Cryptoeconomics

News, data and analysis on tokenized assets, market design and digital economic systems.

The record

Every development we have verified against a primary source, in sequence. An entry names what happened, when, under which regime, and links the filing, rule or release that evidences it.

Kind
Jurisdiction
Asset class

90 entries

2026

DTCC begins limited production trading on its tokenization service

DTCC began limited production trades on the DTC Tokenization Service in July 2026, covering Russell 1000 constituents, large index-tracking exchange-traded funds and US Treasury bills, notes and bonds, with commercial launch targeted for October 2026. More than 50 firms, among them BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Kraken and Circle, joined the industry working group; DTCC said tokenized holdings carry the same entitlements and ownership rights as assets held in conventional form.

Market United States Equities DTCC: DTCC advances development of new tokenization service ↗

MiCA transitional period for virtual asset service providers ends

Luxembourg's CSSF said the transitional period under which virtual asset service providers could continue operating in the European Union without a MiCA authorisation ended on 1 July 2026. Firms without a crypto-asset service provider authorisation must wind down EU activity in an orderly way: they may not onboard new customers or market products, and may only allow existing customers to convert holdings into legal tender, transfer them to an authorised platform or move them into self-custody.

Regulatory European Union CSSF: MiCA: transition period for virtual asset service providers ended on 1 July 2026 ↗

Bank of England publishes draft rules for systemic sterling stablecoins

The Bank of England published a policy statement and draft Code of Practice for issuers of systemic sterling stablecoins, setting a temporary guardrail of £40bn per issuance instead of the individual holding limits it had consulted on. Issuers may hold up to 70% of backing assets in short-term UK government debt, with the remaining 30% in deposits at the Bank; responses are due by 22 September 2026 and regulated stablecoins are expected to operate from 2027.

Regulatory United Kingdom Stablecoins Bank of England: Policy statement and draft rules on regulating systemic stablecoins ↗

Project Agorá prototype results published, with real-value testing to follow

The Bank for International Settlements reported that the Project Agorá prototype showed tokenisation of central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits can support atomic multi-currency settlement across jurisdictions while leaving each central bank in control of its own money and preserving transaction privacy. Eight central banks and more than 40 private financial institutions took part, and the project said the work would advance to real-value transactions in certain currencies.

Research Global Tokenized deposits Bank for International Settlements: Project Agorá shows how tokenisation can improve wholesale cross-border payments ↗

Third Circuit holds federal commodities law preempts state gaming law for sports event contracts

A divided panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction in KalshiEX LLC v. Flaherty, holding that the Commodity Exchange Act preempts New Jersey's gaming laws as applied to sports event contracts traded on a CFTC-designated contract market, on both field and conflict preemption grounds. Judge Roth dissented, arguing that the presumption against preemption applies with particular force to gambling and that the two regimes can be complied with simultaneously.

Regulatory United States US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit: KalshiEX LLC v. Flaherty, No. 25-1922 ↗

SEC approves Nasdaq rule change enabling trading of tokenized securities

The SEC approved a Nasdaq proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 2, permitting securities to trade on the exchange in tokenized form through DTC's tokenization pilot, in Release 34-105047. Eligible participants may set a tokenization flag on orders in Russell 1000 constituents and large index ETFs; tokenized and conventional shares trade on the same order book with the same priority provided they remain fungible and share the same CUSIP and symbol.

Regulatory United States Equities Federal Register: Order Approving a Proposed Rule Change To Enable the Trading of Securities on the Exchange in Tokenized Form (Release 34-105047) ↗

OCC proposes rules implementing the GENIUS Act

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a proposed rule implementing the GENIUS Act, codifying most requirements in a new 12 CFR Part 15 and amending Parts 3, 6, 8 and 19. The proposal covers permitted activities, reserve assets, redemption, risk management, audits, reports and supervision for permitted payment stablecoin issuers, and applies to national banks, federal savings associations, federal branches and agencies, foreign issuers and non-bank applicants for federal issuer approval.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins OCC Bulletin 2026-3: GENIUS Act: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ↗

2025

Ghana's Parliament passes the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act

Ghana's Parliament passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, requiring entities providing virtual asset services to be licensed or registered, with regulatory responsibility shared between the Bank of Ghana and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Bank of Ghana said transition arrangements would give existing operators time to comply once the law takes effect and that unauthorised activity would attract sanctions.

