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On-chain analytics firm Glassnode reported that as Bitcoin's price recovered to the $90,000 level, open interest in perpetual futures increased by approximately 2%, from 304,000 BTC to 310,000 BTC. Concurrently, funding rates have climbed from 0.04% to 0.09%. Glassnode suggested that these trends indicate traders are re-entering aggressive long positions in anticipation of a year-end rally.

Strategy founder Michael Saylor announced on X that the company's U.S. dollar holdings have increased by $748 million, bringing its total to $2.19 billion. He added that the company also holds 671,268 pounds.

Strategy did not purchase any additional BTC between Dec. 15 and Dec. 21, according to Walter Bloomberg.

Decentralized perpetual futures exchange Aster announced via X that it will commence its Stage 5 buyback program on Dec. 23. The exchange stated that during this stage, it will allocate up to 80% of its daily fees to repurchase ASTER tokens, a move intended to simultaneously bolster market stability and community value.

BlackRock has deposited 1,200 BTC, worth $108 million, and 10,000 ETH, worth $30.5 million, to Coinbase Prime, according to Intel. Coinbase Prime is a prime brokerage platform that provides large-scale trading and custody services for institutional investors.

The traditional Santa Claus rally for Bitcoin has shown a trend of diminishing returns and dominant selling pressure over the past five years, according to on-chain analyst Ardi, Cointelegraph reported. The analyst noted that while Bitcoin surged 34.5% during the 2020 rally, year-end returns have progressively weakened in recent years when excluding that outlier. Ardi added that BTC is currently in a similar post-halving phase to 2021, a year when it recorded a 7.9% decline during the same period. He observed that since the beginning of December, Bitcoin whales have been incrementally selling their holdings to capitalize on buying from retail investors. Consequently, the analyst warned that investors should be cautious of further short-term selling pressure.

According to CoinNess market monitoring, BTC has risen above $90,000. BTC is trading at $90,000.34 on the Binance USDT market.

The Ghanaian government has passed a bill to fully legalize the trading and use of cryptocurrency within the country, Unfolded reported.

Circle has announced that Cygnus, a Web3 and Instagram app layer, has officially joined the Circle Alliance. Cygnus aims to leverage the partnership to expand USDC adoption, utilizing its embedded wallet to bring Instagram users on-chain through its multi-chain integrated structure. The project will use USDC on the Base network as a core asset to simplify on-chain onboarding and increase user engagement. Launched in November 2023, the Circle Alliance is a consortium of fintech, traditional finance, payments, banking, and Web3 companies, institutions, and protocols working to develop an internet-based financial system.

Cointelegraph has highlighted three key factors for the Bitcoin market this week. First, a key indicator tracking the asset's bull-bear cycle has dropped to a multi-year low. Second, the Coinbase Premium has turned negative, suggesting a weakening of demand from U.S. institutional investors. Finally, on-chain indicators show that oversold conditions are easing, potentially creating the conditions for a short-term rebound.

Bitcoin margin long positions on the Bitfinex exchange have swelled to their largest level since early 2024, Coindesk reported. The total currently stands at approximately 72,700 BTC, a significant increase from around 55,000 BTC in early October. This level is comparable to the period just before BTC reached its peak of $73,000 in March of last year. However, the report noted that in past cycles, a surge in margin long positions has often served as a contrarian indicator. While major market bottoms have previously coincided with large-scale investors reducing their long positions, no such bottoming signal has yet emerged in the current market.

Andrei Grachev, co-founder of DWF Labs, announced on X that the firm has successfully completed its first test transaction involving physical gold. He stated that the transaction, which involved a 25 kg gold bar, proceeded smoothly. Grachev added that DWF Labs plans to expand its Real World Asset (RWA) business to include physical silver, platinum, and cotton, aligning with the company's vision to play a key role in the RWA market.

Digital asset investment products saw net outflows of $952 million last week, ending a three-week streak of inflows, according to a weekly fund flow report from CoinShares. Bitcoin investment products experienced $460 million in net outflows, while Ethereum products saw $555 million withdrawn. CoinShares attributed the outflows to several factors, including delays in the implementation of the U.S. crypto market structure bill (CLARITY Act), prolonged regulatory uncertainty, and increased selling pressure from large-scale investors.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has announced that it will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals for Sei (SEI) starting at 3:00 a.m. UTC on Dec. 23 to support the network's transition.

