BitcoinKE

Germany is preparing to end one of Europe’s biggest tax advantages for long-term crypto holders, with the Finance Ministry proposing a 25% flat tax on crypto gains from 2028, according to a draft proposal reported by Die Welt.
Under current rules, individuals can generally sell crypto tax-free after holding it for more than 12 months, making Germany an attractive destination for long-term Bitcoin and crypto investors. The proposed regime would apply to crypto assets acquired from Jan. 1, 2027, while assets bought before then could be grandfathered under existing rules.

TAXATION | Australia Explores Crypto Tax Overhaul Following 25% Surge in Investor Participation

If the current rules are revised, Germany expects an additional $2.3 billion in revenue from crypto taxation.
The change would effectively remove Germany’s long-standing tax advantage for patient crypto holders and bring its treatment closer to other major European markets that tax crypto gains regardless of holding period.


REPORT | CARF Leaves Over 80% Taxable Crypto On-Chain Activity Outside Reporting Framework, Says Chainalysis



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Ripple is embedding AI agents into its corporate treasury strategy as it seeks to expand its business beyond crypto trading and payments.
The company is using AI agents to automate treasury functions, including managing liquidity, moving funds, and interacting with financial systems, as part of a broader push built around its roughly $1 billion acquisition of treasury-management platform, GTreasury.

In a press release, Ripple said:
Already in production across its enterprise customer base, GSmart embeds AI directly into the policies, data, and workflows treasury teams use every day. This expansion adds new policy-governed capabilities across forecasting, liquidity, risk, reconciliation, and reporting, helping finance teams make faster, more informed decisions while maintaining the controls and auditability required by enterprise organizations.

Ripple Payments Now Support the Full Payments Lifecycle

GSmart is specifically designed to solve the governance gap of separating financial calculation from AI interpretation.

“Every CFO is under pressure to embrace AI, but they’re equally responsible for ensuring every financial decision is explainable, governed and compliant,” said Renaat Ver Eecke, SVP of Ripple Treasury.
“Rather than asking customers to blindly trust an AI system, GSmart works within each organization’s own treasury policies to surface recommendations transparently, while ensuring humans remain in control of every decision. This isn’t simply AI-native treasury, but rather treasury-native AI.”

AI | Crypto is Built for AI Agents, Not Humans, Says Leading Blockchain Infrastructure Firm

Available capabilities include:
Orchestrated agents across forecasting and planning, liquidity, risk, reconciliation and reporting. Each agent monitors its process, proposes a specific action, cites the policy clause behind it, and waits for approval before anything executes.
Knowledge Studio, which serves as the policy and governance layer for GSmart, allowing treasury teams to define organizational policies and controls that guide how AI capabilities operate. All proposed actions are checked against these controls before being up-leveled to a person.
Analytics Studio featuring Ask GSmart, a unified foundation for treasury analytics and AI-powered reporting, with a conversational assistant that helps treasury teams quickly retrieve answers and insights from their data.

According to Ripple, GSmart is already seeing adoption across its enterprise customer base:
60% of eligible customers have enabled Risk Insights – which surfaces exposure anomalies and policy breaches – and
44% of eligible customers are leveraging Forecast Insights – which compares forecasted and actual cash flows to identify emerging liquidity gaps.


PRESS RELEASE | Ripple Brings Institutional Digital Asset Custody to South Africa in Partnership with One of Africa’s Leading Financial Institutions




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Bitwise has announced its decision to liquidate its Bitwise DogeCoin exchange-traded fund (BWOW) less than a year after launch and after the product attracted only about $688,000 in assets, highlighting the difficulty of sustaining demand for single-asset crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin and the largest altcoins.
The Bitwise Dogecoin ETF (BWOW), launched in November 2025, will stop trading on NYSE Arca in October 2026 with the fund expected to convert its remaining DogeCoin holdings to cash and distribute the proceeds to shareholders.

Bitwise said it was closing the fund to ‘optimize its product range to meet evolving investor needs.’

CASE STUDY | What the Shut-Down of the Smallest Bitcoin ETF Signals

The company did not cite weak demand as the reason, but BWOW’s roughly $688,000 in net assets as of September 9 2026 points to limited investor uptake.
The closure also underscores the challenge facing the growing number of crypto ETFs targeting individual altcoins and memecoins. DogeCoin was among the first assets beyond Bitcoin and Ether to gain U.S. ETF products but early trading data showed demand was considerably weaker than for some other crypto ETFs. Grayscale’s spot Dogecoin ETF, for example, recorded $1.4 million in trading volume on its debut below an analyst expectation of $12 million.
Bitwise’s decision suggests that regulatory approval alone is not enough to create a viable ETF market for every cryptocurrency. Funds need sufficient
assets,
trading activity, and
investor demand
to justify their operating costs and continued listing.

CASE STUDY | How This Wall Street Bank is Leveraging its Brand, Pricing, Distribution Network for its Bitcoin ETF

The liquidation is expected to be completed within a year of BWOW’s launch making it an early test of which crypto assets can sustain institutional investment products after the initial launch wave fades.


CASE STUDY | Why This Powerful Entrant Withdrew Plans for a Spot Bitcoin ETF




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Circle is buying TazaPay for $400 million in stock because it gives Circle something it cannot get simply by issuing more USDC:
Direct control over the payment infrastructure that moves money between stablecoins and local financial systems.

