The Kingdom of Bhutan launches a gold-backed crypto on Solana

  • Bhutan launches TER, a gold-backed crypto on the Solana blockchain.
  • TER links physical gold to digital assets, boosting investor access globally.
  • DK Bank is responsible for distributing TER, with Matrixdock handling token infrastructure.

Bhutan has made a striking move in the world of digital finance by launching TER, a gold-backed cryptocurrency built on the Solana blockchain.

The token, introduced through the Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC), a special administrative region designed to attract global investment, represents a novel approach to bridging traditional asset security with blockchain technology.

Each TER token corresponds to a fixed amount of physical gold held in institutional custody, giving investors a regulated and transparent way to own gold digitally.

Gold meets blockchain in Bhutan

The TER token is distributed and custodied exclusively by DK Bank, Bhutan’s first licensed digital financial institution regulated by the Royal Monetary Authority.

The tokenisation infrastructure is provided by Matrixdock, a digital asset platform licensed under the GMC authority.

During the initial phase, investors can acquire TER directly through DK Bank, with all assets securely held in institutional custody.

Bhutan’s authorities have emphasised that TER combines the familiarity of traditional gold investment with the advantages of blockchain, including instant settlement, on-chain verification, and global transferability.

Gelephu Mindfulness City’s design allows for regulatory flexibility, enabling the launch of such digital assets under a sovereign-backed framework while remaining aligned with the nation’s core principles of transparency, sustainability, and long-term stewardship.

The initiative also underscores Bhutan’s goal of creating a digitally focused financial ecosystem, attracting international investors, and providing a city-level pilot for responsibly integrating crypto into the national economy.

Bhutan’s planned embrace of blockchain technology

TER is part of Bhutan’s broader and carefully planned embrace of blockchain technology.

The kingdom began Bitcoin mining operations in 2019, powered by its abundant hydroelectric resources, and has accumulated 5,984 BTC valued at more than $536 million, ranking it as the seventh-largest sovereign Bitcoin holder worldwide.

In addition to Bitcoin, GMC has announced plans to hold Ethereum and Binance Coin as part of its strategic reserves.

Bhutan has also partnered with Ripple to pilot a Central Bank Digital Currency, aiming to test a digital version of the national currency, the Ngultrum.

Beyond its crypto reserves, Bhutan has integrated blockchain into practical applications, such as its national digital identity system, which has been migrated to the Ethereum blockchain.

This makes Bhutan the first country to anchor a population-scale ID system on a public blockchain, providing more than 800,000 citizens with cryptographically verifiable credentials by early 2026.

Additionally, partnerships with Binance Pay have enabled the use of cryptocurrencies in the tourism sector, supporting over 100 digital currencies across more than 100 local merchants.

Setting a regional precedent

Bhutan’s TER token not only represents a leap in integrating blockchain with traditional finance but also reflects a strategic vision for sustainable economic innovation.

By connecting physical gold to digital assets within a regulated framework, the kingdom demonstrates how small nations can experiment with technology-driven financial models while preserving sovereignty and cultural values.

This development positions Bhutan as a pioneer in the use of blockchain for real-world asset tokenisation, potentially serving as a model for other countries seeking to modernise their financial ecosystems.

Notably, the launch of TER comes shortly after Kyrgyzstan unveiled USDKG, a gold-backed stablecoin pegged to the US dollar with an initial issuance of $50 million.

These initiatives highlight a growing regional trend where smaller nations are experimenting with state-backed digital assets tied to tangible reserves.

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Satoshi Nakamoto statue arrives at NYSE in major crypto culture shift

  • Satoshi Nakamoto statue arrives at NYSE, marking crypto’s growing Wall Street acceptance.
  • Artwork joins global series as Bitcoin’s history and mainstream adoption gain symbolic recognition.
  • Institutional embrace of Bitcoin accelerates as public entities hold over 3.7M BTC.

