Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with stablecoin infrastructure firm Fireblocks to explore secure digital asset infrastructure in Korea.

 

Under the agreement, the three companies will jointly explore business opportunities based on Korea’s market conditions and infrastructure demand.

 

 

With a focus on stablecoins, the trio will explore digital asset distribution frameworks that comply with the country’s regulatory and security requirements, while also developing a proof of concept (PoC) to assess the applicability of these frameworks to South Korea’s digital economy.

 

"For banks and payment platforms in Korea, leveraging reliable digital asset infrastructure that is engineered to meet institutional requirements from day one is critically important," said Michael Shaulov, CEO and Co-Founder of Fireblocks. "This is the prerequisite for widespread adoption, and Kakao Pay and Kakao Bank are setting the groundwork now."

 

By leveraging Fireblocks’ unique institutional-grade infrastructure for the secure issuance of stablecoins and digital assets, alongside Kakao’s wide reach, the trio aims to establish secure on-chain infrastructure for Korea’s emerging digital asset market.

 

Crypto Adoption Surges in South Korea

 

South Korea has emerged as a hub for pro-crypto and blockchain initiatives, with several local companies rapidly adopting and integrating blockchain technology into their infrastructure.

 

Notable among these developments is Hana Bank, one of the country’s major commercial banks, issuing its first digital bond on a blockchain and completing same-day settlement.

 

Like Kakao, other major South Korean institutions have entered strategic partnerships to expand into crypto and blockchain. In July, KB Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest bank, partnered with JPMorgan’s Kinexys Blockchain to facilitate cross-border payments.

 

Jeonbuk Bank, also one of South Korea’s leading commercial banks, partnered with Ripple to facilitate cross-border remittances and settlements.

 

Apple and Google, two of the largest technology companies, are currently on the lookout for crypto professionals who can help develop and shape their blockchain and payment initiatives.

 

In an Apple job posting, the technology giant advertised a position for a Financial Product Strategy Lead in the Apple Pay department.

 

According to the job description, the candidate would be involved in working with the Apple Card and Apple Cash product teams, developing a long-term strategy, assessing new growth opportunities, and managing and coordinating large initiatives that drive growth, with projects including Wallet, Payments, and Commerce.

 

Although the role particularly seeks candidates with experience in payment strategy, the job description also mentions a deep understanding of and experience with P2P payments, stablecoins, tokenised deposits, and blockchain technology.

 

For the Google role, the company is seeking a principal architect in the Web3 field, with the job description requiring a minimum of 10 years of experience in system architecture, distributed systems design, and cloud infrastructure.

 

Qualified candidates are also required to have years of experience architecting, deploying, or operating production-grade Web3 systems, blockchain protocols, institutional digital infrastructure, low-latency blockchain node infrastructure, Zero Knowledge (ZK) infrastructure, and rollup architectures.

 

The job description specifically mentions that qualified candidates should have institutional experience across different Web3 sectors, including Real World Asset (RWA) tokenisation, stablecoin rails, tokenised deposits, and custody architectures within financial environments, among other technical requirements.

 

Compared to the role at Apple, the Google role is much more technically demanding and requires candidates to have an in-depth and solid understanding of the inner workings and architecture of blockchain infrastructure and systems.

 

A Positive Sign for Crypto Adoption

 

The hiring of crypto professionals by two of the biggest non-crypto technology companies in the world is a good sign that highlights how much exploration and adoption the crypto sector, particularly stablecoins, is beginning to receive.

 

Although these companies are not entirely new to the crypto sector, there appears to be a big shift in how big tech companies are beginning to view blockchain and crypto, with many already integrating blockchain technology into their infrastructure.

 

For example, Google launched the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), its permissioned, private distributed ledger that supports cross-border payments, tokenisation, and blockchain use cases for financial institutions. It also launched its own agent payment protocol and Pay.sh, a pay-as-you-go payment layer that enables AI agents to make payments.

 

ZetaChain will shut down its Layer 1 blockchain network and migrate to Solana after receiving almost unanimous approval in a governance vote.

