<h2>Bitcoin and Ethereum Accumulation Accelerates Amid Year-End Market Conditions</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Strategy resumed bitcoin accumulation, buying 1,229 BTC for about $109 million and lifting total holdings to 672,497 BTC.</li><li>Bitmine added 44,463 ETH, pushing its Ethereum treasury to roughly 3.41% of circulating supply and beginning large-scale staking.</li><li>Both moves highlight divergent corporate treasury strategies as crypto price dynamics remain sensitive to liquidity and year-end flows.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div><hr>Strategy and Bitmine Immersion Technologies moved decisively in late December, reinforcing how corporate balance sheets are increasingly shaping digital asset markets as the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index reflected heightened institutional activity. Strategy&nbsp;<a href="https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltf8d808d9b8cebd37/blt50c67b947ebad326/6951a0c3a88d5c1ac5b336a8/form-8-k_12-29-2025.pdf">disclosed</a> that it purchased 1,229 bitcoin between Dec. 22 and Dec. 28, spending roughly $108.8 million at an average price near $88,568 per coin. The acquisition followed a brief pause and lifted the company’s total holdings to 672,497&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>, accumulated at an average cost basis of about $74,997 per bitcoin. Funding came from Strategy’s at-the-market equity program, where 663,450 shares of Class A common stock were sold during the same period, generating net proceeds that closely matched the bitcoin outlay. The company had paused purchases the previous week to bolster its U.S. dollar reserves, which now stand at $2.19 billion, underscoring a tactical approach to capital deployment rather than a shift in long-term strategy.Bitmine Immersion Technologies, chaired by Tom Lee, pursued a different but equally aggressive path on the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> network. The firm&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bitmine-immersion-bmnr-announces-eth-holdings-reach-4-11-million-tokens-and-total-crypto-and-total-cash-holdings-of-13-2-billion-302650000.html">reported</a> adding 44,463 ether over the past week, bringing its total holdings to approximately 4.11 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a>, or about 3.41% of Ethereum’s circulating supply. At prevailing market levels, the Ethereum treasury alone was valued at just over $12 billion, contributing to combined crypto and cash holdings of $13.2 billion as of Dec. 28. Bitmine also confirmed it has begun staking its ether, with more than 408,000 ETH already generating yield ahead of the planned launch of its Made in America Validator Network in early 2026. Lee described year-end tax-loss selling as a source of temporary softness that enabled the firm to accumulate at scale, even as BMNR shares lagged broader crypto price movements and shifts in coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> rankings.Together, the transactions illustrate how corporate actors are increasingly influencing crypto price behavior through balance-sheet decisions rather than short-term trading. Strategy continues to treat bitcoin as a long-duration treasury asset funded through equity markets, while Bitmine is positioning Ethereum as both a reserve asset and an infrastructure stake tied directly to network security and yield. As year-end liquidity conditions and institutional flows ripple through the crypto price index, these contrasting approaches highlight how corporate participation is becoming a structural factor in shaping market depth, valuation, and supply dynamics across major digital assets.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Institutional balance sheets increasingly shape global coin market cap trends

Corporate Crypto Treasuries Expand as Strategy Adds Bitcoin and Bitmine Deepens Ethereum Holdings

<h2>PBOC Targets Payments Dominance and Savings Behavior With a Structural Overhaul of the Digital Yuan</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>China will allow interest payments on digital yuan holdings starting January 1, 2026, shifting e-CNY from a pure payment tool toward a deposit-like product.</li><li>e-CNY balances will be treated as insured deposits, directly challenging the dominance of Alipay and WeChat Pay.</li><li>The move deepens bank integration, strengthens central control, and supports longer-term cross-border ambitions.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div><hr>China’s central bank is preparing a major shift in how its digital currency functions within the financial system. Starting January 1, 2026, holders of the digital yuan, or e-CNY, will be able to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.21jingji.com/article/20251229/herald/92834d4139b621e74c8d2b1761d2ce70.html">earn interest</a> on their balances under a new framework introduced by the People’s Bank of China. The change marks a decisive move away from treating the digital yuan as a cash-like payment instrument and toward positioning it as a regulated, interest-bearing store of value that operates closer to traditional bank deposits.Under the revised rules, commercial banks managing verified digital yuan wallets will be permitted to pay interest on customer balances. Digital yuan holdings will also fall under China’s existing deposit insurance scheme, aligning them legally and operationally with conventional bank deposits. PBOC officials have framed the shift as a necessary evolution, acknowledging that the absence of yield made e-CNY unattractive to hold, particularly in an environment where savings rates are already low and private payment platforms dominate daily financial activity.Deputy PBOC Governor Lu Lei has described the updated framework as part of a broader effort to make the digital yuan usable not only for spending but also for saving and longer-term value storage. The central bank will continue to provide technical infrastructure and oversight, while tightening regulatory requirements around how e-CNY is managed. For non-bank payment institutions, the framework enforces a full 100% reserve requirement on any digital yuan they handle, reinforcing central bank control and limiting the risk of leverage or shadow banking activity tied to the CBDC.The policy shift comes despite measurable progress in digital yuan usage. By late November 2025, e-CNY transactions had surpassed 3.4 billion in volume, with a cumulative value of roughly 16.7 trillion yuan, or about $2.37 trillion. Even so, adoption has lagged behind entrenched private platforms such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, which remain deeply embedded in consumer behavior and merchant infrastructure. Allowing interest on e-CNY balances is intended to close that gap by giving users a tangible financial incentive to hold digital yuan rather than treating it as a pass-through payment method.Beyond domestic competition, the redesign carries wider strategic implications. Reclassifying the digital yuan closer to an M1-style deposit integrates it into banks’ balance sheets and asset-liability management processes, strengthening its role in the formal banking system. Authorities have also signaled international ambitions, including plans to establish an overseas digital yuan operations center in Shanghai to support cross-border settlement and usage. Together, these measures position the e-CNY as a more mature piece of financial infrastructure, reflecting China’s intent to expand the digital yuan’s relevance at home while laying groundwork for a larger role in global payments over time.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

e-CNY deposit insurance transforms digital yuan into protected savings asset

China Moves to Make Digital Yuan Interest-Bearing in 2026, Redefining e-CNY as a Deposit-Like Instrument

<h2>Emergency Chain Halt, Contested Rollback Plan, and Market Shock Expose Governance Fault Lines</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Flow blockchain halted after a ~$3.9 million exploit, sparking a controversial rollback proposal that alarmed ecosystem partners.</li><li>Governance backlash and rollback uncertainty drove FLOW down more than 40%, with exchanges freezing deposits and withdrawals.</li><li>The incident reignited debates over blockchain immutability, validator power, and trust in cross-chain infrastructure.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/flow-flow">Flow</a> blockchain was thrust into crisis after a late-December exploit drained roughly $3.9 million from the network, forcing validators to halt block production and triggering one of the most contentious governance debates the ecosystem has faced to date. The incident, disclosed around December 27, involved a vulnerability in Flow’s execution layer that allowed an attacker to mint and move assets off-chain through multiple cross-chain bridges before the breach was detected. Once abnormal activity surfaced, validators coordinated an emergency shutdown to cut off further exits, while forensic teams began tracing the stolen funds across bridge infrastructure connected to other networks.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div>Core developers and the Flow Foundation initially moved fast with an aggressive remediation proposal: a partial rollback of the blockchain to a pre-exploit state. The plan centered on a so-called&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/mainnet">Mainnet</a> 28 fix that would rewind several hours of chain history, effectively erasing the attacker’s transactions but also reversing legitimate user activity during the same window. While developers framed the rollback as a contained and technical correction, the proposal immediately rattled ecosystem partners, bridge operators, and market participants who warned that undoing settled transactions risked creating balance discrepancies, broken accounting, and deeper financial damage than the exploit itself.Tensions escalated as cross-chain partners said they were blindsided by the rollback plan and urged validators to stop processing transactions entirely until a clearer path forward emerged. Critics argued that the ability to rewrite history undermined core assumptions around immutability and decentralization, exposing how much discretionary power validators could wield in a crisis. The debate played out publicly as developers attempted to reassure users that existing balances were not compromised and that the stolen amount, while serious, was manageable relative to the network’s overall activity.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div>Markets reacted far more brutally than the exploit’s dollar value alone might suggest.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/flow-flow">FLOW</a>’s&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> plunged more than 40% at its worst, briefly trading near historic lows as uncertainty over the rollback and broader governance implications spread. Several major exchanges suspended FLOW deposits and withdrawals as a precaution, amplifying panic selling and draining liquidity.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/derivatives">Derivatives</a> markets reflected the stress, with negative funding rates, rising short interest, and elevated liquidations as traders repositioned amid the volatility. The move sharply underperformed the broader crypto price index, reinforcing how event-driven risk can overwhelm macro trends tracked by the coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a>.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot 2025-12-29 232617.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_2025_12_29_232617_9e4cefe38b.png"></figure>Under mounting pressure, Flow leadership pivoted away from a full rollback and toward a narrower remediation strategy. Revised plans focused on isolating and burning fraudulently minted tokens, coordinating freezes with infrastructure partners, and restarting the network in phases without broadly undoing legitimate transactions. While the shift helped stabilize operations, damage to confidence lingered. The episode highlighted persistent structural risks around cross-chain bridges and reopened uncomfortable questions about how decentralized networks should respond when security, governance, and market trust collide in real time.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Cross-chain stress shown as robot braces ecosystem amid crypto price turmoil

Flow Blockchain Exploit Triggers Rollback Uproar, Ecosystem Backlash, and Sharp FLOW Price Collapse

<h2>Crypto and Tech Leaders Warn Unrealized Gains Tax Could Accelerate California Wealth Exodus</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>California’s proposed 5% wealth tax on billionaires, including unrealized gains, is drawing sharp criticism from crypto and tech executives.</li><li>Industry leaders warn the measure could force asset sales, discourage innovation, and accelerate capital and talent migration out of the state.</li><li>The proposal is heading toward a 2026 ballot vote, with legal, economic, and political risks still unresolved.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div><hr>California’s proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act is rapidly becoming a flashpoint between state policymakers and some of the most influential figures in crypto and technology, as industry leaders warn that a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.seiu-uhw.org/ca-billionaire-tax-act/">5% tax</a> on net worth above $1 billion—applied even to unrealized gains—could fundamentally reshape the state’s economic landscape. The measure, filed for the November 2026 ballot, would impose a one-time levy, payable either immediately or over five years with interest, on assets that have not been sold or converted to cash. Critics argue this structure misunderstands how modern wealth is held, particularly among founders whose net worth is tied to volatile startup equity or long-term crypto holdings rather than liquid income.Opposition has been especially vocal within the crypto sector, where executives and investors stress that taxing unrealized gains introduces asymmetric risk. Asset values reflected in a&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index or broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> can swing dramatically, yet the tax obligation would remain fixed even if valuations collapse. Jesse Powell, co-founder of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/HHorsley/status/2004744520122974603">warned</a> publicly that such a policy would be a breaking point, saying billionaires would leave California entirely, taking with them not just capital but also spending, philanthropy, and jobs.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2005111142453313878_20251229_221830_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_2005111142453313878_20251229_221830_via_10015_io_c5983bc7eb.webp"></figure>Others, including ProCap BTC chief investment officer Jeff Park, echoed the sentiment, arguing that founders could be forced into premature liquidity events—selling equity, crypto assets, or borrowing against holdings—purely to satisfy tax bills, a dynamic they say discourages long-term innovation and risk-taking.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2005316949430219037_20251229_221232_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_2005316949430219037_20251229_221232_via_10015_io_9954a3cb37.webp"></figure><figure class="image"><img src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_H_Horsley_2004744520122974603_df5a21d90f.webp" alt="twittershots-HHorsley-2004744520122974603.webp"></figure>The backlash extends beyond crypto-native firms. Venture capital figures and technology executives have framed the proposal as a signal problem, suggesting it undermines confidence in California as a stable base for capital formation. Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/nic_carter/status/2005289355984666666">likened</a> the policy risk to a form of economic self-sabotage, questioning whether lawmakers have fully accounted for how mobile capital has become in a globalized, digital economy. Historical examples are frequently cited, including European wealth taxes that coincided with capital outflows, reinforcing fears that California could see a similar erosion of its tax base if high-net-worth individuals relocate to lower-tax jurisdictions.<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-nic_carter-2005289355984666666.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_nic_carter_2005289355984666666_43e79931ed.webp"></figure>Supporters of the initiative, led by SEIU-UHW, counter that the tax is designed to address chronic funding gaps in healthcare, education, and food assistance, with 90% of projected revenue earmarked for healthcare alone. Backers argue that California’s wealthiest residents have benefited disproportionately from the state’s infrastructure and talent pool, and that a modest share of extreme wealth should be redirected toward public services, especially amid federal funding constraints. Some policymakers have defended the proposal as a long-term investment in social stability, which they say ultimately supports innovation and economic growth.The proposal’s path forward remains uncertain. It must first clear a significant signature threshold to qualify for the 2026 ballot, after which it could face legal challenges over constitutionality, valuation methodology, and enforcement. Meanwhile, the debate has already introduced new uncertainty into market sentiment, as investors track how policy risk might affect crypto price dynamics, company valuations, and the broader coin market cap tied to California-based firms. For now, the wealth tax proposal stands as a high-stakes test of how far states can go in taxing concentrated wealth without triggering the very capital flight they seek to prevent.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Crypto and tech executives warn California policy risks innovation exodus

