Stablecoin Usage in Venezuela Likely to Keep Expanding Amid Economic Instability
TRM Labs reports that Venezuela’s stablecoin usage is set to expand as economic instability persists. The bolívar’s ongoing devaluation and sanctions have pushed citizens to rely on peer‑to‑peer platforms and USDT for payments and remittances. Venezuela ranks 18th globally and 9th per‑capita in crypto adoption, with over 38% of crypto site visits directed to a single P2P exchange. Absent regulatory clarity, digital assets remain a critical substitute for traditional banking.
BTC OGs Selling Covered Calls Is the Main Culprit Suppressing Price: Analyst
Analyst Jeff Park warns that long‑term Bitcoin whales are suppressing spot BTC prices by selling covered call options. Market makers buying these calls must hedge by offloading Bitcoin, creating sell‑side pressure despite strong ETF demand. The strategy has helped Bitcoin...
The Securities and Exchange Commission Publishes Crypto Custody Guide
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued its first investor bulletin on crypto custody, outlining best practices for wallet storage and risk management. The guide contrasts self‑custody with third‑party custodians, highlighting issues such as rehypothecation and asset commingling. It...
Brazil’s Largest Private Bank Advises Investors to Allocate 3% to Bitcoin in 2026
Itaú Asset Management, the investment arm of Brazil’s largest private bank, recommends allocating 1 % to 3 % of portfolios to Bitcoin in 2026, citing diversification and a currency‑hedging function amid geopolitical tension and shifting monetary policy. The note references Bitcoin’s volatile...
Bitcoin Miners Turn to Renewable Energy Amid Profit Margin Squeeze
Bitcoin miners are increasingly turning to renewable energy as hash price slips to about $39.4 per petahash‑second per day, falling below the $40 breakeven level. Companies such as Sangha Renewables, the Phoenix Group, and Canaan‑Soluna are launching solar, hydro, and...
Short-Term Bitcoin Traders Were Profitable for 66% of 2025: Will Profits Rise in 2026?
Short‑term Bitcoin holders (STHs) logged profits on 229 of 345 days in 2025, equating to a 66% profitability rate despite a negative year‑to‑date price performance. The cohort’s realized price of $81,000 served as a psychological pivot, separating periods of panic...
Tools for Humanity Expands World App Toward Super-App Model
Tools for Humanity unveiled a major upgrade to its World app, adding end‑to‑end encrypted messaging, a suite of third‑party mini‑apps and DeFi‑driven yield products. The update expands stablecoin support to USDC, EURC and several peso‑linked tokens, and introduces QR‑code payments...
Bitcoin Swings Above $94K as Crypto Faces ‘Netscape’ Moment: Finance Redefined
Bitcoin surged past $94,330 on Tuesday after Strategy’s $962 million Bitcoin purchase, coinciding with the Federal Reserve’s 25‑basis‑point rate cut, but the rally proved short‑lived as the market had already priced in the policy move. Analysts argue the sector is approaching...
Pyth to Launch Reserve Using Buybacks From DAO Treasury Funds
Pyth Network announced it will create a reserve by using roughly one‑third of its DAO‑derived revenue to repurchase its native PYTH token on the open market. The buyback program is intended to strengthen the token’s price support and generate additional...
Tether May Tokenize Equity to Ensure Liquidity for Investors: Report
Tether, the issuer of the USD‑t stablecoin, is exploring tokenized equity and share‑buyback mechanisms to improve liquidity as it pursues a $500 billion valuation. The firm is in talks to raise $20 billion for a 3 % stake, after halting a shareholder’s attempt...
Figure Technology Files ‘Second IPO’ to Bring Native Equity Issuance to Solana
Figure Technology has filed a second public offering with the SEC to issue its equity directly on the Solana blockchain. The blockchain‑native shares will be minted and traded on‑chain through Figure’s own alternative trading system, effectively a decentralized exchange. This...
Paxos, Fidelity, Ripple, BitGo, and Circle Secure US Trust Bank Approvals
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has conditionally approved five national bank charter applications from firms tied to digital assets. BitGo, Fidelity and Paxos will convert their state‑level trust companies into federally chartered national trust banks,...
