Important news from last night and this morning (December 15-16)

Aether Games, a blockchain game studio previously backed by Mysten Labs, has announced its closure.

Aether Games, a blockchain game studio, has announced its official closure. Aether Games stated, "We did everything in our power to maintain Aether's operations. We were fully committed to the card game project, striving to adapt to market changes and adjust our direction, and we made significant efforts to explore a sustainable development path. However, we ultimately failed." Aether Games reflected on several factors that led to the failure: during the token generation event, the dishonesty of numerous KOLs and partners consumed a large amount of liquidity; marketing agencies failed to deliver on their promises, while high ongoing operating costs (including auditing, compliance, and listing fees) continuously drained funds; and recently, they received delisting risk notices from several major exchanges. The project team admitted that at the current stage, they did not see a sustainable business model for crypto games that could support developers in the long term. For security reasons, the project will close its Discord channel and warn users to be wary of fraudulent links and wallet theft attempts related to this event. Previously, in May 2023, AetherGames completed a $4.5 million equity financing round, with Mysten Labs, Polygon, and others participating.

Fourteen of the 25 largest banks in the United States are developing Bitcoin products.

According to River, 14 of the 25 largest banks in the United States are developing Bitcoin products for their clients.

The New York State Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Strategy to $50 million.

According to BitcoinTreasuries.NET, the New York State Retirement Fund has increased its holdings in Bitcoin finance company Strategy (ticker symbol MSTR) to $50 million.

Monad's on-chain transaction fee revenue has been below $5,000 for five consecutive days.

According to Defillama data, Monad's on-chain transaction fee revenue has been below $5,000 for five consecutive days, reaching only $3,824 on December 15th. In contrast, Monad's on-chain transaction fee revenue peaked at $42,300 on November 25th.

A whale/entity transferred $11.67 million worth of ASTER tokens to Binance.

According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, a whale/entity that accumulated 12.43 million ASTER tokens on December 10th deposited all the tokens into Binance 9 hours ago, worth $11.67 million. The offer price was $0.9705, and the deposit price was $0.8688. Selling would result in a loss of $1.367 million. ASTER is currently priced at $0.806, having fallen below CZ's initial purchase price of approximately $0.913.

Nakamoto transferred another 705 BTC to his Kraken loan collateral wallet.

According to Emmett Gallic, Bitcoin treasury company Nakamoto (formerly Kindly MD) has transferred another 705 BTC (worth $60 million) to its Kraken loan collateral wallet, bringing its total collateral assets on Kraken to 3,717 BTC (worth $320 million).

Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, is testing a range of DeFi products.

According to DL News, Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, stated that it is testing a range of DeFi products given its customers' growing interest in trading and holding cryptocurrencies. Anatoly Popov, Deputy Chairman of the Governing Board of Sberbank, told RBC that the bank will "work with regulators to develop digital asset products," adding, "Sberbank is already testing various DeFi products. We firmly believe that traditional banking and DeFi will soon converge." Popov did not mention specific DeFi protocols. He further noted, "We are not limited to private networks. Sberbank is also working on projects involving the use of public blockchains for specific purposes, such as asset tokenization or establishing connections with DeFi platforms." He stated that the bank is interested in operating on "networks with well-developed infrastructure and robust smart contract tools, such as Ethereum," because networks like Ethereum "offer flexible integration options, ensure transparency, and facilitate access to international markets." Popov concluded, "Tokenized assets are being actively tested globally. Russia is now moving in this direction as well."

The unrealized losses on the "1011 Insider Whale's" positions have now exceeded $50 million.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, the "whale that shorted after the flash crash on October 11" is facing a floating loss of more than $50 million, and its total profit has dropped from $119.6 million to $50.47 million.

Japan's Startale and SBI will launch regulated yen stablecoins.

