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Kaja Kallas, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated that the EU plans to introduce restrictive measures against 11 crypto platforms in the next (21st) sanctions package, as these services are accused of assisting Russian authorities and enterprises in circumventing international sanctions.Furthermore, the EU will strengthen the ban on crypto asset-related service provisions targeting certain third countries, expand the sanctions list, and prohibit transactions with the aforementioned 11 crypto platforms. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stated that the new sanctions aim to intensify pressure on entities that help Russia maintain channels for international financial transactions.In addition to crypto services, the new round of sanctions will also involve the traditional financial sector, with approximately 90 Russian banks potentially facing additional restrictions, 31 of which are planned to be completely banned from conducting transactions. Previously, in the 20th sanctions package, the EU had already imposed sanctions on suppliers and platforms registered in Russia that allow cryptocurrency transfers and exchanges. That ban took effect on May 24. (bits.media)
: Institutional-grade digital asset custody platform Zodia Custody has announced that it has obtained a payment institution license from the Luxembourg financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). This authorization allows the company to compliantly provide custody and transfer services for electronic money tokens (EMTs, i.e., stablecoins) within the European Union.Zodia Custody stated that this approval represents a further expansion on its existing MiCA license, enhancing its digital asset service capabilities for institutional clients. The company believes that as the use of stablecoins in payment settlement, liquidity management, and corporate treasury operations continues to grow, stablecoin custody and transfer capabilities will become a core component of digital asset infrastructure providers.Founded in 2020, Zodia Custody focuses on the institutional client market. Its shareholders include institutions such as Standard Chartered, Northern Trust, SBI Holdings, Emirates NBD, and National Australia Bank. Following the approval of this Luxembourg license, Zodia Custody has now obtained relevant regulatory permissions in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, UAE, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Australia, and the EU. (The Block)
According to the UK House of Lords’ Financial Services Regulation Committee’s report, “Stablecoins: Waiting for Regulation,” the global stablecoin market capitalization has exceeded $310 billion. However, the British pound (GBP) stablecoin market remains in its infancy, and the UK’s regulatory framework lags significantly behind those of the United States (the GENIUS Act) and the European Union (MiCA). The report levels several criticisms against the current regulatory proposals put forward by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England, with key concerns including: • The Bank of England’s requirement that systemic stablecoin issuers hold at least 40% of their reserve assets in non-interest-bearing central bank deposits is viewed by industry participants as severely undermining issuers’ profitability and the UK’s international competitiveness in this market; • The proposed holding limits—£20,000 per individual and £10 million per corporate entity—are considered operationally unworkable and potentially stifling to the development of the GBP stablecoin market; • The T+1 redemption requirement would impose substantial operational burdens on issuers; • The Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) restriction prohibiting deposit-taking institutions from issuing stablecoins under independent brands is deemed overly stringent. The report does commend the Bank of England’s proposed liquidity-support lending facility, recognizing it as an innovative regulatory measure surpassing those adopted by other major jurisdictions. The Committee urges regulators to strictly adhere to the established timeline, ensuring the full regulatory framework enters into force on 25 October 2027. It further recommends adopting a principles-based, technology-neutral regulatory approach to strike an appropriate balance between financial stability and market innovation.
According to The Block, IG Europe has partnered with Bitpanda to expand its digital asset product offerings across the European Union, driven by rising client demand for exposure to crypto assets. IG Europe stated that this move will provide European investors with a broader range of asset classes. IG Europe is part of IG Group and is regulated by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Recently, IG Group acquired Australian crypto exchange Independent Reserve, secured a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license enabling it to offer crypto products and services across the EU, and sold its previously acquired futures trading platform Small Exchange Inc. to Kraken. As of the end of 2025, Bitpanda had at least 7.4 million registered users.
Odaily Odaily News: The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has announced a proposed rule to establish operational and risk management standards for NCUA-supervised Payment Stablecoin Issuers (PPSI) under the framework of the GENIUS Act.NCUA Chairman Kyle Hauptman stated that the rule aims to ensure credit unions are not disadvantaged in terms of stablecoin regulatory standards and seeks to align as closely as possible with proposed standards for bank subsidiaries.The proposed rule is now open for public comment in the Federal Register, with the comment period ending on July 17, 2026.
