Rich Wheeless: A Strategic Leader

Rich Wheeless has been named the next chief executive officer of Netcapital, succeeding Martin Kay, who will continue to support the company as an adviser. The decision to appoint Wheeless is a strategic move to leverage his extensive experience in financial management and innovation.

Netcapital’s New Direction

Under Wheeless’ leadership, Netcapital is poised to explore the potential of crypto and blockchain-enabled investments. This shift indicates the company’s commitment to embracing cutting-edge financial technologies, which could reshape its market offerings significantly.

Rich Wheeless’ Diverse Experience

Before joining Netcapital, Wheeless served as the chief financial officer at Taal Distributed Information Technologies. His career also includes key roles at Rivetz, LaunchKey, and Pilus Energy, where he honed his leadership skills and financial acumen.

Moreover, Wheeless has held managerial positions at major corporations such as Johnson & Johnson and Cardinal Health. This diverse background equips him with the insights necessary to guide Netcapital through this transformative phase.

Why the Focus on Crypto and Blockchain?

The decision to delve into crypto and blockchain investments aligns with a broader industry trend towards decentralization and digital asset adoption. By leveraging these technologies, Netcapital aims to offer innovative solutions and capture new market segments.

Wheeless’ appointment as Netcapital CEO signals a strategic pivot that could greatly enhance the company’s competitive edge in the rapidly evolving fintech landscape.

Write to Stephen Nakrosis at stephen.nakrosis@wsj.com

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The Novatti Group, known for its pioneering approach in financial technology, has now reached its highest share value in 11 months, peaking at A$0.046. This surge comes on the heels of an agreement with Coinbase Partners, facilitating the listing of their stablecoin, AUDD, on the renowned Coinbase platform.

Coinbase Stablecoin Listing: A Game-Changer for Novatti

The Coinbase stablecoin agreement is a strategic move that allows AUDD, the first Australian dollar-backed stablecoin, to be accessible on Coinbase’s retail platform starting September 29. This listing not only enhances Novatti’s visibility but also establishes it as a key player in the global cryptocurrency arena.

With over 6.3 million shares traded, nearly 10.3 times the 30-day average, the market’s response has been overwhelmingly positive. Year-to-date, Novatti’s shares have appreciated by 41.4%, reflecting investor confidence in their growth trajectory.

The Impact of the Coinbase Stablecoin Deal

The collaboration with Coinbase marks a pivotal moment for Novatti Group, as it brings unparalleled exposure and trading opportunities. By integrating AUDD onto Coinbase’s platform, users will be empowered to trade with stability and confidence, backed by the Australian dollar.

This strategic alliance also positions Novatti to capitalize on the increasing demand for stablecoins, which are gaining traction as reliable digital assets in volatile markets. As the first of its kind from Australia, AUDD’s inclusion on Coinbase is expected to pave the way for further innovations and listings.

Looking ahead, Novatti is poised to leverage this momentum to explore additional growth avenues and partnerships, solidifying its role as a leader in the fintech sector. The company’s strategic foresight and commitment to innovation continue to drive its impressive market performance.

In conclusion, the alignment with Coinbase is not just a Coinbase stablecoin listing; it is a testament to Novatti Group’s dedication to expanding its digital asset offerings and enhancing its market presence globally.

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Pakistan’s New Crypto Licenses Initiative

The Pakistan Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (PVARA) has taken a significant step by welcoming leading crypto exchanges and virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to submit Expressions of Interest (EoIs). This is an invitation to become part of Pakistan’s burgeoning digital asset market. The announcement, reported by local media outlet Dawn, emphasizes the country’s commitment to developing a transparent and inclusive digital financial ecosystem.

According to Bilal bin Saqib, PVARA chair and minister of state for crypto and blockchain, the initiative is designed to build a strong partnership with the world’s leading VASPs. The aim is to create a digital financial future that is both transparent and inclusive for Pakistan.

Eligibility for Crypto Licenses

Eligibility for these licenses is restricted to firms already licensed by recognized regulators such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the EU’s VASP framework, the UAE’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This ensures that only credible and compliant firms can enter the Pakistani market.

Submissions for the license must include comprehensive details such as company profiles, existing licenses and jurisdictions, services proposed (like trading, custody, and payments), technology and security standards, assets under management, revenues, compliance track record, and a Pakistan-specific business model.

