🇺🇸 Trump to consider pardoning Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonn Rodriguez, according to The Block.

🔥 SEC Commissioner Esther Pierce on privacy and financial supervision in the crypto industry.

➤ Crypto is changing the rules of the game. Transactions can happen without intermediaries, which means the state loses its usual data channels.

➤ In real life, the state doesn't have the right to spy on people without cause, but in finance, mass surveillance has become the norm. Yet a transaction reveals as much about a person as their home.

➤ Financial privacy is legally and culturally entrenched. People are used to the idea that their payments are monitored and accept it as normal.

➤ The blockchain paradox: it’s public to everyone, so privacy isn’t a threat but a necessary protection for users.

➤ Privacy technologies already exist. Zero-knowledge proofs let you confirm the right to conduct a transaction without disclosing personal data. Mixers enable legitimate payments without total public exposure.

➤ Privacy protection shouldn’t be seen as a sign of criminal intent. The desire to keep your personal financial life private is normal, not a red flag.

➤ The state shouldn’t impose intermediaries or regulate software developers who don’t store user funds and can’t control their actions.

➤ The focus should be targeted — pursue attackers, but protect developers and law-abiding citizens.

➤ Striking the balance between security and freedom. New technologies can boost national security without turning the financial system into a tool of total surveillance.

Text of the speech: link

Previously: - co-founder of Zcash - head of the SEC

🗽 At a roundtable, SEC Chairman Atkins said cryptocurrencies can become a powerful tool for financial supervision and that a path forward exists without sacrificing privacy. (The Block)

SEC Commissioner Pierce notes that cryptocurrencies are helping spur a reappraisal of privacy. (Cointelegraph)

🎉 EDEN Market Addition: KRW pair now available with no transaction fees. EDENUSDT: 0.0639. More at feed.bithumb.com #Bithumb #Listing

🎉🆕 EDEN listing on Bithumb — details at feed.bithumb.com. #EDEN #Bithumb #Listing

🎰 Machi Big Brother has been eliminated 10 more times!

Since the market crash on October 11, he has been liquidated 200 times, with losses totaling more than $22.88 million.

His account balance is now just $53,178.

💸 PayPal, the payments giant, is applying for a banking license in the United States.

#pyusd

🏦 PayPal is applying for a US banking license. The payments giant has filed its application with U.S. regulators to set up its own bank in Utah. Previously, Paxos—the issuer of the PayPal stablecoin—had already received approval for banking status.

🇺🇸 Under the Trump administration, the SEC suspended, dismissed, or settled about 60% of crypto-related cases involving companies and projects, according to Cointelegraph. The US Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), in its 2025 annual report, says it has softened its stance on crypto assets and stablecoins and no longer views them as an immediate systemic risk.

🇯🇵 Japan’s SBI and Startale plan to launch a yen-pegged stablecoin in 2026. — Cointelegraph

🇺🇸🏦 #PYUSD — PayPal is applying to become a bank in the United States. Source: Bloomberg

🇺🇸 Donald Trump said he would explore the possibility of pardoning Keonne Rodriguez, co-founder and CEO of the private crypto wallet Samourai Wallet.

Context:

• Rodriguez was sentenced to 5 years in prison for operating Samourai Wallet with a cryptomixer function.

• U.S. authorities say the service was used to launder millions of dollars.

• His partner and CTO received a 4-year sentence.

• Trump's statement comes amid Ross Ulbricht's pardon and a softer stance toward the crypto industry.

• The crypto community is actively promoting pardons not only for Samourai Wallet's developers but also for Tornado Cash.

• Trump has already pardoned CZ (former CEO of Binance), calling it the end of the “war on crypto” waged by the Biden administration.

Keonne Rodriguez: “If Donald Trump takes a close look at our case, he will see deja vu with how the Biden DOJ preyed on his opponents. I believe he will do the right thing and grant clemency."

