Tennessee has placed a statewide ban on crypto ATMs, becoming the second state in the United States, after Indiana, to have outright banned crypto ATMs.

 

The ban on crypto ATMs in the state comes after Bill Lee, Tennessee’s governor, signed House Bill 2505 into law, following its unanimous approval by both the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Senate.

 

House Bill 2505, which has now been passed into the state’s legal code, prohibits the installation or operation of virtual currency kiosks, otherwise known as Bitcoin ATMs, in the state. Any violation of the law will be treated as a criminal offense classified as a Class A misdemeanor, with offenders facing up to one year in prison and a fine of $2,500.

 

Image credit: capitol.tn.gov

 

The law also treats business owners who allow these crypto ATMs to be hosted on their property as accomplices, making them liable under the same offense. Although the bill was signed into Tennessee’s legal code last Thursday, it will take effect on July 1.

 

Indiana First to Ban Crypto ATMs

Tennessee’s ban on crypto ATMs comes shortly after Indiana, which on March 9 signed House Enrolled Act 1116 (HEA 1116 into law, banning crypto ATMs in the state and becoming the first U.S. state to do so. The move was prompted by the high levels of fraud and widespread scams associated with crypto kiosks.According to FBI data, about $333 million was stolen through crypto kiosks in 2025 alone. 

 

Prior to the ban, Indiana had nearly 900 crypto ATMs in operation. However, all of these machines were effectively deactivated immediately after Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act 1116 into law.

 

Tennessee Takes a Strong Stance on Prediction Markets

Tennessee has, for some time now, taken strong action against prediction market platforms, targeting operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket. In January of this year, the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWC) issued cease and desist orders against major platforms including Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com, demanding that they stop offering sports event contracts in the state.

 

Kalshi, however, sued the state in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and won a preliminary injunction. The ruling allowed Kalshi to continue operating in the state while the case proceeds.

 

 

The Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) has launched the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX), a new government money market fund that aligns with the stablecoin reserve investment requirements set by the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act).

 

The new stablecoin reserve fund aims to offer payment stablecoin issuers an eligible money market fund option in which they can invest their stablecoin reserves backing their payment stablecoins. 

 

According to Fred McMullen, Co-Head of Global Liquidity at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the reserve fund offers stablecoin issuers investment solutions that allow them to safely and securely invest the reserve assets backing the stablecoins they hold.

 

With this stablecoin reserve fund, stablecoin issuers can safely and efficiently preserve their reserve capital while maintaining daily liquidity and competitive interest yields. Since the fund only invests in cash, Treasury bills, notes, and bonds with maturities of about 93 days or less, stablecoin issuers are not required to manage complex regulatory compliance processes or continuously audit reserves to demonstrate sufficient liquidity backing their stablecoins.

 

Speaking on the launch of the stablecoin reserve fund, Amy Oldenburg, Head of Digital Asset Strategy for Morgan Stanley, said that the launch of the MSIM Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio is another step toward modernizing Morgan Stanley’s financial infrastructure and is a key step in improving the firm’s institutional client experience.

 

"Creating opportunities for all client segments as markets evolve will make the next phase of finance possible and more broadly accessible," Oldenburg added.

 

Morgan Stanley Expands Its Digital Assets Offerings

The launch of the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX) is part of Morgan Stanley’s efforts toward expanding its digital asset offerings and comes shortly after Morgan Stanley Investment Management, early this month, launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), a spot exchange-traded product that tracks the price performance of Bitcoin.

 

Upon launching on the New York Stock Exchange, the MSBT fund drew approximately $34 million in net inflows on its first day, processing more than 1.6 million shares and significantly outperforming older exchange-traded funds.

 

Eric Balchunas, one of Bloomberg’s notable ETF analysts, ranked it in the top 1 percent of all ETF launches, describing it as “arguably the biggest bitcoin ETF launch in the history of the spot bitcoin ETF market.” Balchunas also projects that the MSBT fund will reach $5 billion in assets under management within the next year.

 

 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, specifically the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has frozen $344 million in USDT allegedly linked to Iran.

 

In a Friday post on X, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the crypto seizure. The move, according to Bessent, is part of the U.S. effort to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.

 

 

“We will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,” Bessent wrote.

 

While the announcement from Bessent confirmed the freeze and the imposition of sanctions on the owners of the wallets involved, the technical action of the freeze itself was carried out by stablecoin issuer Tether. The stablecoin issuer had earlier stated that it was supporting OFAC and law enforcement agencies in freezing the $344 million linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Hezbollah militant group.

