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Texas lawmakers have approved a bill to create a state-run Bitcoin reserve, pending final sign-off. This move could potentially ignite a crypto arms race.
Kraken has launched tokenized stock trading for over 50 popular stocks and ETFs, excluding Americans. This allows for 24/7 trading and increased accessibility.
Hong Kong has passed a law regulating fiat-pegged stablecoins, introducing a licensing regime for issuers to balance innovation and investor protection.
The crypto market has witnessed significant developments lately, with US lawmakers introducing legislation to control how politicians use cryptocurrency. At the same time, Kraken announced its plans to make stock trading available in tokenized form outside of the United States. The Braza Group also introduced a USD-backed stablecoin on the XRP Ledger, showing how a crucial sector like stablecoins is advancing.
Representative Maxine Waters from California, who leads the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, announced the introduction of the Stop Trading, Retention and Unfair Market Payoffs (TRUMP) in Crypto Act of 2025. The bill is designed to prevent the President, Vice President, and members of Congress, along with their families, from participating in cryptocurrency activities that are considered corrupt.
Rep. Waters criticized former President Donald Trump’s recent crypto ventures, including personal memecoins issued by him and his wife, Melania, and a family-backed stablecoin called USD1 launched through World Liberty Financial. She also pointed to Trump’s attempt to establish a national Bitcoin reserve and his sons’ involvement in a Bitcoin mining business.
Waters warned that the memecoin ventures create a "dangerous backdoor for selling influence over American policies." The bill follows reports of a planned dinner event hosted by Trump to reward memecoin holders. Several Democratic senators, including Chris Murphy and Elizabeth Warren, have shown opposition to the event. Consumer advocacy groups and Democratic organizations plan protests at the Trump National Golf Club near Washington, DC, where the dinner will take place.
Crypto exchange Kraken revealed its upcoming launch of tokenized stock trading for more than 50 popular stocks and ETFs, including Apple and Nvidia. The new service, branded as xStocks and integrated with Solana’s decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, will be available to customers in Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
The announcement from Backed, a crypto firm partnering with Kraken, highlighted that the tokenized equity market could grow larger than the current stablecoin sector, which has a total supply of approximately $240 billion. Kraken’s co-CEO Arjun Sethi previously stated that tokenized equities could expand rapidly, allowing futures and options trading on these digital assets.
Kraken aims to make it simpler for investors outside the U.S. to trade U.S. stocks using alternative methods. In March, Kraken bought the U.S. retail futures platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion, giving it access to a broader range of financial products.
Brazilian financial services firm Braza Group recently launched USDB, a USD-supported stablecoin backed by bonds from the U.S. and Brazil. The stablecoin runs on the XRPL (XRP Ledger), providing both fast processing and affordable transactions. Braza also released BBRL, a Brazilian real-backed stablecoin that runs on the same blockchain.
USDB is available to retail and financial users, providing a simple method for fast and lower-cost international transfers, mostly within Latin America. Individuals can buy stablecoins on the Braza On app, and businesses can use USDB to make international payments and remittances.
At the same time, efforts to regulate the industry are going forward including the U.S. Senate's consideration of the GENIUS Act. Braza CEO Marcelo Sacomori discussed how stablecoins support Brazilian customers by lowering volatility risks and helping them do transactions more efficiently. The adoption of XRPL allows the company to have a unified infrastructure for digital assets worldwide.
