyers purchased AVA in the early stages of its release, suggesting coordinated collusion among the group. AVA reached a peak price of $0.33 on Jan. 15 but has since fallen by about 96% to its current price of $0.01059.

Thierry Chilosi, Chief Business Officer (CBO) of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), stated in a recent interview that the organization is collaborating with a global group of more than 30 banks. He explained that SWIFT is advancing a plan to add a blockchain-based ledger to its existing infrastructure and is finalizing the ledger's design with its banking partners. Chilosi also emphasized to Michael Spiegel, Global Head at Standard Chartered, that collaboration is essential to realize the benefits of scale. This development follows a previous announcement that SWIFT is working with ConsenSys to develop a blockchain-based payment system.

The Coinbase Premium for BTC has widened to -$57, a development that reflects weakening demand from U.S. institutional investors, CryptoBriefing reported, citing a CryptoQuant report. The premium measures the price difference for an asset between Coinbase and major global exchanges, with a negative value indicating the asset is trading at a discount on the U.S. platform. The report suggests this trend could be the result of several combined factors, including year-end risk management, profit-taking, tax-related selling, and outflows from spot BTC ETFs. The analysis concludes that institutional funds are currently in an exit phase and that BTC's upward momentum will likely be limited until the premium returns to positive territory.

Bitcoin's weekly Relative Strength Index (RSI) has fallen to its lowest level since January 2023, according to a Cointelegraph analysis of the Bitstamp BTC/USD chart. The indicator has dropped to 35, a level last seen when Bitcoin was trading between $15,500 and $17,000. Cointelegraph suggests this decline indicates an extremely oversold condition, which has historically preceded price rallies and may signal a short-term reversal. The analysis also noted that Bitcoin's Network Value to Transactions (NVT) ratio suggests the asset is currently undervalued. Meanwhile, crypto analyst Jelle stated that this RSI level is significant, indicating that the market could either be approaching a bottom or be on the verge of a larger decline, describing it as a pivotal moment for traders.

Nasdaq-listed healthcare company Mangoceuticals has announced plans to strategically invest up to $100 million in SOL through a new Digital Asset Treasury (DAT). To facilitate this, the company has established a subsidiary named Mango DAT. Cube Group, a firm led by a former Solana core developer, will oversee asset custody and strategy management for the new entity. Mangoceuticals also intends to invest in the tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs), engage in staking and node operations, and adopt stablecoins for its payment and settlement systems.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to interview BlackRock Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Rick Rieder for the position of Federal Reserve Chair in the last week of December, CNBC reported. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Trump would also interview Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller for the role. Earlier, CoinNess reported that Kevin Hassett, Chairman of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), is considered the leading candidate. President Trump recently stated that he is already considering a specific candidate, with a final decision expected in January.

Ethereum core developers have named the network upgrade scheduled for the second half of 2026 Hegota, according to The Block. The name is a portmanteau, combining Bogota for the execution layer (EL) upgrade and Heze for the consensus layer (CL) upgrade. Potential features for the Hegota upgrade include the implementation of Verkle Trees, a prerequisite for stateless clients, and a state and history expiry mechanism aimed at easing the operational burden on nodes from data accumulation.

Whale Alert reported that 80,000 ETH has been transferred from Binance to Binance Beacon Deposit. The transaction is valued at about $237 million.

Whale Alert reported that 68,000 ETH has been transferred from an unknown wallet to Binance. The transaction is valued at about $201 million.

An address believed to belong to Ethena Labs transferred 23.3 million ENA, valued at approximately $4.74 million, to FalconX about nine hours ago, according to an analysis by Onchainlens. The on-chain analysis firm suggested that the deposit was likely made with the intent to sell the tokens. Onchainlens added that the wallet in question still holds 123.4 million ENA, worth around $25 million.

Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, stated on X that sharp declines, periods of fear, and emerging theories that the market is finished have historically been followed by bull markets and new all-time highs. He noted that this pattern has been observed numerous times in the cryptocurrency market. Horsley pointed out that this pattern was evident even this year, with a bearish first quarter followed by strong second and third quarters. He added that people are surprised again by the current downturn and will likely be surprised once more if the market trends upward in the first quarter of next year. Horsley has previously forecasted the arrival of a major crypto bull market in 2026.

