Ripple’s XRP Credibility Skyrockets As Spot Filing Soars

ZyCrypto

Filings for U.S. spot XRP exchange-traded funds are accelerating as institutions position themselves for 2026.

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EU may consolidate crypto regulations, IMF warns of stablecoin risk: Global Express

Cointelegraph

European tech regulators have fined social media platform X 120 million euros ($140 million) for breaking EU rules pertaining to online content.

The fine follows a two-year investigation under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which reportedly found that X was not doing enough to tackle illegal and harmful material.

Regulators also said that the blue check marks on Elon Musk’s platform were deceiving. They did not follow industry decisions and negatively impacted users’ ability to make informed decisions about the authenticity of an account.

The fine is part of a wider crackdown on Big Tech companies, particularly social media. TikTok reported it had avoided a fine by making concessions.

The actions against X are bound to create tension with the US. Vice President JD Vance said that EU regulators shouldn’t be “attacking” American companies.

The DSA will also apply to crypto platforms, DeFi frontends and NFT marketplaces if they grow to a sufficiently large size. It can influence how these platforms handle ads, user-directed content and market financial instruments.

EU banks launch euro-stablecoin firm as EU considers ESMA crypto oversight

A group of 10 European banks, including institutional heavyweights such as BNP Paribas, is planning to launch a stablecoin backed by the euro by the second half of 2026.

BNP Paribas partnered with Danish Danske Bank, the Netherlands’ ING, Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International and others to create and incorporate the project as Qivalis. The company will be based in Amsterdam.

Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell said that stablecoins provide both convenience and monetary autonomy “in the digital age.” He said it will give “new opportunities for European companies and consumers to interact with on-chain payments and digital asset markets in their own currency.”

The new project was announced days before the European Commission proposed expanding the powers of the EU’s key financial regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

The proposal, released Thursday, would transfer supervision “over significant market infrastructures such as certain trading venues, Central Counterparties (CCPs), CSDs, and all Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs)” to the ESMA.

The move is part of a broader effort to streamline European market regulation. Three countries — France, Italy and Austria — have requested that the ESMA take over crypto regulations. This followed concerns that there was uneven enforcement of Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) standards across member states.

Spot crypto assets to begin trading on futures market, CFTC says

In the United States, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved spot cryptocurrency products to trade on futures markets.

Acting Chair Caroline Pham said that the move brings these products onshore to “safe U.S. markets.” She said the approval followed recommendations from the White House’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets and engagement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Earlier this year, the SEC and CFTC established the “Crypto Sprint” initiative to share recommendations and consult on best practices.

Pham became acting chair at the beginning of the year. She is expected to step down when the Trump administration’s nominee, Michael Selig, is approved by Congress.

South Africa flags crypto risks; new rules in the works

The South African Reserve Bank, the country’s central bank, issued a warning on Nov. 25 about the perceived risks associated with stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. These include a lack of comprehensive regulations.

The bank was concerned that the global and borderless nature of cryptocurrencies would make them ideal for skirting financial regulations.

Herco Steyn, the bank’s lead macroprudential specialist, reportedly said the risk stemmed from “the lack of a complementary and full regulatory framework, which is not possible at the moment.”

In 2023, he wrote, “Regulatory influence over stablecoin issuers – whether domiciled domestically or abroad – may result in spillovers from the crypto asset ecosystem to the traditional financial system, particularly if South African regulatory authorities are unable to impose prudential requirements on stablecoin issuers.”

To address this, the reserve bank is reportedly working on new rules with the National Treasury to monitor cross-border crypto transactions and change exchange control laws so they fall under regulatory scrutiny.

IMF warns stablecoins could upend fragile financial systems

On Thursday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report on stablecoins outlining a number of risks, including:

Volatility in value and runs
Disintermediation of banks
Interconnection with the financial system
Currency substitution.

It said that the “use of foreign currency-denominated stablecoins, especially in cross-border contexts, could lead to currency substitution and potentially undermine monetary sovereignty, particularly in the presence of unhosted wallets.”

The IMF also noted that many major stablecoin issuers don’t provide or offer any redemption rights for holders. “Uncertainty of treatment in case of insolvency of stablecoin issuer may also accelerate runs,” it said.

Runs would also create first-mover advantages when there is a crisis of confidence, which could result in investors selling their holdings at a significant discount.

The IMF did acknowledge possible benefits of stablecoins, including faster transactions compared to bank transfers, particularly in the context of cross-border transactions and remittances. They can also facilitate digital payment in remote areas and reduce counterparty risk when integrated with smart contracts.

