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Revised CLARITY Act Sets Rules for Controlled DeFi

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A revised version of the CLARITY Act would direct United States regulators to determine whether people or groups controlling “non-decentralized finance trading protocols” must comply with securities, commodities and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.

The revised text, posted on Senator Cynthia Lummis’ website, defines such a protocol as one whose functionality, operation, or rules can be materially altered by a person or coordinated group. The definition also covers protocols whose controllers can restrict users or whose transactions are not governed solely by transparent, pre-established code.

Under the proposal, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) would develop activity-based rules addressing registration, conduct, disclosure, recordkeeping and supervision. Meanwhile, the Treasury would establish how existing Bank Secrecy Act obligations apply to affected controllers.

The bill specifies that software and distributed ledger systems would not be required to register in their own capacity. It also says participation in an incident-response or security council would not, by itself, establish control over a protocol. 

The revised text arrived ahead of a procedural Senate vote scheduled for Sept. 15. The measure requires 60 votes to advance, meaning Republicans will need support from Democrats despite continuing disagreements over ethics, anti-money laundering protections and stablecoin rewards.

Crypto industry backs bill as ethics dispute lingers

In a statement shared with Cointelegraph, Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim called Tuesday’s vote a “pivotal moment” for digital assets, innovation and American leadership. Kim told Cointelegraph that the US needs a framework combining consumer protections with business conduct standards.

On Thursday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC that the CLARITY Act was “ready to get a yes vote.” He said the “must-have issues” previously raised by Coinbase had been resolved, while negotiations over ethics restrictions remained active and appeared close to a solution. Armstrong did not specify which provisions had changed.

Related: Following Senate delay, crypto bill has narrow window to become law

Despite this, the ethics section in the newly released text remained largely unchanged from the previous version, despite being one of the main points of contention in negotiations. 

On Aug. 20, Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego warned against holding a vote before lawmakers resolved disputes involving ethics and stablecoin yield. “A fast vote gets you a fast result, but I’m not sure it’s the result you want,” Gallego said at the time.

Armstrong said that if the legislation does not advance, the SEC and CFTC could instead pursue rulemaking and innovation exemptions using their existing authority.

Magazine: 10 of the greatest unsolved crypto mysteries

New Clarity Act text tweaks DeFi, credit union provisions, but road ahead for bill remains murky

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The Clarity Act needs 60 votes when the Senate returns from its recess next week. Republicans circulated a fresh draft on Thursday ahead of the vote.

Nubank Taps Sygnum to Add Crypto and Stablecoins to Its Global Push

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Nubank has partnered with Sygnum to expand its international offering. Nubank is the largest digital bank in Latin America, with more than 140 million customers across Brazil, Mexico  and Colombia.

Sygnum’s B2B platform provides crypto and banking services powering  the launch of Nu Global, a new multi-currency, high-yield account with fast and free money transfers available across 35+  countries.

With Sygnum infrastructure integrated into Nu Global systems, Nu delivers regulated digital asset services to its  clients in Switzerland and international markets. 

This partnership combines Nu’s international growth ambitions with Sygnum’s proven digital asset banking infrastructure, and  it enables Nu Global customers to buy, hold and trade a selection of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and move seamlessly  between fiat and digital assets.

Sygnum provides a bank guarantee to cover Nu Global customer assets, in accordance with the  Swiss regulatory framework. Nu Global’s assets are safeguarded through Sygnum’s institutional-grade, multi-layer custody  solution, combining security controls with rigorous governance processes and independent external audits. 

Nu Global is a product offered by Nu Global AG, a legal entity of Nu Holdings based in Switzerland, a leading global financial  and banking hub with comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks for digital assets. Switzerland offers established  infrastructure, strong institutional trust and a central position in the heart of Europe. 

Sygnum’s modular B2B platform, which enables regulated digital asset services for more than a third of the Swiss population,  is set to become one of Europe’s largest regulated digital asset Bank-to-Bank networks by client reach in 2027. Scalable APIs  and secure integrations are engineered to support operations at the Nu Global scale, enabling a comprehensive range of  products and services. 

