Show description: Klarna announced KlarnaUSD, a dollar-pegged stablecoin deployed on Tempo, Stripe's payments-focused blockchain, and opened testnet access for developers and partners. Klarna plans a phased mainnet rollout in 2026 beginning with internal operational settlement and later expanding to merchant and consumer payment flows. Issuance and lifecycle controls for KlarnaUSD will use Open Issuance by Bridge, a Stripe company, to provide compliant stablecoin infrastructure, treasury guardrails, and standardized reporting. Klarna cited high costs and slow speed of legacy cross-border rails and intends to reduce intermediaries, lower fees, speed finality, and improve reconciliation by moving settlement steps onto a purpose-built blockchain with programmatic settlement rules. Tempo's architecture targets predictable fees, fast finality, and high throughput for checkout and payout operations. Klarna is the first issuer to deploy a stablecoin on Tempo and expects to influence developer tooling, liquidity routes, and merchant integrations on the network. The immediate rollout plan prioritizes internal validation of performance, liquidity controls, and compliance while partners can prototype flows on testnet and integrate with Stripe touchpoints. Production checks identified by Klarna include treasury operations, reserve monitoring, redemption processes, reconciliation and dispute handling, and on-ramp/off-ramp coverage with clear pricing. The company cited a competitive and regulatory context that includes fintech peers advancing crypto-based settlement and active U.S. and EU rulemaking on stablecoin issuance, reserves, disclosures, and supervision. Metrics to watch during pilots include on-chain settlement volumes, merchant adoption rates, measured cost savings versus correspondent rails, liquidity depth and spreads, redemption speed under stress, finality and uptime, reserve transparency, compliance outcomes across jurisdictions, and pace of partner integrations. Klarna said successful pilots demonstrating consistent savings and strong controls could enable broader internal cross-border settlement and later merchant and consumer payment use cases, with the next 12 to 18 months focused on pilot corridor results, partner integrations, and regulatory alignment. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/klarnausd-crypto-payments-tempo/

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Show description: The South African Reserve Bank flagged crypto assets and stablecoins as potential sources of systemic risk, citing rapid consumer adoption, rising stablecoin volumes near 80 billion rand by mid‑2025, and an estimated 7.8 million domestic users on major exchanges. The review identified a shift from speculative trading to payments, remittances, and merchant settlement that creates transmission channels into traditional finance. The bank reported missing core rules for stablecoins, including requirements for reserve composition and verification, clear redemption mechanics, and standardized disclosures for issuers and intermediaries. The review described fragmented oversight across the Reserve Bank, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, and National Treasury, and said on‑chain activity and cross‑border transfers create data gaps that limit visibility into volumes, counterparties, and concentration risks. The Reserve Bank warned that borderless digital asset flows can undermine exchange control frameworks and create unreported capital movements, AML/CFT weaknesses, and distortions in the foreign exchange market. The review identified market‑structure concentration in a relatively small group of stablecoin issuers, custodians, and on‑ and off‑ramps that handle a large share of local flows and could cause liquidity strains and indirect spillovers to banks and payment providers. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has treated crypto assets as financial products since 2022 and has been licensing crypto service providers, while the Reserve Bank and National Treasury are drafting updates to include crypto and stablecoins in Exchange Control Regulations and expect a stablecoin framework consultation in 2026. The review advised firms to map exposures to stablecoin liquidity, issuer concentration, custodians, and counterparties; deploy on‑chain analytics and travel‑rule solutions for sanctions screening and provenance checks; and prepare for licensing upgrades, periodic reserve attestations, segregation of client assets, and enhanced cross‑border reporting and reconciliation. The review called for coordinated domestic supervision and alignment with international standards to reduce regulatory arbitrage and improve reporting interoperability. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/policy/south-africa-crypto-stablecoin-risk/