Circle says Tazapay brings 60+ banking and fintech partners, payout rails in more than 100 markets and more than $25 billion in annualized payment volume. Importantly, about 60% of Tazapay’s transaction volume already involves stablecoins, meaning Circle is acquiring an existing distribution channel rather than trying to create one from scratch.

STABLECOINS | USDC Issuer, Circle, Acquires Singapore Cross-Border Payments Platform, TazaPay

Why Circle Wants TazaPay
1.) Move from stablecoin issuer to payment infrastructure company
Circle’s biggest strategic challenge is that USDC itself is becoming increasingly commoditized. Issuing the dollar token is only one part of the payments chain.
Tazapay gives Circle the on/off-ramp layer connecting USDC to bank accounts, payment providers and local currencies. That means Circle can potentially capture more of the economics surrounding a transaction rather than simply earning from USDC’s circulation and related services.

2.) It Solves the ‘Last Mile’ Problem
Stablecoins are excellent for moving value globally but businesses ultimately need to receive local currency into local bank accounts or payment systems.
Tazapay already has those connections. Its network covers more than 100 payout markets and 60+ banking and fintech partners.

So the acquisition effectively combines:
USDC + Circle Payments Network + local payment rails = an end-to-end cross-border payments network.

That is much more strategically valuable than simply increasing USDC distribution.

USE CASES | PickSpot Joins Peaq to Solve the Last-Mile Delivery Challenge in Africa with a DePIN of Smart Parcel Lockers

3.) Circle is Buying Distribution, Not Just Technology
The most revealing number may be the 60% stablecoin share of Tazapay’s transaction volume.
Circle isn’t buying a traditional payments company and hoping to convert it to stablecoins. It is buying a payments company where stablecoins are already being used at scale.
That substantially lowers the execution risk.

4.) Asia is Strategically Important
Tazapay is based in Singapore and has built infrastructure across Asia and other emerging markets. That gives Circle a stronger foothold in some of the markets where stablecoins can have their greatest practical utility:
cross-border commerce,
treasury transfers,
remittances, and
business payments.
This also fits Circle’s broader strategy of building a global payments network rather than positioning USDC simply as a crypto trading asset.

CASE STUDY | This Asian Deal Signals Upcoming Market Demand at Scale for Stablecoin Infrastructure

The Bigger Strategic Point
I think the most important way to read the $400 million acquisition is that Circle is trying to own the rails around USDC, not just USDC itself.
The stablecoin becomes the settlement layer while Tazapay provides much of the connectivity to the traditional financial system.

That changes Circle’s business proposition from:
“Here is a digital dollar.”
to:
“Here is the infrastructure for moving dollars globally.”

That distinction matters enormously.

It also explains why Circle is willing to pay $400 million for a company that had raised only around $60 million from investors including Peak XV, Circle, Coinbase and Ripple. Circle is effectively paying for
payment volume,
regulatory infrastructure,
banking relationships,
local payout capabilities, and
distribution,
not simply software.

ACQUISITION | Latin American Payments Firm, dLocal, to Acquire Africa’s Crypto Remittance Fintech, AZA Finance (Formerly BitPesa)
The acquisition looks like another step toward Circle becoming a global payments infrastructure company built around stablecoins.
And there is an important flywheel:
More payment rails → more businesses can use USDC → more USDC transaction volume → more liquidity and distribution → stronger Circle Payments Network → more incentive for businesses and financial institutions to connect.

That is probably the real asset Circle is buying.

In short, Circle isn’t paying $400 million just to acquire Tazapay’s payments business. It is buying the distribution and local financial connectivity needed to turn USDC from a widely used digital dollar into the settlement layer underneath global business payments.


CASE STUDY | Why Circulation, Not Velocity, is What Currently Drives Stablecoins Revenue




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MoneyGram has launched a VISA card that allows customers to spend stablecoin balances expanding the money-transfer company’s push into digital assets as traditional remittance firms and fintechs increasingly adopt stablecoin-based payments.

“We’re giving customers more freedom and control to manage their money, all in one place,” said Anthony Soohoo, Chairman and CEO, MoneyGram.
“The MoneyGram Card builds on the power of our global payments network, bringing a stable-dollar balance, everyday spending and cash access into the MoneyGram experience customers already use and trust.”

STABLECOINS | MoneyGram Launches the MGUSD Stablecoin on the Stellar Blockchain

For everyday spending, customers can add the MoneyGram Card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet to
tap-to-pay,
checkout faster, and
shop online.
To access cash, customers can transfer themselves funds from their MoneyGram balance and pick up local currency at a nearby MoneyGram location.

INTRODUCING | VISA Unveils Enterprise Stablecoin Platform for Minting, Moving, and Managing Stablecoins

Developed in partnership with Rain, the enterprise-grade infrastructure for stablecoin-powered payments, the card gives customers a stable-dollar balance they can hold and use for everyday spending within the MoneyGram ecosystem. The card brings together:
Rain’s card infrastructure,
Crossmint’s wallet capabilities, and
the Stellar network
to provide fast, simple and immediate access to funds.

INTRODUCING | Western Union Launches Stablecoin Remittance Wallet with VISA Card

MoneyGram plans to expand the experience with a physical card option in late 2026, giving customers the ability to withdraw cash at ATMs and make in-person purchases in places where digital cards may not be as widely accepted.

