technologies

According to the official website of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce delivered a speech at the "Regulating the PETshop Series" seminar at Georgetown University Law Center, calling for the inclusion of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs) in the financial regulatory framework.She criticized the current regulatory approach for being overly inclined towards government surveillance, arguing that technology should serve to protect personal privacy rather than expand the scope of surveillance, and pointed out that blockchain public wallet addresses can reduce the risk of personal information leakage for investors while meeting compliance requirements.Peirce also invited technology teams that can minimize personal information collection while meeting KYC and anti-money laundering regulatory requirements to actively collaborate with the SEC's Crypto Task Force.

The digital asset financial services platform BIT announced that its subsidiary Matrixport Technologies Ltd has been approved by the British Virgin Islands Financial Services Commission (BVI FSC) to obtain a Class 2 investment business license (arranging investment transactions) under the Securities and Investment Business Act (SIBA), and has completed VASP registration under the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act (VASP Act).According to the scope of approval, Matrixport Technologies Ltd can conduct regulated investment business activities involving arranging investment transactions in accordance with BVI SIBA, supporting institutional and professional market operations and other financial services activities within the scope of the license; at the same time, it can conduct regulated virtual asset business under the BVI VASP framework.BIT stated that this approval comes after nearly three years of regulatory communication and preparation, marking an important milestone in the company's process of building a globally compliant digital asset platform.

According to PR Newswire, Valour, a subsidiary of DeFi Technologies, has secured approximately $11 million in institutional investment to purchase its Hedera (HBAR) related ETP products, with about $10 million corresponding to products listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and about $1 million corresponding to Valour Hedera SEK listed on the Swedish Spotlight Exchange.DeFi Technologies stated that these two transactions were facilitated by its Abu Dhabi seminar, reflecting the growing institutional demand for gaining exposure to Hedera through regulated exchange-traded products and supporting its asset management growth in the German market.

The Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, Paul Chan, delivered the opening speech at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival, stating, "The rise of AI agents this year is another noteworthy milestone. The intersection of AI and technologies like Web3 is changing the game. The combination of the two will elevate transaction efficiency to a new level and cover a broader range of business areas, from finance and trade to wealth management, supply chain operations, and logistics. This combination will create a multitude of new opportunities but will also pose a series of challenges, such as issues related to infrastructure payment and settlement systems and regulatory rules.Hong Kong's policy on Web3 and AI has always been clear, maintaining consistency under the principle of 'one country, two systems.' As an international financial center, Hong Kong embraces innovation, with stablecoins, tokenization, and AI becoming important components of the mainstream future. Hong Kong's regulators have a dual mission of prudent regulation and promoting market development, which requires us to encourage and support more innovative applications, improving our institutional framework based on continuous experience. I firmly believe that Hong Kong will undoubtedly become a key hub for the thriving development, widespread application, and responsible scaling of the new generation of technologies."

Recently, the State Taxation Administration and the National Financial Regulatory Administration of China jointly issued a notice on "Further Deepening and Standardizing 'Bank-Tax Interaction' Work," which pointed out the need to deepen the application of bank-tax data.Standardize the content and methods of providing bank-tax data to further resolve the information asymmetry issue between banks, taxes, and enterprises. Encourage both banks and tax authorities in various regions to utilize technologies such as blockchain and privacy computing to legally and compliantly innovate the "bank-tax interaction" model. Banks will continue to optimize credit services, increase financing service supply for honest tax-paying enterprises, and continuously monitor the effectiveness of the "bank-tax interaction" loan model to improve risk management levels.