California’s Proposed 5% Billionaire Wealth Tax Triggers Crypto and Tech Backlash, Raising Fears of Capital Flight

<h2>Historic Supply Shock Marks a New Era for UNI Holders</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Uniswap executed a 100 million UNI burn on Dec. 28, following a near-unanimous governance vote.</li><li>The move redirected protocol fees toward sustained burns, tightening supply and reshaping UNI’s economic model.</li><li>Market reaction showed renewed attention to UNI’s role in DeFi amid shifting crypto price dynamics and a rising crypto price index.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/uniswap-uni">Uniswap</a>’s leadership and community delivered one of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a>’s most consequential economic restructurings this year after permanently <a href="https://twitter.com/Uniswap/status/2005018127260942798">removing</a> 100 million&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/uniswap-uni">UNI</a> tokens from circulation on December 28, 2025, a transaction valued at roughly $596 million at the time and visible on-chain shortly after 4:30 a.m. UTC. The burn followed the overwhelming passage of the “UNIfication” governance proposal, a measure that secured around 125 million votes in support against just 742 opposing ballots, resulting in a near-perfect approval rate and marking one of the clearest demonstrations of community alignment in recent governance history. The vote’s success triggered an automated burn from the Uniswap treasury, cutting outstanding supply from roughly 629 million UNI to about 529 million and sending an unmistakable signal about how the protocol intends to handle token scarcity and value capture moving forward.The UNIfication initiative extended far beyond the one-time burn. Core components restructured the protocol’s economic flow by turning on the long-debated fee switch for Uniswap v2 and selected v3 pools, redirecting a share of protocol revenue toward ongoing token reductions rather than exclusively liquidity provider rewards. Governance documents described the 100 million burn as a symbolic representation of what might have been retired if the fee switch had been active since Uniswap’s early years. The proposal also reset interface and frontend fees to zero to streamline value accrual directly to UNI holders, while future mechanisms such as Protocol Fee Discount Auctions were outlined to maintain competitive incentives for liquidity providers without undermining token economics. These changes arrived at a time when Uniswap was processing about $11 billion in weekly trading volume and generating an estimated $580 million in annualized protocol fees, reinforcing its position among the most systemically important platforms in DeFi.UNI’s trading performance reflected the market’s expectation of a shift in underlying fundamentals. The token climbed roughly 11% around the time burn execution was publicly confirmed, moving from about $5.88 to $6.52 before normal volatility produced temporary retracement. Other market windows captured a 4.53% gain across a 24-hour period after the burn as traders recalibrated assumptions about future supply dynamics relative to the broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> index and coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> rankings. Earlier rallies of 15–25% ahead of the vote had already signaled that the market was positioning around a deflationary pivot, even as UNI diverged from typical crypto price correlations during governance-driven repricing. Uniswap Labs later confirmed the execution with the statement, “UNIfication has officially been executed onchain… 100M UNI has been burned from the treasury,” underscoring the finality of the supply reduction and the beginning of a more active fee-to-burn model.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2005018127260942798_20251229_204219_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_2005018127260942798_20251229_204219_via_10015_io_a61843e083.webp"></figure>The implications extend well beyond Uniswap’s own ecosystem. The burn established a precedent for how a mature DeFi protocol can integrate revenue, governance, and token scarcity into a sustainable framework without relying on short-term incentives or inflationary emissions. Analysts described the move as a structural evolution that could influence how other protocols design long-term value capture, particularly as DeFi seeks to differentiate itself in a market dominated by shifting regulatory standards, increasingly complex token models, and rapid capital migration across chains. Uniswap’s new framework ties UNI’s economic trajectory more tightly to real protocol activity, marking a rare instance in which decentralized governance produced both a high-participation mandate and a tangible transformation in token mechanics.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot steadies UNI volume column amid evolving crypto price environment

Uniswap’s 100M UNI Burn Reshapes DeFi Economics, Governance Power, and Token Scarcity

Coin360 yearly crypto news, cryptocurrency updates, market movement

Coin360 yearly crypto news

Coin360 Yearly Dispatch | Top 12 Crypto Stories & Market Highlights in 2025

<h2>From speculative hype to real-world value, tokenized and privacy assets dominate returns</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Real World Asset (RWA) tokens emerged as the top-performing crypto narrative in 2025, posting average gains of about 186% while most other sectors recorded steep losses.</li><li>Institutional adoption, regulatory progress, and maturing tokenization infrastructure—not retail speculation—drove RWA’s outperformance.</li><li>Grayscale identified Chainlink as critical infrastructure for scaling RWA tokenization, estimating the sector could grow up to 1,000× from current levels.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Real World Assets became the defining crypto narrative of 2025, delivering performance that sharply diverged from the broader digital asset market and signaling a decisive shift in investor priorities. Data aggregated across major crypto narratives showed RWA-linked tokens recording average year-to-date gains of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/rwa-leads-crypto-narratives-in-2025/">roughly 186%</a>, placing them far ahead of every other sector. By contrast,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-1">Layer 1</a> networks gained around 80%, U.S.-focused crypto narratives advanced about 30.6%, and nearly all speculative segments—including AI tokens, memecoins,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/layer-2">Layer 2</a> networks, GameFi, and DePIN—ended the year deeply in negative territory. Losses across those categories ranged from roughly 30% to more than 75%, underscoring how isolated RWA’s performance was in an otherwise challenging market environment.Market observers described the divergence as a clear rotation away from momentum-driven themes that dominated 2024 and toward assets tied more directly to real economic activity and institutional participation. AI-related tokens fell by about 50% over the year, memecoins declined more than 30%, DeFi dropped nearly 35%, and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/Decentralized-Crypto-Exchange-dex">decentralized exchange</a> tokens slid more than 55%. Layer 2 ecosystems lost over 40%, while GameFi and DePIN registered some of the steepest drawdowns, approaching 75%. Even ecosystems that had previously benefited from strong retail interest, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a>-based narratives, ended the year down more than 60%. Against that backdrop, RWA’s gains stood out not only for their magnitude but for what they suggested about where capital was moving.The drivers behind the RWA surge differed materially from prior crypto cycles. Rather than being fueled by short-term retail speculation, the narrative was supported by growing institutional involvement, improving regulatory clarity, and the maturation of infrastructure required to bridge on-chain systems with traditional financial markets. Tokenization of real-world assets—ranging from bonds and funds to equities and other financial instruments—was increasingly viewed as a long-term structural shift rather than a niche experiment. Analysts pointed to the appeal of blockchain-based settlement, round-the-clock markets, and programmable financial instruments as factors attracting institutional capital during a period when risk appetite for purely speculative tokens had waned.Grayscale Investments added weight to that interpretation in late December, when its head of research, Zach Pandl, outlined the firm’s view on the future of RWA tokenization. Pandl highlighted&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/chainlink-link">Chainlink</a> as essential infrastructure for the sector, describing it as the connective layer that enables blockchains to interact reliably with off-chain data and traditional financial systems. Grayscale has already moved to convert its Chainlink investment vehicle into an exchange-traded fund, a step aimed at making exposure to the protocol more accessible within regulated investment frameworks. The firm has also been expanding its ETF lineup beyond&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> to include assets such as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">XRP</a>, Solana,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dogecoin-doge">Dogecoin</a>, and Chainlink, reflecting broader institutional interest across crypto subsectors tied to infrastructure and real-world integration.Pandl framed recent market pullbacks in flagship assets like Bitcoin as routine rather than alarming, noting that drawdowns of 10% to 30% have historically been common even during long-term uptrends. His focus remained on the scale of opportunity implied by tokenization itself. According to Grayscale’s estimates, tokenized real-world assets currently represent only about $30 billion to $35 billion of the roughly $300 trillion global equity and bond markets. That disparity, Pandl argued, leaves room for growth on the order of hundreds or even thousands of times as traditional finance increasingly adopts blockchain-based rails. He suggested that, over the next five years, tokenized assets could expand by as much as 1,000× if institutional adoption continues and regulatory frameworks remain supportive.Developments in tokenized equities reinforced the broader narrative. On-chain representations of stocks built on high-throughput networks reached new highs toward the end of the year, with total value on some platforms climbing to around $185 million. Infrastructure providers and issuers emphasized regulatory alignment, faster settlement, and lower operational costs as key selling points, positioning tokenized equities as complements rather than competitors to traditional markets. The growth of these products added another data point supporting the idea that real-world financial instruments are gradually migrating on-chain, aligning closely with the momentum seen across RWA-focused tokens.Another narrative quietly delivering outsized returns in 2025 was privacy-focused cryptocurrencies, which emerged as one of the strongest-performing sectors of the year despite limited mainstream attention. Privacy coins such as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/zcash-zec">Zcash</a> (<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/zcash-zec">ZEC</a>) and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/monero-xmr">Monero</a> (<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/monero-xmr">XMR</a>) recorded sharp year-end price increases, placing them among the biggest gainers within the top 100 cryptocurrencies on a year-to-date basis. Market data showed privacy assets outperforming most major sectors as renewed interest in censorship resistance, transaction confidentiality, and financial autonomy gained traction amid tightening regulatory scrutiny and increased on-chain surveillance across public blockchains.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="TOP GAINERS.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/TOP_GAINERS_a057c7b099.png"></figure>This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

RWA tokens lead crypto markets as institutional capital shifts on-chain

RWA and Privacy Tokens Outpace Every Crypto Narrative in 2025 as Institutional Capital Shifts 

