An AI Agent whale has just turned one of this year’s loudest narratives into an expensive lesson, unloading a basket of agent tokens bought for $31.12M and getting back only $2.57M, according to on-chain data posted from Ember.

The wallet built its positions at the start of the year during the peak of the AI Agent narrative, when capital chased anything linked to autonomous trading bots and AI-powered execution.

With liquidity now thin and sentiment cooler, the same bets have been closed at a loss of about $28.54 million, or roughly 92%.

Token by token, the damage is stark. The whale lost about 91%, or $15.89M, on AIXBT and 92%, or $9.87M, on FAI.

Aggressive Sell-Off Hammers AI Agent Tokens With Losses Across the Board

Positions in NFTXBT and POLY, both from the Virtuals ecosystem, were nearly wiped out with losses of 99%, equal to around $690,000 and $780,000 respectively.

The book did not fare much better elsewhere. BOTTO, an AI-driven art and curation project, produced an 84% hit of about $930,000. MAICRO, another Virtuals-linked agent token, cost the wallet roughly $380,000, a 90% drawdown versus its entry.

Because order books in these names are now shallow, the forced exit hit prices in real time.

Ember’s breakdown shows AIXBT falling about 10% during the selling, FAI dropping 8% and NFTXBT sliding 29%. BOTTO sank 32%, MAICRO tumbled 48% and POLY declined 26% as the whale worked its way through positions.

Arkham Reveals Large-Scale Sell-Off as AI Agent Hype Fades

Screenshots from Arkham’s explorer point to a sequence of transfers between the whale address and liquidity pools, with tens of millions of tokens in each project moving in quick succession. The flows suggest a deliberate decision to capitulate rather than a slow rebalance, locking in losses instead of waiting for a fresh burst of AI Agent speculation.

For market participants who rode the same theme, the episode is a reminder of how narrative-driven sectors can behave once attention shifts elsewhere. Many AI Agent tokens launched into the tail end of the broader AI mania and never built the depth or organic usage that support large tickets on the way out.

The liquidation also shows the limits of whale size in illiquid corners of crypto. Size that helps drive performance during the initial run-up can turn into a liability when liquidity dries up, since every attempt to exit pushes prices lower and erodes recovery value.

For traders still navigating the agents meta, the whale’s exit cuts both ways. It is a sharp reminder that late-stage narratives can punish even deep wallets, yet some may view the flush as clearing stale supply from thin markets.

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Grayscale says Bitcoin is not done with this cycle. In its 2026 outlook, the asset manager projects that BTC will set a fresh all-time high in the first half of next year, arguing that the market is shifting into a more mature, institution-led phase.

The firm expects 2026 to accelerate what it calls structural shifts in digital asset investing. On one side is macro demand for alternative stores of value as public debt and fiat risks build.

On the other is clearer regulation, which it says is finally pulling crypto into mainstream financial infrastructure instead of pushing it to the edges.

Together, those forces should bring in new capital, broaden adoption among wealth managers and institutions, and pull public blockchains deeper into traditional markets, Grayscale argues.

The firm believes this backdrop will lift valuations across crypto and mark the end of the so-called four-year cycle, the popular idea that Bitcoin’s fate is locked to a halving-driven boom and bust every four years.

Image Source: Grayscale

Rising Debt And Inflation Fears Drive Demand For Scarce Crypto Assets

Crypto has already grown from a niche experiment to what Grayscale calls a mid-sized alternative asset class, with millions of tokens and roughly $3T in combined market value.

Bitcoin and Ether sit at the core of that universe as scarce digital commodities and alternative monetary assets. Grayscale says rising debt and inflation worries will keep portfolio demand for such assets growing as investors look for ballast against fiat currency debasement.

Supply dynamics are part of the story. Bitcoin’s issuance rate has dropped below 1% and the 20 millionth coin is expected to be mined in March 2026. In Grayscale’s view, that kind of transparent, capped supply looks increasingly attractive as fiscal imbalances mount, and it expects investors to treat BTC and ETH more like strategic holdings than short-term trades.

Regulation is the other pillar. The firm notes that in recent years US authorities pursued investigations or lawsuits against many major crypto companies, but says that posture has started to shift.

Bipartisan Legislation Expected To Cement A Clear US Crypto Rulebook

Court wins opened the door to spot exchange traded products, Bitcoin and Ether ETPs launched in 2024, and the GENIUS Act on stablecoins passed in 2025. Grayscale now expects bipartisan crypto market structure legislation to become law in 2026, giving the industry a clearer rulebook and deeper access to capital markets.

Spot ETPs are already pulling money in. Since US Bitcoin products debuted in Jan. 2024, global crypto ETPs have seen about $87B in net inflows, according to the report.

Even so, Grayscale estimates that less than 0.5% of US-advised wealth is allocated to crypto, leaving plenty of room for slow-moving institutional capital to come in as platforms complete their due diligence and add tokens to model portfolios. Early adopters include names such as Harvard Management Company and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala.