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Hotstuff Labs launches Hotstuff, a DeFi native Layer 1 connecting On-Chain Trading with Global Fiat Rails

Chainwire

Singapore, Singapore, December 5th, 2025, Chainwire

Hotstuff Labs today announced the public testnet for Hotstuff L1, a DeFi Layer 1 blockchain powered by DracoBFT, a custom-built consensus protocol. Hotstuff L1 is a purpose-built chain that pairs a highly performant on-chain order book with a programmable finance routing layer where validators act as last-mile gateways to trading, payments, and fiat rails.

Unlike general-purpose chains, Hotstuff L1 is designed as an Uber-style routing layer where validators deliver real-world financial access on demand.

Hotstuff Labs is backed by top-tier investors, including Delphi Digital, Dialectic, Stake Capital, Tykhe Ventures, and the founders of leading DeFi protocols such as 1inch, Safe, Biconomy, Socket, and more.

Julien Bouteloup, Founder of Stake Capital Group, said, “Hotstuff Labs is building a performant chain that links trading, payments, and real-world settlement into one coherent layer. The vision is to enable validators to become active financial access points. That aligns perfectly with how we see the future of infrastructure: decentralised, compliant, and directly plugged into the global economy.”

Validators as Financial Access Points

Beyond trading, Hotstuff L1 is architected so validators can opt in as permissioned financial service providers. On Hotstuff, validators aren’t just for consensus, they act as global financial access points for both the core trading engine and end users.

For the core trading engine, stablecoin rails enable access to offchain liquidity.
For end users, validators unlock last-mile connectivity for fiatcrypto on/off-ramps, payments, and FX use cases.

Deep integrations with leading payment platforms, on/off-ramps, banking partners, and card programs baked into the chain enable validators to earn by:

Powering fiat stablecoin on/off-ramps
Enabling regional payment and remittance rails
Issuing or supporting cards and local accounts
Serving as last-mile connectivity into different currencies and regions

The chain matches users to specific validators based on stake, performance history, and quality-of-service much like a routing layer combined with lightweight zero-knowledge proofs for trustless verification of both on-chain and off-chain actions.

“Most chains validate blocks. Hotstuff validates and delivers trustless access to money. It’s the Uber for financial validators, routing every flow to the right provider,” said Vyom Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO of Hotstuff Labs. “We’re building a Layer 1 that can connect a trader in Asia, a remittance corridor in LATAM, and a card issuer in Europe on the same settlement fabric”.

Hotstuff Public Testnet: Now Open

The Hotstuff L1 public testnet is live and open to:

Traders & Quants – can test early perp and spot trading, multi-venue vaults, and market infrastructure built directly on the core L1.
Builders, Fintechs & Stablecoin Infrastructure Providers – can partner with Hotstuff Labs to enable new trading primitives, payments, FX, and settlement use cases.
Validators & Node Operators – can run DracoBFT nodes, benchmark performance, and experiment with financial service modules.

Get Started

Website: https://hotstuff.trade
X (Twitter): https://x.com/tradehotstuff
DracoBFT Whitepaper: https://hotstuff.trade/DracoBFT.pdf
Community & Integrations: https://discord.gg/tradehotstuff

About Hotstuff Labs

Hotstuff Labs is building Hotstuff L1, a purpose-built DeFi Layer 1 for programmable finance, powered by the DracoBFT consensus engine and a modular execution fabric. With deep experience across finance, consensus, trading, cryptoeconomics, and protocol design, the team is creating a global routing layer that enables performant on-chain trading and connects payments, remittances, and fiat rails on a single, coherent chain.

For press & partnerships: https://x.com/hotstuff_labs

Contact

Hotstuff Labs

press@hotstufflabs.com

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Eric Trump Declares Bitcoin a More Valuable Asset than Gold

ZyCrypto

Eric Trump, son of U.S. President Donald Trump, recently described Bitcoin as “digital gold” and argued that it surpasses the traditional precious metal in value.

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Ripple News: Franklin Templeton Says XRP Is Entering Its ‘Institutional Breakout Phase’

Coinpedia

Newly launched XRP exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are drawing stronger-than-expected demand from both institutional and retail investors, according to several fund managers who entered the market in recent weeks. The early performance has led some on Wall Street to reassess XRP’s position in the broader digital-asset landscape.

Sandy Kaul, Head of Digital Asset & Industry Advisory Services at Franklin Templeton, said the shift is part of a larger trend in which professional money managers are exploring alternatives beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. “I think we’re moving in that direction,” Kaul said, saying that the data coming in from ETF issuers is “very encouraging.”

A Stablecoin Advantage: RLUSD Changes the Equation

On Paul Barron Podcast, Kaul said XRP’s growing appeal isn’t just about ETF inflows. A major factor, she explained, is the chain’s unique positioning in the stablecoin market. “There’s a very interesting story playing out around stablecoins,” she said. “XRP is one of the only chains that also has its own stablecoin. That adds a new element to what they might be able to build around the chain.”

