The U.S. Federal Reserve just delivered its third straight rate cut, and markets are already buzzing about what it could mean for risk assets, especially crypto.
With Chair Jerome Powell signaling that inflation pressures may ease as growth returns, some analysts are turning their attention to the Bitcoin price prediction, suggesting that falling rates could help ignite a 2026 crypto supercycle.
While markets anticipated the move, the 9–3 split vote on the Federal Open Market Committee and Powell’s hawkish tone during the press conference dampened crypto sentiment.
Despite short-term concerns, crypto analysts argue that broader economic conditions continue supporting long-term digital asset adoption.
“Crypto is going to have a massive catch-up trade into Q1 2026."
Liquidity is back, breadth is expanding, and risk assets are primed.#Crypto won’t just benefit, it’ll EXPLODE.pic.twitter.com/5zhavbqJnV
Liquidity conditions are projected to gradually strengthen into 2026, while business-cycle indicators show ongoing stabilization.
Raoul Pal, CEO of Real Vision and Global Macro Investor, stated the traditional crypto 4-year cycle has evolved into a 5-year pattern, with Bitcoin positioned for a supercycle throughout 2026.
Fundstrat CIO Tom Lee believes Bitcoin is entering a “supercycle” driven by the current business cycle and ISM readings above 50.
“New highs come early. Like in January,” he forecasted.
At the recently concluded Bitcoin MENA Conference in Abu Dhabi, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao echoed this sentiment, suggesting a crypto supercycle could materialize in 2026.
Bitcoin Price Prediction: $88K Support Crucial For BTC Rally
In the near term, technical analysis reveals Bitcoin is struggling to breach the $94,000 resistance zone, marking the third rejection at this level in December.
The entire pre-FOMC rally has been completely reversed.
The sharp selloff pushed price back into the $90,000–$89,000 range, applying immediate pressure on the critical $88,000 support level highlighted on charts.
This level has repeatedly functioned as a defensive barrier; breaking below it would trigger a deeper correction toward lower liquidity zones around $84,000–$80,000.
Momentum has deteriorated as the RSI rolls over from near-neutral territory, indicating weakening strength following the rejection.
Currently, price action tilts bearish unless Bitcoin reclaims $92,000 and stabilizes above it.
Maintaining $88,000 preserves the overall structure, but breaking below that threshold increases the risk of a sharper decline toward sub-$80,000 levels.
New Doge-Themed Meme Coin Raises $4.3M Fast – Next 100x?
As Bitcoin tries to bottom before the anticipated 2026 supercycle rally, early-stage projects like Maxi Doge ($MAXI) are attracting investors seeking to capitalize on the coming liquidity wave.
Drawing inspiration from Dogecoin’s 2021 supercycle rally, $MAXI is creating an energetic community where traders exchange exclusive information,early trade setups, and undiscovered opportunities before they gain mainstream attention.
The $MAXI presale has now generated over $4.3 million and represents one of the cycle’s most accessible, community-focused opportunities.
Early supporters still have time to participate before the next price increase and before the 72% APY staking rewards decrease.
Although both retail and institutional investor interest is rising, emerging markets are likely to fuel the latest wave of digital gold adoption. In regions facing persistent currency devaluation, high inflation, limited banking infrastructure, and economic uncertainty, the fusion of gold with blockchain technology is evolving from a niche innovation into a financial lifeline.
Tokenized gold products, such as PAX Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUt), support savings, investing, and wealth protection without the need for substantial capital or traditional bank accounts. For developing economies, this model not only offers an accessible store of value but also opens doors to broader financial inclusion.
This is absolutely wild
Tokenized gold just flipped Gold ETFs in performance.
Same metal in the same vaults, but one lives on ETH and suddenly performs 60% better because it trades 24/7.
A number of digital asset platforms are therefore focused on bringing gold-backed savings and investment products to specific regions.
Global Settlement Holdings Inc. (GSX) announced on Dec. 10 a strategic partnership with digital finance company Ubuntu Tribe to bring over $5 billion worth of gold on-chain. GSX will build on top of Ubuntu Tribe’s GIFT token, a fully regulated and MiCA-compliant gold-backed token. The collaboration aims to expand gold‑backed savings and investment products across African markets and the European Union.
Ryan Kirkley, chief executive officer of GSX, told Cryptonews that GSX and Ubuntu Tribe will establish an interoperable digital asset and payments framework that reduces reliance on slow correspondent banking.
Sources note that sending $200 to Sub‑Saharan Africa still costs around 8% on average. In addition, one‑third of cross‑border retail payments take more than a day to settle and come with high fees.
“The framework we are building with Ubuntu Tribe will significantly improve settlement speeds and reduce FX friction for SMEs, exporters, and diaspora communities,” Kirkley said.
Tokenized Gold For FX Swaps and Liquidity
Mamadou Kwidjim Toure, CEO of Ubuntu Tribe, told Cryptonews that Ubuntu Tribe allows fractional ownership of gold from 1 gram, giving consumers mobile access to regulated, auditable gold. The tokenized gold is stored in an MPC‑secured “Utribe Wallet,” connecting users to gold‑backed savings, stablecoins, and decentralized finance features.
“We have already surpassed $10 million in transaction volume, with continued growth anticipated,” Kwidjim Toure said.
GSX’s stablecoin (SDGX), along with a universal stablecoin framework, will then allow instant FX swaps and liquidity pools. This seeks to reduce settlement times from days to seconds for businesses and diaspora remittances.
“Within the next 12 months, a pilot implementation will be launched for gold traceability and a cross‑border FX corridor. The pilot will also explore integration with regulated sandbox environments in priority African markets,” Kirkley said.
While this use case is still emerging, the notion behind sending tokenized gold overseas appears to be catching on. Daniel Ahmed, COO and co-founder of crypto banking platform Fasset, told Cryptonews that Fasset’s user data demonstrates the growing popularity of directing a portion of salaries into tokenized gold to hedge against depreciation or to diversify income.
“This same infrastructure lets overseas workers convert income into tokenized gold and send it across borders in a single transaction, an endeavor banks and gold exchange-traded funds struggle to match on cost or speed,” Ahmed stated.
Tokenized Gold As a Savings Vehicle
Ahmed added that Fasset data shows that some Asian countries’ user salaries are being received in stablecoins and then moved directly into tokenized assets as part of routine saving and wealth preservation habits.
Opera browser and The Celo Foundation—stewards of the Layer-2 Celo blockchain—are also demonstrating this use case with MiniPay.
MiniPay is an app that allows Opera users to easily make stablecoin transactions. MiniPay recently added support for XAUt0—the omnichain deployment of Tether Gold—to let users move beyond traditional stablecoins to gold-backed, real-world assets (RWAs).
Rene Reinsberg, Celo co-founder and President of Celo Foundation, told Cryptonews that XAUt0 allows people worldwide to buy and hold even fractionalized quantities of gold with sub-cent transaction costs.
“Adding XAUT0 to MiniPay enables those who have not previously had access, especially in cost-accessible quantities, to hold and save,” Reinsberg said. “The demand is already clear, as we have seen over 30,000 users in the weeks since launch, largely driven by users throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Reinsberg added that rather than sending cross-border payments, MiniPay users are leveraging XAUt0 for savings.
“While stablecoins are used for both sending and saving, gold is primarily used for savings,” he said. “It offers MiniPay users a way to diversify their holdings beyond US Dollar-denominated stablecoins, another means to combat hyperinflation through easy on-ramping and swapping into XAUt0.”
For instance, Yaroslav Patsira, fractional director at cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO, told Cryptonews that the biggest hurdle is regulatory confusion.
“Because tokenized gold is both a digital asset and represents a physical commodity, different countries classify it differently. This makes it difficult for companies to operate across borders and for investors to know their rights,” he pointed out.