On Friday, May 15, Poland’s Sejm (lower house of parliament) approved the government-backed Markets in Crypto-Assets bill (Bill No. 2529) during its 57th session, with 241 votes in favor and 200 against. The bill aims to formally integrate Poland’s cryptocurrency market into the European Union’s Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). Earlier versions of the bill had been vetoed twice by President Karol Nawrocki. Under the bill, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) will be granted explicit authority to supervise market participants, impose administrative penalties, and temporarily freeze accounts and transactions. The bill has now been forwarded to the Senate for deliberation, and the President retains the possibility of issuing another veto.
Polish lawmakers on Friday approved a government-backed bill to bring the country’s cryptocurrency market under the European Union’s MiCA framework for crypto asset regulation, following two previous vetoes of earlier versions of the bill by President Karol Nawrocki. According to official parliamentary records, the vote took place during the 57th session of the Sejm in Warsaw on Friday, with 241 lawmakers voting in favor and 200 against the legislation. The approved Bill No. 2529, backed by the Ministry of Finance, grants the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) the power to oversee market participants, impose administrative penalties, and temporarily freeze accounts and transactions.
cross-border remittance giant Western Union has announced the launch of the US dollar stablecoin USDPT on the Solana blockchain. USDPT is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, is fully backed by the US dollar on a 1:1 basis, and is built on Solana.It is reported that USDPT will be directly integrated into its global payment system to build a more efficient settlement layer. It will serve agents, partners, and future consumer application scenarios, aiming to provide on-chain settlement capabilities for cross-border payments, combining the efficiency of blockchain settlement with Western Union's global compliance and distribution network. (Businesswire)
industry analysts point out that stablecoins and fintech companies still have about $112 billion in growth potential in the Latin American remittance market. The industry is currently overly concentrated on the $61.8 billion US-Mexico corridor, neglecting faster-growing remittance channels from the US to Central America and within Latin America itself. Cross-border routes such as Venezuela to Colombia, Argentina to Bolivia, and Spain to Ecuador are rapidly heating up, yet most institutions have not optimized their operations for these markets. Overall, the Latin American remittance market is estimated at around $174 billion.It is noted that Latin America is not a single market; countries differ significantly in regulations, payment infrastructure, and demand for stablecoins. Leading companies are adopting a "country-specific customization" strategy rather than a regional one-size-fits-all approach. In terms of trends, the core demand for stablecoins in Latin America is not for payments but for "holding dollars." Users tend to hold funds in stablecoins for the long term rather than just for transfers.Regarding the competitive landscape, traditional institutions like Western Union and MoneyGram are building stablecoin infrastructure, while crypto-native companies such as Binance are also accelerating their entry into this market. Overall, a closed-loop model (remittance-holding-consumption-yield) that combines local payment channels, stablecoin liquidity, and user trust is likely to dominate future competition. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News, Web3 security company CertiK has released its "2026 State of Digital Asset Regulation" report, systematically reviewing global regulatory trends. The report indicates that as of April 2026, regulatory frameworks in major jurisdictions such as the United States, the European Union, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore have been largely established, and the industry is entering a phase of comprehensive compliance.The report shows that anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement has replaced securities classification as the primary regulatory risk. In the first half of 2025, global AML-related fines exceeded $900 million, making transaction monitoring capabilities a core compliance requirement. Meanwhile, smart contract security audits are evolving from industry best practices into access conditions, becoming a prerequisite for license approval and token listings. Additionally, global stablecoin regulatory frameworks are converging, with principles such as full reserve backing and licensed issuance becoming widespread, though cross-jurisdictional regulatory differences still pose compliance challenges.The report states that with regulatory convergence and strengthened enforcement, the industry has entered an "era of strong compliance." CertiK indicated that the core challenge for enterprises is shifting from "whether to comply" to "how to quickly build and implement compliance capabilities." Multi-jurisdictional licensing, AML investment, and continuous security audits are becoming fundamental entry requirements for institutional development.
