Weekly Preview | HASHKEY Expected to List on December 17; Coinbase Plans to Launch Prediction Markets and Tokenized Stocks

marsbitPublished on 2025-12-14Last updated on 2025-12-14

Abstract

This week in crypto and finance features key events from December 15-20. On December 17, HashKey Group is set to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, aiming to raise up to HK$1.67 billion. Also on the 17th, Coinbase is expected to launch prediction markets and tokenized stocks. Regulatory focus includes an SEC roundtable on financial regulation and privacy on the 15th. Major macroeconomic data includes the U.S. November CPI report on the 18th and the Bank of Japan's interest rate decision on the 19th, where a rate hike is widely anticipated. Significant token unlocks are scheduled: Starknet (STRK) and Sei (SEI) on the 15th, Arbitrum (ARB) on the 16th, and LayerZero (ZRO) and Lista DAO (LISTA) on the 20th. Other notable events include the gensyn AI protocol public sale, Synthetix returning to Ethereum mainnet, and the Jupiter (JUP) stablecoin, JupUSD, expected to launch.

Key Upcoming Events:

  • The U.S. SEC Crypto Working Group will hold a roundtable on financial regulation and privacy on December 15;
  • Coinbase plans to launch prediction markets and tokenized stocks on December 17;
  • HASHKEY plans to raise up to HK$1.67 billion, expected to list on December 17;
  • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the November CPI on December 18;
  • The Bank of Japan will announce its interest rate decision on December 19, with market expectations widely anticipating a rate hike;
  • LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens at 7:00 PM Beijing Time on December 20, accounting for 6.79% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $38.6 million.

December 15

Policy & Regulation:

U.S. SEC Crypto Working Group to Hold Roundtable on Financial Regulation and Privacy on December 15

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Working Group announced that it will hold a public roundtable on financial regulation and privacy at the SEC headquarters on December 15 (local time) to delve into relevant policy issues. The meeting will be webcast. Attendees include executives from Espresso Systems, Zcash, Aleo Network Foundation, Digital Asset, and other companies, as well as academic representatives.

Exchanges:

Cboe Futures Exchange to Launch Bitcoin and Ethereum Continuous Futures Contract Trading on December 15

According to market news, Cboe Futures Exchange will launch Bitcoin and Ethereum continuous futures contract trading on December 15.

Coinbase to Stop Offering USDC Deposit Rewards to Free Users from December 15, Exclusive to Paid Members

Crypto exchange Coinbase will stop paying USDC rewards to non-paying users next week. Only Coinbase One premium subscribers will be eligible to earn 4% yield from their stablecoin holdings. The exchange first announced the news via an email sent to Coinbase customers on Thursday, stating the change will take effect on December 15. A Coinbase spokesperson confirmed that USDC rewards are now an exclusive benefit for Coinbase One members.

Binance Wallet to Cease Support for ARC-20 Assets on December 15

Binance Wallet will cease support for ARC-20 assets starting from 18:00 (UTC+8) on December 15, 2025. Thereafter, users will not be able to view, send, or receive ARC-20 assets within the Binance Wallet. User ARC-20 assets remain securely stored on the Bitcoin blockchain. This change only affects the display and management of such assets within the Binance Wallet; user assets will not be lost or frozen. Users are strongly advised to manage or transfer their ARC-20 assets before the cessation date.

Hong Kong High Court to Hear Case of 8 JPEX Defendants on December 15; Christopher Hui Says Regulations Will Be Updated

Hong Kong police investigating the alleged fraud case of virtual currency trading platform JPEX have prosecuted 16 people. The first case involving 8 defendants will now be handed over to the High Court for trial and adjourned until December 15 for further hearing, with some defendants having been granted bail. Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, stated that following the JPEX case, regulatory updates will be considered, planning to optimize regulations across four areas: trading, stablecoins, custody, and digital asset traders. Previous news indicated that 16 people, including core members like Lam Jak and KOLs, have been prosecuted in the Hong Kong JPEX case, with the mastermind still at large.

