Bitcoin ‘by no means’ hit $100K in actual phrases, SEC’s crypto ‘dream crew’: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 21 – 27

David Sacks calls CFTC, SEC picks a crypto regulation ‘dream crew’

US President Donald Trump’s AI and crypto czar, David Sacks, has signaled that the White Home could have all of the items in place for digital asset regulation following the affirmation of Michael Selig to chair the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee.

In a Monday X publish, David Sacks stated the US was at a “essential juncture” for crypto regulation, and that Selig and Securities and Change Fee Chair Paul Atkins made up a “dream crew to outline clear regulatory tips.” Sacks’ feedback had been in response to Selig saying that the US Congress was making ready to finish work on a crypto market construction invoice. 

“We’re at a novel second as a variety of novel applied sciences, merchandise, and platforms are rising, retail participation within the commodity markets is at an all-time excessive, and Congress is poised to ship digital asset market construction laws that may cement the US because the Crypto Capital of the World to the president’s desk,” stated Selig on X.

Coinbase CEO says reopening GENIUS Act is ‘pink line,’ slams financial institution lobbying

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated any try to reopen the GENIUS Act would cross a “pink line,” accusing banks of utilizing political stress to dam competitors from stablecoins and fintech platforms.

In a Sunday publish on X, Armstrong stated he was “impressed” banks might foyer Congress so overtly with out backlash, including that Coinbase would proceed pushing again on efforts to revise the regulation. “We received’t let anybody reopen GENIUS,” he wrote.

“My prediction is the banks will truly flip and be lobbying FOR the flexibility to pay curiosity and yield on stablecoins in just a few years, as soon as they notice how huge the chance is for them. So it’s 100% wasted effort on their half (along with being unethical),” Armstrong added.

The GENIUS Act, handed after months of negotiations, bars stablecoin issuers from paying curiosity straight however permits platforms and third events to supply rewards.

Bitcoin ‘by no means crossed’ $100K if adjusted for inflation, says Alex Thorn

Bitcoin got here simply shy of hitting a milestone six figures when inflation is factored in, regardless of the cryptocurrency hitting an all-time peak of above $126,000 in October, says Galaxy head of analysis Alex Thorn.

“Should you modify the value of Bitcoin for inflation utilizing 2020 {dollars}, BTC by no means crossed $100,000,” Thorn stated on Tuesday. “It truly topped at $99,848 in 2020 greenback phrases, if you happen to can imagine it.”

Thorn stated his adjusted value excessive for Bitcoin accounted for the Client Worth Index (CPI) decline in buying energy incrementally throughout each inflation print from 2020 to at the moment.

CPI measures inflation by way of the costs of a basket of products and providers and is calculated by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to trace adjustments in spending habits.

Prolonged crypto ETF outflows exhibits establishments disengaging: Glassnode

Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds have seen a protracted streak of outflows, indicating that institutional traders have disengaged with crypto, stated the analytics platform Glassnode.

Since early November, the 30-day easy transferring common of internet flows into US spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs has turned adverse, Glassnode stated on Tuesday.

“This persistence suggests a part of muted participation and partial disengagement from institutional allocators, reinforcing the broader liquidity contraction throughout the crypto market,” it added.

Flows into crypto ETFs often lag the spot markets for the tokens, which have been trending down since mid-October. 

The ETFs are additionally thought of a bellwether for institutional sentiment, which has been a market driver for many of this 12 months however seemingly turned bearish as the broader market has contracted.

Brazil’s stay orchestra to show Bitcoin value strikes into music

An experimental orchestral mission in Brazil goals to transform Bitcoin value knowledge into stay music, after receiving approval to boost funds via one of many nation’s tax-incentive applications for cultural initiatives.

Based on Brazil’s Federal Register, the authorization permits the mission to hunt as much as 1.09 million reais ($197,000) from non-public corporations and particular person donors for an instrumental live performance that makes use of monetary knowledge to generate music, drawing on ideas from artwork, arithmetic, economics and physics.

The publication doesn’t specify whether or not any blockchain or onchain infrastructure shall be used within the efficiency. The efficiency will happen on the nation’s federal capital, Brasília.

Winners and Losers

On the finish of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $87,458, Ether (ETH) at $2,922 and XRP at $1.84. The entire market cap is at $2.96 trillion, in keeping with CoinMarketCap.

Among the many greatest 100 cryptocurrencies, the highest three altcoin gainers of the week are MYX Finance (MYX) at 16.85%, ZCash (ZEC) at 15.00% and Sprint (DASH) at 14.21%.