Regulatory Ghana Bank of Ghana: Virtual Asset Service Providers Act: frequently asked questions ↗

SEC staff grant no-action relief for DTC's tokenization service

Staff in the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets told The Depository Trust Company that they would not recommend enforcement action over the preliminary base version of DTCC Tokenization Services, under which participants may elect to have their security entitlements to DTC-held securities recorded on a distributed ledger rather than only on DTC's centralised ledger. The relief covers Regulation SCI, the section 19(b) rule filing requirement and parts of Rules 17ad-22(e) and 17ad-25, expires three years after launch and is conditioned on 16 representations.

Regulatory United States Equities US Securities and Exchange Commission: no-action letter to The Depository Trust Company ↗

Banco Central do Brasil brings virtual asset providers inside foreign exchange rules

Banco Central do Brasil issued Resolution BCB 521, incorporating virtual asset service provider activities into the foreign exchange market rules and into the regime for Brazilian capital abroad and foreign capital in Brazil, under Law 14,478/2022 and Decree 11,563/2023. The resolution covers international payments and transfers made with virtual assets, transfers to self-custody wallets and purchases and sales of virtual assets referenced to a fiat currency, and imposes reporting obligations on providers.

Regulatory Brazil Stablecoins Banco Central do Brasil: BCB details rules on virtual assets ↗

JPYC begins issuing a yen-referenced stablecoin in Japan

JPYC started issuing its yen-referenced stablecoin and opened JPYC EX, its issuance and redemption platform, with the token deployed on Avalanche, Ethereum and Polygon. The company had been registered as a funds transfer service provider under Japan's Payment Services Act on 18 August 2025 and said the token is exchangeable one-for-one with the yen and backed by yen deposits and government bonds.

Issuance Japan Stablecoins JPYC: release of the JPYC stablecoin and JPYC EX platform ↗

Kenya's Virtual Asset Service Providers Act assented to

The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, Act No. 20 of 2025, received assent on 15 October 2025 and commenced on 4 November 2025. It splits supervision between the Central Bank of Kenya, which takes wallet providers, payment processors and stablecoin issuance, and the Capital Markets Authority, which takes exchanges, brokers, advisers, managers and initial coin offering providers.

Regulatory Kenya Kenya Law: Virtual Asset Service Providers Act, 2025 ↗

UK retail investors regain access to crypto exchange traded notes

Retail access to crypto exchange traded notes reopened in the United Kingdom, reversing a prohibition in force since January 2021. The Financial Conduct Authority required the notes to be traded on an FCA-approved UK investment exchange and subject to financial promotion rules and the Consumer Duty; holdings are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and the ban on retail access to cryptoasset derivatives remains.

Regulatory United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority: FCA opens retail access to crypto ETNs ↗

Swift says it will add a blockchain-based shared ledger to its infrastructure

Swift said it would build a blockchain-based shared ledger into its infrastructure stack, initially for round-the-clock cross-border payments and the movement of regulated tokenised value, with smart contracts used to record, sequence and validate transactions. More than 30 financial institutions across 16 countries are working on the design, and Consensys was appointed to build the prototype for the first phase.

Standards Global Swift: Swift to add blockchain-based ledger to its infrastructure stack ↗

People's Bank of China opens an e-CNY international operation centre in Shanghai

The People's Bank of China launched an international operation centre for the digital renminbi in Shanghai, comprising a cross-border digital payment platform, a blockchain service platform and a digital asset platform. The central bank said the centre was intended to support internationalisation of the currency and the development of financial market services.

Product launch China The State Council of the People's Republic of China: China launches international operation center for digital RMB ↗

US Treasury opens GENIUS Act implementation rulemaking

The Department of the Treasury issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on implementing the GENIUS Act, with comments due by 20 October 2025. It sought input on issuance, reserve and marketing rules for stablecoin issuers and service providers, illicit finance controls, the treatment of foreign payment stablecoin issuers, taxation, insurance and cost and benefit estimates.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins Federal Register: GENIUS Act Implementation (Department of the Treasury) ↗

Hong Kong's Stablecoins Ordinance comes into operation

The Stablecoins Ordinance came into operation, bringing stablecoin issuance in Hong Kong under a licensing regime administered by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. The Ordinance had been gazetted on 30 May 2025 and the commencement notice fixing the 1 August date was gazetted on 6 June 2025, with transitional provisions allowing professional investors to receive specified stablecoins from unlicensed issuers under defined conditions.

Regulatory Hong Kong Stablecoins Hong Kong Government: Stablecoins Ordinance to commence operation on August 1, 2025 ↗

BNY and Goldman Sachs launch mirrored tokenization of money market fund shares

BNY and Goldman Sachs launched a service under which subscriptions to money market funds placed through BNY's LiquidityDirect platform are mirrored as tokens on GS DAP, the Goldman Sachs Digital Assets platform built on Digital Asset technology. BNY continues to keep the official books, records and settlements for the funds. BlackRock, BNY Investments Dreyfus, Federated Hermes, Fidelity Investments and Goldman Sachs Asset Management took part at launch.

Product launch United States Tokenized funds BNY Newsroom: BNY and Goldman Sachs Launch Tokenized Money Market Funds Solution ↗

ECB Governing Council approves two-track plan for DLT settlement in central bank money

The ECB Governing Council approved a plan for settling distributed ledger technology transactions in central bank money on two tracks. Pontes is to link DLT platforms to TARGET Services, with a pilot planned by the end of the third quarter of 2026; Appia examines a longer-term integrated tokenised ecosystem. The decision followed exploratory work between May and November 2024 that involved 64 participants and more than 50 trials.

Institutional pilot European Union European Central Bank: ECB commits to distributed ledger technology settlement plans with dual-track strategy ↗

Robinhood launches stock tokens for EU and EEA customers

Robinhood began offering more than 200 tokenised US stocks and exchange-traded funds to customers in 30 EU and EEA countries, issued on Arbitrum and traded with no commission or added spread from Robinhood. The company said it was also building its own layer-2 network, based on Arbitrum technology, for tokenised real-world assets.

Product launch European Union Equities Robinhood Newsroom: Robinhood Launches Stock Tokens, Reveals Layer 2 Blockchain ↗

Hong Kong issues its second policy statement on digital asset development

The Hong Kong government published a second policy statement on digital assets structured around four workstreams it labelled LEAP: legal and regulatory streamlining, expanding tokenised products, advancing use cases and people and partnership development. It committed to regularising issuance of tokenised government bonds, clarifying the stamp duty treatment of tokenised exchange traded funds, and bringing the stablecoin issuer licensing regime into effect on 1 August 2025.

Regulatory Hong Kong Hong Kong Government: Second policy statement on development of digital assets issued ↗

Coinbase authorised under MiCA by Luxembourg's CSSF

Coinbase said the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier had authorised it as a crypto-asset service provider under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, with Luxembourg as its EU hub. The single authorisation replaces the separate national registrations Coinbase held in Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain and allows it to passport services across the 27 member states.

Regulatory European Union Coinbase: Coinbase Secures MiCA Licence ↗

Circle prices initial public offering ahead of New York Stock Exchange listing

Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, priced an upsized initial public offering of 34m Class A shares at $31 each, implying gross proceeds of about $1.05bn. Circle sold 14.8m shares and selling stockholders 19.2m, with trading due to begin on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL on 5 June 2025.

Market United States Stablecoins Circle: Circle Announces Pricing of Upsized Initial Public Offering ↗

OCC confirms national banks may provide crypto custody and execution services

In Interpretive Letter 1184 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency confirmed that national banks and federal savings associations may hold crypto-assets in custody and buy and sell assets held in custody at a customer's direction. The letter also stated that banks may outsource bank-permissible crypto-asset custody and execution activities to third parties subject to third-party risk management, and built on the earlier Interpretive Letters 1170 and 1183.

