U.S. CFTC Acting Chairman: Enforcement Division Restructured, Refocused on Combating Fraud

December 30 – South Korea’s government is drafting the **Digital Assets Basic Law** (the second phase of crypto asset legislation), which is expected to include multiple investor protection measures. These may impose strict liability on digital asset service providers for no-fault losses and establish a bankruptcy risk isolation mechanism for stablecoin issuers. However, significant disagreements over core issues (such as stablecoin issuer rules) mean the government’s proposal is likely delayed until next year. Per reports, the draft under review by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) would require stablecoin issuers to hold reserve assets in low-risk instruments like deposits and **Treasury bonds** (U.S. English for government bonds). They must maintain funds equal to or exceeding 100% of their issuance balance, or place these funds in trust with banks or similar institutions to prevent bankruptcy risk from spreading to investors. Additionally, the draft may allow digital as

Wintermute OTC Trading Director Jake O posted on December 30 that market volatility is likely to stay muted this week. Most institutional trading desks will remain on the sidelines until January 1, waiting to re-engage as the new year begins. Traders will return with a "reset" mindset, focusing on a slate of early 2026 catalysts, including: - Expected announcement of the Federal Reserve Chair nominee - Expected Supreme Court ruling on a tariff-related issue - Expected progress on the Clarity Act revision/review - Supplementary Leverage Ratio (SLR) regulatory updates - Decision on MSCI Cryptocurrency-Related Stock Index inclusion (January 15) - FOMC interest rate meeting (January 28) - U.S. government funding expiration (January 30) All this comes after the end of the tax-loss selling cycle, large-scale options expiry, and a buildup of short positions.

On Dec. 30, per Onchain Lens monitoring, a whale address that previously sold 255 BTC has expanded its short positions—adding 10x BTC shorts, 10x ETH shorts, and 20x SOL shorts. The current position is valued at $169 million, with breakdowns as follows: - 36,281 ETH ($106.5M) - 552.25 BTC ($48.16M) - 114,677.21 SOL ($14.13M)

Dec 30 — Per MLM Monitor, Lighter has transferred 32.05 million USDC to its treasury address, with roughly 100,000 USDC still left in its fee wallet. Of that $32.05 million, roughly $8.6 million has been redeposited into Lighter since Oct 16, of which ~$7.5 million went to the LLP (fees generated will be returned to holders and reflected in LLP earnings). This setup is unusual: it was never publicly disclosed or noted in any prior documentation, and represents roughly 25% of total revenue allocated for this purpose. The remaining ~21.9 million USDC was sent to a Coinbase custody address.

December 30 – With Fed rate cuts effectively easing U.S. recession risks, a key gauge of U.S. bond market volatility is on track for its biggest annual drop since the global financial crisis. As of last Friday, the ICE BofA MOVE Index — which measures expected bond market volatility — had fallen to around 59, marking its lowest level since October 2024. The index has declined steadily from roughly 99 at the end of 2024 and is set to post one of the largest annual drops in its history (data available since 1988), second only to the 2009 plunge. Source: CNFUND

December 30th — Meta has acquired AI app development firm Butterfly Effect for billions of dollars, according to a LatePost report. This is Meta’s third-largest acquisition since its founding, with spending second only to that on WhatsApp and ScaleAI. Prior to the deal, Butterfly Effect was in the middle of a new funding round with a $20 billion valuation. “I almost thought this was a fake offer,” said Liu Yuan, ZhenFund partner and Butterfly Effect angel investor. Negotiations wrapped up in just over 10 days. The founding team initially hesitated but was ultimately swayed by the terms and vision laid out by Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg and several top Meta executives are also loyal users of Butterfly Effect. Post-acquisition, Butterfly Effect will operate independently, with founder Xiao Hong serving as Meta’s Vice President.