Invest ideasNews
27 May 2026, 14:01
HTX moves over $21B in risky funds despite UK sanction
HTX, which was recently among the list of crypto companies sanctioned by the UK, has moved over $21B in risky funds. At least $7.64B of the asset flows have been linked to Russian capital. In May, the UK Government sanctioned a list of entities on suspicion of carrying rogue Russian funds and using crypto assets to disguise origins and launder money. UK citizens are banned from interacting with the sanctioned entities, while the firms and exchanges cannot establish connections to UK banking entities. The UK sanctioned long-running entities like the Exmo Exchange, as well as several companies and individuals in connection with evading sanctions. HTX was among the most prominent sanctioned entities HTX (formerly Huobi Global) was one of the key entities in the sanctioned list, as flow analysis showed the exchange moved over $21.06B connected to various attempts at illicit finance. The funds were moved between May 2021 and May 2026. On-chain analysis uncovered HTX activities spanning beyond the UK’s scope of tracking Russian capital in crypto space. As Cryptopolitan reported, HTX has been targeted by UK regulators for unlawful asset promotion. HTX remained a prime hub for risky transactions According to data from Global Ledger shared with Cryptopolitan, HTX was a hub for risky transfers of BTC, ETH, and USDT on the TRON network. The Russian capitals were moved through other intermediary high-risk entities, including Garantex, Grinex, A7A5 , and darknet markets. HTX was the hub for inflows and outfows from other entities as well. Entity Total Volume (USD) Garantex $6.16B Grinex $840M A7A5 $360M Hydra darknet $160M Kraken darknet $70M Mega darknet $50M HTX also interacted with older laundering venues like Huione Group, Nobitex , and other threat actors. Huione Group moved $4.41B, becoming the second most active entity to use HTX. HTX still processes $1.1B in daily volumes, and remains one of the top centralized exchanges. The market, linked to Justin Sun, is also one of the key venues to process USDT on the TRON network and gain liquidity from the TRON ecosystem. Russia’s sanction evasion mechanism still works The spotlight on HTX came from Russia’s well-established pathways of crypto laundering. The Grinex exchange was one of the major laundering markets, at least until it froze all trading following a hack in April. Grinex held $16.54B worth of USDT and A7A5 between March 2025 and April 2026. The sanctions evasion network is also linked to the Russian state bank Promsvyazbank and oligarch Ilan Shor. The Garantex exchange was also used in the past five years, laundering $14.52B in ETH, USDT, and USDC just for 2024. Garantex and Grinex were excluded and isolated from the crypto CEX network, and lost some of their volumes. Despite this, the exchanges continued working against the sanctions and still processed funds. Grinex managed to process $9.25B even under sanctions before it was frozen for hacking. Don’t just read crypto news. Understand it. Subscribe to our newsletter. It's free .
27 May 2026, 14:00
Bitcoin will ‘take around 10 months to fully recover,’ says report – Here’s why
Is Bitcoin’s current drawdown normal compared to past market cycles?
27 May 2026, 14:00
A Single XRP Ledger Proposal Just Put The Entire DeFi World On Notice — Here’s Why
A new amendment proposal submitted to the XRP Ledger Foundation’s repository on May 26 would fundamentally redesign how liquidity pools function on the XRP Ledger — introducing multiple curve types, concentrated liquidity, and a future fully programmable AMM architecture that mirrors the most advanced decentralized exchange infrastructure currently operating on Ethereum. The proposal, titled AMM Swappable Curves and designated XLS Discussion #547, was submitted by Denis Angell (@dangell7) and Roman Thpt (@RomThpt) — both active contributors to the XRPL codebase — and is currently in draft status awaiting community review, per the GitHub discussion thread. It builds directly on XLS-30, the amendment that introduced XRPL’s original automated market maker in 2024. The Problem The Proposal Solves The current XRP Ledger AMM operates on a single invariant: the constant product formula — the same model used by Uniswap v2, where liquidity is spread uniformly across all price ranges. The proposal identifies three structural gaps that limit the current system’s competitiveness. The first is capital inefficiency. Spreading liquidity uniformly means that only a small fraction is ever active near the current market price — making it less attractive for liquidity providers than concentrated alternatives. The second is curve inflexibility. Volatile trading pairs benefit from constant product pools. Stablecoin pairs benefit from StableSwap curves, which minimize slippage between closely correlated assets. Long-tail or asymmetrically weighted pairs benefit from Balancer-style weighting. Forcing all pairs into one model is a structural disadvantage, per the proposal. The third is composability. The XRPL payment engine already routes across AMM pools and its native order book — adding curve diversity multiplies available liquidity sources without requiring changes to existing pathfinding logic. What The Amendment Would Introduce The proposal introduces a pluggable curve architecture — pool creators select their preferred curve type at creation time from an initial set of three. Curve 0 is the existing constant product model, preserving full backward compatibility with all existing XLS-30 