Four of the Fed's 12 regional banks backed a discount rate increase at the July 2026 meeting, citing inflation concerns, while the Board voted 9 to 3 to keep the federal funds target range at 3.50% to 3.75%. Recent readings remain above the 2% goal, including June PCE inflation at 3.7%, core PCE at 3.3%, and July CPI at 3.4% year over year.

Thailand's SEC has opened two public consultations on draft rules for spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, shifting from proposed principles to formal regulations. The initial framework limits products to single asset funds tracking bitcoin or ether, listed only on stock exchanges, investing at least 80% of net assets in the underlying crypto and using passive strategies. Comments close Sept 20.

India is set to run a pilot in September to test tokenized corporate bonds that would be issued on a blockchain-style ledger and settled using the central bank's wholesale CBDC. People familiar with the discussions said state-owned REC Limited may issue under 5 billion rupees (about $57 million) of bonds to a limited group of investors. The initiative is expected to be showcased at an annual fintech event in Mumbai in September. The pilot is designed to demonstrate delivery-versus-payment settlement using digital infrastructure. Investors would need two accounts: a wholesale CBDC wallet provided by a bank for payments, and a securities wallet being built by Indian depositories, dubbed "DEMAT 2.0," to hold the tokenized bonds. Ownership would be recorded on distributed ledger technology, enabling the asset and payment legs to interact within the same framework. The project extends India's earlier wholesale e-rupee work. The Reserve Bank of India began its wholesale CBDC pilot in 2022, initially focused on settling government securities. The new effort applies that approach to corporate debt and digitally native capital-market transactions, echoing experiments in Europe and Hong Kong that have highlighted potential efficiency gains through fewer reconciliation steps and shorter settlement cycles. Market structure details underscore the constraints of a permissioned network. The bonds are expected to be locked for three months, and trading would require compatible CBDC and DEMAT 2.0 wallets. A secondary market is anticipated to take shape by December, though the securities would not initially trade on conventional electronic platforms. The design also sharpens a broader debate over state-led digital finance. While tokenization can streamline securities markets, routing transactions through a government-controlled CBDC introduces questions around financial autonomy, privacy and access. Unlike open cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, which operate without a central issuer authorizing transactions, a wholesale CBDC remains under central bank control and can embed institutional rules directly into the payment layer.

The Federal Reserve's Board of Governors voted unanimously on July 29, 2026, to leave the primary credit (discount) rate unchanged at 3.75%, according to minutes from discount rate meetings held July 20 and July 29. The unity on the discount rate contrasted sharply with the Federal Open Market Committee's separate decision to hold the federal funds target range at 3.5%3.75%. That vote passed 93, with Governors Beth M. Hammack, Neel Kashkari, and Lorie K. Logan dissenting in favor of a 25-basis-point increase. Minutes released August 19 underscored the central fault line: inflation remains above the Fed's 2% goal. The document said "several" participants argued for a more restrictive policy stance to address persistent price pressures. Chair Kevin Warsh, in only his second meeting as chair, signaled openness to additional tightening if inflation does not cool. The Fed also kept interest on reserves at 3.65%, consistent with the decision to maintain the existing rate framework. The unchanged primary credit rate takes effect July 30, 2026. The next scheduled FOMC meeting is September 1516. Policymakers also cited geopolitical risks, with the minutes pointing to uncertainties tied to the Middle East as a complicating factor. The Fed noted that discount window rates are set by the Board of Governors separately from the FOMC's federal funds target. For markets, the 93 split is likely to keep September firmly in focus. Treasury pricing had already reflected some chance of a move at the next meeting, and the close call may reinforce those expectations. With the 3.5%3.75% range now in place long enough to anchor expectations, any shift would carry added signaling weight. A September hike would be the first tightening step of this cycle under Warsh's leadership. Between now and the September 1516 meeting, investors will see at least one more CPI release and a jobs report.

Thailand"s Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a public consultation on a proposed regulatory framework for domestically listed crypto exchange-traded funds. The initial scope would cover only Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The comment period is open through September 20.