According to Techinasia, Japanese blockchain infrastructure company Startale Group and Japanese financial group SBI Holdings plan to launch a fully regulated, yen-pegged stablecoin by the second quarter of 2026 to support global settlements. The two companies will collaborate on the development of this digital currency under a new agreement. Shinsei Trust & Banking will be responsible for the issuance and redemption management of the stablecoin, while SBI VC Trade, a licensed cryptocurrency exchange, will handle its circulation. This yen-denominated stablecoin will be issued by a trust bank and is intended for global settlements and institutional use. Startale will be responsible for technology development, while SBI will focus on regulatory compliance and promotion.

Huang Licheng has been liquidated 200 times since the market crash on October 11, with total losses exceeding US$22.88 million.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, Huang Licheng (@machibigbrother) has been liquidated 10 more times. Since the market crash on October 11, he has been liquidated 200 times, with a total loss of over $22.88 million. His account now has only $53,178 left.

a16z crypto transferred 276,000 COMP to Coinbase Prime

According to on-chain analyst Ember, two hours ago, crypto venture capital firm a16z crypto transferred 276,000 COMP (US$7.6 million) to Coinbase Prime. a16z was the lead investor in Compound, investing 1 million COMP (10% of the total COMP supply) in March 2020. Currently, a16z's on-chain address primarily holds 64 million UNI (US$325 million) and 19.51 million OP (US$5.71 million), with no COMP remaining.

Nasdaq will formally apply for 5x23 hour trading.

According to a report by Jinshi citing foreign media, Nasdaq plans to file documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to launch 24/7 stock trading services. Nasdaq plans to extend trading hours for stocks and exchange-traded products (ETPs) from the current 16 hours a day, five days a week, to 23 hours a day. Nasdaq's new "5x23" model will be divided into two main trading sessions: ① Daytime session: From 4:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time. This session will continue to include pre-market, regular, and after-hours trading sessions, with the opening (9:30 AM) and closing (4:00 PM) bells for the regular trading session retained. ② Night session: From 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM the following day. Trades executed between 9:00 PM and midnight during this session will be considered for the next calendar day. Under the new plan, the trading week will begin at 9:00 PM on Sunday and end at 8:00 PM on Friday after the daytime session.

The number of active Bitcoin addresses has fallen to its lowest level in a year, raising renewed concerns about the demand for block space.

According to The Block, Bitcoin network activity has fallen to its lowest level in 12 months as the year-end approaches, with the 7-day moving average of active addresses dropping to 660,000. While a seasonal slowdown is expected, several network metrics are already showing weakness. Currently, the number of active addresses is at its lowest level since December 2024, when network activity peaked due to the speculative frenzy surrounding Ordinals and Runes. This weak network activity is also putting downward pressure on miners' economics. Miners' daily revenue has fallen from an average of $50 million in the third quarter to approximately $40 million. Almost all of this revenue comes from block subsidies, rather than transaction fees, highlighting the limited demand for Bitcoin block space. An unusual dynamic has emerged in the composition of Bitcoin transactions. Rune transactions now account for a larger proportion of total network transaction volume but contribute only 5% to 10% of total fee revenue, raising concerns about the demand for block space. When half of Bitcoin's transaction throughput generates negligible fees, it indicates a mismatch between network utilization and value creation.

A new wallet withdrew 3301 ETH from Kraken and used it to purchase 51373 AAVE.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a newly created wallet withdrew 3,301 ETH (worth $9.75 million) from Kraken and used it to purchase 51,373 AAVE at an average price of $189.79.

Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb's space startup Vast is in talks for a $2 billion funding round.

According to Forbes, sources familiar with the matter revealed that Vast, a startup aiming to build the world's first commercial space station, is in talks for a $300 million funding round, valuing the company at $2 billion. The source indicated that Balerion Space Ventures will lead the round, noting that negotiations are ongoing and the figures are subject to change. To date, the company has been primarily self-funded by Jed McCaleb, founder of crypto companies Ripple and Stellar, who has amassed billions of dollars. He has stated his willingness to invest up to $1 billion of his personal wealth. Vast plans to launch its first space station prototype, "Haven-1," in 2026 and begin sending components of its next space station, "Haven-2," in 2028, intended to replace NASA's International Space Station. Previously, in March of this year, Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb shared Vast's multi-billion dollar space station plans.

