intermediaries

ChainCatcher live report, the Executive Director of the Intermediaries Division of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Ye Zhi Heng, delivered a keynote speech titled "ASPIRe in Action Hong Kong's Digital Asset Journey" at the 2026 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival. He reviewed the six major milestones since the Commission launched the ASPIRe roadmap last year, including allowing licensed platforms to provide staking services, conducting joint consultations on virtual asset trading and custody systems, opening up perpetual contracts and margin financing frameworks, and launching plans to strengthen market defenses through technology.He revealed that the draft regulations for the four systems of virtual asset trading, custody, management, and advisory have reached 260 pages, and the draft was received last week. The work for the next 12 months is divided into three major clusters: first, promoting innovation through regulation, advancing legislative and regulatory guideline consultations; second, promoting innovation through practice, gradually allowing tokenized authorized funds to trade on licensed platforms; third, promoting innovation through interaction, advancing automated reporting, signing international bilateral memorandums, and combating financial crime frameworks. He emphasized that Hong Kong is "moving steadily forward, fast because of stability."

According to Arkham data, at 19:15, 500,000 TRUMP (worth approximately $2.1 million) were transferred from one anonymous address (starting with 96qBQ7...) to another anonymous address (starting with BDNBtN...).

According to Arkham data, at 21:18, 130 BTC (worth approximately $10.34 million) were transferred from multiple anonymous addresses to an anonymous address (starting with 1KbDEg1t...). Subsequently, that address transferred 130 BTC to Wintermute.

According to Arkham data, at 15:17, 50 BTC (worth approximately 3.58 million USD) were transferred from multiple anonymous addresses to an anonymous address (starting with 16Uz...). Subsequently, that address transferred some BTC to Cumberland DRW.

According to market news, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced a new classification exemption policy that expands the scope of licensing exemptions for intermediaries of stablecoins and wrapped tokens.The policy allows intermediaries to distribute stablecoins and wrapped tokens issued by publishers holding an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license without needing to apply for a separate license. At the same time, ASIC also permits providers to hold digital assets in pooled accounts under appropriate record-keeping and reconciliation procedures. The new regulations require stablecoin issuers to maintain reserves equal to or greater than the total amount of circulating tokens and to publish financial reports regularly.

According to Arkham data, at 11:52, 200 BTC (worth approximately 17.94 million USD) was transferred from an anonymous address (starting with 1TzZaLC3...) to an address (starting with bc1qvlt0s...). Subsequently, that address transferred 161 BTC to another anonymous address (starting with bc1qz8lv0...).

Polymarket, the prediction market, has received approval for a CFTC revised order, allowing access to the U.S. market through intermediaries.

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority jointly issued a supplementary joint circular on September 30 regarding the virtual asset-related activities of intermediaries, updating the licensing or registration conditions for intermediaries.In terms of background, the two agencies optimized and relaxed certain regulations based on market developments and industry opinions, and will subsequently issue guidelines regarding designated stablecoin activities. The content includes: first, allowing intermediaries to provide staking services to their clients, which must be conducted through licensed platforms and independent accounts, with risks disclosed; second, licensed corporations and registered institutions may provide off-platform trading services through licensed platforms; third, it is clarified that clients using virtual assets to subscribe and redeem investment products, or to subscribe or redeem virtual asset funds in physical form, will not be considered as providing virtual asset trading services. Intermediaries must notify in advance, hold virtual assets in compliance, and adhere to anti-money laundering regulations; fourth, it clarifies the requirement for intermediaries to ensure that clients have sufficient net assets, and the provision that intermediaries must make risk disclosure statements specifically regarding virtual asset futures contracts does not apply to clients who are institutional professional investors and qualified corporate professional investors.

ChainCatcher news, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has announced a regulatory exemption for stablecoin intermediaries, allowing them to distribute stablecoins issued by holders of an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license without needing to separately hold an AFS, market, or clearing house license.This is Australia's first collective exemption of this kind, aimed at promoting growth and innovation in the digital assets and payments sector, and the exemption will take effect after registration in federal legislation. Steve Vallas, CEO of Blockchain Australia, stated that this move is a pragmatic transitional measure ahead of broader stablecoin reforms, helping to alleviate regulatory friction while the Treasury finalizes the proposed stablecoin regime. As more stablecoins obtain AFS licenses, this exemption may extend to more issuers.

ChainCatcher news, Paradigm CTO Georgios Konstantopoulos stated that a year of research found no significant breakthroughs in account abstraction, suggesting it should have been set as a native feature of Ethereum in its early years.Vitalik Buterin responded that full account abstraction has not been achieved, requiring ECDSA or intermediaries, with intermediaries relying on privacy risks and censorship resistance, while quantum security and privacy protocols still pose challenges.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinPost, the Japanese Senate passed an amendment to the "Funds Settlement Act" on June 6, establishing a new system for "crypto asset intermediary businesses," allowing companies to engage in matching services without the need to register as crypto asset exchange operators, aiming to lower market entry barriers and promote innovation in crypto finance.The amendment also added a "domestic retention order" clause, granting the government the power to order platforms to keep a portion of user assets within Japan when necessary, to prevent the outflow risk of assets similar to the FTX bankruptcy incident. The new law is expected to come into effect within one year from the date of announcement.

