In this issue:

U.S. Financial Services Firms Announce Stablecoin Products

By Jackson Polish

A U.S. national bank, SoFi, recently announced that it is the first to offer a “U.S. national bank-issued stablecoin [that] is available directly on a banking app.” According to a press release, the stablecoin, SoFiUSD, will provide SoFi customers with “a single place to buy, hold, and pay with digital assets in the same app they already use to save, spend, borrow, and invest.” The press release further notes that the launch of SoFiUSD marks the “first phase of a broader roadmap to integrate stablecoin utility across the entire SoFi ecosystem” whereby members can “earn interest and access FDIC insurance on the deposits” and transfer funds “across borders 24/7/365, with fewer delays and lower costs.”

In another stablecoin development, a major global money transfer company announced “the launch of MGUSD, a native U.S. dollar stablecoin.” According to the press release, MGUSD will serve as “the connective tissue powering those services for families sending money across borders and billions of people underserved by traditional finance.” The company believes that MGUSD can give its customers “a stable, dollar-denominated balance they can hold and access 24/7, as well as move globally and convert into local currency when they need it, on their own terms, at any time, from anywhere.”

And in related news, a major U.S. financial services company and payment card provider announced that it intends to use regulated stablecoins to “expand its settlement capabilities with additional, intraday, weekend and holiday card settlement, supporting both fiat currencies and on-chain card settlement.” The press release explains that the company sees these enhancements as particularly relevant “where timing and transparency are key, including cross-border payments, treasury and payouts.” Specifically, the company finds that “introducing intraday and weekend” settlement options across the company’s global network will allow partners to “manage liquidity and operate in an always-on digital economy” while also providing “trust, resilience and safeguards.”

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Crypto Companies, Fintechs and Banks Continue Product Integrations

By Om M. Kakani

Recent announcements describe integrations between digital asset infrastructure providers, global payment networks and financial institutions focused on settlement, fiat access and embedded financial services. Circle and Nium announced a partnership to link USDC settlement through the Circle Payments Network with Nium’s global payout infrastructure. Under the integration, financial institutions connected to Circle’s network can route payments through a single integration to Nium, enabling the delivery of funds into bank accounts and digital wallets and onto cards across more than 190 countries and 100 currencies. The combined system incorporates USDC-based settlement, real-time payout capabilities and foreign exchange routing, allowing institutions to complete cross-border transactions without maintaining prefunded accounts in multiple jurisdictions.

In a separate announcement, one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges disclosed a partnership with a major international bank to expand global fiat access for the exchange’s institutional clients. The integration introduces multicurrency banking rails, including Australian dollars, Singapore dollars, Canadian dollars and Swiss francs, along with settlement support for euros and British pounds through the bank’s infrastructure. According to a blog post by the exchange, these capabilities enable institutional users to fund accounts, transact and move capital across regions using multiple currencies within a single platform.

A third development involves money app Phantom’s integration of payment functionality into its digital wallet application using infrastructure from a major U.S. fintech and payments company and its crypto-focused affiliate. Phantom introduced a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, CASH, through the companies’ issuance platform, alongside related onramp, debit card and virtual account capabilities. The platform enables users to fund CASH accounts, hold balances and spend through merchants supported by the U.S. fintech company, with these features integrated directly within the Phantom application.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

U.S. Crypto Companies Announce Initiatives in Tokenization, Perpetual Futures

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

A major U.S. blockchain infrastructure and tokenization platform, Paxos, recently announced that its subsidiary “has been granted registration as a clearing agency by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.” According to a press release, “The registration makes PSSC the only blockchain-native firm approved by the SEC as a registered clearing agency to provide clearing and settlement services as a central securities depository in the United States.” The press release further notes that the approval “represents a critical piece of financial market infrastructure as blockchain technology and traditional capital markets continue to converge.”

In related news, a major global provider of post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry (the Company) recently announced a collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation to enable tokenization on the public Stellar network of assets custodied by the Company. According to the press release, “The connection with Stellar advances [the Company’s] standards-driven, multi-chain strategy following receipt of a No-Action Letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2025 authorizing [the Company] to implement and operate a new service to tokenize real-world, [Company]-custodied assets, which will enable market participants to leverage traditional assets in a digital ecosystem with opportunities for faster settlement, greater asset mobility, extended trading hours, and lower cost and risk.”

