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Treasury's proposed rules translate the GENIUS Act's statutory framework into operational requirements for stablecoin issuers, intermediaries, and platforms handling the offer and sale of payment stablecoins. The package is expected to address registration and licensing pathways, reserve composition and attestation standards, redemption rights, anti-money laundering obligations, and disclosure requirements, though the specific contours should be confirmed against the published Federal Register text. Sophisticated issuers, banks exploring custody or issuance partnerships, exchanges, and tokenization platforms need to assess how the proposal interacts with existing BSA/AML, securities, and banking-supervisor expectations, and to prepare comments before the comment window closes. Counsel should also evaluate extraterritorial reach, permissible reserve assets, and any conflict with state regimes such as New York's BitLicense or money transmitter frameworks. Watch for the closing of the comment period, Treasury's response to industry feedback, and any parallel rulemaking from the OCC, FDI

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Between June and July 2026, U.S. regulators and Congress advanced a broad array of digital asset measures. California’s Digital Financial Assets Law took effect July 1, requiring DFPI licensure for businesses exchanging, transferring, storing, or issuing digital assets with California residents, with penalties up to $100,000 per day for unlicensed activity. Illinois enacted a 0.2% privilege tax on digital asset transactions effective January 1, 2027, though litigation and repeal efforts are pending. The Senate Banking and Agriculture Committees released merged Clarity Act text with an ethics provision barring public officials from profiting from digital assets; a cloture vote is scheduled for September. The SEC’s 2026 Regulatory Agenda targets exchange and broker-dealer rules for digital assets, while the agency also sought comment on novel ETFs including crypto holdings. Federal regulators proposed BSA/AML rules for payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act, with comments due in August. The OCC approved Circle and Sony Bank applications for national trust banks focused on digi

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This weekly blockchain digest covers four key developments. First, multiple major payments firms are launching stablecoin integrations, while stablecoin issuer Circle secured a limited purpose trust charter from the New York Department of Financial Services and fintech Dakota applied for a national trust bank charter, signaling growing regulatory clarity for stablecoin issuers. Second, several large U.S. banks are rolling out tokenized deposit products for corporate clients, with planned 24/7 settlement, smart contract functionality, and the same regulatory protections and deposit insurance eligibility as traditional deposits. Third, the Bank for International Settlements launched Project Agorá, a public-private partnership with 8 central banks and 40+ financial institutions to test tokenized wholesale cross-border payments. Finally, a $130 million Bitcoin theft from Coldcard hardware wallets highlights ongoing cybersecurity risks for crypto asset holdings, with users advised to update firmware and replace seed phrases.

The OCC denied Wise US Inc.’s application to launch Wise National Trust, a proposed national trust bank with planned crypto and stablecoin interoperability services, citing unaddressed AML/CFT deficiencies, weak governance, and management unfamiliarity with national banking rules. The denial references Wise’s 2025 $4.2 million multistate AML settlement and notes the proposed trust’s elevated financial crime risk from its planned digital asset services. The decision signals that the OCC will hold crypto-adjacent fintechs to strict enterprise-wide compliance standards even for small, subsidiary banking operations, and requires applicants to demonstrate robust, organization-wide AML frameworks tailored to digital asset risks before charter approval.

This update covers key July 2026 crypto industry developments: SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce issued guidance clarifying that parties managing crypto vaults or onchain lending strategies may trigger federal securities law obligations if they exercise discretion over asset allocations, interest rates, or liquidation thresholds. The SEC and DOJ also announced multiple enforcement actions targeting crypto fraud, including charges against a Florida operator accused of misappropriating $22 million in investor funds and seizure of $25 million tied to international scam networks. On the market side, multiple U.S. financial institutions launched regulated spot crypto trading for clients, a U.S. crypto payment processor secured an EU MiCA license for cross-border stablecoin services, and major firms announced partnerships to launch tokenized securities IPOs and onchain prime brokerage products. Two crypto bridge exploits resulted in $31.6 million in stolen funds, underscoring cross-chain cybersecurity risks. In-house counsel should assess whether their firm’s crypto yield products fall under

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This week’s blockchain digest covers six high-impact developments for crypto and financial services stakeholders. First, stablecoin issuer Circle received final OCC approval to launch a national trust bank for digital asset custody, Visa debuted a stablecoin platform for financial institutions, and Tether completed a cross-border stablecoin remittance proof of concept with Hyundai. Second, DTCC successfully piloted tokenized securities settlement with over 30 traditional and digital finance firms. Third, U.S. bank trade groups urged Senate revisions to the Clarity Act to close loopholes allowing stablecoins to function as interest-bearing deposit substitutes. Fourth, the U.S. and UK Treasuries published a joint stablecoin statement endorsing cross-border regulatory coordination and full reserve backing requirements. Fifth, OFAC added four Iran Central Bank crypto wallets to its sanctions list, leading Tether to freeze $131 million in USDT, and Interpol’s Operation First Light 2026 resulted in 5,800 arrests and $293 million in intercepted illicit crypto assets across 97 jurisdictions.

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