Bitcoin experienced a brief spike in volatility on December 24, when its price unexpectedly revisited levels last seen in 2023. This occurred on the Binance exchange at around 09:15 a.m. Visit Website
XRP turned green on Christmas after a dip-and-rebound near $1.87, as CoinGlass showed shorts getting squeezed, and the setup now points at an optimistic December close above $2.
BitcoinWorld HTX Earn Fully Upgraded: Join HTX Earn Carnival, Earn Up to 15% APY and Apple Product Rewards PANAMA CITY , Dec. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HTX, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a comprehensive upgrade to HTX Earn, its premier digital asset wealth management suite. Alongside this upgrade, the exchange officially launched its flagship incentive campaign, the HTX Earn Carnival . The initiative features subsidized annualized yields of up to 15% APY across core assets, complemented by high-value physical rewards, including the latest Apple flagship product lineup. The move comes as year-end market sentiment shows signs of recovery, with investors increasingly prioritizing lower-risk, yield-bearing products. The revamped HTX Earn interface boasts a simplified product structure, more efficient experience, and more competitive returns, aiming to provide a “one-stop” solution for digital asset appreciation. Reap 15% APY on 27 Assets and Amazing Prizes The HTX Earn Carnival event is scheduled to run from December 24, 2025, at 02:00 (UTC) through January 1, 2026, at 16:00:00 (UTC). During this period, HTX is offering significant APY subsidies for Flexible Earn products across 27 mainstream assets. Participants earn up to 15% APY on their idle assets through subscriptions. Eligible assets include major stablecoins such as USDT, USDD, USD1, and USDC, alongside a broad range of core cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, TRX, ZEC, TURBO, NEO, WBT, APE, COMP, QTUM, PENDLE, DOT, TON, SOL, ATOM, CSPR, POL, NEAR, ADA, SUI, APT, A, and CRV. This diverse selection is designed to accommodate both conservative yield strategies and diversified portfolio needs. The participation process is straightforward: Access: Users can log in their HTX accounts and find Earn on the navigation bar via the official HTX website or directly from the app homepage. Mechanics: Yield calculation rules are fully transparent. Users who reach specified net asset increase thresholds during the maintenance period will receive APY Booster Coupons for the USDT Flexible Earn product. Lucky Draws: In addition to the APY boosts, users ranked among the top contributors by net asset increase will be eligible for lucky draws to win Apple flagship devices, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 11, and AirPods Pro 3 . The campaign follows a four-stage structure: Subscription, Asset Maintenance, Review, and Reward Claim . Users must complete registration and asset allocation during the subscription phase. Rewards are determined by the net asset increase maintained throughout the period and must be manually claimed during the designated window; unclaimed rewards will be forfeited. HTX Earn Revamped : Five Core Modules HTX has systematically upgraded the HTX Earn ecosystem, restructuring the interface into five clearly defined modules to enhance usability and long-term management efficiency: Overview: A unified dashboard to monitor asset allocation and yield performance. Simple Earn: Designed for conservative, straightforward yield strategies. New Listings: Dedicated to high-potential yields for newly onboarded tokens. Structured Products: For advanced investors seeking tailored opportunities. On-Chain Earn: Direct access to decentralized staking and PoS opportunities. The refined categorization significantly reduces decision-making friction, allowing users to align their strategies precisely with their risk preferences. Furthermore, the redesigned homepage now features a dedicated promotions area for limited-time boosts and an intelligent recommendation module that suggests products based on a user’s current asset structure. Additional optimizations include an SVIP zone , a newcomer section , and multi-dimensional filters for a tailored experience. From Campaign Incentive to Sustainable Yield From the launch of HTX Earn Carnival to the continued evolution of its Earn product architecture, HTX is reinforcing its commitment to long-term, sustainable asset appreciation, aiming to deliver professional, transparent, and efficient asset management tools beyond short-term promotions. Looking ahead, HTX plans to further expand its Earn offerings, refine user experience, and introduce diversified yield mechanisms aligned with real user demand. About HTX Founded in 2013, HTX (formerly Huobi) has evolved from a virtual asset exchange into a comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain businesses that span digital asset trading, financial derivatives, research, investments, incubation, and other businesses. As a world-leading gateway to Web3, HTX harbors global capabilities that enable it to provide users with safe and reliable services. Adhering to the growth strategy of “Global Expansion, Thriving Ecosystem, Wealth Effect, Security & Compliance,” HTX is dedicated to providing quality services and values to virtual asset enthusiasts worldwide. To learn more about HTX, please visit https://www.htx.com/ or HTX Square , and follow HTX on X , Telegram , and Discord . This post HTX Earn Fully Upgraded: Join HTX Earn Carnival, Earn Up to 15% APY and Apple Product Rewards first appeared on BitcoinWorld .
Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder and former CEO of Binance, has called for the crypto industry to take stronger, coordinated action to eliminate address poisoning scams. The warning comes after a single victim lost nearly $50 million in USDT in what analysts describe as one of the largest on-chain phishing losses in recent months. How a Single Copy-Paste Error Triggered a $50M Crypto Heist The incident unfolded in under an hour. According to on-chain data and security firms tracking the case, the victim withdrew funds from Binance and sent a small test transaction of 50 USDT to the correct destination address. Crypto trader loses $50 million to address poisoning scam as industry grapples with nearly $90 billion in cumulative security losses. #Crypto #Scam https://t.co/ZXn2iF8wdi — Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 20, 2025 Minutes later, the user copied an address from their transaction history and sent 49,999,950 USDT to a different wallet that closely resembled the intended recipient. The fraudulent address had been planted by attackers through a prior microtransaction, a common tactic used in address poisoning scams. The victim’s wallet, active for about two years and largely used for USDT transfers, sent the funds shortly after the withdrawal from Binance. Initial reports indicated the stolen USDT remained at the destination address temporarily, though similar cases show funds are often quickly moved, swapped, or laundered through multiple wallets. In this case, blockchain investigators later observed portions of the funds converted to ETH and routed through several addresses, with some passing through the Tornado Cash mixer. Zhao addressed the incident in a public post , describing it as a problem the industry should be able to eliminate entirely. He proposed that wallets automatically flag and block known poison addresses using simple blockchain queries, warning users before transactions are sent. He also urged industry security groups to maintain real-time blacklists that wallets could consult prior to execution and suggested filtering out spam transactions entirely so users do not see dust transfers in their histories. Binance Wallet, he said, already implements some of these protections. As Address Poisoning Grows, Lawmakers and Stablecoin Issuers Step In Address poisoning , sometimes referred to as dusting, is a form of phishing in which attackers send tiny amounts of crypto to wallets from addresses designed to look nearly identical to legitimate ones. When users later copy an address from their transaction history instead of a verified source, they may unknowingly paste the attacker’s address. Matching the first few and last characters of a wallet address is often enough to deceive users, especially during high-value transfers. Security firms say the tactic is growing as SlowMist and other analysts have flagged address poisoning as an increasing threat, particularly on networks with low transaction fees where attackers can operate at scale. TRM Labs has documented extensive dusting activity on the TRON blockchain, where free or near-free transfers allow bots to flood wallets with spoofed transactions. Source: TRM Labs Their research shows attackers generate thousands of vanity addresses and deploy automated systems that target recently active or high-balance wallets, especially those holding stablecoins like USDT. Source: Chainalysis The $50 million loss comes amid a broader surge in crypto-related fraud. Industry estimates suggest nearly $90 billion has been lost to hacks and exploits since crypto’s inception, with more than $9 billion recorded in 2025 alone. November saw over $276 million stolen, and phishing was identified by CertiK as the most damaging scam category of 2024, accounting for more than $1 billion in losses. U.S. authorities reported that Americans lost roughly $9.3 billion to crypto investment scams in 2024 , a sharp year-over-year increase. After $9.3B lost to crypto scams like pig butchering, U.S. lawmakers unveil the bipartisan SAFE Crypto Act, creating a federal task force to fight fraud. #CryptoScam #CryptoRegulation https://t.co/kG6oDWQVCC — Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 17, 2025 Lawmakers have also responded. U.S. Senators Elissa Slotkin and Jerry Moran recently introduced the SAFE Crypto Act , proposi The post CZ Wants to ‘Eradicate’ Address Poisoning After Massive $50M Loss appeared first on Cryptonews .
