News linked to both this project and an event.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced that the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has officially approved applications related to Ripple National Trust Bank. This approval will provide Ripple with a platform to operate under the federal regulatory framework, allowing it to support its US dollar stablecoin RLUSD and offer digital asset custody services to corporate clients. Garlinghouse stated that this move reflects the integration of the crypto industry with the traditional banking system, emphasizing the importance of innovation, accountability, and federal oversight.
Odaily Report: The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) plans to adjust its voluntary disclosure program before December, reducing tax violation penalties and speeding up processing, with a goal of resolving cases within 120 days after taxpayers complete required filings. The adjustment plan does not establish a dedicated process for crypto assets; related matters will follow existing voluntary disclosure procedures. The IRS is also considering installment payment and compromise settlement options, and specific penalty amounts have not yet been announced.Jarod Koopman, head of the IRS Criminal Investigation division, said the current process can take a year or longer and is mainly aimed at taxpayers who intentionally violate tax law and may face criminal prosecution, not those with unintentional filing errors.A separate voluntary disclosure proposal for crypto asset taxpayers is under review, covering unintentional filing errors. Section 502 of the proposed Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act would establish a violation correction procedure and specify penalties; the bill passed the House Ways and Means Committee in September. (Cointelegraph)
According to reports by Korean media outlet Digital Asset, the Second Division of the Seoul Administrative Court held its first hearing on Oct. 22 regarding the administrative lawsuit between Bithumb and Korea's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). The FIU found that Bithumb conducted 45,772 transfers with 18 unregistered crypto asset operators between August 28, 2022, and April 3, 2025, and accordingly issued penalties, which included a partial suspension restricting new customers from transferring crypto assets externally for six months. Bithumb stated during the hearing that transfers of 1 million KRW or above are subject to the "travel rule," and since unregistered operators have been removed from the list of eligible exchanges, there were zero non-compliant outbound transfers in that tier. Transfers under 1 million KRW were not covered by the travel rule at the time; thus, the platform had no legal basis to demand that customers provide recipient exchange details, nor did regulators specify clear blocking protocols. Bithumb also noted that after implementing the Chainalysis API, only about 2% of initially unverifiable addresses were later identified as FIU-designated unregistered operators. Enforcing blanket blocks would disrupt the remaining 98% of legitimate transactions, potentially exposing the platform to customer compensation claims. Bithumb further argued that the six-month penalty is excessively severe and practically amounts to banning the platform from acquiring new customers. The company also challenged the FIU's criteria for classifying overseas operators and the grounds for the...
The Blockchain Association has written to U.S. congressional leadership urging Congress to advance bipartisan digital asset tax legislation and launched a website to encourage the public to share their views with lawmakers. The association stated that approximately 67 million Americans hold or use digital assets, and existing tax rules have fallen short of meeting industry needs, thereby increasing compliance burdens for taxpayers. Its five proposed policy principles include: establishing a reasonable de minimis transaction exemption threshold; imposing taxes upon the disposition of assets derived from mining and staking rewards; protecting taxpayer privacy; levying taxes based on economic substance rather than technical form; and implementing well-calibrated wash sale rules that prevent abuse without penalizing the daily transactions of ordinary users.
Lee Eok-won, Chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC), stated at the comprehensive audit of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee that various circumstances need to be fully considered regarding the virtual asset taxation scheduled to take effect next year. People Power Party lawmaker Song Eon-seok questioned whether the tax should be abolished or postponed, and stated that before the nature of digital assets and policy direction are determined, priority should be given to enacting the "Basic Act on Digital Assets." Lee Eok-won responded that the digital asset-related bill has entered the final negotiation stage and discussions will be pushed forward as soon as possible; regarding taxation, opinions vary among all parties, and relevant feedback is still being collected.South Korea's virtual asset taxation was introduced in 2020 through an amendment to the Income Tax Act and has been postponed three times. The government is advancing related administrative procedures according to the schedule for implementation in January next year, but some in the industry and within the ruling party believe that current standards remain unclear, infrastructure is insufficient, and the timing for implementation is not yet mature.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on October 16 that his office has reached a $500,000 settlement with Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association (the successor entity to Fidelity Digital Asset Services), regarding the company's prior practice of restricting California retail customers from transferring cryptocurrency to external wallets. Regulators determined that this practice may have violated the California Commodity Law of 1990, which restricts certain speculative commodity contracts unless the buyer receives physical delivery within a specified timeframe. The California government views the ability to withdraw cryptocurrency as a functional equivalent of delivery.From November 2022 to April 2025, California customers could buy and sell cryptocurrency on the Fidelity platform but were unable to send assets directly to external wallets. Fidelity stated that the restriction stemmed from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) not having approved the relevant functionality at the time; approval was granted in April 2025, and the transfer feature was extended to all California retail customers in June 2025.