Additionally, Patsira noted there’s custodial risk associated with tokenized gold. “When you buy tokenized gold, a third party must actually store the physical gold somewhere, and a user has to trust they’re doing it properly.”
Tokenized gold requires the holder of those tokens to trust that the company, or you, hold the actual correct amount of physical gold. It would be the same as 1971 when one of those custodians wants to start shaving some of that gold off for themselves.
A lack of industry standards further complicates the task of comparing different tokenized gold products to determine which ones are reliable.
On the flip side, Patsira explained that some African regulators are more receptive to tokenized commodities like gold rather than cryptocurrencies.
“Countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa have started creating specific frameworks for digital assets, with regulators showing a preference for tokens backed by real-world assets because they may fit better into existing financial regulations. As these regulatory frameworks mature and become more standardized across countries, adoption barriers should gradually decrease,” he said.
Bitcoin (BTC) sits in what can be described as a fragile range, experiencing pressure from high unrealized losses and realized loss realization, as well as heavy profit-taking by long-term holders. “The market is holding steady for now, but conviction remains absent,” according to the latest report by the blockchain data provider Glassnode.
The analysts found that the world’s number one coin trades within “a structurally fragile” zone. The three factors noted above are collectively anchoring price action at the moment.
It is noteworthy, however, that demand remains resilient enough to keep price above the True Market Mean (the cost basis of all non-dormant coins), despite this persistent sell pressure. This suggests that buyers are still absorbing distribution.
Overall, the market structure “suggests a weak but stable range, held up by patient demand yet constrained by persistent sell pressure,” the analysts say.
Moreover, the short-term trajectory depends on whether liquidity improves and sellers relent. Long term, the market depends on its ability to reclaim key cost-basis thresholds and exit “this time-driven, psychologically taxing phase.”
Anchored, But Under Strain#Bitcoin is stuck in a fragile range as losses climb, LTH selling grows, and demand stays weak. ETFs, liquidity, and futures remain muted while options price short-term volatility ahead of FOMC.
Moreover, looking at the onchain indicators, the analysts found that, as the market sits in this weak but bounded range, “time becomes a negative force.” They explain that investors find it more difficult to endure unrealized losses. Simultaneously, the possibility of loss realization increases.
Subsequently, as realized losses rise, recovery anchors further. A surge in realized profit from veteran investors boost this effect.
That said, the price did slightly recover above the True Market Mean. In the short term, if seller exhaustion arises, this underlying buy pressure could result in a retest of the $95,000 level and potentially the STH-Cost Basis at $102,700.
“Until then, the True Market Mean remains the most probable bottom-formation zone, barring a new macro shock,” the analysts write.
Transition Into Low-Liquidity, Mean-Reverting Environment
Onchain factors show a cautious tone, and off-chain conditions echo it, Glassnode says.
In short, exchange-traded funds (ETF) flows are negative, spot liquidity is subdued, and futures markets lack speculative engagement.
The spot market is seeing a thinner demand buffer. This lowers immediate buy-side support, with the price standing in a place “more vulnerable to macro catalysts and volatility shocks.”
Moreover, Bitcoin’s spot relative volume sits near the lower bound of its 30-day range. It suggests “a more defensive positioning across the board.” Fewer liquidity-driven flows are available to absorb volatility or sustain directional moves.
Additionally, “across perpetual markets, funding hovered around zero to slightly negative during the week, underscoring the continued retreat in speculative long positioning,” the report says.
Source: Glassnode
Meanwhile, the options market recorded “muted” action, in contrast with a jump in short-dated implied volatility. This comes as traders position for a larger move.
“Options markets reinforce a defensive posture, with traders accumulating volatility, bidding short-dated downside protection, and positioning for a near-term volatility event,” the analysts says.
Additionally, they found that traders are buying and not selling volatility. Also, traders buying both wings suggest hedging and convexity-seeking behaviour instead sentiment-driven speculation.
“Combined with rising implied volatility and a downside-leaning skew, the flow profile suggests that market participants are preparing for a volatility event with a bias toward the downside,” Glassnode says.
Notably, the US Federal Reserve meeting on 10 December was the last meaningful catalyst, so the market is preparing for a transition into a low-liquidity, mean-reverting environment.
After the rate cut announcement, gamma sellers typically re-enter, accelerating IV decay into year-end. “Absent a hawkish surprise or a notable shift in guidance, the path of least resistance points toward lower implied volatility and a flatter surface through late December,” the report concludes.
Initial jobless claims surged to 236,000 vs 220,000 expected, a significant jump from last week’s 191,000 reading that was the lowest since September 2022.
Bitcoin dropped from $92,000 to $90,000 yesterday, and it is holding there as traders digest whether the 45,000-person increase validates concerns about a softening labor market or simply represents holiday volatility normalizing.
Today’s weaker claims data directly challenge that narrative and could revive arguments that the Fed is making a policy error by prematurely slowing the easing cycle.
The timing is critical as traders also digest today’s OPEC Monthly Report and the U.S. 30-Year Bond Auction, both of which carry implications for inflation expectations and Fed policy.
OPEC’s demand outlook could signal whether energy prices will pressure inflation higher in 2025, while the 30-year auction will reveal how bond markets are pricing long-term Fed policy after yesterday’s hawkish shift.
Currently, Bitcoin’s technical setup has deteriorated after the Fed decision, with support now critical at $88,000-$90,000 and resistance at $92,000. The total crypto market cap sits at $3.23 trillion as traders reassess whether today’s 236K jobless claims print marks the start of labor-market deterioration that forces the Fed back to dovish policy.
The question is whether one week’s data reverses Powell’s hawkish stance—markets now face a dilemma in which weak employment could be bullish (forcing rate cuts) or bearish (signaling a recession).
With the January 28-29 FOMC meeting now uncertain to deliver a rate cut, today’s labor market weakness provides ammunition for dovish Fed officials who warned against pausing the easing too soon.
Jobless Claims Spike: Labor Market Shows First Cracks
Ethereum-focused treasury company BitMine received 33,504 ETH worth $112 million from institutional trading desk FalconX, according to on-chain intelligence firm EmberCN.
The purchase extends the firm’s aggressive accumulation strategy as chairman Tom Lee declared Ethereum has likely bottomed and projected the asset could reach $7,000 by early 2026.
The transaction pushes BitMine’s total holdings to approximately 3.86 million ETH, representing 3.2% of Ethereum’s circulating supply, according to StrategicETHReserve data.
Lee, who also serves as Fundstrat Global Advisors’ chief investment officer, told CNBC last month that the bottom is in despite ETH testing the critical $2,870 support level for the first time since July.
Wall Street Veteran Spots Ethereum’s Bitcoin Moment
Lee believes Ethereum is entering the same explosive growth cycle that propelled Bitcoin from $1,000 to over $100,000 since his firm’s initial 2017 recommendation.
Speaking on Farokh Radio, he noted Bitcoin endured multiple 75% drawdowns during that period before ultimately delivering 100x returns to patient holders.
“We believe ETH is embarking on that same supercycle,” Lee stated, arguing current weakness reflects market doubt rather than fundamental deterioration.
The comparison carries particular weight given his track record of calling major market bottoms, including upgrading the S&P 500 at 720 in February 2009, one month before the generational low at 666.
His conviction stems from Wall Street’s accelerating blockchain adoption, particularly BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s commitment to tokenizing traditional assets on Ethereum.
Lee emphasized that financial institutions require “a neutral and 100% uptime blockchain, and that’s Ethereum” to bring stocks, bonds, and real estate onto distributed ledgers.
He noted that tokenization addresses a market “in the quadrillions,” rather than merely replacing gold’s $20 trillion addressable market, as Bitcoin does.
BitMine Doubles Down While Paper Losses Mount
The latest purchase follows BitMine’s acquisition of nearly $70 million in ETH over three days in early December, even as the firm sits on unrealized losses with an average cost basis of $3,008 per token.
