Kain Warwick Loses $50K in ETH Bet, BitMine’s ‘1000x’ Share Plan: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 21 – Jan. 3

Top Stories of The Week‘Hundreds’ of EVM wallets drained in mysterious attack: ZachXBTAn attacker has drained hundreds of crypto wallets on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains, siphoning small amounts from each victim, as onchain investigator ZachXBT described it as a broad but low-value exploit.The losses appear limited per wallet, with each victim losing less than $2,000, according to ZachXBT. The activity has affected wallets across several EVM-compatible networks, indicating a widespread incident rather than being isolated to one blockchain.A fraudulent email resembling legitimate communication from the Web3 wallet MetaMask could have been the method used for the attack, said cybersecurity researcher Vladimir S., who referenced a clue left by another pseudonymous X user.This seems like automated, wide-net exploitation, cybersecurity provider Hackless said, warning users to revoke smart contract approvals and continue monitoring their wallets.Coinbase focuses on stablecoins, Base and ‘everything exchange’ for 2026Coinbase plans to prioritize stablecoins, its Ethereum layer-2 Base and expand its exchange products beyond cryptocurrencies throughout 2026, according to CEO Brian Armstrong.In a New Years social media post, Armstrong reaffirmed Coinbase’s everything exchange strategy, which includes products like prediction markets, equities and commodities.At its year-end conference in December, Coinbase introduced stock trading and prediction markets as part of its push. The company has also rebranded its wallet app as an everything app, adding social networking and onchain features.Coinbase is not alone in expanding its product suite. Rival crypto exchanges are increasingly bundling services in an effort to become super apps.No, whales are not accumulating massive amounts of Bitcoin: CryptoQuantSpeculation that Bitcoin whales are engaged in a massive reaccumulation phase has been significantly overstated, suggesting the digital asset market structure has not changed materially, according to onchain data from CryptoQuant.The popular narrative that large holders are aggressively buying Bitcoin is misleading, said Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant. Much of the publicly shared whale accumulation data is distorted by exchange-related activity rather than genuine investor behavior.Cryptocurrency exchanges routinely consolidate funds from many smaller wallets into fewer large ones for operational and regulatory reasons. This process artificially increases the number of wallets holding very large balances, leading onchain trackers to misclassify the activity as whale accumulation.BitMine chairman suggests 1,000x increase in company’s authorized shares, to 50BTom Lee, chairman of publicly listed Ether treasury company BitMine, urged shareholders to support a proposal to dramatically increase the company’s authorized share count to 50 billion from 50 million, citing the potential need for future stock splits as Ethers price drives the company’s valuation.Lee said BitMines share price closely tracks the price of Ether, and that he modeled potential future valuations using the ETH/Bitcoin ratio. According to Lee, ETH could reach $250,000 if Bitcoin climbs to $1 million, a scenario that would push BitMines share price to levels he said would be inaccessible for most retail investors.BitMine shifted from operating as a Bitcoin mining and holding company to an ETH treasury strategy in 2025, but it still retains some of its Bitcoin operations.SECs Crenshaw set to depart, leaving US financial watchdog all RepublicanCaroline Crenshaw, the sole Democratic member leading the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as commissioner, will be departing the agency this week after serving more than five years.Crenshaw is expected to leave the SEC by Saturday, marking 18 months after her term ended in June 2024. Commissioners are permitted to continue work at the agency, provided the Senate has not confirmed a replacement. Read also Features Solana vs Ethereum ETFs, Facebook’s influence on Bitwise: Hunter Horsley Features Bitcoin OG Kyle Chass is one strike away from a YouTube permaban Crenshaw, who was sworn into office in August 2020, has often been critical of the agencys approach to digital assets. She spoke out against the SEC settling its enforcement case with Ripple Labs and warned that weakening regulations on digital assets could lead to significant market contagion. Trump Media plans 1:1 blockchain token rewards for shareholdersTrump Media and Technology Group, operator of US President Donald Trumps Truth Social platform, said Wednesday it plans to roll out a blockchain token for shareholders that entitles them to perks and rewards.The DJT token will be launched in collaboration with crypto exchange Crypto.com, and the distribution to existing shareholders set at a 1:1 ratio, or one token per share owned, according to the announcement from the company.The token may include rewards and perks for DJT shareholders, including discounts on the Truth Social media platform, the Truth+ media streaming platform, and prediction market Truth Predict.However, the token is not a tokenized stock and does not entitle holders to shareholder rights or a claim on the companys future earnings, Trump Media confirmed to Cointelegraph.