#UK banks have completed interbank transactions using tokenized deposits. @LBGplc, @NatWestGroup and @Barclays tested two mortgage transactions, while HSBC and other banks ran a simulated peer-to-peer payment under UK Finance’s Great British Tokenised Deposit project. The next step: a rulebook and governance framework, with three digital bonds planned for Q1 2027 that can be traded and settled using tokenized deposits. The UK is moving tokenized bank money from pilot projects toward shared financial infrastructure. Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/uk-banks-co… #Tokenization #TokenizedDeposits #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #UKFinance

Canada’s Big Six banks are exploring a shared Canadian-dollar tokenized deposit system. The initiative would initially enable tokenized deposits to move between participating banks, with a longer-term goal of connecting to other digital asset initiatives. The project adds Canada’s largest banks to a global shift toward tokenized deposits as an alternative infrastructure for bank-to-bank payments. The bigger question: how will these bank-led networks connect as tokenized money moves across jurisdictions? National Bank of Canada Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/canadas-big… #Canada #TDBank #CIBC @cibc @BMO @scotiabank @RBC #tokenizedDeposits #Tokenization #payments #RBC #BMO #Scotiabank

The European Central Bank proposes changes to MiCA’s stablecoin rules. The European System of Central Banks wants to replace MiCA’s 30%–60% bank-deposit requirements for stablecoin reserves with liquidity-based rules. The proposal also calls for broader restrictions on stablecoin remuneration, tighter treatment of foreign-currency stablecoins and stronger EU-level supervision. The recommendations form part of the European Commission’s ongoing MiCA review. Read the full story: unlock-bc.com/en/ecb-seeks-c… #EuropeanUnion @ecb #ECB #MiCA #StablecoinReserves #StablecoinRegulation #Stablecoins

Binance is putting $100 million behind Circle, and extending its USDC bet for another five years. The exchange has taken a $100 million stake in Circle while renewing its strategic partnership to expand USDC across Binance’s global platform, with a particular focus on emerging markets. The expanded deal will see Binance promote USDC, while Circle provides the infrastructure supporting its use and custody. Beyond the investment itself, the five-year agreement highlights the growing role of stablecoins in global digital finance, from dollar access and trading to payments and cross-border transfers. Read more below 👇 unlock-bc.com/en/binance-inv… #Binance #Circle #USDC #Stablecoins #Crypto #DigitalAssets #Fintech #Blockchain

ADGM is moving into a more sophisticated phase of digital asset regulation. A new report from the MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) highlights how the Financial Services Regulatory Authority is expanding its framework to cover digital asset staking, Fiat-Referenced Tokens (FRTs), tokenization, AML and AI. The changes also clarify how regulated firms can use approved dirham stablecoins within ADGM, while new rules bring staking activities under existing custody and asset management frameworks. Meanwhile, the FSRA is preparing further initiatives around DeFi and AI-powered regulatory tools, highlighting a broader shift toward regulating not just digital assets themselves, but the infrastructure and technology shaping financial markets. Read the full story on UNLOCK Blockchain 👇 unlock-bc.com/en/adgm-digita… #ADGM #DigitalAssets #CryptoRegulation #UAE #Tokenization #Stablecoins #Fintech #MENA

Stablecoins can cross a blockchain in seconds. Reaching the person they were meant to pay can still take days. That is the problem Saleem (سليم) wants to solve. The ADGM-registered, pre-launch platform is building institutional payment infrastructure designed to reach recipients through the phone already in their hands—even a basic handset, without requiring a bank account or mobile data. The model recalls an important lesson from M-Pesa: digital money becomes transformative only when the distribution network makes it accessible. Saleem is not issuing another token or asking every recipient to open a new wallet. It aims to sit above existing operator and bank wallets, coordinating routing, screening, records and reconciliation, while licensed partners perform the regulated activities. The difficult part still lies ahead: production integrations, regulatory permissions, liquidity, security testing and the first live pilots. Stablecoins may have solved much of the transfer. The last mile remains unfinished. A closer look at the model being built by Ramy S. and the Saleem team. Read the full story: unlock-bc.com/en/saleem-stab… #Stablecoins #Payments #FinancialInclusion #Remittances