According to PR Newswire, digital asset fintech company DeFi Technologies (Nasdaq: DEFT) announced its audited financial report for the fiscal year 2025.The company achieved a total revenue of $99.1 million for the year, a year-on-year increase of 215%; net profit was $62.7 million, an improvement of $90.3 million year-on-year. Among them, the asset management subsidiary Valour had an average AUM of $809.9 million for the year, with net inflows of $110.1 million in ETP products; the institutional trading platform Stillman Digital contributed $9.6 million in trading commission revenue, a year-on-year increase of 355%.As of the end of 2025, the company's cash and stablecoin balance was $113.8 million, digital asset reserves were approximately $35.5 million, the venture capital portfolio was valued at approximately $29.4 million, and total asset value was approximately $178.7 million.

Richard Tice, Vice Chairman of the Reform Movement (who is also the spokesperson for business, trade, energy, and housing for the Reform Party), stated in an interview with Bloomberg that new technologies such as stablecoins can help prevent financial fraud."Fraud always exists, but we need to make it more difficult for them to commit crimes—especially with the advancement of technologies like tech, blockchain, and tokenization, tracking the flow of funds should become easier," Tice said. "Can we somehow track, intercept, or settle these funds before they leave British sovereign territory? I don't know, but I think we must have the courage to consider all these possibilities."

BTQ Technologies announced the completion of the first runnable implementation of BIP 360 (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 360) on its Bitcoin Quantum Testnet v0.3.0, marking an early attempt to introduce quantum-resistant transaction infrastructure into a practical testing environment.BIP 360 introduces a new transaction format called Pay-to-Merkle-Root (P2MR), which reconfigures the way on-chain transaction data is submitted, allowing for the avoidance of public key exposure in specific transaction paths, thereby addressing the potential threats posed by quantum computers to existing cryptographic protections. BTQ stated that P2MR is compatible with frameworks such as the Lightning Network, BitVM, and Ark, while removing the key path spending mechanism introduced by Taproot.The testnet is currently connected to over 50 miners, having processed more than 100,000 blocks, and is equipped with a complete wallet tool that supports the creation, funding, signing, and broadcasting of P2MR transactions.

Galaxy Research's research director Alex Thorn posted on the X platform that the White House has released the U.S. cyber strategy document titled "President Trump's Cyber Strategy for America." This strategy consists of 7 pages and 6 main pillars, emphasizing cyber offense and deterrence, but it is relatively limited in specific implementation details. For the first time, the document explicitly mentions cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the U.S. cybersecurity strategy, proposing the need for "protection and security assurance" for these technologies, which were not mentioned in the national cybersecurity strategy released by Joe Biden in 2023.However, the strategy also proposes to "eradicate criminal infrastructure and cut off financial exit routes," along with a new executive order to combat transnational cybercrime. Analysts believe this statement may provide a policy basis for regulators to strengthen their crackdown on mixers, privacy coins, and unregulated deposit and withdrawal channels. Additionally, the strategy suggests expanding the authority for offensive cyber operations and plans to mobilize the private sector to combat hostile networks while promoting AI-driven automated cyber defense systems. The accompanying executive order will also establish new operational units within the national coordination center to coordinate law enforcement against transnational cybercrime groups.

According to Bitcoin.com, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has implemented a Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and expanded Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) rules starting from March 1, requiring local crypto asset service providers to report detailed transaction data in accordance with international standards and to automatically exchange account information with over 120 jurisdictions.Regulators will shift from passive reliance on voluntary disclosures to proactive, data-driven audits by using pattern recognition and data matching to compare tax returns with on-chain and offshore transaction records. Tax experts state that the "stealth space" for evading tax regulation through multiple wallets, offshore exchanges, and offshore structures has essentially disappeared, and taxpayers holding undeclared digital assets or offshore wealth face a higher risk of targeted audits, recommending proactive compliance through Voluntary Disclosure Programs (VDP).

According to a report by Businesswire, the Canadian-listed Ethereum treasury company Republic Technologies announced a private placement of up to 14,087,000 special warrants, with each special warrant priced at $0.21, raising a total of $3 million.The company previously disclosed an ETH holding of approximately 1,570.6 coins, with an average acquisition price of $2,700, and the current holding's market value is about $3.2 million.

