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Hyundai Card announced on the 9th that it has completed a proof of concept (PoC) for cross-border remittances based on stablecoins with Hyundai Motor America (HMA) and Hyundai Motor Mexico (HMM). In the first PoC, the U.S. entity converted $20,000 into USDT and then remitted it to the Mexican entity, which converted it back to dollars. The entire process, including international remittance and verification, averaged only 7 minutes, significantly shorter than the 3 to 4 hours typically required for traditional bank cross-border remittances. Tether and Avalanche participated in this verification.The second phase of the PoC will be launched at the end of this month, targeting Hyundai Motor's European entity, to conduct actual remittances in local currency instead of dollars, verifying the cost-saving effects of currency exchange. Circle and Visa will participate as partners. Hyundai Card emphasized that this verification has comprehensively considered regulatory requirements such as accounting, taxation, legal, and internal controls, going beyond mere technical testing to reach the level of actual business deployment. In the future, there are plans to expand the application of stablecoins to inter-entity settlements and fund transfers within Hyundai Motor Group's global network.

Paul Atkins, the Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated that over the past year, the SEC has actively responded to President Trump's goal of "making America the world's crypto capital" and is taking historic steps to modernize rules and regulations to promote the market's migration to on-chain.

According to Bitcoin News, U.S. Congressman Nick Begich has introduced the "U.S. Reserve Modernization Act," which already has 16 original co-sponsors. The bill will establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve, integrate federally held digital assets, and lock them in as long-term reserve assets for at least 20 years.The bill also explores budget-neutral Bitcoin acquisition strategies while protecting the reserves from future government and congressional liquidation efforts. The media commented that the strategic Bitcoin reserve established by Trump through an executive order will be formally enshrined in law by the "U.S. Reserve Modernization Act."

ChainCatcher reported live that Fan Wenzhong, Executive Director of the Chinese Financial Society and former Chairman of Beijing Financial Holdings Group, delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He pointed out that we are currently at a historical turning point similar to the transition from pawnshops to modern banking, where AI is an advanced productive force in the physical world, and Web3 represents a new type of production relationship in the digital world. The integration of the two will give rise to a Decentralized Agent Economy (DAE).He analyzed that AI Agents have execution capabilities but lack independent identity, accounts, and trust mechanisms, while Web3 addresses these pain points through smart contracts, on-chain identities, and programmable currencies; conversely, AI Agents significantly lower the barriers to using Web3. He proposed that DAE has four major characteristics: agent sovereignty and 24/7 operation, high-frequency atomic exchanges, a collaboration mechanism based on technological trust rather than moral or legal frameworks, and the organizational evolution from companies to DAOs and then to Decentralized AI Companies (DACs).He warned that this transformation will impact the labor market, with white-collar workers being replaced before blue-collar workers. AI quantitative funds have already achieved returns far exceeding those of retail investors, and he suggested that the government proactively advance social security reforms. Finally, he recommended that Hong Kong develop a self-controllable high-performance public chain, pilot limited digital persona registrations, attract Web3+AI composite talents, establish a digital finance industry fund, and promote collaborative innovation between the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin and digital renminbi.

The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, stated that the SEC is working to reinvigorate the pace of progress in the field of cryptocurrency regulation to make up for previous shortcomings in policy-making.He pointed out at an event at the University of Texas that regulators have failed to timely adapt to industry innovation trends in the past. Atkins noted that since the Trump administration took office, the SEC's stance has become more open, having established a cryptocurrency working group, withdrawn multiple enforcement cases, and launched the "Project Crypto" initiative to promote updates to the regulatory framework. He emphasized that, compared to short-term price fluctuations, there is a greater focus on the application prospects of distributed ledger technology in payment, clearing, and settlement systems.Additionally, the SEC has approved WisdomTree's digital currency market fund for 24/7 trading and instant settlement this week. Atkins also revealed plans to explore the launch of tokenized bank deposit products in the future.

According to a post from the official White House X account, under Trump's push, the United States has become the world's cryptocurrency capital. The new chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mike Selig, responded that there is no place more suitable for entrepreneurship than the "world's cryptocurrency capital." The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is modernizing its rules and regulations to ensure that the future of cryptocurrency and on-chain finance realizes "Made in America."