Management claims it’s roughly 62% toward its long-term target of controlling 5% of total Ether supply, an ambitious goal that would require accumulating approximately 2.5 million additional ETH at current levels.
This contrasts sharply with broader market behavior. Bitwise data shows that digital asset treasury companies purchased just 370,000 ETH in November, an 81% decline from August’s peak of 1.97 million ETH.
While competitors retreated amid volatility, BitMine accelerated buying, with Lee noting that his team purchased ETH at more than double the rate compared to two weeks prior.
Lee dismissed concerns about the four-year Bitcoin cycle theory, suggesting it may no longer apply.
“If Bitcoin closes above $126,000 by January 31st, then there’s no four-year cycle,” he told Farokh Radio, adding that traditional market indicators like the ISM manufacturing index and copper prices have already broken their historical four-year patterns.
This challenges widespread beliefs among original crypto investors who expect 2026 to bring weakness.
The company recently appointed Chi Tsang as chief executive, replacing Jonathan Bates as part of a leadership transition aimed at positioning BitMine “to become a leading financial institution.”
Three new independent board members also joined alongside the management change.
Technical Setup Mirrors Pre-Rally Conditions
Ethereum’s current price action around $3,100 carries technical significance beyond simple support levels.
The asset retested $2,870 support, the same level that preceded a 72% rally to all-time highs near $4,900 in August.
Lee referenced this pattern when declaring that the bottom is likely in place, though he acknowledged the asset has “unfortunately” been in a sustained downtrend.
Market indicators reflect extreme pessimism that historically precedes reversals.
Currently, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits near 29, indicating that there is still some “fear” in the market, which often marks accumulation zones.
Speaking with Cryptonews, Ignacio Aguirre, chief marketing officer at Bitget, projects ETH could climb toward $3,800 as “institutional flows resume and macro conditions stabilize” following yesterday’s Federal Reserve rate cut.
Bitcoin traded around $90,000 at press time while Ethereum held above $3,200, with both assets pulling back roughly 2% in early Asian trading hours today.
Coinbase has expanded its Solana integration by activating native decentralized exchange trading inside its mobile application, giving users the ability to swap Solana-based tokens directly on-chain for the first time through the platform.
The update, confirmed by Coinbase protocol specialist Andrew, allows trades to be settled in USDC alongside standard payment options such as cash, bank accounts, and debit cards.
It follows the company’s August rollout of DEX support for Base-network assets and fulfills its earlier promise to bring Solana into the lineup before the end of the year.
Solana Becomes Core to Coinbase’s Vision as On-Chain Trading Surges
The move arrives at a time when Coinbase is pushing to evolve into what it calls the “everything exchange,” a long-term plan to combine custodial and on-chain trading under one roof.
Earlier this month, the company revealed that it would acquire Vector, an on-chain trading platform built natively on Solana.
Coinbase said the deal, expected to close by year-end, will plug Vector’s infrastructure into its DEX architecture.
Vector’s tools specialize in identifying new Solana assets the moment they deploy on-chain or emerge from launchpads, a capability Coinbase believes will improve speed, liquidity, and asset discovery for retail traders.
Solana’s trading environment has become one of Coinbase’s strategic focal points. Data shows that Solana DEX volume has already surpassed $1 trillion in 2025, underlining the chain’s acceleration.
A recent snapshot of the ecosystem shows more than $4 billion in 24-hour volume and nearly $94 billion over the past month
Platforms such as HumidiFi, Pump, Meteora, Raydium, Orca, and Tessera V now dominate activity, collectively accounting for more than 88 percent of daily trades.
The dataset shows that newer entrants have carved out significant market share, reshaping a space once led by Orca and Serum.
Notably, in October, Coinbase quietly expanded its on-chain features by adding DEX trading to its mobile app for U.S. users. The update lets people swap tokens directly on-chain, including assets that haven’t yet made it onto Coinbase’s main listings.
New York users are still blocked due to local rules. The company had been testing the feature with a smaller group of users since August before rolling it out more widely.
Solana Community Voices Friction as Coinbase Rolls Out Base–Solana Bridge
Coinbase’s decision to deepen its Solana integration comes just days after the company faced criticism within the Solana community for launching a new cross-chain bridge between Base and Solana.
The bridge, secured by Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, went live on December 5 and is designed to let users move SPL assets into Base environments and use them inside Base-native applications.
Base lead Jesse Pollak described the product as a two-way channel intended to unlock shared liquidity.
However, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko dismissed the framing and argued that bridges act as value-capture mechanisms rather than neutral infrastructure.
The problem is that alignment is bs. @ilblackdragon is working on near intents for near, and isn’t trying to sell me alignment bs. It’s a great competitive product that pushes the industry forward. It has solana tokens on it, but the value capture is on near. Good for him.…
He urged Base developers to move computation to Solana if they expected economic alignment.
The tension escalated as Solana Foundation members criticized the bridge’s rollout, saying it bypassed their technical and marketing teams and lacked a single Solana-based launch partner.
Jesse — we’d be happy to engage you in a genuine commercial conversation… just not a performative one with platitudes that don’t mean much.
i’m sure you’ll appreciate that your past DMs (now made public), the comments from the recent panel about flipping solana, and base being…
Pollak responded by pointing to nine months of development work and said demand from builders on both sides justified the connection.
Market observers noted that Coinbase and Base had followed a similar pattern during earlier outreach to Ethereum developers.
Coinbase Doubles Down on International Expansion
The DEX expansion also arrives as Coinbase attempts to recover from declining trading volumes and mounting competition from U.S. rivals like Robinhood and Kraken.
By allowing users to hold their own assets and execute trades on-chain, the company is trying to capture demand for self-custody and reduce reliance on traditional exchange infrastructure.
United Arab Emirates telecom heavyweight e& is preparing to test whether a regulated stablecoin can support day-to-day consumer payments, marking one of the country’s most visible moves toward blockchain-based financial infrastructure.
Key Takeaways:
e& has teamed up with Al Maryah Community Bank to pilot AE Coin stablecoin for everyday consumer payments.
The trial will test AE Coin across e&’s digital services, including bill payments.
The initiative reflects the UAE’s broader push toward regulated digital finance.
The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Al Maryah Community Bank to explore how a dirham-pegged token could function across its digital services.
e& Tests AE Coin Stablecoin for Bill Payments and Digital Services
The trial centers on AE Coin, a fully backed stablecoin licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE.
Under the agreement, e& will evaluate how the token can be woven into its payment systems, potentially allowing customers to pay mobile and home-service bills, recharge prepaid lines, manage postpaid accounts, and interact with its digital platforms using a blockchain-based settlement method.
Executives on both sides framed the partnership as part of the UAE’s broader ambition to push regulated digital finance into mainstream use.
e& Group CEO Hatem Dowidar said the stablecoin offers “instant settlement, complete transparency, and frictionless access,” highlighting its appeal as a next-generation payment rail.
Al Maryah Community Bank CEO Mohammed Wassim Khayata added that the pilot opens the door to expanding “real-world applications” for licensed virtual assets.
Although e& signaled interest in eventually linking the token to e-commerce channels, the initiative remains firmly in the exploratory stage.
UAE digital payments move ~$18B/yr through slow, expensive banking rails.
The dirham stablecoin issued by FAB & IHC under Central Bank oversight running on ADI’s infrastructure replaces those rails with instant, low-cost settlement.
An MoU indicates intent rather than deployment, meaning timelines, rollout scope, and consumer impact are still undefined. For now, the trial will focus on internal infrastructure testing rather than a public launch.
Ramez Rafeek, general manager of AED Stablecoin, the firm behind AE Coin, described the collaboration as a milestone for regulated digital payments, positioning the stablecoin as a potential backbone for essential services.
The company was among the first to receive in-principle approval under the UAE’s Payment Token Service Regulation framework, putting it ahead in the region’s increasingly competitive stablecoin race.
