Criptonoticia11

What happened to Bitcoin in El Salvador?
Conversations between the IMF and El Salvador about the Bitcoin project and the sales of the Chivo electronic wallet continue.

The IMF praised El Salvador for its economic growth, which it claims is expanding at a faster pace than expected.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday that discussions about El Salvador's Bitcoin project continue to focus on improving transparency, safeguarding public resources, and mitigating risks.

The international agency is also in advanced discussions for the sale of the Chivo cryptocurrency wallet, managed by the government.

According to reports, the first government wallet focused on Bitcoin was the target of widespread allegations of identity theft, fraud, and technical errors, leading to account freezes.

Last year, one of the architects of the Chivo wallet said that the government should close the wallet app due to the controversy it has generated since its launch.

In 2024, El Salvador obtained a loan from the IMF of 1,400 million dollars after the adoption of Bitcoin in the country strained relations.

At that time, Stacy Herbert, director of the National Bitcoin Office of El Salvador, stated that the Chivo wallet would be sold or liquidated. However, several private sector Bitcoin wallets will continue to operate in El Salvador, she noted.

Stealka pretends to be game mods to attack crypto wallets, warns Kaspersky.

digital activities have made online activities easier and more convenient, but they have also created new risks for users, particularly in the financial and cryptocurrency sectors. Kaspersky security researchers have identified a strain of malware called Stealka that primarily targets Windows users. The software is specifically designed to attack cryptocurrency wallets and browser extensions, often disguising itself as game modifications and cheat files to trick users into installing it.

Kaspersky describes Stealka as Windows malware that targets cryptocurrency wallets and browser extensions while pretending to be game mods or cheat files.
Popular cryptocurrency wallets like MetaMask, Coinbase, Binance, and Trust Wallet are at risk from this malware.
Kaspersky recommends antivirus protection, two-factor authentication, cautious downloads, and backup codes to reduce the risk of Stealka.

Operation and distribution tactics of Stealka
According to Kaspersky, Stealka only activates when the file is manually opened by the user, after which the malware begins to execute its functions. It quietly collects sensitive information from the device and sends it to the perpetrators' systems, allowing attackers to access user accounts, cryptocurrency funds, and run cryptocurrency mining programs without the user's knowledge.

If in 2009-2010-2011-2012-2013 I had invested in Bitcoin I would be a millionaire and many would be millionaires if they had invested how many have regretted not investing at that time in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is trading below 90,000 dollars, after it reached 125,000 dollars at the beginning of October 2025 that was a historic price.

Now those who invest in Bitcoin are the millionaires, because it is the most expensive digital currency in the world incredible right.

Bitcoin could skyrocket by 2026 although at the end of this year 2025 it is going through a streak causing large declines in other cryptocurrencies.

The Marshall Islands test universal basic income in crypto with Stellar.

The disclosure of Bitcoin and its numerous digital cousins never takes a break. From dark forums to monetary policy, crypto extends its tentacles. Sometimes bewildering, often annoying, it colonizes unexpected territories. Even where it was believed that only crumpled bills circulated. And when an archipelago forgotten by financial radars becomes a testing ground for a dematerialized universal basic income, the eyes change. Cryptocurrencies no longer make an appearance. They are invited to the table of public decisions.

The Marshall Islands now pay a universal basic income through a crypto launched on Stellar.
The token USDM1 generates returns directly for citizens, unlike classic stablecoins.
This project also aims for social autonomy, with individual management of financial aid.
Lomalo, the wallet used, eliminates technical barriers to simplify access to crypto.

Forty thousand citizens, one single goal: to replace bills with octets. In the Marshall Islands, the ENRA program for universal basic income moves into the digital age. Out with paper checks, in with USDM1, a token launched on Stellar and distributed via Lomalo, a digital wallet designed by Crossmint.

Cynthia Lummis retires from the Senate, the crypto industry loses a major ally.