Odaily reports: Bitcoin News posted on X stating that, with the Clarity Act stalled, regulators are crafting digital asset market rules on their own under existing authority. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sought comment on a retail digital asset trading framework, including the addition of a new "crypto asset market" exchange category, with the comment period closing on December 14; the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's comment window for its proposed Regulation Crypto Assets will close on October 20. Regulators are moving faster than Congress on rulemaking, but the rules may face court challenges or be revoked by future commissions; a durable regulatory framework still requires legislation.
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Court in Kazakhstan has issued an injunction against cryptocurrency platforms offering digital asset services without authorization, prohibiting Coinbase, BingX, Huobi Global (HTX), BitMart, Bitcoin.com, and WEEX from operating within its jurisdiction, and extending the restrictions to block access to their apps on Google and Apple app stores.
The Blockchain Association posted on X, stating that it has submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Treasury (@USTreasury) regarding the proposed implementing regulations for Section 3 of the GENIUS Act. Section 3 addresses who may issue, offer, and sell payment stablecoins in the United States. The association expressed appreciation for the Treasury's implementation efforts but emphasized its hope that the final rules will remain consistent with the original intent of congressional legislation. The association put forth the following key recommendations: 1. Definition of "Digital Asset Service Provider": This definition should apply to client-facing businesses, exclude core infrastructure such as self-custody software and validator nodes, and should not encompass entities that merely trade their own assets. 2. Criminal Liability Standard: Under the proposed rules, routine market-making activities for "newly issued" stablecoins could be construed as "knowing participation" in an illegal issuance. The association recommends restricting liability to cases involving "actual knowledge" and providing "substantial assistance" in coordination with the issuer. 3. Foreign-Issued Stablecoins: The proposed rules require open-ended due diligence on foreign issuers, despite many exchanges having no business relationship with them. The association recommends allowing firms to rely on publicly available lists of registered issuers and trading restrictions already established by Congress. 4. Determination of User Location: On permissionless protocols, companies typically only see wallet addresses. The association proposes replacing the "reasonable belief" standard with "actual knowledge supplemented by information gathered in the ordinary course of business." 5. Other Recommendations: Eliminate open-ended "functional equivalence" tests regarding monetary value, reassess cost estimates, and align the effective date with the GENIUS Act
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Congress is advancing the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 10357). Section 502 of the bill mandates that the U.S. Department of the Treasury establish a "Digital Asset Voluntary Disclosure Program" within 12 months of enactment, allowing compliant taxpayers to rectify past digital asset tax non-compliance by filing amended returns, paying back taxes and interest, and receiving penalty relief.
Senior officials from South Korea's finance ministry plan to hold consultations with major cryptocurrency exchanges on Tuesday, with participants including representatives from Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, DigitalX, Gopax, and the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance (DAXA). Yoo Young-jun, Director General of the Digital Finance Policy Bureau at South Korea's Financial Services Commission, will attend the meeting.South Korea has postponed the crypto tax three times, most recently pushing the implementation date to 2027. Exchanges say that applicable rules for different transaction types have not yet been determined and that infrastructure preparation time is limited, with the industry broadly supporting a further delay of the tax.South Korean Democratic Party lawmaker Park Min-gyu recently proposed a bill that would set the tax start date as January 1 of the second year after South Korea begins sharing data under the OECD Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). If the first data exchange takes place in 2027, the tax would begin in 2029. (Cointelegraph)
According to The Block, citing South Korean media outlet Digital Asset, South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it will investigate unfair trading practices involving crypto assets linked to token foundations, as well as other high-risk market activities.
The South Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) stated that it will in the future launch swift investigations into unfair trading and other activities associated with virtual asset issuance foundations, in order to address conduct that undermines market order. The relevant content was presented on October 19 in a report on the current status of audit operations at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, under a plan titled "Strengthening Digital Asset User Protection and Establishing a Sound Trading Order."
U.S. SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated that despite setbacks in the U.S. legislative process and leadership changes, the SEC will continue to advance a comprehensive crypto market structure. Previously, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act failed to clear the Senate's 60-vote procedural threshold on September 15, shifting the policy focus to federal regulators using existing authorities to provide regulatory clarity. During Atkins' tenure, the SEC announced interim regulatory exemptions in September to ease certain tokenized stock trading; Patrick Witt, executive director of the White House crypto council, departed, having previously participated in CLARITY Act negotiations.