Regulatory United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: News Release 2025-42 ↗

Nigeria's Investments and Securities Act 2025 signed into law

President Bola Tinubu signed the Investments and Securities Act 2025, which replaces the 2007 Act and widens the statutory definition of securities to include virtual and digital assets. The Act places virtual asset service providers, digital asset operators and digital asset exchanges under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which announced the signing on 29 March 2025.

Regulatory Nigeria Voice of Nigeria: President Tinubu approves Investments and Securities Act 2025 ↗

2024

MiCA's stablecoin titles begin to apply across the EU

Titles III and IV of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 took effect, making authorisation, reserve and redemption requirements binding on issuers of asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens. The European Banking Authority subsequently urged issuers and distributors to align with the rules, noting that some tokens on offer in the EU were not yet compliant.

Regulatory European Union Stablecoins European Banking Authority statement on the application of MiCAR to asset-referenced and e-money tokens ↗

Project mBridge reaches minimum viable product stage

The central bank partners in Project mBridge announced that the cross-border multi-CBDC settlement platform had reached minimum viable product stage and invited further participants. The founding central banks were the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, the Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority; the Saudi Central Bank joined as a full participant and more than 26 central banks were observing members.

Institutional pilot Global Bank for International Settlements press release ↗

SEC approves the listing of spot ether exchange-traded products

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved rule changes allowing eight spot ether exchange-traded products to list on NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and Cboe BZX. The order relied on the Commission's own analysis of correlation between CME ether futures and Coinbase spot prices from October 2021 to March 2024, which it put at no less than 96.2% at hourly intervals, 85.7% at five-minute intervals and 67.1% at one-minute intervals.

Regulatory United States Other asset classes US Securities and Exchange Commission, Release No. 34-100224 ↗

SEC approves the listing of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded product shares, having previously rejected such applications. The chair's statement attributed the change to the D.C. Circuit's decision vacating the Commission's denial of Grayscale's proposed conversion.

Regulatory United States Other asset classes US Securities and Exchange Commission, Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products ↗

2023

Central Bank of Nigeria lifts its banking restriction on virtual asset service providers

The Central Bank of Nigeria issued guidelines on banks' operation of accounts for virtual asset service providers, superseding the circulars of 12 January 2017 and 5 February 2021 that had barred regulated institutions from serving the sector. Banks were permitted to open designated and settlement accounts for VASPs licensed by the Nigerian securities regulator, but remained prohibited from holding or trading virtual currencies on their own account.

Regulatory Nigeria Central Bank of Nigeria, Guidelines on Operations of Bank Accounts for Virtual Asset Service Providers ↗

Progmat, Inc. incorporated as a bank-backed tokenisation platform

Progmat, Inc. was established with capital of ¥100m to develop and operate platforms for issuing security tokens, utility tokens and stablecoins in Japan. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking held 49%, with NTT Data, Mizuho Trust & Banking, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, SBI PTS Holdings, JPX Market Innovation & Research and Datachain holding the remainder.

Market Japan Japan Exchange Group press release ↗

Kenya's digital asset tax takes effect

Section 12F of the Income Tax Act, inserted by section 10 of the Finance Act 2023, came into operation, imposing a digital asset tax at 3% of the transfer or exchange value of a digital asset. Platform owners and facilitators were made responsible for deducting the tax and remitting it within five working days, with non-resident operators required to register under a simplified regime.

Regulatory Kenya Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 97, Finance Act 2023 (Act No. 4 of 2023), via Kenya Revenue Authority ↗

Financial Stability Board finalises its global crypto-asset regulatory framework

The Financial Stability Board published final high-level recommendations for the regulation of crypto-asset activities and of global stablecoin arrangements, built on the principle of same activity, same risk, same regulation. The framework was addressed to national authorities and set out expectations on governance, reserve assets and cross-border cooperation.

