digital

According to The Block, Sarah Breeden, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, presented a vision for the digitization of the UK financial system at the 2026 London City Week conference, focusing on the integration of regulated stablecoins. A draft rule for systemic stablecoins is planned to be released next month, with the final version to be completed by the end of the year. Breeden pointed out that future retail payment systems should include various interchangeable forms of currency, including digital deposits and stablecoins.She stated that shared ledger technology is expected to reduce payment costs and accelerate processing speeds, minimizing intermediaries. In addition, smart contracts support customization, conditionality, and automation, further enhancing the efficiency of retail payments. Breeden emphasized that the Bank of England will actively support the responsible adoption of AI technology, including agent payments and commercial transactions.

According to Coin Desk, former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Timothy Massad stated that despite Trump's public commitment to oppose central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and government-backed stablecoins, the U.S. may ultimately launch a government-supported on-chain digital dollar scheme driven by the global development of tokenized finance.Massad mentioned that the White House is conducting closed-door research on the relevant infrastructure, and the U.S. has also participated in the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Project Agora. Mark Gould, head of payment services at the Federal Reserve, stated that a digital dollar is currently not within the Federal Reserve's responsibilities, but if a government-supported digital dollar is launched, it will be the responsibility of the Federal Reserve.

According to BBX data, yesterday the global digital asset compliance process welcomed a historic policy dividend, as the U.S. federal government and the top securities regulatory agency are jointly breaking down the payment and securities boundaries between the crypto ecosystem and traditional finance. The core dynamics are as follows:Trump signs digital asset executive order: U.S. President Trump officially signed an executive order on Tuesday local time, requiring U.S. financial regulatory agencies to review existing rules within the next three months, identify and dismantle regulations that hinder fintech companies from collaborating with federally regulated financial institutions. The order specifically requires the Federal Reserve to take measures to encourage innovation within six months, reassess the eligibility of non-bank financial companies to access Federal Reserve payment accounts and services, and appoint 12 regional Federal Reserve banks to study the feasibility of independent open payment accounts.SEC poised to release "innovation exemption" framework: According to Bloomberg Law, the "Project Crypto" plan led by SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is expected to officially launch the tokenized stock "innovation exemption" framework as early as this week. This framework will allow crypto-native platforms to provide trading and clearing services for tokenized U.S. stocks to the market during the experimental period without undergoing full broker registration.Traditional exchange giants race to tokenize: Regulatory easing has already sparked competition for existing market share on Wall Street. Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ: $NDAQ) has officially received SEC approval to launch trading of DTC-compliant security token versions by March 2026; meanwhile, the NYSE parent company Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: $ICE) has also submitted its independently developed 24/7 tokenized securities platform for final approval, which is currently pending.

According to Decrypt, digital asset market infrastructure provider Prometheum has officially completed its first batch of cryptocurrency transactions after nearly a decade of establishment and raising approximately $100 million, currently only supporting Ethereum transactions.Prometheum has been controversial in the industry for supporting the compliance path and regulatory stance of the U.S. SEC during Gary Gensler's tenure, and in 2023 became the first company to obtain a Special Purpose Broker-Dealer (SPBD) license from the U.S. SEC and FINRA, allowing it to custody digital asset securities under a federal regulatory framework. However, with Gary Gensler's departure, the U.S. SEC's withdrawal of lawsuits against companies like Coinbase, and the regulatory framework shifting to a more lenient model, the compliance and custody license advantages that Prometheum has built over the long term are being weakened.

VanEck analyst Matthew Sigel, whose managed assets total $200 billion, stated that the digital credit market could expand to $2.5 trillion in the next decade, while the price of BTC is expected to reach $1 million. Matthew Sigel noted that this goal is "absolutely within reach."

According to Cointelegraph, U.S. Republican lawmakers are calling for a permanent ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in the upcoming vote on the "21st Century Housing Act" in the House of Representatives. Congressman Mike Flood stated that the House's revised bill aims to overturn the "implicit green light" for CBDCs, making the ban permanent. If the bill passes the House, it will return to the Senate for possible further revisions. Congressman Warren Davidson supports the permanent ban and believes that the 2030 expiration date effectively gives CBDCs a pre-launch development period. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer is also promoting his "Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act," which passed the House last July but has not yet been approved by the Senate. Emmer warned that if the U.S. adopts a CBDC, privacy and economic freedom will cease to exist.