VARA has approved Alya Marrakchi as Managing Director of GC Exchange FZE, GCEX’s Dubai-based and VARA-regulated entity. Marrakchi joined GCEX in June 2025 and quickly became a driving force behind its institutional growth across the UAE and wider GCC. Her experience spans digital assets, cross-border payments, financial regulation and enterprise business development across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, London and Paris. In her new role, she will lead GCEX’s regional expansion, build on its relationships with institutional clients and grow the company’s team in one of the world’s fastest-moving regulated digital asset markets. Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/vara-approv… #GCEX #VARA #DigitalAssets #InstitutionalFinance #Dubai #UAE #Leadership @GCEX_Official

Stablecoins may be borderless. Their reserves are not. The UAE has localized much of its digital-asset market, from licensed exchanges and custody to AED banking access. Yet the issuer, reserves and redemption infrastructure behind the most widely used digital dollars largely remain offshore. USDU introduces a different model: a USD stablecoin whose issuer, reserve accounts and principal banking relationships are anchored within the UAE’s regulatory ecosystem. This is not about replacing USDT or USDC. It is about whether the UAE should participate in the infrastructure behind the digital dollars used in its market—not only in their circulation. Where do the dollars behind the UAE’s crypto economy really sit? Read the full analysis: unlock-bc.com/en/uae-stablec… #USDU #Stablecoins #UAE #DigitalAssets #Blockchain #FinancialInfrastructure

Where Do the Dollars Behind the UAE’s Crypto Economy Sit? unlock-bc.com/en/uae-stablec… @Universal_USDU @ZodiaCustody @EmiratesNBD_AE @MashreqTweets @aquanow @ADGlobalMarket #stabelcoin #USDU

Inside Zamanat Fund’s $100M GCC Private Credit Strategy unlock-bc.com/en/zamanat-fun… @ZamanatDigital @ZIGChain @disrupt @DIFC @ApexGlobalGroup #private_credit #onChain #UAE

The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services has advanced legislation to establish a federal Strategic #BitcoinReserve. H.R. 8957, the American Reserve Modernization Act, would: • Put the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve on a statutory footing • Require a proposed 20-year minimum holding period for reserve BTC • Introduce quarterly proof-of-reserve reporting • Create a separate Digital Asset Stockpile for non-Bitcoin assets • Explore ways to acquire additional BTC without new taxes or borrowing The bill focuses on how the U.S. government holds, manages and reports its Bitcoin — rather than creating a broad regulatory framework for the crypto market. Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/house-panel… #StrategicBitcoinReserve #InstitutionalAdoption #USBitcoinReserve #BitcoinReserveBill #BTC #DigitalAssets @USHouseFSC

The U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means has advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in a 38-5 vote. The bill would establish proposed federal tax rules for digital assets, including: • A $10 de minimis threshold for certain network and transaction fees • Wash-sale rules for digital assets • Ordinary-income treatment for mining and staking • New rules for stablecoins and digital asset lending • A Treasury voluntary disclosure program The vote comes one day after the Senate's CLARITY Act failed to advance in a procedural vote. The House bill now moves toward consideration by the full chamber. Read the full story on Unlock Blockchain: unlock-bc.com/en/house-commi… #cryptotaxation #cryptotax #digitalassets #regulatoryframeworks #cryptoregulation #USCongress #taxation #stablecoins

U.S. crypto legislation may be stalled, but @circle isn’t waiting. Just one day after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, Circle opened Arc, its own permissioned Layer 1 built around USDC and designed for institutional financial activity. With institutions including BlackRock, DTCC, Visa and Mastercard among its validators, Arc represents something bigger than another blockchain launch: Circle is moving from issuing digital dollars to building the infrastructure through which they move. The bigger question now is whether institutions will favor Circle’s vertically integrated model, or continue building on neutral networks such as Ethereum and Canton. The battle for the next generation of financial infrastructure is moving from who issues the money to who controls the rails. Read the full story below 👇 unlock-bc.com/en/circle-arc-… #Circle #Arc #USDC #Stablecoins #Blockchain #Crypto #Tokenization #DigitalAssets #FinTech

The digital euro is leaving the blueprint and entering the checkout 🇪🇺 The ECB has opened its pilot to e-commerce and mobile-commerce merchants across the euro area, putting the proposed digital currency through practical payment scenarios. Merchants will test payment journeys, integration with existing checkout systems and the customer experience, while feeding their insights back into the system’s development. The next chapter for the digital euro won’t be written on paper. It will be tested at the point of payment. More below 👇 unlock-bc.com/en/ecb-invites…

