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Crypto Market Overview (December 14-21, 2025) 📉 The global cryptocurrency market continued to experience significant volatility, with Bitcoin dropping below $90,000 on December 14 and further declining to $86,000 by December 18. This decline was driven by fading expectations of Federal Reserve rate cuts and weakening U.S. macroeconomic data. Ethereum fluctuated between $2,900–$3,100, while altcoins like Solana and XRP saw weekly losses exceeding 5%. The total market capitalization dropped 2% week-on-week, reaching approximately $3.06–$3.08 trillion, marking an eight-month low by December 19. 📊 Positive regulatory signals emerged, with the U.S. SEC removing cryptocurrency from its 2026 priority list and confirming pro-crypto nominees for leadership positions at CFTC and FDIC. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is slated for Senate markup in January 2026, offering hope for clearer market frameworks. However, Senator Cynthia Lummis, a strong crypto advocate, announced her retirement. 💸 China injected ¥1.05 trillion (approximately $1.4 trillion) into the market, echoing past events that triggered parabolic crypto rallies. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised rates to a 30-year high, creating risks for Bitcoin. However, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs saw strong inflows of $457 million, indicating sustained institutional interest despite price slumps. 🛡️ A major phishing attack resulted in a $50 million USDT loss, with victims offering a $1 million reward for recovery. Quantum computing threats resurfaced in discussions, although experts like Adam Back dismissed them as market manipulation. Memecoins and small-cap tokens hit multi-year lows, highlighting broader weakness in altcoins. 🚀 Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin reached a market cap of $1.26 billion, becoming the third-largest U.S.-regulated stablecoin. TRON integrated with Kalshi for deposits and withdrawals, and Polkadot gained native USDC access via Coinbase. Prediction markets like Kalshi surged in popularity, climbing to #3 on the App Store. #CryptoInsights #MarketTrends

Speaking to Andrew Sorkin on CNBC's "Squawk Box" program on Monday, Pantera Capital founder and Managing Partner Dan Morehead revealed that Solana is the venture capital firm's largest crypto position. Responding to a question comparing the outperformance of different blockchains and asking if it's a winner-take-all market, "No, it isn't," Morehead said. "It's not like there's not a winner-take-all on the internet, right? We have lots of different internet companies. There will be lots of blockchains that are important, but our biggest position is Solana. We have $1.1 billion of Solana on our books." That represents around 23% of the firm's total $4.7 billion in assets under management, according to its website. While there are lots of internet companies, there are not a lot of protocols, Sorkin highlighted, pushing the Pantera founder on how many crypto protocols he thought would survive long term. "I think there's a single-digit number of Layer 1s, things like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, not thousands, but definitely not one," Morehead said. In May 2024, Pantera made what it described at the time as its "largest-ever investment" in TON, the native cryptocurrency of the TON blockchain, closely linked to the messaging app giant Telegram. However, the amount was not disclosed, and since the mini-game hype cycle surrounding Telegram and TON blockchain came to an end around the same time, TON is down around 60%, according to The Block's price page. Pressed on whether any better crypto technologies were emerging, "Well, right now it's Solana," Morehead said. "We've had huge positions in Ethereum in the past; we used to be 100% Bitcoin, something could come out tomorrow. [But] Solana can do 9 billion transactions a day, which is more than all capital markets combined. So it's not obvious you need that next thing past Solana." Regarding long-term price action, Morehead said that Bitcoin remains a single-digit percentage of global wealth, anticipating it could reach $750,000 in the next four or five years. However, with Solana just 5% of Bitcoin's market cap, he believes it will outperform over time. Earlier on Monday, Pantera announced that it was leading a private investment in public equity offering alongside Summer Capital for Helius Medical Technologies to raise over $500 million to launch a Solana treasury company. The Nasdaq-listed micro-cap firm jumped 142% by Monday's close following