The General Office of the State Council issued implementation opinions on improving the national unified electricity market system, which pointed out the need to enhance various functions of the electricity market, accelerate the establishment of a green electricity consumption certification mechanism, comprehensively introduce technologies such as blockchain, and carry out full-chain certification for green electricity production, consumption, and other links.

According to PRNewswire, Nasdaq-listed company DeFi Technologies announced the launch of the "DEFT Valour Investment Opportunity Index" (DVIO) through its subsidiary Valour, aimed at showcasing institutional capital allocation, sentiment changes, and fund rotation trends in the digital asset market by tracking real capital flows in regulated ETP products.The index will cover the top 50 crypto assets within the Valour ETP ecosystem, ranked by assets under management (AUM) and capital flows, with components and weights updated weekly to reflect the current capital allocation structure and its changing trends.

According to PR Newswire, Nasdaq-listed fintech company DeFi Technologies announced that its subsidiaries Valour Inc. and Valour Digital Securities Limited have received approval from UK regulators to offer Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded products to UK retail investors through the London Stock Exchange: 1 Valour Bitcoin Physical Staking and 1 Valour Ethereum Physical Staking.It is reported that the company had previously launched an asset-backed Ethereum physical staking ETP for UK professional investors.

BTQ Technologies Corp., a post-quantum cryptography company, announced that it has been included in the VanEck Quantum Computing UCITS ETF, which is listed in Europe. This ETF provides diversified investment exposure to companies that promote research, development, and application of quantum computing, aiming to track the MarketVector Global Quantum Leaders Total Return Net Index (MVQTMLTR). Its portfolio includes 30 companies selected for their exposure to quantum computing operations or verified ownership of quantum patents, with a total net asset value of approximately $524.5 million.In previous news, BTQ Technologies has launched the "Bitcoin Quantum" testnet, where miners, developers, researchers, and users can stress test against quantum transactions.

According to a report by Investing.com, UK fintech company GSTechnologies Ltd (London Stock Exchange: GST) has announced the acquisition of Polish virtual asset service provider Finferno Spółka Z Ograniczoną Odpowiedzialnością, with the transaction amount undisclosed.The acquisition is funded by GST's existing cash resources and aims to expand the company's digital asset business in Poland and Central Europe. Through this transaction, GST will be able to launch new digital asset exchanges and wealth management services in Poland, initially operating in a pilot format. GST Chairman Tone Goh stated in a press release that this acquisition aligns with the company's plan to internationalize its digital asset business GS Fintech in specific markets with strong potential.

According to Zhito Finance, the General Office of the National Financial Supervision Administration has issued the "Implementation Plan for the High-Quality Development of Digital Finance in the Banking and Insurance Industries." The plan proposes to serve the development of advanced manufacturing.Utilize industrial internet and industrial knowledge graphs to enhance data collection, analysis, and application capabilities in manufacturing enterprises' production transactions, warehousing, logistics, and other aspects. Strengthen credit support for the digital transformation of manufacturing, and use technologies such as big data and blockchain to standardize the development of supply chain finance, actively connecting with the financing needs of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain. Actively use digital technology to provide insurance compensation services for major technical equipment and first batches of new materials, enhancing the ability to prevent safety risks.

The Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Sun Jinlong, presided over a meeting of the Party Leadership Group on December 25. The meeting pointed out the need to strengthen the construction of cybersecurity and information technology infrastructure, promote the deep integration of information technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain with ecological and environmental governance, build a solid defense line for network and information security, and effectively use information technology to promote the modernization of ecological and environmental governance.

According to The Information, former FTX US president Brett Harrison has completed a $35 million funding round for his newly founded Architect Financial Technologies, with a valuation of approximately $187 million.Its exchange AX focuses on perpetual contracts for traditional assets (stocks and forex), rather than crypto perpetuals. The platform is regulated in Bermuda and is only open to non-U.S. institutional investors, as the U.S. has not yet approved perpetual futures products.