Michael Selig, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, said that with the potential for "massive tokenization" to take hold in financial markets, regulators need to adapt existing markets to new technologies such as blockchain and artificial intelligence. Speaking on September 22 at a conference on the U.S. Treasury market held at the New York Fed, Selig said that developments such as tokenization, on-chain finance, and 24/7 trading are likely to change financial markets over the next decade more than the past several decades combined. The CFTC is moving forward on accommodating 24/7 trading; in May it published a staff advisory on 24/7 trading, clearing, and settlement, and in June it sought public comment on matters including 24/7 trading of standard futures contracts, with energy futures such as crude oil in mind. Selig also indicated that he plans to further examine ways to promote the "responsible adoption of stablecoins" by market participants, exchanges, and clearinghouses. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on the 17th published an "innovation exemption" establishing a framework under which tokenized U.S.-listed equities can be traded on-chain under certain conditions. With the CLARITY Act, which would set a regulatory framework for crypto asset markets, failing to clear a procedural vote in the Senate, the CFTC and the SEC are each pushing ahead with building systems designed for tokenization and on-chain finance.
Coinbase Opens IPO Share Buying to U.S. Retail Investors
Coinbase is giving U.S. retail investors access to initial public offerings through its platform, the crypto exchange said Monday. Eligible customers can now request IPO allocations directly through the Coinbase app, starting with smart ring maker Oura's IPO this week, and will be able to request shares at the offering price before the stock begins trading publicly. The feature is offered through Coinbase Capital Markets, the company's FINRA-registered broker-dealer, which participates in IPOs as a best-efforts selling-group member, collecting customer orders and sending them through clearing partner Apex Clearing Corporation. Coinbase cautioned that allocations are not guaranteed because final allocations depend on underwriter supply and total customer demand, so requests may be filled in full, in part, or not at all. The exchange also said its allocation system will favor investors who hold their IPO shares longer, with customers who sell within 30 days potentially barred from IPOs for the next 60 days and facing smaller future allocations for repeated quick selling. The move comes as Coinbase builds what it calls an Everything Exchange, and earlier this month it partnered with payments infrastructure provider Moov to bring stablecoin payment, settlement and funding services to more than 1,000 U.S. community banks and credit unions.
Bitcoin Tops $86,000 as Analysts Declare Crypto Winter Over
Bitcoin held above $86,000 on Tuesday after a multi-session rally that analysts say marks the end of the token's cyclical crypto winter. The token jumped more than 5% on Friday and another 6% on Monday, breaking solidly above its 50-day moving average. Sean Farrell, head of digital assets, told Yahoo Finance the breakout is credible and that the crypto winter is over, though he cautioned the path higher may not be linear. Compass Point analyst Ed Engle wrote that crypto is in the early innings of a new bull market with few signs of overheating, while Nansen senior research analyst Nicolai Sondergaard attributed the move to a combination of renewed ETF demand and a large short squeeze. Altcoins also surged after the Securities and Exchange Commission granted a five-year exemption last week for trading in certain tokenized stocks, a move that followed the Senate's failure to advance the Clarity Act. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.94 trillion on Monday, about 30% below its record valuation in October, when bitcoin reached an all-time high of more than $125,000.
Visa Joins Circle's Arc L1 as Founding Validator After $20B Stablecoin Settlement Run Rate
Visa has joined the founding validator cohort for Circle's Arc L1 blockchain, moving the payments giant from routing stablecoin traffic to helping secure the network itself. The cohort includes BlackRock, DTCC, Mastercard, and ICE. Visa's stablecoin settlement volume rose from a $3.5 billion annualized run rate in November 2025 to $7 billion by April 2026 and to an annualized $20 billion by September, a 15x year-over-year increase. Visa runs a dual-chain strategy: Solana remains the primary venue for production settlement with partners Cross River Bank and Lead Bank on a seven-day cycle, while Arc L1, which launched its mainnet on September 16, 2026, is a permissioned, USDC-native environment built for financial markets and agentic AI economic activity. Rubail Birwadker, Visa's Global Head of Growth Products and Strategic Partnerships, said Arc represents the compliant, high-trust network infrastructure needed to support onchain payments growth, and Circle Chief Product and Technology Officer Nikhil Chandhok said the work reflects growing demand for USDC and settlement infrastructure. The build-out comes ahead of the GENIUS Act enforcement cliff on January 18, 2027, after federal agencies missed the July 2026 rulemaking deadline, and as Visa expands to over 160 card programs in more than 50 countries.