Ionic Digital released an unaudited mining and operational update report for April 2026, disclosing that 20.45 bitcoins (BTC) were mined in April, a decrease of 27.1% compared to the previous month. The average daily hash rate was 1.51 EH/s, a month-on-month decrease of 26.2%, mainly due to the complete shutdown of its hosting facility in GXD, Oklahoma, which is currently out of operation.Currently, the company has only four mining sites in Midland still operating, which contributed all 20.45 BTC output in April. During the same period, global network hash rate decreased by 2.1%, but block output remained basically stable, with a month-on-month increase of 0.5%. In terms of finances, Ionic Digital maintained a zero-debt status, having not sold any BTC in April. As of April 30, the company held 2,836.4 BTC, an increase of approximately 19.9 BTC compared to the previous month.

Galaxy Digital announced that it has obtained the BitLicense and money transmitter license approved by the New York State Department of Financial Services, allowing it to provide digital asset services in New York State.This license applies to its subsidiary Galaxy One Prime NY, which will offer trading and custody services to residents, institutions, and businesses in New York. Galaxy stated that New York has the deepest institutional capital pool in the United States, and digital assets are gradually entering the mainstream allocation range. With this approval, the company will be able to serve its institutional clients in New York more directly.

Delphi Digital pointed out in its latest post that WETH, USDT, and USDC are the three largest lending markets on Aave's Ethereum market, accounting for 89% of the total borrowing volume. The supply rates for these three markets are about 25%-35% lower than the borrowing rates, resulting in an annual loss of approximately $52 million, nearly half of Aave's annualized revenue for the first quarter. Even if the reserve factor is completely eliminated, there would still be a loss of about $36 million.Delphi believes that Aave's peer-to-pool model has significant structural flaws. The KelpDAO bridge attack on April 18 further exposed this issue. The attacker leveraged $292 million in rsETH on Aave, leading to nearly $200 million in bad debt for Aave, and the main markets like WETH experienced 100% utilization, freezing for up to 5 days.

According to the latest weekly report from CoinShares, institutional digital asset investment products experienced a net outflow of approximately $1.07 billion in a single week, marking the third-largest weekly net outflow this year and ending a previous six-week streak of net inflows.Due to geopolitical risk sentiment related to Iran, funds primarily withdrew from Bitcoin, with a net outflow of $982 million, and Ethereum saw a net outflow of $249 million, the largest single-week outflow since January 30. Blockchain stock ETFs also experienced an outflow of about $133 million. The United States was the main source of this capital outflow, totaling approximately $1.14 billion, while products in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada recorded slight net inflows.Meanwhile, XRP and Solana recorded net inflows of approximately $67.6 million and $55.1 million, respectively, while Ton, Sui, Ondo, Chainlink, and Doge also saw inflows in the millions, indicating that some funds are selectively allocating outside of BTC and ETH.

According to NADA NEWS, ReYuu Japan, a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Standard Market, announced that, after mutual consultation, it has terminated the basic agreement reached with the Canadian investment company Universal Digital Inc. regarding a financing framework of up to $100 million (approximately 15 billion yen).The agreement was originally intended to promote external financing arrangements related to its cryptocurrency asset reserve (DAT) strategy, but it was not a formal loan contract, and the establishment of the financing framework or actual borrowing had not been completed. ReYuu Japan stated that the capital market environment for listed companies implementing cryptocurrency asset reserve strategies has changed, and investor attitudes have become more cautious; this termination does not mean that its cryptocurrency asset reserve strategy is halted, and it will continue to assess based on market conditions, financial stability, and shareholder value.

