In this issue:

U.S. Payments Companies Announce Stablecoin, AI and Validator Initiatives

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

A major U.S. financial institution and payment card network recently announced “new AI, stablecoin and token capabilities designed to help clients unlock the next generation of commerce.” Among other things, the company announced plans to build “the technology layer that can allow banks to turn traditional deposits into programmable, always-on digital money”; expand “stablecoin settlement pilots across multiple regions, blockchains and currencies”; and expand “stablecoin-linked card programs,” enabling consumers and businesses to spend stablecoin balances anywhere the company’s payment cards are accepted. In a related announcement, the same company announced that it has integrated its Intelligent Commerce platform with AgentCard, “a unified payments and identity product” developed by Alchemy, a Web3 infrastructure and developer platform.

Separately, another major U.S. financial institution and payment card network recently announced the launch of “Agent Pay for Machines (AP4M), a new service that will allow … transactions to be permissioned, orchestrated and settled at machine speed across its global payments network.” According to a press release, the new AP4M service will include support for stablecoin payments and settlement.

In a final related item, a major U.S. money transfer network recently announced that it has “become an active validator on the Solana network, contributing directly to the security, integrity and performance of one of the world’s highest-performing blockchains.” According to a press release, the company “is also now part of Solana Developer Platform, an AI-ready, API-driven platform to design, build and scale compliant financial products on Solana.”

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Major U.S. Banks Receive OCC Trust Charters, Launch Stablecoin Reserve Funds

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

According to recent reports, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently granted preliminary conditional approval of the application of an affiliate of a major U.S. bank to receive an OCC trust charter for a cryptocurrency-focused trust bank. Among other things, the new OCC trust bank will reportedly custody digital assets, support crypto investment activities, facilitate crypto staking for clients and act as a collateral administrator for an affiliate’s crypto lending.

Another major U.S. bank recently announced the launch of a stablecoin reserves money market fund. According to a press release, the new fund is “a GENIUS Act-aligned registered Rule 2a-7 government money market fund designed specifically for the unique needs of stablecoin issuers.”

In a similar development, a third major U.S. financial institution announced its own money market fund specifically designed to hold the reserves backing GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins. According to reports, the fund’s shares are “expected to be held primarily by one or more stablecoin issuers” as part of the reserve assets backing the tokens they issue.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Major U.S. Financial Firms Plan To Tokenize Equities, Depository Receipts

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

A major U.S. financial market technology provider and operator of one of the world’s largest stock exchanges recently announced a joint venture with OKX, a major global crypto exchange, “focused on building next-generation infrastructure for tokenized and digitally native financial products.” According to a press release, “[s]ubject to certain regulatory approvals, it is expected that the joint venture will operate as a U.S. registered broker dealer and FCM for the purpose of enabling OKX’s customers in the U.S. and overseas to access … tokenized equities markets.” The press release notes that the joint venture will be co-chaired by a former governor of the state of New York.

Separately, a major U.S. bank recently announced “the launch of Digital Depositary Receipts on private shares, introducing a direct and transparent model that broadens access to private markets for both global issuers and investors.” According to a press release, “[t]he launch marks the first time a global financial services company is both issuing and acting as a custodian for tokenized depositary receipts representing private companies.”

For more information, please refer to the following links:

FinCEN Proposes Rule To Implement GENIUS Act CIP Requirements

By Ariana Dindiyal

On June 18, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), along with several of the federal functional bank regulators, announced a proposed rule to implement certain provisions of the GENIUS Act that require permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) to be treated as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and to maintain effective customer identification programs (CIPs). The proposed rule would mandate that PPSIs establish and maintain a written CIP that is appropriate for the size and type of their business. The CIP would be part of the PPSI’s BSA anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) program. Among other requirements, the proposed rule requires PPSIs to maintain procedures for:

  • Verifying the identity of a customer to the extent reasonable and practicable, including gathering information about customers before they open an account, and establishing procedures for when the PPSI cannot verify a customer’s identity
  • Creating and maintaining a record of all information obtained by the PPSI through the CIP
  • Determining whether a customer appears on any concerning government lists (e.g., known or suspected terrorist organizations)
  • Providing customers with adequate notice that the PPSI is requesting information to verify identities
  • Specifying when a PPSI may reasonably rely on another federally regulated financial institution’s performance of a procedure

The proposed rule would also provide that the appropriate federal functional regulator along with the secretary of the Treasury may, by order or regulation, exempt any PPSI or any type of account from CIP requirements. Comments on the proposed rule must be received by Aug. 21.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Proposed Rule Addresses BSA Requirements for OCC-Supervised PPSIs

By Ariana Dindiyal

On June 22, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), proposed an amendment to the OCC’s March 2, 2026 rule regarding the GENIUS Act that would add a paragraph to address the GENIUS Act’s requirement for regulations to implement the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions compliance standards applicable to OCC-supervised permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs).

