uk

According to the UK magazine "Fortune," the largest investment platform in the UK, Hargreaves Lansdown (HL), will open Crypto ETN trading to its approximately 2 million investors starting from September 3. The first batch will include 9 BTC and ETH ETNs, issued by companies such as BlackRock's iShares, WisdomTree, 21Shares, Invesco, CoinShares, and Bitwise, with annual fees ranging from 0% to 0.35%.HL had previously been the major investment platform in the UK that had not opened Crypto ETNs and stated last October that "BTC is not an asset class." These related products will be offered to users of its Advanced Investing service, and investors must pass a suitability test and comply with a 24-hour cooling-off period during their first transaction.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian National Police and Security Service announced the dismantling of a fake investment platform network based in Kyiv. This gang stole cryptocurrency from users in over 20 countries through built-in wallet theft tools. Investigators have currently confirmed 62 victims, including citizens from Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Spain, France, the UK, Canada, and Israel. The organizers recruited more than 46 Ukrainians, operating multiple offices in Kyiv and surrounding areas, where developers were responsible for building the fake platform and resisting bans, while other members handled customer service and security.According to the Ukrainian Security Service, the organizer is a 25-year-old IT expert, and the gang's peak monthly revenue reached up to $1 million. The scam began with advertisements for cryptocurrency investment projects on Telegram. After users registered, they connected their wallets and invested funds, while gang members manually forged transactions to show a continuously increasing balance in the user backend. When users requested withdrawals, the platform required them to connect their main wallet and approve a small "test" transaction under the pretext of verification. This authorization immediately triggered the built-in theft tool on the website, transferring assets to wallets controlled by the gang and locking the victims' accounts.Investigators tracked down server equipment storing the gang's database in the Netherlands, which recorded victim information, wallet addresses, stolen amounts, internal communications, and platform operation data, as well as user passports, phone numbers, emails, login passwords, and photos. Police executed 34 searches in Kyiv and surrounding areas, seizing over 100 computers, more than 100 mobile phones, 79 SIM cards, one GSM gateway, cash, and 15 vehicles.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the prediction market Polymarket for the event "Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs," the option "Milwaukee Brewers" in the sub-market "Spread -1.5" has experienced a dramatic fluctuation in winning probability, dropping from 61% an hour ago to the current 42.5% (a fluctuation of 18.5%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the predicted market event "Milwaukee Brewers vs. Chicago Cubs" on Polymarket, the "Over" option in the sub-market "O/U 10.5" has experienced a dramatic fluctuation in win probability, soaring from 22% an hour ago to the current 45% (a fluctuation of 23%). Please note the impact of relevant breaking news.

The parent company of Kraken, Payward, announced a partnership with the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to tokenize the stocks of the 100 largest companies listed on the LSE into xStocks, which are backed 1:1. The first London-listed xStocks are expected to be launched on Kraken and other platforms supporting the xStocks Alliance in the coming weeks, available to investors in over 110 countries, but not yet open to UK investors.Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE plans to list and support xStocks trading on its newly launched extended trading hours, LSE 24. LSE CEO Julia Hoggett stated that by collaborating with Payward and continuously working with the market infrastructure ecosystem, they are exploring how issuers and investors can benefit from new access methods while maintaining the standards that underpin the public market. In addition to tokenizing existing stocks, both parties will also explore the issuance of native equity tokens through LSE infrastructure, which have the same rights as traditional stocks and are fully interchangeable.Payward's tokenized stock framework was launched in June 2025 and acquired by Payward in December, having processed over $40 billion in total trading volume, covering more than 200,000 holders, with nearly $20 billion settled on-chain. According to RWA.xyz data, there are currently approximately $2.53 billion in existing tokenized stocks, with xStocks tokenizing about $606.6 million, making it the second-largest issuer after Ondo.

