A federal bank regulator has granted World Liberty Trust Co. a conditional bank charter, it announced Friday.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the U.S. banking agency that grants federal charters, said in a letter posted to its website that World Liberty could operate fiduciary and other trust company-related activities as a national trust bank.
“This preliminary conditional approval is granted based on a thorough evaluation of all information available to the OCC, including the representations and commitments made in the application and by the Bank’s representatives,” the letter said.
Final approval won’t be granted until the company meets additional “preopening requirements,” the letter said.
According to the letter, World Liberty Trust Company will focus on services tied to World Liberty Financial’s $USD1 stablecoin.
“The bank plans to issue $USD1, a fiat currency-backed stablecoin, to institutional clients on a nationwide basis, assuming this role from BitGo Bank & Trust, National Association (BitGo), the current exclusive issuer and custodian for $USD1,” the letter said. “The bank plans to provide its digital asset custody services as a fiduciary, primarily to $USD1 customers and other institutional clients.”
Bitcoin has fallen by 1.4% in the last 24 hours, dropping to around $62,000. This has also affected altcoins, with other major altcoins like Ethereum and XRP also showing a decline.
According to CoinMarketCap data, Velvet (VELVET) was the top-performing altcoin in the last 24 hours with a 38% gain. It was followed by Ether.fi (ETHFI), Cosmos (ATOM), and MemeCore (M).
In contrast, altcoins such as Venice Token (VVV), LayerZero (ZRO), and Lighter (LIT) were among the biggest losers.
While the altcoin market experienced both rises and falls, whale activity continued.
According to Lookonchain, a cryptocurrency analysis platform, a whale with the address 0x117f traded in the altcoin $ASTER. Specifically, the whale opened a 4x long position of 7.2 million $ASTER ($4.33 million) and staked 4.02 million $ASTER ($2.42 million) for four years.
Another whale, with the address 19pFLW, bought another 300 Bitcoin (worth $19.03 million) approximately five hours ago, increasing his Bitcoin holdings to 1,120 (worth $70.43 million).
According to Lookonchain’s report, another whale traded in the altcoin $HYPE. This whale, who had previously sold $HYPE, this time sold 923,743 $HYPE (worth $53.02 million). Initially holding 2.93 million $HYPE (worth $163.37 million), this whale had sold 1.03 million $HYPE (worth $57.44 million) approximately two weeks ago. With this latest sale, they still hold 969,595 $HYPE (worth $55.5 million).
Finally, Lookonchain reported that address 0x66f8, known as the largest on-chain BTC bear, closed its $136 million short position, making a profit of $1.65 million. Following this profit-taking, this whale moved into a long position in Bitcoin with 40x leverage.
Bank Leumi, Israel’s largest bank, will offer cryptocurrency trading to customers from early 2027 becoming the first Israeli bank to announce such a service.
Customers of Leumi and its mobile banking unit, Pepper, will be able to buy, hold and sell bitcoin BTC$62,880.24, ether ETH$1,875.38 and solana (SOL) through a section of the Leumi Trade app, according to a Friday announcement.
Galaxy Digital (GLXY) will provide trading and services through GalaxyOne Institutional, its platform for banks and asset managers. Leumi has also signed an agreement to use Galaxy’s custody infrastructure, formerly known as GK8, to support the offering.
The tie-up gives Galaxy a banking partner in Israel and places Leumi among a growing group of financial institutions bringing crypto access inside customer platforms. By embedding trading within its capital-markets app, the bank is betting that clients will favor a regulated banking interface over standalone crypto exchanges.
Maya Ravia, Leumi’s head of strategy, described digital assets as an increasingly integral part of the global financial system. Galaxy Israel CEO Lior Lamesh said early movers among banks would help define finance’s shift toward open, programmable infrastructure.
The companies did not disclose commercial terms, fees or customer eligibility requirements. CoinDesk has reached out to Bank Leumi for further comments.
Strategy (MSTR) has pushed back against MSCI’s proposed methodology for identifying “non-operating companies,” which could result in the largest bitcoin treasury company being removed from the index provider’s global equity indexes.