pools. Curve 1 is Concentrated Liquidity — equivalent to Uniswap v3 — allowing liquidity providers to target specific price ranges for dramatically greater capital efficiency. Curve 2 is StableSwap — equivalent to Curve Finance v1 — optimized for stablecoin and correlated asset pairs where minimal slippage matters most, per the proposal’s specification. A fourth curve type — Smart AMM — is reserved for a forthcoming companion specification. It would allow pool creators to deploy WebAssembly binaries providing fully custom swap mathematics, dynamic fees, and lifecycle hooks including before and after swap, deposit, and withdrawal events. The architecture intentionally mirrors the host ABI and sandbox model already being developed for XLS-100 Smart Escrows — meaning the WASM runtime infrastructure is being built once and reused across multiple XRPL features, per the proposal. Why It Matters For XRP Multiple pools per token pair — one for each curve type — would operate simultaneously without affecting existing pools. The XRPL’s payment engine would route across all of them automatically, selecting the optimal liquidity source for each transaction without any changes required from end users or existing integrations, per the technical specification. This development marks a pivotal moment for the XRP Ledger’s DeFi infrastructure. A protocol that already hosts over $2 billion in tokenized real-world assets and processes $1.93 billion in monthly stablecoin transfers gaining Uniswap v3-grade concentrated liquidity and Curve Finance-style stable pools would represent a meaningful step toward institutional-grade on-chain liquidity — exactly the infrastructure that the asset managers, banks, and stablecoin issuers currently building on XRPL will eventually require. Cover image from Grok, XRPUSD chart from Tradingview
27 May 2026, 14:00
US DTCC to Tokenize Custodial Assets on Stellar Blockchain by 2027
BitcoinWorld US DTCC to Tokenize Custodial Assets on Stellar Blockchain by 2027 The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a cornerstone of U.S. financial market infrastructure, has announced plans to tokenize assets held in custody by its subsidiary, the Depository Trust Company (DTC), using the Stellar blockchain network. The initiative, developed in partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation, is expected to launch in the first half of 2027. Tokenization Details and Asset Selection Under the plan, tokenized assets will carry the same investor protections and legal rights as traditional securities. The DTCC is evaluating highly liquid assets for initial tokenization, including components of the Russell 1000 index, major index-tracking ETFs, and U.S. Treasurys. This approach prioritizes assets with deep markets and established regulatory frameworks. Regulatory Milestone: SEC No-Action Letter The DTCC received a no-action letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2025, granting authorization to operate a service for tokenizing custodial assets. This regulatory clarity is a significant step for institutional adoption of blockchain technology in traditional finance, signaling that tokenized securities can coexist with existing market infrastructure under SEC oversight. Why This Matters for Investors and Markets The DTCC’s move represents a major endorsement of blockchain technology by a critical piece of U.S. financial infrastructure. Tokenization could reduce settlement times, lower operational costs, and improve transparency for large-scale asset custody. For retail and institutional investors, this means potentially faster access to settled funds and reduced counterparty risk. The choice of Stellar, a blockchain known for its low transaction costs and energy efficiency, also highlights a preference for practical, scalable networks over more speculative platforms. Broader Industry Context While several firms have explored tokenization of real-world assets, the DTCC’s involvement is unique due to its central role in clearing and settling the vast majority of U.S. securities transactions. The project is distinct from earlier pilot programs, as it targets live production use with regulatory approval. The timeline of 2027 suggests a deliberate, phased approach to ensure compliance and operational stability. Conclusion The DTCC’s plan to tokenize custodial assets on Stellar, backed by SEC authorization, marks a pivotal moment for the integration of blockchain into mainstream finance. By focusing on highly liquid securities and maintaining investor protections, the initiative balances innovation with the rigor expected of a systemically important market infrastructure provider. FAQs Q1: What is the DTCC tokenizing on Stellar? The DTCC plans to tokenize custodial assets held by its DTC subsidiary, including components of the Russell 1000 index, major ETFs, and U.S. Treasurys. The tokenized versions will have the same legal protections as traditional securities. Q2: When will the DTCC Stellar tokenization launch? The target launch is the first half of 2027. The DTCC received SEC authorization via a no-action letter in December 2025, allowing it to proceed with development. Q3: How does the SEC no-action letter affect the project? The no-action letter provides regulatory clarity, confirming that the DTCC can operate the tokenization service without facing enforcement action under current securities laws. This reduces legal uncertainty and sets a precedent for similar initiatives. This post US DTCC to Tokenize Custodial Assets on Stellar Blockchain by 2027 first appeared on BitcoinWorld .
27 May 2026, 14:00
Tether-backed Oobit adds Arbitrum to simplify stablecoin merchant payments
Oobit, the global crypto payments app backed by Tether, has integrated the Arbitrum network into its payments infrastructure, expanding its push to make stablecoin spending easier at mainstream merchants. The move connects Arbitrum users with Oobit’s payment rails, allowing them to transact at more than 150 million Visa-accepting merchants across over 200 countries. For Oobit , the integration adds one of Ethereum’s most widely used Layer 2 networks to its growing multi-chain platform. For Arbitrum, it marks another step in taking stablecoin activity beyond crypto-native markets and closer to everyday commerce. Arbitrum adds scale to Oobit’s payments network The integration gives Oobit users access to Arbitrum’s Layer 2 infrastructure, which was developed by Offchain Labs and is designed to reduce transaction costs while retaining Ethereum’s security model. According to data from Offchain Labs cited in the announcement, Arbitrum has saved its ecosystem more than $11 billion in gas fees to date. The network currently secures more than $16 billion in total value locked and counts over 130,000 daily active wallets. Oobit said the addition will allow Arbitrum’s more than 10 million stablecoin holders to spend at Visa-accepting merchants worldwide. That reach covers local supermarkets, restaurants and global e-commerce platforms, according to the company. Lower costs and faster settlement Oobit said users will be able to transact on Arbitrum at a fraction of mainnet costs, with gas fees reduced to pennies through Layer 2 batching. The company also said transactions can settle in sub-seconds, compared with minutes or banking days in other payment systems. The company framed the move as a way to bridge a key gap in crypto adoption: turning stablecoin holdings into practical spending power without adding extra steps for users. “A significant portion of stablecoin activity already lives on Arbitrum. By integrating the network into Oobit, users can move from holding digital dollars to spending them at Visa merchants worldwide without bridging, conversion hurdles, or unnecessary friction. The infrastructure is ready; this is about connecting crypto to everyday commerce,” said Oobit’s CEO, Amram Adar. For crypto payments to compete with traditional finance, they need to feel invisible to the end user. Arbitrum already provides the scalability and efficiency required to make stablecoin payments practical for everyday commerce at a global level. Amram Adar Oobit CEO Tether-backed expansion continues The Arbitrum integration is part of Oobit’s broader multi-chain infrastructure expansion. Earlier this year, the company added native support for the Phantom wallet, linking Solana-based assets to Visa’s global payment network. Oobit’s growth has been supported by Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, which has more than $189 billion in USD₮ in circulation as of writing. Tether’s backing has been central to Oobit’s expansion across platforms and into new markets, particularly in Latin America. Offchain Labs Chief Strategy Officer A.J. Warner said: Oobit's integration of Arbitrum marks a meaningful step in bringing stablecoin payments to mainstream commerce. Arbitrum's stablecoin holders can spend directly at Visa-accepting merchants worldwide, without bridging or friction, and gas fees reduced to pennies. Oobit's continued expansion across chains and markets signals the kind of institutional-grade momentum that will define the next chapter of crypto payments infrastructure. A.J. Warner Offchain Labs Chief Strategy Officer The post Tether-backed Oobit adds Arbitrum to simplify stablecoin merchant payments appeared first on Invezz
27 May 2026, 13:58
SHIB and NEAR market cap gap narrows to $50 million
🚨 The market cap difference between $SHIB and NEAR shrank to just $50 million. SHIB struggles with weak investor interest, while NEAR draws institutional inflows. Continue Reading: SHIB and NEAR market cap gap narrows to $50 million The post SHIB and NEAR market cap gap narrows to $50 million appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .
