Author: John Smith

Russia has warned that investors may have to absorb losses when foreign stablecoin issuers freeze assets outside a Russian depository’s control, as officials estimate residents hold 3.7 trillion rubles, or roughly $44 billion, in crypto and related products. Summary Russia estimates roughly 20 million crypto users collectively hold 3.7 trillion rubles in digital assets. Daily Russian crypto transactions total about 50 billion rubles, according to Deputy Finance Minister Chebeskov. Investors may bear losses when foreign stablecoin issuers freeze assets beyond direct Russian depositories’ control. Russian tax residents must report qualifying crypto activity conducted outside domestic regulated infrastructure beginning 2027. Nonqualified…

Bitcoin and Ethereum options carrying roughly $18.1 billion in notional value have moved toward their Sept. 25 quarterly expiry with calls outweighing puts across both markets, according to Coinbase Markets. Summary Bitcoin and Ethereum options worth roughly $18.1 billion are scheduled to expire and settle Friday. Bitcoin options carry a 0.66 put-call ratio, while recent trading volume shows 0.37, Coinbase reports. Ethereum options show 0.61 open-interest put-call ratio, with recent trading volume at 0.55, Coinbase says. Bitcoin call open interest clusters near $90,000 and $100,000 strikes ahead of Friday’s quarterly settlement. Ether call interest is concentrated between $3,000 and $4,000…

Stellar’s XLM has risen 2.7% to $0.2135 after BVNK added the blockchain to its stablecoin payments platform, opening the network to business payments across more than 130 markets. Summary BVNK has made Stellar available through its existing API for payments, payouts, remittances, and treasury transfers. CoinGecko data showed XLM trading at $0.2135, with a market value of about $7.46 billion and $403.3 million in daily volume. BVNK customers can use the new rail without building a separate blockchain connection or changing their current payment systems. The integration follows Mastercard’s acquisition of BVNK and a U.S. Bank test involving a proprietary…

NEAR has partnered with Ondo Finance to give eligible users access to 20 tokenized U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, and commodity-linked products through near.com and NEAR Intents. Summary 20 tokenized assets will initially include Tesla, Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, QQQ, SLV, and IAU. More than 30 connected blockchains can route supported crypto assets into Ondo Stocks through NEAR Intents. Eligible users can fund purchases with assets including Bitcoin and USDC without opening a separate brokerage account. U.S. persons cannot access Ondo Stocks under the product’s current securities restrictions. Ondo Finance said the integration would let eligible near.com users exchange supported crypto…

Pi Network has cleared a KYC barrier for more than 417,000 users and prepared a wallet fix for another 497,000 accounts that could not claim migrated PI balances. Summary More than 417,000 users can resume KYC after Pi removed possible duplicate-account flags. Around 497,000 Fast-Track wallets could not claim PI because they lacked gas funds. Yoti and Indonesian KIA applicants have received new options to resubmit their identity documents. Protocol V27 has moved to Testnet 2 after handling about 250 transactions per block. Pi Network has reopened KYC for 417,000 users Pi Core Team said in an update that it…

Canada’s six largest banks have formed a joint project to test transfers of tokenized Canadian-dollar deposits between regulated financial institutions. Summary Six major Canadian banks will jointly explore an interbank tokenized deposit system. The first phase will test transfers of digital bank deposits among participating institutions. Tokenized deposits remain bank liabilities, unlike separately issued stablecoins backed by reserve assets. The Canadian project could eventually connect with other bank-led digital asset networks. TD Bank has announced that Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank and Toronto-Dominion Bank Group will participate in…

BitMEX has removed its remaining spot, conversion, and derivatives markets ahead of its Sep. 23 shutdown, ending more than 11 years of exchange operations. Summary BitMEX will end all exchange services at 04:00 UTC on Sep. 23. Remaining positions will be force-closed using the relevant contract settlement price. Customers can withdraw after closure, although account fees and new verification steps will apply. The exchange failed to secure a buyer after reportedly seeking a valuation near $1 billion. BitMEX said HDR Global Trading Limited, its owner and operator, approved the closure after a “strategic review of the business and the broader…

The European Central Bank and the EU’s 27 national central banks have asked regulators to replace MiCA’s 30% and 60% bank-deposit floors for stablecoin reserves with maturity-based liquidity requirements. Summary MiCA requires regular stablecoin issuers to hold 30% of reserves in commercial bank deposits. The bank-deposit requirement rises to 60% for stablecoins classified as significant. European central banks said large redemptions could transmit stress from stablecoins to commercial lenders. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino warned about the same reserve structure in 2024. The European System of Central Banks said in its response to the European Commission’s MiCA consultation that stablecoin issuers…

Kalshi has asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to approve a margin framework for eligible event contracts, limiting access to qualified participants and excluding markets tied to sports. Summary Eligible contracts may cover economic, financial, political, commercial, and other verifiable events. Sports contracts will remain ineligible, while Kalshi reportedly excluded culture and mention markets. Access will require trading through an FCM or qualifying as an approved self-clearing member. Kalshi’s model uses a one-day risk period and targets confidence above the required 99% level. Kalshi margin framework targets eligible event contracts Kalshi Klear’s Sept. 22 filing asks the CFTC to approve…

As access to Monero has become more restricted on some centralized exchanges — notably after Binance delisted XMR globally on 20 February 2024, OKX removed XMR pairs on 5 January 2024, and Kraken restricted it for EEA users on 31 October 2024 — many users now rely on instant swap services and decentralized platforms. This guide compares practical ways to exchange Monero without registration, focusing on USDT TRC20 to XMR, minimum amounts, confirmation requirements, and AML procedures. Why use a Monero exchange without registration? Monero’s privacy features — ring signatures, stealth addresses, and confidential transactions — hide sender, receiver and…