News•Dec 18, 2025
Kraken-Backed xStocks Launches on TON Wallet in ‘Nearly All Markets’
Kraken‑backed tokenized securities platform xStocks has launched on TON Wallet, Telegram’s self‑custodial wallet on the Open Network blockchain. The initial offering includes ten U.S. equities, covering about 95% of expected trading volume. The service is available in most markets where TON Wallet operates, but is excluded from the United States, the European Union and Australia due to regulatory constraints. Kraken’s move expands tokenized equity access to Telegram’s massive user base while navigating global compliance challenges.
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 18, 2025
Uniswap Vote Could Soon Tie UNI Token Value to Its Multibillion-Dollar Trading Engine
Uniswap governance has opened voting on the “UNIfication” proposal, which would activate protocol fees on selected v2 and v3 pools and introduce a permanent UNI token burn mechanism. The plan includes an immediate burn of 100 million UNI, cutting circulating supply...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 18, 2025
New SEC Rules Lets Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sach Legally “Control” Your Private Keys without the Safety Net You Assume Exists
The SEC refreshed its crypto‑asset FAQ, outlining how broker‑dealers such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs can satisfy custody and capital rules for crypto‑asset securities. The guidance allows firms to demonstrate “control” under Rule 15c3‑3(c) through qualifying control locations rather than...
By CryptoSlate
News•Dec 18, 2025
Coinbase Expands in Poland with Blik Mobile Payments Integration
Coinbase announced a partnership with payment processor PPro to add Poland’s popular Blik mobile‑payment system to its platform, tapping nearly 20 million users. The integration aims to simplify crypto purchases and withdrawals, aligning with the exchange’s focus on local payment rails....
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 18, 2025
JPMorgan’s Tokenized Dollars Are Quietly Rewiring How Wall Street Moves Money
JPMorgan has introduced its tokenized deposit product, JPM Coin (JPMD), on Coinbase’s public Base blockchain, moving from a private‑chain model to a public‑layer‑2 solution. The token represents interest‑bearing claims on actual bank deposits and is transferable only among whitelisted institutional clients....
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 18, 2025
Bitcoin Is All over the Place Ahead of U.S. Inflation Data
Bitcoin traded erratically between $86,000 and $90,000 as markets awaited the November U.S. CPI report, expected to rise to 3.1% YoY. The data will be the first comprehensive inflation reading after a government shutdown canceled October’s report, putting the Federal...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 18, 2025
Ethereum Needs Simple Explanation to See True Trustlessness: Buterin
Vitalik Buterin says Ethereum must become easier to understand to achieve genuine trustlessness, arguing that a protocol’s complexity limits who can verify it. He suggests simplifying the system, even at the cost of some features, to broaden user comprehension. The Ethereum...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 18, 2025
MSCI’s Crypto Treasury Rules Could Spur $15B of Forced Selling
MSCI is considering excluding crypto‑treasury companies from its indexes, a move that could force $10‑15 billion in asset sales. Analysts estimate total outflows of $11.6 billion, with Michael Saylor’s Strategy alone facing $2.8 billion in exits. The affected firms hold $113 billion in float‑adjusted...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 18, 2025
US Fed Pulls Guidance Blocking Its Banks From Engaging with Crypto
The Federal Reserve has withdrawn its 2023 guidance that barred uninsured banks from offering crypto services, labeling it outdated. In its place, the Fed issued new guidance that creates a formal pathway for both insured and uninsured banks to engage...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 18, 2025
Bitcoin Drifts Lower as $81.3k Emerges as the Market’s Key Fault Line: Asia Morning Briefing
Bitcoin is hovering near $86,400, but Glassnode’s True Market Mean at $81.3k has become the market’s key fault line. Large‑cap crypto assets remain tightly correlated with Bitcoin, making the $81.3k level a critical barrier between a passive drawdown and broader...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 18, 2025
World Liberty Proposes Using 5% of Treasury to Boost Its Stablecoin
World Liberty Financial, a Trump‑linked firm, has proposed using 5 % of its WLFI token treasury—about $120 million—to increase the supply of its USD1 stablecoin. The move aims to boost adoption across high‑profile CeFi and DeFi partnerships and generate more value capture...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 18, 2025
Ethereum Could Get Faster in January with Gas Limit Rise to 80M
