Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined a push for radical simplification of the Ethereum protocol to maintain genuine trustlessness and prevent excessive reliance on a small group of developers. He argues that features such as stateless clients, lightweight nodes, data compression and upgrades like Verkle Trees should reduce hardware demands, support decentralization and align with the previously published Trustless Manifesto.

On December 18, 2025, Ava Labs CBO John Nahas said the network’s future lies in sovereign, purpose‑built chains rather than monolithic block space. He noted nearly 80 Avalanche layer‑one chains are live and more than 100 are in testing, with deployments by Toyota, FIFA, and SMBC aimed at finance, identity, and enterprise workflows.

Bitfinex has removed all trading fees across its exchange, covering spot, margin, derivatives, tokenized securities, and OTC products with immediate effect. The company expects the zero‑fee model to boost liquidity, support financial inclusion, and make it one of the most cost‑effective venues for BTC and other digital assets. At the same time, Solana‑based wallet Phantom has rolled out Phantom Prediction Markets, a Kalshi‑powered feature that lets users trade tokenized positions on real‑world events directly in the app.

India’s Competition Commission cleared Coinbase Global’s minority investment in CoinDCX, according to a regulatory notice and a post by CLO Paul Grewal on Wednesday. The approval follows an October notice indicating a post‑money valuation of approximately $2.4 billion and Coinbase’s report of about $141 million in annual revenue as of July. Coinbase has also reopened its app for India and targets a fiat on‑ramp in 2026.

A $10 million settlement involving Silvergate Bank is allowing investors tied to FTX and Alameda Research accounts to submit claims by Jan. 30 in a case pending in the Southern District of California. A final approval hearing is scheduled for Feb. 9, while separately former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison has been moved from federal prison to a community confinement program after serving part of her two-year sentence.

The Bank of Canada has set out guidance that from 2026 it will only approve high-quality stablecoins that are fully backed, maintain 100% reserves, and are pegged 1:1 to a central bank currency. Issuers will need robust risk management, transparent redemption terms, and strong data and cybersecurity protections as part of a broader effort to modernize Canada's financial system and make digital payments faster and safer.

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.

MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai Co. is set to begin trading in Shanghai after raising $585.8 million in an IPO that was oversubscribed 2,986 times on the retail tranche. The AI GPU maker, whose valuation at listing is 41.8 billion yuan, is seen by some fund managers as having potential upside of 10–12 times, which could fuel a broader rally in Chinese tech stocks. The company's Xiyun C500 series accounted for nearly 98% of its 2024 revenue, and MetaX captured about 1% of China's AI chip market.

On Monday, Ark Invest's trade filing showed purchases across crypto-linked equities: $17 million of BitMine, $16.26 million of Coinbase, $9.9 million of CoreWeave, and $10.8 million of Circle via ARKK, ARKW, and ARKF. The firm also added $5.94 million in Block, $5.2 million in Bullish, $1.24 million to its Ark‑21Shares Bitcoin ETF, and sold 124,867 Tesla shares for about $59.35 million.