JH Kim

According to CoinDesk, a crypto-focused media outlet, on the 15th (local time) the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced a roadmap to move all roughly 1.4 million securities it holds fully on-chain. The project has been pushed in earnest since DTCC’s acquisition of blockchain technology startup Securrency in 2023, with key goals including collateral optimization, real-time payment and settlement, and securing 24-hour liquidity. To strengthen security and controls, DTCC adopted a structure that burns tokens and reissues them within its own layer, rather than using cross-chain bridges. The plan is to build a tokenization infrastructure suitable for institutional financial markets while minimizing operational risk. The market is assessing DTCC’s move as a potential starting signal for a full-scale shift of traditional financial infrastructure to blockchain.

According to The Block, a media outlet specializing in digital assets (cryptocurrency), Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said he expects a revised version of the crypto market structure bill (CLARITY) to be introduced within weeks. In an interview with CNBC, he added, "There are fatal issues that would arise if the current bill proceeds to review as is. I believe there is an opportunity to draft a new version." Armstrong also said in the same interview that he is ready to return to discussions on the market structure bill.

According to Walter Bloomberg, an economics breaking-news account, on the 15th (local time), the White House said President Donald Trump is closely monitoring developments related to anti-government protests in Iran and is keeping all options open for a response. The remarks came as anti-government demonstrations continue in Iran, with thousands reported dead. A White House spokesperson said, “The President is watching the situation in Iran very seriously and is reviewing every necessary measure.” The spokesperson added, “While we are prioritizing a diplomatic solution, various courses of action—including a military response—are on the table.” The comments are being interpreted as a message that, as international concern grows over Iran’s crackdown on protesters and human rights violations, the United States is leaving open the possibility of a tougher approach alongside diplomatic and economic pressure.

Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives raised suspicions of political collusion over the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to halt investigations into major virtual-asset (cryptocurrency) cases. According to crypto-focused media outlet CoinDesk on the 15th (local time), Reps. Maxine Waters, Sean Casten and Brad Sherman said in a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins that “since early last year, the SEC has dismissed or closed at least 12 cases, including those involving Coinbase, Binance and Kraken, where the likelihood of prevailing was high.” They added in particular that “the timing of the suspension of investigations overlaps with the period when the crypto industry made large political donations to the Trump administration,” arguing that “it cannot be ruled out that the SEC’s decision was not free from political influence.” The lawmakers reportedly said the SEC must maintain independence and fairness as a regulator, and called for a clear explanation of how major crypto cases were handled as well as disclosure of transparent standards.

According to CoinDesk, a media outlet specializing in digital assets (cryptocurrencies), Goldman Sachs has designated asset tokenization and prediction markets as core next-generation growth drivers and is accelerating the integration of related businesses. According to the report, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said, "We are in direct contact with leaders of major prediction-market platforms to explore cooperation, and we have also conveyed our views in Washington on the digital asset market structure bill (the CLARITY Act)." Goldman Sachs reportedly believes that if a clear regulatory framework is established, institutional investors’ adoption of digital assets will begin to accelerate in earnest starting this year, and it is said to be building out related infrastructure in preparation.

On the 15th (local time), Bloomberg reported that major US bank State Street plans to launch tokenised financial products. According to the report, State Street is pursuing the development of cash-equivalent financial products such as tokenised deposits and stablecoins, including money market funds (MMFs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This is part of a strategy to migrate traditional financial products onto blockchain-based rails to improve settlement efficiency and operational transparency. State Street said it expects demand for tokenised assets to expand, led by institutional investors, and plans to build out related infrastructure and product lineups in advance.

U.S. investment bank Benchmark said the postponement of the markup for the digital-asset (cryptocurrency) market-structure bill, the CLARITY Act, should be viewed as a positive window to align the bill’s key contentious issues. According to crypto-focused media outlet CoinDesk on the 15th (local time), Benchmark said in a report that “this markup delay is not a disruptive setback that undermines the bill’s direction, but rather a constructive effort to buy time to resolve the remaining core issues,” adding that “it could serve as an opportunity to narrow fundamental differences such as stablecoin revenue models.” It added that “the regulatory framework for tokenized securities is also likely to become clearer,” and that “the bill’s completeness will improve so that market participants can conduct business in a predictable regulatory environment.” Earlier, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee had postponed the markup of the digital-asset market-structure bill that had been scheduled for the 15th (local time). While some raised concerns that the delay could weaken legislative momentum, Benchmark instead interpreted it as a process that could enhance the quality of the final legislation.

