This Week's Key News Preview | The Federal Reserve Releases Minutes of Monetary Policy Meeting; Metaverse Game ChronoForge Ceases Operations
Dec 29, 2025 10:00:00
整理：Jerry，ChainCatcher
Key News:
- Metaverse game ChronoForge announces it will cease operations on December 30
- The Federal Reserve will release the monetary policy meeting minutes at 3:00 on December 31
- Binance will stop services on the Binance Live platform on December 31
- The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will implement Basel's new capital requirements for crypto assets on January 1, 2026
December 29 (Monday)
The "Blue Sky Ge Rui Case Refund Working Group" of the Finance Bureau of Hedong District, Tianjin, issued a notice reminding participants in the Blue Sky Ge Rui case who have not registered to confirm their participation in the fundraising to verify their status, with a deadline from October 31, 2025, to December 29, 2025. This verification will serve as the basis for refunding the funds.
The Tianjin Blue Sky Ge Rui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. illegal public deposit case involves over 43 billion yuan (the officially reported cumulative illegal fundraising amount), with nearly 130,000 victims across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in the country. The main perpetrator, Qian Zhimin, fled to the UK with the funds, leading to the largest Bitcoin money laundering case in the UK involving 60,000 bitcoins.
December 30 (Tuesday)
Binance will delist FDUSD margin trading pairs such as EIGEN/FDUSD and ARB/FDUSD on December 30
Binance will remove the following leveraged trading pairs at 14:00 on December 30, 2025:
Cross-margin trading pairs: EIGEN/FDUSD, ARB/FDUSD, TRUMP/FDUSD, POL/FDUSD, ATOM/FDUSD, LDO/FDUSD, SHIB/FDUSD, RAY/FDUSD, GALA/FDUSD, PEPE/FDUSD;
Isolated-margin trading pairs: EIGEN/FDUSD, ARB/FDUSD, POL/FDUSD, ATOM/FDUSD, LDO/FDUSD, SHIB/FDUSD, GALA/FDUSD, PEPE/FDUSD.
Users are advised to close positions and transfer assets before this date, as Binance will not be responsible for any potential losses.
Metaverse game ChronoForge announces it will cease operations on December 30
The metaverse game ChronoForge announced on the X platform that it will cease operations on December 30 due to "many obstacles," including a lack of funds, which forced the founder to self-fund development since July and lay off 80% of the staff.
ChronoForge is an NFT adventure project that offers 7,500 unique playable characters and mini-games. It was developed by Minted Loot Studios and is overseen by its affiliated entity, Rift Foundation, which manages the game's tokens and ecosystem. The project became active in 2022 when it launched its first NFT collection and began early community-building efforts.
Italy requires virtual asset service providers to submit operational applications by December 30
The Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Consob) issued a notice reminding that according to the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), virtual asset service providers (VASPs) currently registered with Italy's OAM must submit applications to transition to regulated crypto asset service providers (CASPs) by December 30, 2025, to continue operations. Otherwise, they will not be allowed to provide related services from that date, no later than June 30, 2026.
Consob specifically reminds investors to confirm whether their current VASP plans to apply for a CASP license; check if the service provider is listed in the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) or OAM registry; if the provider is unauthorized, investors have the right to request the return of their assets. Consob also urges VASPs: those who do not apply for CASP authorization must cease operations by December 30, close all contracts, and return user funds; clearly disclose future operational plans or exit arrangements to users. This announcement is to facilitate the comprehensive implementation of MiCAR in the EU and ensure a smooth and orderly market transition.
December 31 (Wednesday)
The Federal Reserve will release the monetary policy meeting minutes at 3:00 on December 31
At 3:00 on December 31, Beijing time, the Federal Reserve will release the monetary policy meeting minutes.
Due to the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, no Federal Reserve officials will speak next week, and major central banks will also refrain from public comments. However, the December meeting minutes of the Federal Reserve will be closely watched by investors looking for any clues regarding the timing of the next interest rate cut and to understand the concerns of policymakers who voted to maintain interest rates about inflation.
According to the official announcement, Binance will stop services on the Binance Live platform on December 31, 2025. After that, Binance Square will continue to provide live services for users. The Binance Live web and app will cease access starting from 07:59 on January 1, 2026 (UTC+8).
From the date of the announcement until 08:00 on December 1, 2025 (UTC+8), hosts who create at least one Binance Live session will automatically gain access to Binance Square Live at 08:00 on December 1, 2025 (UTC+8). All points, gifts, and vouchers on Binance Live will expire after 07:59 on January 1, 2026 (UTC+8).
