Weekly Blockchain Blog – March 2, 2026 - FinTech

Crypto, Payments Firms Pursue OCC Charters, Stablecoin Products Launch

More digital asset and payments companies are pursuing U.S. national trust bank charters to expand their digital asset services in anticipation of the GENIUS Act going into effect. A U.S. affiliate of a global cryptocurrency exchange recently announced that it has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for its national trust charter application. According to a company blog post, the conditional approval "clears a major milestone in the process to provide ... industry-leading custodial services – including custody, staking of assets across various blockchains and digital asset protocols ... and trade settlement." Separately, a major U.S. payments company announced that it has filed an application with the OCC to establish "a national trust bank designed to support stablecoin-enabled infrastructure for global businesses."

In more stablecoin news, Stablecore, "a digital asset core enabling banks and credit unions to offer stablecoins, tokenized deposits and other digital asset products," recently announced that it has joined Jack Henry" Fintech Integration Network. According to a press release, this integration "enables Jack Henry's approximately 1,670 bank and credit union core clients, as well as ... more than 1,000 financial institutions ... to deploy institutional-grade, fully-compliant digital asset products directly within their existing core ecosystems."

For more information, please refer to the following links:

US Crypto Companies Continue New Product Launches

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

A major U.S. digital asset infrastructure company, BitGo, recently announced a partnership with an alternative trading system (ATS) to complete "the first blockchain-native equity trades executed through their integrated infrastructure for blockchain-native equities" on the ATS. According to a press release, "[t]he completed trades demonstrate how tokenized equities can operate in a continuous, on-chain environment without compromising on risk management or regulatory standards."

In another recent press release, a major U.S. asset manager and exchange traded product (ETP) sponsor announced "the launch of 24/7 trading and instant settlement capabilities" for the company's Treasury Money Market Digital Fund (WTGXX). According to the press release, "[t]his marks the first time registered tokenized mutual fund shares have been permitted to trade and instantly settle 24/7 within the U.S. regulatory perimeter via a dealer-principal liquidity model."

And two of the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges recently announced forays into stock trading. One exchange recently announced the launch of stock trading directly on its crypto exchange platform. According to a company blog post, users can now buy, sell and manage stocks and exchange-traded funds right alongside their crypto holdings on a 24/5 basis.

Another U.S. exchange announced "the launch of the world's first tokenized equity perpetual futures contracts with regulated benchmarks, listed on its derivatives venue." The same exchange also recently announced "a crypto-secured loan offering that enables ... traders to unlock liquidity from their existing digital asset holdings without selling their positions."

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Reports Provide New Data, Analysis of Global Stablecoin Market

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

Multiple recent reports provide new data on and analyses of the stablecoin market. A report titled Stablecoins vs. Tokenized Deposits: The Narrow Banking Debate Revisited compares stablecoins and tokenized deposits. Among its many findings, the report finds that when regulatory costs are large and risk-shifting is limited, allowing only tokenized deposits to be used in crypto trade raises welfare by expanding bank credit. In contrast, if regulation is lighter and the risk-shifting incentive is strong, allowing only stablecoins is desirable despite crowding out credit. The report concludes that allowing stablecoins and tokenized deposits to compete is optimal.

Another report analyzed data related to the impact of stablecoins on community bank deposits and lending. According to the report, an analysis of data from 92 community banks showed that nine out of 10 community banks have customers actively transacting with the largest U.S. crypto exchange. The report found that for every dollar that came back to a bank from the crypto exchange, $2.77 left the bank for the exchange. The report suggests that yield-bearing stablecoin products offered by crypto exchanges would exacerbate this perceived deposit flight.

