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<a href="#occtrustcharters">Foreign and U.S. Companies Launch Stablecoins, File for OCC Trust Charters</a>

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<a href="#cryptodeals">Crypto Deals and Products Announced by Banks, Asset Managers, Exchanges</a>

<a href="#stablecoinadoption">Reports Offer New Data on Stablecoin Adoption</a>

<a href="#tokenizedsecurities">SEC Publishes Statement on Tokenized Securities</a>

<a href="#cryptoregulation">Global Crypto Regulation Report Published</a>

<a href="#cryptocrimes">Blockchain Analytics Companies Publish New Data on 2025 Crypto Crimes</a>

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Foreign and U.S. Companies Launch Stablecoins, File for OCC Trust Charters

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/RobertAMusiala">Robert A. Musiala Jr.</a>

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The issuer of the USDT stablecoin recently announced the launch of USAT, which is described in a company blog post as “the federally regulated, dollar-backed stablecoin developed specifically to operate within the United States’ new federal stablecoin framework established under the GENIUS Act.” According to the blog post, “[t]he issuer of USA₮ is Anchorage Digital Bank, N.A., America’s first federally regulated stablecoin issuer.” The blog post notes, “While USD₮ continues to operate globally and leads as the world’s most widely adopted stablecoin, progressing towards GENIUS Act compliance, USA₮ is purpose-built for the U.S. market and its highly digital payment infrastructure, providing institutions with a digital dollar that is issued through a nationally chartered bank”

In related news, a major U.S. financial institution announced the launch of FIDD, a stablecoin issued by the financial institution’s digital assets division. According to the press release, FIDD’s key functions will be supported by the financial institution’s investment business, including reserve asset management, purchase and redemption options, and FIDD issuance.

Separately, Laser Digital Americas Group Holdings Inc. recently filed a new national trust bank charter application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The application seeks to form “Laser Digital National Trust Bank&nbsp;(LDNTB), a proposed&nbsp;National&nbsp;Trust&nbsp;Bank&nbsp;focused on digital assets.” According to a press release, “[i]f approved, the charter will position LDNTB to serve institutional customers across the U.S., offering custody of digital assets, integrated with spot trading of crypto and fiat currencies, as well as staking of eligible custodied digital assets.”

For more information, please refer to the following links:

<a href="https://tether.io/news/tether-announces-the-launch-of-usat-the-federally-regulated-dollar-backed-stablecoin-made-in-america/">[] the Launch of USA₮, the Federally Regulated, Dollar-Backed Stablecoin, Made in America</a>

<a href="https://www.fidelitydigitalassets.com/research-and-insights/fidelity-investmentsr-expand-digital-asset-investment-lineup-stablecoin">[] to Expand Digital Asset Investment Lineup with Stablecoin Launch: [] Digital Dollar (FIDD)</a>

<a href="https://www.laserdigital.com/company-news/laser-digital-applies-to-form-federally-regulated-national-trust-bank-for-digital-asset-custody-and-trading-in-the-u-s/">Laser Digital Applies to Form Federally Regulated National Trust Bank for Digital Asset Custody and Trading in the U.S.</a>

Crypto Deals and Products Announced by Banks, Asset Managers, Exchanges

A major U.S. bank recently announced the acquisition of Brex, a major U.S. fintech company, in what is described in a press release as “the largest bank-fintech deal in history for $5.15B, joining forces to build the most important financial platform for businesses in the US.” Brex’s product offerings include stablecoin payment infrastructure. According to a Brex blog post, “[b]y combining Brex’s technology, product, and go-to-market success with [the bank’s] unprecedented scale, brand, distribution, and balance sheet, we will supercharge our go-to-market and product development.”

In other news, a major U.S. asset manager and exchange-traded fund sponsor recently announced “an expansion to Solana as an available blockchain,” enabling both retail and institutional investors to access the company’s tokenized funds. According to a press release, the integration extends the company’s “full suite of regulated tokenized funds” to Solana as part of the firm’s multichain deployment strategy.

And in a final notable item, the Kraken crypto exchange recently launched DeFi Earn, a product that allows users to earn rewards on stablecoins deposited in “audited Veda vaults that supply liquidity to onchain lending protocols.” According to a Kraken blog post, borrowers pay to access liquidity on the Veda vaults, and those payments are used to pay USDC rewards to DeFi Earn users.