Standards Global Stablecoins Financial Stability Board press release ↗

SEC charges Terraform Labs and Do Kwon over the collapse of TerraUSD

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Terraform Labs PTE Ltd and its founder Do Hyeong Kwon with securities fraud in connection with the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and the LUNA token. The complaint stated that UST depegged from the dollar in May 2022 and that the price of UST and its sister tokens fell to close to zero.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins US Securities and Exchange Commission press release 2023-32 ↗

2022

South Africa's FSCA declares crypto assets a financial product

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority declared a crypto asset to be a financial product under paragraph (h) of the definition in section 1 of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002, published as General Notice 1350 of 2022. The effect was to bring firms that advise on or intermediate in crypto assets within the FAIS licensing regime.

Regulatory South Africa South African Government, General Notice 1350 of 2022 (FAIS Act declaration) ↗

EU negotiators reach provisional agreement on the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation

The Council presidency and European Parliament negotiators agreed a provisional text of MiCA, covering issuers of asset-referenced and e-money tokens and crypto-asset service providers. The text required stablecoin issuers to hold a liquid reserve at a 1:1 ratio, set a three-month deadline for national authorities to decide on authorisation applications, and gave ESMA a register of non-compliant operators.

Regulatory European Union Stablecoins Council of the European Union press release ↗

2021

SIX Digital Exchange launches with a CHF 150m digital bond

SIX Group issued a CHF 150m five-year bond with a 0.125% coupon, split into a CHF 100m digital tranche listed on SDX Trading and a CHF 50m conventional tranche on SIX Swiss Exchange, with the two parts exchangeable. SIX described it as the first bond issuance with a purely digital tranche in a fully regulated environment; SDX had received exchange and central securities depository licences from FINMA on 10 September 2021.

Issuance Switzerland Corporate debt SIX: SIX launches its SIX Digital Exchange by successfully issuing the world's first digital bond in a fully regulated environment ↗

US President's Working Group recommends stablecoin legislation

The President's Working Group on Financial Markets, with the FDIC and the OCC, recommended that Congress require stablecoin issuers to be insured depository institutions, subject custodial wallet providers to federal oversight, limit issuers' affiliation with commercial entities and promote interoperability between stablecoins. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said existing oversight was inconsistent and fragmented, and agencies committed to acting within current authority while legislation was pending.

Research United States Stablecoins US Department of the Treasury: President's Working Group on Financial Markets releases report and recommendations on stablecoins ↗

Central Bank of Nigeria launches the eNaira

The Central Bank of Nigeria launched the eNaira, the second retail central bank digital currency in operation anywhere, using permissioned distributed ledger technology and a two-tier distribution model in which the central bank runs the system and financial institutions hold treasury wallets. The eNaira is a liability of the central bank, pays no interest so as to limit substitution away from bank deposits, and applies tiered identity requirements with transaction and balance limits rather than allowing anonymity.

Product launch Nigeria Bank for International Settlements: BIS Papers No 128: Central bank digital currencies in Africa ↗

CFTC fines Tether $41m over statements about its reserves

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ordered Tether to pay a $41m civil penalty, finding that between 1 June 2016 and 25 February 2019 the company misrepresented that every USDT in circulation was backed by an equivalent amount of fiat currency. The order found that Tether held sufficient fiat reserves to back tokens outstanding on only 27.6% of days in a 26-month sample from 2016 to 2018, and did not disclose that reserves included unsecured receivables and non-fiat assets.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins Commodity Futures Trading Commission: CFTC orders Tether and Bitfinex to pay fines totaling $42.5 million ↗

Bank of Ghana contracts Giesecke+Devrient to pilot the eCedi

The Bank of Ghana announced a partnership with Giesecke+Devrient to design, implement and pilot a general-purpose central bank digital currency, the eCedi, intended to work alongside physical cash and reach users through mobile applications and smart cards. The pilot was structured to test end-user adoption, infrastructure security, monetary policy effects and legal questions before any national rollout.

Institutional pilot Ghana Bank of Ghana: BoG partners with Giesecke+Devrient to pilot digital currency in Ghana ↗

Swiss DLT Act comes fully into force

The Federal Act on the Adaptation of Federal Law to Developments in Distributed Electronic Register Technology and its implementing ordinance took full effect, following the Federal Council's decision of 18 June 2021. The remaining provisions created an authorisation category for DLT trading facilities and increased legal certainty over the treatment of registered assets in bankruptcy.

