Real-world asset protocols have grown into DeFi's fifth-largest segment by total value locked, with TVL surpassing $17 billion and Ethereum hosting more than $12 billion of that. Gold-backed tokens such as Tether Gold and Paxos Gold lead the category, while tokenized equities have pushed their market cap beyond $1.2 billion to a new all-time high. RWA tokens have also delivered strong year-to-date gains, supported by standout performers like Keeta Network, Zebec, and Maple Finance.

Users of Perpetual trading platform Lighter report failed withdrawals showing the error "Too many L2 Withdrawals." On-chain explorer data points to a lag between the Prover and Sequencer, with the last committed block #137759880 finalized prior to the December 30, 2025 update. The team has not issued a formal statement, while LIT trades at $2.84.

In the week ending December 29, CoinShares data shows XRP investment products drew $70.2 million of new capital, making the token the most accumulated digital asset since US XRP ETFs launched in mid-October. Over the same period, Bitcoin and Ethereum products recorded outflows of about $443 million and $59.5 million respectively, contributing to cumulative withdrawals of roughly $2.8 billion from Bitcoin and $1.6 billion from Ethereum since those ETF launches. The divergence in flows highlights a rotation away from the largest crypto assets toward select alternatives like XRP amid ongoing market volatility.

On December 30, 2025, Lighter unveiled tokenomics for its Lighter Infrastructure Token (LIT), assigning 50% of supply to ecosystem incentives and 50% to team and investors. The project says insider allocations include a one-year cliff and three years' linear vesting, and confirmed a 25% airdrop tied to two points seasons in 2025.

An on-chain wallet known as "BitcoinOG" or "1011short" has shifted from its previously reported $197 million Bitcoin short on Hyperliquid to building a leveraged long portfolio across Solana, Ethereum and Bitcoin. Hypurrscan data shows the address opened 850 SOL perpetual longs within one hour on Dec. 25 around $123, funded by a net USDC inflow of roughly $291.5 million in December. The position now hinges on how funding costs and cross-asset correlations evolve, with scenarios ranging from a risk-on continuation to a correlation-driven drawdown.

South Korea's Financial Services Commission plans to cap individual voting-share ownership at 15–20% for Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit, with mandatory divestments above the limit. Updated December 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM UTC, the proposal would affect stakes such as Song Chi-hyung's ~25% in Dunamu and Bithumb Holdings' 73%. Industry groups warn of market and property-rights concerns.

Prenetics Global Limited paused its Bitcoin treasury purchases on Dec. 4 and will not add more BTC as it reallocates capital to grow IM8. The firm retains 510 BTC and over $70 million in cash; IM8 has topped $100 million in annualized recurring revenue within 11 months. Prenetics' shares fell 3.32% Tuesday, per Google Finance.

Binance suspended direct fiat withdrawals to Visa and Mastercard for users in Ukraine, effective December 29. The pause relates to maintenance and partner infrastructure updates as Bifinity UAB ends fiat support by December 31. Deposits via cards and Apple Pay/Google Pay remain available, with SWIFT transfers and P2P trading continuing for fund movement.