Russia has warned cryptocurrency investors that they will bear losses themselves if foreign issuers freeze their assets, highlighting one of the sanctions-related risks facing the country’s rapidly expanding crypto market.Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said Russian digital depositories would not be responsible when assets are frozen by overseas issuers for reasons beyond the custodian’s control.
BlackRock says the convergence of artificial intelligence and digital assets could turn blockchains into financial infrastructure for autonomous AI agents, creating networks where machines can pay for data, services and other resources without relying on conventional human-centered payment systems.The asset manager outlined the thesis in its 2026 Thematic Mid-Year Update, published August 24, arguing that
Kalshi is asking U.S. regulators for permission to introduce margin trading to prediction markets, potentially allowing institutional investors to take positions without depositing the full value of their contracts upfront.Kalshi Klear, the company’s clearinghouse, filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on September 22 seeking approval for a risk-based margin system covering selected event contracts.
Russia could have its new regulated cryptocurrency market operating before the end of 2026, according to a senior Bank of Russia official, as authorities move from passing the country’s landmark crypto law to building the infrastructure required for legal domestic trading.Bank of Russia First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said on September 21 that the industry
SoFi Bank and Mastercard have taken stablecoin settlement live across SoFi’s debit and credit card program, moving a payments business expected to process more than $25 billion in annualized volume onto blockchain-based settlement rails. The companies announced the launch on September 22, six months after first unveiling their partnership. Transactions using SoFiUSD are already live
Crypto markets are capturing substantial demand for exposure to traditional assets outside regular U.S. trading hours, according to Binance Research, highlighting how real-world asset-linked perpetual futures and tokenized equities are creating a parallel, 24-hour market structure.The trend is particularly visible when Wall Street is closed. Binance said monthly weekend trading volume in perpetual contracts linked
What Is CME Launching for BCH and UNI? CME Group plans to launch Bitcoin Cash and Uniswap futures on October 19, pending regulatory review, adding two more altcoins to a regulated derivatives business that is moving steadily beyond Bitcoin and Ether.The exchange will offer both standard and Micro contracts. Bitcoin Cash futures will represent 250
The XRP Ledger is preparing to activate its long-awaited Batch amendment on September 29, introducing the ability to group multiple transactions together and execute them under a single set of conditions.The upgrade requires server operators to run rippled — also known as xrpld — version 3.3.0 or later. Servers remaining on older versions when amendments
Prediction-market protocol Trueo plans to migrate from Coinbase-incubated Base to Ethereum mainnet, drawing public praise from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin as the project seeks deeper liquidity and a more decentralized foundation for its oracle and markets.Trueo announced the move on September 21, saying Base had been the appropriate network when the protocol launched in March
U.S. federal prosecutors are investigating whether Binance violated American sanctions against Iran by failing to stop certain trading activity on its platform, bringing renewed scrutiny to the exchange’s compliance controls nearly three years after its landmark settlement with U.S. authorities.The investigation is being led by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, with the Justice Department’s Criminal