Project Updates:

Aster S3 Airdrop to Open on December 15

Aster announced on platform X that S3 airdrop eligibility checking is now live, but the airdrop has not yet started. This page currently only supports eligibility review. Claim period: December 15, 2025, 20:00 Beijing Time to January 15, 2026, 20:00.

Yala to Announce Detailed Redemption Plan for Retail Users on December 15

According to a Yala announcement, all native BTC in institutional mode will exit the protocol. However, as some assets are locked in Euler pools, YBTC will not be fully burned, and related YU will not circulate. This operation does not affect retail user balances or redemption rights. A detailed redemption plan will be announced on December 15. Yala will shift towards an AI-driven prediction module and update its development roadmap in the future.

Decentralized AI Computing Protocol Gensyn to Start Public Sale on December 15

The decentralized AI computing protocol Gensyn announced that it will start its public sale on December 15. The total AI token supply is 10 billion, with 300 million tokens offered in the public sale. The low FDV is $1 million, with a price of $0.0001 per token. The FDV cap is $1 billion (the price from the previous venture round with a16z, $0.1 per token). The sale will be conducted on the Ethereum mainnet, and tokens will be distributed on the Gensyn network (L2). This public sale accepts USDT and USDC payments, with a minimum purchase amount of $100 per user. Purchasers' tokens unlock at TGE, but U.S. buyers have a 12-month lock-up period. Participants who choose the optional lock-up period will receive a 10% bonus multiplier on their allocated amount. The AI token public sale ends on December 20, and token claiming opens in early February 2026.

Level Team Announces Acquisition by Leading DeFi Protocol, Its Frontend to Be Taken Down on December 15

The Level team announced it will be acquired by a leading DeFi protocol and will gradually shut down the Level protocol and its products lvlUSD and slvlUSD. All users can unstake slvlUSD and redeem lvlUSD within 2 seconds, with related cooldown periods also shortened. The final yield distribution will be on October 2, 2025. The frontend page will be taken down on December 15, after which users can still operate assets via smart contracts. The lvlUSD redemption ratio is fixed at 1:1, and the minting function has been suspended.

Token Unlocks:

Starknet (STRK) will unlock 127 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing Time on December 15, accounting for 5.07% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $13.2 million.

Sei Network (SEI) will unlock approximately 55.56 million tokens at 8:00 PM Beijing Time on December 15, accounting for 1.08% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $7.1 million.

December 16

Exchanges:

Upbit Lists GRS as Trading Caution and Suspends Deposits, Review Period Until December 16

Upbit exchange announced that it has listed Groestlcoin (GRS) under "Trading Caution" and suspended deposits, applicable to GRS/KRW and GRS/BTC pairs. Upbit stated that based on the DAXA joint mechanism and trading support review, GRS has deficiencies in areas such as disclosure, business substance, and sustainability, which may lead to user losses. The caution period is from December 2, 11:00 to December 16, 23:59 (KST). Deposits during this period will not be credited and will be returned according to procedures; after review, trading support may be extended, lifted, or terminated. Any changes will be announced separately.

Coinbase Plans to Suspend Order Book Trading for Some ANKR, AXS, CGLD, and LRC Trading Pairs on December 16

Coinbase announced on platform X that it plans to suspend order book trading for the ANKR-GBP, AXS-EUR, AXS-USDT, CGLD-EUR, CGLD-GBP, LRC-USDT, and LRC-BTC trading pairs at 1:00 AM Beijing Time on December 16. This aims to further improve overall market health and consolidate liquidity. Eligible Coinbase Advanced users can still trade the relevant tokens on the USD order books. The aforementioned trading pairs have now been switched to limit order mode, and market orders cannot be submitted.

