PA Daily | Interactive Brokers now supports stablecoin deposits; Coinbase may partner with Kalshi to launch an internal prediction market

Today’s Top News Highlights:

1. Interactive Brokers now supports stablecoin deposits

2. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) approves licensing applications for Ripple, BitGo, and three other trust banks

3. Firedancer mainnet officially launched and operating stably

4. Fogo cancels $20 million token pre-sale, switches to community airdrop

5. OKX: Found evidence of human manipulation of OM price, submitted evidence to regulators and initiated legal procedures

6. Insider sources: Coinbase plans to partner with Kalshi to launch an internal prediction market, expected to be announced next week

Macro

People’s Bank of China: Promoting RMB internationalization, steadily developing Digital RMB

The Party Committee of the People’s Bank of China held a meeting emphasizing steady advancement in high-level financial openness and safeguarding national financial security. Practicing global governance initiatives, actively participating in and promoting reforms to improve global financial governance. Conducting pragmatic financial diplomacy and multi- and bilateral monetary cooperation. Promoting RMB internationalization. Continuing to build and develop a multi-channel, broadly covered cross-border RMB payment system. Steadily developing Digital RMB.

Interactive Brokers now supports stablecoin deposits

According to Bloomberg, brokerage giant Interactive Brokers now allows certain US users to fund their personal accounts with stablecoins, directly topping up via crypto wallets without linking bank accounts. This feature will be gradually rolled out to more users.

The three major US stock indices all closed lower, Circle down 5.76%, Strategy down 3.74%

According to Cailian News Agency, the three major US stock indices all closed lower, with the Dow down 0.51%, up 1.05% this week; the Nasdaq down 1.69%, down 1.62% this week; the S&P 500 down 1.07%, down 0.63% this week. Popular tech stocks fell across the board, Nvidia down over 3%, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon all down over 1%, Tesla up over 2%. Blockchain concept stocks also declined, with Coinbase down 0.58%; Strategy down 3.74%; Circle down 5.76%.

The OCC approves licensing applications for Ripple, BitGo, and four other trust banks

According to official announcements, the OCC has approved licensing applications for five national trust banks. These approvals are conditional but allow these institutions to operate under federal regulations. The approved entities are all in the digital asset field, including First National Digital Currency Bank, Ripple National Trust Bank, BitGo Bank & Trust, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos Trust Company.

Moody’s proposes a reserve-quality focused stablecoin rating framework

Credit rating agency Moody’s has proposed a new framework for evaluating stablecoins. The framework assesses the creditworthiness of stablecoin debt and assigns ratings. Moody’s framework implies that two stablecoins claiming 1:1 support for USD, even if their backing assets are identical, may receive different ratings due to differing supporting assets.

Moody’s states: “We will address market value considerations by estimating the market value risk of each eligible reserve asset (depending on its type and maturity).” “The analysis will derive an estimated interest rate applicable to each asset’s value. We also suggest considering operational risk, liquidity risk, technical risk, and other factors for the final rating.”

Polish government re-submits the Crypto Asset Market Act without amendments

The Polish government has reintroduced a cryptocurrency bill, previously vetoed by President Karol Nawrocki. The bill, officially titled the Crypto Asset Market Act, aims to align Poland’s regulatory framework with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which sets unified rules for crypto regulation across the EU. The Polish government re-submitted the bill without modifications. Prime Minister Donald Tusk urges passage to address national security issues related to Russia and former Soviet states.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority denies any cooperation with “Hong Kong Cloud Poy Holdings / Cloud Poy Holdings 2.0,” and no stablecoin licenses issued

The HKMA issued a statement denying any cooperation with “Hong Kong Cloud Poy Holdings / Cloud Poy Holdings 2.0,” stating the platform is not regulated by the HKMA. The HKMA has not issued licenses to any stablecoin issuers and advises the public to be cautious of promotional activities related to stablecoins. Public can check the list of regulated entities on the official website.

( Viewpoints

Vanguard executive: Bitcoin is a speculative asset but acknowledges potential real-world applications during inflation or turbulence

John Ameriks, Global Quantitative Equity Chief at Vanguard, states that Bitcoin is purely a speculative asset, similar to collectible toys. Despite criticisms, Ameriks notes that during high inflation or political turmoil, this cryptocurrency may find practical uses beyond market speculation.

Coinbase: Fed shifts from balance sheet reduction to net injection, possibly supporting crypto markets

Coinbase Institutional analyzed on X that the Fed announced a 25 basis point rate cut this week, aligning with expectations. However, the Fed plans to conduct US Treasury Reserve Management Purchases (RMP) over the next 30 days, which is a positive signal. This liquidity injection came earlier than expected, and reserve growth may continue until April 2026.

Coinbase Institutional views the shift from balance sheet reduction to net injection as “mild quantitative easing” or “implicit QE,” which could support crypto markets. Combined with RMP and federal funds futures indicating two rate cuts in the first nine months of 2026 (50 basis points), market hawkishness may be lower than anticipated.

) Project Updates

Firedancer mainnet officially launched and stable

According to Solana’s official Twitter, after three years of development, Firedancer has gone live on the Solana mainnet and has been operating stably with 100 days of validation and 50,000 blocks produced.

Almanak airdrop delayed due to system issues and DDoS attack

Almanak announced that due to operational errors and a DDoS attack during today’s airdrop, claim delays and wallet deployment failures occurred. The claim feature was scheduled to open at 12:15 UTC but was delayed until 12:35; about 1,100 users experienced “PENDING” status during wallet creation. The team has restored the system, cleared bottlenecks, and confirmed user tokens are safe.

