The European Commission is finalizing plans to allow stablecoins that are issued outside the block to be interchangeable with same-branded versions issued in the EU, the Financial Times has reported.
This comes despite warnings from the European Central Bank (ECB) that stablecoins could lead to financial instability during market volatility.
ECB president Christine Lagarde was quoted by the FT saying “stablecoins … pose risks for monetary policy and financial stability [and] must therefore be governed by sound rules, especially when they operate across international borders.”
As global interest in stablecoins grows, governments and regulators around the world are rushing to put in place legislation to regulate the digital assets.
BIS warning
And speaking of warnings about stablecoins, senior executives at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have also raised concerns about the ability of stablecoins being treated as traditional money.
Hyun Song Shin, Economic Adviser and Head of the Monetary and Economic Department at the BIS, said this week that stablecoins, despite their potential to play a vital role in the future of financial systems, pose a risk to financial stability and market integrity if not regulated properly.
Our separate GRIP article published this week covers the story in more detail.
Singapore crackdown
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has told crypto exchanges that only serve overseas customers to close operations by 30 June 2025, the FT has reported.
To be able to stay in and operate in the country, these exchanges will have to obtain a licence from the MAS, which in itself can be a difficult process.
According to the newspaper, other regions such as Hong Kong and Dubai are set to benefit from the crackdown, as firms decide to find other destinations for their operations.
Obervers have told the FT the short window for attaining a license is deliberate, as the city-state wants to flush out unregistered operations from its jurisdiction.
New token moves billions
A FT investigation has found that a new crypto token, the A7A5, which is considered to be the first stablecoin pegged to the Russian rouble, has moved around $9.3 billion out of the country despite sanctions.
According to the FT, the token was launched by a fugitive Moldovan oligarch and a Russian defence sector bank, and is designed to bypass western sanctions on Russia.
The A7A5 was “officially launched in Kyrgyzstan in February and aims to facilitate large-scale financial flows into and out of Russia, which have been severely complicated by western restrictions,” the report says.
The investigation has also revealed that Grinex, a crypto exchange also founded very recently in Kyrgyzstan, was exclusively being used during this period to move assets in and out of Russia.
$1 billion crypto treasury
Former Blackstone dealmaker Chinh Chu and Tether co-founder Reeve Collins are backing a company that plans to build a publicly traded crypto treasury worth $1 billion, Bloomberg has reported.
The company is said to be “led by former Hut 8 Mining CEO Jaime Leverton, with Wilbur Ross and Gabriel Abed serving as vice chairs,” according to the report.
Called M3-Brigade Acquisition V, the company will use the assets to buy tokens including bitcoin, ether and solana.
According to CoinDesk, the announcement follows a similar recent trend of public companies buying and keeping cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin, as treasury assets.
Crypto in your will?
Have you thought about leaving your digital assets to your loved ones as part of your will, and is it even possible to do so in the country that you live in?
The FT has published a Q&A article answering exactly that, in the context of England and Whales.
The short answer is yes, you can do so because digital assets are recognized in those two countries as legal property and hence can be passed over as part of your will.
The article has expert advice from Racheal Muldoon, partner at Charles Russell Speechlys, who says the passing over will also be subject to capital gains tax and inheritance tax.