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Show description: U.S. prosecutors allege Ryan Wedding led a multinational drug trafficking organization that moved more than $1 billion in narcotics proceeds and trafficked roughly 60 metric tons of cocaine per year into Los Angeles, and filings list more than 35 indictments in connection with the case. Authorities report seizures of over 4,000 pounds of narcotics, weapons, about $3.2 million in cryptocurrency tied to the operation, roughly $13 million in other assets, and the FBI added Wedding to its most wanted list with a $15 million reward. Investigators say the operation relied on stablecoins, particularly Tether, used chains of intermediary wallets and low-fee networks such as Tron for high-frequency transfers, and employed peeling, fanning, circular reconvergence, bridge usage, and token swaps to obscure funds. On-chain analysis linked activity across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, and BNB Chain, and public tracing tied more than $3 million in crypto directly to the network with additional clusters under watch. OFAC designated multiple wallets connected to the alleged network, including several on Tron, and law enforcement executed seizures and freezes with cooperation from exchanges, custodians, and OTC desks while analytics firms published watchlists and flagged adjacent clusters. Officials, compliance experts, and analysts advised expanding sanctions screening to include clustered wallets, cross-chain mirrors, and bridge-derived addresses; tightening onboarding and KYC for high-volume stablecoin traders and OTC brokers with source-of-funds checks; enforcing Travel Rule data exchange where applicable between VASPs; implementing graph analytics to detect peeling, rapid reconvergence, and short-lived clusters; creating heuristics for USDT behavior on Tron to flag rapid hops and circular flows; and contracting analytics vendors to watchlist OFAC-linked clusters, score adjacency risk, and enable automated quarantine workflows pending human review. The filings and analysts project a hardened regulatory and enforcement environment with likely additional OFAC designations targeting stablecoin addresses and facilitator networks, faster freeze requests and designation cycles, increased metadata and reporting demands, and stronger cross-chain tracing requirements. Immediate technical priorities listed include instrumenting cross-chain tracing for Tron, Ethereum, Solana, Bitcoin, and BNB Chain; updating sanctions watchlists to include clustered and bridge-linked addresses; tightening onboarding for OTC and high-volume counterparties; and documenting rapid response playbooks for freeze and takedown events, and governance expectations include increased coordination among DOJ, OFAC, exchanges, analytics firms, and stablecoin issuers and planning internal playbooks to match faster external timelines. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/tether-allegations-ryan-wedding/

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Pepperstone announced plans to launch a spot crypto exchange in Australia pending final regulatory approval. CEO Tamas Szabo announced the plan at AusCryptoCon in Sydney and said the company invested more than a year in people, technology, and compliance. The spot exchange will operate as a separate product alongside Pepperstone's existing crypto CFD business and will enable direct ownership of digital assets while the firm continues to offer CFD exposure. Pepperstone said it has hired across technology, operations, and compliance and worked on banking relationships, custody, and market connectivity to meet launch requirements, and it described the launch timeline as imminent without publishing a go-live date. The firm holds regulated footprints including ASIC in Australia and other global licenses and plans integrations with trading platforms such as cTrader, MetaTrader, and TradingView for discovery and execution. Public statements identified initial asset list, fee tiers and spread structure, named liquidity providers and market-making arrangements, custody model, banking rails and fiat on- and off-ramps, AML controls, market surveillance, and execution and custody resilience as key operational and regulatory items. CEO Szabo framed the move as competitive and stated there is "fat on the bone" in exchange economics. Pepperstone said expansion beyond Australia will hinge on licensing and banking access. Company communications listed the regulator's final approval, announced launch date, initial asset coverage and custody disclosures, named liquidity partners and fee schedules, and execution quality as near-term indicators to monitor. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/pepperstone-spot-crypto-exchange/

