Weekly Digest: October 5, 2026

TL;DR: This week showed crypto shifting from experiments to regulated plumbing. Banks and firms are testing tokenized deposits and interbank dollars while regulators tighten custody and licensing, and a string of exploits is forcing better operational discipline.

Highlights

• SEC proposes tighter custody rules for advisers : New SEC guidance would raise custody standards for asset managers holding digital assets and could enable adviser-led crypto exposure under stricter operations. The change pushes institutional custody practices toward bank-grade controls.
• Banks test permissioned dollar on Solana : A permissioned interbank dollar on Solana aims to speed settlement between banks and reduce friction in wholesale flows. This is part of several pilots bringing tokenized deposits into real financial rails.
• Tether moves USDT onto Bitcoin using RGB and UTXO flows : Tether is shifting USDT settlement to Bitcoin with RGB and UTXO methods to add privacy and new settlement patterns. The move signals demand for money-like rails with stronger settlement finality.
• Bitget and NEAR incidents highlight cross-chain risk : September saw mega-hacks and a $3.8M NEAR Intents exploit that moved funds rapidly across rails, exposing supply chain and integration weak points. These events underline the need for better incident response and security playbooks.
• Banks and exchanges pilot stablecoin settlement : Pilots with Citi, Coinbase, and other banks are running tokenized settlement without forcing treasurers to hold crypto directly. The approach makes onchain rails usable for fiat flows while keeping traditional custody models.
• UK licensing window and EU probes push compliance forward : The UK opened a licensing window requiring firms to bake compliance into products while EU regulators probe Binance for MiCA workarounds. Supervision is moving from guidance to enforcement.