Today's Crypto News (December 8) | WisdomTree Launches New Tokenized Fund; Bittensor to Undergo First Halving on December 14

This article provides a summary of cryptocurrency news for December 8, 2025, focusing on the latest Bitcoin updates, Ethereum upgrades, Dogecoin trends, real-time cryptocurrency prices, and price predictions. Major Web3 events today include:

1. WisdomTree Launches New Tokenized Fund, Bringing Options Income Strategy On-Chain

According to Cointelegraph, global asset management firm WisdomTree has launched a new digital asset fund—the WisdomTree Equity Premium Income Digital Fund (token ticker: EPXC, fund code: WTPIX). The fund tracks the price and yield performance of the Volos U.S. Large Cap Target 2.5% PutWrite Index, introducing traditional options strategies to the blockchain and highlighting the integration of traditional asset management and blockchain financial infrastructure. The benchmark index simulates a systematic “selling options” strategy, generating profits by selling cash-secured put options—not directly trading the S&P 500 Index, but using contracts linked to the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust to act as the options seller and collect premiums. The EPXC fund is open to both institutional and retail investors. As the fund is tokenized, crypto-native users can also invest.

2. Bittensor To Undergo First Halving on December 14, Daily TAO Issuance to Drop to 3,600 Tokens

According to The Block, Grayscale Research analyst Will Ogden Moore stated, “Bitcoin’s history shows that even with reduced rewards, a decrease in supply can enhance network value, as seen in the increased security and market value through four consecutive halvings. Similarly, Bittensor’s first halving marks an important milestone in network maturity as it moves toward a 21 million token supply cap.” Moore noted that Bittensor is experiencing strong adoption momentum, with growing institutional interest.

Moore pointed out that the launch of dTAO in February was a major achievement for Bittensor, enabling direct investment in subnets and greatly expanding their total market cap. “We believe that the early successes of some subnet-based applications, increasing institutional capital in the Bittensor ecosystem, and the upcoming TAO supply halving could all act as positive catalysts for price appreciation,” Moore wrote.

Previously reported, Bittensor’s first halving is set for December 14, with TAO daily issuance dropping to 3,600 tokens.

3. Bloomberg: Median Share Price of US and Canada-Listed DAT Companies Down 43% This Year

Bloomberg reports that, so far this year, the median share price of Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies listed in the US and Canada has fallen 43%. By contrast, Bitcoin has dropped only about 6% since the start of the year. Ethereum treasury company SharpLink’s share price has fallen 86% from its peak, with a market cap even lower than the value of its digital token holdings. Currently, the company’s share price is about 0.9x its Ethereum holdings value. SharpLink previously abandoned its original gaming business, issued stock, and bought large amounts of Ethereum—causing its share price to soar over 2,600% in a matter of days. However, compared to Greenlane, it is still lucky; Greenlane, despite holding about $48 million in BERA crypto tokens, saw its share price crash over 99% this year. Additionally, Alt5 Sigma, a DAT company previously backed by Trump’s two sons, has seen its share price fall about 86% since its June peak.

Some lucky DAT companies still have a market cap above their underlying holdings, but most investors who bought near the peak are at a loss, and 70% of these companies are expected to end the year below their starting price. The poorest performers have been listed companies that shunned Bitcoin for smaller, more volatile tokens. The volatility in these stocks is, at least in part, due to heavy borrowing when acquiring crypto assets. Meanwhile, for lesser-known small DAT companies, falling crypto prices and waning investor enthusiasm have made fundraising even harder.

4. Fed’s Biggest Focus This Week: Not Rate Cuts, But Whether It Will Inject New Liquidity

On December 8, although markets seem to have largely priced in another Fed rate cut and pushed US stock indices near record highs last Friday, the real driver for the bull market in stocks and other risk assets this week may not come from interest rates. After quietly ending quantitative tightening, the key is how the Fed manages its massive balance sheet and whether it injects new liquidity into markets. Bank of America’s global rates strategy team said last Friday that they expect the Fed to announce this week that, starting in January, it will buy $45 billion in Treasuries (with maturities of one year or less) per month as part of “reserve management operations.” Others believe this may take more time, and the Fed need not do much to keep markets stable. Roger Hallam, global head of rates at Vanguard Fixed Income Group, expects the Fed to begin buying Treasuries at a pace of $15–20 billion per month in late Q1 or early Q2 next year. PineBridge’s Kelly expects the Fed to cut rates by another 25 basis points on December 10, lowering the policy rate to the 3.5%–3.75% range, coming closer to the roughly 3% historical neutral rate aimed at maintaining stable economic growth. (Jin10)