And in a final development, one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges recently announced two new products. The first product involves a partnership with Veda, a decentralized finance vault infrastructure provider, to allow customers of the crypto exchange to earn yield on their bitcoin (BTC) deposits leveraging Veda’s noncustodial BTC vault platform. The second product involves the expected launch of “the first CFTC-regulated perpetual futures in the U.S.” According to a blog post by the exchange, the perpetual futures contracts will be listed on Bitnomial, a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange recently acquired by the exchange’s parent company.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

CFTC Approves Bitcoin Perpetual Futures, Issues Related Statement and Advisory

By Amos Kim

On May 29, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued two orders – and published a related staff advisory and policy statement – regarding perpetual bitcoin futures products. The first order approved KalshiEX LLC, a designated contract market, for the listing of the BTCPERP Contract, a perpetual contract that references the spot price of bitcoin, as a futures contract. According to a press release, the CFTC issued the order under Section 5c(c)(4) of the Commodity Exchange Act and Commission Regulation 40.3. After review of the submission and associated materials, the CFTC “determined that the BTCPERP Contract complies with the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission’s regulations thereunder, including the Core Principles applicable to DCMs under Section 5(d) of the Act and Part 38 of the Commission’s regulations.” According to the press release, the order “was based on representations and submissions made by Kalshi … including its explanation and analysis of the BTCPERP Contract’s terms and conditions, the nature of the underlying commodity market, and the BTCPERP Contract’s compliance with applicable provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act and the Commission’s regulations thereunder, including the Core Principles applicable to DCMs.”

The second CFTC order provided a formal staff interpretation and conditional no-action position to a registered futures commission merchant (FCM) that is an affiliate of a major U.S. crypto exchange, confirming that certain digital commodity perpetual contracts offered by the FCM through its foreign broker affiliate, and traded on the foreign board of trade Deribit FZE, may be categorized as “foreign futures” under Commission Regulation 30.1. In the interpretation, the CFTC determined that despite their indefinite duration, the contracts satisfy the element of futurity by establishing future executory funding payment obligations. The CFTC also granted a no-action position allowing the FCM to transfer customer-owned digital commodities and payment stablecoins to its foreign broker affiliate as margin under a contractually granted “right of re-use.”

The May 29 CFTC policy statement articulates the CFTC’s views on the listing of perpetual contracts. The policy statement clarifies that traditional futures rely on a fixed expiration date to achieve spot price convergence, whereas perpetual contracts utilize a periodic funding rate mechanism to incentivize arbitrage and maintain relative price parity. According to the policy statement, because this design raises novel market structure complexities, the reference price must remain resilient at every funding interval rather than a single moment at expiry. Accordingly, the CFTC’s position is that the voluntary review and approval process detailed in Commission Regulation 40.3, rather than self-certification under Regulation 40.2, is appropriate for perpetual contracts referencing asset classes not contemplated in the CFTC’s May 29 order approving perpetual bitcoin futures contracts.

Also on May 29, three CFTC divisions jointly issued Staff Advisory No. 26-16 to outline compliance expectations for entities extending trading, clearing or intermediation operations to a 24/7 basis. The advisory notes that while crypto derivatives may be well suited for continuous operations due to global digital infrastructure, other markets, such as agricultural products, may be less suited due to localized hedging practices and regional customer bases. According to the advisory, under continuous schedules, DCMs and swap execution facilities must demonstrate robust real-time surveillance to mitigate manipulation risks in thinly traded periods alongside core system safeguards designed to ensure reliability and resilience, including the avoidance of single points of failure. The advisory also provides certain requirements and expectations for derivatives clearing organizations and FCMs engaging in 24/7 trading.

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U.S. Department of the Treasury Sanctions Iranian Crypto Exchanges

By Ariana Dindiyal

As part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s aggressive and maximum pressure sanctions campaign against Iran, named Economic Fury, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently announced sanctions against Iran’s largest crypto exchange, Nobitex, and three other Iranian crypto exchanges. In a recent press release, the Treasury alleged that Nobitex aided the Iranian government by providing “significant support” to the Central Bank of Iran. 

According to OFAC, Nobitex helped Iran “shield regime wealth” by “processing more than 50 percent of all Iranian digital asset inflows in 2025 and facilitating payments tied to Iran’s terrorist activities, sanctions evasion efforts, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-linked transactions, including activity associated with IRGC-affiliated ransomware actors. Nobitex also helped the Central Bank of Iran access hundreds of millions of dollars in stablecoins used to prop up the plummeting value of the Iranian rial, while enabling regime insiders to access international digital asset exchanges and evade sanctions across multiple jurisdictions.”   

OFAC revised its webpage by posting a new FAQ, “Are non-U.S. persons exposed to sanctions risk for dealing with Iran-based digital asset exchanges Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, and Ramzinex following their June 2, 2026 designation?” OFAC also updated its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List to include Nobitex co-founders as well as its current and former CEOs.

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