 

Following the announcement, Tether blacklisted two specific wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain, holding $213 million and $131 million in USDT respectively. This move by the U.S. Department of the Treasury follows a similar action in February, when OFAC sanctioned more than 30 individuals and entities allegedly linked to Iran’s oil shipping network.

 

Tether Expands Blockchain Development Efforts

Tether has consistently pushed forward with innovative blockchain developments. Just this month, it launched tether.wallet, its self custodial wallet that brings Tether’s global financial infrastructure within reach of those who have been left unbanked by the traditional financial system.

 

In an effort to enhance the utility of its stablecoins, Tether last month invested 5.2 million dollars into Ark Labs, supporting the building of Arkade, an infrastructure layer that brings programmable, instant transactions directly to the Bitcoin network. Through the Arkade network being built by Arkade Labs, we might see the introduction of stablecoins, including USDT, into Bitcoin.

 

Tether, for the first time, expanded USAT, its US regulated stablecoin, to the Celo blockchain. Since Celo is an Ethereum Layer 2 network optimized for payments, the expansion of USAT to Celo enabled the integration of USAT into Opera MiniPay and Google Cloud infrastructure.

 

 

Traditional finance giants Charles Schwab and Citadel Securities have revealed possible intentions to enter the crypto prediction market industry.

 

In a call with investors, Rick Wurster, chief executive of Charles Schwab, said that at some point the institution will likely offer its own prediction markets. According to Wurster, prediction markets were not of “tremendous interest” to Schwab, but he said the sector is one the company will take a hard look at and that it would be relatively straightforward to offer such products.

 

Image credit: CNBC

 

However, if Schwab does decide to enter the prediction markets industry, Wurster said it would steer away from bets in areas such as sports, politics and pop culture, adding that the firm aims to position itself as a partner for building long term wealth.

 

“Prediction markets that are not aligned to that are not something that we want to pursue,” Wurster said. “If you look at the stats on the success of gamblers, they are not strong, and people generally lose money.”

 

Citadel Securities also opened up about the possibility of entering prediction markets in the future. At a recent Semafor conference in Washington, DC, Jim Esposito, president of Citadel Securities, said the company is “absolutely keeping an eye on developments” in prediction markets.

 

Image credit: YouTube

 

Although Esposito said Citadel Securities is not there yet because there is not much liquidity in the prediction markets industry, he added that the market is likely to ramp up and scale, and that there is a possibility of the firm getting involved in the future.

 

However, like Wurster’s position on avoiding sports betting contracts, Esposito said Citadel would avoid offering sports event contracts, but signaled interest in other types of event-based contracts.

 

Why Are Sports Event Contracts Being Avoided?

Based on the statistics, sports event contracts are the largest category of contracts on prediction market platforms. According to a recent report, sports event contracts made up 87 percent, or $9.9 billion, of Kalshi’s March $11.39 billion trading volume. On Polymarket, sports event contracts generated over $120 million in 24-hour trading volume in March.

 

However, despite their potential, Charles Schwab and Citadel Securities have said they would not be offering these contracts. For Schwab, these contracts will be avoided as they do not align with the company's goal of positioning itself as a long-term wealth builder. According to Rick Wurster, the chief executive officer of Charles Schwab, people generally lose money from these contracts. The demand for these contracts is also low among Schwab’s clients.

 

Citadel has described these contracts as having thin liquidity. Regulatory uncertainty is also a concern, as the offering of sports event contracts by prediction market platforms is one of the reasons regulators have raised concerns about Polymarket, Kalshi, and other prediction market companies.

 

 

AllUnity, a regulated European stablecoin issuer, is bringing EURAU, its Markets in Crypto-Assets compliant stablecoin, to major decentralized exchanges.

 

The announcement, made recently by the issuer, will see the introduction of AllUnity’s EURAU stablecoin in two trading pairs across multiple chains. These include the EURAU/USDT pair on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains via Uniswap and Raydium, as well as the EURAU/USDT0 trading pair on the Tempo blockchain via Uniswap.

 

To support this expansion initiative, Flowdesk, a regulated digital asset trading firm, will serve as the main liquidity provider for the EURAU rollout across the different decentralized exchanges. This move is expected to improve EURAU’s integration and utility in decentralized finance, enabling traders to swap between EURAU and USDT with reduced slippage.

