institutions

Bitwise released its first report on "Institutional Adoption of Crypto Assets," based on interviews with investment professionals responsible for crypto asset allocation at 15 large institutions. The report states that during the period from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the second quarter of 2026, the overall crypto market will retract by about 50%, but none of the interviewed institutions reduced their crypto asset allocation, and some institutions even increased their holdings.All interviewed institutions holding crypto assets possess Bitcoin, with most viewing it as a store of value and ranking it alongside gold as a hedge against fiat currency depreciation. The report also shows that the allocation of crypto assets by the interviewed institutions ranges from 0.5% to 13% of their investable assets, with most concentrated between 1% and 2%.

Ondo announced that, starting today, approved institutions can mint Ondo Stocks using their existing shares through Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network. This feature provides institutions with a direct path from existing stock inventories to the on-chain market and is currently live on Ethereum and BNB Chain.Institutions can mint Ondo Stocks using the underlying shares and can also redeem the tokens to reclaim the shares. This physical conversion is built on the Ondo Stocks instant liquidity model, serving as a new pathway beyond cash transactions.

According to CoinDesk, Ripple stated that asset management companies and other commercial projects are preparing to use the Batch V1.1 feature of the XRP Ledger. This feature allows up to eight transactions to be combined into a single operation and ensures that all transactions either succeed or fail in an all-or-nothing manner, avoiding situations where one party completes settlement while the other fails.This upgrade is expected to support Delivery Versus Payment (DVP) transactions, allowing asset transfers and payments to be completed simultaneously, while also enabling exchanges, wallets, and market platforms to directly attach service fees to customer transactions for processing.RippleX Engineering Director Ayo Akinyele mentioned that some projects are already being developed around Batch, and once activated, it will bring related work closer to a production environment. Specific partners and launch times will be announced once plans are finalized. The amendment has received support from 30 of the 35 tracked validators on the XRP Ledger, exceeding the 28 votes required to enter the activation countdown. The countdown began on September 15, and if the validator support rate remains above 80% within 14 days, Batch V1.1 is expected to be activated shortly after September 29.Previously, researchers discovered serious flaws in the Batch V1 signature verification process in February, which could prematurely stop checking signatures under certain conditions, allowing attackers to unauthorizedly include transactions from other accounts. The developers subsequently withdrew the original version. Since the amendment had not yet been activated at that time, the vulnerability code did not run on the live ledger, and no funds were exposed.

According to relevant statements, the U.S. Department of the Treasury convened global financial institutions to advance economic isolation actions.

Cointelegraph reported that among 22 major institutions on Wall Street, 19 expect an interest rate hike in September, with most predicting a 50 basis point increase.

Currently, institutions hold 17.9% of the total market capitalization of HYPE, which is the highest proportion among Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

According to CoinDesk, European financial and cryptocurrency industry organizations have written to the EU Council and the European Parliament, urging lawmakers to remove the cap on the scale of tokenized securities platforms or set it at least at €1.5 trillion (approximately $1.74 trillion), arguing that the €100 billion cap proposed by the European Commission will hinder industry development. Signatories include the French Digital Asset Association Adan, Crypto Council for Innovation, the European Ethereum Institute, as well as companies like Nasdaq and Boerse Stuttgart.The EU's distributed ledger pilot regime allows operators to test the trading and settlement of tokenized stocks, bonds, and investment funds while exempting some existing financial rules. After observing "moderate" participation, the European Commission proposed to expand the pilot framework and raise the current €6 billion cap to €100 billion. Adan stated that considering the development of the global market, this increase is still insufficient, and their preferred option is to completely remove the cap or at least set it to €1.5 trillion, which is 15 times the proposed cap.The joint letter pointed out that some existing European projects have reached a scale of €350 billion and plan to grow further, but did not disclose specific projects or calculation methods. The letter also emphasized that the relevant threshold targets the market capitalization of admitted securities rather than trading volume and opposed giving central securities depositories a significantly higher differentiated cap than other blockchain market operators, arguing that this would be detrimental to emerging service providers.The alliance also compared the restrictive measures in Europe with an unnamed mainstream settlement platform in the United States, which can tokenize assets like stocks without a trading volume cap; if the cap is retained, the alliance hopes the Commission can flexibly raise it as the market grows, without presetting a maximum limit.