Odaily News: The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released a report on "debanking," stating that some banks have used public and non-public policies to restrict financial services for multiple industries, including crude oil, natural gas, tobacco, firearms, and digital assets. The report notes that some institutions restricted digital asset businesses, including issuers, exchanges, and managers, often citing financial crime concerns as the reason.The OCC stated that the report was prepared in accordance with an executive order signed by Donald Trump in August 2025, which aims to prevent what it calls "illegal debanking." The report reviewed 9 major banks but did not list specific cases related to digital asset businesses, nor did it comprehensively quantify the scope of debanking or related allegations.OCC head Jonathan Gould said that some debanking decisions related to coal and firearms were not based on financial risk, with banks citing reputational risks from negative news, public protests, and support for related industries. In November 2024, more than 30 tech and crypto industry executives said they were unable to access banking services. (Cointelegraph)
According to The Block, Standard Chartered Bank has pushed back its forecast for the stablecoin market to reach a $2 trillion scale from 2028 to 2030. Geoffrey Kendrick, the bank's Global Head of Digital Asset Research, stated that stablecoin supply has consistently hovered between $300 billion and $320 billion over the past 12 months, currently standing at approximately $309 billion. The stagnation in growth is viewed as a cyclical, rather than structural, issue. Despite the slowdown in supply growth, usage continues to climb—average monthly on-chain transfer volume neared $10 trillion in 2026, a significant increase from $4 trillion in 2025, with May alone recording a record-high $19 trillion in on-chain transfers. Stablecoin velocity has also doubled from 15x in 2025 to approximately 30x. Specifically, USDC velocity rose from 45x to 80x, primarily used for payments and AI agent-to-agent transactions; USDT velocity remains around 7x, mainly serving dollar savings demand in emerging markets. Kendrick noted that competition is most intense in mature market payments and traditional finance alternatives, with potential challengers including OUSD, stablecoin infrastructure provider M^0, and the multi-bank shared stablecoin network A+. On the regulatory front, the U.S. GENIUS Act is expected to take effect in January 2027, and its global rollout effectiveness will be a primary risk factor influencing the realization of the forecast.
According to an official press release, the Blockchain Association (BA), Crypto Innovation Council (CCI), Digital Chamber of Commerce (TDC), and Illinois Blockchain Association (IBA), jointly with the State of Illinois, filed a joint motion on October 13 with the Sangamon County Circuit Court to expedite proceedings on two challenges to the Digital Assets Tax Act. The state government has agreed to suspend enforcement of the act until July 1, 2027. The parties propose accelerating the summary judgment process, with a motion filing deadline of November 4, 2026, briefs due by January 22, 2027, hearings scheduled from February 8 to 19, 2027, and a final ruling expected by March 1, 2027. These organizations contend that the tax law’s disparate treatment of digital assets violates federal and Illinois state law, would cause unfair harm to the industry, and sets a harmful precedent.
Odaily News: Fairshake-affiliated entities Defend American Jobs and Protect Progress have spent a combined $2.7 million to support Democratic and Republican candidates running for U.S. House seats in 2026. The spending comes 22 days before the U.S. midterm elections.The expenditures include over $76,000 in supportive advertising for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and $73,000 for House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson; California Representative Pete Aguilar and New Jersey Representative Josh Gottheimer received $512,000 and $500,000 in support, respectively.Fairshake announced days ago that it plans to support 32 additional House candidates in 2026, with 6 of them each receiving $1 million in supportive media placements. As of August, Fairshake held $122 million in cash and planned to allocate at least $30 million in media spending to oppose Sherrod Brown's run for the Ohio Senate seat.All of the aforementioned candidates voted in 2025 to support the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act). The bill aims to establish market structure rules for cryptocurrencies and expand the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) regulatory enforcement authority, but it failed a Senate procedural vote in September. (Cointelegraph)
According to reports from South Korean media outlet Dailian, the Digital Asset Exchange Association (DAXA) released the "2026 Digital Asset Policy Compilation." Professor Jo Jae-woo of Seoul National University pointed out that since the 2017 ICO ban, domestic crypto projects in South Korea have continuously relocated their issuing entities and operational foundations overseas due to regulatory gaps. Token issuance for Klaytn is handled by a Singaporean legal entity, while WEMIX under Wemade similarly uses a Singaporean corporation as its issuer. Subsequently, Metabora relocated to Dubai and NeoFin moved its foundation to Abu Dhabi, further exacerbating the trend of industry outflow. Experts highlighted that the regulatory disparity between domestic and foreign issuers, along with difficulties in opening corporate bank accounts, are key obstacles. They emphasized that "South Korea does not need more relaxed regulation, but clearer rules," calling on the Digital Asset Basic Act to clarify licensing standards for services such as issuance, custody, and verification, and to establish special procedures for repatriating core functions from overseas back to the country.
Canton CEO and Digital Asset co-founder and CEO Yuval Rooz said at Token2049 in Singapore that the crypto industry should leverage the current regulatory environment to accelerate institutional adoption and drive broader blockchain usage, reducing the likelihood of future governments reversing the industry's progress. He said that regardless of what happens in 2028, the industry should reach a point of "no return."Yuval Rooz compared the opportunity for blockchain adoption to Uber and Airbnb, noting that both services achieved widespread use before regulators took restrictive measures. The next US presidential election is scheduled for November 7, 2028, which could bring changes in government and regulatory priorities.In the same panel discussion, Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said he hopes the CLARITY Act ultimately becomes law, adding that legislation can prevent regulatory backtracking and drive institutions into the market. Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson said legislation would increase certainty, but the industry should not rely on the bill's passage; the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have already been advancing crypto regulation under existing authorities. (Cointelegraph)