Everything changes, even what we thought was unchangeable. In the crypto universe, strong positions are no longer guaranteed. 2026 has not yet begun and surprising announcements are already falling, Senator Cynthia Lummis, a central figure of the pro-Bitcoin camp in Washington, is living proof. Her scheduled retirement from the Senate, announced for January 2027, marks a break in the relationships between U.S. institutions and cryptocurrencies. A page is turned. And for supporters of decentralization, the question is simple: who will take up the torch.

Cynthia Lummis announces her departure from the Senate in 2027, citing burnout and mental strain.
She pushed the GENIUS Act, which regulates stablecoins and structures the U.S. crypto market.
The Bitcoin Act proposed to integrate 80 billion BTC into a national strategic federal reserve.
Without a clear successor, the crypto industry loses an experienced ally in the halls of Washington.

Washington loses its Bitcoin Senator, a political shockwave
Cynthia Lummis, 71 years old, will not seek a second term, I am a dedicated legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy needed is no longer there, she stated in a statement, citing the exhaustion from the long sessions in the Senate. However, her aura did not diminish. Backed by Donald Trump, nicknamed the Crypto Queen, Lummis embodied a bridge between the libertarian culture of blockchain and the old Republican guard.

They create the Scientific Bitcoin Institute
The new institution focused on the scientific study of bitcoin is a non-profit charity organization.

The Scientific Bitcoin Institute was registered in California.
The organization will operate through collaborative work.
Amid the growing adoption of bitcoin (BTC) in the world, a new institution focused on its study is born. It is called The Scientific Bitcoin Institute or, in Spanish, El Instituto Científico de Bitcoin.

The initiative "marks the beginning of a great story of exploration and understanding of this magnificent and fascinating phenomenon: Bitcoin." This was communicated by Giovanni Santostasi, the doctor in astrophysics who founded the project.

He himself shared a screenshot of the founding of The Scientific Bitcoin Institute before the California Secretary of State. It was registered as a non-profit charity organization, so it will operate through collaborative work.

Santostasi announced that soon the Institute's website will be available with content that he considers useful for the public.

Solana designs a shield against quantum computing
Specialists deployed a post-quantum signature scheme on a test network of Solana.

The Solana Foundation announced collaboration with a company specialized in quantum.
The Shor algorithm could affect the cryptography that protects digital signatures on Solana.

The Solana Foundation announced on December 16 a collaboration with the company Project Eleven to prepare the network against the risks that quantum computing could introduce in the future.

Project Eleven is a company and laboratory specialized in the intersection of quantum computing and cryptography, with a primary focus on security for digital assets.

As part of the work with the Solana Foundation, Project Eleven deployed a post-quantum signature system on a test network (testnet) of Solana, "demonstrating that quantum-resistant end-to-end transactions are practical and scalable.

That means Project Eleven adapted the entire process of a transaction (from the signature made by the user to its validation on the network) to utilize cryptographic algorithms designed to withstand attacks from quantum computers.

By doing this on a testnet, they demonstrated that these signatures can be integrated without slowing down speed, confirmation, or the ability to scale the network.

In addition, the Project Eleven team reported that same day that they led a comprehensive risk assessment on how advancements in quantum computing could affect the core infrastructure of Solana.

Google backs a multimillion-dollar contract for a Bitcoin miner
The communication giant guarantees a 15-year lease agreement for USD 7,000 million between the miner Hut 8 and the company FluidStack.

The signed contract establishes the creation of a high-energy consumption data center.
Hut 8's shares soared by up to 20% following the news.

The Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 (HUT) announced on December 17 the signing of an agreement with the technology company FluidStack to build a data center focused on artificial intelligence (AI).

According to reports, Google acts as financial backing for the contract, covering the lease payments and associated obligations that FluidStack must face in case of default.

This does not imply a direct outlay of capital, but rather a backing that significantly reduces the project's risk.

The agreement signed with FluidStack, valued at USD 7,000 million, includes a 15-year lease contract for a 245 megawatt (MW) data center on the River Bend campus, located in the U.S., according to Hut 8's team.

