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According to a report by the Russian TASS agency, the Russian Ministry of Energy has drafted a government decree proposal to prohibit cryptocurrency mining in certain areas of Moscow, Moscow Oblast, and Kursk Oblast (including 8 urban districts such as Belovsky, Suja, and the city of Lgov) from July 1, 2026, to December 31, 2032.Previously, the Russian government had implemented mining bans in several regions, including Buryatia, Transbaikal, and the North Caucasus, with the scope of restrictions continuously expanding. Currently, Moscow and Moscow Oblast have connected to 65 data centers, with a total installed capacity of 734 megawatts.

According to Jinshi News, the Governor of the Bank of Thailand stated that banks will be allowed to issue Thai baht stablecoins this year.

According to a report by a financial magazine, Mu Changchun, the director of the Digital Currency Research Institute of the People's Bank of China, delivered a speech titled "Central Bank Digital Currency Reshaping Cross-Border Payments" at the 2026 Summer Davos Forum. He stated that new variables have emerged in the international monetary system, with the rapid development of stablecoins and various cryptocurrencies, leading the global cross-border payment system into a new stage of development.Mu Changchun revealed that since the successful entry of the Currency Bridge into the real transaction operation phase in June 2024, by the end of 2025, the platform's cumulative transaction volume amounted to nearly 500 billion yuan, with the ultimate goal of developing into a new type of financial market infrastructure (FMI) co-built by central banks and participated in by financial institutions under a multilateral governance and mutually beneficial model.

The founder of DefiLlama, 0xngmi, announced the launch of a new off-chain proof/verification service, which will be used to verify and audit off-chain data, including information such as bank account balances, to help projects achieve reliable verification of real-world assets and other off-chain data.

According to Nikkei News, SBI Group announced the acquisition of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately 289 million USD). Through this acquisition, SBI's cryptocurrency custody balance is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen (about 6.2 billion USD), making it the largest cryptocurrency business in Japan. A subsidiary of SBI Holdings will acquire shares of Bitbank from individual shareholders, including the founders, in August, and then Bitbank will acquire shares held by existing shareholders Mixi and Ceres by the end of October. Combining the account data from SBI VC Trade (as of April), the total number of accounts after the merger is approximately 2.92 million, with total managed assets of about 1.1 trillion yen. SBI Holdings disclosed in May that it is negotiating capital business cooperation for the subsidiary status of Bitbank.

According to Jinshi reports, Danske Bank senior analyst Kirstine Kundby-Nielsen and chief analyst Jens Peter Sorensen stated in a report that the Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates twice in December 2026 and March 2027, bringing the federal funds rate to 4% - 4.25%. They emphasized that the rate hikes could come earlier and that the number of hikes may exceed two. Analysts pointed out that the Federal Reserve is increasingly abandoning the use of forward guidance, preferring to have greater discretion in future policy decisions.

According to Bits.media, the Central Bank of Russia announced that it will provide economic incentives to encourage the use of the digital ruble for salary payments. Starting from January 1, 2027, commercial banks will receive a reward of 0.67 rubles for each transaction where a business pays salaries or other labor contract payments to employees in digital rubles, with a minimum reward of 10 rubles per instruction list. According to the central bank's design, if a business pays salaries in digital rubles to 10 employees, the bank will receive a reward of 6.7 rubles, and the central bank will make up the difference to the minimum of 10 rubles; if it involves 20 people, the reward will be 13.4 rubles.At the same time, the country's central bank also approved the service fee rates for the digital ruble platform. Starting from early 2027, the transaction fee for each instruction when businesses transfer to individuals will be 1 ruble, with a minimum charge of 15 rubles per instruction list. Previously, the central bank's governor Nabiullina stated that the digital ruble aims to achieve national monitoring of fund operations for government procurement contracts, while denying that the government will monitor payments between individuals and promising that the digital ruble will not be mandatory.