The CLARITY Act was intended to clarify who regulates digital assets in the United States. Instead, its Senate test became a battle over a more fundamental question: can stablecoins compete with bank deposits by offering yield? The Senate voted 49–50 against advancing the legislation, falling short of the 60 votes required. While the public debate focused heavily on political ethics and President Trump’s crypto interests, another struggle was taking place underneath: banks were pushing back against stablecoin rewards and the risk of deposits moving outside the traditional banking system. The vote does not kill the CLARITY Act or introduce new restrictions. But it gives banks greater leverage over the next round of negotiations. Our latest analysis examines how a market-structure bill became a contest over the economics of digital dollars, and why market attention is now shifting toward the Federal Reserve. Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/stablecoin-… #Stablecoins #CLARITYAct #CryptoRegulation #DigitalAssets #Banking

The final U.S. Senate draft of the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is putting stablecoin yield under a much clearer regulatory line. Released ahead of a key Senate vote, the final text includes a provision restricting interest and deposit-like yield on payment stablecoin balances, while preserving certain rewards tied to actual payment activity. It also gives the U.S. Treasury additional powers to respond if stablecoin growth contributes to significant movement of deposits away from banks. The broader bill incorporates 126 substantive changes following months of bipartisan negotiations, covering digital asset market structure, stablecoins, consumer protection, AML measures and developer protections. For stablecoin issuers, exchanges and payment platforms, the message is increasingly clear: payment utility can be rewarded, but stablecoin balances are not meant to become a substitute for interest-bearing bank deposits. Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/final-clari… #CLARITYAct #Stablecoins #CryptoRegulation #DigitalAssets #USSenate #StablecoinYield #Blockchain #USTreasury #Banks #StablecoinRegulation

UAE PASS has become one of the UAE’s most useful digital public services, making identity verification, digital signatures and access to official documents remarkably simple for citizens, residents and visitors. Its Digital Vault is now preparing for its next infrastructure phase. Deca4 and Ava Labs have announced a collaboration with the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) to integrate Avalanche technology into the blockchain layer supporting the Digital Vault. Deca4 will lead the implementation, while Ava Labs will provide the infrastructure and technical expertise. The announcement is forward-looking: the Avalanche-based infrastructure has not yet been implemented. UAE PASS currently serves 12.5 million users and provides access to more than 15,000 services across over 350 government and private-sector entities. The next questions are architectural. Will the Digital Vault operate through a dedicated, permissioned Avalanche L1? Who will control its validators? Will AVAX have any operational role? And how will existing verification records be handled during the transition? Unlock Blockchain examines what the planned upgrade could mean for one of the UAE’s most important digital service layers. Read the full analysis: unlock-bc.com/en/uae-pass-di… #UAEPASS #Avalanche #DigitalIdentity #Blockchain #UAE

Oman is tightening the rules around crypto mining, and this time, the focus extends beyond miners themselves 👇 New requirements mean suppliers must verify that buyers hold the licences and approvals needed to conduct cryptocurrency mining before selling or supplying mining equipment. The significance goes beyond a licensing check. By bringing equipment suppliers into the compliance chain, Oman is creating another layer of oversight around the infrastructure that enables crypto mining. For licensed operators, that could mean clearer market boundaries. For suppliers, it introduces a new compliance responsibility and potential exposure to penalties if they fail to verify buyers. More below ⤵️ unlock-bc.com/en/oman-crypto… #Oman #CryptoMining #Crypto #BitcoinMining #Blockchain #DigitalAssets #CryptoRegulation #Web3 #GCC

Crypto wealth is growing, but traditional wealth infrastructure is struggling to accommodate it. Trust companies are increasingly turning away wealthy crypto entrepreneurs and investors over #AML concerns, market volatility, source-of-wealth verification and fiduciary risk. The issue points to a broader gap: crypto holders may have substantial wealth, but the traditional structures designed to manage, preserve and transfer that wealth are not always equipped to handle its origins. The UAE is emerging as part of the response, with specialist firms developing tools to screen and manage digital-asset wealth. The question is shifting from how crypto wealth is created to how it can be integrated into traditional wealth infrastructure. Read more: unlock-bc.com/en/crypto-weal… @CavenwellGroup #Crypto #DigitalAssets #WealthManagement #Blockchain #UAE #Compliance #AML #CryptoWealth