The London Stock Exchange (LSEG) and Payward, the parent company of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, announced a partnership to bring stocks of the largest listed companies in the UK onto the blockchain. In the coming weeks, the stocks of the top 100 companies listed on the LSE will be available on Payward's xStocks tokenized stock framework. These xStocks are tokens that correspond one-to-one with the underlying stocks, allowing for 24/7 trading on centralized exchanges, self-custody wallets, and on-chain applications.This initiative continues the rapidly expanding framework of Payward. Over the past year, the cumulative trading volume of xStocks has exceeded $40 billion, with nearly $20 billion settled on-chain, and more than 200,000 product holders. Through the blockchain channel, UK-listed stocks will be able to reach investor groups in over 110 countries, although xStocks are currently not available to domestic UK investors.Subject to regulatory approval, the LSE plans to list and support xStocks trading on its newly launched 24-hour trading platform, LSE 24, and will gradually cover tokenized stocks and more asset classes in the US, EU, UK, and Hong Kong. Both parties also stated that they will explore stock tokens issued natively by the LSE, allowing LSE members to issue and service stocks directly on-chain, with the same full interchangeability and rights as traditional stocks. Payward Co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that for years, people have assumed that crypto and traditional finance must collide and one side would lose, but that has never been the real story;

In 2014, British man Chris lost access to his digital wallet when the trading platform Intersango collapsed. At that time, the wallet contained approximately £4,000 worth of Bitcoin. The platform had over 5,000 accounts.It is reported that there may still be hundreds of millions of pounds worth of Bitcoin in the account of one of the company's co-founders, which former users may be able to reclaim if they can provide sufficient proof of ownership.After multiple failed attempts to contact the company over the years, Chris once gave up, stating that watching the price of Bitcoin continuously rise "felt like being punched in the stomach." However, earlier this year, he tried again and hired a lawyer to assist in proving his ownership of several dozen "lost" Bitcoins. Months later, these Bitcoins were returned to him—currently worth about £3.3 million.

Luke Dashjr, who has been engaged in Bitcoin development for a long time, has exited the mining pool Ocean, resigning from his positions as Chairman, Chief Technology Officer, and Director. The parent company Mummolin has repurchased all of his shares. Both parties stated that this separation was mutually agreed upon, stemming from differences regarding the future direction of Bitcoin mining and recent developments in agreements.Dashjr is a co-founder of Ocean and will establish a new mining project called Convoy after his departure. Ocean stated that it will continue to operate its transparent, non-custodial mining pool, directly paying mining rewards to participating miners.This departure occurred after he took a few weeks off due to the failure of the BIP-110 proposal. BIP-110 is a controversial proposal aimed at limiting the storage of non-financial data on Bitcoin.

The UK government has released the first official statistics on taxable crypto asset gains, revealing that in the 2024-25 tax year, 240 individuals reported capital gains exceeding £1 million, totaling £717 million, which accounts for more than half of the total £1.38 billion reported by 17,600 individuals. The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stated that 17,600 individuals reported crypto asset disposal gains of £13.8 billion, with taxable gains of £1.38 billion, averaging about £78,000 per person; of these, approximately 87% were male and 13% were female.Selling, exchanging, consuming tokens, or gifting assets to others may trigger tax obligations. HMRC has sent out 81,000 crypto tax letters in the past 12 months, an increase of 25% from about 65,000 letters, approaching the 27,714 letters sent in the 2023-24 tax year. James Murray, the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Director of Payments, stated that crypto asset gains are subject to tax just like other gains. The UK plans to adjust the tax treatment of certain DeFi transactions starting from April 6, 2027, with related lending and liquidity pool transactions typically deferring capital gains tax until an economic disposal occurs, expected to affect about 700,000 individuals. HMRC estimates that its crypto tax compliance and education activities have generated an additional £168 million in capital gains tax for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the predicted market event "Texas Rangers vs. Milwaukee Brewers" on Polymarket, the option "Milwaukee Brewers" in the sub-market "Spread -1.5" has experienced a dramatic fluctuation in winning probability, soaring from 50.5% an hour ago to the current 90% (a fluctuation of 39.5%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to Decrypt, the financial investigation department of the police in Avon and Somerset, UK, has seized 20.21 bitcoins along with other crypto assets and bank account funds, totaling approximately $1.4 million (£1.03 million). Investigators traced the assets to dark web markets that operated between 2016 and 2019, all of which have now been shut down by law enforcement and were involved in criminal activities such as drug supply and human trafficking.This is the largest cryptocurrency seizure operation by the police since the introduction of the cryptocurrency wallet freezing order in the UK in April 2024. This power allows the police to freeze and seize cryptocurrencies without prior arrests, transferring them to wallets controlled by law enforcement, and seizing written passwords or storage devices. The individuals involved had previous money laundering convictions and are now deceased.The police pointed out that every transaction processed by these markets is permanently recorded on the blockchain, serving as a valuable source of evidence. The assets were seized earlier this year under the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the court determining that they represented proceeds from illegal activities, and the recovered funds will be used for community and policing projects.

