South Korea's ruling Democratic Party's Digital Asset Taskforce will consult advisory committee members ahead of a February 24 meeting as lawmakers move to tighten crypto exchange oversight following Bithumb's erroneous $40B Bitcoin giveaway, Joongang Ilbo reported. The package would be strict and modeled on traditional financial regulation, with the industry bracing for imminent restructuring and exchange rules likely bundled with stablecoin issuance measures, unnamed lawmakers and industry officials said. The Financial Supervisory Service favors liability rules for computer-related faults, larger reserve holdings to absorb costs from hacks or giveaway mistakes, and financial institution-level IT controls such as multisignature transfers and cooling-off periods that allow customers to cancel large transfers; it has also extended its formal investigation into Bithumb to the end of February, Joongang Ilbo said. Bithumb mistakenly issued Bitcoin to 249 lucky draw participants when an official selected Bitcoin instead of Korean won for a planned total of around $423, and while most of the Bitcoin has been recovered, the episode was ill-timed for local exchanges, coming weeks after a $36 million hack at Upbit and as Bithumb seeks a US listing this year, Joongang Ilbo reported.

Crypto.com has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national bank trust charter, positioning the firm to operate as a federally regulated digital asset custodian if it clears remaining regulatory conditions. The company applied in October and plans to offer custody services for digital asset treasuries, exchange-traded funds, and tokenized products to institutional clients under OCC oversight. The approval follows similar conditional charters granted by the OCC to Circle, Ripple, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos as policymakers debate how federal trust charters should interact with state licensing regimes and broader crypto custody rules.

Trump administration officials are examining an early-stage proposal for a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin to support Gaza's postwar economy, the Financial Times reports. The concept would establish a digital payments framework designed to operate despite disrupted banking infrastructure, with the effort led by an adviser to the "Board of Peace."

Missouri reintroduced House Bill 2080 to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve fund in the state treasury, DL News reports. The bill was sent to the House Commerce Committee and emphasizes voluntary donations as the primary funding source. It also sets a mandatory five-year holding period.

Crypto.com received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on February 23 to proceed with its application for a federal charter as a national bank, The Block reports. The approval would enable the company to offer digital asset custody and staking services under federal regulatory framework, with Cofounder and CEO Kris Marszalek saying it brings the firm closer to providing institutional clients with a one-stop qualified custodian operating under federal regulation. Crypto.com joins Ripple, Circle, BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets and Paxos in receiving conditional OCC approval for federal banking status. A national trust bank charter would place the company under federal oversight rather than state-level regulation and authorize it to custody and safeguard client assets; over the past year, the OCC clarified that U.S. banks may buy and sell crypto assets on their own behalf and rescinded certain prior restrictions to ease compliance burdens for crypto-related activities, according to The Block.

Crypto.com has received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish Crypto.com National Trust Bank, a key step toward operating as a federally regulated national trust bank. The entity, formally named Foris Dax National Trust Bank, is expected to offer digital asset custody, staking across multiple blockchains including Cronos, and trade settlement once full approval is granted.

Binance US may expand in the U.S. following the SEC's decision to drop its 2023 lawsuit, Changpeng Zhao said. He said potential steps include new banking partnerships or licenses, limited to Binance US and not the global platform.

Missouri State Representatives introduced House Bill 2080 to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Fund under Chapter 30 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri. The bill outlines the framework for creating the fund within the state's statutory code.