<h2>Record Expansion Highlights Stablecoins’ Role as Crypto Infrastructure, Not Payment Disruptors</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Global stablecoin supply surpassed $310 billion in December 2025, marking a new all-time high after roughly 50% growth over the year.</li><li>Expansion has been driven by crypto-native demand and liquidity needs, while yield-focused stablecoin strategies lost relative momentum.</li><li>JPMorgan projects the market will reach $500–$600 billion by 2028, pushing back on trillion-dollar expectations and mass payment adoption narratives.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Stablecoins closed 2025 at an unprecedented scale, with total circulating supply pushing around $310 billion in December, a level that underscores how deeply embedded fiat-pegged tokens have become in the digital asset ecosystem. The milestone reflects one of the strongest annual growth performances in the sector’s history, with on-chain data showing supply expanded by roughly 50% over the course of the year. That pace outstripped growth across most other crypto asset categories and highlighted a clear shift in how capital has been deployed, favoring stability and liquidity over volatility.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_1.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_1_0178493b64.png"></figure>Market data throughout the year showed that the bulk of new issuance remained concentrated in fiat-backed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a>, particularly those tied to the U.S. dollar. This concentration reinforced the dominance of a small number of large issuers while also delivering the depth and reliability demanded by traders, exchanges, and decentralized finance protocols. Despite periodic experimentation with alternative models, users consistently gravitated toward simple redemption mechanics and high-liquidity instruments, signaling limited appetite for complexity as the market scaled.The expansion has not been evenly distributed across all segments. Yield-bearing and algorithmic stablecoin products lost relative ground during the same period, reflecting a broader reassessment of risk. Declining on-chain yields, combined with heightened sensitivity to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/smart-contracts">smart contract</a> and counterparty exposure, prompted many users to treat stablecoins less as income-generating tools and more as cash-like settlement assets. This dynamic became more pronounced during periods of market stress, when stablecoin balances tended to rise even as speculative activity cooled.Usage patterns in 2025 pointed to stablecoins’ primary function as financial infrastructure rather than consumer-facing payment instruments. Trading liquidity, cross-border transfers, exchange settlement, and collateral management remained the dominant sources of demand. Large-scale merchant adoption and everyday payment use cases, often cited in bullish narratives, showed little evidence of driving the year’s supply growth. Instead, stablecoins continued to serve as the connective tissue between centralized platforms, decentralized protocols, and global users seeking dollar exposure without relying on traditional banking rails.According to Grayscale's 2026 top 10 crypto investing themes list, the reach of stablecoins is expected to grow following the GENIUS Act.&nbsp;That reality aligns closely with the outlook published by JPMorgan analysts on December 27, 2025. The bank projected that the stablecoin market would grow to between $500 billion and $600 billion by 2028, a sizable increase from current levels but well short of the trillion-dollar valuations sometimes forecast by industry advocates. Analysts argued that future expansion is likely to mirror the broader cryptocurrency market rather than break out as a standalone payments revolution, emphasizing that most activity remains tied to trading, liquidity management, and crypto-native financial services.JPMorgan’s assessment also highlighted structural limits to near-term adoption beyond the crypto sector. Regulatory constraints, entrenched fiat payment systems, and the lack of compelling incentives for merchants were cited as factors that would temper expectations for widespread consumer use. From that perspective, stablecoins are increasingly viewed as efficient financial plumbing for digital markets rather than direct competitors to existing payment networks.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Stablecoin market reaches record scale as infrastructure demand accelerates

Stablecoin Supply Tops $310 Billion in 2025 as Growth Accelerates and JPMorgan Caps Long-Term Outlook Below $600 Billion

<h2>Disputed Snapshot Vote Exposes Deeper Tensions Over Power, Process, and Token-Based Governance</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Aave DAO voters rejected a proposal to transfer brand ownership rights to the DAO, with 55.29% voting against and only 3.5% in favor.</li><li>The snapshot vote triggered backlash over governance process, timing, and concentrated voting power, especially amid a reported $10 million AAVE token purchase by founder Stani Kulechov.</li><li>The episode has reignited broader debate over incentive alignment, token-based governance risks, and the limits of decentralization in large DeFi protocols.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>A governance vote that was meant to clarify ownership and alignment within&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/aave-aave">Aave</a> instead laid bare deep fractures in how one of decentralized finance’s largest protocols makes decisions. On Dec. 26, 2025, Aave&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dao-maker-dao">DAO</a> participants overwhelmingly&nbsp;<a href="https://snapshot.org/#/s:aavedao.eth/proposal/0xbc606159ddeae0184c2086055637d3f357351ec0adc4c9f4150751bc41918eba">rejected</a> a proposal that sought to place control of the protocol’s brand assets under direct DAO ownership. Snapshot results showed 55.29% of votes cast against the measure, 41.21% abstaining, and just 3.5% supporting it, a lopsided outcome that reflected not only disagreement with the substance of the proposal but also mounting frustration with how it reached a vote.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_4.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_4_94732614d5.png"></figure>The proposal, formally titled “ARFC $<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/aave-aave">AAVE</a> token alignment. Phase 1 – Ownership,” aimed to transfer ownership of Aave’s brand-related assets to a DAO-controlled legal entity. That scope included domains, social media accounts, naming rights, code repositories, and other intellectual property tied to the Aave name. Supporters framed the plan as a natural evolution toward decentralization, arguing that governance authority over the protocol should be matched by ownership of the brand itself. Critics, however, questioned whether such a fundamental change should be rushed through governance, especially while discussions were still active and unresolved.Discontent intensified after the proposal was escalated to a snapshot vote while debate continued across governance forums, which had already logged hundreds of comments. Several community members argued the move bypassed established norms intended to give delegates adequate time to assess implications and reach consensus. The timing of the vote, landing during a holiday period, further fueled accusations that participation would be muted and that the process disadvantaged smaller or less active delegates.Tensions sharpened when Ernesto Boado, former Aave Labs chief technology officer and listed author of the proposal, publicly distanced himself from the escalation. Boado said the snapshot vote was initiated without his consent and described it as a break from governance expectations. Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative, went further, characterizing the maneuver as a “hostile takeover attempt” and warning that unilateral escalation risked undermining trust in the DAO’s decision-making framework.Governance concerns were compounded by scrutiny surrounding Aave founder Stani Kulechov, who reportedly acquired about&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/aave-dao-governance-brand-rights-vote-token-purchase">$10-$15 million</a> worth of AAVE tokens shortly before the vote. The purchase significantly increased his voting power at a critical juncture, prompting critics to question whether token-based governance adequately guards against influence concentration. Snapshot data showed that the top three voters controlled roughly 58% of total voting weight, with the largest single&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> accounting for about 27%, or approximately 333,000 AAVE tokens.Kulechov publicly&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/StaniKulechov/status/2004503414705643866">pushed back</a> against those claims, denying that the tokens were used to influence the brand ownership vote. In statements addressing the controversy, he said he did not vote with the newly acquired AAVE and rejected accusations that the purchases were intended to sway governance outcomes. The denial did little to quiet debate, instead shifting the focus toward transparency standards, disclosure expectations, and whether governance frameworks should distinguish between token ownership and active voting participation.<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-StaniKulechov-2004503414705643866.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_Stani_Kulechov_2004503414705643866_839040329c.webp"></figure>The episode reignited long-standing concerns about incentive alignment within decentralized protocols where governance tokens and corporate entities coexist. Several industry participants pointed out that Aave, like many major DeFi projects, operates with a separation between token governance and equity ownership, a structure some argue is inherently unstable over the long term. Wintermute founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy publicly stated that his firm&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/EvgenyGaevoy/status/2004234083002675418">voted against</a> the proposal while calling for deeper engagement on how token holders and core contributors can achieve sustainable alignment. Lido advisor Hasu framed the dispute as symptomatic of broader industry challenges, arguing that token–equity dual structures are difficult to govern effectively, particularly under increasing regulatory pressure.<figure class="image"><img alt="image.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/image_dbd2343774.webp"></figure>Market behavior mirrored the internal turbulence. AAVE experienced heightened volatility during the governance dispute, with analysts pointing to governance uncertainty and concentrated whale activity as contributing factors. Reports of large holders exiting positions at a loss further weighed on sentiment, underscoring how internal governance conflicts can spill over into market dynamics even when protocol operations remain intact.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Aave DAO closes contentious governance chapter after vote rejection

Aave DAO Rejects Brand Ownership Proposal as Governance Process and Founder Token Purchases Come Under Fire

<h2>Record M&amp;A Activity Redefines Crypto’s Corporate Landscape Despite Late-Year Price Volatility</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Crypto deal-making reached a record $8.6 billion in 2025, nearly quadrupling year-over-year.</li><li>267 transactions closed, driven by regulatory clarity, institutional re-entry, and strategic consolidation.</li><li>Mega-deals led by Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple reshaped market structure even as crypto price momentum cooled.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Crypto industry deal-making surged to an all-time high in 2025, with total disclosed transaction value reaching <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b4d5e238-c34a-4602-91d0-4c7300b0006f">$8.6 billion</a>, marking the strongest year on record for mergers, acquisitions, and strategic corporate deals in digital assets. Data published in late December shows 267 deals completed over the year, representing an 18% increase in transaction count compared with 2024 and a nearly 300% jump in total value from the prior year’s roughly $2.17 billion. The acceleration in deal activity unfolded against a backdrop of regulatory easing in the United States and improving legal clarity across major jurisdictions, factors that helped unlock sidelined institutional capital and reignite long-term strategic planning across the sector.Several blockbuster transactions defined the year and accounted for a substantial share of total deal value.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/coinbase">Coinbase</a> announced the $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit, a move that became the largest single deal ever recorded in the crypto industry and signaled a decisive push into regulated derivatives markets.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a> followed with its $1.5 billion purchase of NinjaTrader, expanding its reach into U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contracts">futures</a> and retail trading infrastructure, while&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/xrp-xrp">Ripple</a> reinforced its institutional ambitions through the $1.25 billion acquisition of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road. These transactions reflected a broader shift toward vertical integration, regulatory positioning, and access to compliant market infrastructure rather than short-term growth plays.Deal-making strength extended beyond private transactions into public markets, as crypto-related initial public offerings staged a notable rebound. Across 2025, 11 crypto IPOs raised a combined $14.6 billion, underscoring renewed investor appetite for regulated digital asset firms. High-profile listings included&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/bullish">Bullish</a>, which raised about $1.1 billion, Circle Internet Group with over $1 billion, and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/table">Gemini</a>, which secured approximately $425 million. Market participants pointed to regulatory predictability and maturing business models as key factors supporting public market interest, even as broader risk sentiment remained uneven.Notably, the surge in corporate activity occurred while crypto prices softened late in the year.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> retreated from an October peak above $126,000 to trade below $88,000 around the time the data was published, highlighting a disconnect between deal-making momentum and short-term market performance. Analysts noted that corporate buyers appeared more focused on long-term positioning, licensing advantages, and operational scale than on immediate&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> movements reflected in any crypto price index or coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> snapshot. The divergence suggested that strategic capital allocation decisions were increasingly insulated from near-term volatility in the crypto price environment.Legal and regulatory considerations emerged as a central theme behind many transactions. Companies pursued acquisitions to accelerate access to licenses, strengthen compliance frameworks, and position themselves for evolving rules around&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a>, custody, and market structure in the U.S., U.K., and European Union. Industry advisers cited willingness among firms to pay premiums for regulatory certainty, viewing it as a competitive moat rather than a cost burden. With policymakers continuing to refine digital asset frameworks, deal advisers and executives widely expect elevated M&amp;A activity to persist into 2026, reshaping the industry regardless of fluctuations in market sentiment or headline crypto price trends.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot navigates regulated expansion shaping crypto price index stability

Crypto Industry Deal-Making Hits $8.6 Billion in 2025 as Regulatory Winds Shift and Consolidation Accelerates

