Important news from last night and this morning (December 22-December 23)

Sources say Trump may appoint a new Federal Reserve chairman in the first week of January.

According to CNBC, sources familiar with the matter said that US President Trump may appoint a new Federal Reserve chairman in the first week of January.

CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham steps down, Michael Selig sworn in as the 16th Chair.

According to an announcement on the CFTC's official website, Acting Chair Caroline D. Pham has officially stepped down, and Michael Selig has been appointed as the 16th Chair. Selig previously served on the SEC's Crypto Assets Task Force, actively promoting legislation on the structure of the digital asset market and advocating for an "end of regulation equals enforcement" approach. He stated that he will lead the CFTC in developing "common sense" rules for a new era of financial innovation in the United States, helping the US become a global center for crypto capital.

Bloomberg: Ghanaian Parliament Approves Bill Legalizing Cryptocurrency

According to Bloomberg, the Ghanaian parliament has approved a bill legalizing cryptocurrencies, a move aimed at addressing the Central Bank of Ghana's concerns about the growing and unregulated use of Bitcoin in the country. Central Bank Governor Johnson Ashima stated in Accra over the weekend that the passage of the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act would facilitate the licensing and regulation of cryptocurrency platforms.

Sources familiar with the matter: JPMorgan Chase is considering offering cryptocurrency trading services to institutional clients.

Bloomberg reports that JPMorgan Chase is considering offering cryptocurrency trading services to its institutional clients as major global banks deepen their involvement in the cryptocurrency asset class. A source familiar with the matter revealed that JPMorgan Chase is evaluating what products and services its markets division could offer to expand its business in the cryptocurrency space. The source indicated that these products and services could include spot and derivatives trading.

The Espresso airdrop registration portal is now live, and the official application process will begin in early 2026.

According to an announcement from the Espresso Foundation, the ESP airdrop registration portal is now open, and users can connect their wallets to check their eligibility. The official announcement warns against trusting fake websites or phishing messages, and states that the official token distribution will begin in early 2026, during which time eligibility criteria may be added; users who are not yet eligible will still have a chance to participate.

GMX is integrated with the Ethereum mainnet, allowing users to trade directly or provide liquidity.

Coinbase will acquire prediction market startup The Clearing Company, with the transaction expected to close in January.

According to The Block, Coinbase has reached an agreement to acquire prediction market startup The Clearing Company. Coinbase stated that the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in January.

The Clearing Company, founded earlier this year by Toni Gemayel, former head of growth at Polymarket and Kalshi, completed a $15 million seed funding round in August, with investors including Coinbase Ventures. The company aims to build an on-chain, regulated prediction market platform.

Zhao Changpeng: The prediction market platform Kalshi now supports BNB deposits and withdrawals.

Strategy increased its reserves by $748 million, bringing its total holdings to $2.19 billion.

According to an official announcement, Strategy has increased its dollar reserves by $748 million, and now holds $2.19 billion in cash reserves and 671,268 BTC.

Global listed companies made net purchases of $26.35 million in BTC last week, while Strategy did not increase its holdings.

BitMine increased its holdings by 98,800 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to 4,066,000 ETH.

According to PRNewswire, BitMine added 98,852 ETH last week, bringing its total holdings to over 4 million ETH. As of December 21, BitMine's total cryptocurrency, cash, and "Moonshot" holdings totaled $13.2 billion. BitMine holds 4,066,062 ETH; 193 BTC; $38 million in shares of Eightco Holdings (NASDAQ: ORBS); and $1 billion in uncollateralized cash.

ETHZilla sold 24,200 ETH to redeem bonds and shifted its business focus to RWA tokenization.

Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla announced on the X platform that it sold 24,291 ETH as part of the redemption of outstanding senior collateralized convertible bonds, raising approximately $74.5 million. ETHZilla plans to use all or most of the proceeds from this redemption.

ETHZilla believes its value will be primarily driven by revenue and cash flow growth from its RWA tokenization business, and therefore will discontinue offering the mNAV dashboard on its website, but will continue to update its balance sheet regularly. Furthermore, ETHZilla will continue to report any material changes to ETH Treasury holdings and/or the number of shares in filings with the U.S. SEC and social media posts.

Trump Media, owned by Trump, increased its holdings by 450 BTC, bringing its total holdings to 11,542 BTC.

Trump Media, owned by Trump, has added 450 BTC to its holdings, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 11,542, worth approximately $1.03 billion.

Thiel-backed digital bank Erebor has raised $350 million, doubling its valuation to $4.35 billion.

According to Axios, Erebor, a digital bank backed by Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel and Anduril CEO Palmer Luckey, has raised $350 million in funding. The round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from existing investors Founders Fund, 8VC, and Haun Ventures. Its latest valuation is $4.35 billion. Erebor positions itself as a new type of bank serving crypto and technology clients. It recently received FDIC deposit insurance approval and obtained a preliminary banking license, and is expected to officially launch in 2026.

Google's parent company, Alphabet, acquired clean energy company Intersect for $4.75 billion.

ByteDance plans to invest $23 billion in artificial intelligence.

CoinShares: $952 million flowed out of digital asset investment products last week.

CoinShares released its latest weekly report stating that digital asset investment products experienced their first outflow in four weeks, amounting to $952 million. This was primarily due to the delayed passage of the U.S. Clarity Act, leading to continued regulatory uncertainty and market concerns about whale selling. The outflow, totaling $990 million, was almost entirely concentrated in the United States, partially offset by inflows from Canada and Germany.

Ethereum saw the largest outflow of funds, at $555 million, while Bitcoin experienced an outflow of $460 million. Solana and XRP, on the other hand, continued to attract inflows, indicating that investors are selective in their support for different assets.