The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved national trust bank charters for Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos, positioning them closer to operating as federally regulated banks. Hex Trust aims to launch and custody a 1:1-backed wrapped XRP token with over $100 million in initial total value locked to extend XRP's reach in DeFi and across multiple chains. YouTube is also enabling U.S. creators to accept payouts in PayPal's PYUSD, while Aave governance debates fee flows tied to a CoW Swap-powered interface and solo bitcoin miners record unusually lucky block wins.

On Thursday, Ark Invest purchased 124,427 Robinhood shares worth about $15.4 million across its ARKK and ARKW funds as the stock fell 9.1%. The firm also added 13,700 shares of its ARKB bitcoin ETF, roughly $417,000, and earlier on Dec. 2 bought $7.5 million of Coinbase for ARKK.

On Wednesday, the compromised WeChat account of Binance co-CEO Yi He was used to promote a BNB Chain memecoin called Mubarakah. The attacker allegedly created two new wallets, spent 19,479 USDT to buy 21.16 million tokens, and made roughly $55,000 in profit after an 800% price spike and subsequent sell-off, according to onchain analyst Lookonchain. Yi He later said the account had been recovered and warned users to stay alert to scam attempts.

Crypto investment products worldwide took in $716 million of net inflows last week, the second straight week of positive flows alongside outflows from short ETPs, according to CoinShares. The gains were driven by strong regional inflows in the U.S., Germany, and Canada and coincided with rising BTC and ETH prices and higher sector assets under management, although those assets remain below their all-time peak.

Negotiations on U.S. Senate crypto market structure legislation have stalled over three unresolved disputes, Variant Fund Chief Legal Officer Jake Chervinsky said Thursday. The issues involve stablecoin yield restrictions, presidential family conflicts of interest, and protections for decentralized finance developers. Chervinsky said he does not expect committee markup sessions before year-end.

K33 Research maintains that bitcoin's current correction reflects exaggerated long-term concerns rather than immediate fundamental risks. The firm's Head of Research Vetle Lunde cited upcoming U.S. policy developments—including 401(k) crypto access by February 2026 and anticipated passage of the Clarity Act—as structural catalysts that could bolster bitcoin's medium-term trajectory. Bitcoin is experiencing its deepest drawdown since the 2022–23 period.

Binance elevated co-founder Yi He to co-CEO on December 11, establishing a dual leadership structure with Richard Teng. The appointment, announced at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, marks the exchange's most significant executive restructuring since Teng assumed the CEO role in November 2023. Yi He previously served as Chief Customer Service Officer and has been with Binance for over eight years since its 2017 founding.

Grayscale Research projects bitcoin will reach new record prices in 2026, rejecting the traditional four-year cycle theory. Vanguard reversed its stance on digital assets, enabling clients to trade ETFs holding BTC, ETH, XRP, and SOL starting Tuesday. Bank of America will permit portfolio allocations of 1% to 4% in crypto assets.

Bitcoin dropped below $86,000, erasing approximately $240 billion from the cryptocurrency market. Data show large holders have reduced their accumulation rate while smaller retail wallets increased purchasing activity. Strategy acquired an additional 130 BTC for around $11.7 million, bringing total holdings to 650,000 BTC.