The US Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan sanctions package 86-11 targeting Russian energy revenues, oligarchs, and the shadow fleet, allowing tariffs up to 500% on Russian imports and penalizing nations like China and India that buy Russian energy.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) announced Project Agorá successfully completed real-value testing of tokenized wholesale cross-border payments. The trials involved 28 financial institutions and central banks, settling 800,000 Swiss francs across 17 scenarios with an average settlement time of 80 seconds.
The EU unveiled its largest sanctions package in four years against Russia, leading FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich to suspend his activity. The measures target 218 individuals and entities, including banks, vessels, and military-industrial complex, while Ukraine faces ongoing attacks.
The EU has enacted its 21st sanctions package, expanding measures against Russia's financial and banking sector with asset freezes and transaction bans on 94 institutions. It also targets a Kyrgyz bank and three other non-Russian banks for circumventing sanctions, and introduces a new instrument for a full third-country ban on crypto-asset services used by Russia.
Federal prosecutors indicted Sioux Falls crypto investor Benjamin Paul Wiener on 29 counts, including wire fraud and money laundering, alleging he defrauded dozens of victims of $20 million through eight entities and concealed funds. He pleaded not guilty, with his trial set for September 15.
Visa has launched its Stablecoin Platform (VSP) for banks, fintechs, and payment providers, enabling them to issue, hold, and transfer stablecoins through its network. The platform supports Open USD, Circle's USDC, and Paxos' USDG, and is entering a beta phase with select customers before a wider rollout.
Trump Media & Technology Group to launch Truth API, a paid service offering real-time, machine-readable feeds of high-impact Truth Social posts to financial institutions, raising concerns about monetizing the presidency.
Tokenized stock transfers surged over 100% to $8.41 billion in the past month, with distributed value up 43% to $2.16 billion. Major platforms like Figure, Securitize, and xStocks saw significant growth, while Ondo leads as the largest tokenized stock platform.
BNB Chain is undergoing a major architectural restructuring to achieve 1 million transactions per second, integrate protocol-level privacy, and cater to AI agents and traditional finance. This aims to reverse recent declines in its native token and network activity.
Ethereum Institutional, a new nonprofit, launched Wednesday to help Wall Street firms adopt Ethereum-based infrastructure, tokenization, and stablecoins. It follows the recent launch of Ethlabs, another Ethereum nonprofit, amid restructuring and criticism of the Ethereum Foundation.
A new nonprofit, Ethereum Institutional, has launched to coordinate institutional outreach for the Ethereum blockchain, backed by key treasury holders and co-founder Joe Lubin. It aims to attract more banks and financial institutions by offering education and industry research.
Visa, Mastercard, and Coinbase have launched Open Standard, a stablecoin network with over 140 businesses, aiming to boost global stablecoin adoption. They plan to release Open USD, a US dollar-pegged coin, later this year.
European officials and financial institutions at the Tashkent International Investment Forum emphasized that Central Asia's ability to attract investment depends on predictable regulations, access to finance, and efficient transport links, alongside its natural resources and strategic location.
Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced plans for a new international financial centre operating under English common law principles, offering extensive tax incentives for 50 years. The initiative aims to attract foreign investment by creating a familiar regulatory environment. The country has attracted over $150bn in foreign investment recently, with its economy growing by 7.7% last year.
Uzbekistan announced plans for a new international financial centre and six investment priorities at the Tashkent International Investment Forum. The centre will operate under English common law with significant tax incentives for 50 years. The country has attracted over $150 billion in foreign investment recently.
State Street Investment Management launched a money market fund for stablecoin issuers, designed to hold reserve assets under the new GENIUS Act framework. The fund invests in US government securities and repurchase agreements, with initial investors including State Street Bank and Anchorage Digital.
Morgan Stanley is enabling external AI agents to directly access its stock administration platforms, marking a significant step in integrating AI into financial services. This move aims to scale services and improve client interaction.
Financial institutions like Franklin Templeton and BNP Paribas are exploring tokenization and stablecoins to enhance capital markets in Europe by improving settlement and liquidity. Major US banks are also planning tokenized deposit networks, while Nasdaq and NYSE are developing tokenized trading infrastructure.
Kazakhstan's Altyn Bank, backed by China Citic Bank, is seeking partnerships with Hong Kong financial institutions and investors to develop new financing channels for Central Asia via the city's offshore renminbi market. The bank's chairman noted three clients are exploring dim sum bond issuance.
Japan's government, major financial institutions, and critical infrastructure organizations have secured access to Anthropic's AI model 'Mythos', which can detect software vulnerabilities. The move aims to bolster cybersecurity defenses against potential attacks.
Multiple financial institutions showcased innovative services for sci-tech enterprises at the 2026 World Intelligence Industry Expo in Tianjin. The event highlighted diversified, full-cycle tech-finance services including equity funds, debt-to-equity swaps, and financial leasing.
Digital Minister Matsumoto expressed his welcome for US startup Anthropic granting the Japanese government and some domestic financial institutions access to its AI model "Claude-3". Details on contract value and eligible companies were not disclosed.
The UK sanctions crypto exchange HTX for aiding Russia's financial sector through alleged ties to A7, a Russian crypto exchange. UK institutions are banned from doing business with HTX, and may freeze related transactions.
Anthropic's new AI, Claude-Mytos, poses a significant threat to financial institutions by identifying system vulnerabilities. The potential for widespread distribution of correction programs and the AI's ability to generate attack code could force smaller banks into consolidation due to high costs.
