rules

According to Bloomberg, Jeff Yan, co-founder of Hyperliquid Labs, is seeking the United States to establish rules that can protect its blockchain.He believes that the regulatory responsibilities of Hyperliquid should fall on the financial institutions operating in the market based on that blockchain, namely the application layer, rather than on the blockchain network itself. This regulatory division would allow Hyperliquid to enter Wall Street without having to bear the full compliance burden of traditional exchanges.

On October 16, MSCI announced the formal adoption of the non-operating company index exclusion rules, which will be implemented in the index review in November 2026 and will take effect after the market closes on November 30.The new rules first assess whether a company has substantial operating assets; companies that do not pass the initial screening will undergo five financial ratio tests, and if at least four of these meet the exclusion criteria, they will not qualify for index inclusion.As a result, Bitcoin treasury company Strategy and Metaplanet face potential exclusion, with the final list to be announced on November 11. JPMorgan previously estimated that if Strategy is removed from the MSCI index, it would face approximately $2.8 billion in selling pressure.

Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that Jonathan Gould, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), stated that the final rules for implementing the GENIUS Act are expected to be released soon, by the end of October.Gould made this statement at the "Building the New Digital Economy" event hosted by the Milken Institute, which coincided with DC Fintech Week.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has launched a public consultation on proposed capital, custody, and trading requirements for cryptocurrency platforms. The related rules aim to align with the digital asset legislation passed in April and expand regulation of the industry. The proposals include three capital models, restrictions on platforms conducting proprietary trading, and quarterly reporting of wallets holding customer assets.ASIC also intends to allow offshore custody and is seeking opinions on safeguards in the event of the failure of overseas parent companies or affiliates. One of the models requires platforms that do not adopt qualified third-party custody arrangements to hold at least AUD 14 million (approximately USD 9.7 million) in net tangible assets or 10% of average revenue, whichever is higher. Feedback is due by November 27, and ASIC plans to release final standards and guidelines in March 2027. The related laws will take effect on April 8, 2027, and operators must apply for licenses by October 7 of the same year, with the ability to continue operations during the ASIC review period.

The Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission has completed the rule-making for Bitcoin ETFs, and the new regulations will take effect on October 16. Bitcoin has been included as a qualified asset in the first phase.According to the rules, the average net exposure of the relevant funds for each accounting year must reach at least 80% of the net asset value. The custodian must be licensed by the Thailand Securities and Exchange Commission, and fund shares can only be traded on the Thailand Stock Exchange. Securities companies are not allowed to provide margin financing. Thai mutual funds and private funds will be permitted to invest in locally listed cryptocurrency ETFs, but initially, the issuance and provision of depositary receipts related to overseas cryptocurrency ETFs are prohibited.

On September 30, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released final rules adjusting the quorum requirement to only one commissioner in most cases to constitute a quorum, which took effect on October 2. The SEC stated that this move aims to enhance the flexibility and finality of institutional rule-making. Earlier this month, Commissioner Hester Peirce resigned, leaving only Chairman Paul Atkins and former Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda as the two remaining commissioners, while the agency's statutory seats are five.The leadership vacancy at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is even more pronounced, as Michael Selig has been the only Senate-confirmed chairman and commissioner since December 2025. Both agencies were originally set to have five commissioners. In terms of rule-making, the SEC proposed in August to provide a safe harbor for tokens not to be classified as "investment contracts," and the CFTC followed up in October, with Selig stating that he would utilize existing statutory authority to advance cryptocurrency regulation through proposed rules regarding exchanges; Atkins also mentioned on October 2 that more regulatory proposals would be forthcoming.On October 5, the Financial Times published a commentary by Robin Wigglesworth, pointing out that with only two commissioners, if one needs to recuse themselves or is unable to perform their duties, a single commissioner can pass formal rules applicable to a securities market worth trillions of dollars. Uyeda subsequently responded in the Financial Times, stating that the SEC's commitment to its mission has not changed, and the rule modification merely clarifies that when all but one commissioner must recuse themselves, the commission can still constitute a quorum.

