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On October 23, a16z General Partner Chris Dixon announced that a16z crypto would be renamed a16z Frontier. The investment scope has expanded from crypto startups to a broader category of frontier technology startups, which are companies that create new technologies, open new markets, and may take years to mature. Dixon emphasized that this adjustment is an expansion of scope rather than a shift in direction, and the team will continue to invest in crypto and related businesses while advocating for reasonable crypto regulation.Dixon stated that as blockchain becomes more widely adopted, Wall Street and fintech companies have normalized the launch of on-chain products, and the importance of the "crypto company" label has diminished; companies should be defined by their business rather than the technology they use. His explanation also pointed to the AI wave, which not only focuses on using AI to perform existing tasks faster and better but also emphasizes the emergence of new native use cases, full-stack entrepreneurship that integrates software and hardware with services, and new networks that connect people with intelligent agents.Dixon believes that blockchain will continue to play an important role, providing the internet with a fast, cheap, global, and programmable funding track. Stablecoins are becoming standard tools for fintech and institutions, and they can also support machine-to-machine transactions and the cold start of new networks. The fund will be co-led by Dixon along with a16z founders Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, and General Partners Eddy Lazzarin and Guy Wuollet, while the operating team will continue to serve existing and future portfolio companies in areas such as regulation, market entry, talent, marketing, and technology development.

On October 22, a16z announced the removal of "Crypto" from the name of its flagship blockchain fund, renaming it to a16z Frontier, and long-time general partner Ali Yahya is stepping down. The announcement stated that this move does not signify a withdrawal from investing in the cryptocurrency space, but rather aims to further broaden the investment scope.The fund has previously raised nearly $10 billion, including $4.5 billion in 2022 and $2.2 billion for Fund 5 this year, making it one of the largest institutional players in the industry. When raising Fund 5 this year, a16z stated that the industry is shifting from a price cycle to a usage cycle, focusing on the infrastructure of stablecoins, on-chain finance, prediction markets, and asset tokenization, rather than merely chasing market trends.Chris Dixon, founder and managing partner of a16z crypto, will remain in his position. Investments related to crypto assets and blockchain remain one of the core directions, but the overall label and strategic focus have been adjusted to cover a broader range of frontier technology fields.

According to Bloomberg, Spencer Applebaum, General Partner and Co-Head of Venture Capital at Multicoin Capital, stated that unlike institutions such as Paradigm, Framework Ventures, and Haun Ventures, which are expanding their investment scope beyond the crypto space, Multicoin will not extend its investment scope to pure AI projects, as its strengths lie in the crypto field, and believes that many investors are "forcing" a search for intersections between crypto and AI.The $422 million venture capital fund raised by Multicoin in 2022 has been deployed slowly due to the decline in valuations of startup projects following the collapse of FTX. Spencer Applebaum also mentioned that HYPE remains the largest position in Multicoin's hedge fund. Currently, Multicoin's assets under management stand at $2.7 billion.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a report on de-banking on Wednesday, pointing out that some banks had established "public and non-public policies" to restrict services to multiple industries, including oil and gas, tobacco, firearms, and digital assets. This report was issued based on an executive order signed by President Trump in August 2025, aimed at preventing what it calls "illegal de-banking" practices.The OCC stated that many institutions also imposed restrictions on digital asset businesses, involving issuers, exchanges, or management agencies, often citing financial crime considerations as justification. However, this 47-page report did not provide specific de-banking cases related to digital asset activities. The OCC noted that based on a review of nine large banks, it "could not fully quantify the overall scale of de-banking or alleged de-banking activities," with the agency's head, Jonathan Gould, primarily discussing claims of de-banking related to coal and firearms.Gould stated that these decisions were not based on financial risk; banks cited concerns about negative news, public protests, and the potential reputational consequences of supporting related industries. In November 2024, more than 30 executives from the technology and cryptocurrency industries claimed they were denied banking services, informally referring to it as "Operation Chokepoint 2." Trump's executive order in 2025 came after industry-related calls, following allegations that the Biden administration might influence financial institutions to cut off certain services to cryptocurrency companies.

As of the end of September, the Digital Renminbi International Operation Center has added 39 domestic and foreign financial institutions applying to access the "Digital Currency Cross-Border Settlement Comprehensive Service Platform" (CBETS).This platform supports bilateral connections with foreign currency authority payment systems and legal digital currency systems, and allows foreign financial institutions to connect directly, covering trade and cross-border personnel exchanges.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea has announced a draft amendment to the regulations related to the institutionalization of Token Securities, planning to expand the range of securities that can be tokenized to include traditional securities such as stocks, bonds, and funds.According to the draft amendment, traditional securities can also be tokenized, except for fragmented investment securities (non-monetary trust beneficiary securities, investment contract securities).The relevant electronic securities regulations will also clarify the requirements for distributed ledgers, stipulating that participants must include electronic registration institutions and at least two account management institutions, and prohibit the use of distributed ledgers for direct payment of electronic registration purposes.

