Stablecoin

Erebor, the digital bank co-founded by Palmer Luckey and backed by Peter Thiel, has reportedly raised $350 million at a $4.35 billion post-money valuation led by Lux Capital. The company recently obtained conditional approval from the OCC and a 12‑month deposit insurance approval from the FDIC, moving it closer to full bank status with a focus on crypto, AI and stablecoin-related services.

Venezuelan economist Asdrubal Oliveros said in a recent podcast that the country now collects roughly 80% of its crude oil export revenue in Tether's USDT and other stablecoins. PDVSA has required USDT payments for spot oil sales since March 2024, while Caracas struggles to convert growing stablecoin balances due to currency controls and sanctions. Despite these constraints and U.S. measures including a 25% tariff and tanker seizures, Venezuela's GDP reportedly increased from $102.38 billion in 2023 to $119.81 billion in 2024.

Shiba Inu's price advance is struggling as about 81.5 trillion SHIB remain on exchanges, keeping strong sell pressure in place. Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin has removed 500,000 tokens from circulation via an on-chain burn, while Cardano-based NIGHT has posted 24-hour trading volume of roughly $4 billion after its Dec. 8 launch. These moves highlight contrasting supply and trading dynamics across major altcoins in the current market.

On December 22, 2025, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said he wants the company to underpin a new internet layer for global money movement. Since its June 5 IPO, Circle launched the Arc Layer 1, partnered with BlackRock, Visa and AWS, and signed a multiyear Intuit deal. Q3 revenue and reserve income reached $740 million.

On 18 December, a coalition of over 125 crypto firms and advocacy groups urged the US Senate Banking Committee to oppose expanding the GENIUS Act, challenging banking lobby efforts to limit stablecoin returns. Banks, in Capitol Hill briefings, warned of up to $6.6 trillion in deposits shifting to digital platforms. Companies named include Coinbase, Gemini and Kraken.

On December 19, 2025, the Federal Reserve launched a public consultation on a proposed 'payment account' model offering limited access to its payment services. The accounts would not earn interest or provide credit, and the Fed is considering overnight balance caps of the lesser of $500 million or 10% of assets. The comment period runs 45 days after Federal Register publication.

Ripple's Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Reece Merrick, has reflected on the five years since the SEC filed its lawsuit against the company on Dec. 22, 2020, saying the experience strengthened the team and his conviction in Ripple's success. He highlighted that 2025 became one of Ripple's most ambitious years, with around $4 billion deployed into the crypto ecosystem, several major acquisitions completed and its RLUSD stablecoin greenlisted by Abu Dhabi's FSRA. Merrick now believes the outlook is brighter than ever for both Ripple and the broader digital asset sector.

Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy administrator has filed a $4 billion lawsuit against Jump Crypto, accusing it of secretly supporting TerraUSD’s $1 peg through confidential agreements. The case unfolds against a stablecoin market with about USD 309 billion in supply and more than USD4 trillion in transaction volume, raising new questions about the role of market makers, regulation, and user protection.

According to an investigation by the Financial Times, Binance let accounts flagged for suspicious activity process transactions even after its November 2023 US plea agreement tied to a $4.3 billion settlement. The newspaper reviewed data for 13 accounts that handled $1.7 billion, with about $144 million occurring post‑settlement; Binance said it enforces strict controls.

A crypto user reportedly lost close to $50 million in USDt in an address poisoning scam after copying a deceptive wallet address from past transactions, marking one of 2025's largest on-chain fraud losses. The victim had earlier sent a small test transfer to the correct address before mistakenly sending 49,999,950 USDt to the spoofed one. In reaction to rising crypto-related hacks and scams, U.S. lawmakers introduced the bipartisan SAFE Crypto Act to form a federal task force focused on curbing digital asset fraud and improving coordination among regulators and law enforcement.