The Securities and Exchange Commission has formally rejected multiple applications for 3x and 5x leveraged exchange-traded funds, citing violations of the 200% Value-at-Risk limit under Rule 18f-4. The regulator notified issuers on December 2, 2025, requesting they revise their strategies to comply with federal leverage restrictions or withdraw their filings. Rule 18f-4 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 caps leveraged ETF exposure at 2x under standard conditions, effectively barring ultra-leveraged products from registration.

The United Kingdom officially recognized cryptocurrencies and digital assets as personal property on December 2, 2025, when King Charles granted royal assent to the Property (Digital Assets, etc.) Bill. This legislative milestone establishes a distinct legal framework for digital holdings, enhancing ownership rights and investor protections across the UK market.

Huione Pay, a payment subsidiary of Huione Group, suspended all withdrawal operations in Cambodia on December 1, 2025. The halt follows liquidity challenges and intensified regulatory scrutiny from U.S. authorities targeting alleged money laundering activities, according to a FinCEN representative. Tether's USDT trades at $1.00 with a market cap of $184.74 billion.

The United Kingdom has enacted legislation formally classifying cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as personal property. The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill received royal assent this week, establishing legal ownership rights for digital asset holders equivalent to those for traditional property.

Ten major European banks have formed Qivalis, a Dutch-based entity, to launch a regulated euro stablecoin in the second half of 2026. The consortium includes BNP Paribas, ING, UniCredit, and seven other lenders. Qivalis is seeking an Electronic Money Institution license from the Dutch central bank to issue a fully backed token under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework.

Kraken has completed its acquisition of Backed Finance AG to accelerate expansion of its xStocks tokenized equities platform. The platform surpassed $10 billion in trading volume within six months of launch. The deal consolidates issuance, trading, and settlement operations under Kraken's infrastructure.

Kraken has entered into an agreement to acquire Backed Finance, the issuer of tokenized assets that powers its xStocks trading service. The acquisition strengthens Kraken's position in real-world asset tokenization as it prepares for a 2026 IPO. The xStocks platform has generated over $5 billion in cumulative trading volume since launch.

Crypto venture capital funding totaled $14.54 billion in November 2025, up 219% from October, with Naver's $10.3 billion all-stock acquisition of Dunamu accounting for most of the increase, data show. Deal volume dropped 28% to 57 transactions. Excluding the Naver-Dunamu transaction, DeFi captured 30.4% of deals and CeFi 12.5%, with Kalshi raising $1 billion and Ripple securing $500 million at a $40 billion valuation.