News linked to both this project and an event.
According to The Block, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings has recently made a series of aggressive moves, completing multiple major crypto investments in succession: exclusively investing $125 million in Gauntlet's Series C, $76 million in EDX Markets' Series C, spending approximately $289 million to acquire Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank, and taking a stake in Singaporean exchange Coinhako. In addition, SBI also participated in Digital Asset's $355 million financing, Morpho's $175 million token round, and Circle's $222 million token presale, and launched Japan's first trust bank-backed yen stablecoin, JPYSC. SBI stated that the company is driving the group's overall on-chain transformation, aiming to provide end-to-end services across exchanges, asset tokenization, market platforms, and other segments, to position itself ahead of the upcoming "token economy" era. Analysts point out that SBI is building Asia's first scaled on-chain asset management business; its strategic core is not purchasing crypto exposure, but controlling the infrastructure of the next-generation financial system. On the regulatory front, the Japanese parliament is advancing legislation to include cryptocurrencies as regulated financial instruments, and plans to significantly reduce the capital gains tax on crypto assets from 55% to 20% by 2028, aligning it with stocks and bonds, providing policy support for institutional entry.
According to Bits.media, Russian private bank Alfa Bank stated that it plans to establish a digital depository institution and provide cryptocurrency-related services to customers and other legal entities. The bank also hopes to develop investment tools based on open blockchains to attract foreign investors. The progress of related business is expected to depend on the formal entry into force of the Russian cryptocurrency circulation regulatory bill.
According to Yoon Seung-sik, Head of Tiger Research, the Korean won stablecoin market currently lacks a real position. This is not due to a lack of potential, but because South Korea has yet to undergo sufficient market practice and discussion. Unlike the United States, which has experienced years of trial and error, regulation, and market evolution in the stablecoin space, related discussions in South Korea have only just begun. The country's financial infrastructure is already highly developed, and the real challenge lies in answering the question, "Why do consumers need to use a won stablecoin?"Yoon Seung-sik believes that the core keywords for the digital asset industry in the first half of this year are stablecoins, tokenization, and RWA. While AI Agents and DeFi hold long-term potential, they still have a considerable distance from large-scale implementation. In contrast, stablecoins and tokenization have accumulated a wealth of global practical cases, driving more institutions to accelerate their entry. It is expected that in the second half of the year, the digital asset market will continue to focus on regulatory progress, the actual implementation results of stablecoins and RWAs, as well as new narratives for the retail market. (Etoday)
the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) officially published its crypto asset regulatory framework this week, widely regarded by the industry as an international approach emphasizing "global liquidity access," but its implementation still faces significant compliance and approval challenges.Under the new rules, the FCA allows overseas trading platforms to serve UK users through locally authorized branches and access global trading infrastructure, thus avoiding the formation of a closed domestic liquidity pool. Meanwhile, stablecoins not issued in the UK can also circulate in the British market, a stance seen as distinctly different from the regional isolation model of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The "Qualified Crypto Asset Trading Platform" (QCATP) mechanism within the new rules is viewed as a key structure connecting global exchanges with the UK market, potentially enhancing price efficiency and market depth. However, industry insiders point out that the FCA has yet to clarify which jurisdictions are deemed to have "comparable regulatory protections," a uncertainty that could affect corporate planning decisions.Furthermore, rules related to decentralized finance (DeFi) remain not fully clarified. Some practitioners fear that initial proposals might restrict centralized platforms from accessing the DeFi ecosystem, potentially leaving the UK behind other jurisdictions in this area of innovation.On the compliance front, lawyers point out that under the new Financial Services and Markets Act framework, the authorization process could be extremely stringent. Historical data shows that the FCA's anti-money laundering registration application approval rate is less than 15%. The new system will also cover multiple regulatory requirements including consumer duty, capital adequacy, operational resilience, and senior manager accountability, significantly raising the entry barrier.Industry observers believe the framework overall provides an institutional foundation for institutional capital to enter the crypto market. However, whether the UK can truly become a global crypto hub will depend on the certainty of regulatory enforcement and approval efficiency in the coming months. (CoinDesk)