Framework for Crypto Licenses

The PVARA’s framework is designed to curb illicit financial activities while unlocking opportunities in fintech, remittance, and tokenization, including Shariah-compliant products via regulatory sandboxes. Established under the Virtual Assets Ordinance 2025, PVARA is responsible for licensing, regulating, and supervising VASPs in line with international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank.

This proactive approach by Pakistan could significantly boost its standing in the global crypto community. As reported by Cointelegraph, Pakistan has already climbed to third place in Chainalysis’ 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index, marking it as one of the fastest-growing crypto markets worldwide.

Future Prospects with Crypto Licenses

In addition to regulatory advancements, Pakistan has also announced plans to establish a government-led Bitcoin Strategic Reserve. At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Bilal Bin Saqib highlighted this strategy as a reflection of Pakistan’s new pro-crypto regulatory stance.

However, the International Monetary Fund expressed concerns in July over Pakistan’s proposal to allocate surplus electricity for crypto mining, particularly in offering subsidized power to energy-intensive sectors, including Bitcoin miners.

The move to invite global firms to apply for crypto licenses is part of a broader initiative by the Pakistan Crypto Council, supported by the Ministry of Finance, to allocate 2,000 megawatts of surplus electricity for Bitcoin mining and AI centers.

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JPYC Stablecoin: A New Era for Japan

The yen-denominated stablecoin, known as JPYC, is expected to receive the green light from Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA). By registering as a money transfer business within August, JPYC aims to initiate its token sale shortly thereafter, setting the stage for a transformative period in Japan’s financial landscape.

Backing and Use Cases of JPYC Stablecoin

To maintain its peg to the Japanese yen, the JPYC stablecoin will be secured by highly liquid assets such as deposits and government bonds. This ensures a robust backing, allowing it to be utilized in various applications, including international remittances, corporate payments, and the burgeoning DeFi space.

With an ambitious target of issuing 1 trillion yen ($6.78 billion) worth of its stablecoin over the next three years, JPYC has already garnered interest from several hedge funds eager to explore its potential.

Regulatory Landscape in Japan

Japan has been proactive in crafting regulations for stablecoins. In June 2022, amendments to the Payment Services Act classified fiat-pegged stablecoins as “Electronic Payment Instruments,” allowing only licensed entities such as banks and trust companies to issue them. This regulatory clarity set the foundation for the upcoming approval of the JPYC stablecoin.

Furthermore, the redefinition of stablecoins as “currency-denominated assets” in the following year solidified Japan’s commitment to integrating stablecoins into its financial system.

Future Prospects and Market Impact

The potential approval of the JPYC stablecoin is expected to catalyze further innovation in Japan’s financial sector. Major financial players, including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC), have already signaled their intent to venture into stablecoins, indicating a broader trend towards digital financial solutions.

As Japan embraces this digital transformation, the yen-denominated stablecoin could pave the way for enhanced financial inclusion and cross-border economic activities.

In conclusion, the impending launch of the JPYC stablecoin signifies a pivotal shift in Japan’s financial ecosystem, promising to redefine the role of digital currencies in mainstream finance.

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The act was officially signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 18, 2025, setting stringent guidelines around the issuance, backing, and disclosure requirements of stablecoins. The official White House account dubbed the GENIUS Act as a “landmark moment for the crypto industry and the US dollar.”

Before the GENIUS Act, stablecoins operated in a legal gray area, despite their rapid adoption within the cryptocurrency markets. There were no unified regulatory standards, leading to a fast-paced and unchecked growth of this sector. The advent of the GENIUS Act has changed this scenario, introducing a clear and nationwide regulatory framework for stablecoins in the US.

The GENIUS Act has established specific parameters around who can issue stablecoins, the necessity for full asset backing, and the required transparency. It has also carved a licensing route for banks and non-banking entities through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The Act does not cover non-payment tokens, such as algorithmic stablecoins or DeFi-native collateralized assets, which will be separately examined.

The GENIUS Act has revolutionized the stablecoin landscape in the US and worldwide. It has forced crypto companies, fintechs, and traditional financial institutions to reevaluate their strategies. Crypto-centric stablecoin issuers like Circle and Tether now must follow federal licensing guidelines or face potential market exclusion. Simultaneously, traditional banks, fintech start-ups, and even retailers can now legally issue their own dollar-backed digital tokens, potentially igniting a wave of new competitors.

