News linked to both this project and an event.
: Solana ecosystem multi-signature protocol Squads announced the completion of an $18 million strategic funding round, led by Solana Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Haun Ventures, L1D, and others. Its total cumulative funding has now reached $42.9 million. According to reports, Squads' stablecoin payment platform Altitude allows enterprises to conduct 24/7 global payment settlements in stablecoins through self-custodial wallets, and connects to the global payment network via its compliance and risk control system. (The Block)
the Israel Capital Market Authority has approved Bits of Gold to issue the country's first shekel-pegged stablecoin, BILS. The token is a regulated asset launched by Bits of Gold after a two-year evaluation and pilot program, with support from the Solana network, Fireblocks, and Ernst & Young. Bits of Gold stated that bringing the shekel on-chain aims to position it alongside currencies such as the euro, the Japanese yen, and the Singapore dollar, which have already entered the blockchain financial system. Currently, the stablecoin market size has exceeded $300 billion. This issuance aims to address the dominance of dollar-pegged tokens in on-chain payments and safeguard digital sovereignty.
According to Cointelegraph, Israel’s Authority for Capital Markets, Insurance, and Savings has approved the virtual asset trading platform Bits of Gold to launch BILS, a stablecoin pegged to the Israeli shekel. BILS previously completed a two-year pilot on the Solana blockchain. Per the announcement, BILS reserve assets will be held in designated, segregated accounts within Israel. This initiative is also part of the Israel Tax Authority and Ministry of Finance’s efforts to establish a regulatory framework for the crypto industry, specifically covering certain stablecoin activities.
A research report released by a16z Crypto states that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into the foundational layer of a new global financial infrastructure, giving rise to a new generation of “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) models. Unlike the previous wave of BaaS, this new model is built on onchain infrastructure and integrates account management, payments, foreign exchange, and credit functions via self-custodial wallets—significantly reducing reliance on traditional intermediaries. The report classifies blockchains into three categories: general-purpose public chains (e.g., Solana and Ethereum), purpose-built chains optimized for payment use cases (e.g., Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc), and compliance-focused networks designed for regulated institutions (e.g., Canton). On the regulatory front, following the passage of the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers are competing aggressively for national trust charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), aiming to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails and secure a central position within the payments stack. The report also notes that stablecoins have made significant progress in the “middle mile” of cross-border payments; however, liquidity bottlenecks between stablecoins and local fiat currencies remain unresolved in emerging markets. Looking ahead, as stablecoin scale grows, the onchain credit market is poised to become the next major opportunity after payments—providing capital to borrowers underserved by traditional financial systems. Moreover, the widespread adoption of stablecoins is expected to further reinforce the U.S. dollar’s global dominance.
According to The Block, OSL Group has announced a partnership with Circle’s affiliated entities to expand USDC integration across its payment and trading platforms. Through OSL Global, users can exchange USD for USDC at a 1:1 ratio and trade BTC, ETH, SOL, USD, and USDT pairs in a dedicated USDC trading zone. Meanwhile, OSL has adopted USDC as its unified margin asset and integrated USDC into its payment services to support compliant digital dollar settlement and payment use cases. OSL also stated that it plans to support Circle’s tokenized money market fund, USYC, subject to regulatory requirements and platform eligibility criteria.
According to the Belarusian state news agency BELTA, Alexander Yegorov, First Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, revealed at the “Digital Banking–2026” conference that Belarus has adopted Decree No. 19, formally establishing a regulatory framework for crypto banks. Under the decree, crypto banks will support 26 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), TON (Toncoin), Solana (SOL), and multiple stablecoins. They will also be authorized to conduct 11 types of operations, such as crypto deposits, crypto lending, crypto staking, crypto collateralization, crypto transfers, issuance of proprietary tokens, and crypto storage and exchange. Yegorov stated that the current list of supported cryptocurrencies and permitted operations is not final and will be continuously updated and refined in response to investor demand and emerging ideas.
According to FinanceFeeds, Morgan Stanley stated that real-world asset tokenization has become the “next major step” for its global business and is now a strategic priority in its initiative to upgrade traditional financial infrastructure using blockchain. The firm plans to integrate traditional and digital assets within regulated environments, advance near real-time on-chain settlement, and launch an institutional digital wallet in the second half of 2026—supporting tokenized traditional investment products as well as crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley is also advancing the development of a tokenized private equity secondary market and building both on-chain and off-chain settlement processes.