5. BRICS Launches Gold-Backed Digital Currency “Unit”

According to Intellinews citing the Institute for Economic Strategies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IRIAS), the BRICS bloc has launched a working prototype of a gold-backed trade currency called “Unit.” This is a digital trading instrument backed by a basket containing 40% physical gold and 60% BRICS currencies—Brazilian real, Chinese yuan, Indian rupee, Russian ruble, and South African rand, all equally weighted. The pilot was initiated by IRIAS, which issued 100 Units on October 31, each initially pegged to 1 gram of gold. While not yet official policy, it is a direct step toward de-dollarization. The value of the “Unit” is designed to fluctuate daily according to the basket currencies’ performance against gold. As of December 4, market volatility had adjusted the basket’s value to the equivalent of 98.23 grams of gold, making each Unit worth 0.9823 grams of gold.

Crypto KOL @Mark4XX reminds that this is only a pilot project, not an officially adopted currency. It is initiated by IRIAS and promoted by some BRICS member countries. Other nations, including some in Africa, are closely watching.

6. Trump’s Post Mentions “$BIG,” Market Speculates New Meme Coin

According to Trends News monitoring, Trump posted on Truth Social the day before yesterday, harshly criticizing the judicial predicament faced by NCAA college sports: a judge lacking knowledge or experience made a ruling that forced the NCAA and sports leagues to concede, which Trump called “$BIG trouble.” Since the “$” symbol usually represents a tradable asset code on social platforms, the community speculated that Trump might be launching another meme coin. Across various platforms, the consensus token following Trump’s post was created about 10 seconds later on the Solana network via the Bonk platform. As of press time, the token had 5,148 holders and a peak market cap of $5.3 million, now retraced to $360,000.

7. ASTER Announces Accelerated Phase 4 Buybacks, Daily Volume Raised to $4 Million

The ASTER team issued its latest announcement, raising the speed of Phase 4 buybacks under the existing mechanism to strengthen support for ASTER holders. As of December 8, the accelerated buyback volume will increase from about $3 million/day to about $4 million/day. The team said this move will more quickly deploy Phase 4 fees accumulated since November 10 for on-chain buybacks, reinforcing support during market volatility. Based on current fee levels, it’s expected to reach stable execution within 8–10 days, after which daily buyback volumes will continue to be 60–90% of the previous day’s income as per Phase 4 rules. The team stressed all operations will remain transparently on-chain, with no change to the execution wallet address.

8. Trump Releases National Security Strategy, No Mention of Crypto or Blockchain

On December 8, Trump released his administration’s National Security Strategy on Friday, outlining core government priorities. It states that the United States’ “core, vital national interests” revolve around artificial intelligence and quantum computing. “We want to ensure American technology and standards—especially in AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing—drive the world forward.” (Cointelegraph)

9. Harvard Increases Bitcoin Holdings to $443 Million, Allocation Now Higher Than Gold

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan posted on X that Harvard University increased its Bitcoin investment from $117 million to $443 million in Q3. At the same time, it raised its gold ETF allocation from $102 million to $235 million. Harvard decided to make a devaluation trade, with its Bitcoin allocation now twice that of gold.

10. Banmuxia: Fed Rate Cut This Week Will Normalize Liquidity, Expect Broad Rally This Week and Month

On December 8, Chinese crypto analyst Banmuxia posted, “This week’s Fed rate cut and renewed balance sheet expansion will normalize tight liquidity. This week will be a broad rally (stocks, crypto, precious metals, etc.), and even the coming month may be a broadly bullish month.” Banmuxia also referenced a November 11 article stating, “In December, the Fed will stop shrinking its balance sheet and may start expanding it, bringing liquidity back to normal, similar to October 2019. The real money printing won’t happen until Trump controls the Fed in May next year, similar to March 2020.”