Robinhood has announced the official launch of the public mainnet for its proprietary Layer 2 network, Robinhood Chain. Built on the Arbitrum technology stack, the chain is positioned as an institution-grade, permissionless, AI-native network specifically designed for Real World Assets (RWA).Robinhood Chain's launch partners include Uniswap, Pleiades, Alchemy, BitGo, and Chainlink. Among them, Uniswap will deploy a dedicated AMM on the chain as the primary public liquidity protocol, while Pleiades will deploy its own AMM as the primary proprietary trading venue. The chain will also offer basic DeFi functionalities such as lending.Eligible users can trade tokenized stocks 24/7 on Robinhood Chain. Simultaneously, Robinhood Earn will introduce USDG-based decentralized lending products within the main app. In certain jurisdictions, the new version of Robinhood Wallet will also support access to Lighter's perpetual contract trading.Robinhood also announced the expansion of its European perpetual contract product range, its official entry into the Canadian market, and the acquisition of a Singapore Capital Markets Services license. Furthermore, Agentic Accounts for crypto trading are planned to begin rolling out in the US soon, allowing AI agents to participate in trading and fund management.Robinhood stated that this update represents its most ambitious global expansion and product vision to date, with the goal of establishing a more direct connection between traditional finance and DeFi, integrating stocks, crypto, RWA, perpetual contracts, and AI trading into a unified financial experience. (The Block)
: Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, stated that the S&P 500 is currently at historical highs, while money market fund (MMF) assets have also hit record levels. This contrast of "both stocks and cash at highs" is stark, but for bulls, it means there is still plenty of "dry powder" that has yet to enter the market. A significant return of funds to the stock market may only occur when interest rates fall below 3%, as in the current 4% yield environment, investors prefer holding stable net asset value money market funds with no drawdown risk over bond ETFs.Balchunas believes that the substantial drawdown in the bond market in 2022 (e.g., AGG fell by about 13%) eroded investor confidence in traditional bonds, leading money market funds to partially replace traditional bond allocations. Additionally, macroeconomic uncertainties in the U.S. (including factors related to Trump's policies) have further exacerbated capital's wait-and-see sentiment.
a new survey from GMAC shows one-third of employers are using AI to replace entry-level positions. The survey polled over 600 recruiters worldwide, with more than half recruiting for Fortune 100 or Fortune 500 companies.Data indicates that tech roles face the highest risk, with 40% of employers in that sector reporting AI is replacing entry-level positions, followed by manufacturing. Additionally, the median starting salary for graduates with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) is projected to drop from $125,000 in 2025 to $120,000 this year. Despite the changing hiring landscape, demand remains strong for graduates who possess human skills like communication, problem-solving, and adaptability, combined with AI proficiency and technical abilities. (fortune)
a16z crypto has stated in an article that the crypto industry is entering the so-called "Show Me era," where the market and media no longer accept projects relying solely on vision and whitepapers but demand real data and verifiable product deployment. In the past decade, crypto projects often depended on a "vision is the product" logic, gaining market attention through whitepapers, token narratives, and proof-of-concept. However, as regulatory scrutiny intensifies, negative industry incidents increase, and institutional players enter the space, this model is becoming obsolete. Simultaneously, the accelerated entry of traditional financial institutions into the crypto field is significantly raising the industry bar, including BlackRock's tokenized money market funds, Fidelity's ETF initiatives, and JPMorgan Chase's advances in on-chain settlement and building its own blockchain network. This makes "real products and actual usage" the new competitive standard.a16z crypto summarizes the current industry standard as a "proof-first" mechanism, requiring projects to demonstrate clear product usage data, on-chain transaction volumes, genuine user growth, and sustained retention, rather than merely intentions to partner or conceptual roadmaps. The firm emphasizes that "partnership announcements" no longer constitute valid signals; they must be accompanied by actual integrations and verifiable data. Meanwhile, user growth, on-chain activity, revenue curves, and third-party verification have become core evaluation metrics. The article further introduces the concept of a "proof stack," where projects need to convert narrative into credible product facts through a multi-dimensional chain of evidence — real users, independent verification, on-chain data, and established partnerships.a16z crypto believes that the industry's communication logic has shifted from "what you are doing" to "what you have already accomplished." It emphasizes that while narrative and vision remain important, their weight has dropped from approximately 80% in the past to 20% now, as the industry officially enters a competitive phase centered on results.
