Dear Readers,

Happy Monday, and welcome to the sixth edition of Fiat Bridge. 

As we approach the end of 2025, the cryptocurrency markets continue to show resilience amid holiday-season volatility. Bitcoin remains slightly down year-to-date but has outperformed traditional assets like gold and silver over longer horizons.

Today's key developments highlight maturing infrastructure, institutional adoption, and mechanisms that could influence long-term asset scarcity and yields, factors directly relevant to portfolio allocation decisions in this space.

Let’s dive in.

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Now let’s get back to the top stories of the day.

Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange (DEX, a non-custodial platform where users trade cryptocurrencies directly via smart contracts), has permanently removed approximately 100 million UNI tokens (its governance token) from circulation. This "burn" is valued at around $600 million and follows the community's approval of a "fee switch" proposal.

The fee switch redirects a portion of protocol fees (generated from trades on Uniswap versions 2 and 3, as well as revenue from its layer-2 network Unichain) toward purchasing and burning more UNI tokens over time. This creates a deflationary loop: as platform usage grows, fees increase, leading to more token burns, which reduce supply and potentially support price appreciation if demand holds steady.

Investment implication: This shift makes UNI more akin to a scarce digital asset with built-in buy pressure, similar to stock buybacks in traditional companies. UNI's price rose 5% following the announcement, reflecting market approval. For investors, this strengthens the case for governance tokens in high-utility protocols, although sustained benefits depend on continued growth in trading volume.

In its institutional outlook, Coinbase highlights three segments expected to drive the majority of activity and innovation next year:

Investment implication: These areas underscore crypto's shift toward derivatives, event-driven speculation, and practical payment rails, mirroring evolutions in traditional finance (e.g., futures dominance on CME or stablecoin parallels to money market funds). Investors may consider exposure to platforms or tokens tied to these themes for 2026 outperformance.

BitMine, a major Bitcoin mining company expanding into Ethereum, has initiated staking (locking up ETH to secure the network and earn rewards) by depositing approximately 74,880 ETH worth $219 million initially. This is part of a broader strategy involving its large ETH treasury (over 4 million ETH total).

At current ~3.1% annual yields, full staking could generate substantial recurring revenue (estimates suggest hundreds of millions annually if scaled). Notably, analyst Tom Lee has cited institutional moves like this in forecasting Ethereum prices of $7,000–$9,000 by early 2026.

Investment implication: Staking signals long-term conviction from institutions, reducing potential sell pressure (staked ETH has withdrawal delays) and adding yield to holdings, comparable to dividend strategies in equities. This could bolster Ethereum's narrative as a productive asset in portfolios diversified beyond Bitcoin.

Mirae Asset, a major South Korean financial conglomerate (managing trillions in traditional assets), is negotiating to buy Korbit, South Korea's fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange and its oldest (founded in 2013). The deal is reportedly valued at $100 million, with a memorandum of understanding already signed.

Investment implication: This represents further mainstream financial integration, as traditional firms seek regulated on-ramps into crypto amid strict local policies separating banking and digital assets. Such acquisitions often validate the sector's maturity and can improve liquidity/access in key markets like Asia, indirectly supporting broader market confidence.

These stories collectively point to institutional deepening, supply-reducing mechanics, and utility-focused growth, themes likely to shape 2026. As always, crypto remains volatile; position sizing and due diligence are essential.

Thank you for reading, and I will see you tomorrow.