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Argentina orders nationwide block of Polymarket as scrutiny of prediction markets grows
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Custodia's five-year fight for a Fed master account effectively ends in 7-3 appeals court loss
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TON cancels Dubai event over safety concerns in UAE amid Middle East conflict
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SEC and CFTC commit to work together on crypto policy and introduction of new products
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Binance terrorism lawsuit dismissed, but judge signals plaintiffs could refile with sharper allegations
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Pudgy Penguins accused of trademark infringement by Penguin apparel brand
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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says Base App's SocialFi features 'didn't quite work'
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Riot Platforms reports record annual revenue of $647 million amid AI and HPC push
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SEC is seeking to regain crypto ground following 'missed opportunity,' Chairman Atkins says
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Venmo, PayPal consumer reach could bolster Stripe in potential acquisition deal: Mizuho
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Pantera-backed Solana Company kicks off APAC staking infrastructure buildout
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Vitalik Buterin is building a 'cypherpunk principled non-ugly Ethereum' as devs officially add FOCIL to upgrade roadmap
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Fintech firm Newity raises $11 million to bring small business loans onchain
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Ethereum's tokenized RWA market jumps more than 300% year over year as value tops $17 billion
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X to launch 'Smart Cashtags' for in-timeline crypto and stock trading within 'a couple weeks
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Birch Hill raises $2.5 million pre-seed round led by ParaFi Capital and Castle Island Ventures for institutional onchain credit infrastructure
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Vitalik Buterin sketches near-term vision for Ethereum's role in an AI-driven future
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Aave Labs sunsets Avara 'umbrella brand' and Family wallet as it refocuses on DeFi
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Coinbase, crypto and bank organizations set to hash out stablecoin rewards at White House summit on Monday
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Token creation platform Doppler raises $9 million seed round led by Pantera Capital
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Global crypto ETPs log $1.7 billion in weekly outflows as bearish macro sentiment spurs largest withdrawal since November: CoinShares
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Dogecoin gets another ETF but Wall Street's memecoin appetite remains muted
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Dogecoin gets another ETF but Wall Street's memecoin appetite remains muted
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Former Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison scheduled for release on Wednesday
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Crypto payment cards hit inflection point as daily transactions surge 22x since late 2024
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The Daily: Jefferies strategist drops 10% bitcoin allocation over quantum fears, Google Play bans overseas crypto exchanges in South Korea, and more
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Russia finalizes bill to open up crypto market to non-qualified traders: report
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Senators move to shield crypto developers as lawmakers race toward advancing sweeping digital asset bill
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UK committee chairs push for crypto political donations ban, adding pressure to Labour government
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Polymarket faces first state-level cease-and-desist from Tennessee, weeks after US relaunch: report
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Rain valuation nears $2 billion after $250 million Series C raise for stablecoin payments firm
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Sei warns USDC.n token holders to swap for 'native' stablecoin ahead of planned upgrade
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Coinbase and Gemini face divided outlook as analysts weigh exchange expansions beyond crypto
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'A record year for wrench attacks': How crypto holders can maintain physical security amid rising risks While the frequency of crypto protocol exploits has yet to regain the record pace set during the pandemic-era bull market, 2025 stands out for crypto security experts on at least one front: the frequency of so-called “$5 wrench attacks.” According to Ari Redbord, the global head of policy and government affairs at crypto analytics firm TRM Labs, “2025 was a record year for wrench attacks,” with roughly 60 reported physical assaults on crypto holders. “The true number is likely significantly higher,” Redbord added. “Many incidents are logged simply as robberies or burglaries, with the crypto element omitted, while others are never reported due to victim hesitation or uncertainty about how law enforcement will handle crypto-related crimes.” A “wrench attack” is a type of cybersecurity risk that derives its name from the idea that even the most sophisticated forms of encryption and data security can be undone by physical coercion — like being threatened by a “$5 wrench.” Crypto exploits in general tend to rise in frequency alongside prices — 2025 also saw a rebound in protocol exploit losses close to pandemic-era highs. However, wrench attacks not only put assets at risk but also lives, upping the ante for maintaining proper OPSEC beyond wallet management best practices. “No matter how many technical precautions you take or how many factors you authenticate with, no individual is immune to human attack vectors,” Tor Bair, CEO of Hybrid Minds Advisory and former president of the Secret Foundation, told The Block. Some sources, like the log maintained by OG Bitcoiner and security expert Jameson Lopp, who for over a decade has tracked media reports of known attacks against crypto holders “that occurred in meatspace,” place the figure closer to 70 wrench attacks. This is compared to approximately 41 assaults recorded in 2024 and 36 in 2021, the years with the next-highest levels of known wrench attacks, according to Lopp’s data. Although the true number of wrench attacks is difficult to quantify, there appears to be either a higher risk of victimization or, at least, a greater awareness of the threat. For instance, earlier this year, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau commented on the rise of crypto-related assaults in the country, which at the time had experienced about one-third of wrench attacks in 2025, including the high-profile kidnapping and torture of Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife in January. Staying safe Many crypto security experts have anecdotally confirmed that wrench attacks are on the upswing. Nick Bax, founder of Ump.eth and member of SEAL, attributed many attacks to “poor privacy” at a personal level — like people “flexing their net worth in group chats” — as well as corporate data breaches. This year, for instance, Coinbase disclosed a major data breach where rogue customer service representatives accessed many customers’ KYC details — including addresses, phone numbers, government IDs, and other sensitive info — in an attack that could have long-lasting implications. Though it is far from the only firm — crypto-native or not — to leak sensitive information. The website Have I Been Pwned estimates that over 17 billion email accounts alone have been exposed in data leaks, including by leading crypto exchanges and service providers. “The most effective mitigation is reducing exposure and strengthening key management — limiting public signals of crypto ownership on social media, using multisignature or passphrase-protected wallets, and separating everyday wallets from long-term holdings,” TRM’s Redbord said. Pablo Sabbatella, co-founder of security firm Opsek, echoed this by recommending crypto holders maintain different levels of wallet protection for their long-term and medium-term savings and funds needed for daily use. “You can’t have direct access to long-term funds,” Sabbatella told The Block. “Design systems that do not allow you to move your long-term funds alone,” like setting up a 2-out-of-3 multi-sig and 72-hour time lock. Users can also set up whitelisted addresses and protocols for their long-term storage, ensuring that funds cannot be moved to unapproved accounts. Odysseas of security protocol Phylax also suggested setting up a decoy account with “a substantial but not deadly amount” of a user’s holdings that could be forfeited under duress. In addition to those digital security measures, Sabbatella recommends “physical security training,” which teaches potential targets best practices for high-risk events like conferences and social media hygiene. Users should not only come up with a “plan and procedures” but also do live simulations, he added. “There is no such thing as perfect security, only better security, and it always comes at a cost,” Bair said.