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $90,029, Ether (ETH) at $3,107 and XRP at $2.00. The total market cap is at $3.07 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are MYX Finance (MYX) at 89.50%, Pepe (PEPE) at 48.55% and Canton (CC) at 41.12%.The top three altcoin losers of the week are Lighter (LIT) at 4.66%, Monero (XMR) at 4.52% and Mantle (MNT) at 4.50%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraphs market analysis.Most Memorable QuotationsIf you want to see it in a positive way, from the all-time high, the drawdown is really not as high as we have had in previous bear markets when we have had drawdowns of 70%, 80%. This will be just like a 55% from the all-time high.Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuantDecentralization erodes not through capture, but through convenience.Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of EthereumWe are seeing quantitative easing light right now. The Fed is starting to buy its own bonds. I think demand for government debt is going to fall significantly next year, along with lower rates. All of this bodes well for all assets, including Bitcoin.Bill Barhydt, CEO of AbraThe Market Has New Players, crypto isnt 2016 or 2020 anymore. ETFs, institutions, and corporate balance sheets dont trade like hype-driven retail.Armando Pantoja, independent investorIf we keep moving at this speed in five years, Pakistan will be the crypto leader, one of the crypto leaders in the world.Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, founder and former CEO of BinanceThe market shows signs of recovery as holders express pride in profits and continued commitment. Events and giveaways boost engagement, reflecting optimism despite recent challenges.Santiment, crypto sentiment platformTop FUD of The WeekCrypto phishing losses fell 83% in 2025, but drainer ecosystem remains activeCrypto phishing attacks tied to wallet drainers dropped sharply in 2025, with total losses falling to $83.85 million, down 83% year over year from nearly $494 million in 2024.The number of victims also declined significantly to 106,000, a 68% drop from the previous year, Web3 security platform Scam Sniffer said in its new report analyzing signature-based phishing across Ethereum Virtual Machine chains. Read also Features EU’s privacy-killing Chat Control bill delayed but fight isn’t over Features How crypto bots are ruining crypto including auto memecoin rug pulls Despite the steep fall, the report warned that phishing activity has not disappeared. Instead, losses closely followed market cycles, rising during periods of higher onchain activity and easing as markets cooled. The third quarter of 2025, which coincided with Ethers strongest rally of the year, recorded the highest phishing losses at $31 million, with August-September accounting for nearly 29% of annual losses.DeFi pioneer coughs up $50K after making bad bet on EtherCrypto executive Kain Warwick, the founder of Synthetix and Infinex, is set to pay up $50,000 after betting that Ether would hit $25,000 in 2025, joining one of many market participants who overestimated the speed of Ethers recovery after its dip in October.Ether ended Dec. 31 trading at roughly $2,980, around 13.7% lower than where it started at the beginning of the year, according to CoinMarketCap.Part of it was due to a $19 billion crypto market liquidation on Oct. 10 that triggered a downtrend, pushing Ether as low as $2,767 before it slowly crept upward again.The bet came from an exchange between Warwick and Multicoin managing partner Kyle Samani in November. Samani doubted the chances that Ether could recover and hit $25,000 by the end of the year. Warwick disagreed, making a bet at 10:1 odds that it had a chance. Crypto sentiment shifts off extreme fear, but mixed emotions persistA widely used crypto market sentiment indicator has shaken off its extreme fear rating as of Friday, returning to its highest levels in 21 days despite still trading under $90,000.The index, which measures overall crypto market sentiment, recorded a fear score of 29 in its