cross-border

According to Cointelegraph, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a policy research report titled "Stablecoin Sprint," gathering opinions from industry participants such as banks, payment companies, and stablecoin issuers.The report points out that stablecoins have recently shown significant advantages in the field of cross-border payments, especially providing substantial assistance to emerging markets with limited access to US dollar channels; however, in the domestic retail payment scenario in the UK, the existing payment systems are already relatively fast and inexpensive, leading to a lack of motivation for consumers to switch, and the adoption speed is expected to lag behind. The findings of the above research have been incorporated into the final regulatory rules released by the FCA on June 30, which require that stablecoins issued in the UK must be fully backed by reserve assets and redeemable at face value.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated in its financial system stability assessment report released this month that Brazil's cross-border capital flows based on cryptocurrency have continued to grow since 2017, surpassing traditional capital flows. The report indicates that these capital flows are mostly driven by stablecoins, as businesses and retail investors use stablecoins for efficiency and tax-related reasons. The flow of stablecoins is related to international and local investment indicators such as the S&P 500, VIX, and Bitcoin prices, and is also influenced by exchange rates, interest rates, policy uncertainty, and changes in tax policies.The IMF noted that the Central Bank of Brazil has taken measures to regulate the virtual asset service provider (VASP) industry, but there are still shortcomings in areas such as customer legal protection and asset segregation. Comprehensive implementation of international standards such as the travel rule for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) is still needed. The report pointed out that Brazil's cryptocurrency system is connected to the traditional financial system, and regulators need to cooperate with domestic and international regulatory bodies to establish a more robust reporting mechanism. The Brazilian Congress is preparing to review Bill 4308/2024 to regulate the status of stablecoins.

KB Kookmin Bank announced that it will launch a cross-border corporate payment service based on the Kinexys blockchain payment network under JPMorgan in August, becoming the first financial institution in South Korea to apply this network for import and export enterprise settlements.It is reported that the service will initially support USD remittances, covering 10 countries including the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and is expected to shorten the cross-time zone payment time with regions such as the United States and the Middle East.

The Shanghai Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has collaborated with ICBC Singapore Branch to successfully implement the country's first cross-border payment business between China and Singapore based on the digital renminbi cross-border settlement comprehensive service platform "Digital Currency Express" (CBETS). This transaction, involving nearly ten million yuan in import shipping fees, was fully paid using digital renminbi, with funds arriving in the Singapore recipient's account on the same day, achieving "zero time difference" and "high transparency" in cross-border fund transfers. The service targets subsidiaries of central enterprise group trade platforms that regularly need to procure iron ore from abroad and pay for shipping fees, with high frequency and large amounts of cross-border settlements."Digital Currency Express" is a cross-border settlement infrastructure built by the International Operation Center of Digital Renminbi under the guidance of the People's Bank of China's Digital Currency Research Institute. Overseas participants can access services through the Hong Kong access point "One Point Access", compatible with both centralized and blockchain systems, and the message standards comply with ISO20022. On June 16, 2026, the first batch of 26 financial institutions signed direct participant service agreements. This business marks a significant breakthrough for ICBC in leveraging the infrastructure of the International Operation Center of Digital Renminbi to establish an integrated cross-border clearing system for domestic and foreign branches, achieving comprehensive coverage of two-way digital renminbi payment and receipt services with Singapore and Laos.

Cryptocurrency trading and liquidity service provider Cumberland announced on platform X that its Singapore subsidiary Cumberland SG Pte. Ltd. has obtained the MPI license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), allowing it to provide Digital Payment Token (DPT) services and cross-border money transfer services.

According to Forbes, the stablecoin banking platform Flex announced the completion of a $70 million B1 round of financing, led by Halo Fund.The new funds will be used to expand its stablecoin-based cross-border commercial banking platform Flex Global, helping medium-sized enterprises conduct global payments and fund management through stablecoin infrastructure.Data shows that the annual payment scale of stablecoins has reached approximately $390 billion, with inter-enterprise transactions growing by about 733% year-on-year. Meanwhile, the settlement scale of Visa stablecoins has reached an annualized $7 billion as of April 2026, a year-on-year increase of 50%.

Cryptocurrency trading and liquidity service provider Cumberland announced on platform X that its Singapore subsidiary Cumberland SG Pte. Ltd. has obtained the MPI license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), allowing it to conduct Digital Payment Token (DPT) services and cross-border money transfer services.

