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.

XRP traders have been reducing risk in 2025, with leverage and futures open interest falling to year-to-date lows. According to CryptoQuant and CoinGlass, Binance's Estimated Leverage Ratio dropped from about 0.58 in July to near 0.20, while open interest slid from above $10 billion as price moved under $2.00.

J.P. Morgan has introduced a $100 million tokenized money market fund on Ethereum, expanding its activity on public blockchains after arranging a $50 million commercial paper issuance on Solana. The new My OnChain Net Yield Fund (MONY) invests in U.S. Treasuries and fully collateralized repos, with tokenized shares held in investors' blockchain addresses and accessed via Morgan Money.

Bitcoin extended its slide on Monday, trading near $86,000 as the Coinbase Premium Index moved back below zero. The sub-zero reading points to softer U.S. buying interest amid rising volatility, while failed attempts to reclaim $92,000 and derisking in futures add to caution. A retest of the $82K–$84K area remains a risk if sentiment does not improve.

Ripple began testing its U.S.-regulated stablecoin RLUSD on Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain, using Wormhole’s Native Token Transfers to support native multichain issuance. RLUSD operates under an NYDFS Trust Charter, and DefiLlama data shows 79.2% of RLUSD on Ethereum worth over $1 billion, with the remainder on XRPL.

Over the past two months, Cardano’s ADA has trended lower in price even as large holders steadily increase their positions and smaller retail wallets cut exposure. On-chain data since 1 November shows wallets holding 100,000–100 million ADA adding 26,770 ADA, while wallets with less than 100 ADA sold 44,751 ADA, creating a divergence that could precede a longer-term shift once broader market conditions stabilise.

Stablecoin issuer Tether has submitted a binding all-cash proposal to acquire Exor's 65.4% shareholding in Juventus Football Club, with plans for a subsequent tender offer to remaining investors at the same price. The bid is backed by Tether's large reserve portfolio and includes a commitment to invest €1 billion in the club's long-term development, potentially making it the first stablecoin firm to control a major European football institution if regulators approve.

Ripple received conditional approval from the OCC to establish Ripple National Trust Bank, with the decision announced on 12 December. The charter places its stablecoin RLUSD under dual federal–state oversight, alongside OCC supervision and NYDFS obligations, while CoinMarketCap shows RLUSD at a $0.9999 peg and 1.02 billion in circulation.

On Thursday in a Manhattan federal court, Terraform Labs co‑founder Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in U.S. prison after pleading guilty in August to conspiracy tied to the $40 billion TerraUSD/LUNA collapse. The judge exceeded prosecutors' 12‑year request and ordered forfeiture of more than $19 million. LUNA spiked from about $0.08 to above $0.24 before retreating toward $0.17.