Do Kwon, the South Korean co-founder of Terraform Labs, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on December 11, 2025 in a Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty to fraud tied to the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister token, Luna. Related Reading: Is Dogecoin Waking Up? Critical On-Chain Metric Explodes Higher According to court documents and news reports, the judge described the scheme as a massive fraud that left thousands of investors facing heavy losses. Sentence And Court Ruling Judge Paul A. Engelmayer handed down the 15-year term after prosecutors urged for a sentence of up to 12 years and the defense asked for a much lighter term. Do Kwon pleaded guilty in August 2025 to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud, and as part of the plea he agreed to forfeit roughly $19 million. The US Attorney’s office says the guilty plea admits he misled investors about how the stablecoin kept its $1 peg. Scale Of The Losses Reports have placed the market fallout from the Terra collapse at about $40 billion in erased value. Many ordinary investors lost life savings and some victims gave emotional testimony at sentencing, describing real financial ruin. News outlets and court filings tie the crash in May 2022 to a sudden loss of confidence that cascaded through markets and hurt other crypto firms. Civil Penalties And Settlements Before the criminal case reached this point, Kwon and Terraform faced a major civil action from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the SEC, Terraform Labs and Kwon agreed to pay more than $4.5 billion in disgorgement, interest and penalties, while Kwon personally faced an $80 million civil fine and a ban from crypto trading. That civil judgment was filed in 2024 and has been used by regulators as part of the overall effort to make investors whole. International Arrest And Extradition Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 after leaving Singapore; authorities say he was using forged travel documents when detained. He fought extradition in Montenegrin courts but was eventually transferred to the US late in 2024 to face federal charges. Reports outline a long legal fight across borders that ended with his return to New York to answer criminal counts. Related Reading: American Bitcoin Makes Big Buy, Adds 416 BTC To Its Stack What The Sentence Means Legal analysts say a 15-year term signals the court’s view that the fraud caused wide damage and that punishment should deter similar schemes. Victims’ statements at sentencing appear to have weighed heavily. Kwon still faces separate probes and possible charges in other countries, and the civil judgment means substantial sums are earmarked for recovery efforts tied to Terraform’s bankruptcy. Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView
Capital A, AirAsia’s parent, teams up with Standard Chartered to test a Ringgit-backed stablecoin in Malaysia’s regulatory sandbox. The duo aims to explore digital currency for faster payments and blockchain efficiency in aviation and banking. This move signals Malaysia’s push into crypto innovation, blending traditional finance with stable assets pegged to the local currency for …
South Korean police asked Binance to freeze about 470 million KRW worth of Solana tokens stolen from Upbit. But Binance only locked down 17%, around 80 million KRW, after a 15-hour delay, saying they needed more verification. The partial freeze has sparked criticism amid the ongoing probe into the massive hack. This highlights tensions between …
YoungHoon Kim, officially recognized as the world’s highest IQ holder with a score of 276, has announced that he is investing in XRP. Known for advising multiple crypto projects and mentoring, Kim shared his decision on social media, giving rise to speculation that he sees real potential in the digital asset. The decision comes on …
Bitcoin price has traded in a noticeably tighter range over the past day, hovering between $92,500 and $93,800 after failing to extend its early-week push above the $95,000 mark. Momentum has cooled, volatility has compressed, and intraday moves have become increasingly muted—a pattern that often signals that the market is waiting for a catalyst. But …
DeBridge launched a new execution model that allows users to interact with blockchains without having to manage various requirements.
