Asia & EMEA crypto markets recap: Bitcoin tops $72,800; SEC rethinks past cases; Coinbase wins Australia license
A quick roundup from today's Asia and EMEA sessions, via James Hunt.
Bitcoin briefly climbed above $72,800 after the White House announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
In the U.S., federal prosecutors urged a judge not to factor a recent Supreme Court decision into the case involving Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm, pushing back on arguments raised by his legal team.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said it has reviewed shortcomings in prior crypto enforcement and identified seven cases it now characterizes as a misreading of federal securities law.
Coinbase secured an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) as it prepares to roll out crypto and equity perpetuals in the region, with futures and options expected later.
A group of major Swiss financial institutions has begun a live pilot of a regulated Swiss franc stablecoin, aiming to build a digital settlement layer for the country's economy.
South Korea's ruling party said it will proceed with plans to bring tokenized real-world assets and stablecoins under existing legal frameworks.
The New York Times published an investigation suggesting British cryptographer Adam Back could be Satoshi Nakamoto, pointing to perceived similarities in writing style; Back denied the claim.
Ethereum researchers are evaluating "BlockinBlobs" (EIP-8142), a proposal intended to reduce validators' data load.
White House economists argued that stablecoin reward programs are unlikely to materially weaken bank lending or overall credit conditions, responding to concerns raised as lawmakers debate rules for yield-bearing tokens.
Nasdaq-listed Currenc Group hired Securitize to tokenize its shares, a move that could enable 24/7 trading, fractional ownership, and DeFi use cases.
Bloomberg reported that Standard Chartered is considering a restructuring that would merge parts of its majority-owned crypto custody unit into the bank's existing digital-asset operations.
Morgan Stanley said Wednesday it is launching its long-anticipated spot Bitcoin ETF, trading under ticker MSBT.
Bernstein analysts said recent progress in quantum computing may have pulled forward the timeline, but Bitcoin and other crypto protocols still have roughly three to five years to adapt.
The Financial Times reported that Iran plans to impose transit fees on oil tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz during the two-week ceasefire, with payments permitted in cryptocurrency, including bitcoin.