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The UK Serious Fraud Office opened a criminal investigation into Basis Markets on November 20, 2025, after the project raised roughly $28 million (about £20 million) and later collapsed. Two men were arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering and searches were carried out at properties in Herne Hill, London, and near Bradford, West Yorkshire, with support from the Metropolitan Police and West Yorkshire Police. The SFO is the lead agency, has published a case entry on GOV.UK, and is working to secure evidence, seize devices, reconstruct cash and crypto flows, and quantify potential victim exposure in the UK. The SFO has issued a public appeal for investors and witnesses to contact BasisMarkets@SFO.gov.uk and to preserve messages, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, bank statements, and other records. Investigators are examining fundraising activity in late 2021, including an NFT sale in November 2021 and a second raise in December, and are assessing whether promoters' statements about hedge fund-style trading, custody arrangements, and reporting matched the facts and whether assets were handled according to the stated strategy. The probe focuses on suspected offences of fraud and money laundering tied to the fundraising and subsequent handling of investor funds, and the SFO said further arrests, asset restraints, or charges remain possible as evidence develops. The SFO is coordinating with policing partners, continuing to collect documents and witness testimony, and conducting forensic tracing of assets. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/sfo-probes-basis-markets-crypto/

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Since October 7, 2023, Gaza’s formal payment rails have largely failed after branch and ATM damage, power outages, and restrictions on cash crossings, creating widespread cash shortages for households, merchants, and aid organizations. Local freelancers and traders expanded use of Bitcoin and dollar stablecoins such as USDT to receive remittances to mobile wallets, coordinate relief via token transfers, and enable purchases of food, medicine, and fuel through brokers who convert crypto into Israeli shekels or dollars. Digital transfers reduced transit theft, shortened delivery times from days to hours when connectivity and mobile power were available, and removed some logistical burdens of moving physical cash. Liquidity and conversion depend on available stablecoins, functioning local counterparties, and telecom access, and most off-chain conversions occur through brokers and informal money changers that concentrate counterparty and operational risk. After militants used crypto fundraising channels in 2023, authorities in multiple countries froze or seized wallets tied to groups such as Hamas and platforms tightened screening, prompting aid actors to require rigorous KYC on intermediaries, sanctions screening on addresses, and documented provenance for funds. Proposals for reconstruction include tokenized registries of prewar claims, tokens representing redevelopment entitlements, and smart contracts to govern priority, vesting, and transfer limits, and those proposals raise governance risks by creating potential for speculation, shifting control to external sponsors or trustees, and requiring published allocation criteria, inclusive consent processes, and enforceable recourse mechanisms. Practical priorities for humanitarian Web3 deployments include simple wallet flows resilient to intermittent connectivity and low-end devices, scalable compliant off-ramps via regulated exchanges or OTC partnerships and trusted broker networks, structured KYC and sanctions screening with transparent audit trails, and governance measures such as community consent, independent dispute resolution, and public audits before token issuance. Ongoing developments to watch include pilots that formalize on-chain aid distribution with compliance tooling, exchange and OTC partnerships seeking compliant off-ramps under border and telecom constraints, policy actions to clarify how humanitarian crypto flows fit under sanctions and AML frameworks, and scrutiny of tokenized land initiatives on governance credibility, community participation, and mechanisms to prevent speculative capture. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/gaza-crypto-banking-collapse/