The highest three altcoin losers of the week are Aave (AAVE) at 14.58%, Mantle (MNT) at 10.65% and Story (IP) at 10.06%. For more information on crypto costs, be sure to learn Cointelegraph’s market evaluation.

Most Memorable Quotations

“The basics of the market this 12 months for Bitcoin couldn’t be higher.”

Phong Le, CEO of Technique

“I wish to see inflation come all the way down to 2% with out doing undue hurt to the labor market. It’s a balancing act.”

John Williams, president and CEO of the New York Federal Reserve Financial institution

“If Bitcoin actually is actually in a bear market, which is what it appears like, it could be form of onerous for Ethereum to go up there.”

Benjamin Cowen, crypto analyst

“We’re at a novel second as a variety of novel applied sciences, merchandise, and platforms are rising, retail participation within the commodity markets is at an all-time excessive, and Congress is poised to ship digital asset market construction laws that may cement the US because the Crypto Capital of the World to the president’s desk.”

Michael Selig, incoming chair of the US CFTC

“Given the place the volatility is correct now, it could be very shocking that Bitcoin’s volatility has drastically compressed and but nonetheless might get a 70% or 80% drawdown.”

Anthony Pompliano, Bitcoin entrepreneur

“I’ve seen many conditions the place somebody calls on Grok anticipating their loopy political perception to be confirmed and Grok comes alongside and rugs them.”

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum

Prime Prediction of The Week

Bitcoin’s present setup seems like 2019, says Benjamin Cowen

As Bitcoin continues to underperform gold and main fairness indices, traders are more and more questioning whether or not this cycle is unfolding in a different way than anticipated. In a brand new interview with analyst Benjamin Cowen, we dig into why Bitcoin is lagging conventional markets, and why the present setup could really feel strikingly much like 2019.

Cowen factors out that whereas shares and gold are responding positively to expectations round future financial easing, Bitcoin seems way more delicate to precise liquidity situations quite than optimism alone.

That distinction, he explains, helps make clear why BTC has struggled to achieve momentum whilst broader markets push larger. Based on Cowen, Bitcoin usually requires a clearer macroeconomic catalyst earlier than it may well outperform, and that catalyst could not but be in place.

A key theme of the dialogue is sentiment. Not like earlier cycle peaks characterised by widespread enthusiasm and retail hypothesis, this market has been marked by relative apathy.

Prime FUD of The Week

Memecoins go from Christmas cheer to chilly actuality, sinking 65% in a 12 months

Memecoins are buying and selling close to year-end lows, marking a pointy reversal from the speculative peak reached in Christmas 2024.

Memecoins fell 65% over the 12 months to a market capitalization of $35 billion on Dec. 19, their lowest stage of 2025, in keeping with CoinMarketCap knowledge. They retraced some losses on Friday, rising to about $36 billion.

Final 12 months, memecoins thrived on Christmas Day, recording about $100 billion in valuation, in keeping with CoinMarketCap knowledge.

The memecoin sector’s buying and selling quantity fell alongside its worth, dropping 72% over the 12 months to $3.05 trillion, as crypto’s retail investing tendencies moved away from extremely speculative belongings.

JPMorgan freezes accounts of two stablecoin startups over sanctions issues: Report

JPMorgan Chase has reportedly frozen financial institution accounts linked to 2 venture-backed stablecoin startups after figuring out publicity to sanctioned and high-risk jurisdictions.

The accounts belonged to BlindPay and Kontigo, two stablecoin startups backed by Y Combinator that primarily function throughout Latin America, in keeping with a report by The Data. Each corporations accessed JPMorgan’s banking providers via Checkbook, a digital funds agency that companions with giant monetary establishments.

Per the report, the freezes occurred after JPMorgan flagged enterprise exercise tied to Venezuela and different places topic to US sanctions.

Aave founder denies shopping for tokens to affect failed DAO vote

Stani Kulechov, the founder and CEO of Aave Labs, the principle growth firm behind the Aave decentralized finance lending protocol, denied claims that he lately bought $15 million of Aave tokens to affect a controversial neighborhood vote that did not go. 

“These tokens weren’t used to vote on the current proposal, and that was by no means my intention. That is my life’s work, and I’m placing my very own capital behind my conviction,” Kulechov stated.

He additionally stated that Aave Labs has not clearly communicated the financial alignment between it and Aave token holders. “Sooner or later, we’ll be extra specific about how merchandise constructed by Aave Labs create worth for the DAO and AAVE token holders,” he added.

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Cointelegraph Journal writers and reporters contributed to this text.