Bithumb apologized to customers after a payout mistake during a promotion caused a sudden shake-up in bitcoin trading on its platform. In a notice posted in Korean, the South Korea crypto exchange said it was “sincerely sorry for the inconvenience” and blamed “confusion during the payment process for this event.” The exchange said that, during the payout, “an abnormal amount of bitcoin was paid to some customers,” and that selling by some of the accounts led to a brief, sharp move in the bitcoin price on Bithumb.

Bithumb said it spotted the problem right away through its internal controls and then moved fast to limit trading on the related accounts. Bithumb also said the market price returned to a normal level within about five minutes. It added that its “domino liquidation prevention system” worked as designed, so the abnormal bitcoin price did not trigger a chain of forced liquidations. For traders, that detail matters because fast drops can push leveraged positions into liquidation, which can create more selling and even larger swings. Bithumb said that did not happen this time.

In the same notice, Bithumb stressed that the incident was not caused by an outside attack. Bithumb said the issue had “no connection to external hacking or a security breach,” and that there were no problems with system security or customer asset management. Bithumb also said customer assets remained safe, and that trading, deposits, and withdrawals were operating normally after the brief disruption.

Bithumb did not share how much bitcoin was sent by mistake or how many accounts received it. Still, local reporting tied the event to a “Random Box” giveaway. Under that event, Bithumb planned to distribute prizes worth up to 50,000 won. But reports said a payout meant to be 2,000 won ended up being treated as 2,000 BTC for some recipients, which would be a massive sum. Bithumb has been asked to clarify the exact numbers.

On the market side, the bitcoin/Korean won pair on Bithumb appeared to drop hard during the confusion, with reports describing a fall of around 15% before prices recovered. Some users said on social media that their Bithumb accounts were frozen after the abnormal deposits and sales. Bithumb said it restricted trading on the relevant accounts as part of its response.

Regulators also took notice. Reports said South Korea’s Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service planned to investigate the cause, describing the situation as serious given the size of the potential damage. Another report said about 3 billion won was withdrawn after selling the mistakenly deposited bitcoin. If accurate, that figure would suggest at least some funds moved off-platform before controls fully locked things down.

The incident lands at a time when South Korea is watching crypto exchanges more closely. Recent reporting has described rising scrutiny of major platforms, including checks on how exchanges run promotions and how they present trading conditions to customers. In that setting, a Bithumb promotion error can draw extra attention, even if Bithumb says there was no hack and no customer asset loss.

For users, the key questions are simple: what failed, who got the mistaken bitcoin, and what happens next. Bithumb said it will share follow-up steps in a transparent way and promised to take responsibility so that “not a single customer” is harmed. Bithumb also said it believes there was no loss or damage to customer assets from the incident, though it did not provide a full public accounting of every transaction linked to the payout.

Mistaken deposits are rare, but they can be disruptive because crypto trading runs around the clock and prices can react in seconds. When the mistake involves bitcoin, the impact can spread fast through the order book, especially if recipients try to sell at once. That is why Bithumb focused on its internal controls, its trading restrictions, and its liquidation backstop. Bithumb is one of the largest exchanges in South Korea, and its systems handle high-volume bitcoin and won trading each day.

Bithumb now faces the hard part: proving, with clear facts, that the brief bitcoin crash on Bithumb did not hurt regular traders and that the account freezes were handled fairly. Bithumb said it will disclose more details as it confirms what happened inside the payout process. For now, the exchange’s message is that this was an internal error during a Bithumb event, not a security breach, and that Bithumb’s safeguards kept a bad moment from turning into a wider liquidation wave.

Europe has become the riskiest region for wrench attacks, according to a new report from blockchain security firm CertiK. The report tracks physical crimes tied to crypto ownership, such as robberies, assaults, and kidnappings where attackers force victims to hand over coins. CertiK counted 72 verified wrench attacks worldwide in 2025, up 75% from 2024. Europe made up more than 40% of those wrench attacks, nearly double its share a year earlier.

CertiK says wrench attacks are getting harsher. Kidnappings rose 66% in 2025, while physical assaults jumped 250%. These wrench attacks often start with doxxing and basic surveillance. Criminals look for brag posts, wallet screenshots, or clues about where someone lives. CertiK says many wrench attacks use OSINT, or open-source intelligence, pulled from public data and social media.

Wrench attacks hit Europe harder than other regions in the dataset. France was the top country in 2025, with 19 incidents, more than any other nation tracked. The United States logged eight in the same count.

A high-profile case showed how wrench attacks can turn brutal. In January 2025, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were kidnapped from their home in France, and the attackers demanded a large crypto ransom. Prosecutors said Balland was seriously injured during the ordeal before police freed the couple and detained suspects. The case became a warning that wrench attacks are not only about money.

