The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) will conduct on-site inspections and desk-based reviews of authorized crypto asset service providers from the second half of 2026 through mid-2027 as part of ESMA's EU-wide supervisory action examining digital resilience and custody infrastructure.
Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings secured $600 million in loans from Coinbase Credit and Two Prime Lending on August 4, 2026, pledging 18,750 BTC (valued at approximately $1.2 billion) as collateral to finance expansion into artificial intelligence infrastructure and power generation. The move comes amid concerns after the company sold nearly all its mined Bitcoin and MARA stock dropped 10.9% following the announcement.
Dunamu, the parent company of Upbit cryptocurrency exchange, has secured a one-year contract to take custody of digital assets seized by South Korea's National Police Agency after winning the agency's public tender process.
Blockchain.com secured a definitive Virtual Asset Service Provider custody license from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority on July 22, 2026, upgrading from conditional approval granted in December 2025. The license authorizes the company to offer regulated custody services, crypto-to-fiat exchange, and other virtual asset services.
German exchange operator Boerse Stuttgart Digital and institutional crypto trading firm Tradias have finalized their merger after receiving regulatory approval, forming a combined digital asset infrastructure platform with nearly 300 employees offering trading, custody, staking, and tokenization services.
BNY, the largest custodian bank in the US, announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital to add cryptocurrency staking services to its digital asset custody platform, allowing institutional clients to earn staking rewards without moving assets off the platform, pending regulatory approval.
Nasdaq-listed crypto treasury company ZeroStack disclosed in a regulatory filing that substantial doubt exists about its ability to continue operating over the next year, reversing its assessment from three months earlier following significant cryptocurrency losses.
Industry experts and auditors are analyzing the effectiveness of Proof of Reserves mechanisms in the cryptocurrency sector, highlighting what these transparency measures reveal and what critical information they omit about exchange solvency.
Alpaca, a custody provider, now holds over $1.5 billion in shares backing tokenized equities, representing approximately 94% of the tokenized stock market. This concentration emerges as crypto exchanges increasingly offer tokenized securities products that allow traders to access traditional assets without opening conventional brokerage accounts.
Western Alliance Bank, a national commercial bank with over $90 billion in assets, has formally launched WA VenueX, an institutional financial platform designed to provide liquidity and banking services for blockchain-based digital assets and the on-chain economy.
Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, plans to build cryptocurrency trading infrastructure and launch a digital depository by December 1, 2026, following Russia's passage of its first comprehensive crypto market law.
Galaxy Digital launched Galaxy Curator, a Morpho-based vault curation service distributed via Fireblocks Earn, giving over 2,400 institutional clients access to curated onchain stablecoin yield strategies without managing DeFi infrastructure directly.
Crypto exchange AscendEX ceased operations effective July 1, 2026, citing lack of EU MiCA license compliance. The platform moved all withdrawal requests to manual review starting July 6, with reports indicating hot wallets lack sufficient funds to process user withdrawals.
Multiple users reported stuck withdrawals from cryptocurrency exchange AscendEX, with blockchain investigator ZachXBT stating the platform's known hot wallets hold insufficient funds to cover user balances, suggesting possible liquidity issues.
A wallet linked to US government holdings of seized FTX assets moved 98,590 LINK tokens worth approximately $768,000 to Coinbase Prime on Wednesday, raising speculation about a potential sale of the cryptocurrency.
Morgan Stanley Wealth Management announced a partnership with Galaxy Digital allowing eligible high-net-worth clients to lend Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana as collateral in exchange for shares of spot crypto exchange-traded products.
Zodia Custody obtained a payment institution license from Luxembourg's financial regulator to expand EU stablecoin services, while CEO Julian Sawyer confirmed Standard Chartered's full acquisition is targeting completion by end of August 2026.
Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley revealed that as many as 20 financial institutions and large tech companies are waiting to issue their own stablecoins with the U.S.-regulated custody firm, indicating significant institutional interest in stablecoin issuance.
BNY, the world's largest custodian bank with nearly $59 trillion in assets, is expanding its digital asset custody services into the UAE through local partnerships as institutional demand for secure custody in the region surges.
South Korean prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term for Delio CEO Jeong Sang-ho over allegations of embezzling $168.8 million from nearly 2,800 crypto deposit users through what they describe as 'active deceptive acts.'
MoonPay has acquired crypto key management firm Sodot in a $100 million stock deal and launched a new institutional business division led by former CFTC Acting Chair Caroline Pham. The acquisition provides security infrastructure for MoonPay's expansion into serving banks, asset managers, and trading firms.
Block Inc. revealed it holds 28,355 BTC ($2.2 billion) including $1.5 billion in customer Bitcoin and $692 million in corporate treasury, adding 114 BTC in Q1 and committing to regular third-party audited reports.
The CEO of troubled Polish exchange Zonda revealed a Bitcoin wallet holding approximately 4,500 BTC (worth over $330 million) is inaccessible because private keys were never transferred during a company handover.
The UK's FCA launched a consultation on proposed crypto regulations covering stablecoins, trading platforms, custody, and staking, with rules set to take effect by October 2027. The regulator is seeking industry feedback on its interpretation of regulated cryptoasset activities under the upcoming framework.
The U.S. SEC issued new guidance indicating that certain user-facing interfaces used in crypto securities trading may not need to register as broker-dealers if they allow users to transact using their own wallets without intermediation.
EDX Markets, backed by Citadel and Charles Schwab, applied for a national trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on April 1, 2026, to offer regulated custody and asset services separate from its trading operations. EDX joins at least eight other crypto firms pursuing similar federal banking charters.
Coinbase received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a national trust bank, enabling it to offer federally regulated crypto custody services. The approval moves Coinbase closer to operating as a federally regulated custodian pending final compliance review.
Australia has passed legislation mandating that digital asset platforms and tokenized custody platforms obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence within six months. The bill establishes a formal regulatory framework for crypto exchanges and custody services.
