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The ruling party is said to be accelerating the legislative process by setting the timing for passage of a Korean won stablecoin bill for the March plenary session next year. According to political circles on the 15th, the Democratic Party of Korea plans to submit the final bill related to the Korean won stablecoin in January next year, then aim to pass it at the March plenary session after going through National Assembly procedures such as a deliberation period and systematic and wording review. They intend to focus on coordinating contentious issues between the party and financial authorities until the end of the year. Under the current National Assembly Act, new bills, unless urgent or for special reasons, must go through a minimum 20-day deliberation period before they can be submitted to a standing committee plenary meeting. Accordingly, if the Korean won stablecoin bill is submitted in January, actual standing committee review is likely to be possible only in late January or after February. Moreover, the requirement that it must obtain approval at a plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee even if it clears the Political Affairs Committee is also cited as a factor limiting the speed of legislation. Nevertheless, the Democratic Party is said to be determined not to push the bill's processing past March. Meanwhile, the reason the initial goal of passing it within the year has been delayed lies in differences with financial authorities. In particular, the gap between the party and financial authorities has not narrowed over who would issue the Korean won stablecoin and the policy consultation structure that would oversee issuance and distribution. Also, while the Democratic Party takes the position that private issuance should be allowed to build a competitive system and induce innovation, the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission emphasize forming a stable, bank-centered market and are opposed to that.

Chung Reed said, "Based on this service, we plan to actively integrate Mantle with the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem," and emphasized, "As regulatory preparations such as stablecoin legislation accelerate, the connection between traditional finance and blockchain is naturally strengthening. Now is the most appropriate time to expand the RWA strategy." He also expressed high expectations for the Korean market. Chung Reed said, "Korea has the most mature virtual asset market in the world," and said, "Mantle is strengthening activities for Korean developers and users, such as community AMA, collaboration with blockchain academic societies, and hackathon partnerships." He added, "Korea has clear strengths such as K-culture intellectual property (IP), the capabilities of large corporations, and financial infrastructure," and predicted, "If we collaborate with Korean institutions·issuers, the RWA·tokenization ecosystem could grow significantly."

Taiwan is pushing to introduce stablecoins as early as next year. On the 3rd (local time), local media including Focus Taiwan reported that Peng Jinlong, chairman of Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), said, "stablecoins could be launched on the market as early as the second half of next year." Peng said, "'Virtual Asset Service Act' should be included on the Legislative Yuan (parliament)'s agenda for this session," and added, "(if the bill passes) a six-month buffer period will be needed before it takes effect." The Virtual Asset Service Act is the stablecoin regulatory bill Taiwan is seeking to legislate. According to the bill, Taiwan will initially limit issuers to financial institutions in the early stage of stablecoin introduction. Peng said, "(the bill draft) follows the European Union (EU)'s regulations on the virtual asset market." This means it took into account the MiCA law, the cryptocurrency regulation the EU abruptly introduced at the end of last year. However, the legal tender that would underpin the stablecoin has not yet been decided. Peng said, "The value of the stablecoin could be pegged to the US dollar or the New Taiwan dollar depending on market demand, but nothing has been decided yet."

Circle, plunges 74% from peak Investor sentiment plunges amid global macro headwinds Rate cuts and intensified competition are also burdening factors New businesses such as Arc likely to determine rebound The share price of dollar stablecoin issuer Circle continued to decline, falling back to its initial listing price. Riding on positive developments such as expectations of passage of the U.S. stablecoin law 'Genius Act', it drew attention as this year's major IPO, but it has been pointed out that it failed to meet investors' expectations. On the 2nd (local time), Circle closed on the New York Stock Exchange at $77.44, up 1.98% from the previous day. Although it closed higher that day, this is a 74.1% decline compared to its record high ($298.99) recorded on June 23. Earlier, Circle listed on the New York market on June 5 at $69.00. At the time of listing, U.S. President Donald Trump's pro-crypto policies and expectations of the Genius Act's passage combined to make it a standout in this year's U.S. IPO market. However, after struggling for several months post-listing, it recorded an intraday low of $64.20 on the 20th of last month — a figure close to the initial low of $64 recorded on the first day of listing. Hong Seong-wook, a researcher at NH Investment & Securities, explained, '(Circle's stock price) experienced an exaggerated early pricing-in of expectations, and as the market entered an overall correction phase, the decline widened.' Strong results for the third quarter did not prevent the stock's weakness. In the third quarter, Circle posted revenue of $740 million and net income of $214 million. Revenue and net income increased by approximately 65.9% and 300% year-on-year, respectively. Earnings per share (EPS) were $0.64, well above Wall Street's estimate of $0.19. Despite the strong results, analysts say multiple factors contributed to Circle's stock underperformance. First, global macroeconomic uncertainty triggered by recent developments over the past one to two months — such as the U.S.-China tariff war, yen-carry trade liquidation concerns, and a potential U.S. federal government shutdown — acted as negative factors. U.S. rate cuts are also a negative Risk-asset aversion that spread across asset markets added fuel to the decline. In particular, the crypto market suffered a steeper decline than global equities, as the liquidity drain from large-scale liquidations on October 10 continued to have an effect. Specifically, the price of Bitcoin (BTC), often considered the leading crypto asset, is down about 20% from its peak. Major altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH) experienced larger declines than Bitcoin. Worsening crypto sentiment raised concerns about reduced demand for stablecoins — which function as cash within the market — negatively affecting Circle as well, analysts say. A Federal Reserve interest rate cut — which could be positive for the crypto market — is negative for Circle. Circle holds a large amount of U.S. Treasuries as reserves for USDC. If rates fall, the yields on those Treasuries decline, worsening Circle's profitability. Researcher Hong said, 'Most of a stablecoin company's revenue comes from bonds accumulated to back stablecoin issuance,' adding, 'Rate cuts can directly lead to reduced earnings.' Concerns over "USDC market share decline" Intensifying market competition is also cited as a factor weakening investor sentiment. Reports that global fintech firms and major exchanges are entering or preparing to enter the dollar stablecoin business have raised concerns that USDC's market share could be shaken. In fact, U.S. investment bank Compass Point downgraded Circle to 'sell' in July, citing intensified stablecoin competition and the possibility of overvaluation. Researcher Hong said, 'If the Genius Act is enacted, many financial firms and fintech companies could issue stablecoins,' adding, '(However) at present, concerns that USDC will lose market share are an overinterpretation.' Market participants say Circle's new businesses will determine whether its stock rebounds. Circle is pursuing diversification of revenue models through new businesses such as the USDC-optimized blockchain network 'Arc (Acr)' and the distribution infrastructure 'CPN (Circle Payments Network)'. In particular, Arc has already released a test version and is scheduled for official launch next year. Researcher Hong said, 'Considering the case where Tron (TRX) grew into a Tether (USDT)-centric blockchain and formed a market cap of $26 billion, Arc could also contribute to Circle's corporate value,' predicting, 'The performance of an Arc token could act as a positive for Circle's stock.'

