WuBlockchain’s weekly Top 10 covered a broad set of crypto developments, from Strategy’s Bitcoin treasury moves and U.S. regulatory legislation to Russia’s new digital asset rules, Europe’s digital currency split, tokenized equities, and a bank-backed stablecoin initiative.
Strategy says Bitcoin trades hinge on capital costs, not the market price alone
Strategy CEO Phong Le said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that the company’s decision to sell Bitcoin around the $60,000 to $65,000 range and buy again near $80,000 was not contradictory. He said the company’s BTC trading decisions are not based on Bitcoin’s spot price by itself, but mainly on the cost of capital.
Le said Strategy’s earlier sale of about 7,000 BTC to pay part of its preferred stock dividend was the right trade at the time. Over the past two months, the company has reduced net debt from roughly $7 billion to zero and built about $7 billion in U.S. dollar reserves. He said issuing MSTR stock at a premium to raise funds and buy more BTC is also the right trade under current conditions.
He described Strategy’s approach as a two-way strategy. The company may still sell BTC when conditions fit, but it remains a net buyer overall. Le added that Strategy could keep buying even if BTC rises to $90,000, $100,000, or even $130,000, as long as capital costs and expected returns make sense.
Strategy objects to MSCI’s proposed index eligibility test
In a public response to MSCI, Strategy said it opposes a proposed index eligibility test that could exclude so-called non-operating companies, including Strategy, from the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes, or GIMI, and asked MSCI to withdraw the proposal.
Strategy said funds tracking MSCI GIMI hold only about 3.1% of its basic free float, so the direct impact would be limited even if it were removed. Still, the company argued that the proposal effectively revives a 2025 approach that MSCI had previously floated and then withdrawn, under which companies with digital asset holdings above 50% would not be included in indexes. Strategy also said the distinction between operating and non-operating companies is not clearly defined under U.S. GAAP, IFRS, or other recognized legal frameworks.
The company said it has already disclosed its Bitcoin business as an operating segment under U.S. GAAP and believes that treatment is consistent with its communications with SEC staff. MSCI’s consultation period runs through Sept. 30. Results are expected on Oct. 16. If adopted, any constituent changes would be announced on Nov. 11 and take effect on Dec. 1.
SEC chair wants Congress to advance the CLARITY Act
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said he hopes Congress will move the CLARITY Act forward quickly and send it to President Donald Trump for signature. At the same time, the SEC is continuing to develop rules tailored to blockchain and crypto asset markets.
The U.S. Senate has scheduled Sept. 15 for a key procedural vote on the bill. It needs 60 votes to move into formal consideration. Even if legislation stalls again, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission still plan to use existing authority to push ahead with a crypto market regulatory framework.
Russia’s new crypto law is now in effect, but domestic trading is still waiting
Russia’s law on digital currency and digital rights took effect on Sept. 1. Domestic crypto trading, however, still cannot fully begin because supporting regulations are not finished. Russia’s Finance Ministry and central bank had previously estimated that about 80 supporting documents would be needed for the crypto market, and officials expect the required package to be ready by early December.
At this stage, the law mainly opens the door for companies to use crypto for cross-border settlement. Banks, brokers, and digital asset custodians are still preparing the infrastructure for domestic trading.
Digital ruble enters large-scale rollout
Russia also entered the large-scale rollout stage for the digital ruble on Sept. 1. Under the central bank’s plan, systemically important banks and large merchants with annual revenue above 120 million rubles in the previous year must support digital ruble payments first. The program will expand to other banks and small and medium-sized merchants in 2027 and 2028.
Use by individuals remains voluntary. Consumers can open digital ruble accounts through banking apps connected to the central bank platform. Each person can transfer up to 300,000 rubles per month from a bank account into a digital ruble account. Personal payments and transfers are free of charge. Russia has also launched a unified payment QR code that supports digital ruble spending.
First-year regulated exchange volume could reach at least 4 trillion rubles
Anatoly Popov, deputy chairman of the executive board at Sberbank, said crypto trading on regulated exchanges could reach at least 4 trillion rubles, or about $46.43 billion, in the first year. He added that most trading would still take place through unregulated channels. By 2029, the volume could rise to 7.5 trillion rubles, or about $87.06 billion.
The Bank of Russia plans to allow investors to legally buy crypto assets through brokers starting Sept. 1. For non-qualified investors, annual purchases through a single licensed intermediary are capped at 300,000 rubles, or about $3,800. Qualified investors face a 3 million ruble limit, or about $38,000. At present, officially approved Russian exchanges may trade only BTC, ETH, and USDT.
Europe is developing a two-track digital currency market
Europe’s digital currency market is taking shape around two parallel tracks: a central bank digital euro and private euro stablecoins. Revolut has already started phased testing of EURR in Denmark, Poland, and Portugal. The euro stablecoin runs on Ethereum and is issued by Bridge Building, a Stripe subsidiary.
