Crypto Market Slides as BTC, ETH Lead Broad Decline; Major Token Unlocks Ahead

I. Crypto Market Overview

Key Takeaways

Macro Environment

US federal debt interest surpassing $1 trillion in 2025 has heightened concerns over fiscal sustainability, driving demand for hard assets and stablecoins. The GENIUS Act links stablecoins to US Treasuries, signaling tighter regulation and shifting DeFi liquidity. Russian and Spanish regulatory moves are set to increase compliance costs and reshape global crypto participation.

Crypto Market

The crypto market saw broad declines over the past 12 hours, with BTC down 4.43% to $97,474 and ETH falling 9.27% to $3,144.86, pressured by ETF outflows and risk-off sentiment. Altcoins also dropped, with ARB -11.73%, CC -15.06%, and FET -12.59% leading losses, as sector-wide selling intensified. No major sector outperformed, and volatility was driven by macro uncertainty and upcoming token unlocks.

Today's Outlook

Today, the Hyperliquid HYPE token burn vote concludes, potentially impacting $1B in supply. Newton Protocol and Nillion unlock a combined 17M tokens, raising volatility and liquidity risks for affected assets.

Fear and Greed Index

76.00% Annual Percentile

29 Fear

Total Crypto Market Cap

$2.95T

0.42%

Total Market Trading Volume

$89.65B

10.38%

Altcoin Season Index

63.64%

Quarterly Percentile

19 / 100

Total Futures Market Open Interest

3.38B

2.26%

Futures

755.45B

6.63%

Perpetuals

II. Industry Updates

Macro-economic Policies

US initial jobless claims fell to 214,000 for the week ending December 20, signaling labor market resilience and supporting risk sentiment in crypto markets.

US federal debt interest payments surpassed $1 trillion in 2025, raising concerns over fiscal sustainability and prompting shifts in crypto market narratives toward hard assets and stablecoins.

The GENIUS Act links stablecoins to US Treasuries, increasing demand for government debt and potentially impacting stablecoin liquidity and DeFi yields.

Platinum outperformed gold by 23.4% this month, breaking a 17-year downtrend, which may drive increased altcoin volatility as investors seek alternative assets amid macro uncertainty.

Wall Street banks warn of a K-shaped recovery and possible delays in US rate cuts, suggesting heightened volatility for altcoins and risk assets as macroeconomic conditions evolve.

Cryptocurrency Regulatory Trends

The Russian Central Bank has proposed new crypto investment rules, introducing annual purchase caps for retail investors and broader access for qualified investors, aiming to formalize digital asset regulation and impact market participation.

Spain will fully enforce EU MiCA and DAC8 crypto regulations in 2026, requiring all crypto service providers to obtain licenses and report user transactions, increasing compliance costs and reducing anonymity for investors.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has approved Sling Money as a crypto service provider, enabling stablecoin transactions and expanding regulated crypto services in the UK, which may boost investor confidence.

The U.S. GENIUS Act links stablecoins to U.S. Treasuries as part of a broader fiscal strategy, signaling potential for stricter crypto regulations and higher compliance requirements amid rising national debt concerns.

Ghana's Parliament has passed the VASP Bill, establishing a legal framework for crypto and virtual asset regulation under the Bank of Ghana and SEC, which is expected to enhance market oversight and investor protection.

PIPPIN (PIPPIN): PIPPIN surged 15.1% in 24h with $113.9M volume, driven by strong community engagement and AI narrative, reaching a new all-time high of $0.6109 before retracing.

Canton (CC): Canton rose 14.2% in 24h with $387.8M volume, fueled by institutional adoption news and its role as a scalable RWA and TradFi blockchain, market cap now $3.54B.

Sky (SKY): SKY climbed 5.9% in 24h with $20.4M volume, following its rebrand from Maker (MKR) and new governance features, circulating supply at 22.94B SKY.

Smart Money Movements

BlackRock deposited 2,292 BTC (about $199.8M) and 9,976 ETH (about $29.23M) into Coinbase, totaling $229.03M, reflecting ongoing institutional crypto engagement.

A dormant Ethereum ICO wallet transferred 2,000 ETH (valued at $5.85M) after 10 years of inactivity, highlighting significant long-term gains and renewed whale activity.

A whale known as '20M Waves Hunter' accumulated $104M in profits since October, currently holding $111M in ETH and HYPE shorts, representing 98.6% of its portfolio.

Mt. Gox hacker Aleksey Bilyuchenko reportedly moved 1,300 BTC (about $114M) to an exchange, with 2,300 BTC already sold and 4,100 BTC (about $360M) still held.

West Main Self Storage increased its Bitcoin holdings by purchasing an additional 0.114 BTC, bringing its total to 2.074 BTC, as part of a steady accumulation strategy.

Events to Watch

Dec 24 (Wed)

Hyperliquid HYPE token burn vote concludes, potentially impacting $1B in supply; Newton Protocol unlocks 6.25M tokens, Nillion unlocks 10.84M tokens, raising volatility.

Dec 25 (Thu)

Pi Network (PI): 8.7M tokens worth $1.76M unlock, may increase selling pressure; nearly 9M PI tokens set to unlock, affecting market liquidity.

Dec 28 (Sun)

Bitcoin Munari's BTCM token will begin public trading after its fixed-price presale, marking a key market debut.

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