The UK government is considering expanding Treasury bill issuance through its Debt Management Office to diversify short-term debt investors and strengthen sterling markets. The move responds to rising demand from new participants, including stablecoin issuers seeking liquid, low-risk assets. A consultation on expanding the ultra-short-dated debt market will begin in January.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded Tether's USDT stablecoin to 'weak' from 'constrained', citing exposure to high-risk assets and limited reserve transparency. The agency warned that Bitcoin holdings—now 5.4% of reserves—combined with other volatile assets could reduce collateral coverage if valuations decline. Tether has not conducted a complete audit since inception and lacks direct redemption channels for token holders, according to S&P.

S&P Global Ratings assigned Tether's USDT stablecoin its weakest stability assessment of 5, citing increased allocation to riskier reserve assets. Bitcoin holdings now represent approximately 5.6% of USDT's circulating supply, exceeding the 3.9% reserve buffer reported in Tether's third-quarter attestation. The agency warned that a significant bitcoin price decline could leave USDT undercollateralized, particularly if combined with losses from other high-risk assets.

The European Central Bank warned on November 26, 2025, that Big Tech companies represent 31.1% of the S&P 500's market capitalization while generating only 20.8% of index earnings, according to its Financial Stability Review. The bank identified this valuation gap as a financial stability risk, noting elevated asset prices and market concentration could trigger sharp corrections if AI adoption disappoints or economic growth weakens. ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos distinguished current conditions from the dot-com bubble, citing established revenues and business models, but acknowledged valuation concerns.

Hyperliquid's newly launched HIP-3 custom markets recorded over $500 million in trading volume within 24 hours, according to the platform's interface. The decentralized exchange introduced synthetic perpetual contracts tracking equity underlyings including xyz, flx, and vnti. The XYZ100 index led with $320 million in volume.

Bitcoin and Ethereum logged combined inflows of $40 billion to centralized exchanges during the recent market pullback, data show. Bitcoin spot ETFs added 1,460 BTC worth $128.7 million in the past 24 hours. Ethereum spot ETFs received 26,620 ETH valued at $78.6 million during the same period.

Coinbase Ventures outlined nine investment focus areas for 2026, including real-world asset perpetuals, unsecured lending protocols, and AI development tools. The announcement comes as third-quarter crypto venture funding reached $4.65 billion, marking a 290% increase from the previous quarter, according to Galaxy Digital.

Latin America's largest crypto exchange, Bitso, will introduce a multi-platform perpetuals aggregator and its own token in 2026. The Mexico-based platform's retail user base expanded by over 12% in 2024 to reach 9 million customers, driven by surging stablecoin adoption across the region.