PayPal launches PYUSD savings vault on Spark platform

According to The Block, PayPal is launching the PYUSD Savings Vault on its decentralized lending platform Spark, providing its stablecoin users with a new way to generate returns on their holdings at an annualized yield (APY) of 4.25%. The PYUSD Savings Vault's yield is pegged to the Sky Savings Rate, which is funded by revenue from the Sky protocol.

Crypto bank Anchorage has acquired Securitize's wealth management division.

According to The Block, Anchorage Digital, the first federally chartered crypto bank in the US, has acquired Securitize For Advisors, the wealth management arm of tokenization company Securitize. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. This move will help Anchorage expand its financial advisory services for registered investment advisors. Anchorage will absorb the Securitize For Advisors team and front-end platform. According to the announcement, Securitize For Advisors grew by over 4500% in the past year, with record highs in new deposits and net assets under management. Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo noted that its advisory division has been "incredibly successful," but this sale will allow Securitize to focus on its "core business."

Trump said he would "consider" pardoning the developers of the Bitcoin app Samourai.

According to Decrypt, on Monday, US President Trump said he was willing to consider pardoning Keonne Rodriguez, the convicted developer of the Samourai wallet, noting that he was already aware of the case.

Circle will acquire the Interop Labs team and intellectual property; Axelar will remain an independent entity.

According to Cointelegraph, stablecoin issuer Circle has signed an agreement to acquire the Interop Labs team and its proprietary technology, bringing core contributors to the Axelar network into its infrastructure business. The deal, expected to close in early 2026, covers Interop Labs' personnel and proprietary intellectual property, while the Axelar network, its foundation, and the AXL token will remain independent and governed by the community.

MetaMask adds native support for Bitcoin, further advancing its multi-chain development process.

According to The Block, the Ethereum wallet MetaMask is continuing its multi-chain expansion and now natively supports Bitcoin. MetaMask users can now directly purchase Bitcoin with fiat currency, conduct on-chain Bitcoin network transfers, and exchange native EVM assets and SOL for Bitcoin. The latest version of MetaMask will be the first to support native Segregated Witness (SegWit) addresses, and plans to add support for Taproot addresses "soon."

US SEC Chairman: Cryptocurrencies may become a "powerful tool for financial surveillance," but methods exist that do not sacrifice privacy.

According to The Block, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that he believes there is a path forward that balances national security concerns with individual privacy protections, but warned that excessive government intervention could tip the scales too far. Speaking at the SEC's Cryptocurrency Task Force's sixth cryptocurrency roundtable on Monday, Atkins cautioned that while blockchain is particularly efficient at linking transactions to senders, if misdirected, cryptocurrencies could "become the most powerful financial surveillance architecture ever." Atkins stated, "Indeed, if the government's instinct is to treat every wallet as a broker, every piece of software as an exchange, every transaction as a reportable event, and every protocol as a convenient monitoring node, then the government will turn this ecosystem into a financial panopticon." However, Atkins indicated that there are ways to balance innovation and privacy. He said, "I firmly believe that we can work together to build a framework that ensures technological progress and financial development do not come at the expense of individual freedom."

BTC fell below $86,000, down 1.30% on the day.

According to OKX market data, BTC has just fallen below $86,000 and is currently trading at $85,911.90 per coin, down 1.30% on the day.

Huang Licheng's long ETH position was liquidated again, with 600 ETH being liquidated, resulting in a loss of $97,000.

