Kategorie: Crypto Markets

• US senators propose a joint task force to disrupt crypto scams nationwide.
• The proposal looks to boost coordination across agencies, law enforcement, and industry.
• The proposal targets rising fraud with better tools, data sharing, and reports.

A new bipartisan effort in the US Senate aims to confront the rising tide of cryptocurrency scams by tightening federal coordination and sharpening enforcement tools.

As digital assets gain wider use, US lawmakers say gaps in oversight have left consumers exposed to increasingly sophisticated fraud.

A coordinated response to a growing threat

US Senators Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Jerry Moran of Kansas have introduced the Strengthening Agency Frameworks for Enforcement of Cryptocurrency Act.

The proposal is designed to bring order and urgency to the federal response against crypto-related scams, which have surged alongside mainstream adoption of digital assets.

At the centre of the bill is the creation of a federal task force that would unite the Treasury Department, law enforcement agencies, financial regulators, and private-sector experts.

Supporters say this structure reflects the reality of modern crypto crime, which often crosses jurisdictions and moves faster than traditional enforcement mechanisms.

Senator Slotkin has framed the legislation as a consumer protection measure rooted in practicality.

Slotkin argues that cryptocurrency fraud deserves special attention because of its complexity and speed, noting that local law enforcement agencies often lack the tools or expertise to investigate such crimes effectively.

By pooling federal resources and industry knowledge, the task force would aim to close that gap.

Inside the SAFE Crypto Act

The SAFE Crypto Act directs the task force to study emerging trends in digital asset scams and identify methods that have proven effective in stopping them.

This includes tracking patterns in phishing schemes, hacks, and small-scale Ponzi operations that may fall outside the primary focus of existing regulators.

A key element of the bill is its emphasis on supporting state and local authorities.

The task force would help equip local law enforcement with investigative tools and technical guidance, recognising that many victims first turn to local agencies for help.

Lawmakers say this support could significantly improve response times and case outcomes.

Public education is another core component. The task force would work to raise awareness about common cryptocurrency scams so consumers can better protect their money.

As fraud tactics evolve, sponsors of the bill argue that prevention through education is as important as enforcement after losses occur.

The legislation also includes accountability measures. The task force would be required to deliver an initial report to congressional committees within one year of its formation, followed by annual updates.

These reports would outline emerging threats, enforcement progress, and areas where further action may be needed.

The proposal has drawn attention from within the crypto and legal communities, where concerns about fragmented enforcement have been growing.

A January report from Chainalysis estimated that illicit cryptocurrency volume reached $51.3 billion in 2024, reflecting both the scale and diversity of on-chain criminal behaviour.

Crypto lawyer Gabriel Shapiro described the bill as a potential way to fill an enforcement gap, pointing out that agencies like the SEC and CFTC are not always focused on scams such as hacks or phishing operations.

U.S. Senator Moran proposes the SAFE Crypto Act establishing a task force for dealing with crypto scams!!!

would have AG, Director FinCEN, Director Secret Service, other agency heads, scam victims, representatives of stablecoin issuers, custodians, etc.

devoted to detecting… pic.twitter.com/i94tn2sHdm

— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) December 16, 2025

If enacted, the SAFE Crypto Act would mark a significant step toward a more organised and proactive US strategy against cryptocurrency fraud.

The post Bipartisan US Senate proposal seeks to tackle cryptocurrency fraud appeared first on CoinJournal.

• The $206 million IPO was heavily oversubscribed by both retail and international investors.
• Early trading was volatile, with shares dipping below the IPO price after an initial rise.
• The listing adds to a growing pipeline of crypto companies planning public market debuts in 2025.

Hong Kong’s push to position itself as a global hub for regulated digital assets took a visible step forward this week as HashKey, the city’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, began trading on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

The debut followed a $206 million initial public offering that drew strong demand across retail and institutional channels.

While early trading was volatile, the listing placed HashKey at the centre of a growing wave of crypto firms seeking public market exposure in Asia and beyond.

The move also underlined Hong Kong’s ambition to blend capital markets depth with tighter digital asset oversight, at a time when global regulators are taking a more cautious stance on crypto activity.

Shares of HashKey Holdings listed on the HKEX main board on Wednesday, opening at 6.70 Hong Kong dollars, or about $0.86, according to exchange data.

The company confirmed in a blog post that the listing made it the first digital asset company in Asia to go public via an IPO in Hong Kong, setting a regional precedent for crypto firms pursuing traditional capital market routes.

Hong Kong listing milestone

HashKey’s IPO was launched on Dec. 9 and involved the sale of 240 million shares, raising a total of $206 million, based on its HKEX filings.

The structure reflected a split between local and international tranches, aligning with Hong Kong’s standard IPO framework while attracting a broad investor base.