Crypto bank Anchorage Digital has announced its acquisition of Securitize for Advisors, a registered investment advisor (RIA) platform operating under the security token firm Securitize. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Through the acquisition, Anchorage Digital plans to integrate its institutional custody infrastructure with Securitize's advisor-focused platform to expand its range of digital asset services for RIAs.

Ethereum Layer 2 project Taiko has announced a partnership with Avalon Labs, a Bitcoin on-chain financial services platform. Under the agreement, the two companies will deploy real-world asset (RWA) infrastructure for institutional investors on the Taiko network. Avalon Labs plans to build out features on Taiko including lending contracts, institutional-grade oracle data integration, and stablecoin issuance capabilities. Taiko stated that its strengths include an Ethereum-based rollup structure, an architecture that eliminates centralized sequencer risk, and transaction finality of under two seconds. The project added that it provides on-chain infrastructure that allows institutions to meet requirements for both regulatory reliability and decentralization.

Metaplanet, a publicly listed Japanese company that has incorporated Bitcoin as a key corporate asset, has approved the issuance of dividend-paying preferred stock, Cointelegraph reported. The move signals a shift from a growth-focused model to a traditional capital strategy that includes income-generating securities. Following the approval, Metaplanet can reclassify its capital reserves to fund preferred stock dividends and share buybacks, and the issuance limit for its Class A and B preferred shares has been doubled. The Class B shares have been specifically approved for issuance to overseas institutional investors. According to the report, this structure is seen as a strategy to offer a new type of Bitcoin exposure to global institutions that are reluctant to hold BTC directly or invest in volatile common stock. The company recently began trading on the U.S. OTC market and established a subsidiary in Miami as it works to attract global capital by localizing a U.S.-style Bitcoin strategy within Japan's regulatory environment.

Binance announced it will list five new spot trading pairs—ADA/USD1, ASTER/USD1, LUNA/USDC, LUNC/USDC, and ZEC/USD1—at 8:00 a.m. UTC on Dec. 24.

A number of UK-listed companies that pursued Bitcoin accumulation strategies are now facing significant unrealized losses after buying the cryptocurrency at high prices, The Telegraph reported, citing its own analysis. The analysis found that 13 publicly traded British firms purchased a total of 4,300 BTC at an average price of $113,105. With Bitcoin's price falling to $87,000 last Friday, these holdings are down 22% from their average entry point. Including a sale by Satsuma Technology, an AI infrastructure firm listed on the London Stock Exchange, these companies have incurred losses of approximately £79 million ($99.5 million). The report also noted that Smarter Web Company (SWC), a UK-based web developer that adopted a Bitcoin reserve strategy, has also recorded losses, with its stock price plummeting by around 90% from its peak.

An address presumed to belong to Bitmine, starting with 0x1b6, has withdrawn 13,412 ETH ($40.58 million) from Kraken, Onchain Lens reported.

Binance announced on its official website that it will list the KGST/USDT spot trading pair at 8:00 a.m. UTC on Dec. 24.

Web3 social infrastructure project UXLINK has initiated a governance proposal to use a portion of its revenue for token buybacks, the project announced on X. The proposal calls for using monthly revenue to purchase at least 1% of the total UXLINK token supply, which would then be held in a strategic reserve. UXLINK stated that despite its stable growth and monthly profits, the project's intrinsic value is not fully reflected in the market. It added that the proposal is a sustainable mechanism based on a firm belief in the project's future. The vote is scheduled to conclude on Dec. 27.

South Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), which operates under the Financial Services Commission, has initiated sanction procedures against virtual asset exchange Korbit, Aju Business Daily reported exclusively. According to industry sources on Dec. 22, Korbit confirmed it received a preliminary notice from the FIU on Dec. 18 regarding violations of its anti-money laundering obligations. This notice is the first step in the process, which will be followed by a roughly 10-day period for hearing opinions before the FIU's Sanctions Deliberation Committee makes a final decision on penalties, including potential fines.

AI-focused blockchain project OpenLedger (OPEN) announced via X that it has received an investment in its OPEN token from Marblex, the blockchain subsidiary of KOSPI-listed South Korean gaming company Netmarble. The project added that the investment reflects Marblex's confidence in OpenLedger's potential to serve as a foundational infrastructure for data and AI transparency.

Cloud computing firm Northern Data has sold its Bitcoin mining division, Peak Mining, to three companies operated by Tether executives for up to $200 million, the Financial Times reported. The acquiring firms are reportedly run by Tether co-founder and Chairman Giancarlo Devasini and CEO Paolo Ardoino.