Europe Reconsiders Crypto Oversight as ESMA Centralization Gains Momentum
Europe is weighing a shift of crypto supervision from national regulators to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as the Markets in Crypto‑Assets (MiCA) regime enters its implementation phase. Enforcement gaps have emerged, with Germany issuing around 30 licences...
Ripple Expands European Footprint with AMINA Stablecoin Payment Partnership
Ripple Payments announced a partnership with Swiss‑regulated bank Amina, integrating its fiat‑to‑stablecoin payment infrastructure into the FINMA‑supervised institution. The collaboration enables Amina to settle cross‑border transactions faster, cheaper, and with greater transparency using Ripple’s USD‑stablecoin (RLUSD). Amina’s Austrian subsidiary also...
Scaramucci Predicts ‘Exponential Opportunity’ for Crypto at LONGITUDE
At Cointelegraph’s LONGITUDE conference, Anthony Scaramucci and other crypto leaders highlighted an "exponential opportunity" as regulatory clarity and institutional interest surge into 2026. They noted that the United States is finally aligning policy, enabling banks such as BlackRock, Blackstone and JPMorgan...
US Financial Markets ‘Poised to Move On-Chain,’ Amid DTCC Tokenization Greenlight
SEC Chair Paul Atkins announced an “innovation exemption” to speed tokenization, following a no‑action letter that lets DTCC pilot a service tokenizing the Russell 1000 index, ETFs and U.S. Treasuries. The move signals the agency’s willingness to let on‑chain securities retain...
Binance Hints at Stock Perps in Push to Join Global Tokenized Equities Race
Binance has quietly added three new API endpoints that enable a TradFi‑Perps agreement and trading‑session queries, indicating a forthcoming launch of stock perpetual futures. The move revives the exchange’s 2021 tokenized‑stock experiment, which was halted after regulator scrutiny. By structuring...
Bitcoin First, Crypto at Scale: Inside the UAE’s Layered Digital Asset Strategy
The United Arab Emirates is pursuing a two‑track digital‑asset strategy: Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as a Bitcoin‑centric institutional hub, offering regulated custody, OTC liquidity and mining infrastructure, while Dubai is building a broader crypto economy that includes payments, stablecoins,...
Upbit Hack Puts Binance’s Emergency Freeze Policy Under Scrutiny
South Korean police asked Binance to freeze roughly 470 million won (about $370,000) in Solana tokens tied to the Upbit hack, but the exchange only blocked $55,000—about 17% of the amount—after a 15‑hour delay. The Upbit breach resulted in unauthorized withdrawals...
Coinbase May Debut Prediction Markets, Tokenized Stocks on Wednesday: Report
Coinbase is slated to showcase new products in a Wednesday livestream, potentially unveiling its first prediction‑market platform and a tokenized‑equities offering. The exchange recently joined the Coalition for Prediction Markets, a group led by Kalshi and other U.S. operators, signaling...
CFTC Pulls ‘Actual Delivery’ Crypto Guidance, Giving Flexibility to Exchanges
Acting CFTC Chairman Caroline Pham announced the withdrawal of the agency’s 2020 “actual delivery” guidance for crypto transactions, citing outdated and overly complex rules. The scrapped guidance had required physical delivery of digital assets within 28 days, limiting exchanges’ ability...
YouTube Enables PYUSD Stablecoin Payouts for US Creators: Report
YouTube has launched a payout option that lets U.S. creators receive earnings in PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin. The feature, confirmed by PayPal’s crypto head, is live but limited to creators based in the United States. YouTube’s integration does not require the...
Netflix Teases Comedy Movie About Missing $35M Crypto Password
Netflix announced a new comedy feature titled “One Attempt Remaining,” starring Jennifer Garner, about a divorced couple racing against a 48‑hour deadline to retrieve a forgotten password and access $35 million in cryptocurrency. The plot mirrors real‑world crypto lockout stories, such...
HIVE Tests Investor Appetite for AI-Bitcoin Infrastructure in Andean Markets
HIVE Digital Technologies debuted on the Colombian Stock Exchange under the ticker HIVECO, becoming the first publicly traded Bitcoin and AI infrastructure company in Latin America. The listing opens the Andean market system—linking Colombia, Peru and Chile—to investors seeking exposure...
