regulation

According to the New York Times, regulators are investigating the licensing agreement reached between Nvidia and Groq.

According to CoinDesk, the Crypto Innovation Committee (CCI) and the Blockchain Association filed a preliminary injunction motion on Wednesday in the Sangamon County Circuit Court of Illinois, requesting to suspend the enforcement of the state's digital asset transaction tax during the litigation. The tax rate is 0.2% and applies to entities headquartered in Illinois or providing services in the state with total revenue exceeding $100,000, which is set to take effect on January 1, 2027.The two lobbying organizations, along with the Digital Chamber, filed a lawsuit against Illinois last month, claiming that the tax violates the Internet Tax Freedom Act and the U.S. Constitution, and that Illinois's approach to taxing digital assets differs from other financial services.CCI CEO Ji Hun Kim stated that businesses are forced to spend millions of dollars to build compliance systems, yet basic issues such as the tax subjects and timing remain unclear. Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger warned that if the law is enacted, Illinois will not be the last state to attempt this.

Former Silvergate Bank CEO Alan Lane stated in a Substack post that the political and regulatory pressures from the Biden administration led to the bank's voluntary liquidation in 2023. He mentioned that Silvergate could continue operating after meeting withdrawals equivalent to 70% of demand deposits in the fourth quarter of 2022, and the decision to liquidate was made "in the face of political pressure." The Federal Reserve's Office of Inspector General's review in September 2023 concluded that the liquidation stemmed from reliance on crypto depositors, funding risks, and governance and compliance deficiencies. The SEC had previously charged Silvergate, Lane, and former Chief Risk Officer Kathleen Fraher with misleading investors regarding their anti-money laundering program, with Lane settling for a $1 million fine and a five-year executive ban, while the Federal Reserve imposed a $43 million fine on Silvergate. Lane also cited a statement on crypto risks released by multiple agencies at the beginning of 2023 as evidence of industry pressure, which was later withdrawn in April 2025.

According to German media Golem, the Federal Ministry of Finance is preparing a bill to include cryptocurrency gains under capital gains tax. Speculative gains from digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will be taxed at a rate of 25% starting as early as 2028, consistent with the current stock trading gains tax rate. Currently, selling crypto assets after holding them for more than a year is tax-free, while selling them within a year incurs a personal income tax rate of up to 45%.The bill proposes to retain the personal tax-free allowance (currently €1,000 per person) and allows crypto gains to offset losses from stocks and other securities; taxpayers with a personal tax rate below 25% can also apply for a "favorable assessment" to reduce their tax burden. This tax will apply to crypto assets purchased after January 1, 2027, and it remains to be clarified by legislation whether assets held prior to this date will enjoy transitional protection. The Ministry of Finance expects this move to generate approximately €350 million in additional tax revenue each year, and the bill has been submitted to other federal departments for consultation.

The town of Plattsburgh, New York, held a public hearing to discuss a temporary land use moratorium on "high energy consumption computing facilities" such as cryptocurrency mining and AI data centers. If the proposal is approved, it will pause the approval of related operational applications that consume 300 kilowatts or more for 12 months. As of Tuesday, the mayor has not yet approved the moratorium, and the city council plans to meet again on September 17.Plattsburgh is one of the first areas in the United States to implement a ban on Bitcoin mining, having enacted an 18-month moratorium in 2018 due to residents' concerns about electricity costs. Now, with rising mining difficulty, increasing electricity costs, and falling token prices, many cryptocurrency mining companies have turned to AI and high-performance computing, prompting local governments to reconsider restrictions on high energy consumption facilities.

ARK Investment Management has submitted a waiver application to the U.S. SEC, seeking to issue tokenized share classes for its venture capital fund, ARK Venture Fund. The SEC issued a related notice on August 24 and set September 18 as the deadline for hearing requests. The fund is a continuously offered closed-end interval fund, with total assets of $562 million as of January 31.The application proposes to establish two categories: the exchange category will be listed on national securities exchanges, while the tokenized category will record ownership through distributed ledger technology, allowing for peer-to-peer transfers between registered alternative trading systems or whitelisted wallets. Tokenized shares will be issued at net asset value, exempt from sales fees, distributed by registered brokers or fund transfer agents, and will bear the costs of trading fees and other expenses. ARK seeks relief under Sections 6(c), 18, and 17(d) of the Investment Company Act and Rules 23c-3 and 17d-1, with Dechert serving as legal counsel.The application does not specify a tokenization service provider or blockchain, only listing the categories of "tokenization agent" and "fund transfer agent" fees. Currently, BNY Mellon serves as the fund transfer agent, manager, and custodian. The ARK Venture Fund holds equity in Securitize and $10 million in convertible notes; Securitize is the transfer agent for the BlackRock BUIDL Fund. The SEC has not yet formally approved the industry's anticipated tokenization "innovation waiver" framework, and relevant rules are still being advanced.

