Big US Organisations Announce Digital Assets Moves

Information current as of 10 March 2026

Nasdaq’s European Trading Venues to Connect to Seturion Tokenised Asset Platform

Nasdaq has announced a strategic partnership with Seturion, Boerse Stuttgart Group's pan-European settlement platform for tokenised assets, to help modernise Europe's post-trade infrastructure.

Boerse Stuttgart Group recently launched Seturion as a settlement platform open to all market participants and is set to connect its own trading venues to the platform. It supports all asset classes on public and private DLTs, as well as cash settlement against central bank money and on-chain cash.

Through this partnership, Nasdaq's European trading venues will connect to Seturion to facilitate the trading of tokenised securities that will be settled through the platform. With an initial focus on structured products, Nasdaq and Seturion will work to expand the network of financial institutions connecting to Seturion, building an ecosystem of issuers, brokers, and other industry partners across Europe.

Federal Reserve Clarifies Bank Capital Treatment of Tokenised Securities

According to a joint announcement by the US Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), US banks can now treat tokenised securities as equivalent to conventional securities for capital.

The US position is more permissive than the international one from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), currently under review. While the BCBS also allows equivalent treatment, it has caveats and does not treat securities on permissionless blockchains as equivalent. That means there is a prohibitive risk weighting of 1250%.

The Fed’s FAQs can be found here.

NYSE Owner Invests in Crypto Exchange OKX

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), one of the world's leading providers of financial market technology and data powering global capital markets, including the New York Stock Exchange, has announced a strategic relationship and investment in OKX, a blockchain technology and trading company serving more than 120 million people globally. ICE’s investment reflects a valuation of OKX of $25 billion.

Key takeaways:

• ICE to license OKX spot crypto prices and launch US regulated futures.
• OKX to provide access to ICE's US futures and NYSE tokenised equities markets to their customer base of 120M accounts.
• Joint venture to bring OKX and ICE-operated markets to US-based customers.
• Relationship is another step in ICE's strategy to operate on-chain infrastructure for trading, settlement, custody, and capital formation.

“This relationship brings together OKX’s digital-asset execution stack and ICE’s regulated-market technology – operators of two high-performance matching engines and transparent order books – to help build a more reliable market structure that bridges digital assets and equities, strengthens cross-market price formation, and meets institutional standards for risk and compliance.”

Star Xu, Founder and CEO of OKX.

Morgan Stanley Picks Coinbase and BNY as Custodians for Planned Bitcoin ETF

Morgan Stanley has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a prospectus outlining the structure of the proposed Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust, revealing that the fund plans to use Coinbase Custody (COIN) and the Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) to safeguard its bitcoin holdings.

The filing outlines a custody structure designed to mirror traditional institutional standards. Bitcoin will largely be held in offline cold storage vaults, where private keys remain disconnected from the internet to reduce hacking risks. A portion of the assets may temporarily move to trading wallets during ETF creation or redemption activity. The trust notes that custody insurance exists but is shared across customers and may not cover all potential losses.

FCA selects Four Firms to Test Stablecoin Innovation in its Regulatory Sandbox

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCS) has announced that four companies interested in issuing a stablecoin will participate in its Regulatory Sandbox: Monee Financial Technologies; ReStabilise; Revolut; and VVTX. These were selected from 20 applicants, with applications invited in November 2025.

The Regulatory Sandbox programme allows firms to trial stablecoin products in real world conditions with appropriate safeguards. It will help the FCA to assess its proposed policy in a live environment and ensure future rules are clear, effective and support responsible innovation.

Testing will primarily focus on stablecoin issuance. The four selected firms’ proposals represent a range of stablecoin use cases, including payments, wholesale settlement and crypto trading. Each firm will receive feedback from FCA specialists while helping to shape the UK’s regulatory approach.

Matthew Long, director of payments and digital assets at the FCA, said: 

“We are supporting UK stablecoin issuers to ensure they can be trusted for payments, settlement and trading. It will benefit consumers and financial transactions and help to deliver the FCA's strategy and the Government's National Payments Vision.”

Circle Reports USDC in Circulation of $75.3 billion, 72% up on Prior Year

Circle Internet Group, Inc. has announced its resultsfor the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2025, with the amount of USDC in circulation now standing at $75.3 billion, up 72% on the previous year.

Fourth Quarter Highlights (Q4 2025 vs. Q4 2024)

• USDC in circulation of $75.3 billion at year-end grew 72%; USDC on-chain transaction volume in Q4’25 of $11.9 trillion, up 247%.
• Total revenue and reserve income in Q4’25 of $770 million grew 77%.
• Net Income from continuing operations in Q4’25 of $133 million increased $129 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA in Q4’25 of $167 million grew 412%.

USDC is a regulated, fiat-collateralised stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. It was launched in 2018 by Circle and Coinbase.

“The fourth quarter marked another step forward in Circle’s mission to build the infrastructure for an open, programmable internet financial system,” said Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman at Circle. “USDC adoption continued to expand globally as more enterprises, developers, and public institutions integrated digital dollars into real-world payments, treasury, and onchain financial workflows.”

OCC Requests Comments on Proposal to Implement the Genius Act

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has issued a proposed rulemaking to implement the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.