Incoming year 2026 teases game-changing updates on the XRP Ledger.
Russian financial services giant Sberbank may soon start offering loans secured by cryptocurrency, one of its top executives unveiled. The news comes right after the monetary authority in Moscow published a plan for the regulation of digital asset transactions in Russia, including the provision of related services. Sberbank hopes to lend fiat using crypto as collateral Known now as Sber, Russia’s largest bank by assets, is exploring the possibility of lending rubles in return for cryptocurrencies, the local press reported. According to the Deputy Chairman of its Management Board, Anatoly Popov, the bank is currently considering options for providing loans against crypto as collateral. The majority state-owned bank is ready to work with Russian regulators to develop solutions for this kind of service, the Sber executive told the TASS news agency. In excerpts from an interview, quoted by the country’s leading business dailies Kommersant and Vedomosti, Popov stated: “We are currently exploring the possibility of cryptocurrency-secured lending … I hope we will be able to talk about such transactions soon.” He also noted that Sberbank continues to expand financing through its own digital asset platform. Since January of this year, the bank has hosted more than 160 issues of digital financial assets, including the country’s first tokens for real estate and oil. “Cryptocurrency market regulation in Russia is still in its infancy, and we are ready to participate in developing relevant solutions and creating the infrastructure to launch such services, together with the regulator,” Anatoly Popov emphasized. The banker’s statements come after, earlier this week, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) released key takeaways from its new concept for comprehensive regulation of the nation’s crypto space, as reported by Cryptopolitan. Meanwhile, Russia’s largest stock markets, the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and the St. Petersburg Exchange (SPB) declared they are ready to launch cryptocurrency trading. Russian crypto regulations coming in 2026 The CBR plan brings major changes to Moscow’s attitude toward decentralized digital money. First of all, cryptocurrencies and stablecoins will be recognized as “currency assets.” Then, access to them will be expanded significantly, far beyond the framework of the existing “experimental legal regime,” which was initially supposed to remain in place for three years. Non-professional, retail investors will be allowed to acquire Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other coins, which are currently available only to “highly qualified” investors. Nevertheless, the monetary authority emphasized it still views cryptocurrency as a high-risk instrument and made it clear it prefers to use Russia’s existing financial infrastructure for crypto operations. Legislative amendments to implement the strategy have already been filed with the government in Moscow, and the central bank expects lawmakers to approve them by July 1, 2026. The proposals also aim to overhaul Russia’s market for digital financial assets (DFAs) regulated with a dedicated law, which entered into force in 2021. That legislation legalized the issuance and circulation of Russian digital assets, which represent tokenized securities and other real assets, as well as digital rights. The latter are still issued exclusively on private blockchains, but the Bank of Russia wants to allow domestic companies to circulate them on public networks in order to attract foreign investment. Earlier this week, Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa-Bank, announced it’s launching a DFA based on fuel. The instrument, issued on behalf of the Trassa network of gas stations, tokenizes regular gasoline as a funding and marketing tool, part of its loyalty program. If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter .
BitcoinWorld HTX Year-End Carnival Launches 200,000 USDT Airdrop Giveaway in Partnership with the TRON Ecosystem PANAMA CITY , Dec. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — As the festive season ignites year-end market momentum, HTX is proud to announce the launch of its flagship annual event: the HTX Year-End Carnival . Running from December 22, 2025 to January 18, 2026, the celebration offers a massive 200,000 USDT prize pool to users worldwide. This year’s carnival is a joint initiative sponsored by leading projects within the TRON ecosystem, including TRON DAO, SunPump, JUST, AINFT, BitTorrent, WINkLink, Steemit, and SunGenX. Serving as the central hub, HTX is leveraging these partnerships to catalyze market activity, offering a diverse array of trading incentives, token airdrops, and interactive community challenges. 28 Days of Nonstop Airdrops, Plus 10,000 USDT in Extra Holiday Bonuses The centerpiece of the carnival is a 28-day consecutive airdrop campaign . Each day at 03:00 (UTC), 5,000 USDT in rewards will be available via the HTX App on a first-come, first-served basis. To celebrate the peak of the holidays, HTX will also distribute an extra 10,000 USDT in “no-threshold” airdrops on Christmas Day (December 25) and New Year’s Day (January 1). These bonuses will be released alongside the daily rewards. How to Qualify: Simply complete one trade or one community interaction (post, comment, like, or share) between December 1, 2025, and January 15, 2026. Claiming Period: Qualification enables reward claims starting 48 hours after the task is completed (e.g., a trade on Dec 22 unlocks claims starting Dec 24). Users are encouraged to set a daily reminder for 03:00 (UTC) to secure their share. The HTX x TRON Ecosystem Collaboration Powers Event Momentum This event represents a deep collaboration between HTX and the TRON ecosystem. With the participation of core TRON projects such as SunPump, JUST, AINFT, BitTorrent, WINkLink, Steemit, and SunGenX, the event delivers strong reward support while enabling users to experience firsthand the application value and growth potential of the TRON network. The HTX Year-End Carnival features a multi-tiered reward system tailored to users with different trading preferences and levels of engagement. Throughout the event, users can unlock trading bonuses by completing designated tasks and participate in multiple rounds of festive airdrops. The carnival is structured into three strategic phases designed to maximize user value: The Initial Phase: Focuses on community growth through ecosystem quizzes, holiday-themed interactions, and price prediction challenges. The Core Trading Phase: Highlights TRON ecosystem assets with specialized incentives across Futures, Spot, and Copy Trading. The Closing Phase: Intensifies rewards with milestone bonuses to conclude the year on a high note. Year-End Momentum, HTX Empowers Users with Ongoing Rewards As one of the platform’s premier annual initiatives, HTX’s Year-End Trading Carnival is more than a holiday giveaway. It serves as a comprehensive showcase of HTX’s commitment to user value, premium trading experiences, and ecosystem synergy at this pivotal year-end moment. With the official launch of the event, trading activity on HTX is poised to reach new heights. Through these ongoing initiatives, HTX remains dedicated to capturing year-end market momentum together with users worldwide. The festivities are already underway. Join the HTX Year-End Carnival today and capture your share of the 200,000 USDT prize pool. About HTX Founded in 2013, HTX (formerly Huobi) has evolved from a virtual asset exchange into a comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain businesses that span digital asset trading, financial derivatives, research, investments, incubation, and other businesses. As a world-leading gateway to Web3, HTX harbors global capabilities that enable it to provide users with safe and reliable services. Adhering to the growth strategy of “Global Expansion, Thriving Ecosystem, Wealth Effect, Security & Compliance,” HTX is dedicated to providing quality services and values to virtual asset enthusiasts worldwide. To learn more about HTX, please visit https://www.htx.com/ or HTX Square , and follow HTX on X , Telegram , and Discord . This post HTX Year-End Carnival Launches 200,000 USDT Airdrop Giveaway in Partnership with the TRON Ecosystem first appeared on BitcoinWorld .
The initiative aims to bridge the chasm between traditional finance and Web3.