According to CriptoNoticias, as the Central Bank of Brazil advances the authorization system for virtual asset service providers (PSAV), local cryptocurrency trading platforms are facing regulatory reshuffling. Digitra, Coinext, and Bitso have recently adjusted their business layouts in Brazil.Among them, Digitra has ceased trading services and decided not to apply for PSAV authorization, effectively exiting the Brazilian market; Coinext announced it would orderly close its cryptocurrency trading business due to not meeting the minimum capital requirement; Bitso has chosen to redirect its Brazilian individual retail customers to Mercado Bitcoin while retaining its institutional business line.According to the regulations of the Central Bank of Brazil, existing platforms wishing to continue operating in compliance in Brazil after the deadline at the end of October must submit their PSAV authorization applications before then. This round of adjustments may indicate that the largest cryptocurrency market in Latin America is accelerating into a deep phase of compliance reshuffling.

Uzbekistan has launched a pilot project to test government securities-backed som-pegged stablecoin payments. The National Project Agency (NAPP) announced on Monday that it has registered Humo Digital as a special mechanism participant under joint regulation with the central bank. This pilot will test the issuance, circulation, and redemption of HUMO tokens, with each token pegged to 1 Uzbek som. According to NAPP, over 20 merchants are already prepared to accept HUMO payments, and the project will also integrate payment processing and blockchain infrastructure from participating banks, with licensed cryptocurrency exchange Asterium as a project partner. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan stated that the initial trial will last for 12 months, with a total project duration capped at 3 years. Regulators will assess the adequacy and security of the token collateral, cybersecurity, consumer protection, anti-money laundering controls, and financial and price stability risks. This pilot follows the framework approved in November 2025, when Uzbekistan indicated plans to allow stablecoin payment experiments under a sandbox mechanism while providing relevant terms for tokenized stocks and bonds.

The National Assembly Budget Office of South Korea released a report stating that stablecoins could save South Korean merchants between 370 billion and 5.15 trillion Korean won (approximately 275 million to 3.8 billion USD) in payment processing fees each year. The report also warned that the widespread adoption of stablecoins could weaken banks' role as credit intermediaries and disrupt token pegs during large-scale redemptions. It suggested introducing reserve requirements, limiting stablecoin rewards, and strengthening regulation of tokens that may threaten financial stability. Regarding the issuance rights of stablecoins, there are differences between the Bank of Korea and the Financial Services Commission: the Bank of Korea prefers issuance to be dominated by bank-controlled issuers (holding at least 51%), while the Financial Services Commission believes excessive restrictions may hinder innovation. In addition, South Korea plans to expand the scope of tokenized securities by February 2027, with subsequent phases connecting blockchain-based securities markets to stablecoin payment infrastructure. A study released by the Bank of Korea earlier this month also found that directly trading USD stablecoins with local currency on Binance could depress the local currency exchange rate.

Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC has canceled, suspended, or refused to renew the registrations of 45 cryptocurrency and remittance service providers in the past year to strengthen the scrutiny of high-risk payment businesses. The involved institutions faced issues such as inactivity, insolvency, or lack of operational capability, as well as failure to report significant changes, incorrect registration information, and significant money laundering or terrorism financing risks. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that businesses whose registrations have been canceled are not allowed to continue operations, and some related individuals have been referred to domestic and international law enforcement or regulatory agencies. AUSTRAC specifically mentioned BA Digital Ventures operating under the name GetCoins, whose virtual asset registration was canceled in June due to customer complaints, allegedly because the platform was exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scams, with related actions conducted in cooperation with the national anti-fraud center. The public VASP registration list also included recent disposals of institutions such as Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange, and Coinsec Australia. Additionally, AUSTRAC has launched an investigation into Western Union and suspended the cryptocurrency ATM network of Cryptolink.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has listed "Jingang Fund/Jingang Coin Issuance Limited" as an unlicensed company. This entity previously claimed to have an address in Hong Kong and provided a Hong Kong phone number.The entity is suspected of conducting unlicensed activities in Hong Kong and targeting Hong Kong investors for promotion, but it has not been licensed or registered with the Securities and Futures Commission to conduct regulated activities in Hong Kong under the Securities and Futures Ordinance. The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission pointed out that the entity must not engage in any regulated activities in Hong Kong or actively promote its services to the public in Hong Kong (whether within or outside Hong Kong).