Public crypto firms have embraced the GENIUS Act, while smaller stablecoin projects and DeFi protocols express concerns over increased compliance costs and limited legal operating paths in the US. However, for regular users, the GENIUS Act offers enhanced security, provided they are willing to trade-off access to yield-bearing stablecoins and some decentralized stablecoin models.

The GENIUS Act has triggered a global ripple effect, with the crypto industry and global financial entities revising their strategies. It may serve as a reference for stablecoin legislation in other countries and significantly lower barriers for tech giants to integrate licensed stablecoins. The Act could also lead to faster, more affordable global remittance products, challenging traditional forex channels.

In short, the GENIUS Act doesn’t just stabilize the stablecoin — it could potentially redefine the future of the dollar itself.

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This initiative follows hot on the heels of Mercurity’s recent announcement of a bitcoin investment plan, where the company revealed its intention to raise $800 million for a long-term bitcoin treasury reserve. Mercurity’s Chief Strategy Officer, Wilfred Daye, clarified that this SOL treasury strategy doesn’t signify a shift away from Bitcoin, but rather it complements their existing Bitcoin strategy. Daye further elaborated that Bitcoin and SOL serve different purposes within the treasury, with SOL offering staking yield and easy management on DeFi platforms, whereas Bitcoin is a non-interest-bearing asset likened to digital gold.

Mercurity’s new strategic move aligns with the increasing trend of companies exploring crypto treasury strategies, following the footsteps of Bitcoin-centric firms. However, unlike Bitcoin treasuries that primarily focus on accumulation, strategies focusing on altcoins often involve active participation through staking and ecosystem investments.

Disclaimer: This article is purely informational and is not intended as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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The aim of the probe is to determine if the digital and trade policies in Brazil are imposing undue disadvantages on American firms. Greer highlighted that the investigation intends to scrutinize Brazil’s “tariff and non-tariff barriers,” suggesting that the country provides preferential treatment to certain trade partners while leaving US exporters at a disadvantage. The investigation will also delve into Brazil’s alleged penalization of US tech companies that do not adhere to censorship of political speech.

In 2024, there was a nationwide ban on social media platform X in Brazil after Elon Musk declined to assign a legal representative in the country. This order was issued by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court in August 2024.

This probe signals the latest surge in tension between the two nations. Former US President Trump expressed his dissent on social media on July 7, urging Brazilian authorities to halt the prosecution of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, which he described as a “witch hunt.” Shortly after, Trump threatened a new investigation in a letter addressed to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, coupled with a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports from August 1.

Pix, introduced in 2020 by the Central Bank of Brazil, is an instant payment system that operates round the clock, enabling people to send and receive money instantly at negligible or no costs. Pix has reshaped the Brazilian digital economy, with over 150 million users and more than 60 million businesses employing it. The US probe intends to uncover if Brazil has been unfairly promoting its local payment system over established American alternatives like Mastercard, Visa, and other US fintech companies.

While Pix operates only within Brazil, its influence is part of a larger shift that has raised concerns among US officials. Crypto-fintech platforms like Truther enable global users to send stablecoins and settle instantly into bank accounts via Pix, bypassing traditional financial systems such as SWIFT, PayPal, and US remittance services like Western Union. This transition has significant implications for global finance and domestic payments.

Furthermore, Brazil’s role in the BRICS economic bloc — with Russia, India, China, and South Africa — is part of a collective effort to lessen reliance on the US dollar and Western financial infrastructure. In 2024, the bloc adopted “BRICS Pay,” a cross-border payments platform designed to facilitate local-currency transactions and circumvent SWIFT. This move has reportedly ruffled feathers at the US end.

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Spiko brings attention to the roughly $25 trillion in European bank deposits that currently sit idle, missing out on potential yields and capital efficiency. Unlike in Europe, U.S. businesses commonly earn interest on their cash without sacrificing liquidity. Growing demand for better cash optimization is now pushing European firms to diversify deposits, according to the AMF-regulated fintech firm.