 

The governance portal for the vote, which closed on Sunday at 14:58:18 UTC, recorded 99.4% of token holders voting in favour, while 0.3% each voted in opposition and abstained. Participation stood at 58%, exceeding the 40% quorum.

 

 

Stating the reasons for the ZetaChain to Solana migration, the team, in a recent blog post, gave a number of reasons, including the privacy features of the Solana blockchain and the infrastructure that Solana has been building for private AI.

 

According to the ZetaChain team, the subsecond and subcent finality features of the Solana blockchain, including its transaction confirmation time of 400 milliseconds and its one tenth of a cent fee, make it possible for AI agents to perform at scale.

 

In a test, the team claimed that the Solana blockchain handled more than 100,000 transactions per second, a result the team says is ideal for agents that are being built to execute transactions at machine speed.

 

Following the completion of a second governance proposal and the subsequent migration to the Solana network, the native ZETA token will be converted 1:1 to the Solana SPL ZETA, which will continue to be used to access Anuma, ZetaChain’s privacy AI platform.

 

About ZetaChain

 

Founded in 2021, ZetaChain is a Layer 1 blockchain network that was built to serve as an interoperability layer that connects blockchains without the need for traditional bridges.

 

Prior to its migration plans, the ZetaChain team had raised $27 million and processed hundreds of millions of transactions while onboarding millions of users and wallets.

 

However, the team made a strategic shift to AI this year with its first consumer multimodal AI app, which lets users carry one encrypted, user-controlled memory across dozens of AI models, including Claude, GPT, Gemini, and Grok.

 

With accessibility tied to the ZETA token, Anuma has grown to more than 300,000 users since its launch in February.

 

Two crypto billionaires, Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne, have both made political donations totaling £72 million (or $97 million) to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK political party.

 

The donations, which were first kickstarted by Ben Delo, BitMEX co-founder and recipient of President Trump’s presidential pardon, saw Delo make a £36 million donation, the largest single donation ever made to a UK political party.

 

In the aftermath of the donation, Christopher Harborne, a Thailand based investor linked to Tether and Bitfinex, matched Delo’s donation by also donating £36 million to the Reform UK party. For Harborne, the donation was a philanthropic gift made for the betterment of the party.

 

Responding to the donations from the two crypto investors, Nigel Farage said he was humbled and honored by their contributions while reiterating the confidence they have in the party.

 

“Both men know that we are the only party that can turn the country around and win the next general election. Thanks to their generosity, we are now able to fight that election on a level playing field.”

 

Past Donations 

 

While Ben Delo is a more recent political donor, with all of his known contributions occurring this year, including the £8 million he donated to the party before this huge cash gift, Christopher Harborne has a long history of political donations.

 

Between 2019 and 2020, Harborne donated around £10 million to the Brexit Party, Reform’s predecessor. He also made a single £9 million donation to the Reform Party, followed by an additional donation of roughly £3 million to the party in the first quarter of this year, bringing his total donations to the party to around £15 million to £22 million.

 

Although the UK in March of this year imposed a moratorium, or temporary ban, on cryptocurrency donations to political parties, non-party campaigners, and other related political entities following the Rycroft Review, the donations from these crypto investors were not considered a violation because they were made in cash.

 

Consensys Software Inc. (CSI) has announced plans to split into two independent companies, each with a separate focus and leadership team.

 

Announcing the split in a press release published on the MetaMask blog, Consensys Software Inc. said it will be rebranded as MetaMask, with Joe Lubin serving as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

 

The second company, which will retain the Consensys name, will be a newly formed entity comprising CSI’s Protocols Group and institutional blockchain infrastructure business, including Linea and its broader portfolio of enterprise and Ethereum protocol infrastructure. Mike Kriak will serve as CEO, David Cunningham as President, and Joe Lubin as Executive Chairman.

 

Speaking about what both companies are expected to become, Joe Lubin, Chairman and CEO of MetaMask and Executive Chairman of Consensys, said MetaMask will grow beyond being just a self-custodial wallet and become a platform where users can not only hold their assets but also manage their money in diverse forms and across different aspects of their financial lives.

