Yesterday, I attended a meeting in Financial Street, where an alumnus introduced me to a leader from the Science and Technology Department of the People’s Bank of China. Upon learning that I work in cryptocurrency, he took some time to speak with me privately—there were a few points he raised that were quite interesting. Many regulators today want to get involved in the crypto space, but they generally avoid anything directly related to cryptocurrencies or tokens; instead, the focus has shifted entirely to RWA. (Though in crypto circles, RWA already feels like something from last century.) He expressed strong optimism about the integration of computing power, AI infrastructure, and blockchain, and hopes to see successful international projects emerge. There is now significant domestic talent and capital eager to enter this industry, with some traditional industry players already beginning operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. He holds a generally pessimistic view of Hong Kong—those focused on finance see more potential in the Middle East, while those focused on infrastructure are looking toward the Belt and Road Initiative. Hong Kong lacks both regulatory advantages and tangible industrial capacity. Last year, many still had high hopes for Hong Kong’s blockchain development; this year, most have lost interest entirely.

🇪🇺 THE EU WILL BAN CASH PAYMENTS OVER €10,000 FROM JULY 2027 The cap comes from the EU's new anti-money-laundering rulebook and applies in all 27 member states. Countries can set even lower limits if they like. Sellers will also have to check ID on cash payments of €3,000 or more. Cash is getting harder to use without showing ID.

Blockchain association calls for clarification of the GENIUS Act! 🇺🇸 The industry association has urged the U.S. Treasury Department to clearly define the requirements for DeFi protocols, intermediaries, and foreign issuers of stablecoins. The crypto community is seeking clear rules to avoid creating unnecessary barriers to innovation.

The @SECGov and @CFTC are moving to end years of regulatory turf wars over crypto. “For so many years, the two agencies have been locked in turf battles.” “We’re ending that turf battle once and for all.” “We’ve put in place a memorandum of understanding between the agencies to work together to make sure that we’re totally harmonized and consistent across our policies, and that includes crypto.” “Because the tokens themselves are not the securities, but the investment contract is.” 🎬 - @ChairmanSelig

Today one Google Cloud region in London went down and Revolut cards and transfers broke in dozens of countries Same thing can happen to your exchange in the middle of a move What helps: > TP and SL set when you open, not "later" > isolated margin, so one trade can't eat the whole account > second device already logged in An order already on the book doesn't need your app to load

Black Swan ⚠️ Revolut is down this morning. Thousands of users report the app not working, cards being declined, transfers blocked, and support unavailable. The company confirmed a “service disruption affecting multiple services” and said customer money and data are safe, but they’re still working on a fix. It’s not just Revolut — HSBC and other traditional banks (Lloyds, Bank of Scotland, etc.) are also having issues, tied to a Google Cloud outage in Western Europe. When both neobanks and high-street banks go down at the same time, people are left without access to their money. Cash still has its uses. #Revolut #HSBC #Outage

Revolut just picked up a new crypto licence. The interesting part is where. Its new unit, Revolut Global Digital Assets Ltd, has been granted a DLT licence by Gibraltar's financial regulator, announced Oct 19. What it covers, per the Gibraltar government: order execution, custody and staking of virtual assets. Why it matters: - Revolut already runs crypto through a UK entity and a MiCA-licensed EU arm - This new entity is set up for its international crypto operations beyond those two - Gibraltar residents can sign up for Revolut again, as onboarding there fully resumes What's still missing: Revolut hasn't said which countries the new unit will serve or which products launch first. Scale check: the company has reportedly said around 16M of its 80M+ customers already use its crypto features. For context, at 19:42 UTC on Oct 19, $BTC held 59.64% of a $2.76T crypto market, per our desk. Where would you rather buy crypto: a banking app or a dedicated exchange?

Operation Choke Point 2.0 is not a fringe conspiracy theory—it is a documented, coordinated regulatory effort to systematically debank the digital asset industry. Congressional hearings and industry reports confirm that federal banking regulators have applied immense backroom pressure on traditional financial institutions to cut ties with crypto businesses. The playbook is subtle but devastating: instead of making digital assets illegal, agencies issue "informal guidance" warning banks of the heightened liquidity and reputational risks associated with the crypto sector. The result? Banks preemptively terminate ACH access, block wire transfers, and abruptly close accounts for crypto-native companies and high-net-worth investors to avoid regulatory crosshairs. Here is what this means for your personal wealth and entity structuring: You do not need to be a bad actor to lose your bank account. If your crypto accounting is undocumented, or if your fiat off-ramps look unstructured, your bank's compliance department will simply drop you rather than risk regulatory scrutiny. Without reliable banking rails, your paper wealth is effectively trapped. An unexpected account closure can freeze your capital, halt estimated tax payments, and force you into sub-tier, high-fee payment processors. The only defense against forced debanking is unassailable transparency. Your entity structure, source of funds, and tax reporting must be pristine enough to satisfy the most aggressive traditional banking underwriter. In an environment where regulatory pressure flows directly through traditional financial rails, institutional-grade documentation is no longer just good accounting, it is the baseline requirement for maintaining banking access. Protect your liquidity, eliminate ambiguities in your transaction records, and ensure your fiat bridges are resilient before the next compliance sweep quietly shuts the door.