The Central Bank of Lithuania, Lietuvos Bankas, has warned that from January 1, 2026, all institutions providing cryptocurrency-related services in the country must hold a MiCA license, or they will be considered operating illegally. The transition period ends on December 31, 2025. Non-compliant platforms may face fines, website bans, and in serious cases, criminal prosecution, with a maximum penalty of four years imprisonment. The regulator requires businesses that do not intend to continue operating to exit the market in an orderly manner and properly handle user assets. To date, of the more than 370 registered cryptocurrency companies in Lithuania, only about 30 have submitted license applications. (Cryptopolitan)

According to Foresight News, SlowMist's Chief Information Security Officer, 23pds, has issued a warning to users affected by certain versions of Trust Wallet. He advised these users to disconnect from the internet before exporting their mnemonic phrases to transfer assets. This precaution is necessary to prevent asset theft when opening the wallet online. Users with mnemonic phrase backups are urged to transfer their assets before upgrading the wallet.

Week 52 of 2025 (December 13 - December 25): 1. According to Cloverpool, the average hashrate of the Bitcoin network was 1064 EH/s, with a high of 1171 EH/s and a low of 1017 EH/s, a 3.27% increase from the previous week's average hashrate (1030 EH/s). 2. According to Cloverpool, the mining difficulty was 148.26 T, the block height was 929,376, and the average block time was 10 minutes and 40 seconds, a 0.04% increase from the last adjustment. 3. According to blockchain.com, the average price of Bitcoin was $87,718, with a high of $90,542 and a low of $85,053, a 1.22% decrease from the previous week's average price ($88,801). 4. Notable mining news includes: (1) Tether-related companies sold Northern Data’s mining business, and Rumble subsequently announced its acquisition of Northern Data; (2) The US SEC accused the founder of Bitcoin mining company VBit of misappropriating $48.5 million and committing fraud; (3) Greenridge Capital gave Cango a “buy” rating with a target price of $4.00; (4) “Bitcoin Rodney,” the initiator of the HyperFund crypto scam, was charged with additional wire fraud and could face decades in prison; (5) Hyperscale Data increased its Bitcoin holdings to 515 and allocated $30.5 million to continue purchasing; (6) Canaan Technology launched a $30 million stock buyback program. Data partner: NYSE-listed Bitcoin mining company Cango Inc. (CANG).

If Ether manages to reclaim its all-time high in 2026, it may just be a “bull trap,” says crypto analyst Ben Cowen. source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/ether-price-new-highs-2026-unlikely-ben-cowen-crypto-analyst?utm_source=rss_feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound

Trust Wallet's extension vulnerability leads to $7 million in losses. Binance commits to reimbursing users using SAFU funds. Investigation ongoing. source: https://coincu.com/news/trust-wallet-extension-vulnerability/

Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin said Thursday that Grok’s presence on X is a major boost to the platform̵ source: https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/25/12/49590577/elon-musks-grok-might-skew-toward-the-xai-ceos-biases-but-ethereum-creator-vitalik-buterin-says-its-still-better-than-third-party-slop?utm_source=cryptopanic.com&utm_campaign=partner_feed&utm_medium=referral

Binance founder CZ stated on the X platform that the hack has resulted in a loss of $7 million, which TrustWallet will cover. User funds are safe, and the team is still investigating how the hackers submitted the new version.

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.

According to PANews, SlowMist founder Yu Jin has raised concerns about a potential security issue involving Trust Wallet. Yu Jin stated that attackers appear to be well-acquainted with the Trust Wallet extension source code, having embedded PostHog JS to collect various user wallet information. Despite Trust Wallet releasing a fix, the PostHog JS script has not been removed.

Aave proposal to shift brand assets control to DAO failed, sparking significant market reactions. source: https://coincu.com/news/aave-dao-transfer-fail-vote/

According to 23pds, Chief Information Security Officer of SlowMist Technology, their analysis suggests that the devices or code repositories of Trust Wallet developers may have been compromised by attackers. Users are urged to disconnect from the internet and check their devices immediately. Previously, on-chain analyst Yu Xian published an article on the X platform stating that Trust Wallet browser extension version 2.68.0 contained a backdoor, which was fixed in version 2.69.0. Code comparison revealed that the backdoor added a PostHog plugin to collect wallet users' private information (including mnemonic phrases) and send it to the attacker's server api.metrics-trustwallet[.]com. Based on the estimated timeline, the attackers began preparations on December 8th, successfully implanted the backdoor on December 22nd, and began transferring funds on December 25th. According to zachxbt, user losses have exceeded $6 million.

A 23-year-old Brooklyn resident, Ronald Spektor, stands accused of orchestrating a sophisticated phishing scheme that drained $16 million from Coinbase users. Prosecutors say Spektor, using the online alias “lolimfeelingevil,” targeted unsuspecting victims by posing as an official Coinbase support agent, warning them that their crypto holdings were at risk of theft.

A Brazilian music project will turn real-time Bitcoin price changes into live orchestral performances using an algorithm to guide the instruments. The initiative has received government approval and funding through Brazil’s tax incentive programme to bring the concept to life in Brasília.

Ethena’s synthetic stablecoin USDe has suffered a sharp contraction since the Oct. 10 market crash, with roughly $8.3 billion exiting the protocol as investors reassessed the risks tied to leveraged and synthetic-backed designs.

Seven companies ran fake crypto platforms and WhatsApp investment clubs, tricking US investors out of over $14 million with false trading claims and AI-driven tips. Victims were pressured to pay extra fees to withdraw funds, and the stolen money was sent through overseas bank accounts and crypto wallets.

A South Korean man’s attempt to secure a lighter punishment for laundering funds through cryptocurrency has backfired dramatically, with an appeals court overturning his suspended sentence and sending him to prison for four years.

Trump Media & Technology Group bought 451 more Bitcoin, bringing its total holdings to 11,542 coins worth over $1 billion. The company is using Bitcoin as a long-term reserve and is expanding into crypto investments and related financial services.

Justin Sun has lost around $60 million after World Liberty Financial blacklisted his wallet, freezing his WLFI tokens following a $9 million transfer. The freeze has left him unable to access or trade his holdings, while the token’s price has dropped over 40% since September.

Web 3.0, Payments: From Beginning to Abandonment - Why I Stopped Doing Web3 Payments. Golden Finance: Remove the filters and see the true nature of payments.