The Daily: Terraform Labs liquidator sues Jump Trading, US crypto czar David Sacks confirms Clarity Act markup for January, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! Thanks for sticking with us through the rollercoaster ride that was crypto in 2025. The Daily is taking a short break over the holidays, but we’ll be back in the new year refreshed and ready to help you navigate what 2026 has in store.

In today’s newsletter, Terraform Labs’ liquidator sues Jump Trading for $4 billion, David Sacks says the Clarity Act markup is confirmed for January, the U.S. Senate confirms new CFTC Chair pick Michael Selig, and more.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan reiterates why it doesn’t see a trillion-dollar stablecoin market by 2028.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It’s a great read — and just like The Daily, it’s free to subscribe!

Terraform Labs liquidator sues Jump Trading for $4 billion in damages

Terraform Labs’ court-appointed liquidator has sued Jump Trading and top executives, seeking $4 billion in damages tied to the 2022 TerraUSD collapse.

• The lawsuit alleges Jump secretly struck a backdoor deal with Terraform to prop up the algorithmic stablecoin before its failure, allowing the firm to profit in the billions of dollars.
• Terraform’s collapse wiped out more than $40 billion in market value, triggering widespread contagion across the crypto lending sector.
• Terraform Labs ultimately filed for bankruptcy in 2024 and agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission nearly $4.5 billion in penalties.
• The SEC previously also said Jump’s crypto unit secretly propped up TerraUSD in 2021 in exchange for early access to Luna tokens, misleading investors and generating $1.28 billion in profits before later agreeing to pay $123 million in fines.
• Jump dismissed the liquidator’s lawsuit as an attempt to deflect blame from Terraform and co-founder Do Kwon, while creditors have recovered only about $300 million so far, according to the WSJ.
• Last week, Kwon was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the U.S. following his guilty plea to two criminal counts in August.

US crypto czar David Sacks says Clarity Act markup confirmed for January

White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott and Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman have confirmed a January markup for the Clarity Act.

• “We are closer than ever to passing the landmark crypto market structure legislation that President Trump has called for,” Sacks said on X.
• The legislation, which would establish a formal regulatory framework for crypto and clarify jurisdiction between the SEC and the CFTC, already passed the House in July with strong bipartisan support and is now moving into the Senate committee review stage.
• A January markup could merge the House-passed Clarity Act with elements of the Senate’s own market structure proposal before a potential floor vote.

Senate confirms CFTC Chair pick Selig as agency takes larger role regulating crypto

The Senate was also in the news late Thursday, confirming Michael Selig to lead the CFTC and positioning the agency to take a central role in federal crypto regulation as the market structure legislation advances.

• President Trump nominated Selig after withdrawing a16z crypto’s Head of Policy Brian Quintenz’s bid following stalled votes and conflict-of-interest concerns from parts of the crypto industry, including Gemini’s Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
• Selig brings prior experience from private practice and as Chief Counsel for the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, as lawmakers consider expanding the CFTC’s authority over digital assets.
• During his confirmation hearing in the Senate Agriculture Committee last month, Selig spoke about the need for clearer rules for crypto, while balancing consumer protection and allowing software developers to innovate.

Ark Invest scoops up more Coinbase shares following crypto exchange’s ‘System Update’

Ark Invest bought another 17,386 Coinbase shares on Thursday, worth about $4.2 million, across three of its funds, adding to its position following the crypto exchange’s “System Update” Dec. 17 product rollout.

• The Cathie Wood-led investment firm continues to actively rebalance its fund weightings, having purchased $16.3 million in Coinbase shares earlier this week amid ongoing market volatility.
• Coinbase’s expansion into stocks, prediction markets, Solana DEX trading, derivatives, custom stablecoins, and payments has reinforced analysts’ bull case for its shares, prompting Benchmark, JPMorgan, and Deutsche Bank to reiterate or initiate buy ratings.
• Ark also added $1.4 million worth of Solmate shares, backing the Solana-focused treasury firm despite steep declines in the stock since its September peak.

Ethereum devs name post-Glamsterdam upgrade ‘Hegota’ as 2026 roadmap takes shape

Ethereum core developers named the post-Glamsterdam upgrade “Hegota” during the latest ACDE call on Thursday, setting the next milestone in the network’s 2026 roadmap under its new twice-yearly release cadence.

• Hegota combines the execution layer’s “Bogota” and the consensus layer’s “Heze,” though developers will not choose its headliner EIP until February.
• The Hegota upgrade remains at an early stage and is expected to absorb deferred items from Glamsterdam, with long-term goals like Verkle Trees and state management changes also potentially incorporated.

Looking ahead to next week

• UK GDP data are released on Monday. U.S. GDP numbers follow on Tuesday. U.S. jobless claims figures are due on Wednesday.
• Markets are closed on Thursday for Christmas.
• Euler, LayerZero, Kaito, AltLayer, and Wormhole are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.

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