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Korean KakaoPay's securities and tokenization platform Dinari and Ondo Finance have reached separate collaborations to explore the on-chain integration of Korean listed stocks and distribution to overseas market investors. KakaoPay announced these two independent agreements on Tuesday, covering the acquisition of target Korean stocks, tokenization infrastructure, and potential distribution arrangements outside of Korea.The collaboration with Dinari will rely on its dShares model for a proof of concept, which aims to retain shareholder rights, including dividends and voting. Dinari currently offers 724 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs through dShares, and this collaboration explores extending that model to stocks of Korean listed companies. Dinari CEO Gabe Otte stated that the proof of concept has not yet selected specific Korean listed companies and has not set a commercialization timeline; the proposed model will use locally listed stocks in Korea as the underlying assets, rather than tokens that only track their prices.The initial focus of the agreement with Ondo is to establish a framework for the acquisition and custody of Korean listed stocks, preparing for subsequent tokenization. KakaoPay will operate a comprehensive account for foreign investors to hold and manage the underlying stocks, and both parties will also study the issuance and redemption mechanisms for tokens. This collaboration comes as Korea advances its token securities regulatory framework: the Korean National Assembly passed an amendment in January this year, recognizing distributed ledgers as legitimate securities registries; the Financial Services Commission included it in capital market reforms in June; and the framework is set to take effect in February 2027.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) and index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that they have extended their exclusive licensing agreement for 25 years, which will keep their long-term collaboration going until 2051.According to the extension agreement, Cboe will continue to hold exclusive trading rights for its flagship S&P 500 Index (SPX) options. Cboe and S&P Dow Jones Industrial Average (S&P DJI) may also collaborate beyond traditional index derivatives to explore innovations, including new products such as tokenized options contracts.

ENS Labs, the developer of the Ethereum Name Service, is exploring with the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) how institutions can associate their ENS names with verifiable Legal Entity Identifiers (vLEI), thereby creating a continuous and verifiable identity on the blockchain.ENS is the domain and identity system of the Ethereum ecosystem, allowing users to replace long addresses with human-readable names. GLEIF is responsible for managing the global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) system, and vLEI is its verifiable version used to confirm the legal entity identity of organizations. The direction of this collaboration is to connect on-chain names with regulated legal identity credentials, but the specific product form and launch time have not been disclosed in public posts.

According to official news, Tether, corporate and institutional bank Pave Bank, and the Singapore non-profit organization GFTN (Global Financial and Technology Network) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 24, 2026, to jointly explore the launch of the "Georgia-Singapore FinTech Scholar Program."The program aims to select outstanding STEM undergraduates from Tbilisi State University to study for one semester at Singapore Management University starting in 2027. The content will cover academic courses, industry exchanges, mentorship, and a graduation project focusing on the Georgia-Southeast Asia FinTech corridor. Participants will also have the opportunity for internships with partner organizations and access to GFTN's global knowledge network resources.Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that this collaboration aims to open global opportunities for young talent and help build a more inclusive financial future.

According to PR Newswire, Blockchain.com and the New York Stock Exchange Group (NYSE Group) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU), planning to provide Blockchain.com’s global users with trading access to tokenized U.S. listed stocks and ETFs through the digital ATS platform previously announced by NYSE, with the implementation still pending regulatory approval.The cooperation includes two-way market data distribution: ICE Data Services, a subsidiary of NYSE, plans to distribute Blockchain.com’s cryptocurrency market data and analysis to its subscription clients; Blockchain.com will integrate data sources from ICE and NYSE to provide real-time stock quotes for over 44 million registered accounts.Citi Institute predicts that the market size of tokenized assets will reach $5.5 trillion in the baseline scenario by 2030. Tokenized stocks offer advantages such as fragmented ownership, round-the-clock trading, access for global investors, and faster on-chain settlement.

