An $11 billion Bitcoin whale who previously called a $19 billion October market crash has closed $330 million in Ether and shifted into $748 million of leveraged long positions on Bitcoin, Ether and Solana. The top ETH long totals $598 million at an entry of $3,147 with liquidation near $2,143, while other whales have lifted spot ETH buying even as so‑called smart money traders remain net short over $100 million on leading tokens.

China's central bank introduced a framework permitting commercial banks to pay interest on digital yuan wallet balances starting Jan. 1, 2026. The shift is intended to move e-CNY from a cash-like instrument to deposit-style money and let banks account for it in asset-liability management, according to deputy governor Lu Lei.

BitMine Immersion Technologies staked 342,560 ETH valued at over $1 billion in the two days leading up to Sunday, according to Lookonchain. Validator queues lengthened, with 739,824 ETH awaiting entry over 12 days and 20 hours, while 349,867 ETH face a 6-day, two-hour exit, per validatorqueue. Other corporate holders are also staking large balances to earn passive yield.

Trend Research bought $35 million of Ether, lifting its stash above 601,000 ETH valued at about $1.83 billion. Founder Jack Yi said he will keep adding and is positive on the first half of 2026, while Fundstrat's Tom Lee outlined a potential ETH low near $1,800 in the first quarter of 2026.

Trust Wallet's browser extension version 2.68 was compromised, impacting desktop users, and the team urged an upgrade to version 2.89 in a Thursday X post. CZ said in a Friday X post the roughly $7 million lost on Christmas Day will be reimbursed; SlowMist reported the backdoor was prepared Dec. 8 and implanted Dec. 22, and data were exfiltrated.

Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao outlined new wallet security proposals after an investor lost $50 million in USDT to an address poisoning scam in December 2024. He suggested blacklist checks, warning prompts and filtering of low-value transactions to block "poison" addresses and reduce phishing risks for blockchain users.

On Wednesday, the Trump family-associated USD1 stablecoin saw its market capitalization rise by $150 million to $2.89 billion after Binance launched a booster program with yields of up to 20% APR for large deposits. The promotion, which runs until Jan. 23, 2026, targets USD1 flexible products above $50,000 and distributes tiered bonus rewards directly to users' earn accounts.

Crypto ETPs logged $952 million in outflows, ending a three-week streak of net inflows, after delays to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act dented US sentiment. Ether funds shed $555 million and Bitcoin funds $460 million, while Senate markup is now slated for January 2026.

Bubblemaps reported in a Thursday X post that 23 wallets linked to the Ava deployer sniped around 40% of the AVA supply at launch on Solana. AVA later hit a $300 million FDV by January 2025, then plunged over 79% since launch and 96% from its $0.33 all-time high on Jan. 15, 2025.