Under this scheme, Hut 8's revenues are backed by a company with a high investment grade like Google, which mitigates the risk of default by the lessee.

For FluidStack, in turn, the backing from the technology company allows for long-term and high-value commitments with limited financial risk.

XRP is outperforming Solana in the "Wall Street marathon"
Despite the fact that Solana's ETFs arrived first, XRP funds have USD 222 million more in assets under management.

Solana's ETFs have USD 898 million in assets under management.
The number of ETFs linked to Solana and XRP stands at 8 and 5, respectively.
The exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to XRP have surpassed those of Solana (SOL) in assets under management "in the Wall Street marathon." This is despite the fact that Solana's instruments debuted earlier.

XRP's ETFs report 1.101 million dollars in assets under management, which represents an advantage of 203 million dollars over the 898 million dollars of Solana's ETFs.

This advance consolidates XRP as the digital asset with the highest institutional uptake in this new generation of products. The cryptocurrency gained momentum almost two years after the launches of the bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) ETFs during 2024.

USDT sends more in LATAM than all central banks
A large part of Latam uses USDT to survive, but this stablecoin depends on an external company and Washington.

From the aunt in the Cúcuta market to the mechanic in Maracaibo, USDT is now the payment of everyday life.
Is it about financial inclusion… or is it simply changing the color of the master?

On the streets of Venezuela, Argentina, Colombia, or Bolivia, fiat money can vanish before it touches your pocket. In Latin America, decades of inflation have turned savings into a mirage that a single political decision can erase overnight. In that void appeared an ally nobody expected. It has no branches, no ATMs on the corners, and does not answer to any local economy minister. It only exists in the digital world, but for millions of Latin Americans, it is already more real than the paper dollar issued by the Federal Reserve (FED). It's called USDT from the company Tether, and for better or worse, it has become the de facto dollar of half a continent.

The true dimension is felt in the routine. It’s the mother in Cúcuta, Colombia, right on the border with Venezuela, who receives 200 dollars in USDT from her husband in Miami. She knows she must go to the neighborhood store to exchange them for rice, oil, and diapers, but she can do it in three days because she no longer has the extreme worry that the Colombian peso will lose another point in the afternoon.
$USDT

5 bitcoin companies become banks in the U.S.
Cryptocurrency companies join around 60 national trust banks under the supervision of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Three are conversions (BitGo, Fidelity, Paxos) and two are new banks (Ripple and Digital Currency).
They are allowed custody and services with cryptocurrencies, but not insured deposits or loans.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) of the United States, the entity responsible for regulating and supervising both national and federal banks, approved on December 12 five applications for the establishment of national trust banks.

As reported by the official publication of the agency, the approval was granted to 5 companies linked to the bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency sector. These are BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, Ripple, and First National Digital Currency Bank.

Do Kwon, former cryptocurrency magnate, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for massive fraud.

Do Kwon, former cryptocurrency magnate, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for massive fraud (Photo AP/Risto Bozovic, Archive)
The South Korean tech entrepreneur Do Kwon, known for developing the cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna, was convicted this Thursday in New York to 15 years in prison for a fraud case that U.S. authorities described as one of the largest in the history of the financial sector.

A federal judge imposed the sentence after Kwon, co-founder of the firm Terraform Labs, admitted that he lied to thousands of investors about the safety and stability of his digital products, which collapsed in 2022 and created a domino effect in the global cryptocurrency market.

The hearing took place in the federal court of Manhattan, where Judge Paul A. Engelmayer stated that the impact of the fraud committed by Kwon reaches an “epic and generational” scale.

In the history of federal prosecutors, there are few frauds that have caused as much damage as yours, Mr. Kwon, Engelmayer said at the time of sentencing.

Do Kwon, 34 years old and dressed in a yellow prison uniform, addressed the court to apologize to those affected.