Wrench attacks are not limited to Europe. Asia still made up about one-third of cases in 2025. CertiK flags risk to crypto tourists and expatriates in hubs like Thailand and Hong Kong. Some wrench attacks begin after a target shares a ride, flashes a wallet app, or meets a new contact who seems helpful.

Wrench attacks can also be costly, even when totals are unclear. CertiK says losses linked to wrench attacks exceeded $40.9 million in 2025, but the figure is likely low because many victims do not report crimes, and ransoms can be hard to trace. In wrench attacks, the goal is speed.

The report’s main point is that code upgrades alone will not stop wrench attacks. As exchanges and wallets get harder to crack online, criminals shift to real-life pressure. CertiK says humans remain the single point of failure, which helps explain why wrench attacks can rise even when cybersecurity improves. That is why “just protect your seed phrase” is no longer enough.

To cut the risk of wrench attacks, focus on simple habits and personal security awareness. Limit what you share online. Avoid posting your location in real time. Keep most funds in cold storage on a hardware wallet, and keep only a small “spending” wallet on your phone. For larger balances, use multi-signature wallets or a passphrase so one stolen device cannot move everything at once. These steps cannot prevent every wrench attack, but they can slow a thief and limit damage.

While wrench attacks rise, Russia is moving closer to opening crypto trading to more retail users. State Duma lawmaker Anatoly Aksakov said a draft bill is ready that would let non-qualified investors trade crypto under set limits, according to Russian reporting. Under the plan discussed by officials, non-qualified investors could buy up to 300,000 rubles of crypto, while professional market participants would face no such cap. Officials also say the rules could support cross-border settlements and the overseas placement of Russian-issued tokens.

Russia’s central bank has laid out a similar framework. In a December 23, 2025 statement, the Bank of Russia said non-qualified investors could buy the most liquid cryptocurrencies only after passing a risk-awareness test, and only within the 300,000 ruble annual limit through one intermediary. The same proposal says crypto and stablecoins may be traded but may not be used for payments inside Russia.

Both stories meet at the user level. More access can bring more new holders, and new holders can become targets for wrench attacks if they overshare or carry large balances on a phone. CertiK says wrench attacks are rising faster in Europe than in North America, but it warns this does not prove North America is “safe.”

For anyone holding crypto in 2026, wrench attacks are part of the threat map. Treat personal safety like wallet safety. Keep your identity and holdings private, plan how you move funds, and assume criminals read the same posts you do. Wrench attacks succeed when a target has no plan and no time.

Crypto winter has been the main story in digital assets since early 2025. Many traders still call it a dip, but the price action looks like a true crypto winter. Bitcoin hit a record above $125,000 in early October 2025, then slid hard in the months that followed. Now, the market is trying to find its footing, and that is what a crypto winter feels like.

In a crypto winter, good headlines do not move prices the way people expect. You can get news about new products, new rules, and new big-name buyers, and the charts still fall. That gap confuses people. It should not. A crypto winter often runs on one thing: forced selling. When leverage builds up, a drop triggers liquidations. When that happens, even strong projects can sink with the rest of the market.

This crypto winter also shows a split inside crypto itself. Large coins that big firms can buy tend to hold up better. Smaller coins that lack easy access through funds tend to drop more. That pattern matters because it changes how the pain spreads. Retail holders feel the crypto winter first. Big flows can mask it for a while, then the stress shows up later when the market runs out of new buyers.

That backdrop set the tone Tuesday in New York City, where Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead spoke on a panel with Tom Lee at the Ondo Summit. They acknowledged the rough market, but they pushed a long view. Morehead argued that bitcoin should beat gold over the next decade because bitcoin has a fixed supply, while fiat money loses buying power over time. In a crypto winter, that kind of claim will not lift prices today, but it tells you how long-term investors frame the trade.

Morehead also said many large institutions still hold little or no crypto, even after bitcoin ETFs arrived. That point matters in a crypto winter because it hints at where new demand could come from later. If big pools of money stay on the sidelines during a crypto winter, the market can remain weak. If those pools start to allocate after conditions calm, prices can recover faster than most expect.

Lee challenged a simple “four-year cycle” story. He pointed to signs of a major deleveraging event tied to the October 2025 crash and said the market structure keeps changing. Crypto winter does not always follow the same script. Sometimes the bottom comes when people stop watching. Sometimes it comes after a final wave of forced selling. Either way, crypto winter tends to end when sellers run out, not when optimists show up.

