Overview

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are losing ground Monday, while stocks related to the industry are also slumping. Bitcoin fell sharply in November, as uncertainty in the markets led some investors to shed riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies.

In an era where centralized exchanges dominate cryptocurrency trading, Vexl stands out as a peer-to-peer (P2P) application designed to connect Bitcoin users within their personal networks for direct, non-custodial trades. The app facilitates buying and selling Bitcoin without intermediaries, emphasizing in-person meetings for cash exchanges while also supporting fiat transfers arranged privately between users.

Ales Michl published his opinion on Bitcoin amid the LIBRA scandal. The head of the CNB believes that central banks should study the technology on which it is based. He distinguished Bitcoin from other crypto assets and advised them to carefully weigh all risks when investing.

In late 2025, Mark Karpelès, ex CEO of Mt. Gox, lives a quieter life in Japan, building a VPN and an AI automation platform. As Chief Protocol Officer at vp.net—a VPN that uses Intel’s SGX technology to let users verify exactly what code runs on servers—he works alongside Roger Ver and Andrew Lee, the founder of Private Internet Access.

Async Payjoin is the best hope for strong privacy in Bitcoin. Modeled after HTTPS, which enabled secure payments for the web, the Payjoin foundation has been quietly building up this privacy toolkit, which must be adopted by a large number of Bitcoin wallets, to deliver privacy at scale.

As Bitcoin enters 2026 with sustained institutional adoption and price stability following the 2024-2025 bull run, self-custody remains a cornerstone of the asset’s sovereignty promise. Yet the landscape has evolved significantly.