A clear slowdown in Bitcoin demand growth suggests a transition to a bear market, according to a report from on-chain data platform CryptoQuant on Friday. The analysis stated that the rise in spot demand, which had been driven by the launch of U.S. spot ETFs, the election of President Donald Trump, and a bubble in companies strategically accumulating Bitcoin, has fallen below its upward trendline since early October. CryptoQuant explained that this indicates the accumulation demand for the current cycle has likely been absorbed, removing a key pillar of price support. The report added that demand from institutions and large-scale investors has also entered a contraction phase, while risk appetite in the derivatives market is weakening. It concluded that historically, a bear market has often followed when demand growth peaks and reverses, regardless of supply-side dynamics.

The WLFI deployer address, which begins with 0x407, deposited 10 million WLFI ($1.3 million) to Binance approximately 20 minutes ago, according to on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa. The analyst noted that this marks the first time the address has made a large-scale deposit to an exchange and suggested the transfer could be intended to provide liquidity.

Liquidity fragmentation across blockchain networks is causing significant economic losses in the tokenized asset market, with such capital inefficiencies leading to an annual market value decline of up to $1.3 billion, according to a recent report from real-world asset (RWA) data provider RWA.io, as reported by Cointelegraph. The report stated that due to this fragmentation, the RWA market tends to operate more like a series of disconnected markets than an integrated financial system. It is common for the same asset to trade at different prices on various blockchains, and moving capital between networks remains costly and complex. The report argued that these inefficiencies hinder the market's ability to self-correct through arbitrage, a mechanism that promotes efficient price discovery, and identified liquidity fragmentation as the biggest obstacle to the RWA market realizing its potential multi-trillion-dollar scale.

American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) for Metaplanet, a publicly traded Japanese company that holds Bitcoin as a key corporate asset, began trading on the U.S. over-the-counter (OTC) market on Dec. 19, Coindesk reported. The ticker for the ADR is MPJPY. This development allows U.S. investors to invest in Metaplanet using U.S. dollars without needing to open a Japanese brokerage account. Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, is serving as the depositary, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of Japan's three largest banks, is acting as the custodian.

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has transferred 508.647 ETH, worth approximately $1.5 million, to crypto financial services firm Galaxy Digital, according to an analysis by Lookonchain. The on-chain analytics firm suggested that the move was likely in preparation to sell the assets.

The combined average daily trading volume of major global prediction market platforms has reached approximately $500 million, according to an analysis by DeFi analytics layer Sentora (formerly IntoTheBlock). Sentora added that leading platforms such as Polymarket, Kalshi, Limitless, and Opinion have experienced significant growth this year.

South Korea is considering allowing domestic initial coin offerings (ICOs) for the first time since a blanket ban was imposed in 2017, Maeil Business Newspaper reported exclusively. The change could take effect as early as next year. The report cites a draft document from South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) outlining key provisions for the country's Digital Asset Basic Act. According to the document, the FSC aims to permit domestic digital asset sales with sufficient information disclosure to curb the practice of projects issuing tokens overseas before listing on local exchanges. The draft also specifies new regulations for stablecoins, which would prohibit the domestic trading of overseas stablecoins like USDT and USDC unless their issuers establish a physical presence in South Korea. These proposals are part of the second phase of legislation for the Digital Asset Basic Act. In an official statement, the FSC clarified that the contents of the second-phase law have not been finalized and that discussions with relevant agencies are still underway.

Ripple announced on Dec. 18 that it has entered into a strategic partnership with TJM Investments, a securities broker registered with the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and TJM Institutional Services, a broker registered with the U.S. National Futures Association (NFA). According to its official website, Ripple will invest an undisclosed amount in TJM as part of the deal and will continue to provide infrastructure to support TJM's trade execution and clearing services. Ripple's multi-asset prime brokerage platform, Ripple Prime, has reportedly been a long-term partner of TJM.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has re-entered the UK market two years after its withdrawal, CoinDesk reported. The exchange previously exited the country after the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed strict regulations on the advertising and marketing of crypto services. Bybit will now conduct its operations and marketing under the supervision of Archax, a local cryptocurrency exchange licensed by UK regulators. Archax stated that it is helping Bybit achieve regulatory compliance, drawing on its experience assisting other major global exchanges like Coinbase and OKX in entering the UK market without their own licenses.

Hong Kong expects to grant its first stablecoin issuance licenses in early 2025, prioritizing applicants with sound reserve management, price stability mechanisms, and anti-money laundering measures, said Christopher Hui, the city's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury. According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Hui noted that 36 applications from various sectors had been received as of the end of September this year. He added that the review process will focus on foreign exchange reserve management and AML compliance. Previously, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) stated in October that it would review and approve applications based on new regulatory requirements once the city's stablecoin ordinance is enacted.

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.