That institutional tilt has also changed how Bitcoin trades. Previous bull runs saw 1,000% plus gains over a single year. This cycle’s maximum year-over-year increase, around 240% into March 2024, is far tamer.

Grayscale reads that as a sign of steadier buying from large pools of capital instead of a one off retail melt up, and it sees a relatively low chance of a deep, prolonged drawdown in 2026.

Grayscale Maps 10 Themes Shaping Digital Assets In The Year Ahead

Macro policy could add fuel. The last two major cycle peaks arrived while the Federal Reserve was raising rates. This time, the Fed cut three times in 2025 and is expected to continue easing next year.

Kevin Hassett, seen as a contender to replace Jerome Powell as chair, recently said President Trump will choose someone who helps Americans get cheaper car loans and easier access to mortgages at lower rates. Grayscale argues that a growing economy and broadly supportive Fed stance would align with stronger appetite for risk assets, including crypto.

Around that core view, the firm maps ten big themes it thinks will drive digital assets in 2026, from dollar debasement and regulatory clarity to the expansion of stablecoins under the GENIUS Act, asset tokenization, privacy tooling, the intersection of AI and blockchains, faster DeFi lending, next generation infrastructure and default staking in proof of stake networks.

It expects investors to favour tokens with clear use cases, measurable revenue and access to regulated venues.

Two hot talking points do not make Grayscale’s main list. The report argues that quantum computing risk is real but still too distant to move prices next year, and that digital asset treasuries, despite owning chunks of BTC, ETH and SOL, are unlikely to drive major waves of forced selling or new demand in 2026.

Taken together, the outlook paints 2026 as the dawn of what Grayscale calls crypto’s institutional era, one where the story is less about halving folklore and more about regulation, macro hedging and steady flows from traditional portfolios.

In that world, it says, new highs for Bitcoin look more like a base case than a stretch target.

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Bitcoin dropped nearly 4% to about $85,940 on Tuesday as Asian equities slipped at the open, with investors cutting risk before a run of US economic data that could shape the next leg for interest rates.

Indexes in Japan dipped, while Australian shares edged higher, after the S&P 500 fell for a second straight session overnight.

Futures linked to the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 were weaker in early Asian trading, signalling more pressure on Wall Street as traders wait for clues on growth, inflation and the Federal Reserve’s path.

Market snapshot

• Bitcoin: $85,719, down 4.1%
• Ether: $2,930, down 6.1%
• XRP: $1.87, down 6.2%
• Total crypto market cap: $3.02 trillion, down 3.7%

Analysts See Bitcoin Laying Foundations For A 2026 Return To Record Highs

Despite the pullback, some crypto analysts remain upbeat on the medium term. Bitfinex’s research team expects the coming year to be defined by improving global liquidity conditions that will make Bitcoin “more solid than ever.”

They argue that the groundwork is being laid for BTC to regain its all-time high near $126,110 in 2026, supported by looser monetary policy, rising liquidity and steady crypto adoption.

Bitfinex also points to a changing market structure. With annual Bitcoin issuance now below 1%, they say the halving’s marginal impact has faded and recent drawdowns have been materially shallower, as flows from exchange traded funds, corporates and sovereign linked entities absorb multiples of yearly mined supply. In their view, that shift has created a market dominated by patient, long-term capital.

Not everyone is in a rush to add risk. Lin Tran, senior market analyst at XS.com, said Bitcoin’s failure to hold above the psychological $90,000 level after being rejected near $100,000 shows a cautious tone is still in charge. According to Tran, investors are trimming exposure into year end and prioritising capital preservation after a powerful rally earlier in the cycle.

Risk Appetite Pauses As Investors Look For Clarity From Upcoming Indicators

In traditional markets, the yen strengthened against the dollar to around 154.85, as traders position for the Bank of Japan to lift its key rate to the highest level in three decades on Friday.

A measure of the dollar slipped for a second day, trading near levels last seen in early October, as investors leaned into expectations of further easing from the Fed over the medium term.

The broader backdrop is one of nervous consolidation into a heavy data week. Following the Fed’s latest rate cut, the November jobs report due Tuesday is expected to show a soft labour market and will include an updated estimate for October payrolls, which were delayed by the federal shutdown.

The US consumer price index is scheduled for Thursday, alongside figures on retail sales, business activity and inflation that could challenge or reinforce the current narrative.

Officials Split On Whether Current Fed Stance Is Appropriate For 2026

Fed officials have sent mixed signals. Fed Governor Stephen Miran argued that the current stance is unnecessarily restrictive, while New York Fed President John Williams said policy is “well positioned” for next year after last week’s move.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins described the latest decision as a “close call,” noting she remains concerned about elevated inflation.

In Japan, investors are watching the tug of war between the government’s need for cheap financing and the pressure from a weak yen that is pushing up import costs.

Benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond yields touched 1.97% earlier this month, the highest in 18 years, prompting Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda to warn that yields are rising “somewhat fast.”

Back in the US, some strategists caution that data quality may be patchy after the Bureau of Labor Statistics played catch up following the shutdown.

