Indian police in Hyderabad arrested a former Coinbase customer support employee on Dec. 29 in connection with an internal data breach disclosed by the exchange in May 2024, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed, BlockBeats reports. The investigation traced the breach to December 2023, finding that criminals bribed overseas support staff to access internal systems and steal sensitive data on 69,461 users, including names, addresses, phone numbers, emails and government-issued ID documents. Coinbase said attackers demanded $20 million; the company refused and launched a $20 million bounty program to help capture those involved. In its Q2 earnings, Coinbase disclosed $307 million in related expenses for user compensation, legal fees and security upgrades; the company faces a shareholder class action alleging delayed disclosure and investor misrepresentation, and said it continues working with international law enforcement.

Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po ranked "the improvement of the regulatory framework for digital economy and virtual assets" as the third item in its "Top 10 Financial News of Hong Kong 2025" on Dec. 28, BlockBeats reports. The outlet noted that the introduction of the "Stablecoin Ordinance" further refines oversight of digital asset activities in Hong Kong, with market participants expecting stablecoin licenses to be issued in early 2026 and a Hong Kong dollar stablecoin that could support real-world commerce and cross-border payments. The ranking also included "cryptocurrency frenzy pushes Bitcoin to a new high of $125,600" in eighth place, highlighting that Bitcoin repeatedly set record highs this year after Donald Trump voiced strong support, before pulling back to around $85,000 at one point, more than 30% below its peak.

WazirX founder Nischal Shetty said on Dec. 27 the ownership dispute between the Indian crypto exchange and Binance has entered formal litigation, BlockBeats reports. The conflict stems from Binance's 2019 announcement it would acquire WazirX, after which the parties publicly clashed over control and operational authority. Shetty separately addressed a dispute with custodian Liminal after WazirX partially attributed over $230 million in losses from a 2024 hack to its multisig custody infrastructure, a claim Liminal publicly contested with its own data.

The Bank of Lithuania warned local crypto asset service providers to obtain MiCA licenses by December 31 or risk penalties, Wu Blockchain reported. Unlicensed activities from January 1, such as onboarding users or handling assets, may incur fines, website blocking, and up to four years imprisonment. The directive enforces EU crypto regulations amid transition deadlines.

Specialists told Cointelegraph on Dec. 25 that quantum computing poses a largely theoretical rather than imminent threat to cryptocurrencies in 2026, with Argentum AI's Clark Alexander expecting extremely limited commercial quantum use by then and Coin Bureau co-founder Nic Puckrin estimating at least another decade before machines can break current cryptography. Bitcoin and other blockchains rely on public-key cryptography with potential vulnerabilities, as Boosty Labs' Sofiia Kireieva cited the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm as the weakest link compared with SHA-256, while O Foundation founder Ahmad Shadid warned that address reuse sharply increases exposure, with about 25% to 30% of BTC—roughly 4 million coins—already held in addresses whose public keys are visible and thus more susceptible to future quantum attacks. Sahara AI co-founder Sean Ren cautioned that the realistic 2026 risk is adversaries harvesting encrypted data for later decryption, a "collect now, decrypt later" approach described by Cysic co-founder Leo Fan, and the market has begun responding, as Qastle said in November it plans to upgrade cryptography to offer quantum-grade protection for hot wallets, while experts recommend avoiding address reuse and moving funds to quantum-resistant wallets once available.