According to Rest of World, Alibaba launched the open-source model platform ModelScope in 2022, and OSChina launched MoArk in 2023, providing model hosting, testing, and customization services for Chinese developers behind firewalls. In 2023, Chinese regulators blocked Hugging Face without disclosing specific reasons; reports indicate that the government simultaneously allowed artificial intelligence laboratories to bypass the blockade to share Chinese models globally. ModelScope currently hosts over 170,000 models and stated in March that it has 170,000 models and 250 million users; MoArk hosts about 20,000 commonly used models, both still below Hugging Face, which hosts over 3 million open models.OSChina CEO Xu Yong stated that not everyone can always use a VPN, and China needs to establish an independent artificial intelligence ecosystem that serves Chinese users, claiming that China is developing an independent ecosystem faster than during the internet era. He also mentioned that MoArk has deployed engineering teams to ensure that models can run on different types of Chinese chips, making it their mission to ensure mainstream open models are compatible with Chinese chips. Both platforms offer some services for free, with additional computing power and premium features charged; ModelScope also hosts university hackathons and has opened co-working and event spaces for AI entrepreneurs in Hangzhou.Headquartered in New York, Hugging Face is a major platform for sharing open models and datasets. In September, Nvidia announced its acquisition of the company for $12.9 billion and noted in regulatory filings that regulators might prohibit sharing Chinese models on the site.

Emilie Choi, President and Chief Operating Officer of Coinbase, stated that Coinbase is one of the first supporters of the "Trump Account" plan. Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer of Coinbase, mentioned that the company has submitted opinions to the Internal Revenue Service regarding the implementation and expansion of the account, suggesting that beneficiaries be allowed to invest in a wide range of traded digital assets or gain exposure to digital assets through funds, aligning the scope of qualified investments with the asset classes that traditional IRAs can invest in. Coinbase believes that broader and product-neutral rules will help expand choices, promote competition, and provide more opportunities for young people in the United States to engage in diversified investments and wealth accumulation. The qualified investments proposed by the Internal Revenue Service in the growth phase are currently mainly limited to tracking a broad stock index of U.S. companies, unleveraged mutual funds or ETFs with an annual fee rate not exceeding 0.1%.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, signed a notice announcing the adjustment of the scope of the 50% additional tariff on certain products from Canada.The new tariff scope will take effect on September 15, with specific products subject to the notice list.

According to Bitcoin News, Sparrow Wallet v2.5.4 has been released after extensive AI-assisted review, containing multiple security enhancement updates aimed at reducing users' reliance on external servers such as Electrum.Additionally, this version strengthens Ledger, Keycard, Trezor, Payjoin, PSBT, and multi-signature handling, removes Bitcoin Core credentials and other confidential information from debug logs, restricts existing wallet and backup directory permissions to owner access only, closes local DNS resolution leaks when using Tor, and enhances wallet import, signing, downloading, and server response verification. This update expands Sparrow Wallet's scope for independently verifying transaction data, hardware devices, and other inputs, reducing reliance on external servers for data provision.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced this week that it will include Iran's digital asset industry in the same sanctions framework it has long used to sanction the oil, banking, and financial sectors, further tightening Iran's ability to evade sanctions through cryptocurrency. This action is part of "Operation Economic Outcast," referred to as "Economic D-Day" against Iran, and represents a significant escalation of global risks for cryptocurrency enterprises.According to the new action, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has the authority to impose sanctions on individuals anywhere. OFAC stated that Iran is increasingly using cryptocurrency as a preferred tool to evade sanctions, supporting transactions related to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and insiders of the Iranian regime. Foreign exchanges, over-the-counter desks, payment processors, and infrastructure providers that knowingly support transactions in Iran's digital asset industry will face the risk of being added to the sanctions list and losing access to the U.S. financial system.OFAC also sanctioned members of a group within Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) accused of representing Iran in attacks on critical U.S. infrastructure and published their wallet addresses. The group's co-leader Behzad Mesri and members Keyvan Fayyaz Ghareh Blagh and Arman Kahzadian's Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency addresses have been added to the sanctions list. Previously, Bloomberg reported that Iran had launched Bitcoin-backed insurance services for shipping companies, and the U.S. also froze cryptocurrency assets related to the Iranian regime in July, most of which were Tether stablecoins.

According to The Block, the Blockchain Association has submitted a letter of opinion regarding the stablecoin issuer rules proposed jointly by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Reserve. The association supports limiting the Customer Identification Program (CIP) obligations to transactions where issuers directly face customers in the primary market, and it should not extend to peer-to-peer transfer activities in the secondary market.At the same time, the association calls on regulators to further clarify definitions such as "account," "customer," and "digital asset service provider," excluding one-time redemptions and other non-continuous businesses, and to avoid creating overlapping compliance burdens with anti-money laundering rules. The association stated that the implementation of the rules should balance stablecoin security, operability, and space for industry innovation.