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South Korea's stablecoin bill stalls over issuer eligibility dispute South Korea's upcoming crypto regulation may impose strict investor protection requirements on stablecoin issuers, though progress has been pushed into next year as authorities remain deadlocked over which entities should be permitted to issue the assets. According to a Tuesday report from Yonhap news agency, the Financial Services Commission's proposed "Digital Asset Basic Act" seeks to require stablecoin issuers to manage reserve assets in bank deposits or government bonds. The proposal would also mandate that issuers entrust 100% of their outstanding reserve assets with custodians such as banks. With this measure, South Korea aims to prevent risks stemming from a stablecoin issuer's bankruptcy from spilling over to investors. The proposal would also subject digital asset service providers to disclosure obligations, terms of service, and advertising standards comparable to those applied in traditional finance. Additionally, in the event of hacks or system failures, providers could be held liable for damages regardless of fault, similar to existing rules for online retail businesses. Under the proposed framework, South Korea could permit initial coin offerings (ICOs) for local projects that meet the strict information disclosure and robust risk management standards. ICOs have been banned domestically since 2017. Deadlock However, South Korea's stablecoin regulations remain at a stalemate, as the scope of entities permitted to issue the tokens continues to be a point of contention. The Bank of Korea has insisted that stablecoin issuance should be restricted to a consortium in which banks hold at least a 51% stake. The FSC, on the other hand, maintains that the upcoming law should avoid establishing a rigid ownership threshold, arguing that such a restriction would hinder tech firm participation and stifle innovation. The two authorities also remain divided on whether to establish a new consultative body for the licensing of stablecoin issuers, the report said. The Bank of Korea (BOK) advocates creating a dedicated committee to oversee the process, while the FSC argues that a separate body would be redundant, noting that it already functions as a statutory administrative entity that includes representatives from both the BOK and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In response to the government's legislative delay, the ruling Democratic Party is developing a separate proposal that synthesizes various lawmaker-led initiatives on digital assets, Yonhap added. Local stablecoin efforts have gained momentum in South Korea as President Lee Jae Myung, who was elected earlier this year, made the development of a Korean won-stablecoin market one of his key initiatives with an aim to protect monetary sovereignty against the dominant U.S. dollar stablecoin market. The Digital Asset Basic Act under development represents the second part of the country's all-encompassing regulatory framework on cryptocurrencies. The first batch of rules — passed in July 2023 and went into effect a year later — focuses on curbing unfair acts in the digital asset market, such as price manipulation and insider trading.
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Flow blockchain probes security incident as FLOW token plunges over 40% The Flow Foundation announced Saturday that it is investigating a potential security incident affecting its Layer 1 blockchain, prompting major South Korean exchanges to halt token transfers and triggering a sharp selloff in the “The Flow Foundation is currently investigating a potential security incident affecting the Flow network,” the team wrote on X. “Our engineering teams are actively collaborating with network partners to mitigate the issue. We will provide further, verified updates as soon as they are available.” Onchain analyst Wazz first flagged what appears to be the exploit shortly after the price crash, estimating around $4 million was stolen. According to Wazz’s analysis, an attacker used a wallet created approximately six months ago to mint millions of wrapped FLOW (WFLOW) tokens through a TransparentUpgradeableProxy contract, a pattern consistent with a private key compromise rather than a smart contract vulnerability. “Flow blockchain had [a possible vulnerability] that allowed the attacker to mint native token, FLOW, and other bridged tokens like WBTC, WETH, and stablecoins,” security expert Taylor Monahan told The Block in a direct message. “Looks like $3.9 million [lost]…All pools and bridges are now paused.” FLOW plummeted more than 40% in the hours following the incident, per The Block’s Flow Price page. The token was trading around $0.10 Saturday afternoon, down from approximately $0.17 earlier in the day. Trading volume has surged to over $170 million in the past 24 hours. South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb moved quickly to suspend FLOW deposits and withdrawals following the disclosure. The Digital Asset Exchange Alliance, or DAXA, the consortium comprising Korea’s five largest crypto exchanges, issued a formal “transaction risk warning” for the token and said member exchanges may take additional protective measures, including trading restrictions or termination of support, depending on how the situation develops. Flow is the Layer 1 blockchain developed by Dapper Labs, the company behind popular NFT projects NBA Top Shot and CryptoKitties. The network was designed specifically for consumer applications and digital collectibles, and at its peak in 2021 powered hundreds of millions of dollars in monthly NFT trading volume. The blockchain has faced challenges in recent years as the NFT market cooled. Dapper Labs, which was valued at $7.6 billion in 2021, has undergone multiple rounds of layoffs since 2022. The Flow Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for further information on the breach from The Block. The incident comes as the crypto industry grapples with a record year for security breaches. Cryptocurrency theft totaled more than $3.4 billion in 2025, according to Chainalysis, with the $1.5 billion Bybit hack in February accounting for nearly half of the annual total. Private key compromises have emerged as a leading attack vector this year, accounting for 88% of stolen funds in Q1 2025.