The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has received authorization from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under the Regulation 48.1 framework to open its Bitcoin and Ethereum perpetual contracts to U.S. institutional investors. KC Lam, Head of Crypto Derivatives at SGX Group, stated that previously U.S. participants were unable to trade these contracts, but they are now permitted direct access to its trading system.Since its launch at the end of November 2025, SGX's crypto perpetual contracts have accumulated a trading volume of $5.8 billion (approximately 400,000 lots), with an average daily trading volume of 1,300 lots ($19 million) as of August. Bitcoin accounts for 66% of open contracts and 83% of average daily trading volume, with a single-day peak trading volume of 11,500 lots (notional value of $145 million). Lam indicated that as the FIS backend integration is fully ready, they will assist U.S. clearing members in onboarding clients in the next month or two.Unlike crypto-native platforms, SGX's perpetual contracts have no expiration date but employ a margin call and collateral top-up mechanism instead of automatic liquidation, separating trading and clearing based on traditional futures market infrastructure. Stablecoins are not accepted as collateral, and the contract benchmark index is jointly developed by SGX and CoinDesk Indices. SGX's next step is to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum futures and options.

According to PR Newswire, Cosmos announced the launch of the Cosmos Partner Network, uniting multiple industry service providers to assist global financial institutions in advancing digital asset-related businesses through the Cosmos Tokenization Suite and digital ledger solutions.The suite offers capabilities such as 24/7 payment settlement and fund management for banks and credit unions, and supports scenarios like programmable custody, programmable trade finance, and agency commerce. Cosmos provides tokenization and ledger platforms, while partners offer integrated services such as KYC/KYB, custody, and compliance monitoring.Cosmos Co-CEO Maghnus Mareneck stated that financial institutions understand the potential of tokenization but struggle to transition from pilot projects to high-quality real customer experiences. This network brings together relevant professional institutions to reduce the complexity of individually connecting with vendors.The first batch of the network includes 17 participants, including Anseta, Balance, BCW Group, BitGo, Blockchain.com, Blockdaemon, Coinbax, DFNS, Galaxy Digital, Hypernative, InfStones, OpenZeppelin, Peersyst Technology, Silence Laboratories, Ubyx, Utila, and Zeeve.Partners will have access to connection opportunities across Cosmos public and private networks and can participate in use cases such as tokenized deposits that Cosmos is promoting. Cosmos plans to continue expanding the network.

The Compound Foundation announced the launch of the Institutional Market, a lending market exclusively for whitelisted institutions, supporting borrowing of ETH, wstETH, WBTC, and cbBTC with USDC, with a maximum loan-to-value ratio of 87%. On its first day of launch, the market was oversubscribed, with participation from institutions such as DeFi Saver, K3/Nexo, KPK, and Yearn. The entry threshold is a deposit of 100,000 USDC, and Compound has reserved 200,000 USDC as supplier incentives, which will be proportionally distributed to whitelisted participants within three months, with a supply cap of 20 million USD.This market is the first product to be launched from the 52 million USD plan approved by the Compound DAO in August, described by the foundation as the Institutional Comet built on v3.5, independent of the DAO-funded V4 roadmap. Compound stated that v3 has been running for four years without any incidents. Currently, Compound's total locked value is 1.53 billion USD, with 1.42 billion USD on the Ethereum chain, ranking sixth among lending protocols on DefiLlama, with a 23% growth over the past 30 days.The Compound Foundation was relaunched on August 17 with a budget of 52 million USD, with a team from Coinbase, Anchorage, NEAR, and Maple.

UBS announced that it has launched the Swiss Franc stablecoin Sandbox testing phase in collaboration with 8 other institutions: PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Zurich Cantonal Bank, BCV, SIX, TWINT, and Swiss Stablecoin AG, to explore the integration of blockchain applications with the Swiss Franc stablecoin.This test is based on the Swiss Franc stablecoin CHFD, which has been technically launched in the Sandbox environment since the end of June and is pegged to the Swiss Franc at a 1:1 ratio. The testing will focus on exploring application scenarios such as automated inter-institutional transactions, digital asset tokenization settlement, and programmable payments, including reducing online market fraud risks, improving fair access to event tickets, and increasing the efficiency of public fund distribution. The test is expected to continue until the end of 2026. UBS stated that the Sandbox aims to accumulate technical, operational, and regulatory experience and does not represent a decision to officially launch the Swiss Franc stablecoin.

Australia's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC has canceled, suspended, or refused to renew the registrations of 45 cryptocurrency and remittance service providers in the past year to strengthen the scrutiny of high-risk payment businesses. The involved institutions faced issues such as inactivity, insolvency, or lack of operational capability, as well as failure to report significant changes, incorrect registration information, and significant money laundering or terrorism financing risks. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas stated that businesses whose registrations have been canceled are not allowed to continue operations, and some related individuals have been referred to domestic and international law enforcement or regulatory agencies. AUSTRAC specifically mentioned BA Digital Ventures operating under the name GetCoins, whose virtual asset registration was canceled in June due to customer complaints, allegedly because the platform was exploited by organized cryptocurrency investment scams, with related actions conducted in cooperation with the national anti-fraud center. The public VASP registration list also included recent disposals of institutions such as Cryptolink, Self Custody, Jam Xchange, and Coinsec Australia. Additionally, AUSTRAC has launched an investigation into Western Union and suspended the cryptocurrency ATM network of Cryptolink.