A third report presented findings from a survey of 4,658 adults aged 18 or older across 15 countries. Key findings from the survey respondents include the following:

Seventy-seven percent would open a stablecoin wallet if their bank or fintech app offered one.
Twenty-eight percent convert or spend stablecoins within days; 23 percent do so within one to three weeks.
A higher proportion own stablecoins in low- and middle-income economies (60 percent) than in high-income ones (45 percent), with Africa leading at 79 percent.
Average stablecoin holdings remain modest, averaging under $200 globally.
Current and prospective stablecoin holders allocate around one-third of their savings to crypto and stablecoins.
More than half of stablecoin owners and prospective acquirers are aged 18 to 34.
Almost three-quarters (71 percent) would use a linked debit card to spend stablecoins.
More than half (52 percent) have bought something specifically because the merchant accepted stablecoins.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

OCC Publishes Proposed Rule To Implement Key GENIUS Act Provisions

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

On Feb. 25, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published a 376-page proposed rule that seeks to implement key provisions of the GENIUS Act. According to an OCC press release, "[t]he proposed rule addresses all of the regulations the OCC is required to promulgate under the GENIUS Act other than those related to the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering, and Office of Foreign Asset Control sanctions, which will be addressed in a separate rulemaking in coordination with the Department of Treasury."

Among its many provisions, the proposed rule includes definitions of key terms; addresses the activities in which permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) may engage; articulates certain prohibited activities for PPSIs; proposes requirements for stablecoin reserve assets, stablecoin redemptions and risk management; defines standards for PPSI and reserve custodian audits, reports and supervision; imposes requirements for custody and safekeeping; establishes a PPSI application, registration and licensing regime; and establishes capital requirements for PPSIs.

Notably, the proposed rule includes a presumption that certain types of PPSI arrangements with "related third parties" would be considered prohibited payments of yield or interest by the PPSI.

According to the proposed rule, the OCC would presume that a PPSI is paying interest or yield in connection with a stablecoin in violation of the GENIUS Act if the PPSI (a) has a contract, agreement or other arrangement with an affiliate or a related third party to pay interest or yield to the affiliate or related third party and (b) the affiliate or related third party (or affiliate of such related third party) has a contract, agreement or other arrangement to pay interest or yield to a holder of any payment stablecoin issued by the PPSI solely in connection with the holding, use or retention of such payment stablecoin.

The proposed rule defines "related third parties" as any person paying interest or yield to payment stablecoin holders as a service (i.e., on behalf of the PPSI) and any person that the PPSI issues payment stablecoins on behalf of or under the branding of (i.e., persons that have entered into a white-label relationship with the PPSI).

The proposed rule includes more than 200 questions on which the OCC is requesting feedback. Comments on the proposed rule must be received 60 days from the date the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register. The proposed rule is currently scheduled for publication on March 2.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

SEC Publishes FAQ Addressing Applicability of Various SEC Rules to Crypto

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

On Feb. 19, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a FAQ related to various crypto asset activities. The FAQ addresses questions in the areas of broker-dealer financial responsibility, transfer agents, security/non-security crypto asset pairs trading by national securities exchanges (NSEs) and alternative trading systems (ATSs), Form ATS and Form ATS-N disclosures, ATS Broker-Dealer Operator Non-ATS Activities, clearance and settlement, and exchange-traded products.

Among other things, the FAQ clarifies that Rule 15c3-3 does not apply to crypto assets that are not securities; broker-dealers are not prohibited from facilitating in-kind creations and redemptions in connection with a spot crypto exchange-traded product (ETP); crypto assets that are investment contracts treated as securities that are not the subject of a registration statement are not protected by federal brokerage insurance; and a broker-dealer operator of an ATS is not prohibited from performing broker, custodial or clearing functions in addition to operating its ATS.

SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce published a statement on the FAQ relating to the treatment of payment stablecoins under the broker-dealer net capital rule (Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1). In the statement, Peirce noted that stablecoins are essential to transacting on blockchain. Peirce highlighted that the FAQ provides that the SEC staff would not object if a broker-dealer were to apply a 2 percent haircut on proprietary positions in a payment stablecoin when calculating its net capital. Peirce also welcomed industry input on aspects of SEC rules that should be modified to address the use of payment stablecoins by SEC-registered entities.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

State and Treasury Departments Impose Sanctions for Stolen US IP Sold for Crypto

By Elyssa S. Kates

The U.S. Department of State (State Department) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) recently announced that both agencies have imposed sanctions against Sergey Sergeyevich Zelenyuk; his company, Matrix LLC (doing business as Operation Zero); and an affiliated UAE entity, Special Technology Services LLC FZ (STS) (Special Technology) in connection with the theft of several proprietary cyber tools from a U.S. company between 2022 and 2025. According to a Treasury press release, the proprietary cyber tools were sold to Operation Zero in exchange for millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies.