Regulation sits in the middle of this crypto winter. In the United States, lawmakers have debated a market-structure proposal often called the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025. The bill aims to set clearer federal rules for digital assets. But talks have hit friction, including a fight over whether stablecoin issuers should be allowed to offer interest-like rewards. This matters because stablecoins act like the cash leg of crypto trading. In a crypto winter, traders lean on stablecoins even more, since they want to park value without leaving the ecosystem.

Even with policy debates, builders keep shipping. Stablecoins keep growing. Tokenized assets keep showing up in pilots. Big firms keep exploring custody and settlement tech. Those trends can feel invisible during a crypto winter because price screens drown out everything else. Still, they build the rails that can support the next upcycle.

So how should an enthusiast read this crypto winter? First, treat it like a season, not a weekend event. Crypto winter can last long enough to wear people down. Second, watch where stress shows up. If liquidations spike, it can force another leg down. If volume dries up and price stops falling on bad news, crypto winter may be closer to the end. Third, keep an eye on the gap between large coins and smaller coins. That gap often tells you where liquidity sits, and liquidity runs the show in a crypto winter.

No one can call the exact turn. But crypto winter has a pattern: it ends when boredom replaces panic. If you expected nonstop rallies because of ETFs, institutions, or new laws, this crypto winter is the reminder that markets move on positioning and cash flow first. When the selling fades, the same “good news” that got ignored during crypto winter can start to matter again.

Luxembourg’s Intergenerational Sovereign Wealth Fund, known as FSIL, has put 1% of its portfolio into Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Treasury Director and Secretary General Bob Kieffer shared the move after Finance Minister Gilles Roth referenced it during the 2026 Budget presentation at the Chambre des Députés. The allocation is small but notable because it is one of the first by a European Union state-backed investor to use Bitcoin ETFs rather than hold coins directly. FSIL manages about €764 million, so a 1% slice equals roughly $9 million of Bitcoin exposure through ETFs.

Kieffer said the choice follows a new investment policy the Government approved in July 2025 and a framework update announced in late September after a mid-June review. The fund will keep its core mix in equity and debt markets while adding alternative assets. Under the policy, FSIL may allocate up to 15% to alternatives that include cryptocurrencies, real estate, and private equity. He said the board judged that 1% strikes a balance for a public fund with an intergenerational mission. It signals confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term potential while keeping risk limited.

The route through exchange-traded funds aims to reduce operational risk. ETFs provide regulated custody, daily pricing, and audits, which many institutions prefer over direct crypto custody. That choice also fits with Luxembourg’s image as a funds hub with strict governance, AML/CFT controls, and MiCA-era attention to market integrity in the European Union. Kieffer framed the step as recognition that the digital asset market shows growing maturity and that Luxembourg wants to remain a leader in digital finance inside Europe.

The timing stands out because a 2025 national risk report tagged certain crypto companies as high risk for money laundering. Local finance institutions, however, have continued to test regulated paths into digital assets. Using a Bitcoin ETF wrapper allows compliance teams to apply existing rules for securities, portfolio limits, and counterparty checks while avoiding direct wallet management. FSIL also noted that the decision came after a broad review of economic, social, and environmental priorities, which guide how a sovereign wealth fund invests public money over many cycles.

Across Europe, more public players are studying Bitcoin. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund increased its indirect Bitcoin exposure over the past year through listed companies that hold or service crypto. The Czech National Bank raised its stake in U.S. exchange Coinbase shares in mid-July and has discussed a small, test portfolio to study Bitcoin rather than fear it. In Sweden, a member of parliament proposed a budget-neutral Bitcoin reserve this spring to open a policy debate. These moves differ in size and method, but they point to a trend: European institutions are exploring ways to gain crypto exposure under existing rules.

For FSIL, the 1% Bitcoin ETF allocation is a cautious start. It keeps most assets in traditional equity and debt markets. It adds a measured slice of a new asset class through regulated funds. It respects operational risk limits and public-sector scrutiny while signaling that Bitcoin may serve as a long-term diversifier. Supporters will call it prudent. Critics may call it too small. The fund’s managers present it as a first step that fits the mandate, the law, and the evolving European market for digital assets.

Deutsche Bank’s new report points to a clear shift: central banks holding bitcoin could become normal by 2030. The call lands as gold and bitcoin hit records this week. Gold neared $3,990 an ounce. Bitcoin crossed $126,000. Investors are looking for safe-haven assets. They want protection during global uncertainty and they want assets that do not move in lockstep with stocks and bonds.

The Deutsche Bank bitcoin report says bitcoin is gaining status as a reserve asset. Today, central bank reserves focus on gold and foreign currencies. Reserves help a country support its currency and steady its economy. The bank argues bitcoin could sit next to gold as a strategic reserve. The case includes better market plumbing, clearer rules, and a wider base of institutional adoption of bitcoin.

