On December 12, 2025, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved trust bank charters for Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, Paxos, and Circle. The firms may pursue fiduciary and digital asset custody activities, but must satisfy specified conditions, including a $11.7 million tier 1 capital requirement, before conversion to full operations and broader integration with traditional finance.

Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jietzhuang has stated on X that he will support the development of Web3, emphasizing stablecoins and real-world asset tokenization under clear regulation. He highlights that Hong Kong’s stablecoin bill is progressing without unexpected changes and is broadly aligned with global regulatory practice, aiming to attract developers and strengthen the city’s role in digital finance. Coincu researchers expect that a regulated Web3 and RWA framework could help improve financial structures and risk management.

Miami promoter Rodney Burton, known as "Bitcoin Rodney", faces 11 federal counts in a superseding indictment tied to the alleged $1.8 billion HyperFund scheme. The case is in the District of Maryland, the purported conduct ran June 2020 to May 2024, and a trial is currently scheduled for March 2026.

0G Foundation says a breach led to the theft of 520,010 $0G, 9.93 ETH, and about $4,200 in USDT, totaling roughly $520,000. The group attributed the incident to a leaked private key on compromised Alibaba Cloud servers, with attackers abusing an emergency withdrawal and later routing funds via Tornado Cash. The exploit was linked to a Next.js vulnerability reported on December 5.

On Friday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission released an investor bulletin on crypto wallets and custody, outlining basic practices and key risks. The guide contrasts self-custody with third-party arrangements, flags issues like rehypothecation and asset commingling, and explains hot-versus-cold wallet trade-offs.

On December 13, 2025, Invest in Latvia reported that nearly 130 fintech companies in the country generate close to €400 million in yearly turnover and pay more than €91 million in taxes while employing over 3,600 people. At the same time, Latvia’s central bank confirmed that BlockBen and Nexdesk have received the nation’s first MiCA licenses, as officials move to position Latvia as a key European entry point for regulated crypto and Web3 businesses.

On Dec. 12 in Islamabad, Pakistan's finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Binance CEO Richard Teng signed an MOU to study tokenizing state-owned assets, including sovereign bonds, bills, and resource reserves. The multi-billion-dollar evaluation targets fractionalized, tradable instruments to widen investor access. Changpeng Zhao attended, as Pakistan develops a virtual assets authority with preliminary approvals for Binance and HTX.

A policy showdown has emerged in Washington as Citadel Securities and a coalition of DeFi groups submit opposing frameworks on how the SEC should regulate tokenized stocks. Citadel favors folding tokenized assets into existing securities rules, while the coalition argues open-source protocols and autonomous smart contracts should not be treated like broker-dealers.