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Bitcoin sits out Santa rally as stocks and precious metals set records A year-end rally across global markets has pushed U.S. stocks and precious metals to fresh record highs, but bitcoin has been left out in the cold, drifting lower as traders pull back risk into the holiday period. Bitcoin traded around $87,200 on Friday, down roughly 6.5% from its 2025 open near $93,000, according to The Block’s price data, despite having reached an all-time high above $126,000 in early October. Price action has remained subdued through the holiday week, with the cryptocurrency continuing to oscillate below the $90,000 level. Bitcoin (BTC) price chart. Source: The Block/TradingView Analysts have pointed to Friday’s record $28 billion crypto options expiry as the dominant short-term catalyst, amplifying price swings in thin year-end trading. “The tone remains defensive,” BRN head of research Timothy Misir said earlier this week, noting that upside attempts have struggled to gain follow-through. Wall Street flows have echoed that caution, with U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs seeing roughly $500 million in net outflows this week and about $4.3 billion pulled over the final two months of the year, alongside a more than $1.2 trillion decline in total crypto market value. Historic precious metals rally While bitcoin has drifted lower, precious metals have surged. Gold climbed to a record above $4,580 per troy ounce on Friday, while silver pushed past $75, setting new all-time highs. Silver is up roughly 160% from its 2025 open near $30, while gold has gained over 70% this year. The rally has been driven by escalating geopolitical tensions, a weaker U.S. dollar and year-end liquidity conditions that have amplified price moves, according to analysts. Central-bank purchases, ETF inflows and expectations for further Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2026 have also supported demand for non-yielding assets, according to a recent Bloomberg report. Silver’s advance has been particularly sharp, with speculative inflows and lingering supply dislocations following an October short squeeze continuing to pressure physical markets. Stocks hold near record highs U.S. equities, meanwhile, have remained resilient into the final trading sessions of the year. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the shortened Christmas Eve session at record highs, extending a multi-day rally that has lifted major indexes through late December. The S&P 500 is up roughly 18% year-to-date, while the Nasdaq has gained more than 20% in 2025, according to Google Finance.
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Midterms, shutdown risks and negotiations: Can Congress pass a sweeping crypto bill in 2026? The next year is set to be pivotal for cryptocurrency legislation, with the big question being whether lawmakers can pass an all-encompassing bill to regulate digital assets before the midterms. Crypto advocacy sources who spoke with The Block gave a range of 50% to 60% chance of such a bill becoming law in 2026. Optimism lies in ongoing discussions between Democrats and Republicans, but there are still several issues that need ironing out. Kevin Wysocki, head of policy at Anchorage Digital, gave a bill's chance of passing into law in 2026 a 50% chance. "I think what's really good is that members of Congress are talking quite a bit between Republicans and Democrats, so that's a very positive sign," he told The Block. "Some of the issues that are still [debated] are difficult, and the legislation itself encompasses banking laws, securities law, commodity law — so it's complicated." Lawmakers in the Senate are tackling an all-encompassing bill that seeks to regulate the crypto industry at large. The Senate Banking Committee has a draft that looks to allocate jurisdiction between two main federal agencies — the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — as well as create a new term for "ancillary assets" to clarify which cryptocurrencies are not securities. Meanwhile, the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, has drafted legislation it released last month that would give new authority to that agency. Both committee versions of the bill would need to be reconciled. There had been some optimism that the Senate Banking Committee would hold a hearing to amend and vote on the bill before the end of the year, but those spirits were dashed. However, a Senate Banking Committee spokesperson said they are now looking to markup the bill early on in the new year and noted progress had been made with Democrats. "Chairman Scott and the Senate Banking Committee have made strong progress with Democratic counterparts on bipartisan digital asset market structure legislation," the spokesperson said. "The Committee is continuing to negotiate and looks forward to a markup in early 2026." The sticking points There are several pain points in the crypto market structure bill that need to be addressed, sources said. One flashpoint has been tension between banks and crypto companies on how yield-bearing stablecoins should be regulated. Banking trade groups say that the stablecoin legislation known as GENIUS, which became law over the summer, leaves key loopholes unaddressed. In particular, they argue that the statute does not sufficiently bar issuers from offering interest on stablecoins. That omission, they warn, could turn stablecoins into vehicles for savings and credit rather than simple payment tools, introducing what they describe as “distorting market incentives” for traditional banks. Crypto advocates, by contrast, say the ability to offer yield on stablecoins represents nothing more than fair and healthy competition. Another issue has been how to regulate decentralized finance, specifically how to regulate DeFi protocols in terms of anti-money laundering concerns and whether some tokens should be under the jurisdiction of the SEC or CFTC, said The Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone. There is concern that the SEC would be the decision maker, given the agency's former more critical stance of crypto under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, he added. "I will say that I know from industry, it is very worrisome to have legislation that says the SEC will be the first decision maker whether a token is a security or commodity because that looks a lot like going down the Gary Gensler route, where the SEC is the only cop on the street and is deciding everything," Carbone said. Another issue in the crypto market structure bill is around President Donald Trump's conflicts of interest in crypto. Bloomberg estimated in July that the sitting president has profited some $620 million from his family's crypto ventures, including the World Liberty Financial DeFi and stablecoin project, which lists Trump and his three sons as co-founders. The family also has a 20% stake in the mining firm American Bitcoin, and legislators have repeatedly raised concerns about the free-floating TRUMP and MELANIA memecoins launched the weekend before Trump took office. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who has been involved in the negotiations on passing a bill in the Senate, said in December at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., that the White House had been involved in language around ethics. Lummis said she and Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego sent over language to the White House, but it was kicked back. The absence of commissioners at the CFTC has also come under scrutiny and has become a solid negotiating tool for Democrats, Carbone said. Over the past year, four CFTC commissioners — Democrats Kristin Johnson and Christy Goldsmith Romero, as well as Republicans Caroline Pham and Summer Mersinger — have left the agency or announced plans to do so. Pham, a Republican, is now acting chair but has said she plans to leave once a new CFTC chair, Mike Selig, is confirmed. That leaves the agency, which is set to have broader jurisdiction over crypto, with one Republican commissioner. "I don't think any senator wants to hand over so much power to this small agency that only has a chair when it's supposed to be a five-member commission," Carbone said. Looming elections What happens next in the Senate is going to be really pivotal, sources said. Once the Senate Banking Committee has its bill in place and is then voted on and advanced out of the committee, it needs to be combined with the Senate Agriculture Committee's version and voted on by the full Senate, Carbone said. Then, the Senate crypto market structure bill needed to reconcile with the House version, called Clarity, which passed out of the full House over the summer. "There's just so many steps that still need to happen," Carbone said. If markups for bills in the Senate don't happen in January, Carbone said he would be worried. "They just need to show progress right out of the gate," Carbone said. "So if I see a markup in both committees and I see a compromise bill in the Senate and we've got a potential Senate floor vote in the next six weeks, then I'm feeling very good," he said. "If we don't have those things in January, I'm feeling very pessimistic." And then come the midterm elections, as some lawmakers focus on their own races. Lawmakers have about the first half of next year to pass a crypto market structure bill before election season takes hold, Anchorage's Kevin Wysocki said. "In terms of timeline, I think we're looking at the first two quarters of next month before members are really focused on election matters," he said. "And then maybe there's a small window of opportunity around the holidays at the end of 2026 to move this legislation post-election." Some Senate Democrats are really passionate about a crypto market structure bill and want to see it passed, said Saga CEO Rebecca Liao. Liao was also a member of former President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign. However, having enough time is a challenge as they face midterm elections and another budget discussion, she said. Congress temporarily funded the government following a 43-day shutdown that ended in November. That funding extends through Jan. 30, 2026, but if funding isn't agreed to again, the government will shut down again, putting a pause on work on a crypto market structure bill. The closer midterm elections get, the more Trump's crypto conflicts of interest could come into the spotlight, Liao said. "We're seeing a real Democratic message coalescing around affordability, and so anything that smacks of privilege or unjustified gains by the president or the people in his administration, all of that is going to be hammered time and again in Democratic messaging," she said. As for what happens if lawmakers are ultimately not able to pass a crypto market structure bill into law in 2026, Liao said something has to get done, especially as financial institutions have gotten into digital assets. "In order for crypto to actually get to adoption and mass utilization, you really do need regulatory clarity, and so I think people will push for it again," she said.