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On November 20, 2025, Bitfury announced a staged $1 billion initiative to fund technologies it described as ethical and allocated $200 million for the first year. The initiative targets four areas: self-sovereign identity, quantum computing and security, transparent decentralized systems, and AI. Bitfury said the first-year funds will support pilots and early validation and that remaining funds will reserve for follow-on R&D and scaling as standards and market needs evolve. The company cited hardware design experience, data center capacity, and AI and blockchain infrastructure as execution assets and stated it will provide co-development grants, strategic equity checks, and infrastructure credits tied to compute and data center services. For self-sovereign identity the program will fund portable, user-controlled identity systems, KYC-compliant onboarding flows, credential management for employment and education, and cross-platform access models with privacy controls. For quantum and security the program will fund research into quantum-resilient cryptography and compute infrastructure aimed at hardening blockchain and wallet security and accelerating data-heavy workloads such as analytics and AI training. For transparent decentralized systems and AI the initiative will fund auditable on-chain systems, AI built on verifiable data provenance and governance, and deployments spanning nodes, validators, and AI services integrated with on-chain audit layers. Bitfury said it will pursue partnerships with universities, standards bodies, and regulated enterprises and listed target programs for builders and investors including SSI wallets and verifiable credential startups, audit layers for on-chain state and AI outputs, post-quantum tooling and cryptography projects, and partnerships combining grants, equity, and infrastructure credits. The company identified risks and open questions including unpredictable quantum timelines, evolving identity standards and cross-border compliance, and execution factors such as partner selection, pilot design, and standards participation. Bitfury said near-term milestones to watch include portfolio choices for the first $200 million tranche, announced pilots in SSI and quantum-resilient security, and partnerships with universities, standards bodies, and regulated enterprises, and it advised builders to prepare proposals that map to SSI, quantum resilience, and verifiable systems with measurable milestones and regulatory alignment. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/ai/bitfury-1b-ethical-tech/

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Europol coordinated a Europe-wide operation during Intellectual Property Crime Cyber Patrol Week from November 10 to 14, 2025, with investigators from more than 15 European countries operating from the EUIPO campus in Alicante, Spain. Investigators targeted 69 sites and estimated those sites had a combined 11.8 million annual visitors and developed wallet and service indicators for 25 IPTV providers. Law enforcement traced roughly €55 million in cryptocurrency moving through piracy-linked services and routed on-chain signals to crypto service providers for compliance action. Investigators used OSINT, blockchain analytics including Chainalysis, and link analysis tools such as Maltego to cluster wallets, map revenue flows, and tie domains, hosting, and social signals to operators. Industry partners including Coinbase, Binance, Irdeto, the Audiovisual Anti Piracy Alliance, and the Premier League supplied technical intelligence, platform escalation channels, and content identification. Shared indicators fed into trust-and-safety queues at exchanges and prompted compliance reviews, account freezes, transaction blocks, and other interventions. Thirty investigators worked on site in Alicante to coordinate legal process, technical analysis, and platform outreach, and teams converted investigative signals into exchange referrals within hours. Investigators reported that cryptocurrency was present on about 20 percent of services tracked and that clustering techniques connected service-level wallets to exchange deposit points, enabling custody providers to take action without immediate asset seizures. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/europol-disrupts-55m-crypto-piracy/

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Show description: On November 4 near Oxford masked assailants entered a vehicle, took a luxury watch reported at about £450,000, and accessed cryptocurrency balances cited at about £1.1 million, and Thames Valley Police reported arrests with combined asset values discussed exceeding £1.5 million. Public disclosures have not confirmed whether suspects have been formally charged, which specific crypto assets or wallet addresses were accessed, whether funds were transferred on chain and where they moved, or forensic timelines and device ownership records. On-chain heuristics can detect sudden high-value transfers, rapid multi-hop movements, and flows into exchange deposit addresses, and device telemetry and account logs can provide timeline corroboration through new device fingerprints, unusual sign-in locations, and fresh approvals on connected accounts. Verification actions to monitor include Thames Valley Police press releases for case numbers and asset details, multiple national and local outlets for consistent timelines and figures, and tracking any disclosed wallet addresses on chain for movement patterns and exchange inflows. Controls recommended for individuals and teams include transferring large balances to hardware wallets and enabling a BIP39 passphrase, implementing multisignature arrangements with time delays, configuring withdrawal allowlists and velocity limits on exchange accounts, separating devices for communication and signing, and maintaining offline encrypted records of devices, addresses, and proof of custody. Teams and funds should enforce quorum-based treasury policies requiring multiple geographically distributed signers and mandatory time windows for high-value transfers, add out-of-band verification and a challenge-response process for large transactions, deploy real-time on-chain risk alerts on treasury addresses, and run regular tabletop exercises that include duress scenarios, immediate freeze steps, police contact protocols, and controlled public communications. Policy and insurance actions include maintaining proof of ownership records for assets and devices, reviewing crime and cyber insurance for explicit coverage of coercion and physical theft, and prearranging legal counsel and specialist recovery vendors to reduce response times. Signals to monitor going forward include police press releases with case numbers and asset disclosures, multiple reputable outlets reporting consistent facts, on-chain evidence that aligns with disclosed wallet addresses and transfer paths, and exchange alerts or freezes on incoming deposits tied to the case. The operational playbook is to assume physical coercion risk, test incident response plans, and harden custody toward delayed, multi-party authorization combined with strict withdrawal controls. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/oxford-crypto-robbery-questions/