The UAE has been actively advancing its regulatory approach to virtual assets as it seeks to build out a compliant digital finance ecosystem.
Tether, Binance Secure Regulatory Approval in ADGM
As reported, Tether’s USDT stablecoin has also secured regulatory recognition as an approved fiat-referenced token across a wide range of blockchains inside the ADGM.
Tether said ADGM now permits licensed institutions in the financial free zone to conduct regulated activities involving USDT across Aptos, Celo, Cosmos, Kaia, Near, Polkadot, Tezos, TON and TRON.
These approvals expand on earlier recognition for USDT on Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche.
On Monday, Binance disclosed that it has also secured full authorization to operate its flagship Binance.com platform under ADGM oversight, a milestone that comes after years of regulatory scrutiny.
Binance will operate through three distinct legal entities in the zone, an exchange, a clearing house and a broker-dealer, reflecting a traditional financial-market structure designed to enable regulated trading, custody, settlement and off-exchange services.
Most Ethereum scaling networks are unlikely to make it through 2026, according to new forecasts from 21Shares.
Key Takeaways:
TMost Ethereum L2s are at risk of collapse in 2026 as activity concentrates overwhelmingly on Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
Smaller rollups are rapidly becoming “zombie chains,” with usage dropping 61%.
21Shares expects the L2 landscape to consolidate around ETH-aligned, high-performance, and exchange-backed networks.
The firm’s latest State of Crypto outlook warns that the Layer-2 ecosystem has reached a breaking point after two years of rapid expansion, leaving only a handful of dominant players with meaningful traction.
Base, Arbitrum, Optimism Dominate as Dozens of Ethereum L2s Become ‘Zombie Chains’
More than 50 L2s currently compete for users, liquidity, and developers. However, by late 2025, market share had already consolidated around three networks, including Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism, which together processed nearly 90% of all L2 transactions, with Base alone surpassing 60%.
The rest of the field is slipping into irrelevance. Activity across smaller rollups has fallen sharply, with L2 usage down 61% since June, the report shows.
Many are now operating as so-called “zombie chains,” running with minimal user activity and evaporating liquidity.
Even major DeFi protocols such as Aave and Synthetix scaled back their deployments on weaker L2s, citing poor liquidity and limited returns.
Layer 2s
Layer 2s are basically like a supporting chains, and they are most times created to solve the problem of the parent blockchain and reduce network congestion on the parent chain
Example of layer 2s:
– Base ETH – Arbitruim – Polygon – Optimism – Starknet
The Dencun upgrade’s 90% fee reduction triggered aggressive fee wars that pushed most rollups into losses. Base was the only L2 that turned a profit in 2025, earning around $55 million.
21Shares expects a “leaner, more resilient” set of networks to define Ethereum’s scaling layer by the end of 2026.
ETH-aligned designs like Linea, which redirect fees back to Ethereum through burns or validator rewards, aim to improve long-term sustainability.
Meanwhile, high-performance entrants such as MegaETH are targeting near-real-time execution to close the gap with fast monolithic chains.
Exchange-backed networks are also reshaping the landscape. Coinbase’s Base and Binance’s BNB Chain showed how centralized platforms can onboard millions directly onchain, while Bybit’s Mantle and Kraken’s Ink are expected to follow.
$1T Stablecoins, $400B ETPs, and the Rise of AI-Driven Finance
Beyond Ethereum’s scaling shakeout, 21Shares points to a series of structural shifts that are likely to reshape the digital asset landscape in 2026.
Stablecoins are on track to reach $1 trillion in circulation as they continue to gain ground in payments, remittances, and corporate finance.
At the same time, global crypto ETPs are expected to surpass $400 billion in assets, putting them in the same league as major equity index funds as institutional access broadens, per the report.
Decentralized finance is also set for a resurgence. The firm projects that DeFi’s total value locked will climb past $300 billion, helped by falling interest rates, growing stablecoin liquidity, and companies deploying idle treasury assets into onchain markets.
Prediction markets, one of the fastest-growing sectors of 2025, may cross $100 billion in annual trading volume as political uncertainty and macro volatility fuel demand for real-time event speculation, 21Shares said.
The crypto market is down today, with the cryptocurrency market capitalisation decreasing by 2.8% and pulling back to $3.16 trillion. 97 of the top 100 coins have gone down over the past 24 hours. At the same time, the total crypto trading volume is at $154 billion.
TLDR:
Crypto market cap decreased by 2.8% on Thursday morning (UTC);
97 of the top 100 coins and all top 10 coins have gone down today;
BTC decreased by 2.8% to $90,051, and ETH is down by 4.3% to $3,182;
Stocks closed sharply higher as the US Fed approved a rate cut;
Cathie Wood argued that Bitcoin’s 4-year cycle may no longer define its long-term performance;
‘A base-case scenario for the week is continued consolidation around current levels’;
Key events put ‘a lid on the rally for risk assets heading into the end of the year’;
‘We’re heading into a complex macro season’;
‘There are no other obvious catalysts from here on’;
US BTC and ETH spot ETFs both saw inflows on Wednesday of $223.52 million and $57.58 million, respectively;
Galaxy said it’s expanding into Abu Dhabi;
Crypto market sentiment saw a minor decrease within the fear zone.
Crypto Winners & Losers
At the time of writing, all top 10 coins per market capitalization have seen their prices decrease over the past 24 hours.
Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 2.8% since this time yesterday, currently trading at $90,051.
Bitcoin (BTC)
24h7d30d1yAll time
Ethereum (ETH) is down by 4.3%, now changing hands at $3,182. This is the category’s third-highest decrease today.
At the same time, the smallest decrease in the category is 0.4% by Tron (TRX), currently trading at $0.2789.
As for the top 100 coins, only three have appreciated over the past day. These are Provenance Blockchain (HASH), MemeCore (M), and Rain (RAIN), which are up 8.5%, 1.1%, and 1.1% to $0.03038, $1.47, and $0.007672, respectively.
On the red side, Pump.fun (PUMP) decreased the most in this category: 9.3% to $0.002763.
Ethena (ENA) follows with an 8.8% fall to the price of $0.2487.
As expected, the US Federal Reserve approved a 25 basis point rate cut at Wednesday’s FOMC meeting. However, many argued that the cut had already been priced in.
Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets at YouHodler, commented that “my base-case scenario for the week is continued consolidation around current levels, accompanied by moderate downward pressure.”
‘A Lid On The Rally For Risk Assets’
Nic Roberts-Huntley, co-founder and CEO of Blueprint Finance, commented on the US Federal Reserve’s move, saying that the 25-basis-point rate cut “will likely soften borrowing costs further and generally boost risk-asset sentiment, which tends to work in favor of crypto.”
It could see Bitcoin “rally back toward levels we lost over the past few weeks, provided there’s actual liquidity ready to be deployed.”
That said, he noted, “we’re heading into a complex macro season” and that it will be “hard to isolate the effect of the rate cut in the near term.”
Moreover, Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of The Coin Bureau, said that FOMC decision wasn’t as hawkish as many market participants were expecting, so markets are breathing a sigh of relief.
However, the Fed is now expected to cut rates only once in 2026, fewer than investors hoped for. This could still change with the change of Chair next year. The attention will now turn to liquidity and the Fed’s balance sheet policy in early 2026.
The fewer expected cuts and the diverging opinions within the committee “inject a fresh dose of uncertainty into the macro outlook.”
“And as any investor knows, markets are allergic to uncertainty. This puts a lid on the rally for risk assets heading into the end of the year.”
That said, the Fed’s announcement is not enough to spark a Santa rally for BTC, and there are no other obvious catalysts from here on, Puckrin argued, barring any unexpected announcements from the US President.
Additionally, Alexis Sirkia, Chairman of Yellow Network, saying that “the market is mulling over the Fed’s decision of a third quarter-point rate cut to ease the affordability crunch.”
