Taipei is set to host four fintech and emerging technology events over a nine-day stretch from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6, according to organizers. The lineup includes the Trustworthy AI Hackathon, the AFA Awards, FinTechOn 2026 alongside the AFA Summit, and FUTUREMODE Taiwan. All four events will take place during the Taipei City Government-backed “2026 Trendy Taipei” program and will bring together representatives from industry, government, academia and research communities across 16 Asia-Pacific economies. The agenda spans artificial intelligence, stablecoins, global supply chains and regulatory trends. FinTechOn 2026 and the AFA Summit will feature speakers from Visa, Ripple, Binance, JPMorgan, the European Commission, ADGM and SBI Holdings. The AFA Awards will select winners from 88 nominations across five categories, while the AI hackathon will focus on identity verification, authorization management and accountability tracing for AI agents. FUTUREMODE, formerly Taipei Blockchain Week, is broadening its scope this year from blockchain to AI and other emerging technologies.

Binance’s tokenized securities product bStocks has reached roughly $13.9 billion in cumulative trading volume and nearly $600 million in assets under management in less than two months, giving it about 28% of the global tokenized equities market, according to the source article. The product is issued by Binance affiliate BTech Holdings Limited under a certificate structure, with each bStocks Certificate backed by the corresponding underlying stock and deployed as a BEP-20 token on BNB Smart Chain. Public offering is limited to Abu Dhabi Global Market, while secondary trading in other approved jurisdictions is available only to eligible users and excludes U.S. persons. The report contrasts bStocks with Binance’s 2021 stock token attempt, outlines how dividends and corporate actions are handled through a multiplier mechanism, and argues that the key question is not round-the-clock trading alone but whether tokenized equities can sustain liquidity, conversion efficiency, and real on-chain use. It also places bStocks within Binance’s broader U.S. equities lineup, which includes direct stock and ETF access and TradFi perpetuals, while noting that regulatory, custody, intermediary, and pricing risks remain central to the model.

A wide set of crypto, regulatory and macro developments emerged between July 29 and July 30. Binance rolled out European-style gold and silver options through its ADGM-regulated Nest Exchange, while Cardano wallet provider SecondFi said part of the recovered assets tied to its security incident had been transferred by a white-hat team to an EMURGO recovery fund address for transparent tracking. Bank of New York Mellon said it is moving core transfer agent recordkeeping onto blockchain for roughly $8.6 trillion in assets and 7.6 million accounts, with Baillie Gifford, BlackRock and Dreyfus among the first clients. South Korea’s finance ministry said it will curb leveraged ETF trading and raise related trading costs. In the U.S., the Federal Reserve kept the federal funds target range at 3.5% to 3.75% in a 9-3 vote, with three dissenters backing a 25-basis-point hike. Separate comments from SEC Chair Paul Atkins indicated the agency would write crypto rules on its own if Congress fails to pass the Clarity Act. Elsewhere, Polymarket launched an in-house funded research institute, Stripe was reported to be discussing a $10 billion acquisition of OpenRouter, Ethereum Institutional announced its first ecosystem funding round, Tether’s compliant stablecoin USA₮ went live on Celo, and Robinhood, Meta, Microsoft, Samsung and xAI released fresh business and earnings updates.

Binance has introduced European options tied to gold and silver through Nest Exchange, its venue regulated by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), according to BlockBeats. The contracts are settled in USDT. The launch follows strong trading activity in Binance’s gold and silver perpetual contracts, where peak daily volumes reached $7.77 billion and $7.27 billion, respectively. The new options products allow retail users to buy both call and put options, but retail participants are not permitted to sell options. On the sell side, access is limited to the exchange and designated market makers. The rollout adds to Binance’s precious-metals-linked derivatives lineup while keeping tighter control over who can write options contracts.

Ondo Finance received approval to trade tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs in Abu Dhabi Global Market. Its digital securities are the first admitted under the ADGM framework. Binance lists 10 products on its regulated MTF, including Amazon, Nvidia, and Tesla. The milestone follows Ondo's EU approval.

The UAE Central Bank-registered stablecoin USDU has launched, issued by Universal Digital Intl Limited. Backed 1:1 by USD reserves, it serves institutional-grade settlement, not retail payments.

A Web4.0 report from Bank of AI and PKUBlockchain argues AI agents will need dedicated payment, identity and tool-calling rails, naming Tron and USDT as a likely settlement base for agent-to-agent transfers.

Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City launched an accelerated licensing pathway on May 12, 2026, offering 0% corporate tax, guaranteed bank accounts via DK Bank, and BTC-backed lending for firms already regulated in Singapore, ADGM, or Hong Kong.