1. US non-farm payrolls increased by 50,000 in December, with the unemployment rate at 4.4%.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 50,000 in December, below the expected 73,000 and also lower than the revised 56,000 in November; the unemployment rate fell to 4.4%, lower than the expected 4.5%. Meanwhile, the combined October and November employment figures were revised down by 76,000. BLS data shows that the average monthly job growth for 2025 will be only 49,000, significantly lower than the 168,000 in 2024.
2. Caixin: The digital yuan adopts a non-blockchain smart contract system, achieving automatic execution based on a unified ledger.
According to Caixin, the smart contracts of the digital yuan are different from the "on-chain" smart contracts built on the blockchain, which are famous for Ethereum. The digital yuan is based on a newly designed account system and a set of infrastructure. In this system, the central bank and commercial banks jointly maintain "the same ledger," forming a unified ledger platform. The digital yuan belongs to a non-blockchain smart contract system. As long as the transaction occurs within the closed-loop system of the digital yuan, payment can be automated and enforced.
3. The UK Financial Conduct Authority will open the application window for crypto licenses in September 2026.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will open the application window for crypto licenses in September 2026, requiring authorization under the FSMA before the new regulations take effect in October 2027. Existing anti-money laundering or payment registrations will not be automatically converted and will need to be reapplied for or have their licenses amended. Institutions that fail to obtain approval on time will enter a transition period, during which they can only maintain existing business and are restricted from adding new services.
4. Morgan Stanley is advancing its digital asset strategy; E*Trade plans to launch cryptocurrency trading.
Morgan Stanley is advancing its business expansion across digital assets, wealth management, and the private equity market: the company plans to launch trading services for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana on its E*Trade platform in the first half of 2026 (with underlying infrastructure support from Zerohash), and plans to launch its own digital wallet in the second half of the year as the infrastructure to support tokenized asset trading in the future; in the private equity market, Morgan Stanley does not rule out improving trading and settlement efficiency through equity tokenization, but will still focus on traditional trading structures in the short term.
5. South Korea's Supreme Court ruled that Bitcoin held on exchanges can be seized under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
For the first time, South Korea's Supreme Court has ruled that Bitcoin held by individuals and stored on virtual asset exchanges such as Upbit and Bithumb is subject to seizure under the Code of Criminal Procedure. This is a further supplementary ruling based on the Supreme Court's 2018 ruling that "Bitcoin is an object of confiscation that can be returned to the state." The court pointed out that the scope of seizure is not limited to tangible objects but also includes electronic information; Bitcoin, as an electronic token that can be independently managed, traded, and has economic value, is controlled by private keys and can be seized by investigative authorities in accordance with the law.
