Institutionalisation and Regulation of Digital Assets Accelerates

Information current as of 14 May 2026

DTCC Advances Development of DTC Tokenisation Service

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has announced progress and timelines on the delivery of The Depository Trust Company’s (DTC’s) tokenisation service, which is being designed with feedback and collaboration from more than 50 financial industry firms.

The service, expected to commence limited production activity from July 2026, will facilitate production trades of real world assets tokenised using DTC’s infrastructure, ahead of a broader production launch scheduled for October 2026.

DTC’s tokenisation service is intended to enable the tokenisation of DTC custodied assets while maintaining the same entitlements, investor protections and ownership rights associated with securities held in traditional form, and will rely on DTC’s existing operational resilience and accountability framework. The announcement follows the receipt by DTC in December 2025 of a No-Action Letter from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), authorising DTC to offer a defined tokenisation service to DTC Participants and their clients for a three year period.

The DTCC's official press release can be found here.

NYSE Proposed Rule Changes to Enable Trading of Securities in Tokenised Form

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has now formally filed a proposal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to adopt rules allowing securities to be traded on the exchange in tokenised form during the Depository Trust Company's (DTC) pilot programme, subject to the same conditions and restrictions as the Nasdaq rule change approved by the SEC. 

This proposal follows the terms of the SEC Staff No Action Letter and seeks to leverage existing market structures, participants, and rules in the best interests of the market.

The NYSE intends to trade DTC eligible securities which have the same identification number and trading symbol, and afford their holders the same rights and privileges as traditional securities of an equivalent class. Tokenised instruments that don’t meet these requirements will be treated as distinct (e.g. derivatives or American Depositary Receipts (ADRs)).

The full proposal became effective upon filing and can be found here. 

Note: The SEC is seeking public comment and retains the authority to temporarily suspend or revoke the rule change within 60 days if it determines that the proposal raises concerns regarding the protection of investors or the integrity of financial markets or impose any burden on competition.

SIX Receives FINMA Approval to Merge SDX into SIX SIS AG

SIX has received approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) to merge its digital CSD SIX Digital Exchange AG into SIX SIS AG. This strategic consolidation brings together digital and traditional asset services within a single legal entity and forms the foundation for delivering integrated post-trade services across digital and traditional asset classes.

Additionally, SIX has received FINMA approval to provide crypto custody services through its licensed CSD. This marks a significant milestone in the development of regulated institutional market infrastructure for crypto assets.

Rafael Moral Santiago, Head Securities Services and member of the Executive Board, SIX: 

“By extending our CSD infrastructure to include crypto custody and integrating digital asset capabilities into our core offering, we combine digital asset innovation with the regulatory certainty and operational robustness of established financial market infrastructure. This milestone represents an important step in our strategy to become a pan-European provider of integrated and digital post-trade solutions by 2030.”

US Treasury and Banking Regulators Propose Comprehensive Reform AML/CFT Supervision and Stablecoin Standards Reform

In April 2026, US federal regulatory authorities opened public consultations on a broad reform of the financial system’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) supervisory framework and digital payment infrastructure standards. The initiative forms part of the US Treasury’s wider effort to modernise Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) supervision by prioritising risk-based controls, operational effectiveness and higher value intelligence for law enforcement and national security agencies.

The proposals aim to move institutions away from a predominantly procedural compliance model towards frameworks centred on dynamic risk management, governance accountability and the monitoring of emerging payment technologies, including stablecoins.

Proposed Reform of AML/CFT Programme Requirements:

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) have jointly proposed substantial reforms to AML/CFT programme obligations under proposals 18304 and 18704.

GENIUS Act Stablecoin Implementation Framework

Under proposal 18534, the FDIC is also seeking feedback on prudential and operational standards applicable to Permitted Payment Stablecoin Issuers (PPSIs) under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.

Formal comments on all proposals must be submitted by 9 June 2026.

