Blockchain & Digital Assets

July 27, 2026 @ 10:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

TRM Labs has noted that on July 24, 2026, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) significantly widened its Iran-related sanctions by designating additional individuals and companies linked to Iranian businessman Babak Zanjani and the associated Dot One commercial network…. Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 10:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cryptocurrency exchange BitMart has announced it will begin an orderly wind-down of its trading platform operations. The decision follows a thorough review of the company’s current operating conditions, the broader market environment, and its longer-term strategic priorities. Officials expressed deep regret over the move while… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 3:53 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Fintech innovators were busy integrating AI agents into their products and expanding into new markets. Wondergate’s Payment SaaS platform Payment SaaS platform is designed to help payment platforms and merchants rapidly build global acquiring capabilities. It contains Hong Kong MSO and US/Canada MSB licenses. A… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 3:26 pm By JD Alois  |  

Cross River Bank will power X Money, part of the Elon Musk social media platform X. X has long held Fintech ambitions, aiming to become an “everything App.” X has emerged as the world’s community forum, offering global news and perspectives unfettered by opinion, where… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 2:42 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ongoing efforts sharply focused on advancing more comprehensive cryptocurrency / blockchain market structure legislation in the US Senate have encountered significant new resistance over ethics rules that are intended to limit financial conflicts involving senior government officials and digital assets. Lawmakers from both parties are… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 9:51 am By JD Alois  |  

Circle Internet Group (NYSE: CRCL) says it has acquired IBM’s (NYSE:IBM) blockchain patent portfolio. The terms of the deal were not immediately available. In a release, Circle said it had purchased over 1000 issued patents worldwide that address banking, financial services, insurance, infrastructure, and more. Circle… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 9:40 am By JD Alois  |  

The CLARITY Act, crypto market-infrastructure legislation, is approaching a floor vote in the US Senate. While the typical negotiations continue between proponents and those seeking to undermine digital asset innovation, Senate Republicans have been working to highlight the benefits of the bill. The most recent… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 8:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Chainalysis has pointed out that on July 23, 2026, the European Union adopted its 21st package of sanctions against Russia, representing the most extensive set of designations in four years and encompassing 218 listings overall. The measures focus heavily on disrupting Russia’s financial systems that… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 8:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Elliptic has noted that Crypto ATMs, often called Bitcoin ATMs because of the cryptocurrency’s dominance, provide a straightforward way for people to convert physical cash into digital assets. While these machines serve legitimate customers, they have also become a favored tool for fraudsters. Scams typically… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 6:51 am By Omar Faridi  |  

One of South Korea’s commercial banks is preparing to introduce a new blockchain-powered option for corporate clients engaged in international trade. KB Kookmin Bank announced plans to introduce a specialized payment service next month that leverages JPMorgan’s Kinexys distributed-ledger network. The offering targets importers and… Read More

July 27, 2026 @ 2:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Efforts to advance major cryptocurrency legislation in the US Senate are encountering significant timing obstacles as lawmakers approach their summer break. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has indicated limited confidence in securing full passage of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, commonly referred to as… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 11:37 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), the Bitcoin treasury company led by Michael Saylor, has recently introduced a suite of refined BTC-centric performance indicators that explicitly account for its debt obligations and preferred stock. The update reflects the firm’s evolving capital structure. As preferred equity—often labeled “digital credit”—has grown… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 9:48 pm By Tony Zerucha  |  

Regulation was on digital assets’ minds this week. They shared their thoughts on the CLARITY and the GENIUS Act and how they compare with the European Union’s MiCA regulation [Markets in Crypto Assets]. Other topics included AI and investing. Markets and investing “Capital is beginning to… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 8:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of Cardano, has indicated that Bitcoin may not hold onto its position as the leading cryptocurrency indefinitely if its governance structure cannot effectively manage the challenges of quantum computing. Speaking in a recent live interview, he framed the potential vulnerability as rooted… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 7:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

BitMEX and its co-founders are once again facing legal challenges in the United States, this time through a newly filed class-action lawsuit that accuses the crypto derivatives platform of operating a secret internal trading operation against its own customers. The complaint was submitted on July… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 6:17 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has partnered with Abu Dhabi-owned Mubadala Capital and infrastructure specialist KAIO to create a regulated digital token representing Mubadala’s evergreen private markets fund. The announcement, made on July 23, 2026, marks one of the clearest signals yet that major institutional players are embracing… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 5:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) is reportedly exploring a potential collaboration with Crypto.com to incorporate the latter’s event-based contracts into its growing suite of prediction market offerings. According to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing people familiar with the discussions, the brokerage is in talks… Read More

July 26, 2026 @ 5:12 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

LMAX Group, an institutional platform specializing in cryptocurrency and foreign exchange trading, is actively evaluating the possibility of becoming a publicly traded company. The firm has engaged investment banking advisors Morgan Stanley and Stifel Financial in order to review a range of strategic alternatives. Among… Read More

July 25, 2026 @ 10:25 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is preparing to significantly expand trading availability by introducing a specialized overnight platform for exchange-traded products (ETPs) in the first half of 2027. This initiative reflects the broader shift in traditional finance toward more flexible, around-the-clock operations, influenced by the… Read More

July 25, 2026 @ 3:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

A coalition of major financial institutions and Bitcoin-focused firms has formed the Bitcoin Security Consortium, committing substantial resources to bolster the cryptocurrency network’s long-term defenses. Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), the company formerly known as MicroStrategy and led by Michael Saylor as executive chairman, is among the nine… Read More