Korean fintech company Kakao Pay and internet bank KakaoBank have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Fireblocks to jointly explore digital asset opportunities, including stablecoins. According to the agreement, both parties will conduct proof-of-concept testing for digital asset infrastructure that meets South Korean regulatory, security, and service requirements, aiming to build a secure on-chain infrastructure for the country's emerging digital asset market. The announcement did not disclose specific timelines for launch, investment, or implementation.Kakao Pay primarily focuses on mobile payments and financial services, while KakaoBank is one of the largest internet banks in South Korea, both belonging to the Kakao ecosystem. Fireblocks stated that it provides digital asset infrastructure for over 2,500 institutions, including more than 100 banks. This collaboration follows another partnership between Kakao Group and stablecoin issuer Circle, where the two signed an MoU in July this year to explore blockchain-based payment infrastructure and digital asset technology, and to study opportunities surrounding the Korean won stablecoin and related services.As South Korea gradually improves its digital asset regulatory framework, Kakao Pay and KakaoBank are among many Korean financial and tech companies exploring stablecoin opportunities. In May this year, KB Financial Group completed a pilot for a Korean won stablecoin covering issuance, offline merchant payments, and cross-border remittances; in July, fintech company Toss collaborated with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs to conduct a proof of concept for Korean won-based stablecoin payment infrastructure.

Commissioner Hester M. Peirce of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made a statement regarding the committee's approval of the "innovation exemption."This exemption is a temporary, conditional arrangement that allows "tokenized securities venues" (TSV) to trade NMS "National Market System" stocks on-chain: TSV provides automated market maker liquidity pools and sets participant admission standards, and is exempt from the definition of "exchange" under the Securities Exchange Act; specific suppliers providing liquidity to TSV are exempt from the definition of "dealer." If issuers do not wish for their stocks to trade on TSV, they can choose to opt-out. The exemption is aimed at U.S. entities, and both existing institutions and new entrants can participate.Peirce emphasized that the committee does not presuppose that parties relying on this exemption necessarily fall under the definitions of "exchange" or "dealer," but rather hopes to first observe who is using it and how it is being used before making regulatory judgments.Peirce clearly delineated the boundaries of this order: it is not about decentralized finance. Systems that are driven by automated software and are truly decentralized do not raise fundamental concerns of securities regulation, namely that intermediaries trusted by investors may be foolish, careless, or compromised; investors using permissionless smart contracts for peer-to-peer transactions do not fundamentally require an exemption. TSV is merely one model of on-chain securities trading, and the committee is open to other models, as on-chain trading models that can comply with existing Securities Exchange Act requirements may not require an exemption at all.

Etherscan announced the launch of the Arc blockchain explorer ArcScan, where users can query data such as transactions, addresses, and blocks on the Arc chain.ArcScan also provides API support, and the Arc network chain ID is 5042.

Fidelity Digital Assets released the Q4 Crypto Market Outlook, noting that at the end of August, Bitcoin and the crypto market surged significantly, with major tokens like BTC and ETH recording their largest monthly gains since the end of 2025. Some investors are focusing on whether a bear market bottom will form in November (based on the 4-year cycle theory), but Fidelity warns that this pattern may not repeat— the bottom may have already occurred in July, or it could reach new lows in November or later.Fidelity pointed out that historically, the end of a bear market is usually accompanied by a low volatility period followed by price expansion. At the end of August, BTC rose over 25% in a single week, while ETH and SOL increased by 34.1% and 28%, respectively. Recent security incidents involving hardware wallets and the stagnation of the CLARITY Act have not suppressed prices, which may further reinforce the judgment that crypto assets are nearing a bottom. The trading volume of stablecoins has reached 2.3 times that of Visa, and the RWA market is expected to grow faster in 2026 than in previous years, with on-chain adoption continuing to increase. The CLARITY Act is still under review in the Senate, and the SEC proposed the Regulation Crypto Assets last week. Fidelity advises investors to maintain a long-term perspective.

According to a report by the Korea Herald, South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group announced that it has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Visa. The two parties will collaborate on digital assets and future financial services.Shinhan Financial plans to utilize Visa's stablecoin platform to verify core functions such as stablecoin issuance, transfer, and redemption, and to jointly design business models in conjunction with South Korea's local financial regulations and market environment. The two sides will also explore the application of stablecoins in financial services such as credit card bill settlements, promote AI-driven new payment models, and expand B2B and B2C payment businesses.

