banking

According to NADA NEWS, JPMorgan Chase is expanding its professional team responsible for cryptocurrency assets and blockchain business within its retail banking division Chase, which serves individuals and small to medium-sized enterprises. Previously, the bank's blockchain-related services were mainly aimed at corporate and institutional investors, and this expansion indicates that it is building a framework for the application of digital assets in the personal finance sector.According to the recruitment information, the new team will be responsible for formulating digital asset strategies, collaborating with cryptocurrency companies, and implementing new product development. In addition to independent research and development, commercialization methods will also include external cooperation or acquisitions.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing informed sources, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family, is the backer behind StringZ Holding RSC, which holds a 49% stake in WLTC Holdings, the parent company of World Liberty Financial, associated with the Trump family, which is proposing a U.S. trust bank. It is said that entities linked to the Trump family hold an additional 38% stake in the company.The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted preliminary conditional approval to World Liberty Trust Company on August 14. The decision announced by the OCC confirms that StringZ is an investor in WLTC Holdings and has signed a commitment not to interfere with the bank, but does not specify Tahnoon as its backer or disclose his shareholding percentage. The trust bank must meet OCC's pre-operational requirements and obtain final approval before it can begin operations.Tahnoon previously supported the acquisition of a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million, prompting U.S. Democratic senators to call for hearings on the deal and investigate whether it affects U.S. policy towards the UAE. Tahnoon currently serves as the UAE's National Security Advisor and is also the chairman of the artificial intelligence company G42. Cointelegraph reached out to the Trump Organization for comment, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

Fox Business crypto reporters posted on the X platform that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are advancing the finalization of a rule to define "unsafe or unsound practices" in bank regulation. This term has not been clearly defined for years, primarily relying on the broad discretion of bank examiners.Under this rule, when regulators determine that a practice is "unsafe or unsound," they must link it to actual illegal conduct or significant financial risk, thereby reducing the likelihood of pressuring banks serving legitimate clients, including crypto companies, based on vague reputational or procedural issues. This rule marks another important step towards further dismantling "Operation Chokepoint 2."

The bankers' associations from 39 states in the United States have jointly formed the BankChain alliance, planning to build an industry-owned blockchain network for tokenized deposits, stablecoins, smart payments, and automated settlements, with the goal of launching in 2027. The alliance is currently still selecting technical partners and has not yet become an operational payment network.The BankChain alliance states that the 39 member associations represent 3,283 banks, with total assets of $21.8 trillion. The board of the alliance is chaired by Kathy Kraninger, president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association. Howard Headlee, president of the Utah Bankers Association, stated that governance is a differentiated advantage, and BankChain aims to allow member banks to "equally access a network owned by them and have their voices heard."The area that BankChain is entering has a bank tokenization deposit project led by The Clearing House, which was announced in June and aims to facilitate on-chain clearing and settlement of tokenized commercial bank money, connecting the RTP and CHIPS payment networks. In contrast, BankChain's product range is broader, covering stablecoins and automated settlements, but it is still in the early stages and needs to first identify technology suppliers and convert association-level support into commitments from member banks.

The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is an organization representing large banks such as JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citi. BPI proposed that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury should expand customer identification program requirements to the secondary market for stablecoins, covering exchanges and other platforms that establish direct account relationships with retail investors.BPI stated that the relevant exchanges and platforms engage in a significant amount of buying and selling activities within the payment stablecoin ecosystem, where most illegal activities related to stablecoins occur. If the proposal is incorporated into the rules, the relevant platforms will be required to collect customer information in accordance with the Bank Secrecy Act, and decentralized exchanges may also fall under regulatory oversight. The proposed rules by FinCEN indicate that transactions in the secondary market for stablecoins on the blockchain typically use anonymous or pseudonymous identities, and there are no centralized nodes for collecting identity information, limiting the ability of issuers to gather customer data from the secondary market. BPI has also opposed the current version of the Digital Asset Market Structure Bill along with other banking organizations.

