services

According to Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley is piloting cryptocurrency trading services on its E*Trade platform, charging a fee of 50 basis points on each crypto transaction based on the transaction amount, which is lower than major competitors like Coinbase, Robinhood, and Charles Schwab.Approximately 8.6 million E*Trade customers are expected to have access to this feature by the end of the year. The report noted that Morgan Stanley has been continuously expanding in the crypto space over the past year, having launched the lowest-fee Bitcoin ETF, plans to launch Ether and Solana ETFs, and applied for a national trust bank license to provide digital asset custody, with future support for institutional clients trading tokenized stocks.

According to Crowdfund Insider, Swiss financial market infrastructure provider SIX has obtained approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to directly integrate its digital central securities depository (CSD, formerly operated by SIX Digital Exchange AG) into the existing SIX SIS AG division. At the same time, FINMA has authorized SIX to provide cryptocurrency custody services through the merged central securities depository.Previously, SIX maintained separate infrastructures for traditional markets and blockchain-based assets for many years. This integration eliminates that boundary, creating a single platform to support end-to-end post-trade operations across asset classes. Financial institutions can manage cryptocurrency custody using the same security framework as traditional instruments like stocks and bonds under the FINMA regulatory framework.Rafael Moral Santiago, Head of Securities Services and Executive Committee Member at SIX, stated that the goal is to provide financial institutions with a single secure entry point into digital assets, combining innovation with the stability of existing systems. This initiative is part of SIX's long-term plan to build a comprehensive post-trade solution across Europe by 2030.SIX is headquartered in Switzerland and is owned by approximately 120 financial institutions, with operations covering exchanges, post-trade services, financial information, and payment infrastructure.

The largest regulated electronic currency token issuer in the EU, Circle, announced that it has obtained approval from the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on April 20, 2026, to provide crypto asset services under the framework of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).This approval allows Circle France to provide custody and transfer services for its issued stablecoins USDC and EURC in accordance with Article 60(4) of MiCA. This move enables Circle France to offer these services to customers in the European Economic Area (EEA).Dante Disparte, Circle's Chief Strategy Officer and Global Head of Policy and Operations, stated, "This milestone reflects our ongoing commitment to operate within the European regulatory framework and support the establishment of a trusted digital financial infrastructure in France and across the EU." This move marks another significant step in Circle's ongoing commitment to regulatory compliance and building a trusted digital financial infrastructure in Europe.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) officially announced that it will accelerate the development of its securities tokenization services and has formed an industry working group with over 50 financial institutions to jointly promote the construction of digital asset infrastructure. Participating institutions include banks, asset management firms, brokerages, trading platforms, and crypto-native companies, including BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Circle, Ripple Labs, and Kraken's parent company Payward.According to the plan, the service is expected to undergo its first controlled production trading tests in July 2026 and officially launch in October 2026. The first batch of supported assets will include S&P 1000 constituents, mainstream ETFs, and highly liquid assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds.

Binance has now completed the integration of USDC (USDC) on the Starknet network and World Liberty Financial USD (USD1) on the AB chain, and has opened deposit and withdrawal services. Users can obtain their exclusive token deposit address through this page.

Binance will launch the USDT/KZT spot trading pair on May 4, 2026, at 16:00, and will open trading bot services for this trading pair. Users must complete account verification to participate in trading.

Payment giant PayPal officially announced the launch of a strategic reorganization, simplifying its business into three core segments: payment checkout and PayPal, consumer financial services and Venmo, and cryptocurrency and payment services. The cryptocurrency and payment services segment is listed as a core business unit, integrating payment processing, platform capabilities, and cryptocurrency business, including Braintree, payment processing for small and medium-sized merchants, value-added services, and stablecoin PYUSD. Jeff Pomeroy has been appointed as the interim head of this segment.PayPal President and CEO Enrique Lores stated that this reorganization aims to accelerate the execution of long-term growth strategies, simplify decision-making processes, and drive innovation. It will promote sustainable growth by being closer to consumer needs, strengthening collaboration among the three business segments, and enhancing operational efficiency. It is reported that PayPal will provide more details about the new operating model during the earnings call on May 5.

According to The Block, the cryptocurrency venture capital firm Hashed has obtained a financial services license issued by the Abu Dhabi Global Market. With this license, Hashed plans to collaborate with institutional investors in the Middle East in a regulated environment.

Lianlian Digital announced that it has successfully obtained a Money Services Business (MSB) license through the acquisition of an entity at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), allowing it to conduct regulated activities such as foreign exchange, remittances, virtual currency, and payment services. The specific acquisition amount has not been disclosed.

According to official news, Banking Circle has officially launched a stablecoin settlement service today.Previously, the bank had obtained a crypto asset service provider (CASP) license issued by the Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF. The new service supports instant two-way exchanges between fiat currencies and mainstream stablecoins such as USDC, USDG, and EURI, and relies on the bank's core platform to achieve round-the-clock settlement and regulatory traceability. Currently, the global market value of stablecoins is approximately 250 billion euros, with an annual payment transaction volume of about 330 billion euros and a monthly on-chain transaction volume exceeding 80 trillion euros.Banking Circle CEO Laust Bertelsen stated that stablecoins have become the core infrastructure for cross-border settlement and fund management. This launch aims to combine the efficiency of blockchain payments with banking compliance standards to serve its global client base of over 750 payment institutions.

According to The Block, AWS Marketplace has integrated data services such as Chainlink's Data Feeds, Data Streams, and Proof of Reserve, supporting developers in connecting AWS's computing, storage, database, and API capabilities with blockchain smart contracts.AWS stated that the Chainlink oracle infrastructure provides a secure two-way connection between AWS resources and on-chain smart contracts, making it easier for institutions to develop applications that interact with tokenized assets and smart contracts in a familiar AWS environment.

