Zerohash, a leading crypto infrastructure provider, has received an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch central bank.

 

The EMI license comes shortly after it secured a Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) license in October 2025 from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).

 

With the EMI license secured, Zerohash is now the first MiCAR-licensed firm to obtain an Electronic Money Institution license in accordance with the European Banking Authority’s June 2025 No Action Letter and February 2026 clarifications, which gave crypto firms and stablecoin issuers a temporary breathing space to get their payment licenses in order by March 2nd of this year.

 

 

By securing the EMI license, Zerohash positions itself to issue, manage, and support stablecoin-powered payments using e-money tokens across the European Economic Area. Zerohash now has the regulatory basis to integrate crypto and traditional electronic money flows for its institutional clients.

 

"Europe has a massive market for stablecoin applications," said Roeland Goldberg, Managing Director, Europe at Zerohash. "The announcement comes on the heels of accelerating momentum for Zerohash across Europe. In recent months, the company has expanded its European Union presence in Amsterdam and is now powering partners, including Interactive Brokers Europe, in the region."

 

Alongside the previously secured MiCAR license, Zerohash can now serve its institutional clients, including banks, fintechs, brokerages, payment providers, and large enterprises, providing compliant stablecoin settlement, remittances, and digital asset services across Europe.

 

About Zerohash 

Zerohash is a leading infrastructure provider for crypto, stablecoins, and tokenized assets. Through its application programming interface (API) and embeddable developer kit, it enables large institutions, including banks, brokerages, and fintech companies, to integrate crypto trading, stablecoin payments, custody, tokenization, and fiat to crypto and crypto to fiat conversion services into their own platforms, without having to build complex backend infrastructure or navigate regulatory frameworks themselves.

 

Zerohash is currently a licensed money transmitter in 51 United States jurisdictions and serves more than 5 million users across over 190 countries. Its crypto and stablecoin infrastructure has also been used by several institutional firms, including Interactive Brokers, Stripe, Franklin Templeton, and MoneyLion, with its infrastructure also supporting BlackRock’s BUIDL fund.

 

 

Minnesota has enacted a law that allows banks and credit unions in the state to offer cryptocurrency custody services, with the law expected to take effect on Aug. 1, 2026.

 

The bill, HF 3709, was signed into law on Friday by Minnesota state governor Tim Walz, with the state legislature’s website stating that cryptocurrency custody services may now be offered and performed in the state.

 

While this is a significant milestone for crypto adoption in the state, the law also requires banks and credit unions interested in offering crypto custody services to submit a written notice detailing their risk management frameworks to the Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce at least 60 days before commencing such services.

 

The Minnesota Commissioner of Commerce will serve as the primary regulator, overseeing crypto custody services offered by banks and credit unions in the state.

 

Banks and credit unions interested in offering crypto custody services are also required to maintain a comprehensive written policy covering their internal controls, security, risk management, and compliance frameworks, while also segregating their clients’ assets from institutionally owned assets.

 

According to Representative Bernie Perryman, one of the primary sponsors of HF 3709, the legislation aims to establish a trustworthy framework that enables financial institutions to work with and safeguard Minnesotans' crypto assets, especially as crypto becomes more mainstream.

 

“House File 3709 is about ensuring that Minnesota-based financial institutions are allowed to evolve alongside their customers and members rather than forcing Minnesotans to rely on unregulated, out-of-state or offshore providers for services that are already in use today,” Perryman said in a March press release.

 

The passage of HF 3709 comes just a few weeks after the Minnesota governor banned the use and ownership of crypto kiosks and ATMs across the state, citing their growing use in fraud.

 

With the passage of this bill, Minnesota now joins Wyoming, New York, and Virginia, which have passed similar bills that allow banks and credit unions to offer crypto custody services.

 

 

Galaxy Digital has finally gotten what it spent years working toward: full regulatory clearance to operate as a licensed crypto business in New York State. The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) granted GalaxyOne Prime NY, a wholly owned subsidiary of Galaxy Digital Inc. (Nasdaq: GLXY), both a BitLicense and a Money Transmission License on Monday, May 18. The move gives the firm direct, regulated access to the most capital-dense institutional market in the United States.