The Hong Kong public offering component saw demand surge well beyond expectations. The retail tranche was oversubscribed by nearly 394 times, with 24 million shares allocated.

The international offering also drew solid interest, reaching 5.5 times subscription and accounting for 216.5 million shares sold.

The response highlighted continued appetite for crypto-linked equities despite recent market volatility in the sector.

Investor demand and structure

Nine cornerstone investors participated in the IPO, adding a layer of institutional credibility to the transaction.

These included Cithara Global Multi-Strategy SPC, UBS AM Singapore, Fidelity, and CDH.

Among them, Cithara and UBS emerged as the largest backers, receiving allocations of roughly 17.5 million shares and 11.7 million shares, respectively.

The presence of established asset managers suggested confidence in HashKey’s business model and regulatory positioning.

It also reflected investor interest in companies operating within Hong Kong’s licensing regime, which has been promoted as a framework for compliant digital asset trading and custody.

Volatile first trading session

Despite the strong fundraising outcome, HashKey’s first day of trading was marked by price swings.

During the morning session, shares briefly climbed about 5% above the opening price, reaching roughly $0.91, before reversing course and dropping to a low near $0.78.

By the afternoon, the stock was trading slightly below its IPO price, at around $0.84.

The movement underscored the cautious tone among investors toward newly listed crypto firms, even as demand for IPO allocations remained robust.

Market participants appeared to weigh long-term growth prospects against near-term uncertainties in the global digital asset market.

The post HashKey IPO marks milestone for Hong Kong’s regulated crypto market appeared first on CoinJournal.

• The strategy focuses on a major protocol upgrade, real-world asset lending, and mobile adoption.
• Aave V4 aims to unify cross-chain liquidity and simplify development.
• Horizon targets faster growth in tokenised real-world asset markets through institutional partners.

Aave is setting out its next phase of expansion as regulatory uncertainty in the US eases for the decentralised finance protocol.

Founder and chief executive Stani Kulechov on Dec. 17 detailed what he described as a “2026 Master Plan”, one day after the US Securities and Exchange Commission formally dropped its long-running investigation into the platform.

The update comes after what Aave described as its strongest year so far, with 2025 marked by record net deposits and billions of dollars in activity processed across the protocol.

With the regulatory probe no longer hanging over the project, Aave’s leadership is now focusing on scaling its technology, widening its institutional footprint, and pushing further into consumer-facing products.

According to Kulechov’s post on X, Aave’s strategy for 2026 rests on three core priorities: a major protocol upgrade, the expansion of tokenised real-world asset markets, and broader user adoption through a mobile app.

Aave V4 upgrade

The first pillar of the roadmap is Aave V4, the next major iteration of the lending protocol.

The upgrade is designed to introduce cross-chain liquidity, a modular architecture, and deeper customisation for developers and partners.

Aave Labs, the core development team, had already published a V4 launch roadmap in September, outlining final testing and review phases.

A central feature is the Cross-Chain Liquidity Layer, which builds on earlier versions of the protocol to address fragmented liquidity across different blockchains.

Under the new design, liquidity pools are reorganised into capital hubs on each network, with specialised spokes layered on top to support tailored lending markets for specific asset types.

The structure is intended to support significantly larger volumes of capital while simplifying how new products are launched on Aave.

The upgrade also includes new cross-chain interfaces and a revamped developer experience, which Aave expects will make integrations easier for fintech firms, enterprises, and other large-scale users.

Horizon and institutional markets

The second focus area is Horizon, Aave’s decentralised lending market for tokenised real-world assets.

Horizon is positioned as a gateway for traditional financial institutions to access DeFi infrastructure while bringing off-chain assets on-chain.

Horizon launched on Aug. 27 and surpassed $50 million in deposits by September 1, with most of the early liquidity arriving in RLUSD and USDC. Since then, net deposits have grown to around $550 million.

Aave plans to accelerate Horizon’s growth in 2026, with a stated aim of pushing deposits beyond $1 billion.

The strategy involves expanding collaborations with established financial players including Circle, Ripple, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck.

Through these partnerships, Aave intends to onboard major global asset classes and expand its reach into a real-world asset market estimated at more than $500 trillion.

Aave App and user growth

The third pillar of the roadmap targets consumer adoption through the Aave App. Launched in mid-November, the app offers a banking-style savings experience designed to make decentralised lending more accessible to non-crypto-native users.

The app is currently available on the Apple App Store and is expected to see a broader rollout next year.

Aave is targeting a user base of one million as it seeks a foothold in the global mobile fintech market, which it estimates at about $2 trillion.

The push reflects Aave’s view that long-term scaling depends on product-level adoption, not just protocol-level liquidity.