YouTube’s recent move highlights a bigger trend: mainstream platforms are choosing stablecoins, not Bitcoin or Ethereum, for real-world payments. When money actually needs to move, volatility isn’t an option—speed and predictability are. Stablecoins, which were once backend tools for traders, now process trillions and increasingly power creator payouts, gig work and cross-border commerce. YouTube isn’t …
A lone miner has achieved a rare feat by mining Bitcoin block #927474, earning the full 3.133 BTC reward, worth roughly $284K. Mempool.space reports the block included the standard 3.125 BTC subsidy plus small fees and was mined around 8:22 p.m. UTC. In a network largely dominated by large mining pools, such solo wins are extremely rare, proving …
Anthony Scaramucci showed up to Solana Breakpoint in Abu Dhabi wearing a tie — a small act of rebellion in a sea of hoodies — and then proceeded to make a much bigger one on stage: Solana is going to “flip” Ethereum. Scaramucci’s Solana Prediction Not in the Twitter-war, zero-sum, “ETH is dead” kind of way. More like: same league, different growth curve, and Solana ends up with the bigger market cap. “I think it will flip Ethereum, but that doesn’t mean Ethereum’s going down or anything like that. I think there’s going to be market share for Ethereum. I think they could both grow, but I think from a market capitalization perspective, I think Solana will end up growing faster,” Scaramucci told CoinDesk Live on Dec. 11. That’s been his line for a while. This time it came with a prop: his new book, Solana Rising, which dropped Dec. 9 and — according to Scaramucci — quickly hit the top of Amazon’s “new releases” list for investment management/investment strategy. He framed the book as something for the skeptics, or at least for the friends of the believers. Related Reading: Solana Enters Bear Territory: Realized Loss Now Outweighs Profit The pitch is familiar if you’ve been anywhere near crypto conferences this year, but Scaramucci’s version is unusually blunt: Solana is the fastest-growing chain, it’s stacked with activity, it’s cheap to use, and it’s easy to build on. Then you add staking, and you’ve got what he keeps calling “great tokenomics.” And yes, he’s heavily aligned. “Full disclosure,” he said, “I have a large personal holding in Solana. I have it on the firm’s balance sheet.” How large? On SkyBridge’s balance sheet, he put it at “probably 60%,” with the firm sitting on “north of a nine figure balance sheet.” His personal portfolio allocation, he estimated, is around “6% 7%.” Big, but not “I sold the house for SOL” big. Notably, Scaramucci emphasized that he’s not “chain monogamous.” He likes Avalanche. He likes Ethereum. He’s not doing maximalism. He’s doing a portfolio. “In fact, who is chain monogamous?” he joked. Related Reading: Solana Hits Critical Demand Zone — Is A Surprise Bottom Loading? The Skybridge Capital founder added: “It’s not an amorous thing. It just has to do with the realities of investing. It’s like owning a lot of stocks in your portfolio. But to me, I just think that it is the fastest growing chain. That’s the most activity of like the top 50 chains combined. It’s got lots of use cases, lots of versatility. It’s easy to develop on and it’s very low fees to transact on and it’s got great tokenomics if you want to stake your Solana like I do.” He also pointed to the debut of the first spot Solana ETF in the United States — “first staking ETF,” in his words — as another signal that we’re still early. Then came the price talk, because of course it did. Could SOL hit $300–$400 by the end of next year? “Sure,” he said, tying it to a more constructive US regulatory backdrop — specifically his hope that the CLARITY Act gets passed and unlocks “the full utilization of tokenization.” Longer term, he went bigger: “Is Solana go to $1,000 over the next five years? I really do believe that.” He also revisited Bitcoin. Same vibe: right call, wrong calendar. “I’ve been right about Bitcoin, but I’ve been wrong about timing,” Scaramucci said, sticking with a $150,000–$200,000 target, and arguing a friendlier rate environment next year could help. At press time, SOL traded at $139.14. Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
Bitcoin price targets included $76,000 and $50,000, thanks to growing bearish BTC price divergences and a lack of upward price momentum.
A solo Bitcoin miner has just hit a jackpot after surprisingly mining block 927474, securing a 3.133 BTC reward worth about $284,000. This win is almost like hitting a lottery, as the chance of success is nearly 1-in-180 million due to heavy competition from large mining farms. This rare success comes as Bitcoin trades above …
A cross-party coalition of U.K. lawmakers is urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to step in and reshape the Bank of England’s proposed stablecoin framework, warning that the current approach threatens to undermine Britain’s fintech leadership and drive capital out of the country. In a joint letter dated Dec. 11, 2025, MPs and peers, including Sir Gavin …
BTC continues to bore traders with its directionless price action. But some indicators are pointing to renewed bullishness.
Zcash ZEC is one of today’s most trending cryptocurrencies in the crypto market, jumping about 13% and trading around $460. The rally has pushed ZEC’s market cap above $7.5 billion, with trading volume surging over $1.14 billion in the past 24 hours. While overall cryptocurrencies are moving sideways and struggling to rally upwards, ZEC is …
Bitcoin Price correction has triggered widespread uncertainty, but top analysts Anthony Pompliano and Raoul Pal say the market is far from breaking down. Instead, they argue the pullback is setting up one of the strongest bullish phases for BTC heading into 2025–2026. Pompliano: “Huge Institutional Big Money Demand to Buy Bitcoin” Crypto investor Anthony Pompliano …
YouTube now allows U.S. creators to receive their earnings in PayPal’s dollar-backed stablecoin PYUSD, adding a crypto payout option alongside traditional fiat withdrawals. The integration runs through PayPal’s existing mass payout system, meaning YouTube still settles in fiat while PayPal handles conversion and on-chain settlement. Eligible creators using PayPal can switch to PYUSD in YouTube …
Traders appeared more focused on preserving trend structure than chasing upside, with flows concentrated in large-cap assets.
