Report | Crypto

The Major County Sheriffs of America said it still wants the CLARITY Act amended to give local law enforcement more resources to investigate illicit finance cases. The Major County Sheriffs of America reportedly said it no longer opposes the CLARITY Act after initially raising concerns over how the bill would affect illicit finance investigations. In a letter to US Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott and Senator Elizabeth Warren on Friday, the MCSA said it shifted its stance on the CLARITY Act to “neutral” after some of its concerns in a May 14 letter regarding Section 604 in the bill were addressed. Section 604 relates to the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which seeks to protect developers from liability for illicit activity committed by users on their decentralized platforms. Read more

The Indian central bank reportedly urged lawmakers to keep banks insulated from crypto and private stablecoins while preserving room for regulated tokenization. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reportedly backed a containment strategy for digital assets to shield banks and other financial institutions from exposure to crypto and privately issued stablecoins, as lawmakers prepare a report on the country’s digital asset policy.  According to a report by The Economic Times, RBI Deputy Governor Rohit Jain and Executive Director P. Vasudevan presented the central bank’s position to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance on Thursday. In a background note submitted to the panel, the RBI reportedly said prohibition remained a recognized policy option and recommended preventing the use of crypto in payments and settlements while restricting banking-sector exposure. Read more

New data from Allium suggests that US users are bypassing geoblocks to bet on markets offered on Polymarket’s global platform. US-based users are the biggest political bettors on Polymarket, despite the crypto-based prediction market’s efforts to restrict US citizens from using the decentralized platform, according to new research.  Blockchain research firm Allium estimated in a report published on Thursday that US-based users are the single biggest political market of any country by contracts traded and wallet count on Polymarket — not to be confused with Polymarket US, which is a US-regulated platform that launched in December with a narrower set of markets. “Blocking access did not end US participation; it made the US the largest single political market on Polymarket by volume,” the report said. “The demand is still there, now offshore and beyond US oversight.” Read more

While engaged in negotiations over ethics in a crypto market structure bill in Congress, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she had “no involvement” in her son’s derivatives exchange, backed by at least one industry figure. Chris Larsen, co-founder and executive chair of Ripple Labs, was reportedly among those backing the financial venture of US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s son as negotiations over a significant piece of crypto-related legislation continue in the Senate. According to a Thursday Politico report, Larsen was one of a handful of investors backing the American Perpetuals Exchange Corp. (APEC), founded by Theodore Gillibrand. Although Larsen’s exact contribution was not included in the report, the majority of investors contributed between $5,000 to $10,000 each into the derivatives platform, which reportedly raised $30 million. The investment comes as the New York lawmaker is involved in negotiations over ethics provisions in the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, legislation expected to have...

Strategy is a registered US government contractor, though Kash Patel claimed that “no current conflict exists” with his $100,001 and $250,000 worth of the company’s stock that he reported late. Kash Patel, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) , reportedly omitted reporting exposure to Bitcoin treasury company Strategy, in violation of federal law. According to a Wednesday report from the nonpartisan nonprofit news agency NOTUS, Patel “inadvertently omitted” a Strategy (MSTR) investment worth as much as $250,000. The purchase, which Patel conducted on Nov. 21, 2025, wasn’t included in his December 2025 financial disclosures, as required for a government official under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act. Source: NOTUS Read more

The crypto industry, big tech and gambling interest groups are betting big on politicians in the 2026 primaries and elections, with almost $300 million shelled out so far. The US consumer advocacy group Public Citizen on Tuesday reported that the cryptocurrency industry had contributed $189 million toward the 2026 election cycle, following its 2024 playbook. According to a report released Tuesday, the nonprofit organization said that about 37% of all corporate contributions in the 2026 US election cycle could be traced to crypto companies, totaling about $189 million so far, with more than four months until the November election. While the watchdog group said that the crypto-aligned political action committee (PAC) Fairshake was responsible for spending more than $82 million so far, the MAGA Inc. Super PAC, largely backed by Crypto.com, had spent more than $56 million. Read more

Kiwoom Securities is reportedly seeking to acquire a stake in crypto exchange Bithumb, as more brokerage firms race to secure a stake in the industry ahead of the FSC’s new regulatory reforms in July. South Korean brokerage Kiwoom Securities is reportedly in talks to buy a stake in Bithumb, making it the latest traditional financial firm in the country to seek exposure to a local crypto exchange. The two companies are reportedly discussing a third-party allotment of new shares that would allow Kiwoom Securities to acquire new shares issued by Bithumb, Chosun Biz reported on Monday. Cointelegraph contacted Kiwoom Securities and Bithumb for comment on the reported talks. Read more