The post Aave charts post-SEC expansion as DeFi lender sharpens growth strategy appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Sui price has dropped 6% in the past 24 hours as altcoins extend losses.
• Bitcoin’s downtrend means Sui could see new losses.
• A technical breakdown might bring the $1 support level into play.

Sui price hovers in the red as a 6% dip sees bulls battle to keep bears off the $1.40 support level.

At the time of writing, SUI changed hands at around $1.47, down as cryptocurrencies witnessed fresh sell-off pressure amid a broader market correction.

Aster and Telcoin are among the top losers in the past 24 hours.

SUI shows bearish bias amid crypto dump

The Sui token has declined 6% over the past 24 hours and sits more than 24% below its monthly peak, when it approached $1.77 in early December.

As with other altcoins, the downturn has coincided with a drop in open interest across derivatives markets and a rise in liquidations.

It’s indicative of waning confidence among leveraged positions, which makes the current pullback likely to morph into a prolonged correction.

For SUI, bulls have struggled since their advances were rejected around $4.45 in July 2025.

As Bitcoin trades in a downtrend around the $86,500 following its retreat from recent highs, altcoins, including Sui, have suffered a bearish cascade.

This broader market sell-off has amplified downside pressure on most layer-1 tokens, despite increased institutional interest across ETFs, tokenization and digital asset treasury initiatives.

CoinGecko has outlined Solana as the blockchain with the most market traffic share year-to-date.

However, as the platform’s data below shows, Base, Ethereum and Sui are the next top chains, ahead of BNB Chain, XRP Ledger, and Sonic.

Sui price forecast

Technical indicators currently point to heightened downside risks, with a potential breakdown threatening to accelerate selling pressure.

On daily charts, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits at 41. It’s approaching oversold territory and suggests momentum could weaken further if buyers fail to defend current levels.

Meanwhile, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator shows signs of an impending bearish crossover.

With the signal line likely to cross below the MACD line, this indicator reinforces a short-term negative momentum.

If SUI price fails to bounce above $1.40, bears could target $1.34 area and then $1.20.

A sustained breakdown might expose bulls to deeper retracements toward $1.

On the upside, a recovery above $1.50 could invalidate the immediate bearish thesis.

In this case, the key target will be resistance near $2.00. The 50-day exponential moving average at $1.87 provides the first hurdle.

The post SUI price forecast as bulls risk bearish flip below $1.40 appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Aster (ASTER) and Telcoin (TEL) are the altcoins with the sharpest dips over the last 24 hours.
• The broader cryptocurrency market shows weakness amid Bitcoin’s price dip.
• Top altcoins are down as investor jitters pile up.

Aster price fell sharply as the token joined the likes of Telcoin in posting double-digit losses over the past 24 hours.

This came as Ethereum, XRP and Solana led top altcoins in shedding gains after Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to below $86,000.

ASTER and TEL risk further losses as selling pressure mounts, particularly as BTC trades negative despite a slight bounce above $86,000.

The risk-off sentiment taking over the market does not bode well for the altcoins.

Aster dips 12% as bulls lose key support

Aster extends the losses for the third consecutive day, dropping below the $0.80 mark.

At the time of writing, ASTER is down more than 12%, with a break below $0.77 potentially opening the door to a deeper slide toward $0.54.

Momentum indicators underline the cautious setup. On the four-hour chart, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has moved into oversold territory.

While that can signal a possible reversal as selling pressure fades, it also leaves room for further capitulation before any sustained rebound takes hold.

Also, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator remains firmly negative.

A recent bearish crossover confirms the dominance of a negative outlook amid broader market dynamics.

What could bolster ASTER bulls?

Like many new coins, Aster is seeing huge profit-taking deals.

The decentralized perpetual exchange nonetheless has recorded key developments that could bolster investor confidence.

One of these is Aster’s announcement of Shield Mode, a protected trading mode that the DEX plans to integrate into its perpetuals platform.

The feature allows for private position opening and management, among other key offerings.

“Shield Mode is for traders who want performance without broadcasting their next move—a protected execution mode today and an early building block for the privacy features we’re exploring with Aster Chain,” the team posted on X.

Telcoin price risks further losses

Telcoin is down 12.7% at press time on Tuesday.

As seen in the chart below, the altcoin’s price is extending recent losses amid overall crypto weakness.

The TEL token is down for a sixth straight day, having flipped negative as Bitcoin slumped below $90k.

Amid the ongoing wider market correction, TEL price has lost 25% in the past week and broken below its September support at $0.0040.

If this psychological support level falls, Telcoin could drop to $0.0027 and likely retest support at November 2024 lows of $0.0014.

The daily chart shows that the token’s bearish momentum is gaining pace. A downsloping RSI and MACD that recently printed a bearish crossover add to this outlook.

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