STABLECOINS | ‘If Someone is Sending Money From MoneyGram to MoneyGram, Why Shouldn’t It Be Our Own Coin?’ Asks CEO

As MoneyGram continues to connect its digital and physical network, the MoneyGram Card is another step toward an easier financial experience for consumers worldwide.
MoneyGram serves over 60 million active customers and operates across more than 200 countries and territories, with nearly 500,000 retail locations and a digital network spanning billions of endpoints.


MILESTONE | Stablecoin Settlement Volume Up 15x, Payment Volume Up ~200% YoY, Reveals VISA




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Europe’s top securities regulator has raised concerns about the ability of prediction-market platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi to offer services to European Union users without the necessary regulatory authorizations.

REGULATION | The European Union Warns Many Prediction Markets Are Off-Limits to Retail Investors

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said prediction markets raise investor-protection and market-integrity concerns, including risks linked to insider trading and market manipulation. The regulator said the rapidly growing platforms require continued monitoring.

CASE STUDY | This Platform Sets Insider Trading Precedent on Enforcement Action for Prediction Markets

ESMA has previously warned that event contracts offered by prediction markets could fall under the EU’s rules on binary options if they function as financial instruments. Firms providing investment services involving such products may therefore require authorization under the bloc’s MiFID II framework, while some products could also fall under national gambling rules or, in certain circumstances, the EU’s crypto-asset framework.

“Although available data mainly reflect global market activity and do not permit an assessment of @europeanunion retail participation, prediction markets do not appear to have gained significant traction in the EU compared with the US,” says @ESMAComms.
“This may be explained by… pic.twitter.com/qRUFEOdQh9
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) September 11, 2026
Polymarket and Kalshi remain largely unauthorized across the EU, although both platforms allow access in some European jurisdictions while restricting users in others. European users can also attempt to bypass geographic restrictions through tools such as virtual private networks.

REGULATION | France Gambling Regulator Labels Polymarket Illegal, Orders Internet Service Providers to Block Access

Polymarket has said it is expanding its presence in Europe and joined Brussels-based trade group Blockchain for Europe, with its chief legal officer saying the company was committed to engaging with EU policymakers.
Kalshi, which has overtaken Polymarket in trading volume, has also said it is in talks with international regulators about expanding overseas.

MARKET ANALYSIS | This Prediction Markets Valuation Hits $40 Billion Leveraging Compliance Over Competitors

The regulatory questions come as prediction markets expand beyond political betting into sports, commodities and financial markets. Kalshi reported more than $400 million in monthly commodity trading volume in August, underscoring the rapid growth of the sector.


CASE STUDY | France’s Polymarket Block isn’t Just About Betting




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Solana hit a record 263,000 new tokens issued in a single day underscoring the continued pace of token creation on the blockchain.
The surge comes as activity on Solana remains elevated.
The network processed a record 216 million non-vote transactions in one day in August 2026, while its
real-world asset value recently surpassed $4 billion across about 350,000 addresses,
according to the Solana Foundation.


Pump.fun is the leading Solana-native protocol with ~$1.8 million generated within 24hrs, briefly overtaking the Fomo trading app.
Overall, Pump.fun accounted for 1/3 of Q1 2026 revenue for Solana, which translates to $124 million out of $342 million total making it the largest revenue generator for the chain.
The latest figure stands in stack comparison to highs set in December 2024 during the Solana memecoin peak cycle when some 40-50,000 daily tokens were issued.


This One Single App Accounted for Over 1/3 of All Application Revenue on Solana Blockchain in Q1 2026




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USDT has grown into a global dollar network used by more than 530 million people giving the stablecoin issuer an unusual role in channeling demand for U.S. government debt.
Tether reported more than 530 million users at the end of 2025 while its latest market data showed the number of on-chain USDT holders alone had reached ~140 million, with more than 100 million additional users estimated to hold USDT through centralized exchanges.

That scale is central to Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino’s argument that USDT is effectively helping distribute U.S. debt ownership across hundreds of millions of users.

MILESTONE | U.S National Debt Surpasses $40 Trillion for First Time

Rather than those users directly buying Treasury bills, they hold USDT while Tether holds the underlying assets supporting the tokens. As of March 31, 2026, Tether reported about $141 billion of direct and indirect exposure to U.S. Treasury bills, while Reuters reported the company held about $117 billion in Treasury bills in its reserves.

The distinction matters.

The users are distributed across the world but the Treasury exposure remains concentrated on Tether’s balance sheet.

STABLECOINS | ‘We Have 400 Million Users in Emerging Markets – We’re Basically Pushing Dollar Hegemony, Selling U.S Debt Outside the U.S,’ Says Tether CEO

USDT holders therefore gain dollar exposure without individually owning Treasury securities while Tether earns income from the assets backing the tokens. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has highlighted the broader trend noting that stablecoin issuers’ holdings of Treasury bills have grown to levels comparable with those of large jurisdictions and government money-market funds.

EXPERT OPINION | If Stablecoins Just 5x from Today – Tether ($USDT) and Circle ($USDC) Become the #1 Buyers of U.S. Debt Worldwide

The model turns Tether into an intermediary between global dollar users and the U.S. Treasury market. Hundreds of millions of people create demand for USDT while Tether aggregates the resulting reserve pool into a concentrated Treasury portfolio.
That makes the distribution of the debt’s economic exposure much broader than the ownership of the securities themselves.


