regulations

According to Decrypt, the price of Bitcoin remains around $80,350, with a short-term increase of only 0.8%, continuing to face pressure after multiple attempts to break through the $82,000 resistance level failed. This range is seen as a combined resistance level of the ETF cost line, the 200-day moving average, and the CME gap filling area. Although the U.S. CLARITY Act has passed the Senate Banking Committee, bringing positive expectations for crypto regulation, institutional funds continue to withdraw.Data shows that the net outflow of the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF has decreased to an average of -$88 million per day over the past seven days, marking the largest outflow since mid-February. Analysts believe that this round of selling pressure is more about "profit-taking" rather than panic selling. On a macro level, rising U.S. Treasury yields have become a core source of pressure. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond has risen to about 4.52%, reaching a 10-month high, while the April CPI has increased by 3.8% year-on-year, the highest level in three years, further delaying market expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut.Analysts point out that geopolitical conflicts are driving up energy prices, exacerbating inflationary pressures, thereby weakening the appeal of risk assets. From an institutional perspective, some analysts believe that the current outflow of ETF funds is part of portfolio rebalancing rather than a trend-based withdrawal.The options market shows that Bitcoin faces significant resistance in the $82,000-$84,000 range, while $77,000 is a key support level. If the price falls below this range and leverage does not cool down, the market may enter a deleveraging phase, increasing the risk of a correction.

According to a Reuters report, Carolyn Rogers, Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, stated during her testimony in the Senate that the design work for Canada's stablecoin regulatory framework is fully underway and is expected to be launched in mid to late 2027.She noted that the previously planned target for early 2027 was rather ambitious.

Paul Atkins, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated that the regulatory agency is considering new rules for on-chain financial markets and related software applications.Atkins pointed out that current software protocols such as DeFi are difficult to classify within the traditional regulatory framework of exchanges, brokers, or clearinghouses, as a single protocol often has multiple functions including trade execution, collateral management, liquidity routing, and settlement. His remarks are seen as the SEC adopting a more open attitude towards the crypto industry, which is friendlier compared to his predecessor Gary Gensler. Meanwhile, the SEC is also exploring innovative exemption mechanisms for tokenized securities and advancing the clarification of the digital asset classification system.

According to Cointelegraph, the South Korean crypto industry group DAXA (Digital Asset Exchange Alliance), representing 27 registered virtual asset service providers (VASP), has submitted objections to the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) regarding the proposed amendments to the implementation order of the Specific Financial Information Act.The new regulations aim to require domestic VASPs to report any virtual asset transfers with foreign VASPs as suspicious transaction reports (STR) if the amount reaches 10 million won (approximately $6,800), regardless of the risk level. DAXA warned that this would cause the annual reporting volume of South Korea's five major trading platforms (Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, Gopax) to surge from about 63,000 last year to over 5.4 million, making compliance practically impossible.The industry also opposes the proposed requirement to verify the accuracy of customer information, arguing that the subordinate rules impose obligations not clearly defined by law. This industry backlash comes as exchanges face sanctions from financial regulators in court. On April 9, the court ruled to lift part of the business suspension against Upbit operator Dunamu, but the regulators have appealed. On April 30, the court suspended the six-month partial business suspension against Bithumb. Coinone also received a temporary stay of execution.The public consultation period for the new regulations ends on May 11, and it is expected to be finalized in July after regulatory and legal reviews. This highlights the tension between South Korea's tightening of crypto anti-money laundering regulations and the industry's concerns about excessive compliance burdens.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) stated in a letter to the CFTC that state regulations on prediction markets are creating "barriers to fair access" and may weaken market liquidity.a16z pointed out that requiring platforms to restrict user access by state will affect market uniformity and conflict with the federal principle of fair access. At the same time, frequent bans and enforcement actions may also compress overall trading depth. The agency emphasized that prediction markets play an important role in information discovery and probability pricing, supporting unified federal regulation. The CFTC, on the other hand, insists that the relevant contracts fall under its exclusive regulatory scope.

According to official news, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has officially released new industry guidelines, clarifying the standards and requirements for companies to comply with the current regulatory framework when using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).The new regulations also optimize the fund trading mechanism, introducing an optional direct-to-fund (D2F) model that allows investors to directly connect traditional funds with tokenized funds for transactions, significantly improving circulation efficiency. These rules were jointly formulated by the FCA and the industry, maintaining strict regulatory standards while accommodating financial innovation, helping the asset management industry reduce costs and increase efficiency, and accelerating the implementation of traditional asset tokenization.

According to Jinshi reports, the Office of the Foreign Investment Security Review Mechanism (National Development and Reform Commission) has made a decision to prohibit investment in the foreign acquisition of the Manus project in accordance with laws and regulations, requiring the parties involved to withdraw from the acquisition transaction.

