Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority has issued an in-principle approval to French fintech Vancelian, registered in the UAE as Automata FZE, for management and investment, lending and borrowing, advisory, and crypto broker-dealer licenses. Vancelian manages 100 million Euros, has paid 7 million Euros in interest, and offers products such as a crypto basket, Bitcoin-backed loans with a 10% average fixed annual return, and real estate co-financing projects in Bali and Dubai.

Aave Labs advanced a proposal on control of Aave's brand assets to a Snapshot vote, drawing objections from its author and delegates over process. Voting opens Dec. 23, while founder Stani Kulechov said the decision follows extensive discussion. Critics warn the timing and escalation undermine consensus in the Aave DAO.

On 19 December 2025, the Council of the European Union agreed on a negotiating mandate for the digital euro that requires both online and offline payment options. The framework confirms the European Central Bank as issuer, introduces holding limits and basic free services, and outlines a path toward pilots in 2027 and potential issuance in 2029. The move diverges from earlier European Parliament ideas centered on offline-only use and opens inter‑institutional negotiations on the CBDC’s legal design.

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.

On December 22, Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) listed 29 licensed platforms, naming Indodax, Tokocrypto, Pintu and Upbit. The framework introduces approvals for trading, clearing via PT Bursa Komoditi Nusantara and PT Kliring Komoditi Indonesia, and stricter consumer verification and knowledge tests. Derivatives will require OJK clearance and margin rules.

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.

Uniswap governance has approved the UNIfication proposal after surpassing 40 million votes, paving the way to activate protocol fee switches and launch the upgrade this week. The plan will burn about 100 million UNI from the Foundation’s treasury, reducing circulating supply from 629 million to 529 million and introducing new fee parameters for v2 and v3 pools while aligning Uniswap Labs, the Uniswap Foundation, and on-chain governance.

Kaspersky reported on Thursday that a Windows-targeting infostealer dubbed 'Stealka' is spreading via video game cheats, mods, and pirated software. Distributed through GitHub, SourceForge, and Google Sites, it harvests autofill and extension data from over 100 Chromium- and Gecko-based browsers and threatens 115 extensions and 80 crypto wallets.