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Show description: Tenaga Nasional Berhad reported cumulative electricity losses of about RM4.6 billion since 2020 linked to illegal crypto mining and flagged 13,827 premises nationwide for illicit connections or meter tampering; utilities recorded 1,800 cases by June and have shut more than 9,000 operations in recent years. Investigators identified tactics including meter bypasses, taps on distribution lines, and the use of cover businesses, and found some sites drawing more than RM1 million in electricity per month. TNB and regulators deployed substation smart meters, thermal imaging tied to complaint data, AI-driven analytics, and a centralized database to flag anomalies, prioritize field visits, and reduce detection times. Joint enforcement operations now involve the utility, the energy regulator, police, and local authorities, and penalties under the Electricity Supply Act can include fines up to RM1 million, prison terms up to 10 years, equipment seizures, and civil recovery of unpaid charges. Lawmakers and regulators are discussing explicit mining licenses, tightened landlord liability, mandatory submetering, and differentiated energy pricing for mining. The scale of non-technical losses has influenced tariff debates and utility capex planning and has created demand for vendors of detection technology, AI analytics, and substation metering. The reported operational checklist calls for securing utility-approved connections, installing certified meters, documenting load profiles, maintaining telemetry, negotiating transparent power terms, adding contractual protections and inspection rights, and preparing for inspections and seizures. Monitoring priorities include draft licensing guidance, deployment metrics for AI detection and smart metering and the monthly ratio of new cases to closed cases, and tariff or sustainability-linked pricing changes that could affect operating costs for high-load customers. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/malaysia-crypto-power-theft/

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Show description: A reported US$700 million dispute between a Chinese crypto billionaire and a Dubai investment fund has potential links into Australian wind and solar holding structures. Public reporting does not disclose the liability stack, the precise collateral package, or governing law, and transmission of stress depends on whether claims sit at a top holdco, intermediate holding companies, or project SPVs and whether security interests are asset‑specific or cross‑collateralised. Enforcement of share pledges or cross‑collateralisation can produce change‑of‑control events that trigger consent requirements in senior loan documents, power purchase agreements, and regulatory approvals, and courts can impose freezing orders or injunctions that halt distributions or pause refinancing. Intercreditor waterfalls and cure rights determine enforcement timing across lender stacks and forced sales can create valuation gaps, refinancing delays, and increased carry costs. Transmission channels include mark‑to‑market breaches in crypto portfolios, enforcement on pledged equity or receivables above SPVs, onchain collateral and tokenized pledges, and custodial freezes or court orders that bind banks and custodians across jurisdictions. Exposure points in Australia include intermediate holdcos, project SPVs, construction counterparties, senior lenders, mezzanine providers, offtakers, and operational vendors when funds are held in restricted accounts or subject to court orders. Market signals to monitor are public court filings and injunction requests in Australia, the UAE, Hong Kong, and Singapore; sponsor, lender, mezzanine provider, and offtaker statements about control and distributions; ASIC filings; and PPSR notices for director changes and registered charges. Risk controls for investors, lenders, and counterparties include mapping pledge stacks from holdco to SPV, identifying consent requirements and cure periods, reviewing change‑of‑control and cross‑default triggers and intercreditor waterfalls, and validating DSRA, escrow arrangements, and minimum liquidity buffers. Absent formal filings or public statements, the base case is operational continuity at ring‑fenced projects while sponsors and creditors negotiate, with decisive variables including location and priority of security interests, governing law, and any standstill or forbearance terms. Teams should prepare contingency plans for change‑of‑control scenarios, liquidity backstops, and accelerated diligence in case assets come to market. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/crypto-feud-australian-renewables/

