CFTC Authorizes Domestic Exchanges to List Equity Perpetuals

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authorized domestic exchanges to

list perpetual futures on individual stocks, formally bridging a crypto-native market

structure with traditional finance (TradFi) under joint SEC oversight. This framework

establishes a fully compliant onshore venue designed to recapture institutional volume

historically isolated offshore, a structural shift significant enough to immediately

prompt defensive legal challenges from legacy incumbents like Cboe and Citadel.

Outlining the regulatory progression, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig stated, “Today’s

announcement builds on that milestone by extending the availability of the perpetual

futures contract instrument in the US beyond digital commodities and into traditional

securities”.

Hong Kong Enforces OECD Crypto Tax Data Reporting Mandate

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has passed a bill implementing the OECD’s Crypto-

Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) and the amended Common Reporting Standard

(CRS), mandating digital asset service providers to conduct enhanced customer due

diligence. Under CARF, local crypto platforms must begin collecting transaction data by

January 1, 2027, enabling automatic, reciprocal cross-border data exchanges with

partner jurisdictions starting in 2028. “Hong Kong has been supporting international

efforts in enhancing tax transparency and combatting cross-border tax evasion,” stated

Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.

Morgan Stanley Tokenizes Securities via DTCC Private Blockchains

Morgan Stanley’s move to tokenize U.S. equities and Treasuries through the Depository

Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) contrasts with crypto-native efforts, instead

aligning the bank with 20 participating traditional finance (TradFi) institutions, including

JPMorgan and Citi. By converting these assets into digital twins on private blockchains,

the participating institutions are leveraging the centralized post-trade backbone of U.S.

markets to accelerate collateral mobility. “The hands-on experience of integrating

tokenized securities with established market infrastructure will inform the continued

development of the firm’s digital asset capabilities as the market evolves,” said Amy

Oldenburg, Morgan Stanley’s head of digital assets strategy.

Bitcoin Miners Align With Core Developers on BIP-54 Soft Fork

Institutional block producers, including MARA Pool and ViaBTC, have begun producing

mainnet transactions compatible with BIP-54 (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 54), a

backward-compatible soft fork targeting multiple legacy consensus vulnerabilities.

According to co-author Matt Corallo, the upgrade—which neutralizes denial-of-service

attack vectors without altering base token economics—has an estimated 80%

probability of becoming the network’s first soft fork activation since late 2021.

Whilecritics prefer more expansive protocol changes, Corallo positioned the maintenance

initiative as a practical fix for issues “everyone agrees are problems.”

Tether Expands Proprietary Bitcoin Treasury Beyond Stablecoin Reserves

Tether, the industry’s largest stablecoin issuer, continues to capitalize its internal

corporate treasury with Bitcoin. Holding an estimated 50,000 BTC beyond its publicly

audited stablecoin reserve allocations, this proprietary asset accumulation is funded

through company profits and capital, remaining completely segregated from customer

liabilities. Confirming the scale of this independent treasury, CEO Paolo Ardoino stated,

“We have give or take 150,000 bitcoin ourselves. It’s not much, but it’s honest work.”