Fed proposes bank-grade KYC for stablecoin issuers under GENIUS Act

Fed proposes bank-grade customer ID rules for stablecoin issuers The Federal Reserve and four other agencies released a 130-page proposed rule requiring payment stablecoin issuers to maintain formal customer identification programs, aligning them with Bank Secrecy Act standards. Fed Governor Michael Barr warned the GENIUS Act framework may still leave secondary market transactions vulnerable to illicit finance. 1 2

Bankers lobby Senate on stablecoin yield ahead of CLARITY Act vote Banking industry groups are intensifying pressure on lawmakers over stablecoin yield provisions as the Senate prepares to vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act. Senator Cynthia Lummis defended the bill's approach to DeFi, calling it a commitment to US competitiveness rather than a concession. 3 4

Bipartisan negotiators finalize CLARITY Act details before August recess Lawmakers are holding last-minute meetings to lock down remaining details of the CLARITY Act, which would split digital asset oversight between the SEC and CFTC. With only 31 Senate session days left before recess, the bill needs 60 votes to clear the filibuster threshold. 5

Franklin Templeton files for ETFs that reinvest dividends into bitcoin Franklin Templeton registered two ETFs that would maintain a 95% equity and 5% bitcoin allocation, using corporate dividends to automatically buy bitcoin exposure. If approved, the funds could begin trading as early as September, signaling growing institutional comfort with hybrid crypto-equity products. 6

F2Pool co-founder Wang Chun moves $21M in ETH and WBTC to DeFi Wang Chun withdrew 7,650 ETH and 124.18 WBTC from Binance and deposited them into the Spark lending protocol, continuing a pattern of large off-exchange transfers totaling over $50 million in recent weeks. The move highlights growing whale appetite for DeFi yield on Ethereum. 7

Ethereum proposal targets asset-level spending limits for AI agent wallets Ethereum developers are discussing a mandate that would enforce token-level spending controls—such as limits, expirations, and allowed tokens—for delegated wallets and AI agents. The proposal aims to reduce losses from overly broad approvals by embedding rules directly at the asset layer. 8