Ian Lyngen at BMO Capital Markets says that backdrop could encourage a cautious reaction to this week’s prints, but if market expectations prove broadly correct it may set up another strong stretch for Treasuries, which are already on track for their best year since 2020.

Wall Street closed lower on Monday as traders digested the Fed chatter and braced for the incoming numbers.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq logged their steepest daily declines in more than three weeks on Friday amid concern over inflation and debt fuelled AI investments, leaving both equity and crypto markets sensitive to any surprise in the data.

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HashKey, operator of Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange, is set to price its initial public offering near the top of the range, raising about HK$1.6B ($206M) in a key test of demand for regulated digital asset platforms in the city.

The company sold 240.6M shares at HK$6.68 each, Bloomberg reported Monday, after marketing the offer in a range of HK$5.95 to HK$6.95. HashKey did not exercise an option to increase the size of the deal.

Investor interest was strong. The top 20 entities in the institutional book took roughly 80% of the shares available in that tranche, excluding stock earmarked for cornerstone buyers, the outlet said. Overall demand ran at several times the number of shares on offer.

HashKey’s Share Sale Could Make It Hong Kong’s First Public Crypto Exchange

HashKey is bidding to become Hong Kong’s first listed crypto exchange, in a transaction that will gauge how much public market appetite remains for compliant digital asset venues after the latest leg of the cycle. The listing also lands in an active year for Hong Kong IPOs, with total proceeds on track for a four year high.

The company had earlier flagged plans to sell about 240.6M shares globally, with around 24.1M reserved for Hong Kong investors and the rest allocated internationally. At the top of the marketed range, the deal would have raised up to HK$1.67B and valued HashKey at about HK$19B, according to its prospectus.

HashKey’s shares are scheduled to start trading on Wednesday in Hong Kong. JPMorgan Chase and Guotai Junan are joint sponsors of the offering.

IPO Will Test Whether Investors Back Hong Kong’s Leading Regulated Crypto Exchange

HashKey was among the first exchanges to secure a licence under Hong Kong’s dedicated digital asset regime, introduced in 2022 as the city sought to pull trading onshore from offshore venues.

Research cited in its filing said HashKey holds more than 75% of Hong Kong’s onshore digital asset trading volume, giving it a dominant share in the regulated segment of the market.

Beyond spot trading, HashKey runs one of Asia’s larger on chain services platforms, offering staking, tokenisation and custodial technology for multiple protocols. It also manages billions in client assets through funds and structured products aimed at institutional and high net worth investors.

Proceeds from the IPO will go toward scaling its technology stack and infrastructure, hiring more staff and strengthening risk management, the company has said. Those investments are meant to position HashKey as a core beneficiary if Hong Kong’s push to become a regional digital asset hub gains further traction.

The timing of the debut is not without challenges. Bitcoin has fallen about 30% from its record high in October, and global risk appetite has softened as traders reassess how much they want to pay for growth and AI related stories.

For crypto-focused investors, HashKey’s first day performance will offer an early read on whether public equity buyers are ready to back regulated exchanges at premium valuations.

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Bitcoin slipped below $90,000 on Friday as Asian markets started the final full trading week of 2025 on a weaker footing, with growing doubts over technology earnings weighing on risk appetite across equities and crypto alike.

Equity futures pointed to losses for Australian, Hong Kong and Japanese benchmarks in early trading after US stocks slumped on Friday.

A downbeat sales outlook from Broadcom rattled confidence in the artificial intelligence trade and pushed the S&P 500 lower by about 1%, reinforcing concerns that heavy AI spending may not translate into profits as quickly as investors once expected.

Market snapshot

• Bitcoin: $89,293, down 1.1%
• Ether: $3,111, down 0.3%
• XRP: $2.00, down 1.4%
• Total crypto market cap: $3.13 trillion, down 0.9%

Tech Valuation Fears Weigh On Global Sentiment As Asia Faces Added Pressure

Global risk sentiment has been fading as traders question whether tech stocks, which have climbed roughly 300% since the current bull market began three years ago and driven global indices to record highs, can continue to justify rich valuations and aggressive AI budgets.

Asian markets, which have outperformed global peers this year, look especially exposed given the region’s dependence on manufacturing the chips and hardware that power the technology boom.

MSCI’s broad gauge of Asia Pacific equities outside Japan fell about 1%, with South Korea, often seen as a bellwether for AI exuberance, dropping more than 2% in Monday trade.

Equity index futures for major US benchmarks shifted between small gains and losses in Asian hours, after Wall Street ended Friday with technology shares leading the retreat. The choppy tone in futures trading reflected uncertainty over how much more earnings downgrades could pressure high-multiple growth names into year-end.

Softer Dollar And Rate Cut Bets Offer Support, But Crypto Eyes Tech Led Risk Swings

President Donald Trump added another layer to the macro discussion, saying the new Federal Reserve chair will want interest rates to fall. The dollar recorded its longest run of weekly losses since August last week as markets firmed up bets on two Fed rate cuts in 2026, one more than the central bank itself is currently signalling.

For crypto traders, that mix of softer dollar momentum and growing expectations of future rate cuts would usually be a tailwind, but the immediate focus has shifted back to equity volatility and the durability of the AI trade.

