SEC's transfer agent overhaul opens door to tokenized securities

SEC proposes first major transfer agent overhaul, seeks comments on tokenized securities The proposal modernizes registration and reporting for roughly 273 registered transfer agents and explicitly asks how blockchain-based recordkeeping, DLT and digital wallets should be treated. Commissioner Hester Peirce said the rule proposal is seeing the light of day before she leaves the Commission. 12

21 global banks and firms form venture to issue G7 stablecoins Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Santander, MUFG and Fidelity are among the consortium, which targets a US dollar stablecoin in H1 2027 and a euro offering next. The venture aims to comply with the US GENIUS Act and the EU's MiCA. 3

Singapore proposes banning interest payments on MAS-regulated stablecoins MAS's consultation would add stress tests, recovery planning and orderly wind-down requirements for issuers, and could open pathways for jointly issued and selected foreign-regulated stablecoins. The framework is designed to support stablecoins as credible settlement assets in tokenized financial markets. 4

G20 finance chiefs back clear pathways for digital asset innovation In a Chair's Statement after their Asheville, North Carolina meeting, G20 finance ministers and central bank governors recognized digital assets' potential to support growth and pledged frameworks that preserve financial stability. The statement was released by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 5

Strategy resumes Bitcoin buys with $370M purchase after 10-week pause CEO Phong Le said the company bought 4,603 BTC, lifting holdings to 845,050 BTC, after using the pause to cut net debt to zero and build a $7B USD cash reserve. Strategy now holds about $72B in assets, roughly $65B in Bitcoin. 6

Robinhood Chain posts $2.66M daily app revenue, beating Ethereum Two months after launch, the Arbitrum-based L2 saw memecoin trading tools GMGN, Pons and Uniswap drive the most revenue on August 30, with only Solana generating more. The chain also recorded 5.52 million transactions that day. 7

ICON replay exploit reused signatures 1,490 times, releasing 119.9M ICX The Aug. 27 attack exploited a serial-number mismatch to replay two withdrawal messages, but ICON says confirmed losses so far are 150.2 ETH and 31,204 USDC, with most ICX traced and frozen. bnUSD and SODA were recovered in full. 8

Morpho's outstanding loans hit $5B record, narrowing gap with Aave Messari reported 95% of borrowing is stablecoin-denominated, with USDC at 62%, and Base has become Morpho's main growth engine via Coinbase's crypto-backed loan product. Aave still leads with $12.7B in active loans. 9

Thai businessmen sue Tether over alleged illegal freeze of $42.4M USDT The SDNY complaint alleges Tether blacklisted 42.42M USDT without a court order in October 2025, then burned and reissued the tokens to a government-controlled wallet after a North Carolina seizure warrant. Plaintiffs also claim Tether kept earning yield on reserves backing the frozen tokens. 10

Bitcoin hashrate stays below record for 316 days as AI siphons miners The seven-day average is near 914 EH/s, about 20.6% below the October 2025 peak, marking the longest stretch without a new high in a decade. Miners are increasingly redirecting power to AI and HPC, weakening the usual hashrate rebound after Bitcoin's price recovery. 11

Binance launches options on 1,000 US stocks and ETFs for non-US users The physically settled options are offered through Binance's Abu Dhabi-regulated broker-dealer Nest Trading, with execution by US-registered Alpaca Securities. The move extends Binance's equities offering of more than 7,000 US stocks and ETFs. 12

Lido funds ValOS framework to bring enterprise audit standards to Ethereum staking Lido's LEGO grants program allocated $60K to a DUCK FLAP pool subsidizing up to 50% of assurance review costs for early-adopter node operators. ValOS aligns with ISO 27001 and SOC 2 and is open source at valos.global. 13

El Salvador adds 1 BTC, lifting strategic reserve to 7,762 BTC The single-coin purchase, disclosed on the government's official Bitcoin treasury tracker, continues El Salvador's steady accumulation program. The reserve is administered as a national strategic holding rather than a trading position. 14