Ethereum developers plan to raise the network’s gas limit from 60 million to 80 million after the Jan. 7 BPO hard fork, aiming to boost transaction throughput. The increase follows a series of prior hikes that have taken the limit from 30 million in...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
CFTC's Acting Chief Pham Poised to Go to Crypto Firm MoonPay Once Mike Selig Lands
Caroline Pham, the acting chief of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will leave her regulator role once Mike Selig is confirmed as the new CFTC chair. She is set to become MoonPay’s chief legal and administrative officer, overseeing the...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Jito Foundation to Return to US Amid 'Clearer Rules' For Digital Assets
The Jito Foundation announced it will move its operations back to the United States, citing a clearer regulatory landscape for digital assets. The nonprofit, which builds maximal extractable value (MEV) infrastructure on Solana, had been forced offshore during the SEC’s...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Digital Wealth Partners Introduces Algorithmic XRP Trading for Qualified Retirement Accounts
Digital Wealth Partners, an RIA backed by Ascension Group, has introduced an algorithmic XRP trading solution for qualified retirement accounts such as IRAs. Developed with Arch Public, the strategy runs in a separately managed account structure, with assets held in...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Acting CFTC Chair to Join MoonPay After Leaving Agency
Caroline Pham, the acting chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced she will leave the regulator to become MoonPay’s chief legal and administrative officer. Pham, who took the acting role in January, oversaw a modest enforcement record of...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Ex-Alameda CEO Won’t Be Spending the Holidays in Federal Prison
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was moved from Danbury federal prison to a Residential Reentry Management office in New York City, marking her first housing change since November 2024. She is serving a two‑year sentence for her role in...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Brazilian Stock Exchange B3 to Launch Its Own Tokenization Platform and Stablecoin
Brazil's primary stock exchange B3 announced plans to launch a tokenization platform and a real‑pegged stablecoin in 2026. The platform will enable tokenized assets to trade alongside traditional securities, using a shared liquidity pool that masks the origin of the...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Legacy Yearn Vault Exploited in Second Attack on the Protocol This Month
Yearn Finance suffered a second exploit this month, this time targeting a legacy iEarn TUSD vault and resulting in a loss of roughly $300,000. The attacker used a flash‑loan attack to manipulate the share price and swapped the stolen assets...
By The Defiant
News•Dec 17, 2025
Binance Mulls New US Strategy, CZ Potentially Reducing Stake: Report
Binance is weighing a strategic overhaul to re‑enter the United States, which may involve reducing co‑founder Changpeng Zhao’s controlling stake. The exchange is exploring partnerships with firms such as BlackRock and the decentralized platform WLFI to navigate regulatory hurdles. A...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Aptos Drops 5% to $1.50 as Volume Spikes Above Monthly Average
Aptos (APT) slipped 5% in the last 24 hours, settling around $1.50 after a brief rally to $1.64. Trading volume surged, reaching 23% above the 30‑day moving average and 258% above the 24‑hour average during the price rejection. The technical...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Silvergate Bank Lawsuit Calls for FTX, Alameda Clients to Weigh in on $10M Settlement
A California class‑action lawsuit seeks to distribute a $10 million settlement to Silvergate Bank claimants linked to FTX or Alameda Research. More than 46,000 investors who deposited fiat into FTX‑related accounts between 2019 and 2022 can file claims before the Jan 30...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
BNB Drops Nearly 3% to as Bitcoin Whipsaw and Tech Selloff Hit Crypto Market
BNB slipped nearly 3% to about $844 after a sharp reversal in Bitcoin and a broader tech‑stock selloff. The token briefly rallied to $872 but lost momentum as sellers triggered stop‑losses, breaking the $855‑$857 consolidation zone. Bitcoin’s volatility surged past...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Russia’s Biggest Bank Sberbank Pilots ‘DeFi Tools’ for TradFi Convergence
Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, has begun piloting a range of decentralized‑finance (DeFi) tools despite being under U.S. and EU sanctions. The bank’s deputy chairman, Anatoly Popov, said any meaningful integration will depend on a clear regulatory framework, especially around taxation,...