The notice of proposed rulemaking generally sets forth, and seeks comment on, the regulations that would apply to permitted payment stablecoin issuers and foreign payment stablecoin issuers under the OCC’s jurisdiction as well as certain custody activities conducted by OCC-supervised entities.

“The OCC has given thoughtful consideration to a proposed regulatory framework in which the stablecoin industry can flourish in a safe and sound manner,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould. “We welcome feedback on the proposal to inform a final rule that is effective, practical and reflects broad industry perspective.”

Northern Trust Asset Management Launches Tokenised MMF

Northern Trust Asset Management has launched a tokenised share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio.

Marking the firm’s entry into the digital assets market, the tokenised share class represents a digital mirror record of the fund’s institutional share class using blockchain technology. This offering will initially be available to clients on BNY’s market-leading LiquidityDirect platform, which utilises Goldman Sachs Digital Asset Platform (“GS DAP^®”).

“This launch reflects Northern Trust Asset Management’s commitment to delivering secure, efficient, and innovative liquidity solutions for institutional investors,” said Paula Kar, Chief Product Officer, Northern Trust Asset Management. “Tokenisation delivers meaningful advantages, including improved settlement efficiency and enhanced visibility. Money market funds are on the leading edge of digital innovation, and we are excited to advance our product suite in this evolving space.”

Morgan Stanley Files for Digital Assets National Trust Bank Charter

Morgan Stanley has applied to the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a de novo national trust bank charter for a proposed entity called Morgan Stanley Digital Trust, National Association. This will let them take custody of cryptocurrencies for clients under federal supervision.

The proposed trust bank would be a wholly owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. The unit would focus on holding digital assets on behalf of customers and supporting related activities such as buying, selling, swapping and transferring tokens. It may also facilitate staking services on a fiduciary basis.

This move is an important strategic step as operating through a nationally chartered trust bank reduces reliance on third-party custodians and tightens governance around client assets. This is an important differentiator as large investors scrutinise operational risk in crypto markets.

Kraken Becomes First Crypto Firm to Get Fed Master Account

Kraken Financial, the Wyoming-chartered bank, has been granted a Federal Reserve master account. This approval makes Kraken Financial the first digital asset bank in US history to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment infrastructure.

The decision marks a major milestone and underscores years of sustained regulatory engagement, operational rigor, and close coordination with US and Wyoming supervisors. It further strengthens Payward’s (the parent company behind Kraken) unified infrastructure model by integrating Federal Reserve connectivity directly into the platform’s settlement and payments layer.

Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken said: “This milestone marks the convergence of crypto infrastructure and sovereign financial rails. With a Federal Reserve master account, we can operate not as a peripheral participant in the US banking system, but as a directly connected financial institution.”

Clearstream, DTCC, Euroclear, and BCG Release Digital Assets White Paper

Clearstream, DTCC and Euroclear (together with Boston Consulting Group) have released a new white paper proposing a shared framework to enable trusted, scalable interoperability across the digital asset securities ecosystem.

Key takeaways:

• Interoperability is a cornerstone for adoption and scalability of digital asset securities.
• Fragmentation across DLT networks presents a material risk to market efficiency and asset mobility.
• The paper introduces a five-pillar interoperability framework spanning ownership, asset movement and compliance.
• Industry collaboration on data standards, processes and roles is essential to unlock value at scale.

This framework builds on the 2024 publication "Building the Digital Asset Securities Ecosystem", which introduced the Digital Asset Securities Control Principles (DASCPs) as a foundation for safe and scalable digital markets.

Together, the two papers provide a coherent blueprint for control, interoperability and adoption across global financial market infrastructures.

BOJ to Experiment with Blockchain Settlement for Reserves

The Bank of Japan will conduct experiments for using blockchain ‌technology to settle deposits that financial institutions park with the central bank, Governor Kazuo Ueda has said.

The experiments will be part of a "sandbox project" underway at the BOJ to enable the use of central bank money for ​a range of settlements using blockchain, Ueda said in a speech titled "the New Financial Ecosystem ​and the Role of Central Banks".

The BOJ manages intrabank settlement, liquidity and ​monetary policy through commercial banks' reserve accounts held at the central bank. Introducing blockchain technology to settle such reserves would allow scope for instant settlement 24 hours a day and reduce gridlock risk in stress events.

MFSA Publishes Supervisory Priorities for 2026

The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has published its Supervisory Priorities for 2026, outlining the Authority’s key focus areas for the coming year. The priorities reflect the MFSA’s continued commitment to strengthening market integrity, improving consumer outcomes, and ensuring Malta remains closely aligned with EU regulatory developments.

In 2026, there will be a strong focus on financial crime compliance, consumer protection and cross-border supervision, while the MFSA’s seven supervisory pillars remain: Resilience of Supervised Entities; Sustainable Finance; Digital Finance; Governance Risk & Compliance; Financial Crime Compliance; Consumer Protection & Education; and Cross-Border Supervision.

Kenneth Farrugia, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“Our 2026 priorities reflect the MFSA’s commitment to proportionate, risk‑based supervision. Strengthening financial crime compliance and consumer protection remains central to our work, while we continue to support innovation and ensure that Malta’s financial sector evolves responsibly and sustainably.”