Hedera, a public blockchain, has launched Agent Accounts, described as programmable, non-custodial spending accounts that allow AI agents to autonomously transact within rules set by users and enforced on-chain. This includes payment APIs, data retrieval, invoice settlement, and purchasing on behalf of users, with private keys remaining in the user's wallet.Agent Accounts are funded from the user's existing Hedera wallet and are created separately for designated agents, rather than handing over the entire account to the agent. Users connect their wallets through a web application, designate agents, and configure total spending limits, daily caps, single transaction limits, and whitelists for merchants and payees. The rules are written into Hedera smart contracts and are not stored on company servers, making them unmodifiable by anyone other than the user. Funds do not leave the user's account before a purchase occurs; agents do not hold balances but send spending requests to the smart contract, which validates and executes them. Users can pause or revoke agent spending with a single click from their wallet.This feature is supported by Agentic Payment Services, including MCP server, REST API, and relayer. Hedera states that any agent capable of using MCP or REST can connect, with payments available in HBAR, USDC, or other Hedera tokens, and compatible with x402. Each strategy, transaction, and agent action is recorded on the Hedera Consensus Service. The timeline aims for a limited partner testnet launch in Q4 2026, a public testnet in Q1 2027, and a target mainnet launch in Q2 2027, depending on security audits and legal agreements.

The blockchain project Tempo released a report indicating that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) plans to adjust accounting rules for stablecoins, allowing eligible tokens to be classified as cash equivalents on company balance sheets, or reducing accounting barriers for enterprises adopting stablecoins.Under current accounting practices, stablecoins, even if fully backed by U.S. dollars, may not be counted as cash reserves reported by the company, thereby affecting liquidity ratios and loan covenants. The proposed rules allow companies to use stablecoins for payments and settlements but require them to have direct redemption rights with the issuer. Purchasing USDC through exchanges may not necessarily meet the criteria for classification as cash equivalents.In its 2025 annual report, Coinbase classified USDC and other payment-type stablecoins as cash equivalents, based on its redemption arrangement with Circle. The public comment period for the FASB proposed rules will continue until November 19, after which the board will review feedback and determine the final accounting changes and effective date. At the time of this proposal's release, the market size for U.S. dollar stablecoins had exceeded $300 billion.

Caroline Pham, Chief Legal Officer of MoonPay and former Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated that cryptocurrency regulation does not require congressional legislation and can be advanced solely through rules established by regulatory agencies.She mentioned that the regulatory jurisdiction of the CFTC is nearly all-encompassing, as the Commodity Exchange Act stipulates that almost all items, except onions and movie box office revenues, fall under the category of commodities.

The State Tax Inspectorate of Lithuania has updated the user reporting program for cryptocurrency service providers, clarifying the reporting scope and operational standards through Order VA-63, aligning national regulations with the EU DAC8 and the OECD Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). The new regulations require regulated cryptocurrency service providers and local crypto operators to enhance customer due diligence, collect user identity, transaction records, and tax residency information, and record customer identification numbers, transaction logs, and account balances. Entities that have completed registration and reporting obligations in other EU member states are exempt from re-reporting in Lithuania.The comprehensive operational reporting across the EU will commence on January 1, 2026, with data collected by the platform in 2027 to be automatically exchanged by member state tax authorities starting mid-2027. The new regulations do not change Lithuania's capital gains tax rate on virtual assets, but relevant institutions must update customer access processes and backend systems. Starting from March 2, certain transactions involving electronic money tokens (EMT) must additionally obtain payment service authorization, including transferring EMT on behalf of customers and operating custodial wallets for third-party transfers; exchanges between EMT and exchanges between EMT and fiat currency do not automatically fall under payment services.

The Cardano Foundation announced that the programmable token standard CIP-0113 has officially launched on the Cardano mainnet, allowing issuers of regulated assets such as stablecoins, tokenized funds, and bonds to directly embed compliance rules such as KYC, anti-money laundering, sanctions screening, asset freezing and confiscation, and transfer restrictions into the tokens, which will be executed by the Cardano ledger during each transfer, minting, and burning.This standard does not require a hard fork, and the tokens remain native assets of Cardano, with issuers able to update the rule modules according to regulatory changes.

According to BitcoinNews, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed a new draft of digital asset custody rules, which aims to allow investment advisors and regulated funds to custody Bitcoin and other crypto assets under specific conditions, and to provide a formal regulatory pathway for state-chartered trust companies to become qualified crypto asset custodians.According to the proposal, when a certain digital asset lacks qualified custodians willing to provide services, investment advisors may self-custody client assets under strict conditions, including written proof that custodians are unavailable, reassessment every three months, implementation of multi-signature transfers, isolation of client wallet addresses, and acceptance of independent audits. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that current custody rules are primarily designed for traditional financial assets and are no longer suitable for the development of the digital asset market.The report points out that Bitcoin may become one of the main beneficiary assets of this proposal, as its institutional custody infrastructure is relatively mature. However, the relevant rules are still in the proposal stage and have not yet officially taken effect.

