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According to MyBroadband, South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that the government will release a draft regulation to formally incorporate crypto assets into the capital flow management system under the Currency and Exchange Act.This move aims to improve cross-border capital regulation and complement existing anti-money laundering and anti-fraud regulations. Previously, the Pretoria High Court ruled that cryptocurrencies do not fall under the legal definition of "currency," and that current foreign exchange control rules do not apply to crypto assets, urging the government to undertake legislative reform.Although the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has appealed the ruling, insisting that cryptocurrencies should be treated as currency for regulatory purposes, the current regulatory focus has shifted to establishing clear administrative responsibilities and cross-border transaction reporting requirements. This legislative reform will end the ambiguity surrounding crypto assets in foreign exchange control, providing a legal basis for South African residents to participate in the global crypto market.

Canadian venture capital firm Framework Ventures has reached an agreement to acquire approximately 10% of the publicly listed mortgage lending institution Better.com for about $45 million.This move comes as Better.com plans to enter the asset tokenization space and intends to issue token products backed by $500 million in mortgage and other loan assets. Sources reveal that the retail-oriented token may be named "Home Token." The company stated that the initial tokens will be available only to accredited investors, with plans to gradually expand to a broader user base in the future. Better.com founder and CEO Vishal Garg stated that tokenization can reduce intermediary steps, thereby lowering financing costs and providing consumers with lower interest rate mortgage products.It is reported that Better.com is collaborating with the DeFi ecosystem Sky to advance the on-chain mortgage assets. Sky uses real-world assets (RWA) to back stablecoins, with the current ecosystem capital size of approximately $18 billion. Framework Ventures is also one of the key supporters of Sky. Better.com had planned to go public in 2021 with a valuation of $7.7 billion, but the stock price plummeted over 90% on its actual listing day in 2023. The company's current market capitalization is approximately $450 million.

Commissioner Hester Peirce of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wrote that she hopes to amend Rule 15c3-1 to more clearly cover payment stablecoins.Currently, the agency has released an FAQ that clarifies the regulatory treatment of payment stablecoins under the broker-dealer net capital rule framework, which mainly includes:If a broker-dealer applies a 2% capital haircut to its proprietary holdings of payment stablecoin assets when calculating net capital, regulators will not raise objections.Before the enactment of the GENIUS Act, "payment stablecoins" must be dollar-denominated, issued by state-regulated money transmission companies, state-regulated trust companies, or national trust banks, and meet conditions such as reserve asset requirements, redemption policy disclosures, and monthly attestation reports issued by certified public accountants; after the enactment of the act, they must comply with the definitions and requirements for "payment stablecoins" and "compliant issuers" as set forth in the GENIUS Act.

The official website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a speech by Chairman Paul Atkins at the ETHDenver conference, outlining the agency's direction on cryptocurrency regulation, which mainly includes:Clarifying the "investment contract" framework: The Commission will study and publish a framework that clarifies under what circumstances crypto assets constitute investment contracts, as well as their formation and termination mechanisms.Innovation exemptions: Considering the establishment of innovation exemptions that allow for pilot trading of certain tokenized securities under restricted conditions, including limited trading on new platforms such as automated market makers, to accumulate experience for a long-term regulatory framework.Advancement of rules and guidance: Plans to initiate or advance rulemaking on topics such as financing pathways for crypto assets, broker-dealer custody for non-securities crypto assets (including payment stablecoins), and modernization of transfer agent rules; and continue to provide clarity for non-registration scenarios such as wallets and user interfaces through no-action letters and exemption orders.Regulatory philosophy: Paul Atkins emphasized that regulators should not react to short-term price fluctuations. The responsibility of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is to ensure adequate information disclosure and clear rules, allowing market participants to make decisions in a transparent environment, rather than "supporting prices."

Monad announced on the X platform that the Monad Foundation has acquired the open-source blockchain data indexing framework Ponder, with the specific acquisition amount not disclosed.The entire Ponder team will join the Monad Foundation and contribute to the protocol layer, open-source tools, and standards, while also providing support for applications leveraging Monad's performance and decentralized features.

According to Crypto Politan, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) announced its updated regulatory framework for crypto tokens last year and released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to assist businesses in understanding and implementing the new regulations.The new framework allows entities regulated by the DFSA within the Dubai International Financial Centre to choose the crypto tokens they wish to work with without requiring prior approval from the DFSA, and this update has been effective since 2026. The FAQ clarifies that the new regulations cover crypto tokens used for payment or investment purposes, excluding investment tokens such as NFTs, utility tokens, securities tokens, and stablecoins.Stablecoins are limited to use by asset managers for payments. Businesses offering crypto token-related products must comply with the token regime and related requirements, with token suitability assessment criteria including their characteristics, regulatory status in other jurisdictions, global market size and liquidity, relevant technology, and whether they may hinder compliance.

