The United States is preparing another round of economic pressure on Iran, according to a WuBlockchain daily roundup that also covered regulatory, treasury, network, and enforcement-related developments across the crypto sector.
Iran warned on Friday that any new threat from the US would trigger a "devastating" response. Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would further escalate economic sanctions on Iran and plans to announce the specific measures next Monday. The stated aim is to increase economic pressure on Tehran without significantly pushing up oil prices.
Iran described the sanctions as "economic terrorism." The roundup also said additional US pressure on Iranian oil exports has already begun disrupting shipments to China and has added to concern over global energy supply.
Pakistan opens virtual asset licensing regime
The Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, or PVARA, said the country’s virtual asset licensing framework has officially taken effect. Under Section 70 of the Virtual Assets Act, 2026, existing virtual asset service providers must submit NOC applications by Sept. 5 or stop operating.
PVARA also opened sandbox access and other licensing channels for different categories of virtual asset service providers and new applicants.
Strategy swings into unrealized profit on BTC holdings
Data cited in the roundup showed that Strategy holds 840,447 BTC at an average cost of $75,385. With bitcoin priced at $75,613, the company’s position has moved back above cost and now shows an unrealized gain of about $192 million.
The same roundup said BitMine holds 5,815,164 ETH at an average cost of $3,366. Based on an ether price of $2,370, BitMine is sitting on an unrealized loss of about $5.792 billion.
MANTRA Chain halts network after unexplained incident
RWA Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA Chain said an incident of unknown cause occurred on the network, prompting the team to pause chain operations as a precaution. All endpoints and transactions are currently frozen, and deposits and withdrawals related to MANTRA Chain are temporarily affected.
The team said it cannot yet provide the root cause of the event or a recovery timeline and will publish updates after confirming more information.
The roundup described MANTRA Chain as a compliance-focused RWA tokenization network. It previously completed an $11 million funding round. In 2025, it launched the $108.8 million MANTRA Ecosystem Fund, with Laser Digital and Brevan Howard Digital listed as capital and strategic partners.
New York Times: two Binance employees detained in UAE have been released
According to The New York Times, two Binance employees were recently detained during a UAE police investigation into potential financial crimes. The report also said the head of a Binance Dubai subsidiary was questioned by police in July.
It remains unclear what exactly authorities are investigating. Binance said the employees were only providing statements in a routine inquiry involving third-party fund flows, were not targets of the investigation, and have now been released.
The report added that Binance contacted UAE government officials this month to seek assistance and raised concerns about employee safety.