By The Defiant
News•Dec 17, 2025
Crypto Stocks Pare Gains as Bitcoin Retreats From $90,000 Rally
Crypto‑linked equities retreated after Bitcoin slipped from a brief surge above $90,000 to around $86,500, a 3.9% drop in an hour. The decline pulled miners such as MARA Holdings and Core Scientific down 4.8% and 6% respectively, while other crypto...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Robinhood Looks Better Placed than Coinbase for Prediction-Market Upside, Mizuho Says
Robinhood is positioned to capture more revenue from prediction markets than Coinbase, according to a Mizuho survey. The study found Robinhood users intend to fund these trades with fresh capital, while Coinbase users are more likely to sell existing crypto...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Macquarie Sees U.S. Senate Near Crypto Deal as Market Structure, GENIUS Rules Advance
Macquarie predicts the U.S. Senate will near a crypto regulatory deal by early 2026, driven by bipartisan market‑structure negotiations and parallel GENIUS Act rulemaking. The Senate Agriculture Committee’s draft would expand CFTC authority, while the Banking Committee’s Responsible Financial Innovation...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Kyrgyzstan’s USDKG Shows How Real-Asset Stablecoins Are Evolving in Emerging Markets
Kyrgyzstan has introduced USDKG, a USD‑pegged stablecoin backed by physical gold rather than cash or Treasury securities. The token debuted on the Tron blockchain with an initial issuance of 50 million units and plans to expand to Ethereum. Its hybrid model...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Hut 8 and Coinbase Outperform as Crypto Stocks Jump on Bitcoin's Sudden Rally
Bitcoin surged past $90,000, igniting a broad rally across crypto‑linked equities. Hut 8 led the pack, jumping 14.4% after announcing a $7 billion, 15‑year lease with AI‑infrastructure firm Fluidstack, while CleanSpark and Riot also posted gains. Coinbase rose 2.27% as it prepared...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Most Influential: Vlad Tenev
Robinhood, under CEO Vlad Tenev, completed a $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp, securing more than 50 global crypto licenses. The deal accelerates Robinhood’s push into institutional trading and tokenized assets. The platform also launched staking for ether and solana, added XRP,...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Most Influential: Jeremy Allaire
Jeremy Allaire spent 2025 turning his vision of dollar‑backed digital money into concrete policy and product milestones. He championed the GENIUS Act, which created the first federal licensing framework for stablecoins, and secured its passage into law. Circle applied for...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
The Deepfake Reckoning: Why Crypto’s Next Security Battle Will Be Against Synthetic Humans
Generative AI has turned deepfakes into a mainstream fraud weapon, with synthetic media rising 550 % from 2019 to 2024. Crypto platforms, buoyed by regulatory clarity and growing adoption, still rely on static KYC checks that cannot stop AI‑generated video IDs...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Hut 8 Stock Surges 20% on Fluidstack AI Data Center Deal
Hut 8 shares surged 20% after announcing a 15‑year, $7 billion lease with Fluidstack for 245 MW of AI‑focused data‑center capacity at its River Bend campus in Louisiana. Google is providing a financial backstop, lowering counterparty risk, while the agreement grants Fluidstack a right...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Don't Call It QE — the Fed's $40 Billion of Bill Purchases May Not Shake Crypto Out of Its Slump
The Federal Reserve announced a $40 billion monthly purchase of short‑term Treasury bills, branding the program as Reserve Management Operations rather than quantitative easing. The move is designed to replenish bank reserves and stabilize money‑market rates ahead of the April tax‑payment...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Uniform Labs’ Multiliquid Targets Structural Gap in $35 Billion Tokenized Asset Market
Uniform Labs has launched Multiliquid, an institutional liquidity protocol that enables instant, 24/7 swaps between tokenized money‑market funds and major stablecoins such as USDC and USDT. The platform integrates with tokenized Treasury products from firms like Wellington Management, aiming to...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Former SEC Counsel Explains What It Takes to Make RWAs Compliant
Former SEC counsel Ashley Ebersole says the SEC’s evolving stance is unlocking compliant real‑world asset (RWA) tokenization, after years of enforcement‑first policy. He highlights a model where tokenized equities are backed by shares held by regulated clearing brokers, granting full...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Washington Has Started the Clock on Bank-Issued Crypto Dollars, and the Timeline Contains a 2026 Bitcoin Surprise
Washington’s FDIC has launched rulemaking under the GENIUS Act, setting a roadmap for bank‑issued stablecoins that could materialize by late 2026. At the same time, Vanguard reversed its crypto ban, granting roughly 50 million clients access to spot Bitcoin ETFs, while...
