The U.S. SEC approved a universal listing standard for crypto ETPs, cutting launch timelines to 75 days as of September, according to Cryptoslate. Analysts expect more than 100 ETFs by 2026, while custody concentration at Coinbase raises single-point-of-failure concerns noted by James Seyffart. CoinMarketCap shows BTC at $86,176.20 with 59.44% dominance and a 25.41% 90-day decline.

On December 18, 2025, the US Senate confirmed Michael Selig as chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in a 53-43 vote. The move follows an October nomination by President Donald Trump after withdrawing Brian Quintenz and comes as Congress debates bills that could expand the CFTC's authority over cryptocurrency markets.

At a Thursday press conference, US President Donald Trump said his shortlist to replace Jerome Powell has been reduced to three or four candidates and praised Chris Waller. Polymarket currently assigns Waller 14% odds, behind Kevin Hassett at 53% and Kevin Warsh at 28%, with Michelle Bowman at 2%. Trump expects to announce his pick in the next couple of weeks.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse highlighted that XRP ETFs have posted inflows for 30 consecutive sessions, and Canary Capital's U.S. spot XRP ETF drew nearly $250 million on day one. Shiba Inu saw nearly 100 billion SHIB move off exchanges in 24 hours, while total crypto market cap fell to $2.95 trillion and Cardano liquidations reached $1.24 million with a 1,303% imbalance.

Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of IOHK and the Cardano blockchain, criticized several of US President Donald Trump's crypto initiatives, including a meme coin and the World Liberty Financial project. He argued these moves risked turning previously bipartisan efforts on US digital asset regulation into a partisan issue and damaging the industry's image in Washington. Hoskinson also claimed many crypto founders stayed silent after being warned that speaking out could jeopardize their access to lawmakers and the legislative process.

US lawmakers are evaluating a de minimis capital gains tax exemption for small crypto payments, with some discussions reportedly focusing on limiting the benefit to stablecoins. Bitcoin advocates warn that excluding Bitcoin from such relief would defeat the goal of enabling everyday transactions, while existing proposals in Congress suggest a $300 per-transaction threshold and a $5,000 annual cap on tax-free gains.

David Sacks said the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is set for a Senate markup in January before debate, amendments, and a floor vote. He added that Chairs Tim Scott and John Boozman confirmed the bipartisan bill's path to the chamber. The proposal aims to clarify oversight between the SEC, CFTC, and other regulators.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has rolled back 2023 guidance that tightly constrained how supervised banks could engage in crypto-related business, opening a defined route for both insured and uninsured institutions to explore digital asset services. The updated framework keeps supervisory and risk-management standards in place but may expand access to Fed membership and payment systems for crypto-focused banks, intensifying debate over innovation, competition, and financial stability.