Strategy said on X, “Digital assets are assets. Index providers should measure markets, not decide which assets companies are allowed to own,” Strategy said. “MSCI’s proposal puts it out of step with regulators, markets, and its own customers. Bitcoin doesn’t need MSCI. Neither does Strategy.”
The latest consultation replaces an earlier proposal focused specifically on companies with significant digital asset holdings. Applying the new financial-ratio screen using May 2026 data would have resulted in the removal of Strategy, Metaplanet and uranium holder Yellow Cake from the MSCI ACWI IMI.
The response follows Strategy’s formal objection in December 2025 to MSCI’s previous proposal, which would have excluded companies whose digital assets represented at least 50% of total assets.
Strategy argued at the time that it is an operating company, not an investment fund or passive bitcoin vehicle, pointing to its software business, active treasury operations and bitcoin-backed credit instruments. It described the 50% threshold as arbitrary and urged MSCI to maintain neutral index standards.
MSTR is lower by 4.3% on Friday as bitcoin dips to $62,600.
Anne Kelly, a former official at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has stated that the agency does not need to wait for the passage of the CLARITY Act to begin rulemaking for digital assets. In a post on X, Kelly emphasized that the SEC can initiate rulemaking proactively, and if the CLARITY Act is later enacted, its provisions can be incorporated through additional rule proposals.
Understanding the CLARITY Act and Its Timeline
The CLARITY Act, which aims to clarify the regulatory status of digital assets, has been a topic of debate in Congress. However, even if the bill were to pass immediately, it would still take several months for the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to draft detailed implementation rules. Kelly’s remarks highlight a pragmatic approach: rather than waiting for legislative action, regulators can begin the process now, ensuring a smoother transition once the law is finalized.
Implications for the Crypto Industry
For the cryptocurrency industry, this signals a potential acceleration in regulatory clarity. Market participants have long sought clear guidelines on how digital assets are classified and regulated. By starting rulemaking earlier, the SEC could provide much-needed direction, reducing uncertainty for businesses and investors. Kelly’s perspective underscores that Congress and regulators are partners in this effort, not adversaries, and that collaboration can lead to more effective oversight.
Why This Matters
The timeline for crypto regulation has been a point of contention, with industry advocates pushing for faster action and regulators emphasizing the need for thorough deliberation. Kelly’s comments suggest that a proactive approach could bridge this gap, allowing the SEC to address key issues while Congress continues its work. For stakeholders, this could mean earlier clarity on compliance requirements, potentially fostering innovation while ensuring investor protection.
Conclusion
As the debate over crypto regulation continues, the possibility of the SEC moving forward with rulemaking independent of the CLARITY Act offers a constructive path forward. While the legislative process is essential, regulators have the tools to begin shaping the framework now. This development could mark a significant step toward a more defined regulatory environment for digital assets in the United States.
FAQs
Q1: What is the CLARITY Act? The CLARITY Act is a proposed U.S. law designed to clarify the regulatory status of digital assets, determining which are securities and which are commodities, and assigning oversight to the SEC or CFTC accordingly.
Q2: Can the SEC really start rulemaking before the CLARITY Act passes? Yes, according to former SEC official Anne Kelly. The SEC has existing authority to propose rules for digital assets, and any later legislative changes can be incorporated through additional rulemaking.
Q3: How long would implementation take after the CLARITY Act passes? Even if passed immediately, it would likely take several months for the SEC and CFTC to draft and finalize detailed rules, given the complexity of the subject and the need for public comment periods.
Figure Technology Solutions reported $4.26 billion in Consumer Loan Marketplace volume for the second quarter on Aug. 13, up 132% from a year earlier and 47% from the first quarter.
The Nasdaq-listed blockchain lending company also reported net income of $87.4 million, up 192%, while net revenue more than doubled to $225.6 million.
The results mark Figure’s strongest quarter since becoming a public company and show a growing share of activity moving through its capital-light marketplace model. Figure Connect accounted for $2.77 billion, or 65%, of total consumer loan marketplace volume, compared with $767 million a year earlier.