Framework Ventures raises $400 million fourth fund as it expands into AI, robotics and energy while reportedly planning to continue crypto investments. Framework Ventures, a venture capital company that backs crypto platforms, has closed its fourth fund while expanding its investment strategy beyond blockchain. The San Francisco-based investor has raised $400 million to target “frontier technology,” including investments in crypto and technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and energy, Fortune reported on Friday. The report cited Framework co-founders Vance Spencer and Michael Anderson, who said about half of the capital has already been deployed but declined to identify the fund's limited partners. Read more

The US banking giant's blockchain marketplace will offer tokenized depositary receipts of private company shares amid Wall Street's broad embrace of tokenized assets. Citigroup is launching a blockchain-based marketplace for private company shares, looking to give wealthy and institutional investors a new way to gain exposure to pre-IPO firms as Wall Street pushes deeper into tokenized finance. According to The Wall Street Journal, the platform will use tokenized depositary receipts issued by Citi, which represent ownership interests in private companies. The offering will initially be initially available to foreign investors, with US access planned at a later date. The initiative allows investors to invest in private company shares “right next to their Apple stock, Citi digital asset executive Artem Korenyuk told the Journal. Read more

Japan’s Lower House reportedly passed a bill that would bring crypto under the country’s financial instruments framework, potentially opening the door to ETFs and lower tax treatment. Japan’s Lower House reportedly passed a bill that would bring crypto assets under the country’s financial instruments framework, potentially opening a path to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and lower tax treatment for digital assets.  The bill would move crypto assets closer to the regulatory treatment of stocks and bonds by subjecting them to stricter trading rules, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. The legislation is expected to take effect next year after going through the Upper House.  The proposed changes could lower the capital gains tax on crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) from a current maximum of 55% to a 20% flat rate, in line with stocks and bonds. The tax change is expected to take effect in 2028. Read more

South Korean police reportedly launched the country’s first illegal gambling probe into local Polymarket users amid election-betting scrutiny. South Korean police have reportedly launched the country’s first illegal gambling probe into local Polymarket users, widening regulatory scrutiny of the decentralized prediction market. The investigation is led by Gangwon Provincial Police and was requested by the National Police Agency, according to ChosunBiz.  Users may face fines of up to 10 million won ($6,500) under Article 246 of the Criminal Act covering gambling and habitual gambling. Under current law, Sports Toto is the state-authorized sports betting platform, while unauthorized online betting can be prosecuted under South Korean gambling laws. Read more

After expecting billions of dollars worth of crypto holdings to be reported during a voluntary disclosure period, the country's tax office only saw 58 filers took advantage of the procedure. Israeli taxpayer disclosures of profits from cryptocurrencies have reportedly fallen short of expectations at the Israel Tax Authority after enactment of a policy allowing immunity from criminal proceedings for filers correcting their reports. According to a Wednesday report from Globes, Israeli authorities had expected to gain up to $1 billion in taxes from “voluntary disclosures” allowed under an August 2025 policy, but have so far only received reports of a fraction of those capital earnings. The local news outlet reported that the tax authority had received reports of $50 million combined from crypto capital, with the potential of billions of dollars in underreported holdings. Read more

Reuters reported that Revolut plans to integrate stablecoins into its future US bank as more fintech and crypto companies chase federal banking approvals. Fintech company Revolut plans to offer stablecoins through its future US bank, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing comments from the company's US CEO, Cetin Duransoy. Duransoy told the news service that customers of the bank, which is expected to launch next year, will have access to FDIC-insured accounts, multi-currency deposits, stock trading and cryptocurrency services. He said that Revolut plans to initially target retail and business customers with international banking needs, including those managing multiple currencies. Revolut applied for a US national bank charter in March, which would allow the company to offer federally insured banking products nationwide under a single federal regulatory framework.  Read more

Georgia will reportedly install electricity meters across Mestia to curb illegal crypto mining after officials blamed miners for grid strain and outages. Georgia will reportedly install electricity meters across villages and settlements in Mestia as part of a crackdown on illegal crypto mining that officials say is straining the region’s power grid. Vice Prime Minister Mamuka Mdinaradze said Monday that illegal mining had pushed Mestia’s electricity consumption to 133 million kilowatt-hours in 2025, more than 13 times the level of comparable municipalities, according to local outlet 1tv. Read more

