Publication Date: December 18, 2025
Author: BlockBeats Editorial Team

Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has shown continuous evolution on multiple fronts. The mainstream discussion has focused on major platform-level upgrades and the regulatory expansion of the prediction market, while institutional players continue to advance their strategies in on-chain payments and securities infrastructure. In terms of ecosystem development, Solana has enhanced security and liquidity access, Ethereum L2 has accelerated application deployment, and the Perp DEX race maintains high-intensity competition in new features and governance dynamics.

Part One: Mainstream Topics

1. Coinbase Releases System Update, Introduces Custom Stablecoins

Coinbase held a "System Update" event, focusing on releasing multiple product updates. The most notable announcement was Custom Stablecoins, allowing enterprises to issue branded stablecoins with a 1:1 asset backing structure, custody by Coinbase, cross-chain interoperability, and revenue sharing.

Other updates announced simultaneously include: stock trading functionality; prediction market integration; full DEX integration (supporting millions of assets on Solana); BTC / ETH collateral loans; AI investment advisory tools, and more.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong described this as a key milestone in Coinbase's journey towards becoming a "top-tier global financial app." The community widely sees this as an important step for Coinbase's transformation from a crypto exchange platform to a comprehensive financial infrastructure.

2. Coinbase × Kalshi: Compliance Prediction Market Officially Integrated

Coinbase announced a partnership with the compliant prediction market platform Kalshi, integrating prediction market features directly into the Coinbase product ecosystem, covering political, sports, and some crypto-related events.

The founder of Kalshi reviewed the collaboration with Coinbase, emphasizing that this integration will significantly expand the user base of the prediction market. The community widely views this as a key moment for prediction markets entering the mainstream financial user's field of view.

3. Robinhood CEO: Prediction Market in "Super Cycle" Early Stage

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev stated in a recent interview that the prediction market is in the early stage of a "super cycle." Combined with the progress of Coinbase and Kalshi's collaboration, the prediction market is seen by many investors as a potential significant structural narrative for 2026.

4. Tempo Launches Tempo Transactions, Privy Demonstrates Global P2P Payment Demo

Payment-focused blockchain Tempo has released a new transaction type called Tempo Transactions, featuring: Gas payment in stablecoins; batch and scheduled transactions; fee sponsorship; and other functions.

Based on this feature, the Privy team quickly built a P2P payment demo similar to a "global Venmo," supporting transfers via email or phone number with almost instant settlement. Privy (acquired by Stripe) stated that this use case demonstrates Tempo's usability in real-world payment scenarios, with the community holding a cautiously optimistic view of its efforts to promote on-chain payment adoption.

5. DTCC Partners with Canton Network to Advance Security Tokenization

The world's largest securities clearing organization, DTCC, has announced a collaboration with Digital Asset and the Canton Network to explore the tokenization of securities such as U.S. Treasuries held in custody, aiming to improve settlement efficiency and transparency.

Community opinions are divided: supporters see this as a significant milestone in the mainstreaming of RWAs (real-world assets), while critics point out that Canton, as a permissioned blockchain, still largely retains traditional intermediary structures, limiting its level of decentralization.

6. Arthur Hayes Receives Large Amount of USDC, Triggering On-Chain Speculation

On-chain monitoring platform LookIntoChain shows that Arthur Hayes has received approximately 32.42 million USDC over the past two days from addresses associated with Binance, Galaxy Digital, and other institutions. The community has been speculating on the purpose of these transactions (position building, OTC trades, or liquidity management), making it one of the recent focal points of on-chain whale tracking.

7. The Block's Funds Stuck on Coinbase for a Year, Resolved with Cobie's Intervention

Media outlet The Block had around $45,000 funds stuck on the Coinbase platform for almost a year due to a user mistakenly sending USDT to a USDC address, with multiple unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue. After Cobie joined Coinbase, they intervened and the problem was resolved within a few days.

This incident sparked two types of discussions within the community: on one hand, it once again exposed Coinbase's customer support inefficiencies, while on the other hand, it showcased Cobie's practical influence in the industry.

2. Mainstream Ecosystem Updates

1. Solana

 Post-Quantum Security Upgrade: The Solana Foundation collaborated with Project Eleven to successfully deploy a post-quantum signature system on the testnet, achieving end-to-end quantum-resistant transaction validation.

 This upgrade is seen as a proactive response to the potential security risks of quantum computing, demonstrating initial validation of the relevant solutions in terms of feasibility and scalability, and is an important part of Solana's long-term security roadmap.

 Jito Returns Operations to the U.S.: The Jito team and operational entity announced the relocation of core operations back to the United States.

