Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Republican member of the US Senate Banking Committee, said he expects the sweeping CLARITY Act to advance out of the committee by April. Speaking at Vanderbilt University's Digital Assets and Emerging Tech Policy Summit, the Tennessee senator said committee work on the measure could begin as soon as next week. Hagerty struck a cautiously upbeat tone, saying there are still unresolved issues but none he views as "insurmountable." If enacted, the CLARITY Act would shift primary oversight of crypto markets from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a major change in the US regulatory framework.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Monday the agency is preparing to propose a new crypto regulatory framework aimed at clarifying how it will oversee the sector, including which types of transactions should be treated as securities and which should not. Speaking in remarks cited by ChainCatcher via CoinDesk, Atkins said the draft rule has already been submitted to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, putting it one step from formal publication. He added that the initiative will be grounded primarily in the Securities Act of 1933 and is expected to address areas such as fundraising and exemptions for startups. After a Q&A session, Atkins also said the SEC plans to roll out the long-awaited "innovation exemption" in the near term.

April 7 — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is moving toward a new rule proposal aimed at clarifying how it regulates the crypto sector, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Monday, according to CoinDesk. The framework is expected to outline which crypto-related transactions may be treated as securities and which would fall outside that definition. Atkins said the proposed "crypto regulation" has been submitted to the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, putting it one step from formal publication. He added that the effort is anchored in the Securities Act of 1933 and is set to address topics including capital raising and exemptions for startups. Following a Q&A session, Atkins also said the SEC plans to roll out the long-awaited "innovation exemption" in the near term.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is nearing a proposal for a 'regulation crypto' framework that would spell out how the agency plans to oversee the crypto industry and clarify which transactions may fall under securities laws and which do not, SEC Chair Paul Atkins said Monday. Atkins said the draft is currently with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, putting it one step away from publication. Speaking at an event hosted by Vanderbilt University and the Blockchain Association, he said the rulemaking centers on the Securities Act of 1933 and will cover issues including fundraising and exemptions for startups. After his question-and-answer session, Atkins told CoinDesk the SEC also expects to release its long-anticipated innovation exemption soon. 'We'd love to have reactions and everything else,' he said, adding that while it is not a formal rule, the agency wants feedback on how it works in practice and whether market participants encounter problems. He said the exemption is designed so it would not disadvantage incumbents or focus only on startups. 'We want people really to experiment within [that] framework,' he said. Atkins repeatedly pointed to Congress's role, arguing the SEC's rulemaking effort is already well underway regardless of what lawmakers may do. 'I think we have enough of a runway now, even notwithstanding what may happen in the midterms — although I really still want a friendly Congress obviously — they can throw tacks on the road in front of our tires but they're not going to really slow us down,' he said. He also urged the audience 'to be engaged in this upcoming election,' citing Sen. Bernie Moreno as an example. 'To have Congress really veer off track is not going to any of us any good, and it's going to put a lot more questions into the future because people then just have 'oh gosh, maybe this is again a passing phase,'' he said. 'We've got to make sure that your friends are in Congress. I think you saw how that really paid benefits in the last election.'