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Show description: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists mapped tens of thousands of blockchain transactions and linked billions of dollars in illicit cryptocurrency flows to centralized exchanges and physical crypto-to-cash storefronts. The probe involved more than 100 journalists across 35 countries and combined on-chain pattern analysis, public records, and field reporting to connect digital transfers to real-world cash operations. Investigators traced funds tied to drug cartels, human trafficking rings, large-scale scams, North Korean state-backed hacking groups, and sanctioned entities through layered wallet hops, exchange liquidity, and deposit addresses linked to exchanges. Named exchanges in the reporting include Binance, OKX, HTX, Coinbase, Kraken, Bybit, Kucoin, and WhiteBIT. Journalists identified cash desks that advertise quick conversion with minimal verification and documented deep transfer ties between those desks and exchange accounts. The report documents hundreds of millions of dollars moving between cash desks and exchanges and highlights one instance in which customer accounts at a single exchange received more than $400 million from one high-risk operator over a two-year window. The investigation found repeated compliance failures including bypassed automated ID checks, weak third-party vendor screening, delayed detection of multi-hop laundering chains, repeated receipt of funds from flagged wallets without timely freezes, and inconsistent escalation when funds touched high-risk jurisdictions or sanctioned counterparties. The report states that these failures create counterparty risk for trading desks, market makers, lending platforms, DAOs, and treasuries that rely on centralized exchange liquidity or fiat rails. The investigation recommends that teams map exposure to named exchange clusters and known high-risk cash-out nodes, require granular attestations from venues and OTC counterparts, formalize vendor and agent screening, segment liquidity, implement pre-deposit and pre-withdrawal wallet risk scoring, increase use of real-time transaction risk models, and document escalation playbooks and provenance logs. The report says regulators will likely target weak controls, cash desk networks, and off-ramp partners, push for greater data sharing and tighter standards, and that exchanges are expected to tighten onboarding, raise monitoring thresholds, increase account freezes and retroactive reviews, and restrict access for higher-risk segments, which will affect liquidity, fee structures, and access to fiat conversion. The report advises investors to incorporate exchange and market maker compliance posture into deployment decisions and prepare for higher compliance costs, delayed settlements, and potential frozen balances. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/icij-illicit-flows-major-exchanges/

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Show description: Federal prosecutors in Detroit sentenced 26-year-old Jibreel Pratt to nine years in federal prison on November 13, 2025, after Pratt pleaded guilty in July to concealing the financing of terrorism for sending two cryptocurrency transfers he believed would fund ISIS. Pratt began communicating in February 2023 with an individual he believed was aligned with a designated foreign terrorist organization, sent two crypto transfers between March and May 2023 that he characterized as funding travel and operational support, and was arrested in May 2024. Prosecutors introduced communications in which Pratt pledged allegiance and offered operational ideas including concepts involving drones and remote-controlled vehicles, transaction records, and evidence he used a VPN and an encrypted application to hide transaction details and keys to support knowledge and concealment elements of the charges. Investigations combined undercover human sources with on-chain tracing and subpoenas for off-chain metadata to attribute wallets and map flows, and prosecutors pursued charges and sentencing in cases involving digital asset transfers tied to explicit intent or operational messaging. The case prompted recommendations for exchanges, custodial wallets, over-the-counter desks, and high-volume trading services to review and tighten onboarding and ongoing KYC and sanctions screening, elevate terrorism and adverse media checks, implement Travel Rule solutions where applicable, deploy blockchain analytics to detect terror-financing typologies, apply counterparty risk scoring to self-hosted wallet flows, enrich alerts with off-chain context, retain logs, and file timely suspicious activity reports. The case also led to guidance for incident response alignment with law enforcement and for product and security teams to implement more granular transaction monitoring rules, automated enrichment of wallet risk scores with off-chain signals, and controls around VPN and privacy-tool usage when correlated with suspicious activity, while legal and compliance teams document decision points and retention policies to support regulatory reporting and criminal investigations. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/detroit-isis-crypto-sentencing/