With tech now central to both stock indices and digital asset narratives, any wobble in earnings can spill quickly across risk markets.

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YouTube creators in the US can now choose to receive their payouts in PayPal’s dollar-backed stablecoin PYUSD, in a move that quietly pulls one of the world’s biggest creator platforms deeper into crypto rails.

PayPal crypto head, May Zabaneh, confirmed to Fortune that the feature is live and currently limited to US-based users.

A Google spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that creator payouts in PayPal’s stablecoin are now supported, while declining to provide further detail.

YouTube already uses PayPal’s mass payout infrastructure to pay creators, gig workers and contractors.

Big Tech’s Push Into Tokenized Money Grows As YouTube Adopts PYUSD

Earlier in the third quarter, PayPal added an option that lets payment recipients take their money in PYUSD instead of cash balances. YouTube then decided to extend that choice to creators who receive a share of revenue from the ads and subscriptions their videos generate.

Zabaneh said the structure means PayPal handles the crypto piece end-to-end. In practice, YouTube continues to interact with PayPal in fiat terms, while PayPal converts payouts into PYUSD for creators who opt in, reducing the technical and regulatory lift for the video platform.

The change lands as Big Tech leans further into stablecoins and tokenized money. Google and its peers have shown growing interest in crypto infrastructure during a fresh wave of digital asset hype in Silicon Valley. For YouTube, letting creators earn in stablecoins adds another toggle to its monetization toolkit without redesigning the core product.

Trump Era Stablecoin Rules And Mega Deals Propel Tokens Into Broader Finance

Stablecoins such as PYUSD track assets like the dollar and have long been a core building block of crypto trading. Over the past year, they have pushed further into mainstream finance, helped by President Donald Trump signing new federal legislation on stablecoin oversight and by a run of high-profile corporate deals.

Payments giant Stripe, for example, closed a $1.1B acquisition of stablecoin firm Bridge in February.

PayPal has been one of the earlier movers among large tech and payments companies. It enabled buying and selling of Bitcoin, Ethereum and a handful of other tokens in 2020, then launched PYUSD in 2023. The token now has a market value of nearly $4B, according to CoinGecko, and sits at the centre of the company’s on-chain strategy.

PYUSD Gains Reach As PayPal Pushes Its Stablecoin Into Everyday Payments

Since launch, PayPal has threaded PYUSD through its ecosystem. Users can hold the token in PayPal’s main wallet and in Venmo, spend it at supported merchants and, from this year, use it as a settlement asset for small and medium-sized businesses paying vendors.

The YouTube integration effectively extends that reach to millions of potential creators who may prefer to hold a dollar stablecoin rather than receive traditional bank payouts.

This is not the first time Google has interacted directly with PYUSD. An executive at Google Cloud previously told Fortune that the cloud division had accepted payments from two customers in the PayPal stablecoin, signalling that the company is willing to experiment with on chain settlement where it fits into existing contracts.

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Coinbase plans to roll out prediction markets and tokenized equities, moving into two of the fastest-growing corners of digital finance as it prepares a product showcase next week.

Bloomberg reported Friday that the the US-based exchange will announce the new offerings at an event on Dec. 17, a source told the outlet, adding that Coinbase intends to issue tokenized stocks in-house rather than through external partners.

Executives at Coinbase have previously signalled interest in both businesses, but until now the company had not formally laid out a launch timeline.

Traders Anticipate New Tools After Images Reveal Coinbase’s Expanding Roadmap

In recent weeks, screenshots that appear to show prediction market and tokenized equity features inside Coinbase apps have circulated on X, fuelling speculation among traders.

A Coinbase spokesperson said the company would reveal its upcoming products during a livestream on Dec. 17 and encouraged viewers to watch the event for full details.

The push fits with Coinbase’s ambition to become an “everything app” for digital assets, where customers can trade crypto, tokenized versions of traditional securities and, increasingly, event-based markets. It also helps the company keep pace with rivals that are adding similar tools as competition intensifies.

Trading In Digital Stock Representations Surges As Adoption Spreads

Robinhood Markets this year began offering prediction products from Kalshi Inc, giving its users a way to bet on economic and political outcomes. Robinhood and crypto exchange Kraken already list tokenized US stocks and exchange-traded funds in some jurisdictions, although these products remain unavailable in the US itself.

Trading in tokenized equities, which are digital representations of stocks recorded on a blockchain, has been gaining traction. Monthly transfer volumes have risen about 32% in the past 30 days to roughly $1.45B, according to data provider rwa.xyz, as more platforms experiment with bringing traditional assets on chain.

Demand For Event Contracts Climbs As Exchanges Embrace Prediction Tools

Prediction markets, which allow users to wager on the outcomes of events such as elections, sports and macro data releases, have also grown quickly over the past year. They have attracted interest from both traditional exchanges and crypto native firms that see them as a new way to monetize information and order flow.

Gemini, the exchange founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, recently secured a key approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to launch its prediction platform, Gemini Titan, for American customers. The licence will allow it to offer event contracts structured as simple yes or no questions.

