JPMorgan plans to offer institutional crypto trading; Metaplanet approves dividend preferred stock.

Headline

▌Sources: JPMorgan Chase Considers Offering Cryptocurrency Trading Services to Institutional Clients

According to Bloomberg, as major global banks deepen their involvement in the cryptocurrency asset class, JPMorgan Chase is considering offering cryptocurrency trading services to its institutional clients. A source familiar with the matter revealed that JPMorgan Chase is evaluating what products and services its markets division can offer to expand its business in the cryptocurrency space. The source indicated that these products and services may include spot and derivatives trading.

▌Metaplanet Approves Issuance of Dividend-Paying Preferred Stock to Raise Funds from Institutional Investors

Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet on Monday approved a comprehensive overhaul of its capital structure, allowing it to raise funds from institutional investors through the issuance of dividend-paying preferred stock.

The approved proposals include reclassifying capital reserves, doubling the authorized number of Class A and Class B preferred shares, and modifying the dividend structure to introduce floating and periodic dividends. Class A preferred shares will adopt a monthly floating dividend mechanism, while Class B preferred shares will offer quarterly dividends and be open to international institutional investors. Metaplanet reportedly currently holds approximately 30,823 bitcoins, worth $2.75 billion, making it the largest corporate bitcoin holder in Asia. The company also announced it will further expand its global market presence by trading American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the US over-the-counter market. As of press time, according to CoinGecko data: BTC price is $88,536.60, a 24-hour change of +0.1%; ETH price is $3,006.52, a 24-hour change of +0.4%; BNB price is $857.94, a 24-hour change of +0.2%. SOL price is $125.72, up 0.1% in the last 24 hours; DOGE price is $0.1323, up 1.2% in the last 24 hours; XRP price is $1.90, down 0.8% in the last 24 hours; TRX price is $0.2843, down 1.4% in the last 24 hours. WLFI price is $0.1345, up +0.1% in the last 24 hours; HYPE price is $25.00, up +2.0% in the last 24 hours. A group of 18 bipartisan members of the U.S. House of Representatives is pushing for a review of cryptocurrency staking tax regulations before 2026. In a letter sent Friday to Acting Commissioner Scott Bessent of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), lawmakers led by Republican Representative Mike Carey requested a review and updated guidance on the “burdensome” cryptocurrency staking tax law. Carey stated, “This letter is simply a request for fair tax treatment of digital assets, and ending double taxation on staking rewards is an important step in the right direction.” The letter recommends adjusting the collection of taxes on staking rewards to the time of asset sale to ensure that “stakers pay taxes based on a correct declaration of their actual economic gain.”
▌US Federal Banking Regulators Confirm Banks Can Conduct Cryptocurrency-Related Business

According to market news, US federal banking regulators have stated that banks can legally conduct cryptocurrency buying, selling, and custody business.

▌Ghana Passes Bill Legalizing Cryptocurrency Use

According to Bloomberg, the Ghanaian parliament has approved a bill legalizing cryptocurrencies, aiming to address the issue of the expanding use of cryptocurrencies in the country but lack of regulation. According to Johnson Ashima, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, the newly passed Virtual Asset Service Providers Act will promote the licensing of crypto platforms and the regulation of related activities.

Blockchain Applications

▌Vitalik Suggests Embedded Wallets Should Support Connecting to Existing Wallets as a Recovery Method

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin retweeted "Walletbeat does not currently include embedded wallets, but will in the future," indicating that he also wants to add a feature that allows connecting to other wallets from the outset.

If a user uses a dapp with an embedded wallet and already has an Ethereum wallet, the system should automatically set that Ethereum wallet as the recovery method. Coinbase has reached an agreement to acquire prediction market startup The Clearing Company, with the transaction expected to close in January 2026. This acquisition is part of Coinbase's "all-in-one exchange" strategy, aimed at deepening its presence in the event trading space. The Clearing Company team will join Coinbase to help expand its prediction market product. Founded this year, the startup raised $15 million in seed funding in August, with investors including Coinbase Ventures.