 

According to Rupertus Rothenhäuser, Chief Commercial Officer at AllUnity, the expansion represents a key step toward building a robust and accessible euro liquidity layer. He added that it will enable seamless euro to dollar trading and empower institutions and liquidity providers to participate in deep and efficient markets.

 

Dollar-pegged stablecoins continue to dominate

Stablecoins tied to the U.S. dollar continue to maintain the largest share of the more than $320 billion stablecoin market cap. According to a report, USD pegged stablecoins make up about 99 percent of the total global stablecoin supply, with Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC being the largest by market cap.

 

Euro pegged stablecoins account for a small share of the global supply, with a market cap of about €450 million to approximately $1 billion, representing less than 0.3 percent of the total.

 

Despite remaining a niche segment of the crypto market, euro pegged stablecoins have seen some institutional adoption in recent months. In February this year, Société Générale, one of Europe’s largest banks, expanded its euro pegged EURCV stablecoin to the XRP Ledger and the Stellar blockchain.

 

In December last year, about twelve of Europe’s largest banks, including ING, UniCredit, BNP Paribas, and CaixaBank, formed Qivalis, a joint consortium to launch a euro pegged stablecoin. The consortium has engaged in regulatory dialogue with the Dutch National Bank and has entered advanced talks with cryptocurrency exchanges regarding the launch, which is expected this quarter. 

 

 

Société Générale-FORGE (SG FORGE), the digital asset subsidiary of Société Générale, one of France’s largest multinational banks, has partnered with Consensys to bring its Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MICA)-compliant USD CoinVertible (USDCV) stablecoin into MetaMask.

 

The partnership, announced in a recent press release, will see USD CoinVertible (USDCV), one of the few regulated stablecoins issued by a major traditional bank, among the few shortlisted stablecoins available on MetaMask.

 

 

To appeal to all kinds of users, including retail and institutional users, the USDCV stablecoin is fully regulated and compliant, with full reserves and one to one backing to the US dollar. It is backed by cash and cash equivalents, with BNY Mellon serving as its reserve custodian.

 

Apart from helping bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance, the integration also creates a robust, secure, and transparent environment for users, including retail and institutional users looking to conduct blockchain transactions and decentralized finance interactions.

 

With support from global payments infrastructure company Transak, users will be able to perform on ramp and off ramp activities with the USDCV stablecoin within the MetaMask app, while also being able to trade crypto assets with it.

 

Speaking on the integration, Jean Marc Stenger, CEO of Société Générale FORGE, said the integration is aimed at accelerating the emergence of an interoperable financial system that combines the advantages of blockchain technology with the security and compliance of an European Union regulated stablecoin supported by one of Europe’s largest banks.

 

SG-FORGE Ramps Up its Crypto Efforts

Société Générale, through its digital asset subsidiary SG FORGE, has continued to bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance, integrating its EUR CoinVertible (EURCV) and USD CoinVertible (USDCV) stablecoins across different traditional finance and crypto ecosystems.

 

In January of this year, SG FORGE, in partnership with payments giant SWIFT, ran an interoperability test on SWIFT’s payment system, using its EURCV stablecoin as a means of exchange and for tokenized bond settlement, an experiment that was marked as successful.

 

In November last year, SG FORGE integrated its EURCV and USDCV stablecoins into the system of Deutsche Börse Group, one of the world’s leading financial market infrastructure providers. This integration enabled token based cash solutions, settlement, and a broader use of stablecoins at institutional grade, closing the gap between core crypto users and traditional capital markets.

 

SG FORGE stablecoin assets have been integrated across other blockchain infrastructures, including decentralized finance lending platform Morpho and decentralized exchange Uniswap. The EURCV and USDCV stablecoin assets have also been deployed on some layer-1 chains, notably Ethereum, Solana, XRP Ledger, and Stellar, supporting a wide variety of blockchain use cases.

 

 

The XRP Ledger (XRPL), a decentralized public blockchain designed for fast, low cost blockchain transactions, has integrated Boundless zero knowledge proofs (ZKPs) to provide banks and asset managers with confidential yet compliance friendly blockchain transactions.

 

The integration, announced Tuesday at XRPL Zone Paris during Paris Blockchain Week, will see XRPL leverage Boundless zero knowledge proofs to keep sensitive financial data private while maintaining the auditability and compliance of this data, exactly what banks and financial institutions have long requested on public blockchains.

