U.S. CPI: +2.9% YEAR-OVER-YEAR (EST. +2.9%); U.S. CORE CPI: +3.2% YEAR-OVER-YEAR (EST. +3.3%)

In a Dec. 25 BlockBeats report, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy said: “These so-called crypto builders and KOLs in their 30s who claim to be ‘exiting crypto’ are in fact scammers.” He noted the group never actually got into the crypto space—they didn’t even give crypto a real shot. “They aren’t exiting; they never started. This is just attention-grabbing,” he added.

**Binance Alpha’s Second-Round KGeN (KGEN) Airdrop Goes Live Dec 25** (Official sources confirm the Binance Alpha second-round KGeN (KGEN) airdrop rewards are available starting December 25.) - **Eligibility**: Users with at least 240 Binance Alpha points can claim 180 TAKE tokens (first-come, first-served). - **Threshold Adjustment**: If the reward pool isn’t fully claimed, the points requirement drops by 5 every 5 minutes (automatic). - **Claim Rules**: Claiming costs 15 Binance Alpha points; users must confirm on the Alpha event page and complete the process within 24 hours—unclaimed rewards are forfeited. This rewrite uses concise, conversational American English (e.g., "goes live" for "has been launched," bullet points for readability) while preserving all key details.

On December 25, per Onchain Lens monitoring, a newly created crypto wallet withdrew 329,400 LINK from Binance, valued at $4.01 million.

Dec. 25 – CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr. noted in a post that Bitcoin has dropped 20% over the past three months, with its annual return turning negative—signaling a notable market pullback. The key metric to watch is the monthly RSI trend: currently at 56.5, it’s just ~2 points below the 4-year average of 58.7. Historically, this level has acted as a bull-bear dividing line. The next 1-2 months (i.e., Q1 2026) will be a critical observation window: if RSI holds above the 55-58 range, rebound potential remains intact; if it falls below 55, the risk of a deeper decline rises.

On December 25, a Caixin article titled *U Card Frenzy on Xiaohongshu: Hidden and Deadly Risks* noted that users can use Visa-branded bank cards to pay for services like ChatGPT Plus subscriptions—with deductions processed via USDT from a cryptocurrency wallet. These overseas cards are commonly known as "U Cards," a type of offshore card that uses U.S. dollar stablecoins for payments. The article also pointed out that domestic issuance and use of U Cards carry an additional layer of unique legal risks. It remains unknown whether these cards are a short-lived transitional product or hold the key to the future of the payment landscape.

Cointelegraph reported on December 25 that CoinGlass has released a report showing cryptocurrency derivatives trading volume hit $85.7 trillion in 2025, with a daily average of roughly $2.645 trillion. Binance led the market with total derivatives volume of around $25.09 trillion, making up 29.3% of global volume. OKX, Bybit and Bitget followed closely, with annual volumes ranging from $8.2 trillion to $10.8 trillion. Combined, these four exchanges accounted for roughly 62.3% of the market share. The report notes that by 2025, the derivatives market shifted from a retail-dominated high-leverage model to institutional hedging, basis trading and ETFs. However, the growing leverage chain has boosted tail risk. Global crypto derivatives open interest fell to an annual low of roughly $87 billion in Q1 2025 following deleveraging, before hitting a record high of $235.9 billion on October 7.