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Show description: On October 30, 2025 the Czech National Bank board approved and publicly disclosed a roughly $1 million purchase of Bitcoin and selected other digital assets as a ring‑fenced pilot under the CNB Lab innovation program. The purchase was executed outside the bank's international reserves and was described as a controlled experiment to build practical competence across the digital asset lifecycle. The pilot covers wallet setup and administration, custody controls and key management, valuation and accounting for continuously priced assets, settlement and reconciliation processes, and internal reporting subject to risk, compliance, and audit review. The program is governed and publicly reported with structured oversight and defined milestones. The CNB stated the objective is operational learning and process validation and not a change to reserve management policy. CNB Lab covers AI research, future payment systems, and digital asset pilots, and the bank said findings will inform supervision, examination procedures, and policymaking. The CNB described the purchase as the first public disclosure of a direct Bitcoin purchase by any central bank and said the exposure is intentionally small and immaterial to its balance sheet. The announcement identified accounting, cybersecurity, custody architecture, incident response, access segregation, continuity planning, and audit documentation as areas for supervisor and auditor scrutiny. The CNB said it expects to publish controls testing outcomes and audit findings in coming quarters, and observers should monitor any expansion of the pilot, changes in reserve reporting classification, formal vendor and custody model selections, and links between the pilot and central bank digital currency or payment system trials. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/cnb-first-public-crypto-purchase/

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Show description: Coinbase completed a shareholder-approved move that changes its legal domicile from Delaware to Texas and established its headquarters in Texas. The company cited Texas' lack of a state corporate income tax, regulatory clarity for digital asset businesses, and the availability of a specialized Texas Business Court as reasons for the change. The Texas Business Court was created by state legislation in 2023 to handle complex corporate disputes. The move changes the applicable state corporate law and the venues for shareholder and corporate litigation for Coinbase. Reincorporation affects corporate governance and litigation planning, including timelines, remedies, and legal strategy for shareholder disputes. Texas' state tax profile removes a state-level corporate income tax and can alter tax and financial planning as well as decisions about holding companies, subsidiaries, and operational headquarters. State-level regulatory posture does not replace federal oversight, so companies must still navigate federal agency expectations. Many investors and lawyers have historically preferred Delaware incorporations due to the Court of Chancery and Delaware's body of corporate case law on fiduciary duties, stockholder rights, and preferred stock protections. Delaware relies heavily on revenue from corporate franchise taxes. Possible responses from Delaware include procedural updates in its courts, targeted legislative changes, or adjustments to franchise fee schedules. Corporate leaders should evaluate the legal and tax consequences of changing domicile versus creating Texas-based subsidiaries, run scenario analyses comparing Delaware and Texas outcomes for litigation risk and tax liabilities, consult specialized corporate counsel and tax advisors, track early cases in the Texas Business Court and any state guidance on digital assets, and document governance changes for boards and investors. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/coinbase-picks-texas-hq/

