The CFTC said on Dec. 31 that Chairman Michael S. Selig appointed Amir Zaidi as chief of staff, bringing back a veteran who helped advance bitcoin futures in 2017. Zaidi previously led the Division of Market Oversight from 2010 to 2019 and later joined TP ICAP. His return follows Selig’s Dec. 18 Senate confirmation.

Bitcoin hovered around $88,000 on Wednesday as year‑end trading in Asia thinned and investors kept risk light after October’s $19B liquidation wave. Holiday closures across Hong Kong and Australia, with Japan and South Korea shut for the session, coincided with subdued volumes that kept prices below $90,000 into late December.

BitMine, led by chairman Thomas Tom Lee, plans to activate its Made in America Validator Network (MAVAN) in early 2026 to earn staking fees from a 4,110,525 Ether treasury worth about $12 billion. The company has already staked 408,627 Ether with three providers, added 44,463 Ether in the past week, and projects that fully staking its holdings could generate around $374 million in annual fees based on current assumptions.

Bitcoin hovered near $87,000 on Tuesday while Asian equities eased after a seven-day advance and US tech futures dipped. Broader crypto prices and total market capitalization slipped, trading volumes thinned into year-end, and metals such as silver and gold pulled back from recent record highs amid profit-taking.

Mirae Asset Group has entered discussions to acquire South Korean crypto exchange Korbit for an estimated 100B to 140B won, with talks handled by affiliate Mirae Asset Consulting. Korbit, majority-owned by NXC and SK Planet, holds about 0.5% of local trading volume but is seen as valuable for its regulated exchange license and banking connections as institutional interest in Korean crypto markets grows.

Bitcoin traded around $89,127 in thin Boxing Day sessions while Asian equities inched higher and silver extended record-breaking gains. Low liquidity kept BTC capped below $90,000 even as Wall Street's latest record closes and a strong run in gold and silver underpinned year-end risk appetite.

BlackRock is expanding its digital assets team with new roles in New York, London and Singapore. According to job listings, openings span associate to managing director, including a New York MD role paying $270,000 to $350,000 and an APAC MD in Singapore. The push covers tokenization, stablecoins, market structure, fund services and compliance.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 finished at a record after a US Q3 GDP revision to 4.3%, and on Wednesday Bitcoin eased in early Asian trade. Bitfinex analysts said BTC rebounded from the low $80,000 support but faces supply between $94,000 and $120,000. Gold set a fresh high above $4,500, with $4,520 shown in a CoinGecko post on December 24, 2025.

Decentralized perpetual futures exchange Hyperliquid stated that a wallet flagged by the community for shorting and selling $HYPE is controlled by a former staff member dismissed in Q1 2024. On-chain observers had tracked the address’s large $HYPE balance, alleged TWAP-style selling and links to HyperEVM after the token’s launch. In response, Hyperliquid reiterated its code of conduct, including a ban on team trading $HYPE derivatives and a zero-tolerance policy toward insider trading.