South Korea's Supreme Court upheld a four-year prison term for a 40-year-old cryptocurrency exchange operator in an espionage case tied to a suspected North Korean hacker. The scheme began in July 2021, involved attempts to access the Korean Joint Command and Control System, and included Bitcoin payments of 48 million won to an active-duty officer.

By the end of 2026, Haseeb Qureshi of Dragonfly expects at least one major Big Tech company to launch or acquire a crypto wallet and for banks and fintechs to deploy more modular, permissioned blockchains. He also forecasts Bitcoin trading above $150,000 with falling market dominance, continued strength for Ethereum and Solana, and a roughly 60% expansion of the $312 billion stablecoin market as Tether's share slips.

UK consumer card spending fell 0.2% in 2025, marking the first annual drop since 2020 as households reacted to higher living costs and weak income growth. While discretionary outlays such as clothing and entertainment rose only modestly, spending on health, beauty, and pharmacy items jumped 9.5%, showing a shift toward smaller indulgences despite overall caution.

Long-term Bitcoin holders have paused selling after months of distribution, per an X post on Monday, while Ether whales added about 120,000 ETH since Dec. 26. Despite accumulation, BTC traded between $86,744 and $90,064 over the past week and sentiment stayed cautious as U.S. selling pressure persisted on Coinbase's premium index.

On-chain perpetual futures trading in 2025 exceeded $1 trillion in monthly volume, according to Coinbase's David Duong. DeFiLlama reports roughly $972 billion over the past 30 days, with Hyperliquid, Lighter, and Aster among the leading DEX venues. Hyperliquid Labs also scheduled a 1.2 million HYPE distribution for January 6.

Gold and silver prices pulled back sharply as traders locked in profits after a powerful multi-month rally, with silver dropping nearly 9% and gold sliding about 5% following CME margin hikes that triggered leveraged unwinds. Despite the correction, tokenized precious metals saw nearly $900 million in trading volume, and technical structures—particularly for Tether Gold (XAU₮)—suggest consolidation rather than a breakdown in the broader uptrend.

Investor flows favored XRP and Solana, which took in $70.2 million and $7.5 million last week, extending momentum since their US ETF launches in mid-October. In contrast, Bitcoin products saw $443 million in outflows and Ethereum lost $59.5 million, with overall digital asset funds posting $446 million in weekly redemptions.

BlackRock's BUIDL tokenized money market fund has distributed around $100 million in dividends since its launch in March 2024, according to Securitize. The onchain fund has grown beyond $2 billion in assets, expanded from Ethereum to several other major blockchains, and is fueling debate over the risks and growth prospects of tokenized money market products.