a16z Crypto published an article explaining its investment in Digital Asset. It stated that the three major obstacles previously hindering institutional adoption of crypto technology included blockchain performance, regulatory uncertainty, and privacy concerns. Now, the blockchain performance issue has been largely resolved, with L1 and L2 networks possessing the scale, speed, and complexity to meet institutional needs; the US GENIUS Act has taken effect, addressing the regulatory issue.a16z Crypto believes that traditional public chains make transaction information public by default. While this facilitates verification, institutional financial transactions require capabilities such as selective disclosure, compliance requirements, and multi-party collaboration. For example, when banks conduct treasury bond transactions or repo transactions, the transacting parties need to share information but should not expose positions, counterparties, and transaction sizes to all network participants. Therefore, privacy remains the core challenge for institutions entering the chain. Most blockchain projects attempt to adapt institutions to the crypto system, whereas Digital Asset chooses to adapt crypto technology to institutional needs. Mature privacy technology has also become a key breakthrough for attracting institutional entry.
Japan's SBI Shinsei Bank will launch a pilot program on June 10, allowing customers to convert a portion of their deposit interest into BTC, ETH, or XRP. The initiative uses "interest exchange" as an entry point to introduce crypto assets into traditional deposit products, enabling users to gain cryptocurrency exposure without direct purchase. Future expansion will depend on customer participation and the regulatory environment. (The Block)
House of Doge, an organization associated with Dogecoin (DOGE), has announced a partnership with regulated stablecoin and crypto infrastructure provider Paxos to integrate Dogecoin into its enterprise-grade crypto brokerage and custody network.Paxos serves as the underlying blockchain infrastructure provider for payment platforms such as PayPal, Venmo, and Mercado Libre. These platforms leverage Paxos's capabilities to offer users crypto asset buying, selling, and custody services. This initial partnership is focused on enterprise clients, and it remains unclear whether it will expand to consumer-facing applications in the future. Marco Margiotta, CEO of House of Doge, stated that this collaboration will accelerate Dogecoin's global accessibility and provide a compliant entry path for mainstream fintech platforms.Paxos stated that the move aims to provide secure and compliant access to digital assets through its regulated infrastructure, and to support enterprise clients in expanding their crypto asset product lines. (The Block)
The president of the Uruguay Blockchain Chamber warned that the current cryptocurrency regulatory proposals lack differentiation among business risks and set high entry barriers, potentially undermining local innovation vitality.
According to Cointelegraph, prediction market platform Polymarket is seeking entry into the Japanese market and aims to obtain regulatory approval for prediction markets from the Japanese government by 2030. The report states that Polymarket has appointed Mike Eidlin, Japan Head of crypto firm Jupiter, to lead its local operations in Japan and advance related compliance efforts. Japan maintains strict regulation over online gambling, permitting only a limited number of government-authorized activities—such as horse racing and public lotteries. Although Polymarket has not yet received authorization to operate in Japan, its Japanese regional X (formerly Twitter) account has already amassed over 53,000 followers. Meanwhile, under regulatory pressure and amid competition from platforms like Kalshi, Polymarket’s monthly nominal trading volume declined nearly 15% month-on-month in April.
Odaily reports, In a recent video interview with Cointelegraph, Gate Founder and CEO Dr. Han stated that the crypto industry is transitioning from a primarily speculation-driven market towards a phase focused on infrastructure development and real-world applications. Dr. Han pointed out that stablecoins, RWA, AI, and asset tokenization are becoming core directions for the industry, and that clearer regulatory frameworks (such as the CLARITY Act) are expected to further drive innovation in DeFi, payments, and on-chain finance.Dr. Han also mentioned that high user entry barriers, security risks, and liquidity fragmentation remain significant challenges facing the industry. In the future, the crypto industry will further integrate with traditional finance, playing a more important role in areas such as payments, settlement, and the circulation of digital assets.Gate continues to deepen its multi-asset and TradFi strategy. In addition to expanding into assets such as stocks, metals, forex, indices, and commodities, it has also launched Pre-IPOs with the first project, SpaceX (SPCX). At the same time, as one of the first CEX platforms to integrate Polymarket, Gate is continuously promoting the development of the prediction market ecosystem, accelerating the construction of a comprehensive trading platform that spans crypto and traditional finance.
