Visa Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will let U.S. financial institutions settle payments using Circle's USDC stablecoin on the Solana blockchain, expanding its crypto-focused services. Initial users include Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, with broader U.S. access planned through 2026 and support for seven-day settlement windows to streamline treasury and liquidity management. Visa is also collaborating on the Arc Layer 1 blockchain for future USDC settlement, while Binance CEO Richard Teng highlighted that daily stablecoin transactions have already surpassed Visa's own payment volumes.

Custodia Bank has filed a petition asking all active judges on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a decision that upheld the Federal Reserve’s refusal to grant it a master account. The Wyoming-chartered, crypto-focused bank argues the panel misinterpreted the Monetary Control Act and effectively allows the Fed to override state-approved bank charters.

On December 16, 2025, Grayscale said in its 2026 Digital Asset Outlook that quantum computing is a long‑term challenge and will not threaten Bitcoin or broader crypto markets in 2026. The firm added that adoption, regulation, and capital flows will drive performance, while machines capable of breaking Bitcoin's cryptography are unlikely before 2030.

XRP has dropped under $2 to around $1.87, with its price down roughly 6% in a day and about 17% over a recent institutional inflow streak. A nearly seven-year-old wallet that accumulated XRP near $0.40 realized more than $721.5 million in profit around the $2 level on Dec. 11, amid falling leverage on Binance and a sharp decline in XRP futures buying volume.

XRP is trading near $1.88 after breaking below the $1.93 support level, with a 24-hour drop of almost 6% and a weekly loss above 8%. Trading volume has surged over 87% to more than $3.6 billion, while several analysts warn that technical weakness and heavy whale selling could open the door to a move toward the $1 area. Key levels highlighted include $1.92, $1.75 and the 200-week moving average near $1.07.

Bitcoin moved toward the $85,000 area during Monday’s global session and hovered near $87,000 after a 3.6% daily decline. Altcoins fell harder, with ASTER down about 12%, ENA 9%, SUI 8%, and HYPE 7%. Social chatter spiked, yet classic capitulation signals remain limited, keeping traders watchful rather than fearful.

In the last 24 hours, XRP, RLUSD and the XRP Ledger have seen key developments including the launch of Spot-Quoted XRP futures on CME Group and RLUSD going live on its first layer-2 networks. Ripple executive Reece Merrick described XRP as reaching a "convergence point," where technology, markets and regulation are finally aligning, while XRP spot ETFs have logged 30 straight days of inflows above $1 billion.

Singapore-based StraitsX plans to extend its XSGD and XUSD stablecoins to Solana by early 2026. The move targets automated payments and onchain SGD–USD exchange, with the pair having processed over $18 billion in onchain transactions. StraitsX operates under MAS oversight and is exploring a consumer pilot with Grab.