According to CoinDesk, 21 international financial institutions have announced plans to establish a new company in the second half of 2026 to promote the issuance of stablecoins, with the specific name to be announced later. The company will initially focus on USD-denominated stablecoins and plans to expand to more G7 currencies in the future, with a priority on euro stablecoins.Participating institutions include Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Wells Fargo, BBVA, Santander Bank, MUFG Bank, and others. The stablecoin initiative aims to serve wholesale, institutional, and retail markets, applying to scenarios such as cross-border payments and digital asset settlements.The group stated that the stablecoin solution will combine bank-level compliance, governance, and institutional risk management capabilities, and plans to comply with relevant regulatory requirements such as the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU MiCA. The project aims to officially launch stablecoin products in the first half of 2027.

Tom Lee stated during his appearance on CNBC: "I believe that there are actually very few people who truly hold cryptocurrencies. Because of this, I think Bitcoin can easily break through six figures (like over $100,000), but it may also be affected by interest rate hikes. As for how cryptocurrencies will perform, I think this will be a good test, but we have already seen long-term yields (interest rates) rising. So, if we see the Federal Reserve raising interest rates while long-term yields actually decline, that would essentially mean monetary easing. Therefore, the key may be how long-term yields respond to the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes."He also added: "I think this is just the first wave of the rise because this round of cryptocurrency market has caught many people off guard. Well, I believe institutional investors are buying stocks related to cryptocurrencies, and this is very obvious—trading volume has surged significantly, which signals that they are betting on a big market in the fourth quarter. I think $150,000 is still possible, well, it's actually not that far from now."

SK Group plans to sell a 49% stake in its Ulsan artificial intelligence data center in South Korea to several private equity firms. SK Telecom and SK Broadband intend to approve the transaction at the board meeting on August 27.KKR will acquire a 29% stake, while a consortium formed by IMM Investment and Stonebridge Capital will acquire a 20% stake. The transaction is valued at approximately 3 trillion won, which includes about 1.2 trillion won in capital increase.

In the past week, inflationary pressures in the United States have eased somewhat, but weakening retail sales have raised concerns in the market about economic growth. Overall, U.S. stocks have maintained resilience, while the cryptocurrency market has been relatively weak. BTC ETF saw a weekly net outflow of approximately $385 million, and institutional allocations have cooled; BTC OI rose to about $12.3 billion, with funding rates remaining positive. Meanwhile, DEX weekly trading volume decreased by 5.2%, and the on-chain and DeFi markets have generally become more cautious.Against the backdrop of differentiated market risk appetite, Gate TradFi trading remains active, with weekly trading volume maintaining a high level of approximately $115 billion. Perp trading continues to grow, and the proportion of Korean stock trading has significantly rebounded. In terms of stocks, the latest exchange rankings from RootData show that Gate's stock spot and futures businesses have both entered the industry's top two, currently covering core markets such as U.S. stocks, Hong Kong stocks, and Korean stocks, further connecting traditional finance with digital assets.Based on the needs of professional investors, Gate has comprehensively upgraded its diverse service system covering TradFi, spot, and derivatives, providing a one-stop institutional-level trading infrastructure to assist global institutional investors in efficiently allocating various assets. In the face of market volatility and cross-market allocation needs, Gate continues to promote the construction of multi-market trading infrastructure. Its subsidiary, Gate CrossEx, has supported multiple mainstream venues, providing unified management of accounts, funds, positions, and trading across exchanges, significantly reducing multi-platform operating costs.

To implement the decision-making deployment of the "14th Five-Year Plan" regarding the "steady development of digital renminbi" and to further enhance the inclusiveness of digital renminbi services, continuously responding to the public's demand for safe, convenient, and efficient digital renminbi services, the People's Bank of China has added Ping An Bank, Hengfeng Bank, Bohai Bank, Shanghai Bank, Hangzhou Bank, Huishang Bank, Changsha Bank, and Guangxi Beibu Gulf Bank as operational institutions for bank-related digital renminbi services, and has connected to the central bank's digital renminbi system.The newly added institutions will commence digital renminbi operations after completing business and technical preparations. Currently, the number of operational institutions for digital renminbi services has expanded to 30. In the next step, the People's Bank of China will orderly promote the expansion of operational institutions according to market-oriented and rule-of-law principles, further stimulating the enthusiasm and creativity of market entities, and building an open, inclusive, and fair competitive environment for the development of digital renminbi.