Figure Connect now handles 65% of marketplace volume
Figure Connect volume rose 262% year over year in Q2. The marketplace, launched in June 2024, connects third-party loan sellers and buyers using Figure’s blockchain-based infrastructure. Figure defines Connect volume as consumer loans originated by third-party sellers through the marketplace.
That distinction matters when interpreting the headline $4.3 billion figure. Consumer Loan Marketplace volume also includes HELOC, debt-service coverage ratio and personal loan originations through Figure’s loan origination system. It should not be read as $4.3 billion of blockchain trades alone.
The shift toward third-party activity supports Figure’s push for a business requiring less balance-sheet capital. Ecosystem and technology fees rose to $72.9 million from $28.1 million, while gain on loan sales increased to $57.6 million from $36.3 million. Figure Connect itself represented nearly two-thirds of marketplace volume.
Figure also added 102 origination partners during the quarter, taking its active network to 489 across mortgage banks, depositories, servicers and fintech companies. Operations and processing costs fell to roughly 67 basis points of marketplace volume from 79 basis points one year earlier.
Figure profit grows faster than revenue
Net revenue rose 113% year over year to $225.6 million, while net income increased from $30 million to $87.4 million. The net income margin expanded from 28.3% to 38.8%. Operating income also rose to $77.7 million from $27.7 million, showing the profit increase was not solely the result of below-the-line accounting items.
Adjusted EBITDA reached $119.4 million, up 126%, while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 54.6% from 47.2%. Figure’s presentation sets a medium-term adjusted EBITDA margin target of 60% for 2026 through 2028. The 60% figure is a management target, not a guaranteed outcome.
The balance sheet also expanded. Cash and cash equivalents, excluding restricted cash, reached $1.4 billion at June 30, up $239.4 million from year-end. Loans held for sale increased 47.7% to $597 million.
Blockchain lending products expand beyond home equity
Figure’s growth is increasingly coming from products outside its original home-equity business. Small and medium-sized business loan volume grew 57% from the first quarter, while third-party borrowing on its Democratized Prime onchain lending marketplace reached about $170 million as of Aug. 6, roughly 23 times its year-end level.
Its regulated digital asset business also continued to scale. YLDS in circulation stood at $556 million at June 30, compared with $328 million at the end of 2025. Figure’s SEC-registered yield-bearing YLDS token expanded beyond Provenance to Sui, adding another route for the company’s tokenized financial products.
Figure is also expanding its underlying loan inventory. As crypto.news reported, the company agreed to acquire real-estate lender Kiavi for $717 million, a transaction expected to add residential transition and DSCR loans to Figure’s marketplaces. Figure said Thursday the acquisition remains on track to close during the second half of 2026.
Figure closed a $600 million offering of 8.5% senior notes due 2031 on July 14, with proceeds intended in part to fund the Kiavi transaction. The acquisition still depends on closing conditions and required regulatory approvals.
Q3 guidance points to another volume increase
Figure expects Consumer Loan Marketplace volume of $4.8 billion to $5.2 billion in the third quarter. At the midpoint, the company’s investor presentation says that would represent roughly 102% growth from a year earlier. The guidance is forward-looking and depends on lending demand, funding markets and other operating assumptions.
CEO Michael Tannenbaum said weekly loan applications had exceeded $1 billion by July and said the pending Kiavi acquisition “will significantly grow our platform into adjacent asset classes.” The latter remains a company expectation until the acquisition closes and integration begins.
Investors responded positively to the earnings session. FIGR closed Aug. 13 at $31.88, up 3.94%, after trading between $29.50 and $33.77 during the day.
The next milestones are Figure’s weekly operating updates, Q3 marketplace performance and completion of the Kiavi acquisition. The Aug. 13 filing furnished the quarterly earnings release to the SEC.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Neutrl has suspended minting and redemptions for its NUSD synthetic dollar after unspecified circumstances affected protocol reserves, leaving the cause and scale of any potential impairment unclear.
On Thursday, Neutrl said it had also paused other protocol functions on legal advice while it assesses the impact. The protocol did not identify the affected asset or counterparty, say whether reserves suffered a realized loss or provide a timeline for resuming operations.
