According to ChainCatcher, Kobeissi Letter reported on the X platform that the search interest index for 'silver' on Google Trends has surged to 83, marking a historic peak. Silver prices are projected to rise significantly by 175% by 2025, with expectations of an eight-month consecutive increase for the first time since 1980. This year alone, the market value of gold and silver has increased by $16 trillion.

According to ChainCatcher, Hong Kong Wen Wei Po has released its list of the 'Top Ten Financial News of Hong Kong 2025.' Among the highlights, the development of a regulatory framework for digital economy and virtual assets ranked third, while the surge in cryptocurrency, with Bitcoin reaching a new high of $125,600, was eighth. Other notable financial news includes DeepSeek helping MPF investors earn over 40,000 HKD, the global success of Labubu as a new consumer stock, and an upward revision of Hong Kong's annual GDP growth forecast due to economic acceleration. Analysts have noted that this year has been a significant one for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. U.S. President Donald Trump has openly supported Bitcoin, contributing to its strong rally at the beginning of the year, with multiple record highs. However, Bitcoin has since retreated, dropping to around $85,000, marking a decline of over 30% from its peak.

According to PANews, the rapid surge in precious metal prices, including silver, has prompted analysts to caution about a potential price correction. Analysts from Capital Economics have expressed concerns that the current price levels of precious metals are difficult to justify based on fundamental factors. They predict that as the enthusiasm for gold diminishes, silver prices may decline to approximately $42 by the end of next year. UBS has highlighted that the swift rise in precious metal prices is largely due to insufficient market liquidity, suggesting a possible quick reversal. The firm emphasizes that short-term risks in precious metal trading have significantly increased, especially given the recent highs in gold prices, which may lead short-term investors to take profits. The thin liquidity at the year's end could exacerbate price volatility, making short-term trends harder to interpret. Wang Yanqing, Chief Analyst of Precious Metals at CITIC Futures, notes that from a fundamental perspective, there have been no significant changes in the factors affecting precious and base metals in the short term. While long-term factors such as 'de-dollarization' provide positive support, the rapid and short-term price increases have overly traded on these long-term factors. The heightened speculative sentiment poses potential risks to the stable operation of the market.

According to PANews, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu has highlighted potential mispricing in the crypto market by 2025 due to overreliance on U.S. President Donald Trump's policies. Siu noted that Bitcoin could face its fourth annual decline, as Trump's priorities, such as tariffs and trade wars, impact risk assets. However, these are not the primary focus for cryptocurrencies. Siu revealed that Animoca Brands intends to go public through a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed fintech company Currenc Group, with Animoca holding 95% of the merged entity. The company aims to serve as a proxy for altcoins in the public market, offering investors diversified exposure to altcoins and Web3 assets. Currently, Animoca Brands has over 620 portfolio companies and added around 100 new projects last year. For the 2024 fiscal year, the company reported unaudited bookings of $314 million and has achieved EBITDA profitability for four consecutive years. With key U.S. legislation like the Clarity Act and GENIUS Act establishing a regulatory framework, the industry will be compelled to focus on compliance and practical applications by 2026. The increased legal certainty is expected to prompt existing companies to launch tokens related to their businesses, shifting the market's focus from speculation to problem-solving products. The year 2026 is anticipated to be the year of utility tokens, with each issued token having a clear use case.

According to Odaily, deBridge co-founder Alex Smirnov expressed concerns on the X platform regarding Flow's decision to roll back its blockchain state. Smirnov highlighted the lack of communication from Flow with key ecosystem partners, including deBridge, a major cross-chain bridge for Flow. Smirnov warned that a hasty rollback could lead to economic losses exceeding the initial security incident and potentially cause systemic issues. These issues could affect cross-chain bridges, custodians, users, and counterparties operating during the synchronization window. He noted potential problems such as balance doubling and unrecoverable assets, mentioning that significant cross-chain and custodial transactions, including USDC transactions managed by LayerZero, had already been completed during this period. Comparing the situation to past incidents like the BNB Chain, Smirnov pointed out that isolating attackers rather than rolling back the global state was a more common approach. He urged Flow validators to pause the rollback process until a clear remediation plan is established, ecosystem coordination is completed, and security organizations are involved. Smirnov emphasized the need for transparency, collaboration, and restraint in handling the current situation, rather than resorting to rapid and aggressive actions.