Dragonfly general partner Rob Hadick struck an upbeat tone on crypto’s medium-term setup, arguing that recent volatility has obscured a broader trend of adoption, especially in stablecoins and prediction markets, that he expects to accelerate into 2026. Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Dec. 24, Hadick pushed back on the idea that crypto has entered a new “winter,” framing the year’s disappointment as a function of recency bias rather than a clean break in market structure. “It hasn’t had a great year. But I think it’s important to zoom out,” Hadick said. “If you look at the returns for bitcoin relative to the day before the election in ’24, bitcoin is up about 26%, Nasdaq is up about 28%… even further than that two years, bitcoin’s doubled, Nasdaq is up 50%.” Hadick emphasized he’s not trading chart patterns. “I’m not a technical investor. I’m a long-term investor. We’re a VC fund,” he said, adding that he “continue[s] to see a strong and constructive 2026. 2026 predictions are… another positive year for the industry (zoom out), especially for continued innovation in prediction markets, stablecoins and tokenized assets, and scalability and infrastructure for financial markets https://t.co/SIm1rCkiv9 — Rob Hadick ＞|＜ (@HadickM) December 24, 2025 2026 Crypto Predictions Pressed on what “a good 2026” means in practice for the crypto market, Hadick tied his outlook to macro conditions and what he sees as compounding real-world usage. “For the token prices themselves—bitcoin, ethereum—there’s likely to be continued momentum,” he said. “I think from a macroeconomic perspective … we’ll have better monetary policy. And then we’re going to have more and more adoption of tokenized assets.” One data point he said: “McKinsey just said that they think 3% of all cross-border payments is happening in stablecoins right now. That’s up from basically 0% a year ago,” Hadick said, adding that he expects “another tenfold increase.” Hadick described Dragonfly as deliberately non-ideological across chains and sectors, positioning the firm less as a “bitcoin vs. ethereum” shop and more as a bet on market-structure innovation. “We invest in everybody that’s doing anything that’s interesting in tokenized digital assets,” he said. “We’re not what I would say ideological about crypto. What we are is investing in the future of innovation in financial markets.” When the conversation turned from majors to categories, Hadick leaned into two themes: stablecoins and prediction markets . “Stablecoins I think are here to stay. I think it’s going to grow tenfold,” he said. “I think prediction markets are here to stay. I think they’re going to grow tenfold.” On prediction markets specifically, Hadick argued the addressable market extends well beyond sports betting, despite the current overlap. He pointed to Polymarket’s growth as evidence of expanding use cases. “If you look at Polymarket volume today, they’ve gone from $50 million a month in early ’24… they’re now going to do probably about $4 billion of volume this month,” he said, adding that “only about 35% of that is sports,” putting Polymarket in contrast with Kalshi, which he characterized as “more of a sports platform because they’re infrastructure for Robinhood.” Hadick also invoked Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher’s long-running tokenization thesis to argue prediction markets may converge with broader financial infrastructure rather than remain a niche wagering product. “If you talk to Jeff Sprecher over at ICE… he’ll tell you he believes in the tokenization of all markets,” Hadick said. “I talked to him before he made the investment in Polymarket… his perspective is that this is going to be as big as ICE itself. Probably.” He suggested the functional framing is less “bets” and more programmable risk transfer. “I talked to an insurance company maybe a month ago that was thinking about how they can hedge out risk in weather related activities,” Hadick said. “That’s just one use case… every single thing and every single market and outcome that can be put [into] a market—or really just a binary option, which is what it is.” Ethereum Vs. Solana Asked to pick sides in the Ethereum–Solana debate, Hadick refused the “MySpace vs. Facebook” framing. “No, they’re both Facebook,” he said, arguing the market will require multiple settlement environments if tokenization becomes mainstream. In his view, Ethereum’s advantage is where value and stablecoin liquidity already sit, while Solana’s edge is high-throughput, low-cost flow. “Most stablecoins today are on Ethereum,” Hadick said. “Ethereum is where a large amount of… economic activity exists… but if you look at the trading volume, it’s happening more on Solana, which is more optimized for that type of transaction flow and for low cost transactions.” Still, Hadick conceded the platform layer is not frozen. He said Dragonfly is invested in a newer chain, Monad, describing it as “trying to be a Solana killer,” and cited figures he said reflected early-stage market positioning: a roughly $2 billion valuation and a token price around $0.002. At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.92 trillion.
In 2025, prediction markets stopped acting like a sideshow and started behaving like a real financial category. Prediction Markets Go Mainstream What began as a niche experiment in forecasting elections and sports quietly evolved into a multibillion-dollar ecosystem touching Wall Street, media giants, professional sports, and crypto infrastructure. From regulatory victories and courtroom battles to