Aave's governance community is considering shutting down protocol deployments on three blockchain networks that have underperformed financially. The Aave Chan Initiative proposed in late November to deprecate instances on zkSync, Metis, and Soneium, citing revenues insufficient to justify operational costs and risk exposure. The proposal includes establishing a $2 million annual revenue minimum for future chain deployments.

Rep. Bryan Steil questioned federal regulators on their progress implementing the GENIUS stablecoin law during a House Financial Services Committee hearing Tuesday. The legislation, which became law July 18, requires agencies to establish rules within one year. FDIC Acting Chair Travis Hill announced plans to propose implementation rules this month, while NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman confirmed regulators are committed to the July 18, 2026 deadline.

Aave V3 deployed on Mantle Network on December 2, bringing lending infrastructure to the Layer-2 platform. A governance proposal shows the DAO is considering shutting down deployments on zkSync, Metis, and Soneium, which generate between $3,000 and $50,000 in annual revenue. The proposal also sets a $2 million revenue threshold for future chain expansions.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is launching regulatory reforms to restore competitiveness in American capital markets, with blockchain firms serving as initial test cases. Chair Paul Atkins outlined a strategy prioritizing IPO pipeline expansion and introducing an "innovation exemption" framework that allows crypto companies to release products under supervision before completing full compliance reviews. The reforms are expected to commence within one month following delays caused by the government shutdown.

Circle has partnered with OpenMind to implement the x402 payment protocol for autonomous machine transactions using USDC stablecoin. The collaboration will integrate USDC into OpenMind's robotics and AI platform for microtransactions between AI agents. OpenMind secured $20M in funding led by Pantera Capital in August 2025, with the project currently in early development stages.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed the Crypto-Asset Market Act on December 1, 2025, blocking implementation of the EU's MiCA regulation. The presidential office cited concerns over provisions enabling the financial regulator to block cryptocurrency websites with minimal oversight and licensing fees that would burden smaller firms. The veto sends the legislation back to parliament, where a three-fifths majority is required to override the decision.

AI research firm Anthropic disclosed that automated AI agents successfully exploited 17 of 34 smart contracts in a simulated blockchain environment, extracting $4.5 million in test funds. The models tested included Claude Opus 4.5 and Claude Sonnet 4.5 against contracts deployed after March 2025. The AI agents also identified two previously unknown vulnerabilities in recently launched contracts.

Anthropic tested AI agents on 405 real-world smart contracts and simulated $550.1 million in stolen cryptocurrency. Newer models exploited 34 contracts deployed after March 2025 for up to $4.6 million, with Opus 4.5 leading at $4.5 million. The agents also discovered two previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities in live contracts worth $3,694 in test revenue.