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The U.S. Department of Justice has established a multi‑agency Scam Center Strike Force that integrates Treasury, State, the FBI, Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and other federal partners to dismantle large‑scale pig butchering networks. Authorities estimate U.S. victim losses near ten billion dollars in 2024 and link industrial‑scale scams to transnational syndicates operating compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines. Investigators report that pig butchering combines extended social engineering through messaging apps with staged crypto investing, fake trading dashboards, and operator‑controlled wallets, and that operations use coerced workers and trafficking‑linked infrastructure. Strike Force tactics pair criminal charging strategies with OFAC sanctions, civil forfeiture, asset freezes, rapid evidence collection, and coordinated arrests with foreign partners. Enforcement work uses blockchain analytics—on‑chain clustering, transaction graphing, and tracing through mixers, OTC brokers, and cash‑out points—to link deposits to operators and support indictments and forfeiture complaints. Treasury has designated entities tied to forced‑labor compounds and DOJ cites large bitcoin forfeiture cases as a model for reclaiming proceeds when tracing reaches legal thresholds. Guidance for Web3 teams recommends tightening wallet clustering and pattern analytics, encoding romance‑investment typologies in KYT monitoring, tuning withdrawal risk scoring, expanding sanctions screening, and preparing escalation playbooks that preserve logs, KYC records, device fingerprints, and on‑chain artifacts. Organizations are instructed to establish direct points of contact with federal partners and NGOs that support trafficking victims to assist with coordinated rescues, interviews, and prosecutions. Operational signals to monitor include first‑touch deposits tied to messaging app referrals, staged withdrawals followed by larger deposits, repeated routing through specific OTC brokers, and rapid rotation of domains and wallets. Officials and enforcement filings indicate continued sanctions packages, targeted arrests, faster asset freezes, and increased expectations for virtual asset service providers to proactively detect and report romance‑investment typologies. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/us-scam-center-strike-force/

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Two Senate committees released competing drafts of a crypto market structure bill, proposing to divide regulatory oversight between the CFTC and the SEC, with banking regulators overseeing payment stablecoins. The proposals define digital commodities and investment contract assets, potentially expanding the CFTC's authority and limiting the SEC's reach on certain secondary transactions. Banking regulators will oversee permitted payment stablecoins, setting prudential standards. The reconciliation process will involve refining definitions and compliance pathways, including resolving issues around DeFi and developer protections, before a potential Senate vote; the final bill could reshape federal authority over crypto markets, impacting exchanges, brokers, and stablecoin issuers. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/policy/senate-crypto-oversight-bill/

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SoFi Technologies launched SoFiCrypto, enabling consumers to trade digital assets directly through SoFi Bank's platform. The company plans to introduce SoFi USD, a stablecoin backed by dollar reserves, in January 2026. Users can manage cash, investments, borrowing, and digital assets through SoFi's mobile app. SoFi Bank will provide funding and settlement for crypto purchases directly from user accounts. SoFi has placed crypto trading inside a national bank footprint, creating a direct path for retail users to access digital assets under a regulated umbrella. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/sofi-first-bank-crypto-trading/

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Crypto exchange-traded products experienced weekly outflows of $850.4 million and monthly withdrawals of $817.6 million, though year-to-date inflows remain at $62.5 billion. Bitcoin and Ether products saw the most significant movement, and market participants are repositioning assets based on asset type, tenor, and issuer. Crypto.com and Trump Media are exploring Bitcoin, Cronos, and energy-related ETFs, while NASDAQ filed to list a Grayscale Avalanche ETF, and VanEck and Cboe are registering new crypto products. Liquidity pressures from the U.S. Treasury General Account and concerns about a potential government shutdown are influencing near-term flows. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/crypto/crypto-etp-flows-etf-pipeline/

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The Trump administration directed the FHFA to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac develop frameworks for including crypto assets in mortgage underwriting. The FHFA has instructed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create standards for handling digital assets within their single-family credit models, defining how reserves are verified, liquidity is assessed, and value is discounted. Lenders would then use established risk assessment principles applied to other assets, focusing on documented ownership, stability of value, and ease of liquidation. Lawmakers are engaging with the FHFA director to discuss scope, consumer protection, and oversight. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will translate this policy into procedures, defining eligible digital assets, custody standards, reserve documentation, valuation sources, haircuts, and concentration limits, possibly beginning with limited-scope pilots and updated guidance. 

Source: https://theweb3.news/policy/crypto-backed-mortgages-trump/

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