JPMorgan, Goldman, Invesco Test Blockchain Across Wall Street
Tokenization
“For four hours in July, some of the biggest players in finance put Wall Street’s long-running blockchain experiment to work across an ordinary trading day. After years of tests with digital versions of securities, cash and trading networks, the focus has shifted to whether these technologies could work together. This time, nearly 40 firms were testing how tokenized assets could move through the institutions that keep modern markets moving. Over blockchain networks, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Invesco Ltd. and Citadel Securities LLC traded stocks and Treasuries, posted collateral, met margin calls and transferred assets. Overseeing it all was the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., which monitored the exercise from 'war rooms' in New York and New Jersey as the firms completed dozens of transactions across various use cases.”
Source: Bloomberg
SEC Clears Franklin Templeton Funds to Use Onchain BENJI System for Cash Management
Tokenization
“The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management has issued a no-action letter to Franklin Templeton, clearing the way for the firm’s traditional registered funds to invest in its blockchain-based OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund. In the letter, posted Wednesday, the SEC cites Section 17(f) and Rule 17f-2 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, enabling registered funds to hold shares of the onchain money market fund for cash management without meeting certain physical-vault requirements. 'Essentially, it opens the door for Franklin’s registered funds (mutual funds, ETFs, etc) to hold its OnChain fund despite not technically satisfying 1940 Act custody rules,' Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said on X. ”
Source: The Block
Wintermute Plans $1 Billion AI Push Into Traditional Markets
Infrastructure
“Wintermute Trading Ltd. intends to invest about $1 billion in high-frequency trading and artificial intelligence data center infrastructure over the next five years, as the digital assets market maker looks to diversify into traditional markets following a slump in crypto. The nine-year-old trading firm is attempting to reinvent itself as a dealer in equities, commodities and foreign exchange, in the mold of heavyweights such as Jane Street Group or Citadel Securities, Founder and Chief Executive Officer Evgeny Gaevoy said in an interview. 'We are now going up against firms that have spent decades optimizing their technology and infrastructure for these markets, so obviously the level of investment required is significant,' he said.”
Source: Bloomberg
Hong Kong Stablecoin Selection Expands With Standard Chartered-led Venture’s Launch
Stablecoins
“A Standard Chartered-led joint venture kicked off institutional use of Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoins on Wednesday, a year after the city put its stablecoin law into effect as part of an effort to become a global hub for digital assets. Retail use of the regulated cryptocurrency was expected 'as early as end-2026', subject to market conditions, said Anchorpoint Financial, a Hong Kong-licensed stablecoin issuer, in a statement on Wednesday. A joint venture formed by Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands and HKT, Anchorpoint said it began the first phase of its HKDAP coin roll-out via beta access, enabling initial distributors and users to begin integrating it into commercial applications. HKDAP stands for 'Hong Kong dollar at par', the company said.”
Source: South China Morning Post
Bank of England to Test Stablecoin, Digital Currency Use in Cross-border Finance
Stablecoins
“The Bank of England (BOE) is testing how stablecoins and a digital pound can work together as central banks globally grapple with how the two payment mechanisms interact to modernize cross-border finance. By moving its digital pound exploration into Phase 2, the BOE is testing whether public stablecoin infrastructure and central bank money can coexist in a single payment flow for trade finance, it said Wednesday. The BOE has been experimenting with a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and the distributed-ledger technology that forms the backbone of the blockchain since 2024. Central banks worldwide are exploring how to regulate private stablecoins, which are crypto tokens whose value is pegged to a fiat currency, alongside potential state-issued digital versions of their currencies, or CBDCs. At the heart of the experiment is the improvement of trade finance, which would particularly benefit small businesses, according to Otto Jacobsson, U.K. chapter lead at the Digital Assets Association. Trade-finance delays make it harder for those firms to prove creditworthiness and access funding, he said.”
Source: CoinDesk
