The current cryptocurrency market can be described as 'multiple lines running in parallel': on one hand, regulatory bodies are releasing favorable policies, with the SEC and the Federal Reserve continuously implementing measures beneficial to the industry; on the other hand, leading platforms are taking frequent actions, with Coinbase branching into stock trading and Binance plotting to restart its U.S. operations; however, on another front, market volatility is intensifying, with both BTC and ETH breaking key support levels, and over $500 million in liquidations across the network, as analysts warn that 'falling below the average cost will trigger a cascade effect.' Amidst these mixed signals, the cryptocurrency market stands at a new crossroads.
1. Regulatory policies are being relaxed: the cryptocurrency industry is迎来 'favorable policies'
Recently, the global regulatory attitude towards the crypto industry has clearly turned friendly, with two key policies implemented, clearing many obstacles for the industry's development.
The SEC has clarified the regulatory rules for crypto asset custody: The U.S. SEC has released a specific statement clearly defining the regulatory applicability of brokerage dealers in custody of crypto asset securities. This initiative provides clear compliance guidelines for institutions participating in crypto asset custody, avoiding the previous 'feeling their way across the river' approach, and is conducive to attracting more traditional financial institutions to enter the market.
The Federal Reserve lifts restrictions on banks' crypto business: The Federal Reserve has officially rescinded its previous guidance restricting uninsured banks from participating in crypto business. This means that the policy threshold for banks to engage in crypto-related businesses has been lowered, and the connection between the crypto industry and the traditional financial system will become smoother, with industry liquidity expected to further improve.
2. Major moves by leading platforms: Coinbase crosses borders, Binance plans to restart U.S. operations.
While the regulatory environment is improving, leading crypto platforms are also accelerating their expansion, whether through cross-border business or market return, reshaping the industry landscape.
1. Coinbase makes a big move: launches 24-hour zero-commission stock trading, sprinting towards 'all-in-one trading platform'.
On December 18, U.S. listed crypto exchange Coinbase announced a major expansion of its business scope at a press conference, officially entering stock trading and prediction markets, moving towards the goal of becoming an all-in-one trading platform.
The newly launched service has many highlights: first is stock trading services, which will initially launch hundreds of high market cap, high trading volume stocks, and thousands of stocks and ETFs will be added in the coming months. The key point is zero commission, and it breaks the traditional stock market trading time restrictions, allowing trading five days a week, 24 hours a day; second is the prediction market service, where Coinbase collaborates with the $11 billion valued prediction platform Kalshi, allowing users to trade on real events such as election results, sports events, economic indicators, and even trends in collectibles.
In addition, Coinbase has also launched an AI-driven wealth management tool, Coinbase Advisor, as well as a Coinbase Business service targeting startups. Company executives stated that these new features will be realized through a dedicated tokenized asset platform, Coinbase Tokenize, further bridging the link between crypto assets and real-world assets. Analysts believe that relying on a large active user base, stock trading and prediction markets are expected to become Coinbase's new growth engines.
2. Binance plans to restart Binance.US: possibly through capital restructuring to reduce CZ's controlling stake.
At the same time that Coinbase is crossing borders, Binance is quietly laying out its strategy in the U.S. market. According to Bloomberg, as U.S. President Trump takes a friendlier stance towards crypto assets, Binance founder CZ has frequently publicly affirmed related policies, signaling a positive message about returning to the U.S. market.
Insiders reveal that Binance is exploring plans to restart Binance.US, where the core measure may be a capital restructuring—by allowing Binance to acquire part or all of the shares held by CZ, reducing CZ's controlling stake, and subsequently appointing a new leadership team. This approach can avoid previous regulatory controversies and leverage Binance's political relationships in Washington to implement more growth-friendly business strategies. Other reports indicate that Binance is also seeking to establish closer cooperation with the world's largest asset management company, BlackRock, to pave the way for restarting U.S. operations.
3. Tether crosses into the security field: launches decentralized password manager.
Stablecoin giant Tether has also made new moves, officially launching a peer-to-peer (P2P) password manager called PearPass. Unlike traditional password management tools that rely on cloud storage, PearPass adopts a decentralized peer-to-peer architecture that does not store passwords in the cloud, fundamentally avoiding the risk of sensitive data leakage due to cloud breaches.
Tether stated that the product will initially support mainstream browsers, and will later expand to mobile and more platforms. This initiative also reflects the crypto industry's emphasis on innovative user security tools, as 'password security' is a core pain point for all crypto users.
3. Market volatility intensifies: BTC falls below $86,000, concealing risks of chain stop-loss.
Despite the continuous positive policies and platform developments, the short-term volatility in the crypto market is intensifying, and risk signals are continuously being released.
1. Key threshold breached: BTC falls below $86,000, ETH falls below $2,800.
According to HTX market data, this morning the price of BTC fell below the critical threshold of $86,000, currently reported at $86,132; ETH also simultaneously fell below $2,800, currently reported at $2,831. The price drop triggered a large-scale liquidation, with the total liquidation amount across the network reaching $537 million in the past 24 hours, forcing many long positions to be liquidated.
What is more concerning is that analysts warn that the current average cost price of BTC is about $81,500, and if the price falls below this level in the future, it may trigger a large number of investors to stop-loss and exit the market, leading to a new wave of selling pressure. In the short term, if BTC cannot hold the $85,000 support level, it may also trigger a chain of stop-losses, further widening the decline. However, from the fund flow perspective, the BTC spot market still has a net inflow of $100,000, showing that some funds are trying to bottom fish at low levels.
2. Federal Reserve officials release signals for interest rate cuts, potentially becoming a 'stabilizing force' for the market.