And yet, “the irony here is that the Fed itself is operating with limited visibility due to the government shutdown, themselves looking to make a critical decision on incomplete data.”
Slowing down is typical of a centralized system breakdown, designed for stability but forced to make a judgment call in the dark. “I see this as a clear opportunity for the old economic models to be transformed – with trustless systems,” Sirkia said.
Levels & Events to Watch Next
At the time of writing on Thursday morning, BTC stood at $90,051. For the first part of the day, it moved sideways before jumping to the intraday high of $94,177 before swiftly dropping to the intraday low of $89,623.
Over the past week, BTC fell by 3.3%. It has been trading in the $88,202–$94,267 range.
Should BTC fall below $92,000, it could fall to $87,000 and even the $83,000 level. A steady increase above $92,000 could lead to $98,000, followed by $100,600, $106,000, and $108,000.
Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: TradingView
Ethereum is currently changing hands at $3,182. Similarly to BTC, after trading relatively sideways for the first several hours of the day, ETH jumped to $3,432, the day’s highest point. It then plunged to $3,176 before slightly recovering to the current price.
ETH also entered the red zone in the 7-day timeframe, having decreased by 0.6% and trading between $2,946 and $3,390.
If it continues falling, the price could reach $3,050 and $2,940. Conversely, a move above $3,350 may lead to $3,500 and $3,750.
Ethereum (ETH)
24h7d30d1yAll time
Meanwhile, the crypto market saw a minor decrease on Thursday morning, not moving from the fear territory. The crypto fear and greed index pulled back to 29 today from 30 yesterday.
Much like the market itself, the sentiment continues moving in a very tight range. Market participants are awaiting further macroeconomic and/or geopolitical signals to point to a short-term direction.
ETFs Continue Inflow Streak
On Wednesday, the US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted another day of positive flows, with a notable $223.52 million in inflows. The total net inflow increased slightly to $57.93 billion.
Of the twelve BTC ETFs, two recorded inflows, compared to yesterday’s eight. None saw outflows. BlackRock took in $192.95 million, followed by Fidelity’s $30.58 million.
Moreover, the US ETH ETFs as well posted another day of positive flows on 10 December, with $57.58 million in inflows. The total net inflow now stands at $13.15 billion.
Of the nine funds, two recorded inflows, and one saw outflows. BlackRock added $56.45 million, followed by Grayscale’s $7.91 million, while Fidelity let go of $6.78 million.
Meanwhile, Ark Invest’s CEO Cathie Wood argued that Bitcoin’s four-year cycle may no longer define its long-term performance. Instead, it’s the institutional adoption that’s reshaping volatility, the depth of future drawdowns, and more.
Moreover, Galaxy said that it will establish an operation under the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s international financial centre and a rising destination for crypto and fintech firms.
Galaxy is officially expanding into Abu Dhabi.
Today, we announced our new @ADGlobalMarket office, strengthening our global reach and deepening our commitment to one of the world’s most dynamic financial centers.
The crypto market recorded a decrease over the past 24 hours, and the US stock market closed its previous session sharply higher. By the closing time on Wednesday, 10 December, the S&P 500 was up by 0.67% (just missing an all-time high), the Nasdaq-100 increased by 0.42%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.05%. This comes after the US Federal Reserve cut the key rate to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
Is this drop sustainable?
The market has been largely consolidating over the past month. Analysts expect it to continue moving in the existing range in the short time, while investors wait to see if Bitcoin’s four-year cycle will indeed break or will remain as it historically presented itself.
Stablecoins are set to move firmly into the financial mainstream next year, according to Keith Grose, UK CEO of Coinbase, who expects continued acceleration in consumer adoption and regulatory clarity.
Speaking ahead of expected policy developments in the UK, Grose outlines why he believes stablecoins are becoming a central pillar of the next phase of digital finance.
“We see stablecoins transitioning into mainstream payment rails in the UK and worldwide in 2026,” Grose said. “More consumers are now using stablecoins for seamless everyday payments, without needing to change how they transact.”
He added that global investors are increasingly turning to digital-currency alternatives to diversify away from traditional dollar-denominated instruments.
Regulators Move, but UK Risks Falling Behind
Stablecoin adoption has been rising steadily, powered both by consumer utility and institutional interest. Grose points to emerging regulatory frameworks as a pivotal catalyst.
“The Bank of England’s evolving approach to stablecoins is welcome,” he said. “But to secure London’s place at the heart of the next monetary revolution, more needs to be done. A competitive, well-regulated stablecoin regime can strengthen financial stability and not only allow the UK to catch up with the rest of the world, but lead,” Grose explained.
Stablecoins Move to the Top of the UK’s 2026 Regulatory Agenda
In a year-end letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently outlined its achievements across capital markets reform, showing the UK’s ambition to build a competitive environment for digital assets.
For 2026, the FCA said it will focus on allowing stablecoins to function within everyday payment systems, echoing industry expectations that digital cash instruments will move into mainstream rails.
The UK has formally recognized cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as legal property through a new Act of Parliament.#UK#Cryptohttps://t.co/I68t8BBZoD
Momentum across major jurisdictions supports this view. For example, in the United States, the GENIUS Act has provided clearer federal guidelines giving stablecoin issuers and platforms the regulatory certainty needed to expand.
In the European Union, stablecoin activity surged following the 2024 rollout of MiCA, with euro-stablecoin market capitalization doubling within a year as adoption spread across fintech platforms, exchanges, and on-chain settlement providers.
Dollar-backed stablecoins remain the dominant asset class globally, surpassing $260 billion in circulation in Q3 2025, while euro-denominated stablecoins continue to gain traction.
Grose notes that EURC alone has driven more than $70 million in transfer volume on Base, Coinbase’s Layer 2 network—evidence, he says, of stablecoins’ growing role in cross-border payments and digital commerce.
Coinbase Pushes Toward an Inclusive Digital Economy
“At Coinbase, we’re committed to continue advancing a digital ecosystem that is increasingly open, innovative and inclusive with stablecoins in the year ahead,” Grose said.
With expanding regulatory clarity, rising consumer adoption, and the global payments sector shifting toward programmable money, 2026 could be the year stablecoins evolve from niche digital assets into standard instruments of everyday financial life.
The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has released preliminary findings from a sweeping review into debanking practices at the country’s nine largest national banks, revealing that all of them imposed “inappropriate” restrictions on lawful businesses, including firms operating in the digital-asset sector.
The review, ordered under President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans,” examined practices at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC, TD Bank and BMO.
The OCC is committed to ending efforts that weaponize finance. Read the OCC’s preliminary findings from its supervisory review of debanking activities at the nine largest national banks. https://t.co/pFMi7Rt8khpic.twitter.com/XWfbCheo91
According to the regulator, these banks maintained internal policies between 2020 and 2023 that treated customers differently based on the nature of their legal business activities.
The OCC found that several institutions required escalated approvals or imposed blanket restrictions on entire sectors viewed as conflicting with the banks’ “values.”
The list of affected industries stretched from oil and gas to firearms, private prisons, tobacco, and adult entertainment. Digital asset companies were included among the businesses facing barriers.
Regulator Says Banks Used Charter Powers Improperly as Crypto Debanking Spread
Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould said the agency’s early findings show that these policies were not isolated cases but widespread across the institutions reviewed.
He described the practices as harmful to lawful enterprises and an inappropriate use of a national bank charter.
While the banks have insisted that they did not engage in discriminatory account closures, the OCC said many of the policies were visible publicly, and its investigations will continue until a full accounting is completed.
The agency’s work builds on a review launched in September 2025 and covers thousands of complaints, including claims of political and religious debanking.
According to the regulator, those findings will be released later. Debanking typically occurs when banks decide it is safer to sever ties with certain customers rather than risk regulatory scrutiny.
