On December 20, 2025, the Museum of Modern Art added eight CryptoPunks to its permanent collection, recognizing the series' significance in digital and cultural history. According to CryptoPunks, the gift was facilitated by donors including Mara Calderon and ArtOnBlockchain, with additional contributions from collectors, and the collection continues to show steady market activity.

Gemini, joined by more than 125 organizations, has asked the U.S. Congress to retain the Genius Act's original language to preserve stablecoin reward programs. The coalition argues that curbing rewards would weaken competition and user incentives across platforms such as Gemini, Kraken, and Coinbase. The Genius Act was passed in June 2025.

Led by the Blockchain Association, 125 crypto and fintech organizations sent a letter on December 18, 2025 to Senate Banking leaders Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren opposing efforts to widen the GENIUS Act's stablecoin yield ban beyond issuer payments. The coalition argued the move would suppress consumer rewards and shield traditional banks, and disputed Treasury's $6.6 trillion deposit-flight projection.

Prosecutors charged 23-year-old Brooklyn resident Ronald Spektor with stealing roughly $16 million in cryptocurrency from about 100 Coinbase users. He allegedly impersonated a Coinbase representative and used social engineering to pressure victims to transfer funds, with a judge setting bail at $500,000. Authorities reported asset seizures and said recovery efforts continue.

Rep. Min Byoung-dug of South Korea’s Democratic Party urged the government to institutionalize and expand the legal use of stablecoins to protect payment sovereignty. Speaking at the final session of the eighth Global Business Forum in Seoul, he said stablecoins are now essential for cross-border payments and trade, warning that delays could entrench reliance on dollar-pegged assets.

On Thursday, Poland's lower house approved an unchanged crypto bill that was vetoed last year, sending it to the Senate for review. The proposal seeks to align national rules with the EU's MiCA regime by mid-2026. A government spokesperson said the president recently received a confidential security briefing, which may raise the chances of final approval.

On 20 December 2025, the European Central Bank outlined plans to enable blockchain-based settlements in central bank money from 2026, while advancing technical preparations for a digital euro. The project aims to support cross-border payments and potential links with other CBDCs, with design choices such as privacy protections and holding caps still subject to EU legislative approval. Political debates over data retention, surveillance and anti-money laundering rules could shape how closely the digital euro can mirror the privacy of cash.

Base, a Coinbase-incubated Ethereum L2, closed 2025 with $82.6M in revenue, $4.3B in DeFi TVL, and $4.8B in stablecoin value. Across April, July, and December 2025, it reached Stage 1 decentralization, cut block times to 200 milliseconds, and launched a Solana bridge via Chainlink CCIP. The year also brought onchain loans, yield options, DEX access, builder programs, and new developer toolkits.