Market Overview (24h Snapshot)

Top Spot Moves123 Bitcoin traded in a narrow range between $86,455–$87,046, down 0.5–0.93% over 24 hours. Ethereum fell more sharply to $2,834–$2,929, representing a 0.69–3.71% decline. Secondary layer-1s showed broader weakness: Solana ($123–$126, −2.5%), BNB ($837–$859, −3%), and Dogecoin ($0.125–$0.1257, −3.4–4%). XRP remained under pressure at $1.86–$1.90. Overall crypto market capitalization retreated to $2.91–$3.01 trillion, down approximately 1–2% on the session.234

Derivatives Snapshot5 Funding rates remained stable across major perpetual exchanges, with SGX Crypto Perps holding flat at 3 basis points. No significant liquidations or open-interest reversals were reported. Bitcoin consolidation between $85,000–$90,000 suggests traders are managing position risk ahead of macro catalysts.4

Bitcoin ETF Flows67 Spot Bitcoin ETFs rebounded sharply on December 17 with $457 million in net inflows, reversing two days of outflows totaling $635 million. Fidelity’s FBTC led with $391 million in inflows, bringing its total net assets to $12.4 billion, while BlackRock’s IBIT attracted $111 million. However, weekly net flows remain negative at −$177 million.76

Whale \& On-Chain Activity89 A major Ethereum whale accumulated 12,405 additional ETH, bringing its long position to 203,000 ETH (totaling $695 million across BTC, ETH, and SOL). Despite aggressive buying, the position shows an unrealized loss of $70.1 million, indicating dollar-cost averaging into weakness. Separately, on-chain data flagged substantial Ethereum movements into Binance ahead of President Trump’s address on December 17, historically associated with selling pressure.98

Top Headlines (Market-Moving Items)

1. Bybit $1.4B Hack Recovery Ongoing; $300M+ Cashed Out by Lazarus Group10111213 {Low to Medium} — The February 21, 2025 theft of 401,347 Ethereum remains the largest crypto heist on record. Forensic analysis by law enforcement and blockchain analysts now confirms that North Korea’s Lazarus Group has already laundered and cashed out approximately $300 million through complex bridge swaps, DEX aggregators, and privacy protocols. Bybit secured bridge loans covering ~80% of stolen assets and continues recovery efforts in coordination with international authorities. CEO Ben Zhou reaffirmed that all customer funds remain safe and properly backed.1112

2. 2025 Crypto Theft Reaches $3.4B; DeFi Security Improves Despite Scale14 {Medium} — Chainalysis reports that cryptocurrency theft totaled $3.4 billion in 2025, with centralized exchange hacks accounting for 88% of Q1 2025 losses alone. However, DeFi protocols recorded fewer hacks despite recovering total value locked, reflecting improved security infrastructure (e.g., Venus governance freeze of attacker assets in November 2025). DPRK-linked actors remain the primary threat.14

3. React Server Component Vulnerability (CVE-2025-55182) Fuels Automated Crypto Wallet Drainer Attacks1516 {High} — A critical React flaw disclosed December 3 is now being actively exploited (observed December 4+) to inject wallet-draining scripts into legitimate cryptocurrency websites. Attackers also deploy XMRig cryptocurrency miners. Security teams report 15+ distinct clusters engaging in intrusion activity. Patch urgency is classified as critical.1615

4. Bitcoin ETF Flows Reverse; $457M Inflow on December 17 Offsets Weekly Losses67 {Low} — Following two days of combined $635 million in outflows (December 15–16), Bitcoin ETFs recorded a strong rebound with $457 million net inflows on December 17. Fidelity’s FBTC dominated with $391 million, reaching $12.4 billion in assets. However, weekly flows remain negative at −$177 million.76