In the case of crypto businesses, the pressure has often come indirectly through warnings, consultations, or guidance that banks interpret as cautionary notes from their regulators.
One example referenced in the broader debate occurred when the FDIC encouraged banks to “pause” crypto-related activities without issuing a direct prohibition.
That kind of communication, combined with compliance fears, made the sector a high-risk area for banks to service and left crypto firms struggling to maintain basic operational accounts.
Crypto Debanking Sparks Political Clash Amid New Fair-Access Push
The issue has grown into a political flashpoint. President Trump signed an executive order in August intended to stop the practice of debanking customers solely for involvement in crypto or other legal industries.
Lawmakers in states such as Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, and others have pushed their own “fair access” laws designed to block banks from using ideological or non-financial criteria when assessing customers.
Regulators consistently deny any coordinated effort to cut off crypto access, arguing that decisions stem from anti-money-laundering obligations. Federal law requires banks to monitor and report suspicious activity, and institutions face steep penalties when they fail to comply.
The tensions extend beyond bank account closures. Former U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli has argued in court filings that crypto-focused Custodia Bank was denied a Federal Reserve master account because regulators treated the digital asset sector as inherently unsafe.
Several former officials and lawmakers have filed briefs supporting the claim. The case remains on appeal and could take on greater significance after a recent Supreme Court opinion curbed deference to federal agencies’ interpretations of the law.
The New York Stock Exchange welcomed a bronze statue of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto on Thursday.
Twenty One Capital, the first Bitcoin-native public company listed on the NYSE under ticker XXI, placed the sixth of 21 planned global monuments at the exchange as crypto markets navigate Federal Reserve policy uncertainty.
The installation by artist Valentina Picozzi represents what NYSE officials described as “shared ground between emerging systems and established institutions.”
Twenty One CEO Jack Mallers, who also founded Lightning Network payment provider Strike, said the placement reflects Bitcoin’s evolution from code to cultural phenomenon.
However, according to Bloomberg, the company’s stock tumbled 19% on its Tuesday trading debut following a blank-check merger.
Monument Placement Follows Switzerland Vandalism and Global Campaign
Picozzi expressed astonishment at the achievement, stating the NYSE location exceeded “our wildest dream” for the statue series.
This is such an achievement, even in our wildest dream we wouldn’t think about placing the statue of Satoshi Nakamoto in this location!
The 6th/21 statues of Satoshi Nakamoto found its home in the NYSE.
Local investigators suspected intoxicated revelers used tungsten carbide cutting disks and petrol-powered angle grinders to sever the welded bronze sculpture from its base, leaving only the feet attached.
At that time, Satoshigallery, the art collective behind the global campaign, offered a 0.1 Bitcoin reward worth approximately $12,000 for information leading to the recovery of the stolen statue.
The group condemned the vandalism while vowing to continue their mission, declaring, “You can steal our symbol but you will never be able to steal our souls.”
The Lugano theft marked the first major incident affecting official Satoshi monuments since Budapest unveiled the world’s first installation in September 2021.
The global campaign aims to install 21 monuments representing Bitcoin’s 21 million coin supply cap, with existing statues in Budapest, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Beach, Tokyo, and now New York.
Budapest’s original bronze bust featured a faceless, hooded figure with a mirrored surface embodying the “we are all Satoshi” symbolism, while Picozzi’s “Disappearing Satoshi” design depicts a seated figure at a laptop that vanishes when viewed from different angles.
Twenty One Capital Faces Market Headwinds Despite Bitcoin Holdings
Twenty One Capital holds approximately 43,500 bitcoins, valued at over $3.9 billion, making it the world’s third-largest corporate holder.
The company merged with Cantor Equity Partners, a special-purpose acquisition company backed by investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and chaired by Brandon Lutnick, son of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The deal included $486.5 million in senior convertible notes and roughly $365 million in common equity through private investment transactions.
Despite the volatility, Mallers emphasized that Twenty One differs from rivals by not trading at a premium to net asset value and plans to launch products and utility services beyond simply accumulating Bitcoin.
The company is majority-owned by stablecoin giant Tether and crypto exchange Bitfinex, with minority investment from Japanese technology investor SoftBank Group.
Fed Policy Clouds Bitcoin Rally as Traders Reassess Rate Path
Chair Jerome Powell described the reduction as further policy normalization while projecting only one additional cut in 2026, fewer than investors hoped.
Futures now imply a 78% chance that rates remain unchanged at the next meeting, up from 70% before the decision.
Speaking with Cryptonews, Ray Youssef, CEO of NoOnes, outlined two scenarios depending on Fed guidance.
“A dovish Fed tone could open the door to renewed risk-on sentiment, triggering a ‘Santa rally’ for digital assets, with BTC reclaiming $100,000,” he said, while warning that “a more cautious or hawkish FOMC message” could “drive a retest of the mid $70,000s, as defensive derivatives positioning accelerates downside moves.”
He emphasized that Bitcoin’s recovery hinges on renewed capital inflows rather than reduced selling pressure, noting ETF inflows remain shallow and market depth thin.
Bhutan is deepening its national blockchain push with the rollout of TER, a gold-backed digital token issued through Gelephu Mindfulness City and supported by the Kingdom’s sovereign framework.
Key Takeaways:
Bhutan launched TER, a sovereign-backed gold token on Solana.
Investors can buy TER directly through DK Bank with full on-chain transparency.
The move strengthens Bhutan’s push into state-backed digital assets.
The initiative positions Bhutan among the few nations experimenting with state-backed tokenized assets as it looks to merge traditional stores of value with modern financial infrastructure.
According to an announcement on Thursday, TER will run on Solana and be distributed and custodied by DK Bank, Bhutan’s first licensed digital bank.
Bhutan Opens Direct Bank Sales for Its Tokenized Gold Asset
In the first phase, investors will be able to acquire the token directly through the bank, creating a bridge between familiar gold-purchase processes and transparent, on-chain ownership.
Officials say the structure allows international buyers to access a tokenized form of gold that retains the mobility, settlement efficiency and global reach of digital assets.
TER is also a flagship project for Gelephu Mindfulness City, a special administrative zone designed to attract international capital and nurture Bhutan’s digital economy.
The city forms a key pillar of the Kingdom’s broader strategy to diversify its economy with technology-led initiatives that align with cultural and sustainability priorities.
Bhutan’s move comes shortly after Kyrgyzstan unveiled USDKG, a state-supervised gold-backed stablecoin, highlighting a growing trend in which smaller nations use blockchain to modernize the management of safe-haven assets.
Gelephu Mindfulness City is launching TER, the world’s first sovereign-backed, physical gold-backed digital token, on Dec 17, 2025. Built on Solana, issued via DK Bank, and powered by Matrixdock tech, TER brings Bhutan’s “Treasure” on-chain with full transparency.… pic.twitter.com/HmJVGh4qPB
Beyond its role as a new investment instrument, TER underscores Bhutan’s ambition to build a sovereign-aligned digital finance ecosystem rooted in audited reserves and institutional safeguards.
DK Bank’s regulated infrastructure is intended to give both domestic and global investors confidence in custody and compliance standards.
Solana’s high-speed, low-cost network provides the technical foundation for the token, with its performance and environmental efficiency cited as deciding factors.
The launch fits into a broader national program of digital experimentation. Bhutan has woven digital assets into its strategic reserves, deployed blockchain-based identity systems, enabled crypto-powered payments and leveraged hydropower to mine Bitcoin.
The introduction of TER marks the latest step in that evolution, giving Bhutan a distinctive position in the growing market for state-backed tokenized assets.
SC Ventures-Backed Libeara Launches Tokenized Gold Fund
On Monday, Libeara, the blockchain infrastructure platform backed by Standard Chartered’s venture arm SC Ventures, rolled out a new tokenized gold investment fund in Singapore, bringing one of the world’s oldest safe-haven assets onto digital rails.