“Nu Global’s decision to partner with Sygnum is a powerful endorsement of our B2B platform and its ability to support digital  asset services at global scale”, says Fritz Jost, Sygnum Chief B2B Officer.

“Together, we are combining Nu’s customer-centric  approach and international reach with Sygnum’s regulated banking infrastructure, institutional-grade custody, and deep digital  asset expertise. We are excited to accelerate the adoption of digital assets through a secure, trusted, and fully regulated banking  environment.” 

“We are proud to partner with Sygnum as we build Nu’s international offering,” says Thomaz Fortes, GM of Nu Global AG.

“Nu  Global’s launch marks an important next step in introducing our customer-first approach to new audiences, as it brings the  award-winning, globally recognized Nu experience into international money management.” 

Read Also: This is the First U.S.-Chartered Depository Bank to Offer Stablecoin Invoicing

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

UK House of Lords Backs Digital Asset Strategy

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The UK House of Lords backed an amendment requiring the government to develop a digital asset strategy, in a 194–138 vote on Wednesday, despite the Labour government’s opposition to the measure.

The amendment was added to the Financial Services and Markets Bill during its Report Stage on Wednesday. The bill is progressing through Parliament and would make broader changes to the UK’s financial services regulatory framework.

Amendment 88, introduced by Conservative peer Baroness Neville-Rolfe, would require the Treasury to prepare, publish and consult on a digital asset strategy within 12 months of the Financial Services and Markets Bill becoming law.

The strategy would cover cryptoassets, stablecoins and tokenized securities, while addressing issues including innovation, consumer protection and firms’ access to banking, payment and settlement services.

The vote follows months of debate over the UK’s approach to digital assets. During a July debate, Treasury’s Minister for Investment, Lord Stockwood, pushed back on calls for a statutory framework, saying the government believed it already had a digital asset strategy and was executing it.

The ruling Labour party opposed the amendment because they believed it did not adequately address the rapid development of digital assets and the need for a cohesive regulatory framework.

The UK Cryptoasset Business Council, which said it worked with lawmakers on the amendment, welcomed the vote on Thursday, highlighting Lord Chris Holmes’ question of whether the UK is “simply regulating digital assets” or “building a digital assets economy.”

The bill must still return to the House of Commons, where lawmakers can accept, amend or reject the Lords’ changes.

Magazine: 10 of the greatest unsolved crypto mysteries

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FalconX Becomes Lumera Validator as Network Pushes Deeper Into AI Memory Infrastructure

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FalconX has joined Lumera as a network validator, extending the institutional crypto prime broker’s involvement in blockchain infrastructure as Lumera develops services aimed at autonomous AI systems.

The addition gives FalconX a role in Lumera’s consensus layer, where validators help produce blocks, finalize transactions and secure the network through staked LUME. Lumera has currently 50 validators.

FalconX is one of the more prominent institutional firms operating a Lumera validator. The company serves over 2,000 institutional clients, including asset managers, hedge funds and family offices, and has handled $2.5 trillion in cumulative trading volume since 2018.

“As institutional participation in digital asset markets continues to evolve, we see value in supporting the infrastructure and ecosystems that underpin them,” Brandon Cigri, FalconX’s head of Onchain Ecosystems, said in the announcement.

“Joining Lumera as a validator builds on our broader relationship with the network, and we look forward to supporting its continued growth and development,” he added.

FalconX joins other institutional operators already listed by Lumera, including NTT Digital and technology investment firm Innovating Capital. Lumera also lists infrastructure providers including Luganodes, Nansen and other professional staking operators among its validators.

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Lumera Pushes Into Verifiable AI Memory

The validator announcement comes as Lumera expands infrastructure designed for autonomous software agents.

Its Cascade storage protocol is now live on mainnet. Lumera positions Cascade as durable memory infrastructure that allows an AI agent’s information to persist across different sessions, models and software frameworks while providing evidence that stored records have not been altered.

Cascade runs through Lumera’s SuperNodes rather than its conventional validator layer.

