On December 11, 2025, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued staff no-action letters to Polymarket US, LedgerX, PredictIt, and Gemini Titan. The relief is conditional, requiring full collateralization of all contracts and publication of time-and-sales data to limit enforcement risk.

South Korean investigators report that Binance locked just 17% of Solana-based assets stolen in the November 27 Upbit hack after receiving an urgent freeze request from the exchange and police. Authorities say the attackers laundered funds through more than a thousand wallets and multiple chains before most of the assets reached Binance service wallets, while experts in Korea are now calling for faster, coordinated global freeze mechanisms and Upbit has raised its customer cold storage ratio to 99% following the roughly 44.5 billion won theft.

Binance said on Thursday it added fee-free USD1 pairs with Ether, Solana and BNB, further integrating the Trump family–linked stablecoin. The exchange will convert remaining BUSD collateral to USD1 at a one-to-one rate within a week, while USD1’s market value stands at $2.7 billion and is issued on Ethereum and BNB Chain.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has granted the Depository Trust Company, a subsidiary of DTCC, a no-action letter to pilot tokenization of traditional securities on selected blockchains from the second half of 2026 for three years. The program will cover US Treasuries, major index-tracking ETFs and Russell 1000 components, with tokenized assets retaining the same rights and protections as their conventional versions and being offered to DTC participants and their clients.

Bhutan will launch TER, a sovereign gold-backed token issued on the Solana blockchain, on December 17, 2025, positioning the nation as one of the first to tokenize government-regulated gold reserves. Distributed through DK Bank and unveiled via the Gelephu Mindfulness City initiative, TER gives global investors compliant, on-chain access to audited, sovereign-overseen physical gold.

Galaxy has launched a new entity and office in Abu Dhabi under the Abu Dhabi Global Market framework, extending its footprint in the Middle East. The move follows Q3 2025 net income of $505 million and equity of $3.2 billion. Galaxy has also joined a planned $1.65 billion Solana treasury fund alongside other crypto investors. The expansion comes as the UAE continues to approve major exchanges and stablecoin issuers.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has approved class relief that removes separate Australian Financial Services licensing requirements for intermediaries distributing certain stablecoins and wrapped tokens. The measures also permit the use of omnibus account structures, which industry participants say will lower costs, improve efficiency and support broader real-world stablecoin use cases. The shift comes as global stablecoin market capitalization exceeds $300 billion.

On Dec. 2, Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection ordered Kalshi, Robinhood, and Crypto.com to stop offering alleged unlicensed online sports wagering, prompting Kalshi to sue the agency the following day. Judge Vernon Oliver has now temporarily blocked Connecticut from enforcing its gambling order against Kalshi under a court schedule that runs into early 2026, as the company argues its event contracts fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal CFTC. While fighting multiple state-level lawsuits, Kalshi has also signed a partnership with CNN and reported November trading volume of $4.54 billion, following a $1 billion funding round that valued the firm at $11 billion.

Circle has secured a full Financial Services Permission from Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority, enabling it to operate as a regulated Money Services Provider in the UAE. The company plans to use the approval to expand USDC-based payment, settlement and infrastructure services in the region. It has appointed Dr. Saeeda Jaffar as Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa. The move follows earlier recognition of USDC and EURC in Dubai and coincides with new approvals for Tether’s USDT and Binance within ADGM.