The fund, launched in partnership with FundBridge Capital, allows professional investors to gain exposure to gold through blockchain-based tokens issued on Libeara’s ledger.
Animoca researchers Andrew Ho and Ming Ruan said the global market for private credit, treasury debt, commodities, stocks, alternative funds, and bonds represents a vast runway for growth.
“The estimated $400 trillion addressable TradFi market underscores the potential growth runway for RWA tokenization,” they wrote.
Galaxy is expanding its global footprint with a new office and entity in Abu Dhabi, moving into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital asset hubs.
Key Takeaways:
Galaxy is launching a new Abu Dhabi entity as part of its broader Middle East expansion strategy.
The move follows a strong Q3, with $505 million in net income and participation in a $1.65B Solana treasury fund.
The UAE continues to attract major crypto firms as Abu Dhabi and Dubai approve more exchanges and stablecoin issuers.
The company confirmed Wednesday that it will establish an operation under the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s international financial center and a rising destination for crypto and fintech firms.
Founder and CEO Mike Novogratz said the expansion reflects Galaxy’s strategy to deepen its partnerships and broaden its operations across regions showing strong institutional demand.
Galaxy Posts Strong Q3 as It Joins $1.65B Solana Fund
The move comes as Galaxy reports strong financial performance, including $505 million in net income for Q3 2025 and $3.2 billion in equity.
The firm has remained active across the crypto landscape, with recent involvement in a planned $1.65 billion Solana treasury fund alongside Cantor Fitzgerald, Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto.
Managing director Bouchra Darwazah highlighted the importance of the Middle East, describing it as a center of capital, innovation and investor sophistication.
She added that the new office will support Galaxy’s ambition to position itself as a leading global digital asset investment and infrastructure firm.
Galaxy is officially expanding into Abu Dhabi.
Today, we announced our new @ADGlobalMarket office, strengthening our global reach and deepening our commitment to one of the world’s most dynamic financial centers.
Galaxy joins a growing list of digital asset companies turning to the UAE as a base for Middle East expansion.
Both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have approved registrations for major global exchanges over the past year, including Binance and Bybit.
Stablecoin firms have also secured key approvals. In November, ADGM allowed regulated companies to issue Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin, while this week the financial center recognized Tether’s USDt as an accepted fiat-referenced token.
Tether, Binance Secure Regulatory Approval in ADGM
Galaxy’s arrival underscores the UAE’s drive to attract major players as it positions itself as a global leader in digital asset regulation and infrastructure.
As reported, Tether’s USDT stablecoin has also secured regulatory recognition as an approved fiat-referenced token across a wide range of blockchains inside the ADGM.
Tether said ADGM now permits licensed institutions in the financial free zone to conduct regulated activities involving USDT across Aptos, Celo, Cosmos, Kaia, Near, Polkadot, Tezos, TON and TRON.
These approvals expand on earlier recognition for USDT on Ethereum, Solana and Avalanche.
On Monday, Binance disclosed that it has also secured full authorization to operate its flagship Binance.com platform under ADGM oversight, a milestone that comes after years of regulatory scrutiny.
Binance will operate through three distinct legal entities in the zone, an exchange, a clearing house and a broker-dealer, reflecting a traditional financial-market structure designed to enable regulated trading, custody, settlement and off-exchange services.
Australia’s securities regulator has finalized a set of exemptions designed to make it easier for businesses to distribute stablecoins and wrapped tokens.
Key Takeaways:
ASIC has removed separate licensing requirements for intermediaries distributing stablecoins and wrapped tokens.
The exemptions allow the use of omnibus accounts, reducing costs and improving operational efficiency.
Industry leaders say the clarity will accelerate real-world stablecoin use cases as global demand continues to grow.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said Tuesday that it is granting “class relief” for intermediaries involved in the secondary distribution of certain stablecoins and wrapped assets.
The update removes the need for separate Australian Financial Services (AFS) licenses when handling these products, easing a compliance burden that has long frustrated market participants.
ASIC Backs Omnibus Accounts to Cut Costs and Boost Efficiency
Under the new measures, intermediaries will be able to use omnibus account structures as long as they maintain proper records.
ASIC noted that these structures are widely adopted across the industry, offering speed advantages, lower operating costs and, in many cases, improved risk and cybersecurity practices.
For issuers, the change represents a more level playing field. Drew Bradford, CEO of Australian stablecoin issuer Macropod, said the clarity gives companies “confidence to build” as they expand their product lines.
He added that the streamlined approach, particularly around reserve management and asset-handling requirements, removes major friction points that previously slowed experimentation and growth.
Industry figures have long argued that older licensing rules were expensive and mismatched for a sector waiting on broader digital asset reforms.
Bradford said the new clarity is critical for scaling real-world use cases such as payments, cross-border transfers, treasury functions and onchain settlement.
“It signals that Australia intends to be competitive globally, while still maintaining the regulatory guardrails that institutions and consumers expect,” he said.
Angela Ang, head of policy and strategic partnerships at TRM Labs, also praised the move, saying she expects Australia’s regulatory landscape to solidify further in the coming year, a shift she believes will spur additional investment and innovation.
The policy shift comes as global stablecoin demand reaches new highs. Total stablecoin market capitalization has surpassed $300 billion, according to RWA.xyz, rising 48% since the start of the year.
Tether continues to dominate with a 63% share of the market.
Australia Moves Forward With Sweeping Crypto Licensing Bill
Last month, Australia introduced its first comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto exchanges and custody providers, aiming to tighten asset-protection standards and reduce risks for local users.
The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, unveiled by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino, would require platforms holding customer crypto to obtain an Australian Financial Services License and operate under ASIC oversight.
Lawmakers say the reforms could unlock up to $24 billion in annual productivity gains while improving investor safeguards.
The bill passed its first reading and advanced directly to a second, opening parliamentary debate. It creates two new license classes, “digital asset platform” and “tokenized custody platform,” and focuses regulation on companies that control customer funds, rather than the technology they use.
Norway’s central bank has decided it does not need a central bank digital currency (CBDC) for now, capping several years of research and signalling that the country’s existing payment system still does the job for consumers, banks and merchants.
Norges Bank said Wednesday that introducing a digital krone is “currently not warranted” after assessing whether a CBDC is needed to keep payments in Norwegian currency secure, efficient and attractive.
Cash use in Norway has fallen to among the lowest levels globally, which had added urgency to the debate over a potential digital alternative.
“The Norwegian payment system is efficient and secure,” the bank said, citing stable operations, fast settlement, low economic cost and “sound” contingency arrangements. It added that work is already under way to further strengthen these back up systems.
Norway Leaves Room For A CBDC While Citing No Immediate Requirement
Governor Ida Wolden Bache stressed that the decision is about timing, not closing the door.
“Norges Bank has concluded that introducing a central bank digital currency is currently not warranted. The need for such a currency may, however, change in the future. We will be ready to introduce a central bank digital currency if it becomes necessary to maintain an efficient and secure payment system,” she said.
The bank distinguishes between two main types of CBDC, retail and wholesale. A retail CBDC would serve as a universally accessible means of payment similar to cash and deposits, while a wholesale CBDC would be limited to banks and other financial institutions. In the wholesale model, deposits at the central bank are represented as digital units, or tokens, in a ledger based on blockchain technology and can be used for interbank settlement.
Bank Expands Tokenization Research While Deferring A Digital Krone Decision
Norges Bank is not stepping away from tokenization. It says token-based systems can deliver innovation, efficiency gains and lower settlement risk, even as it warns that other risks and open questions remain and the eventual scale of use is uncertain.
The bank plans to keep running experiments, often with other payment system participants, to test tokenised solutions in practice.
The central bank will publish a report on its CBDC research and lay out more detailed plans for further work in the first quarter of next year. It will also continue to monitor international developments, including the Eurosystem’s work on a potential digital euro and emerging standards that could one day support shared CBDC infrastructure.