The proposed amendment would implement the GENIUS Act directive to treat PPSIs as financial institutions under the BSA and impose anti-money-laundering (AML) obligations called for by the GENIUS Act. Among other requirements, the proposed amendment would:

  • Require OCC-supervised PPSIs to comply with the BSA, sections 4(a)(5) and 4(a)(6)(B) of the GENIUS Act and applicable regulations issued by FinCEN and OFAC, including any AML and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) sanctions program and reporting requirements
  • Create a supervision and enforcement framework for OCC-supervised PPSIs’ AML/CFT programs
  • Establish a framework for consultation between the OCC and FinCEN when the OCC intends to initiate an AML/CFT enforcement action or a significant AML/CFT supervisory action
  • Permit PPSIs to share with the FinCEN director certain nonpublic OCC information relating to an existing or potential AML/CFT enforcement action or significant AML/CFT supervisory action

For more information, please refer to the following links:

OCC Bulletin Addresses Filing Decision Process

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued OCC Bulletin 2026-27 “to clarify the standards for its decisions on filings.” Among other things, the bulletin states that “the OCC may return a filing without a decision if it finds the filing to be materially deficient” including “failure to furnish required biographical and financial information of individuals and corporate background and financial reports for entities”; responses to information requests that “do not sufficiently respond to the requests”; failure to demonstrate “that all products and services have been defined with particularity, including how they will be operationalized”; and failure to “fully define[] the associated governance, risk management, and compliance management infrastructure to manage … products and services.” According to recent reports, the bulletin may be in response to an influx of applications submitted to the OCC over the past year from companies seeking to set up new federally regulated banking arms that would support stablecoin activities, cryptocurrency custody and other digital asset services.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Derivatives Exchange Challenges CFTC’s Approval of BTC Perpetual Futures

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

According to recent reports, a major U.S. derivatives exchange has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) related to the CFTC’s recent decision to allow two major crypto trading platforms to list bitcoin perpetual futures. The derivatives exchange reportedly argues in its complaint that perpetual contracts don’t have an expiration or delivery date and should be classified as swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act,

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Treasury Sanctions Crypto Scam Network; OFAC Targets ISIS Facilitators

By Amos Kim

The U.S. Department of the Treasury recently announced coordinated enforcement actions to further disrupt the Prince Group transnational criminal organization (TCO). According to a Treasury press release, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned nine individuals and 26 entities linked to the TCO, including its leadership, investors in scam compounds, and front companies. In parallel, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed amending its October 2025 Huione Group Final Rule to include H-Pay Service PLC, noting that the Huione Group allegedly served as a critical node for laundering the proceeds of cyber heists and virtual currency investment scams. Reporting on the sanctions further identifies Hu Xiaowei as among the individuals targeted, describing him as a senior figure within the organization and “second in command” to Prince Group leadership and noting that he controls multiple entities used to manage assets and funds linked to the group’s operations, including firms that received proceeds from crypto‑related scams.

Separately, Treasury announced that OFAC designated three individuals and six entities across Europe, the Middle East and West Africa for allegedly facilitating financial transactions on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). According to the press release, the designations were issued pursuant to Executive Order 13224 and target key facilitators enabling ISIS to move funds among its regional affiliates. The press release notes that one designated facilitator, Abdelhakim Boukich, controls Bitcoin Xchange, a Syria-based money service business utilized to transfer money on behalf of ISIS associates originating from multiple countries. According to an accompanying OFAC recent actions update, another designated individual, Miloud Abderrahmane, was sanctioned alongside specific digital currency addresses linked to his transactions with known ISIS affiliates. The enforcement action also blocks the assets of multiple other money service businesses in Turkiye and Nigeria acting on behalf of the terrorist network’s financial facilitators.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Crypto Fraudster Pleads Guilty; Global Action Seizes Crypto Laundering Site

By Amos Kim

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that a Miami man pled guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business in connection with a $1.8 billion cryptocurrency fraud scheme. According to the press release, from June 2020 to January 2022, Rodney “Bitcoin Rodney” Burton conspired to promote HyperFund, a global wire fraud scheme masquerading as a legitimate cryptocurrency investment platform. The DOJ notes that HyperFund made false claims about generating passive rewards through nonexistent large-scale crypto-mining operations. According to the plea agreement, Burton controlled several companies that purported to offer consulting services but were actually utilized to provide unlicensed money transmitting services, through which he personally received at least $7.8 million in proceeds. Burton faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Separately, Eurojust recently announced the results of a global parallel investigation that shut down AudiA6, a website suspected of laundering more than 336 million euros in criminal cryptocurrency between 2022 and 2025. According to the press release, the service was utilized by cybercriminals involved in ransomware attacks to cash out stolen digital assets and conceal the movement of illicit funds. The coordinated law enforcement action resulted in the arrest of two alleged administrators, the takedown of 25 domains and the seizure of more than 30 servers along with property and cryptocurrency assets. The press release notes that the criminal operators relied on thousands of fake accounts opened using stolen or purchased identities, identifying more than 6,000 “know your customer” records linked to money mule accounts. The operation involved coordination among authorities in the U.S., France, Poland, Georgia and Iceland, with support from Europol.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Reports Find Q2 2026 Among the Most-Hacked Quarters on Record

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

According to recent reports, Q2 2026 has emerged as one of the most-hacked quarters on record. Crypto hackers reportedly stole $755 million across 83 incidents in the quarter. The largest incidents of the quarter were the $293 million hack of KelpDAO and the $280 million hack of Drift Protocol. Cross-chain bridge attacks reportedly represented the largest attack vector of the quarter, with $351 million in value hacked from bridges alone.

For more information, please refer to the following link: