Week 2 of December 2025 Cryptocurrency News Weekly Summary | Bitcoin Forecast · US Retirement Pension Debate · Japan Financial Services Agency New Policy

Source: Bittimes Original Title: Weekly Cryptocurrency News Summary: “US Retirement Pensions, Bitcoin Forecasts, Financial Services Agency” and More Original Link: https://bittimes.net/news/214825.html

Overview

This is a summary of news related to cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies) and blockchain from December 7 to 13, 2025. We highlight the most notable topics from this week.

Grayscale “BTC to Reach All-Time High in 2026”

US asset management giant Grayscale Investments stated in its latest report that the recent approximately 30% decline in Bitcoin (BTC) price is merely a “typical correction” and does not indicate a long-term downturn.

The company considers this drop as the ninth significant correction in the current bullish market and analyzes that “it is likely to remain a temporary correction, similar to past instances.” It also dismisses the persistent “4-year cycle” hypothesis and predicts that Bitcoin will once again hit an all-time high in 2026.

“Cryptocurrency x Retirement Pensions 401(k)” Conflict with Labor Unions and Industry

On December 12, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) submitted a letter to the Senate Banking Committee opposing the introduction of cryptocurrencies into 401(k) retirement accounts.

In the letter, AFT warns that “cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and pose a risk to workers’ retirement savings,” bringing to the surface a conflict between the cryptocurrency industry and labor unions regarding 401(k) retirement plans.

Kathy Wood: “Bitcoin to Overtake Gold in 2026”

On December 9, Kathy Wood of US investment firm ARK Invest expressed in an interview on FOX Business that “Bitcoin is avoiding the traditional four-year cycle bearish trend due to inflows from institutional investors.”

She pointed out that Bitcoin’s volatility has significantly decreased over the past few years, and the presence of large institutional investors entering the market may prevent substantial declines going forward. Furthermore, she stated, “Bitcoin could outperform gold in 2026.”

Save the Children Establishes Industry’s First “Bitcoin Fund”

International humanitarian organization Save the Children announced on December 11 that it will establish the industry’s first “Bitcoin Fund” to advance aid activities using cryptocurrencies.

The most notable aspect of this announcement is that it breaks the traditional model of immediately converting donated Bitcoin into fiat currency, allowing the assets to be held (HODL) in Bitcoin for up to four years. This enables Save the Children to maximize asset value while observing market conditions and provides the flexibility to quickly unlock funds when emergency aid is needed.

60% of Asia’s Wealthy Consider Increasing Cryptocurrency Holdings

Swiss digital asset bank Sygnum released its latest survey on December 11, revealing that about 60% of wealthy investors in Asia plan to increase their cryptocurrency portfolio ratios.

According to the “APAC Wealthy Class Report 2025,” 87% of surveyed Asian high-net-worth individuals and professional investors already hold cryptocurrencies, with approximately half allocating over 10% of their total assets to digital currencies.

Financial Services Agency Officially Decides to Transition Cryptocurrency Regulation to “Financial Instruments and Exchange Act”

On December 10, the Financial Services Agency’s “Working Group on Cryptocurrency Regulation” published its final report on the regulation of cryptocurrencies.

The report clearly states the plan to transition the regulation of cryptocurrencies from the “Payment Services Act,” under which they have been regulated so far, to the “Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA),” similar to stocks and bonds. This marks the most significant turning point in Japan’s cryptocurrency regulation history.

Conditional Approval of “Establishment of Trust Banks” for 5 Companies Including Ripple and Circle

On December 12, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that it conditionally approved the establishment of “National Trust Banks” under federal regulation for five cryptocurrency-related companies, including Ripple and Circle.

According to the announcement, OCC authorized the applications for “Ripple National Trust Bank” and Circle’s “First National Digital Currency Bank” on a conditional basis. This marks an important first step for these companies to operate as formal financial institutions under US federal banking law.

JP Morgan Issued 7.8 Billion Yen Worth of Bonds on Solana

JP Morgan has issued its first tokenized commercial paper on the Solana blockchain.

PNC Bank Begins Offering “Direct Bitcoin Trading” as the First Major US Bank

PNC Bank partnered with a compliance platform to start providing the first direct Bitcoin trading service among major US banks.

Major French Bank BPCE to Offer Cryptocurrency Trading Services

France’s major bank BPCE announced that it will provide cryptocurrency trading services, supporting four cryptocurrencies including BTC and ETH.