Bitcoin may dip to $65K in 2026, Clarity Act speculation grows: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 14 – 20

Top Stories of the Week

US Clarity Act unlikely to be ‘world-shaking’ for Bitcoin’s price: Brandt

Veteran trader Peter Brandt said the potential passage of the US Clarity Act is unlikely to have a significant impact on Bitcoin’s price after indications that it could pass Congress as soon as January.

“Is it a world-shaking macro development? Nope. Needed for sure, but not something that should redefine value,” Brandt told Cointelegraph on Friday. “Having an asset regulated, particularly an asset for which die-hard investors never wanted to be regulated, is not an earth-shattering event,” he added.

His comments came after White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks said on Thursday, ”We are closer than ever to passing the landmark crypto market structure legislation.”

US Senate confirms pro-crypto Selig to lead CFTC, Hill to head FDIC

The US Senate has confirmed crypto-friendly lawyer Mike Selig as the new chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and has elevated Travis Hill to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The two confirmations were included in a package of nearly 100 other nominees that the Trump administration had selected for various roles across the government, which passed the Senate in a 53-43 vote on Thursday.

Selig, who has previous experience at the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, pledged to make crypto a priority when he was nominated in October to take over from the previous nominee, Brian Quintenz.

How a single copy-paste mistake cost a user $50M in USDt

A single transaction error led to one of the largest onchain losses seen this year, after a user mistakenly sent nearly $50 million in USDt to a scam address in a classic address poisoning attack.

According to pseudonymous onchain investigator Web3 Antivirus, the victim lost 49,999,950 USDt after copying a malicious wallet address from their transaction history.

Address-poisoning scams rely on look-alike wallet addresses being inserted into a victim’s transaction history via small transfers. When victims later copy an address from their transaction history, they may unknowingly select the scammer’s look-alike address instead of the intended recipient.

UK crypto regulation is coming: What the FCA’s new consultation means

The United Kingdom is taking a decisive step toward fully regulating its crypto market. This week, the Financial Conduct Authority launched a wide-ranging consultation outlining proposed rules for crypto exchanges, staking services, lending platforms and decentralized finance.

The proposals follow new secondary legislation from the UK Treasury that formally brings crypto activities into the country’s financial services framework, with a target implementation date of Oct. 25, 2027.

In this week’s episode of Byte-Sized Insight, Cointelegraph explored what this consultation signals for the UK crypto market and how industry leaders are interpreting the regulator’s direction.

Fidelity macro lead calls $65K Bitcoin bottom in 2026, end of bull cycle

Bitcoin may have ended its historical four-year cycle, signaling an incoming year of downside despite widespread analyst expectations for an extended cycle driven by regulatory tailwinds.

Bitcoin’s $125,000 all-time high on Oct. 6 may have signaled the top of the current four-year Bitcoin halving cycle, both in terms of “price and time,” according to Jurrien Timmer, the director of global macroeconomic research at asset management firm Fidelity.

“While I remain a secular bull on Bitcoin, my concern is that Bitcoin may well have ended another 4-year cycle halving phase,” wrote Timmer in a Thursday X post.

“Bitcoin winters have lasted about a year, so my sense is that 2026 could be a “year off” (or “off year”) for Bitcoin. Support is at $65-75k.”

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $88,119, Ether (ETH) at $2,974 and XRP at $1.92. The total market cap is at $2.99 trillion, accordingto CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Midnight (NIGHT) at 48.70%, Canton (CC) at 40.50% and Uniswap (UNI) at 14.50%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Pump.fun (PUMP) at 28.50%, Aster (ASTER) at 24.70% and Bittensor (TAO) at 22.10%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Top Prediction of the Week

Crypto ETPs could see a flood of liquidations by 2027: Analyst

More than 100 crypto exchange-traded products are likely to hit the market in 2026, but many of them will quickly be shuttered due to a lack of demand, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said.

Top FUD of The Week

Adam Back slams Bitcoiner VC for ‘uninformed noise’ about quantum risk

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has criticized Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter for amplifying concerns about quantum computing threats to Bitcoin.

“You make uninformed noise and try to move the market or something. You’re not helping,” Back said in an X post on Friday, after Carter explained in an X post why Castle Island Ventures invested in Project Eleven, a startup focused on protecting Bitcoin and other crypto assets from the threat of quantum computing.

Back said the Bitcoin community is not in denial about the need to research and develop protections against potential quantum computing threats, but is instead doing that work “quietly.” However, Carter refuted Back’s comment, arguing that many Bitcoin developers are still in “total denial” about the risk of quantum computing to Bitcoin.

SEC confirms years-long director bans for former Alameda, FTX executives

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh will be barred from assuming company leadership roles for eight to 10 years following a court judgment.

Pro-crypto US Senator Lummis won’t seek reelection in 2026

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the most outspoken advocates for digital assets in the current session of the US Congress, will leave office in 2027.

In a Friday X post, Lummis announced that she would not seek reelection to the Senate in 2026. She was elected to a six-year term and assumed office in January 2021, quickly establishing herself as a blockchain and Bitcoin-focused politician who later aligned with US President Donald Trump’s crypto agenda.

“Deciding not to run for reelection does represent a change of heart for me, but in the difficult, exhausting session weeks this fall I’ve come to accept that I do not have six more years in me,” said Lummis. “I am a devout legislator, but I feel like a sprinter in a marathon. The energy required doesn’t match up.”

Editorial Staff

Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.