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Crypto.com hiring quant trader for sports event prediction market making in the US Crypto.com is hiring a quant trader focused on sports event market-making as it pushes deeper into prediction markets amid growing regulatory scrutiny. The role centers on pricing and providing liquidity for sports event contracts, which allow users to trade yes-or-no outcomes tied to real-world sporting events. According to the job listing, with a low-end annual salary of $120,000, the US-based trader would be responsible for continuously quoting markets, managing risk, and adjusting prices in real-time as games unfold and new information emerges. The hiring effort comes as Crypto.com expands its footprint in prediction markets through high-profile partnerships. Earlier this month, sports apparel giant Fanatics launched a fan-focused prediction market built on Crypto.com’s regulated U.S. derivatives infrastructure, joining earlier collaborations with Truth Social and MyPrize. Those products compete in a fast-growing field alongside platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi, which together see billions of dollars in monthly trade volume according to The Block data. The hire follows a flurry of moves across the industry, including Coinbase’s agreement last week to acquire prediction markets startup The Clearing Company as exchanges compete to own pricing, liquidity and distribution in event-based trading. At the same time, the space remains legally contentious. Connecticut regulators last week ordered Crypto.com, Kalshi and Robinhood to halt sports event contracts for state residents, arguing the products constitute unlicensed sports wagering despite federal approval pathways through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
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MoMA adds CryptoPunks and Chromie Squiggles NFTs to permanent collection following coordinated donation The Museum of Modern Art in New York has acquired eight CryptoPunks and eight Chromie Squiggles for its permanent collection, marking one of the most significant institutional endorsements of onchain art to date. The 16 works, all donated rather than purchased, will be housed in MoMA’s Media and Performance department alongside video, experimental technology, and other new media art. The works can be viewed on MoMA’s website
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CryptoQuant says bear market has started, sees bitcoin downside risk to $70,000 A crypto bear market has already begun, according to onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, which cited weakening bitcoin demand as a key signal. "Bitcoin demand growth has decisively slowed, signaling a transition into a bear market," CryptoQuant said in a report published Friday. "After three major spot demand waves since 2023 — driven by the U.S. spot ETF launch, the U.S. presidential election outcome, and the Bitcoin treasury companies bubble — demand growth has fallen below trend since early October 2025." The firm said this suggests that most of the incremental demand from the current cycle has already been absorbed, removing a key source of price support for bitcoin. Based on these conditions, CryptoQuant sees bitcoin downside risk toward the $70,000 level, with a deeper decline toward $56,000 possible if bitcoin fails to regain momentum. "Downside reference points suggest a relatively shallow bear market," the report said. "Historically, bitcoin bear market bottoms have aligned with the realized price, currently near $56,000, implying a potential 55% drawdown from the recent all-time high — the smallest drawdown on record. Intermediate support is expected around the $70,000 level." When asked about timing, CryptoQuant head of research Julio Moreno told The Block the move to $70,000 could occur within months, while $56,000 would be a longer-term scenario. "$70,000 could be in three to six months," Moreno said. "$56,000 would be in the second half of 2026 if it comes to that." Moreno added that the bear market effectively began around mid-November, following the largest liquidation event in crypto history on Oct. 10. Since then, demand has continued to weaken. CryptoQuant said U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs turned into net sellers in the fourth quarter of 2025, with holdings declining by roughly 24,000 BTC. That marks a sharp reversal from the same period last year, when ETFs were strong net buyers. Addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC — a cohort that includes ETFs and bitcoin treasury companies — are also growing below trend, CryptoQuant said, mirroring demand deterioration seen toward the end of 2021 ahead of the 2022 bear market.
