World Liberty wins conditional OCC bank charter for stablecoin issuance

Trump-backed World Liberty wins conditional OCC national trust bank charter The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved the application for World Liberty Trust Co., which says an entity affiliated with Trump and family members owns 38%. The charter could let World Liberty issue stablecoins without third-party custodians, drawing criticism from Sen. Elizabeth Warren. 1

Trump expected to join White House meeting with crypto CEOs next week People briefed on planning expect Trump to attend Wednesday's meeting at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with CEOs from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Polymarket and Kalshi, ahead of the CFTC Innovation Advisory Committee's first meeting Thursday. CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick may also join. 2

Tether lands first Big Four audit from KPMG with unqualified opinion KPMG issued an unqualified opinion on Tether International's 2025 statements showing reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.814 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025, with auditors physically counting gold bars. The audit lands as US rules impose stricter reserve, liquidity and disclosure requirements on large stablecoin issuers. 3

Ethereum Foundation drops Poseidon for SHA/BLAKE after proof-system gains Justin Drake said new binary-field proof systems like Flock have made SHA-256 and BLAKE practical for future L1 design, reversing the proving-cost tradeoff that favored Poseidon for eight years. He said Poseidon is not broken and no migration order or fork has been issued. 4

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley raise Bitcoin, Ether ETF stakes in Q2 filings JPMorgan's 13F shows IBIT holdings up 25% to 10.4 million shares and ETHA shares quadrupling to about 1.17 million, alongside new XRP ETF positions and cuts to Bitcoin miners; Benzinga also flagged Morgan Stanley additions. Analysts caution the filings mix client, inventory and proprietary holdings and exclude shorts. 56

US spot Bitcoin ETFs lose $131M, erasing 38% of rebound On Aug. 13, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF led redemptions at $58.8 million and Fidelity's FBTC lost $55.1 million, while Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust and Grayscale Mini Trust added $46 million combined. Bitcoin dipped below $63,000 as the four-day outflow erased 38% of the prior week's rebound. 7

H100 triples Bitcoin treasury to 3,506 BTC in first all-Bitcoin public M&A H100 Group completed an all-share acquisition of Norwegian entities on a 1:1 Bitcoin-for-Bitcoin basis, taking its treasury from about 1,051 BTC to 3,506.4 BTC and leaving it just 99 BTC behind Europe's largest corporate holder, Bitcoin Group SE. The deal was priced at roughly SEK 598,926.69 per BTC, about $62,900. 8

Stablecoin issuer RedotPay said to delay $1B US IPO until after 2027 Bloomberg reports the Hong Kong-based stablecoin card issuer has delayed its planned US listing to address legal issues, including a $470 million Binance lawsuit in Hong Kong and a parallel Singapore case. RedotPay declined to comment but said it obtained a US money transmitter license and is preparing a US product launch. 9

Wells Fargo boosts Strategy stake 150% to about $185M in 13F The bank's filing shows about 726,000 MSTR shares, up from roughly 323,000 the prior quarter, at an estimated value of $185 million. Strategy holds more than 815,000 BTC, making it the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. 10

SharpLink to stake $200M of Ethereum through Lido's wstETH SharpLink will deploy $200 million into Ethereum staking via Lido's wstETH, a major liquid staking commitment. The move underscores growing institutional appetite for staking yields. 11

Israel's largest bank Leumi to offer Bitcoin trading with Galaxy Bank Leumi is partnering with Galaxy to offer Bitcoin trading to customers, marking the largest Israeli bank's renewed entry into crypto. The source did not disclose a launch date or further terms. 12

SEC acknowledges Cboe filing for 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ether ETFs The SEC acknowledged Cboe's filing for 3x leveraged Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, starting the regulatory review process. The move could boost institutional interest and volatility; Cboe is also exploring leveraged products for gold, silver, oil and natural gas. 13

France tax data leak could fuel scams, attacks targeting Bitcoin holders A French tax data leak could increase risks of phishing scams and physical attacks targeting Bitcoin holders. The report highlights growing security concerns for crypto investors amid data breaches. 14