The New York Stock Exchange has become the latest home for Valentina Picozzi’s “disappearing” Satoshi Nakamoto statue, signalling how far digital assets have travelled since the time when crypto was treated as unwelcome on Wall Street.

The arrival of the piece was announced in an X post on Wednesday, positioning the NYSE as shared ground for traditional finance and emerging decentralised systems.

The installation also aligns with the anniversary of the Bitcoin mailing list, launched on 10 December 2008, adding symbolic weight to a moment that highlights Bitcoin’s shift from niche idea to mainstream fixture.

NYSE installation

The statue was brought to the NYSE by Bitcoin company Twenty One Capital, which began trading this week.

The artwork itself is by Picozzi, who has been developing her “disappearing” Satoshi series under her Satoshigallery handle.

The New York installation is the sixth piece in a global project she plans to expand to 21 locations.

Her post on X described the placement at such a prominent financial centre as a milestone for the ongoing series.

The display at the NYSE contrasts sharply with the period when crypto was considered taboo across Wall Street.

Bitcoin’s long path

The statue’s arrival coincides with a key date in Bitcoin’s history, falling close to the anniversary of the Bitcoin mailing list launched by Satoshi Nakamoto on 10 December 2008.

Nakamoto mined the genesis block on 3 January 2009, creating the first 50 Bitcoins and setting the foundation for the wider industry.

More than a year after that, on 22 May 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz made the first documented Bitcoin purchase, spending 10,000 Bitcoin to buy two Papa John’s pizzas.

In the years that followed, the asset faced significant resistance.

Institutions and banks kept their distance, and governments attempted to restrict crypto activity through actions widely described as part of Operation Chokepoint 2.0.

Even high-profile sceptics in global finance dismissed the technology before eventually revising their positions.

Institutional shift

The landscape began to change when major financial figures, such as BlackRock’s Larry Fink, shifted from doubt to active interest.

Wall Street institutions moved quickly, increasing participation through exchange-traded funds and direct Bitcoin purchases for corporate treasuries.

Public companies, private companies, countries, and ETFs now hold more than 3.7 million Bitcoin collectively, according to Bitbo.

The total value exceeds 336 billion dollars, showing how deeply Bitcoin has entered mainstream portfolios.

Against this backdrop, the installation at the NYSE serves as a visible marker of how crypto has become integrated into financial culture instead of remaining an outsider technology.

Global statue project

Picozzi’s work has taken the Nakamoto figure to five other locations: Switzerland, El Salvador, Japan, Vietnam, and Miami, Florida.

The collection is intended to reach 21 statues worldwide, a nod to Bitcoin’s capped supply of 21 million tokens.

Her design centres on the idea of disappearance, with the figure positioned as if fading into its surroundings.

The artwork depicts Nakamoto as a hacker in a familiar seated pose, laptop open, representing both the anonymity of Bitcoin’s creator and the programmers who built the broader ecosystem.

The NYSE installation marks the latest step in Picozzi’s effort to trace Bitcoin’s cultural footprint through public art, linking major global locations with the technology’s origins and evolution.

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SEI soars on Xiaomi deal for pre-installed crypto wallets

  • SEI token, native to the high-performance layer-1 blockchain network Sei, climbed on December 10, 2025.
  • This came amid news of a strategic partnership with Xiaomi Corporation.
  • One of the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers will integrate the Sei crypto wallet.
While most top cryptocurrencies traded lower, the SEI price jumped more than 6% in intraday gains.
The token hit a high of $0.15 amid a collaboration to embed a Sei crypto wallet application directly into new Xiaomi smartphones.

The market reaction to the news could see the token jump to highs last seen in early November.

Sei announces partnership with Xiaomi

Sei Labs, the development team behind the Sei blockchain, officially announced its huge collaboration with Xiaomi on December 10, 2025.

Xiaomi is one of the world’s largest smartphone makers, and Sei’s deal looks to tap into this to bring crypto to users.