Project Updates:

Decentralized Energy Network Daylight Launches New DeFi Protocol DayFi, Pre-Deposit Activity Starts December 16

The decentralized energy network Daylight launched the decentralized energy capital market DayFi, announcing that the DayFi pre-deposit vault will open at 21:00 Beijing Time on December 16, marking the start of the GRID Games event. The initial cap for the pre-deposit vault is $50 million, accepting USDS and USDT deposits with a lock-up period of 2 months. Funds will be managed by K3 Capital and deployed to Plasma's DeFi markets. Participants can earn WXPL rewards and GRID Games points. Previous news: Decentralized energy network Daylight raised $75 million in funding led by Framework Ventures, with participation from a16z crypto, Lerer Hippeau, M13, etc.

Token Unlocks:

Arbitrum (ARB) will unlock approximately 92.65 million tokens at 9:00 PM Beijing Time on December 16, accounting for 1.90% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $19.7 million.

December 17

Exchanges:

Bloomberg: Coinbase Plans to Launch Prediction Markets and Tokenized Stocks on December 17

According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter revealed that Coinbase Global Inc. plans to announce the launch of prediction markets and tokenized stocks next week. Coinbase will officially launch these products at a product showcase event on December 17. The insider also mentioned that Coinbase's tokenized stocks will be launched internally, not through partners. Coinbase executives have previously expressed interest in these businesses but have not formally announced plans. For weeks, app screenshots hinting at these features have been circulating on social network X. A Coinbase spokesperson declined to comment on the company's specific plans but said: "Tune in to the live stream on December 17 to see what new products Coinbase is launching." This move is part of the company's effort to become a "one-stop app," aiming to provide traders with broad access to assets and markets and keep pace with competitors who are also diversifying.

Sources said Coinbase plans to partner with Kalshi to launch an internal prediction market, expected to be announced next week.

HASHKEY Discloses IPO Details: Plans to Raise Up to HK$1.67 Billion, Expected to List on December 17

According to the Hong Kong Economic Times, HASHKEY HLDGS (new listing code: 03887) will conduct its IPO from December 9 to 12. Hashkey Exchange's parent company, HASHKEY, plans to issue 240 million shares, with 10% offered publicly in Hong Kong. The offer price ranges from HK$5.95 to HK$6.95 per share, aiming to raise up to HK$1.67 billion. Each board lot is 400 shares, with an initial application fee of HK$2,808. HASHKEY is expected to list on December 17. J.P. Morgan, Guotai Junan International, and Haitong International are the joint sponsors.

Regarding equity, HASHKEY investor and Wanxiang Group Chairman Lu Weiding is one of the controlling shareholders, holding 43.2% of the shares, and also has the right to exercise voting rights for 22.9% of the shares held by an employee stock ownership plan platform; Hashkey founder Xiao Feng holds 16.3% of the equity; other investors hold 17.6%. HASHKEY has introduced 9 cornerstone investors: UBS AM Singapore, Fidelity Funds, CDH, Ctrust Capital, Infini, Zhiyuan Holdings (00990), Litong, Space Z PTE. LTD., and Shining Light Grace Limited, with a total investment of $75 million (approximately HK$590 million).

Valour Plans to List Four Digital Asset ETPs on Brazil's B3 Exchange on December 17

DeFi Technologies Inc. announced that its subsidiary Valour has received approval from Brazil's B3 exchange to list four digital asset exchange-traded products (ETPs), including Valour Bitcoin (BTCV), Valour Ethereum (ETHV), Valour XRP (XRPV), and Valour SUI (VSUI). Trading is expected to begin on December 17.

Binance to Delist FIS, REI, and VOXEL on December 17

The platform will delist the three tokens FIS, REI, and VOXEL on December 17, 2025. Their current market capitalizations are approximately: FIS $6 million, REI $16 million, VOXEL $7 million.

Sports prediction app Football.Fun will conduct a public token sale on Legion on December 16. Users need to hold USD1 on Ethereum to participate.