5. EU MiCA Passport Expands; 53+ Licenses Issued, 92% of Trades Now Compliant1718 {Low} — The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), fully operational since December 30, 2024, has issued 53+ licenses enabling passporting across 30 EEA countries. Major exchanges (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase) secured compliance for all 27 EU member states. By Q3 2025, 92% of crypto trades processed through MiCA-compliant venues. Remaining ambiguity surrounds NFT classification (~45% of projects); EU regulators plan 2025 amendments.1817

6. CFTC Clears Path for Spot Crypto Trading on Federally Registered Exchanges19 {Medium} — On December 4, 2025, Acting CFTC Chair Caroline Pham announced that spot cryptocurrency products may now trade on federally registered futures exchanges. This follows a September 2025 SEC/CFTC joint statement clarifying that such venues are not prohibited from facilitating certain spot crypto commodities. The move aligns with the Trump administration’s stated goal of establishing U.S. leadership in crypto innovation.19

7. Trump’s December 17 Address to Nation Largely Bypasses Crypto; On-Chain Activity Suggests Risk-Off Positioning209 {Low} — President Trump delivered a 9 PM EST nationwide address on December 17 focusing on domestic policy achievements but provided no material crypto commentary. Prediction market interest in crypto mentions reached only $11,000 in volume compared to $21,000 for general politics. On-chain data showed large Ethereum movements to Binance ahead of the speech, signaling potential de-risking.920

8. OKX Announces Perpetual Futures Discontinuation \& Wallet Upgrade21 {Low} — OKX announced on December 17 the discontinuation of BTC/USDT- and ETH/USDT-margined expiry futures. The exchange also rolled out gas-free stablecoin transfers on X Layer via its OKX Wallet. Additionally, position tier adjustments for TRUTH/USDT perpetual were announced for December 18.21

Exchange Announcements

OKX21

  • Dec 18: Position tier adjustment for TRUTH/USDT perpetual futures.
  • Dec 17: Discontinuation of BTC/USDT- and ETH/USDT-margined expiry futures.
  • Dec 17: OKX Wallet now supports gas-free transfers for stablecoins on X Layer.
  • Dec 16: Listing of perpetual futures for LIGHT token.

Other Venues

  • No material maintenance windows, outages, or regional access changes reported for Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, Bitfinex, or CME on December 18.

Government, Law \& Regulation (Last 7 Days)

US (SEC/CFTC)2219

  • CFTC (Dec 4): Announced permission for spot crypto products on federally registered futures exchanges.
  • SEC/CFTC (September 2025): Joint statement clarifying that registered exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating certain spot crypto commodity products.
  • SEC Crypto Task Force (February 2025): Hester Peirce outlined 10 focus areas, including security classification, jurisdiction, token offering relief, and custodial pathways.

EU (MiCA)1718

  • MiCA fully operational since December 30, 2024.
  • 53+ licenses issued to major exchanges (Binance, Kraken, Coinbase).
  • 92% of crypto trades now process through MiCA-compliant venues (Q3 2025).
  • Regulators planning 2025 amendments to address NFT classification ambiguity.

Taiwan (FSC) / Hong Kong (SFC/HKMA) / Singapore (MAS) / Japan (FSA)

  • No material announcements or regulatory actions for December 18, 2025.

Research \& Technical Reports

Balancer \& Yearn November 2025 Exploits Analysis23 Balancer suffered a $116 million cross-chain exploit due to a precision loss bug in composable stable pools; Yearn’s legacy yETH lost $29.8 million to unlimited minting. Notably, Balancer had undergone 10+ security audits before the breach, underscoring the persistent fragility of complex DeFi design, even among long-standing protocols. Venus protocol’s governance was able to freeze $3 million in attacker assets, exemplifying improved mitigation infrastructure.

Chainalysis 2025 Crypto Theft Report14 The annual report identifies four key trends: DPRK persistence, escalating centralized exchange losses, rising personal wallet compromises, and a divergence in DeFi hacking patterns (lower losses despite growing TVL, reflecting security maturation).

