French Bank Launches USD Stablecoin, US Fintech Expands Stablecoin Reach
By Jonathan Cardenas
The crypto assets division of a major French multinational bank and financial services company (Bank) recently announced the launch of its U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, the USD CoinVertible (USDCV), on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains. USDCV is the second stablecoin issued by the Bank, which launched its first stablecoin, the Euro-pegged EUR CoinVertible (EURCV), in April 2023. According to the Bank, both USDCV and EURCV are considered “electronic money tokens” under the European Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation and are MiCA-compliant. With its combined USDCV and EURCV offering, the Bank has stated that it will offer to its clients “instant 24/7 conversion between fiat currencies and stablecoin.” According to a press release, trading of USDCV is expected to begin in early July.
In other stablecoin news, a major multinational payments and fintech company recently announced plans to make its stablecoin, PYUSD, available on the Stellar blockchain network, pending regulatory approval by the New York State Department of Financial Services. With its proposed expansion of PYUSD onto the Stellar blockchain, the company will enhance its service offerings in cross-border payments, commerce and micro-financing services. According to a press release, the proposed expansion onto the Stellar blockchain is projected to increase usage of PYUSD in everyday financial transactions and will enhance liquidity and financing opportunities for small and midsize businesses through payment financing services disbursed in PYUSD.
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US Fintech and Digital Asset Companies Announce Acquisitions, New Products
By Keith R. Murphy
According to a recent press release, a major U.S. financial services and payments processing platform is acquiring Privy, a wallet and authentication infrastructure provider. According to the release, Privy focuses on helping users create powerful wallets, sign transactions and integrate any on-chain system. The release further notes that the combined companies expect to help bring the power of crypto and fiat closer together and change how value moves through the Internet.
In another recent press release, blockchain-based trading platform provider tZero announced that its broker-dealer subsidiaries now offer correspondent clearing services to third-party broker-dealers for crypto asset securities and traditional securities. According to the release, the company’s brokerage platform – reportedly one of only two in the United States supporting crypto securities custody – provides end-to-end infrastructure for crypto asset securities to both direct customers and third-party broker-dealers that either do not have the permission or the operational infrastructure to self-custody crypto asset securities on chain.
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US Crypto Exchange Analyzes State of Crypto in Q2 2025
By Jonathan Cardenas
A major U.S. cryptocurrency exchange has published a report that outlines its views on the state of crypto in Q2 2025. According to the report, increased levels of crypto and stablecoin adoption by small and midsize businesses (SMBs), Fortune 500 companies and institutional investors indicate that “the future of money is here.” The report states that the number of on-chain projects that are being deployed by Fortune 500 companies has increased on a year-over-year basis, with the most popular projects including those that relate to payments, supply chain management and blockchain infrastructure. With respect to SMBs, the report notes a year-over-year increase in SMB usage and acceptance of payments in crypto. The report also references increased levels of stablecoin adoption, increased tokenization of real-world assets and increased institutional investor interest in crypto exchange-traded fund offerings. Notwithstanding the recent increase in adoption, the report asserts that crypto’s full potential will only be realized with greater regulatory certainty.
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SEC Holds Final Crypto Roundtable; Chair, Commissioners Publish Statements
By Robert A. Musiala Jr.
On June 9, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Task Force held the final scheduled roundtable, “DeFi and the American Spirit,” in its series discussing crypto asset regulation. SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce and Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw each delivered published remarks at the event.
In his remarks, Atkins said he was “grateful to the Division of Corporation Finance staff for clarifying its view that voluntary participation in a proof-of-work or proof-of-stake network as a ‘miner,’ ‘validator,’ or ‘staking-as-a-service’ provider is not within the scope of the federal securities laws.” However, Atkins said, “[W]e cannot stop there” and “[the SEC] must adopt a regulation based on the authority that Congress has given us.” He also noted he was in favor of affording greater flexibility to market participants to self-custody crypto assets. Additionally, Atkins said he has asked the SEC staff “to consider whether amendments to [SEC] rules and regulations would be better suited to provide needed accommodation for issuers and intermediaries who seek to administer on-chain financial systems.” Perhaps most notably, Atkins said that while the SEC works to propose “fit-for-purpose” rules, he has directed the SEC to “consider a conditional exemptive relief framework or ‘innovation exemption’ that would expeditiously allow registrants and non-registrants to bring on-chain products and services to market.”
In her remarks, Peirce said, “The SEC must not infringe on First Amendment rights by regulating someone who merely publishes code on the basis that others use that code to carry out activity that the SEC has traditionally regulated. If somebody else subsequently violates the law using the software protocol, the user – not the developer of the software – should face the music.” She further noted that where the writer of such code uses the code to “operate, administer, or maintain a platform through which the code can be accessed and that takes custody of client assets or makes execution decisions for clients … the coder or her platform might be subject to regulation.” In closing, Peirce said, “The SEC’s efforts are best spent protecting investors, not from their own use of open-source software code to engage in transactions with their peers, nor from writers of such code, but from providers of financial services.”
Finally, Crenshaw noted that the roundtables “have given us a lot to grapple with” and said she was “unsure whether we’ve identified much that can be simply or quickly clarified.” According to Crenshaw, “With issues this complex and stakes this high, it’s better to do it right than fast. We need to grapple with the tough questions through the legally sanctioned process of formal rulemaking, as Chairman Atkins alluded to earlier, with full opportunity for notice and comment and public interest findings.”
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DOJ Actions Target Crypto Sanctions Evasion, Money Laundering Schemes
By John E. Robertson
On June 9, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced charges against the founder of Evita Investments and Evita Pay, alleging the defendant used the companies to launder the funds of sanctioned Russian individuals and entities. According to a DOJ press release, the defendant received cryptocurrency from the Russian entities, transferred it through his own cryptocurrency wallets and then converted it to U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies. The DOJ also alleges the defendant defrauded the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by making materially false statements when registering Evita as a money transmitter.
Also on June 9, the DOJ announced the guilty pleas of five defendants who laundered more than $36.9 million through fraudulent digital asset investments. According to a DOJ press release, the men induced investments from victims by contacting them through unsolicited social media interactions, telephone calls, text messages and online dating services. Upon receiving the victims’ investments, the men transferred the money to a bank in the Bahamas, which they directed to convert the funds to USDT. The USDT was then sent to “scam centers” throughout Cambodia.
In a third action, the DOJ announced a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that North Korean information technology workers used fraudulent credentials to obtain employment at U.S. companies, where they were paid in stablecoin. The complaint followed the DOJ’s announcement of two federal indictments against defendant Kim Hyon Sop, who allegedly coordinated the scheme. The DOJ alleges that Kim assisted with laundering the scheme’s proceeds so they could be sent to North Korea to fund the North Korean government. According to a press release, the DOJ “was able to freeze and seize over $7.74 million tied to the scheme.”
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