Here’s a quick recap of the crypto landscape as of Wednesday, December 17 at 9:00 p.m. UTC.
Get the latest information on Bitcoin, Ether and altcoins, plus an overview of the top cryptocurrency market news.
Bitcoin and Ether Price Update
Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$86,016.06, down 1.9 percent over 24 hours.
Bitcoin price performance, December 17, 2025.
Chart via Trading View.
BTC soared to US$90,000 in early trading, then fell to around US$86,400, showing volatile liquidity seizures and rejection of overhead supply.
Weak spot demand indicates a downtrend, but lower institutional buying suggests stabilization near supports between US$85,000 and US$86,000.
Prices fall near the critical $81,500 level of true market average support, which risks triggering a bear market breakdown if lost.
ETH (ETH) was priced at US$2,820.64, down 4.5 percent in 24 hours.
Today’s crypto news to know
Solana tests quantum-resistant cryptography with Project Eleven
Solana has partnered with Project Eleven to test quantum-resistant cryptography on a functional testnet.
Current blockchains like Solana use encryption vulnerable to quantum computers, expected to be a threat to DeFi in 5 to 15 years. Project Eleven, a cybersecurity company specializing in post-quantum cryptography, performed a comprehensive threat assessment on Solana wallets, validators and signatures, and built a prototype testnet using post-quantum digital signatures, showing that end-to-end transactions remain fast and scalable without loss of performance.
Securitize a compliant on-chain platform for tokenized stocks
Securitize announced the launch of the first compliant on-chain platform for trading tokens representing beneficial legal ownership of a public stock in Q1 2026.
According to the announcement, the tokens will be registered directly on the company’s official cap board and will grant full shareholder rights such as dividends and voting. Investors will be able to buy, sell, and hold them themselves 24/7 on-chain via a DeFi-style exchange interface, using stablecoins, while remaining compliant through whitelisted wallets and KYC.
Unlike wrappers or offshore proxies, which add counterparty concerns, Securitize plans to issue the tokens natively as regulated securities through its SEC-registered transfer agent and broker-dealer arms. This enables instant settlements, programmability for DeFi uses like collateral, and connects traditional actions to Web3 without losing legal protections.
DTCC, Digital Asset and Canton Network team up to tokenize US treasures
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced a partnership with Digital Asset and Canton Network to enable the tokenization of a subset of U.S. Treasury securities held at its subsidiary Depository Trust Company (DTC) on the Canton permissioned blockchain.
This follows last week’s announcement that the SEC issued a no-action letter approving DTCC’s three-year pilot project to keep tokenized stocks, bonds, ETFs and Treasuries on approved blockchains.
The initiative creates selected assets as on-chain tokens in registered wallets while preserving legal rights. DTCC will monitor transfers through a root wallet for reversals, with quarterly reporting on usage and risks. Expansion to more titles is planned after the pilot.
Hut 8 stock jumps after securing Google-backed AI deal
Bitcoin miner Hut 8 Mining (TSX: HUT, NASDAQ: HUT) is leveraging more artificial intelligence infrastructure after closing a $7 billion, 15-year lease tied to its River Bend campus in Louisiana.
The agreement covers 245 megawatts of computing capacity and includes financial support from Google, which guarantees lease payments for the duration of the base term.
Although Google will not operate the facility or run any workloads on-premises, its support significantly reduces counterparty risk and builds investor confidence. Shares of Hut 8 rose nearly 4 percent in regular trading before jumping more than 21 percent in premarket trading, extending year-to-date gains to about 79 percent.
The deal is among the largest AI infrastructure commitments ever secured by a publicly traded Bitcoin miner.
US senators push new task force as crypto scams cost Americans $9.3 billion
Two bipartisan U.S. senators have introduced legislation aimed at strengthening the federal response to cryptocurrency fraud after reported losses increased last year.
The SAFE Crypto Act would require the Treasury Department to form a dedicated task force focused on detecting and preventing crypto scams.
Lawmakers cited FBI data showing Americans lost an estimated $9.3 billion to crypto investment fraud in 2024, a 66% increase from the previous year. Older investors accounted for a disproportionate share of those losses, federal officials said.
The proposed task force would bring together agencies including Treasury, DOJ, FinCEN and the Secret Service, as well as state and local law enforcement.
Russian regions support expansion of cryptocurrency mining bans
Energy officials in parts of eastern Russia welcome plans to expand seasonal bans on cryptocurrency mining to year-round bans, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
Authorities are expected to block all mining activity in southern Buryatia and the Transbaikalia Krai from 2026, citing chronic strain on local power grids.
Regional officials have said power shortages in several parts of Siberia have approached 3,000 megawatts, making mining restrictions a necessary stabilization measure. The move would also extend an existing winter-only ban, which runs from mid-November to mid-March.
The move marks a reversal from earlier signals from the government that no additional mining bans were planned.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