CoinDesk reports that the U.S. Senate is expected to take up the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15, with the next hurdle being whether the bill can secure the 60 votes needed to advance to full debate. Republicans currently hold 53 Senate seats, leaving the legislation dependent on support from Democratic and independent senators to clear the procedural threshold. The bill previously passed the House of Representatives 294-134 and advanced out of the Senate Banking Committee on a 15-9 vote. The White House has indicated it supports moving cryptocurrency legislation forward in September. As attention shifts from committee review to the full Senate, markets are focused on whether the proposal can overcome procedural roadblocks. Sixty votes are required to initiate full Senate debate. The report notes that XRP is frequently cited in discussions of the CLARITY Act because the bill aims to clarify how digital assets are classified under securities and commodities oversight. That question has been central for XRP after years of legal uncertainty stemming from Ripple's dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. A clearer market-structure framework could make it easier for financial institutions, asset managers, and trading platforms to make compliant decisions involving XRP, including trading, custody, and product design. Timing is tight. The report says the Senate's immediate priority is resolving procedural issues, and failure to lock in sufficient support by Sept. 15—or a sharp slowdown afterward—could shrink the legislative window as the midterm election calendar approaches. In that scenario, consideration of related issues could be pushed to 2027. The report frames Sept. 15 as a pivotal checkpoint for U.S. crypto legislation and adds that if Washington ultimately delivers a clearer digital-asset rulebook, XRP could be among the bigger beneficiaries.

The U.S. Treasury this week said it is bringing Iran's digital asset industry under the same sanctions framework long applied to the country's oil, banking, and broader financial sectors, tightening restrictions on Tehran's use of cryptocurrency to evade international measures. The move, part of "Operation Economic Outcast"—described as an "Economic DDay" against Iran—marks a significant escalation in global crypto-related sanctions risk. Under the updated approach, the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has authority to sanction individuals anywhere in the world. OFAC said Iran is increasingly turning to cryptocurrency as a preferred tool for sanctions circumvention, enabling transactions tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and individuals inside the Iranian regime. The agency warned that foreign exchanges, over-the-counter desks, payment processors, and infrastructure providers that knowingly facilitate transactions involving Iran's digital asset sector could be added to the sanctions list and cut off from the U.S. financial system. Separately, OFAC sanctioned members of a group within Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) accused of targeting U.S. critical infrastructure, and published associated wallet addresses. The Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency addresses of Behzad Mesri, identified as a joint leader of the group, as well as Keyvan Fayyaz Ghareh Blagh and Arman Kahzadian, were added to the sanctions list. Bloomberg previously reported that Iran launched a Bitcoin-backed insurance service for shipping companies. In July, the U.S. froze crypto assets linked to the Iranian regime, most of which were Tether stablecoins.

Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) has called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to clarify whether equity perpetual contracts can be treated as security futures, arguing that a clear designation would draw more perpetual trading into U.S. markets and cut regulatory uncertainty. The request follows the CFTC's May approval of the first U.S.-listed perpetual contracts to trade as futures. HPC says the largest perpetual markets developed offshore in part because U.S. regulators had not answered a foundational question: should perpetuals be regulated as futures or as swaps? Perpetual classification remains unsettled HPC said perpetual contracts resemble futures in key ways, including standardized terms, fungibility, and the ability to close out a position by taking the opposite side. Their open-ended structure—lacking a fixed expiry date—has complicated treatment under U.S. law. The group also noted that similar products have been classified differently in past enforcement actions, a mismatch it says has helped push high-volume perpetual trading outside the U.S. The SEC and CFTC have been reviewing the issue over the past year. In June, both agencies sought public comment on how swap definitions should apply to novel products, including whether cash-settled equity perpetuals could qualify as security futures. HPC submitted its response as part of that process. HPC pushes for a single, consistent framework HPC urged regulators to base oversight on contract features and trading structure, and to let the reference asset drive jurisdiction rather than the future-versus-swap label. The group also asked the agencies to confirm that equity perpetuals meeting the requirements can be listed as security futures, while preserving exchanges' flexibility in deciding which products to list. In addition, HPC called for consistent treatment across the SEC and CFTC and for updates to the security futures framework to reflect newer product designs. Security futures are subject to joint SEC and CFTC oversight, and exchanges registered with either agency can list them under the existing framework. Hyperliquid points to $480 billion in trading volume HPC said more than $480 billion in perpetual contract volume has traded on Hyperliquid over the past 10 months, spanning oil, metals, currencies, equity indexes, and single stocks. The group argued that regulators could provide clarity without formal rulemaking, citing options such as interpretive guidance, policy statements, and staff action to establish an initial framework. CFTC Chairman Selig has said the debate centers on whether perpetual markets will operate under U.S. oversight and standards. HPC said it plans to continue discussions with both the SEC and CFTC.