<a href="https://www.brex.com/journal/brex-and-capital-one-join-forces">Brex is joining forces with []</a>

<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260128885072/en/WisdomTree-Expands-Tokenization-Ecosystem-to-Solana-Increasing-Access-to-Real-World-Assets-RWA">[] Expands Tokenization Ecosystem to Solana, Increasing Access to Real World Assets (RWA)</a>

<a href="https://blog.kraken.com/product/defi-earn/simplified-defi-rewards">Earn up to 8% APY: Get DeFi-like rewards with a simplified experience</a>

Reports Offer New Data on Stablecoin Adoption

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/professionals/amos-kim/">Amos Kim</a><a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/VeronicaReynolds"></a>

A recently released survey by a major financial technology company indicates a significant shift in the adoption of digital assets among U.S. merchants. According to the survey, approximately 39 percent of U.S. merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout, with 84 percent expecting cryptocurrency payments to become “commonplace” within the next five years. The merchants surveyed cite several advantages to accepting digital assets, including faster transaction speeds, access to new customer bases, enhanced security features and greater privacy for customers. The survey also indicates that specific industries are leading this adoption, most notably hospitality and travel, digital goods and gaming, and retail and e-commerce.

Separately, a global management consulting firm and a blockchain analytics provider published a report analyzing the “raw” transaction volumes of stablecoins versus their actual use in payments. The report notes that while raw stablecoin transaction volumes appear massive, reaching trillions of dollars annually, this figure includes multiple forms of activity that do not represent actual stablecoin payments, such as trading-related flows, internal fund transfers between wallets and automated smart contract activity. Notable observations from the report include the following:

Clear value propositions: Adoption is highest where stablecoins offer distinct advantages, such as stablecoin-linked card spending, which grew 673 percent year over year to $4.5 billion in 2025.

B2B leads growth: Business-to-business payments account for roughly 60 percent of global stablecoin transaction volume ($226 billion), marking a 733 percent increase from the previous year.

Asia-originated activity: The majority of payment volume ($245 billion) originates from Asia, significantly outpacing North America ($95 billion) and Europe ($50 billion).

<a href="https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2026-01-27-Crypto-Goes-Mainstream-4-in-10-US-Merchants-Accept-Digital-Assets">Crypto Goes Mainstream: 4 in 10 U.S. Merchants Accept Digital Assets</a>

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/stablecoins-payments-what-raw-transaction-numbers-4qjke/?trackingId=tjIPCCnHTE6N72YmfMWHVA%3D%3D">Stablecoins in payments: What the raw transaction numbers miss</a>

SEC Publishes Statement on Tokenized Securities

On Jan. 28, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Divisions of Corporation Finance, Investment Management, and Trading and Markets (Divisions) published their Statement on Tokenized Securities. In the statement, the Divisions “are providing their views on the taxonomies associated with tokenized securities.” According to the statement, “[a] tokenized security is a financial instrument enumerated in the definition of ‘security’&nbsp;under the federal securities laws that is formatted as or represented by a crypto asset, where the record of ownership is maintained in whole or in part on or through one or more crypto networks.”

The statement notes that tokenized securities generally fall into two categories: (1) securities tokenized by or on behalf of the issuers of such securities (Issuer-Sponsored Tokenized Securities) and (2) securities tokenized by third parties unaffiliated with the issuers of such securities (Third Party-Sponsored Tokenized Securities). The statement provides detail on different models for tokenizing securities, and related concepts, within each of the two categories.

With regard to Third Party-Sponsored Tokenized Securities, the statement notes that the Divisions “have observed two models where a third party tokenizes securities issued by another person: custodial tokenized securities and synthetic tokenized securities.” In the custodial tokenized securities model, the third party issues a crypto asset representing the underlying security, with the underlying security held in custody and the crypto asset evidencing the holder’s ownership interest (whether direct or indirect) in the underlying security held in custody. In the synthetic tokenized securities model, “the third party issues a crypto asset representing its own security that provides synthetic exposure to the underlying security, such as a tokenized linked security or a tokenized security-based swap.”

For more information, please refer to the following link:

<a href="https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/corp-fin-statement-tokenized-securities-012826">Statement on Tokenized Securities</a>

Global Crypto Regulation Report Published

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/professionals/jonathan-cardenas/">Jonathan Cardenas</a>

A Big Four accounting and consulting firm recently published its Global Crypto Regulation Report 2026, in which it provides a comparative analysis of crypto regulatory trends around the world. The report notes that 2026 marks a paradigm shift in global crypto regulation in which “regulatory clarity is no longer the primary obstacle” to the development of the crypto asset ecosystem. According to the report, regulators and standard-setting bodies around the world have shifted their focus from “policy design to implementation” and are increasingly converging on their regulatory approaches, particularly with respect to stablecoin regulation. The report also notes that “non-regulatory forces” are driving developments in crypto asset markets and states that institutional involvement in the crypto asset ecosystem has now “crossed the point of irreversibility.”