According to The Block, the Benchmark Report released by Borderless.xyz for Q2 2026 shows that the delivery quotes for stablecoin cross-border payments in each month of the second quarter were all below the interbank foreign exchange rate midpoint. Data covering 108 countries and 260 payment corridors indicates that the median "parity spread" for the quarter was -3.2 basis points, further widening to -5.9 basis points in June, marking the deepest negative value of the year.The report also shows that the typical delivery cost for a $10,000 cross-border payment in the second quarter was approximately $27, and it has remained around this level for five consecutive months. If companies only connect to a single service provider in the long term, they will pay an average of about $2,330 more compared to the optimal quote for every $1 million payment scale, known as the "routing tax."Regionally, the African market showed the most significant fluctuations, with the price point spread widening by 166 basis points to 512.8 basis points; Latin America compressed to 89.0 basis points, while Asia remained relatively stable at 6.1 basis points. In specific corridors, Malawi experienced a one-day repricing of 5.8% on April 9, with the typical spread jumping from about 296 basis points to 1975 basis points.

According to official news, Swift announced that its blockchain-based ledger is ready, and 17 banks from six continents are preparing to pilot the use of tokenized deposits for 24/7 cross-border payment trials.The ledger provides a secure orchestration layer for participating banks, supporting them in issuing tokenized deposits on their own ledgers, enabling around-the-clock fund movement before final settlement through existing systems. Participating banks include ANZ, BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citibank, DBS Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, FirstRand Bank, HSBC, Itaú Unibanco, Lloyds Bank, Mashreq Bank, MUFG, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered, UBS Group, UOB, and Wells Fargo.

Hyundai Card announced on the 9th that it has completed a proof of concept (PoC) for cross-border remittances based on stablecoins with Hyundai Motor America (HMA) and Hyundai Motor Mexico (HMM). In the first PoC, the U.S. entity converted $20,000 into USDT and then remitted it to the Mexican entity, which converted it back to dollars. The entire process, including international remittance and verification, averaged only 7 minutes, significantly shorter than the 3 to 4 hours typically required for traditional bank cross-border remittances. Tether and Avalanche participated in this verification.The second phase of the PoC will be launched at the end of this month, targeting Hyundai Motor's European entity, to conduct actual remittances in local currency instead of dollars, verifying the cost-saving effects of currency exchange. Circle and Visa will participate as partners. Hyundai Card emphasized that this verification has comprehensively considered regulatory requirements such as accounting, taxation, legal, and internal controls, going beyond mere technical testing to reach the level of actual business deployment. In the future, there are plans to expand the application of stablecoins to inter-entity settlements and fund transfers within Hyundai Motor Group's global network.

According to official news, global cross-border payment infrastructure company Nium announced the acquisition of the crypto-native non-custodial wallet and card issuer Cypher. The two parties will combine digital asset and global payment network capabilities to advance the development of fiat-to-chain payment services.At the same time, Cypher's existing platform will gradually shut down, covering consumer applications, corporate card platforms, and the CYPR ecosystem, and will officially cease operations on September 6, 2026.

The China Payment and Clearing Association has issued a warning to prevent cross-border gambling scams involving virtual currency, aimed at helping the general public enhance their awareness of fraud prevention and their ability to recognize scams.The China Payment and Clearing Association reminds that cross-border gambling results in "ten bets, ten losses." Participating in gambling through virtual currency is more concealed and risky. Engaging in gambling and providing funding for gambling activities is illegal and against regulations. Do not participate in virtual currency gambling transactions, and maintain the bottom line of financial security.

According to official news, the crypto-native cross-border financial platform Offramp, primarily aimed at freelancers in Latin America, will cease operations.As of July 1, functions such as transfers, QR code payments, deposits, and investments have been disabled. Starting July 31, Offramp will stop fiat currency deposits and withdrawals as well as cryptocurrency deposits, and will disable physical and virtual cards and stop the operation of the mobile application. On September 30, Offramp will stop cryptocurrency withdrawals, and by December 31, the remaining functions will be disabled, officially ceasing operations.