 

For Galaxy, it is a landmark. New York-based registered investment advisors, hedge funds, and family offices can now tap Galaxy's full suite of digital asset trading and custody products through a regulated state-licensed entity. The firm currently manages roughly $9 billion in client assets across its digital asset business, and executives have made no secret of their ambitions to grow that number substantially by pushing deeper into institutional channels.

 

A License That Has Eluded Many

The BitLicense, introduced by NYDFS back in 2015, remains one of the toughest regulatory hurdles in the global crypto industry. The application process involves extensive compliance documentation, capital reserve requirements, anti-money laundering controls, and cybersecurity standards that have tripped up or outright deterred dozens of firms over the years. Some companies, including Paxos and Gemini, have opted instead for a New York Banking Law charter, which carries similar compliance expectations but a different legal structure. Either way, the NYDFS does not make it easy, and the framework has drawn persistent industry criticism over its cost and complexity.

 

Galaxy is only the second company to receive a BitLicense in 2026. Jack Mallers' bitcoin payments firm Strike picked up its approval from NYDFS in March, putting Galaxy in small company. The broader licensed cohort includes the likes of Coinbase, Robinhood, Circle, and PayPal, firms that have become fixtures of mainstream digital finance. Galaxy's inclusion in that group signals how far the company has come from its earlier profile as a more speculative crypto-native outfit.

 

Novogratz Makes the Case Directly

Galaxy founder and CEO Mike Novogratz did not mince words about what the approval means strategically. "New York is home to the deepest pool of institutional capital in the country, and digital assets are no longer sitting at the edge of those allocations," he said in a statement released Monday. "Galaxy was built to meet that demand, and now we can better serve New York's institutions directly."

 

Galaxy has spent the better part of the past three years repositioning itself as a serious financial services operator. The company expanded into data center infrastructure, now operates the 1.6 gigawatt Helios campus in Texas, and has built out a broad product lineup spanning trading, asset management, investment banking, and custody. The New York license slots into that picture as a missing piece that was always going to matter.

 

50 Licenses and Counting

With NYDFS now in the fold, Galaxy's regulatory footprint stretches past 50 licenses worldwide. The company has offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and has been methodically acquiring the permissions it needs to operate as a multi-jurisdictional institutional platform. That kind of regulatory breadth is not cheap or quick to build, and it increasingly functions as a competitive moat against crypto-native upstarts that lack the compliance infrastructure to serve sophisticated institutional clients.

 

The timing is notable. Galaxy reported a net loss of $216 million in the first quarter of 2026, driven largely by softer digital asset prices, though the number came in better than what analysts had expected. The stock has continued to trade under pressure. But the BitLicense announcement is a longer-game move. Institutional clients in New York represent a structural revenue opportunity that does not turn on any single quarter's price action. Getting licensed to serve them directly, rather than through workarounds or third-party arrangements, changes the calculus considerably.

 

New York regulators, for their part, have signaled that the BitLicense framework is not going away. Enforcement activity has continued into 2026, and the NYDFS has made clear it sees itself as a baseline standard-setter for crypto businesses operating in the state. For Galaxy, that means the hard work of getting licensed is also a signal to institutional counterparties that the firm has been through the scrutiny and passed. In New York's financial culture, that matters.

 

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit following a United States District Court decision involving Kalshi in Ohio.

 

 

Through this filing, the CFTC seeks to assert its exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets and to overturn the ban previously imposed by Chief Judge Sarah D. Morrison of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

 

“The federal district court in Ohio took an improperly narrow view of the Commission’s jurisdiction, and we are asking the Court of Appeals to correct that error,” said CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig. “As I’ve said repeatedly, the CFTC will not allow overzealous state governments to undermine the agency’s longstanding authority over these markets.”

