Top Crypto News This Week (Dec. 19–Dec. 25, 2025): Banks, ETFs, Hacks, and a Holiday Market Pause

NEW YORK — Crypto markets headed into Christmas week with a familiar mix of big-money headlines and thin-liquidity price action, as investors weighed Wall Street’s next steps, year-end positioning in spot ETFs, and fresh warnings about cybercrime.

One of the most closely watched developments came from traditional finance. Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan is exploring cryptocurrency trading for institutional clients, a notable signal that large banks are still looking for ways to expand crypto services even after a volatile year for digital assets.

At the same time, U.S. spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs showed signs of pre-holiday de-risking. Market coverage reported net outflows on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) as trading desks and some investors trimmed exposure going into the break, when liquidity typically gets thinner.

Corporate bitcoin buying—another key demand narrative in 2025—also slowed. Barron’s and other reports said Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) paused bitcoin purchases last week after buying aggressively earlier in December, even while raising cash through stock sales. The pause drew attention because Strategy has been a major consistent buyer that traders often watch as a “bid” in the market.

Security remained a dominant storyline. A Chainalysis year-end theft analysis estimated more than $3.4 billion stolen in 2025 (through early December), with reporting also pointing to North Korea-linked actors as a leading driver of losses—an issue that continues to pressure the industry’s reputation and regulatory posture.

Meanwhile, macro data continued to set the tone. A Barron’s analysis on the week’s inflation-related moves described sharp crypto volatility around economic releases, reinforcing how closely bitcoin and other major tokens are trading to rate-cut expectations and risk sentiment heading into early 2026.

By Christmas Day, bitcoin and ether were still mostly range-bound: BTC around $87,743 and ETH around $2,946, according to market pricing at the time of publication.