On Wednesday, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to discuss the changing roles of banks and fintech companies, with one focus being the "streamlined master account" proposal that the Federal Reserve is considering, which would allow certain crypto banks and fintech companies limited direct access to the Federal Reserve's payment system. A Federal Reserve master account allows financial institutions to directly use the Federal Reserve payment network and gain the most direct access to the U.S. dollar monetary system. Institutions without this account typically need to rely on partner banks that have master accounts to provide services.The so-called "streamlined account" is a limited-function version intended to provide limited access for new financial institutions. Republican Congressman Dan Meuser stated at the hearing that access to the Federal Reserve payment system is no small matter, and the core issue is which institutions should be allowed to directly use these critical payment channels. Traditional institutions like community banks are concerned that crypto and fintech companies are not subject to equally stringent regulation, and direct access could pose risks to security and stability. The crypto industry generally supports the proposal, arguing that direct access to the Federal Reserve payment system should have been opened long ago, as it would help reduce reliance on intermediary banks and promote innovation.In May of this year, Trump also signed an executive order requiring the Federal Reserve to assess policies for opening central bank payment channels to fintech companies, including crypto companies. Previously, the Kansas City Federal Reserve had approved Kraken's parent company Payward for a "limited purpose account" in March, sparking discussions in the market about the extent to which crypto and fintech companies should have direct access to Federal Reserve services. A representative from Anchorage Digital stated at the hearing that if the U.S. wants to continue as a global financial center, it needs to allow for innovative federal and state regulatory frameworks.

According to Jinshi reports, the Federal Reserve stated that the banks tested were able to withstand losses of over $700 billion under hypothetical scenarios, with capital only declining by 1.6%, still above the minimum regulatory requirements.

According to CoinDesk, U.S. President Trump refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill that includes a four-year ban on the central bank digital currency (CBDC), temporarily canceling the scheduled signing ceremony and demanding that Congress first pass his proposed SAVE AMERICA ACT election bill.The CBDC provision in the housing bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a digital dollar before the end of 2030, which was originally seen as an important advancement by the cryptocurrency industry.

Japan's financial group SBI Holdings announced the official issuance of the yen stablecoin JPYSC, with the first issuance completed. This stablecoin is managed by SBI Shinsei Trust Bank for reserve asset management, while the licensed cryptocurrency trading platform SBI VC Trade is responsible for circulation and distribution. SBI stated that JPYSC is Japan's first yen stablecoin managed by a trust bank and is also the first to be recognized as a "similar product to electronic payment means" under the Payment Services Act. Unlike the previously launched fund transfer-type stablecoins in Japan, JPYSC is not subject to a single transaction and account balance limit of 1 million yen.SBI expects that JPYSC will attract retail and institutional users with lower transaction costs and the ability to support large transactions, and it can serve as the yen-based asset for on-chain foreign exchange markets, institutional lending, and RWA (real-world asset) tokenized settlements. Currently, JPYSC is only available to SBI VC Trade account holders, with plans to expand its usage after regulatory and tax frameworks are further clarified. SBI also plans to launch JPYSC lending services.In recent years, Japan has been continuously promoting compliant stablecoins to integrate into the mainstream financial system. Following the approval of JPYC in 2025 as Japan's first legally recognized yen stablecoin, Japan's three major banks—Mitsubishi UFJ Bank (MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and Mizuho Bank—are also jointly advancing stablecoin projects, with plans to launch commercial trading in the fiscal year 2026.

According to the National Daily, the Bank of Korea (central bank) warned in its "Financial Stability Report for the First Half of 2026" that as the correlation between the cryptocurrency market and traditional markets increases, the impact of the crypto market may spill over into traditional stock and foreign exchange markets. The central bank's analysis pointed out that due to a more diversified investor base and the evolving market structure, the likelihood of the crypto market transmitting risks to the traditional financial sector is rising.

According to the National Daily, the Bank of Korea (central bank) warned in the "Financial Stability Report for the First Half of 2026" that as the correlation between the cryptocurrency market and traditional markets increases, the impact of the crypto market may spill over into traditional stock and foreign exchange markets. The central bank's analysis points out that due to a more diversified investor base and the evolving market structure, the likelihood of the crypto market transmitting risks to the traditional financial sector is rising.The report notes that since South Korea has not yet approved spot and futures cryptocurrency ETFs, and corporate participation is limited, the direct impact on the domestic financial market is currently still limited. However, the central bank also warned that if the scope of institutional and corporate participation expands in the future, significant price shocks in crypto assets could spread to the domestic stock and foreign exchange markets.