According to the Financial Times, JPMorgan Chase terminated its banking services for Polymarket last October due to regulatory concerns, requiring the company to seek new banking institutions. Previously, Polymarket was banned from providing services to U.S. customers after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission took enforcement action in 2022.Currently, Polymarket has partnered with a new bank, but the specific name has not been disclosed. JPMorgan Chase still maintains business dealings with Polymarket and invited its CEO Shayne Coplan to participate in a private banking client meeting held in Miami this February, where he spoke alongside former NFL player Tom Brady. Polymarket stated that the two parties continue to maintain a close and active relationship in various areas, including multiple entities, operational integration, and customer fund flow management.Since 2026, prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi have faced legal actions from multiple U.S. states regarding their alleged operation as illegal sports bookmakers, while the relevant platforms argue that they operate as exchanges facilitating trades between buyers and sellers, rather than as bookmakers. According to user aggregated data, the nominal trading volume of prediction markets has exceeded $250 billion since 2026.Meanwhile, Polymarket is seeking over $1 billion in financing, with a target valuation of $20 billion, more than doubling from the approximately $8 billion valuation during the last round of financing in 2025.

The fintech company and crypto-friendly bank Revolut announced that it has obtained a banking license in France, becoming the second full banking license the company has acquired in the EU after Lithuania. The license was jointly reviewed by the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) and the European Central Bank, and approved by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank. After obtaining the license, Revolut Bank S.A. will be able to offer a wider range of banking services in France, including loans, mortgages, and regulated savings products. France is one of Revolut's largest markets in Western Europe.Previously, the company primarily operated in France under its Lithuanian banking license, mainly providing payment and financial services. Following this licensing, Revolut will gradually migrate its French operations to the new French banking entity and plans to subsequently expand to Germany, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. Revolut stated that it has invested over 1 billion euros in the Western European market over the past few years and has created over 600 new jobs locally, with plans to establish its Western European headquarters in Paris by 2027. However, the license comes with regulatory conditions. Reports suggest that the European Central Bank may impose restrictions on new products for Revolut's French operations, similar to the regulatory measures previously implemented on its Lithuanian entity, which may affect the speed of launching loan and savings products.This year, Revolut has continued to advance its global regulatory expansion. The company obtained a full banking license in the UK in March 2026 and a full banking license in Australia in July. Currently, Revolut covers 40 markets, with its valuation rising to $115 billion after secondary stock trading in 2026.

According to BeInCrypto, Tim Scott, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, stated that the CLARITY Act, aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency market, will be voted on before Congress goes into recess, and "there will undoubtedly be a vote."In an interview with Fox News, Scott mentioned that the Senate might extend its working hours, not limited to the next two days, to push forward the relevant legislation. He noted that there is a consensus forming within the Republican Party regarding the bill and believes that advancing a cryptocurrency regulatory framework "is in the interest of the United States."Tim Scott stated, "We will get this done."The CLARITY Act aims to further clarify the regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States, delineating the regulatory responsibilities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the cryptocurrency market. Supporters believe that the bill will provide clearer rules for the industry and help the U.S. maintain its competitiveness in the digital asset space.Currently, the bill still faces internal congressional disputes regarding consumer protection, regulatory authority, and market risks. If ultimately passed, it will be an important step in building the U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory system.

ChianCatcher news, The Tie co-founder and CEO Joshua Frank announced the official launch of its wholly-owned subsidiary The Tie Capital.The company is a broker registered with the SEC in the United States and a member of FINRA, which will provide investment banking and capital market advisory services for crypto protocols, on-chain businesses, and digital asset service providers. The scope of services includes private financing, buy-side and sell-side mergers and acquisitions, agreement restructuring, token generation events (TGE), token-to-equity conversions, and other special situation transactions. This business is led by Boomer Saraga as Managing Director.The Tie was founded in 2017 and primarily provides services such as market intelligence, data APIs, conferences, enterprise access, and staking infrastructure. This launch aims to further serve institutional clients.

The bank holding group BIND Group, managing assets over $2 billion, is developing a stablecoin pegged to the Argentine peso through its virtual asset service provider BEN, offering programmable currency services to institutions. BIND Group also announced a partnership with Circle to provide BEN clients with institution-level payment and fund management services that comply with local regulatory requirements.Petersen Group is also advancing a second peso stablecoin initiative through a subsidiary, supported by the crypto-as-a-service company Lirium. The product, named DIPE, has a white paper; Lirium provides related solutions for Banco Galicia and Brubank. The aforementioned projects are promoted by companies supported by the banking group, rather than services provided directly by the banking group. The Central Bank of Argentina has prohibited private banks from offering crypto-related services to customers since May 2022.These products are primarily aimed at institutional scenarios, with use cases including fund management, payments triggered by on-chain events, and collateral credit management. In March, the Argentine securities regulator determined that the stablecoin argt, pegged to the peso, is classified as a security and was not issued in compliance with regulations.