Bitmine, the world’s largest public Ethereum treasury company, has taken a major step in monetizing its holdings by initiating staking on the Ethereum proof-of-stake network. On December 27, 2025, on-chain data showed wallets linked to the firm depositing roughly 74,880 ETH, valued at about $219 million, into the Ethereum deposit contract. source: https://www.ethnews.com/bitmine-begins-staking-219m-in-eth-as-treasury-tops-4-million-tokens/

Alex Smirnov, co-founder of deBridge, posted on the X platform that he has noticed the news regarding Flow's decision to roll back the blockchain state and expressed concern about the manner in which this decision was implemented. Alex pointed out that although Flow officially stated it was in a synchronization window with key ecosystem partners such as bridges, CEXs, and DEXs, deBridge, as one of Flow's main cross-chain bridges, has not received any communication or coordination from the Flow team. Alex stated that the economic losses caused by a hasty rollback of the chain state may far exceed the initial security incident itself and could trigger systemic problems, affecting cross-chain bridges, custodians, users, and counterparties operating normally within the relevant time window. He highlighted the potential for balances to double and assets to become unrecoverable during cross-chain operations, noting that several large cross-chain and custodial transactions had already been completed during the rollback window, including USDC-related transactions custodied by LayerZero. Alex further compared this to similar past incidents, such as BNB Chain, which primarily focused on isolating attackers rather than rolling back the entire state. He called on Flow validators to suspend verification of the rollback chain until a clear remedial plan is in place, ecosystem coordination is completed, and security organizations are involved, in order to avoid irreversible consequences. He also emphasized that the current situation requires transparency, collaboration, and restraint, rather than radical actions implemented quickly.

Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, has issued the country's first loan secured by crypto assets to Intelion Data, a major local Bitcoin mining company. Sberbank stated that the loan was secured by digital currency mined by Intelion Data, but did not disclose the loan amount, the quantity of collateral, or the term, defining it as a "pilot" operation. Sberbank indicated that such products are not only applicable to mining companies but could also be promoted to businesses holding crypto assets. The bank used its own crypto asset custody solution, Rutoken, in the transaction to ensure the safety of the collateral assets during the loan period. Sberbank Vice Chairman Anatoly Popov stated that Russian digital asset regulation is still in its early stages, and the bank is willing to cooperate with the central bank to improve relevant rules and use this pilot project as a reference for future regulation and infrastructure development. Intelion Data CEO Timofey Semenov stated that this transaction is an important practical case for industry development, and if successful, it could be further promoted in the Russian mining sector. (DL News)

According to PANews, Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, has issued the country's first loan backed by cryptocurrency to Bitcoin mining company Intelion Data. This transaction is described as a 'pilot,' though details regarding the loan's size, duration, and specific collateralized cryptocurrencies have not been disclosed. Sberbank hinted at the possibility of offering similar loans in the future. The bank utilized its proprietary cryptocurrency custody solution, Rutoken, to ensure asset security during the loan period.

Emerging markets are expected to drive strong growth in real-world asset tokenization in 2026, according to Bitfinex executive Jesse Knutson. source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/real-world-asset-tokenization-set-to-surge/

Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot on X, has been praised by Vitalik Buterin for giving unpredictable responses that challenge users’ political biases and promote more truthful interactions.

A massive hack has struck Trust Wallet, one of the most widely used crypto wallets, resulting in estimated losses exceeding $6 million.

Italy’s competition authority has ordered Meta to allow rival AI chatbots on WhatsApp while investigating possible abuse of its dominant position. Meta plans to appeal, saying the policy protects its systems, but regulators worry it could limit competition and innovation in the AI market.

Nvidia has announced a $20 billion acquisition of Groq’s core assets, a landmark move that strengthens its already commanding position in the artificial intelligence chip market and reshapes the competitive landscape for AI infrastructure.

Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder of Samourai Wallet, began serving a five-year federal prison sentence and shared a personal account of his first days, describing the intake process and adjusting to prison life just before Christmas.

The Philippines has escalated its crackdown on unlicensed cryptocurrency platforms, with internet service providers beginning to block access to major global exchanges, signaling a decisive shift toward stricter enforcement of local crypto regulations.

Pudgy Penguins projected its animated characters on the Las Vegas Sphere for a week-long holiday campaign, promoting its physical products rather than NFTs. The display helped the crypto-born brand reach mainstream audiences, supporting merchandise sales and boosting recognition despite a struggling NFT market.

Kraken has officially launched the Krak Card, a Mastercard crypto debit card for residents living in the EU countries and the United Kingdom. The Krak card would allow users to spend more than 400 cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies seamlessly.

Trust Wallet confirmed a security incident affecting version 2.68 of its Chrome extension after users reported unauthorised wallet drains following a recent update. The company told users to disable the extension and upgrade immediately, saying its mobile app and other versions were not affected while the investigation continues.

Kyrgyzstan has taken another step toward embedding digital assets into its financial system after cryptocurrency exchange Binance listed the country’s first som-pegged stablecoin, a move that signals growing state-level confidence in blockchain-based payments and infrastructure.