Coinbase Lands Key Licenses as Crypto Market Sees Regulatory Milestones
Coinbase has made significant strides in expanding its services and regulatory approvals. The company now holds three key licenses from the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission): exchange, broker, and clearinghouse. This allows Coinbase Clearing to settle fully collateralized contracts with USDC around the clock.
The SEC has issued guidance on token buybacks, stating that buyback announcements from issuers of decentralized assets are not automatically considered a managerial efforts promise. However, if a buyback is tied to yield on a non-functional network, it could be treated differently.
Morgan Stanley has established a Digital Asset Lab to test stablecoins, tokenization, and DeFi without affecting core banking systems. Swift's CEO, Javier Perez-Tasso, emphasized that the question is no longer TradFi vs DeFi; instead, Swift's platform should move any regulated value, fiat or tokenized, at global scale.
Cboe and S&P Dow Jones have extended their S&P 500 options license through 2051 and may explore tokenized options. A paper circulating between Citi, Swift, and DTCC describes the launch of DTCC's tokenization service in October 2026 on Canton for tokenized Treasuries, equities, and ETFs.
Bitget is still dealing with last week's $388M hack, which CEO Gracy Chen believes was linked to a North Korea-linked group. After withdrawals reopened, the exchange saw large net outflows. NEAR Intents' SHIELD system blocked some stolen funds.