Morgan Stanley increases its IBIT holdings by 23% in the second quarter
Morgan Stanley’s quarterly disclosures showed a notable increase in its positions related to digital assets, led by the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF known as IBIT, reflecting the continued interest of major institutions in regulated investment instruments linked to Bitcoin. According to the 13F disclosure filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Morgan Stanley’s holdings in IBIT rose by 23% to reach about 16.5 million shares, compared with roughly 13.4 million shares in the previous quarter. The increase came after adding more than 3 million shares during the second quarter.
Leumi Bank partners with Galaxy to enable trading Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana through its investment app
Israeli Leumi Bank announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital that will enable its customers to trade Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana through its investment platform, with the service set to begin in early 2027. As the two companies explained, Leumi Bank customers and Pepper, its mobile banking arm, customers will be able to buy and hold the three digital currencies and sell them through a dedicated section inside the Leumi Trade app. This means users won’t need to leave the banking environment to carry out these operations; they will be executed within the bank’s investment app.
Binance suspends processing transactions related to HTX and 10 other platforms
Binance announced that it will stop processing transactions related to the HTX platform and 10 other platforms and digital asset service providers, effective August 23. The platform said in a statement issued on Friday that the decision was based on recent regulatory developments. The entities affected by the restrictions include: HTX, Rapira, Aifory Pro, ABceX, WhiteBird, NoOnecrypto INC., Tradex, Monease Ltd, BitPapa, Exnode, and EXMO.
Bitcoin Nears August Lows as Long Position Liquidation Pressure Builds on Binance
Long Bitcoin positions are facing increasing pressure as the price approaches new August lows, while derivatives data suggests that a wave of liquidation or forced exits may have already begun. This time, the focus is on Binance, where open interest fell in tandem with the price drop. Open interest represents the total number of active derivatives contracts, whether buy or sell positions, making it an important indicator of the amount of capital committed in the market and the degree of reliance on leverage.
Neutrl suspends NUSD redemption after an undisclosed reserve issue
Decentralized finance platform Neutrl halted minting and redemption of the synthetic currency NUSD after the protocol’s reserves were affected by circumstances whose details were not disclosed. As a result, authorized parties can no longer swap NUSD for the assets that back it until it becomes clear whether the reserves were harmed. The step does not only represent a routine operational pause; it directly affects the mechanism that gives stablecoins—or near-stablecoins—their stability. When redemptions are halted, the immediate ability to convert the token into its underlying assets declines, which may pressure liquidity and increase market sensitivity to any signals of ambiguity or lack of transparency.
Tether Completes Its First Full Financial Audit and Receives a Clean Opinion from KPMG
Tether announced that it has completed its first full independent financial audit of its annual financial statements, after KPMG US issued an unmodified opinion on the company’s accounts for 2025. The audit included the statement of financial position, statement of income, and statement of cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2025, including the assets that back the issued tokens and their corresponding liabilities. Tether said that the audited data showed that reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion.
Delio CEO Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison in Crypto Fraud Case in South Korea
A court in South Korea has sentenced Jeong Sang-ho, the CEO of the Delio platform, to 15 years in prison after convicting him of defrauding users of digital assets worth nearly $50 million. According to a local news report issued on Thursday, the 11th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court handed down the sentence after convicting him of charges related to embezzlement and the use of a forged trading license. The court said Jeong was not detained immediately despite evidence of his responsibility in a broader fraud case that it said involved users totaling about $175 million.
Trezor warns of potential phishing after data leak via shipping provider
Crypto wallet company Trezor announced that personal data belonging to around 14,000 users is at risk through shipping provider ShipMonk, in an incident that paves the way for phishing attempts based on real customer information. According to what the company explained in a post published on Wednesday, users who received Trezor products in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Colombia, Brazil, Italy, and Portugal during the period between May 10 and August 8 may be targeted by phishing attacks using their personal data.
Binance bStocks surpass xStocks to become the second-largest issuer of tokenized stocks
Binance bStocks managed to surpass xStocks to become the second-largest issuer of tokenized stocks by value, just less than two months after its launch. This shift reflects the speed of competition in the tokenized stocks market, where positions change over a relatively short period. According to Token Terminal data, the value of bStocks reached about $624 million on August 3, ahead of xStocks, which recorded nearly $579 million, but still behind Ondo Finance, which reached roughly $927 million. In the latest available reading, bStocks retained second place with a value of $610.6 million, compared with $601.2 million for xStocks.
SEC grants Franklin Templeton more room to invest in an encoded money market fund
Franklin Templeton received regulatory approval allowing its funds to invest cash in an associated encoded money market fund, as a step that reduces the level of regulatory risk surrounding this type of financial product built on blockchain. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a no-action letter on Wednesday, stating that it would not take enforcement action against Franklin Templeton if its fund managers invested cash in the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund. This fund is an encoded asset that earns yield, and invests in U.S. government securities, with the aim of maintaining a stable share price of $1.