 

 

According to Shiv Shankar, Chief Executive Officer of Boundless, the integration of Boundless zero knowledge infrastructure into the XRP Ledger will enhance institutional level privacy by shielding sensitive transaction details, including transaction size, frequency, and counterparties, from public view while still allowing regulators to audit transactions through selective disclosure and role based access controls.

 

Unlike most public blockchains, which allow anyone to see all activity on them, the Boundless XRPL integration cryptographically shields sensitive details about blockchain transactions. However, this does not mean that the XRP Ledger will be completely private or difficult for regulators to audit. Through role based access controls, XRP Ledger activity will still be visible and auditable to authorized parties.

 

This means that while the public will see almost nothing about a transaction, apart from confirmation that it occurred, a bank’s internal compliance team will be able to access more detailed information, and regulators will be able to request and receive comprehensive audit data when there is a valid basis to do so.

 

With this integration, banks, asset managers, and other large financial institutions will not have to make a trade off between transparency and confidentiality, as the Boundless integration upholds high standards of privacy while enabling regulatory oversight of blockchain transactions.

 

Blockchain Privacy Gains Momentum

Blockchain privacy continues to grow, evolving from a niche segment into broader institutional adoption among traditional financial institutions.

 

In March of this year, SWIFT, BNY Mellon, and some of the largest banks in the world, including HSBC, JPMorgan, and Citigroup, announced plans to build a blockchain based shared ledger on Linea, an Ethereum Layer 2 zk rollup developed by Consensys, the team behind MetaMask. Although this shared ledger is intended to facilitate fast cross border payments and the settlement of tokenized assets, it uses zero knowledge proofs to keep sensitive transaction details private.

 

In 2024, Deutsche Bank, alongside Privado ID, began testing the use of zero knowledge technology for decentralized, privacy preserving digital identity in banking systems and other financial infrastructure.

 

 

The Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s central bank, has proposed the introduction of crypto circuit breakers for domestic cryptocurrency exchanges, months after the Bithumb Bitcoin blunder.

 

In its recently published 2025 Payment and Settlement Systems Report, the bank recommended introducing system-level safeguards similar to the Korea Exchange (KRX) stock market circuit breakers that would automatically halt trading on crypto exchanges, especially during sharp price swings or abnormal transactions caused by large volume or erroneous trades.

 

Referencing the massive payout mishap at Bithumb in February, the BOK argued that this feature would help prevent such incidents from repeating, citing the crypto market’s lack of sufficient safeguards compared to traditional finance. It also suggested including the proposal in South Korea’s pending Digital Asset Basic Act.

 

“The virtual asset industry has inadequate internal control systems and faces weaker regulatory oversight compared to traditional financial institutions,” the bank said.

 

“It is necessary to consider introducing systemic mechanisms such as the Korea Exchange’s circuit breaker, which can block abnormal trades such as large orders or halt trading in the event of sudden fluctuations in virtual asset prices.”

 

Bithumb February Bitcoin Blunder

On February 6, 2026, Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was running its routine “Random Box” promotional giveaway. The plan was to distribute small cash prizes totaling 620,000 Korean won (KRW), worth approximately 423 to 460 US dollars, to about 600 qualified users, with each user receiving between 2,000 and 50,000 KRW, or about 1.37 to 34 US dollars.

 

However, the situation escalated when an employee mistakenly entered “BTC” as the currency unit instead of “KRW.” As a result, the system instantly credited approximately 620,000 Bitcoin to users, with each user receiving roughly 2,000 Bitcoin.

 

Bithumb detected the error within minutes and promptly restricted trading and withdrawals on the affected accounts. The exchange was able to recover 99.7 percent of the distributed Bitcoin, while the remaining 1,788 Bitcoin that had already been sold by users were covered by the exchange’s corporate reserves.

 

While the introduction of stock-style circuit breakers for cryptocurrency exchanges appears to be motivated by a desire to protect markets, many experts argue that such measures run counter to the decentralized and borderless nature of cryptocurrency. 

 

Some warn that these guardrails could amplify risks and create price discrepancies between domestic exchanges and global markets. This, in turn, could lead to arbitrage opportunities and confusion, particularly when South Korean exchanges halt trading while the rest of the world continues.

 

 

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has secured the Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia’s main financial regulator, expanding its services beyond cryptocurrencies.