<h2>A Malicious Christmas-Day Update Exposes Seed Phrases and Triggers Rapid Multi-Chain Losses</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>A compromised Trust Wallet Chrome extension update led to roughly $7 million in user losses over Christmas Day 2025.</li><li>The attack appears to be a supply-chain compromise that exfiltrated seed phrases, enabling near-instant wallet drains across multiple blockchains.</li><li>Trust Wallet acknowledged the breach, released a patched version, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said affected users would be fully reimbursed.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/trust-wallet-token-twt">Trust Wallet</a> users suffered significant losses over the December 25 holiday period after a malicious update to the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a>’s Chrome browser extension enabled attackers to gain direct access to user funds. Investigators and blockchain analysts estimate the total damage at around $7 million, with losses spanning multiple networks and affecting hundreds of wallets within hours of the update’s release. The incident has drawn renewed scrutiny to browser-based wallets and the security risks embedded in software distribution channels.Evidence gathered from on-chain data and independent security researchers indicates that the compromised release, identified as extension version 2.68, contained hostile code capable of intercepting seed phrases.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">Wallets</a> became vulnerable the moment users unlocked the extension or imported recovery phrases, allowing the malicious script to transmit those credentials to attacker-controlled servers. Once obtained, the seed phrases gave the attackers full control, leading to swift and irreversible fund transfers across chains including&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/review/binance">Binance</a> Smart Chain,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/solana-sol">Solana</a>, and other&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/ethereum-virtual-machine">EVM</a>-compatible networks.The breach first gained public attention after on-chain investigator ZachXBT&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/investigations/297">highlighted</a> a cluster of suspicious transactions draining Trust Wallet users in rapid succession. Subsequent analysis suggested the exploit followed the pattern of a supply-chain attack, where a legitimate update channel is leveraged to distribute malicious code at scale. Security firm SlowMist later&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/evilcos/status/2004362383964491876">noted</a> that preparatory activity may have begun weeks earlier, with indications the backdoor was planted before Christmas and activated once the update reached a critical mass of users.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_1.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_1_b1882add06.png"></figure>Trust Wallet&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/trustwallet/status/2004316503701958786">confirmed</a> the issue shortly after reports spread, stating that only the Chrome extension version 2.68 was affected and that mobile applications and other versions remained secure. A patched update, version 2.69, was released to remove the malicious components. Users were advised to disable the compromised extension immediately and migrate funds to new wallets, as exposure of a seed phrase permanently undermines wallet security regardless of subsequent software fixes.<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-trustwallet-2004316503701958786.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_trustwallet_2004316503701958786_de7fae0c1c.webp"></figure>Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao addressed the incident publicly, estimating total losses at approximately $7 million and stating that affected users would be&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/cz_binance/status/2004397190819783013">fully reimbursed</a> through Binance’s Secure Asset Fund for Users. Zhao also suggested the nature of the breach raised the possibility of insider involvement, citing the attackers’ apparent familiarity with the extension’s codebase and deployment process. That assessment echoed views from parts of the security community, which noted that the precision of the injected code implied more than a random external exploit.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_2.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_2_eadfb43e05.png"></figure>Market reaction to the disclosure was muted but visible, with the Trust Wallet token experiencing brief volatility before stabilizing. Beyond price movements, the episode has intensified debate around the safety trade-offs of browser extensions for self-custody, particularly as personal wallet compromises accounted for a substantial share of crypto losses in 2025. The Trust Wallet breach stands as one of the year’s most prominent examples of how vulnerabilities at the software interface layer, rather than in blockchain protocols themselves, continue to pose material risks to users.<figure class="image"><img alt="Screenshot_3.png" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Screenshot_3_68e6238109.png"></figure>This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Trust Wallet hack shows browser extension breach exposing user funds globally

Trust Wallet Chrome Extension Breach Drains About $7 Million as Investigators Flag Supply-Chain Risks

<h2>Expanded rules close OTC and custody gaps while positioning the city for tighter oversight in 2026</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Hong Kong finalized consultations in late December 2025 to license crypto dealers and custodians, extending oversight beyond exchanges to OTC trading and asset safekeeping.</li><li>Regulators framed the move as a balance between market development, investor protection, and risk control, with legislation expected in 2026.</li><li>The expansion aligns digital assets more closely with traditional finance standards as market activity tracks broader shifts in crypto price and coin market cap dynamics.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Hong Kong has taken another decisive step toward tightening its digital asset framework, moving to formally regulate crypto dealers and custodians after concluding public consultations in late December 2025. Reporting from multiple outlets shows the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/futures-contract">Futures</a> Commission are preparing new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.news.gov.hk/eng/2025/12/20251224/20251224_145129_171.html">licensing regimes</a> designed to bring previously under-regulated segments—such as over-the-counter trading desks and custody providers—into the city’s supervisory perimeter. The consultations closed around December 24, with legislative proposals expected to reach the Legislative Council in 2026, marking a new phase in Hong Kong’s multi-year effort to build a comprehensive rulebook for digital assets.The proposed framework extends oversight well beyond virtual asset trading platforms, which were already brought under mandatory licensing earlier in 2025. Under the new rules, firms providing virtual asset dealing services, including brokerage-style operations and OTC desks handling large or bespoke transactions, would need formal approval from regulators. Custodians controlling client assets or private keys would also face licensing requirements focused on safekeeping standards, internal controls, and risk management. Regulators have signaled that dealers may be required to hold client assets only with licensed custodians, reinforcing a closed-loop compliance structure similar to traditional securities markets. Capital thresholds discussed in related regulatory coverage point to higher entry barriers, underscoring the intent to filter out lightly capitalized operators.Officials have consistently framed the expansion as a way to close regulatory blind spots rather than slow innovation. Securities and Futures Commission chief executive Julia Leung described the progress as ensuring Hong Kong remains “at the global forefront of digital asset market developments” while fostering a trusted and sustainable ecosystem. Financial Services and the Treasury Secretary Christopher Hui emphasized that the licensing regimes aim to strike a “prudent balance” between market growth, risk management, and investor protection. Lawmakers echoed that view, with Legislative Council member Wu Jietzhuang noting that formalizing OTC trading and custody services would help combat fraudulent activity disguised as crypto operations and reduce potential losses for the public.The timing of the regulatory push coincides with heightened attention on market transparency as investors track shifts in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a>, volatility, and the broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a>. While price action and the crypto price index fluctuate with global macro conditions, Hong Kong’s authorities appear focused on insulating local market infrastructure from systemic risks. The dealer and custodian rules also sit alongside other initiatives, including a stablecoin licensing ordinance that took effect earlier in 2025 and separate consultations on regulating virtual asset advisory and asset management services. Together, these measures reflect a “same business, same risk, same rules” philosophy intended to align digital asset activities with long-standing financial standards.Hong Kong’s approach contrasts with lighter-touch regimes elsewhere in the region and is designed to reinforce the city’s status as a regulated financial hub rather than a permissive crypto haven. By extending licensing to the full value chain—from execution and brokerage to custody and advisory services—regulators are signaling that digital assets will be treated as an integral part of the financial system. The coming year will determine how quickly firms adapt to the new requirements and whether the tighter framework reshapes participation as global investors continue to weigh regulatory certainty alongside market performance indicators such as crypto price movements and aggregate capitalization trends.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Hong Kong crypto regulation tightens oversight on licensed dealers

Hong Kong Moves to License Crypto Dealers and Custodians as Regulatory Net Widens Across Digital Assets

<h2>Pilot Links Overseas Stablecoin Wallets to Korea’s Card Network as Regulatory Debate Intensifies</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>BC Card completed a December 2025 pilot enabling foreign users to spend stablecoins at South Korean merchants via digital prepaid cards and QR payments.</li><li>The test focused on real-world usability, settlement accuracy, and integration with existing card infrastructure rather than a public rollout.</li><li>The move lands amid unresolved regulatory debate in South Korea over who can issue stablecoins and under what framework.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>South Korea’s payments sector has taken a measured but notable step toward real-world crypto usage after BC Card&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=1025894">confirmed</a> it had completed a pilot program allowing foreign users to spend&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> at local merchants. The initiative, disclosed on December 23, 2025, enabled overseas stablecoin holders to convert their digital assets into digital prepaid cards that could be used across BC Card’s existing merchant network, effectively bridging on-chain value with South Korea’s mainstream payment rails. The company framed the project less as a consumer launch and more as groundwork, designed to test whether stablecoin payments could function seamlessly within the country’s highly regulated, high-volume card ecosystem.The pilot relied on partnerships with blockchain and payments firms Wavebridge, Aaron Group, and Global Money Express, combining blockchain infrastructure, digital&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> services, and cross-border remittance capabilities. Foreign users participating in the test linked overseas wallets holding stablecoins to partner platforms, which issued digital prepaid cards denominated for use in Korea. Payments were completed through QR codes at physical locations such as cafes, convenience stores, and supermarkets, with transactions processed through BC Card’s standard approval and settlement systems. From a merchant’s perspective, payments appeared no different from ordinary card transactions, a design choice aimed at minimizing friction and operational change at the point of sale.Operational reliability was a central focus of the trial. BC Card said the system was tested not only for successful payments but also for edge cases such as transaction cancellations and corrections, functions that are routine in traditional card networks but often overlooked in crypto payment experiments. Earlier in the year, the company had filed a patent covering technology that calculates precise stablecoin deductions from digital wallets, adjusting amounts in real time so users pay only what is required even when minor price fluctuations occur. BC Card President Choi Won-seok described stablecoins at the time as a “powerful paradigm” capable of reshaping existing payment processes, signaling that the pilot was aligned with a longer-term strategic view rather than a one-off test.The scale of BC Card’s existing footprint adds weight to the experiment. The company processes more than 20% of South Korea’s card transactions and serves roughly 3.4 million merchants nationwide, making it one of the country’s most influential payment intermediaries. Majority-owned by KT Corp, BC Card sits at the intersection of finance and telecommunications infrastructure, positioning it to experiment with new payment technologies while maintaining compatibility with legacy systems. Industry observers noted that the firm has also established an internal team dedicated to tracking domestic and international stablecoin developments, reflecting a broader shift among incumbents from passive observation to active preparation.Regulatory uncertainty remains the largest variable shaping what comes next. South Korea is still debating the contours of its stablecoin framework under the proposed Digital Asset Basic Act, with sharp disagreements over who should be allowed to issue won-denominated stablecoins. The&nbsp;Bank of Korea has argued that banks should hold at least a 51% stake in any stablecoin issuer to safeguard monetary stability, while the&nbsp;Financial Services Commission has pushed for a more inclusive model that would allow non-bank fintech and blockchain companies to participate. Political figures involved in the debate have criticized restrictive proposals as out of step with global practice, and the disagreement has delayed the submission of comprehensive legislation to the National Assembly until early 2026.Against that backdrop, BC Card’s pilot is being interpreted as a pragmatic hedge. By testing infrastructure now, the company can move quickly once regulatory clarity emerges, regardless of which issuance model lawmakers ultimately adopt. External legal and industry experts have pointed out that stablecoin integration will require banks and payment processors to rethink legacy operations, settlement cycles, and compliance workflows, changes that cannot be implemented overnight. The pilot aligns South Korea with a broader global trend in which established payment players are quietly experimenting with stablecoins as complementary rails rather than positioning them solely as competitors to existing systems. While BC Card has not announced a timeline for a commercial rollout, the experiment suggests the plumbing for stablecoin payments is being assembled in advance, leaving policy to catch up.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

BC Card robot enables stablecoin payments inside Korean convenience store

South Korea’s BC Card Tests Stablecoin Spending for Foreign Users, Signaling Early Infrastructure Build for Crypto Payments