According to Hyperbot data, Huang Licheng's ETH long positions have just appeared to have been liquidated, with 600 ETH being sold off, resulting in a loss of $97,000. He currently still holds 1,700 ETH long positions, worth approximately $5.11 million, with a paper loss of $260,000.

Hackers used a JavaScript library to deploy a program to steal funds from encrypted wallets.

According to Finance Feeds, hackers exploited a vulnerability in the React JavaScript library to inject code that steals funds from cryptocurrency wallets into websites, primarily on cryptocurrency platforms. On December 3rd, the React team released a patch for CVE-2025-55182, a vulnerability that allows unauthenticated code to run on remote computers. The React team strongly recommends that all affected modules be upgraded immediately to prevent further exploitation. The Security Alliance (SEAL), a cybersecurity NGO, noted a significant increase in such attacks targeting well-known crypto websites and emphasized that attackers are using this vulnerability to upload malicious "funds stealers." These "funds stealers" trick users into approving fake transactions by mimicking legitimate pop-ups or reward claim information on well-known domains.

CME Group launches XRP and SOL futures contracts based on spot prices.

According to PR Newswire, CME Group today launched spot-priced XRP and SOL futures contracts. These spot-priced XRP and SOL futures contracts will complement existing spot-priced Bitcoin and Ethereum futures contracts and can be traded across markets with the four major U.S. stock index futures—including the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Russell 2000, and Dow Jones Industrial Average. Furthermore, these contracts allow investors to trade futures positions on spot market terms and enjoy the added advantage of longer expiration dates, eliminating the need for periodic position rollovers.

Currently, Strategy's Bitcoin holdings have a floating profit of $9.618 billion, while Bitmine's Ethereum holdings have a floating loss of $3.019 billion.

According to on-chain analyst Ember's monitoring, the largest treasury companies for Bitcoin and Ethereum increased their holdings last week as follows: Bitcoin treasury company Strategy (MSTR) increased its holdings by 10,645 BTC ($980 million) at a price of $92,098. They now hold a total of 671,268 BTC ($59.944 billion), with an average cost of $74,972 and a paper profit of $9.618 billion. Ethereum treasury company Bitmine (BMNR) increased its holdings by 102,259 ETH ($325 million) at a price of approximately $3,182. They now hold a total of 3,967,210 ETH ($12.476 billion), with an average cost of $3,906 and a paper loss of $3.019 billion.

Bittensor has completed its first halving, reducing the daily supply of TAO to 3,600.

Bittensor (TAO) has completed its first halving, with the daily release decreasing from 7,200 TAO to 3,600 TAO, and the block reward reduced to 0.5 TAO per block.

Charles Schwab adds Solana and Micro Solana futures products.

According to Businesswire, Charles Schwab has announced a major upgrade to its trading platform, encompassing the Schwab.com website, the Schwab Mobile app, and the thinkorswim platform, to meet the growing demand from clients driving retail trading. In addition, Schwab's futures trading clients can now trade 17 new futures products, including 1-ounce gold futures (/1OZ), Solana futures (/SOL), and Micro Solana futures (/MSL).

Ondo Finance will launch its tokenized stock and ETF platform on the Solana blockchain in early 2026.

Ondo Finance announced on its X platform that its tokenized stock and ETF platform will launch on the Solana blockchain in early 2026. Ondo stated that this is currently the largest tokenized stock and ETF platform, designed to bring Wall Street liquidity to the internet capital markets.

Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD expands to the L2 network, adopting Wormhole's NTT standard.

According to its official blog, Ripple announced the first expansion of its stablecoin RLUSD to Layer 2 networks. Ripple will collaborate with the cross-chain interoperability protocol Wormhole and the NTT token standard to launch testing on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain. Ripple expects to launch RLUSD on more chains next year after receiving final regulatory approval. Subsequent launches of RLUSD on other chains are subject to testing and approval by the New York Department of Financial Services. It is understood that RLUSD was initially only issued on XRPL and Ethereum.

