SEC proposes FTX insider settlements, South Korean crypto counterfeit ring busted, Poland revives crypto bill

In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed settlement agreements for Sam Bankman-Fried’s former associates whose testimony secured his conviction.

Additionally, law enforcement in South Korea dismantled a criminal operation using counterfeit currency to defraud cryptocurrency traders and Poland’s parliament revived comprehensive industry legislation.

SEC offers settlements to FTX cooperating witnesses

• The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Friday settlement agreements for key members of Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle whose testimony proved critical during his criminal trial proceedings.
• These proposed resolutions address regulatory charges against individuals who cooperated with prosecutors in building the case against the former FTX CEO.

South Korean police dismantle counterfeit currency scheme

• Authorities in South Chungcheong province are prosecuting a criminal group that manufactured fake Korean won bills to defraud cryptocurrency traders during in-person exchanges.
• Police discovered 9,188 counterfeit 50,000-won notes valued at approximately 459.4 million won ($330,000) in the suspects’ possession last year according to Chosun Ilbo reporting.

Polish parliament advances cryptocurrency regulation

• The Sejm passed Thursday comprehensive crypto industry legislation by 241-vote approval.
• The Crypto-Asset Market Act remains unchanged from the version rejected earlier this month according to the Sejm’s press office confirmation.

Coinbase challenges state prediction market restrictions

• The cryptocurrency exchange filed federal lawsuits in Connecticut, Michigan, and Illinois challenging state attempts to prohibit prediction markets under gaming regulations.
• Legal complaints seek declaratory and injunctive relief arguing that prediction markets fall exclusively under Commodity Futures Trading Commission jurisdiction rather than state gaming boards.

Ethereum developers name 2026 upgrade roadmap

• Core development teams officially designated the network’s next upgrade as “Hegota,” defining the 2026 development cycle within the blockchain’s twice-yearly release schedule.
• The name blends the execution layer’s “Bogota” upgrade, following Devcon host city naming traditions, with the consensus layer’s “Heze” star designation.

Bybit returns to UK market operations

• The exchange announced Thursday it resumed United Kingdom services including spot trading on 100 currency pairs, two years after stricter promotional and marketing regulations forced its departure.
• The platform serving approximately 80 million users worldwide restarted operations under updated compliance frameworks addressing UK regulatory requirements.

Terraform Labs liquidator sues Jump Trading

• Court-appointed plan administrator Todd Snyder filed suit seeking $4 billion in damages from Jump Trading, co-founder William DiSomma, and former president Kanav Kariya for the firm’s 2022 multibillion-dollar collapse.
• The Wall Street Journal reported the legal action targets Jump Trading’s role in the Terra ecosystem failure, with the company confirming the lawsuit through social media communications.

Annual cryptocurrency theft exceeds $3.4 billion

• Blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis reported that cryptocurrency theft totaled over $3.41 billion from January through early December.
• The $1.5 billion Bybit exchange hack accounted for approximately 44% of the annual total, with the top three incidents representing 69% of all service losses.

Indian regulators approve Coinbase-CoinDCX investment

• The Competition Commission of India approved Tuesday Coinbase Global’s proposed minority stake acquisition in DCX Global Limited, the parent company of local exchange CoinDCX.
• The approval follows CoinDCX’s recovery from a $44 million security breach that required substantial user compensation efforts.

Coinbase unveils comprehensive platform expansion

• The exchange revealed Wednesday during a livestreamed event that U.S. customers will gain access to traditional stock trading alongside over a dozen new and updated products.
• Platform enhancements span prediction markets, Solana-based decentralized finance integration, and end-to-end infrastructure for creating real-world asset digital representations.

Visa extends stablecoin settlement to United States

• The payments giant expanded its stablecoin pilot to include U.S. settlements using Circle’s USDC on the Solana (SOL) blockchain.
• Initial banking partners Cross River Bank and Lead Bank will enable U.S. acquirer and issuer partners to settle in USDC, with broader rollout expected throughout 2026.

Strategy maintains billion-dollar Bitcoin purchases

• Strategy announced its second consecutive week of nearly $1 billion Bitcoin (BTC) acquisitions, adding 10,645 BTC for $980.3 million at an average price of $92,098 per coin.