the news. "For 12 years, we've been trying to provide access, but it's normally to very institutional investors," Morehead told Sorkin. "This is the first product we've ever offered that you can just go buy at your brokerage account. So it allows access to cryptocurrencies to kind of normal investors. And so far, Solana doesn't even have an ETF, so it's very, very difficult for a normal investor to get access to Solana." Bitcoin and Ethereum 'monster move' Later in the day, Tom Lee, Managing Partner at Fundstrat and Chair of Ethereum treasury firm BitMine, told CNBC's Dominic Chu on "Closing Bell" that if the Federal Reserve cuts rates as expected, Bitcoin and Ethereum are likely to be the biggest crypto beneficiaries, alongside the Nasdaq 100 and small caps. Describing the current bull market as mid-cycle, Lee said the next leg of the rally is contingent on the Fed cutting, helping the ISM manufacturing index to get back above 50 for the first time in 31 months, and bringing down mortgage rates, especially in an environment where the labor market has slowed. "I'm looking at September 98 and September 2024 as the playbook, because those are both years where the Fed was on an extended pause, and they cut in September," Lee said. "The number one trade is NASDAQ 100. So I think that's why the MAG-7 and the AI trade get a lot of liftoff." "The second is monetary liquidity sensitivity, global central banks' easing. That's Bitcoin and Ethereum. And seasonally strong, I think they could make a monster move in the next three months, like, huge," he added. "And the third, of course, is interest rate sensitives. That's really small caps and financials, but really the first two might be the standout trades." Bitcoin mainly reacts to monetary policy and liquidity, while Ethereum is both liquidity-sensitive and tied to broader innovation — from AI and Wall Street adoption to stablecoins, Lee said. He likened Ethereum to the post-1971 dollar era, calling it a "growth protocol," which is why BitMine is heavily accumulating it. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures. © 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Solana-focused digital asset treasury Sharps Technology said Tuesday it has partnered with the Dogecoin-inspired Bonk memecoin. The DAT will stake a portion of its SOL to BonkSOL, a liquid staking token. "Bonk has become one of the cultural engines of Solana and has consistently driven innovation across the ecosystem," Sharps Strategic Advisor James Zhang said in a statement. "Partnering with Bonk provides us with new avenues to potentially generate increased returns for our shareholders." Sharps, a small-cap medical device company listed on the Nasdaq with the ticker STSS, said last month it planned to raise over $400 million in order to accumulate Solana, the sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap, according to The Block Data Dashboard. Cantor Fitzgerald led the private investment in public equity (PIPE) transaction for Sharps with ParaFi Capital and Pantera Capital also participating, the treasury firm said. The company said it holds over 2 million SOL, which would make it one of the largest Solana-based DATs. DeFi Development Corp. and Upexi each also hold about 2 million SOL. On Tuesday, Forward Industries said it purchased 6.8 million Solana for nearly $1.6 billion. Forward said all SOL bought to date has been staked. Sharps "intends to stake a portion of its SOL to BonkSOL, Bonk's liquid staking token (LST) product," the team said in its statement. "By deploying capital into BonkSOL, [Sharps] seeks to earn staking yields, while also deepening liquidity in the Bonk and Solana ecosystem." The firm is not the first to diversify its SOL balance sheet holdings using a Solana-based memecoin. In June, for instance, DeFi Development partnered with Dogwifhat, the fifth-largest "dog-themed" token by market cap, to spin up a validator and agreed to split its WIF staking rewards with the community. Bonk said that since launching ithas attracted nearly200,000 SOL in staking. BonkSOL enables users to stake their SOL and receive BonkSOL tokens in return, earning a type of passive income.LetsBonk, which briefly overtook Pump.fun as the most active memecoin launchpad, is part of the Bonk ecosystem. BONK, with a market cap of $1.8 billion, is about 60% away from its all-time high of $0.000058, currently trading hands around $0.000023, according to The Block's price page. Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures. © 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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