 

Kalshi’s Case Against Ohio

The March ban on Kalshi by an Ohio district court dates back to early 2025, when the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) issued a cease-and-desist order to Kalshi, instructing it to stop offering its sports event contracts in the state, alleging that those contracts were illegal.

 

Following this order, Kalshi sued state regulators and other state officials, seeking a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of the cease-and-desist order. However, the case was dismissed when Judge Sarah D. Morrison ruled against Kalshi, allowing state regulators to enforce the ban and later impose a $5 million fine on Kalshi for continuing to offer sports event contracts in the state.

 

Kalshi has now appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, seeking to overturn the ban. In its amicus brief filing, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) not only argues for the removal of the ban but also seeks to protect prediction market companies from what it describes as an ongoing campaign of state encroachment.

 

As part of its protective efforts, the CFTC has engaged in legal disputes with several U.S. states, including Wisconsin, Illinois, Arizona, Connecticut, and New York, over their regulatory stance and enforcement actions against prediction market companies.

 

Despite the challenging regulatory environment faced by prediction market companies, the sector has grown significantly. In 2025, annual trading volume across prediction market platforms rose to approximately $63.5 billion from $15.8 billion in 2024. The number of users across prediction market companies has also increased, with institutional investors showing greater interest and contributing more capital to these platforms.

 

 

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic recently secured $120 million in a Series D funding round led by One Peak, with participation from Nasdaq Ventures, Deutsche Bank, and the British Business Bank. The company is now valued at $670 million.

 

 

According to Elliptic, the funding will be used to accelerate its mission to deliver enterprise-grade on-chain analytics to some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including banks, fintech companies, crypto companies, and government agencies.

 

“As digital assets become more embedded in the global financial system, institutions need trusted infrastructure to manage compliance and risk at scale. Elliptic’s platform plays an important role in providing that infrastructure, helping firms navigate digital asset adoption with confidence and integrity,” said Gary Offner, Senior Vice President and Head of Nasdaq Ventures.

 

Among Elliptic’s expansion plans is scaling its native artificial intelligence compliance system for enterprises. Leveraging its years of experience building one of the most comprehensive and diverse datasets and its ability to process more contextual information per second than competitors, Elliptic plans to build an enterprise-grade compliance system that allows compliance teams to do more with less: alerts resolved in minutes rather than hours, human judgment reserved for where it genuinely matters, and compliance costs falling as volume grows.

 

“As institutional adoption of digital assets accelerates, the demand for scalable compliance solutions has never been higher. Elliptic pioneered the use of blockchain analytics to meet this challenge and has cemented its status as a global leader, screening over 1 billion transactions a week for more than 700 customers in 30 countries,” said Charlotte Lawrence, Managing Director of Direct Equity at the British Business Bank.

 

This capability will also benefit stablecoin and tokenized asset companies that process billions of dollars in transactions. In 2025, about $33 trillion in transactions were processed by stablecoin companies. By leveraging its data intelligence infrastructure, Elliptic enables these companies to meet enterprise-grade compliance requirements in real time, an operational necessity for crypto exchanges that handle and move billions of dollars in crypto daily.

 

About Elliptic 

Elliptic is a London-based blockchain analytics firm that specializes in tools for financial crime risk management, anti-money laundering (AML), transaction monitoring, wallet screening, investigations, and threat intelligence across the global crypto ecosystem.

 

Elliptic currently serves over 700 clients across 30 countries, supports more than 65 blockchain networks, and screens about 1 billion blockchain transactions each week. It has partnered with leading industry players, most recently the layer 1 Solana and the Tempo blockchain networks.

 

 

Foris DAX Middle East FZE, the UAE entity of the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, has received the Stored Value Facilities (SVF) license from the Central Bank of the UAE.

 

The announcement, made on Monday, marks a notable milestone for the crypto exchange, as it is the first Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the Emirates to receive the license.

 

 

With the Stored Value Facilities license now secured, Crypto.com can partner with the Dubai Department of Finance, allowing UAE residents to pay government fees with virtual assets, with all transactions settled in UAE dirhams or other stablecoins approved by the UAE central bank.