Tencent Interactive Entertainment Group (IEG) is integrating ARC Lab and the Game AI Engine Department to establish a new AI gaming department (tentatively named ARC Lab), led by Chen Dong, the head of Tencent Games Public Technology. The aim is to explore AI-native games. The department currently has about 100 people, with plans to expand to 400 to 500, and is actively recruiting on a large scale for top multimodal generation teams, covering areas such as audio and video foundational models, video world models, Agents, etc.According to informed sources, the early formation model of the department references the talent and data supply chain paths of Seedance and Keling, focusing on exploring the possibility of directly generating games from video models. Tencent IEG has a cash flow of 130.1 billion yuan in game revenue for the first half of the year and approximately 10,000 H card computing power reserves, as well as exclusive game data that cannot be accessed by the mixed Yuan large model. Currently, Tencent's AI game development is showing a parallel multi-system situation: TEG provides basic capabilities, the IEG middle platform integrates tools, and the four major studios are advancing independently, with no unified standards yet. The specific organizational structure is still being refined, and the final plan will be subject to official announcement.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the predicted market Polymarket for the event "Cincinnati Open: Lorenzo Musetti vs. Frances Tiafoe," the "Cincinnati Open: Lorenzo Musetti vs. Frances Tiafoe Second Set Winner" sub-market's "Musetti" option has experienced a drastic fluctuation in winning probability, dropping from 48% an hour ago to the current 17% (a fluctuation of 31%). Please note the impact of relevant breaking news.

According to The Block, Bitwise has partnered with Superstate to explore the tokenization of its Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL).ETF expert Nate Geraci commented that in the coming months, asset management companies will release a large number of such press releases.

Chairman Paul S. Atkins of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wrote to Robert Walley, Chairman of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) Operating Committee, indicating that the SEC plans to undertake a comprehensive reform of the CAT system, including adjustments to its governance structure, funding sources, and operational model.Atkins stated that during his tenure, the SEC has significantly reduced the annual operating costs of CAT by issuing exemptions and approving amendments to the CAT NMS plan, and has eliminated the requirement to report personally identifiable information (PII) to the CAT system.These reforms have lowered system costs and the scope of data collection, but CAT still faces fundamental issues regarding costs, governance, and funding mechanisms. To address these issues, the SEC released a concept request for comments on April 16, 2026, to conduct a comprehensive review of CAT and other audit trail systems and data sources used in the regulation of U.S. securities markets.The SEC indicated that it has received hundreds of feedback comments, with one core consensus being that investors and market participants want the SEC to take more responsibility for the management and funding arrangements of CAT.Atkins stated that he has asked SEC staff to propose deep reforms for CAT, including: 1. Exploring new funding sources for CAT, including the use of congressional appropriations and transaction fees under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act; 2. Drafting rule proposals that, if approved, would repeal Rule 613 and require exchanges, FINRA, and broker-dealers to continue using the existing CAT infrastructure and reporting standards to submit CAT data directly to the SEC or its designated agency; 3. Assessing the internal resource needs of the SEC to prepare for the SEC's future assumption of governance responsibilities for CAT.The SEC expects that this reform will involve multiple stages and will need to be advanced simultaneously, with the overall transition potentially lasting until the end of 2027.

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is exploring how tokenized gold can be incorporated into the wholesale market, including whether it can be used as collateral. The discussions involve regulatory approaches aimed at the institutional market, with relevant rules expected to be announced in the coming months.This regulatory discussion comes as London seeks to solidify its position as a global gold trading hub. Data from the World Gold Council shows that London currently accounts for about 70% of global gold trading volume, while Shanghai and Hong Kong are vying for a larger share of wholesale business. HSBC launched a tokenized gold product for retail investors in Hong Kong over two years ago and reported that the cumulative trading volume has exceeded $2.2 billion, with more than 276,000 transactions. The FCA does not directly regulate physical gold trading but oversees gold derivatives and publicly traded products in the market.