 

With the AFSL license secured, Coinbase Australia Pty Ltd, the exchange’s Australian entity, will be the first cryptocurrency exchange in Australia to offer non-crypto retail derivatives.

 

 

According to John O'Loghlen, the regional managing director for APAC and Australia country director at Coinbase, the expansion will begin with Coinbase offering crypto and equity perpetuals to its Australian users, followed by future expansion into futures, options, and stock trading, all of which will be made available through the Coinbase Wallet app.

 

With this planned expansion, Coinbase will be competing directly with traditional finance companies already offering these non-crypto derivatives, including IG Markets, CMC Markets, and Pepperstone, which serve hundreds of thousands of users. Nevertheless, according to O'Loghlen, Coinbase will be leveraging the speed and execution advantages of crypto.

 

Review of Coinbase Activity in Australia

Since its entry into the Australian crypto market in 2016, Coinbase has performed fairly well, particularly given that Australia is known for high cryptocurrency adoption, with about 33 percent of Australians reportedly having been exposed to cryptocurrencies.

 

In 2022, Coinbase expanded from offering basic crypto services to establishing a local Australian entity, Coinbase Australia Pty Ltd, which was registered with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, AUSTRAC, Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing regulator and financial intelligence agency.

 

Through its Australian entity, headed by John O’Loghlen, Coinbase began offering PayID support for fast Australian dollar transfers, advanced trading features, and round-the-clock local customer support for its Australian users.

 

Coinbase’s journey in the Australian crypto sector has also been relatively smooth from a regulatory perspective, as it has not faced any major legal or regulatory challenges from Australian regulators, despite the country’s strict crypto enforcement actions and penalties imposed on compliance violators.

 

 

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the primary insurance body for bank deposits in the United States, has recently moved to regulate FDIC supervised stablecoin issuers in accordance with the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.

 

The agency, in a recent press release, announced that its board of directors had approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement key provisions under the GENIUS Act.

 

According to the FDIC, this proposal would provide a prudential framework for permitted payment stablecoin issuers under its supervision, setting standards with regard to stablecoin reserve assets, redemption, capital, liquidity, and risk management that will be uniformly adhered to by all FDIC supervised stablecoin issuers.

 

The proposal will also establish requirements for FDIC supervised permitted payment stablecoin issuers and insured depository institutions that provide certain payment stablecoin related custodial and safekeeping services.

 

All entities under FDIC supervision, including permitted payment stablecoin issuers, which are entities legally approved to issue stablecoins in the United States, and insured depository institutions, which include banks and other federally insured financial institutions, must comply with this new FDIC stablecoin prudential rule if they are engaged in issuing stablecoins or providing related services.

 

Although the FDIC insures deposits at more than 4,000 financial institutions in the United States and supervises more than 2,700 banks, there are currently no approved permitted payment stablecoin issuers or insured depository institutions operating under this specific framework. Approval would only follow once the proposal becomes a final rule, after which entities may begin applying for supervision under the FDIC.

 

For the proposal to become a rule, it must be released for public comment, which has already occurred, with a 60-day window provided for feedback. After the 60-day window elapses, the FDIC will review the comments and feedback and make any necessary adjustments based on the public response.

 

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and, in some cases, the Treasury Department may be invited to review the final proposal to ensure it does not conflict with existing banking and financial laws. After this review, the FDIC board may approve it as a final rule, after which it is published in the Federal Register.

 

What happens after the proposal becomes law?

Upon the proposal becoming law, banks and other eligible financial institutions can then apply for designation as a Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuer (PPSI) under FDIC supervision. The application is reviewed and either approved or denied by the FDIC within a period of 120 days. 

 

The FDIC will also regularly review the capital, reserves, risk controls, and compliance systems of these approved entities to ensure they are safe to operate.

 

 

Charles Schwab, the Texas-based brokerage giant with more than $12.2 trillion in assets under management, confirmed Friday it is on track to roll out spot Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for U.S. clients before the end of Q2. It is, by any measure, a significant moment for the digital asset industry, though the market's reaction has been muted so far.

 

"We remain on track to launch our spot crypto offer in the first half of 2026, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum," a company spokesperson told reporters Friday. Clients looking for early access can now join a waitlist through the newly launched Schwab Crypto page, which has quietly appeared under the firm's Investment Products section online.