Odaily News: Greg Cipolaro, Research Director at financial services firm NYDIG, stated that the most realistic legislative window for the U.S. Senate's crypto market structure bill is June to early August. If progress cannot be made during this period, the bill may face uncertainty extending beyond the midterm elections or even longer.Earlier, White House crypto advisor Patrick Witt had proposed July 4 as an ideal legislative timeline, but NYDIG considers this target overly optimistic. The bill still needs to clear multiple hurdles, including committee review, a full Senate vote, and House procedures.The bill aims to establish a clear regulatory framework for U.S. crypto assets and is regarded as one of the most critical pieces of legislation this year. However, it has faced repeated delays due to disagreements over stablecoin regulation, ethical clauses, and DeFi rules. The Senate Banking Committee has advanced the draft for a full Senate vote, but it still requires at least 60 votes to pass.Analysts point out that if the bill fails to pass before the election cycle, shifts in Republican and Democratic control of the Senate could further reduce legislative certainty, keeping the industry in a state of regulatory ambiguity.However, if the bill is ultimately passed and signed into law, it would bring regulatory clarity to the market. In particular, Bitcoin is expected to be clearly classified as a commodity, thereby reducing uncertainty for institutional entry. (Cointelegraph)
that, according to on-chain analyst Ember Monitoring, following news that the CME and the New York Stock Exchange have jointly pushed US regulators to strengthen oversight of Hyperliquid, HYPE has retraced 4% from $45 to $43. An address named asssdfc transferred 8.826 million USDC to Hyperliquid 20 minutes ago after the news broke to short HYPE. It has already opened a $7 million short position on HYPE with an entry price of $43.1 and is still increasing its short position.
YZi Labs has announced the list of 25 graduating teams for Season 3 of its flagship incubation program, EASY Residency. The selected projects span areas including onchain financial market infrastructure, AI agents, verifiable intelligence, real-world asset tokenization, prediction markets, privacy-compliance solutions, and onchain financial consumer entry points.
According to the official website of the Chinese government, the General Office of the State Council issued the “State Council’s 2026 Annual Legislative Work Plan,” which specifically highlights improving legislation related to AI governance. The plan explicitly states that comprehensive legislation promoting the healthy development of AI will be expedited, and legislation safeguarding AI’s foundational elements—including data, computing power, algorithms, intellectual property rights, cybersecurity, and supply chain security—as well as regulating key application scenarios, will also be accelerated. By incorporating AI governance into the national-level comprehensive legislative framework, this legislative initiative marks China’s entry into a substantive implementation phase for building its AI regulatory framework.
Odaily News Executives from PayPal and Google Cloud stated that in the future, commerce driven by AI Agents will operate on crypto payment rails, as AI Agents cannot use traditional bank accounts like humans.Richard Widmann, Head of Web3 Strategy at Google Cloud, stated that AI Agents are unable to open bank accounts from both a technical and regulatory standpoint, while cryptocurrencies offer an "excellent machine-readable payment interface." He revealed that Google has launched the open-source Agentic Payments Protocol (AP2) and donated it to the FIDO Foundation, with over 120 partners, including PayPal, already joining.May Zabaneh, Senior Vice President of Crypto at PayPal, indicated that the company views AI Agents as the next generation of commerce entry point following offline, online, and mobile payments. She noted that PYUSD, as PayPal's stablecoin, provides a naturally programmable payment layer for AI-native payments and global transactions.A PayPal survey shows that 95% of merchant websites currently see traffic from AI Agents, but only about 20% of merchants have machine-readable product catalogs. Zabaneh believes that merchants need to adapt to the AI Agent era as quickly as possible, or they will miss out on the next wave of commercial infrastructure upgrades.Additionally, the two also discussed the security and responsibility issues of AI Agents. Widmann stated that multi-party custody will become an important solution for Agent fund management. AI Agents should not have full control over private keys but should only hold a portion of the key fragments to reduce financial risk. (CoinDesk)
According to The Information, Polymarket—four years after exiting the U.S. market—is attempting to re-enter the domestic market by acquiring a U.S.-licensed derivatives and futures exchange, thereby rejoining the regulated framework, and has appointed Justin Hertzberg to lead its U.S. operations. However, recent developments indicate that Polymarket’s U.S. business progress has fallen short of expectations, with its market share significantly trailing that of its main competitor, Kalshi. Reportedly, within the company, Justin Hertzberg assumes more of a “figurehead CEO” role, primarily responsible for signing regulatory documents, while his capacity to manage and scale U.S. operations remains limited. Overall, Polymarket’s re-entry into the U.S. market continues to face dual challenges—both regulatory and operational.