Liquidity is the first pillar. Bitcoin liquidity is improving as more institutions trade and custody it. Liquidity means you can buy or sell without moving the price much. Deeper order books, larger ETF volumes, and more market makers point in the same direction. That matters for central banks holding bitcoin because reserve managers need to move size with limited slippage.

Regulation is the second pillar. Crypto regulation maturation is underway in many regions. Clearer rules on custody, accounting, market abuse, and taxation reduce operational risk. When rules are clear, balance sheet allocation to bitcoin becomes more credible. Large banks, auditors, and custodians can follow standard playbooks.

Volatility is the third pillar. Price swings still happen, but bitcoin volatility decline is real compared with past years. The Deribit Bitcoin Volatility Index (DVOL) fell from about 60 at the start of the year to near 39 this week. DVOL is a market-based reading of expected swings, similar to how the VIX works for equities. Lower DVOL makes bitcoin easier to model for reserve managers who answer to boards and risk committees.

The asset’s features also support the thesis. Bitcoin’s fixed supply cap creates scarcity that policy cannot change. Its decentralized design limits single points of failure. Portability and 24/7 transfer rails make settlement fast compared with gold bars. It shows low correlation with stocks and bonds at key times, which helps central bank reserves diversification. That mix—scarcity, portability, and low correlation—fits the stated goals of reserve managers at the Fed, the ECB, and the Bank of Japan.

Dollar weakness is part of the backdrop. The US Dollar Index, known as DXY, has dropped more than nine percent this year. Policy fights, budget strains, and trade tensions add noise to the dollar story. Over two decades, the dollar’s share of global reserves slid from around 60 percent to near 41 percent as more countries diversify. At the same time, gold’s share rose as central banks bought more metal. De-dollarization trends are slow, but they are visible. In that setting, central banks holding bitcoin moves from fringe idea to debated option.

Geopolitics adds another angle. Some state actors seek payment channels outside the dollar system. Reports of Russia-linked crypto activity and attempts to route around SWIFT highlight that pressure. Policymakers weigh those risks when they think about crypto and sanctions, but they also study how to hold transparent assets with clean custody and audit trails. The Deutsche Bank bitcoin report focuses on lawful reserve use, yet the sanctions debate pushes governments to understand the rails.

Corporate treasuries offer a preview. More than 200 public firms and over 60 private firms now show corporate treasuries bitcoin holdings on their balance sheets. Together they hold about 1.3 million bitcoin, worth roughly $165 billion, or almost six percent of supply. Many follow the playbook popularized by Michael Saylor’s firm, now called Saylor Strategy, formerly MicroStrategy. Their approach uses debt, cash flow, and treasury policy to add a bitcoin reserve asset. While companies differ from countries, the adoption path shows how accounting, custody, and risk control can work at scale.

Skeptics note the risks. Bitcoin can fall fast. Policy can change. Tech failures can happen. Supporters answer that market structure is stronger now, with institutional-grade custody, insurance, and multi-signature controls. ETFs and futures bring transparency. Independent audits and chain analytics improve compliance. For central banks holding bitcoin, the practical question is not ideology but process: can they trade it, store it, value it, and explain it?

Market structure keeps evolving. Exchange depth has grown. Spreads are tighter. More venues quote block trades for large tickets. These steps make it easier to handle sovereign-size orders. As liquidity improves and regulation matures, the gap between gold as strategic reserve and bitcoin as reserve asset narrows.

If central banks do take this step, they may start small. A pilot allocation could be a fraction of one percent of reserves. Managers would track correlation, liquidity, and DVOL under stress. They would compare bitcoin vs gold during risk-off moves and test operational playbooks. If results match the thesis, allocations could rise over time, much like how some countries scaled up gold purchases in recent years.

No central bank has formally disclosed bitcoin as part of its official reserves yet. A few governments have seized or acquired small amounts in legal cases or pilots, but they do not treat those holdings as strategic reserve. The Deutsche Bank bitcoin report does not claim a date certain. It outlines a pathway from now to 2030 in which central banks holding bitcoin is plausible, based on liquidity, regulation, volatility, and demand for reserve diversification during dollar weakness and de-dollarization trends.

For readers tracking the story, the key signals are simple. Watch DXY for dollar momentum. Watch DVOL for market risk. Watch ETF flows and order book depth for bitcoin liquidity improving. Watch policy milestones that enable lawful custody and accounting. If those lines keep moving the same way, the odds rise that central banks holding bitcoin becomes part of the mainstream reserve toolkit by 2030.