The United States, under President Trump, is moving toward a pro‑crypto framework, with a Senate hearing on the Crypto Market Structure Act expected in January 2026 and California's Digital Asset Act slated for July. A potential Fed chair change on May 15 and the stablecoin GENIUS Act deadline on July 18 could shape compliance and liquidity. BTC is $88,413.97, per CoinMarketCap.

The IRS has introduced Form 1099-DA for U.S. digital asset tax reporting in the 2025 trading year, with filings due in 2026. Brokers must report gross proceeds from crypto sales, while cost basis reporting is optional in 2025 and mandatory in 2026. Industry professionals highlight complexity and urge early preparation and record-keeping.

Bybit listed LITUSDT perpetual contracts on December 30, 2025, offering leverage from 1x to 25x. The exchange says the addition broadens its derivatives lineup and follows earlier LITUSDT pre‑market contracts on Binance Futures on December 23, 2025 at up to 5x. Leveraged trading carries higher risk and potential returns for participants.

On December 30, 2025, Unleash Protocol was hit by an unauthorized contract upgrade that enabled a malicious transaction on Story Protocol and led to a $3.9 million asset loss. The team has suspended operations, launched an investigation and audit, and warned users not to interact with its smart contracts, while Story Protocol remains reportedly unaffected.

Maxine Waters, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, has challenged SEC Chair Paul Atkins over the termination or suspension of major crypto enforcement actions involving firms such as Coinbase, Binance, and Justin Sun. Her letter questions whether recent decisions may have bypassed formal procedures and weakened protections for retail investors, while XRP’s recent 34.74% price decline and sharp volume spike underscore ongoing market volatility.

Donald J. Trump said he may pursue legal steps and potentially remove Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, indicating a successor could be named in January. Crypto markets initially moved higher on the remarks as major tokens rallied before later swings. The comments also renewed debate over how monetary leadership might shape digital asset sentiment.

On December 30, BLIFE merged into Portal and consolidated operations under the Portal brand. Benjamin Charbit was appointed CEO, while Animoca Brands led a new funding round and G-20 joined as a strategic partner. The move targets expanded cross-chain support and Bitcoin interoperability for Portal's Web3 gaming ecosystem.

Japan's ruling coalition has proposed a 2026 tax reform that would lower the maximum cryptocurrency tax rate from 55% to a flat 20% for registered assets. The plan would align the treatment of crypto with stocks and investment trusts, and could cover Bitcoin and Ethereum once amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act are approved. Bitcoin is currently priced at $89,567.12 with a market cap of $1.79 trillion and a 24-hour trading volume of $30.73 billion, reflecting a 2.02% gain.

On December 28, deBridge co-founder Alex Smirnov criticized Flow's blockchain rollback, executed without coordination with key partners, following a $3.9 million exploit. The rollback removed around six hours of activity and Flow halted new transaction validations, while requests for freezes were sent to major exchanges and users were told to resubmit transactions.