 

As the only virtual asset provider holding the SVF license in the Emirates, any other entity seeking to offer virtual asset payment services in the region will first need to be onboarded by Crypto.com.

 

“To be the first VASP to receive this license is an incredible achievement and proves our strong commitment to compliance and to advancing the regulated digital assets ecosystem in the UAE,” said Eric Anziani, President and COO of Crypto.com.

 

“We are continuing to expand our presence in this forward-thinking, digitally savvy market and remain committed to offering innovative products and services that are convenient and seamless for digital asset holders,” he added.

 

The new SVF license comes about a year after Crypto.com received a full VASP license from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), allowing it to offer crypto derivatives products, including futures, perpetual swap contracts, and contracts for difference (CFDs).

 

Derivatives trading continues to grow, accounting for about 70-75% of total crypto trading volume. In 2025, global crypto derivatives trading volume reached approximately $85.7 trillion, with analysts projecting the market to continue expanding significantly.

 

The State of Crypto in the United Arab Emirates

The UAE, over the last few years, has emerged as one of the foremost crypto jurisdictions. According to the World Crypto Rankings 2025 report by Bybit and DL Research, the UAE leads the entire Middle East and North Africa region in crypto adoption, ranking fifth globally behind Singapore, the United States, Lithuania, and Switzerland.

 

To position itself as a major crypto hub, the UAE has introduced several crypto-friendly policies, including exemptions from VAT and personal income tax on virtual assets and crypto trading. 

 

The country has also passed legislation that brings all virtual asset entities, including DeFi protocols, stablecoins, tokenized real-world assets, decentralized exchanges, wallets, bridges, and supporting blockchain infrastructure, under the authority of the Central Bank. The move effectively gives the digital asset ecosystem a recognized legal framework under federal law.

 

 

Brazil’s central bank, Banco Central do Brasil, has banned the use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for settling cross border payments in regulated systems.

 

The ban follows the issuance of Resolution BCB No. 561, which amends Brazil’s foreign exchange rules. Under the amendment, regulated electronic foreign exchange (eFX) systems in the country will no longer be able to use virtual assets to settle cross border payments and remittances.

 

While this does not outright ban the use of cryptocurrencies for cross border transfers, the rule restricts their use in foreign exchange settlements. The measure was introduced to strengthen regulatory supervision and oversight and will take effect on October 1, 2026.

 

This restriction comes shortly after Resolutions BCB 519, 520, and 521 took effect on February 2, 2026. Although the framework was initially published in November last year, it requires all Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs), including crypto exchanges and wallet providers, to obtain a Sociedade Prestadora de Serviços de Ativos Virtuais (SPSAV) license from Brazil’s authorities before they can legally operate in the country. Non compliant companies must shut down if they fail to secure the license within a nine month grace period.

 

The State of Crypto in Latin America

Crypto adoption in Latin America continues to grow strongly. In 2025, the region saw a 60% increase in regional transaction volume, reaching nearly $730 billion.

 

Since many countries in Latin America have been hit by the harsh effects of inflation, stablecoins have become a backbone for many in the region, acting as digital dollars for households and businesses, and accounting for about 80-90% of the total annual transaction volume in several countries.

 

Brazil continues to lead crypto adoption in Latin America, accounting for about one third of the total crypto transaction volume in the region, followed by Argentina and Mexico. Through the acquisition of Simpaul in 2025, a Brazilian brokerage firm, Binance became the first global exchange to become a broker dealer in the country, allowing it to expand its financial offerings.

 

Crypto asset manager Hashdex also launched XRPH11, the world's first spot XRP ETF in Brazil, which was later listed on B3, Brazil’s stock exchange.

 

 

Polymarket, the world’s largest prediction market company, has partnered with blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis to help curb insider trading activities amid its recent move to raise $400 million from investors.