Regulatory Switzerland Swiss Federal Council: Federal Council brings DLT Act fully into force and issues ordinance ↗

People's Bank of China publishes the e-CNY white paper

The working group on e-CNY research and development of the People's Bank of China published a white paper reporting that, as of 30 June 2021, pilots covered more than 1.32 million scenarios and had recorded 70.75 million transactions worth RMB 34.5bn, with 20.87 million personal wallets and 3.51 million corporate wallets opened. Pilot areas by then included Shenzhen, Suzhou, Xiong'an, Chengdu, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics venues, Shanghai, Hainan, Changsha, Xi'an, Qingdao and Dalian.

Research China People's Bank of China: Progress of Research & Development of E-CNY in China ↗

South African regulators set out a phased approach to crypto assets

The Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group of South Africa's Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group, whose members include the South African Reserve Bank and National Treasury, published a position paper stating that crypto assets would be brought into the South African regulatory perimeter in a phased and structured manner. It replaced the group's earlier April 2020 paper as the reference point for later financial-sector conduct and exchange-control measures.

Regulatory South Africa South African Reserve Bank: IFWG CAR Working Group position paper on crypto assets ↗

Banco Central do Brasil publishes guidelines for a digital real

Banco Central do Brasil published general guidelines for a Brazilian central bank digital currency, drawn up by a working group formed in August 2020, setting out that the digital real would be an extension of the existing currency issued and distributed through the payments system rather than a separate instrument. The guidelines listed support for retail payments including offline use, programmable money and smart contracts, compliance with Brazil's data protection law, anti-money-laundering controls, interoperability for cross-border payments and cyber resilience as conditions of any issuance.

Research Brazil Banco Central do Brasil: Diretrizes gerais para a criação do Real Digital ↗

European Investment Bank issues a €100m digital bond on Ethereum

The European Investment Bank issued a €100m two-year zero-coupon bond as digitally native tokens registered on the Ethereum public blockchain, priced at 101.213% for a re-offer yield of -0.601% and maturing on 28 April 2023. Goldman Sachs, Santander and Societe Generale were joint lead managers, Societe Generale-FORGE acted as registrar and settlement agent, and the underwriters paid the issuer using a representation of central bank money provided with the Banque de France.

Issuance European Union Government securities European Investment Bank: EIB issues its first ever digital bond on a public blockchain ↗

Franklin Templeton's OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund records shares on Stellar

The summary prospectus for the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, dated 6 April 2021, stated that ownership of the fund's shares "will also be recorded on the Stellar network's blockchain", with the transfer agent's book-entry record remaining determinative in any conflict. It made a registered US money market fund, rather than a token referencing one, the vehicle through which investors held a blockchain record of fund shares.

Product launch United States Tokenized funds SEC EDGAR: Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund summary prospectus (Form 497K) ↗

New York Attorney General settles with Tether and Bitfinex over reserve claims

The New York Attorney General ended Bitfinex's and Tether's trading activity with New Yorkers and imposed an $18.5m penalty, finding that from mid-2017 Tether "had no access to banking, anywhere in the world" and lacked reserves sufficient to back tethers one-for-one as claimed. The office also found that the day after Tether's 1 November 2018 verification of full backing, funds began moving out of the account to Bitfinex, and that Bitfinex had concealed roughly $850m of losses tied to the payment processor Crypto Capital Corp.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins New York State Office of the Attorney General: Attorney General James ends virtual currency trading platform Bitfinex's illegal activities in New York ↗

China and the UAE join the multiple CBDC bridge project with Hong Kong and Thailand

The Digital Currency Institute of the People's Bank of China and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Bank of Thailand in a project hosted by the BIS Innovation Hub Centre in Hong Kong to build a prototype for cross-border foreign exchange payments on distributed ledger technology. The work, which grew out of Inthanon-LionRock, targeted payment-versus-payment settlement across jurisdictions and later became known as mBridge.

