The expansion of the Dona pharmacy chain, one of the top five players in the local pharmaceutical retail sector by revenue and market reach, has entailed more than EUR25 million investments over the past five years.
The SEC chair signaled that the agency would defer to a market structure bill if passed by Congress, but needed a ”bridge” to clarify crypto regulation. US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins has clarified how the agency intends to approach digital asset regulation following an interpretative notice issued this week. In prepared remarks for a Thursday speech at the Practising Law Institute, Atkins said that the SEC would take a different approach to digital assets than its previous “regulation by enforcement” campaign. According to the SEC chair, the agency would first focus on its interpretation of how federal securities laws apply to crypto following the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week. “[...] While the interpretation provides long-needed clarity, I should like to assure this audience that it amounts to a beginning, not an end,” said Atkins. Read more
Provisions in the state legislation violate the core ethos and value proposition of Bitcoin as an asset that can be held in self-custody, the trade group said. Kentucky House Bill 380, a state-level crypto regulatory bill, includes provisions that would force crypto hardware wallet manufacturers to build a “backdoor” into devices, Bitcoin (BTC) advocacy organization Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) has warned. The provisions require crypto hardware wallet manufacturers to provide recovery options for users’ seed phrases, and were added to the bill in a “last-minute” floor amendment, BPI said. The amended Section 33 of the bill reads: The sponsors of the legislation are state Representatives Aaron Thompson and Tom Smith. Read more
The company is leveraging its crypto treasury to fund a share buyback, reducing outstanding shares and potentially boosting per-share value following a six-month slide. Forward Industries, a publicly traded company with a Solana-focused treasury strategy, has launched a share repurchase program funded through a crypto-backed loan from Galaxy Digital LLC, underscoring how digital assets are increasingly being used in traditional corporate finance. The company said Thursday it will repurchase 6,164,324 shares of its common stock from an unnamed institutional investor for approximately $27.4 million, reducing total shares outstanding to 76,977,809. Cointelegraph’s email to Forward seeking further information on the identity of the selling institutional investor was not answered prior to publication. Read more
French-held Auchan Group, which operates over 500 stores of various formats in the region, has opened a supermarket in the courtyard of the Dedeman store near Ploiesti, in Blejoi. The supermarket takes up 1,700 square meters.