According to the open-source dataset from NeobankBeat as of July 2026, there are 368 neobanks globally that are still actively operating, serving approximately 1.46 billion users. Among them, Asian users account for 817 million (with WeBank alone serving over 400 million people), and Brazil's Nubank has 131 million customers, surpassing the total of all U.S. neobanks. Out of the 368, only 127 hold a full banking license, with two-thirds relying on partner banks, electronic money licenses, or issuing institutions to operate, leaving customers largely unaware of the actual custodian of their funds.Among the neobanks established in the 2020s that are still alive today, 30% are Web3 native self-custody applications (compared to only 4% in the 2010s). This dataset audits the AI application status of the 368 one by one, revealing that only 67 (18%) have evidence of production-level AI deployment, with leaders mostly being lending institutions from emerging markets like Nigeria, the Philippines, and Mexico. The report warns that 106 infrastructure providers support 368 consumer brands, with a few partner banks and BaaS platforms each supporting dozens of brands, creating concentration risk that could lead to the next Synapse-like event.

According to Cointelegraph, crypto-friendly bank-as-a-service provider Cross River will provide banking infrastructure for X Money, supporting peer-to-peer payments, FDIC-insured interest-bearing accounts, and Visa debit card services. Cross River's banking platform and payment channels will support X's "super app" strategy and are designed to scale with more financial products over time. X Money will enter limited testing in May 2025 and expand to external testing in March 2026. X has obtained money transfer licenses in over 40 states in the U.S. and is registered with FinCEN to support platform peer-to-peer payments. The announcement did not mention support for cryptocurrencies or stablecoins.

According to The Block, the UK Parliament's All-Party Group on Digital Assets has launched an investigation into the access to banking services for the local cryptocurrency industry.This investigation will focus on examining the difficulties faced by cryptocurrency companies in opening and maintaining bank accounts, as well as the relevant circumstances regarding banks imposing restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions.

According to Cryptonomist, banking groups such as the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers of America are urging the Senate to further tighten the provisions related to stablecoin yields in the CLARITY Act. Previously, the Senate Banking Committee passed the bill on May 14, 2026, with a vote of 15 to 9, incorporating some amendments pushed by Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks. However, the banking sector believes that the existing text still does not completely close the incentive space for "class yields" related to stablecoins.The Independent Community Bankers of America previously estimated that if the bill does not further strengthen yield restrictions, stablecoins could lead to a loss of approximately $1.3 trillion in deposits from the banking system and reduce the lending capacity of community banks by about $850 billion, thereby affecting credit access for small businesses, agriculture, and families in underdeveloped areas.

According to Forbes, the stablecoin banking platform Flex announced the completion of a $70 million B1 round of financing, led by Halo Fund.The new funds will be used to expand its stablecoin-based cross-border commercial banking platform Flex Global, helping medium-sized enterprises conduct global payments and fund management through stablecoin infrastructure.Data shows that the annual payment scale of stablecoins has reached approximately $390 billion, with inter-enterprise transactions growing by about 733% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the settlement scale of Visa stablecoins has reached an annualized $7 billion as of April 2026, a year-on-year increase of 50%.

According to Bloomberg, Nubank's parent company Nu Holdings, a crypto-friendly digital bank in Brazil, has been granted a formal banking license by Mexico's financial regulatory agency Comision Nacional Bancaria y de Valores, allowing it to conduct business such as payroll accounts, checking accounts, higher limit deposits, and more loan products locally.Since entering Mexico in 2019, Nubank has invested billions of dollars, and currently has over 15 million customers, accounting for about 15% of the local adult population. Founder and global CEO David Vélez stated that total investment in Mexico is expected to reach approximately $4.2 billion by 2030. Obtaining a full banking license is expected to help Nubank replace some wholesale financing with low-cost deposits and compete directly with large traditional banks in Mexico as well as fintech institutions like Revolut and Klar.