Institutional pilot Hong Kong Bank for International Settlements: Central banks of China and United Arab Emirates join digital currency project for cross-border payments ↗

OCC conditionally approves the first national trust bank charter for a digital asset firm

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved the conversion of Anchorage Trust Company, a South Dakota chartered trust company, into Anchorage Digital Bank, National Association, subject to an operating agreement setting capital, liquidity and risk management expectations. The charter created a federally supervised entity able to act as custodian and, later, as issuer of record for regulated dollar tokens.

Regulatory United States Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: OCC conditionally approves conversion of Anchorage Digital Bank ↗

HM Treasury consults on bringing payment stablecoins into UK regulation

HM Treasury published a consultation and call for evidence on the UK regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins, open until 21 March 2021, confirming the government's intention to legislate to bring certain stablecoins used as a means of payment inside the regulatory perimeter. The government published its response on 4 April 2022.

Regulatory United Kingdom Stablecoins HM Treasury: UK regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins: consultation and call for evidence ↗

OCC allows national banks to run blockchain nodes and make stablecoin payments

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued Interpretive Letter 1174, confirming that federally chartered banks and thrifts may participate in independent node verification networks and use stablecoins for payment activities, validating, storing and recording transactions. Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks said the letter "removes any legal uncertainty about the authority of banks to connect to blockchains as validator nodes and thereby transact stablecoin payments", subject to Bank Secrecy Act programmes tailored to those risks.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: OCC chief counsel's interpretation on bank authority to engage in certain cryptocurrency activities ↗

2020

FSB issues ten recommendations on global stablecoin arrangements

The Financial Stability Board published ten high-level recommendations for the regulation, supervision and oversight of global stablecoin arrangements, applying the principle of same business, same risk, same rules and requiring that such arrangements meet applicable standards before they begin operating. The FSB set December 2021 for completion of international standard-setting work and July 2022 for national frameworks consistent with the recommendations.

Standards Global Stablecoins Financial Stability Board: Regulation, Supervision and Oversight of Global Stablecoin Arrangements ↗

European Commission proposes a regulation on markets in crypto-assets

The European Commission adopted a digital finance package containing digital finance and retail payments strategies and legislative proposals on crypto-assets and operational resilience, including the proposed Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets. The proposal became the basis of the EU authorisation and reserve regime for asset-referenced and e-money tokens that entered application in 2024.

Regulatory European Union Stablecoins European Commission: Digital finance package ↗

OCC permits national banks to hold stablecoin reserves

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published Interpretive Letter 1172, stating that national banks and federal savings associations may hold reserves on behalf of customers who issue stablecoins backed one-for-one by a single fiat currency in hosted wallets, with daily verification that reserve balances match tokens outstanding. Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks said banks were already handling such activity involving billions of dollars each day and the letter was meant to provide regulatory certainty.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins Office of the Comptroller of the Currency: Federally chartered banks and thrifts may engage in certain stablecoin activities ↗

Nigeria's SEC treats virtual crypto assets as securities unless shown otherwise

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria issued a statement setting out that "virtual crypto assets are securities, unless proven otherwise", placing the burden on issuers to file an initial assessment showing an asset is not a security before registration is required. The statement brought dealers, portfolio managers, investment advisers and custodians of digital assets within the registration perimeter, and gave existing offerings three months from implementation to comply.

Regulatory Nigeria Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria: Statement on digital assets and their classification and treatment ↗

2019

Hong Kong's SFC sets licensing terms for virtual asset trading platforms

The Securities and Futures Commission published a position paper allowing centralised virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong that trade at least one security token to be licensed, on terms comparable to those for securities brokers covering custody, market surveillance, know-your-client, anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity. Licensed platforms could serve professional investors only, and the SFC acknowledged that platforms trading no security tokens fell outside its jurisdiction.