OPINION | Why Russia’s Claims About America’s Crypto Reset Plan Actually Make Sense




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Singapore Exchange (SGX) has opened its Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures contracts to U.S. institutional investors expanding access to regulated crypto derivatives as traditional financial firms increase their participation in digital assets.
The contracts, which trade without an expiry date, were launched by SGX in November 2025 and are designed for institutional, accredited and expert investors. SGX said the products provide exchange-traded clearing, margining and risk-management standards for cryptocurrency derivatives.

The move gives U.S. institutions another venue for trading bitcoin and ether derivatives outside U.S. exchanges while extending SGX’s push to build institutional crypto markets.

“[This is] an important milestone [that] bridges the U.S. TradFi participants trading cyrpto futures with Asian liquidity pools [and] legitimizes crypto derivatives as a regulated asset class,” said KC Lam, Head of Crypto Derivatives at SGX Group.

INTRODUCING | Coinbase Launches First Major Crypto-Native Platform to Offer Direct Native Crypto Futures in Canada

Regulation 48.10 is the framework under which the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission allows a registered Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT), an overseas exchange recognized by the CFTC, to give U.S. participants direct access to its trading system without the exchange needing to separately register as a full U.S.-regulated exchange.
In effect, it allows qualifying foreign platforms to open their existing order books to U.S. institutional traders under CFTC oversight rather than requiring a new, standalone U.S. listing.
The SGX Bitcoin and Ether perpetuals are being used for both macro-driven directional bets and arbitrage strategies, including trades that exploit differences in funding rates and prices across venues. Unlike crypto-native perpetuals, SGX’s contracts have no expiry but use traditional margin calls and top-up collateral rather than automatic liquidations, aiming to reduce forced position closures during sharp market moves.
The products also separate trading and clearing, with clearing members acting as an intermediate risk buffer, similar to traditional futures markets. SGX does not accept stablecoins as collateral, citing the risk that they could lose their peg during periods of market volatility.

EXPLAINER | Understanding Crypto Futures and Where You Can Trade

Since their launch in November 2025, SGX crypto perpetual futures for both Bitcoin and Ether have recorded ~$5.8 billion in cumulative traded volume with Bitcoin accounting for:
66% open interest
83% daily average volume
with the highest single-day volume hitting $145 million in notional value.
SGX said its bitcoin and ether perpetual futures are intended to bring the structure and risk controls of listed derivatives to products that are widely used in crypto markets.

“The next step in our pipeline is launching dated futures and options for Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Developing that heavy-duty infrastructure is the major lift; once in place, adding other major coins may become a straightforward process like adding another contract.
We plan to broaden our offerings but we are taking a disciplined, step-by-step approach,” Lam said.


REALITY CHECK | The Polymarket Derivatives Paradox – 20x Leverage Not for America, OK for the World




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U.S. Bank has completed a live cross-border payment using USBDC, its proprietary U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, marking a step toward using blockchain infrastructure for institutional money movement.
The transaction moved funds between U.S. Bank entities in North America and Europe through the Stellar blockchain while remaining connected to the bank’s existing finance, risk, compliance, and operations systems.


According to a statement from the bank:
The pilot demonstrated the ability for U.S. Bank to transfer value value on-chain . . . and represents an important milestone in the continued development of U.S. Bank’s digital asset and money movement capabilities.

The pilot tested USBDC’s ability to
mint,
transfer,
redeem,
freeze, and
claw back
the stablecoin.
U.S. Bank said the transaction also validated its internally developed Digital Asset Platform for issuing, managing, and moving tokenized assets across blockchain networks.

“This live pilot demonstrates our ability to accelerate global cash management and money movement capabilities,” said Gunjan Kedia, Chairman and CEO at U.S. Bank.
“We are excited to create value for our clients and harness the power of a new technology within the banking system.”

STABLECOINS | MoneyGram Launches the MGUSD Stablecoin on the Stellar Blockchain

The bank is exploring additional applications including
liquidity management,
collateral mobility, and
cross-border treasury operations.
The move puts a traditional bank-issued stablecoin into a live payments setting rather than limiting the technology to a digital-asset experiment as banks increasingly examine on-chain rails for moving dollars around the global financial system.

“This pilot is another step forward in our broader digital asset strategy,” said Jamie Walker, Head of Digital Assets and Money Movement at U.S. Bank.
“Our focus remains on delivering solutions that solve real client challenges while maintaining the safety, security and reliability that clients expect from U.S. Bank.”


STABLECOINS | Standard Bank Becomes Only African Bank in Global Stablecoin Consortium

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Tether is expanding USDT beyond crypto trading and into private credit, launching a $400 million fund with Fasanara Capital that could grow to $3 billion with additional institutional capital.
The StableFund will target lending to small and medium-sized businesses with Tether sourcing USDT-linked financing opportunities while providing the stablecoin settlement infrastructure connecting digital assets with traditional currencies.
Fasanara will source and underwrite the loans.

According to Tether:
The structure embeds USD₮ into SME and consumer lending flows across fintech platforms operating in more than 60 countries, targeting borrowers that conventional funding channels have historically underserved.