 

The partnership will see Chainalysis deploy several investigative tools, including the Chainalysis Data Solutions tool, a first-of-its-kind on-chain solution designed to monitor trading activity on prediction markets while mapping insider trading patterns and enforcing market integrity rules across the Polymarket platform.

 

 

The prediction market platform will also benefit from Chainalysis’s on-chain security capabilities, which are pivotal in preventing threats, as well as a dedicated team of Chainalysis professionals who will not only help deploy Chainalysis Data Solutions but also train the Polymarket team on how to proactively use the solution to maintain transparency on the platform.

 

The solution to be deployed is also dynamic, meaning Polymarket can continually refine its detection methods to identify and curb insider trading activities, thereby maintaining transparency and protecting the platform from emerging threats.

 

By partnering with and leveraging Chainalysis's institutional expertise, Polymarket is clearly signaling its stance against all types of fraud and market manipulation and that those who attempt to engage in any such activities will be promptly identified and prosecuted.

 

"Polymarket was built on chain because transparency matters, and our platform shows what markets can look like when trades are open, traceable, and accountable by design," said Shayne Coplan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Polymarket.

 

"Every market deserves that standard. This partnership with Chainalysis pairs that transparency with the monitoring and enforcement infrastructure to back it up and helps us continue to build the most trusted source of truth in markets."

 

Insider Trading Concerns in Prediction Market Platforms 

Insider trading, which is the illegal practice of leveraging material non-public information (MNPI) or confidential information to gain an edge over other market participants, has long been a problem for prediction market platforms.

 

To curb insider trading, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a measure banning its members from trading on prediction markets. Most recently, a group of congressional Democrats led by Sen. Jeff Merkley has pressed the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), urging the regulator to address the lack of integrity caused by insider trading activities on prediction market platforms.

 

Due to this mounting pressure, Kalshi, Polymarket, and other prediction market platforms have rolled out several restrictions to address these concerns, which is also the main factor behind the Polymarket Chainalysis partnership.

 

 

Tennessee has placed a statewide ban on crypto ATMs, becoming the second state in the United States, after Indiana, to have outright banned crypto ATMs.

 

The ban on crypto ATMs in the state comes after Bill Lee, Tennessee’s governor, signed House Bill 2505 into law, following its unanimous approval by both the Tennessee House of Representatives and the Senate.

 

House Bill 2505, which has now been passed into the state’s legal code, prohibits the installation or operation of virtual currency kiosks, otherwise known as Bitcoin ATMs, in the state. Any violation of the law will be treated as a criminal offense classified as a Class A misdemeanor, with offenders facing up to one year in prison and a fine of $2,500.

 

Image credit: capitol.tn.gov

 

The law also treats business owners who allow these crypto ATMs to be hosted on their property as accomplices, making them liable under the same offense. Although the bill was signed into Tennessee’s legal code last Thursday, it will take effect on July 1.

 

Indiana First to Ban Crypto ATMs

Tennessee’s ban on crypto ATMs comes shortly after Indiana, which on March 9 signed House Enrolled Act 1116 (HEA 1116 into law, banning crypto ATMs in the state and becoming the first U.S. state to do so. The move was prompted by the high levels of fraud and widespread scams associated with crypto kiosks.According to FBI data, about $333 million was stolen through crypto kiosks in 2025 alone. 

 

Prior to the ban, Indiana had nearly 900 crypto ATMs in operation. However, all of these machines were effectively deactivated immediately after Indiana Governor Mike Braun signed House Enrolled Act 1116 into law.

 

Tennessee Takes a Strong Stance on Prediction Markets

Tennessee has, for some time now, taken strong action against prediction market platforms, targeting operators such as Kalshi and Polymarket. In January of this year, the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWC) issued cease and desist orders against major platforms including Polymarket, Kalshi, and Crypto.com, demanding that they stop offering sports event contracts in the state.

 

Kalshi, however, sued the state in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and won a preliminary injunction. The ruling allowed Kalshi to continue operating in the state while the case proceeds.

 

 

The Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) has launched the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX), a new government money market fund that aligns with the stablecoin reserve investment requirements set by the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act (GENIUS Act).

