government

The yield on the UK 10-year government bond rose to 5.133%, the highest since 2008, increasing by 14 basis points during the day.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York stated in a court filing on Tuesday that Roni Cohen-Pavon, the former Chief Revenue Officer of the defunct crypto lending platform Celsius, has agreed to a forfeiture judgment of $1.07 million, representing the proceeds traceable to his criminal conduct. Cohen-Pavon pleaded guilty in September 2023 to charges of fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the price related to Celsius's CEL token, and is scheduled to be sentenced this Thursday. Cohen-Pavon's lawyer previously requested a sentence of time served, citing his cooperation agreement with the government and his potential role in the guilty plea of former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 for commodity and securities fraud and agreed to forfeit over $48 million. In a letter to the judge, Cohen-Pavon stated, "I plead guilty because I am guilty. I participated in the manipulation of the CEL token. I should have stopped it but did not, I could have left but did not. I take full responsibility for this."Additionally, on Thursday, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the same court ordered that $10 million in assets associated with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried be used to fulfill his forfeiture agreement. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding FTX users and investors and is subject to over $11 billion in forfeiture. His appeal to overturn the conviction and sentence is still pending.

According to Cointelegraph, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in support of Kalshi's appeal in its lawsuit against Ohio, arguing that prediction markets should be under the jurisdiction of the CFTC.The CFTC pointed out that Ohio's previous request for Kalshi to cease offering sports event contracts constitutes "jurisdictional overreach." The CFTC stated that if state governments can restrict sports event contracts traded on designated contract markets (DCM), their long-term regulatory authority over event contracts, swaps, and binary options markets could be affected. The outcome of this case will also impact prediction market platforms such as Kalshi and Polymarket.

Crypto.com announced that its UAE entity Foris DAX Middle East FZE has obtained a Stored Value Facility (SVF) license issued by the Central Bank of the UAE, becoming the first virtual asset service provider (VASP) in the region to receive this license. With the acquisition of this license, Crypto.com will officially launch its collaboration with the Dubai Ministry of Finance, allowing UAE residents to use crypto assets to pay for government service fees.Related fund settlements will be conducted in UAE Dirhams or in Dirham stablecoins approved by the Central Bank of the UAE. Additionally, after obtaining regulatory approval, Crypto.com also plans to advance the integration of crypto payments with Emirates Airlines and Dubai Duty Free based on this license.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Venezuelan government has reiterated a nationwide ban on cryptocurrency mining to address the current energy crisis.The country's national power system peak demand reached 15,579 megawatts, a new high in nine years, with officials attributing this electricity peak to a persistent heatwave and national economic growth. The statement emphasized that "digital mining is absolutely prohibited nationwide," and violators will face legal sanctions. Authorities have developed a supervision plan to enforce this ban.

According to Onchain Lens monitoring, the U.S. government (Brian Krewson seized funds) deposited 2,466 UNI into Coinbase Prime, worth $8,410; 152,925 CRO, worth $10,689; and 1,589 LINK, worth $15.703 million.

According to Lookonchain monitoring, a U.S. government-related address (Glenn Olivio Seized Funds) deposited 3.233 ETH into Coinbase Prime, worth approximately $7,630.

According to the Financial Times, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump merged with a key mineral group in Kazakhstan through a shell company, which received up to $1.6 billion in support from the U.S. government last year for the development of a tungsten mine project.The tungsten mine project involves the Katpar and Upper Kairakty deposits in northern Kazakhstan, with financing previously provided by institutions such as the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Trump's sons joined the advisory board of the relevant company and hold shares by the end of 2024. The report suggests that this is another case of the Trump family's business empire being linked to U.S. government interests.

The Alberta Investment Management Corp, under the Canadian government, disclosed its first purchase of 1.38 million shares of Strategy (MSTR), valued at $219 million. This institution is one of the largest institutional asset managers in Canada and has allocated BTC-related assets for the first time.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Wisconsin on Tuesday, accusing the governor, attorney general, and state officials of attempting to use state laws to crack down on prediction market platforms.Recently, Wisconsin has sued platforms such as Coinbase, Robinhood, Crypto.com, Polymarket, and Kalshi, claiming that their sports event contracts constitute "public nuisance." The CFTC strongly asserts exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets (event contracts), arguing that the state government's attempt to criminalize federally regulated markets infringes upon the national swap market regulatory framework designed by Congress, and is seeking a court order to declare that Wisconsin's ban is superseded by federal law on CFTC-regulated platforms.

According to market news, the legislative committee of the Russian government has approved a proposal from the Ministry of Finance to include operations related to digital currencies within the scope of personal income tax collection, which includes cryptocurrency exchanges.The bill proposes that transaction costs be accounted for using the FIFO (First In, First Out) method and prohibits the carryover of losses from digital currency transactions to future tax periods. Meanwhile, certain services and transactions are proposed to be exempt from value-added tax, including services from digital custodians, cryptocurrency exchange services, and certain foreign digital rights transactions without physical delivery. For debt-type digital financial assets (such as tokenized bonds), the bill sets separate profit tax calculation rules and allows for loss carryover. Previously, the State Duma of Russia had passed the "Digital Currency and Digital Rights" bill in its first reading.

