Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE's parent, is negotiating a potential investment in MoonPay as part of the crypto payments firm's latest fundraising. MoonPay is targeting a valuation of around $5 billion, while the size of ICE's commitment remains undisclosed and no agreement has been finalized. The move would extend ICE's push into blockchain-enabled market infrastructure.

At its final press conference of the year on Thursday, the ECB said it has finished the technical and preparatory work for a retail digital euro and is awaiting authorization from the European Council and Parliament. The Commission's proposal envisions legal tender status and privacy protections, with a pilot possible in 2027 if legislation passes by 2026.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, is moving toward a key Senate markup expected in January, according to White House artificial intelligence and crypto advisor David Sacks. The bipartisan bill, already passed by the House in July, aims to define which digital assets are securities or commodities and clarify the roles of U.S. regulators in overseeing crypto markets. Its progress follows earlier delays linked to a 43-day government shutdown and will require navigating a closely divided Senate before potentially reaching President Donald Trump for signature.

On Thursday, the XRP Ledger activated the fixDirectoryLimit amendment, removing a hard cap on directory pages that had caused transaction failures during periods of heavy activity. In parallel, Japanese exchange SBI VC Trade opened a new recruitment round for its Rent Coin lending service on December 18 at 20:00 JST, offering yields on 34 cryptocurrencies including XRP. Together, these developments highlight both technical refinement on the network and expanding XRP-based financial products in Japan.

As President Donald Trump's second term enters its first year, the Senate has confirmed Mike Selig to lead the CFTC and Travis Hill to head the FDIC, filling long-standing vacancies at two pivotal financial watchdogs. The 53–43 confirmation vote is expected to speed up work on U.S. crypto regulation, including pending legislation that could expand federal authority over digital asset markets. The appointments also cement a more permissive stance on crypto banking at the FDIC while positioning the CFTC to shape rules for spot trading and stablecoins.

According to TradingView data, the Bitcoin-to-gold ratio recently dropped to 20.18, its weakest reading since January 1, 2024, before edging back to 20.41 as BTC traded between $86,000 and $90,000. While gold gains safe-haven appeal amid macro and geopolitical concerns, Gold Token S.A. has launched the physically backed DGLD® token on Base and Aerodrome, with Arrakis Finance managing on-chain liquidity. Industry figures link recent crypto weakness and renewed interest in gold to geopolitical tensions, questions about the U.S. dollar, and a growing preference for direct ownership of hard assets.

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.

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.

World Liberty Financial has put forward a governance proposal to allocate 5% of its WLFI token treasury, valued at about $120 million, to drive adoption of its USD1 U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin. The plan would channel additional USD1 supply into integrations and incentives across centralized and decentralized platforms, while WLFI holders are currently voting on whether to approve the deployment.