According to CoinGecko, due to the airdrop system malfunction, Almanak’s token price plummeted approximately 80% in the past 24 hours, now around $0.034. Previously, DeFi smart agent platform Almanak completed an $8.45 million funding round with participation from Delphi Labs and others.

Tether considers exploring on-chain equity solutions after raising $20 billion

According to Bloomberg, Tether is considering on-chain equity tokenization after advancing a plan to raise up to $20 billion, using buybacks or tokenized shares to improve liquidity. Tether management is concerned that discounted share transfers to existing shareholders could impact valuation. No current plans for shareholder exit in this round. Tether has previously launched Hadron, a platform for on-chain representation of assets like stocks.

Phantom partners with Kalshi to launch on-chain prediction market

Phantom announced via Twitter that it will partner with Kalshi to launch an on-chain prediction market, allowing users to trade binary event contracts within their wallets, covering sports, politics, crypto, and cultural events. The trading resembles token swaps, supports tokens like CASH, provides real-time odds and market updates, and includes chat features. The rollout is expected to be phased for qualified users over the next week.

Binance Wallet responds to ZEROBASE frontend incident and initiates user protection measures

Binance Chinese posted an announcement that, in response to the ZEROBASE frontend attack causing malicious contract authorizations, Binance Wallet has blocked related malicious domains and blacklisted involved contracts. Within 30 minutes, a security alert is automatically pushed to potentially affected users. Users can review and revoke suspicious contract authorizations in the wallet.

OKX: Found human manipulation of OM price, submitted evidence to regulators and initiated legal actions

OKX posted on X that it found conclusive evidence of coordinated accounts using large OM collateral to borrow USDT, artificially inflating OM’s price. OKX’s risk team marked this activity as suspicious, contacted the account holders, and demanded corrective action, which they refused. To manage risk, OKX took control of these related accounts. Soon after, OM’s price plummeted. OKX only liquidated a small amount of OM, but the sharp decline caused substantial losses, fully covered by the OKX Security Fund.

Additional third-party analyses indicate the price drop was mainly triggered by perpetual contract trading outside OKX. The Security Fund operated as designed. All evidence and documentation have been submitted to regulators and law enforcement. Multiple lawsuits and legal proceedings are ongoing.

Coinbase adds Lighter (LIGHTER) to coin listing roadmap

Coinbase announced via Coinbase Markets that it will include Lighter (LIGHTER) in its asset listing roadmap. The listing depends on market making support and sufficient technical infrastructure. Further announcements will follow once conditions are met.

Tether proposes full cash acquisition of Exor’s 65.4% stake in Juventus FC

Tether submitted a binding all-cash offer to Exor to acquire its entire stake in Juventus FC, representing 65.4% of issued shares. Completion depends on Exor’s acceptance, signing final documents, and regulatory approval. Post-transaction, Tether plans to make a public tender offer for the remaining shares at the same price, financed from its own capital, with a long-term commitment to the club. If successful, Tether intends to invest €1 billion to support and develop Juventus. Bloomberg sources indicate that the controlling family, Agnelli, does not plan to sell its stake.

Fogo cancels $20 million token pre-sale, switches to community airdrop

L1 blockchain project Fogo canceled its planned $20 million token pre-sale (2% of total supply), replacing it with a community airdrop, and burned the 2% tokens allocated to core contributors. According to tokenomics, 38.98% of tokens will unlock at network launch on January 13, including immediately tradable airdrop shares, tokens for foundation operations, and phased releases for core contributors. Token distribution includes about one-third for the foundation, 34% for core contributors (locked for four years), 8.77% for institutions, 7% for advisors, and 11.25% for the community.

Insider sources: Coinbase plans to partner with Kalshi to launch internal prediction market, expected next week

According to CNBC, Coinbase is preparing to launch an internal prediction market supported by Kalshi, possibly as early as next week. The partnership is non-exclusive, but once live, Kalshi will be the only operator collaborating with Coinbase on prediction markets.

Previously, Kalshi had partnered with Coinbase, Robinhood, and others to establish a prediction market alliance.

Key Data

Magji ETH long positions liquidated early morning, losing $20.62 million since the 10/11 crash

On-chain analyst Yuren monitored that Magji (Huang Licheng)’s ETH long positions were liquidated during the early morning decline. Since the 10/11 crash, he has lost $20.62 million in principal.

New wallet believed to belong to Bitmine received nearly 15,000 ETH from BitGo, valued at $48.42 million

According to Onchain Lens, a newly created wallet received 14,959 ETH from BitGo, worth $48.42 million. This wallet likely belongs to Bitmine.

Bitcoin spot ETF saw net inflow of $49.16 million yesterday, only BlackRock’s IBIT achieved net inflow

According to SoSoValue data, on December 12 (Eastern Time), Bitcoin spot ETFs had a total net inflow of $49.16 million.

The ETF with the largest single-day net inflow was BlackRock’s IBIT, with $51.12 million. Its total net inflow has reached $62.732 billion.

The ETF with the largest single-day net outflow was Fidelity’s FBTC, with $1.964 million. Its total net inflow has reached $12.175 billion.

As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $118.271 billion, with an ETF net asset ratio (market value relative to total Bitcoin market cap) of 6.57%. Cumulative net inflow has reached $57.904 billion.