Stablecoin

On December 19, 2025, the Federal Reserve launched a public consultation on a proposed 'payment account' model offering limited access to its payment services. The accounts would not earn interest or provide credit, and the Fed is considering overnight balance caps of the lesser of $500 million or 10% of assets. The comment period runs 45 days after Federal Register publication.

Ripple's Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, Reece Merrick, has reflected on the five years since the SEC filed its lawsuit against the company on Dec. 22, 2020, saying the experience strengthened the team and his conviction in Ripple's success. He highlighted that 2025 became one of Ripple's most ambitious years, with around $4 billion deployed into the crypto ecosystem, several major acquisitions completed and its RLUSD stablecoin greenlisted by Abu Dhabi's FSRA. Merrick now believes the outlook is brighter than ever for both Ripple and the broader digital asset sector.

Terraform Labs’ bankruptcy administrator has filed a $4 billion lawsuit against Jump Crypto, accusing it of secretly supporting TerraUSD’s $1 peg through confidential agreements. The case unfolds against a stablecoin market with about USD 309 billion in supply and more than USD4 trillion in transaction volume, raising new questions about the role of market makers, regulation, and user protection.

According to an investigation by the Financial Times, Binance let accounts flagged for suspicious activity process transactions even after its November 2023 US plea agreement tied to a $4.3 billion settlement. The newspaper reviewed data for 13 accounts that handled $1.7 billion, with about $144 million occurring post‑settlement; Binance said it enforces strict controls.

A crypto user reportedly lost close to $50 million in USDt in an address poisoning scam after copying a deceptive wallet address from past transactions, marking one of 2025's largest on-chain fraud losses. The victim had earlier sent a small test transfer to the correct address before mistakenly sending 49,999,950 USDt to the spoofed one. In reaction to rising crypto-related hacks and scams, U.S. lawmakers introduced the bipartisan SAFE Crypto Act to form a federal task force focused on curbing digital asset fraud and improving coordination among regulators and law enforcement.

U.S. lawmakers unveiled a discussion draft to exempt small stablecoin payments from capital gains reporting and defer taxation on staking and mining rewards. The plan sets a $200 threshold and allows up to five years of deferral, with safeguards such as price-band limits, exclusion of brokers and dealers, and Treasury oversight. It aims to align everyday digital asset use with established tax rules.

In a draft dated Dec. 4, Hong Kong's Insurance Authority outlined a capital framework permitting insurers limited crypto exposure while imposing a 100% risk charge on unbacked assets. A public consultation is expected between February and April. Regulated stablecoins would face tiered charges linked to fiat backing, with participation likely constrained by high capital demands.

A bipartisan bloc of 18 members of the US House of Representatives has asked the Internal Revenue Service to revise how crypto staking rewards are taxed before 2026. Their letter argues that current rules amount to double taxation, discouraging staking participation and potentially undermining both blockchain security and US leadership in digital assets.

On December 20, 2025, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino outlined plans to hire a lead engineer to develop a self-custodial mobile wallet that integrates the firm's on-device AI stack. The product is designed to support only Bitcoin via Lightning, USDT, USAT, and the gold-backed XAUT token, emphasizing payments and value preservation. Built on Tether's WDK and QVAC platforms, the wallet would give users local AI-assisted features without relying on cloud-based data processing.

According to the Financial Times, Tether-majority-owned Northern Data sold its Bitcoin mining subsidiary Peak Mining for up to $200 million to three companies controlled by Tether executives. The sale, first disclosed without naming buyers in November, occurred shortly before video platform Rumble agreed to acquire Northern Data and is intertwined with a 610 million euro loan and large advertising and GPU deals between Tether and Rumble.