Recap
- The Bank of Japan raised rates to 0.75% from 0.5% in a widely expected move and signalled gradual tightening, a global macro shift that can affect liquidity; Bitcoin rose about 3% after the decision. The largest cryptocurrency didn't move as much in response to Tuesday's US jobs data, even as the nation's unemployment worsened to 4.6% in November. However, crypto assets were briefly buoyed by Thursday's inflation data beating expectations.
- US lawmakers delayed the long-awaited crypto market-structure bill into 2026, leaving the future of spot-market rules unclear heading into the New Year.
- Nasdaq is seeking the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)’s green light to extend weekday equity trading to 23 hours a day, responding to traders’ demands and aligning the world’s second-largest stock exchange with the always-on crypto market. Pending approval, the new hours could kick off in the second half of 2026, making Nasdaq the first major US stock bourse to operate on a near-24/5 basis.
- In other regulatory developments: the SEC said broker-dealers can custody certain tokenized securities under existing rules if they truly control the assets (including private keys) and can handle blockchain risks such as forks, outages and insolvency. Meanwhile, the US FDIC proposed its first GENIUS Act rule for banks issuing dollar-backed payment stablecoins via subsidiaries, showing stablecoin rules are moving even while broader crypto legislation stalls. Separately, the US OCC gave conditional national trust bank charters to Fidelity Digital Assets, Circle, Ripple, Paxos and BitGo, bringing major crypto firms further under US banking supervision without full deposit-taking or lending powers.
- The DTCC, the main US securities clearing and settlement group, partnered with Digital Asset to create onchain versions of DTC-held US Treasuries on the Canton Network, with a controlled MVP expected in H1 2026.
- JPMorgan launched its first tokenized money-market fund on Ethereum, seeded with $100mn, letting qualified investors subscribe and redeem onchain using cash or USDC.
- India’s central bank restated its opposition to stablecoins and backed CBDCs instead, arguing stablecoins threaten monetary stability and do not beat India’s existing payments system. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reiterated warnings about non-European stablecoins and monetary risks. EU governments agreed a common position on digital euro legislation.
Macro Summary
Data releases are slowing with many markets preparing to close for a Christmas break. A smattering of European trade and GDP data start the week, followed by US GDP and initial jobless claims figures that could reaffirm or reshape views on the health of the world’s largest economy.
Top Gainers
- BEAT (Audiera) +76%
- NIGHT (Midnight) +72%
- CC (Canton) +37%
Top Losers
- PUMP (Pump.fun) -25%
- ASTER (Aster) -24%
- STRK (Starknet) -23%
Market Metrics
- Total Market Cap: $3.00tn (-0.4% vs last week)
- BTC Dominance: 59.0% (vs 58.5% last week)
- Fear and Greed Index: 28/100 (vs 27 last week)
- Alt Season Index: 17/100 (vs 21 last week)
ETF Flows
- BTC (Bitcoin): -$497.1mn (vs +$286.6mn previous week)
- ETH (Ether): -$643.9mn (vs +$209.1mn previous week)
Futures (CME)
- BTC (Bitcoin): $88,060 (-2.6%) (as at Friday close)
- ETH (Ether): $2,999 (-2.9%) (as at Friday close)
This week, we’ll be monitoring (all times UTC):
Tuesday 23 December
Economic data
- 13:30 US GDP, industrial and manufacturing data: US economic growth in Q3 may have fallen back to 3.2% from Q2's higher-than-expected 3.8% rate, if a consensus estimate published by Trading Economics proves correct.
Central banks
- 23:50 Bank of Japan minutes: the proceedings from the monetary policy meeting may shed light on how the central bank formed its decision to increase rates.
Wednesday 24 December
Economic data
- 13:30 US initial jobless claims: The latest weekly figures will compare with 224,000 claims for the week ending 13 Dec and are expected to be in line.
Holidays
- Some traditional markets may close early on Christmas Eve.
Thursday 25 December
Crypto event (governance)
- Uniswap: Voting results of the Unification proposal has been submitted for final Uniswap governance vote, which could trigger a 100mn UNI tokens burn and the activation of Uniswap v2 and v3 fee switches on mainnet, with protocol fees used to burn UNI.
Holidays
- Some traditional markets are closed for Christmas.
Friday 26 December
Holidays
- Some traditional markets are closed.
Sunday 28 December
Central banks
- 23:50 Bank of Japan summary of opinions: the proceedings may generate more interest than usual, following the BoJ's recent rate hike.
Crypto event (token unlock)
- Sui (SUI) Token Unlock: 21.4mn SUI (~0.58% of circulating supply), worth roughly $31.16mn. The release may introduce short-term selling pressure.
