24-Hour Hot Cryptocurrencies and News | Do Kwon Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison by US Judge; 124 Crypto ETFs Currently Registered in the US Market (December 12)

1. Popular cryptocurrencies on CEXs

Top 10 CEX trading volumes and their 24-hour price changes:

• BTC: +0.75%
• ETH: -1.99%
• SOL: +1.03%
• XRP: -0.29%
• BNB: -0.24%
• DOGE: -1.47%
• ADA: -5.93%
• SUI: +1.11%
• ZEC: +12.97%
• LINK: +0.36%

24-hour gainers list (data source: OKX):

• PSTAKE: +24.74%
• ZEC: +13.94%
• BARD: +12.51%
• VRA: +12.62%
• DOOD: +10.38%
• BAT: +9.71%
• BONK: +7.44%
• MERL: +5.99%
• ZORA: +4.50%
• AAVE: +4.78%

24-hour cryptocurrency stock gainers list (data source: msx.com ):

• GEMI: 32.22%
• DXYZ: 23.17%
• FLY: 11.78%
• EOSE: 11.09%
• RKLB: 9.18%
• TGL: 7.32%
• ONDS: 7.27%
• FLNC: 7.18%
• ETHD: 6.79%
• BE: 6.6%

2. Top 5 most popular on-chain memes (data source: GMGN ):

• 1649ac
• allin
• POM
• trillions
• 5

Headlines

Do Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a U.S. judge.

The Southern District of New York sentenced Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to 15 years in prison, a sentence exceeding the prosecution's earlier demands. Prosecutors argued that given Kwon's past misconduct and the scale of his fraud, he should have received a 12-year sentence; Kwon's lawyers, however, argued for a mere 5-year sentence.

U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer stated that Do Kwon "chose to lie" and "made the wrong choice." In March 2023, Do Kwon was criminally charged with conspiracy to commit fraud, merchandise fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and conspiracy to manipulate the market and launder money. In August of this year, Do Kwon subsequently pleaded guilty to the wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud charges. Do Kwon may face further legal challenges in South Korea; he must serve at least half of his sentence before he can apply for transfer to South Korea, and the 17 months he served in Montenegro Prison will be counted towards his sentence.

Bloomberg analysts: 124 crypto ETFs are currently registering in the US market.

A chart published by Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, shows that as of the end of 2025, there were 124 cryptocurrency-related ETF registration applications in the US market. These included Bitcoin-related products, which accounted for the largest share with 21 applications (18 of which were based on Derivatives Structures under Act of 1940). This was followed by basket-type products (15 applications), and mainstream tokens such as XRP (10 applications), Solana (9 applications), and Ethereum (7 applications). Currently, 42 applications are for spot trading under Act of 1933, with the remainder being derivatives or structured funds.

Industry News

a16z Crypto Annual Report: Decentralized Payment Systems May Be Widely Used by 2026

a16z Crypto released its annual report, covering multiple areas including stablecoins, tokenization, payments and finance, privacy, security, AI, and agents. a16z disclosed data showing that stablecoin trading volume reached $46 trillion in 2024, exceeding PayPal's trading volume by 20 times and approaching three times Visa's. The report also mentioned the advancement of traditional asset tokenization, especially the integration of assets such as US stocks, commodities, and indices onto the blockchain through cryptography. Furthermore, a16z projected the convergence of AI and cryptography, predicting widespread adoption of decentralized payment systems by 2026.

JPMorgan Chase issues and settles short-term bonds for Galaxy Digital on the Solana blockchain.

JPMorgan Chase created, issued, distributed, and settled a short-term bond for Galaxy Digital Holdings LP on the Solana blockchain. The $50 million U.S. commercial paper was reportedly purchased by Coinbase and asset management firm Franklin Templeton, with payment made in USDC stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Group Inc., the companies stated in a press release on Thursday. Redemption proceeds upon maturity will also be paid in USDC.

Binance launches privacy intention indication feature, primarily targeting users with single transactions exceeding $200,000.

Binance has announced the launch of a privacy intention indication (IOI) feature that allows institutional users to express interest in large spot or loan transactions without disclosing their market orders. The tool targets traders with single trades exceeding $200,000 and aims to help them execute large trades more efficiently through Binance’s over-the-counter trading platform.

