Illinois | Crypto

LevelField could become the first crypto-friendly FDIC-insured bank to offer crypto services after receiving approval from the Illinois financial regulator to acquire Burling Bank. Digital asset-focused fintech firm LevelField Financial said it has secured conditional regulatory approval to acquire Chicago-based Burling Bank, marking one of the most notable crypto-banking acquisitions in recent months. The move could see LevelField become the first Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured chartered bank to offer certain crypto-integrated banking services across all US states and territories, LevelField said in a statement on Monday. Details of the deal weren’t disclosed. The approval from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation puts Burling Bank one step closer to being renamed LevelField Bank. The parties are still awaiting approval from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve to become a bank holding company. Read more

The sustainability-focused platform uses Avalanche to tokenize municipal loans, giving DeFi investors direct exposure to government-backed renewable energy infrastructure. Projective Finance, a sustainability-focused real-world asset (RWA) financing platform, has launched a $7 million lending pool for Illinois public schools, giving decentralized finance (DeFi) investors direct access to municipal infrastructure projects in the United States. The lending pool will fund solar energy installations across school districts in the state of Illinois, with infrastructure loans executed entirely onchain, Projective Finance said. By leveraging blockchain technology, “What traditionally required multiple intermediaries, fund structures, and minimum investments in the tens of millions can now be accessed directly with full transparency,” said Josh Chinnaswamy, Projective Finance’s co-founder.  Read more