Cardano's Countdown Begins: Key Dates to Watch This December
December might be shaping up to be a major month for Cardano, with eyes now on key dates in the upcoming month.Cardano's Midnight blockchain's NIGHT token will be launching as a Cardano native asset on Dec. 8 with distribution and token trading set to begin on this date.REMINDER: Midnight's $NIGHT token will be launching as a Cardano Native Asset on December 8th! 🕛Distribution & token trading will begin on this date. pic.twitter.com/GgMsBbbBb7Over the weekend, major crypto exchange Coinbase announced that December might be a major one for altcoin traders, including Cardano. According to Coinbase, starting Dec. 5, 24/7 trading will go live for all altcoin monthly futures from Coinbase Derivatives.On Dec. 12, Coinbase will be launching new U.S. perpetual-style futures for all altcoins, including Cardano.The launch will give retail traders access to one of the most widely used derivatives products in crypto within a regulated environment. Also, Cardano traders will enjoy round the clock and weekend trading of its monthly futures on the Coinbase Derivatives platform.Cardano ETF optimism remainsApplications for a Cardano spot ETF are currently under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In early 2025, Grayscale Investments officially filed to convert its Grayscale Cardano Trust into a publicly traded spot ETF on NYSE Arca, marking a major milestone in a push toward a U.S.-listed Cardano spot ETF.Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP have received spot ETFs in the U.S., with the first Dogecoin ETF in the U.S. set to launch today.With major cryptocurrencies — especially those in the top 10 — gaining spot ETFs in the U.S., optimism remains for Cardano.Cardano remains resilientToward the weekend, Cardano network saw a temporary chain partition as a malformed delegation transaction exploited a dormant deserialization bug in certain recent node versions.This created a temporary chain partition, with a “poisoned” chain that accepted the bug and a “healthy” chain that did not. Block production on the healthy chain slowed but did not stop, and Cardano maintained its integrity.The network converged back to a single healthy chain within 14.5 hours after node operators, central exchanges and network contributors coordinated node upgrades.