While the market is volatile, positive news is coming from the macro policy level. Federal Reserve Board member Waller publicly stated that although current inflation is still above target, it should decline in the coming months, and inflation expectations have already been anchored; more critically, the current labor market is very weak, with job growth falling short of expectations, indicating that the Federal Reserve should continue to cut interest rates. Waller also predicts that 2026 may be a year of better economic performance.
As a key figure within the Federal Reserve, Waller's comments on interest rate cuts further strengthen market expectations for easing policies, which may alleviate selling pressure on risk assets and provide liquidity support for the crypto market.
4. Industry ecosystem dynamics: Increase holdings, buybacks, financing, and risks coexist.
In addition to leading platforms and market fluctuations, there are also many dynamics worth noting in the crypto industry ecosystem, covering corporate increases, project progress, financing events, and more.
1. Corporate actions: Increase Bitcoin holdings, launch buyback plan.
Listed company CIMG continues to increase its Bitcoin holdings, adding 230 coins, bringing the total to 730 coins, demonstrating the company's long-term optimism towards crypto assets.
Canaan Technologies announced a $30 million stock buyback plan, a move typically seen as a signal of the company's confidence in its own development prospects, helping to stabilize market sentiment.
Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 signed a major agreement with Fluidstack for a 15-year, $7 billion data center leasing agreement, renting a 245 megawatt data center, with the option to expand capacity by an additional 1,000 megawatts in the future, laying the foundation for subsequent mining business expansion.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund has clearly supported all management proposals of the Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet and will exercise its voting rights at the shareholder meeting on December 22. As one of the largest sovereign funds in the world, its statement reflects long-term capital's recognition of the strategic direction of crypto-related enterprises.
2. Project progress and financing: Stablecoins, public chains, and tokenization dynamics are emerging frequently.
New cooperation in the stablecoin field: Circle has reached a cooperation agreement with Lianlian International to jointly explore cross-border payment businesses for stablecoins, which is expected to enhance the application penetration of stablecoins in global payment scenarios.
Public chain and token dynamics: The issues previously encountered in the Polygon PoS network have been successfully resolved, and the network is back to normal operation; Hyper Foundation has proposed to permanently destroy the HYPE tokens in the Assistance Fund, with voting on the matter set to begin before December 21, which, if passed, will reduce the total circulation of tokens; a large whale transferred $3.64 million worth of SHIB to a centralized exchange, raising market attention on SHIB's short-term volatility; an early Bitcoin OG address transferred out 368,000 ETH, prompting speculation in the industry.
Progress in financing and tokenization: Blockchain infrastructure company Harbor completes $4.2 million financing; the world's largest financial derivatives clearing organization DTCC receives SEC support to officially advance the U.S. Treasury tokenization project, accelerating the traditional financial asset tokenization process; SBI Ripple Asia announces a partnership with Doppler Finance to launch an XRP-based income product and explore the tokenization of real-world assets, with relevant assets provided by Singapore-regulated institutions for isolated custody.
3. Industry risk events: Binance intensifies crackdown on fraud; venture capital firm shuts down due to SEC lawsuit.
Binance co-CEO He Yi announced that the entire network is offering rewards for collecting criminal evidence against 'coin listing agents' related to fraud, aiming to combat industry chaos and protect user rights.
Crypto venture capital firm Shima Capital has officially shut down operations due to an SEC lawsuit. Three weeks ago, the SEC accused the firm and its founder, Gao Yida, of participating in a fraudulent scheme, exaggerating investment returns (claiming a 90x return on a project while the actual return was only 2.8x), and transferring investor funds to private offshore entities. Although the founder has agreed to pay $4 million in settlement, it could not salvage the situation, ultimately leading to the decision to close the fund and resign. This venture capital firm, established in 2021 and managing $200 million in funds, had previously invested in several well-known crypto projects such as Berachain and Monad.
4. Platform function upgrade: Binance wallet launches on-chain lending.
The Binance wallet has launched a new Web3 Loan on-chain lending feature, allowing users to directly use mainstream assets such as BTCB, ETH, USDT as collateral to borrow USDT, USDC, BNB, and other assets. To attract user participation, Binance has also launched a special reward campaign, where eligible users can share a $400,000 USDT reward while enjoying preferential rates, aimed at enhancing the liquidity of on-chain financial and lending services within the wallet.
Summary: Policies and platform advantages provide support; short-term volatility does not change long-term trends?
In summary, the current crypto market presents a pattern of 'policy advantages providing support, platforms actively expanding, and short-term volatility intensifying.' The loosening of policies by the SEC and the Federal Reserve has opened up greater development space for the industry, while the cross-border and expansion actions of leading platforms such as Coinbase and Binance also demonstrate the vitality and potential of the industry; meanwhile, signals such as corporate increases, sovereign fund recognition, and the advancement of traditional asset tokenization further confirm the trend of integration between the crypto industry and traditional finance.
However, in the short term, the market still faces significant volatility risks. After BTC fell below the critical threshold, if it cannot quickly recover lost ground, it may trigger more stop-loss orders. For investors, it is recommended to focus on two major signals: first, the defense situation of the two critical support levels for BTC at $85,000 and $81,500; second, the pace of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut policy. While grasping the long-term trend, it is essential to manage risk well and avoid blindly bottom-fishing.
For the industry, regulatory compliance remains the core storyline. The standardized operation of leading platforms and the crackdown on industry chaos will drive the industry towards a healthier direction. Meanwhile, areas such as traditional financial asset tokenization and the expansion of stablecoin payment scenarios are expected to become the next core growth points.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment advice. Investors should rationally consider cryptocurrency investments based on their own risk tolerance and investment objectives, and avoid blindly following trends.