The UK's HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) stated that for the 2024 to 2025 tax year, 240 individuals each reported capital gains from crypto assets exceeding £1 million, totaling £717 million, accounting for more than half of the total. The capital gains of all 17,600 filers amounted to £1.38 billion, with disposals totaling £13.8 billion. Taxpayers reporting capital gains below £25,000 accounted for 65%, contributing only 7% of the capital gains and 8% of the disposals.Among crypto asset taxpayers, 54% are aged between 25 and 44, and 81% are under 54; males account for 87%, contributing 93% of the capital gains. The UK is advancing regulation based on the OECD crypto asset reporting framework, requiring trading service providers to provide customer information to tax authorities, with HMRC set to start receiving relevant data in 2027; service providers failing to comply will face fines of up to £300 per user. James Murray, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, stated that capital gains from crypto assets are subject to tax just like other capital gains. The UK Treasury plans to defer capital gains tax on DeFi lending and assets deposited into liquidity pools until the actual disposal of the assets. For the 2025 to 2026 tax year, capital gains exceeding the tax-free allowance must be reported by January 31, 2027.

According to CoinDesk, the UK's HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has disclosed cryptocurrency earnings data separately for the first time in personal income tax returns. In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, a total of 240 taxpayers reported capital gains from cryptocurrencies exceeding £1 million (approximately $1.36 million), while 17,600 individuals reported taxable gains from cryptocurrency disposals, totaling £1.38 billion (approximately $1.87 billion), with an average of about £78,000 per person, of which nearly 90% were male.HMRC stated that it has begun implementing the OECD's cryptocurrency reporting framework, which requires cryptocurrency service providers to submit customer data to tax authorities, with the expectation of receiving relevant data starting in 2027 to cross-check taxpayer reporting information. In addition, HMRC mentioned that in the 2024-25 fiscal year, an additional £168 million (approximately $228.2 million) in capital gains tax was collected through compliance and educational activities.

The UK plans to give the Bank of England a new statutory objective to support innovation in stablecoins and other forms of digital currency, while maintaining financial stability as a primary responsibility. This objective will be incorporated through amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill, requiring the central bank to report annually to Parliament on its progress in payment systems and digital currency innovation. Lucy Rigby, the UK's Economic Secretary to the Treasury, stated that this objective will support the central bank in continuing to promote payment and digital financial innovation, ensuring that the UK maintains its leading position in global financial services.The UK is committed to establishing a unified regulatory framework covering both traditional and tokenized payments. The Bank of England abandoned its previously proposed temporary cap on the holdings of stablecoins by individuals and businesses in June this year, instead setting a £40 billion (approximately $54 billion) issuance cap for each systemic stablecoin; issuers can allocate up to 70% of their reserve assets to UK short-term government bonds, with the remainder held at the central bank. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has also finalized rules for crypto firms and stablecoin issuers, including simplified capital requirements, allowing businesses to apply for authorization starting September 30, with the new rules taking effect on October 25, 2027.According to DeFiLlama data, the current stablecoin market size is approximately $303 billion, up from about $200 billion at the beginning of last year, with most being dollar-pegged stablecoins. Visa data shows that the trading volume of retail-level stablecoins below $250 has increased from $500 million in 2019 to nearly $70 billion last year, reflecting the growth in consumer usage.

