Schwarz Digits, the IT and digital division of retail group Schwarz, is reorganizing its operations and integrating all teams, products and investments, a change that will impact the Romanian office, as well, which will grow from 200 to 300 people this year.
In a first for crypto, Kraken’s banking unit gained access to the US Federal Reserve’s payment system, Fedwire, though without full banking privileges such as interest on reserves. US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken’s banking unit has been granted a limited-purpose master account by the US Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, giving it direct access to the Fed’s core payments system in a first for the crypto industry. Kraken Financial, the exchange’s banking unit, has gained access to the Fed’s payment system, Fedwire, allowing it to move money on the same rails used by banks and credit unions, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City approved a limited-purpose account for Wyoming-based Payward Financial as a “Tier 3 entity,” according to a statement by the bank. Read more
TRM said a post-strike spike in Nobitex wallet activity looked like routine liquidity moves, even as Chainalysis flagged higher outflows from Iranian exchanges overall. Nobitex, Iran’s biggest crypto exchange, showed no signs of a sustained, user-driven run after US-Israeli strikes on Iran, even as blockchain data indicated a brief spike in activity and higher outflows from Iranian exchanges more broadly, according to separate analyses from TRM Labs and Chainalysis. The TRM report, which examined onchain activity around Nobitex after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on Feb. 28, found that the platform recorded a noticeable increase in activity in the immediate aftermath, including transfers exceeding $35 million from hot wallets to cold storage. However, TRM said the transfers were likely part of the exchange’s internal treasury operations. “Based on historical behavior and wallet attribution, these movements aligned with routine liquidity management rather than user-driven withdrawals,” the report said. Read...
The international watchdog says P2P stablecoin transfers via self-custody wallets can bypass AML checks and urges countries to assess risks and apply proportionate safeguards. Peer-to-peer transfers made through self-custody crypto wallets are a key weak point in the stablecoin ecosystem because they can take place without a regulated intermediary, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said in a new report urging countries to tighten oversight as stablecoins spread into payments and cross-border transfers. In its report on stablecoins, unhosted wallets and P2P transactions, the global anti-money laundering watchdog said transactions conducted directly between users through unhosted wallets can occur without regulated intermediaries such as exchanges or custodians. The FATF said this structure can create gaps in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) oversight because the transactions occur outside the attention of entities required to monitor activity and report suspicious transfers. The report highlighted growing regu...