Huobi HTX has launched AERGO perpetual contracts and kicked off a contract trading party.

Binance Alpha will list zkPass (ZKP) on December 19, the exchange confirmed on December 17. Eligible users can head to the Alpha event page once trading goes live to claim the airdrop using Alpha Points. Stay tuned for additional details coming soon.

On December 17, per Onchain Lens data, a whale deposited 1.57 million USDC into HyperLiquid and opened a 5x-leveraged short position on BERA.

December 17: Coinbase has released a forward-looking piece on 2026 cryptocurrency trends. Key factors to monitor include: - An improving market environment in H1 2026 - Integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptographic technology - Growing focus on Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization - Expansion of stablecoins and payment solutions - Projected market growth The full Coinbase 2026 crypto market outlook article will be published at a later date.

Dec. 17 — A Japanese political insider has disclosed a proposal to transition the country to a separate self-assessment tax system for crypto assets, with implementation set for January 2028. While the market had expected Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act Amendment Bill to pass in the Diet next year and the new tax system to launch as early as 2027, the government intends to delay tax reforms until it assesses market conditions under the revised law. Currently, crypto transaction profits in Japan fall under “miscellaneous income,” taxed alongside salary and other earnings with a top rate of 55%. Investors and industry groups have long pushed for a separate tax system matching the 20% rate applied to stocks. The government cites “ongoing need to strengthen investor protection measures” as the primary reason for the delay.

As of December 17, per monitoring from HyperInsight, the entity holding the "Largest ZEC Short on Hyperliquid" has been trimming its ZEC short position since yesterday—when it swung from a loss to a profit. Its ZEC position has dropped from $16.5M to $9.1M, with an average entry price of $389. Some of the freed capital was used to add to its MON short: the current MON position is ~$9.2M, with an unrealized profit of $4.62M (150%) and an average entry of $0.0308. This address previously initiated a ZEC short on October 10 at ~$184, then added to the position to average up its entry price. On October 17, at its lowest point, the position was down $21M, with ZEC exposure peaking at $43.2M. Currently, the entity is still closing out its ZEC and STRK shorts. Its primary profits stem from an ETH short: the position is ~$92.95M, with an average entry of $3377 and an unrealized profit of $13.86M (224%). This address is now the largest short seller across ETH, ZEC, and MON on Hyperliquid,

**Cointelegraph: Bhutan to Deploy 10,000 Bitcoins for Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC)** On December 17, Bhutan’s government announced it will use 10,000 bitcoins from its reserves to build **Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC)**—a special administrative region set to launch in 2024. Located in southern Bhutan’s Gelephu town, GMC aims to curb youth emigration by creating high-value local jobs and becoming the country’s new economic hub. It will attract businesses across finance, tourism, green energy, tech, healthcare, and agriculture, offering regulatory flexibility for crypto and fintech firms while advancing Bitcoin mining in Bhutan. GMC covers roughly 10% of Bhutan’s territory (about 1,544 square miles). Bhutan’s Bitcoin reserves rank fifth globally (most from mining), totaling around 11,286 coins—valued at over $986 million.