She pointed out that as more people become comfortable with Web3 models, the number of automated and computer-driven transactions is expected to surge. Networks that can support fast, low-cost, high-volume transfers, paired with their own stablecoin, are well-positioned to capture that activity. “This starts to become a compelling business case,” Kaul added.

Ripple Expands Globally Despite U.S. Legal Hurdles

Kaul said that Ripple, the company closely associated with XRP, continued to expand aggressively outside the United States even during the lengthy court battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While regulatory uncertainty slowed progress domestically, activity in Asia and other regions accelerated.

“We’ve been engaged with them in Asia for some time,” she said. “Now we’re seeing that spread to more regions of the world.”

Institutional Confidence Builds

As ETF interest grows and Ripple’s global footprint widens, Kaul believes XRP is gradually moving toward the level of institutional legitimacy already established by Bitcoin and Ether. “We’re seeing the early signs,” she said, adding that Franklin Templeton expects to deepen its partnership with Ripple as adoption broadens.

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IOTA Makes Major Foray Into US

U.Today

IOTA is celebrating its 10th anniversary by expanding its presence in the U.S. through a strategic partnership with BitGo, which is a famed custodian.

BitGo is known for providing regulated and insured custody services to institutions, exchanges, and enterprises. It offers storage and management for over 1,550 digital tokens.

This partnership makes IOTA more accessible to institutional investors who operate under strict regulatory and tax constraints. It provides the infrastructure needed for exchanges and market makers to offer IOTA in a secure, regulated environment.

BitGo’s services extend beyond custody to include trading, lending, borrowing, settlement, and programmable money solutions.

Uphold listing

Earlier this week, IOTA also became available on Uphold, a digital trading platform, for U.S. customers.

American traders will be able to buy, sell, and use IOTA.

IOTA will be able to booth both institutional and retail participation in the U.S.

Struggling project

IOTA's technical ambitions have not translated into strong developer or user adoption. The rollout of Rebased, which introduced such features as smart contracts and staking, was supposed to attract decentralized‑app (dApp) developers and increase ecosystem activity.

However, by mid‑2025, only a very small number of decentralized applications (dApps) had been deployed on IOTA, and the total value locked (TVL) in those has remained relatively low.

Low usage and developer inactivity limit the network’s utility.

It remains to be seen whether the OG altcoin will be able to revive its mojo.

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Pi Price Under Pressure—Is the $0.20 Support About to Fail?

Coinpedia

The Pi price action is flashing early warning signs as the token slips beneath a key trading range, threatening to deepen the correction that began after multiple rejections near $0.29. While the market remains in a consolidation phase, the structure is weakening, and Pi now sits at a make-or-break point that could define its December trend.

Pi Faces a Critical Retest of the Rising Trendline

Pi is currently hovering directly above an ascending trendline that has supported the market since early October. But this support is no longer firm. Price has already slipped below the 50-day moving average, turning it into active resistance, and sellers are gradually overwhelming the structure with lower highs.

At the same time, the RSI — which had been forming higher lows—has now broken down from its own ascending support. This divergence between price stability and weakening momentum is typically an early indicator of trend exhaustion. Combined with declining volume, the market is showing signs of compression that often precedes a decisive move.

If Pi fails to hold its rising trendline at $0.223–$0.225, the breakdown could accelerate rapidly as liquidity below the level is thin. A slide toward $0.20 becomes the likely next step, and a deeper extension to $0.18 cannot be ruled out.

Loss of the Mid-Range Could Extend the Correction

The mid-range zone between $0.25 and $0.27 has been rejected three times in two months, confirming it as a strong supply region. Each rejection has produced a lower high, indicating that buyers are unable to regain momentum or reclaim lost market structure.

Now that Pi has lost its near-term trading range, the market is at risk of slipping into a broader descending structure. If the price closes firmly below $0.22, it would mark the first clean break of the multi-month uptrend—a shift that could turn the current pullback into a deeper correction phase.

However, bulls still have one final argument in their favor: the broader uptrend from the October lows remains intact as long as $0.20 holds. A rebound from the trendline, paired with increasing volume, could reset momentum and give Pi another attempt at $0.27.

Conclusion: December Hinges on $0.22 — Break or Bounce?

Pi price is approaching a decisive point. A sustained break below $0.22 would open the doors to a steeper correction toward $0.20–$0.18, while holding this zone could allow the price to rebound toward $0.25 and potentially retest $0.27.

Price targets:

Bearish: $0.20 → $0.18
Bullish: $0.25 → $0.27

At this stage, the chart is leaning bearish—but not fully broken yet. The next two daily closes will determine whether Pi stabilizes… or slips into a deeper downtrend.

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