Xiaomi to Pre-Install Sei Crypto Wallet on Millions of Phones in Global Rollout
Sei Labs has struck a distribution agreement with Xiaomi to pre‑install its crypto wallet and discovery app on every Xiaomi smartphone sold outside mainland China and the United States. The app will integrate Google or Xiaomi ID sign‑in, a multiparty...
Vote on Trump’s CFTC Chair Pick Could Come Today, US Senator Says
Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Glenn Thompson signaled that the full Senate could vote as early as Thursday afternoon on President Donald Trump's nominee, Michael Selig, to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The vote would occur before the chamber recesses...
Texas Grid Is Heating up Again, This Time From AI, Not Bitcoin Miners
ERCOT’s interconnection queue has swelled to 226 GW, with AI data centers accounting for roughly 73% of the demand. This year alone, developers submitted 225 large‑load requests, while the generation queue lists 1,999 proposals totalling 432 GW, dominated by solar and battery...
US SEC's Crenshaw Takes Aim at Crypto in Final Weeks at the Agency
SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, the agency’s only remaining Democratic member, will leave in January, 18 months after her term expired. In a Brookings event she warned that the SEC’s lax enforcement has turned markets into a casino‑like environment, especially for...
Belarus Blocks ByBit, Bitget, OKX as Russia Clamps Down on Crypto Gray Area
Belarus’s Ministry of Information blocked the domains of major crypto exchanges Bybit, OKX, Bitget, Gate, Bingx and Weex, citing inappropriate advertising under its mass‑media law. The move coincided with Russia’s central bank hinting it may relax crypto access for a...
Bitcoin Treasuries Stall in Q4, but Largest Holders Keep Stacking Sats
Bitcoin treasury adoption slowed sharply in Q4 2025, with only nine new corporate adopters versus 53 in Q3, bringing the year‑to‑date total to 117 companies. Despite the slowdown, the largest corporate treasuries kept buying, highlighted by Strategy’s $962 million purchase, keeping...
UK FCA Makes Pound Stablecoin Payments 2026 Priority
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has placed pound‑pegged stablecoin payments at the top of its 2026 growth agenda, fast‑tracking a dedicated regulatory sandbox for prospective issuers. Companies must apply by 18 January 2026 to test their stablecoin solutions under FCA guidance before...
Coinbase Opens Solana DEX Access as CeFi and DeFi Converge
Coinbase announced a direct integration with Solana’s decentralized exchange infrastructure, enabling users to trade any Solana‑based token without a traditional listing. The move follows a similar Base‑chain DEX rollout and signals the exchange’s push to broaden on‑ramp access to fast‑growing...
Bubblemaps Challenges PEPE’s Fair Launch, Alleges 30% of Genesis Supply Bundled
Bubblemaps revealed that roughly 30% of PEPE’s genesis supply was held by a single wallet cluster, which sold about $2 million of tokens the day after the memecoin’s April 2023 launch. The early sell‑off added pressure that prevented PEPE from breaching a...
Poland Resubmits Vetoed Crypto Bill: ‘Not Even a Comma’ Changed
Poland's ruling coalition re‑submitted Bill 2050, an 84‑page crypto‑asset proposal identical to the vetoed Bill 1424, despite President Karol Nawrocki’s earlier rejection. Government spokesman Adam Szłapka insists the text is unchanged, while critics argue it over‑regulates the market. The bill would name the...
UAE Telco Giant E& Taps Dirham Stablecoin for Bill Payments Pilot
UAE telecom giant e& has signed an MoU with Al Maryah Community Bank to pilot AE Coin, a dirham‑pegged stablecoin licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE. The trial will embed the token into e&’s payment infrastructure, allowing customers to settle...
Norway’s Central Bank Says CBDC ‘Not Warranted,’ Cites Strong Payment System
Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, announced that a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is not warranted at this time, citing the country’s already secure, efficient and low‑cost payment infrastructure. The decision follows years of experimentation, including the retail‑focused Project Icebreaker...
Satoshi Nakamoto Statue Lands on NYSE in Sign of Changing Times
The New York Stock Exchange unveiled Valentina Picozzi’s sixth "disappearing" Satoshi Nakamoto statue, marking a visible shift toward crypto acceptance on Wall Street. The artwork was installed by Bitcoin‑focused firm Twenty One Capital as it launched trading this week. The NYSE framed the piece...
