On 16 March 2026, Australia's Senate Economics Legislation Committee recommended passing the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, which introduces a licensing regime for digital asset platforms. The proposal would require most centralized crypto exchanges and tokenized custody providers to obtain an Australian Financial Services Licence and comply with existing financial services rules, while regulators and industry groups debate how broadly key definitions should apply.

On March 16, Australia's Senate Economics Legislation Committee recommended passing the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, which would bring digital asset and tokenized custody platforms under the Australian Financial Services Licence regime. The proposal would classify many centralized exchanges and tokenization custodians as financial products, impose ASIC custody, settlement and disclosure standards, and exempt only smaller providers and certain public blockchain infrastructure. Industry participants, including Ripple and Coinbase, have raised concerns over the scope of "factual control" and the risk of debanking while broadly welcoming the move toward clearer rules.

Hana Financial Group has signed a memorandum of understanding with Standard Chartered Group to cooperate on digital asset initiatives, including stablecoin-related projects. The South Korean financial conglomerate aims to use the partnership to broaden its global traditional and digital finance footprint, building on previous crypto custody ventures and record net income results.

Ledger's Asia-Pacific lead Takatoshi Shibayama said a proposed United States block on third-party stablecoin yield products could encourage other jurisdictions such as Australia to allow such offerings. He noted that most issuers currently avoid paying yields to protect banks' interests but argued a US move could spark fresh talks between regulators and issuers abroad. Shibayama added that in Asia, major financial institutions are prioritizing tokenization and stablecoin issuance over direct crypto exposure, while asset managers remain more interested in launching crypto products.

Nasdaq is designing a tokenized stock framework in which issuers back tokens that are recorded directly in official shareholder registries, aiming to keep full legal parity with conventional shares while using blockchain for settlement. In parallel, Hong Kong plans to grant its first stablecoin licenses to major banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered, while the SEC studies exemptions for tokenized securities and global institutions explore broader real‑world asset tokenization.

Venus Protocol, a decentralized lending and borrowing platform, reported suspicious activity in its Thena (THE) and Cake (CAKE) pools tied to a suspected supply cap exploit exceeding $3.7 million. The attacker allegedly accumulated about 84% of THE’s market cap and then used the tokens as collateral to borrow multiple assets, prompting Venus to pause borrows and withdrawals for THE and some low-liquidity tokens.

Galaxy Research's Alex Thorn says the CLARITY Act must be placed on the full U.S. Senate agenda by early May to keep a realistic path to passage in 2026, warning that disputes over stablecoin yields and DeFi rules are slowing progress. Banking sector concerns about deposit flight, debates over regulatory turf and protections for blockchain developers, and falling Polymarket odds are adding to uncertainty for the U.S. digital asset market.

On 14 March 2026, Robinhood's Head of Crypto Johann Kerbrat explained why the firm is building Robinhood Chain, an Ethereum Layer 2 based on the Arbitrum stack, instead of launching a new Layer 1 blockchain. The network underpins a tokenization push that has already brought about 2,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs on-chain for European users, while evolving SEC guidance and potential exchange-level oversight of centralized sequencers cloud the outlook for a planned U.S. mainnet later in 2026.