Structured-yield protocol Strata later said it paused minting, redemptions and related functions for contracts in its Neutrl market, which supports several NUSD-linked products. Strata said its other markets remained operational.
With about $53.6 million in NUSD in circulation, the suspension prevents approved counterparties from exchanging the token for its backing assets while Neutrl determines whether its reserves have been impaired. Neutrl said it would provide timing and next steps when available.
Cointelegraph contacted Neutrl for comment but had not received a response by publication.
NUSD supply falls 18% over 30 days
According to RWA.xyz, NUSD had a market capitalization of about $53.6 million on Friday, down 18.4% over 30 days, while monthly transfer volume fell 72.4% to $71.4 million. However, the data does not establish that the earlier contraction was related to the reserve issue.
The synthetic dollar is designed to track the US dollar using yield-bearing crypto assets and market-neutral strategies rather than deposits held in a bank. RWA.xyz showed NUSD trading at about $0.9984, with 615 holders and 347 active addresses over the preceding 30 days.
On May 25, verification platform Accountable said its Neutrl dashboard provided continuous cryptographic proof that NUSD reserves matched the protocol’s liabilities.
A February assessment by risk-advisory team BA Labs nevertheless classified a proposed Neutrl integration as higher risk because of counterparty, operational and liquidity exposure. It said direct redemptions were limited to KYC or KYB-approved counterparties and that requests exceeding the liquid buffer could enter a queue targeted for completion within 48 hours, without a guarantee.
BA Labs estimated NUSD supply at $226 million and reserves at $233.7 million at the time, implying a 103.6% collateralization ratio. It said more than 87% of reserves were held through Fireblocks, while smaller amounts sat on centralized exchanges.
The DeFi Report, a cryptocurrency and macroeconomics analysis company, announced in its latest assessment of Bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency market that the bear market has now entered its final phase. The analysis stated that approximately 85% of the bear cycle is behind us, and the remaining 15%, which will determine the market’s fate, largely depends on global macroeconomic developments.
According to the company’s on-chain cost base analysis, the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin is exhibiting movements quite similar to previous cycle bases in terms of on-chain data. However, it was noted that spot and futures trading volumes have fallen to their lowest levels since the end of 2019, which was described as a clear indication of a “time-spread capitulation” process taking place on the chain. Furthermore, asset sales by miners, redirecting their energy capacity to AI firms, were also cited as factors increasing pressure on the market.
The analysis stated that whether Bitcoin will fall to the “deep value” region of $55,000 and below will depend on macroeconomic liquidity conditions in the coming weeks. The fact that US 30-year Treasury yields have surpassed 5.2%, reaching a 20-year high, and the Fed’s move towards higher interest rates were highlighted as key factors putting pressure on risky assets.
Another notable development in global markets was the covert liquidity measures implemented by the US Treasury Department and the Bank of Japan to strengthen the Yen. Analysts described this mechanism, which allows foreign institutions to provide liquidity by collateralizing US bonds instead of selling them, as “QE Light” (Quantitative Easing). The 15% increase in gold prices due to this covert liquidity injection and the impact of global risks suggests that investors are positioning themselves against inflationary pressures, and a similar liquidity flow could shift to Bitcoin in the future.
Analysts evaluating technical levels and strategies consider the 200-week moving average, currently at $63,800, a critical threshold. If Bitcoin closes the month above the $68,700-$69,800 range, the scenario that the bottom has been reached will gain strength.
Shiba Inu has continued to trade on a downward trajectory amid prolonged broader market volatility. However, its exchange activity over the last 24 hours has provided a different signal.
With its price still struggling to reclaim its recent high around the $0.000005 mark, the latest data from crypto analytics platform CryptoQuant has provided investors with a glimpse of hope for a possible price recovery soon.
44 billion $SHIB in demand
Per the data, the Shiba Inu exchange netflow has drawn attention amid the market downturn after projecting a negative balance of 44.1 billion $SHIB as of Thursday, August 13.
While a netflow of 44 billion $SHIB may seem modest, its timing makes it significant as it shows a major divergence between the $SHIB trading price and its exchange activity.