🗽 Nasdaq plans to expand trading of stocks and exchange-traded products to 23 hours a day, five days a week. Source: CoinDesk

🇺🇸🕹 The Senate has postponed the bill that would shape the crypto market’s framework until next year. CoinDesk #regulation

🎯 Top of the day — Monday, December 15

- Strategy retains its Nasdaq position (read)

- SEC guide to storing crypto (read)

- Hacking Aevo (read)

- Digital joint-stock companies in the Russian Federation (read)

- Mining charging station (read)

- Weekly calendar (read)

- Podcast with Tom Lee (read)

- JPMorgan tokenized fund (read)

- Interview with the CEO of 10X Research (read)

- Anatoly Aksakov on cryptocurrency (read)

- Phantom bank card (read)

- Japanese Central Bank and the crypto market (read)

- Michael Saylor buys additional BTC (read)

- BTC hashrate (read)

- Welcome to the bear market (read)

- Bitcoin OG in the red (read)

- Bitcoin to $80k (read)

- Panic on Twitter (read)

- CryptoQuant on market sentiment (read)

- Dogecoin co-founder in the moment (read)

- Expanding the powers of Rosfinmonitoring (read)

- The wealth of Elon Musk (read)

- Gift idea for the New Year (read)

- SEC head on privacy in the crypto industry (read)

- Hearings on the CLARITY bill (read)

- Zcash co-founder at the SEC (read)

#unlock

🔓 TOP token unlocks from December 15–22

Cliff unlocks (a large portion released on a single date):

- ZRO — $37.53m

- ARB — $19.98m

- SEI — $9.46m

- ZK — $5.56m

- LISTA — $5.68m

- ID — $5.08m

Linear unlocks (gradual release over time, typically daily or weekly):

- RAIN — $75.04m

- SOL — $64.34m

- TRUMP — $26.80m

- WLD — $21.55m

- DOGE — $12.94m

- ASTER — $9.58m

- AVAX — $9.23m

- TAO — $7.20m

P.S. Cliff unlocks release a large portion of tokens on a specific date. Linear unlocks are gradual releases over a period (usually daily or weekly).

⚡️ Zcash co-founder at the SEC roundtable — key messages:

- Zuko’s mother (77) says: “Mass surveillance turns us into test subjects. The Fourth Amendment protects everyone who owns a computer or phone. The Constitution guarantees protection against unreasonable searches, but today they happen without a court order — and that’s wrong.”

- Previously, the SEC (under Gensler) accused Zcash’s creators of fraud. The regulator has issued subpoenas to many crypto companies to burden the industry with legal fees. Now the new SEC has invited us to explain how Zcash works.

- The most important question isn’t “privacy or transparency,” but “who chooses?” Who decides what information is shared and what is not? When evaluating any policy or product, ask: who is making the decisions here?

- In Zcash, only the owner controls the Send and Share buttons. Whether you show transactions to an accountant, a friend, or under a court order is up to you. No one else in the world can press these buttons. This is your sole moral responsibility.

- In 10 years, we’ve transformed zero-knowledge proofs from a theoretical idea into an industrial product. The technology lets you choose with whom and when to share your transaction history.

- Zcash works in real life — for example, buying a burrito at Chipotle. Text memos are attached to transactions, just as the purpose of payment used to be written in the corner of a check.

SmartMoney pumped another memecoin, #jeff, by over 1000%. Yesterday, #jeff topped SmartMoney’s list of top purchases from smart wallets at 04:09 Moscow time and stayed there for a couple of hours. Purchases picked up again in the evening, starting at 20:39, and the memecoin again led SmartMoney’s top buys. This renewed buying pushed the token’s price up once more, a rally that has continued for most of today. @cryptoattackbot #CAreport

Update: ❌🇺🇸 The U.S. Senate won’t hold hearings on the Crypto Market Structure Bill (CLARITY) until next year.

🔥 SEC chapter on privacy in the crypto industry.

- Blockchain is more transparent than traditional finance: every transaction is recorded on a public ledger.

- There’s a risk: crypto could become the most powerful financial control system if regulation becomes overly aggressive.

- Crypto tech lets you prove the legality of transactions without exposing your whole financial history. You can demonstrate compliance without handing over personal data or all transaction details to intermediaries or the government.

- ❗️Full blockchain transparency can hurt the market. If big players don’t act discreetly, front-running could surge as competitors copy every deal.