Copper strengthens its presence in the United States after dual regulatory approval
Copper, specialized in digital asset infrastructure, announced that it has established a regulatory presence in the United States after its local company, Copper Markets (US) Inc., was registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and became a member of FINRA. The company said that its acceptance as a FINRA member opens the door to expanding its own custody and institutional trading infrastructure within the U.S. market, a move that reflects its transition to a more operationally regulated phase in one of the world’s most important financial markets.
Goldman Sachs acquires NEOS in a deal worth up to $2.25 billion
Goldman Sachs has approved the acquisition of NEOS Investments, a manager of exchange-traded funds, in a deal that could be worth up to $2.25 billion, in a move that adds to its expanding business in the ETF market for funds linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum. NEOS manages $30 billion in assets across 19 funds built on options-supported income strategies, including the Bitcoin High Income ETF (BTCI), the Boosted Bitcoin High Income ETF (XBCI), and the Ethereum High Income ETF (NEHI). These funds rely on options strategies aimed at generating monthly income, along with providing price exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH).
Bank of England tests linking stablecoins to the digital pound in cross-border payments
The Bank of England, through the Digital Pound Lab, is testing whether stablecoins and the potential digital British pound could operate within a single payments track for cross-border payments, as part of an experiment focused on trade financing. According to a statement from the participating companies, the trial includes NOBO Finance, Dun & Bradstreet, and Polygon Labs. In this scenario, the exporter receives an advance payment via a track based on a stablecoin, while the importer in the UK completes settlement using simulated digital pounds.
Binance and RedotPay dispute the fate of a Singapore lawsuit amid a wider $473 million dispute
The legal showdown between Binance and RedotPay is ongoing, with a new dispute over whether the case currently before the courts in Singapore—linked to a broader dispute in Hong Kong—is nearing its end. RedotPay, a stablecoin payment card issuer, said it expects Binance to conclude the proceedings in Singapore after a hearing held on August 7. A company spokesperson added that RedotPay will seek the legal costs arising from the case being terminated from the claimant, noting that both parties will try to reach an agreement on these costs.
Fidelity moves to add staking to an Ethereum ETF with quarterly distributions
Fidelity Investments moves to add a staking feature to its spot Ethereum ETF, FETH, according to a new filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As stated in the filing, the fund may allocate up to 100% of its Ether holdings for staking operations under normal conditions, excluding amounts allocated for redemption requests, expenses, and liquidity needs.
Harmony Considers a Rollback Following Claims of Unauthorized Skimming of 2.8 Billion ONE
Harmony is studying a rollback of its blockchain after claims that an attacker exploited the network to skim nearly 4 billion ONE tokens, which is equivalent to about 26% of the token’s circulating supply. Harmony said on Tuesday that it is working with exchanges to halt and freeze the funds, and also stated that it is preparing a technical correction and assessing rollback options for the ledger. At the same time, the network did not confirm the cause of the incident, the number of coins created, or the amount that reached trading platforms.
CFTC uses emergency powers to keep Kalshi running amid New York dispute
The dispute between the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and prediction platform Kalshi entered a more sensitive phase after the Commission invoked emergency powers and issued an order requiring the platform to continue operating. The Commission said the move by New York, including its request for a temporary restraining order, in itself constituted an emergency in the market. Under this directive, Kalshi must continue to run its services in accordance with its usual practices and in line with the fundamental principles set out in the Commodity Exchange Act.
SEC and CFTC Sue Goliath Ventures Over $400 Million Crypto Ponzi Scheme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed separate civil lawsuits against Goliath Ventures and its founder, Christopher Delgado, in a case involving an alleged crypto fraud scheme worth about $400 million. According to the complaints, the company raised at least $425 million from more than 1,300 investors through the offering of unregistered securities. The SEC said investors were told that their funds would be placed into crypto liquidity pools, but the investigations allege that none of the money or digital assets was invested in those pools.
CLARITY Act faces a narrow window after Senate postponement
The CLARITY Act bill returns to the legislative debate front in the United States as the Senate resumes its work in September, but the road to its passage remains filled with obstacles. After the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, submitted a request for a procedural vote on a cryptocurrency market structure bill before the monthly recess, the file is now awaiting whether the Senate will grant it the chance to move to a final vote.
Flowdesk gets full brokerage license in Dubai under VARA supervision
Flowdesk, a market-maker firm for digital assets backed by Coinbase Ventures and BlackRock, has obtained a full broker-dealer license in Dubai, in a step that expands its ability to serve institutional investors in the emirate. The company announced on Tuesday that the Dubai Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) granted the license to its local entity, Flowdesk Omega FZE, enabling it to provide regulated broker-dealer services to eligible investors and institutions within Dubai and through it.
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