The three major U.S. stock indexes are trading higher. As of 12:08 a.m. on the 16th, the Nasdaq Composite is up 0.74% from the previous day at 23,644.65 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.43% at 49,360.57, and the S&P 500 is up 0.51% at 6,961.79.

More than half of the virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) launched since mid-2021 are no longer trading, data showed. According to crypto-focused outlet CoinDesk on the 14th (local time), 53.2% of roughly 20.2 million virtual assets that came to market from mid-2021 through end-2025 are currently no longer trading. In 2025 alone, about 11.6 million tokens were tallied as having disappeared from the market. By year, the number of tokens removed totaled just 2,584 in 2021, then surged to about 1.3 million in 2024 before exploding in 2025. In particular, in the fourth quarter of 2025, about 7.7 million tokens halted trading in just three months, accounting for roughly 35% of all projects that have failed since 2021. The outlet noted that the spike came after the so-called “liquidation domino” last Oct. 10, when about $19 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated at once. That episode, it said, underscored how the crypto market at the time was structurally overly vulnerable to short-term speculation. “The crypto market’s low barriers to entry can foster innovation, but it also has a structural limitation in that a large number of projects lacking technical capabilities or real economic value can flow in,” the outlet analyzed.

According to Walter Bloomberg, a breaking-news account, on the 14th (local time), Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said the US economy and labor market are sending mixed signals. Kashkari said, "The current economic situation is confusing," adding that "there are signs of weakening in the labor market." However, he maintained a cautious stance on the specific policy path. He also issued a sharp critique of crypto assets (cryptocurrencies). Kashkari said, "Crypto assets are basically of little use to consumers," reaffirming his long-held skepticism that their real economic utility is limited.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its investigation into the Zcash Foundation. According to crypto-focused media outlet The Block on the 14th (local time), the SEC notified the foundation that it had concluded its investigation into the Zcash Foundation, which had been underway since 2023, and decided not to pursue any enforcement action or additional administrative measures. With this decision, Zcash is seen as having moved out from under the risk of direct sanctions by U.S. regulators, and it is also being viewed as an important precedent for regulatory interpretation surrounding privacy coins.

According to The Block, a media outlet specializing in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), tokenized brokerage infrastructure firm Alpaca said on the 14th (local time) that it raised $150 million in a Series D funding round. The company was valued at $1.15 billion. The round was led by Drive Capital, with participation from Citadel Securities, Opera Tech Ventures, DRW, Bank Muscat and Kraken, among others. Specific uses of the proceeds were not disclosed.

Tim Scott, chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, said it would be inappropriate to fold ethics rules aimed at barring President Donald Trump from involvement in digital-asset (cryptocurrency) businesses into the cryptocurrency legislation currently being advanced. In an interview with CoinDesk on the 14th (local time), Scott said the ethics dispute "falls outside the jurisdiction of the Senate Banking Committee," adding that it "should be handled separately by the Senate Ethics Committee." He added, "We can discuss it, but inserting it as-is into a crypto bill is far more difficult than people expect." The Senate Banking Committee is set to hold a vote Thursday on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which would govern the market structure for digital assets. The remarks are seen as drawing a line around the political and ethical issues raised ahead of deliberations, signaling that the market-structure legislation will keep its focus on overhauling the regulatory framework.

A member of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) reiterated that a substantial cut in the benchmark interest rate is needed this year to prevent a slowdown in the labor market. According to Walter Bloomberg, a breaking-news account, on the 14th (local time), Fed Board member Nellie Liang said, "A total of 150bp (1.50% points) of benchmark rate cuts is needed this year to prevent the labor market from weakening." She noted that recent employment indicators are showing signs of cooling, and said preemptive monetary easing could help mitigate downside risks to the economy. This is seen as a more dovish view than the gradual-cut expectations raised by parts of the market. Liang’s remarks underscore that differences of opinion exist within the Fed over the future rate path, further heightening market attention on this year’s monetary-policy direction.

The three major U.S. stock indexes are trading lower. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.30% from the previous session at 23,401.78 points as of 01:32 on the 15th. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.50% at 48,943.75, while the S&P 500 was down 0.89% at 6,902.01.

A member of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) said the growing adoption of stablecoins will further strengthen the influence of the U.S. dollar in the global financial system. According to Walter Bloomberg, an economic news alert account, on the 14th (local time), Fed Board member Nellie Liang said that as stablecoins expand their use worldwide, they could help cement the dollar’s international role. She said, “Dollar-pegged stablecoins can serve as a means to broaden access to dollars in cross-border payments and financial transactions,” adding that “this is highly likely to work in a direction that reinforces the dollar’s dominant position within the global financial system.” Liang’s remarks come as debate over stablecoin regulation in the United States gains momentum, suggesting that dollar-based digital assets could carry strategic significance from both geopolitical and monetary-policy perspectives.

The U.S. Supreme Court did not issue a decision on the legality of President Donald Trump’s universal global tariff policy on the day. According to Walter Bloomberg on June 14 (local time), the Supreme Court postponed a ruling on whether the universal global tariffs pursued by the Trump administration are unconstitutional during the opinion-release session scheduled for the day. The market had been watching for a possible conclusion on the constitutionality of Trump’s tariff policy, but the matter was not taken up in this session. As a result, legal uncertainty surrounding the tariff policy is expected to persist for the time being. Trump has previously warned that if the Supreme Court deems the tariff policy illegal, the United States could have to return hundreds of billions of dollars, which he said would cause “national chaos.” With the ruling deferred, market participants and policymakers are expected to focus even more closely on when the Supreme Court will weigh in and what it decides.

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower. The Nasdaq Composite Index on the 14th fell 0.10% from the previous session to 23,709.87 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 0.80% to 49,191.99 points, and the S&P 500 Index ended the session down 0.20% at 6,963.66 points.

Jeremy Barnum, JPMorgan’s chief financial officer (CFO), voiced strong concerns about crypto firms paying interest on stablecoins. According to crypto-focused media outlet CoinDesk on the 13th (local time), Barnum said on a recent earnings conference call that “paying interest on stablecoins has characteristics and risks similar to bank deposits, yet unlike banks, there is not an adequate regulatory framework in place,” adding that “this is clearly risky and undesirable.” He warned that if stablecoins effectively perform the same function as deposits, the risks to the broader financial system could increase. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, in a recently released draft of the crypto market structure bill (the CLARITY Act), set out clear requirements for paying stablecoin interest and rewards. Under the bill, stablecoin interest or rewards would be permitted only when accompanied by substantive economic activity—such as opening an account, trading, staking, or providing liquidity—while payouts based solely on holding would be restricted. The market views JPMorgan’s comments as likely to add momentum to discussions on tightening stablecoin regulation going forward.

A revised version of the draft US crypto market-structure bill, the CLARITY Act, is expected to be submitted within hours, according to The Block, a crypto-focused US media outlet, on the 13th (local time). Citing sources, the outlet reported that “a revised CLARITY Act will soon be submitted to the Senate, and regulation related to stablecoins will be tightened further.” The outlet added that the revision is expected to include stricter limits on stablecoin income (interest and rewards). Previously, the US Senate Banking Committee released a draft bill that would allow stablecoin interest or reward payments only when accompanied by substantive economic activity such as account opening, transactions, staking, or providing liquidity. The market expects that, if the revision passes, it will have a significant impact on stablecoin business models and revenue structures in the US.

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Americans staying in Iran to evacuate, and hinted at possible “support” for protesters inside Iran, but did not provide specifics. According to Walter Bloomberg, a breaking-news account, on the 13th (local time) Trump told reporters during a visit to Detroit that “it’s a good idea for Americans to evacuate Iran,” suggesting the situation in Iran could deteriorate. However, he declined to explain the meaning of his earlier post on the social media platform Truth Social that said, “help is on its way.” Asked about it, he only replied, “You’ll find out soon.” Earlier, Trump publicly backed anti-government protesters in Iran on Truth Social, urging them to keep protesting and seize state institutions. Meanwhile, foreign media reported that Trump’s envoy held undisclosed contacts with Iran’s exiled crown prince (Reza Pahlavi of the Pahlavi dynasty). The reports suggest the U.S. is combining behind-the-scenes outreach with message management regarding potential shifts in Iran’s internal political situation. Markets and diplomatic circles are watching closely, noting that Trump’s remarks could further heighten political instability in Iran and tensions across the Middle East.