<h2>Snapshot Vote Escalation and Founder Token Accumulation Put Aave’s Governance Model Under the Microscope</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Aave Labs pushed a disputed brand-rights proposal to a Snapshot vote amid active debate, triggering backlash from delegates and contributors.</li><li>Founder Stani Kulechov faced scrutiny after a $10 million AAVE purchase that critics say boosted voting power ahead of the vote.</li><li>Snapshot data shows voting power is highly concentrated, with the top three voters controlling over 58% of total weight.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr><a href="https://coin360.com/coin/aave-aave">Aave</a>’s decentralized governance model is facing renewed scrutiny after a rapid escalation of a contentious proposal and a closely timed token purchase by its founder intensified concerns over voting power concentration. Governance tensions resurfaced after Aave Labs moved a proposal on brand-asset ownership directly to a Snapshot vote, a step critics described as premature and procedurally aggressive while discussions were still ongoing. The vote was scheduled to open on Dec. 23, 2025, compressing what many delegates believed should have been a longer deliberation period for a decision that could permanently reshape control over the protocol’s identity and intellectual property.<figure class="image"><img alt="tweet_2002933974969315561_20251224_224224_via_10015_io.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/tweet_2002933974969315561_20251224_224224_via_10015_io_80d3e03592.webp"></figure>The <a href="https://snapshot.org/#/s:aavedao.eth/proposal/0xbc606159ddeae0184c2086055637d3f357351ec0adc4c9f4150751bc41918eba">proposal</a>, formally titled “ARFC $<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/aave-aave">AAVE</a> token alignment. Phase 1 – Ownership,” seeks to grant AAVE token holders explicit control over key brand assets tied to the protocol. These include domains, social media accounts, naming rights, GitHub organizations, NPM namespaces and other channels historically stewarded by Aave Labs, BGD Labs and affiliated contributors. Supporters frame the move as a logical step toward decentralization, pairing brand ownership with token governance and proposing&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/dao-maker-dao">DAO</a>-controlled legal structures alongside anti-capture protections. Opponents, however, argue that the process by which the proposal advanced mattered as much as its substance, warning that bypassing established governance norms risks eroding trust regardless of the outcome.Community reaction sharpened after Ernesto Boado, former Aave Labs CTO and the listed author of the proposal, said the Snapshot escalation occurred without his consent. Boado publicly stated that the move broke established expectations around governance process, reinforcing claims that the decision was accelerated unilaterally rather than emerging from broad consensus.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-eboadom-2002987567780676065.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_eboadom_2002987567780676065_f034c5f71c.webp"></figure>Critics went further, characterizing the maneuver as a “hostile takeover attempt” because brand assets represent strategic leverage that extends beyond on-chain code into legal, reputational and operational control.<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-Marczeller-2002990118060327181.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_Marczeller_2002990118060327181_3567ede6ed.webp"></figure>Aave founder Stani Kulechov defended the escalation, saying the proposal followed extensive discussion and that the DAO was ready to make a decision. That defense gained little traction after a separate controversy surfaced around a <a href="https://x.com/0xluude/status/2003611993794904385">$10 million</a> AAVE token purchase attributed to Kulechov shortly before the governance vote. Market participants and governance commentators argued that the timing of the purchase effectively increased his voting influence at a critical moment, reigniting long-running debates about whether token-based governance sufficiently guards against power consolidation by founders or early insiders.<figure class="image"><img alt="image.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/image_de94ab0483.webp"></figure>Public criticism focused not only on the size of the purchase but also on historical context. Several commentators questioned the economic rationale of reaccumulating such a large position, pointing to claims that millions of dollars’ worth of AAVE tokens may have been sold by the founder between 2021 and 2025. From this perspective, the episode underscored how voting power can be rapidly rebuilt when governance stakes rise, regardless of prior positioning. A&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/decentralised-finance">DeFi</a> strategist described the move as a clear example of token systems struggling to disincentivize governance attacks, particularly when high-value proposals are on the table.Underlying data from Snapshot added weight to those concerns. Voting records show that governance influence within the Aave DAO is heavily concentrated, with the top three voters accounting for more than 58% of total voting weight. The largest single&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> controls roughly 27% on its own, a distribution critics say leaves outcomes vulnerable to coordination among a small number of large holders. Observers noted that such concentration can overshadow broader community sentiment, even when participation appears robust on the surface.The governance dispute unfolded against a backdrop of heightened attention to Aave across trading desks and analytics platforms, where shifts in governance can influence protocol risk assessments reflected in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> movements and the crypto price index used by traders. While the controversy did not immediately translate into dramatic swings in crypto price or coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> metrics, analysts noted that governance credibility increasingly factors into how markets value large DeFi protocols.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Voting power concentration challenges long-term stability of decentralized governance

Aave DAO Governance Turmoil Deepens as Brand Rights Vote and $10M Token Purchase Spark Power-Concentration Fears

<h2>Institutional Capital Leans Long-Term While Short-Term Crypto Liquidity Pulls Back</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>HashKey Capital closed $250 million in the first round of a $500 million multi-strategy crypto fund on Dec. 24, 2025.</li><li>The fund targets infrastructure, public and private markets, and emerging-market adoption amid reduced short-term liquidity.</li><li>The raise highlights a widening gap between long-horizon institutional capital and near-term crypto price volatility.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>HashKey Capital&nbsp;<a href="https://hashkey.capital/news/details42_477.html">disclosed</a> on Dec. 24, 2025 that it has secured $250 million in the first close of its fourth flagship investment vehicle, marking a significant institutional commitment to digital assets at a time when short-term crypto liquidity continues to retreat. The fund, officially named HashKey Fintech Multi-Strategy Fund IV, is targeting a total size of $500 million, putting the initial close at exactly half of its intended capital base. The timing of the raise stands out, arriving amid persistent volatility in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> movements and weakening participation from short-duration capital, even as long-term allocators maintain conviction in blockchain infrastructure and adoption.The newly raised capital came from a mix of global institutional investors, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals, according to HashKey Capital, though the firm did not disclose specific limited partners. Fund IV is designed as a multi-strategy vehicle, combining public-market exposure, liquidity-focused crossover strategies, and selective private investments. The mandate spans blockchain infrastructure, scalable platforms, and real-world use cases, with a particular emphasis on emerging markets where HashKey believes adoption dynamics are most visible. The firm has framed these regions as practical testing grounds for blockchain applications that extend beyond speculative trading and short-term crypto price fluctuations often reflected in daily crypto price index readings.HashKey’s leadership positioned the fundraise as a deliberate countercyclical move. CEO Deng Chao said the $250 million first close places the firm in a strong position to capture structural growth opportunities, especially as short-term liquidity providers scale back following market stress earlier in the quarter. That pullback has been visible across derivatives and exchange-traded products, where net outflows and declining volumes have weighed on sentiment, even as broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> levels remain elevated compared with previous cycles. Founder Dr. Xiao Feng added that the firm views the period leading into 2026 as one of convergence between artificial intelligence, blockchain, and institutional finance, themes the new fund is expected to actively pursue.HashKey Capital’s ability to attract capital during a period of tightening liquidity is closely tied to its track record. Founded in 2018, the firm has managed more than $1 billion in assets and backed over 400 blockchain-related projects globally. Its first fund reportedly achieved a distributed-to-paid-in ratio exceeding 10x, a performance metric that continues to resonate with institutional allocators assessing long-horizon exposure to digital assets beyond short-term crypto price cycles. The firm operates across key Asian financial hubs, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan, and has played a visible role in bridging traditional finance and regulated crypto products, including support for Hong Kong’s spot&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ether</a> exchange-traded funds.The broader context around the raise underscores a growing divergence within crypto markets. While daily crypto price movements and headline coin market cap figures remain sensitive to macro signals and liquidity shifts, capital with multi-year horizons appears increasingly willing to commit through structured funds rather than liquid instruments. HashKey’s announcement reinforces that split, suggesting institutional investors are prioritizing infrastructure and adoption narratives over near-term trading opportunities, even as public market indicators continue to reflect uneven sentiment across the digital asset landscape.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Strategic capital rotation reshapes coin market cap dynamics

HashKey Capital Secures $250M First Close for Multi-Strategy Crypto Fund as Liquidity Tightens

<h2>Regulators map out limited access for everyday investors while reinforcing bans on crypto payments</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Russia plans to allow retail investors limited crypto access, capped at 300,000 rubles per year, pending risk-awareness testing.</li><li>Qualified investors retain uncapped access, while crypto remains banned for domestic payments.</li><li>The framework aims to formalize existing demand, improve oversight, and tighten tax compliance.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Russia is preparing a significant shift in its long-standing cryptocurrency policy, laying the groundwork for ordinary retail investors to legally buy and sell digital assets under a tightly controlled regime. Draft&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbr.ru/press/event/?id=28213">proposals</a> from the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance, released in late December 2025, outline a tiered access system that would allow non-qualified investors to enter the crypto market for the first time, albeit with strict limits designed to contain financial risk and preserve regulatory oversight.Under the proposed framework, non-qualified investors would be permitted to purchase cryptocurrencies up to an annual cap of 300,000 rubles, equivalent to roughly $3,800. Access would not be automatic. Retail participants would need to pass a mandatory risk-awareness or knowledge assessment before trading, a requirement regulators say is intended to ensure investors understand the volatility and loss potential associated with digital assets. The cap would apply per licensed intermediary, meaning activity would need to flow through approved exchanges or brokers operating under Russian supervision.Qualified investors, defined under existing financial rules as individuals with substantial assets or income, would continue to enjoy broader access. Those meeting thresholds such as more than 100 million rubles in investments or deposits, or annual income exceeding 50 million rubles, would face no annual purchase limits and could access a wider range of crypto assets, excluding categories explicitly prohibited by regulators. Even so, authorities maintain that crypto remains a high-risk instrument, emphasizing that no state guarantees would apply in the event of losses tied to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> swings or broader market shocks reflected across the coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a>.The draft legislation reinforces a clear boundary between investment and usage. Cryptocurrencies would remain banned as a means of payment for goods and services inside Russia, preserving the ruble as the country’s sole legal tender. Digital assets may be recognized as “currency values” for investment, reporting, and accounting purposes, but not as payment instruments. This distinction reflects regulators’ effort to allow exposure to crypto price movements without undermining domestic monetary control or payment infrastructure.Cross-border activity is also addressed. Russian residents would be allowed to acquire crypto through foreign platforms and later transfer assets back into Russia via licensed intermediaries, provided transactions are properly disclosed to tax authorities. Officials view this as a pragmatic acknowledgment of existing behavior, aiming to bring offshore holdings into a transparent framework rather than pushing activity further underground. Enhanced reporting obligations are expected to improve visibility over flows tied to crypto price index benchmarks and overall market exposure.Enforcement and compliance form a central pillar of the proposal. All retail crypto trading would need to pass through licensed entities, with separate regulatory requirements envisioned for custodians and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/crypto-wallets">wallet</a> providers. Penalties for illegal intermediary activity are set to escalate, with sanctions comparable to those for unlawful banking operations slated to take effect from mid-2027. Authorities have indicated the full regulatory package could be finalized by July 1, 2026, giving financial institutions time to adapt systems and controls.The planned opening marks a notable evolution from Russia’s earlier stance, which largely restricted crypto trading to experimental regimes for elite investors while tolerating widespread informal participation. By introducing caps, testing, and licensing, policymakers appear to be betting that controlled liberalization will improve investor protection, tax compliance, and regulatory clarity without fueling excessive speculation. As global crypto price dynamics continue to influence investor behavior worldwide, Russia’s approach signals a cautious attempt to integrate digital assets into the financial system while keeping firm limits on risk and usage.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Russia retail crypto price access regulated through controlled investment framework

Russia Moves to Open Retail Crypto Trading With Annual Caps and Risk Tests, Signaling a Controlled Policy Pivot