FATF Issues Report on Austrian AML/CFT Measures

On 30 April 2026, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report acknowledging the progress made by Austria in strengthening its anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting the finance of terrorism (CFT) measures. Since the 2016 mutual evaluation, the FATF has found that Austria has made clear progress in strengthening its AML/CFT legal and regulatory framework, with all but one of the FATF 40 Recommendations rated either largely or fully compliant.

Regarding Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), the FATF has identified that virtual assets and VASPs present high money laundering and terrorism financing risk, particularly due to VASPs' complex ownership and control structures, and high inherent vulnerabilities. However, the FATF states that the Austrian Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has steadily increased its capacity to understand and detect the risks specific to virtual assets and VASPs. Moreover, the evaluation highlighted that some VASPs have challenges in setting up and implementing technological solutions to comply with the FATF's travel rule.

The FATF has provided Austria with a roadmap of Key Recommended Actions (KRAs) that must be addressed within three years.

Based on Effectiveness and Technical Compliance Ratings, Austria is placed in "enhanced follow-up" and will report back to the FATF on its progress.

You can view the FATF's official report here. 

State Street Investment Management and Galaxy Digital Bring Cash Management Onchain

State Street Investment Management and Galaxy Asset Management, an affiliate of Galaxy Digital Inc. have announced the launch of the State Street Galaxy Onchain Liquidity Sweep Fund (SWEEP), a tokenised private liquidity fund designed to enable 24/7 onchain cash management via stablecoin, subject to availability of stablecoin in the fund’s portfolio.

The launch represents a milestone in State Street’s digital strategy to offer investment solutions onchain and support 24/7 programmatic trading and liquidity for cash management. Building on its legacy as an innovator, State Street continues to invest in foundational digital asset capabilities across investment management and custody, offering cutting-edge, onchain investment solutions to DeFi-native clients, as well as acting as the bridge to traditional institutional clients looking to move onchain.

SWEEP allows investors to use PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoins for subscriptions and redemptions, subject to portfolio availability, and is available to Qualified Purchasers that meet certain eligibility criteria and minimum investment amounts.

“State Street has played a leading role in market innovation for decades, from servicing mutual funds to launching ETFs, and we’re proud to continue that role as digital assets reshape market infrastructure,” said Yie-Hsin Hung, president and chief executive officer of State Street Investment Management. “This fund allows us to bring the TradFi landscape onchain in a resilient way, guided by our long-standing focus on innovation, risk management and client outcomes.”

SC Ventures Invests in Crypto Platform GSR

GSR, a crypto capital markets and liquidity partner, has announced a strategic investment from SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s fintech arm, marking an important step forward in the convergence of traditional banking and crypto markets.

The investment makes SC Ventures the first external strategic shareholder for GSR since its founding in 2013, underscoring a shared commitment to strengthening the role of digital assets in global finance.

The deal is part of a broader partnership to bridge traditional finance and crypto while expanding access to tokenisation. For GSR, it reinforces its role at the centre of the digital asset ecosystem, providing advisory, liquidity, and asset management capabilities to crypto-native firms and leading global financial institutions.

“We are excited to welcome SC Ventures as a strategic investor and partner,” said Xin Song, CEO, GSR. “Institutional digital asset markets are maturing rapidly, and the firms best positioned to lead will be those that combine deep capital markets expertise with trusted banking infrastructure. This partnership brings those strengths together, with tokenisation as a key starting point.”

SBI Holdings in Talks to Acquire Stake in Crypto Exchange Bitbank

Major Japanese financial services conglomerate, SBI Holdings, has entered into talks to acquire shares in Bitbank, with the aim of making the crypto exchange operator a consolidated subsidiary.

SBI chairman and president, Yoshitaka Kitao, has submitted a letter of intent re. the buying of shares and has now begun discussions with Bitbank regarding a capital and business alliance.

The move is part of a wider push into crypto from SBI as Japan prepares to include digital assets in the country's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, providing regulatory clarity.

In a statement, SBI said:

"We believe that by welcoming Bitbank into our group and maximising synergies within the group, we can establish a dominant position in the domestic crypto asset industry."