 

As for the new Consensys entity, Lubin said the company will continue to operate as a protocols company, with the newly formed team bringing Ethereum, Hyperledger Besu, and Linea protocol development together to enable enterprises and institutions to collaborate more effectively.

 

What Comes Next for Both Companies

 

MetaMask will continue to be an Ethereum first product company, providing self-custody services that allow users to hold and manage their assets on the platform.

 

The team will also continue working on its Open Money platform, which represents the company’s vision of transforming the wallet into a platform where users can hold, move, spend, save, invest, and grow their money in one place. As a step toward this goal, the team launched the MetaMask Money Account in June, enabling users to gain greater control over their finances.

 

Consensys will continue playing a key role in advancing Ethereum and other Ethereum related protocols, including the development of decentralized applications and protocols on the Ethereum blockchain network.

 

The team will also expand its work helping financial institutions and enterprises deploy blockchain infrastructure, including helping institutions such as banks, asset managers, payment providers, and market infrastructure firms access tokenized financial markets and stablecoins.

 

The United States Scam Center Strike Force has entered into a partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency to combat scam centers involved in cryptocurrency scams and other cyber enabled investment fraud (CIF) schemes targeting Americans and Britons.

 

The memorandum of understanding (MOU), which was signed Thursday at the residence of Sir Christian Turner KCMG, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the United States, was attended by other key officials, including Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Stephen Parkinson, the Crown Prosecutor for England and Wales; and Graeme Biggar, Director General of the U.K.’s National Crime Agency.

 

With the signing of the memorandum, the two countries can now work together to conduct parallel investigations into common targets, share information on crime syndicates, discuss which jurisdictions should bring cases involving matters of common interest, and coordinate efforts to achieve mutually beneficial results.

 

“Together we will disable the Chinese TOC networks that are operating these scam compounds and depriving our citizens of their hard-earned funds, all while using human trafficked labor to increase their profit. Standing together, we are invincible,” said Jeanine Ferris Pirro, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.

 

So far, agencies from both countries involved in the partnership have identified significant areas of overlap and will bring private industry partners on board at an event scheduled to be organized by the National Crime Agency in London in early October.

 

About the U.S. Scam Center Strike Force

 

Launched in November 2025 by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, the U.S. Scam Center Strike Force is a multiagency law enforcement initiative created to combat scam centers, particularly syndicates operating in Southeast Asia.

 

Focusing heavily on cryptocurrency related and other cyber enabled fraud, the initiative has reported significant successes since its launch, including the seizure of more than $800 million worth of cryptocurrency and 503 .com domains tied to Chinese crime rings.

 

The California Senate and Assembly have unanimously passed a bill that would restrict public officeholders from issuing memecoin tokens.

 

The bill, coded AB 2409, was introduced by Assemblymember Avelino Valencia on February 20 this year. It passed the California Senate with a 40-0 vote and the Assembly with a 78-0 vote.

 

By passing the bill, California lawmakers aim to prevent public officials from using the authority bestowed upon them by virtue of their public positions for personal gain. The bill states that all public officeholders are to exercise their authority solely for the benefit of the people of California.

 

The bill further states that the issuance or promotion of financial instruments, including memecoins, could undermine public confidence in government and create opportunities for conflicts of interest and pay-to-play arrangements. These arrangements could potentially be exploited by foreign elements seeking to interfere in the affairs of the state.

 

Although the bill has been passed by lawmakers, enforcement will begin on January 1, 2027. From that date onward, digital asset providers will be prohibited from listing for sale any memecoin linked to a public official or facilitating the purchase of such memecoins by California residents.

 

To enable enforcement, the bill allows the California attorney general, a district attorney, city attorney, or county counsel to file a civil action against any digital asset service provider.

 

TRUMP Coin as a Case in Point 

 

Although the TRUMP memecoin profited a relatively small group of people, the losses it caused investors were significant, with approximately $3.2 billion to $3.81 billion in realized and unrealized losses recorded.

 

According to The New York Times, two-thirds of investors who purchased the TRUMP token ended up underwater, with Nansen projecting that about 988,900 to 1 million wallets out of roughly 1.6 million total wallets were in the red. 

 

Bitwise Asset Management, the global crypto asset manager, has launched an automated token portfolio (ATP) that allows non U.S. investors to align their tokenized stock portfolios with Bitwise’s published model portfolios.

 

The portfolio, developed in partnership with Coinbase and Glider, allows investors to maintain full custody of their portfolio assets, eliminating the need to constantly transfer their assets to a pooled vehicle or place them in the hands of a fund sponsor.

 

"For over a century, getting a professional model meant handing your assets to a fund. ATPs mean you can keep the assets in your own wallet, and the model comes to you," said Matt Hougan, CIO of Bitwise. "ATPs unlock a new way for people to access thematic exposures more quickly and precisely than many traditional structures. We're just scratching the surface."

 

Since the stocks will remain in users’ wallets under their control, investors will be able to use them for other yield bearing opportunities, including lending or borrowing against them through DeFi protocols. However, investors will be responsible for any associated risks.

 

According to Bitwise, the tokenized portfolio will be rolled out in the coming weeks and will provide investors with broad exposure to a variety of stocks, which will be categorized into three distinct portfolios.

 

These include the Mag7X ATP, which provides exposure to the seven largest U.S. technology companies, and the Robotics and AI Leaders ATP, which will provide exposure to leading AI and robotics companies.

 

Bitwise’s launch of its automated tokenized portfolio comes at a time when crypto exchange Coinbase has also launched tokenized stocks of Nvidia, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet on Base. The tokenized stocks, which are supported by about 50 protocols, including Aave, Morpho, and Euler, will only be made available to eligible users outside the United States.

 

Goldman has restricted its Hong Kong staff from using Anthropic’s Claude AI model, with the restriction reportedly rooted in geographic considerations.

 

OKX’s restriction on its staff using Claude AI came shortly after the exchange’s Claude account was suspended by Anthropic over noncompliance with its geographic access policies.

 

Although the suspension of the exchange’s Claude account lasted only a short period, an internal staff message said that OKX would not support the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) access to Claude for employees visiting Hong Kong or China.

 

As part of its plans to continue allowing its Hong Kong staff to use AI in their daily workflows, OKX said it would direct its Hong Kong employees to other supported AI models. Meanwhile, Star Xu, OKX CEO, has said that the exchange spends between $6 million and $8 million on multiple large language model (LLM) providers and has even built Oli, an internal AI development platform.

 

OKX’s restriction on its Hong Kong staff comes shortly after Goldman Sachs imposed a similar restriction on its Hong Kong staff earlier this year. However, unlike OKX’s restriction, which was driven by an account suspension, Goldman Sachs’ restriction stemmed from a strict interpretation of its contract with Anthropic.

 

After reviewing its contract with Anthropic, Goldman Sachs concluded that the agreement did not permit the use of Anthropic or any of its products, including Claude AI, in Hong Kong, and thus restricted their use.

 

However, this did not mean that Goldman Sachs was restricting the use of Anthropic’s products or Claude AI overall. In fact, Goldman Sachs has partnered with Anthropic engineers to build AI agents for its trade accounting and client vetting.

 

 

Bitwise Asset Management has laid off 14% of its global staff, leaving the firm with a workforce of 155, down from about 180 employees before the layoffs.

 

While the firm did not explicitly state the reason for the layoffs, the move comes at a time when companies continue to navigate a severe downturn in the crypto market.

 

Responding to news outlets, Bitwise Chief Executive Officer Hunter Horsley said the adjustment equips the firm for the ongoing growth it has experienced this year. He added that he expects the growth to continue as crypto becomes further integrated into the global economy.

 

Bitwise’s recent layoffs come at a time when several other crypto-focused companies have also had to trim their workforces, with some citing the ongoing crypto market downturn as the reason, while others have reduced their staff as part of a strategic pivot toward artificial intelligence.