Jim Moloney, head of the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance, stated that they are working to expedite the development of regulatory rules. The division will primarily focus on reforms related to crypto assets and is preparing to submit two key proposals regarding crypto assets to the Commission: first, to provide interpretive guidance that offers a clear classification for crypto assets and describes the framework for determining when crypto assets are subject to investment contract obligations; second, to develop a reasonable regulatory structure proposal for the issuance and sale of such securities that are subject to investment contract obligations.Additionally, the division will continue to provide market clarity through statements and no-action letters. Jim Moloney also mentioned that other ongoing work by the SEC includes: implementing the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act (HFCAA); creating an option for semi-annual reports instead of quarterly reports; and alleviating regulatory burdens under Regulation S-K, including executive compensation disclosures.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted on the X platform that Coinbase has recently participated in two White House meetings, stating that the White House, banks, and the crypto industry can achieve a "win-win" on the crypto structural bill. In the future, they will continue to focus on promoting core consumer rights, including a stablecoin reward mechanism. He is confident in driving the formation of a market structure that balances the crypto policy agenda with banking concerns, while ensuring that the interests of crypto users are prioritized.Brian Armstrong further stated that Coinbase has been actively promoting related issues even before the industry widely focused on market structure problems and will continue to participate in policy discussions. However, the GENIUS Act was passed six months ago, and its current re-evaluation may have a significant impact on platform customers.

The distributed AI lab Gradient today released the Echo-2 distributed reinforcement learning framework, aimed at breaking the barriers of training efficiency in AI research. By achieving a complete decoupling of Learner and Actor at the architectural level, Echo-2 has reduced the post-training cost of a 30B model from $4,500 to $425. This results in over 10 times the research throughput under the same budget.The framework utilizes compute-storage separation technology for asynchronous training (Async RL), offloading massive sampling computation to unstable GPU instances and Parallax-based heterogeneous GPUs. Coupled with breakthroughs in bounded staleness, instance fault-tolerant scheduling, and the self-developed Lattica communication protocol, it significantly enhances training efficiency while ensuring model accuracy. Along with the framework release, Gradient will soon launch the RLaaS platform Logits, promoting the shift in AI research from a "capital accumulation" paradigm to an "efficiency iteration" paradigm. Logits is now open for reservations for students and researchers worldwide.

Distributed AI Lab Gradient has released the Echo-2 distributed reinforcement learning framework, aiming to break the barriers of training efficiency in AI research by decoupling the Learner and Actor at the architectural level to reduce the post-training costs of large models.Official data shows that this framework can reduce the post-training cost of a 30B model from $4500 to $425. Echo-2 utilizes separation of storage and computation technology for asynchronous training (Async RL), supporting the offloading of sampling computation to unstable GPU instances and Parallax-based heterogeneous GPUs. Additionally, Gradient plans to launch the RLaaS (Reinforcement Learning as a Service) platform Logits, which is currently open for reservations for students and researchers.

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, stated on the X platform that he outlined the SEC's three priorities for 2026 during his testimony before Congress: focusing on fraud enforcement and investor protection, reforming information disclosure rules, and providing a clear regulatory framework for digital assets.Atkins mentioned that the SEC will uphold investor rights through targeted enforcement and cross-border enforcement working groups, while emphasizing the need to modernize, rationalize, and streamline the reporting system to make it meaningful and easy to understand for investors.In the field of digital assets, Atkins acknowledged that establishing a clear regulatory framework for crypto assets has been "long overdue," and stated that as Congress advances related legislation, the SEC will collaborate with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission through "Project Crypto" to clarify regulatory obligations for investors and innovators. Previously, the SEC chairman was questioned about the "relaxation of cryptocurrency regulation."

The Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Ashley Alder, stated at the Consensus Hong Kong conference that the regulatory body will release a "high-level framework" allowing licensed trading platforms to offer perpetual contract products. Alder pointed out that these products will initially be open only to institutional investors and not to retail customers.The relevant framework will focus on risk management, requiring platforms to have robust risk control capabilities and ensuring that trading mechanisms are fair to clients. In addition, the Hong Kong SFC will also allow brokers to provide financing services to clients with good credit standing, with collateral including securities and virtual assets. Given the high volatility of virtual assets, initially only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) will be eligible as collateral.In terms of market-making activities, if platforms engage in related services, they must establish independent market-making departments and implement strict conflict of interest management mechanisms. Alder stated that these measures continue the SFC's roadmap to promote the development of the local crypto market by 2025, aiming to allow compliant institutions to offer a wider range of products and services.