▌Aave Community to Launch ARFC Proposal Voting Tomorrow on "Transferring Brand Asset Control to Token Holders"

The Aave Community will launch the ARFC proposal voting on "Transferring Brand Asset Control to Token Holders" on Snapshot at 10:40 AM today, and the voting will continue until December 26th. The proposal includes clearly defining the ownership, usage rights, and related terms of Aave's brand assets and intellectual property (domain names, social media accounts, naming rights, etc.), and granting the DAO control over them.

▌Banking Startup Erebor Raises $350 Million After FDIC Approval

Erebor, a banking startup co-founded by Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey, has completed a $350 million funding round after receiving approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to establish a national bank, valuing the company at approximately $4.35 billion.

▌British Companies Flock to Invest in Bitcoin, Losing Over £80 Million

At the beginning of this year, driven by soaring Bitcoin prices and surging investor demand for US "Bitcoin treasury management companies" (such as Strategy), many British companies followed suit and implemented Bitcoin investment strategies. During a rally this summer, Strategy's market capitalization once exceeded $127 billion (equivalent to £95 billion). However, according to calculations by The Daily Telegraph, many of the British companies that jumped on the bandwagon completed their purchases precisely when the Bitcoin market was near its peak. Thirteen British listed companies collectively spent approximately £364 million to purchase nearly 4,300 Bitcoins, with an average purchase price of $113,105 (equivalent to £85,076). Last Friday, Bitcoin traded at $87,950, a 22% drop from the aforementioned average purchase price. Combined with the £40 million loss from the sale of assets by cryptocurrency company Satsuma, these companies have accumulated losses of approximately £79.1 million on their Bitcoin investments. Aave Founder: New ARFC Proposal Vote Fully Legal and Compliant with Governance Framework Aave founder Stani.eth stated that tomorrow's ARFC proposal vote on "transferring brand asset control to token holders" is fully legal. Discussions have been ongoing for the past five days, and a timeline for the ARFC proposal has been established. The snapshot also complies with the governance framework requirements. Voting is the best way to resolve issues and the ultimate form of governance. Leading lending protocol Aave is currently embroiled in controversy, with its community recently engaging in heated debates surrounding revenue sharing mechanisms and brand ownership. **Circle Mints 500 Million USDC on the Solana Network** According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Circle has minted 500 million USDC on the Solana network. Since October 11th, Circle has issued a total of $18 billion in USDC on the Solana network. **Important Economic Developments** **The Federal Reserve Paid $186.5 Billion in Interest on Reserves to Banks Last Year** According to market news, the Federal Reserve paid a record $186.5 billion in interest on reserves to banks last year.

▌Federal Reserve Governor Milan: We believe a policy rate cut will eventually happen

Federal Reserve Governor Milan stated that last week's inflation data had some anomalies due to the US government shutdown; he believes the US will not experience a recession in the near future, and without policy adjustments, the US will face an increasing risk of recession. We believe a policy rate cut will eventually happen.

▌Trump may appoint a new Federal Reserve Chairman in the first week of January

According to CNBC: Sources familiar with the matter revealed that US President Trump may appoint a new Federal Reserve Chairman in the first week of January.

▌The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in January is 80.1%

According to CME's "FedWatch": The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in January next year is 19.9%, and the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 80.1%. By March next year, the probability of a cumulative rate cut of 25 basis points is 44.7%, the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 47.1%, and the probability of a cumulative rate cut of 50 basis points is 8.2%.

▌Japanese Finance Minister: Decisive Action Can Be Taken on the Yen

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama: He has received "full authorization" and can take decisive action on the yen. He can act according to the US-Japan joint agreement and is ready to act at any time.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌The Real Impact of Quantitative Easing on Cryptocurrencies

If we are to discuss whether "quantitative easing (QE) is beneficial to cryptocurrencies," we must first acknowledge a disturbing fact: the entire history of cryptocurrencies has been within environments of very limited liquidity, and only a portion of these environments conform to the traditional sense of quantitative easing that followed 2008. The conclusion so far is that since cryptocurrencies became a true market, we have only a handful of relatively "clean" liquidity environments to study—and the most influential one (2020) was also the most unusual. However, this does not mean that the claim about quantitative easing is wrong. Rather, it is probabilistic: loose financial environments tend to favor long-term, high-beta assets, and cryptocurrencies are often the purest manifestation of this phenomenon.