Do Kwon, South Korean cryptocurrency executive accused of fraud, appears alongside his attorney David Patton to plead guilty before federal district judge Paul Engelmayer in New York City (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)
All of their stories were chilling and reminded me of the enormous damage I have caused. I want to tell those victims that I am sorry, said the former director of Terraform Labs, referring to the hundreds of victims who submitted letters to the court narrating the loss of their savings after the collapse of the coins.

The prosecution specified that the debacle of TerraUSD and Luna, self-proclaimed as stable, within the volatile digital market, dragged down several investment funds and small savers.

Crypto: Ethereum burns 18 billion of $ , but the supply continues to increase.

Since 2021, Ethereum has burned more than 6 million ETH, which is 18 billion dollars in value. However, despite this mechanism designed to reduce the supply, the total amount of ETH in circulation continues to rise. How to explain this paradox? Analysis of the figures, causes, and consequences for the second most important crypto in the market.

Ethereum has burned 6.1 million of ETH (18 billion dollars) via EIP-1559, but its total supply keeps increasing.
Despite the burn, the issuance of new ETH frequently exceeds the destroyed volumes, maintaining a net annual inflation of approximately 0.8%.
The Fusaka upgrade could reverse the trend of Ethereum, reactivating the activity of the crypto network.

Crypto: Ethereum burns 18 billion dollars in value.

The introduction of EIP-1559 in August 2021 marked a turning point for Ethereum. This mechanism, integrated via the London hard fork, allows burning a portion of crypto transaction fees, thus reducing the circulating supply. To date, more than 6.1 million ETH have been definitively removed, representing a value of 18 billion dollars at the current price.

Expectation

Key hours for the crypto market: Bitcoin is playing its "last chip" to reach $100,000 in 2025.

The asset starts the week with doubts as the market awaits key decisions that may mark a change in price trends.

Bitcoin opens the second week of December with lukewarm movements, in a scenario where all eyes are on the upcoming determination of the monetary policy that the Federal Reserve (Fed) of the United States will announce on December 10. The environment becomes cautious, with the market halted between the anxiety for money injection and the risk of a collapse.

The consensus is clear. According to the FedWatch Tool from CME Group, there is a high probability (close to 90%) that the central bank will implement a 25 basis point cut to the interest rate. This action would bring the rate to the range of 350–375 points. Only 10% of traders anticipate that the Fed will keep the rate unchanged.

They release 2,000 bitcoins by sacrificing two rare coins after 13 years
Two physical bitcoin coins that had been dormant for over a decade awaken and release 179 million dollars.

Each coin was worth less than 12,000 dollars in 2011-2012 and now moves 1,000 BTC each.
Only 6 coins of 1,000 BTC existed worldwide.
The owner of two rare Casascius coins has released 2,000 inactive bitcoins. These physical collectible pieces moved funds currently valued at 179 million dollars. The owner bought them when the pioneering digital currency cost less than 12 dollars. Now, they are worth millions.

Casascius coins are physical collectible pieces created between 2011 and 2013 by Mike Caldwell in the United States. Each contains a hidden bitcoin private key under an unbreakable hologram; as long as the seal is intact, the bitcoins remain immobile and the coin is worth its digital content plus its rarity as an object. Scraping the hologram reveals the BTC, they are transferred, and the piece becomes simple empty metal. That’s why they are known as “bitcoins in the form of real coins.

The Casascius coins consumed this December 5, 2025, held 1,000 bitcoins each. This is one of the rarest variants: only 6 coins of this specific design were minted. If we add the 16 gold bars of equal denomination, there are only 22 pieces of 1,000 BTC among the nearly 28,000 physical items in the Casascius collection.

Caldwell halted the sales of his pieces in November 2013 due to rules from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). That agency viewed his work as money transmission without a license, forcing him to close the business and turning the existing pieces into instant relics of an unrepeatable era, as they were created during the early history of bitcoin.

IMPORTANT NEWS
The speed index in XRP Ledger is rising
This metric indicates high activity on the XRP cryptocurrency network, which could be favorable for its price.