Crypto.com has struck deals with partners including Trump Media & Technology Group to help them build prediction markets, while Robinhood and trading firm Susquehanna have agreed to buy 90% of regulated venue LedgerX, a move that deepens their exposure to event driven crypto derivatives.

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Bitcoin edged higher above $92,000 on Friday as Asian stocks advanced in early trade, with investors taking their cue from a fresh record on the S&P 500 even as renewed weakness in Oracle stirred nerves around big tech and the artificial intelligence trade.

Lack of firm dip buying kept Bitcoin’s gains limited. Samer Hasn, senior market analyst at XS.com, said the market still lacks committed buyers, which leaves prices vulnerable. He noted that more than $220M in long liquidations today show leveraged traders pulling back rather than positioning for a rebound.

Those liquidations added to the sense that speculative leverage is being flushed out rather than rebuilt, a pattern that often leaves spot moves choppy even when broader risk sentiment improves.

Market snapshot

• Bitcoin: $92,331, up 2.4%
• Ether: $3,248, up 0.7%
• XRP: $2.04, up 1.6%
• Total crypto market cap: $3.23 trillion, up 1.9%

Asia Traders Watch Positioning Shifts As ETF Inflows Offer Brief Support

For traders in Asia, that backdrop keeps the focus on positioning data and funding rates as much as on the headline price.

One support pillar came from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Data provider SoSo Value reported more than $223M of net inflows on Thursday, the strongest reading in twenty days.

In the current environment, however, these flows may reflect short-term positioning rather than sticky institutional demand, and could reverse quickly if equity markets wobble again.

Bitfinex analysts said the next moves will hinge on Fed signals, Treasury market reactions, ETF flows and the behaviour of ETH relative to BTC.

They noted that the steady rise in ETH/BTC, even with low network fees, suggests capital is rotating back into Ethereum’s longer-term story, making the pair a useful gauge of risk appetite in crypto.

Global Benchmarks Hit New Highs As Traders Position For Gentler Fed Settings

Global markets have been recalibrating since the Federal Reserve delivered a third consecutive interest rate cut this week while sounding less hawkish than many feared. The move helped lift the MSCI All Country World Index to a new closing high and pushed the dollar index down to a two-month low near 98.30, as traders leaned into the idea that policy is slowly shifting toward easier settings.

Fed funds futures now imply about a 75.6% chance that the central bank will hold rates at its next meeting on Jan. 28, up from roughly 73.9% a day earlier. Traders are still betting on two cuts in 2026 even though the Fed’s latest projections point to only one.

In equity markets, MSCI’s broad index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose about 0.7%, tracking Thursday’s mostly higher close in the US, where the Dow and Russell 2000 both notched new highs while the Nasdaq dipped.

The move extended a global rally that has favoured cyclicals and small caps, a backdrop that often helps sentiment in higher beta assets such as crypto.

Japan Outperforms As Softbank Jumps, While Wall Street Futures Turn Cautious

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 outperformed in morning trade, climbing around 1%. Shares in SoftBank Group jumped about 6% after a Bloomberg News report said the conglomerate is considering an acquisition of the US data centre company Switch Inc, a deal that investors see as another way to capitalise on rising demand for AI infrastructure.

Futures pointed to a more cautious open for Wall Street. S&P 500 e-mini contracts were little changed in Asian hours, while Nasdaq futures slipped about 0.2% after Oracle shares plunged 13% overnight. The company’s heavy spending plans and weak forecasts fanned doubts over how quickly large AI investments will translate into profit, triggering a fresh round of tech selling.

Tech sentiment was mixed even within the AI complex. Broadcom projected first-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates, offering some reassurance, but its shares fell about 5% in late trading after it warned that margins would narrow because a higher share of sales is coming from AI.

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Norway’s central bank has decided it does not need a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for now, capping several years of research and signalling that the country’s existing payment system still does the job for consumers, banks and merchants.

Norges Bank said Wednesday that introducing a digital krone is “currently not warranted” after assessing whether a CBDC is needed to keep payments in Norwegian currency secure, efficient and attractive.

Cash use in Norway has fallen to among the lowest levels globally, which had added urgency to the debate over a potential digital alternative.

“The Norwegian payment system is efficient and secure,” the bank said, citing stable operations, fast settlement, low economic cost and “sound” contingency arrangements. It added that work is already under way to further strengthen these back up systems.

Norway Leaves Room For A CBDC While Citing No Immediate Requirement

Governor Ida Wolden Bache stressed that the decision is about timing, not closing the door.

“Norges Bank has concluded that introducing a central bank digital currency is currently not warranted. The need for such a currency may, however, change in the future. We will be ready to introduce a central bank digital currency if it becomes necessary to maintain an efficient and secure payment system,” she said.

The bank distinguishes between two main types of CBDC, retail and wholesale. A retail CBDC would serve as a universally accessible means of payment similar to cash and deposits, while a wholesale CBDC would be limited to banks and other financial institutions. In the wholesale model, deposits at the central bank are represented as digital units, or tokens, in a ledger based on blockchain technology and can be used for interbank settlement.