Aave DAO opposes the protocol's front-end fees no longer flowing into the treasury.

According to CoinDesk, an internal debate within the Aave DAO has raised questions about who controls the protocol interface and who benefits financially from it. Earlier this month, Aave Labs integrated CoWSwap into the app.aave.com interface, replacing the Paraswap route previously used for collateralized swaps. Representatives pointed out that this prevents swap-related fees from flowing into the Aave DAO's treasury. Orbit representative EzR3aL stated that this integration introduced approximately 15 to 25 basis points of front-end fees, which flowed to external recipients rather than the DAO. On-chain data shows that Ethereum associated with the CoWSwap partner fee mechanism is distributed weekly across multiple networks, potentially amounting to tens of millions of dollars annually. At the heart of the debate is the distinction between "protocol and product." In its forum response, Aave Labs stated that the interface is operated, funded, and maintained independently of the protocol governed by the DAO. Under this model, the DAO controls on-chain parameters, interest rates, and protocol-level fees, while Aave Labs retains autonomy over optional application-level features. However, Marc Zeller of ACI points out that the monetization revenue from the aave.com front end should have been used to support the DAO, but the CoWSwap solver relies on external free flash loans to bypass the Aave infrastructure, further reducing the DAO's revenue.

BitMine currently holds over 3.2% of the total ETH token supply, with total assets reaching $13.3 billion.

According to PR Newswire, Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury company BitMine disclosed that it currently holds over 3.2% of the Ethereum token supply. BitMine's total cryptocurrency, cash, and "Moonshots" holdings amount to $13.3 billion, including approximately 3.97 million ETH, $1 billion in uncollateralized cash, and other cryptocurrency assets. As of December 14th, Eastern Time, the company's cryptocurrency holdings included 3,967,210 ETH and 192 BTC. In addition, the company holds $38 million worth of Eightco Holdings shares and a total of $1 billion in cash.

Bitmine increased its holdings by 102,259 ETH last week, worth $321 million.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Bitmine increased its holdings by 102,259 ETH (worth $321 million) last week. Currently, they hold a total of 3,967,210 ETH, with a total value of $12.45 billion.

A major whale has closed out its 35-day long position in BTC, facing a loss of $7.79 million.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, a whale has closed out its 20x leveraged long position in BTC, facing a loss of $7.79 million after holding it for 35 days. The whale has already lost a total of $7.07 million. Simultaneously, the whale opened a 2x leveraged long position in ZEC.

Strategy spent $980.3 million to acquire 10,645 Bitcoins.

Strategy disclosed that it purchased 10,645 bitcoins last week at a price of approximately $92,098 each, for a total of approximately $980.3 million. As of the beginning of 2025, this represents a 24.9% return on Bitcoin. As of December 14, 2025, Strategy will hold 671,268 bitcoins, purchased at approximately $74,972 each, for a total value of approximately $50.33 billion.

Binance Alpha has begun distributing the second round of OKZOO (AIOT) airdrop rewards.

According to the official announcement, the second round of the OKZOO (AIOT) airdrop rewards from Binance Alpha is now open. Users with at least 230 Binance Alpha Points can claim 160 AIOT tokens on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully distributed, the points threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes. Please note that claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha Points. Users must confirm their claim on the Alpha event page within 24 hours, otherwise it will be considered as a forfeiture of the claim.

MANTRA: Token code change and 1:4 token split to take place on January 19th.

MANTRA, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on RWA assets, announced on the X platform that its token upgrade timeline is set. On January 19, 2026, the token code will be changed from OM to MANTRA, and a 1:4 token split will occur. The target block is 11,888,888, and the split ratio is 1 OM → 4 MANTRA. OM holders on the MANTRA chain do not need to take any action.

Bitwise has submitted revised filings for the Hyperliquid ETF, adding information such as fees and stock ticker.