Notably, the metric shows that the amount of $SHIB tokens moved out of exchanges amid growing demand is significantly greater than the amount of $SHIB returned to exchanges for sell-off purposes over the last day.
While the difference in both activities stands at -44 billion $SHIB, it means that the amount of $SHIB available for sale on exchanges has been reduced substantially, gradually cooling the intense sell pressure facing the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
Where’s $SHIB headed?
Although the Shiba Inu exchange flow provides a bullish outlook for $SHIB, the asset is still struggling to recover near its recent high, consistently trading in the red zone.
However, analysts believe there is still a chance for a potential price reversal for $SHIB if investors remain resilient and it is able to sustain demand even amid such weak market conditions.
$HTX’s situation has appeared increasingly precarious as both the European Union Council and the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, & Development Office have chosen to sanction the exchange.
Since then, it’s made some big changes to how it manages users’ reserves.
Its June proof of reserves report was the first that acknowledged that it had moved huge swaths of its reserves to an undisclosed “ThirdParty.”
$HTX moved $1.3 billion from reserves to undisclosed ‘ThirdParty’
$HTX claims on its website that you can verify these balances by reaching out to the custodian; unfortunately, it doesn’t tell users who that custodian is. As a result, Protos has been unable to verify most of those balances.
Further complicating this, TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence firm, released a report in which it detailed how $HTX has begun churning through its wallets at a prodigious rate.
Ari Redboard, the global head of policy for TRM, described this behavior as an attempt “to stay a step ahead of screening built on static lists.”
TRM claims $HTX is rotating wallets to ‘stay ahead of screening’
$HTX, for its part, previously claimed that this was totally normal cybersecurity behavior.
Since then, Protos was able to track a substantial portion of $HTX’s staked ETH (stETH) through Poloniex addresses.
Now, we can add that various other $HTX assets have also recently passed into Poloniex.
Is Justin Sun mixing $HTX’s reserves with Poloniex?
First, $HTX distributes a tool that used to enable people to gain greater insight into its reserves, even including which addresses the reserves were held in.
We can use these past reports to determine where certain assets were claimed to be at a certain time and can use the blockchain transactions to follow some portion of the reserves as they move.
Consider 0x18709e89bd403f470088abdacebe86cc60dda12e, which was an address that $HTX used to hold many of the Ethereum-based DeFi positions it maintained, for some reason.
On May 30, immediately before we get the transition to ThirdParty, we can watch the Sun-advised wrapped BTC (WBTC) move from this $HTX address to 0xeB245796376912af7Fadd4986f73743feEA61e6E.
These funds were then transferred to 0x8fCA4adE3a517133fF23ca55CdAea29C78C990b8, an address that Etherscan labels as Poloniex 7.
These funds were then quickly sent to 0x29065a4C1f2F20d1E263930088890d6F49Fe715a, an address that Etherscan labels as Poloniex 10.
Finally, this WBTC was sent to 0x176F3DAb24a159341c0509bB36B833E7fdd0a132, an address that Etherscan labels as Poloniex 9.
This WBTC which came from $HTX, is still stored in this Poloniex address.
The $HTX to Poloniex pattern repeats
The May PoR for $HTX had a problem. It claimed that it had a bunch of STEAK-$USDC, but it was wrong; there was no STEAK-$USDC in that address on that date.
However, there was a matching amount of Sky Savings USDS (sUSDS) in that address, suggesting that while $HTX failed to accurately label its own reserves — troubling on its face — it did have another position that represented that value.
We start with approximately $200 million worth of sUSDS moving to 0x7fed2E5e06CF7B8918bB93158C4E990794da33b8.
These funds are then sent onward to Poloniex 7.
These were then forwarded in three transactions to Poloniex 10.
Finally, these funds were forwarded to Poloniex 9.
Similar patterns can also be observed for various Spark positions, some of which may have been since redeemed.
These related-party transactions, involving many hundreds of millions of dollars worth of value, raise serious questions about the internal controls and management of both of these Sun-owned exchanges.
They furthermore raise questions about Poloniex’s role in interacting with this repeatedly sanctioned entity.
Protos reached out to $HTX with questions about these transfers, but it didn’t respond before publication.