Coinbase Hit by Seven-Hour Outage

Coinbase users were unable to trade for seven hours earlier this month after a widespread AWS infrastructure failure disrupted the exchange’s core systems.

Users were unable to access a host of services online or via the app "due to increased temperatures in the affected AWS service," the company said in a service update.

FIS Introduces Platform to Give Banks Control Over Digital Money

Global financial technology leader, FIS, has launched Lyriq, a platform that enables banks to issue, manage, and settle their own digital money - including tokenised deposits and digital currencies - while keeping those deposits on bank balance sheets.

The platform is designed for regulated financial institutions and was built from the ground up to meet bank and regulatory standards, with compliance, identity verification, and audit controls embedded into the platform itself.

The platform enables banks to:

• Issue and control their own digital money, including tokenised deposits and digital currencies.
• Settle transactions around the clock, with guaranteed finality. Transactions complete fully or don't post at all.
• Maintain deposit balances on their own books, preserving lending capacity.
• Manage compliance requirements, with identity verification, access controls, and audit trails built into the platform.
• Connect to existing systems regardless of core banking provider.
• Access broader liquidity networks while maintaining governance over those connections.

Kraken Owner to Pay $600m for Stablecoin Infrastructure Firm Reap

Payward, the parent company of crypto exchange Kraken, has agreed its second major acquisition in a matter of weeks, paying $600 million to acquire stablecoin-native, card issuing and payments infrastructure platform, Reap Technologies.

Hong Kong-based Reap has built a card issuing and cross-border payments stack that connects traditional financial systems with digital assets, enabling businesses to move money globally with greater speed, transparency, and efficiency. Its platform integrates card networks, traditional finance rails, and stablecoin-native settlement into a single API-driven infrastructure, supporting corporate card issuing, card programmes, cross-border payouts, and treasury management.

Reap expands Payward Services, the company's B2B infrastructure platform, which already offers partners crypto trading, custody, tokenised assets, on/off-ramps, and derivatives.

Sumsub Partners With Chainlink to Power Cross-Chain Identity for On-Chain Compliance

Verification platform, Sumsub, has announced a partnership with Chainlink, the industry-standard oracle platform. This will enable compliant, privacy-preserving identity verification across major blockchains, allowing clients to leverage Chainlink’s Automated Compliance Engine (ACE). As digital asset markets move into a more regulated phase, the ability to verify users across blockchain ecosystems without compromising privacy is becoming critical infrastructure. 

The partnership will provide access to a Cross-Chain Identity (CCID) framework, a core component of Chainlink ACE, to unlock reusable, privacy-preserving identity credentials on-chain in a way that supports compliant access across blockchain ecosystems. This addresses key challenges in on-chain compliance, including enabling verification without exposing raw personal data, supporting reusable identity across multiple wallets, and allowing permissioned access for asset issuers and protocols to enforce eligibility rules.

BNY, together with Finstreet Limited and ADI Foundation, Announce Strategic Collaboration to Deliver Digital Asset Infrastructure in the UAE

BNY, together with Finstreet Limited and ADI Foundation, have announced a strategic collaboration that intends to offer regulated, scalable, institutional-grade digital asset custody anchored in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Finstreet, a digital market infrastructure group and a subsidiary of IHC through Sirius International Holding, and ADI Foundation, an Abu Dhabi-based sovereign-grade blockchain infrastructure organisation, will jointly support this initiative.

Aligned with Abu Dhabi’s ambitions to shape the future of global finance, this milestone marks a significant step in the region’s digital finance advancement. By uniting BNY – the world’s number one custodian and first US global systemically important bank (G-SIB) to offer digital asset custody – with the next-generation infrastructure of Finstreet and ADI Foundation, the initiative seeks to localise and elevate custody services from Abu Dhabi.

This strategic collaboration aims to accelerate the adoption of digital assets by UAE clients and offers access to a fully localised, secure, compliant and scalable digital asset custody solution.