Regulatory Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Position paper: Regulation of virtual asset trading platforms ↗

Societe Generale issues a covered bond as a security token on Ethereum

Societe Generale SFH issued €100m of covered bonds as security tokens registered on the Ethereum public blockchain, rated Aaa by Moody's and AAA by Fitch and fully subscribed by Societe Generale itself. It was the first covered bond tokenized on a public network by a large European bank, though no third-party investor took the paper.

Issuance European Union Corporate debt Societe Generale: Societe Generale issued the first covered bond as a security token on a public blockchain ↗

2018

Circle issues USDC under the CENTRE issuer standard

Circle launched USD Coin as the first issuance under CENTRE's standard, which required members to back all tokens on a fully reserved basis, publish monthly attestations of reserves by certified public auditors, and hold a banking, money transmission or trust licence. Circle stated at launch that while it might be the first USDC issuer it would "certainly not be the last", establishing a multi-issuer model for a single dollar token.

Issuance United States Stablecoins Circle: Introducing USD Coin ↗

New York regulator authorises the first supervised dollar-pegged tokens

The New York State Department of Financial Services authorised Gemini Trust Company and Paxos Trust Company each to offer a dollar-pegged token, requiring that it be fully exchangeable for a US dollar and subject to monitoring, recordkeeping, anti-money-laundering controls and independent audit under departmental examination. The approvals placed two New York trust companies, rather than an offshore issuer, between holders and the reserve assets.

Regulatory United States Stablecoins New York State Department of Financial Services: DFS authorizes two dollar-backed stablecoins ↗

Abu Dhabi Global Market launches a crypto asset regulatory framework

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Abu Dhabi Global Market brought spot crypto asset activities inside its rulebook, covering exchanges, custodians and other intermediaries operating in the free zone, with requirements on financial crime, technology governance, custody and consumer protection. Crypto asset exchanges were made subject to a daily value trading levy on a sliding scale.

Regulatory United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi Global Market: ADGM launches crypto asset regulatory framework ↗

Reserve Bank of India bars regulated entities from servicing virtual currency business

In circular DBR.No.BP.BC.104/08.13.102/2017-18 the Reserve Bank of India directed that entities it regulates "shall not deal in VCs or provide services for facilitating any person or entity in dealing with or settling VCs", covering account maintenance, clearing, lending against tokens and transfers connected to virtual currency purchases. Institutions already providing such services were given three months, to 6 July 2018, to exit those relationships.

Regulatory India Reserve Bank of India: Prohibition on dealing in Virtual Currencies (VCs) ↗

2017

Single-collateral Dai activated by MKR vote

Holders of the MKR token voted to activate single-collateral Dai, bringing into operation a dollar-denominated token created against ether locked in collateralised debt positions rather than against bank deposits. A year after launch the system reported close to 80 million Dai in circulation and more than 5,000 collateralised debt positions opened, having held its peg through a roughly 90% fall in the price of ether.

Product launch Global Stablecoins MakerDAO: Happy BirthDAI ↗

2016

MAS announces Project Ubin, a tokenized Singapore dollar for interbank settlement

The Monetary Authority of Singapore announced the first phase of Project Ubin, a proof of concept placing a tokenized Singapore dollar on a distributed ledger for interbank payments, run with R3 and a group of banks. The phase concluded on 9 March 2017 and was followed by four further phases covering real-time gross settlement redesign, delivery versus payment and cross-border payment versus payment.

Institutional pilot Singapore Monetary Authority of Singapore: Project Ubin: Central Bank Digital Money using Distributed Ledger Technology ↗

2015

2008

Bitcoin white paper circulated on the Cryptography mailing list

A message signed Satoshi Nakamoto posted a paper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" to the Cryptography mailing list, describing a payment system that is "fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party" and that orders transactions by hash-based proof-of-work. The design assumed that honest nodes controlling a majority of computing power would extend the longest chain and so prevent double-spending.

Research Global Cryptography mailing list: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper (Satoshi Nakamoto) ↗

How the record is kept

An entry is added only when there is a filing, rule, release, dataset or court document that evidences it. Announcements of intent are recorded as announcements, not as the thing announced.

Entries are corrected in place with the correction stated. Where a development was later reversed, both the original entry and the reversal stand; the record is not tidied.

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