 Previously, during the "Operation Chokepoint 2.0" phase in the U.S., the crypto industry faced de-banking pressure, forcing the Jito Foundation to move some operations overseas.

 With the gradual clarification of the U.S. digital asset regulatory environment, including the passage of the GENIUS Act, congressional advancement of legislation related to crypto market structure, and the departure of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, Jito has chosen to realign its core operations in the U.S.

 The market broadly interprets this move as a long-term positive signal, reflecting a phased shift in the U.S. crypto regulatory attitude and also showing that some projects are starting to initiate a "return flow" strategy.

 Coinbase Deeply Integrates Jupiter: Coinbase officially integrates with the Jupiter aggregator in the Solana ecosystem, providing users with the best routing quotes, comprehensive token coverage, and a smoother trading experience.

 The market generally believes that this integration will help enhance the early liquidity and accessibility of new assets on Solana, and is also seen as an important part of Coinbase's efforts to strengthen its Solana ecosystem presence and expand towards a "super financial app" format.

2. Ethereum (Focus: World Chain L2)

Worldcoin (World Chain, based on Ethereum's L2 network) has released a series of products and ecosystem updates, with the core narrative revolving around the application of the "real human network" in social, financial, and privacy scenarios.

Social and Identity Verification Partnership: Worldcoin has partnered with Tinder to launch World ID's "Verified Human Badge" in Japan, introducing a privacy-centric age verification mechanism that can prove adult identity without disclosing specific age. The official disclosure states that this solution is planned to expand to more countries by 2026 and will support selective information disclosure based on NFC passports or ID cards.

World Wallet Upgrade: Added a USD virtual account feature supporting zero-fee deposits (e.g., direct deposit of salaries), already launched in the United States and 18 other countries; also added 7 local fiat-backed stablecoins, supporting over 100 asset trades (including bulk assets like gold). The Earn module targets verified users with up to $1,000, offering a maximum annualized return of 16%.

World Card Coming Soon: Worldcoin announced the upcoming release of the World Card (Visa physical card), supporting payment methods like Apple Pay, with a waitlist of over 140,000 users.

App Ecosystem Progress: The total usage of Mini Apps has surpassed 2 billion times, including approximately 200 million human identity verifications and 150 million WLD transactions, covering areas such as public services, financial tools, and prediction markets.

Other Feature Updates: Include the phone number-free end-to-end encrypted communication tool World Chat, QR code-based local payment functionality (with over 1 million POS terminals in Argentina supporting it), and the developer-focused incentive program World Grow.

The official goal is to expand the user base to hundreds of millions by 2026, driving the practical application of a decentralized human verification system in the AI era.

3. Perp DEX

Lighter Update: In a recent JP AMA, founder Vlad clarified that the previously mentioned "Christmas" referred to the entire holiday season rather than December 25, hinting that further announcements related to the TGE will be made in the coming weeks. The market interpreted this as a sign that Lighter's TGE timing might be postponed to 2026. The probability on Polymarket of "coin issuance by the end of the year" rapidly dropped from over 90% to about 60%. Additionally, the team mentioned plans for launching a universal cross-margin mechanism, more spot markets, and hinted at the possibility of introducing a meme coin (depending on community feedback).

Phantom × Hyperliquid User Retention: Phantom has cumulatively generated over $12 million in revenue through Hype builder codes, but recently, there has been a noticeable decline in user retention (W1 retention around 30%, W3 retention around 13%). The market generally attributes this to the overall weak market sentiment. Nevertheless, this partnership is still seen as an important addition to Phantom's revenue, with a total trading volume of approximately $25 billion.

Hyperliquid (HYPE) Governance Proposal: Hyper Foundation has proposed to officially recognize the HYPE in the Assistance Fund (held by a system address with no private key control) as a burnt asset, permanently removing it from circulation and total supply. The related governance vote will conclude on December 24, requiring consensus support from validators and stakers.

Hyperliquid Portfolio Margin: The Portfolio Margin feature is expected to go live this weekend. To incentivize liquidity in the lending pools, Hyperliquid plans to allocate around 1% of HLP deposits (approximately $3.8 million) to BLP, with borrowers expected to receive APY higher than the HLP benchmark rate.

Cantor Fitzgerald Research Report: Cantor Fitzgerald has released an in-depth 62-page research report expressing a positive long-term view on Hyperliquid's development. Their 10-year model assumes an annual revenue of $5 billion, corresponding to a potential market cap of over $200 billion for HYPE (around 50x valuation), and gives a "buy" rating to PURR and HYPD. Some community members view this report as one of the more comprehensive analyses by a Wall Street institution on the Perp DEX space.

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