US federal prosecutors have charged a 26-year-old Canadian citizen in connection with a $42 million fraud scheme, claiming to raise funds for investments in crypto, TradFi markets.
Nathan Gauvin lured individuals on the social media platform Discord, directing investors to put their money into Gray Digital Capital Management Inc. and its Gray Fund products.
Multi-Million Dollar Scheme Targets Investors on Discord
“In total, Gauvin fraudulently raised more than $42 million from Gray Digital investors and obtained more than $800,000 in credit from lenders,” an SEC announcement read.
Per the prosecutors, the defendant used most of the money to pay previous investors, buy luxury goods and pay his credit card bills.
“Gauvin exploited the trust of his online followers to perpetrate a brazen fraud,” said Jaime Marinaro, Associate Director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office.
Authorities arrested Gauvin in England on Wednesday on a provisional arrest warrant. The US SEC has also filed for securities fraud charges. The regulator noted that the accused continued to submit false documents to the SEC during regulatory investigations.
Further, the Federal Bureau of Investigation separately released a statement, seeking to identify potential victims of the fraud. “Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law,” the FBI said.
US prosecutors charged a Canadian citizen with orchestrating a scheme that fraudulently raised more than $42 million, targeting individuals on chat app Discord while claiming to invest in traditional finance and crypto https://t.co/092fnwDGTH
The indictment said that from May 2022 to October 2024, Gauvin and others enticed investors to put money into Gray Digital and Gray Fund. Among the companies, the flagship fund purported to offer investors a strategy “that blends TradFi (traditional finance) and DeFi (decentralized finance).”
The defendant allegedly misrepresented Gray Digital’s performance by providing falsified documents to investors.
He also claimed that the Gray Fund generated double-digit monthly returns and held over $78 million in assets. However, in reality, the fund had a monthly compounded return of approximately 1.4% and assets were far lower than claimed.
Later, there was a second scheme that started in May 2024, which touted a “seed stock” offering in Gray Digital at $30,000 per share. At the time, Gauvin said the company had a $60 million valuation and more than $12 million in annual revenue.
The SEC has sought disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and conduct-based injunctions against Nathan Gauvin.
“Investors should always verify the credentials of anyone offering investment opportunities, especially when those opportunities are promoted through social media or online communities,” SEC’s Marinaro warned.
Crypto markets broadly retreated over the past 24 hours, with sector-wide weakness led by a 4%+ drop in DePIN tokens. Filecoin and Render slid 7.5% and 5.5%, respectively, while Bitcoin dipped 1.41% to slip below $91,000 and Ethereum fell under $3,200. Most major sectors posted losses: CeFi declined 1%, Layer 2 dropped 2.15%, DeFi slid 2.35%, and Layer 1 fell 2.54%, with Zcash giving back 10% after recent gains. Despite the pullback, a handful of names outperformed, including Mantle (+1.12%), Hyperliquid (+2.95%), Ultima (+6.63%), Pieverse (+28.38%), and PIPPIN (+6.67%). Sector index data mirrored the downturn, with ssiAI, ssiNFT, and ssiDePIN falling more than 5%.
But what else is happening in crypto news today? Follow our up-to-date live coverage below.
Asia’s wealthy investors are putting meaningful chunks of their money into digital assets, with almost half now allocating more than 10% of their portfolios to crypto and a clear majority planning to add more over the next few years.
Swiss Singaporean digital asset bank Sygnum found in its APAC HNWI Report 2025 that 87% of more than 270 respondents already hold digital assets.
The survey covered high net worth and professional investors across 10 markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand, and defined high net worth individuals as those with over $1M in investable assets and ultra high-net-worth investors as those with more than $25M.
High Net Worth Investors Embrace Crypto As A New Alternative Asset Class
For this group, crypto has become a core allocation, not a side bet. Median holdings sit in the 10% to 20% range, with a weighted average near 17%, putting tokens in the same conversation as equities and private markets inside portfolios.
Image Source: Sygnum
Motivation has shifted away from pure speculation. Sygnum reports that 90% of high-net-worth investors see digital assets as important for long-term wealth preservation and legacy planning.
Portfolio diversification drives a majority of decisions, with 56% citing it as a key reason to invest, and many framing crypto as a new alternative asset class rather than a short-term punt.
APAC Investors Expect A New Crypto Cycle Within Two To Five Years
Looking ahead, 60% of respondents say they plan to increase allocations. A bullish or very bullish long-term outlook comes from 57% of high net worth investors and 61% of ultra high net worth investors, with many expecting the next strong cycle to unfold over a two to five year horizon rather than in the next few weeks.
Product preferences tell a similar story of maturation. Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, 80% of investors want more crypto exchange-traded funds, with Solana drawing the strongest single asset demand at 52%.
Image Source: Sygnum
Multi-asset index products and XRP also attract interest, and 70% of respondents say they would allocate or allocate more if staking yield were bundled into ETF structures, a clear nod to yield-focused, regulated wrappers that sit comfortably in traditional wealth plans.
APAC Emerges As A Leading Gateway As Digital Assets Embed Into Wealth Portfolios
Security and rules still shape how fast this money moves. Around two thirds of investors say they need their private bank or wealth manager to demonstrate strong custody and security standards before they scale up exposure, while regulatory uncertainty and volatility remain key brakes.
At the same time, most respondents say regulatory clarity has improved and recent policy moves in major markets strengthen the long term case for digital assets.
“Digital assets are now firmly embedded within APAC’s private wealth ecosystem,” said Gerald Goh, Sygnum co founder and APAC chief executive.
He noted that frameworks in Singapore and Hong Kong have built the infrastructure for traditional wealth managers to offer crypto services and described Asia Pacific as one of the fastest growing gateways for digital assets, with momentum likely to build into 2026.
Billionaire Winklevoss twins’ Gemini Space Station received a key nod from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch its betting platform ‘Gemini Titan’ to US customers.
The crypto exchange team announced on Wednesday that the Designated Contract Market (DCM) license will allow Gemini to begin offering “simple yes or no questions” event contracts.
Dubbed ‘Gemini Titan,’ the prediction market aims to expand its derivatives offering to include crypto futures, options, and perpetual contracts.
“Gemini Titan looks forward to exploring bringing these innovative and highly liquid contracts to America,” the announcement read.
Gemini President Cameron Winklevoss praised CFTC Chair Caroline D. Pham for understanding the importance of the growing prediction markets.
“Unlike her predecessor, Acting Chairman Pham has positioned the CFTC as a pro-business, pro-innovation regulator that will allow America to lead in these new and exciting markets.”
Prediction markets have the potential to be as big or bigger than traditional capital markets. Acting Chairman @CarolineDPham understands this vision and its importance. Unlike her predecessor, Acting Chairman Pham has positioned the @CFTC as a pro business, pro innovation… https://t.co/uNnMt8Gfcj
Big Players Enter Prediction Market Space – Integration Meets Sustainability
The prediction markets arena has gained major traction ever since the US federal court dismissed a CFTC prohibition on election betting last year.
The space has been experiencing rapid growth, following the announcement of record trading volumes by dominant players Kalshi and Polymarket.
However, the challenge is on sustainable integration, while balancing innovation with responsibility, James Newman, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at sports blockchain Chiliz, told Cryptonews.
“Sustainable integration means creating an ecosystem that fosters deeper connections, where fans are not just spectators but are empowered as stakeholders. This is where the future of all fan engagement lies,” Newman added.
Polymarket Comeback to US Aligns With Growing Demand
Early this month, Polymarket announced its comeback in the US after nearly three years, following regulatory clearance from the CFTC.
The US agency fined Polymarket $1.4 million for operating an unregistered derivatives exchange in 2022, and blocking its US operations. However, US users continued accessing the site through VPNs, even after its official exit.
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