The European Central Bank has said the digital euro will use a high-privacy design. Offline payment data will be visible only to the two parties in a transaction, and even online transactions will not be directly linked to individuals by the Eurosystem. Forbes said Europe is pushing both public digital money and private stablecoins at the same time to reduce dependence on dollar stablecoins and non-European payment infrastructure.
London Stock Exchange moves toward tokenized equities
The London Stock Exchange has partnered with Payward, Kraken’s parent company, and plans to launch xStocks on its extended-hours platform LSE 24 in 2027, subject to regulatory approval.
In the coming weeks, Payward also plans to tokenize the shares of the 100 largest companies listed in London by market value into xStocks, offering 24/7 on-chain trading to qualified investors in more than 110 markets. The service is not currently open to investors in the U.K.
Twenty-one global financial institutions plan a stablecoin company
A joint announcement from 21 international financial institutions said Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Fidelity Investments, Wells Fargo, MUFG, and others have committed to form a new company in the second half of 2026 to support stablecoin issuance, subject to closing conditions.
The new company plans to launch a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin first, with a market debut targeted for the first half of 2027. Over the longer term, it plans to expand into other G7 currencies, with the euro identified as a priority. The stablecoin is intended for wholesale, institutional, and retail use cases, including cross-border payments and digital asset settlement. The project also plans, where applicable, to comply with the U.S. GENIUS Act and the European Union’s MiCA framework.
The initiative grew out of an October 2025 effort by an initial group of 10 banks exploring a 1:1 reserve-backed digital currency that could be used on public blockchains. The number of participants has now risen to 21.
Binance expands TradFi products outside the U.S.
Binance has started offering options tied to more than 1,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs to users outside the United States. The service is provided through its Abu Dhabi entity, Nest Trading Limited, in partnership with U.S.-registered broker-dealer Alpaca Securities LLC, which handles order execution, clearing, and custody.
Shunyet Jan, Binance’s head of trading and exchange, said demand is increasing for traditional asset products delivered through crypto infrastructure. Binance data shows monthly trading volume in its traditional asset perpetual products climbed from about $30 billion in January this year to roughly $445 billion in July, a rise of about 15 times.
Jan said options offer a defined expiration date and more precise risk exposure than perpetual contracts, and they do not involve the same type of forced liquidation mechanism found in leveraged perpetuals.
CZ says the $4.3 billion settlement choice was worth it
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, or CZ, said most of the first draft of his 374-page autobiography, Binance Life, was written while he was in prison. He said he could use a computer only for 15 minutes at a time, with no copy-and-paste function, so he had to queue repeatedly and write in short bursts.
CZ recalled that in November 2023, Binance paid about $4.3 billion for violations of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. He personally paid a $150 million penalty and stepped down as CEO. He said that if he had not accepted responsibility at the time, Binance and the broader industry might have faced a much bigger shock, which is why the decision was "worth it."
He also said the hardest part of serving time was the constant uncertainty. The experience made him more aware that freedom is not absolute, while reinforcing his belief in what he called financial freedom.
Crypto projects have bought back $638 million of their own tokens this year
Digital asset projects have repurchased about $638 million worth of their own tokens so far this year, up from $545 million in the same period last year. Hyperliquid and Pumpfun accounted for nearly 90% of the total.
Hyperliquid uses 99% of its trading fee revenue to buy back HYPE. Since launching in December 2024, it has repurchased and burned tokens worth $1.3 billion. Sky Protocol has bought back $26 million in tokens, while Lido plans to begin regular buybacks after conditions including annualized revenue reaching $40 million are met.
Analysts said buybacks can reduce token supply and signal confidence, though the actual effect on prices remains uncertain.
Solana mainnet begins rent reduction plan
Solana development team Anza said on X that the Solana mainnet has activated step one of SIMD-0437, cutting storage rent unit costs from 6,960 lamports per byte to 6,333 lamports per byte.
The proposal has five phases. Later stages would gradually reduce the cost to 696 lamports depending on state growth. If state growth becomes a problem, SIMD-0438 could restore the original rate.
Key financing and M&A items
- Stablecoin remittance company Felix Pago closed a $200 million Series B with participation from a16z.
- Stablecoin payments infrastructure company Diameter Pay raised $10 million in a Series A round.
- BitGo completed the acquisition of NYDIG’s institutional trading business to expand derivatives and financing capabilities.
- Colombian fintech Plenti raised a $3 million seed round led by Tether.
- Bullish provided $100 million in financing to USD AI for GPU-backed lending.
- Sui co-founder Kostas Kryptos is helping build regulated exchange platform Havenex, whose Series A round is close to completion.
More industry fundraising events are available at crypto-fundraising.info.