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SoFi launches SoFiUSD stablecoin to offer settlement infrastructure for banks and fintechs SoFi Technologies announced Thursday the launch of SoFiUSD, a fully reserved U.S. dollar stablecoin issued by SoFi Bank, marking what the company says is the first time a national bank has issued a stablecoin on a public, permissionless blockchain. The product aims to position SoFi as a stablecoin infrastructure provider for banks, fintechs, and enterprise platforms seeking faster, more efficient money movement, according to a statement shared with The Block. Initially deployed on Ethereum, support may also extend to other networks over time. SoFi said partners will be able to integrate SoFiUSD into settlement and payment flows using the firm's bank-grade infrastructure, enabling near-instant transactions around the clock at fractional-cent costs. The company added that the stablecoin will also be made available to SoFi members in the future, expanding its use beyond institutional settlement. Bank-issued stablecoin infrastructure SoFi Bank is an OCC-regulated, FDIC-insured depository institution, and SoFiUSD is fully backed 1:1 by cash reserves held for immediate redemption, according to the firm. As a federally chartered bank, SoFi said it can hold reserves in cash at its Federal Reserve account, eliminating liquidity and credit risk while generating yield that can be shared with partners and stablecoin holders. The company said its infrastructure will also allow banks, fintechs, and enterprise partners to issue their own white-label stablecoins or use SoFiUSD directly within their own systems. SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said the launch applies the firm's regulatory and operational framework to address slow settlement, fragmented providers, and opaque reserve models in financial services. "Blockchain is a technology super cycle that will fundamentally change finance, not just in payments, but across every area of money," Noto said, adding that SoFiUSD combines the firm's national bank charter with transparent, fully reserved onchain technology to provide a "safer and more efficient way to move funds." SoFi said SoFiUSD will be used not only within its crypto trading business but also for settlement by card networks, retailers, and other businesses seeking lower-cost, faster payments. The stablecoin is also expected to play a role in SoFi Pay for international remittances and point-of-sale purchases, as well as serve as an alternative payment method for its platform partners that process billions of transactions annually. The move comes as other major fintech and payments firms have unveiled or pursued their own stablecoin initiatives this year, including Klarna's planned KlarnaUSD, Western Union's USDPT, and Stripe's USDB — reflecting a broader push among traditional finance companies into blockchain-based settlement and payment infrastructure. SoFi's stablecoin launch also builds on its recent expansion into crypto services. In November, the firm became the first national bank to offer crypto trading directly to consumers under SoFi Crypto, allowing members to buy, sell, and hold nearly 30 cryptocurrencies within its app, following a phased rollout. SoFi previously offered crypto trading via a partnership with Coinbase in 2019, which was subsequently suspended in 2023. "One of the holds we've had for the last two years was in cryptocurrency, the ability to buy, sell, and hold crypto," Noto explained last month. "We were not allowed to do that as a bank. It was not permissible. But in March of this year, the OCC came out with an interpretive letter that it's now permissible for banks, like SoFi, to offer cryptocurrencies.
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Ethereum developers name post-Glamsterdam upgrade ‘Hegota’ as 2026 roadmap takes shape Ethereum core developers have officially named the network’s next upgrade after Glamsterdam as “Hegota,” further defining the network’s 2026 development cycle as it continues its twice-a-year release cadence. Hegota blends the execution layer’s “Bogota” upgrade, following the tradition of naming updates after Devcon host cities, with the consensus layer’s “Heze”, named after a star. Developers said the headliner EIP for Hegota will not be selected until February, while work on Glamsterdam — Ethereum’s first scheduled upgrade of 2026 — continues. The naming decision was made during the All Core Developers Execution (ACDE) call on Thursday, the final meeting of the year. ACDE calls are set to resume on Jan. 5, when developers aim to finalize Glamsterdam’s scope. 2026 release cycle The naming comes at a moment when Ethereum’s upgrade process is settling into its intended rhythm. With Pectra and Fusaka shipped in 2025, the network has effectively begun its twice-annual upgrade schedule. The approach intends to make improvements more iterative, predictable, and narrowly scoped, reducing the need for rare, sweeping overhauls. Based on the established cadence, Glamsterdam would likely land in the first half of 2026, with Hegota following later in the year. While Hegota itself remains in early planning, its eventual upgrade is expected to draw from long-running roadmap goals and any overflow items deferred from Glamsterdam. Particularly, Verkle Trees — a prerequisite for fully stateless clients — have been frequently cited as a candidate for inclusion in one of the 2026 hard forks. However, no formal selection has been made. Other areas under discussion include state and history expiry mechanisms and additional execution-layer optimizations. Notably, state expiry conversations may garner more attention following a recent batch of proposals from the Ethereum Foundation. As The Block previously reported, the EF’s Stateless Consensus team warned that state bloat — the steady expansion of Ethereum’s stored data — is becoming a growing burden for node operators. Glamsterdam focuses on Layer 1 efficiency and builder decentralization Meanwhile, developers continue to refine Glamsterdam’s hard fork. Proposals still under consideration include enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS, intended to curb centralization in block building; block-level access lists, which aim to reduce state access bottlenecks; and gas repricings to better align EVM costs with resource usage. More complex changes, such as reducing slot times, have already been pushed to later cycles. Any items that prove too ambitious for the timeline may roll into Hegota, with final decisions expected once calls resume in the new year. A roadmap that stretches beyond 2026 Hegota’s reveal also situates Ethereum within its broader, multi-phase technical roadmap. Back in September 2022, developers executed the first part of this path, dubbed The Merge, which transitioned Ethereum from a proof-of-work blockchain to a proof-of-stake network. The following components have been framed as The Surge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge. The Surge focuses on achieving massive rollup-driven scaling. Fusaka advanced this goal through PeerDAS and expanded blob capacity, while Glamsterdam aims to improve Layer 1 performance further to better support rising rollup activity without creating new centralization pressures. Next, The Verge centers on statelessness and light-client verification. Potential Verkle integration in Hegota aligns directly with this phase by reducing node storage requirements and enabling broader network participation. Later phases — The Purge and The Splurge — address historical cleanup and long-term protocol simplification