Brazilian banks are expanding their cryptocurrency services for customers. According to Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil's largest asset management bank, Itaú, now offers 15 types of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the US dollar stablecoin USDC, through its investment app. Brazil's largest fintech company, Nubank, has listed 28 types, and Banco do Brasil, the most profitable state-owned bank in Brazil, has seen transaction volumes exceed 11 million reais (approximately 2.1 million USD) since launching direct purchase services for Bitcoin and Ethereum in January of this year.However, customer cryptocurrency transactions have not entered the banks' balance sheets. A document from the central bank dated March 2026 shows that Brazilian banks hold zero virtual assets on their books. Over the past year, Itaú, Bradesco, Santander, Banco do Brasil, and Nubank have all expanded their cryptocurrency product lines, while the Brazilian cryptocurrency market has also reached record sizes. According to data from the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service, Receita Federal, Brazilians transferred 505.5 billion reais (approximately 98.7 billion USD) through cryptocurrencies in 2025, more than five times that of 2020, with corporate transactions accounting for 98.3%.This move by banks coincides with the implementation of regulations. In 2022, Brazil passed the "Virtual Asset Legal Framework," granting regulatory authority to the central bank. Three resolutions issued in November 2025 require any institution allowing customers to trade, hold, or send cryptocurrencies to obtain a license, meet minimum capital requirements, and segregate customer accounts, with a compliance deadline of October 30, 2026.

According to CoinDesk, the Polish prosecutor's office has charged Roman Ż., a former business partner of the missing BitBay/Zondacrypto founder Sylwester Suszek, with two counts, including fraud.Roman Ż. was arrested last Saturday in the Silesia region of Poland, and his lawyer stated that he had assisted in managing the exchange before BitBay was renamed Zonda. Roman Ż. denies the charges and has provided a detailed statement to investigators, with police seizing valuable watches and documents related to Zondacrypto during the search.The prosecutor's office stated that the arrest was ordered due to concerns that Roman Ż. would flee upon learning of plans to travel to China, with his lawyer describing the trip as a business trip and stating that he held a return ticket for September 13. The court will decide whether to continue detaining Roman Ż. during the investigation.Previously, BitBay was renamed Zondacrypto in 2021, and the exchange ceased trading in April, following customer withdrawal freezes, with estimated losses of at least 35 million zlotys (approximately 9.4 million USD). The Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit partially suspended the license of the brand entity BB Trade Estonia OÜ. The Polish prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into suspected large-scale fraud and money laundering, receiving over 3,600 complaints as of June.The case is also related to Suszek's disappearance in March 2022, with the prosecutor's office merging the Zondacrypto investigation with the Suszek missing person case in August.

According to Decrypt, Michael Gubbins, the head of the Criminal Assets Bureau in Ireland, revealed to the Sunday Independent that organized crime gangs are renting private vaults to store cryptocurrency wallet private keys and mnemonic phrases along with cash, luxury watches, passports, and other valuables. This situation has been reported to the government's Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee, which is preparing to implement new EU anti-money laundering rules in Ireland.The new EU regulations will take effect next summer, prohibiting cash transactions over 10,000 euros and requiring businesses to identify individuals for cash expenditures of 3,000 euros and above. Gubbins stated that crime gangs believe cryptocurrency offers anonymity, but the use of cryptocurrency in Ireland is still quite primitive, with cash remaining the primary form of payment for criminal activities such as drug trafficking.The bureau is handling its largest cryptocurrency seizure in history, involving 6,000 bitcoins confiscated from a cannabis grower in 2019, with the private keys written on paper and hidden in a tackle box, which was later lost. With the assistance of Europol, the bureau has cracked the first of 12 wallets in March, with over 130 million euros already liquidated from assets totaling 360 million euros.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has released a proposed announcement to suspend the acceptance of new applications for registration of payment system operators (OPS) for 12 months and to implement stricter controls on payment arrangements involving virtual asset service providers (VASP). The BSP stated that this move aims to conduct a comprehensive review of its classification and licensing framework.According to the draft, during the suspension period, the BSP will stop accepting and processing OPS applications. Applications submitted prior to the suspension can continue to be evaluated, but will not be approved or rejected until the suspension ends. Relevant entities are prohibited from conducting business activities that require OPS registration unless they obtain special authorization from the regulatory agency. In addition, BSP-regulated entities providing merchant acquiring services must connect licensed VASPs through direct merchant arrangements, and such relationships will be subject to enhanced due diligence, transaction and settlement limits, and other risk control measures.This requirement applies to virtual asset enterprises licensed, registered, or authorized by the BSP, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines, or other regulatory agencies, with VASPs being categorized alongside betting, gaming, adult industry, and money service businesses. If the draft is ultimately approved, it will take effect 15 days after publication, and the BSP is currently seeking public comments.

