BNB Chain Records 2.4 Million Daily Users: CZ Reveals

With just 18 days to the close of 2025, Coinbase Institutional sheds light on market macro dynamics that might shape 2026.

In a tweet, Coinbase Institutional indicated that the market's liquidity boost seems to be arriving sooner than expected, with reserve growth likely continuing until April 2026.

This week, the Fed slashed its borrowing rate by a quarter-percentage point on Wednesday, taking it to a range between 3.5%-3.75%. This, according to Coinbase, was expected, with the central bank's plan to make reserve management purchases (RMP) of U.S. T-Bills over the next 30 days being constructive news.

Coinbase highlights a liquidity boost coming sooner, with reserve growth expected to continue till April 2026. The Fed's transition from balance sheet runoff to net injection is seen as "light quantitative easing" or "stealth QE," which, according to Coinbase, may support crypto markets.

Coinbase predicts a less hawkish environment than expected, given the reserve management purchases (RMP) of U.S. T-Bills coupled with Fed funds futures indicating two cuts (50bps) in the first nine months of 2026, which is beneficial for cryptocurrencies.

Everything lining up for massive 2026

In a recent tweet, Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley predicted that the current developments in the market are lining up for a massive 2026, adding, "It's stunning."

In light of this, the Bitwise CEO believes that the market has changed and matured, with the four-year cycle dead.

Horsley pointed out something that might come as a surprise, saying, "We will look back on 2025 and realize that it's been a bear market since February, masked by the relentless bid from DATs and Bitcoin Treasury Companies."

Markets in mildly bearish phase

The crypto market remains in a weakened position after enduring a weeks-long sell-off that began in early October with a major liquidation event, which wiped out about $19 billion in leveraged bets.

Bitcoin trades near the lower boundary of its recent trading range, with any increase in the price being met by selling from investors who bought the largest cryptocurrency near the all-time high reached in early October.

Crypto analytics firm Glassnode said various metrics point to a "mild bearish phase," defined by modest capital inflows outweighed by steady selling pressure from larger holders.

Solana’s network took a notable step this week as Firedancer, a validator client developed by Jump Crypto, began running on the mainnet, and markets reacted quickly.

According to Solana’s announcement, the client moved out of a controlled testing phase and is now active for real-world validation.

Traders pushed SOL up about 5%, with the token trading close to $140 during the initial move.

Firedancer Goes Live On Mainnet

During more than 100 days of controlled tests, a small set of validators produced more than 50,000 blocks without downtime, according to reports. Built in C and C++, Firedancer was made to handle heavy workloads and to lower the chance of network interruptions.

Test environments reportedly showed the client processing over 1 million transactions per second, a figure that far exceeds current mainnet throughput.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, came under sharp criticism after the Reserve Bank of India’s Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said the digital asset has no real value and is driven only by speculation. 

Despite raising such concerns from the Deputy Governor, crypto adoption in India continues to grow rapidly in spite of strict taxes and regulations.

Bitcoin Doesn’t Hold Real Value

Speaking at the Mint Annual BFSI Conclave 2025, RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar said Bitcoin should not be seen as money or a financial asset. He explained that while the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin is innovative, Bitcoin itself was only created to showcase that technology, not to hold real value.

Sankar noted that blockchain proved it is possible to transfer digital tokens between unknown parties without needing a trusted middleman. This breakthrough opened the door to many useful applications across finance and other sectors. 

However, he stressed that Bitcoin was never meant to represent value in the same way money does.

Bitcoin Compared to Tulip Mania

Further explaining his point, Sankar compared Bitcoin’s price movement to the famous tulip mania of the 17th century. He said Bitcoin’s price exists only because people are willing to pay for it, not because it has any underlying worth.

He added that Bitcoin is not backed by any issuer, promise to pay, or cash flow. Because of this, he believes it does not qualify as real money. He also argues that cryptocurrencies are not true financial assets since they do not earn income or represent ownership in a business.

Meanwhile, he warned that crypto is highly volatile, which is clear as Bitcoin is nearly 30% below its peak, while many other cryptocurrencies are down 40% to 70%.

India’s Growing Crypto User Base Despite Warnings

Despite these strong warnings from the central bank, India’s crypto market continues to expand. The country now has over 100 million crypto users, making it one of the largest crypto markets globally.