ChainCatcher message, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin responded to Paradigm CTO Georgios Konstantopoulos's point on the X platform that "cross-chain interoperability has been solved at the infrastructure level," stating that it is only considered "truly solved" when cross-L2 operations can match the censorship resistance, trustlessness, and non-intermediary nature of native ETH transfers on L1.Vitalik referred to this as the "no-regression principle," emphasizing that new systems must retain the core attributes of the original system; otherwise, they cannot be regarded as sufficiently complete.

ChainCatcher news, according to Phoenix TV, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated in an interview with ABC on April 13 that the U.S. and China have had "preliminary contact" through intermediaries regarding tariff issues. She also noted that the U.S. government is studying the formulation of special tariff measures for key electronic products such as semiconductors.

ChainCatcher News, Japan is considering new lightweight legislation for cryptocurrency intermediaries (non-cryptocurrency exchanges). Last week, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) presented its ideas to the Financial System Council's Payment Services Working Group.The FSA provided an example of a gaming application or self-hosted wallet that offers access to third-party applications for cryptocurrency trading services and then switches back to the original application. In many cases, the FSA may consider the application operator to be acting as an intermediary, thus requiring registration as a cryptocurrency exchange. However, if an organization purely acts as a introducer and never touches any funds, this is quite burdensome.Therefore, the government is considering some more relaxed proposals that require intermediaries to register as intermediaries. Intermediaries will be obligated to provide information to users. They will be subject to advertising restrictions and may also bear liability for damages if issues arise.The FSA is considering how to handle losses. Currently, regulations for other financial service intermediaries that do not belong to large groups require a margin to cover potential losses. If the intermediary is affiliated with a cryptocurrency exchange, the losses may be borne by the exchange.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the European Banking Authority (EBA) has stated that it will take significant steps to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) measures, with the travel rule guidelines extending to crypto service providers and intermediaries starting from December 30. This means that crypto asset service providers (CASP) will be subject to the EU's anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) regime.In addition, crypto service providers and intermediaries will need to declare their multi-intermediary and cross-border transfer policies.

ChainCatcher news, the acting head of the Intermediaries Division of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, Choi Chung-fai, stated at the Asian Financial Forum that there is a trend of tokenization in traditional financial products, raising concerns about whether ownership may be lost and whether the related technology is reliable.Choi Chung-fai pointed out that regulation of virtual asset trading platforms is very important, as it involves the reliability of the public's investment of virtual assets on a platform. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the design and security measures involved, as well as how to respond to cyber attacks. Regarding the industry's proposal to allow customers to withdraw virtual assets through financial intermediaries, the Securities and Futures Commission's position is that if it involves licensed platforms, it is advisable.

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission today issued a notice regarding the activities of intermediaries engaged in tokenized securities. The notice mentioned that the Commission recognizes the potential benefits of tokenization for the financial market, particularly in enhancing efficiency, increasing transparency, reducing settlement times, and lowering traditional financial costs, but it also acknowledges the new risks associated with the use of this technology.The Commission supports intermediaries in actively tokenizing traditional securities and believes that more guidance should be provided regarding activities related to tokenized securities. The focus of the notice is to provide guidance for intermediaries to address and manage the new risks arising from the use of this new tokenization technology, so that the tokenized market can develop in a healthy, responsible, and sustainable manner.The notice emphasizes that intermediaries need to have sufficient manpower and expertise to conduct due diligence on tokenized securities and to be responsible for the overall operation of tokenization arrangements, even when third-party vendors/service providers are involved. It also highlights considerations for custody arrangements, disclosure requirements for client notices, and the complexity assessment of tokenized securities. In addition, intermediaries are required to comply with applicable laws and regulatory requirements, provide necessary information to the Commission, and implement appropriate controls in digital securities-related activities.

ChainCatcher news, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated in a speech released before the 2023 Global Exchanges and Fintech Conference, "There is no indication that investors and issuers in the crypto securities market should not be protected by our securities laws. As I have said many times, the vast majority of crypto tokens meet the investment contract test. These tokens are promoted by teams through websites and Twitter accounts. These tokens do not come out of nowhere. Crypto securities issuers need to register their offers and sales of investment contracts with the SEC or meet exemption requirements."Gary Gensler further stated that since most crypto tokens are subject to securities laws, most crypto intermediaries must also comply with securities laws. If intermediaries do not register, it is the investors who suffer, and the U.S. financial markets may also be affected. In other areas of the securities market, exchanges, broker-dealers, and clearing functions are separated, which helps mitigate conflicts that may arise from mixing such services. Crypto intermediaries may need to separate business lines, develop rulebooks to prevent fraud and manipulation, appropriately segregate customer funds, mitigate conflicts, or change their clearing and custody methods.Regarding crypto lending and staking as a service, Gary Gensler stated that in cases over the past few decades, the Supreme Court has made it clear that the economic reality of a product (rather than its label) determines whether it falls under the provisions of securities laws. It does not matter what assets investors put into lending or staking as a service platforms (cash, gold, Bitcoin, or anything else). Customers invest their assets through the platform, which then lends or pools, stakes, and promises returns. These are all classic securities, regardless of whether they involve cryptocurrency. (source link)