On 20 December 2025, Tether's CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company is building a new engineering team to develop a self-custodial consumer wallet focused on a narrow set of assets, including Bitcoin via Lightning, USDT, XAUT and USAT. The product is designed around payments, value storage and on-device AI through Tether's QVAC platform, marking a shift from pure stablecoin infrastructure toward a vertically integrated financial technology stack.

In 2025, Ethereum has dropped roughly 12% YTD even as its Mainnet settles about $90–100 billion in stablecoin transfers per day. According to OnChainHQ’s Leon Waidmann, most flows are USDT and USDC for payments, treasury moves, and settlement. Charts shared on X indicate whales are adding near the realized price, signaling confidence despite weak price action.

Binance has crossed 300 million registered accounts eight years after its July 2017 launch, supported by deep liquidity, fast listings and diversified stablecoin markets. A Binance report researched by Kaiko highlights how robust infrastructure, structural market improvements, and developments such as Bitcoin spot ETFs and Europe’s MiCA regulation have attracted both retail and institutional traders. Recent data also show Binance processing significantly higher daily volumes than major rivals, with tight spreads and resilient order books during volatile periods.

On Dec. 18, David Sacks said Sens. Tim Scott and John Boozman confirmed a CLARITY Act markup for January 2026. The article notes that key DeFi sections and the definition of "security" remain bracketed in Senate drafts, and most rules would be written over 360 days to 18 months after enactment.

XRP has faced sustained selling even as Spot XRP ETFs attracted $82.04 million of inflows over the recent week. On-chain data from CryptoQuant shows repeated large deposits in the 100,000 to over 1 million XRP range moving from whale wallets to Binance, adding supply that spot buyers have struggled to absorb. Price action has formed lower highs and lower lows, with resistance near $1.95 and potential downside toward $1.50 if heavy inflows to exchanges continue.

Over the latest trading week, the crypto market swung sharply as macro factors kept Bitcoin volatile and pushed risk appetite lower. Canton, Audiera and Uniswap led the upside with double‑digit percentage gains, while XDC Network, Hyperliquid and MemeCore ranked among the weakest performers. Several smaller altcoins recorded extreme moves in both directions, underscoring an environment of heightened speculation and fragile conviction.

Intel's shares rose 86% in 2025 amid $9 billion from the US government via the CHIPS Act, plus $5 billion from Nvidia and $2 billion from SoftBank, alongside Lip‑Bu Tan's appointment as CEO in March 2025. Entering 2026, the foundry remained loss‑making and lacked a major outside customer, with analysts warning Intel has 12–18 months to secure a 14A client.

On December 21, 2025 in San Francisco, Gem Wallet announced a unified USDT infrastructure across 10+ chains, adding integrated swaps, bridges, and anti-scam protections. The self-custody, open-source app supports Tron, Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain, and TON, with biometric security and address-poisoning alerts. Availability spans iOS, Android, and web, with fiat on/off-ramps via MoonPay, Paybis, and Transak.