Bitcoin remained below its daily Bollinger mid-band as the first week of December closed, with market sentiment reflecting extreme caution. Shiba Inu reversed its 12% two-week advance, returning to the $0.0000084 level. XRP posted a -7.24% weekly decline, the weakest performance among top-10 cryptocurrencies, yet maintained support above $2.

South Korea is advancing regulations to hold major cryptocurrency exchanges to bank-level liability standards following a November 27 hack at Upbit that resulted in $30.1 million in losses. The Financial Services Commission is reviewing provisions that would require platforms to compensate users for security breaches and system failures regardless of fault. The proposed framework mirrors existing rules applied to traditional banks under the country's electronic financial transactions law.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable on December 15 to address digital privacy and financial oversight in cryptocurrency. Senior regulatory officials will meet with privacy technology leaders to discuss policy frameworks as zero-knowledge protocols and privacy-focused blockchain networks gain broader adoption.

Total cryptocurrency market capitalization declined from approximately $3.15 trillion to $3.05 trillion within 24 hours, data show. Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 after failing to hold the $94,000–$95,000 range. Nearly $500 million in leveraged positions were liquidated across major exchanges, with more than 140,000 traders affected.

CoinShares head of research James Butterfill has rejected insolvency concerns about Tether following warnings from BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. Butterfill stated that Tether maintains over $181 billion in reserves against approximately $174.45 billion in liabilities, resulting in a surplus of around $6.78 billion. Hayes had warned on November 30 that a 30% decline in Tether's Bitcoin and gold holdings could eliminate the company's equity.

Federal prosecutors have requested a 12-year prison sentence for Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, following his guilty plea to fraud charges in August. Kwon admitted to orchestrating schemes between 2018 and 2022 that deceived cryptocurrency investors and led to TerraUSD's $40 billion collapse in 2022. His defense team has proposed a reduced five-year term, and sentencing is set for December 11.

Cybersecurity firm Hudson Rock identified an infected device linked to suspected North Korean state-sponsored hackers in the $1.4 billion Bybit cryptocurrency theft in February 2025. The device was central to establishing infrastructure that supported the theft, with domains registered before the attack and used in phishing operations. The incident underscores sophisticated cyber threats targeting digital financial platforms and raises concerns about vulnerabilities in centralized exchanges.

On-chain investigator ZachXBT reported on December 5 that a British individual allegedly connected to the $243M Genesis creditor Bitcoin theft may have been apprehended in Dubai. Approximately $18.58M in cryptocurrency has reportedly been seized and held in a single Ethereum wallet. Dubai authorities have not issued official confirmation of any arrest or seizure.