SuperNodes handle storage, serving and repair services, while the blockchain records commitments, proofs and results.

Lumera currently reports 28 SuperNodes running on the network.

Lumera introduced SuperNodes and opened Cascade on mainnet as part of a major network upgrade. The storage system encodes and distributes data across SuperNodes and is designed to repair missing data automatically, with service operators subject to verification mechanisms intended to show that they are performing their assigned work.

“Autonomous agents will require infrastructure that can preserve memory over time and verify that network services are actually being delivered,” Lumera co-founder Anthony Georgiades said.

“FalconX’s decision to join Lumera as a validator reflects the growing importance of reliable, verifiable infrastructure for the next generation of digital asset and AI applications,” he added.

The above article “FalconX Becomes Lumera Validator as Network Pushes Deeper Into AI Memory Infrastructure” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/falconx-becomes-lumera-validator/

Read Also: This is the First U.S.-Chartered Depository Bank to Offer Stablecoin Invoicing

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

European Finance Groups Push to Remove DLT Market Cap

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A coalition of European financial and tokenization groups has urged EU lawmakers to remove a proposed 100 billion euro cap ($116.3 billion) on tokenized financial instruments or raise it to at least 500 billion euro.

The draft letter, dated Sept. 7 and addressed to EU Council members and the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, said the 500 billion euro threshold should serve as a baseline if lawmakers decide to retain a cap.

Among the groups signing the letter were Nasdaq, Boerse Stuttgart Group, Securitize, the European Ethereum Institute and Axiology.

The letter said some existing European projects already reach 350 billion euro in scale and plan further growth, arguing that the proposed 100 billion euro ceiling would be insufficient.

The groups contrasted the proposed EU limits with the US, where “a dominant settlement platform is enabled to tokenise US equities and other assets without volume caps,” which they said could cover as much as 150 trillion euro in assets.

European finance groups call for removal of DLT regime cap.
Source: Industry draft letter

The European Commission has proposed raising the current 6 billion euro limit to as much as 100 billion euro as part of its Market Integration and Supervision Package, which includes revisions to the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Pilot Regime.

The DLT Pilot Regime, which took effect in 2023, allows financial firms to test blockchain-based trading and settlement of assets such as stocks and bonds under exemptions from certain EU financial rules.

The letter said the thresholds apply to the market value of financial instruments admitted to DLT infrastructure rather than their trading volume, making the proposed 100 billion euro cap relatively small compared with global equity markets.

Related: Tokenized RWA surge to $4T may push LINK to $200 by end-2030: Standard Chartered

European firms ramp up pressure on DLT rules

The letter follows months of pressure from financial and tokenization firms seeking changes to the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime.

In April, 39 financial firms and industry groups, including Nasdaq and Boerse Stuttgart, urged EU policymakers to fast-track changes to the DLT Pilot Regime and raise its overall limit to between 100 billion euro and 150 billion euro. The April letter also called for broader asset eligibility and the removal of time limits on licenses issued under the regime.

The April push followed a similar call in February from tokenization and market infrastructure firms including Securitize, 21X and Boerse Stuttgart, which warned that existing asset limits, volume caps and time-limited licenses were preventing regulated onchain markets from scaling in Europe.

The February warning contended that without faster changes, liquidity could migrate to US markets as regulators there moved toward larger-scale tokenization and onchain settlement.

The total value of distributed real-world assets (RWA) stands at about $39.15 billion, with US Treasury debt the largest category at roughly $15.8 billion.

Distributed RWA value has reached $39.15 billion, excluding stablecoins. Source: RWA.xyz

Related: US, UK reaffirm support for stablecoins, tokenization in joint financial regulation talks

Treasury Secretary Bessent urges CLARITY Act passage after Senate returns

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Secretary Scott Bessent warned that failing to pass the CLARITY Act would send a “troubling signal” about America’s leadership in the digital asset industry.

India’s largest Agricultural Warehouse Company Brings $2B in Stored Commodities Onchain

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Arya.ag is working with Finternet to connect grain deposits, electronic warehouse receipts and loan status on a dedicated Avalanche L1. The phased deployment is designed to give lenders a more reliable way to verify the commodities backing agricultural loans.