<h2>Year-End Balance Sheet Moves Highlight Diverging Institutional Convictions</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Strategy paused bitcoin purchases in late December, adding $748 million in cash to lift its dividend reserve to $2.19 billion while maintaining 671,268 BTC.</li><li>BitMine continued aggressive Ethereum accumulation, adding $88 million in ETH and bringing total holdings to over 4.06 million ETH, valued near $12 billion.</li><li>The contrast reflects asset-specific treasury strategies amid shifting crypto price dynamics and evolving views on risk, liquidity, and long-term positioning.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Corporate crypto treasuries closed out December with sharply different playbooks, underscoring how institutional strategies around digital assets have matured beyond a single directional bet on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> appreciation. Strategy, the bitcoin-focused treasury firm chaired by Michael Saylor,&nbsp;<a href="https://assets.contentstack.io/v3/assets/bltf8d808d9b8cebd37/blt5d076d61eebdec9e/6948cb2077fa9f36d375147a/form-8-k_12-22-2025.pdf">disclosed</a> that it added $748 million in cash to its U.S. dollar dividend reserve, temporarily halting bitcoin purchases even as the broader crypto price index remained near multi-month highs. The move lifted Strategy’s total cash buffer to $2.19 billion and marked a notable pause after weeks of steady accumulation, though the firm’s long-term posture toward bitcoin remained intact.Regulatory filings showed that Strategy did not acquire any additional bitcoin during the most recent reporting week, ending a two-week streak of purchases that had reinforced its reputation as the most aggressive corporate buyer of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a>. Total holdings stood unchanged at 671,268 bitcoin, the largest balance the company has ever reported. Management framed the decision as a matter of capital structure and timing rather than a shift in conviction, with the expanded cash reserve designed to support future dividend payments and provide flexibility as market conditions evolve.The dividend reserve itself was established earlier in December as part of a broader redesign of Strategy’s balance sheet, reflecting a hybrid approach that blends cash management with long-term bitcoin exposure. The timing of the latest cash allocation, coming just before the Christmas period, signaled a defensive tilt toward liquidity during a seasonally thinner trading environment. Analysts noted that the decision coincided with elevated volatility across the coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> rankings, suggesting that Strategy opted to preserve optionality rather than chase near-term crypto price moves.While bitcoin accumulation slowed on one side of the institutional spectrum,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ethereum</a> exposure expanded rapidly on the other. BitMine, the Ethereum treasury company led by Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee, disclosed another significant purchase that added approximately $88 million worth of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">ETH</a> to its holdings. The acquisition was routed through major custodial and exchange partners, including BitGo and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/exchange/kraken">Kraken</a>, reinforcing BitMine’s preference for institutional-grade execution as it scales one of the largest corporate crypto positions in the market.On-chain data cited by analysts&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/2003297617556771226">indicated</a> that roughly 29,462 ETH were transferred in the latest round of purchases, a figure broadly consistent with the company’s official disclosures. BitMine&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/news/bitmine-ethereum-13b-strategy-bitcoin-premium">confirmed</a> that it bought 98,852 ETH during the prior week alone, pushing its total Ethereum holdings to 4,066,062 ETH. The firm reported an average acquisition cost of $2,991 per ether, placing the value of its treasury at around $12 billion based on prevailing crypto price levels in late December.The pace of accumulation positioned BitMine as the largest known corporate holder of Ethereum, a title it has leaned into as part of a strategy focused on long-term network adoption rather than short-term price fluctuations. Company statements characterized the approach as an intentional effort to cement leadership in corporate ETH holdings, even as broader market sentiment oscillated with macroeconomic signals and shifting expectations around digital asset regulation.Taken together, the contrasting moves by Strategy and BitMine highlighted a growing divergence in how corporations manage crypto exposure.&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a>-centric treasuries appeared more focused on liquidity, dividends, and balance-sheet resilience heading into year-end, while Ethereum-centric strategies continued to emphasize scale and accumulation. Market observers pointed out that the split reflects differing assessments of opportunity and risk across assets, particularly as the crypto price index increasingly masks wide variation beneath the surface of the coin market cap.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Bitcoin treasury liquidity focus reshapes corporate crypto price positioning

Corporate Crypto Treasuries Split Strategies as Bitcoin Liquidity Builds and Ethereum Accumulation Accelerates

<h2>High-frequency trading deal brings SEK 50 billion in annual crypto volume under Hilbert’s balance sheet</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Hilbert Group acquired Enigma Nordic in a deal valued at up to $25 million, adding a high-frequency crypto trading platform with over SEK 50 billion in 2025 volume.</li><li>The acquisition strengthens Hilbert’s institutional trading stack, focusing on execution-driven returns rather than directional crypto price exposure.</li><li>Management framed the move as a strategic pivot toward scalable, risk-controlled digital asset infrastructure amid a maturing coin market cap landscape.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Hilbert Group AB has moved to deepen its institutional crypto footprint by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hilbert.group/en/hilbert-group-acquires-enigma-nordic-to-strengthen-institutional-digital-asset-trading-capabilities/">acquiring</a> Enigma Nordic AB, a Swedish digital asset trading firm known for its high-frequency, algorithmic execution capabilities, in a transaction valued at up to $25 million. The deal, disclosed on December 19, 2025, brings Enigma’s technology and trading operations fully under Hilbert’s control and is structured with performance-based earn-outs that link the final valuation directly to future trading results. Hilbert, which is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker HILB B, described the acquisition as immediately accretive, underscoring that Enigma Nordic is already operating at scale and generating revenue rather than building toward a future commercial rollout.Enigma Nordic enters the group with a track record that stands out even among institutional crypto operators. During 2025, the firm processed more than SEK 50 billion in crypto trading volume, a level of activity that places it firmly in the upper tier of professional digital asset trading desks. The platform specializes in low-latency, multi-venue execution across centralized exchanges, using automated strategies designed to capture small pricing inefficiencies rather than express outright views on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> direction. That approach has allowed the firm to remain active across a wide range of market conditions, including periods of sharp volatility and thinner liquidity, when discretionary trading strategies often struggle.Hilbert’s management has been explicit that the acquisition is less about expanding crypto exposure and more about securing infrastructure capable of producing repeatable, risk-adjusted returns. The Enigma platform is built to operate continuously, with embedded risk controls that monitor exposure, drawdowns, and execution quality in real time. This system-driven model aligns closely with institutional expectations, particularly as allocators become more sensitive to operational risk and less willing to tolerate opaque trading processes. By folding Enigma into its existing operations, Hilbert gains the ability to deploy capital through systematic strategies that are largely agnostic to short-term crypto price swings while still benefiting from market activity reflected across major crypto price index benchmarks.Operationally, Enigma Nordic will be fully integrated into Hilbert Group’s trading and asset management stack. The acquisition includes not only the technology but also the firm’s engineering and quantitative trading team, which will remain in place following the transaction. Hilbert indicated that the platform will support proprietary trading, managed crypto funds, and external institutional mandates, allowing the group to scale Enigma’s strategies across a broader capital base. Management also signaled plans to expand the system’s reach to additional trading venues and asset pairs, leveraging Hilbert’s balance sheet and investor relationships to increase throughput without fundamentally altering the strategy’s risk profile.The timing of the deal reflects a broader shift in how institutions are approaching digital assets. As the overall coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> has grown and market structure has matured, returns have increasingly favored firms that can execute efficiently rather than those relying on directional bets. High-frequency and quantitative trading models have gained prominence as competition compresses margins and arbitrage opportunities become more fleeting. Hilbert’s move positions it closer to established digital asset market makers and quantitative trading houses, distancing the group from the perception of a traditional, long-only crypto investment firm.Management commentary around the acquisition emphasized alignment and discipline. The earn-out structure was presented as a way to ensure that Enigma’s team remains focused on performance and execution quality after the transaction closes, while also protecting Hilbert from overpaying in a sector known for rapid shifts in profitability. Executives described Enigma’s trading history as “proven at scale,” highlighting the platform’s ability to function through multiple market regimes without relying on favorable price trends. That emphasis suggests a deliberate effort to attract institutional capital seeking exposure to digital asset markets without taking on the full volatility typically associated with crypto price movements.From a market perspective, the acquisition underscores how institutional crypto strategies are evolving. Rather than chasing headline rallies or short-term narratives, firms like Hilbert are investing in infrastructure that treats digital assets as a market to be traded, not merely a speculative asset class. The Enigma deal illustrates how execution quality, automation, and risk management are becoming central differentiators as capital flows into more professionalized corners of the industry. As crypto price indices continue to serve as reference points for broader market performance, the ability to generate returns independent of those benchmarks is increasingly valued.Hilbert’s acquisition of Enigma Nordic ultimately reflects a calculated bet on the next phase of digital asset markets. With crypto trading volumes remaining substantial even during periods of muted price action, management appears confident that infrastructure-led strategies can deliver consistent performance regardless of whether the broader crypto price environment is bullish or subdued. By anchoring its expansion around a platform that has already demonstrated scale and resilience, Hilbert is signaling that institutional participation in crypto is moving away from experimentation and toward systems built for longevity.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Institutional convergence shaping mature crypto price index market behavior.

Hilbert Group’s $25 Million Enigma Nordic Acquisition Signals Shift Toward Institutional-Grade Crypto Trading Infrastructure

<h2>Bank’s internal discussions signal a strategic recalibration toward regulated crypto access despite long-standing executive skepticism</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>JPMorgan is exploring direct cryptocurrency trading for institutional clients, according to Bloomberg reporting dated December 22, 2025.</li><li>The move reflects sustained institutional demand and a broader Wall Street shift toward integrating crypto as core financial infrastructure.</li><li>Discussions remain preliminary, with no confirmed launch timeline, asset list, or trading volumes disclosed.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co. is actively exploring the possibility of offering cryptocurrency trading services to its institutional client base, a step that would mark a significant expansion of the bank’s involvement in digital assets as global financial institutions increasingly treat crypto as a mainstream asset class. The discussions, reported by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-22/jpmorgan-is-exploring-crypto-trading-for-institutional-clients">Bloomberg</a> on December 22, 2025, remain at an exploratory stage, with no final decision announced, but they underscore how demand from asset managers, hedge funds, and other large investors continues to reshape the priorities of the world’s largest banks. The potential service would allow institutional clients to execute crypto trades directly through JPMorgan, rather than relying solely on crypto-native exchanges or third-party intermediaries, aligning digital assets more closely with traditional market infrastructure such as equities, fixed income, and foreign exchange.The deliberations come at a time when large banks globally are reassessing how they engage with digital assets amid evolving regulatory clarity and sustained institutional interest, even during periods of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> volatility. While the report does not specify which assets might be supported, the context suggests that demand is being driven by clients seeking exposure that tracks broader benchmarks such as a crypto price index, while benefiting from the compliance, risk controls, and balance-sheet strength associated with a systemically important financial institution. Institutional investors have increasingly viewed crypto price movements as another macro-sensitive variable, alongside rates, commodities, and equities, rather than as a speculative outlier, reinforcing pressure on banks to provide integrated access.JPMorgan’s exploration of direct crypto trading also highlights a notable contrast between the bank’s internal strategy and the historically critical public comments of Chief Executive Jamie Dimon, who has repeatedly voiced skepticism about&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> and other cryptocurrencies over the years. Despite that rhetoric, the firm has steadily built out blockchain and digital asset capabilities behind the scenes, including distributed-ledger initiatives and tokenization infrastructure designed to improve settlement efficiency and cross-border payments. The latest discussions suggest that those internal capabilities may increasingly be leveraged to support client-facing trading services, as crypto markets mature and institutional standards around custody, compliance, and reporting become more established.The timing reflects broader structural changes across financial markets, where crypto trading volumes and derivatives activity have increasingly intersected with traditional finance, particularly following the normalization of regulated investment vehicles and clearer supervisory frameworks in major jurisdictions. Large asset managers now routinely monitor crypto price data alongside equity and bond metrics, while coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> rankings are commonly referenced in institutional research to gauge liquidity depth and concentration risk. Against that backdrop, JPMorgan’s consideration of direct trading services can be read less as a speculative bet and more as a defensive move to retain institutional clients who might otherwise shift activity to competitors offering more comprehensive digital asset access.Bloomberg’s report emphasizes that no launch date, pricing structure, or projected volumes have been disclosed, reinforcing that the initiative remains under evaluation rather than execution. Even so, the discussions themselves signal how far the industry has moved from earlier cycles, when major banks largely avoided direct exposure. Crypto trading is increasingly being assessed through the same lens as other asset classes, with attention to execution quality, balance-sheet exposure, and regulatory alignment. For JPMorgan, the outcome of these talks could determine whether crypto becomes a fully embedded component of its institutional trading suite, reflecting a broader recalibration across Wall Street as digital assets continue to integrate into global capital markets.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot halts gateway reflecting institutional crypto price index caution