Bank Expands Tokenization Research While Deferring A Digital Krone Decision

Norges Bank is not stepping away from tokenization. It says token-based systems can deliver innovation, efficiency gains and lower settlement risk, even as it warns that other risks and open questions remain and the eventual scale of use is uncertain.

The bank plans to keep running experiments, often with other payment system participants, to test tokenised solutions in practice.

The central bank will publish a report on its CBDC research and lay out more detailed plans for further work in the first quarter of next year. It will also continue to monitor international developments, including the Eurosystem’s work on a potential digital euro and emerging standards that could one day support shared CBDC infrastructure.

The post Norway Rules Out Immediate Need For A CBDC — Here’s Why appeared first on Cryptonews.

Asia’s wealthy investors are putting meaningful chunks of their money into digital assets, with almost half now allocating more than 10% of their portfolios to crypto and a clear majority planning to add more over the next few years.

Swiss Singaporean digital asset bank Sygnum found in its APAC HNWI Report 2025 that 87% of more than 270 respondents already hold digital assets.

The survey covered high net worth and professional investors across 10 markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand, and defined high net worth individuals as those with over $1M in investable assets and ultra high-net-worth investors as those with more than $25M.

High Net Worth Investors Embrace Crypto As A New Alternative Asset Class

For this group, crypto has become a core allocation, not a side bet. Median holdings sit in the 10% to 20% range, with a weighted average near 17%, putting tokens in the same conversation as equities and private markets inside portfolios.

Image Source: Sygnum

Motivation has shifted away from pure speculation. Sygnum reports that 90% of high-net-worth investors see digital assets as important for long-term wealth preservation and legacy planning.

Portfolio diversification drives a majority of decisions, with 56% citing it as a key reason to invest, and many framing crypto as a new alternative asset class rather than a short-term punt.

APAC Investors Expect A New Crypto Cycle Within Two To Five Years

Looking ahead, 60% of respondents say they plan to increase allocations. A bullish or very bullish long-term outlook comes from 57% of high net worth investors and 61% of ultra high net worth investors, with many expecting the next strong cycle to unfold over a two to five year horizon rather than in the next few weeks.

Product preferences tell a similar story of maturation. Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, 80% of investors want more crypto exchange-traded funds, with Solana drawing the strongest single asset demand at 52%.

Image Source: Sygnum

Multi-asset index products and XRP also attract interest, and 70% of respondents say they would allocate or allocate more if staking yield were bundled into ETF structures, a clear nod to yield-focused, regulated wrappers that sit comfortably in traditional wealth plans.

APAC Emerges As A Leading Gateway As Digital Assets Embed Into Wealth Portfolios

Security and rules still shape how fast this money moves. Around two thirds of investors say they need their private bank or wealth manager to demonstrate strong custody and security standards before they scale up exposure, while regulatory uncertainty and volatility remain key brakes.

At the same time, most respondents say regulatory clarity has improved and recent policy moves in major markets strengthen the long term case for digital assets.

“Digital assets are now firmly embedded within APAC’s private wealth ecosystem,” said Gerald Goh, Sygnum co founder and APAC chief executive.

He noted that frameworks in Singapore and Hong Kong have built the infrastructure for traditional wealth managers to offer crypto services and described Asia Pacific as one of the fastest growing gateways for digital assets, with momentum likely to build into 2026.

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Bitcoin fell about 2% in early Asian trading on Thursday while regional equities extended the relief rally that followed the Federal Reserve’s latest rate cut and upbeat tone on the US outlook.

The Fed delivered a third straight quarter-point reduction and Chair Jerome Powell said the inflation hit from tariffs should fade as the US economy strengthens.

He described the move as a further step toward policy normalization and stressed that officials want to support jobs without letting price pressures flare again.

Nine of the 12 members on the policy committee backed the cut and fresh projections showed the median official still expecting only one more cut in 2026.

Market snapshot

• Bitcoin: $90,121, down 2.3%
• Ether: $3,224, down 2.4%
• XRP: $2.01, down 3.9%
• Total crypto market cap: $3.16 trillion, down 2.4%

Markets Weigh Limited 2026 Cuts While Risk Appetite Stays Cautious

Futures now imply about a 78% chance the Fed will leave rates unchanged at its next meeting, up from about 70% before the decision, as traders reassess how far this easing cycle can really go.

Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of The Coin Bureau, said, the “FOMC decision wasn’t quite as hawkish as many market participants were expecting, so markets are breathing a sigh of relief.”

“However, it is worth noting that the Fed is now expected to cut rates only once next year – fewer cuts than investors were hoping for. This could still change, since next year does bring a historic changing of the guard, but Chair Jerome Powell still remains at the helm for the first three FOMC meetings of 2026,” he added.

“Indeed, today’s announcement is not enough to spark a Santa rally for Bitcoin, and I don’t see any other obvious catalysts from here on, barring any unexpected announcements from President Donald Trump. Even then, a dead cat bounce is a real possibility, as risk assets tend to care more about the Fed than just about anything else.”

