SoftBank Buys DigitalBridge, Coinbase Arrest, Tokenization Shift

Welcome to our Crypto news in 10, a daily podcast bringing you the latest news about crypto in under 10 minutes.

Here’s what’s new on Tuesday, December 30, 2025... We’ve got five stories. SoftBank makes a four billion dollar move for DigitalBridge to supercharge AI infrastructure — with big implications for crypto data centers and tokenization rails. Coinbase sees its first arrest in India tied to the insider-led customer data breach from May. The U.S. Justice Department and the FBI step up actions against North Korean remote IT worker schemes that have siphoned crypto from U.S. firms. A Reuters Breakingviews column says the real tokenization boom won’t be a DeFi utopia — it’ll be bank back offices. And we’ll close with a quick pulse check on markets: thin holiday liquidity, with Bitcoin hovering in the high eighty-thousands.

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Story one: SoftBank is buying DigitalBridge for roughly four billion dollars, paying sixteen dollars a share — about a fifteen percent premium — to fold one of the biggest digital infrastructure managers into Masayoshi Son’s AI buildout.

DigitalBridge oversees about one hundred eight billion dollars across data centers, fiber, towers, and edge, and will keep operating as an independent platform under CEO Marc Ganzi. SoftBank says the deal is about scaling compute, power, and connectivity for next-generation AI — think the massive Stargate-style mega data center push they’ve been touting with partners.

Why it matters for crypto — the same campuses and interconnects that feed AI also power mining, custody, and tokenization workloads. Capacity, energy, and inter-data-center networking are becoming shared constraints. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending approvals.

A few market ripples showed up quickly. DigitalBridge shares jumped, analysts framed the deal as SoftBank doubling down on “physical AI” infrastructure, and RBC pegged DigitalBridge’s fair value to that sixteen dollar takeout price. The crossover is key — capital pouring into AI data centers can spill into blockchain scale, especially for custody, tokenized markets, and on-chain market data. Reporting from the Financial Times and Barron’s outlines the rationale and the pricing dynamics.

Story two: Coinbase just marked a milestone in its months-long breach investigation. Hyderabad Police in India arrested a former Coinbase customer service agent linked to the insider bribery scheme that exposed sensitive customer data earlier this year.

CEO Brian Armstrong publicly thanked the Hyderabad force, reiterated a zero-tolerance policy, and warned there may be more arrests. Coinbase has said costs tied to the incident could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars due to remediation and reimbursements. The latest arrest underscores a recurring pain point — human-layer security at outsourced support desks.

If you missed the earlier contours... attackers allegedly bribed overseas support staff to siphon customer details, then attempted extortion. Coinbase pledged to make customers whole where appropriate, and has been coordinating with U.S. and international agencies. Local and international coverage — including The Economic Times and The Week — highlights the law-enforcement traction here.

Story three: The U.S. crackdown on North Korean remote IT worker operations — schemes that often end with crypto disappearing from company wallets — stepped up again. The FBI has active wanted notices for four North Korean nationals accused of infiltrating U.S. companies as remote IT staff and stealing more than nine hundred thousand dollars in crypto. Federal warrants were issued in June, and investigators point to links through the UAE and Laos.

The Justice Department coordinated actions across multiple states this year — indictments, searches of so-called laptop farms, seizures of accounts and websites, and forfeiture actions tied to revenue schemes. The signal to enterprises is clear: tighten identity verification for remote hires, monitor for proxy-access patterns, and segregate crypto operational keys from general IT roles.

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Story four: Tokenization is booming... but not where early crypto diehards expected. Reuters Breakingviews argues that 2026’s winners may be bank back offices — not the wild west of DeFi.

Banks like Citi, HSBC, and JPMorgan are using blockchain rails to move deposits and assets across internal ledgers and global desks, with stablecoins acting as a competitive spur. Those multi-trillion tokenization forecasts sound grand — but near-term traction is in faster settlements and operational plumbing... less sizzle, more savings.

For crypto builders, the takeaway is strategic: align with bank workflows, compliance, and treasury operations. That may be the shortest path to scale.

Story five: Markets — year-end wobble. Thin holiday liquidity and cautious macro have Bitcoin drifting back near eighty-seven thousand dollars today, with the total crypto market cap down roughly two to three percent. Ethereum is hovering around two thousand nine hundred thirty dollars.

It’s a modest giveback after yesterday’s bounce, and typical of late December trading when small flows move prices. Big picture, 2025 saw a spring and summer powered by ETF demand and institutional onboarding, an autumn peak, then a sharp cooldown into December as macro jitters and liquidations bit.

If you’re positioning into 2026, watch liquidity pockets around eighty-five thousand on Bitcoin... and whether stablecoin inflows re-accelerate once desks are fully staffed next week.

Quick recap: SoftBank’s DigitalBridge buy is a bet that AI — and by extension, crypto infrastructure — needs a lot more steel and silicon. Coinbase’s India arrest shows insider-breach probes are bearing fruit. U.S. authorities are squeezing North Korean remote IT rings that target American companies and their crypto. Tokenization’s center of gravity is shifting to bank back offices. And price-wise, we’re closing the year on quieter volumes, with Bitcoin in the high eighty-thousands — eyes on liquidity and flows as we head into January.

Thanks for listening and see you tommorow!