the French National Organized Crime Prosecutor's Office (PNACO) issued a statement on Friday stating that France has launched judicial investigations into 12 cryptocurrency kidnapping cases orchestrated by organized crime groups, and has indicted 88 suspects, including more than 10 minors.According to statistics, since 2023, France has recorded 135 cryptocurrency-related attacks, including 18 in 2024, 67 in 2025, and 47 so far in 2026. The accused individuals face charges including kidnapping, illegal detention, extortion, and money laundering. Recently, police arrested six suspects in two operations targeting kidnapping cases, and all individuals are currently in preventive detention. CertiK blockchain intelligence analyst Jonathan Riss stated that the masterminds behind such criminal gangs are typically located outside the European Union.
According to the official website of the Council of the European Union, the EU formally adopted its 20th round of sanctions against Russia on April 23, 2026—the largest sanctions package in two years—adding 120 new individuals and entities to its sanctions list and intensifying pressure across multiple dimensions, including energy, finance, defense industries, and trade. In the cryptocurrency sector, given Russia’s growing reliance on cryptocurrencies for international settlements amid financial sanctions, the EU imposed a comprehensive sectoral ban on cryptocurrency transfer and trading platforms operating within Russia. It also sanctioned a Kyrgyzstani platform facilitating government-backed stablecoin A7A5 transactions and banned all transactions involving the cryptocurrency RUBx, as well as any EU support for the development of the digital ruble.
According to a report released by a16z crypto researchers Robert Hackett and Jeremy Zhang, stablecoins are evolving from early-stage tools for trading and savings into core financial infrastructure. On the regulatory front, the U.S. GENIUS Act has established the first federal framework for stablecoin issuance. Although the European Union’s MiCA regulation—after coming into effect—led to the delisting of USDT from several exchanges, it has instead spurred sustained demand for non-U.S. dollar stablecoins, with monthly trading volume remaining steady in the $15–25 billion range. In terms of usage, consumer-to-business (C2B) stablecoin transaction volume grew 128% year-on-year in 2025, reaching 284.6 million transactions. Stablecoin velocity rose from 2.6x in early 2024 to 6x, indicating that existing supply is now being used more frequently for payments rather than held as savings. After excluding transactional and financial flow activity, an estimated $350–550 billion in stablecoin value in 2025 was attributable to genuine payment use cases. Geographically, nearly two-thirds of stablecoin payment volume originates from Asia (primarily Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan), roughly one-quarter comes from North America, and approximately 13% from Europe. Notably, cross-border transaction share has actually declined, while domestic transactions have risen from ~50% in early 2024 to nearly 75% by early 2026. The BRL-pegged stablecoin BRLA, for example, now sees monthly transfers totaling approximately $400 million—evidence of the growing adoption of localized stablecoin payments.
According to Bloomberg, 39 signatories—including Nasdaq, the Boerse Stuttgart Group, and fintech associations from multiple countries—have called on the European Commission and the European Parliament to expedite the review of the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Pilot Regime as a standalone piece of legislation and to separate it from the EU’s Market Integration and Supervision program. The signatories warned that if the overall negotiation process drags on, Europe risks falling behind the United States in DLT adoption. They urged the removal of asset-class restrictions, an increase in the aggregate transaction volume cap to €150 billion, and the elimination of license time limits. The letter also noted that the U.S. has already established a stablecoin regulatory framework through the GENIUS Act and is rapidly establishing leadership in tokenized assets. The European Commission is currently pushing for a swift resolution of the entire regulatory package, viewing it as a key component of its Capital Markets Union initiative. Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luisa Albuquerque has previously called repeatedly for all legislative proposals to be adopted simultaneously.
According to Cointelegraph, Denis Beau, First Deputy Governor of the Bank of France, stated at the EUROFI High-Level Seminar that the Bank of France is advocating for the European Union to strengthen payment restrictions under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on non-euro stablecoins—particularly U.S. dollar–pegged stablecoins. Beau noted that existing regulatory measures may be insufficient to address the risks posed by widespread stablecoin adoption. Meanwhile, on April 7, the French National Assembly passed an anti-fraud bill that would require annual reporting of self-custodied crypto wallets with a value exceeding €5,000; however, the bill has not yet completed the legislative process.