Wu Blockchain News

According to Bloomberg, market volatility has increased as roughly $23 billion in Bitcoin options are set to expire next Friday, accounting for more than half of total open interest on Deribit and potentially amplifying already elevated price swings. Thirty-day implied volatility has rebounded to nearly 45%, while options skew around -5% indicates that downside risk continues to dominate market pricing. — link

According to Bloomberg, Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is in talks to invest in crypto payments firm MoonPay Inc. as part of a funding round nearing completion that is targeting a valuation of about $5 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are not yet finalized. MoonPay was last valued at approximately $3.4 billion in a 2021 funding round. — link

Polymarket said issues caused by a recent Polygon network disruption have been resolved, with the site and related functions restored. The team is working on stability improvements to prevent similar incidents. Meanwhile, some community members believe that, following repeated network issues, Polymarket is treating the development of its own L2 as a current priority, though no specific plans or timeline have been disclosed. — link

Bitfinex, a cryptocurrency exchange affiliated with Tether, has officially set the Maker and Taker trading fees for spot, margin, derivatives, Bitfinex Securities, and OTC trading to 0. Bitfinex stated that the zero-fee policy is not a short-term promotion but will be implemented as a standard fee structure on a long-term basis, with no end date currently set. — link

BitMart announced the launch of its Christmas and New Year–themed campaign, “Merry Coin-mas, Mega Giveaways,” in December 2025, featuring a total reward pool of over 1 million USDT. During the campaign, users can participate in prize draws and reward distributions by making deposits, engaging in spot and futures trading, or purchasing crypto via credit card, with prizes including crypto assets, platform benefits, and selected physical rewards. This post is sponsored by BitMart. — link

The Bank of England cut its policy rate by 25 basis points to 3.75% as of December 18, in line with expectations, from a previous level of 4.00%. The decision met market forecasts, following the bank’s earlier pause in its quarterly rate-cut cycle that had been in place since August 2024.

Several projects backed by Kaito Kickstarter saw significant post-TGE drawdowns. Play AI, launched at a $50m, now has an FDV of only $2.1m; Hana Network, launched at a $40m valuation, now has an FDV of $10.5m; Novastro, launched at a $50m valuation, now has an FDV of $1.05m; and Bitdealer, launched at a $35m valuation, now has an FDV of $2.8m. H/T: @y_cryptoanalyst — link

In an interview with WuBlockchain, Lin Han, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gate, discussed in detail the subsequent market trends, the FTX crash and PoR, US compliance plans, the Hyperliquid challenge, IPO plans, and whether Gate will acquire a bank. Read more: — link

JPMorgan has migrated its tokenized deposit product, JPM Coin (JPMD), from its internal permissioned blockchain Kinexys to Coinbase’s Ethereum L2 network Base, in order to meet institutional clients’ needs for payments, collateral, and margin settlement on public blockchains. — link

Michael Saylor recently tweeted in support of the introduction and upgrade of post-quantum cryptography to the Bitcoin network. Active users can migrate their funds to new addresses, while approximately 20-25% of dormant or lost Bitcoins (including those in early P2PK addresses) will be immobilized, effectively reducing the supply. — link

BitcoinForCorporations estimates that if MSCI removes “crypto-asset treasury companies”—firms with a high share of crypto assets on their balance sheets—from its index suite, the 39 affected companies could face roughly $10–$15 billion in passive outflows. JPMorgan estimates that Strategy alone could see about $2.8 billion in outflows, representing around 74.5% of the impacted market cap. — link

Coinbase announced the launch of “Custom Stablecoins,” a service that allows partners to issue their own branded stablecoins on Coinbase, backed by a flexible set of collateral assets, including USDC. R2, Flipcash, and Solflare are among the projects exploring custom stablecoins for their users, with launches expected in the coming months. — link

Cointelegraph reported that Jito Foundation, the nonprofit behind Solana MEV infrastructure project Jito, said it will "return to the U.S." Jito Labs CEO Lucas Bruder cited regulatory shifts such as the passage of the GENIUS Act and Congress advancing crypto market structure legislation as key reasons for moving back to the United States. — link

According to SoSoValue, on December 17 (ET), U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded total net inflows of $457 million. The Fidelity spot Bitcoin ETF FBTC saw the largest single-day net inflow at $391 million. Spot Ethereum ETFs posted total net outflows of $22.43 million, Solana spot ETFs total net inflows of $10.99 million, and XRP spot ETFs $18.99 million. — link

The Block reported that India’s competition watchdog has approved Coinbase Global’s acquisition of a minority stake in DCX Global Limited, the parent company of Indian crypto exchange CoinDCX, though the exact ownership percentage was not disclosed. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal confirmed the regulatory approval on X but did not provide deal details. — link

Coinbase announced at its Dec. 17 System Update event that it will expand the range of tradable assets on its platform by adding stock trading, prediction markets, and perpetual futures. The company also plans to launch stock perpetuals for users outside the U.S., begin integrating Kalshi for event-based trading, and incorporate the Solana DEX aggregator Jupiter into its main app to support onchain token swaps. — link

According to crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett, the U.S. Federal Reserve has decided to withdraw guidance issued in 2023 that had effectively restricted uninsured banks from becoming Federal Reserve members and engaging in crypto-related activities; the guidance had also served as a basis for the Fed’s denial of Custodia Bank’s application for a master account. — link

K33 Research data shows that in 2025 alone, nearly $300 billion worth of previously dormant Bitcoin re-entered circulation. CryptoQuant reports that the past 30 days have seen one of the heaviest distributions by long-term holders in more than five years. Previously, this selling pressure was largely absorbed by demand from spot Bitcoin ETFs and crypto investment firms, but with ETF flows turning negative, derivatives volumes declining, and retail participation weakening, the additional supply is now being released into a more fragile market. — link

According to Crypto in America, Acting Chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Caroline Pham will join crypto payments firm MoonPay as Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, overseeing the company’s global legal and administrative functions and leading its policy and regulatory strategy in Washington. — link

According to CoinGecko data, the privacy coin XMR has risen against the market, reaching a market capitalization of $8 billion and posting gains of over 100% in the past year. It is approaching its May 2021 all-time high market cap of around $8.6 billion. As ZEC has declined recently, XMR has once again overtaken ZEC to become the largest privacy coin by market capitalization. — link