 

The new stablecoin reserve fund aims to offer payment stablecoin issuers an eligible money market fund option in which they can invest their stablecoin reserves backing their payment stablecoins. 

 

According to Fred McMullen, Co-Head of Global Liquidity at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, the reserve fund offers stablecoin issuers investment solutions that allow them to safely and securely invest the reserve assets backing the stablecoins they hold.

 

With this stablecoin reserve fund, stablecoin issuers can safely and efficiently preserve their reserve capital while maintaining daily liquidity and competitive interest yields. Since the fund only invests in cash, Treasury bills, notes, and bonds with maturities of about 93 days or less, stablecoin issuers are not required to manage complex regulatory compliance processes or continuously audit reserves to demonstrate sufficient liquidity backing their stablecoins.

 

Speaking on the launch of the stablecoin reserve fund, Amy Oldenburg, Head of Digital Asset Strategy for Morgan Stanley, said that the launch of the MSIM Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio is another step toward modernizing Morgan Stanley’s financial infrastructure and is a key step in improving the firm’s institutional client experience.

 

"Creating opportunities for all client segments as markets evolve will make the next phase of finance possible and more broadly accessible," Oldenburg added.

 

Morgan Stanley Expands Its Digital Assets Offerings

The launch of the Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX) is part of Morgan Stanley’s efforts toward expanding its digital asset offerings and comes shortly after Morgan Stanley Investment Management, early this month, launched the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust (MSBT), a spot exchange-traded product that tracks the price performance of Bitcoin.

 

Upon launching on the New York Stock Exchange, the MSBT fund drew approximately $34 million in net inflows on its first day, processing more than 1.6 million shares and significantly outperforming older exchange-traded funds.

 

Eric Balchunas, one of Bloomberg’s notable ETF analysts, ranked it in the top 1 percent of all ETF launches, describing it as “arguably the biggest bitcoin ETF launch in the history of the spot bitcoin ETF market.” Balchunas also projects that the MSBT fund will reach $5 billion in assets under management within the next year.

 

 

The U.S. Department of the Treasury, specifically the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has frozen $344 million in USDT allegedly linked to Iran.

 

In a Friday post on X, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the crypto seizure. The move, according to Bessent, is part of the U.S. effort to systematically degrade Tehran’s ability to generate, move, and repatriate funds.

 

 

“We will follow the money that Tehran is desperately attempting to move outside of the country and target all financial lifelines tied to the regime,” Bessent wrote.

 

While the announcement from Bessent confirmed the freeze and the imposition of sanctions on the owners of the wallets involved, the technical action of the freeze itself was carried out by stablecoin issuer Tether. The stablecoin issuer had earlier stated that it was supporting OFAC and law enforcement agencies in freezing the $344 million linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Hezbollah militant group.

 

Following the announcement, Tether blacklisted two specific wallet addresses on the Tron blockchain, holding $213 million and $131 million in USDT respectively. This move by the U.S. Department of the Treasury follows a similar action in February, when OFAC sanctioned more than 30 individuals and entities allegedly linked to Iran’s oil shipping network.

 

Tether Expands Blockchain Development Efforts

Tether has consistently pushed forward with innovative blockchain developments. Just this month, it launched tether.wallet, its self custodial wallet that brings Tether’s global financial infrastructure within reach of those who have been left unbanked by the traditional financial system.

 

In an effort to enhance the utility of its stablecoins, Tether last month invested 5.2 million dollars into Ark Labs, supporting the building of Arkade, an infrastructure layer that brings programmable, instant transactions directly to the Bitcoin network. Through the Arkade network being built by Arkade Labs, we might see the introduction of stablecoins, including USDT, into Bitcoin.

 

Tether, for the first time, expanded USAT, its US regulated stablecoin, to the Celo blockchain. Since Celo is an Ethereum Layer 2 network optimized for payments, the expansion of USAT to Celo enabled the integration of USAT into Opera MiniPay and Google Cloud infrastructure.