Spiko aims to bridge this cash yield gap between Europe and the U.S. by offering businesses daily interest without lock-ups through what it refers to as Europe’s premier tokenized money market funds. “In Europe, there’s a common misconception that your money won’t earn interest unless you lock it away or assume risk,” Spiko co-founder Paul-Adrien Hyppolite explained. “But as long as central bank rates are above zero, sitting on idle cash implies that European businesses are missing out on returns that U.S. counterparts routinely receive. With Spiko, we’re revolutionizing the system by making it simple for anyone to put their cash to work.”

Spiko was established by Hyppolite and Antoine Michon, both ex-French Treasury and government officials with experience at Palantir. The fintech startup, which began operations a year ago, claims to have processed over $900 million of working capital from more than 1,000 businesses. It has ambitious plans to increase distribution through strategic partnerships with companies like Memo Bank and Fygr, and aims to manage $1 billion in assets by 2025.

Spiko intends to use the newly acquired capital to boost growth in Europe through investment in sales, marketing, product development, and partnership acquisitions, while also preparing for potential U.S. expansion.

Spiko operates by utilizing blockchains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Polygon, to tokenize money market funds and make them more accessible to smaller businesses often overlooked by traditional banks. Acting as a transfer agent on a blockchain ledger, Spiko eliminates legacy custodians and intermediaries, reducing costs and enabling 24/7 cash-equivalent transfers worldwide.

Its funds invest in highly liquid, low-risk assets, such as Eurozone and U.S. Treasury bills, backed by sovereign guarantees and linked to central bank rates. Spiko’s architecture also supports stablecoin transfers as an alternative to wire payments, allowing customers to move funds seamlessly between digital currencies and fiat.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent news outlet that provides crypto news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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Their innovative approach involved several steps:

1. Alphaledger simulated a standard municipal bond (government-issued debt) and tokenized it, allowing it to exist on the Solana blockchain as a digital asset that could be tracked, transferred, and managed onchain.
2. Moody’s evaluated the bond’s risk using their standard financial analysis tools and provided it with a real credit rating.
3. The rating was then sent directly to the Solana blockchain via an API. This made the rating a part of the bond token’s metadata — publicly accessible and permanently embedded.

This groundbreaking experiment opened up the possibility of credit ratings becoming a part of the blockchain’s core infrastructure, which could revolutionize how financial products are issued and evaluated. Moody’s collaboration with Solana shows how onchain credit ratings can help build trust and transparency in the fast-growing world of tokenized real-world assets. And the best part? It signals how traditional credit agencies are adapting to the demands of blockchain-based finance.

However, this innovation isn’t without its challenges. Questions around updating blockchain records when ratings change, governance, and dispute resolution will need to be addressed as blockchain regulation continues to evolve. But the potential benefits, such as real-time credit assessments and programmable financial infrastructure, make this a development to watch.

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The announcement made on Wednesday signifies a major shift for SoFi, which had withdrawn from the crypto space in November 2023. The company’s plans include bolstering its services by introducing “blockchain-driven international remittances.”

SoFi users will have the capacity to purchase, trade, and hold crypto assets directly in their accounts. The company’s future roadmap includes broadening its scope to stablecoin offerings and incorporating the function to borrow against crypto assets, as mentioned in a waitlist notice on the website.

SoFi is also aiming to offer members “the chance to leverage their assets, extend payment alternatives, and bring in new staking features,” as per the company’s statement.

SoFi CEO, Anthony Noto, expressed significant enthusiasm about the potential of leveraging blockchain and crypto across the company’s operations. He mentioned, “SoFi’s upcoming international payments—often referred to as remittances—will convert fiat to crypto, transmit via blockchain, and convert to local fiat.”

The company is looking at the growing fintech blockchain industry, which is projected to rise from $3.4 billion in 2024 to a whopping $49 billion by 2030, according to Insider. SoFi’s Galileo finance platform will also back third-party crypto infrastructure, such as wallets and custody, positioning the company as a strong contender in the rapidly evolving digital finance landscape.

SoFi had withdrawn from the crypto industry in 2023 as a condition of acquiring a bank charter under a more stringent regulatory environment. However, with the Trump administration easing regulations, and with stablecoin legislation currently under congressional review, the situation looks promising for crypto companies to engage more freely with banks. SoFi’s stock (SOFI) has seen an increase of approximately 12% over the past week, as per Google Finance.

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