The DeFi Education Fund, along with several other crypto advocacy organizations, has officially sent a joint letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), requesting the initiation of a formal DeFi rule-making process based on recent statements.Previously, the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets had clearly stated that certain software user interfaces used for trading cryptocurrencies do not need to register as broker-dealers, giving a green light to such activities. The joint letter calls on the SEC to solidify the above principles into an objective and clear framework through announcements or comment-based rule-making, clarifying which activities fall under the definition of "broker," while excluding infrastructure service providers such as validators, API and RPC providers, oracles, and cloud services. This would provide developers with long-term legal certainty and avoid reliance on temporary guidance. Under the leadership of current Chairman Paul Atkins, the SEC has taken a positive and open attitude towards digital asset innovation, contrasting sharply with the repressive stance of the previous administration, and the industry has also played an important role in the rule-making process.

The SEC released a document (34-105260) disclosing the rule change application submitted by the NYSE, intending to formally introduce a framework for trading tokenized securities.According to the proposal, the NYSE plans to add Rule 7.5, allowing eligible securities to be traded and settled in a blockchain-based tokenized form in addition to traditional forms. The relevant arrangements will operate under the DTC pilot program. The core mechanisms include: tokenized securities and traditional stocks will share the same trading code (CUSIP) and rights structure, and will be fully interchangeable; in the matching system, tokenized and traditional securities will have the same execution priority, and the order of transactions will not be affected by the different forms; trading participants can choose to settle and clear in an on-chain form through a tokenization flag, with specific processing carried out by custodians. Additionally, the NYSE also plans to simultaneously modify order sorting, routing, and clearing rules to accommodate the trading process of tokenized securities, ensuring seamless integration with the existing market structure.From a market perspective, this proposal signifies that traditional U.S. securities exchanges are officially exploring the introduction of blockchain technology into the core trading and settlement systems. If approved, it could become an important milestone for on-chain securities entering mainstream financial infrastructure.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK is seeking feedback on specific regulatory activities for digital assets under its cryptocurrency roadmap.This consultation covers how activities such as stablecoin issuance, trading platforms, custody, and staking will fall under regulatory oversight. The consultation will close on June 3, 2026, and cryptocurrency businesses can apply for FCA authorization starting September 30, 2026. The FCA stated that the consultation on the rules for the future cryptocurrency asset regime is largely complete, and a policy statement will be released this summer. Before the new legislative regime is implemented in 2027, cryptocurrency assets remain largely unregulated in the UK, except for financial promotions and financial crime purposes.

The Web3 asset data platform RootData has outlined Upbit's business partners, which are relatively limited and mainly focused on areas such as blockchain infrastructure and compliance services. This is closely related to South Korea's unique and strict regulatory framework: under a system environment centered on real-name systems, VASP regulation, and anti-money laundering, exchanges are required to take greater responsibility for the flow of funds and user identities, making Upbit more inclined to develop its own systems and build localized capabilities rather than extensively introducing external partners. From the disclosed structure, on the technical side, infrastructure capabilities are strengthened through Lambda256, Aptos, and others; on the compliance level, service providers such as VerifyVASP, Chainalysis, and Crystal Intelligence are introduced; and supplementary funding and liquidity are provided through Circle and Naver Pay. Additionally, Upbit quickly built trading capabilities relying on its cooperation with Bittrex since its launch in 2017. On the branding side, Upbit has explored NFT entertainment collaborations with Hybe and has laid out plans in esports (LCK) and signed top players like Faker, while also becoming a primary partner of the Korean Sports Council. However, as the popularity of NFTs and the metaverse has declined, the influence of related entertainment collaborations has weakened. Related compilation: [Upbit Web3 Partner Network Compilation (continuously updated)]

According to CoinDesk, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) will jointly issue proposed rules requiring stablecoin issuers to establish a comprehensive anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance system. Specific measures include freezing, intercepting, and rejecting suspicious transactions, as well as complying with the relevant provisions of the Bank Secrecy Act.The rules emphasize an outcome-oriented approach, believing that financial institutions understand their own risks best. Issuers that establish a sound compliance system are typically exempt from enforcement actions. This move aims to implement the GENIUS Act passed last year, which is expected to take full effect in 2027.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Department of Labor has proposed a new rule that would allow 401(k) retirement plans to include alternative assets such as cryptocurrencies, private equity, and real estate, in response to an executive order signed by President Trump last year.If the rule is passed, it will change the traditional structure of retirement plans that primarily focus on stocks and bonds, allowing plan providers to include non-publicly traded products like digital assets. The Secretary of Labor stated that the rule aims to better reflect the current investment environment in retirement plans. Supporters believe this move could improve portfolio diversification, but Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that it could expose workers to higher risks, costs, and potential losses. U.S. 401(k) plans hold trillions of dollars in retirement savings, and even a small allocation to digital assets could bring significant inflows to the crypto market.

