1. SEC to Allow Third-Party Issuance of Tokenized Stocks for Trading on DeFi Platforms link

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may unveil an innovation exemption framework for tokenized stocks as early as this week, allowing the trading of stock tokens linked to public companies’ share prices. According to reports, the SEC favors permitting third parties to issue such tokens without the listed company’s authorization and trade them on DeFi platforms. However, platforms may be disqualified from listing these tokens if the tokens do not grant holders shareholder rights like voting or dividends.

2. White House Digital Asset Advisor: Official Announcement on Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Imminent link

Patrick Witt, Executive Director of the White House Digital Asset Advisory Council, stated that the United States is set to issue a formal announcement regarding its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, noting that the government has achieved “breakthroughs” in legal basis, asset custody, and inter-agency reporting mechanisms. Former President Trump signed an executive order on March 6, 2025, establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and prohibiting the Treasury Department from selling the related BTC. The reserve is expected to hold approximately 328,372 BTC, accounting for roughly 1.6% of the global total supply, mainly sourced from assets recovered in the Silk Road and Bitfinex hack cases, as well as other criminal forfeitures.

3. Bank of England to Release Draft Systemic Stablecoin Rules Next Month link

Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, stated at City Week 2026 in London that the bank’s future strategy will focus on tokenization to modernize the UK financial sector. The retail payment system going forward should accommodate interchangeable forms of currency, including tokenized deposits, regulated stablecoins and potential retail CBDCs. The Bank of England plans to release a draft set of systematic stablecoin rules next month and finalize them by the end of this year. Temporary caps on total stablecoin issuance may be imposed to mitigate early-stage risks. Breeden added that the bank will support the responsible adoption of AI in areas such as agent payments and commercial applications. Sixteen companies are poised to join the Bank-FCA digital securities sandbox starting from late 2026, among which are Euroclear, HSBC and London Stock Exchange Group.

4. Hong Kong’s First Officially Approved Stablecoin Completes Ethereum Testnet Launch link

According to Hong Kong Economic Journal, Anchor Point Financial, which has obtained a stablecoin issuer license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), announced that it has successfully completed a transfer test of the Hong Kong dollar stablecoin HKDAP (HKD At Par) on the Ethereum mainnet in collaboration with OSL Group (00863) and Leopard Trade, a licensed trading platform under Futu Holdings. The test covered the conversion of fiat Hong Kong dollar funds into reserve assets, with Standard Chartered Hong Kong providing infrastructure and institutional trust services to ensure full backing. All test tokens were fully redeemed upon completion. Officials revealed that HKDAP is scheduled to be officially issued in phases starting at the end of the second quarter of this year.

5. Stablecoin Supply Tops $300 Billion; USDT Grows While Overall Expansion Slows link

Over the past month, Tether’s USDT supply has increased by more than $5 billion, while the combined supply of USDC, USDe, and PYUSD has decreased by approximately $4.2 billion. The total stablecoin supply has seen a net growth of only about $900 million, representing a monthly increase of roughly 0.3%. Reports indicate that newly injected stablecoin capital is primarily flowing into USDT rather than driving overall market expansion. Meanwhile, Ethena’s USDe supply has dropped by 28% over the past month and nearly 34% year-to-date, mainly due to compressed perpetual contract funding rates that have reduced its yield attractiveness. Sky’s USDS and World Liberty Financial’s USD1 have absorbed some of the inflows. PYUSD’s supply has also declined by 13% over the past month.

6. Duan Yongping, Once Uninterested in Stablecoins, Builds 200,000-Share Position in Circle link

Renowned investor Duan Yongping disclosed for the first time a position in Circle Internet Group (CRCL) in his SEC 13F filing for Q1 2026. He holds 200,000 shares at an average cost of approximately $95.41, corresponding to a position value of about $19.08 million, which accounts for 0.095% of his roughly $20 billion portfolio, making it a small observational position. In July 2025, Duan Yongping stated on Xueqiu, “I don’t understand things without cash flow, and I have no interest in stablecoins.” Nine months later, he bought 200,000 shares of Circle, a leading compliant stablecoin issuer.