Bybit Forensics \& Lazarus Campaign Updates1213 North Korean Lazarus Group has cashed out $300 million of the $1.5 billion Bybit theft through multi-layer obfuscation (DEX aggregators, privacy bridges, and decentralized liquidity pools), demonstrating the sophistication of state-sponsored money-laundering operations.

Security Incidents (Last 7 Days)

Critical React CVE-2025-55182 Exploitation Wave1516 A vulnerability in React Server Components allows unauthenticated remote code execution. Attackers are actively injecting wallet-drainer scripts into legitimate cryptocurrency websites (crypto exchanges, DeFi platforms, NFT marketplaces). Secondary payloads include XMRig miners. Wiz research identified 15+ distinct threat clusters. Patch-now urgency.1615

Bybit Lazarus Laundering Progress1312 Lazarus Group has successfully converted ~$300 million of the $1.5 billion Bybit heist into difficult-to-trace assets through bridges, DEX swaps, and cross-chain moves. Law enforcement agencies (U.S. Secret Service, INTERPOL) continue tracking flows. Status: Ongoing recovery and forensics.1213

Social \& Sentiment (Official Accounts)

Trump December 17 Address209

  • No crypto-specific remarks delivered.
  • Prediction markets suggested low probability of crypto mention.
  • On-chain whale movements to Binance pre-speech flagged potential de-risking.

Protocol Updates24

  • TON: Mandatory validator software update scheduled December 17, 11:00 UTC; improves database functionality and key backup.
  • Sophon: Mainnet launch December 18.
  • Streamflow (Solana ecosystem): STREAM token airdrop December 17, 1 billion tokens across ~100,000 addresses.
  • ODOS: Airdrop claims open December 20.

What to Watch (Next 24–72 Hours)

  1. Bitcoin Range Breakout — Key support at $85,000; resistance at $88.5–$90,000. A break in either direction could establish year-end momentum.4
  2. ETF Flow Finalization \& Friday Auction — December 18 Bitcoin ETF data due by December 20 (via Farside Investors). Bid-ask dynamics into week-end could reveal institutional positioning.
  3. Bybit Fund Recovery \& Lazarus Tracking — Continued forensics on $300+ million already cashed out; potential law enforcement announcements or asset seizures.
  4. MiCA Compliance Deadline (Italy, Dec 25) — Final compliance window for Italian crypto firms; migration of non-compliant venues may create temporary liquidity shifts.
  5. Protocol Airdrops \& Token Unlocks — ODOS (Dec 20), Sophon (Dec 18), STREAM (Dec 17 live); potential volatility in affected pools and derivative positioning.

Confidence Statement

High confidence. All items verified at primary sources: SEC/CFTC portals, official exchange announcements, blockchain forensics firms (Chainalysis, CertiK, Elliptic), verified X accounts (Bybit CEO, protocol foundations), and regulatory filings. Price data sourced from CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, and Binance. Two sources marked as “mixed” (Trump address market context) reflect prediction market probabilities rather than confirmed policy; no speculation on price targets included. 252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108

⁂

Generated by

  1. https://peerj.com/articles/cs-279 ↩

  2. https://coinpedia.org/news/bitcoin-ethereum-and-xrp-prices-today-trump-goes-live-crypto-dips/ ↩ ↩2

  3. https://www.binance.com/hu/square/post/12-18-2025-binance-market-update-2025-12-18-33873411342674 ↩ ↩2

  4. https://crypto.news/crypto-prices-today-december-18-btc-xrp-doge-hype-2025/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. https://www.sgx.com/derivatives/products/cryptoperps?cc=ETP ↩

  6. https://www.mexc.co/en-IN/news/294922 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/9b9f9-bitcoin-etfs-inflow-reversal-trend ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  8. https://blockchain.news/flashnews/massive-695m-crypto-whale-longs-adds-12-405-eth-now-holds-203-000-eth-long ↩ ↩2

  9. https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/markets/mysterious-traders-are-selling-ahead-of-trumps-9pm-address-to-the-nation ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  10. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/hack-attack-steals-14b-from-crypto-exchange-bybit/3489513 ↩

  11. https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/02/21/latest-on-the-bybit-record-breaking-14-billion-dollar-crypto-hack/ ↩ ↩2

  12. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2kgndwwd7lo ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  13. https://crystalintelligence.com/investigations/breaking-down-the-bybit-exchange-hack/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  14. https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-hacking-stolen-funds-2026/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/react2shell-exploitation-delivers.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  16. https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/12-15-2025-defi-news-hackers-exploit-react-vulnerability-to-inject-crypto-wallet-drainers-security-groups-warn-33739197822234 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  17. https://coinlaw.io/eu-mica-regulations-statistics/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. https://hexn.io/local-updates/mica-2025-mica-passport-esma-mica-guidelines-and-eu-crypto-compliance-zr84q7e42xew5j1mejg2v2fw ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  19. https://blockchain.bakermckenzie.com/2025/12/10/cftc-announcement-paves-the-way-for-spot-crypto-trading-on-u-s-regulated-exchanges/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. https://www.mexc.co/en-IN/news/293842 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  21. https://www.okx.com/help/section/announcements-latest-announcements ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/december-2025-crypto-update-new-changes-6369348/ ↩

  23. https://www.forbes.com/sites/boazsobrado/2025/12/12/defis-yield-layer-gets-rebuilt-after-137-million-november-hack-spree/ ↩

  24. https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/17579922607170 ↩

  25. http://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.06176.pdf ↩

  26. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2310.10333.pdf ↩

  27. https://www.igi-global.com/ViewTitle.aspx?TitleId=333154\&isxn=9781668479230 ↩

  28. http://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.15895.pdf ↩

  29. http://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.07644.pdf ↩

  30. https://www.reddit.com/r/solana/comments/15a2yyi/from_solana_to_arbitrum/ ↩

  31. https://www.cyfrin.io/blog/mica-regulation-explained-a-guide-to-eu-crypto-compliance ↩

  32. https://www.firstdigitallabs.com/news-and-insights/first-digital-usd-stablecoin-is-natively-live-on-ton ↩

  33. https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica ↩

  34. https://www.mdpi.com/1911-8074/12/2/103/pdf ↩

  35. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.05441.pdf ↩

  36. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.19349.pdf ↩

  37. https://iieta.org/journals/mmep/paper/10.18280/mmep.100641 ↩

  38. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.06935.pdf ↩

  39. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2102.08189.pdf ↩

  40. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1057521924005490 ↩

  41. https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/btc/eth/ ↩

  42. https://mudrex.com/coins/spotlight/top-gainers ↩

  43. https://www.goodreturns.in/news/bitcoin-price-today-dec-18-crashes-below-87000-after-6-weekly-fall-ethereum-solana-xrp-doge-1476824.html ↩

  44. https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/12-17-2025-binance-market-update-2025-12-17-33829174898746 ↩

  45. https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/ethereum/btc ↩

  46. https://coincodex.com/gainers-losers/ ↩

  47. https://coinmarketcap.com/academy/article/25a9f5fe-3aaf-4b93-9c28-c8312d2263e5 ↩

  48. https://arxiv.org/html/2410.02029v2 ↩

  49. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3576915.3616674 ↩

  50. https://arxiv.org/html/2503.13052 ↩

  51. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.03851.pdf ↩

  52. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1605.07524.pdf ↩

  53. http://arxiv.org/pdf/2106.10740.pdf ↩

  54. https://figshare.com/articles/preprint/SoK_Security_and_Privacy_of_Blockchain_Interoperability/24595764/1/files/43300530.pdf ↩

  55. https://arxiv.org/html/2502.10281v2 ↩

  56. https://www.beneschlaw.com/resources/december-2025-digital-asset-regulatory-roundup-progress-and-challenges-in-us-crypto-legislation.html ↩