JPMorgan Weighs Direct Crypto Trading for Institutional Clients as Wall Street Deepens Digital Asset Exposure

<h2>Bipartisan proposal targets sub-$200 stablecoin payments, staking income timing, and alignment with traditional securities tax rules</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>U.S. House draft proposes tax-free treatment for regulated stablecoin payments under $200 per transaction starting after Dec. 31, 2025.</li><li>Optional five-year tax deferral introduced for staking and mining rewards to reduce “phantom income” exposure.</li><li>Lawmakers aim to modernize crypto taxation as stablecoins gain relevance in payments, crypto price indices, and broader coin market cap dynamics.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>A bipartisan discussion draft&nbsp;<a href="https://horsford.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/horsford.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/miller-horsford_digital-asset-tax-bill-discussion-draft.pdf">released</a> on December 21, 2025, by U.S. Representatives Max Miller of Ohio and Steven Horsford of Nevada lays out one of the most comprehensive attempts yet to modernize how digital assets are taxed in the United States, with a sharp focus on&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> and staking rewards. The proposal, informally referred to across policy circles as part of the Digital Asset PARITY Act framework, seeks to reduce compliance friction for everyday crypto users while tightening alignment with existing securities tax standards, reflecting how digital assets increasingly intersect with consumer payments,&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> movements, and institutional markets tracked through crypto price indices.Central to the draft is a de minimis tax safe harbor for stablecoin transactions valued at $200 or less per payment, which would exempt such transfers from capital gains recognition. The provision is designed to&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/address">address</a> a long-standing complaint that current tax rules treat even trivial stablecoin payments as taxable events, despite the fact that dollar-pegged stablecoins are engineered to maintain a stable crypto price near $1. Under the proposal, the exemption would apply only to regulated, U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins issued by permitted entities under the GENIUS Act framework, with eligibility further constrained by price stability requirements that generally require trading within 1% of the $1 peg for at least 95% of trading days over a 12-month period.Lawmakers explicitly framed the measure as an effort to eliminate low-value gain recognition arising from routine consumer use of payment stablecoins, arguing that requiring users to calculate gains or losses on small, everyday transactions is impractical and inconsistent with how similar transactions are treated in foreign currency markets. The draft makes clear that the exemption would not extend to brokers, dealers, or speculative trading activity, nor would it apply to non-stable cryptocurrencies such as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> or&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ethereum-eth">Ether</a>, whose price volatility remains a core feature reflected across crypto price indices and the broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a>. Discussions referenced in the draft also acknowledge ongoing consideration of an annual aggregate cap to prevent abuse through transaction splitting, although no final threshold has been set.Beyond payments, the proposal tackles one of the most debated issues in crypto taxation: the timing of income recognition for staking and mining rewards. Current IRS guidance generally treats such rewards as taxable upon receipt, even when recipients have not sold the assets or realized cash proceeds. The House draft introduces an elective option allowing taxpayers to defer recognition of staking or mining income for up to five years. Supporters characterize the approach as a compromise that reduces exposure to so-called phantom income while stopping short of full deferral until disposition, a structure intended to better reflect economic reality for long-term participants in proof-of-stake networks.Additional provisions aim to harmonize digital asset taxation with existing securities law. The draft proposes extending wash sale rules to actively traded crypto assets, limiting the ability to harvest tax losses through rapid repurchases, while excluding illiquid tokens and non-fungible assets from those constraints. Professional traders would gain access to mark-to-market accounting, enabling annual recognition of unrealized gains and losses, a move that mirrors treatment available in traditional financial markets. The bill also clarifies that passive protocol-level staking conducted by investment funds would not, on its own, constitute a trade or business, a distinction viewed as critical for institutional participants navigating exposure tied to crypto price benchmarks and overall coin market cap trends.The legislative push unfolds against a backdrop of repeated, failed efforts to introduce crypto-specific tax relief in previous Congresses. Earlier proposals, including a mid-2025 attempt featuring a higher per-transaction exemption paired with an annual cap, stalled amid broader tax negotiations. This time, sponsors argue that the rapid integration of stablecoins into payment rails, banking infrastructure, and digital commerce makes reform increasingly urgent. Industry observers note that stablecoins now underpin a growing share of on-chain settlement activity and indirectly influence crypto price discovery, even as regulators and banks debate their role in the financial system.Political reactions highlighted in coverage of the draft underscore competing pressures shaping the bill. Supporters described the proposal as a consumer-focused update that provides clarity for innovators and taxpayers alike, while ensuring compliance standards remain intact. Critics from parts of the banking sector continue to argue that stablecoin rewards and yield mechanisms divert deposits from traditional institutions, though digital asset advocates counter that such positions reflect anti-competitive instincts rather than systemic risk concerns.If enacted, the stablecoin safe harbor and staking deferral provisions would apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, marking a potential turning point in U.S. crypto tax policy. While the draft remains subject to revision, its scope signals a growing recognition in Congress that digital assets are no longer a niche market variable, but a structural component of payments, investment strategy, and price formation across the crypto industry.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot stabilizes valuation layers reflecting everyday crypto price usage

U.S. House Advances Stablecoin Tax Safe Harbor and Staking Reward Deferral in Sweeping Crypto Tax Draft

Coin360 weekly crypto news, cryptocurrency updates, market movement

Coin360 weekly crypto news

Coin360 Weekly Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | December 14 - December 20, 2025

<h2>Capital Flows Split Between Accumulation and Performance as Crypto and Precious Metals Tell Diverging 2025 Stories</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT ranked among the top ETFs by 2025 inflows with roughly $25.4 billion added despite posting a near-10% loss, signaling accumulation behavior rather than performance chasing.</li><li>Gold, silver, and mining ETFs emerged as the strongest performers of 2025, with some precious-metal funds and miners delivering triple-digit returns amid macro uncertainty and safe-haven demand.</li><li>The divergence highlights a structural shift in how investors allocate across the crypto price index and traditional hedges, separating short-term crypto price action from longer-term positioning.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>BlackRock’s iShares&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> Trust, trading under the ticker IBIT, carved out an unusual position in global ETF markets in 2025 by ranking among the top funds by net inflows despite delivering a negative return for the year. Data cited in December 2025 showed the spot Bitcoin ETF attracting approximately $25.4 billion in net inflows while posting a year-to-date decline of around 9.6%, placing it sixth overall in ETF flow rankings. The combination made IBIT the only fund near the top of the leaderboard with negative performance, underscoring a growing disconnect between&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> movement and capital allocation behavior. Analysts described the pattern as evidence that investors are treating regulated Bitcoin exposure as a structural allocation, using drawdowns to accumulate rather than reacting to short-term price volatility.Market observers noted that IBIT’s inflows exceeded those of several established commodity products, including major gold ETFs, even as Bitcoin underperformed many risk assets. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/2002074602739060946">characterized</a> the trend as a “<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/hodl">HODL</a> clinic,” pointing to investor behavior that appears indifferent to short-term losses in favor of longer-term exposure to digital assets. While broad equity ETFs continued to dominate absolute inflows—Vanguard’s S&amp;P 500 ETF alone gathered well over $100 billion during the year—the presence of a Bitcoin product alongside traditional index funds marked a notable milestone for crypto-linked investment vehicles. The data suggested that Bitcoin ETFs are beginning to behave less like speculative trades tied tightly to daily crypto price swings and more like strategic holdings within diversified portfolios, even as the broader coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> remained sensitive to macro signals.<figure class="image"><img alt="twittershots-EricBalchunas-2002074602739060946.webp" src="https://prod-coin360-cms.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/twittershots_Eric_Balchunas_2002074602739060946_ffc2d4fcca.webp"></figure>While Bitcoin ETF flows told a story of accumulation through weakness, precious metals and mining-focused ETFs delivered the opposite narrative in 2025, pairing strong inflows with exceptional performance. Gold- and silver-linked funds ranked among the year’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cryptopolitan.com/gold-etfs-and-miners-shine-brightest-in-2025/">best performers</a> as investors gravitated toward perceived safe havens amid inflation concerns, geopolitical tension, and persistent uncertainty around global monetary policy. Gold prices climbed more than 60% during the year, marking one of the strongest annual advances in decades, while silver prices rose even faster, benefiting from both defensive demand and industrial use cases. Physical gold ETFs recorded their largest first-half inflows in five years, with tens of billions of dollars added and hundreds of metric tons flowing into vault-backed products.Mining equities amplified those gains. Gold mining ETFs surged well ahead of the underlying metal, with some broad miner funds rising roughly 150% in 2025 as higher bullion prices translated into expanding margins and sharply improved earnings. Major producers such as Newmont and Barrick posted gains exceeding 150%, while select precious-metal funds delivered returns approaching or exceeding 180%, placing them at the top of performance rankings across asset classes. Silver-focused ETFs also produced outsized results, with some climbing around 100% for the year, reinforcing the theme that leverage to commodity prices proved decisive in a market environment defined by macro stress.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Mining ETFs amplify gains as crypto price volatility persists

Bitcoin ETF Inflows Defy Losses as Gold and Mining ETFs Dominate 2025 Returns Across Alternative Assets

