licensing

NYDFS

2026-10-01 16:20:42

NYDFS and Wyoming banking regulator sign MOU to coordinate crypto oversight

The New York State Department of Financial Services and the Wyoming Division of Banking have signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate supervision of crypto companies operating across both states. The arrangement covers licensing reviews, examinations, and possible enforcement matters. It applies both to firms already regulated in either jurisdiction and to companies seeking approval in New York and Wyoming at the same time. Under the agreement, the two regulators will share analytical findings and past examination data to streamline application reviews, align examination schedules, and support joint examinations of cross-state businesses. The MOU also creates an expedited path for firms that have been regulated in one of the two states for at least three years under an existing license or charter and have not been subject to enforcement action, with the second regulator aiming to reach a decision within six months. The deal also sets up information-sharing on supervisory reports, market trend data, investigation updates, and notices tied to possible enforcement action, while allowing the agencies to pursue joint, coordinated, or separate enforcement steps.

230

UK

2026-09-30 15:48:09

UK FCA Opens Crypto Authorization Applications, Sets Feb. 28, 2027 Deadline for Existing Firms

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has opened authorization applications for crypto firms, starting the process of bringing the sector under a full FCA regime. Existing firms that want to keep operating in the UK need to apply by Feb. 28, 2027, with the new framework set to take effect on Oct. 25, 2027. The regulator said firms that file on time can continue offering crypto services and take on new business while their applications are being reviewed, provided no decision has been reached by the start date. The FCA said authorization will not be automatic and that applicants will be assessed on consumer protection, safeguarding customer assets, market integrity, and financial resilience. The move follows the publication of the FCA’s final crypto rules in June and further guidance issued on Sept. 16, which clarified the activities that will require approval, including issuing qualifying stablecoins, operating trading platforms, safeguarding crypto, and arranging staking. A day earlier, HM Treasury also published draft amendments covering payment use cases for UK-issued qualifying stablecoins and some firms that only provide interfaces to decentralized protocols.

150

NG.CASH

2026-09-28 13:12:56

Brazilian fintech NG.CASH raises $15 million in strategic round led by Blockchain Capital

Brazilian fintech company NG.CASH has completed a $15 million strategic financing round, according to PR Newswire, with Blockchain Capital leading the investment. The company said its total funding has now exceeded $65 million since it was founded in 2021. NG.CASH also disclosed that it holds two licenses issued by Brazil’s central bank: one for direct credit operations and another as a payment institution. At the same time, it is applying for a virtual asset service provider license. Since launching in 2021, the company has surpassed 10 million accounts, while transaction volume on its platform has reached several billion dollars. The latest round adds to NG.CASH’s capital base as it expands its regulated financial and digital asset business in Brazil.

260

Vietnam

2026-09-21 03:04:47

Vietnam plans crypto licensing regime with Austria cooperation on regulatory framework

Vietnam and Austria plan to work together on building a cryptocurrency regulatory framework, according to a Techub News item citing CoinPost. The talks took place in Vienna on the 15th, where Vietnam Deputy Finance Minister Nguyễn Đức Chi met Mariana Kühnel, executive director of Austria’s Financial Market Authority. The two sides discussed exchanges of supervisory experience in financial market oversight as well as directions for bilateral cooperation. Chi said Vietnam has already drafted an experimental legal framework related to cryptocurrencies and is preparing to introduce a licensing system for crypto service providers. He added that Vietnam will draw on regulatory experience from Austria and the European Union as it develops the framework. The report did not disclose additional details about the scope, timeline, or implementation of the planned licensing regime.

350

Vietnam

2026-09-19 08:46:52

Vietnam targets first crypto service provider licenses in 2026 after talks with Austria

Vietnam said it plans to issue its first licenses for crypto asset service providers in 2026 under a pilot legal framework, part of a broader push to modernize the country’s financial market. The plan was discussed during a Sept. 15 meeting in Vienna between Deputy Finance Minister Nguyen Duc Chi and Mariana Kuhnel, executive director of Austria’s Financial Market Authority, according to Vietnam’s State Securities Commission. Vietnamese officials said the country is refining its regulatory system to address new asset classes and technological change, and expects to approve the first digital asset platforms under the pilot framework in 2026. State Securities Commission Chair Vu Thi Chan Phuong said Vietnam is drawing on recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force and regulatory models used by European Union institutions, with a focus on risk management, investor asset protection and anti-money laundering. Separately, Vietnam is also considering a restructuring of stock trading boards, including the SME segment, while updating support policies for small and medium-sized enterprises, which account for about 99% of operating businesses in the country.

440

Vietnam

2026-09-19 08:38:47

Vietnam plans first crypto service licenses in 2026 under pilot framework

Vietnam plans to issue licenses to its first group of crypto-asset service providers in 2026 under a pilot legal framework, while also allowing the first digital asset platforms to begin operating. The update was reported by ChainCatcher. The plan was discussed as Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Finance Nguyen Duc Chi met Mariana Kuhnel, executive director of Austria’s Financial Market Authority, in Vienna. The two sides discussed bilateral cooperation and exchanges on financial regulatory experience. Vu Thi Chan Phuong, chair of Vietnam’s State Securities Commission, said the regulatory mechanism will cover both service providers and investor transactions. The main areas named were risk management, protection of investor assets, and anti-money laundering. Kuhnel also proposed that the two sides hold online technical workshops and strengthen coordination through the International Organization of Securities Commissions, or IOSCO.

440

MiniMax

2026-09-14 09:58:00

Why Genspark’s M3-based PPT model may change how the market judges MiniMax

Genspark’s decision to train its own PPT model on top of MiniMax M3 has become the starting point for a broader reassessment of MiniMax’s position in the open-model market. On Sept. 10, Genspark released Gen-1 Slides, a model built for presentation generation, developed with Fireworks and now used as the default option in Genspark AI Slides standard mode. The article argues that this move matters because it goes beyond API switching. It shows an application company was willing to spend engineering effort and GPU budget on post-training, a much stronger signal than simply trying an open model. The piece lays out why M3 fit the task: open weights, multimodal support, long context, coding and agent capabilities, plus a model size that remained trainable for an application company. It also cites Fireworks data showing Genspark Slides consumes more than 1 trillion tokens a month, making inference cost a material business issue. In Genspark’s tests, Gen-1 Slides averaged $0.44 in model calling cost per PPT, versus $4.16 for Opus 5, while slightly improving average score and download rate. The article also links this to MiniMax H3’s open-weight release and the downstream ecosystem that followed, from ComfyUI support to H3 Max, FastH3 and H3-World. Its conclusion is that MiniMax should be judged not only by benchmarks, but by how many companies are willing to keep building, fine-tuning and shipping products on top of its models.

970

Brazil centra

2026-09-14 08:11:23

Brazil Central Bank Sets Much Higher Capital Floor for VASPs in Final Rules

Brazil’s central bank has set a sharply higher minimum capital requirement for virtual asset service providers, or VASPs, in its final rulebook. The threshold now ranges from about 10.8 million to 37.2 million reais, depending on business scope and risk, equivalent to roughly $2.11 million to $7.2 million. That is well above the 1 million to 3 million reais range proposed in the public consultation draft, or about $195,000 to $586,000. The final framework also adds requirements covering governance, internal controls, anti-money laundering measures, audits, and ongoing reporting. Industry estimates cited in the report put the current number of related companies in Brazil at around 150 to 300. Of those, only about 20 to 25 are seen as either capable of meeting the standards or willing to apply. The report says the number that may ultimately secure a license could be closer to 10. Some smaller platforms have already shut down their retail businesses or restructured those operations as the higher compliance burden takes shape.

980