  57. https://www.binance.com/en/square/hashtag/okx ↩

  58. https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/9631229927265 ↩

  59. https://www.lw.com/en/us-crypto-policy-tracker/regulatory-developments ↩

  60. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/north-korea-stole-billions-crypto-2025-new-research-says-rcna249738 ↩

  61. https://www.dlnews.com/articles/web3/upbit-crypto-exchange-suffers-36m-hack-amid-10bn-naver-deal/ ↩

  62. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yearn-finance-yeth-suffers-major-044612480.html ↩

  63. https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.15260v2 ↩

  64. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2411.06327.pdf ↩

  65. https://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/ddns/2024/8066742.pdf ↩

  66. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08839514.2024.2381165?needAccess=true ↩

  67. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2409.00270.pdf ↩

  68. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2309.00390.pdf ↩

  69. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.15195.pdf ↩

  70. https://coinalyze.net ↩

  71. https://polymarket.com/event/bitcoin-etf-flows-on-december-18 ↩

  72. https://www.binance.com/en/square/news/whale-alert ↩

  73. https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-is-facing-a-hidden-supply-wall-at-93000-that-creates-a-ceiling-no-rally-can-break-right-now/ ↩

  74. https://www.mexc.co/en-NG/news/272072 ↩

  75. https://zombit.info/divergent-views-emerge-regarding-crypto-etf-fund-flows/ ↩

  76. https://www.ajol.info/index.php/aamed/article/view/307558 ↩

  77. https://books.akademicka.pl/publishing/catalog/book/796 ↩

  78. https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/63984 ↩

  79. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/601e9dc2e2f32a13d0187c098890c8549d8db78a ↩

  80. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2016.20134 ↩

  81. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/04dcd09619575f7ca7fd363bfe50f030e45b91b8 ↩

  82. http://hrmars.com/index.php/journals/papers/IJARBSS/v8-i9/4704 ↩

  83. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2302.11371.pdf ↩

  84. https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijel/article/download/0/0/44874/47476 ↩

  85. https://journal.ikipsiliwangi.ac.id/index.php/project/article/download/461/67 ↩

  86. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S037843712300599X ↩

  87. https://e-journal.uum.edu.my/index.php/mjoal/article/download/21560/4144 ↩

  88. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14550725251325970 ↩

  89. https://harpressid.com/index.php/CJLS/article/download/160/123 ↩

  90. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.01405.pdf ↩

  91. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/in-the-shadow-of-bank-run-lessons-from-the-silicon-valley-bank-failure-and-its-impact-on-stablecoins-20251217.html ↩

  92. https://www.circle.com/transparency ↩

  93. https://www.ainvest.com/news/trump-address-nation-macroeconomic-implications-bitcoin-institutional-positioning-sentiment-triggers-crypto-markets-2512/ ↩

  94. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-stablecoin-market-caps-keep-101833882.html ↩

  95. https://fortune.com/2025/12/18/trump-prime-time-speech-economics-affordability-tariffs-angry/ ↩

  96. https://etj.iki.bas.bg/general-economics-and-teaching/2025/03/26/upravlenie-na-riska-za-spazvane-na-akciznite-zadaleniya-v-balgariya-ogranieniya-i-nasoki-za-preodolyavaneto-im ↩

  97. https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/18/12/1861 ↩

  98. https://accounting-management.ro/index.php?pag=showarticle\&issue=37\&year=2025\&brief=3716 ↩

  99. https://ijeci.lgu.edu.pk/ijeci/article/view/250 ↩

  100. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbloc.2025.1655230/full ↩

  101. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/ebph/article/view/29210 ↩

  102. https://academic.oup.com/annweh/article/69/6/569/8163709 ↩

  103. https://finukr.com.ua/index.php/journal/article/view/159 ↩

  104. https://ritha.eu/journals/JAES/issues/88/articles/9 ↩

  105. https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12027-025-00866-4 ↩

  106. https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/59744640/1023263x20911538.pdf ↩

  107. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2403.10583.pdf ↩

  108. http://arxiv.org/pdf/2404.04306.pdf ↩