<h2>Europe’s central bank pushes distributed ledger settlement rails forward while lawmakers hold the line on digital euro privacy, timelines, and final legal design</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>The European Central Bank is preparing to enable blockchain-based settlements in central bank money from 2026, tightly linked to the digital euro project.</li><li>Legislative decisions in 2026 will determine the digital euro’s privacy model, with pilot usage expected in 2027 and full readiness targeted for 2029.</li><li>Officials frame the initiative as a structural upgrade to Europe’s payments system, not a reaction to crypto price movements, despite broader shifts in the crypto price index and coin market cap dynamics.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>The European Central Bank is moving closer to a structural overhaul of how money settles across the eurozone, confirming plans to support blockchain-based transactions settled directly in central bank money as early as 2026, even as political negotiations continue to shape the future of the digital euro. Senior ECB officials have indicated that the technical groundwork for distributed ledger technology, or DLT, settlement is largely complete, positioning the central bank to offer a new form of infrastructure that could fundamentally change how financial institutions exchange value within the euro area and beyond.Piero Cipollone, a member of the ECB’s executive board, has said the institution is preparing to allow DLT-based transactions to settle in central bank money next year, a step that would anchor tokenized assets and blockchain-based markets to the safest form of settlement available. The initiative is designed to work not only within the eurozone but also with international payment systems, opening the door to smoother cross-border transactions and potential interoperability with other central bank digital currencies over time. ECB officials have framed this approach as a way to prevent fragmentation in financial markets as tokenization accelerates, arguing that a public settlement layer is essential to reduce credit risk and operational complexity.Behind the technical push sits the longer-running digital euro project, which remains subject to legislative approval at the European Union level. The ECB has repeatedly stressed that it does not have the authority to issue a digital euro without a legal framework agreed by EU lawmakers. Current timelines suggest that if legislation is approved in 2026, limited digital euro usage could begin in 2027, with full issuance readiness targeted for 2029. The Governing Council moved the project into its next phase in late 2025, focusing on drafting a detailed rulebook and preparing operational systems while waiting for political decisions.Privacy has emerged as the most contentious element of those negotiations. ECB officials have emphasized that the digital euro should not be programmable in ways that restrict how people spend their money and that offline payments should offer privacy protections comparable to cash. Under proposed designs, offline digital euros could be stored locally on devices, enabling peer-to-peer transactions without continuous central validation. At the same time, broader EU policy trends are moving toward stricter anti-money-laundering controls and expanded data retention, creating tension between cash-like privacy ambitions and regulatory oversight priorities. Observers note that the final design may reflect compromise rather than the full privacy model originally envisioned by central bankers.The ECB’s rationale for both blockchain settlement and a digital euro is rooted less in day-to-day&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> volatility and more in concerns about Europe’s payment infrastructure. Officials argue that fragmented systems and inefficient cross-border transfers weaken the euro’s competitiveness, particularly as&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> and private payment networks grow in scale. While shifts in crypto price and the broader crypto price index often dominate market headlines, the central bank’s focus remains on long-term monetary sovereignty and financial stability rather than short-term movements in coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a>.Holding limits and the absence of interest on digital euro balances are among the safeguards designed to prevent large-scale migration of deposits away from commercial banks, preserving their role in credit creation and monetary transmission. ECB officials have also warned that without a public digital alternative, private tokenized money and foreign-currency stablecoins could gain outsized influence in European payments, potentially undermining the euro’s role in both domestic and cross-border commerce.As 2026 approaches, the ECB’s blockchain settlement plans appear increasingly concrete, with pilot frameworks already approved internally and external rollouts under discussion. The unresolved question is no longer whether the technology can work, but how Europe’s lawmakers will balance efficiency, privacy, and control in the final digital euro framework. The answer will shape not only the future of central bank money, but also how Europe positions itself in a financial landscape increasingly defined by digital assets, tokenization, and evolving measures of crypto price and market structure.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

ECB settlement infrastructure advances quietly beyond crypto price volatility

ECB Prepares Blockchain-Based Central Bank Settlements as Digital Euro Privacy Debate Intensifies Ahead of 2026 Milestones

<h2>Regulators Lock in Decade-Long Restrictions as FTX Fallout Continues to Reshape Crypto Oversight</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>The SEC moved to finalize civil enforcement actions against former FTX and Alameda executives Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh through consent judgments filed on Dec. 19, 2025.</li><li>Ellison accepted a 10-year officer-and-director ban, while Wang and Singh agreed to eight-year bans, alongside permanent antifraud injunctions.</li><li>The actions mark the SEC’s final civil step in the FTX case, underscoring lasting regulatory consequences beyond shifts in crypto price, crypto price index trends, or coin market cap recovery.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has taken its final&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/enforcement-litigation/litigation-releases/lr-26450">civil enforcement</a> step against the inner circle of the failed&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/ftx-token-ftt">FTX</a> empire, moving to lock in multi-year leadership bans and permanent antifraud injunctions against three of Sam Bankman-Fried’s closest lieutenants as the agency closes out one of the most consequential cases in crypto history. Court filings made public on December 19 show the SEC seeking approval of final consent judgments involving Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of Alameda Research, along with former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, effectively barring them from senior roles at public companies for much of the next decade.Ellison agreed to a 10-year prohibition on serving as an officer or director of any public company, while Wang, FTX’s former chief technology officer, and Singh, its former co-lead engineer, each consented to eight-year bans. All three defendants also accepted permanent injunctions preventing future violations of key antifraud provisions under U.S. securities law, as well as five-year conduct-based restrictions tied to their market activities. The agreements were submitted without admissions or denials of wrongdoing, a standard feature of SEC settlements, and remain subject to approval by a federal judge in the Southern District of New York.Regulators used the filings to reiterate their view of how deeply embedded the trio was in the mechanics that led to FTX’s collapse. According to the SEC, internal controls at the exchange were systematically overridden, allowing Alameda Research to access customer funds through what the agency described as a virtually unlimited line of credit. Software code created by Wang and Singh allegedly enabled the diversion of customer assets from FTX to Alameda, while Ellison, with knowledge of those arrangements, used the funds to support Alameda’s trading operations. The SEC framed the conduct not as an operational oversight but as a structural failure built into the platform’s design.The enforcement action lands more than three years after FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, an event that sent shockwaves through global digital asset markets and triggered sharp dislocations in&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> movements, major crypto price index benchmarks, and overall coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> figures. While market metrics have since stabilized and, in some cases, rebounded, the regulatory aftershocks have continued to unfold through courts and enforcement agencies rather than trading screens.All three executives targeted in the SEC’s final action previously faced criminal charges brought by federal prosecutors. Ellison was sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the fraud and was later released early, while Wang and Singh, both of whom cooperated extensively with authorities, avoided incarceration altogether. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of FTX, remains incarcerated following his fraud convictions, leaving the SEC’s latest move focused squarely on closing the civil side of the case rather than pursuing new penalties.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Final SEC actions reshape coin market cap confidence long-term

SEC Finalizes Long-Term Bans on FTX Insiders, Closing Civil Enforcement Chapter After Exchange’s 2022 Collapse

<h2>Hidden Peg Support, Shadow Trading, and the Long Legal Tail of a $50 Billion Crypto Failure</h2>TL;DR<ul><li>Terraform Labs’ court-appointed administrator has filed a $4 billion lawsuit accusing Jump Trading of secretly propping up TerraUSD’s peg while profiting from deeply discounted LUNA tokens.</li><li>The case alleges undisclosed market-making arrangements, opaque Bitcoin transfers, and conduct that may have misled investors about the stability of an algorithmic stablecoin.</li><li>The lawsuit lands as regulators tighten stablecoin oversight and as markets increasingly scrutinize how crypto price, crypto price index movements, and coin market cap figures are influenced behind the scenes.</li></ul><hr>We’ve just launched the all-new COIN360 Perp DEX, built for traders who move fast!Trade 130+ assets with up to 100× leverage, enjoy instant order placement and low-slippage swaps, and earn USDC passive yield while climbing the leaderboard. Your trades deserve more than speed — they deserve mastery.<div class="raw-html-embed"><div style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: white; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;"><a href="https://dex.coin360.com/" ref="noopener nofollow noreferrer" style="box-sizing: inherit; color: white; text-decoration: none; cursor: pointer; background-color: #4CAF50; padding: 5px 30px; text-align: center; font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 2px; border-radius: 5px;">Start Trading on COIN360 Today!</a></div></div><hr>Terraform Labs’ long-running collapse has entered a new and consequential chapter, with the company’s court-appointed plan administrator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/currencies/jump-accused-of-contributing-to-collapse-of-terraform-do-kwons-crypto-empire-890c3f27">filing</a> a sweeping $4 billion lawsuit against Jump Trading and two of its senior executives, alleging that the Chicago-based trading firm played a hidden but decisive role in propping up TerraUSD’s dollar peg before the ecosystem’s dramatic implosion in 2022. The lawsuit, disclosed in mid-December 2025 filings, is part of ongoing efforts to recover funds for creditors following one of crypto’s most destructive failures, a collapse that erased an estimated $40 billion to $50 billion in value across the TerraUSD (<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/terra-classic-usd-ustc">UST</a>) and&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/terra-luna">LUNA</a> markets.The complaint was filed by the Office of the Terraform Labs Plan Administrator, led by Todd Snyder, who was appointed after the company entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2024. According to the filing, Jump Trading, along with co-founder William DiSomma and former Jump Crypto president Kanav Kariya, allegedly engaged in undisclosed trading arrangements with Terraform Labs that artificially supported UST’s peg to the U.S. dollar. Rather than allowing the algorithmic mechanism behind TerraUSD to function independently, the lawsuit claims that Jump used its capital and trading infrastructure to absorb selling pressure during early depegging events, creating the public impression that the system was stable and self-correcting.Central to the allegations is the claim that Jump was compensated for this support through access to massive quantities of LUNA at prices far below market value. Court filings and related reporting describe arrangements allowing Jump to purchase LUNA for roughly $0.40 per token while the asset was trading at prices exceeding $110 during peak periods. The plan administrator argues that Jump later sold significant portions of those holdings into the open market, generating substantial profits while retail investors continued to buy into an ecosystem they believed was functioning as designed. Those profits, according to the lawsuit, came at the direct expense of market participants who relied on public statements about TerraUSD’s stability and the integrity of its peg.The complaint further alleges that critical aspects of this relationship were concealed from investors and regulators, including the extent of Jump’s role in maintaining the peg and the economic incentives embedded in its token purchase agreements. One particularly sensitive claim involves large transfers of&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">Bitcoin</a> from the Luna Foundation Guard, the entity established to defend UST during periods of stress. Reporting cited in the case indicates that approximately 50,000&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/bitcoin-btc">BTC</a> were transferred to Jump without clear, documented terms governing how those reserves could be deployed, raising questions about whether emergency backstops intended to protect the system were instead used in opaque trading strategies.Beyond the mechanics of peg defense, the lawsuit accuses Jump of conduct that may have accelerated the&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/coin/terra-luna">Terra</a> ecosystem’s collapse. The plan administrator claims that conflicts of interest emerged as Jump simultaneously supported UST in the market while seeking outside capital and potentially signaling vulnerabilities to other sophisticated trading firms. Those actions, the complaint argues, undermined confidence at a critical moment and contributed to the rapid unraveling that followed, culminating in TerraUSD’s permanent depeg and the near-total destruction of LUNA’s value.Jump Trading has forcefully rejected the allegations, describing the lawsuit as baseless and characterizing it as an attempt by Terraform Labs’ estate to shift blame away from the admitted misconduct of Terra founder Do Kwon. Jump has stated it intends to vigorously defend itself in court. The firm’s response comes against a backdrop of prior regulatory action, including a $123 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2024 related to claims about TerraUSD market support, a settlement Jump agreed to without admitting wrongdoing.The lawsuit unfolds alongside the final stages of Do Kwon’s own legal reckoning. Kwon pleaded guilty to criminal charges tied to fraud and market manipulation and was sentenced earlier this month to 15 years in prison, closing one chapter of the Terra saga while opening another focused squarely on the role of institutional counterparties. As of late 2025, Terraform’s estate has reportedly recovered roughly $300 million for creditors, a fraction of the losses incurred but a figure the plan administrator hopes to materially increase through litigation.Beyond the immediate legal battle, the case is reverberating through the stablecoin sector at a moment of heightened regulatory and market scrutiny. Analysts note that&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/stablecoin">stablecoins</a> now underpin a global supply estimated at more than $300 billion, with trillions of dollars in on-chain transaction volume, making their integrity central to broader&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/">crypto price</a> formation, crypto price index benchmarks, and overall coin&nbsp;<a href="https://coin360.com/glossary/market-capitalization">market cap</a> calculations. Allegations that a major stablecoin’s peg was sustained through undisclosed market-making agreements rather than transparent reserves or algorithms challenge assumptions about how stability is achieved and measured.The timing is notable as lawmakers and regulators tighten frameworks governing stablecoins, including new U.S. legislation aimed at payment stablecoins and clearer rules around disclosures and reserve management. Market participants increasingly view the Terra-Jump dispute as a test case that could influence how much responsibility liquidity providers and trading firms bear when their behind-the-scenes actions materially affect market outcomes. As courts examine whether hidden stabilization arrangements constitute material information, the lawsuit may ultimately shape how future stablecoin projects design, disclose, and defend the mechanisms that keep their tokens trading at a dollar.This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Robot extracts value amid LUNA lawsuit and market imbalance