Daily Crypto Briefing – December 16, 2025

Markets faced pressure today as Bitcoin dropped below $86,000 and regulatory developments continued shaping the industry landscape. Here's what happened in crypto over the past 24 hours.

Top Stories

RedotPay Secures $107M Series B for Stablecoin Expansion Hong Kong-based RedotPay raised $107 million in Series B funding to expand its stablecoin payments platform globally. The company processes over $10 billion in annualized volume and generates more than $150 million in annualized revenue, demonstrating strong institutional demand for stablecoin payment infrastructure.

Visa Launches US Stablecoin Settlement on Solana Visa announced its stablecoin settlement pilot program in the United States using Circle's USDC on Solana. Cross River Bank and Lead Bank were early participants in the trial program, marking a significant step toward mainstream stablecoin adoption in traditional payments.

Custodia Bank Escalates Fed Master Account Fight

Custodia Bank has asked a federal appeals court to undergo a very rare, full-court review of its October decision against the crypto bank. The Wyoming-based institution continues its five-year battle for Federal Reserve banking access.

Bitcoin-to-Gold Ratio Drops 50% in 2025

Gold strongly outperformed Bitcoin in 2025, resulting in a 50% decline in the BTC-to-gold ratio. Analysts question whether this trend will reverse in Bitcoin's favor during 2026.

Markets

Crypto Selloff Continues • Bitcoin dropped 4.4% in the past 24 hours to $85,617, while Ethereum slipped 6.5% to $2,915 • Bitcoin's drop to $85,800 has pushed new whales into 2023-level losses, while on-chain data shows short-term holders buying the dips • Aster (ASTER) and Telcoin (TEL) are among the altcoins with the sharpest dips over the last 24 hours • XRP falls below $2 after a 7-year-old wallet triggered a massive $721 million sell-off

ETF Flows Mixed • Spot XRP ETFs surpass $1 billion in cumulative inflows since November launch • Bitcoin and ether ETFs see heavy outflows as Solana and XRP stay green

Regulation

FDIC Proposes Stablecoin Framework • The FDIC proposes new rule for bank-issued payment stablecoins under GENIUS Act, potentially enhancing regulatory clarity in the US financial system • US banks could soon issue stablecoins under FDIC plan to implement GENIUS Act

SEC Enforcement Winds Down • SEC concludes 4-year investigation into Aave Protocol with no enforcement, marking a pivotal moment for DeFi • SEC drops nearly 60% of crypto cases under Trump administration

International Developments • DeFi Technologies' subsidiary Valour gains Brazil approval to list Solana ETP on B3 • Trump open to reviewing pardon for Samourai Bitcoin app developer

Technology & Infrastructure

Network Performance • Solana withstands one of the largest DDoS attacks in internet history with no network disruption • Gauntlet CEO Tarun Chitra breaks down shortcomings of auto-deleveraging (ADL) systems and potential alternatives

Stablecoin Expansion • Ripple expands RLUSD stablecoin to Ethereum layer 2 networks including Optimism, Base, Ink, and Unichain • Singapore's StraitsX to expand XSGD and XUSD stablecoins onto Solana

Corporate Activity

Treasury Accumulation • American Bitcoin enters top 20 BTC treasuries after disclosing 5,098 Bitcoin reserve • Bitcoin whales accumulate 54K BTC worth $4.66B as market trades sideways, the fastest pace since 2012 • BitMine continues to buy the dip, scooping 100M ETH in a week

Investment Activity • Tether leads $8 million investment in Speed to push USDT further into everyday payments • [Cathie Wood's Ark Invest buys the dip on