CZ posted on the X platform that launching all tokens on DEX is a good thing, while launching all tokens on CEX is considered bad. Exchanges should provide access to all content.In addition, CZ stated that each exchange has its own listing framework, and that framework may change over time.

According to market news, licensed company Axiology under the European DLT pilot regulatory framework announced the completion of a €5 million (approximately $6 million) seed round financing.This round of financing was led by Exponential Science, e2vc, and Coinvest Capital, with new investors TIBAS Ventures and Plug and Play participating. The company's total financing amount has reached €7 million. Axiology holds one of only four comprehensive "DLT trading and settlement system" licenses under the EU DLT pilot scheme. The company operates on a permissioned XRP Ledger, focusing on fixed income securities and the institutional market. Since the platform's launch in September last year, it has introduced services such as securities custody, shareholder registration management, and multilateral trading facilities. The platform currently supports settlement with regulated stablecoins and plans to participate in the European wholesale central bank digital currency initiative, while achieving settlement on the TARGET2 system through the European Central Bank's Project Pontes and Project Appia.

The Canadian investment regulatory agency CIRO recently released a new digital asset custody framework aimed at strengthening the regulation of cryptocurrency asset custody methods and enhancing investor protection.This framework draws on lessons learned from past events such as the collapse of QuadrigaCX, focusing on preventing hacking attacks, fraud, weak corporate governance, and bankruptcy risks. According to the guidelines, the new framework establishes a tiered, risk-based custody structure that imposes differentiated regulatory requirements on different custody models while allowing institutions to engage in compliant innovation.CIRO stated that as custody forms and cybersecurity risks continue to evolve, regulators will continuously update this framework to adapt to new industry developments.

According to the Hong Kong Government News Bulletin, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau and the Securities and Futures Commission are formulating the regulatory details for virtual asset trading and custody services. The goal is to submit a bill to the Legislative Council this year regarding the regulation of four types of service providers related to virtual assets, including opinions on virtual assets and virtual asset management services. In addition, the Hong Kong "Stablecoin Ordinance" officially came into effect in August 2025, and the Monetary Authority is currently processing related license applications.In establishing an international gold trading market, Hong Kong has set a target to expand gold storage by over 2,000 tons within three years to build a regional gold reserve hub. The Hong Kong Central Clearing System, wholly owned by the government, has been established, and the target clearing system is set to commence trial operations within this year. Furthermore, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau is studying the optimization of tax relief measures related to the treasury center and exploring the possibility of shortening the stock settlement cycle from the current T+2 to T+1.

On January 28, the U.S. SEC issued a regulatory statement on tokenized securities, categorizing them into two core types. The first type is the issuer direct tokenization model, where the issuer or its agents issue securities in the form of blockchain and record holder information. These tokenized securities must comply with the same registration, disclosure, and other legal obligations as traditional securities, and the use of on-chain or off-chain recording methods does not alter the applicability of securities laws.The second type is the third-party tokenization model, which includes custodial (where token holders have indirect ownership of the custodial securities through the tokens) and synthetic (where the tokens only track the price performance of the underlying securities without transferring any substantive rights, potentially constituting a security swap) forms. The SEC specifically notes that third-party tokenization introduces additional counterparty risk and bankruptcy risk, and some products must be subject to strict regulatory constraints of security swaps.

The Hong Kong Legislative Council's Financial Affairs Committee announced that a briefing will be held on January 30, with the Hong Kong Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau presenting policy measures. Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui, and Deputy Secretary, Chan Ho-lam, will attend.Relevant documents state: In order to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the digital asset industry in Hong Kong and further consolidate Hong Kong's position as an international financial center, legislative proposals will be submitted to the Legislative Council this year to implement revisions related to the crypto asset reporting framework and common reporting standards established by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The goal is to automatically exchange tax information related to crypto asset transactions with other tax jurisdictions starting in 2028, in order to combat cross-border tax evasion and enhance international tax transparency. Public opinions are currently being collected on the legislative proposals.

Framework Ventures co-founder Vance Spencer stated, "If the current development trend continues, ETH will become the only quantum-safe cryptocurrency and will surpass BTC within 1 to 2 years. All computing platforms are influenced by broader technological trends, and they need to integrate these trends to remain competitive. Ethereum has already integrated stablecoins, tokenization, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. So far, BTC has not adopted any of these technologies."

Liquid Capital founder Yi Lihua posted on platform X that crypto-friendly policies are gradually being realized, especially with the high likelihood of the crypto structural bill passing. This means that the crypto industry has ended its previously obstructed state and entered a new phase of healthy development in a favorable macro environment, where a large number of excellent founders and high-quality projects will emerge. At the same time, it clears the obstacles for U.S. financial institutions to participate on a large scale in the construction of crypto finance, allowing the crypto industry to fully integrate into the mainstream financial system.