The mentioned index reached an annual high of 0.0324.
There is a change of hands among XRP holders, with significant user participation.
The speed metric of the XRP Ledger network experienced a sudden increase, reaching an annual high of 0.0324 points, indicating a strong rise in economic activity and on-chain transactions during the week.

This level of circulation speed suggests that, instead of remaining idle in cold wallets or being held long-term, the cryptocurrency XRP is "changing hands quickly among market participants," according to an analysis by CryptoOnchain for the firm CryptoQuant.

The following chart shows the historical relationship between the price of XRP (black line, right axis) and the speed index of the XRP Ledger network (purple line, left axis) throughout 2025.

Such an increase often signifies high liquidity and substantial participation from traders or significant movements by whales. A whale refers to an entity or person that holds addresses accumulating more than 1 million units of XRP.

Regardless of the market direction, this data confirms that the network is experiencing one of its most active periods in 2025, with user engagement reaching a peak, the analysis notes.

Terra Luna Classic burns 1.400 billion tokens on Binance.

In recent hours, 1.400 billion Terra Luna Classic tokens have been burned on Binance, one of the largest exchanges in the world. A few days ago, it was reported that this ecosystem was about to take a measure to increase the minting rate of the LUNA token.

Seeing how its strongest token has suffered a drop of almost 95%, Terra Luna's efforts focus on rescuing the ecosystem. One of the emergency measures set by the team is to carry out a burn of LUNC tokens, thus enhancing the minting of the LUNA currency.

A key aspect of this movement, which has the approval of its creator, Do Kwon, is that the action of LUNA would increase from 293 million to 1.200 billion. It should also be mentioned that this is a relatively common process on this type of platform, which will allow for the elimination of a specific amount of circulating coins.

Successful monthly burn

Terra Luna is going through a critical moment, and seeing how its LUNA token has begun a dangerous drop for the ecosystem, it has decided to take extreme measures. According to reports, the number of LUNC tokens that have been burned by Binance is above 59 million.

This burning process aims to generate liquidity for the project, which is why the Terra Luna Classic network has also burned 113 billion tokens. With this step, the crisis that has been threatening this ecosystem is officially recognized, which has just deliberately erased a significant portion of its online assets.

Fusaka is activated: Ethereum enters a new era.

On December 3, 2025, Ethereum reached an important milestone with the activation of Fusaka, its most ambitious upgrade in years. Promising greater scalability, reduced fees, and a better user experience, this technical evolution generates excitement among investors and developers. Analysis of an event that could redefine the future of crypto.

Fusaka is now active on Ethereum this December 3, successfully deployed to multiply the capacity of rollups by 8 and reduce transaction costs.
The improvements of Fusaka include PeerDAS, an increased gas limit, and passkey signatures, optimizing scalability and user experience.
Ethereum Fusaka could strengthen the adoption of ETH and influence its price, with expected impacts on Layer 2 and the crypto ecosystem.

Ethereum Fusaka is already here: recap of a historic day
The Fusaka upgrade was successfully deployed on December 3, 2025, at 21:49 UTC, marking a turning point for Ethereum. After months of testing and anticipation, the crypto community followed its activation live on social media and through a live YouTube event organized by the teams of Vitalik Buterin. Unlike some previous upgrades, Fusaka was deployed in just 15 minutes, with no major interruptions in the network, showcasing the growing maturity of the ecosystem.

In 6 days bitcoin will receive a boost from Washington
On December 10, the FED will announce a cut in interest rates, the market claims.

There is an 89% probability that the FED will cut rates, according to CME Group.
A rate cut could boost BTC, but the specter of the bear market looms.

With 6 days to go until the Federal Reserve's (FED) monetary policy meeting, the derivatives and prediction markets are heavily discounting a cut in the interest rate, an event that has historically been favorable for bitcoin (BTC) performance.

According to data from CME Group, the chances of a 25 basis point cut reach 89%. Meanwhile, only 10.8% of the market expects the FED to keep the current range of 3.75%-4% unchanged.