São Paulo's Court of Auditors plans to register every document from Brazil's first public real-estate auction on a blockchain, covering the sale of ten warehouses. According to local media, auction platform Nordeste Leilões will run the process with InspireIP to deter fraud and bolster transparency. The government announced on October 21 its updated crypto framework, and BCB's AML/CFT rules are slated to begin in February 2026.

On December 16, 2025, the FTC said it has proposed a settlement with Illusory Systems, operator of the Nomad bridge, following the August 1, 2022 exploit. The order would prohibit misleading security claims, mandate a formal program with biennial independent assessments, and require the return of recovered funds after about $186 million was stolen and client losses exceeded $100 million.

On December 17, the FDIC approved a notice of proposed rulemaking for payment stablecoins, opening a public comment process. The plan outlines how insured banks could apply to issue stablecoins through subsidiaries and aligns with the federal GENIUS Act. Acting Chairman Travis Hill highlighted security and robustness as priorities.

Stablecoin payments firm RedotPay has raised $107 million in a Series B round led by Goodwater Capital, taking its total funding for 2025 to $194 million. The company plans to use the capital for acquisitions, additional licensing, compliance expansion and hiring as it pushes into new markets and broadens its payments products.

Sberbank is piloting DeFi tools and expanding regulated crypto-linked investments, with total issuance around 1.5 billion rubles. Executives outlined the approach at the "FI Day. AI & Blockchain" conference in Moscow, while the bank engages the Bank of Russia and Rosfinmonitoring on qualified investor access to digital assets.

On Monday, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Pam Bondi to confirm any ongoing probes into decentralized exchanges such as PancakeSwap and Uniswap, and requested a response by Jan. 12. Her letter coincided with Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott delaying a markup of the Responsible Financial Innovation Act to 2026.

Aave’s founder Stani Kulechov confirmed this week that the U.S. SEC has closed its four-year investigation into the protocol without recommending enforcement. Shortly after, a new governance proposal from BGD Labs co-founder Ernesto Boado asked for AAVE token holders to move the Aave brand, domains, social channels, and developer gateways into a DAO-controlled legal entity. If approved, this shift could mark one of DeFi’s most far-reaching decentralization restructurings by redefining who owns and steers the protocol’s public-facing infrastructure.

During the holiday period, scammers intensify phishing, fake wallet apps, bogus presales and romance schemes to exploit distracted crypto users and the irreversibility of blockchain transfers. They also run impersonation, recovery and holiday-themed token scams, sometimes aided by AI voice cloning and malicious SDKs that steal wallet phrases. Users can reduce risk by relying on official apps and links, protecting keys, using strong security tools and carefully verifying offers, charities and giveaways.