According to Caixin, the "People's Bank of China Law (Revised Draft)" was submitted for the first review at the 23rd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress on June 23, 2026. Among the new proposals, "clarifying the legal status of digital renminbi" is a new term. The 2020 consultation draft only mentioned that "renminbi includes both physical and digital forms." Previous consultation drafts also stipulated that no unit or individual may produce or sell token vouchers and digital tokens to replace renminbi in circulation in the market. The People's Bank of China shall order the cessation of illegal activities, destroy illegally produced and sold token vouchers and digital tokens, confiscate illegal gains, and impose fines of up to five times the illegal amount.

According to The Block, Ben Slavin, the global ETF head at Bank of New York Mellon (BNY), stated that asset managers are accelerating their tokenized ETF plans, driven mainly by investor demand and the FOMO sentiment of fearing to miss early opportunities in blockchain finance. Slavin revealed that BNY has multiple tokenized ETF projects underway, and although the regulatory environment and infrastructure are not yet fully ready, many clients wish to launch products as soon as possible. He believes that blockchain networks are expected to become a new distribution channel for traditional investment products, enabling around-the-clock holding and transfer of fund shares, shortening settlement times, and expanding coverage for global investors.Slavin also pointed out that currently, hundreds of well-known ETFs are trading in tokenized form in unregulated markets, and most of these have not been directly authorized by the fund sponsors, which poses reputational risks. This topic has become a focal point for discussions among BNY's asset management clients. Although the industry is still exploring core issues such as the integration of tokenized funds with existing infrastructure, secondary trading mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks, Slavin stated that asset managers are increasingly inclined to believe that "getting in early" in this field is more important than "waiting for clarity."

According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. House of Representatives passed housing legislation with a vote of 358 to 32, which includes a provision for a temporary ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDC), lasting until 2030. The bill has now been sent to President Trump for signing. Previously, it was reported that the U.S. Senate passed a housing bill that includes a four-year ban on the Federal Reserve's CBDC.

According to The Block, the U.S. Department of Justice has seized a cloud computing account used by Huione Group, which is accused of laundering billions of dollars in cryptocurrency scam proceeds. Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva stated that the account constituted technical support, enabling the transfer and concealment of scam funds through Southeast Asian scam centers. This action is part of "Operation Choke Point," under which the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network had previously identified Huione Group as a primary money laundering concern.The statement claims that Huione's subsidiaries are suspected of assisting criminals in transferring funds from investment scams, cyber theft, and other illegal blockchain activities, ultimately injecting them into the legitimate banking system, with a significant amount of theft reportedly linked to North Korea. Huione's "Huione Guarantee" had previously posted advertisements for stolen credit cards, identity information, malware profits, and human trafficking services on Telegram channels. Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic pointed out that Huione launched the stablecoin USDH under financial pressure last year and developed a proprietary product line that includes a decentralized exchange, wallets, and "Huione Chain" (Xone).

According to CoinDesk, blockchain infrastructure company Chainlink Labs has announced that it will join an alliance composed of several banks that collectively manage assets exceeding $10 trillion, aiming to promote real-time cross-border foreign exchange payment settlements based on stablecoins within a year.The alliance is named "Project Pangea." Niki Ariyasinghe, Vice President of Chainlink for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, stated in a video interview on Tuesday that the project aims to reshape the global foreign exchange market.In addition to Chainlink, the alliance also includes: a euro stablecoin consortium Qivalis supported by 37 European banks; and a Korean banking alliance UniKA representing more than 10 commercial banks.The goal of the project is to explore moving foreign exchange settlements from the traditional T+2 (48 hours after the transaction) cycle to an almost instantaneous T+0 settlement method, primarily relying on regulated euro and Korean won-pegged stablecoins—cryptocurrencies that are pegged 1:1 to the underlying fiat currency.