Regional Markets Rise While Greater China Shows A Split In Risk Appetite

Asian stocks picked up the baton from Wall Street, where the S&P 500 closed 0.7% higher and the Russell 2000 small cap gauge jumped 1.3% to a record.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose about 0.5% in early trade, with tech and financial shares drawing the bulk of the buying interest.

Moves across Greater China showed a mixed risk appetite. The Shanghai benchmark slipped 0.18% and the Dow Jones Shanghai index eased 0.10%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index advanced 0.4% as investors rotated back into some of the city’s large caps. For crypto traders, the rebound in Hong Kong is a reminder that equity risk sentiment in the city often moves in tandem with demand for China linked growth plays and higher beta tokens.

Tech sentiment turned more cautious in US after hours dealings. Nasdaq 100 futures traded about 0.3% lower in Asian hours after Oracle reported revenue that fell short of expectations, sending its shares sharply down in late trade.

Nvidia also edged lower, a sign that investors are trimming some of the most crowded artificial intelligence wagers that often sit in the same portfolios as major coins.

The post Asia Market Open: Bitcoin Edges Lower As Fed Rate-Cut Boosts Stocks appeared first on Cryptonews.

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, is pushing almost all customer assets into cold storage after a major hack on its Solana hot wallet, in one of the most aggressive security pivots yet by a big trading platform.

Operator Dunamu said it will lift the share of user funds held in cold wallets to 99% and cut hot wallet exposure to effectively 0%, after hackers stole 44.5B won, about $30m, from a connected wallet.

The overhaul takes Upbit well beyond South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which requires exchanges to keep at least 80% of customer deposits offline.

Upbit Pushes Hot Wallet Usage Down After Security Review

Cold wallets store digital assets while disconnected from the internet, making them far harder to breach but also slower to move. Hot wallets sit online to process deposits and withdrawals in real time, which makes them convenient for users but a prime target for attackers.

For traders, a 99% cold ratio means a much smaller pool of funds is exposed if a hot wallet is ever compromised again.

In a press statement on Wednesday, Dunamu disclosed that as of the end of Oct. 2025, Upbit held 98.33% of customer assets in cold wallets and 1.67% in hot wallets.

Even before the hack, that was the lowest hot wallet share among domestic exchanges, with rivals keeping cold ratios in a range of roughly 82% to 90%, according to data released by lawmaker Heo Young.

Upbit said it maintained its cold share above 98% despite rising crypto prices and heavier flows from new listings, and has now completed a review and overhaul of its wallet infrastructure.

The company plans to drive the hot wallet ratio down to zero as it tightens its security posture.

Attack Involving Solana Assets Forces Emergency Security Response

This move follows a hack worth initially about 54B won, roughly $36M, on the Solana network, which Upbit later refined to a loss estimate of 44.5B won after an internal review.

A detailed breakdown put 38.6B won, about $26.2M, down as direct user losses, which the company has pledged to fully reimburse from its own reserves.

Tokens affected in the attack included Solana’s SOL as well as ORCA, RAY and JUP, the exchange said. Once abnormal withdrawals were detected, Upbit halted activity, shifted remaining assets into cold storage and began a forensic investigation of its systems and on chain flows.

Proposed Standards Would Require Compensation For Hacks Regardless Of Fault

Oh said engineers discovered a weakness in the exchange’s wallet software that could have allowed attackers to infer private keys by analysing public blockchain data, although Upbit has not confirmed whether that specific vulnerability was used in the breach. The company’s response suggests it is treating hot wallet exposure itself as a systemic risk that needs to be minimised, not just patched.

For the wider industry, the episode is feeding into a regulatory rethink. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission is considering rules that would impose bank-level liability standards on major crypto exchanges after the Upbit incident, including mandatory compensation for hacking and system failures regardless of fault, mirroring obligations already placed on banks and electronic payment firms under the country’s electronic financial transactions law.

If those rules take shape, exchanges operating in Korea will need both stronger security architectures and deeper capital buffers to absorb losses, bringing them closer to the expectations placed on traditional financial institutions.

Upbit’s near total shift to cold storage shows how far a leading platform is now willing to go to reassure users that their coins will not be left sitting online as an easy target.

The post Upbit Moves Most User Funds to Cold Storage After $30M Hot Wallet Hack appeared first on Cryptonews.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao has warned users that the WeChat account of the exchange’s new co-chief executive, Yi He, was hacked and used to promote a meme coin.

Zhao said the attackers used Yi He’s account to push meme coin promotions and urged followers not to engage.

He wrote that “Web2 social media security is not that strong. Stay safu!” and added, “I hope the next one isn’t my account. I haven’t used WeChat for many years. I also won’t directly promote any meme CA. Please everyone stay safe.”

Meanwhile, Yi He said she stopped using WeChat long ago and that the linked phone number was taken over, leaving her unable to regain access.

Leadership Transition At Binance Accompanied By Meme Coin Exploit

The incident comes about a week after Binance elevated Yi He to co-CEO during a recent Binance Blockchain Week event.