 

According to a report tracking layoffs in the crypto industry, more than 5,000 jobs have reportedly been lost in layoffs across several crypto companies, notable among them Robinhood, Crypto.com, Dune, Algorand, and Block.

 

About Bitwise 

 

Bitwise is a leading crypto-focused asset management firm that provides investors, financial advisers, and institutions with exposure to digital assets through a diverse range of investment products, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), index funds, and private funds.

 

Despite the widespread downturn in the crypto market this year, Bitwise has achieved a number of notable milestones, including the acquisition of Chorus One, an institutional staking provider, for $2.2 billion, as well as the launch of the spot Hyperliquid ETF and Avalanche ETP.

 

 

Zapper, the popular DeFi dashboard and portfolio tracker, will wind down its operations after about seven years in the crypto industry.

 

"After close to seven years building Zapper, I regret to announce that Zapper will be winding down," said Seb Audet, co-founder and CEO. "We evaluated a number of different options, pursued some to the fullest extent possible, and came to the realization that an orderly wind down is the best course of action."

 

Before its decision to shut down, Zapper allowed users to track and visualize assets, liabilities, NFTs, and DeFi positions, including staking, liquidity pools, and loans, across multiple blockchains in real time. According to Audet, Zapper served more than 2 million monthly users and processed more than $13 billion in peak transaction volume.

 

Zapper's shutdown will be completed on August 3, with the team discontinuing all of its services, including zapper.xyz, its mobile apps, and its API services. The team also said it will send an email to existing API users to help with the transition.

 

Zapper's decision to shut down comes shortly after crypto exchange AscendEX wrapped up its operations, citing regulatory pressure and its failure to obtain authorization under the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, regulation, which fully took effect on July 1, 2026.

 

The AscendEX team also cited financial and operational challenges, stating that users will no longer be able to open accounts, deposit assets, trade, swap, stake, lend, or participate in referral or promotional campaigns. Account access will remain available only for limited offboarding purposes.

 

The shutdowns of Zapper and AscendEX come amid a broader wave of closures across the crypto industry. Since the start of the year, approximately 70 to 75 crypto projects and firms have either shut down or filed for bankruptcy.

 

Last month, blockchain protocol Radiant Capital shut down after failing to recover from an exploit it suffered months earlier. Tether also discontinued its Alloy platform, citing low user activity and weak market demand. Binance also shut down its NFT marketplace.

 

Prediction market company Kalshi has filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois after Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 3019, the budget bill, into law last week.

 

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, lists key state officials as defendants, including Governor JB Pritzker, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, and other members of the Illinois Gaming Board, including Dionne R. Hayden.

 

By filing the lawsuit, Kalshi aims to block Illinois from enforcing the new tax law. Under the new law, cryptocurrency transactions in the state will be subject to taxation. The law also establishes a “Sports Wagering Fund” that would impose a 15% tax on gross receipts from sports-related prediction markets operating in the state. However, Kalshi argues that the law is preempted by the Commodity Exchange Act, asserting that its sports-event contracts are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

 

“This action challenges the State of Illinois’s clear violation of the Supremacy Clause with respect to the regulation of event contracts,” Kalshi said in its complaint.

 

“The federal Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) grants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) exclusive jurisdiction over event contracts when they are traded or executed on a contract market that has been federally designated for that purpose.”

 

With the lawsuit filed, Illinois joins the growing list of states facing legal action from Kalshi. Late last month, Kalshi filed a lawsuit against Minnesota after the state banned prediction markets, becoming the first U.S. state to do so. Kalshi has also filed preemptive lawsuits against Rhode Island, Arizona, and Iowa.

 

CFTC’s Stance on Sports Event Contract Regulation

Despite strict regulatory control over prediction market activities by various state regulators, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has maintained its position as the only agency with exclusive federal jurisdiction over event contracts traded on prediction market platforms.

 

Amid regulatory actions taken by state regulators, the CFTC this month released a framework that provided greater clarity on the regulation of event contracts while protecting prediction markets from state-level interference. To assert its authority, the CFTC has also sued state regulators in Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Minnesota, and New Mexico for their harsh regulatory stance on prediction market activities.