Australian Regulator Eases Rules for Stablecoins and Wrapped Tokens
Australia’s securities regulator ASIC has granted class relief that removes the need for separate Australian Financial Services licences for stablecoin and wrapped‑token intermediaries. The exemption also authorises the use of omnibus accounts, cutting compliance costs and simplifying record‑keeping. ASIC says...
GOP Hardliners Vexed as Defense Bill Advances without CBDC Ban
The U.S. House approved the $900 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without the promised anti‑central bank digital currency (CBDC) provision. Republicans led by Rep. Keith Self had secured a deal to embed a CBDC ban, but the amendment was stripped...
Survey Finds 6 in 10 of Asia’s Rich Plan to Ramp up Crypto Buying
Sygnum’s APAC HNWI Report 2025 reveals that 87 % of Asia’s high‑net‑worth individuals already hold crypto, with an average portfolio allocation of roughly 17 %. More than half of these investors own over 10 % of their assets in digital currencies, and six...
Fed Slashes Interest Rates, but Issues Mixed Forward Guidance
The Federal Reserve lowered its policy rate by 25 basis points to a 3.5%‑3.75% range, but Chair Jerome Powell delivered mixed forward guidance, suggesting only a single cut may occur by 2026. Analysts say the ambiguous outlook is curbing the...
Tether Launches Privacy-Focused Health Platform with On-Device AI
Tether has launched QVAC Health, a privacy‑focused platform that consolidates data from wearables and wellness apps into an encrypted, offline dashboard. The system uses on‑device AI and peer‑to‑peer model updates to analyze activity, nutrition, and health metrics without transmitting data...
ChronoForge to Shut Down Amid Funding Collapse and Web3 Gaming Turmoil
ChronoForge, a Web3 studio building a multiplayer action RPG with on‑chain asset ownership, announced it will shut down by Dec. 30 after an 80% staff cut and founders self‑financing development since July. The studio’s $3 million token sale failed to sustain operations,...
ETHZilla Moves Into Onchain Housing Finance with 15% Zippy Acquisition
Former biotech firm ETHZilla has taken a 15% stake in digital housing lender Zippy, paying $5 million in cash and $16.1 million in stock. The partnership will integrate Zippy’s AI‑driven loan origination with ETHZilla’s tokenization platform to issue manufactured‑home chattel loans on...
Galaxy Expands to UAE as Part of Middle East Push
Galaxy announced the creation of a new entity in Abu Dhabi under the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and will open an office to deepen its Middle East presence. Founder and CEO Mike Novogratz framed the move as part of...
Vanguard’s 50M+ Clients Will Soon Gain Access to Crypto ETFs: Why This Is Significant
Vanguard will soon allow its more than 50 million investors to trade spot crypto exchange‑traded funds, marking a reversal from its previously anti‑crypto stance. The firm will list third‑party ETFs linked to Bitcoin, Ether, XRP and Solana, while explicitly excluding memecoins...
Price Predictions 12/10: BTC, ETH, XRP, BNB, SOL, DOGE, ADA, BCH, LINK, HYPE
Bitcoin hovered near $94,600, with bulls needing a breakout above $94,589 to reignite a push toward the $100,000 psychological barrier. Ether showed modest strength, approaching a $3,350 resistance that could open a path to $3,918. Michael Saylor’s Strategy expanded its...
The Whale Awakening: Why Dormant Crypto Giants Are Suddenly Back in Motion
In July 2025, eight historic Satoshi-era wallets, each holding 10,000 BTC, moved coins for the first time in 14 years, shifting a total of 80,000 BTC—about $8.6 billion. On‑chain data from Lookonchain and Whale Alert show that over 62,800 BTC from wallets older than seven...
Stablecoins Break Into Top 3 Growth Drivers for Web3 Gaming: BGA 2025 Report
The Blockchain Gaming Alliance’s 2025 State of the Industry Report places stablecoin adoption among the top three growth drivers for Web3 gaming, accounting for 27.3% of developer sentiment. High‑quality game launches (29.5%) and revenue‑driven business models (27.5%) round out the...
Japan Plans Major Shift as Crypto Moves From Payments to Securities Law
Japan’s Financial Services Agency announced a plan to shift crypto‑asset oversight from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, effectively treating digital tokens as securities. The proposal tightens disclosure requirements for initial exchange offerings, mandating pre‑sale...