However, the government has maintained a cautious approach. In 2022, India introduced a 30% tax on crypto gains along with a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on every trade. 

These measures were designed to discourage excessive speculation while allowing authorities to monitor activity in the sector.

A group of major crypto and DeFi organizations has pushed back strongly against Citadel Securities after the firm urged the US SEC to tighten oversight on decentralized finance, especially around tokenized securities. The response came in the form of a joint letter sent to the SEC by the DeFi Education Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, The Digital Chamber, the Uniswap Foundation, and others. They argue that Citadel’s view misunderstands how DeFi actually works and could lead to rules that are difficult to apply in practice.

What Sparked the Dispute

The disagreement started after Citadel asked the SEC to clearly identify and regulate all intermediaries involved in trading tokenized US equities. Citadel claimed that many DeFi protocols act like traditional exchanges or brokers and should follow the same registration rules. According to Citadel, failing to do so could weaken investor protections and create unfair differences between traditional finance firms and on-chain platforms.

Why Crypto Groups Disagree

Crypto advocates say Citadel’s argument stretches existing securities laws too far. In their letter, they said that labeling software tools or blockchain infrastructure as intermediaries is misleading. They stressed that most DeFi platforms do not control user funds and do not act as middlemen. Instead, users keep control of their own assets, and transactions happen directly on-chain. Because of this, applying traditional registration rules could end up targeting developers and builders who never touch customer money.

SEC Tries to Balance Rules and Innovation

Moreover, the debate comes as the SEC continues to talk about supporting innovation while enforcing existing laws. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has said the agency wants to help new technologies fit within current rules rather than block progress. Tokenization, which puts assets like stocks and bonds on blockchains, has gained attention as a way to modernize markets, but it also raises new regulatory questions that are still being worked through.

Community Disagree 

Crypto analyst Walter Peppenberg argues that Citadel’s recent push for stricter SEC rules on DeFi is not about protecting investors but about protecting its own business. He says Citadel, which makes billions from traditional market-making, feels threatened by DeFi because it removes middlemen and lets users trade directly. According to him, the DeFi coalition rightly pushed back, calling Citadel’s claims misleading. Analyst adds that the timing looks desperate, especially as the current U.S. political and regulatory climate is becoming more open to crypto and DeFi developers, exposing how nervous legacy finance is about losing control.

Citadel Responds and Stands Firm

However, Citadel has pushed back on the criticism, saying it supports tokenization and digital finance but does not want investor protections weakened. Company representatives said that innovation does not require lowering standards that have long supported US markets. They also warned that giving broad exemptions to DeFi could harm investors if risks are not properly addressed.

FAQs

Citadel says some DeFi platforms act like exchanges or brokers and should follow the same rules to protect investors and ensure fair markets.

Tokenized securities are real-world assets like stocks issued on blockchains, aiming to make trading faster, cheaper, and more transparent.

The SEC says it wants to balance investor protection with innovation, exploring how new technologies can work within existing laws.

The standoff between OKX and Mantra just took a sharper turn.

Today, OKX broke its silence with a public statement accusing the Mantra team of spreading a “misleading narrative” around OM and confirmed that law enforcement is now involved.

What started as a disagreement over a token migration timeline is quickly turning into something much bigger.

OKX Alleges Collusion Behind OM’s Price Surge and Crash

In its statement, OKX said it uncovered evidence that “multiple connected and colluding accounts used large quantities of OM as collateral to borrow significant amounts of USDT, artificially pushing OM’s price up.”

The exchange said its risk team flagged the activity early, contacted the account holders, and asked them to correct the issue. “They refused to cooperate,” OKX said.

To limit exposure, OKX took control of the related accounts. Soon after, OM’s price collapsed.

OKX stressed that it liquidated only a very small portion of OM and that losses from the crash were fully absorbed by the OKX Security Fund. The exchange also pointed to third-party analysis suggesting the sharp drop was largely driven by perpetual trading activity that happened outside OKX.

“There has been no explanation of where those unusually large quantities of OM originated,” OKX added, raising questions about supply concentration.

The OM Migration Dispute

The latest response follows repeated warnings from Mantra CEO JP Mullin, who urged OM holders to withdraw tokens from OKX.