The People's Bank of China and seven other departments jointly issued the "Management Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products," which will be implemented starting September 30, 2026, to systematically regulate online marketing activities for financial products. The measures specify that only approved financial institutions and their self-operated platforms, as well as entrusted third-party internet platforms, may engage in online marketing of financial products, prohibiting the provision of online marketing services for illegal financial activities such as illegal fundraising, virtual currency issuance and trading, and illegal foreign exchange margin trading.The measures put forward detailed requirements regarding the authenticity of marketing content, risk disclosure, algorithm recommendations, pop-up advertisements, account naming, trademark usage, cooperation models, and the protection of data and personal information, and clarify the regulatory responsibilities and penalties for financial management departments, internet information, telecommunications, and market supervision departments.

According to the Robinhood blog, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has granted Robinhood Singapore Pte. Ltd. a principle approval (IPA) to provide securities brokerage services, paving the way for its launch of comprehensive brokerage services in Singapore, including securities, exchange-traded derivatives, custody, financing, and collective investment products.Singapore will serve as Robinhood's Asia-Pacific headquarters, complementing the MAS Major Payment Institution (MPI) license already held by its subsidiary Bitstamp Asia Pte. Ltd., strengthening its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. MAS emphasized that the IPA is not equivalent to a formal license, and Robinhood must still meet specific conditions, with the regulatory authority retaining the power to revoke the IPA.

Trump Media Technology Group is shifting its business focus from social media to the cryptocurrency and financial services sector. Data shows that since Trump was re-elected in 2024, the company's stock price has fallen by more than 60%, with shareholders losing about $6 billion in wealth. Recently, the company applied to launch a cryptocurrency blue-chip ETF and plans to establish a Bitcoin reserve.

New Fire Technology (1611.HK) announced that it will acquire the investment team and trading system of the Li Lin family office Avenir Group for $1.6 million.After the acquisition is completed, New Fire Technology plans to launch a Bitcoin-denominated asset management service called Alpha BTC, aiming to attract investments of over 10,000 Bitcoins within a year, valued at approximately $760 million. This strategy will generate returns through trading derivatives such as options, with Bitcoin or IBIT ETF as the underlying assets, targeting clients including crypto-native investors and local businesses in Hong Kong. Avenir Group holds 18.3 million shares of BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust, valued at $908 million, as of the end of 2025.

According to market news, at the "9th BCCC Collaborative Day" held on April 21, 2026, Shigeru Shimizu, the head of the Risk Analysis Division of the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan, delivered a special speech revealing significant progress in cryptocurrency regulation. The FSA has submitted a bill to the extraordinary Diet, proposing to transition cryptocurrencies from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, mainly involving four core aspects: regulations on information disclosure, the establishment of new classifications for independent operators, strengthening penalties for unregistered operators, and preparing regulations against insider trading.At the same time, the FSA is advancing three "Payment Innovation Projects (PIP)" empirical experiments: first, a cross-border payment trial using yen stablecoins involving three major banks; second, on-chain settlement of securities such as government bonds, corporate bonds, and stocks based on blockchain, aiming for 24/7 continuous trading; third, an interbank tokenized deposit transfer experiment that just received support on April 3 of this month, which will be promoted in conjunction with the Bank of Japan's central bank digital currency tokenization sandbox project. Mr. Shimizu stated that blockchain has great potential in enhancing the convenience of financial services and diversifying products, and the FSA will continue to promote institutional development and practical support.

According to The Block, B2B stablecoin technology provider Infinite has launched Infinite Accounts, offering banking account services for businesses that support deposits, withdrawals, ACH, domestic and international wire transfers, as well as stablecoin minting, burning, and on-chain transfers, all accessible through a single API.This service is supported by traditional banking infrastructure from Erebor Bank, which has recently received its license. Infinite states that the fiat currency balance in the accounts may be eligible for FDIC insurance, while the stablecoin balance is not. This move comes at a time when institutional adoption of stablecoins is continuing to heat up.

ChainCatcher reported live that Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, shared a keynote speech titled "From TRON to B.AI: Infrastructure as the Game-Changer in the AI Era" at this year's 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival.He introduced that TRON currently supports about 86.4 billion USDT, with other stablecoins bringing the total close to 90 billion dollars, and the global account number has reached 376 million, making it one of the largest stablecoin settlement networks in the world. He emphasized that the most important aspects of financial services are stability and security, rather than being cheap.He pointed out that the existing payment systems are not compatible with AI, as bank accounts require human identity for opening, and each payment needs manual authorization, which cannot support high-frequency decision-making by AI. B.AI is building the underlying financial infrastructure for AI agents, allowing each AI to operate without becoming human, managing keys and on-chain wallets through cryptography to complete payments, and can anonymously call the world's most

ChainCatcher reported live that the Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of Hong Kong, Chan Ho Lam, delivered a keynote speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He pointed out that Hong Kong has developed into the third global financial center index and the first international financial center in Asia, providing a solid foundation for Web3 innovation.He stated that the digital asset development policy declaration 2.0 released last year proposed the LEAP framework, which covers four pillars: optimizing legal regulation (L), expanding the variety of tokenized products (E), promoting application scenarios and cross-border cooperation (A), and developing talent and partnerships (P).He revealed that there are currently over 10 licensed trading platforms in Hong Kong, and the Monetary Authority has issued the first two stablecoin issuer licenses this month. The SAR government issued the third batch of tokenized green bonds last year, which is the largest scale globally, and is actively formulating regulatory systems for digital asset trading service providers and custodial service providers.