Coinbase is set to make a major move in the crypto space by launching prediction markets and its own tokenized equities on December 17. The new offerings bring the exchange closer to its goal of becoming an all-in-one digital asset “everything app.” This expansion comes amid rising competition and growing global interest in tokenized financial …
The CFTC gave “no-action” letters to a group of prediction markets, including Polymarket US, exempting them from swap data reporting and record-keeping regulations.
December 12, 2025 06:12:30 UTC Ethereum Gas Fees Drop to 2017 Lows After Fusaka Upgrade Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade has pushed transaction costs to their lowest levels since 2017, marking major progress toward solving the network’s long-standing gas fee challenges. The smoother performance also helps reduce several technical bottlenecks across the ecosystem. Meanwhile, Vitalik Buterin has …
The Blockchain Game Alliance reports industry confidence rose to 66% as developers pivoted from speculation to sustainable models following a funding collapse since 2021.
On Thursday, Bitcoin (BTC) once again fell below the critical $90,000 mark, even after what many had anticipated to be a bullish event stemming from the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) decision to cut rates by a quarter point. Analysts from Bull Theory note several factors contributing to this unexpected downturn. Bitcoin Sell-Off Amid Market Unease The analysts pointed out that the rate cut itself was largely anticipated by investors weeks prior, with a 95% probability already priced into the market. Ahead of the announcement, they identified that many positioned themselves in expectation of some form of liquidity support from the Fed, leading to a rally in Bitcoin prices. However, when the actual cut and the accompanying plan for $40 billion in monthly T-bill purchases were confirmed, many of these “whales”—large investors in the market—began to take profits. Related Reading: Strategy Calls For Withdrawal Of MSCI’s Exclusion Plan For Digital Asset Treasury Companies Adding to the market’s unease was Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s post-announcement press conference, where he highlighted persistent weaknesses in the labor market and ongoing inflation concerns. Furthermore, the Fed’s dot plot projections indicated the likelihood of only one additional rate cut in 2026. The situation was compounded by disappointing earnings results from Oracle, which reported its second quarter’s financials after the market’s close. The tech giant missed its adjusted revenue estimates, and higher capital expenditure projections led the stock to plunge by more than 11% in after-hours trading. This drop also negatively impacted US stock futures, as concerns grew that the artificial intelligence (AI) boom may be peaking. The widespread fear from Oracle’s results quickly spread from equities into the cryptocurrency space. Ultimately, all three factors converged to create a significant sell-off: the rate cut was already factored into the market, liquidity trades had been preemptively enacted, and Powell’s remarks did not provide the strong easing signal that some traders had hoped for. Positive Liquidity Conditions Expected In 2026 Interestingly, Bull Theory analysts assert that the crypto market’s recent decline is not indicative of a fundamental shift towards bearish conditions but rather an overreaction based on high expectations leading up to the Fed’s announcement. The Fed has now enacted rate cuts three times in as many meetings, and their plans to purchase $40 billion in T-bills over the next month are designed to inject liquidity into the markets. Moreover, Powell indicated that further rate hikes are not on the horizon as a base case, and forecasts for solid economic growth next year remain intact. Related Reading: Bitcoin Is Neither In A Bull Nor Bear Market: Expert Explains The Setup Although job gains may have been overstated, suggesting a softer labor market, this could afford the Fed greater flexibility to ease monetary conditions in the future if necessary. The current market movements illustrate that the dumping of assets was largely driven by overly optimistic expectations rather than any deterioration in underlying fundamentals. Looking ahead, the analysts believe that next year is expected to be more favorable for Bitcoin and broader crypto prices in terms of liquidity, contrasting sharply with the conditions projected for 2025. Bitcoin recovered above $91,100 as of this writing, amid rising volatility. This puts the top cryptocurrency 26% behind its all-time high of $126,000, set in October of this year. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Despite elevated trading activity, Dogecoin faces resistance near $0.1425, and its future movement is likely dependent on broader market sentiment.
The group calls for a forward-looking framework to maintain the U.K.'s fintech leadership and attract international investment.
YouTube has reportedly adopted the feature shortly after PayPal enabled PYUSD as a payout method for recipients in the third quarter.
The CFTC has scrapped its guidance on how crypto is delivered in a transaction, giving “way more flexibility for exchanges,” says StarkWare's Katherine Kirkpatrick Bos.
