US Fintech and Digital Asset Companies Announce Stablecoin Initiatives
By Robert A. Musiala Jr.
A major U.S. fintech company recently announced a partnership with the issuer of the USDC stablecoin “to give financial institutions the ability to transact in USDC, the world’s largest regulated stablecoin.” According to a press release, the partnership “will enable U.S. financial institutions to offer their customers the option to make domestic and cross-border stablecoin payments in USDC.”
In other stablecoin news, Anchorage Digital, a “federally chartered crypto bank,” recently “announced a strategic partnership with Ethena Labs, the creator of USDe and USDtb, to bring USDtb to the U.S. as the first-ever stablecoin with a clear pathway to becoming compliant with the recently enacted GENIUS Act.” According to a press release, “Under the partnership, the USDtb stablecoin—which is currently issued offshore—will be issued in the U.S. by Anchorage Digital Bank, positioning the firm as the leading U.S. stablecoin issuer for institutions.”
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US Fintech Companies Launch Products Allowing Merchants to Accept Crypto
By Robert A. Musiala Jr.
A major U.S. fintech company and issuer of the PYUSD stablecoin recently announced the launch of its “Pay with Crypto” product, which “connects merchants to a $3+ trillion market, by enabling instant crypto to stablecoin or fiat conversion.” According to a press release, the new product “empowers U.S. merchants to accept crypto payments” and “offers the ability to pay with 100 cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, USDT, XRP, BNB, Solana, USDC and many others and connect wallets” from several well-known wallet providers.
According to reports, another major U.S. fintech company recently launched a product that allows merchants to accept bitcoin as payment using the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The company reportedly has begun onboarding its first group of merchants and is targeting 4 million merchant customers by 2026.
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President’s Working Group Publishes Report on Digital Assets
By Jonathan Cardenas
On July 30, the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets published its long-awaited report, “Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology” (Report). The Report, which was published in connection with President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14178 of Jan. 23, reflects the view that the digital asset industry is critical to American innovation and economic development, and it encourages the U.S. federal government to “operationalize President Trump’s promise to make America the ‘crypto capital of the world.’” The Report provides an overview of the digital asset ecosystem and recommends regulatory and legislative proposals with respect to digital asset market structure; bank engagement with digital assets, stablecoins and payment systems; mitigation of illicit financial risks; and taxation. Among other recommendations, the Report encourages the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to use their existing authorities to provide “fulsome regulatory clarity that best keeps blockchain-based innovation within the United States.”
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SEC Approves In-Kind Creations and Redemptions for Crypto ETP Shares
By Robert A. Musiala Jr.
On July 29, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “voted to approve orders to permit in-kind creations and redemptions by authorized participants for crypto asset exchange-traded product (ETP) shares.” According to an SEC press release, the orders “reflect a departure from recently approved spot bitcoin and ether ETPs, which were limited to creations and redemptions on an in-cash basis. With today’s approval orders, bitcoin and ether ETPs, consistent with other commodity-based ETPs approved by the Commission, will be permitted to create and redeem shares on an in-kind basis.” According to a statement published by SEC Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, the order “aligns with the SEC’s mission to protect investors and maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets” and “eliminates the market asymmetries and inefficiencies created by cash-only redemption.”
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DOJ Actions Target Crypto and Sanctions Fraud, Seek BTC Forfeiture
By Keith R. Murphy and Brandon Hansen
According to a recent press release by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), an Arizona woman has been sentenced to a 102-month prison term after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering in connection with a “laptop farm.” In what is believed to be one of the largest North Korean remote work fraud schemes, the defendant allegedly facilitated the utilization of more than 68 stolen U.S. identities to defraud 311 businesses, generating more than $17.1 million in illicit revenue. According to the press release, the woman served as a U.S.-based facilitator and established a laptop farm, hosting more than 90 company-issued devices to help North Korean IT workers pose as U.S. employees. The press release notes that the scheme enabled workers to access payroll systems, divert wages into laundered accounts and create false tax liabilities, allegedly funneling funds to North Korea.
In another recent press release, the DOJ announced that a cryptocurrency founder and CEO was sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for an international wire fraud and money-laundering scheme. The press release stated that the CEO made fictitious claims and promises about the development, business prospects and launch timeline of a virtual currency project to attract potential investors. According to the press release, these misrepresentations resulted in more than $10 million being defrauded from investors, with more than $2 million being used to fund the CEO’s personal expenses. The funds are believed to have been laundered through a series of bank accounts prior to use by the CEO.
In a final notable press release, the DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint in the Northern District of Texas seeking to recover more than $1.7 million in bitcoin seized by the Dallas FBI back in April. The DOJ asserts that the cryptocurrency, allegedly linked to a ransomware group known for money laundering and extortion, constitutes illicit assets under federal jurisdiction and should become property of the U.S. government.
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Reports Provide Data on Crypto Losses to Threat Actors in First Half of 2025
By Amos Kim
According to a recent report from Hacken, an international blockchain security group, crypto-related losses totaled $3.1 billion in the first half of 2025, the highest amount ever recorded for a six-month period. While the number of incidents dropped by 28 percent year over year (YOY), the total value of funds lost rose by 93 percent, reflecting a shift toward fewer but higher-impact attacks.The majority of losses were attributed to access-control issues, including compromised private keys, misconfigured smart contracts and social engineering tactics. Smart contract exploits also contributed significantly to overall losses. The report cites the following key figures from H1 2025: (1) $3.1 billion in total losses (up 93 percent YoY); (2) 78 percent of losses tied to access control failures; (3) $561 million attributed to smart contract exploits; (4) $401 million in recovered assets; (5) 28 percent decline in the number of incidents; and (6) the top five incidents accounted for more than $1.3 billion.
According to new midyear findings from Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics firm, illicit cryptocurrency transaction volume fell 29 percent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This decline was driven primarily by reduced scam and darknet market activity. However, ransomware payments remain high, and the use of evasion techniques, especially through sanctioned entities and obfuscation tools, has expanded significantly. According to the report, the data reflects a shift in illicit finance tactics. While opportunistic crimes such as fraud and phishing declined, more sophisticated actors continued to operate at scale. Ransomware payments in 2024 exceeded $1 billion for the first time, and that trend has continued into 2025. Other key findings from the report include the following: (1) a 29 percent drop in illicit crypto volume compared to H1 2024; (2) $10 billion+ in projected illicit transaction volume for 2025 (down from $14.2 billion in 2024); and (3) 44 percent of illicit crypto volume now tied to sanctioned entities (up from 29 percent).
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