In December, many Canadians stepped away from screens and entered holiday mode. While attention was elsewhere, crypto markets continued to move. Digital assets had a Santa rally on their respective wish lists, but for some cryptocurrencies, Scrooge replied.
Bitcoin closed slightly higher, up approximately 3 percent in December. It followed a difficult fourth quarter, with several top-10 cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum and Solana, still down for the year. Tariff uncertainty and volatile price moves kept confidence fragile.
Caution was not limited to digital assets. Across traditional markets, performance became increasingly concentrated. Over the course of 2025, a small group of eight companies drove most of the S&P 500’s gains, while a large portion of the index still finished the period in negative territory.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s December interest rate decisions sent mixed signals. The Bank of Canada left rates unchanged, while its U.S. counterpart moved rates lower by 25 basis points.
Global uncertainty drove risk-off behaviour and continues to drive investors toward familiar hedges such as gold and silver. As analyst Lyn Alden has pointed out, Warren Buffett delivered standout returns in the twentieth century, yet gold has performed better in the twenty-first, showing how leadership can shift across assets over time.
Beyond price action, policymakers continued to signal movement on the regulatory front. The Bank of Canada said it wants stablecoins to function as “good money,” according to Governor Tiff Macklem, with the goal of making them as reliable as cash or bank deposits while allowing Canadians to benefit from innovation in a safe and regulated way.
A decade into its development, crypto appears to be shifting from disruption into an early adoption phase. Clearer use cases, faster settlement, and lower-cost funding are making digital assets more practical in everyday settings, sparking questions about the year ahead.
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More than 700,000 Canadians have added their voices through Stand With Crypto, calling for clearer, well-defined stablecoin regulation in Canada. That momentum has begun to show up at the policy level as well, with stablecoins referenced in the federal budget. It is a signal that participation in digital assets is no longer fringe, and that expectations around rules, consumer protections, and financial stability are rising alongside global adoption.
Our CEO, Chantelle D’Alves, recently spoke to this moment in a short video, outlining why regulatory clarity matters not just for crypto companies, but for Canadians using digital tools as part of everyday financial life. If you missed it, you can watch the full video here.
One of the hardest parts of investing is often not knowing what to do, but deciding when to do it. Over the past year, major crypto assets have moved lower overall, and confidence has been harder to hold than prices. Dollar-cost averaging exists for these moments. By spreading smaller investments over time, it reduces the pressure to pick the “right” entry point and replaces constant decision-making with a steady, repeatable process.
Dollar-cost averaging does not remove risk or uncertainty. What it can do is make participation easier to sustain when markets feel noisy and conviction feels thin. In environments where timing demands near-perfect precision, consistency can be a quieter way to stay engaged. Not by predicting what comes next, but by creating a process that can be carried forward through many different market conditions.
For those who use dollar-cost averaging, structure can matter as much as intent. On Newton, recurring buys allow you to set a fixed amount and schedule in advance, so decisions are not revisited each time markets move. Many Canadians pair this with regular Interac e-Transfers from their bank, helping ensure funds are available when scheduled purchases occur. Once set, the process runs quietly in the background, supporting consistency without requiring ongoing attention.
December’s Gravity Gauge showed a market that steadied somewhat after declines in October and November, though movement remained uneven, with timing and asset selection playing a larger role than broad market direction.
⬆️ SKY rose about 13.5 percent, leading gains over the period.
⬆️ Ethereum (ETH) showed relative strength compared to the broader market.
⬆️ Sui (SUI) climbed approximately 6.7 percent.
⬆️ Uniswap (UNI) closed up about 3.9 percent.
⬆️ Solana (SOL) also closed out the month up roughly 0.7 percent, while the meme coin Pepe (PEPE) rose about 0.6 percent.
⬇️ Morpho (MORPHO) dipped close to 20 percent, marking one of the sharpest slides of the month.
⬇️ The RWA token Ondo (ONDO) declined roughly 19 percent.
⬇️ Worldcoin (WLD) declined about 15 percent.
⬇️ Algorand (ALGO) felt a pullback of approximately 15 percent.
⬇️ Shiba Inu (SHIB) also posted a double-digit decline, falling around 13 percent.
Prices reflect late December levels.
Whether you are new to crypto or have been in the space for years, Newton’s blog offers resources for everyone. Our learning content is designed to be beginner-friendly without skipping the deeper ideas, because we believe the future of money should be understood. This is one part of an ongoing conversation. In next month’s BYTE, we will continue tracking how crypto, markets, and policy are taking shape.
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