On Thursday in a Manhattan federal court, Terraform Labs co‑founder Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in U.S. prison after pleading guilty in August to conspiracy tied to the $40 billion TerraUSD/LUNA collapse. The judge exceeded prosecutors' 12‑year request and ordered forfeiture of more than $19 million. LUNA spiked from about $0.08 to above $0.24 before retreating toward $0.17.

Memecoin dominance in the altcoin market fell from above 0.11 in late 2024 to around 0.04 in 2025, matching lows last seen in 2022, according to CryptoQuant and CoinGecko. Dog-themed, Solana-based and AI-focused tokens have all reversed from their late-2024 and early-2025 peaks. The synchronized declines point to a broad retreat in speculative retail activity rather than a brief cooldown.

In 2025, stablecoin transfer volumes climbed above $4 trillion while illicit flows tied to these assets fell by about 60% year over year, according to TRM Labs' Crypto Adoption and Stablecoin Usage Report. Stricter enforcement and the rise of regulated issuers are helping curb misuse. Surging retail participation is pushing stablecoins toward mainstream use in everyday payments and savings.

Unrealized losses across crypto have climbed to roughly $350 billion, with Bitcoin around $85 billion, as multiple liquidity gauges weaken, according to Glassnode. Stress is rising, but unrealized profits remain in the hundreds of billions. Long‑term holders still show substantial gains, pointing to a mixed backdrop rather than broad net losses.

J.P. Morgan has executed one of the first U.S. commercial paper issuances on a public blockchain, using the Solana network for the transaction. The bank structured the deal for Galaxy Digital Holdings LP, with both issuance and redemption settled in USDC. Coinbase and Franklin Templeton participated as buyers of the tokenized security on-chain, according to the bank.

On 10 December, cryptocurrencies edged higher after the Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points. Bitcoin traded near $92,297 and Ethereum closed around $3,335. Total market capitalization recovered toward $3.26 trillion, while altcoins’ market cap approached $1.46 trillion.

On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell used a press conference to explain the rationale for a 25bps rate cut and to lay out a plan to buy roughly $40 billion in Treasury bills to keep bank reserves ample. He said tariff-driven goods inflation appears to be a one-off shift in the price level, while rising labor‑market risks now outweigh inflation concerns, opening the door to further easing. This policy pivot and the planned liquidity injections are viewed as creating a more supportive macro backdrop for Bitcoin and other digital assets heading into 2026, according to the press conference remarks.

Arkham reports that SpaceX transferred $94 million in Bitcoin this week, extending nearly two months of weekly BTC moves of around $100 million. The firm’s dashboard shows holdings of about 3,991 BTC, valued at roughly $369 million. In the latest transaction, $37.66 million went to a new address, while $56.82 million was recorded as change.

Several tokens launched in Q1, including TRUMP, MELANIA, Layer, Plume, GoPlus Security, and Bubblemaps, have fallen 86%–99% from their issue prices as circulating supply surged, according to Tokenomist. In most cases, freely trading float roughly doubled within three months, intensifying selling pressure while capital rotated into Bitcoin, Ethereum, and real world asset tokens.