News linked to this event type.
: AI-powered financial compliance infrastructure Flagright announced the completion of a $12.5 million Series A funding round, led by Infinity Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Sella Direct Ventures, and existing investor Frontline. The proceeds will be used to drive its expansion in the "explainable AI compliance" scenario, accelerate its market presence in the United States, and strengthen its position as an enterprise-grade standard in the field of financial crime compliance. Flagright stated that financial crime compliance is entering a phase of platform transformation. Banks, payment firms, lending institutions, and brokerages are facing higher transaction volumes, stricter regulations, and more sophisticated financial crime methods, while traditional compliance systems can no longer meet current demands. (PRNewswire)
Benchmark has maintained a "Buy" rating for Coinbase with a $270 price target, implying approximately 59.5% upside from its Tuesday closing price of $169.27. The firm noted that Coinbase's latest "System Update" indicates it is accelerating its transformation from a crypto trading platform into an "everything exchange" that bridges traditional finance and the on-chain economy.Analyst Mark Palmer stated that this product update covers tokenized stocks, stock and crypto options, pre-IPO perpetual contracts, prediction markets, AI-driven investment tools, agent payment infrastructure, and retail financial products, signaling the continuous expansion of its business boundaries.Key progress highlighted by Benchmark also includes: the U.S. CFTC's approval for it to operate as a regulated Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), global derivatives capabilities obtained through the acquisition of Deribit, and integrating crypto perpetuals and options into a compliant framework, thereby achieving cross-market liquidity consolidation.Furthermore, the company's strategic moves in the Base ecosystem, prediction markets, and AI agent payments are also seen as key signals of its evolution from "spot crypto trading" to a comprehensive on-chain financial infrastructure. (The Block)
According to Bloomberg, crypto-friendly digital bank Revolut has announced that it has obtained the relevant license approval from the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, marking the beginning of its expansion into the Middle East region.
the U.S. Department of Justice has seized approximately $9 million in funds linked to a scam network, with the seized assets being the stablecoin Tether (USDT). Law enforcement officials stated that the case is related to long-term romance and investment scams commonly known as "pig butchering." The criminal organization gradually gained victims' trust by establishing fake romantic or social relationships, luring them into depositing funds on fraudulent crypto investment platforms before disappearing with the money.Investigations revealed that the network has affected over 70 victims within the United States, with illegally transferred funds totaling millions of dollars. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that this asset freeze and enforcement action aims to cut off the flow of scam funds and strengthen the ability to track and combat cross-border crypto scams. (Bloomberg)
According to Odaily, the Hebei High Court has released a typical case of combating illegal fundraising, in which a man packaged investment projects under the guise of the "Metaverse" concept to promote virtual commodity investment products under the "Newmateworks" platform, associated with the "Yishang United Community," to the public. He induced individuals to invest and directly introduced 19 investors who poured a total of 15.3936 million RMB into the platform. Of this amount, 1.1014 million RMB has been returned, while 14.2922 million RMB remains outstanding. The court found that the case used emerging technology concepts like the "Metaverse" as a cover for fraudulent marketing, violating national financial management laws. The amount involved was substantial, and the actions constituted the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. The defendant, Chen, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and fined.
According to The Block, Australia’s High Court unanimously ruled that Block Earner’s previously launched fixed-income digital asset product, Earner, qualifies as a regulated financial product, requiring providers to hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). The court upheld the appeal filed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and overturned the lower court’s earlier ruling, which had been more favorable to Block Earner.
According to The Block, U.S. Senate and House leaders jointly released an updated version of the “Pathway to 21st Century Housing Act,” confirming a bipartisan agreement between both chambers. The bill’s core focus is housing affordability reform, including expanding housing supply and curbing market monopolization by corporate landlords. Notably, an attached provision explicitly prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or any “substantially similar” digital asset before December 31, 2030—a clause spearheaded by Republican members of the House. The Trump administration maintains a consistent stance: Treasury Secretary Bessent has previously stated unequivocally that a CBDC is “not under consideration.” The bill will first undergo a procedural vote in the Senate and is expected to be submitted to the House for consideration after Congress resumes on June 23, following its recess; it will then proceed to the President for signature.