The Ethereum (ETH) infrastructure project ETHGas on the 3rd (local time) released the roadmap for the 'Open Gas Initiative' aimed at eliminating gas fees on the Ethereum network. Open Gas is a program developed by ETHGas to reduce the gas fee burden for Ethereum users. Specifically, protocols participating in the program subsidize Ethereum users' gas fees monthly via rebates. According to Open Gas, protocols can promote deposits and staking through gas fee subsidies and increase total value locked (TVL) to build a long-term user base. The Open Gas roadmap consists of three stages: curation, Programmatic, and Full Automation. In the first stage, participating protocols estimate per-user gas usage via a dashboard and then pay gas subsidies to users. In the second stage, a rebate system tailored to individual user behavior patterns is designed to maximize revenue and retention and to obtain insights from the data. The third stage is 'gas abstraction', which fully automates this flow so that gas fees are imperceptible. ETHGas emphasized, "As more than $30.3 billion in gas fees have been consumed so far, the need for a gas-free user experience (UX) is growing." ETHGas explained, "Open Gas is an expanded project aimed at removing gas fees from the (Ethereum) user experience," adding that "it is designed to bridge the gap between protocols pursuing sustainable growth and users who want a seamless on-chain experience." ETHGas plans to steadily expand the scope of Open Gas services. Open Gas is currently operating for Ethereum mainnet users. Open Gas stated, "We plan to expand services soon to other Layer 2s and EVM blockchains such as Base (BASE), Binance Coin (BNB), and Arbitrum (ARB)," and added, "We will continuously release features that can increase user participation." Open Gas partners were also disclosed. According to ETHGas, four companies—EigenLayer (EIGEN), EthFi (ETHFI), Pendle (PENDLE), and Velvet Capital—recently adopted Open Gas. ETHGas has also secured infrastructure partners such as GasHawk and BlockNative. An ETHGas representative said, "Open Gas is not a simple tool but a partnership ecosystem," adding, "We will also seek integrations with Base, Binance Coin, and others in the future."

An analysis said that Strategy has newly created dollar reserves of $1.444 billion to prepare for the possibility of a long-term correction in Bitcoin (BTC). According to a CryptoQuant report cited by The Block on the 4th (local time), Strategy has prepared a cash buffer to cover at least 12 months and, in the long term, more than 24 months for preferred stock dividends and company debt interest payments. The report described this as "a signal that the company has begun to recognize the possibility that Bitcoin may trade sideways for an extended period or decline further." CryptoQuant explained that a dual reserve system (dollars + Bitcoin) has the advantage of lowering the risk that Strategy would be forced to sell its held Bitcoin in a market crash. However, it also weakens the capacity for new purchases, so the "additional purchase effect" that was a strong buying force in the previous cycle may be limited, the report diagnosed. Strategy's Bitcoin buying pace has recently slowed noticeably. Monthly purchase volume decreased from 134,000 BTC in November 2024 to 9,100 BTC in November 2025, and as of December it had only bought 135 BTC. The report analyzed, "As Strategy shifted to a liquidity-first strategy, its previous aggressive accumulation strategy has entered an adjustment phase."

Bitcoin (BTC) price fell below 92,000 dollars. According to CoinMarketCap on the 3rd, Bitcoin was trading at 91,942.04 dollars as of 11:09 PM that day, up 4.52% from the previous day. Compared with a week ago, it rose 5.68%. The kimchi premium recorded the 1% range. According to Cryprice, as of 11:09 PM that day the kimchi premium was calculated at 1.49%.

U.S. broker Charles Schwab(Charles Schwab) said it could support trading of Bitcoin(BTC) and Ethereum(ETH) in the first half of 2026. Amid a trend of traditional brokerages expanding cryptocurrency trading infrastructure, Charles Schwab may also step up services for retail investors. On the 3rd (local time), according to economic breaking news channel Walter Bloomberg(Walter Bloomberg), Charles Schwab CEO Rick Wurster(Rick Wurster) expressed confidence that they could support trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum in the first half of 2026. Wurster did not mention specific launch dates or methods, but presented the possible timing for trading support as 'the first half of 2026.' If this remark materializes, Schwab users could see expanded direct trading access to Bitcoin and Ethereum within a traditional brokerage account environment. However, details such as whether Schwab would offer direct spot trading or provide it via a partnership through an intermediated arrangement were not disclosed. Since the expansion of cryptocurrency services in traditional finance is influenced by market infrastructure and regulatory changes, attention will be paid to whether Schwab's specific plans and service scope will be disclosed further.