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'Vote before Christmas or end up on Santa's naughty list': Uniswap founder submits UNIfication proposal for final governance decision founder Hayden Adams has submitted the long-anticipated UNIfication proposal for a final governance vote, setting up a decision window that runs from Dec. 19 through Dec. 25. In a post on X early Thursday, Adams urged delegates to participate ahead of the holiday deadline. "Vote before Christmas or end up on Santa's naughty list," he wrote. The vote follows a request for comment proposal from Uniswap Labs and the Uniswap Foundation last month and could mark a significant shift for the protocol and its token holders, who have long pushed for a so-called "fee switch" that would divert a portion of trading fees from liquidity providers to the protocol. The proposal follows years in which the authors said legal battles and a hostile U.S. regulatory environment under former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler discouraged activating protocol fees, conditions they argue have now changed. If approved, the proposal would take effect following a two-day timelock and execute a series of onchain actions designed to restructure how value flows through the Uniswap ecosystem. These include an immediate retroactive burn of 100 million UNI from the treasury (an estimate of what might have been burned if the protocol fee switch had been active at token launch), the activation of protocol fee switches on Uniswap v2 and v3 on Ethereum mainnet, and the routing of Unichain sequencer fees into the same UNI burn mechanism. Fee activation for Uniswap v4 would be addressed through a separate governance proposal, Adams said. Uniswap has been one of the best-performing DeFi protocols in 2025, generating nearly $100 million in monthly fees on average and over $1 billion year-to-date, according to The Block's data dashboard. Fee switch rollout RELATED INDICES Protocol fees would be rolled out gradually to minimize disruption, according to the proposal, beginning with Uniswap v2 pools and a selected set of v3 pools that account for 80% to 95% of LP fees on Ethereum mainnet. On v2, activating the fee switch would reduce liquidity provider fees from 0.3% to 0.25%, with the remaining 0.05% directed to the protocol. On v3, protocol fees would be set as fractions of LP fees, initially one-quarter for 0.01% and 0.05% pools and one-sixth for 0.30% and 1% pools, with governance able to adjust the parameters over time. Under the proposal, Unichain sequencer fees would also be routed to the UNI burn mechanism after Layer 1 data costs and a 15% allocation to Optimism. Unichain, which launched about nine months ago, is currently processing roughly $100 billion in annualized decentralized exchange volume and about $7.5 million in annualized sequencer fees, the team said. The rollout could later expand to Layer 2s, other Layer 1s, Uniswap v4, UniswapX, PFDA — which is designed to route certain MEV (maximal extractable value) to the protocol — and aggregator hooks, the authors wrote. Beyond fee activation, the UNIfication proposal outlines a broader reorganization of the Uniswap ecosystem. This includes contractual agreements intended to align Uniswap Labs with Uniswap governance. Under the proposal, Uniswap Labs would enter into a services agreement recognized as legally binding in Wyoming under the state's Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (DUNA) framework, alongside indemnification agreements covering members of the independent committee that negotiated the deal. The proposal text states that this structure is intended to ensure Labs' activities remain aligned with the interests of UNI token holders. The governance package also would shift operational responsibilities historically handled by the Uniswap Foundation to Uniswap Labs, eliminate Labs' interface, wallet, and API fees, and establish an annual growth budget of 20 million UNI funded from the treasury starting in 2026. The proposal frames these changes as part of a long-term model in which protocol usage drives UNI burns while Labs focuses on protocol development and growth. Uniswap's native token is trading up around 7.5% on Thursday following the proposal's submission for a final vote, according to The Block's UNI price page.
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PancakeSwap-backed prediction markets platform Probable to launch on BNB Chain PancakeSwap has unveiled Probable, an upcoming prediction market platform incubated by the decentralized exchange and supported by YZi Labs. "Probable is built for anyone who wants a simple, transparent, and fast way to predict crypto movements, global events, sports outcomes, and unique regional markets rarely available elsewhere," PancakeSwap wrote in its Tuesday blog post. The upcoming platform is set to launch exclusively on BNB Chain and will not require any fees at launch. It will also automatically convert any deposited token into USDT on BNB Chain without requiring users to swap or bridge for tokens. The platform utilizes UMA's Optimistic Oracle for event verification and settlement. Although PancakeSwap is assisting with Probable's early growth, the prediction market is an independent project, according to the blog post. It added that Probable's launch is "coming soon" without providing a specific timeline. Prediction markets gained significant traction this year, with Kalshi and Polymarket drawing in billions of dollars in monthly volumes from October. Following the success of the first-movers, major crypto and financial players have announced investment or new ventures into prediction markets. These include Coinbase, Gemini, Robinhood and MetaMask. Still, prediction markets carry regulatory uncertainty due to their unclear distinction from sports betting or gambling. Kalshi, a federally licensed platform under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has faced enforcement actions across multiple states, where authorities have viewed its event contracts as illegal online gambling.