PANews reported on December 15th that Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated on the X platform that Bitwise has just submitted revised documentation for its Hyperliquid ETF, adding Clause 8(a), a fee rate (0.67%), and the ticker symbol (BHYP). This typically indicates that the product is about to be launched.

Crypto fund C1 Fund discloses it has purchased a stake in ConsenSys.

According to Businesswire, crypto fund C1 Fund (NYSE: CFND) announced it has purchased a stake in Ethereum software company ConsenSys, though the specific purchase amount and percentage of ownership were not disclosed. This is the sixth company the fund has publicly announced as part of its portfolio since its IPO on August 7, 2025. Other companies invested in by C1 Fund include Kraken, Ripple, Figment, Chainalysis, and Alchemy.

Aster: Phase 3 airdrops are now available to claim and will close on January 15, 2026.

Aster announced on the X platform that the third phase of the airdrop is now open for collection. The collection period is from 20:00 on December 15, 2025 (UTC+8) to 20:00 on January 15, 2026 (UTC+8).

American Bitcoin recently increased its holdings by 261 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 5044 BTC.

American Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency mining company backed by the Trump family, disclosed that its total Bitcoin reserves have increased to 5,044, an increase of 261 BTC since the data disclosed on December 10.

Payment giant Visa launches stablecoin advisory service

According to Fortune magazine, payments giant Visa announced on Monday the launch of a stablecoin advisory service designed to help fintech companies, banks, and other businesses develop and implement stablecoin strategies. Visa's stablecoin advisory service has dozens of clients, including Navy Federal Credit Union, VyStar Credit Union, and a financial institution called Pathward. The service will help businesses develop stablecoin strategies, technology, and operational plans, and implement stablecoins.

CoinShares: Net inflows into digital asset investment products reached $864 million last week.

According to CoinShares' latest weekly report, digital asset investment products saw a total inflow of $864 million last week. This marks the third consecutive week of moderate inflows, reflecting a growing sense of optimism among investors while maintaining a cautious stance. Despite the recent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, price performance remains sluggish, with mixed market sentiment and uneven fund flows on post-cut trading days. Nevertheless, Bitcoin's performance this year remains relatively weak, with year-to-date inflows of $27.7 billion, compared to $41 billion in 2024. Ethereum saw inflows of $338 million last week, bringing its year-to-date inflows to $13.3 billion, a 148% increase compared to 2024. Solana's year-to-date inflows remain low at $3.5 billion, but are still ten times higher than in 2024. Aave and Chainlink attracted inflows of $5.9 million and $4.1 million respectively last week, while Hyperliquid saw an outflow of $14.1 million.

Binance Alpha will list Magma Finance (MAGMA).

According to official sources, Binance Alpha will list Magma Finance (MAGMA) on December 16th. Eligible users can claim an airdrop using Binance Alpha Points on the Alpha event page after trading opens on Alpha. Further details will be announced separately.

The U.S. SEC has dropped 60% of crypto cases inherited from the Biden era, most of which involve business dealings with the Trump family.

According to the New York Times, when Trump returned to the White House, over 60% of the cryptocurrency cases the SEC was handling received lenient treatment, with the SEC taking action to suspend proceedings, reduce penalties, or withdraw cases altogether. The SEC is no longer actively investigating any companies associated with Trump.

JPMorgan Chase launches tokenized money market fund on Ethereum

According to the Wall Street Journal, JPMorgan Chase is launching the "My OnChain Net Yield Fund" (MONY), a tokenized money market fund issued on the Ethereum blockchain with an initial investment of $100 million.

DBS Bank received another 2,000 ETH from Galaxy Digital 7 hours ago.

According to The Data Nerd, seven hours ago, DBS Bank, Singapore's largest bank, received another 2,000 ETH (approximately US$6.27 million) from Galaxy Digital. Currently, the bank holds a total of 158,770 ETH (approximately US$499 million) and 7,861 BTC (approximately US$706.5 million).