Binance is weighing an ownership reshuffle and potential U.S. partnerships as it looks for a path back into the American market. Talks are described as early, and speculation intensified after an Oct. 23, 2025 pardon for co‑founder CZ, which drew political criticism and renewed debate over the exchange’s U.S. ambitions.

On Tuesday, the Competition Commission of India cleared Coinbase Global Inc.'s planned purchase of a minority stake in local crypto exchange CoinDCX. The deal, whose size remains undisclosed, implies a $2.45 billion valuation for CoinDCX and follows a period marked by a $44 million hack and Coinbase’s renewed push into the Indian market.

During its year-end conference, Coinbase announced the launch of stock trading and prediction markets in partnership with Kalshi as part of a shift toward a multi-asset platform. The exchange also plans to introduce 24/7 perpetual contracts with leverage up to 50x early next year, while its shares recently closed down over 3.3% before rebounding in after-hours trading to $247.85.

US November CPI data, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, is forecast to show headline and core inflation at 3.1% year over year, above the Federal Reserve's 2% goal. This will be the first official inflation update since September after a 43-day government shutdown delayed October data, and it comes as mixed labor figures and futures pricing suggest the Fed is likely to hold rates at its January 2026 meeting.

On December 18 2025, the U.S. SEC's Division of Trading and Markets issued guidance on how broker-dealers can satisfy Rule 15c3-3's physical possession provisions when holding crypto asset securities. The staff outlined five specific conditions under which they would not object to treating physical custody as compliant, focusing on blockchain access, technical due diligence, and private key security. Commissioner Hester M. Peirce welcomed the additional clarity and urged further work on amending Rule 15c3-3 to better address crypto custody.

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart expects more than 100 crypto ETPs and ETFs to debut in 2026, based on current SEC applications and industry forecasts. He cautions that a significant share of these products may be liquidated by late 2026 or by the end of 2027 due to weak demand, even as existing Bitcoin, Ether and Solana spot ETFs have already attracted tens of billions of dollars in inflows.

RRP Semiconductor surged 55,000% over twenty months and reached a valuation of $1.78 billion as of press time. The stock hit a high on Nov. 7, then fell 6% after SEBI began reviewing the rally and the exchange shifted trading to once a week. A tiny float, 149 straight limit-up sessions, and social buzz drove the move despite negative revenue and minimal operations.

Bitcoin drifted toward $86,000 on Thursday as Asian markets opened weaker following Wednesday's tech-led slide on Wall Street. A snapshot showed BTC at $86,575 (-1.1%), Ether at $2,832 (-4.2%), and XRP at $1.86 (-3.7%), with total crypto market value at $3 trillion (-1.5%).