The wire

A Dubai-based cryptocurrency platform with ties to Iranian interests has transferred substantial digital assets to Binance, raising questions about potential efforts to circumvent international financial restrictions. According to a detailed investigation, the unlicensed exchange known as Shelbit, operated by Iranian expatriate...

On August 3, 2026, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that it had filed and settled charges against UBS Financial Services Inc. (NYSE:UBS), a registered futures commission merchant. The action centered on the firm’s failure to properly oversee the setup and functioning of systems used... Read More

Bahrain-based fintech Infinios has launched operational stablecoin settlement services in partnership with Mastercard (NYSE:MA), reportedly becoming the first issuer in the Kingdom of Bahrain to do so. The move enables the use of regulated stable digital currencies for settlement processes and positions Bahrain more strongly as... Read More

Google, part of Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), has introduced a significant enhancement to its popular digital payments platform in India by incorporating advanced artificial intelligence capabilities directly into the Google Pay application. This development, aimed exclusively at consumers based in the country, centers on a new conversational tool... Read More

A unit of one of Southeast Asia’s largest technology groups is exploring the development of a broader regional digital banking network, with Singapore serving as its operational and strategic base. MariBank, the digital banking arm of Sea Limited, is positioning the city-state as a launchpad... Read More

Everyone in DeFi is talking about the “Earn” Wars. Robinhood, Coinbase, Revolut, and Kraken are competing for retail balances. Protocols like Aave, Morpho, and Ethena are competing to be the borrowing strategy. Vault providers are competing to package it, and strategists like Steakhouse, Gauntlet, Sentora,... Read More

Kingscrowd, a securities crowdfunding intelligence platform, is expanding into the European market. According to an email distributed by the company, it has partnered with Over Ventures, a European investment crowdfunding advisory firm based in Italy, to launch services and further scale its data platform. Over... Read More

Orbs, a decentralized Layer-3 infrastructure project focused on advanced on-chain trading and DeFi capabilities, has opened its first formal community governance proposal, known as OIP-9. The proposal seeks community approval to formally create the Orbs DAO and define its starting governance structure, marking a key... Read More

The Banca d’Italia has published a report on digital currency asking the question: Are Stablecoins Efficient for Remittances? The goal was to determine if stablecoins provided an improvement over more traditional payments and transfers regarding cost and speed. The paper reviews transfers of $200 in... Read More

Yesterday, on August 3rd, CNBC host Jim Cramer declared he would sell all his Bitcoin (BTC) holdings due to fears about Quantum computing. On July 31st, Cramer interviewed Arvind Krishna, CEO of IBM, who stated that Quantum computing would eventually be able to break into... Read More

Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ: HOOD) has achieved an important regulatory milestone in Britain. Its local subsidiary, Robinhood U.K. Ltd, was added to the Financial Conduct Authority’s register of cryptoasset firms effective 31 July 2026. This registration under the existing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules allows... Read More

The European Central Bank (ECB) has recently indicated that Euro area businesses are taking up artificial intelligence, yet the process remains highly uneven, according to a recent analysis of firm-level survey data. Drawing on two specialized modules of the Survey on the Access to Finance... Read More

South Korea’s cryptocurrency platform Bithumb has outlined a multi-year plan to go public, targeting completion of its initial public offering in 2028. The exchange shared details of this roadmap in an official customer notice on August 3, 2026, emphasizing that the process is designed to... Read More

Bitmine Immersion Technologies (NYSE: BMNR) expands its Ethereum position to nearly 4.8% of supply, with combined holdings valued at $11.3 billion.Bitmine Immersion Technologies, a publicly traded firm focused on building a substantial digital asset treasury centered on Ethereum, has reported further growth in its ETH... Read More

Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) mobile payment platform has officially become available in the Philippines, allowing consumers to make contactless transactions using their iPhones and compatible Apple devices. The long-anticipated expansion lets eligible users add supported debit and credit cards to the Wallet app and complete payments with... Read More

Manchester-based fintech Firenze has formed a strategic alliance with AJ Bell Investcentre, one of the country’s investment platforms. The collaboration enables financial advisers using the AJ Bell Investcentre platform to connect high-net-worth clients with Lombard lending facilities, allowing them to access liquidity secured against their... Read More

Bitcoin-focused treasury company Strategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) has started actively monitoring the cryptocurrency’s 200-week moving average, according to a recent announcement from its founder and executive chairman. The firm now displays this metric along with the premium of Bitcoin’s current price relative to that average on its... Read More

Digital assets firm Tether has released its second-quarter 2026 financial figures, highlighting steady operational results and strategic adjustments to its reserve portfolio. The company, known for issuing the USDT stablecoin, recorded approximately $1.5 billion in net operating profit for the three months ending June 30,... Read More