Hats Finance: Will shut down its centralized hosted frontend and server operations on December 31
According to the official announcement, the decentralized security project Hats Finance announced on the X platform that Hats.finance will finalize its hosted operations, as it believes that continuing to run a centralized user interface (UI) and servers is unsustainable, and there are currently no plans to adopt a new legal or operational framework to continue this hosted structure.
The current arrangements are as follows: The user frontend and backend (UI and servers) hosted by Hats.finance are expected to go offline on December 31, 2025, and most functions relying on this hosted structure will gradually be phased out; the Hats protocol remains deployed on-chain and is managed by a DAO, with core contracts designed to operate continuously according to the code;
Currently, a version based on IPFS is available for users, and as long as this version remains in service, users may access it through public gateways. However, due to the cessation of payments to current fixed service providers (such as Pinata), its continued availability and performance cannot be guaranteed. Users can submit withdrawal requests through the hosted UI before December 17; after that, they need to interact directly with the contract to complete withdrawals.
January 1 (Thursday)
The EU's latest Digital Asset Tax Transparency Directive will take effect on January 1, officially incorporating cryptocurrency activities into the EU's tax reporting system.
This directive, known as DAC8, requires crypto asset service providers to collect and report detailed information about users and transactions to national tax authorities, which will then share this data among EU member states. This reform fills a long-standing gap, as certain parts of the crypto economy have faced less regulatory scrutiny than traditional financial accounts. Under DAC8, tax authorities can publicly and transparently regulate the holding, trading, and transfer of cryptocurrencies as they do with bank accounts. Exchanges, brokers, and other crypto service providers must now view tax reporting as a core operational requirement rather than a secondary compliance matter. Although the directive takes effect on January 1, businesses have a limited transition period to adjust their systems before enforcement.
According to Caixin, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority recently issued a circular confirming that it will fully implement new bank capital requirements based on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's crypto asset regulatory standards starting January 1, 2026.
Fei Si, a partner at King & Wood Mallesons in Hong Kong and a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law, stated in an interview with Caixin that the new regulations set the risk weight for crypto asset exposure using unlicensed blockchain technology at a maximum of 1250%, meaning banks must hold capital at least on a 1:1 ratio for these crypto asset exposures. Such high regulatory capital requirements will lead many banks to be unwilling to hold such crypto assets.
Turkmenistan passes a regulatory bill for crypto assets, effective January 1 next year
According to Reuters, Turkmenistan has passed a bill to legalize and regulate digital assets, including a licensing system for cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto mining companies.
Turkmenistan President Serdar Berdymukhamedov has signed the bill, which will officially take effect on January 1. According to a government spokesperson, the bill will help attract investment and promote digitization.
The bill covers the regulatory framework for the creation, storage, issuance, use, and circulation of virtual assets within Turkmenistan and clarifies their legal and economic status. Turkmenistan is a landlocked country located in southwestern Central Asia.
The Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos Bankas) announced that after the legislation incorporates the EU MiCA into domestic law, all crypto service providers must submit license applications by December 31, and those without licenses will be illegal to provide related services starting January 1.
Regulatory measures include fines, website bans, and serious cases may violate criminal law, with a maximum sentence of 4 years in prison. The central bank requires those who do not continue operations to promptly notify customers and complete asset returns and transfers. It has been disclosed that only about 30 out of approximately 370 registered entities have applied, with about 120 actually active. Lithuania intends to serve as a "gateway" for MiCA.
Cryptocurrency exchange Upbit announced that it plans to conduct digital asset/deposit audits and server maintenance on January 1, 2026, and suspend services:
Server maintenance time: January 1, 2026 (Thursday) 02:00–08:00
Korean won deposit and withdrawal suspension time: January 1, 2026 (Thursday) 02:00–08:00
Digital asset deposit and withdrawal service suspension time: December 31, 2025 (Wednesday) 20:00 to January 1, 2026 (Thursday) 08:00
January 3 (Saturday)
Infinex: INX token sale planned for January 3-6, registration is now open
Infinex announced on the X platform that registration for the INX token sale is now open, which will take place from January 3 to 6 on the Sonar platform, offering 5% of the INX supply, with a final FDV of $99.99 million, locked for one year, with an option for early unlocking.
The sale has a minimum amount of $200 and a maximum of $2,500, with random allocation but with bonus opportunities.
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