institution

Ethereum Institutional announced the appointment of David Duong as the head of the U.S. region, responsible for promoting collaboration with U.S. institutional investors to further engage institutions in the construction of the Ethereum ecosystem.David Duong previously served as the Global Head of Investment Research at Coinbase, responsible for cryptocurrency market research aimed at institutional clients of the exchange, covering areas such as macroeconomic analysis, valuation models, and market structure, and has worked in sell-side macro strategy research for 17 years at HSBC, Santander Bank, and Deutsche Bank.

According to foreign media reports, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index KOSPI fell sharply again after rebounding for two consecutive days, with a drop of up to 4.76% during trading on October 20, and it fell below 5500 points. The decline was attributed to rising U.S. Treasury yields and the weak performance of a data center company's first day of trading. Foreign investors reduced their holdings of Korean stocks, and institutional investors, including pension funds, also joined in selling.As of the time of writing, foreign investors had net sold 636.7 billion Korean won in the Korean securities market, while institutional investors net sold 467 billion Korean won, including financial investment institutions net selling 241.8 billion Korean won and pension funds net selling 159 billion Korean won. Individual investors net bought 838.8 billion Korean won, and other legal entities net bought 261.6 billion Korean won. Eugene Investment & Securities analyst Huh Jae-Hwan stated that this round of selling exhibited indiscriminate characteristics, with almost all stocks declining, and the market appeared very weak, with battery manufacturers that had led the rebound on Monday also experiencing a pullback.

According to a confirmation from the German Savings Banks and Giro Association (DSGV) to the media, the German Savings Banks (Sparkassen) officially entered the cryptocurrency trading sector this Monday. Institutional clients participating in the first batch can now directly buy and sell digital assets such as Bitcoin through their existing official app.The trading service launched is supported by the securities service provider of the savings banks, Dekabank, and is jointly responsible for the custody of crypto assets with the Stuttgart Stock Exchange. The initial supported trading currencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Solana, and Polygon. In terms of fees, the service sets a low transaction fee of only 0.99 euros per order, and users are not required to bind a traditional securities account, which is clearly aimed at competing directly on pricing with emerging mobile banks like N26 and Trade Republic.In terms of the promotion schedule, the service does not have a unified national launch date but allows each savings bank to decide its own launch time based on its circumstances. Joachim Schmalzl, a member of the DSGV management, stated that there is strong interest in this business within the group, and it is expected that 30 to 40 institutions will follow suit each month, with the goal of covering most interested savings banks by the first half of 2027. He emphasized that the product is mainly aimed at clients who wish to independently buy, sell, and custody crypto assets, and the savings banks do not provide investment advice nor plan to conduct extensive proactive marketing in the initial phase.For a long time, due to the extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies, the German Savings Banks have maintained a cautious attitude towards them. Schmalzl pointed out that the decision to enter the market was the result of careful consideration, with the decisive factors being strong customer demand and the fact that Europe currently has a reliable regulatory framework, aimed at allowing clients with clear intentions to trade in a regulated compliance environment.However, DSGV still maintains a cautious tone in its statement, reiterating that cryptocurrencies are "highly speculative assets," and clients will be clearly warned of the risks of extreme price fluctuations and total loss when operating. The bank also emphasizes that for the long-term wealth accumulation of the public, traditional securities investments, savings plans, and financial consulting remain its core business.

Polygon announced the launch of Polygon CDK Besu, supporting banks and financial institutions to deploy private blockchains based on Hyperledger Besu, and connect to other blockchains and their liquidity through Agglayer from the outset. It currently supports deployment on the Ethereum mainnet.

The Governor of the People's Bank of China, Pan Gongsheng, stated at the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting that it will pilot further facilitation for foreign financial institutions to conduct RMB purchase and sale operations in the domestic foreign exchange market.The People's Bank plans to allow 8 domestic and foreign RMB offshore clearing banks to conduct proprietary trading in the domestic interbank foreign exchange market, promoting the integrated development of onshore and offshore markets.

JPMorgan Chase is expanding its JPM Coin dollar deposit token to the Ethereum mainnet, offering it to institutional clients. The token was previously launched in 2025 on Base, representing actual bank deposits and can be used for near-instantaneous peer-to-peer transfers and settlements around the clock.Currently, it is only available to JPMorgan Chase's institutional clients through Kinexys, not supported for public trading, and not open to retail clients. JPM Coin is a permissioned and regulatory-compliant bank currency, not a decentralized stablecoin.

