Odaily News: Nasdaq-listed Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla has announced its official rebranding to Forum Markets and will transition into a digital asset platform. Its stock ticker symbol will also be changed to "FRMM" upon Nasdaq approval, while the CUSIP number will remain unchanged. Shareholders are not required to take any action regarding this change. Following the transition, the company will strategically upgrade to build a digital asset platform focused on institutional-grade Real World Asset (RWA) tokenization and explore launching tokenized investment products across multiple asset classes. (PRNewswire)

Odaily News South Korea is advancing new regulations aimed at compelling investment Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) who promote crypto assets and stocks on social media to disclose their own holdings and whether they receive compensation. It is reported that Kim Seung-won, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, is drafting amendments to the "Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act" and the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act." According to the proposal, individuals who repeatedly provide investment advice to the public or receive compensation for encouraging the purchase or sale of financial products or virtual assets must disclose the amount of compensation received and the types and quantities of assets they hold. Violators may face penalties equivalent to those for market manipulation or insider trading. (Cointelegraph)

Odaily News: Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire commented on Circle's Q4 and full-year 2025 performance on platform X. "We are at an inflection point. The internet is evolving from transmitting information to transmitting value. Blockchain, stablecoins, and AI are not isolated trends—they are converging into a larger combination, a new global economic system natively built on the internet."

"In my view, we are about to enter a world where there will be tens or even hundreds of billions of AI agents interacting and performing economic functions on the internet. They will need programmable digital dollars and open infrastructure to achieve this. And this is precisely what we have been building at Circle. Circle's Q4 performance shows this is no longer just a vision—it is happening. USDC continues to expand, our share of stablecoin transaction volume is approaching 50%, and our overall platform has extended far beyond mere issuance to the infrastructure layer of on-chain finance. Arc, CCTP, Circle Payments Network, StableFX—each is a building block for the future. The opportunities ahead are unprecedentedly vast, and Circle is just getting started."

Odaily News: Publicly traded company Circle released its fiscal year 2025 performance report, disclosing that the USDC circulation reached $75.3 billion by the end of 2025, a 72% increase; USDC on-chain transaction volume in Q4 2025 was $11.9 trillion, a 247% increase; total revenue and reserve income for fiscal year 2025 were $2.7 billion, a 64% increase. Circle also stated that its net loss from continuing operations reached $70 million, primarily impacted by $424 million in equity incentive expenses related to its initial public offering (IPO), while the net profit from continuing operations in fiscal year 2024 was $157 million. Additionally, Circle announced that 55 financial institutions have registered for the Circle Payments Network (CPN), with another 74 undergoing qualification review; the Arc public testnet has launched, attracting over 100 participants. (Businesswire)

Odaily News: Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 released its full-year 2025 financial performance report. The report disclosed that the company generated $9.6 million in revenue from hosting services in the 2025 fiscal year. As of December 31, 2025, it holds approximately $1.4 billion in cash and Bitcoin reserves. Concurrently, Hut 8 has initiated a $1 billion ATM (at-the-market) equity offering program and has entered into revolving credit agreements with Two Prime and Coinbase, with a maximum borrowing capacity of $400 million. Hut 8 stated that its revenue for the twelve months ended December 31, 2025, reached $235.1 million, compared to $162.4 million in the same period the previous year. The net loss was $248 million, compared to a net profit of $331.4 million in the same period last year. (PRNewswire)

Odaily News Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stated in his Budget Speech that to further attract family offices and funds to establish themselves in Hong Kong, the tax system will be optimized. Digital assets, precious metals, and others will be classified as eligible investments for tax concessions, with the plan taking effect from the 2025/2026 tax year. Additionally, the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and the revised Common Reporting Standard (CRS) will be implemented over the next two years respectively, aligning with international efforts to enhance tax transparency and combat cross-border tax evasion. The amendments to the Inland Revenue Ordinance are expected to be submitted in the first half of the year.

Chan also mentioned that the Hong Kong government will continue to issue tokenized bonds regularly. The Faster Payment System (FPS) will establish a digital asset platform within the year to support the issuance and settlement of digital bonds, gradually expanding to other digital assets and connecting with other tokenization platforms in the region. (Hong Kong Government Press Release)