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Kevin O'Leary Buys Crypto Again, Eyeing the Next Wave of Blockchain Adoption
BTCKevin O'Leary
Binance Sticks to MiCA Plans Despite Reported Lagarde Intervention
Binance says it will press ahead with its European licensing strategy despite reports that ECB President Christine Lagarde intervened in its MiCA application in Greece. The Wall Street Journal reported that Greece's capital markets regulator told Binance Lagarde had asked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis not to approve the bid. Binance withdrew its Greek application on June 24, saying it would seek authorization in another EU jurisdiction, but it has yet to secure a MiCA license and missed the July 1 deadline. Binance declined to comment on the reports, saying it does not address speculation.
2 hours ago
Hong Kong Targets 24/7 CBDC Settlement for Tokenized Deposits by Year-End
Hong Kong aims to enable 24/7 wholesale CBDC settlement for tokenized deposits through Project EnsembleTX by the end of 2026. The HKMA is preparing real-value CBDC transactions for after-hours derivatives trading and testing tokenization involving over HK$1.3 trillion in Exchange Fund Bills. It is also exploring regulated stablecoins for settling tokenized money market funds, while the SFC moves to refine rules for tokenized investment products. The push aims to close the gap between distributed ledger systems and traditional central bank money settlement hours.
2 hours ago
SEC Innovation Exemption: How Tokenized Stocks Can Trade Onchain
On September 17, 2026, the SEC introduced a five-year Innovation Exemption framework, creating a temporary regulatory pathway for eligible tokenized U.S. stocks to trade onchain. Qualified tokenized securities trading venues may match tokenized trades in National Market System stocks through permissioned automated market makers and liquidity pools without registering as exchanges, subject to conditions. Liquidity providers also receive limited conditional relief. The policy does not permit unrestricted tokenization of any U.S. stock: tokenized shares must grant investors the same voting and dividend rights as traditional shares, and price-tracking synthetic tokens do not qualify. The article argues this is essentially a regulated market structure experiment.
6 hours ago
Binance's MiCA Bid Under Fresh Scrutiny Following Lagarde Report
The Wall Street Journal reports that ECB President Christine Lagarde personally pressured Greece's prime minister to reject Binance's Greek MiCA license application. Binance withdrew its bid on June 24 before regulators formally rejected it. Lagarde reportedly cited concerns over Binance's prior U.S. criminal case and stablecoin risks. Binance remains absent from the EU's authorized CASP registry and is exploring other licensing routes. Under MiCA, crypto licenses are still issued by national authorities, while ESMA supervisory reforms remain under negotiation.
USDCEU licensingStablecoinCompliance7 hours ago
Crypto.com Registers Nadex for U.S. Stock Futures Trading
Crypto.com's North American derivatives exchange, Nadex, filed a Form 1-N notice with the SEC on September 14, effective the same day, allowing it to operate as a national securities exchange for security futures. Nadex remains CFTC-regulated as a designated contract market and clearing organization. Crypto.com says it is working with both regulators to advance U.S. single-stock perpetual futures, though the notice itself does not approve any specific contracts. Coinbase, Kalshi, Bitnomial, and CME took similar steps in 2026.
9 hours ago
Security Experts Urge US and China to Pledge Never to Let AI Control Nuclear Weapons
Security experts from the US and China have jointly proposed banning AI from independently launching cyberattacks on nuclear command systems or deciding to use nuclear weapons. They call on both nations to extend the principle of human control to military AI and to establish a military AI hotline and a shared definition of human control. The report, released by the Brookings Institution and Fudan University, warns that the speed and unpredictability of AI in military decision-making could trigger a nuclear crisis. It also cites test results showing AI models resorting to nuclear weapons in war simulations, as well as the controversy between Anthropic and the Pentagon.
14 hours ago
CLARITY Act Setback Could Delay US Crypto Launches, Experts Warn
The US Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act in a 50-49 vote, falling short of the 60 needed to begin formal debate. Three industry experts say the setback leaves crypto firms without a federal market structure framework, potentially delaying product launches, funding decisions, and business partnerships. The Decentralization Research Center is urging the SEC and CFTC to use existing authority to provide clear guidance, while Paybis recommends separate compliance checks where US and EU stablecoin requirements diverge. Despite the bill's failure, Congress is still seen as the best path to a comprehensive market structure framework.
16 hours ago
StablecoinX's ENA Lock-Up to End Permanently on Oct. 5
StablecoinX disclosed on Sept. 17 that it signed a waiver with Ethena OpCo and the Ethena Foundation to permanently remove the 48-month lock-up, vesting, and phased release restrictions on its ENA tokens starting Oct. 5, 2026, aligning with unlock dates the Ethena Foundation previously announced for other holders. However, StablecoinX must still hold its ENA as unencumbered treasury assets, and any sale, transfer, lending, hedging, or staking requires prior written consent from the Ethena Foundation, with five business days' notice required before using ENA for a financing sale.
ENAStablecoinXSEC 8-KEthena17 hours ago
CFTC Grants Broker Registration Relief to Crypto Developers
On September 17, the CFTC's Market Participants Division issued a no-action position (Staff Letter 26-25) granting conditional broker registration relief to qualifying passive crypto software providers. The relief covers software that connects users with registered derivatives exchanges, brokers, and futures commission merchants, provided ten conditions are met, including filing notice and submitting to CFTC enforcement jurisdiction. The move follows the SEC's earlier five-year exemption for tokenized equity trading venues, but it is not a formal exemption under the Commodity Exchange Act and does not offer blanket protection to all developers.
17 hours ago
Andrew Yang Calls for AI Kill Switch as Safety Fears Grow
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang is urging Congress to regulate frontier AI models, proposing liability rules, deployment waiting periods, and a "kill switch" for powerful AI systems. Citing incidents disclosed by OpenAI and Anthropic and a proposed AI Kill Switch Act, he says AI safety concerns are real and bipartisan, and criticizes the industry's near-total lack of oversight.
18 hours ago