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JPMorgan launches tokenized fund on Ethereum, Ripple taps Wormhole to expand RLUSD to Layer 2s, and more Happy Monday! Bitcoin is bleeding back below $86,000 after last week's hawkish Fed cut, with analysts saying markets have shifted into wait-and-see mode as December inflation data is set to decide whether risk appetite revives or continues to fade into year-end. In today's newsletter, JPMorgan launches a tokenized fund on Ethereum, Ripple taps Wormhole to expand RLUSD to Layer 2 chains, Visa launches a new "stablecoins advisory practice," and more. Meanwhile, the UK Treasury plans to enact rules by 2027 to regulate crypto assets under the same framework as traditional financial products. Plus, Circle acquires Interop Labs, the initial developer of Axelar Network. P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe! JPMorgan launches tokenized money-market fund on Ethereum JPMorgan is launching its first tokenized money-market fund on Ethereum, seeding the private vehicle with $100 million of its own capital before opening to outside investors on Tuesday. The fund, called My OnChain Net Yield Fund, or MONY, is run by JPMorgan's $4 trillion asset-management arm and uses the bank's Kinexys platform to issue onchain tokens representing investor holdings. MONY targets qualified investors with a $1 million minimum investment and allows subscriptions and redemptions in cash or Circle's USDC stablecoin, with yield accruing daily like a traditional money-market fund, the Wall Street Journal first reported on Monday. JPMorgan executives said client demand for tokenization is accelerating, with the bank aiming to mirror the flexibility and product choice of traditional money-market funds on blockchain rails. The move adds to a growing push by major financial institutions to bring traditional investment products onchain following recent U.S. regulatory developments. That includes growing competition in tokenized funds, with JPMorgan joining efforts by firms like BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and BNY Mellon to bring yield-bearing assets onchain. Ripple taps Wormhole to expand RLUSD to Layer 2 chains like Base and Optimism Ripple is preparing to launch its RLUSD stablecoin on Layer 2 networks next year, tapping Wormhole's NTT standard to expand beyond XRP Ledger and Ethereum. The company is already testing RLUSD on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain as part of its push toward a multichain stablecoin strategy, pending regulatory approval. RLUSD has grown to more than $1 billion in supply since its launch last December, with a focus on providing a compliant solution for onchain institutional finance. The planned expansion follows efforts to secure dual state and federal oversight for RLUSD, after the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said last week it had conditionally approved a national trust bank charter for Ripple National Trust Bank. Visa launches 'stablecoins advisory practice' to help banks and businesses build strategies Visa has launched a new "stablecoins advisory practice" to help banks, fintechs, merchants, and enterprises design and implement stablecoin strategies. The advisory unit builds on Visa's expanding stablecoin footprint, with the company reporting a $3.5 billion annualized run rate in stablecoin settlement volume as of Nov. 30. Early clients, including Navy Federal Credit Union and Pathward, are using the service to assess payment use cases and integration paths for stablecoins. The launch reflects growing institutional confidence in stablecoins, supported by clearer U.S. regulation and rising adoption across payments and cross-border transfers. Global crypto ETPs see $864 million in weekly inflows Global crypto ETPs pulled in $864 million last week, extending inflows to a third straight week as investors remain cautious but increasingly optimistic, CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill argued in a Monday report. U.S.-based products dominated activity with $796 million in inflows, alongside continued contributions from Germany and Canada, which together account for over 98% of total 2025 inflows. Bitcoin ETPs led weekly allocations with $522 million in inflows boosted by a positive week for U.S. BTC ETFs, while outflows from short-Bitcoin products signaled recovering sentiment, Butterfill said. Ethereum products outpaced price action with $338 million in weekly inflows, as U.S. spot ETH ETFs also attracted strong demand despite uneven crypto market performance. Strategy buys more than 10,000 BTC for second week in a row Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) bought more than 10,000 bitcoin for the second week in a row, adding another 10,645 BTC and lifting its total treasury holdings to 671,268 BTC. The latest buys were funded through at-the-market sales of the company's Class A common stock, MSTR, and its STRF, STRK, and STRD perpetual preferred stocks. The news comes after Strategy held onto its place in the Nasdaq 100 on Friday following the index's annual rebalancing, while its MSCI fate must wait until January amid increasing scrutiny of its bitcoin-heavy business model. Meanwhile, Tom Lee's BitMine also announced Monday it had added another $321 million in ETH to its corporate treasury. In the next 24 hours U.S. nonfarm payroll figures are due at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. Arbitrum is among the crypto projects set for token unlocks. Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem. Disclaimer: This article was produced with the assistance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT and reviewed and edited by our editorial team.
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Brazil's largest bank recommends a 3% Bitcoin portfolio allocation: 'real diversification' A partner at the investment arm of Itaú Unibanco, the largest private bank in Latin America, is urging investors to allocate a portion of their portfolios to bitcoin as a "dual opportunity" for asset diversification and currency protection. In a recent research note, Renato Eid, Itaú Asset Management’s head of beta strategies and responsible investment, recommended a "calibrated" allocation of 1% to 3% in the cryptocurrency. He also warned against trying to time the market and emphasized maintaining a long-term horizon. "The idea is not to make crypto assets the core of the portfolio, but rather to integrate them as a complementary component," Eid wrote. "The goal is to capture returns uncorrelated with domestic cycles, partially protect against currency devaluation, and add potential for long-term appreciation." The column explicitly references its own BITI11 fund, a Brazilian-listed product that offers bitcoin exposure through an ETF wrapper. The ETF began trading on Brazil’s B3 exchange in 2022 as part of a partnership between Galaxy Digital and Itaú Asset. The ETF has assets under management worth about $115.6 million, per TradingView data. "Maintaining and/or adding BITI11 to your portfolio represents a dual opportunity — international diversification + currency protection/global store of value," Eid wrote. Eid’s pitch leans heavily on a Brazil-specific problem: currency swings. Brazil’s real slid to record lows in December 2024 — Reuters reported it fell as low as 6.30 per U.S. dollar during the month — which bolsters the argument for holding some globally priced assets as partial protection against FX shocks. The currency is currently trading at about 5.42 per U.S. dollar. The note also fits with Itaú’s recent crypto buildout. Itaú Unibanco launched bitcoin and ether trading inside íon in December 2023, with the bank acting as custodian. Brazil's central bank recently released new rules for domestic digital asset firms, mandating they register with the central bank to operate legally in the country, The Block previously reported. Bank of America recently recommended a similar 1-4% crypto allocation for its wealth clients, bringing the TradFi giant in line with Wall Street's growing acceptance of crypto.