According to CoinDesk, as the final deadline for the European MiCA regulatory transition period—this month’s end—approaches, BitGo, a crypto custodian regulated by Germany’s BaFin, announced that its Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform offers European crypto firms a more streamlined path to MiCA compliance—without needing to build a standalone compliance and operational infrastructure from scratch. Enterprises need only integrate their existing wallets into BitGo’s wallet infrastructure and complete MiCA-compliant KYC procedures; customer assets can then be held in compliant, segregated custody accounts. Meanwhile, enterprises may continue applying in parallel for their own CASP (Crypto-Asset Service Provider) license. On pricing, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe stated fees are relatively low, with a minimum monthly fee of several thousand dollars, and two billing options: transaction-volume-based or flat-rate pricing. According to legal firm Hogan Lovells, as of May 2026, only 194 CASPs will have been authorized across Europe. It is estimated that roughly 75% of crypto firms pre-registered under MiCA will lose their registration status after the transition period ends.
According to The Block, industry groups including the American Gaming Association (AGA) and the National Indian Gaming Association jointly sent a letter to the U.S. Senate urging explicit prohibition in the crypto market structure legislation—the “Clarity Act”—of prediction market contracts tied to sporting events and casino-style games. The letter states that such platforms circumvent state and tribal laws by branding themselves as “federally regulated financial products,” thereby weakening consumer protections and posing risks to young users. It further emphasizes that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is not the appropriate regulator for sports betting. The Clarity Act has already passed the Senate Banking Committee and will next proceed to a full Senate vote.
World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by the Trump family, is expected to receive approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to operate as a national trust bank in the near future. Two former OCC employees who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed that the application is almost certain to be approved.World Liberty Financial established a U.S. trust company in January of this year and submitted an application to the OCC. Obtaining a federal trust bank charter would allow the project to issue and redeem its USD1 stablecoin, manage reserves, provide digital asset custody, and offer conversion and settlement services under a single federal regulatory body, without relying on third-party intermediaries. Currently, the project's intermediary institution is BitGo. (The Block)
: According to official sources, Base is about to launch the Beryl hard fork upgrade, introducing the B20 native token standard, which shortens the final confirmation period for single-proof withdrawals from 7 days to 5 days, and upgrades Reth V2, reducing disk usage by 50% and increasing throughput by 33%.Beryl will be activated on the Sepolia testnet at 2:00 AM UTC+8 on June 19, and on the mainnet at 2:00 AM UTC+8 on June 26.B20 is Base’s native token standard, an ERC-20 compatible token implemented via Rust precompile, designed specifically for stablecoins, RWAs, and long-tail token issuers. It includes a built-in compliance toolkit, featuring transfer strategies, freezing and seizing, role-based access control, memos, and supply caps.
at today's 2026 Lujiazui Forum, Ding Xiangqun, Director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, stated that efforts must be made to strengthen supervision, eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots, and ensure full coverage with no exceptions. Ding Xiangqun said that efforts should be concentrated on preventing and resolving risks to firmly uphold the bottom line of preventing systemic financial risks. Focus should be placed on "reducing existing risks and controlling new risks." Risks in small and medium-sized financial institutions should be addressed in a forceful and orderly manner, with support and coordination to resolve risks related to real estate and local government debt. Adhere to the principles of treating diseases before they occur and addressing problems at the source, improve early correction mechanisms for financial risks with hard constraints, and achieve early identification, early warning, early exposure, and early disposal.Focus on "managing legal activities while also managing illegal ones." Strengthen central-local coordination and departmental collaboration, and make every effort to eliminate regulatory gaps and blind spots to ensure full coverage with no exceptions. Take the overall battle of preventing and combating illegal financial activities as a starting point, maintain a high-pressure crackdown stance, strengthen whole-chain systemic governance, and strive to protect the people's "money bags." (CCTV News)
Base lead Jesse Pollak introduced Base's latest development direction at the Coinbase System Update: Take Control conference held today. Base is committed to becoming a platform that supports global financial activities.Base announced support for tokenized stocks launched by Coinbase and introduced the B20 native token standard. The Base App will support Solana, Bitcoin, and multiple EVM networks, and will also launch a web version. Base introduced Base MCP, allowing AI Agents to perform on-chain activities such as transfers, transactions, swaps, and lending with user authorization.Base stated that it has processed over $19 trillion in stablecoin payment volume this year and supports more than 25 local currency stablecoins. Base has also launched private transactions and a new ledger architecture to meet corporate compliance and auditing requirements.