According to the disclosure from the People's Procuratorate of Jing'an District, Shanghai, recently, the court prosecuted a certain Li for suspected illegal business operations in a criminal gang that used virtual currency for cross-border money laundering and illegal foreign exchange. On June 10, the case was heard in court and a verdict was announced on the spot, marking a conclusion to a series of illegal business operations spanning three years and involving over 200 million yuan. In July 2024, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange discovered abnormal clues regarding Company Z using virtual currency to transfer assets for domestic clients during routine monitoring, and subsequently referred the case to the public security authorities for handling.Investigations revealed that Company Z was registered overseas in 2019, promoting itself under the guise of a "private bank" and developing a virtual banking app to create a facade of legitimacy, but it had not obtained the necessary foreign exchange business operation license in China and was essentially engaged in illegal foreign exchange activities. The gang targeted high-net-worth individuals with funding needs for overseas property purchases, immigration, and studying abroad, using intermediaries to attract clients, with customer managers, traders, and customer service personnel facilitating the currency exchange process. Clients purchased virtual currency from virtual currency exchangers with renminbi and transferred it to Company Z's overseas virtual wallet, after which the gang exchanged the virtual currency for foreign currency abroad and transferred it to the clients' designated overseas accounts. There was no actual cross-border flow of funds; instead, settlements were made through domestic and foreign capital pools, with Company Z charging a 3% currency exchange service fee and paying intermediaries a 0.5% commission.A total of nine individuals have been brought to justice in this case, while one main suspect is still under investigation. After review, the relevant personnel collectively violated national laws by illegally buying and selling foreign exchange, disrupting financial order, and the circumstances were serious or particularly serious, warranting criminal liability for illegal business operations. The court sentenced five individuals, including Gao and Li, to prison terms ranging from six years to two years and six months, and imposed fines ranging from 1.5 million yuan to 300,000 yuan; for Chen, Huang, and four others, due to lighter criminal circumstances, relatively smaller amounts involved, and voluntary confession, the procuratorial authority made a decision of relative non-prosecution according to the law.

ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood stated on the X platform that capital outflows from globally less stable countries will bring new upward momentum for Bitcoin and other digital assets.She pointed out that artificial intelligence is leading a technological revolution and "drawing a lot of attention and liquidity" in the investment field, but AI cannot replace the role that digital assets play in the current global environment—especially as a "wealth insurance tool."Cathie Wood emphasized that against the backdrop of rising macro uncertainty, the demand from investors for asset preservation and cross-border allocation tools is increasing, and digital assets are gradually becoming an important means of meeting this demand.

During the 2026 New York Tech Week, Zack Anderson, Chief Data and Analytics Officer of J.P. Morgan Payments, shared the latest applications and strategic outlook of AI in payment infrastructure at a seminar. He stated that the application of AI in the banking industry is becoming increasingly mature, with most AI agents currently operating invisibly in the background, significantly enhancing the efficiency of payment flows and risk management capabilities.Anderson pointed out that with the proliferation of Agentic AI, the core challenge facing the payment sector lies in the governance and auditability of "machine authorization" (especially for high-value payments). He emphasized that leveraging AI to handle complex cross-border payment compliance rules is an important opportunity in the near term, which is expected to significantly reduce payment rejection rates. Furthermore, although current corporate AI investments are largely focused on the customer front end, "Agentic Treasury" will be an important early opportunity for the future, and its large-scale application will still rely on further improvement of underlying data and governance infrastructure.

According to the Shanghai Securities Journal, multiple private equity industry insiders revealed that they received notifications from cooperating brokerages last night, stating that regulators have requested a suspension of new cross-border TRS (Total Return Swap) scale by managers. According to public information, TRS is a financial derivative that allows private equity firms to obtain the returns (or losses) of an asset without directly holding foreign assets (with principal not leaving the country) by signing a return swap agreement with counterpart brokerages. Since the beginning of this year, due to the impressive performance of the global technology sector, many private equity firms have allocated overseas assets through cross-border TRS.Since May, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and seven other departments jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for Comprehensive Rectification of Illegal Cross-Border Securities, Futures, and Fund Operations," targeting leading cross-border internet brokerages such as Tiger Brokers, Futu Holdings, and Changqiao Securities. As the space for mainland residents to engage in illegal cross-border stock trading shrinks, private equity products using cross-border TRS to allocate overseas technology targets have increasingly attracted capital attention.

According to CoinDesk, blockchain infrastructure company Chainlink Labs has announced that it will join an alliance composed of several banks that collectively manage assets exceeding $10 trillion, aiming to promote real-time cross-border foreign exchange payment settlements based on stablecoins within a year.The alliance is named "Project Pangea." Niki Ariyasinghe, Vice President of Chainlink for the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, stated in a video interview on Tuesday that the project aims to reshape the global foreign exchange market.In addition to Chainlink, the alliance also includes: a euro stablecoin consortium Qivalis supported by 37 European banks; and a Korean banking alliance UniKA representing more than 10 commercial banks.The goal of the project is to explore moving foreign exchange settlements from the traditional T+2 (48 hours after the transaction) cycle to an almost instantaneous T+0 settlement method, primarily relying on regulated euro and Korean won-pegged stablecoins—cryptocurrencies that are pegged 1:1 to the underlying fiat currency.