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Fogo cancels $20 million pre-sale, will airdrop tokens instead in upcoming mainnet launch Fogo, an experimental Layer 1 blockchain built using the Solana Virtual Machine, is cancelling a previously announced token pre-sale ahead of its mainnet launch in January. Instead, the project now plans to airdrop the tokens rather than sell them. Earlier this week, Fogo announced a $20 million token presale at a $1 billion fully diluted valuation, offering 2% of the FOGO token’s total supply. The aim was to help distribute the tokens to a wider audience, and targeted a relatively small capital raise to prioritize delivery over funding. “The original goal of the presale was broad distribution to the current users and loyalists, but we determined there are better ways to do that while we focus on the launch of public mainnet,” Fogo Foundation Director Robert Sagurton told The Block in a direct message. Fogo will now instead airdrop that 2% allocation, a project representative confirmed in a message to The Block. "Always read the room, sanity check original assumptions, and don’t hesitate to pivot when something no longer makes sense,” Sagurton added. Fogo tokenomics This is not the first change to Fogo’s economics. On Thursday, the team published its token allocation plan, with 6.6% earmarked for an airdrop that would immediately be tradeable. About a third of FOGO’s initial supply would also be unlocked to fund the Fogo Foundation, while core contributors would get 34% locked under a four-year vesting schedule. In total, 38.98% of tokens unlocked would be unlocked at network launch under this initial tokenomics plan. The project also named two “institutional investors,” Distributed Global and CMS Holdings, which would receive 8.77% of the total token supply. “Advisors” would also be rewarded 7%. Apart from the airdrop, 11.25% of the FOGO supply was broken out for “community ownership,” namely investors in the two crowdfunding sales conducted on Echo, the angel investor platform founded by popular crypto trader Jordan Fish, better known as Cobie, and now-cancelled Metaplex sales. “The Echo and upcoming Metaplex sales ensure community members hold a greater share than institutional investors,” the team wrote on X on Thursday. Some 3,200 investors participated in the Echo sales alone, including an $8 million raise at a $100 million valuation in January. (Full disclosure: The Block’s former CEO Larry Cermak was a participant via the Big Brain Collective.) Moreover, ahead of the now-cancelled pre-sale, Fogo burned an additional 2% of the genesis supply initially set aside for core contributors. “It's gone forever,” the Fogo rep said. Airdrop, points, launch With the planned Dec. 17 pre-sale canceled, Fogo points farmers could receive a larger allocation, the team suggested on X. “We have taken a snapshot of Fogo Fishers, Portal Bridge points holders, and all USDC transfers since the initial presale announcement. We will attribute Fogo Flames to these groups,” Fogo wrote. These groups refer to early adopters of the Fogo testnet, including its Fogo Fishing dApp and users who bridged USDC to Fogo via the Wormhole-powered Portal Bridge before the snapshot cutoff. Fogo Flames are points that will be redeemable for FOGO tokens after the Jan. 13 mainnet launch. “We value the strong, positive support received. Rest assured, we have taken note,” Fogo wrote. “The Fogo Flames points program remains a central pillar to give meaningful distribution to developers, community members and ecosystem participants.” Sagurton, a former Jump Crypto executive, noted the canceled token sale represents a “doubling down on Flames,” and that the shifting strategy will not impact the Layer 1 launch. Fogo is a next-gen blockchain built using the technological framework underpinning Solana. The project, developed by former Wall Street executives, aims to deliver 40-millisecond block times, support real-time trade execution, and reduce malicious MEV. A testnet was launched in July that now handles over 1,000 transactions per second. Notably, Fogo plans to be the first blockchain to implement Jump Crypto's validator client software, which was launched on Friday.
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Pyth launches token buyback program, allocating 33% of DAO treasury to monthly PYTH purchases Pyth Network, a data protocol covering crypto and other asset classes, has launched a token buyback program as it looks to expand its revenue and support the value of its PYTH token. The buyback program — formally called the “PYTH Reserve” — uses network revenue to acquire tokens each month. Revenue flows into the Pyth DAO treasury, and "33% of the total treasury balance" will be used each month to purchase PYTH on the open market, Michael James, head of institutional business development at Douro Labs (Pyth developer) and a contributor to Pyth, told The Block. The program begins this month, with the first buyback expected to total $100,000–$200,000, James said, noting that the DAO treasury currently holds around $500,000. Pyth expects buyback amounts to grow as revenue increases in 2026 and beyond, James said. Pyth says revenue is growing, targets $500 million ARR James said Pyth Pro — the network’s newest data product, offering real-time market data across asset classes and geographies — is seeing strong early traction. Since launching in late September, Pyth Pro has reached $1 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) in its first month, onboarded 80+ active subscribers, and received around 10 inbound organic leads per week, he said. “Based on pipeline projections for the next 12–18 months, we’re targeting $50 million ARR,” James added. He said the broader data industry — currently a $50 billion market growing 5–6% annually — could reach $80–90 billion by 2035. But with the rapid rise in real-world asset tokenization, expanding institutional demand, and AI-driven data consumption, James believes it could be even larger, closer to $100–125 billion by 2035. “Our first mission is to have 1% of today’s $50 billion market, which puts us around $500 million ARR,” he said. Beyond Pyth Pro, Pyth’s suite includes Pyth Core (crypto market data), Pyth Entropy (an onchain random number generator), and Pyth Express Relay (a plug-and-play liquidity aggregator for trading applications). Pyth says it has supported over $2.3 trillion in transaction volume (transactions relying on Pyth data), integrates over 100 blockchains, and serves more than 600 applications. James said Pyth provides data across crypto, equities, forex, and commodities, with customers spanning centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, infrastructure providers, market makers, and prediction markets. Aiming for 'token utility and value accrual' James said the buyback program is intended to drive “token utility and value accrual” by tying PYTH more closely to network adoption. Purchases will occur once per month, be fully onchain, and tokens will be held in the PYTH Reserve, he said. James declined to provide long-term estimates for any impact on PYTH's circulating supply. Token buybacks have become a notable trend in crypto this year. According to CoinGecko, ten projects accounted for 92% of token buyback spending in 2025, led by Hyperliquid with more than $644.64 million in revenue deployed. Other active buyers include LayerZero, Pump.fun, Raydium, Rollbit, and Bonk, per CoinGecko.
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Silk Road bitcoin wallets wake up, SEC Chair Atkins signals quick action on crypto priorities, and more Happy Wednesday! Bitcoin ETF inflows flipped positive on Tuesday, with $152 million added ahead of the Fed's rate decision this afternoon. However, analysts said traders remain firmly defensive as leverage resets, whales accumulate, and one of 2025’s lowest pre-FOMC confidence levels sets the stage for sharp volatility. In today's newsletter, Silk Road wallets move bitcoin to an unknown address after a decade of dormancy, SEC Chair Paul Atkins signals quick action on crypto priorities, a U.S. teachers union urges the Senate to withdraw its crypto market structure bill, and more. Meanwhile, a crypto AI startup, "four times better" than ChatGPT and Grok, raises $15 million. Plus, Strategy says MSCI's 50% bitcoin test risks an index "whiplash" and conflicts with U.S. pro-innovation policy. P.S. Don't forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It's a great read — and just like The Daily, it's free to subscribe! Silk Road bitcoin wallets wake up after decade of dormancy Hundreds of Silk Road wallets that had been dormant for over a decade suddenly activated late Tuesday, moving approximately $3.14 million worth of bitcoin into one unidentified address. Wallets belonging to the now-defunct darknet marketplace still hold around $41.3 million in bitcoin following the transfers, per Arkham labeling. After analysts flagged the new movements, Coinbase Director Conor Grogan resurfaced his prior identification of roughly $47 million in wallets linked to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. Ulbricht received a full and unconditional pardon from President Trump in January and was subsequently released from prison. However, the reason for the reactivation remains unclear as onchain investigators continue to track the flows. The Block reached out to Ulbricht for comment following the unexpected activity.
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