Deutsche Bank is nearing the launch of institutional-grade cryptocurrency custody services, expected to begin serving institutional clients within weeks, initially targeting German companies and professional investors, supporting assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, with technology co-developed by Swiss digital asset infrastructure company Taurus.This service is not aimed at retail cryptocurrency trading applications, and the related plans still require regulatory approval. Deutsche Bank has also discussed the possibility of tokenized deposits, digital securities, and expanding to Asian financial centers by 2027.

Crypto podcast host Andy (@andyyy) posted a preview stating that a major AI product/feature will be released in the coming days, aimed at institutional-level on-chain asset management, with embedded risk strategies. It is reported that this product has already conducted pilot programs with several funds and asset management institutions.Andy previously accurately predicted the launch of the SEC's crypto exemption policy a week in advance.

According to CryptoSlate, Microsoft and the cybersecurity organization Health-ISAC have obtained a court order in the United States to seize and redirect the domains supporting three services: YAM Store, CoGUI, and Iron Man. These three services sell stolen accounts and phishing tools to fraudsters. Since January of this year, they have assisted in sending over 1 billion phishing messages, targeting more than 75,000 institutions across over 150 countries, generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the operators.Microsoft has disabled over 20,000 accounts associated with YAM Store and continues to block more than 100,000 counterfeit and fraudulent domains. According to Microsoft's investigation, these services accept payments in USDT (Tron network) and ETH, and Cloudflare stated that buyers can also use USDC for payments. Blockchain analytics company TRM Labs assisted investigators in locating and freezing related assets, but the amount frozen has not been disclosed.

According to Bloomberg, Ripple's main brokerage division, Ripple Prime, is launching perpetual contracts for real-world assets (RWA) aimed at institutional clients, covering over 100 reference markets including stocks, indices, ETFs, and commodities. This product is offered through Trade.xyz on Hyperliquid, continuing Ripple Prime's previous strategy of opening up cryptocurrency perpetual contract trading to clients.This arrangement supports cross-position margin sharing. Michael Higgins, CEO of Ripple Prime International, stated that this move helps institutions improve capital efficiency and position management. Clients can pair perpetual contracts with underlying assets for basis trading or use the contracts for directional trading to gain exposure to relevant assets during traditional market closures and on weekends.In the past year, the open interest of RWA perpetual contracts on several major trading platforms has increased from nearly zero to $9 billion. Higgins also mentioned that traditional hedge funds are "very close" to directly participating in the tokenized RWA market, with the key being the establishment of infrastructure that meets their counterparty and anti-money laundering requirements.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has revoked the major payment institution license of the currency exchange and cross-border remittance entity Sir Money Changer Pte. Ltd. (SMC) under the Payment Services Act 2019, effective from September 15, 2026. From that date, SMC is no longer allowed to provide cross-border remittance and currency exchange services.The action by MAS stems from an investigation that found SMC allowed third parties to independently operate cross-border remittance services in one of its business premises under the name of SMC and provided false or misleading information to MAS. MAS pointed out that license holders must not allow third parties to use their license to conduct financial service activities and require payment service providers to maintain effective supervision and control over their business operations.

Citibank stated in its official insights report "Digital Frontier: Collateral in a Tokenized World" that as financial markets accelerate towards continuous, around-the-clock operations, collateral management is undergoing a structural evolution. Institutional-level tokenization is moving beyond isolated proof of concepts to establish scalable operational tracks on global banking, custody, and market infrastructure, making collateral a continuous liquidity and optimization engine.Citibank mentioned that combining tokenized assets with regulated on-chain settlement currencies can achieve instant atomic cash-to-cash transactions, eliminating multi-day gap risks and expanding the range of eligible collateral to include tools like tokenized money market funds. Global asset managers and asset owners will unify traditional and digital collateral into a single, continuously optimized inventory over many years of hybrid operating models, covering counterparties, custodians, and settlement venues.

