News linked to both this project and an event.
According to Cointelegraph, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has reiterated its plan to submit a draft amendment bill on virtual asset regulation by the end of 2026, establishing a licensing regime for four categories of virtual asset services: trading, custody, advisory, and management. At a policy briefing on October 5, Paul Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, stated that the government will submit the relevant amendment bill within this year to respond to innovative developments in the financial technology sector and further refine the virtual asset regulatory framework. Previously, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority granted the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses to Anchorpoint Financial and HSBC Bank (Hong Kong) in April this year. The proposed new licensing regime will further expand the scope of Hong Kong's virtual asset regulation.
The Hong Kong government has reiterated that it will submit amendments to the crypto asset licensing bill before the end of 2026, establishing a licensing regime covering digital asset trading, custody, advisory, and management services. Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui stated that the amendments will respond to developments in the fintech sector.In January of this year, Christopher Hui disclosed that regulators planned to submit crypto asset regulatory proposals before the end of 2026. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has begun processing stablecoin issuer license applications and in April granted the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses to Anchorpoint Financial and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. (Cointelegraph)
Odaily News: Roman Storm posted on X platform stating that the U.S. Treasury Department recently acknowledged in a document that there were problems with previous rules targeting mixers, and noted that the policy may have a "chilling effect" on legitimate activities. Storm stated that although the relevant department of the U.S. Treasury Department now believes the policy has issues, the U.S. Department of Justice in his case still insists that even legitimate transactions conducted through Tornado Cash constitute illegal acts because they could be used for money laundering, sanctions evasion, and other criminal purposes. Storm said that the non-criminal division of the U.S. government believes the policy is improper, while the criminal justice division believes all related transactions constitute crimes; he has been detained and prosecuted for over 1,139 days, and claims his case stems from developing open-source code. Storm also stated that the Southern District of New York (SDNY) federal court submitted a new document today, and the U.S. Department of Justice is still pushing for his conviction.
Odaily News — According to market sources, the U.S. Treasury Department has withdrawn its previous crypto regulatory proposal targeting unhosted wallets and convertible virtual currency (CVC) mixing services. The proposal had aimed to expand the scope of monitoring crypto transaction activity, including requiring financial institutions to collect and report information related to unhosted wallets and crypto mixing services. The withdrawal means the relevant monitoring rules will not be pursued for the time being.
According to a press release from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Edward Yiu, attended a policy briefing session for the Legislative Council Panel on Financial Affairs. Regarding the policy measures of the Department of Financial Services and the Treasury under Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, he stated that an ordinance amendment bill would be submitted later this year to establish a licensing regime for virtual asset trading, custody, advisory, and management services. Additionally, the Hong Kong Gold Central Clearing and Settlement System will officially launch in the first quarter of next year, and HKEX will publish the details of a new gold futures contract priced and physically settled in Renminbi within this year.
According to Chaoxiang research, UBS’s September 28, 2026 report indicates the initiation of coverage on digital asset strategies, projecting the stablecoin market capitalization to reach approximately $1.2 trillion by 2031, alongside real-world payment volumes of roughly $3 trillion. Stablecoin issuers hold approximately $175 billion in short-term US Treasury-related exposures. The Bank for International Settlements estimates that a $3.5 billion inflow into stablecoins reduces the yield on 3-month US Treasuries by approximately 0.7 basis points, decreasing it by about 4 basis points over a 10-day period. Tokenization can unlock approximately $2.46 trillion in annualized repo trading volume. By 2030, AI agents may facilitate approximately $2 trillion in global C2B e-commerce, with stablecoins accounting for about $56 billion of that volume. UBS believes that as digital assets achieve mainstream adoption, their overall impact on the financial sector will range from neutral to mildly positive. Sectors such as payments and fintech, exchanges, and asset management are assessed as mildly positive, while banking remains neutral. Allocation strategies center on three core themes: stablecoins, tokenization, and agent commerce. Increasing compliance costs particularly favor large-scale operators.
The US 2-year Treasury yield is currently at 4.9030%, setting an intraday low. Federal Reserve official Williams stated that there is no need to rush further monetary policy actions after completing the rate hike in September.
According to Axios, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Luke Pettit will depart in October to join the private sector. Pettit was the chief proponent behind the children's "Trump Accounts" program, with his departure timed to occur after the project's automatic registration begins. Previously a senior advisor to Senator Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Pettit served at the Treasury as both Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions and Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, while also leading cybersecurity and artificial intelligence policy work.
Odaily News: Some analysts expect that the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield could rise to 6%, driven by concerns over the federal fiscal deficit, debt growth, and capital competition. Since the end of 2023, the yield has risen to 5.23%, while Bitcoin's price has roughly doubled to $86,000.If yields rise due to fiscal concerns, investors may seek alternatives to government debt, and Bitcoin could benefit; if the rise in yields is driven by the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy again, Bitcoin could come under pressure. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News — Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced that, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's enforcement actions targeting Iranian sanctions evasion networks, it has assisted in freezing approximately $550 million in USDT assets linked to Iran's central bank and sanctioned networks during 2026. This includes over $344 million frozen in April based on information from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and law enforcement agencies, as well as over $130 million frozen in July.To date, Tether has established partnerships with more than 340 law enforcement agencies across 67 countries and regions worldwide, supporting over 2,800 investigations and freezing a cumulative total of more than $4.9 billion in illicit assets (of which over $2.4 billion is related to U.S. law enforcement actions). The company has also directly aligned its wallet freezing mechanism with the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List.
Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) posted that the U.S. Senate voted on the "Clarity Act," which aims to empower the Treasury Department to cut off money laundering activities conducted through offshore exchanges such as Binance. Lummis accused Democrats of voting against the bill, claiming they are unwilling to protect American citizens from the threat of offshore money laundering. Critics, however, pushed back, citing constitutional concerns and a corruption loophole targeting the current president as reasons for its defeat.
According to CNBC, Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, 127 days into his tenure, is gradually driving adjustments to the monetary policy framework, including weakening traditional forward guidance and incorporating broader "financial conditions"—such as asset prices, U.S. Treasury trading, dollar exchange rates, credit conditions, and commodity prices—into policy decision-making. Against the backdrop of inflation remaining above target, Warsh’s policy framework leaves room for further rate hikes; the Federal Reserve already raised rates by 25 basis points in September, marking the first increase since 2023. cnbc.com Meanwhile, the reform to reduce the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, which he has long advocated, is progressing slowly, with the central bank's balance sheet currently totaling approximately $6.7 trillion.
Odaily News: The U.S. Federal Reserve plans to establish rules for payment stablecoins issued by banks, requiring that every $1 of tokens be backed by at least $1 in approved reserve assets, with customer redemptions typically completed within two business days. If an issuer persistently falls below minimum capital requirements, it may be required to liquidate reserve assets and redeem all tokens.Reserve assets may include U.S. dollars, Federal Reserve bank balances, certain bank deposits, U.S. Treasury securities with remaining maturities of no more than 93 days, eligible repurchase agreements, and qualifying investment funds, and tokenized forms of certain assets may also be included. If reserves are insufficient, the issuer must notify the Federal Reserve and restore full backing, or otherwise liquidate reserves and redeem the dollar-pegged tokens.The Federal Reserve plans to require issuers to hold standardized capital against operational and certain credit risks, with a capital charge of 2% on the first $20 billion of issued stablecoin scale and 1% on amounts exceeding $50 billion. Another proposal would allow insured depository state member banks to apply to establish subsidiaries that issue payment stablecoins, and the GENIUS Act provides that after an application is substantially complete, the Federal Reserve must make a decision within 120 days.Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said stablecoins should be reliably and promptly redeemable at par under a variety of market conditions and when issuers run into problems, and he called for the final rules to clarify a universal redemption right. He also expressed concern about the threshold requiring anti-money laundering deficiencies to reach a "material or systemic" level before triggering supervisory or enforcement action. The public comment period is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to official social media announcements, HTX Research Asset Analyst WZ will join the seventh episode of "Huobi Expert Talk" today at 19:00 (UTC+8) to share insights on the theme "From Washington to Oil Prices: A New Pricing Logic for Crypto." During the session, WZ will address topics including US crypto regulation, the US Treasury market, international oil prices, and midterm elections, examining how policy expectations, liquidity shifts, and energy prices influence crypto asset pricing. Tying in concerns relevant to retail investors, he will also explore the transmission pathways of macroeconomic events to the crypto market and highlight key signals worth tracking when gauging market movements.
According to Cnfinance, Hong Kong Monetary Authority Chief Executive Warren Woo stated at the Treasury Markets Summit that Hong Kong's equity, foreign exchange, and debt markets are mature, while digital finance is rapidly emerging. The Central Money Markets Unit (CMU) will launch new services by year-end, providing 24/7 on-chain real-time settlement, supporting the digital Hong Kong dollar and central bank digital currency (CBDC), and will also explore accepting tokenized deposits and regulated stablecoins for settlement on the platform.
Odaily News: White House crypto affairs advisor Patrick Witt and U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Luke Pettit stated that they hold reservations about the possibility of the Clarity Act making progress by the end of the year, with the current focus being on developments at financial regulatory agencies.The two noted that during the "lame-duck" session following the congressional elections, whether the relevant crypto bill can regain momentum will depend on the election results. (CoinDesk)
White House and Treasury officials state that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is unlikely to pass during Congress's lame-duck session, with policy focus shifting to regulators such as the SEC and CFTC to accelerate rulemaking using their existing authority.
According to Bitcoin News on X, the U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned Iran's BitBank, alleging that the exchange processed Bitcoin payments made by ships under the Hormuz safety insurance scheme. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) stated that, as of June, these payments had been transferred to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Babak Zanjani's network had used the exchange to move hundreds of millions of dollars in Bitcoin. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that Bitcoin payment channels are not exempt from OFAC oversight.
Odaily News: On September 16, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee passed the amended H.R. 8957, the "American Reserve Modernization Act," by a vote of 28 to 21, which aims to enshrine the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Reserve program into federal law.The bill proposes that Bitcoin lawfully held by the federal government and not designated for other statutory purposes be held for at least 20 years from the effective date of the legislation, during which it may not be sold, exchanged, auctioned, pledged as collateral, or otherwise disposed of. The bill still needs to pass the House and Senate and be signed by Trump.The bill also requires the Treasury Department to establish the relevant reserve within 180 days of the effective date and to publish an annual proof-of-reserves report covering holdings, transactions, and private key control. The Treasury Department and the Commerce Department will study lawful and budget-neutral methods of increasing Bitcoin holdings, but this provision does not authorize direct purchases. (Bitcoin.com News)
Michael Saylor stated that rather than accepting the restrictions on stablecoin incentives, service providers, and innovation pilot programs outlined in the final compromise of the CLARITY Act, the digital asset industry should instead leverage the next two years to advance the rollout of compliant products with the backing of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Department of the Treasury, and banking regulators.