Samsung Securities, SDS and Card will buy 4% of Dunamu as Korean firms prepare for tokenized securities and stablecoin frameworks. Samsung Securities, Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will acquire a combined 4% stake in Dunamu, the operator of South Korean crypto exchange Upbit, in a deal that expands Samsung affiliates’ exposure to the country’s digital asset market, local media reported. The three Samsung affiliates held board meetings on Thursday and approved the purchase of 1.39 million Dunamu shares held by Kakao affiliates for 612.8 billion won ($408 million), according to local reports from Yonhap News Agency and ZDNet Korea. Samsung Securities will acquire a 2% stake, while Samsung SDS and Samsung Card will each acquire 1%.  The investment extends Samsung’s digital asset push weeks after Samsung SDS reportedly won a contract to build South Korea’s blockchain-based securities platform, placing Samsung affiliates across both regulated tokenized securities infrastructure and private-sector crypto exchange an...

South Korean prosecutors reportedly charged a group over the CATFI memecoin rug pull, marking the country’s first DEX rug-pull case under crypto law. South Korean prosecutors charged a group in an alleged rug pull involving the Solana-based memecoin Catpie, or CATFI, in what local media described as the country’s first decentralized exchange (DEX) rug-pull prosecution. The group was reportedly apprehended by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Virtual Asset Crime Joint Investigation Division. The main suspect, surnamed Park, allegedly posed as “Eth Father” on social media platforms and falsely promoted CATFI as an independent third-party before executing a rug pull that caused about 900 million won ($599,000) in financial damage to at least 256 investors, local news outlet Digital Asset Works said Wednesday. Prosecutors allege the group promoted CATFI on social media, drove the token’s price up more than 1,000-fold within 26 hours and then sold their holdings for about 400 million won ($260,000)...

Everstake said staking made up 60% of disclosed revenue among six Ethereum treasury firms, while loss-making companies posted $1.41 billion in losses. Ethereum treasury companies are under pressure to generate revenue from staking and other yield strategies as spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) weaken the appeal of public companies that simply hold Ether (ETH), according to a new Everstake report. Staking accounted for an average of 60% of reported revenue among six ETH treasury firms that separately disclosed staking-related income, the staking infrastructure provider said. Everstake reviewed 15 publicly listed companies with ETH treasury strategies and found that the firms in its sample that reported 2025 losses posted about $1.41 billion in combined net losses. Separately, BitMine Immersion Technologies reported a $9.02 billion net loss for the six months ended Feb. 28, though the figure was driven largely by unrealized losses on digital assets rather than operating losses, according to the report. R...

Stablecoins became the default settlement layer for AI agents as crypto payment rails can handle sub-dollar transactions more efficiently, says a report from Keyrock. Artificial intelligence agents settling payments have gone from concept to reality in the last 12 months, with $73 million settled across 176 million transactions from May last year through April 2026, according to crypto investment firm Keyrock. In a report released Thursday, written in collaboration with crypto exchange Coinbase and the blockchain Tempo, Keyrock researcher Ben Harvey said that “in the past 12 months, machine-to-machine payments have gone from concept to a developed ecosystem.” “Agents have settled over $73 million across 176 million transactions, and incumbents have deployed more than $8 billion in acquisitions to secure their position in what is emerging as an entirely new payment stack,” Harvey added. Read more

The SEC has reportedly delayed releasing a proposal permitting tokenized stock trading after receiving industry concerns. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has reportedly postponed its plan to allow trading of tokenized stocks after stock exchange officials raised concerns over how the plan would be implemented. Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the SEC’s “innovation exemption” for crypto-based stocks was expected to be released during the week, with SEC staffers having already reviewed a draft of the tokenized stock trading proposal. The SEC has reportedly received input from hundreds of market participants on how to best implement the rules, but it has not made a decision to change its proposal. Read more

Centralized data collection is a honeypot for hackers and organized criminals looking to target crypto holders and their families, according to Bitcoiners. About 70% of all wrench attacks, physical attacks against crypto holders and their families, carried out in an attempt to steal digital assets, occur in France, according to Bitcoin journalist Joe Nakamoto.  There have been 41 crypto-related kidnappings in France so far in 2026, Nakamoto said, or about one attack every two and a half days, he added.  He attributed the rise in wrench attacks to know-your-customer data collection, which is stored in centralized servers that were compromised in several high-profile data leaks, including the 2020 leak of hardware wallet provider Ledger’s customer data. Read more