By CryptoSlate
News•Dec 17, 2025
Binance Alleges Fake Listing Agents, Offers up to $5M Whistleblower Reward
Binance warned users that third‑party "listing agents" are fraudulent and outlined a direct token‑listing process. The exchange publicly identified seven fake agents and urged projects to apply through official forms. To combat the scheme, Binance announced a whistleblower bounty of...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Bitcoin Miner Hut 8 Lands $7B Google-Backed AI Data Center Lease
Hut 8, a Bitcoin mining firm, signed a 15‑year lease valued at $7 billion to deliver 245 MW of AI data‑center capacity at its River Bend campus in Louisiana. The agreement pairs infrastructure provider Fluidstack with Google, which will act as a financial backstop...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Moon Pursuit Capital Launches $100 Million Market-Neutral Crypto Fund
Moon Pursuit Capital announced a $100 million market‑neutral crypto fund that uses algorithmic trading to generate risk‑adjusted returns across digital‑asset cycles. The strategy stays neutral on market direction, supplementing its core engine with bitcoin accumulation at perceived cycle lows and short‑term...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Wall Street Giant DTCC Picks Privacy Focused Blockchain Canton Network for Tokenization
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has selected Digital Asset’s privacy‑focused Canton Network to tokenize a subset of U.S. Treasury securities held at its DTC clearinghouse. The initiative follows a recent SEC No‑Action Letter that clears the path for...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Securitize to Offer First Fully Onchain Trading for Real Public Stocks in Early 2026
Securitize announced it will launch the first fully compliant on‑chain trading platform for actual public stocks in early 2026. The system issues tokenized shares directly on the issuer’s cap table, granting holders legal ownership, dividends, and voting rights. Trades will...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Solana Tests Quantum-Resistant Transactions in New Project Eleven Pilot
Solana announced a partnership with post‑quantum security firm Project Eleven to pilot quantum‑resistant transactions on a dedicated testnet. The collaboration delivered a functional testnet employing post‑quantum digital signatures, demonstrating that end‑to‑end quantum‑resistant transactions can be both practical and scalable. The...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
CAR’s Crypto Push Fueled ‘State Capture’ by Elites, Criminal Networks: Report
An investigative report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime says the Central African Republic’s cryptocurrency push deepened elite control and opened channels for foreign criminal networks. The country’s brief experiment with Bitcoin as legal tender was reversed after...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Ripple’s Asia Venture Looks to Make XRP a Yield-Bearing Asset
SBI Ripple Asia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Doppler Finance to develop XRP‑based yield products and tokenized real‑world assets on the XRP Ledger. The deal appoints Singapore‑regulated SBI Digital Markets as the institutional custodian, ensuring segregated custody for...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
How China’s Strengthening Yuan Could Support Bitcoin Prices
The Chinese yuan rose to 7.043 per dollar, its strongest level since early October, marking a 1% gain this quarter and a 4% rise from its April low. Analysts argue that a firmer yuan could give Beijing room to roll...
By CoinDesk
News•Dec 17, 2025
Polymarket Shows Stronger Retention than Most DeFi, Wallets and Exchanges
Polymarket’s user‑retention metrics, analyzed by Dune and Keyrock, beat more than 85% of the 275 crypto projects surveyed, highlighting its outperformance in a sector where sustained engagement is rare. The study tracked monthly cohorts and found that Polymarket’s cohort retention...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Bitcoin Institutional Buys Flip New Supply for the First Time in 6 Weeks
Institutions are now buying more Bitcoin than miners are creating, flipping the daily supply balance for the first time since early November. Capriole Investments reports institutional demand is 13% higher than the newly mined BTC on a rolling daily basis....
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
KuCoin Taps Tomorrowland Festivals as MiCA-Era On-Ramp for European Fans
KuCoin has signed an exclusive multi‑year deal with Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium to become the festivals’ sole crypto and payments partner from 2026 through 2028. The agreement follows KuCoin’s recent acquisition of a Markets in Crypto‑Assets (MiCA) service‑provider license...
By Cointelegraph
News•Dec 17, 2025
Hyperliquid Governance Vote Aims to Permanently Sideline $1B Assistance Fund
The Hyper Foundation has put forward a validator vote to officially deem the HYPE tokens held in the Assistance Fund as permanently inaccessible, effectively treating them as burned. The fund, which automatically converts trading fees into HYPE, contains roughly $1 billion,...
By Cointelegraph