According to The Defiant, the dispute between AMC Entertainment CEO Adam Aron and Robinhood over tokenized AMC stock has escalated into a debate among tokenized stock issuers about which model should become the industry standard.Gabriel Otte, co-founder of Dinari, criticized Robinhood's synthetic tokens with Ondo as "worse for end investors than regular stocks," while Uniswap founder Hayden Adams compared it to early stablecoins, stating that it meets users' demands for programmability and 24/7 trading.Currently, three models are competing in the $2.91 billion tokenized stock market: Robinhood's stock tokens are debt securities issued by a Jersey entity, available only to non-U.S. persons; Ondo, xStocks, and Dinari hold the underlying stocks through regulated intermediaries and pass on economic benefits; Securitize and Superstate directly put company-registered stocks on-chain. The U.S. SEC's Division of Corporation Finance has legally defined the three models as of January 28. Data from rwa.xyz shows that the total scale of tokenized stocks reaches $2.91 billion, with a 14.4% growth over 30 days, and Ondo leads with $869.6 million.Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo also supports Aron's position, stating that he does not wish for others to create offshore derivatives of company stocks. Brian Huang, co-founder of Glider, believes that the trading venue is more important than the packaging format, as AMMs cannot guarantee users the best execution.

According to Polish Radio, the Polish House of Representatives failed to overturn President Karol Nawrocki's veto of the cryptocurrency market regulation bill. In the vote, 241 of the 442 attending members supported overturning the veto, 198 opposed it, and 3 abstained, falling 25 votes short of the required 266. This is the third time Karol Nawrocki has vetoed the bill. The bill proposes that the Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) be responsible for regulating the cryptocurrency market. The president believes the bill is overly regulatory and could force Polish businesses to relocate. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for support of the bill before the vote and mentioned the investigation into the defunct Zondacrypto exchange.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump stated that his administration is promoting the decentralized perpetual contract trading platform Hyperliquid to enter the U.S. market in a "fully compliant and legal manner." Last month, Trump mentioned that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would be committed to bringing Hyperliquid to the United States. Subsequently, Kraken's parent company Payward announced that it is collaborating with the CFTC to offer certain crypto perpetual contract products related to the Hyperliquid market and its underlying Layer 1 blockchain to registered U.S. users through the CFTC-regulated platform Bitnomial.Nansen research analyst Nicolai Sondergaard believes that this arrangement may allow Hyperliquid to provide some underlying technology, liquidity, or market design without directly opening its existing platform to U.S. users, effectively building an independent U.S. product around Hyperliquid's infrastructure. He stated that U.S. users may have access to fewer markets, lower leverage, and more conservative risk controls; at the same time, he opposes comprehensive KYC, arguing that a one-size-fits-all KYC would undermine the privacy and permissionless access of legitimate users and push liquidity offshore.

According to CoinDesk, the National Sheriffs' Association (NSA) sent a letter to Senate leadership on Thursday, announcing a shift in its position on the Clarity Act from opposition to neutrality. Association President Troy Wellman and Executive Director Justin Smith stated in their letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer that, given the complexity of the bill and the significant details still under review, the most appropriate course of action is to take a step back and allow the legislative process to continue in order to establish a clear, effective, and urgently needed regulatory framework.Previously, the NSA had sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee in May, warning that Section 604 of the bill would grant "blanket exemptions" to mixers, tumblers, and DeFi platforms from anti-money laundering rules, and stated that individuals might exploit evolving software, algorithms, and AI agents to transfer digital assets without tracking or accountability, engaging in activities such as money laundering, financing terrorism, and evading sanctions. A month after that letter was sent, the White House invited law enforcement organizations expressing concerns about the cryptocurrency market structure bill to meet and discuss how to address the bill's controversies regarding the prevention of illegal finance. Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger also criticized the NSA's opposition stance in a July column, calling the bill "the most significant consumer protection measure in years."The NSA's shift to neutrality removes one of the most outspoken critics from the law enforcement community ahead of the September vote on the bill.