Project News

The Solana Foundation and Blockworks launch Lightspeed IR, an investor relations platform.

The Solana Foundation has partnered with Blockworks to launch Lightspeed IR, an institutional-grade investor relations platform. The platform is reportedly primarily aimed at liquidity token funds, institutional asset managers, family offices, and Solana ecosystem projects, and is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2026.

OSL Group will issue the stablecoin USDGO, expected to launch in Q1 next year.

At the Solana Breakpoint 2025 Summit, Zhang Yinghua, Chief Commercial Officer of OSL Group, announced that OSL Group will launch the USD stablecoin USDGO in partnership with the Solana network. OSL Group will serve as the brand and distributor of USDGO, while Anchorage Digital Bank will be the issuer. USDGO is reportedly pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and subject to US federal regulation. It is scheduled for official launch in the first quarter of 2026, with Solana as the first supported blockchain.

Investment and Financing

Crypto startup LI.FI raises $29 million, led by Multicoin and CoinFund.

Crypto startup LI.FI announced the completion of a $29 million funding round, led by Multicoin and CoinFund, bringing its total funding to $52 million. However, the company has not yet disclosed its latest valuation.

Disney to invest $1 billion in OpenAI

According to market sources, The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI have reached a landmark agreement. Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, becoming a customer of OpenAI and the first major content licensing partner for OpenAI's Sora model. Disney will leverage its API to build products, tools, and experience services, including projects for Disney+, and deploy ChatGPT for its employees.

Blockchain-based cross-border remittance startup Frex has raised approximately $1.05 million in Pre-Seed funding, led by Zeropearl VC and others.

Indian blockchain remittance startup Frex announced the completion of a 95 million Indian rupee (approximately US$1.05 million) Pre-Seed funding round, co-led by Zeropearl VC and White Venture Capital, with participation from a group of angel investors. The company leverages blockchain technology and local banking partnerships to build a real-time remittance solution, primarily providing cross-border remittance services to immigrants and overseas workers.

Regulatory policies

The US CFTC has withdrawn its 2020 guidance focusing on the "physical settlement" of digital assets.

Acting Chair Caroline Pham of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) stated that the agency is withdrawing "outdated and overly complex guidance" related to the delivery of digital assets. On Thursday, Pham said the agency would withdraw its 2020 guidance under the Dodd-Frank Act, a federal law passed in 2010 to address the 2008 financial crisis. The guidance focused on the "physical delivery" of digital assets.

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee may delay its review of the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act until 2026.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that bipartisan senators held another meeting regarding the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act. After the meeting, Senator Mark Warner revealed that given the current state of the bill, it would be "very difficult" to review it next week, a view echoed by other senators. It now appears that the Senate Banking Committee may have to wait until the new year to review the bill.

Character voices

Oaktree Capital Co-founder: Does not believe the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates significantly.

Howard Marks, co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management, warned that the Federal Reserve's "intervention" in the cost of funding will push people toward riskier investments as the returns environment slows. He stated that he does not believe interest rates need to be significantly lower than they are now. Marks said, "I think the Fed should remain passive most of the time, only intervening when the economy is severely overheated, heading toward runaway inflation, or severely depressed and unable to create jobs. I don't think that's the case right now."

Solana co-founder: Stablecoins are expanding, not replacing, the US dollar.

At the Solana Breakpoint conference, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko stated that the core of achieving growth lies in continuously building products that people need. He emphasized that stablecoins are the current clear direction, and it is expected that between $1 trillion and $10 trillion worth of stablecoins will be on-chain in the future, driving the gradual tokenization and on-chaining of approximately $500 trillion in global assets.

Anatoly argues that the strong property rights protection brought by public blockchains and cryptography does not conflict with free-market capitalism and the logic of Wall Street. Rather, they complement each other by eliminating faults and risks through software, thereby expanding the financial scale of Wall Street at a faster pace. He emphasizes that stablecoins are expanding rather than replacing the US dollar, and that L1, especially PoS networks, have a clear value capture mechanism. Solana aims to capture the largest possible share in this competition.