According to The New York Times, the previous collaboration between NBA superstar LeBron James and the prediction market platform Polymarket, worth $15 million, has drawn attention. However, there is currently no evidence that this collaboration violates NBA rules. LeBron James is merely a spokesperson and not an investor, and the collaboration will focus on non-NBA markets such as soccer, thus it is not similar to the previous salary violation incident involving Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers.However, as the commercial ties between players, teams, investors, and prediction market platforms deepen, sports leagues face new regulatory challenges: how to distinguish between legitimate commercial endorsements and potential conflicts of interest that could affect market fairness.

Michael Selig, the chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, stated that various regulatory agencies already possess a significant amount of existing statutory authority. While participating in the presidential working group on digital assets, they have studied statutory authorizations and legislative-level powers, and will continue to issue regulatory rules in the cryptocurrency sector based on existing regulatory powers to prepare for the development of new financial fields.

Bitcoin News posted on platform X that the SEC plans to propose new rules under the 1940 Act, allowing investment advisors to directly hold related assets when no qualified custodian is willing to custody Bitcoin and other digital assets.The SEC stated that traditional custodians typically refuse to custody such assets, creating a compliance gap in the existing custody framework. The proposal will initiate a 60-day public comment period after its publication in the Federal Register.

Chief Investment Officer Greg Taylor of PenderFund Capital Management stated that the September non-farm report is favorable for the market and essentially rules out the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate hike in October.There may still be expectations for a rate hike in December, but it has already been priced in by the market and will not have a significant impact on the market.

The Financial Services Commission of South Korea has proposed regulatory guidelines for the issuance and trading of security tokens, intending to allow stocks, bonds, funds, and certain fractional investment securities to be issued and circulated in token form. The relevant regulatory framework is scheduled to take effect on February 4, 2027.According to the proposal, securities token issuance companies that directly manage client accounts must have a paid-in capital of at least 4 billion Korean Won and be equipped with dedicated compliance and technical personnel. The revision of capital market regulations will also introduce an over-the-counter trading license for bonds and limit individual investors' annual net purchases at each over-the-counter exchange to within 100 million Korean Won.The proposal will be open for public consultation from Friday until November 11, after which it will enter the approval process. South Korea previously announced a roadmap to advance the transition of securities issuance and trading to distributed ledger infrastructure in three phases.

On Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed new regulations aimed at clarifying the requirements for investment advisors and regulated funds regarding the holding and custody of client cryptocurrency assets, as well as standardizing record-keeping, federal disclosures, industry operations, and audit requirements. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins stated that the current custody rules primarily focus on traditional assets, and the new regulations will provide a regulatory framework for the custody of cryptocurrency assets.The proposal is open for public comment for 60 days and intends to allow self-custody of cryptocurrency assets and the use of state-chartered trust companies as custodians under certain conditions.

The core provisions of the regulatory framework for payment stablecoins in Florida, USA, will take effect on October 1, 2026.According to the state's Bill 2026 Chapter 176, engaging in the business of qualified payment stablecoin issuers in the state generally requires a license or must meet exemption conditions; qualified issuers must maintain at least a 1:1 identifiable reserve, which includes cash, funds in Federal Reserve accounts, qualified bank deposits, U.S. Treasury securities with a remaining maturity of no more than 93 days, and qualified government money market funds, among others. They must also publicly disclose redemption policies, disclose reserve composition monthly, accept monthly audits by certified public accountants, and be certified by the CEO and CFO.If the total issuance of payment stablecoins by state-level issuers reaches $10 billion, unless a federal exemption is obtained, they must transition to the corresponding federal regulatory framework within 360 days or suspend new issuances until the scale falls below the threshold.

According to Cointelegraph, the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) released a research report questioning the process by which MSCI established its latest index rules. MSCI had previously listed companies such as Strategy and Metaplanet as potential "non-operating companies," which could lead to their removal from the index.MSCI first proposed excluding digital asset treasury companies from global indices in 2025, but after facing opposition, it shelved the plan in January and opted for a broader review of "non-operating companies." On August 3, MSCI put forward a broader proposal that could still result in the exclusion of Strategy and Metaplanet. In a report titled "The Invisible Committee of Wall Street," BPI pointed out that metadata shows the presentation MSCI consulted is stored in an internal folder specifically for digital asset treasury companies.According to the proposal, MSCI will first assess whether a company has a significant amount of operational assets before applying five additional financial tests. Its own simulations indicate that Strategy, Metaplanet, and uranium investment company Yellow Cake would be excluded. In 2025, JPMorgan analysts estimated that if Strategy were excluded, it could face an outflow of approximately $2.8 billion. BPI also questioned MSCI's reliance on "operational assets," stating that the term is not a standardized balance sheet category under U.S. GAAP or IFRS. MSCI concluded its opinion collection on September 30 and is expected to announce results on or before October 16, with related changes set to take effect during the index review in November 2026.