REGULATION | Thailand Proposes Adding ‘Funding Source Providers’ for Crypto Firms

The move gives Tether a potential new role in financial markets by using USDT not just as a dollar-backed asset for trading, but as a funding and settlement rail for global private credit.
With the fund targeting up to $3 billion in outside capital, Tether is positioning its stablecoin infrastructure to capture financing flows between institutional investors, fintech lenders and businesses that have historically struggled to access conventional credit.

“USD₮ was built to be money that works everywhere, across borders, around the clock, without friction.
Through this fund, Tether is playing the role it is best positioned to play, sourcing USD₮-linked financing opportunities and providing the stablecoin infrastructure that enables seamless cross-border lending.
Together with Fasanara, we are turning Tether’s origination network into a direct channel for capital to flow to the businesses and communities that need it most,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.

REGULATION | Leading European Fintech, Revolut, to Delist USDT from August 2026 Over Regulatory and Risk Concerns

According to Francesco Filia, CEO of Fasanara Capital:
‘“We have spent years building the proprietary technology, the origination relationships, and the underwriting discipline to direct institutional capital to borrowers that traditional finance systematically underserves.
Tether brings something unique to that equation: the largest stablecoin network in the world, a crypto-native investor base with significant capital capacity, and USD₮ rails that extend the reach of credit beyond anything conventional funding structures can achieve.
Together [with Tether], we are improving how capital is deployed into real-economy lending markets and enabling more efficient cross-border credit flows.”


REGULATION | Bank of Thailand Preparing Regulatory Crackdown on Transactions Involving USDT




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TRM Labs has doubled its valuation to $2 billion as demand grows for software that uses blockchain intelligence and artificial intelligence to investigate financial crime, fraud and other illicit activity.
The company said on September 9 2026 that it had raised a strategic expansion of its Series C round led by Blockchain Capital just months after its previous Series C financing in February 2026. TRM said its annual recurring revenue has quadrupled over the past three years.
TRM’s platform is used by government agencies, financial institutions and crypto businesses to
investigate transactions,
identify criminal networks, and
track illicit funds
across blockchain networks.
Its tools include
blockchain forensics,
transaction monitoring,
wallet and entity screening, and
due diligence.
The platform is designed to combine blockchain data with other intelligence to help investigators identify links between wallets, entities, and criminal activity.

PRESS RELEASE | TRM Labs and Zepz Join Forces to Support Safer USDC Stablecoin Remittances for Migrant Communities

More than 600 government agencies and private-sector institutions across 75 countries now use TRM’s platform, the company said. Its customers use the technology to investigate digital fraud, scams, cybercrime, child exploitation, money laundering, and sanctions evasion.
The growing use of TRM reflects a broader shift in how financial crime investigations are conducted as criminal activity moves across digital assets, online platforms, and increasingly sophisticated networks.
Traditional investigations can require investigators to piece together large amounts of fragmented information from different systems. TRM says its AI-native investigation tools are designed to process that information at scale allowing investigators to identify patterns and connections that could otherwise be difficult to detect.

AI | Blockchain Analytics Firm, TRM Labs, Deploys AI Agents to Assist in Tracking Illicit Crypto Activity

The company is now positioning that capability as a broader AI investigations market rather than a tool limited to cryptocurrency compliance.
The latest funding will allow TRM to continue developing AI-powered investigation capabilities as the company expands its role across law enforcement, financial institutions, regulators, tax authorities, and crypto businesses.
The $2 billion valuation therefore reflects more than growing demand for blockchain compliance tools. It points to the increasing use of specialized AI and blockchain intelligence as investigative infrastructure for a financial system in which illicit activity is becoming more digital, cross-border, and data-intensive.


REALITY CHECK | TRM Labs vs Chainalysis – Who is Better at Blockchain Forensics?




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ConsenSys Software Inc., the Ethereum software company behind MetaMask, plans to separate its business into two independent companies by the end of 2026, according to a company announcement.
The restructuring will separate MetaMask’s consumer business from Consensys’ Ethereum protocols and institutional blockchain infrastructure operations.
The new ConsenSys will house protocols and infrastructure businesses including Linea, Besu and Teku. It will be led by CEO, Mike Kriak, and President, David Cunningham, and will focus on Ethereum infrastructure and blockchain services for financial institutions, including tokenization and stablecoins.
MetaMask will remain focused on consumer self-custody while expanding its products to include payments, savings, investing, and traditional financial products.

REGULATION | ConsenSys Sued by The United States SEC for Brokering Securities on MetaMask Swaps

Joe Lubin, ConsenSys’ founder, will serve as chairman and CEO of MetaMask and executive chairman of the new ConsenSys.
MetaMask has recorded more than 100 million downloads across about 190 countries and facilitated trillions of dollars in transaction volume, according to the company.
MetaMask launched in 2016 as an Ethereum browser extension for accessing decentralized applications and managing crypto assets. It has since added products including payments, yield and tokenized traditional assets.
The latest announcement comes just 4 months after it was reported that ConsenSys would be holding plans for a crypto IPO due to weak market conditions, according to people familiar with the matter.
The company had reportedly been preparing a confidential filing with backing from investment banks including
JPMorgan, and
Goldman Sachs.

INSIGHTS | Why the Market Has No Appetite for Crypto IPOs




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Jack Dorsey’s payments company, Block, has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish Builders Bank & Trust, an uninsured national trust bank.
The proposed bank would provide custody and related fiduciary services for digital assets, including bitcoin and stablecoins, under OCC supervision, Block said.
Builders Bank would not accept deposits or issue loans.
Block said the proposed charter would provide a national framework for its custody operations as the business expands.

