The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said on Dec. 11 that some of nine large U.S. banks restrict or deny services based on lawful activity such as crypto, rather than financial risk. The review covered JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One Financial, PNC Bank, TD Bank and Bank of Montreal, with at least some imposing special limits or heightened scrutiny. The agency said the Dec. 11 release is only a first phase, with thousands of complaints still under review, and Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould said it aims to end the "weaponization of finance" while planning to hold banks accountable. Last month the OCC confirmed major banks may hold crypto on balance sheets to pay blockchain fees for other permitted activities, and on Dec. 10 it said banks can process "riskless principal transactions" tied to crypto assets.

Gemini Space Station, Inc. (ticker: GEMI) received approval on December 11 to operate a Designated Contract Market (DCM) and enter the prediction market space, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said. The new platform, Gemini Titan, will initially list binary event contracts posing yes-or-no questions about future events. Gemini said the platform may later expand into other CFTC-regulated derivatives markets, including crypto futures, options and perpetual contracts. The company first applied for a DCM license on March 10, 2020, though that application did not explicitly state an intention to launch a prediction market platform.

US senators are racing to resolve remaining disputes on cryptocurrency regulation legislation and advance a market structure bill out of committee before the holiday break, The Hill reported on Dec. 11. While Democratic senators continue seeking changes to the draft and lawmakers face an imminent recess, Republicans are pressing for a committee review and markup next week. An industry source said there are realistically about 48 hours to determine whether the bill can move forward. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), a key proponent of the legislation, said at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit on Tuesday that she aims to release an updated draft by this weekend and hold a markup next week before the Christmas recess.

The Federal Reserve's December 11 dot plot shows a median projection of 25 basis points in cumulative rate cuts for 2026, BlockBeats reports. Among 19 officials, seven projected no cuts, four saw 25 basis points, four saw 50 basis points, two saw 75 basis points, one saw 100 basis points, and one anticipated 150 basis points.

Japan's Financial Services Agency outlined a plan to move crypto asset regulation from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, which governs investment and securities markets, according to a Financial System Council working group report released on Dec. 10. Key changes include stricter disclosure requirements for IEOs such as project core team details, third-party code audits and self-regulatory organization input, as well as mandatory issuer identification and token distribution disclosures regardless of decentralization level. The framework would expand enforcement against unregistered platforms including overseas and DEX-like operators, explicitly prohibit insider trading in line with EU's MiCA and South Korean rules, while Japan's government separately considers a unified 20% tax rate on crypto trading profits and the FSA voiced cautious views on derivatives tied to overseas crypto ETFs, describing the underlying assets as "not ideal."

Andrzej Skiba, Head of U.S. Fixed Income at RBC Global Asset Management, anticipates the Federal Reserve will implement an interest rate cut at its upcoming meeting. However, Skiba cautions that the robust U.S. economic momentum may render further rate cuts unnecessary.RBC's base assumption includes this rate cut, which Skiba describes as potentially a 'hawkish cut,' implying a subsequent pause in monetary policy adjustments. He elaborated, 'In our view, inflation and labor market data should prompt the Federal Reserve to hold steady after this initial rate cut, reassessing the economic situation early next year.'Market participants will closely monitor dissenting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) members, particularly those advocating for more aggressive reductions versus those who believe the U.S. economy doesn't warrant any cuts. Skiba further projected, 'Following this rate cut, and with our projection for accelerated U.S. economic growth in 2026, the necessity for further rate reductions may dissipate. For political reasons (such as a potential Federal Reserve leadership change in May), we might see one rate cut, but the economy itself may not require another cut for a foreseeable period.' This analysis was initially reported by financial news outlets.