The recent vote in the Senate to move the GENIUS stablecoin framework ahead has shown glaring cracks in the Democratic coalition. US Senate Democrats are getting flak after they helped move stablecoin legislation ahead for discussion on the Senate floor. On May 19, 16 Democratic senators broke from the party line to pass a motion to invoke cloture, which will now set the bill up for debate on the Senate floor. Some of the same Democrats had held up the bill in early May when they withdrew support, citing corruption concerns over President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency dealings. The bill’s opponents hailed lawmakers’ refusal to support it but were soon taken aback when the senators reversed their position. The lightly amended legislation contained no provisions regarding World Liberty Financial, the Trump family’s crypto venture. Read more
Robinhood has filed a proposal with the US SEC to establish a national framework for real-world asset tokenization, including plans for a new trading platform. Robinhood submitted a 42-page proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), calling for a national framework to regulate tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The brokerage is seeking to modernize financial infrastructure by making tokenized assets legally equivalent to their traditional counterparts and enabling compliant onchain settlement, Forbes reported on May 20. In the proposal, Robinhood also revealed plans for creating the Real World Asset Exchange (RRE), a trading platform offering offchain trade matching and onchain settlement for efficiency and transparency. Read more
Kraken has launched MiFID II-regulated crypto derivatives trading for retail and institutional users in Europe following its acquisition of a licensed Cypriot investment firm. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced the launch of regulated derivatives trading on its platform under the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II). According to a May 20 announcement, Kraken’s perpetual and fixed maturity crypto futures contracts will be available for trading by retail and institutional customers in the European Economic Area (EEA). The announcement follows the exchange acquiring an MiFID license in early February through the acquisition of a Cypriot investment firm, approved by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. Kraken’s head of exchange, Shannon Kurtas, said, “Europe is one of the fastest-growing regions for digital asset trading and investment, with some of the most sophisticated and demanding clients and institutions.” Read more