According to financefeeds, BlackRock, the world's largest asset management company, has made a decisive statement, officially recognizing Bitcoin as the most important investment theme of 2025. This move solidifies the institutional narrative of the current market cycle.The head of the company's iShares division proposed a strategy at the meeting that positions Bitcoin alongside U.S. Treasuries and the "Tech Giants" stocks as the three pillars of a modern diversified investment portfolio. This recognition marks a significant evolution in BlackRock's stance—from initial tentative involvement to deeply integrating digital assets into its core macroeconomic worldview. Its core philosophy is no longer merely to "provide access" to speculative assets but to acknowledge Bitcoin as a fundamental component of the global monetary system's infrastructure.BlackRock's 2025 argument is built on the "macro mirror" thesis, which suggests that Bitcoin's performance increasingly reflects global concerns about sovereign debt and currency devaluation. As the U.S. federal deficit continues to widen and global fiscal imbalances worsen, BlackRock analysts believe institutional investors are seeking "non-correlated" assets that exist outside the traditional banking system.By positioning Bitcoin as "digital gold," BlackRock provides conservative asset allocators with the necessary theoretical framework to justify their large holdings. This shift is expected to culminate in 2026 with the launch of complex "yield-bearing" products, such as Bitcoin premium income ETFs designed to generate returns through covered call strategies.By offering these tools, BlackRock is shifting the market discussion from "why hold Bitcoin" to "how to optimize Bitcoin positions," thereby solidifying its role as a key gatekeeper of the next generation of digital capital.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired 8 NFTs of CryptoPunks, including CryptoPunks 4018, 2786, 5616, 5160, 3407, 7178, 74, and 7899.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, payment company Modern Treasury announced the acquisition of stablecoin startup Beam for $40 million. According to a source familiar with the matter, this acquisition is an all-stock deal.Beam, founded in 2022, provides software for banks and other businesses to send and receive stablecoins (i.e., cryptocurrencies pegged to underlying assets like the US dollar).

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, Fed's Logan stated that the time has come for the Federal Reserve to modernize its interest rate target framework.

ChainCatcher news, according to Reuters, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched Project Crypto, aimed at modernizing securities regulations and moving the market on-chain.

ChainCatcher news, according to the Financial Times, the UK government has announced the launch of a digital driving license and digital wallet application, planning to include documents such as driving licenses, veteran ID cards, criminal record certificates, and welfare eligibility certificates by 2027, with potential expansion to digital passports. The application will use facial recognition technology to verify user identity, as part of a modernization of public services and an initiative to drive economic growth.Technology Minister Peter Kyle stated that the plan is not mandatory, but the goal is to make it more attractive. Additionally, the government plans to introduce a series of artificial intelligence tools to improve decision-making efficiency and reduce consulting costs. However, experts point out that successful digital transformation requires significant investment and acceptance of potential failure risks.

ChainCatcher news, according to DEGEN NEWS, Trump stated that the U.S. government should not sell cryptocurrency, calling it "a very modern currency."

ChainCatcher news, Sui developer Mysten Labs co-founder Kostas Kryptos stated on social media that he is creating a modern cryptography and AI innovation center in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and will attempt to "occasionally" invite well-known figures in the field.Currently, he has planned to release unique ideas surrounding ZKP, MPC, FHE, differential privacy, Web3 UX, Anon Credentials, on-chain AI, audit AI, DePIN data compression and parallelization, new key management, identity, voting, and verifiable execution.He stated that the goal is to "gradually elevate the technological level across the Middle East and North Africa region and discover the emergence of technologically competitive startups."

ChainCatcher news, the Hyundai NFT platform of the Hyundai Motor Group tweeted that it has opened its Hyundai Metaverse page, and the old URL has been closed.

ChainCatcher news, Visa released a research report titled "In-Depth Exploration of the High-Performance Blockchain Network Solana." The report highlights Solana's unique technological advantages, including high throughput through parallel processing, low costs in a localized fee market, and high resilience from a large number of nodes and multi-node clients, which together create a scalable blockchain platform with an attractive payment value proposition. These factors are part of the reason why Visa decided to expand the scope of its stablecoin settlement pilot to include transactions on the Solana network. When Visa trials the stablecoin settlement feature on Solana, we plan to test whether Solana has the capability to meet the financial operational needs of modern enterprises.

Chain Catcher news, the European Parliament voted to pass a resolution that states it will utilize blockchain technology to modernize the EU's tax procedures, while also calling for the simplification of tax rules on crypto assets and encouraging EU member states to reform their tax authorities. (The Block)

According to Chain Catcher news and reported by Coindesk, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York is considering using part of the proceeds from the auction of William S. Paley's art collection to purchase NFTs. Museum director Glenn Lowry stated that since the museum's visitor numbers significantly declined during the pandemic, its phased goal is to expand the museum's influence in the digital art field. The museum has a team closely monitoring the digital art market and is considering purchasing digital art related to NFTs. (Source link)