The report includes chapters addressing (1) global crypto trends for 2026; (2) the state of global stablecoin regulation; (3) views from global standard-setting bodies; (4) EU MiCAR and DORA implementation; and (5) regulatory developments in the following jurisdictions: U.S., U.K., Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Channel Islands (Guernsey and Jersey), El Salvador, Gibraltar, Hong Kong SAR, India, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, Nigeria, Norway, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates.

<a href="https://www.pwc.de/de/unterlagen/pwc-global-crypto-regulation-report-2026.pdf">[] Global Crypto Regulation Report 2026</a>

Blockchain Analytics Companies Publish New Data on 2025 Crypto Crimes

By <a href="https://www.bakerlaw.com/professionals/om-m-kakani/">Om M. Kakani</a>

Two recent blogs from Chainalysis provide new data on crypto money laundering and AI-driven scams. According to one blog, crypto‑related money laundering reached $82 billion in 2025, driven largely by Chinese‑language money laundering networks that processed $16.1 billion through roughly 1,800 wallets and now account for about 20 percent of global illicit flows. The report notes that criminals have increasingly abandoned centralized exchanges – where compliance controls have strengthened – in favor of decentralized, Telegram‑based laundering‑as‑a‑service providers offering tools such as money‑mule networks, over-the-counter brokers and “Black U” discounted crypto sales. These networks are scaling at industrial speed, with inflows growing 7,325 times faster than those to centralized exchanges since 2020.

In the second blog, Chainalysis estimates $14 billion in on‑chain losses for 2025 and projects that the final figure will exceed $17 billion as additional illicit wallets are identified. The blog notes that impersonation scams grew 1,400 percent year over year, fueled by AI‑enabled fraud that is 4.5 times more profitable than traditional schemes, while average scam payments more than tripled. According to the blog, scammers are increasingly deploying professionalized infrastructures – AI‑generated deepfakes, phishing‑as‑a‑service tools and sophisticated laundering networks – blurring traditional scam categories such as high-yield investment programs and pig‑butchering schemes.

Separately, TRM Labs recently published its Crypto Crime Report. Among its many findings, the report indicates that illicit crypto activity beyond money laundering and scams surged to a record $158 billion in 2025, driven heavily by state‑linked sanctions evasion, stablecoin‑based financial networks and rapidly expanding Chinese‑language escrow operations. Despite this sharp increase in absolute volume, unlawful activity still represented only 1.2 percent of total crypto transaction volume, reflecting growth in legitimate blockchain use even as criminal infrastructures became more sophisticated. Other key findings from the TRM Labs report include the following:

Illicit crypto flows jumped 145 percent year over year to an all‑time high of $158 billion.

Russia‑linked sanctions evasion dominated illicit activity, with the ruble‑pegged A7A5 stablecoin alone processing more than $72 billion.

Hack‑related losses totaled $2.87 billion, driven largely by the $1.46 billion Bybit breach.

Chinese‑language escrow and laundering networks processed more than $100 billion, serving as core infrastructure for global illicit markets.

Despite growth in criminal activity, illicit transactions made up just 1.2 percent of all crypto volume, down from 1.3 percent in 2024.

<a href="https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/2026-crypto-money-laundering/">Chinese Language Money Laundering Networks Emerge as Major Facilitators of the Illicit Crypto Economy, Now Driving 20% of Laundering Activity</a>

<a href="https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-scams-2026/">Record $17 Billion Estimated Stolen in Crypto Scams and Fraud in 2025 as Impersonation Tactics and AI Enablement Surge</a>

<a href="https://www.trmlabs.com/reports-and-whitepapers/2026-crypto-crime-report">TRM Labs 2026 Crypto Crime Report</a>

<a href="https://www.trmlabs.com/resources/blog/zachxbt-uncovers-crypto-theft-network-linked-to-us-government-seizure-funds">[] Uncovers Crypto Theft Network Linked to US Government Seizure Funds</a>

Weekly Blockchain Blog – Feburary 2, 2026