11. Robinhood Enters Indonesia, Acquires Two Licensed Firms for Crypto and Securities Expansion

Robinhood is officially targeting one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing retail investment markets—Indonesia. The company announced it has agreed to acquire two local licensed institutions, including securities broker PT Buana Capital Sekuritas and crypto exchange PT Pedagang Aset Kripto, paving the way for regulated operations in Indonesia. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026. A Robinhood spokesperson told Decrypt that there are no further integration details to disclose at this time.

Patrick Chan, Robinhood’s Head of Asia, said Indonesia is a rapidly expanding digital asset and trading market and a key region for the company’s mission to “democratize finance for all.” Indonesia’s regulatory framework sees Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK) overseeing capital markets and digital assets, while Bappebti, under the Ministry of Trade, previously oversaw crypto. Robinhood has not yet commented further on regulatory coordination.

Indonesia has seen significant growth in fintech and crypto adoption in recent years. Driven by mobile payment adoption and growing investment demand, Indonesia’s digital economy is expected to reach $99 billion in 2025. Google’s “2025 Southeast Asia Digital Economy Report” notes Indonesia’s digital payments market will grow from $340 billion in 2023 to $538 billion. According to the World Bank’s 2025 Global Findex Report, the adult account ownership rate in Indonesia has risen from 20% in 2011 to about 60% in 2024, though many residents still lack access to formal financial services.

As the regulatory framework improves, Indonesia has launched new rules this year, increasing crypto transaction taxes and bringing digital assets back under the financial regulatory system. The domestic transaction tax is 0.21%, offshore is 1%. Meanwhile, the government scrapped VAT for crypto trades, creating a clearer regime for compliant exchanges.

In the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, Indonesia remains a global leader, reflecting strong local demand for crypto assets. Robinhood’s entry is expected to further promote low-cost trading and investment tools locally, though results will depend on user adoption and the speed of regulatory implementation.

With regional crypto adoption rising, Robinhood’s acquisition could be an important step in its Asia-Pacific strategy.

12. Uniswap Founder: Uniswap CCA First Auction Ends with $59 Million in Bids

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams posted on X that Aztec Network’s Uniswap CCA inaugural auction has ended, with total bids reaching $59 million. The auction saw no sniping, bundling, or timing games; it was a slow and fair price discovery process, ultimately clearing at a price 59% above the reserve. Some proceeds and token reserves from the auction will be used to launch Uniswap v4 liquidity pools, which will become the largest source of secondary market liquidity.

13. Farcaster Pivots to “Wallet-First” Strategy, Focuses on Trading Features to Restart Growth Curve

Farcaster is undertaking a major strategic shift, moving away from its long-standing “social-first” approach and instead making its in-app wallet and trading features the primary growth engine. Co-founder Dan Romero recently stated that, over the past four and a half years, the team has tried to drive growth through social interaction and a third-party client ecosystem but has failed to find a Twitter/X-like sustainable expansion model, and there is a clear disconnect between product and market.

Romero said the wallet feature launched earlier this year has been Farcaster’s strongest driver of user growth and the fastest-growing product in user engagement. He emphasized that wallet trading tools have shown the clearest and most stable product-market fit in five years, so this is now the development focus. “We are now focused on building a truly great wallet. Every new wallet user is a new protocol user.”

This “wallet-first” strategy means Farcaster is shifting from “social, then tools” to a growth path of “experience tools, then join the network.” By offering high-utility on-chain wallets and trading experiences, the platform hopes to attract a wider range of Web3 users, then guide them into the protocol’s social features. This logic is seen as better suited to current crypto user behavior than traditional social networks.

Although some outside voices question whether Farcaster is becoming a trading app disguised as a social network, Romero made it clear the protocol still includes core components like posting, following, interaction, identity, and wallet, and third-party clients can freely choose their main features. He cited examples in the ecosystem such as Uno, Recaster, Zapper, and Firefly, each emphasizing different interaction modes.

By focusing on wallets and on-chain trading scenarios, Farcaster is trying to rebuild its growth curve and create a product system with more crypto-native value. This pivot is also seen as an important case for decentralized social protocols seeking a verifiable growth model in the Web3 era. (CoinDesk)