December 16, 2025 - Crypto News

📉 Bitcoin (BTC)
Current Price: ~$87,080.00 (-1.2% in 24h)

Top News: Bitcoin dipped below the $86,000 mark earlier in the day before staging a partial recovery to $87,000. Despite the bounce, sentiment remains cautious as The Block reports that active Bitcoin addresses have hit a one-year low, raising concerns about decreasing network demand. Analysts note that traders are currently rotating capital into "safer" traditional assets or equities like Coinbase stock amidst the volatility.

📉 Ethereum (ETH)
Current Price: ~$2,950.00 (-2.5% in 24h)

Top News: Ethereum is struggling to hold the $3,000 psychological support, trading just below this key level. Investing.com highlights that while the broader altcoin market is fragmented, Ethereum is feeling the pressure of a "risk-off" environment. However, development continues, with new DeFi protocols like Mutuum Finance gaining traction as they approach their V1 mainnet launches on the network.

📊 Altcoin Developments
Senate Delays Critical Crypto Hearing In a major regulatory setback, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee has officially postponed its scheduled hearing on cryptocurrency market structure legislation until 2026. Binance News and Azertag report that this delay has dampened industry hopes for regulatory clarity before the year's end, contributing to the broader market weakness.

Mid-Cap Gainers Defy the Trend Despite the bearish macro sentiment, specific mid-cap tokens are seeing speculative inflows. Pippin (PIPPIN) and Audiera (BEAT) are the day's top gainers, up 27% and 23% respectively. Traders appear to be chasing idiosyncratic narratives rather than broad market beta.

Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol Auction The Fintech Times reports a positive development for institutional adoption: The Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol has successfully completed its first tokenized energy asset auction on Coinbase's Project Diamond. This move helps bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and compliant, eco-friendly crypto assets.