According to Cryptopolitan, Ivan Chebeskov, Deputy Minister of Finance of Russia, stated during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026) that USDC will be added to Russia’s regulated cryptocurrency list alongside BTC, ETH, and USDT—previously approved cryptocurrencies. He also revealed that smaller stablecoins pegged to currencies of “friendly jurisdictions,” such as the Russian ruble or the UAE dirham, may also be granted market access. Russia’s draft “Law on Digital Currency and Digital Rights” must be finalized by July 1; upon enactment, non-accredited investors will gain legal access to cryptocurrency investments for the first time—though with an annual investment cap of 300,000 rubles (approximately USD 4,000).
the gambling industry is joining forces with labor unions to urge lawmakers to include restrictive clauses in pending cryptocurrency legislation, prohibiting prediction markets like Kalshi from offering sports betting.The American Gaming Association, along with the Indian Gaming Association, the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council of the AFL-CIO, and UNITE HERE, have jointly sent a letter expressing deep concern that prediction markets have driven the largest expansion of gambling in U.S. history over the past 18 months. The letter states that Congress should use crypto legislation to reaffirm the principle that sports betting does not fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and cannot be offered through prediction market platforms. (semafor)
Alex, co-founder of Matter Labs | ZK (@gluk64), announced that Matter Labs has today announced a reduction in its team size. Alex stated that this adjustment stems from the company’s strategic pivot—starting in 2024, Matter Labs began focusing on serving regulated financial institutions, leading to the spin-off of the Prividium project, which aims to build privacy-first onchain infrastructure for enterprises and regulated financial institutions. As the business direction deepens, the required skill set has shifted, and this layoff is directly tied to that evolution.
Illinois has become the first state in the United States to impose a tax on digital asset transactions. Governor J.B. Pritzker signed SB 3019, which includes the Digital Asset Tax Law, levying a 0.2% business tax on brokers who trade, transfer, or custody digital assets for clients within the state. The tax is expected to take effect on January 1, 2027, and is projected to generate approximately $60 million in annual revenue for the state government.The tax targets business activities rather than profits, and traditional securities brokers in Illinois do not bear a similar tax burden. Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti criticized the tax for being embedded in the budget without sufficient public debate. The Digital Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Blockchain Association jointly oppose the measure, calling it "unsound in substance, flawed in process, and economically destructive." (cryptobriefing)
According to a post by the Crypto Council for Innovation, Illinois Governor Pritzker has signed a digital asset tax bill—widely regarded as the nation’s most punitive digital asset tax regime—which will impose a disproportionate tax burden on Illinois residents using digital assets. The Council strongly opposes the measure, warning that it will drive innovators and developers out of the state, and has issued an official letter of opposition.
According to CoinDesk, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis led a bipartisan group of senators in writing a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, pointing out that the Treasury Department’s previously announced stablecoin regulatory principles failed to clarify timelines and procedural requirements for state-level certification—leaving states uncertain about how to proceed. The letter calls on the Treasury Department to issue written procedural guidance outlining the application, review, and certification processes under state regulatory frameworks, while retaining sufficient flexibility to accommodate differing legislative timelines across states.
in the first quarter of this year, South Korean retail cryptocurrency trading volume reached $69 billion, ranking second globally, trailing behind the United States' $212 billion. Data shows that South Korea's cryptocurrency trading volume in the quarter decreased by 28% year-on-year, the steepest decline among major global markets. In comparison, the US trading volume was $21.2 billion, Russia's was $4.8 billion, India's was $4.6 billion, and Turkey's was $4 billion.Analysis points out that the rise of the semiconductor sector in the South Korean stock market has absorbed a significant amount of retail funds. Additionally, the Virtual Asset User Protection Act in South Korea has raised compliance requirements, restricting domestic exchanges to spot trading only, while overseas platforms offer a wider range of products including derivatives and leverage. (koreatimes)