Co-founder Richard Teng described her as a “driving force since day one,” crediting her with shaping the exchange’s culture, vision and user focus, and said her promotion marked a natural evolution of leadership as Binance pursues its goal of reaching one billion users.

On-chain data suggests the hack was quickly turned into a trading scheme. Blockchain analytics account Lookonchain described the incident as a straightforward hacked account pump and dump built around a little-known token called Mubarakah, or MUBARA, which trades on decentralized exchanges.

Fake Endorsement Triggered Sudden Surge In MUBARA Price And Volume

According to that analysis, an attacker gained access to Yi He’s WeChat and used the apparent endorsement to stir fear of missing out around MUBARA.

Two new wallets, created only hours earlier, began accumulating the token via PancakeSwap and other decentralized exchange routes, spending a total of 19,479 USDT to buy about 21.16M MUBARA.

As the WeChat promotion circulated and traders chased the move, the token’s price and volume spiked sharply on Dexscreener charts.

Attacker Sold Into The Pump After Liquidity Flooded In

Once liquidity arrived, the wallets started to sell into the rally. Lookonchain estimates that the attacker has already sold 11.95M MUBARA for 43,520 USDT and still holds 9.21M tokens worth roughly $31,000, putting the profit near $55,000 with more tokens left to unload.

In practical terms, the attacker front-ran the market by buying early, used the compromised account to pull in retail demand, then dumped a large chunk of the position into that surge, leaving later buyers exposed to a rapid reversal in price.

The remaining holdings give the hacker additional room to sell if liquidity persists.

The post Binance New Co-CEO’s WeChat Hacked to Promote Meme Coin, CZ Warns appeared first on Cryptonews.

Good morning, Asia. Here’s what’s moving before the bell.

Bitcoin edged up toward $92,000 on Wednesday while Asian stocks slipped, as traders braced for the US Federal Reserve’s final rate decision of the year and tried to gauge how hawkish the central bank will sound after an almost certain cut.

Equity markets across the region tracked a soft lead from Wall Street. The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on Tuesday, with JPMorgan acting as the biggest drag after the bank warned of hefty expenses in 2026, adding another layer of caution to a market already on edge about policy signals.

The Fed began its two-day meeting on Tuesday, and futures markets still point to a quarter percentage point cut, even though inflation remains above the 2% target.

Market snapshot

• Bitcoin: $92,479, up 2.5%
• Ether: $3,308, up 6.4%
• XRP: $2.09, up 1.2%
• Total crypto market cap: $3.24 trillion, up 2.8%

Traders Brace For Hawkish Messaging Even As A Cut Appears Likely

For crypto traders, the question is less about whether the Fed moves this week and more about what Chair Jerome Powell signals on the path ahead.

Some in the market see politics creeping into the calculus. Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at YouHodler, said an expected cut amid slightly rising inflation “may be driven more by political considerations than by sound economic reasoning.”

He added that he expects Powell to try to offset the move with hawkish language, a mix he believes could weigh on risk assets. “A hawkish message could increase selling pressure on the already fragile US equity markets, which could, in turn, negatively affect BTC and the broader crypto market,” he said.

Others are already tempering their year-end Bitcoin hopes. Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co founder of The Coin Bureau, said, “If Powell does indeed deliver a hawkish speech, the likelihood of a Santa rally for Bitcoin diminishes.”

He noted that momentum has not been on Bitcoin’s side recently despite fresh purchases from Michael Saylor’s firm, and said the market “may well finish 2025 under $100,000.”

Inflation And Labor Data Add To Confusion Over Policy Direction

The macro backdrop is not offering much clarity. Fed officials have sent mixed messages, with some warning that inflation could reaccelerate and others sounding more concerned about the labour market.

A Labor Department report on Tuesday showed job openings rising only marginally in October and hiring still subdued, while a separate survey from the National Federation of Independent Business pointed to plans for new hiring in the months ahead.

That tension has pushed more attention onto the Fed’s dot plot, its economic projections and every line of Powell’s press conference. Swings around rate decisions have become one of the main drivers of equity volatility over the past six weeks, often overshadowing debates about an AI bubble or the impact of President Donald Trump’s trade policies on corporate earnings and risk sentiment.

Slower Easing Path Threatens Liquidity Trade That Crypto Relies On

Pricing in money markets shows how expectations have cooled. Traders now see around two cuts in 2026 after a likely quarter point reduction on Wednesday, a pullback from the more optimistic views that circulated only weeks earlier.

For Bitcoin and other digital assets, a slower easing path can mean tighter dollar liquidity and more pressure on the “liquidity trade” that helped fuel previous rallies.

Personnel questions at the Fed are also in the mix. Kevin Hassett, viewed as the frontrunner in Trump’s search to replace Powell, said at an event on Tuesday that he sees room to lower rates substantially, and even more than a single quarter point move.

His comments fed speculation that the longer term policy stance could shift if the White House reshapes the central bank’s leadership in 2026.

The post Asia Market Open: Bitcoin Inches Higher, While Stocks Retreat Ahead of Fed Rate Call appeared first on Cryptonews.