REALITY CHECK | Jack Dorsey’s Block Sees Over 30% Drop in Bitcoin Profit in Q2 2026 – The Only Segment to Report a Decline

Lee Woolley, Digital Asset Strategy Lead at Block would serve as President and CEO of Builders Bank.
The application remains subject to approval by the OCC.
Block joins other cryptocurrency and financial technology companies seeking national trust bank charters.
Ripple has received conditional approval for a similar charter, while
Circle, and
BitGo
have received final approval.
Kraken parent, Payward, and
crypto infrastructure provider, Zero Hash,
have also submitted applications.

REGULATION | The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Clears National Banks to Act as Intermediaries in Crypto Transactions

In early 2026, Jack Dorsey, the Founder and former CEO of Twitter (now X), and one of Silicon Valley’s most outspoken Bitcoin maximalists, said his company Block would start supporting stablecoins.
Speaking in an interview with WIRED, Dorsey acknowledged that the shift reflects user demand rather than a change in philosophy. For years, he has argued that Bitcoin should serve as the internet’s native monetary protocol.

STABLECOINS | Bitcoin Purist Jack Dorsey’s Firm, Block, Capitulates and Reluctantly Embraces Stablecoins




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Taskforce Representing Regulated Crypto Platforms and Members of the Public Urges National Treasury and SARB to Reconsider Draft Regulations Before It’s Too Late.
CATASTROPHE (Crypto Asset Taskforce for Advancing Sound, Technology-Neutral Regulation for Opportunity, Prosperity and a Healthy Economy) has launched a national campaign to highlight the unintended adverse consequences for South Africa if newly proposed cross-border regulations become law.
In a press release, the coalition says it brings together many leading regulated Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and other organisations, including VALR, Luno, AltCoinTrader, and EasyEquities, as well as professors, lawyers, economists, entrepreneurs, and many other members of the public. CATASTROPHE claims that restrictive draft rules will harm domestic enterprises and jobs, slow economic participation, and isolate South Africa from the global digital economy.
EXPERT OPINION | Oversight Should Focus Where it Matters Most, Says MoneyBadger on the South Africa Capital Flow Management Draft Regulations
Two Critical Issues in the Proposed Draft Regulations
The draft framework, published by South Africa’s National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), introduces two major restrictions:
Blocking Cross-Border Crypto Payments by Businesses: South African companies would be prohibited from using regulated crypto rails for otherwise legitimate international transactions, putting local businesses at a severe competitive disadvantage globally.
Restricting Individual Self-Custody: While individuals can withdraw assets from a local CASP to a personal self-hosted wallet, transferring those assets back into a regulated South African platform would be designated as “non-permissible”. This creates an arbitrary one-way door out of the domestic regulated ecosystem, and would force legitimate activity to go underground or overseas.
According to the CATASTROPHE website, thousands of jobs in South Africa would be threatened, millions of South African crypto holders would be adversely impacted and billions of tax revenues to SARS could disappear if these draft regulations are implemented as currently drafted.
REPORT | South African Regulator, FSCA, to Consider Adding ‘Certain DeFi Use Cases’ onto the IFWG Sandbox, Says DeFi Users to Reach ~400,000 in 2025
Alternative Approach
As an alternative, CATASTROPHE proposes that South Africa should regulate equivalent cross-border economic activity consistently. Banks, Authorised Dealers and Authorised Crypto Asset Service Providers may use different technologies, however, equivalent activities should be subject to equivalent permissions, reporting obligations and regulatory outcomes.
At the MTN Group Fintech 2026 Summit, SARB Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, said:
“The principle is straightforward: similar payment activities should be subject to similar regulatory expectations, whether they are performed by a bank or a fintech.”
CASE STUDY | The Kastelo vs. South Africa Reserve Bank Court Ruling Gives Authorities Greater Powers to Scrutinise Crypto Transactions
The CATASTROPHE coalition emphasises that failing to apply the same principle to cross-border payments would represent a departure from sound, technology-neutral regulation and would be inconsistent with the principle articulated by the Governor himself.
In essence, CATASTROPHE calls for a level playing field for cross-border payments without discriminating against any particular technology. Regulation should be fair and designed in the interests of South African consumers and businesses, promoting competition, innovation and choice.
EXPERT OPINION | Oversight Should Focus Where it Matters Most, Says MoneyBadger on the South Africa Capital Flow Management Draft Regulations
Disconnect from Global Financial Progress
These proposed regulations come at a time when stablecoins and digital asset rails are expanding exponentially worldwide, delivering faster transaction speeds, lower cross-border costs, and greater transparency – all benefits that would accrue to South African individuals and businesses.
Global financial institutions are making multi-billion-dollar investments into stablecoin infrastructure. The payment giant, Stripe, and the global card network, Mastercard, acquired stablecoin businesses for $1.1bn and $1.8bn respectively since last year. Major blockchain settlement initiatives by Visa and global banks have also been announced. While the rest of the world integrates modern digital payment rails, the current draft regulations threaten to prevent South African businesses and residents from benefiting from these global advances.
According to the campaign, billions of rand in foreign investment into South Africa have already been put on hold pending the outcome of these draft regulations.
REGULATION | South Africa Could Unlock ~$30 Million in Tax Revenue in 5 Years by Modernizing Crypto Rules, Says Luno
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About CATASTROPHE
CATASTROPHE (Crypto Asset Taskforce for Advancing Sound, Technology-Neutral Regulation for Opportunity, Prosperity and a Healthy Economy) is a single-purpose coalition of South African regulated CASPs, institutions, tech startups, law firms and members of the public.
Formed to advocate for balanced, risk-based capital flow rules, CATASTROPHE will dissolve once its objective of achieving a better regulatory outcome for South Africa has been accomplished.
INSIGHTS | Why South Africa is Re-Writing Decades-Old Money Rules





