Brian Armstrong said a Senate Banking Committee draft favors large banks and threatens crypto innovation, with disputes centered on tokenized securities, DeFi limits, stablecoin rewards, and the SEC-CFTC power balance.
Trump signed an executive order directing US regulators to tighten scrutiny of non-citizen banking activity within 60 to 180 days, with ITIN-based account openings, shell companies, and structured transactions listed as red flags.
Former CFTC chair J. Christopher Giancarlo said banks may need the Crypto Clarity Act more urgently than crypto firms, as unclear rules keep major financial institutions from committing capital to blockchain infrastructure.
The FDIC has proposed a stablecoin framework for US deposit institutions issuing through subsidiaries, setting standards for capital, liquidity, and custody while stating traditional deposit insurance would not cover stablecoins.
Revolut launched its first physical crypto card on May 18, 2026, featuring Dogecoin theme and LED glow. Zero swap fee, £100,000 per transaction, worldwide Visa/Mastercard. But every purchase triggers UK capital gains tax.
Binance Research said in a July 8 report that stablecoins are no longer expanding mainly as liquidity instruments for crypto trading. The report argues that the sector is shifting toward a broader role as digital financial infrastructure, spanning value storage, yield generation, payments, settlement and cross-border treasury management. The report points to several data sets inside the Binance ecosystem and across public blockchains. On Binance, 30% of users with at least $10 in assets now keep more than half of their portfolios in stablecoins, up from 4% in 2020. It also highlights persistent fiat-to-stablecoin premiums across multiple economies, stronger savings demand in emerging markets, and growing use of tokenized Treasury products and structured on-chain yield products. Binance Research also links stablecoin growth to merchant payments, non-dollar stablecoins, weekend settlement activity, AI agent micropayments and on-chain foreign exchange. In its view, the category is becoming less tied to crypto bull and bear cycles and more connected to wider global financial demand. The report says regulation, reserve transparency and macro conditions will still shape how quickly this shift unfolds.
A fresh roundup from ChainCatcher put institutional blockchain adoption, regulation and macro expectations at the center of the crypto market’s latest cycle. The biggest headline was the formal launch of EthSystems, a company focused on Ethereum privacy infrastructure for banks, asset managers and other regulated institutions. The startup said it was formed by the core team behind the Ethereum Foundation’s Institutional Privacy Task Force and has backing from ecosystem supporters including Bitmine, Sharplink Gaming and Joe Lubin. Its pitch is straightforward: institutions need privacy controls, compliance compatibility and selective disclosure before they can use Ethereum at scale for financial transactions. Regulatory attention is also rising in traditional markets. According to The Korea Times, South Korea’s finance ministry, Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service and central bank will meet on Thursday under the government’s “F4” framework to discuss risks tied to single-stock leveraged ETFs. Officials are weighing measures such as higher margin requirements, daily price-limit changes and leverage adjustments, though no final policy line has been set. Across the broader market, Wintermute and Coinbase Institutional both described bitcoin as relatively resilient in the face of geopolitical shocks and tightening rate expectations. Stablecoin supply has also pulled back by roughly $10 billion from its May 2026 peak, but the decline remains far smaller than the contraction seen during the 2022 bear market. The update also covered ETF flows, fundraising, DeFi security, US policy signals and several institutional crypto developments.
UBS has received OCC approval to convert its US subsidiary into a nationally chartered bank. The bank also plans to roll out tokenized deposits and asset tokenization over the next three to five years, initially targeting select wealthy clients, potentially starting in Switzerland.
