SEC Grants Five-Year Exemption For Tokenized Stock Trading Venues
TL;DR The SEC has granted temporary exemptions allowing certain tokenized U.S. stocks to trade on qualifying on-chain venues. The relief lasts five years after publication. Venues still face conditions around investor rights, smart contracts, trading halts and disclosures. The SEC has taken one of its clearest steps yet toward bringing public-company shares on-chain. The Commission…
Treasury Sanctions BitBank Over Iranian Crypto Sanctions-Evasion Network
TL;DR U.S. Treasury has sanctioned Iranian digital asset exchange BitBank. OFAC says the platform was part of a network tied to sanctioned financier Babak Zanjani. Treasury alleges the infrastructure helped move hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin connected to the IRGC. The U.S. Treasury has targeted another part of Iran’s crypto infrastructure, this time…
EU Cyber Resilience Act Brings 24-Hour Vulnerability Reporting Into Force
TL;DR Parts of the EU Cyber Resilience Act’s vulnerability-reporting regime are now applicable. Manufacturers must issue early warnings for actively exploited vulnerabilities within 24 hours. Commercial crypto wallets can fall within the broader category of products with digital elements. One of the more practical pieces of Europe’s Cyber Resilience Act is starting to matter for…
Philippines Central Bank Weighs Freeze On New Payment Operator Licenses
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is weighing a temporary moratorium on new Operator of Payment Systems licenses as part of a wider push to strengthen compliance standards around payment operators and virtual asset service providers. The policy update targets licensing and oversight. It should not be treated as a ban on crypto trading in the Philippines,…
SEC Issues New Reporting Guidance For Digital Asset Custody Firms
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has issued updated staff guidance on public reporting expectations for digital asset depositories and crypto custody arrangements. The guidance centers on how public companies disclose balance sheet treatment and risk factors when they hold crypto assets on behalf of third-party customers. That makes it important for custodians, exchanges, digital…
CFTC Advisory Sets Expectations For Tokenized Collateral At Clearinghouses
The CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk has issued a staff advisory on how registered derivatives clearing organizations should handle tokenized collateral, including tokenized U.S. Treasuries used as margin. The advisory is a narrow but important signal. It does not approve tokenized collateral for every market. It does not mean all clearinghouses can suddenly accept…
ECB Digital Euro Report Keeps Preparation Phase Moving
The European Central Bank has released a progress report on the digital euro preparation phase, outlining work on offline functionality, privacy mechanisms, and holding limits. The update keeps Europe’s central bank digital currency project moving, but it does not amount to final political approval for issuance. That distinction is essential. The ECB can study, design,…
CFTC Issues Event Contract Guidance As Prediction Markets Face Scrutiny
The CFTC has issued regulatory enforcement guidance for event contract derivatives, sharpening the lines around prediction markets at a time when event-based trading is moving deeper into the financial mainstream. The guidance matters because event contracts sit in an awkward space. They can look like derivatives, prediction markets, betting products, information markets, or political-risk tools…
Belgium Police Target Crypto Wallets In Cross-Border Piracy Crackdown
Belgian federal police have targeted crypto wallets linked to offshore piracy platforms in a cross-border enforcement action, according to an official government release. The action highlights how digital asset wallets continue to appear in law-enforcement investigations beyond the usual exchange, fraud, and darknet narratives. In this case, the focus is limited to wallets allegedly connected…
CFTC Files Amicus Brief In Polymarket Event Contract Insider Trading Case
The CFTC has filed an amicus brief in a federal criminal case involving alleged insider trading on Polymarket event contracts, putting prediction markets back under the regulatory spotlight. The case centers on a soldier accused of trading around non-public information in event contracts. The CFTC’s involvement matters because it gives the agency another chance to…