In a report released this week, Global Ledger said sanctioned exchange Garantex rebuilt an on‑chain payout system, with linked Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets holding more than $34 million and at least $25 million already disbursed. Funds flow through Tornado Cash and cross‑chain bridges, while A7A5, launched in early 2025, has reportedly supported over $87 billion in volume.

Michael Selig, Donald Trump's nominee to lead the CFTC, faces a full Senate confirmation following a 12–11 party-line committee approval last month. The decision comes after the CFTC's Dec 4 move to permit spot crypto trading on futures exchanges and a Dec 8 pilot allowing Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC as derivatives collateral.

On December 11, 2025, World, Sam Altman's biometric identity project, unveiled an app update adding end-to-end encrypted chat and in-chat crypto payments. The announcement said World Wallet supports USDC, EURC, wrapped Bitcoin and Ethereum, plus 100+ tokens, and introduces virtual accounts for send, deposit and withdraw. Altman and CEO Alex Blania outlined privacy features at a San Francisco event.

On December 11, 2025, World rolled out a major app update adding end‑to‑end encrypted messaging and expanded crypto payments. The release, presented at the company's San Francisco office with Sam Altman and CEO Alex Blania, also introduces virtual bank accounts and peer‑to‑peer transfers that do not require a World ID.

YouTube has introduced an option for eligible U.S. creators to receive their earnings in PayPal's U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoin PYUSD, according to PayPal executive May Zabaneh. The feature relies on PayPal's existing payouts infrastructure, reflects Big Tech's gradual embrace of stablecoins, and follows broader moves by PayPal and other firms to expand real-world uses for blockchain-based payment assets.

On December 12 2025, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a mixed decision on Apple's appeal of a contempt order in its App Store dispute with Epic Games, upholding key findings against the company while granting limited relief. The court affirmed that Apple violated a prior injunction by imposing a 27% fee on certain external transactions, and asked the trial judge to reassess what commission Apple can charge developers for use of its intellectual property. Around the same time, Epic's Fortnite was reinstated to the U.S. Google Play Store after a separate settlement and injunction reshaped Google's in-app payment rules.

On December 10, Web3 security provider CertiK presented its latest security practices at the Global Blockchain Show during Abu Dhabi's fintech week, with CBO Jason Jiang delivering a keynote on fintech innovation, digital transformation, and virtual asset rules. Jiang referenced CertiK's 2025 H1 Web3 Security Report, which recorded about $2.47 billion in security-related losses, and urged the industry to improve wallet hygiene, threat intelligence sharing, and basic operational security to support wider blockchain adoption.

On December 11, the U.S. SEC issued a No-Action Letter for DTCC’s Depository Trust Company, approving a three-year pilot to tokenize certain U.S. securities on selected blockchains. Under the program, scheduled to begin in the second half of 2026, DTC may mint and burn blockchain tokens representing security entitlements it already holds, using registered wallets and a permissioned setup. The initiative covers eligible assets such as leading index-tracking ETFs, U.S. Treasuries and Russell 1000 constituents, while requiring DTCC to file quarterly reports on participants, tokenized values and operational issues.