Iran has moved to formalize a long-rumored toll regime for the Strait of Hormuz, requiring ultralarge crude carriers to pay fees to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) through settlement channels that exclude the U.S. dollar. Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi confirmed the policy at a regular press briefing in Tehran on April 2. Bloomberg, citing internal documents from the IRGC Navy, said the system was technically deployed by the end of March. Under the arrangement, tolls can be paid only via renminbi wire transfer or in USD-pegged stablecoins through a decentralized network. Iranian customs has set up a dedicated cryptocurrency exchange window on Qeshm Island so receipts can be rapidly converted into rials or routed to overseas accounts. The design reflects Iran's efforts to bypass sanctions constraints embedded in traditional shipping settlement rails such as SWIFT and correspondent banking, where Iran-linked flows can trigger U.S. Treasury secondary sanctions. By pairing China's cross-border RMB payment infrastructure with public blockchains, Tehran is building a parallel settlement path outside dollar-centric monitoring. Braemar, a London-based shipping broker, said at least two oil tankers flying lesser-known flags completed renminbi payments and transited safely by the end of March. Domestically, the mechanism gained additional legal footing after Iran's Parliament's National Security Committee passed the "Hormuz Strait Transit Management Act" on March 30. Pricing is reported to be tiered by geopolitical alignment. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the plan, said oil transit charges start at $0.50 per barrel and are divided into five tiers by country relationship: - Tier 1 (ally special rate): $0.5–$0.7 per barrel for China and Russia, with a dedicated "green channel" that can allow passage based on routine reporting. - Tier 2 (friendly partners): $0.80–$0.90 per barrel for countries such as India and Pakistan. - Tier 3 (neutral countries): $1 per barrel for Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, requiring declaration and clearance after inspection confirms no hostile assets. - Tier 4 (high-risk countries): $1.2–$1.5 per barrel for U.S.-aligned but non-hostile countries such as Japan and South Korea, plus many EU nations, subject to full monitoring and potentially lengthy approval queues. - Tier 5: the United States, Israel, and their allies are barred. After payment, the IRGC is said to issue a license code and routing instructions. Vessels must fly the flag of a country that has negotiated a transit agreement with Iran and may be required to re-register under that flag. Approaching Hormuz, ships must broadcast the transit code over VHF radio, after which a patrol craft intercepts and escorts them along the coastline past a cluster of islands described by industry sources as "Iranian toll booths." The move marks a rare attempt by a sovereign state to embed stablecoin settlement into strategic payment infrastructure at commercial scale. The Strait of Hormuz carries about 21% of global crude oil seaborne flows, with dozens of vessels transiting daily. If sustained, the arrangement could channel more than $20 billion a year in stablecoins into Iran-controlled digital wallets, creating a sovereign-protected gray liquidity pool. Market participants are also watching spillovers into marine insurance and trade finance. The International Group of P&I Clubs has circulated an internal alert warning that payments linked to the IRGC may create sanctions-compliance exposure under EU and UK rules and could jeopardize coverage validity. Shipowners face a cost-risk tradeoff: rerouting around the Cape of Good Hope can add 15 days and tens of thousands of dollars in fuel, while paying crypto-linked tolls raises the risk of account freezes. Some commodity traders are reportedly exploring Pakistani intermediaries. Islamabad has recently said it would allow 20 international tankers to fly the Pakistani flag, potentially offering an offshore channel compatible with the Iranian framework. Iran is not alone in testing geography-driven tolling with alternative settlement. Russia has previously floated similar fee concepts for the Northern Sea Route and has publicly discussed accepting cryptocurrency payments. Risks remain. Major stablecoins such as USDT and USDC are still pegged to the U.S. dollar and remain exposed to OFAC tracking. A key challenge is whether IRGC-linked entities can scale the conversion of on-chain receipts into physical assets or fiat currency (rial) while limiting enforcement exposure. Still, as long as Iran retains its geographic leverage over Hormuz, the experiment is poised to keep pressuring the established playbook for global energy trade settlement.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins said a major crypto "safe harbor" proposal has entered final review at the White House. The framework is currently with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the last regulatory gate before a rule can be formally published. Atkins, speaking Monday at a Vanderbilt University digital assets summit, called the development "exciting" and said the regulation is coming "shortly." The plan would let crypto projects raise capital without immediate SEC registration by providing a four-year startup exemption period. The proposal is widely seen as the most consequential move toward formal U.S. crypto regulation in years.

South Korea's financial regulator has instructed all domestic crypto exchanges to reconcile customer asset balances every five minutes after a major mistaken payout earlier this year undermined market confidence. The new requirements follow an incident in February in which Bithumb, during a promotional campaign, mistakenly credited users with 2,000 BTC each instead of 2,000 Korean won (about $1.40). The error amounted to an estimated $42 billion in misallocated crypto. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) launched emergency inspections across the country's five major exchanges. The regulator said the findings pointed to broader operational weaknesses: most venues reconciled accounts only once every 24 hours; three lacked an automated "kill switch" to stop trading when large discrepancies emerged; four did not have multi-step approval controls for high-risk manual transactions; and two had not segregated general accounts from high-risk transaction accounts. On April 6, the FSC unveiled a three-pillar reform package. Exchanges must implement automated balance checks every five minutes, with alerts and automatic trading halts triggered by significant mismatches. The audit cadence will shift to monthly external audits from a quarterly schedule. Public disclosures will also be expanded to include asset-by-asset on-chain holdings rather than a simple coverage ratio. For manual, high-risk operations such as event payouts, exchanges will be required to use segregated accounts, deploy validation systems that automatically reject mismatched inputs, and obtain third-party cross-verification before execution. The FSC will also require exchanges to appoint dedicated risk management officers and set up risk management committees, aligning expectations more closely with traditional financial institutions. Regulatory compliance checks will move from annual reviews to twice-yearly inspections, with results reported to authorities. DAXA, the industry body, is expected to finalize self-regulatory amendments this month, with system upgrades to be completed by May. The key provisions are set to inform South Korea's forthcoming second-phase Digital Asset Act.

Indonesian courts convicted three people in cases heard between 2024 and 2025 for channeling funds to terrorist groups through cryptocurrency, according to ChainThink. One defendant was found to have sent more than 49,000 USDT in 15 separate transfers to networks tied to ISIS. The country's financial intelligence unit, PPATK, worked with police to track the flows on-chain, using blockchain analysis to build evidence presented in court. Since 2024, Indonesia has tightened oversight of crypto trading platforms, requiring operators to comply with antimoney laundering and counterterrorism financing (AML/CFT) rules.

A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) report warns that wider adoption of blockchain-based tokenisation could amplify the severity of financial crises. The IMF argues that atomic, near-instant settlement on blockchain networks may compress the window regulators typically have to intervene during market stress. Instant settlement is often cited as a key benefit of tokenising real-world assets (RWAs). Source: The Block