The two companies eye adoption via an everyday consumer device, specifically through a next-generation crypto wallet and discovery app.

Per details, the integration will feature a pre-installed crypto wallet on all new Xiaomi smartphones. The first target is for devices distributed outside mainland China and the United States.

As such, initial rollout targets Xiaomi’s formidable global footprint across Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

The regions boost notable crypto traction and Sei wants to build on this. Xiaomi’s presence accounts for over 36% of the smartphone market in Greece and over 24% in India.

The smartphone sold over 168 million devices in 2024, accounting for 13% of the global market share.

The integration via a pre-installed wallet will allow for effortless onboarding, with support available for Google or Xiaomi account credentials.

As well as decentralized applications (dApps), the partnership targets peer-to-peer transfers and consumer-to-business transactions.

Sei and Xiaomi plan to enable stablecoin transactions, leveraging assets like USDC natively on the Sei network.

Stablecoin payments will roll out starting in Hong Kong and the European Union by the second quarter of 2026.

“This collaboration with Xiaomi represents a watershed moment for blockchain adoption,” said Jeff Feng, co-founder of Sei Labs. “By embedding Sei’s high-performance infrastructure directly into one of the world’s most popular smartphone ecosystems, we’re not just solving the onboarding problem—we’re reimagining how billions of users will interact with digital assets in their daily lives.”

Why is this big for SEI?

To further catalyze innovation, Sei has committed $5 million to a Global Mobile Innovation Program.

This initiative will fund developers and startups building real-world blockchain applications tailored for consumer devices, fostering a broader ecosystem around mobile-centric web3 solutions.

But for Sei, the partnership with Xiaomi transcends mere distribution.

Xiaomi’s traction and the pre-installation of the Sei app could onboard tens of millions of new users annually.

Other than dramatically expanding Sei’s wallet base in emerging markets, it positions SEI at the forefront of real-world utility.

SEi’s price gains mirror this sentiment.

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Asia-Pacific reshapes the crypto world as Singapore claims top adoption rank

  • Vietnam and Hong Kong enter the global top 10.
  • Six Asia-Pacific markets appear in the top 20.
  • Tokenisation rises 63% to more than 25.7 billion dollars.

Singapore’s rise to the top of global crypto adoption signals a broader shift in how digital assets are becoming embedded across the Asia-Pacific.

A new index published on Tuesday by Bybit and DL Research shows the region gaining influence as regulatory clarity, retail participation and new blockchain use cases reshape where innovation is happening.

The findings also reveal that real-world asset tokenisation, local stablecoins and crypto payrolls are now spreading through markets that have traditionally relied on conventional financial systems, placing Asia-Pacific at the centre of the industry’s next phase.

Regional leadership intensifies

The World Crypto Rankings assessed 79 countries using 28 metrics and 92 data points that examined regulation, institutional readiness and levels of user engagement.

Singapore secured the top position, overtaking the US, which has fallen in the latest edition.

Lithuania, Switzerland and the UAE completed the upper tier of the list, marking a shift from the Western-heavy rankings seen in earlier years.

Asia-Pacific delivered one of the strongest performances, with six of its markets ranked within the global top 20.

Vietnam reached ninth place, while Hong Kong secured tenth as its regulatory reset took effect.

Australia followed closely in eleventh, and the Philippines and South Korea came in seventeenth and twentieth, respectively.

The distribution indicates that adoption patterns are broadening as regional economies align regulation with user demand and market development.

New drivers behind adoption

The report outlines how each market is advancing for different reasons.

Singapore’s top ranking reflects a clear regulatory framework, a structured licensing regime and high levels of participation.

Vietnam stands out for a different type of growth. Nearly 20% of its population owns digital assets largely for remittances, savings and inflation protection.

The index shows that Vietnam ranks first globally for transactional use and for the adoption of decentralised physical infrastructure devices.

This suggests that the country’s progress is being powered from the ground up, with retail users driving the majority of activity.