Polymarket stated on platform X, "Last month, we released enhanced market integrity rules to combat insider trading. When we discover users trading on government confidential information, we refer the matter to the Department of Justice and cooperate with their investigation. Polymarket does not tolerate insider trading, and today's arrests prove that this system is effective."The arrest mentioned by Polymarket refers to the U.S. federal authorities arresting a special forces soldier this Thursday who was involved in the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro. This soldier is suspected of profiting over $400,000 by betting on Maduro's ouster. Sources say federal investigators believe this commando placed over $33,000 in bets on the prediction market Polymarket just hours before President Trump announced the capture of Maduro in January.

Tether announced that it has supported the U.S. government's freeze of over $344 million USDT, involving two wallet addresses. This freezing action was carried out in collaboration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and U.S. law enforcement agencies, aimed at preventing further movement of funds.The freeze was based on information provided by multiple U.S. law enforcement agencies, linking these addresses to illegal activities. Tether stated that when wallet addresses are associated with sanctions evasion, criminal networks, or other illegal activities, the company will take freezing measures. This has now become Tether's routine response to legitimate requests from U.S. and global law enforcement agencies.Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated, "USDT is by no means a safe haven for illegal activities. We take immediate action when there are credible links to sanctioned entities or criminal networks. Recent events have shown what can happen when platforms fail to act swiftly, law enforcement fails, users are exposed, and trust is lost. Our approach is different; we combine blockchain transparency, real-time monitoring, and direct coordination with law enforcement agencies to prevent the flow of funds. This is a responsibility we take very seriously as one of the largest issuers in the market."This action is part of Tether's cooperation with U.S. law enforcement agencies. The U.S. Department of Justice had previously confirmed Tether's support in law enforcement actions, successfully seizing nearly $61 million and approximately $225 million in "pork scam" funds.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Treasury repurchased $15 billion of issued government bonds, setting a record for the largest scale of government bond repurchases in U.S. history.

The Japan Securities Clearing Corporation (JSCC), a clearing institution under the Japan Exchange Group, has partnered with Mizuho Bank, Nomura Securities, and Digital Asset to launch a proof-of-concept trial aimed at exploring the use of blockchain technology for collateral management of Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs).According to a joint statement released on Monday, the trial will integrate existing systems from multiple institutions through the Canton Network to test the on-chain transfer and management of JGBs. This initiative aims to assess the feasibility of achieving real-time collateral trading while ensuring compliance with relevant financial instruments and trading laws. The trial will also investigate cross-border use cases involving clearinghouses, institutional investors, and other market participants.JSCC stated that this trial is part of a broader initiative under the Financial Services Agency's "Payment Innovation Project." As overseas markets like the United States make progress in testing similar infrastructures, advancing JGBs collateral management has become an "urgent priority." Previously, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) in the U.S. launched a pilot to tokenize U.S. Treasury securities, and South Korea is also conducting related tests.

Arkham monitoring shows that a U.S. government address has just transferred $606,470 worth of Bitcoin to Coinbase Prime. This Bitcoin was previously seized by the U.S. government from Bitfinex hacker Ilya Lichtenstein. It is currently unclear whether this batch of stolen Bitcoin will be sold on Coinbase.

According to on-chain analysis platform Lookonchain, the U.S. government deposited 8.2 BTC (approximately $606,000) into Coinbase Prime, with the funds originating from previously seized assets related to the Bitfinex hack.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of South Korea announced that it will launch a pilot program for blockchain deposit tokens in Sejong City in the fourth quarter of 2026, to replace traditional government procurement card payments.The project has been approved under the 2026 regulatory sandbox program, allowing institutions to pay business promotion expenses in the form of tokenized deposits. Token payments can preset spending limits and available industry ranges, helping to reduce the need for manual audits and lowering transaction fees for small businesses by removing intermediaries such as card networks.This is the second application of deposit tokens in fiscal operations, following the completion of the first pilot in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure subsidy program. If the pilot proves effective, the Ministry of Finance of South Korea plans to further promote the program.

According to market news, South Korea is piloting blockchain deposit tokens for government spending.

The South Korean Ministry of Finance and Economy stated that the "blockchain-based digital currency for treasury fund execution pilot project" has been selected as a topic for the 2026 targeted regulatory sandbox. According to the pilot, the government department's business promotion fees will be changed from the current government procurement card to be issued and paid using blockchain-based deposit tokens.The South Korean government claims that this move is expected to enhance the transparency of fund usage by pre-setting usable time periods and industry scopes, and to reduce the fee burden on small merchants through a no-intermediary payment structure. The pilot program is set to officially launch in the fourth quarter of this year, starting in Sejong City, with plans to gradually expand its applicability thereafter.