Mullin accused the exchange of publishing incorrect and misleading migration dates and said a December 2025 migration is not possible. According to him, ERC-20 OM cannot be migrated before it is fully deprecated on January 15, 2026, making OKX’s proposed timeline unworkable.

He also claimed the exchange reversed the order outlined in governance proposals and said the lack of coordination has caused confusion for holders.

OKX’s December 10 Letter

In a December 10 letter to the Mantra team, OKX pushed back against public comments from CEO JP Mullin and warned that those statements could cause serious harm to the exchange and its users. OKX said it supported the OM migration and asked Mantra to clarify Proposal 26.

The exchange also rejected Mullin’s claim that legal risks prevented cooperation and warned that blocking migration could unfairly penalize OKX users.

Mullin Went Public Again

Mullin published his response on X.

He said ERC-20 OM will be deprecated on January 15, 2026, and that the chain upgrade and 1:4 split would happen afterward. He confirmed the redenomination would occur at the protocol level and require no user action.

Mullin also renewed his request for OKX to disclose how many OM tokens it holds for users and on its own balance sheet, saying this was necessary for compliance. He defended making the dispute public, arguing transparency was in the community’s best interest.

Legal Pressure Builds

OKX confirmed it has submitted full evidence and documentation to regulators and multiple litigations and legal proceedings are currently underway.

For OM holders, clarity remains elusive. With migration details disputed and legal pressure mounting, the dispute highlights how quickly trust can fracture when exchanges, token issuers, and timelines fall out of sync.

Crypto companies are slowly moving into traditional industries, and Tether has now taken one of the biggest steps yet. On December 13th, Tether announced its plan to acquire Italian football club Juventus, with a proposed $1 billion investment if the acquisition is completed. Following the announcement, Juventus’ fan token, JUV, surged by 30%. Juventus is one of Europe’s most well-known football teams, and this deal, if completed, would mark a rare case of a crypto firm taking control of a major sports club.

Targeting Control of Juventus

Tether confirmed that it has made a binding offer to Exor, the holding company of the Agnelli family, which currently owns 65.4% of Juventus. The Agnelli family has been linked to the club for over a century, so this decision carries major historical weight. Accepting the offer would mean ending more than 100 years of family control over the club.

Along with buying Exor’s stake, Tether’s proposal includes a public offer to purchase remaining shares at the same price, once regulatory approvals are cleared. The goal is to secure majority control while keeping the process open and transparent for other shareholders.

Strong Market Reaction

The market reacted quickly after news of the bid became public. Juventus shares jumped, lifting the club’s market value close to €1 billion. At current prices, Exor’s existing stake is valued at roughly €540 million. This sharp move shows renewed investor interest and optimism around the possibility of new ownership and fresh capital entering the club.

More Investment Planned

Tether has said that its plans go beyond simply buying the club. If the deal is approved, the company is ready to inject up to €1 billion more into Juventus over time. This funding would be aimed at long-term growth, including infrastructure upgrades, team development, and expanding the club’s global presence.

The bid comes despite ongoing discussions in the crypto space about Tether’s finances. However, research firm CoinShares has previously stated that Tether is not financially weak, helping ease concerns about its ability to support such a large investment.

Why Juventus Matters to Tether

According to Tether, Juventus represents a strong global brand with lasting commercial and sporting value. CEO Paolo Ardoino said the offer reflects Tether’s focus on serious, long-term investments as it expands beyond stablecoins into real-world businesses.

This move highlights a broader trend where crypto companies are no longer limiting themselves to digital markets. If successful, Tether’s bid would place a major crypto firm at the center of global football, showing how closely digital finance and traditional industries are beginning to connect.

FAQs

Tether has made a binding offer to acquire Juventus, aiming for majority control pending regulatory approval. The deal is feasible but not yet finalized.

Yes, Tether plans to inject up to €1 billion into Juventus for team development, infrastructure upgrades, and global expansion.

Juventus shares jumped sharply, reflecting investor optimism about new ownership and the club’s future growth potential.

Yes, the deal depends on regulatory approvals, as large crypto-financed acquisitions are closely monitored.

Crypto firms see clubs as strong global brands with long-term value, bridging digital assets with real-world business opportunities.