The Treasury press release noted that the cyber tools are known as "exploits," which are techniques or pieces of code that enable unauthorized access into electronic devices and allow the exploit user to take control of the device and misappropriate data. According to the State Department's press release, Operation Zero acquired the cyber tools from Peter Williams, who stole them from his employer and has since pled guilty "to two counts of theft of trade secrets." The State Department also indicated that these sanctions mark the first time that the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act (PAIPA) has been used to penalize wrongdoers for monetizing intellectual property theft with cryptocurrency.

In conjunction with the sanctions imposed by the State Department against Zelenyuk, Operation Zero and Special Technology, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control also announced that it is designating Zelenyuk, Operation Zero, and five additional entities and individuals with sanctions for the theft pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13694, as amended by EO 14306.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

DOJ Crypto Enforcement Actions Target Fraud, Money Laundering, Tax Evasion

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently published multiple press releases announcing crypto-related enforcement actions. One press release announced that a defendant had pled guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering for his scheme to take in fraud proceeds and forward them to bank accounts and cryptocurrency addresses controlled by coconspirators in Russia and Nigeria.

A second press release announced that U.S. federal agents seized more than $61 million worth of Tether, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar. According to the press release, investigators traced the seized funds to cryptocurrency addresses allegedly associated with the laundering of criminally derived proceeds stolen from victims of cryptocurrency investment scams, commonly known as "pig butchering schemes." The DOJ acknowledged Tether for "its assistance in transferring these assets."

A third press release announced charges against the CEO of Goliath Ventures for operating an alleged Ponzi scheme. According to the DOJ press release, the scheme involved soliciting victims to investsubstantial sums of money under false and fraudulent promises of monthly returns generated through cryptocurrency "liquidity pools."

And a final DOJ press release announced tax evasion charges against a Cayman national who renounced his U.S. citizenship. According to the press release, the defendant previously resided in Austin, Texas, where he managed a hedge fund focusing on cryptocurrency investments. The press release notes that between 2020 and March 2022, the defendant allegedly earned a total of more than $6 million from his hedge fund but did not report any of this income on his 2020, 2021 or 2022 tax returns.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

Report Provides Data on Use of Stablecoins in Illicit Activity

By Robert A. Musiala Jr.

A new report from TRM Labs provides data on the use of stablecoins in illicit activity. Key findings from the report include the following:

In 2025, illicit entities received approximately $141 billion via stablecoin wallets, with the majority of this activity concentrated in financial crimes such as sanctions evasion and large-scale money laundering.
Sanctions-related activity accounted for 86 percent of all illicit crypto flows in 2025, driven largely by sanctioned wallets, exchanges and networked payment platforms relying heavily on stablecoins.
Stablecoin usage varies sharply by illicit category, with near-total adoption in illicit goods and services and laundering networks, compared to more selective use in scams, fraud, ransomware and other opportunistic crime types.

For more information, please refer to the following links:

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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Weekly Blockchain Blog – March 2, 2026

Contributor

Crypto, Payments Firms Pursue OCC Charters, Stablecoin Products Launch

US Crypto Companies Continue New Product Launches

Reports Provide New Data, Analysis of Global Stablecoin Market

OCC Publishes Proposed Rule To Implement Key GENIUS Act Provisions

SEC Publishes FAQ Addressing Applicability of Various SEC Rules to Crypto

State and Treasury Departments Impose Sanctions for Stolen US IP Sold for Crypto

DOJ Crypto Enforcement Actions Target Fraud, Money Laundering, Tax Evasion

Report Provides Data on Use of Stablecoins in Illicit Activity

Technology

Contributor

United States