Chief Economist Fu Peng of New Fire Group published an article pointing out that although Nvidia's latest financial report has exceeded expectations for 15 consecutive quarters, the market has reacted lukewarmly to the financial data itself. Indicators such as stock price and options volatility show that market investors are currently more concerned about whether the free cash flow of the future index center can be smoothly delivered, and how long the momentum of AI growth can be maintained. These issues weigh more heavily than the performance of a single quarter's financial report, so even if this performance exceeds Wall Street's expectations by a few points, it does not change the denominator of the valuation.Fu Peng believes that Jensen Huang's statement during the conference call clearly indicated that "the inflection point for AI has arrived," which is essentially to reassure the market, aiming to strengthen market confidence in the formation of a closed-loop AI industry chain and alleviate concerns about over-investment. Investors should observe how long it takes for the market to digest this round of confidence boost, and how long the elevated expectations brought by Jensen Huang will last before fading. If the sentiment fades quickly, it indicates that the current typical market mentality is "no rabbit, no hawk," and the impact of manufacturers repeatedly reinforcing confidence in the market is gradually weakening, which can be observed from the duration of market fluctuations after each conference call.

According to monitoring by Catcher Predict, in the prediction market Polymarket for the event "Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets," the "Milwaukee Brewers" option in the sub-market "Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets" has experienced significant fluctuations in winning probability, soaring from 55.5% an hour ago to the current 96.9% (a fluctuation of 41.4%). Please note the impact of relevant breaking news.

According to Bloomberg, the UK government will grant the Bank of England (BoE) a new responsibility to promote innovation in the field of digital currency and payments. The UK Treasury stated that this responsibility will serve as a secondary objective for the Bank of England, still subordinate to its core mission of maintaining financial stability.This move responds to criticism that the UK central bank has been too conservative in its approach to emerging financial technologies. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has prioritized maintaining London's competitiveness in the rapidly evolving digital asset market as a key policy direction. This policy suggests that the UK regulatory framework may place greater emphasis on balancing risk control with financial technology innovation, potentially creating a clearer development environment for digital payments, stablecoins, and other digital asset-related businesses.

According to a report by Reuters, British judge Samuel Goozee dismissed the extradition defense of former Saitama CEO Manpreet Kohli on August 19 and transferred the case to the UK government to make a decision on the US extradition request. Kohli can still appeal, and the extradition has not been finalized; he is currently released on bail set at £200,000 (approximately $272,400).US prosecutors have charged Kohli with wire fraud, market manipulation, and related conspiracy, as well as operating an unlicensed remittance business, involving the Ethereum-based token Saitama, which once had a market value of about $7.5 billion. Kohli defended himself by arguing that the US could not adequately handle his mental health and the risk of suicide during detention, but the judge believed that the transfer and the safeguards of the US prison system could reduce the risk to an acceptable level. Previously, a federal judge in Boston had also dismissed his motion to dismiss the charges.The case stems from the "Operation Token Mirrors" investigation initiated by the US Department of Justice in October 2024, involving fraud and wash trading. Prosecutors allege that 18 individuals, including Kohli, coordinated multiple wallets to purchase tokens and paid ZM Quant and Gotbit to conduct wash trading on several exchanges, with Kohli suspected of profiting about $20 million. Gotbit has admitted to manipulating token prices and trading volumes and was ordered to pay $23 million in June 2025, while its founder Aleksei Andriunin was sentenced to 8 months in prison.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the Polymarket event "Milwaukee Brewers vs. New York Mets," the sub-market "Overtime" option's probability of "Yes" has experienced a dramatic fluctuation, rising from 8% an hour ago to the current 50% (a fluctuation of 42%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

Jeonbuk Bank has partnered with blockchain payment company Ripple to deploy its cross-border payment system, providing faster and cheaper remittance services for business clients such as import and export companies, tech startups, and online content creators, replacing the traditional transfer method that takes several days via the SWIFT network.Meanwhile, the Pakistan Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has opened the application portal for crypto licenses. Companies providing virtual asset services on or before March 5 must submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC) application by September 5, or they will cease operations. PVARA stated that the licensing window is officially open, providing a clear path for businesses to enter Pakistan's regulated virtual asset market.In addition, Laser Digital, a digital asset subsidiary of Nomura Group in Japan, has received approval from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) to become the first platform to obtain a crypto exchange license in four years, the last being Binance Japan in October 2022.