Aave’s founder Stani Kulechov confirmed this week that the U.S. SEC has closed its four-year investigation into the protocol without recommending enforcement. Shortly after, a new governance proposal from BGD Labs co-founder Ernesto Boado asked for AAVE token holders to move the Aave brand, domains, social channels, and developer gateways into a DAO-controlled legal entity. If approved, this shift could mark one of DeFi’s most far-reaching decentralization restructurings by redefining who owns and steers the protocol’s public-facing infrastructure.

On December 16, 2025, Solana announced a partnership with Project Eleven to develop and test quantum-resistant digital signatures on a Solana testnet. The initiative includes a full quantum-readiness assessment of wallets, validators, and transaction flows. Solana's founder Anatoly Yakovenko has previously cited a 50% probability of quantum attacks against Bitcoin in the coming years, while current threats remain theoretical.

According to data from Pipe, Solana's network absorbed a distributed denial-of-service attack peaking around 6 terabits per second this week without downtime or notable fee spikes, a performance later confirmed by co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. The event coincides with a more than 35% drop in active validators in 2025 and growing concentration of stake among large infrastructure providers, even as Solana processes roughly $1.6 trillion in annual trading volume and supports about $15 billion in stablecoins.

RedotPay, a stablecoin payments fintech, closed an oversubscribed $107 million Series B. The company reports more than 6 million registered users across over 100 countries and an annualized payment volume above $10 billion as of November 2025, alongside over $150 million in annualized revenue and year‑on‑year transaction growth.

On December 16, 2025, SRx Health Solutions announced plans to acquire EMJ Crypto Technologies, with Eric Jackson slated to become CEO if the deal closes early next year. Jackson is building a multi‑asset, options‑hedged crypto treasury that may hold Bitcoin, Ether and select stocks, while Keystone Capital Partners pledged up to $1 billion for 2.5 billion shares.

During the holiday period, scammers intensify phishing, fake wallet apps, bogus presales and romance schemes to exploit distracted crypto users and the irreversibility of blockchain transfers. They also run impersonation, recovery and holiday-themed token scams, sometimes aided by AI voice cloning and malicious SDKs that steal wallet phrases. Users can reduce risk by relying on official apps and links, protecting keys, using strong security tools and carefully verifying offers, charities and giveaways.

Aave founder Stani Kulechov stated that a four-year SEC investigation into the Aave protocol has concluded without enforcement action, signaling a notable regulatory development for DeFi. Following the news, the AAVE token climbed 2.28% to $187.45 on December 16, 2025, with a market capitalization of $2.87 billion despite a weekly decline.

A YouGov poll for the UK Financial Conduct Authority reported that the share of UK adults holding crypto dropped to 8% in 2025 from 12% in 2024, based on interviews conducted between Aug. 5 and Sept. 2. Despite fewer holders, more respondents reported larger crypto positions, with many owning Bitcoin and Ether, and a notable minority holding Solana. The data was released the same day the FCA opened consultations on new rules for exchanges, staking, lending and DeFi.