Dogecoin started a fresh decline below the $0.1420 zone against the US Dollar. DOGE is now consolidating losses and might face hurdles near $0.1440. DOGE price started a fresh decline below the $0.1420 level. The price is trading below the $0.1420 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average. There is a key bearish trend line forming with resistance at $0.1440 on the hourly chart of the DOGE/USD pair (data source from Kraken). The price could extend losses if it stays below $0.1420 and $0.1440. Dogecoin Price Faces Resistance Dogecoin price started a fresh decline after it closed below $0.1465, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. DOGE declined below the $0.1440 and $0.140 support levels. The price even traded below $0.1380. A low was formed near $0.1363, and the price recently corrected some losses. There was a minor increase above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $0.1530 swing high to the $0.1363 low. Dogecoin price is now trading below the $0.1420 level and the 100-hourly simple moving average. If there is a recovery wave, immediate resistance on the upside is near the $0.1425 level. The first major resistance for the bulls could be near the $0.1440 level. There is also a key bearish trend line forming with resistance at $0.1440 on the hourly chart of the DOGE/USD pair. The next major resistance is near the $0.1490 level and the 76.4% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $0.1530 swing high to the $0.1363 low. A close above the $0.1490 resistance might send the price toward the $0.1530 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $0.1550 level. The next major stop for the bulls might be $0.1620. Another Decline In DOGE? If DOGE’s price fails to climb above the $0.1440 level, it could continue to move down. Initial support on the downside is near the $0.1380 level. The next major support is near the $0.1360 level. The main support sits at $0.1320. If there is a downside break below the $0.1320 support, the price could decline further. In the stated case, the price might slide toward the $0.1250 level or even $0.1240 in the near term. Technical Indicators Hourly MACD – The MACD for DOGE/USD is now losing momentum in the bearish zone. Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for DOGE/USD is now above the 50 level. Major Support Levels – $0.1360 and $0.1320. Major Resistance Levels – $0.1440 and $0.1490.
A cryptocurrency analyst has pointed out how Stellar has just seen a TD Sequential buy signal. Here’s what happened the last time the pattern surfaced. Stellar Shot Up The Last Time A TD Buy Signal Appeared At Current Prices In a new post on X, analyst Ali Martinez has talked about a Tom Demark (TD) Sequential signal that has appeared in the 1-week price of Stellar. The TD Sequential is a technical analysis (TA) indicator that’s used for pinpointing locations of probable reversal in an asset’s price. Related Reading: Bitcoin Lacks Fresh Momentum As Realized Cap Growth Still Declining The indicator involves two phases. In both of them, it works by counting up candles of the same polarity (that is, whether red or green) in the asset’s chart. These candles don’t have to be consecutive. During the first phase, called the setup, this count runs until nine candles of a color are in. Once the indicator finishes the setup, the price can be assumed to have reached a potential point of turnaround. Naturally, this signal is a bullish one if the candles leading up to the setup’s completion were red. On the other hand, it’s bearish in the case of nine green candles. As soon as the setup is over, the second phase, known as the countdown, kicks off. In this phase, the candle count runs until 13. After the countdown is over, the asset could be considered to have arrived at another reversal. The TD Sequential has just completed the former of the two phases for Stellar. Below is the chart shared by the analyst that shows this pattern forming in the weekly XLM price. As displayed in the graph, Stellar has formed the latest TD Sequential setup with nine red candles, implying that the downtrend may be reaching a state of exhaustion and a bullish reversal could be due for the asset. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that XLM has shown a TD Sequential buy signal at the current price levels during the last few months. From the chart, it’s visible that this pattern also emerged when the cryptocurrency was trading at similar levels in March. That setup in the indicator eventually led to a price surge of 95% for Stellar. Given this trend, it’s possible that the latest signal could also prove to be bullish for XLM. Related Reading: Solana Enters Bear Territory: Realized Loss Now Outweighs Profit Something to note, however, is that the TD Sequential setup didn’t immediately lead into the big price rally back then; it took a while of consolidation before the breakout appeared. It now remains to be seen whether the indicator will hold for Stellar this time, and if so, how long a rally will take to appear. XLM Price At the time of writing, Stellar is trading around $0.243, down more than 4% over the last week. Featured image from Dall-E, charts from TradingView.com
Fortune reported that YouTube is allowing creators to be paid in PayPal's stablecoin, a potential boon for adoption due to the platform's size.
Elliptic noted a worldwide pivot toward innovation, highlighting U.S. shifts, stablecoin adoption, and APAC–Middle East regulatory momentum.