 

A Phased Rollout

CEO Rick Wurster, confirmed the launch will start in Q2 with a limited client pilot before widening to the broader investor base. Before that even happens, the firm plans to test the product internally with its own employees, a cautious approach that is very much in line with how Schwab tends to operate.

 

The service will be operated through Charles Schwab Premier Bank, SSB, a regulated banking subsidiary. Although, not everyone in the U.S. will have access at launch. Residents of New York and Louisiana are excluded from the signup form, due to tight state-level regulatory considerations that have long complicated crypto product rollouts in those markets.

 

What This Actually Means for Crypto Exchanges

The competitive implications here are real. Schwab is not some fintech startup trying to chip away at Coinbase's market share from the margins. This is a firm with tens of millions of existing retail and institutional clients who already trust it with their stocks, bonds, and retirement accounts. Bringing Bitcoin and Ethereum into that same account view, without needing a separate wallet or a new platform login, removes one of the biggest friction points keeping traditional investors on the sidelines.

 

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has flagged pricing as the key variable to watch. Schwab already offers zero-commission stock and ETF trading. If the firm prices spot crypto below 50 basis points, the pressure on crypto-native exchanges could be significant, particularly for casual retail traders who are cost-sensitive and already comfortable inside the Schwab ecosystem.

 

Are Stablecoins Next?

Spot trading is likely just the opening move. Wurster signaled during an earnings call late last year that the firm wants exposure to stablecoins as well, describing them as something that will likely play a role in transacting on blockchains. A stablecoin offering, if it materializes, would put Schwab in even more direct competition with crypto-native platforms and potentially with payment networks.

 

The firm has also been expanding through acquisitions. Earlier this year, Schwab announced a $660 million deal to buy private shares platform Forge Global, aimed at giving clients access to pre-IPO investments. Wurster has said Schwab remains open to further deals in the crypto space if the right opportunity and valuation align.

 

Where Bitcoin and Ethereum Stand Right Now

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading near $67,000, down roughly 47% from its all-time high of $126,080. Ethereum sat around $2,050, off nearly 59% from its own peak set last August. Both assets have had a difficult few months, which makes the timing of Schwab's entry intriguing. The firm is coming in during a period of weakness, not euphoria, which could prove to be well-timed when the market recovers.

 

Schwab shares closed Thursday up about 1.5%, trading near $93.77, representing roughly a 19% gain over the past year. That compares favorably with Bitcoin's 18.5% decline over the same stretch. The brokerage's stock has, for now, outperformed the very asset class it is preparing to offer its clients.

 

Whether Schwab's entry into spot crypto ultimately proves to be a turning point for mainstream adoption, or just another incremental step in a long institutional migration into digital assets, remains to be seen.

 

Peken Global Limited, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin, has agreed to pay $500,000 in a settlement in a case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which alleged that the company operated an unregistered trading platform for U.S. users.

 

In a Monday press release, the CFTC announced that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York had entered a consent order with Peken Global Limited to resolve the case with the U.S. commodities regulator. As part of the agreement, Peken is permanently restrained from future violations.

 

According to the CFTC, the settlement was reached as a result of Peken’s cooperation during the investigation and related proceedings. The agency also stated that neither it nor the court would be seeking or imposing disgorgement of profits from Peken.

 

The CFTC Case With Kucoin

The CFTC case involving crypto exchange KuCoin officially began on March 26, 2024, when the U.S. commodity regulator filed a civil lawsuit against KuCoin and its related entities, including Peken Global Limited, Mek Global Limited, PhoenixFin PTE Ltd., and Flashdot Limited.

 

The CFTC accused KuCoin and its affiliates of violating several U.S. financial laws, including operating an unregistered trading platform, offering high-risk and unregistered crypto products, failing to properly verify users, and violating U.S. anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements.

 

KuCoin agreed to settle the charges, paying penalties totaling nearly $300 million and committing to exit the U.S. market for at least three years.

 

This is not the first time KuCoin has faced regulatory challenges in the United States. In 2023, the New York Attorney General accused the exchange of operating in the state without proper registration, resulting in a $22 million settlement and an order to cease operations in New York.

 

KuCoin has also faced regulatory actions outside the U.S. 

 

In 2022, the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada identified it as an unregistered crypto exchange, resulting in a $2 million penalty. In 2025, Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) imposed a $19.5 million fine on the exchange for allegedly violating anti-money laundering laws. More recently, Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) restricted the exchange from registering new users until it complied with local AML regulations.