7. Brian Armstrong: Coinbase Restructures Compliance Workflows with AI, Shifts Staff to Higher-Level Decision-Making link

Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, said the company is leveraging AI to update compliance procedures and has rebuilt nearly all relevant workflows. The time required to lift account restrictions has been cut by around 90%. Armstrong stated that AI now handles most repetitive tasks, while human staff verify all outcomes to safeguard security and refine models, freeing up more time for high-level decision-making.

8. Strategy Acquires 24,869 BTC for ~$2.01 Billion; Total Holdings Reach 843,738 BTC link

Strategy announced the purchase of 24,869 BTC for approximately 2.01 billion US dollars at an average price of around 80,985 US dollars. The company reported a BTC yield of 12.6% so far in 2026. As of May 17, 2026, Strategy holds a total of 843,738 BTC with an aggregate acquisition cost of roughly 63.87 billion US dollars and an average cost of about 75,700 US dollars.

Bitmine (BMNR) added 71,700 ETH over the past week, lifting its ETH holdings to 5.278 million coins, accounting for 4.37% of the total ETH supply and valued at about 11.56 billion US dollars at current prices. The firm’s combined holdings of crypto assets, cash and moonshot investments stand at 12.6 billion US dollars, including 685 million US dollars in cash and 83 million US dollars worth of Eightco (ORBS). Bitmine has staked 4.71 million ETH, with projected annual staking revenue hitting 289 million US dollars.

9. a16z Crypto: Wall Street Embraces Blockchain Not for Decentralization, But to Fix Multi-Party Collaboration Bottlenecks link

Guy, general partner at a16z Crypto, pointed out that despite the apparent high digitalization of the financial industry, it still operates on outdated architecture featuring fragmented systems and heavy reliance on manual reconciliation and paper-based processes. Wall Street and Washington have recently grown keen on adopting the term “digital assets”, which essentially signals a digital transformation similar to enterprises’ shift toward cloud services. The article stresses that major financial institutions embrace blockchain mainly to tackle practical bottlenecks in multi-party trust and collaboration, rather than pursuing crypto ideologies such as decentralization or financial sovereignty. This helps cut counterparty risks and guarantee fair sequencing and optimal execution.

10. Vitalik Releases Ethereum Short-Term Privacy Roadmap link

Vitalik Buterin stated that Ethereum is advancing native privacy capabilities through multiple short-term initiatives, including AA+FOCIL, Keyed nonces and access layer improvements. AA+FOCIL delivers stronger in-protocol inclusion guarantees for operations such as privacy protocol transactions, elevating them to first-class transactions. Keyed nonces offers enhanced protocol support for privacy solutions and may serve as an early trial of Ethereum’s new state expansion strategy. Access layer developments cover Kohaku and private reads.

Fundraising

  • Tether announced investment in cross-border financial platform LemFi link

  • YZi Labs revealed a $1 million seed round investment in AI Agent business layer protocol TermiX link

  • Zerohash seeks new financing at a valuation exceeding 1.5 billion US dollars, while Mastercard has withdrawn its investment plan link

  • Decentralized derivatives trading protocol Variational announced the completion of 50 million US dollars Series A financing link

  • Catena Labs, founded by Circle co-founder Sean Neville, secured 30 million US dollars Series A financing link

  • Eisen founded by former Coinbase employees raised 10 million US dollars link

  • AEON closed 8 million US dollars pre-seed financing led by YZi Labs link

  • YZi Labs led a 11 million US dollars seed round financing for AI education platform VideoTutor link

  • Stablecoin infrastructure firm Checker raised 8 million US dollars, with transaction volume exceeding 3 billion US dollars over the past year link

  • Crypto trading platform Ouinex completed 3.5 million US dollars financing, aiming to eliminate market maker advantages via decentralized order book link

  • Crypto wallet Sorted Wallet finished 4.4 million US dollars seed financing led by Tether and Gnosis link

  • IOTrader obtained 3.8 million US dollars strategic financing led by Animoca Brands and ViaBTC Capital link

  • Bitcoin hardware wallet maker Foundation secured 6.4 million US dollars financing led by Fulgur Ventures link

  • Crypto financial infrastructure provider Cycles completed 6.4 million US dollars seed financing link

Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.

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