Flash News

TREE NEWS update: The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has opened crypto license applications, requiring firms that want to keep serving UK customers under the new regime starting October 2027 to win its approval. Existing firms face a February 28 deadline to apply, and the regulator said authorization will not be automatic.

TREE NEWS update: The Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose rule amendments aimed at facilitating capital formation in public and private markets by expanding retail investor choice and promoting innovation in regulated fund structures. The proposal, announced by the agency, would broaden retail participation in private markets while keeping the structures within the existing regulatory framework. No effective date or further details were disclosed.

TREE NEWS update: Former UK National Crime Agency officer Paul Chowles has been ordered to repay $2.4 million for 50 bitcoin he stole from a Silk Road 2.0 seizure in 2017, when the coins were worth about $77,000. Prosecutors now value the theft at more than 30 times that amount.

TREE NEWS update: Swiss National Bank board member Tschudin said the design of digital currencies must not restrict central banks’ ability to carry out their functions. Stablecoins, and features weakly tied to the two-tier financial system, make the transmission of monetary policy more difficult, he said. Tschudin did not specify which stablecoins or jurisdictions he was referring to.

TREE NEWS update: The CFTC has submitted two regulatory proposals to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. One proposed rule would explicitly classify event contracts as swaps and proceed to public comment; a separate interim final rule would exclude casino-style gaming products from the swap definition and take effect upon administrative approval. The move responds to rulings by the Sixth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeals, with the Supreme Court having accepted three appeals on the swap definition.

TREE NEWS reports: THORChain will not, or cannot, block addresses linked to the $387.5 million Bitget hack. Whether the protocol’s developers could face money-laundering prosecution over the stolen funds is complicated, Brisov said, leaving the legal exposure of the decentralized exchange unresolved.

TREE NEWS update: The UK Financial Conduct Authority has begun accepting crypto authorization applications ahead of its new regime, with a deadline of Feb. 28, 2027. UK firms will face fresh vetting under the framework. The FCA opened the application window as the country prepares to bring crypto activity under formal oversight in 2027.

TREE NEWS update: Cambricon disclosed that former vice general manager Liang Jun, who left the company in early 2022, has expanded his equity-incentive lawsuit against it to 27.832 billion yuan, up from an earlier claim of 4.287 billion yuan. The case has been filed but not yet heard, and the company said it will actively defend its legal rights.

TREE NEWS update: The Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors voted 6-1 on Wednesday to adopt changes to its annual bank stress tests, the post-2008 crisis framework that gauges how Wall Street banks would fare in a hypothetical recession. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said the reform keeps the tests robust by making them more transparent, granular and risk-sensitive. The two final rules largely match versions proposed in 2025, and the Fed also sought comment on a plan to better reflect differences in fee income across bank business models.

TREE NEWS update: The Federal Reserve Board finalized changes to its stress test framework aimed at enhancing transparency and public accountability while reducing volatility in stress test-related capital requirements. The decision, announced by the central bank, sets the rules for how banks’ capital buffers are calculated under the annual exams. No specific date or implementation timeline was provided in the announcement.

TREE NEWS reports: Crypto projects that buy back their own tokens have faced US legal uncertainty for nearly a decade, and the SEC’s buyback guidance is narrower than it looks. A buyback funded by a project’s revenue can resemble a promise of profits from someone else’s work, which is part of what makes such programs legally risky. Projects are being urged to test whether their buyback passes the SEC’s standard.

TREE NEWS update: Wu Jian, former Party secretary and chairman of Southwest Securities Co., Ltd., is under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation on suspicion of serious violations of discipline and law, Chongqing’s municipal discipline inspection and supervision commission said. The case is being handled by the commission’s disciplinary review and supervisory investigation procedures.

TREE NEWS update: The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has opened its crypto authorization window ahead of the 2027 UK regime, with crypto businesses required to apply by Feb. 28, 2027. Existing money laundering registrations will not convert into FCA authorization, meaning registered firms must go through the full application process.

TREE NEWS update: Crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto released its first round of Senate endorsements, weeks after the Clarity Act stalled in the Senate. The endorsements mark the group’s first foray into Senate races. No candidates or states were disclosed in the announcement.

TREE NEWS reports: The CFTC is investigating former congressman Adam Kinzinger over wagers he placed on Kalshi about his own pardon, he said. Kinzinger, who made $823 on the trades, said he had no inside information and had checked the platform’s rules before betting. The previously unreported inquiry was first disclosed in a report.

TREE NEWS update: Liu Minghong, former deputy party secretary, vice chairman and general manager of Guangxi Investment Group Co., Ltd., has been expelled from the Communist Party and dismissed from public office, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Discipline Inspection and Supervision Commission announced on the 30th. The commission said it opened a disciplinary review and investigation into Liu’s serious violations of discipline and law with the approval of the regional party committee.

TREE NEWS update: China implemented 6 mandatory national standards and 248 recommended national standards starting October 1, covering areas including production process safety, optical radiation safety, dip-coating safety, urban heating, waste lithium battery recycling, sanitary ceramics and exhibition venues. The standards are intended to safeguard production safety and personal health, improve winter heating quality, protect the ecological environment and meet public living needs.

TREE NEWS update: China’s State Administration for Market Regulation released three technical guidance documents for clinical trials of food for special medical purposes, covering sarcopenia, dyslipidemia, and obesity and bariatric surgery. The documents set out trial requirements for these specific full-nutrition formula foods. The regulator published the guidance as a set of three principles.

TREE NEWS update: Polymarket introduced deposit limits, temporary and permanent self-exclusion lists, and addiction-support measures, letting users set limits that cannot be immediately reversed. The prediction market is also partnering with gambling-addiction treatment provider Birches Health. Global head of safety Malea Otranto said the company will track usage of the tools and may adjust based on results. Sports and parlay trading accounted for over 98% of Polymarket’s US platform volume this month.