Project Updates:

Synthetix: To Return to Ethereum Mainnet on December 17

Synthetix announced it will return to the Ethereum mainnet on December 17. Synthetix Liquidity Providers (SLP) will also launch at the time of release. Access to SLP will be whitelisted initially, with plans to open it to the public as soon as possible. Previously, Synthetix left the Ethereum mainnet for Optimism in 2022.

Berachain Liquid Staking Protocol Infrared to Conduct TGE on December 17

Berachain liquid staking protocol Infrared released details of the IR token airdrop. This airdrop aims to reward early community members who consistently used Infrared during the points program, participants of the Boyco pre-deposit event, and users actively involved in community activities (e.g., Discord interactions, user surveys, community events, testnet participation, etc.).

The IR token has three main functions: staking to obtain sIR for governance voting rights; participating in profit-sharing through buybacks; and token issuance to optimize protocol efficiency and revenue. Users can claim the airdrop early via the CEX pre-deposit process. The three centralized exchanges participating in the pre-deposit are: Bitget, Gate, and KuCoin. Key dates are as follows:

  • December 13, 20:00 (UTC+8): Centralized exchange pre-deposit window opens.
  • December 16, 01:00 (UTC+8): Centralized exchange pre-deposit window closes.
  • December 17, 16:00 (UTC+8): IR token officially launches.
  • January 12, 2026, 08:00 (UTC+8): All claims permanently close.

Hats Finance to Cease Operations by End of Month, Users Can Submit Withdrawal Requests via Custodial UI Before December 17

Decentralized security project Hats Finance announced on platform X that Hats.finance will conduct a final shutdown of its custodial operations, as it believes continuing the centralized user interface (UI) and server operation is unsustainable, and there are currently no plans to adopt new legal or operational frameworks to continue this custodial setup. Current arrangements are as follows: The Hats.finance hosted user frontend and backend (UI and server) are expected to be taken offline by December 31, 2025; most functions relying on this custodial architecture will be phased out; the Hats protocol remains deployed on-chain and is managed by the DAO, with core contracts designed to continue operating as coded; currently, a user frontend based on IPFS is available, and users may access it via public gateways as long as the version remains served; as payments to the current fixed service provider (e.g., Pinata) will cease, continued availability and performance cannot be guaranteed. Users can submit withdrawal requests via the custodial UI before December 17; thereafter, withdrawals must be completed by interacting directly with the contract.

December 18

Macroeconomics:

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Cancels Release of October CPI, November CPI to Be Released on December 18

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that the November CPI report will be released on December 18. The October real earnings report will also be canceled; the November real earnings report will be released on December 18. The Q3 Employment Cost Index will be released on December 10.

Next week's U.S. CPI data release will be a key turning point for the US dollar's trend. If the CPI data is lower than expected (the latest figure is 3%, still above the Fed's 2% target), it will further confirm the rationale for the Fed's rate-cutting cycle, and the dollar may face further downward pressure; conversely, it could reverse this trend.

Project Updates:

Octra to Conduct $20 Million Public Token Sale on Sonar at $200 Million Valuation on December 18

Octra Labs, the organization behind the privacy-focused blockchain project Octra, will hold a public token sale event on the Sonar by Echo platform on December 18. Octra said on Tuesday that the week-long sale plans to sell 10% of the OCT token supply at a fully diluted valuation (FDV) of $200 million, aiming to raise $20 million. The sale adopts a fixed-price, commitment-style format where any number of participants can deposit funds and receive tokens proportionally. This design aims to achieve maximum decentralization. Octra stated that if demand is strong, the sale allocation may increase; any unsold tokens will be burned, and all sold tokens will be unlocked and distributed shortly after the sale ends.

December 19

Macroeconomics:

Bank of Japan to Announce Interest Rate Decision on December 19

The market widely expects the Bank of Japan to implement a landmark rate hike on Friday, contrasting sharply with the global trend of rate cuts over the past year.

December 20

Token Unlocks:

LayerZero (ZRO) will unlock approximately 25.71 million tokens at 7:00 PM Beijing Time on December 20, accounting for 6.79% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $38.6 million.

Lista DAO (LISTA) will unlock approximately 33.44 million tokens at 5:00 PM Beijing Time on December 20, accounting for 6.85% of the circulating supply, valued at approximately $5.5 million.

December 21

None

Time To Be Determined

Policy & Regulation:

U.S. Crypto Market Structure Bill Draft May Be Amended and Voted On in Hearing Next Week

New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Wyoming Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis spoke at the Blockchain Association's Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, detailing the progress lawmakers are making in pushing for a comprehensive bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry (the Crypto Market Structure Bill). Gillibrand revealed that negotiations between Democrats and Republicans on the crypto bill have been progressing steadily, with the first bipartisan meeting last week going very smoothly and no factors hindering the bill's advancement. After Democrats met on Monday evening, she presented the final requirements she hoped to include in the bill to Republican staff and said the requirements had been submitted. She also said she, Lummis, and others would further discuss some requirements and were very optimistic that the completed bill would be very robust, as the House had not resolved all the issues their draft aims to address, such as how to regulate decentralized financial exchanges.

Lummis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, pointed out that the current goal is to share the bill draft this weekend and hold a hearing next week to amend and vote on the bill. She also mentioned that the negotiation work extends to the White House level; while Democrats and Republicans are negotiating, they are also working with the industry and the White House, calling it the next three-dimensional chess game. Additionally, Lummis said she negotiated ethical clauses with Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego and sent the clause content to the White House, but the White House sent it back, saying it could do better. She plans to try communicating with the White House again.

Project Updates:

MegaETH: To Open Mainnet Beta "Frontier" to App Developers Next Week

MegaETH posted on platform X that it will open Frontier to application developers next week. Infrastructure teams have already completed deployments on the mainnet, and more teams will join in the coming days. The following weeks will then be used to support applications in completing deployment and testing work before user onboarding.

Jupiter to Launch Stablecoin JupUSD Next Week

Jupiter COO Kash Dhanda announced at the Solana Breakpoint event that Jupiter will launch its stablecoin JupUSD next week. JupUSD will go live with real-time trading and yield functions enabled simultaneously. Dhanda added that plans are to launch a third use case in Q1 2026, describing it as "very interesting." Previous news in October: Ethena and Jupiter announced they would collaborate to launch JupUSD, a native stablecoin for the Solana ecosystem.

Related Questions

QWhat is the significance of the US SEC's cryptocurrency working group holding a roundtable on financial regulation and privacy on December 15th?

AThe US SEC's cryptocurrency working group is holding a public roundtable on financial regulation and privacy to deeply discuss relevant policy issues. The meeting will feature executives from companies like Espresso Systems, Zcash, and Aleo Network Foundation, and will be webcast live.

QWhat major product launches is Coinbase planning to announce on December 17th, according to the article?

AAccording to the article, citing Bloomberg, Coinbase is planning to announce the launch of prediction markets and tokenized stocks on December 17th. The tokenized stocks will be launched internally, and the prediction markets are expected to be launched in partnership with Kalshi.

QWhat are the key details of the HASHKEY IPO as mentioned in the report?

AHASHKEY HLDGS is planning to raise up to HK$1.67 billion. The share price is set between HK$5.95 and HK$6.95, with trading expected to commence on December 17th on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company has also secured nine cornerstone investors, including UBS AM Singapore and Fidelity Funds.

QWhy is the release of the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on December 18th considered a critical turning point for the US dollar?

AThe November CPI data is a key turning point because a reading lower than expected (the latest figure is 3%, still above the Fed's 2% target) would further justify the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut cycle and could put further downward pressure on the US dollar. Conversely, a higher-than-expected reading could reverse this trend.

QWhat major monetary policy decision is the Bank of Japan (BOJ) widely expected to make on December 19th?

AThe market widely expects the Bank of Japan to implement a landmark interest rate hike on December 19th, which stands in stark contrast to the global trend of rate cuts over the past year.

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