On 16 December 2025 at 20:30, PayPal applied to U.S. regulators to establish a Utah-based industrial loan company. The bid aims to expand small‑business lending, cut reliance on partner banks, and, if approved, allow the firm to accept FDIC‑insured deposits and manage its own balance sheet.

On 16 December 2025, U.S. lawmakers effectively pushed comprehensive crypto market structure legislation into 2026 as election pressures, fiscal deadlines, and limited floor time take priority. The pending bill seeks to clarify federal oversight of digital assets, including how authority is shared between the SEC and CFTC, yet procedural steps such as hearings and markups remain incomplete. In the meantime, agencies continue to shape crypto regulation through guidance and enforcement, leaving the industry operating under evolving interpretations of existing law.

On 16 December 2025, CoinGecko data indicated that Solana attracted more ecosystem-related interest than any other major blockchain, measured by verified organic website traffic. The analysis, covering early 2024 through mid-December 2025, showed Solana captured over a quarter of all attention, leaving Base, Ethereum, Sui, BNB Chain, Bitcoin, and Cardano trailing behind.

On 16 December 2025, BitMine Immersion Technologies highlighted a strategy built around accumulating $321 million worth of ETH as a long-term strategic asset rather than a short-term trading position. The company aims to secure a meaningful share of Ethereum’s circulating supply and plans to transition part of its holdings into staking, linking its corporate trajectory to Ethereum’s validation and settlement infrastructure.

On 15 December 2025, XRP's price remained confined to a narrow range while institutional interest was described as building away from public order books. The piece argues that ETFs could make this demand visible and influence price discovery. Until transparency rises, supply on exchanges and fragmented payments narratives may keep the chart subdued.

On 15 December 2025, veteran trader Peter Brandt argued that Bitcoin's long-observed parabolic cycle structure may no longer hold as the market matures. He pointed to slower, less sustainable rallies, earlier exhaustion near record highs, and the possibility of a much deeper pullback than many investors expect. In his view, Bitcoin now behaves more like a conventional global asset, with compressed returns and greater uncertainty around halving-driven booms.

On 15 December 2025, Bitcoin's network saw a rapid, measurable drop in hash rate, with rough estimates pointing to nearly one-tenth of computing power going offline. Mining executives described the move as abnormal, and industry insiders attribute it to localized shutdowns in western China. The protocol is expected to rebalance via difficulty adjustments.

On 15 December 2025, Bitcoin extended its retreat and moved toward the $87,000 area, with Binance's 4-hour chart showing sellers still in control after a rejection near recent highs. Key indicators such as RSI and MACD remain in weak territory, while market capitalization is around $1.74 trillion and 24-hour trading volume exceeds $34 billion. Traders are watching whether the $86,000–$87,000 zone can hold as support, as a breakdown could pave the way for a deeper pullback.

Metaplanet will hold an online extraordinary general meeting on December 22, where shareholders will vote on proposals shaping its Bitcoin strategy and capital structure. The stock has been consolidating around ¥430–440, with RSI in the upper‑50s and MACD turning positive as investors wait for clarity.