Binance obtained Anti-Money Laundering registration under Pakistan's Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority framework on Dec. 12, the company announced. The registration allows Binance to provide cross-border virtual asset services as it works toward a full Virtual Asset Service Provider license in Pakistan. Binance said it will continue supporting digital economy development in South Asia and cooperating with regional regulators to build a transparent virtual asset ecosystem.

China Construction Bank froze accounts held by Ms. Yu and her husband after a 250-yuan transfer between them carried the note "Dogecoin this week," which bank staff said triggered virtual currency controls, China News Weekly reported on Dec. 12. Branch employees told Ms. Yu she needed to submit her husband's recent bank statements and a handwritten pledge that past and future transactions were unrelated to virtual currencies to lift the restrictions, while staff at her husband's Dalian branch said accounts linked to virtual currency transactions could face irreversible freezes. Calls to the bank's national hotline and the Tianjin branch yielded unclear replies, with staff requesting additional documents including a marriage certificate to process the restriction removal. On Dec. 5, seven associations including the National Internet Finance Association of China issued a risk warning urging member institutions not to engage in virtual currency or real-world asset token issuance and trading in China.

Members of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee have sent a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins requesting rule changes to allow Bitcoin and other digital assets in 401(k) retirement plans, according to Wu Blockchain. The lawmakers also urged the SEC to relax the accredited investor definition and to coordinate with the Department of Labor on these issues. The letter cites President Donald Trump’s directive to expand investment options in retirement accounts, Wu Blockchain reported.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Paul Atkins declared on December 12th, as reported by BlockBeats, that American financial markets are on the precipice of an on-chain transformation. Atkins stated the SEC, under his leadership, is prioritizing innovation and embracing new technologies to realize this future, while steadfastly protecting investor interests. He highlighted that on-chain markets are poised to offer enhanced predictability, transparency, and operational efficiency for investors. Atkins also called for an innovation exemption policy to empower innovators to transition markets on-chain without cumbersome regulatory burdens. This announcement closely follows the U.S. SEC's recent approval for the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to custody and confirm tokenized stocks and Real World Assets (RWA) on-chain.

France advanced Amendment 1649AC on Dec. 12, mandating citizens report the precise market value of self-custodied crypto even when no taxable transactions occur, Bitcoin News reports. Critics warn the measure intrudes on private life and risks creating an "information honeypot" of names, addresses, and specific balances.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors unanimously voted on Dec. 12 to reappoint 11 regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents to new five-year terms beginning March 1, 2025, following comprehensive evaluations by the banks' boards of directors. The reappointments align with statutory five-year terms for all regional Fed presidents and first vice presidents, with current terms ending Feb. 28, 2026. The decision clarifies the future composition of the Fed's monetary policy committee after earlier reports suggested potential pressure from the incoming administration to influence these renewal decisions, BlockBeats and Jin10 reported.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued no-action letters to Polymarket, PredictIt, Gemini, and LedgerX/MIAX, granting conditional relief from certain recordkeeping and data-reporting requirements, according to a report by Wu Blockchain. The letters state that the CFTC will not take enforcement action over specified obligations if the platforms comply with detailed conditions set out in the relief, allowing them to continue offering prediction markets and derivatives services under those terms. The development comes amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny of prediction markets in the United States.

U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott announced on December 12 that "substantial progress" has been achieved in advancing a significant cryptocurrency bill. This follows productive meetings held on Thursday with prominent banking CEOs, including Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Jane Fraser of Citigroup, and Charlie Scharf of Wells Fargo. The proposed legislation seeks to establish clear regulatory frameworks for the digital asset industry, granting specific powers to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Discussions, which included both Democratic and Republican senators, covered critical areas such as yield, decentralized finance (DeFi), and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols. Banking associations have voiced concerns regarding perceived loopholes in the recently enacted GENIUS Act, particularly concerning stablecoin interest payments and potential market distortions.

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud conspiracy charges related to the May 2022 collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin, which erased about $40 billion in value, Cointelegraph reported. The collapse, described as one of the largest failures in the cryptocurrency sector, led to significant investor losses and multiple legal actions. According to the report, the sentence follows a multi-year investigation into the failure of the algorithmic stablecoin and associated products.