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea stated that after investigating 16 companies (including cryptocurrency exchanges) involved in a previous security incident, it plans to implement stricter cybersecurity requirements for financial institutions. The agency noted that in an industry review covering 555 financial companies, 130 companies were found to have cybersecurity deficiencies, with approximately 100,000 pieces of customer information leaked, including names, contact details, and identification numbers.Affected companies include Streami, the operator of Gopax, and the cryptocurrency trading platform Prabang, which previously disclosed that a hacking incident on October 2 led to the leakage of some customers' personal information. The FSC indicated that it is still investigating whether these incidents involved the use of artificial intelligence or if they are related to the same group of attackers.According to the proposed reforms, larger financial institutions will undergo vulnerability assessments at least twice a year. The regulatory agency also plans to improve the information-sharing system and is considering using artificial intelligence for security monitoring of small businesses. Additionally, the FSC is considering allowing supplementary cybersecurity inspections outside of the regular assessment schedule in the event of an urgent threat to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

A certain whale/institution sold 237.8 BTC in the past day, exchanged it for 19.7 million USDC, and then bought 7929 ETH. In the past 4 days, this entity has sold a total of 1312.1 BTC, exchanged it for 109.1 million USDC, and then bought 43275 ETH.

According to CoinDesk, the consortium Qivalis, supported by 37 major European banks, announced that the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) has granted it an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license, bringing it closer to issuing Euro-denominated electronic money tokens (EMT). The Amsterdam-based company still needs to meet the remaining requirements of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), including publishing a white paper, in order to issue the token in the coming months.This license enables Qivalis to provide a blockchain-based method for transferring Euros for banks and payment institutions. Qivalis plans to distribute its tokens through banks, cryptocurrency exchanges, and payment service providers, rather than directly to consumers. Since its establishment in September 2025, the consortium has expanded to 37 European banks, including BBVA, BNP Paribas, ING, and DZ Bank, and has chosen Fireblocks to provide digital asset infrastructure.According to MiCA regulations, EMTs are classified as stablecoins, but not all stablecoins are EMTs. EMTs are pegged to a single fiat currency and must be issued by authorized credit institutions or electronic money institutions, with holders having legal claims to them and the right to redeem them at face value at any time, and EMTs cannot pay interest.Qivalis CEO Jan-Oliver Sell stated that the currency in Europe should be carried on-chain by European rules, and Europe should have Euro-denominated on-chain settlement assets issued under European law and subject to European regulatory standards.

Galaxy Digital Research Director Alex Thorn stated that over half of the BTC supply is located in addresses of unknown ownership. Despite the trend of institutionalization and centralized holdings in recent years, there is still a massive (possibly even the majority of) amount of Bitcoin being self-custodied by individuals.

According to the official service account of Visa on October 13, Visa has officially received approval from the People's Bank of China to prepare for a bank card clearing institution within China. Visa will continue to complete subsequent work and carry out bank card clearing business in China.Visa CEO Al Kelly stated that the approval of this preparation application is another important milestone in Visa's long-term commitment to serving the Chinese market. The company looks forward to actively carrying out subsequent work in accordance with the relevant regulatory provisions of the People's Bank of China, in order to strive for early business development in the domestic market.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, as of now, a certain whale/institution has cumulatively sold 837.8 BTC and bought 27,500 ETH, worth approximately 6.968 million USD, with an average purchase price of ETH at 2,534 USD.Their operational path is as follows: transferring Bitcoin on-chain BTC withdrawn from HTX a year and a half ago to Hyperliquid, selling it for USDC; then bringing the USDC to Arbitrum, cross-chain to Ethereum, and finally buying ETH on-chain.

Standard Chartered Bank announced that it has launched institutional custody services for Ripple's stablecoin RLUSD through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch, supporting the operation of this stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, allowing qualified institutional clients to use its digital asset custody infrastructure.Standard Chartered plans to extend the collateral mirroring model to institutional trading company LMAX Group, allowing clients to use RLUSD as trading collateral while the tokens remain held in the bank's custody. This model enables LMAX to confirm the value of qualified RLUSD holdings without requiring clients to transfer tokens, which Standard Chartered claims reduces transfer-related risks and helps institutions manage counterparty exposure.The issuer of RLUSD, Ripple, and LMAX Group announced a partnership in January 2026 to expand the institutional use of this stablecoin. Standard Chartered stated that the new collateral functionality still needs to meet conditions such as final documentation, testing, regulatory requirements, and internal approvals.