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Strategy, the world’s largest institutional holder of Bitcoin, has doubled its authorization to repurchase its STRC preferred shares to $2 billion prioritizing the repair of a key funding channel over adding more Bitcoin to its balance sheet.
The company spent $176.3 million buying back 1.81 million STRC shares between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, taking cumulative repurchases since July to about $811.5 million. STRC was still trading below its $100 stated value prompting the board to expand the program.

The decision has a direct impact on Strategy’s Bitcoin accumulation.

MARKET ANALYSIS | Strategy Doubles STRC Stock Buyback Authorization to $2 Billion

The company bought no Bitcoin during the latest period leaving its holdings unchanged at 845,050 BTC while the STRC purchases were funded from its flexible USD cash balance.
That matters because the same pool of cash is used to
acquire Bitcoin,
manage Strategy’s capital structure, and
support other treasury operations.
In other words, every dollar directed toward the STRC buyback is capital that is temporarily unavailable for Bitcoin purchases.
But the move also highlights why Strategy sees the preferred stock as strategically important.
STRC was created as a funding vehicle for Strategy’s Bitcoin strategy. The company has said it will not issue new STRC below its $100 stated value, meaning a sustained discount effectively shuts down an important source of capital for future Bitcoin purchases. Restoring STRC to around par would allow Strategy to resume using the security to raise capital rather than spending capital to support it.
Strategy therefore appears to be treating the STRC buyback not simply as a defensive move to support the preferred stock, but as an investment in the infrastructure that underpins its Bitcoin treasury strategy.

The economics also favor repurchases while STRC trades below par.

BITCOIN | The World’s Largest Institutional Holder of Bitcoin Makes a Significant Shift in its Strategy

Buying a $100 preferred share for less than $100 allows Strategy to retire the associated preferred capital and future dividend obligation at a discount. Strategy has said it intends to buy more aggressively when STRC trades further below par and reduce purchases as it approaches $100.
The problem is that the discount has narrowed while the amount of capital required to support the security has increased. Strategy spent $25 million on its first week of repurchases but its latest weekly purchase rose to $176.3 million even as STRC traded within roughly 2% to 3% of par.

That creates a clear trade-off for Strategy:
Bitcoin accumulation versus repairing the financing machine that allows it to buy more Bitcoin.

REALITY CHECK | World’s Largest Institutional Holder of Bitcoin Sells Over 1,500 Bitcoins . . . Again

The company briefly demonstrated that it could do both last week, raising $602.8 million through MSTR sales, spending $151.8 million on STRC and using $369.7 million to buy 4,603 BTC. But without fresh MSTR issuance in the latest period, Bitcoin purchases stopped while STRC continued to absorb cash.
The broader message is that Strategy’s corporate Bitcoin strategy is no longer simply about accumulating as much Bitcoin as possible. It is increasingly about maintaining a capital structure capable of financing that accumulation over the long term.

STRC is central to that strategy.

If Strategy can restore the preferred stock to sustained trading around $100 and revive investor demand, the security can shift from being a drain on corporate liquidity back into a source of capital.
That makes the $2 billion buyback authorization a bet on the financing architecture behind Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury even if it means slowing Bitcoin accumulation in the near term.
Strategy’s 845,050 BTC balance therefore remains unchanged for now but the latest move shows the company is willing to sacrifice near-term Bitcoin purchases to repair the capital markets machinery it believes can ultimately finance a larger Bitcoin balance sheet.


CASE STUDY | The Financing Model that Fueled Rapid Expansion of Bitcoin Treasury Companies is Showing Signs of Strain




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American Crypto exchange, Gemini, has received a Major Payment Institution (MPI) license from Singapore’s central bank, allowing its local entity to provide digital payment token and cross-border money transfer services.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) license was granted to Gemini Digital Payments Singapore, completing a regulatory process that began with in-principle approval in October 2024.
The MPI license allows Gemini to provide regulated payment services without the transaction-volume limits that apply to standard payment institutions although larger operators face additional regulatory requirements because of the risks associated with their scale.

REGULATION | Singapore Orders Local Crypto Firms to Halt Overseas Activity by June 30 2025

Gemini said it has served customers in Singapore since 2020 and views the city-state as a strategic hub for its retail and institutional business.
The exchange currently offers spot crypto trading, digital-asset custody and over-the-counter services in Singapore.
Gemini shifted Singapore customers to its locally incorporated entity in April 2025 as it worked toward securing the full license.
The approval comes as Singapore continues to position itself as a regulated hub for digital-asset businesses with MAS requiring crypto firms to meet licensing and compliance standards before providing regulated services.