According to Cointelegraph, the proposal supported by Trump to "allow cryptocurrencies and private equity to be included in 401(k) retirement plans" has passed White House review. The U.S. Department of Labor is expected to issue relevant rules soon.

According to a report by the British newspaper The Guardian, the UK government will officially announce today the review report on political financing regulations in the UK, including measures to strengthen the prevention of foreign funding (including cryptocurrencies) interfering with democracy.Previously, Nathan Gill, the former leader of the Reform Party in Wales, was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison for accepting bribes in cryptocurrency. The core content of the report is expected to include a ban on political parties accepting cryptocurrency donations, on the grounds that cryptocurrencies are anonymous and difficult to trace, and may be used by foreign countries to evade existing rules and interfere with UK elections. The UK Labour government plans to incorporate the review results into the upcoming Elections and Democracy Bill to comprehensively tighten the regulation of political donations.

According to the People's Daily, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council recently issued the "Regulations on the Integrity of Leaders of State-owned Enterprises."Article 7 explicitly prohibits leaders of state-owned enterprises from using their power or position to seek personal gain, specifically including: accepting gifts, cash, and virtual currencies from related enterprises; buying and selling real estate and vehicles at unfair prices as a disguised form of receiving property; entrusting others to invest in securities and futures without contributing capital but still benefiting; engaging in power-for-money transactions through anonymous shareholding or holding shares on behalf of others; obtaining large returns through financial activities such as private lending; using insider information or trade secrets for personal gain; embezzling or illegally occupying and misappropriating company property; and pocketing discounts, intermediary fees, and reward returns. Violators will be dealt with according to regulations, discipline, and law.

According to DeFiprime, the SEC and CFTC jointly released Interpretive Release 33-11412, defining most native tokens of decentralized networks as digital commodities, and clarifying that staking, LSD, wrapped tokens, and compliant airdrops do not constitute securities offerings.Based on this, the article proposes three fundraising and treasury models that have been difficult to implement previously: the first is Liquid Genesis Staking Pools (LGSP), which are based on staking ETH, SOL, etc., and incentivized through both LSD yields and protocol tokens; the second is Commodity Pre-Participation Agreements (CPA), which exchange work contributions and funds for future network participation rights instead of presale tokens; the third is Separation-Accelerated Revenue Rights (SARR), which ties to decentralized milestones and features decreasing profit-sharing, designing the "separation principle" as a tool to drive teams to accelerate decentralization.The author states that all three models are based on existing contract components and can support long-term treasury and team expenditures in simulations.

Alex Thorn, the research director at Galaxy Research, posted on the X social platform pointing out that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) released a milestone digital asset classification guideline this Tuesday, officially categorizing digital assets into five types: digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, and digital securities (tokenized securities), clearly stating that only the last category constitutes securities, which must be registered or exempted under federal securities law.This guideline, published as a committee-level interpretive rule in the Federal Register, explicitly replaces the "investment contract" analysis framework used since the Gensler era in 2019 and provides two clear paths for tokens to detach from securities characteristics: first, if the issuer fulfills its promised core management tasks, the investment contract is terminated, and the token can be freely traded as a non-security in the secondary market; second, if the issuer abandons the project or remains silent for a long time, the investment contract also terminates. Additionally, the guideline clarifies that airdrops, mining, and staking generally do not constitute securities transactions, and the packaging or unpackaging of assets does not change their securities characteristics.Alex Thorn believes that this guideline officially marks the end of the Gensler era's hostile regulatory stance towards the crypto industry, providing important clarity support for further institutional entry. However, he also cautions that interpretive rules are not legally binding and can be overturned by a new administration at any time, which is also the core reason for the industry's ongoing push for the CLARITY Act legislation.

According to Jinshi, the proposal announced by the Federal Reserve on Thursday will relax capital requirements for large financial institutions on Wall Street, a move that could free up billions of dollars for lending, stock buybacks, and dividend payments. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michelle Bowman stated that these changes will strengthen the overall capital structure and maintain stability. The proposal will undergo a 90-day public consultation period and is expected to "moderately lower" capital requirements for large banks.

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea has initiated sanctions against the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, as the exchange was found to allow users to transfer funds to unregistered overseas trading platforms and failed to implement customer identity verification (KYC) procedures. According to Seoul News, the sanctions may include a suspension of new customer services for up to six months, while existing users' deposits and withdrawals will not be affected.This penalty adds insult to injury for Bithumb, which had previously mistakenly sent out $40 billion worth of Bitcoin due to operational errors and is currently facing an investigation by advertising regulators.The exchanges GOPAX and Coinone are also under investigation by the FIU. Competitor Upbit faced a three-month ban on new customers last year for similar violations and is currently challenging this through legal means, with a court ruling expected in April.