According to Digital Asset, Jeong Tae-ho, a Democratic Party official from the National Assembly's Finance and Economy Planning Committee in South Korea, stated that the taxation of digital assets "has already been postponed and should be implemented as planned," and mentioned that internal party discussions will begin once the tax reform proposal is submitted to the committee.This statement marks a significant shift from his more reserved stance a month ago. The South Korean government has also officially confirmed that it will impose taxes on the transfer and rental income of digital assets starting January 1, 2027. Several hardline lawmakers within the Democratic Party have recently voiced their support for advancing the timeline as scheduled.

According to Bits.media, the Russian state-owned enterprise Gazprom has requested that its 17 subsidiaries must open digital ruble accounts with the Central Bank of Russia.The company stated that this move is to prepare for compliance with legislation that will take effect on September 1, which requires legal entities to be able to accept digital rubles as a method of payment for goods and services. The Russian digital ruble began testing in August 2023, and by the end of 2025, over 130 legal accounts will have participated in the platform testing. Starting September 1, large Russian banks and major enterprises must provide customers with the ability to transact in digital rubles.

According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, Multicoin Capital transferred 150,000 AAVE (approximately $14.91 million) to several CEXs including Binance, OKX, Coinbase, and Bybit through Galaxy Digital and BitGo yesterday morning. Subsequently, the price of AAVE dropped about 7% from $99 to $92.After that, Galaxy Digital withdrew 98,000 AAVE (approximately $9.08 million) from the aforementioned exchanges and transferred it back to the Multicoin Capital address, causing the price of AAVE to slightly rebound to $93.

According to Aastocks, the tokenized financial market infrastructure Digital Asset Clearing Center (DACC) announced the completion of a $10 million strategic financing, with participation from Conflux, Global InfoTech, Fosun International, Blockstone, Avior Capital, Fintech World, Satoshi Ventures, and BridgeTower.DACC currently provides end-to-end "Clearing-as-a-Service" for financial institutions, and the new funds will support its construction of compliant financial settlement and clearing infrastructure.

Nasdaq-listed company Bit Digital released its Q1 2026 financial report, showing total revenue of $27.9 million, a decrease of 13.6% from the previous quarter, primarily affected by declines in Ethereum staking income, cloud services, and mining business revenue.Among them, ETH staking income fell by 29.4% to $2.3 million, with the company citing reasons including the drop in ETH prices and a reduction in staking scale. Meanwhile, cloud service revenue decreased by 13.1% to $16.8 million, and Bitcoin mining revenue dropped by 32.9% to $3.7 million.During the reporting period, the company's net loss widened to $146.7 million, mainly impacted by non-cash factors such as changes in the fair value of digital assets.As of the end of March, the Ethereum holdings were approximately 154,400 coins, valued at about $327 million. The company stated that it has converted about 70,000 ETH into liquid staking to enhance asset flexibility.In recent years, Bit Digital has continuously shifted from Bitcoin mining to Ethereum staking and digital asset treasury strategies, gradually laying out high-performance computing (HPC) and AI infrastructure business. The company's management indicated that future capital allocation will continue to tilt towards Ethereum and infrastructure.

According to official news, Gate Europe CEO Giovanni Cunti attended the Digital Assets Forum 2026 held in Malta on May 14 and participated in a roundtable discussion titled "Do We Need a MiCA 2.0? The Industry's Perspective," alongside OKX CEO Erald Ghoos, Crypto.com Executive Vice President Mariana Kushev, and Blockchain.com Non-Executive Director and European Policy Advisor Giles Swan. They discussed the regulatory practices, industry opportunities, and future development directions of the European crypto industry following the implementation of MiCA.Giovanni shared the phased achievements of Gate Europe in advancing the compliance process in Europe, as well as the challenges and opportunities the industry faces under the MiCA framework. He stated that Gate will continue to be at the forefront of compliant crypto asset service providers in Europe and actively promote the standardized development of the industry.As an important forum focusing on European digital asset regulation and industry trends, the Digital Assets Forum 2026 gathered regulators, industry executives, and practitioners to review the key progress made in the 18 months since the implementation of MiCA. Currently, Gate's Malta company, Gate Europe, has obtained European MiCA and PI licenses under the supervision of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). As the European digital asset regulatory framework matures, Gate is deepening its compliance layout in the European market and enhancing its influence in the global digital asset industry through active participation in industry dialogue and regulatory practices.