REGULATION | ‘ByBit is Not Licensed or Regulated in the Country,’ Warns the Monetary Authority of Singapore





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Plattsburgh, New York, is considering a 12-month moratorium on new high-energy cryptocurrency mining operations reviving concerns over the strain that large-scale mining can place on local electricity supplies.
The proposed land-use measure would halt approvals for new computing facilities consuming 300 kilowatts or more including cryptocurrency mining operations. The city held a public hearing on the proposal but Mayor Wendell Hughes had not approved the moratorium as of this writing. The council is due to consider the measure again in mid-September 2026.
The move echoes Plattsburgh’s earlier response to crypto mining.
In 2018, the city became one of the first U.S. jurisdictions to impose an outright Bitcoin mining moratorium after residents raised concerns about rising electricity costs. That restriction lasted 18 months.

EDITORIAL | Is Bitcoin Mining Robbing the World’s Poor of Cheap Electricity?

The latest proposal highlights a continuing challenge for Bitcoin miners:
Access to cheap and reliable electricity.

Mining operations require large amounts of power to run specialized computing equipment around the clock. As electricity costs rise and mining economics become more competitive, jurisdictions with limited power capacity are increasingly scrutinizing whether mining operations justify their impact on local energy markets.
The pressure has also contributed to a shift among some mining companies toward artificial intelligence and high-performance computing which can use similar power-intensive data-center infrastructure.
For crypto mining, however, Plattsburgh’s debate is another sign that electricity availability and cost remain among the industry’s biggest constraints and increasingly a regulatory issue as well.


CASE STUDY | This Bitcoin Mining Bet Shows Why Renewable Power Alone is Not a Viable Business Model




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VISA has said stablecoin-linked card programs on its network have grown to more than 160 with payment volume on those programs rising nearly 200% year-on-year.
Its stablecoin settlement volume has also surpassed a $20 billion annualized run rate representing more than 15x growth from a year earlier.
The numbers highlight how VISA is increasingly moving beyond experimenting with blockchain to incorporating on-chain activity into its core payments infrastructure.

“Stablecoins are not only changing how money moves, they’re creating opportunities to rethink the financial infrastructure that supports payments,” said Rubail Birwadker, Global Head of Growth Products and Partnerships, VISA.

VISA’s latest move is to combine VisaNet settlement data with on-chain lending infrastructure allowing stablecoin-linked card programs and fintechs to access working capital.
The company said more than $694 billion in stablecoin-denominated loans have been sent through on-chain lending protocols since 2020, according to its Onchain Analytics Dashboard.

INTRODUCING | Coinbase Launches Crypto-Backed Loans in the UK

VISA is already working with Credit Coop on a model that uses VISA settlement data and on-chain transaction records to assess credit performance and automate settlement financing. The model has supported more than $2.5 billion in cumulative financed settlement volume since 2023 with zero defaults across participating facilities. It has processed more than 3,000 borrowing events and 9,000 repayment events programmatically on-chain.
VISA views on-chain credit as a natural extension of its broader efforts to bridge traditional financial infrastructure with emerging digital asset technologies.


INTRODUCING | VISA Unveils Enterprise Stablecoin Platform for Minting, Moving, and Managing Stablecoins





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Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL), the global financial technology firm and issuer of USDC has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire TazaPay, a Singapore-headquartered B2B cross-border payments infrastructure company focused on serving payment service providers and financial institutions.
The deal is expected to close in 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and receipt of regulatory approvals, including approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

“Combining USDC with Tazapay’s world-class banking relationships, local payout rails, and institutional customer base will accelerate worldwide USDC adoption,” said Jeremy Allaire.

“Stablecoin settlement is becoming core infrastructure in the global economy, and combining USDC with Tazapay’s world-class banking relationships, local payout rails, and institutional customer base will accelerate worldwide USDC adoption,” said Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, CEO, and Chairman at Circle.
“Tazapay has been a design partner for Circle Payments Network since 2025 and we share a deep alignment. We are excited to bring the team in-house and work together towards accelerating Circle’s mission.”

The acquisition will accelerate Circle’s mission to build the infrastructure layer for global digital finance. TazaPay brings
over $25 billion of annualized payment volume,
60+ banking and fintech partners,
local payout rails covering over 100 markets,
adding scale to Circle’s payments infrastructure. Approximately 60% of Tazapay’s transaction volume already includes stablecoins.

“Tazapay brings deep payment infrastructure across APAC and emerging markets, where we see increasing demand for USDC-denominated transactions. This acquisition will increase Circle’s capability to originate and terminate payments globally, near-instant and 24/7, which is a meaningful step toward making USDC the default payment rail for cross-border commerce,” said Irfan Ganchi, Senior Vice President of Payments at Circle.
“Combined with Circle’s existing network, Tazapay extends our coverage to move money anywhere stablecoin payments are being adopted globally.”

“We built Tazapay to make payments faster, remove friction, and streamline dependency on banking rails that don’t operate at the speed of global commerce.
Circle has the dollar infrastructure in USDC and the regulatory standing to take what we’ve built further than we could alone.
That’s what makes this the right move and what we’re focused on delivering together,” said Rahul Shinghal, Co-Founder and CEO of Tazapay.

Tazapay customers can expect no disruption to their service, APIs, pricing, or support.


LIST | Here Are the 28 Leading African Fintechs Partnering with Circle in New Stablecoin Network




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