Nandan Nilekani, Infosys co-founder and non-executive chairman, today revealed the initiative during his Global Fintech Festival keynote. 

Arya.ag, one of India’s largest agricultural warehousing companies, is consolidating its warehousing and lending systems through the project, bringing an existing agricultural finance business onto shared onchain infrastructure.

How It Works

Electronic warehouse receipts document commodities held in storage and can be used to support borrowing against those goods. By tokenizing these receipts, the platform will connect records of grain deposits with their collateralization and associated loan status in one place.

For lenders, the intended benefit is a clearer view of the collateral supporting a loan and its financing status. For agricultural borrowers, more reliable collateral verification could help lenders assess credit backed by stored grain.

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The Scale

  • Arya.ag holds approximately $2 billion in agricultural commodities across its warehouse network.
  • Its platform supports around ₹12,000 crore (~$1.3 billion) in loans annually.
  • Arya Dhan, Arya’s NBFC, issues approximately $230 million in loans directly each year.
  • Arya works with banks and other financial institutions to provide financing against commodities stored in its warehouses.

The commodity value and annual lending figures describe Arya.ag’s existing business. They do not represent the value of assets or loans already onchain. 

Why It Matters

Farmers need cash after harvest, but may want to store their grain and sell it later. A warehouse receipt documents the stored crop and can help them borrow against its value.

To issue that loan, a lender needs to verify what grain is stored, whether it is already pledged as collateral and what debt is outstanding. When warehouse and lending records sit in separate systems, establishing that picture requires reconciliation.

The project applies tokenization to the records lenders use to issue credit against physical goods. Its significance lies in connecting stored commodities, collateral records and lending activity within a working agricultural business, giving regulated lenders a shared basis for verifying collateral as the deployment progresses.

Specifically, India has expanded access to banking, but agricultural credit remains a major gap:

  • Farmers make up roughly 40% of India’s population, but only around 15% have access to credit.
  • Around 75% of agricultural lending still comes through informal channels.
  • Warehouse receipt financing allows farmers and agricultural businesses to borrow against commodities held in storage rather than selling immediately after harvest.
  • India already has an electronic warehouse receipt system, but warehouse-backed lending remains fragmented and relatively underused, particularly among smaller farmers.

Why Tokenziation

The value of tokenization here is in connecting the physical commodity to the financial records around it.

The warehouse receipt can serve as a digital representation of the underlying stored goods, while the shared ledger can record how that collateral is being used in the financing process.

The intended result is a common record across the transaction rather than separate records held by the warehouse, lender and other participants.

What Changes

Today, warehousing and lending involve multiple systems and participants. The new platform is designed to connect those pieces:

  • Commodity stored → electronic warehouse receipt → collateral pledged → financing → loan tracking

Tokenizing the warehouse receipts gives lenders a shared view of the underlying collateral and its financing status, while creating a common record across the transaction.

Arya.ag and Finternet will connect warehouse receipts, grain deposits, collateral commitments and loan status on an Avalanche L1. The intended result is a shared record that lenders can use to check the stored goods and their financing status.

Quantifying Impact 

The initial focus is on improving the infrastructure behind warehouse-backed lending rather than claiming a specific impact on credit access.

More connected records could reduce reconciliation and make lending against stored crops easier to assess. Faster approvals, lower costs or greater access to credit are potential outcomes to be demonstrated as the system is deployed.

The model also depends on accurate verification of the physical commodities represented by the digital records.

Read Also: This is the First U.S.-Chartered Depository Bank to Offer Stablecoin Invoicing

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

Bitcoin trades near $78,000 as memecoins, small caps lead a broad crypto retreat

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Bitcoin fell 2% over 24 hours to $78,111 as 95 of the 100 CoinDesk 100 constituents declined, with most of the damage done overnight.

Indian agri warehouse giant is putting $2 billion in grain-backed loans onchain

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Arya.ag is using Avalanche technology to tokenize grain deposits to help lenders verify crops backing agricultural loans.