Hong Kong’s tenth-place ranking reflects its attempt to rebuild confidence following regulatory changes and the introduction of a new licensing system. Its user penetration level places it eighth globally.

The report notes that the city is positioning itself as a blend of Western and Asian financial structures, with stablecoins and tokenisation acting as key catalysts for recovery.

Emerging trends gain global traction

Beyond rankings, the findings point to three trends shaping global behaviour.

Real-world asset tokenisation has expanded by 63% to more than 25.7 billion dollars since January.

This indicates rising interest in converting traditional assets into blockchain-based formats for trading and settlement.

Local currency-pegged stablecoins are also gaining ground. These tokens are emerging in markets that want to reduce reliance on the dollar while supporting domestic and cross-border transactions.

Their growth suggests increasing comfort with digital settlement mechanisms across both institutional and retail users.

This reflects a shift toward integrating digital assets into everyday financial activity rather than treating them solely as investment instruments.

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Cardano price: why 11% spike puts ADA on breakout lane

  • Cardano price rose more than 11% as bulls touched the highest level in over three weeks.
  • Gains came as Bitcoin rebounded to $92,000 and as Cardano cheered two key developments.
  • The uptick to $0.47 could allow bulls to target the crucial $0.50 mark and higher in coming weeks.

Cardano topped the list of 24-hour gainers on Wednesday, with the token’s price jumping more than 11% as bulls looked to build on gains seen on December 9, 2025.

Those gains saw ADA touch its highest level since November 19 and came amid a broader crypto market rebound.

As Bitcoin flirted with resistance above $92,000, ADA price jumped to a high of $0.48.

Bulls are currently hovering at this level, with momentum helped by Cardano’s Midnight launch and ADA’s inclusion in the Bitwise crypto 10 ETF index.

These developments have fueled optimism among investors, positioning Cardano for a potential breakout as it seeks to reclaim critical price levels.

Cardano gains 11% as bulls touch $0.48

The Cardano token led op gainers across the top 100 coins by market cap.

ADA’s uptick in the previous session extended to early trading on December 10 as an 11% push over 24 hours helped prices climb to $0.48.

Bitcoin’s resilience has helped bulls. However, pivotal drivers of this upward momentum included the recent launch of Midnight.

The privacy-focused sidechain integrated with Cardano has its token trading on multiple exchanges as privacy coins show upward potential.

Midnight, which debuted on December 8, 2025, leverages zero-knowledge proofs and the Hydra scaling solution.

Its launch has sparked enthusiasm, including from Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano.

Hoskinson celebrated the milestone on X, stating, “Congratulations Midnight.”

The positive sentiment surrounding Midnight, combined with the market’s bullish turn, provided tailwinds for ADA.

Further boosting the price surge earlier in the week is Cardano’s inclusion in the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF (BITW), launched on December 9, 2025.

BITW trades on the New York Stock Exchange and saw its assets under management (AUM) hit $1.25 billion on December 9, and allocates 0.65% of its holdings to ADA.

Cardano price outlook: breakout above $0.50 next?

ADA’s recent gains mean bulls could target the $0.50 mark, a level below which bears accelerated the downward pressure in mid-November.

The breach saw prices hit lows of $0.37 before staging a robust recovery that initially faded to around $0.45.

Amid the broader crypto market’s upward trajectory, buyers have pierced the supply wall, and technical indicators suggest a potential pump to the $0.50 threshold.

Cardano Price Chart
Cardano price chart by TradingView

Technical analysis highlights a positive Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator.

MACD on the daily chart shows a bullish crossover, while the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has crossed above the critical 50 level.

In the event of a breakout, the key level to watch might be the 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) currently at $0.83.

As Cardano capitalizes on its technological advancements and institutional backing, the next target in a rallying market will be $1.00.

The cryptocurrency last reached this level in March 2025, when ADA exploded over 70% in a day to jump from around $0.65 to near $1.20.

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