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket has loaded NASA's Roman Space Telescope, scheduled to launch from Florida's Launch Complex 39A on Sunday, August 30.

According to News1, South Korea will expand the registration review scope of Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) to include major shareholders starting from August 20. If there are changes to the major shareholders or the company's legal compliance framework, operators must notify the financial authorities 30 days in advance.The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced the revised registration manual at a briefing held in Seoul for virtual asset service providers and potential operators. The review targets not only the largest shareholders and major shareholders holding more than 10% of shares but also shareholders with special connections to the largest shareholders. If the largest shareholder is a legal entity, the largest shareholder of that entity and its representatives may also be included in the review scope.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea has launched a three-month project to rebuild the fraud refund system with a budget of approximately 119 million won. This upgrade aims to align with the revised Telecommunications Fraud Damage Compensation Act, which will officially take effect on October 1, and formally includes virtual assets in the categories of "damaged property" and "refundable property."The new system will support the calculation of compensation amounts based on token types and quantities, using the value of the won at the time the funds were frozen as a reference benchmark, and will also have the capability to dismantle mixed fraud funds across multiple accounts. Major exchanges such as Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX will be required to undertake anti-fraud and victim relief obligations equivalent to those of banks, including verifying transaction purposes, monitoring suspicious funds, and freezing suspected accounts.

According to Etoday, the Financial Services Commission of South Korea has announced a draft amendment to the "Special Law on Preventing Telecom Financial Fraud and Returning Victim Funds," planning to include funds from phone scams that are transferred to crypto assets within the scope of victim compensation, and to clarify the standards for the return and valuation of crypto assets. The relevant regulations are expected to officially take effect on October 1.According to the new regulations, if the frozen assets are cryptocurrencies, victims will generally be compensated based on the type and quantity of assets; if the defrauded assets differ in form from the frozen assets, compensation will be made in the form of assets that existed at the time the account was frozen. In cases where cash and crypto assets are mixed, the regulatory authorities will value the crypto assets based on the market price at the time of freezing to determine the final compensation amount.The Financial Services Commission of South Korea stated that clarifying the form of returned assets and the timing of valuation will help achieve faster and fairer compensation in complex cases involving mixed funds from multiple victims. It is reported that the public consultation for the draft amendment will continue until August 24.

According to The Block, the European Union is considering revising its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), just about a week after this crypto regulatory framework fully came into effect. The European Commission is seeking feedback from relevant stakeholders, with a deadline of September 30.According to several anonymous sources familiar with the matter, the European Commission is assessing whether to expand the regulatory scope of MiCA to include emerging areas such as tokenization and non-EU stablecoin issuers.MiCA is a comprehensive regulatory framework established by the EU for crypto assets, aimed at creating unified rules for the issuance, trading, custody, and other related services of crypto assets across the EU. The regulation officially comes into effect in December 2024, but most service providers have been granted a transition period to complete compliance adjustments, which lasts until July 1 of this year.

According to Cointelegraph, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced an extension of the temporary enforcement exemption period for digital asset businesses applying for an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license until September 30, 2026, extending the previous deadline of June 30 by three months.This extension also broadens the scope of the exemption, including digital asset businesses operating through authorized representatives or arrangements with licensed company intermediaries in the transitional protection period. ASIC stated that since the update of the digital asset regulatory guidelines in October 2025, approximately 30 license applications have been received.It is noteworthy that this extension is independent of Australia's "Digital Asset Framework," which was passed by Parliament in April this year and is scheduled to officially take effect on April 9, 2027. ASIC warned that businesses licensed under the current guidelines may still need to obtain additional authorizations after the new framework is implemented.

According to The Block, a survey by CoinShares of 261 wealth management professionals in Europe shows that 52% of UK wealth advisors indicate that most of their clients' crypto asset exposure is outside their management scope (with a management gap exceeding 50%), while the overall percentage in Europe is one-quarter.The report points out that this "management blind spot" is primarily driven by company policies rather than a lack of advisor knowledge or client demand. In companies with explicit restrictions or a lack of internal guidance, the proportion of advisors actively recommending crypto assets is only 1%, while the management gap reaches 34%; in contrast, in companies with clear support, the recommendation rate is 48%, and the management gap is only 4%.The survey also found that the changes advisors most want to see are regulatory recognition of digital assets as a mainstream asset class (45%) and access to exchange-traded products (ETPs) (43%), rather than purely educational training.Currently, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed allowing authorized funds to hold up to 10% in crypto ETPs, and the European regulatory environment is gradually shifting towards support, which may help narrow this management gap.

According to The Block, Securitize announced the launch of Hamilton Lane's Senior Credit Opportunities Fund (HLSCOPE) on the TRON blockchain through its compliant tokenization structure, becoming the first Securitize asset issued on TRON. HLSCOPE provides qualified investors with on-chain exposure to Hamilton Lane's opportunity senior credit perpetual fund, relying on TRON's over 383 million accounts, approximately 90 billion dollars in circulating stablecoins, and high-frequency settlement network.