The US Senate is expected to vote soon on a comprehensive bill to establish market structure rules for digital assets, backed by Republican lawmakers, while some Democrats continue to push for ethics provisions.In a Tuesday press conference, Senators Chris Murphy, Jeff Merkley, and Chris Van Hollen spoke alongside representatives for Americans for Financial Reform and Indivisible and Hollywood actor Ben McKenzie in opposition to the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The lawmakers said that the bill did not address what they called “[Donald] Trump’s crypto corruption,” referring to the US President’s ties to the industry through his memecoin, his family’s World Liberty Financial company and other businesses and investments.“There is no reason to pass a new regulatory system for crypto if this system does not stop Trump’s corruption of the entire industry,” said Murphy. “This bill is worthless if it protects Trump’s dominance over an industry that he will have more control to regulate. In fact, the bill is in and of itself a fundamental corruption if it gives Trump’s corruption the protection of law.”Senator Chris Murphy (third from left) addressing the press on Tuesday with Senator Chris Van Hollen (left). Source: Chris MurphyThe CLARITY Act has been under discussion in the US Senate since being passed by the House of Representatives almost a year ago this week as part of the Republicans’ “Crypto Week” agenda, in which the GENIUS stablecoin bill was also signed into law. The bill needs to meet a 60-vote threshold to pass the Senate and return to the House, meaning that some Democrats will need to support the legislation with Republicans’ slim majority in the chamber.Related: ABA, state banking groups push back on CLARITY Act stablecoin yield provisionsVan Hollen, Murphy and Merkley are not the only Senate Democrats saying they will not support the bill without a clear carveout for ethics following Trump disclosing that he earned $1.4 billion from his crypto ventures in 2025. Senator Elizabeth Warren, an outspoken voice in the chamber against many crypto-related issues, has also called for the legislation to address what she called “brazen financial corruption.”Despite the pushback from many lawmakers, the CLARITY Act has the support of two law enforcement organizations. The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association have backed the crypto bill, saying it would help address digital asset-related crime.Senate majority leader says vote will happen before August work periodJohn Thune, majority leader in the US Senate, pledged to hold a vote on the crypto bill before the chamber breaks for a state work period on Aug. 10, according to Bloomberg. The exact timing of the vote was not available on the Senate calendar as of Tuesday.The CLARITY Act already has support from Trump, who on Monday urged members of the Senate to pass the bill “in honor of” Senator Lindsey Graham, who died over the weekend. The president said that the South Carolina lawmaker had been “a big supporter” of the legislation, but Graham did not appear to have made any public statements directly supporting CLARITY. The senator’s death left Republicans with a 52-47 majority in the chamber and, with Senator Mitch McConnell still hospitalized as of Tuesday, the party could only have 51 lawmakers present at the time of the potential vote.Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of CLARITY’s proponents in Congress, said on Monday that lawmakers would release the text of the bill “in the next few days.”Magazine: Crypto’s CLARITY Act faces partisan fight over ethics on Senate floor

Stablecoin treasury platform Velocity has raised $38 million in a Series A funding round to expand infrastructure that helps enterprises and financial institutions use stablecoins for cross-border settlement and treasury operations.The funding round was led by Dragonfly and FirstMark, with participation from Activant Capital, Capital One Ventures, QED Investors, Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures and Ripple. Velocity said it plans to use the capital to expand its banking and payments network, develop new products and strengthen its regulatory capabilities.Founded in 2025, Velocity develops software that connects stablecoin networks with banking, custody, compliance and settlement systems. The company targets enterprise finance teams, payment providers, fintech firms and financial institutions using stablecoins for cross-border payments and treasury operations.The latest financing brings Velocity’s total funding to nearly $50 million since it launched in 2025, according to the company.Related: JCB signs Circle MOU to test stablecoin payments in JapanThe funding comes as competition in the enterprise stablecoin market intensifies. In June, more than 140 companies backed the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a dollar-pegged stablecoin supported by companies including Visa, Mastercard, Coinbase and Ripple. Stablecoin infrastructure investment acceleratesInvestment in stablecoin infrastructure has accelerated this year as companies build the software and network infrastructure supporting payments, settlement and enterprise financial services.In March, Tether participated in a $5.2 million funding round for Ark Labs, a startup building infrastructure for stablecoin issuance and settlement on Bitcoin. The company is developing a programmable execution layer to enable faster payments and more complex financial applications on the network.Later that month, OpenFX raised $94 million in a Series A funding round to expand its stablecoin-based foreign exchange network, which is designed to speed up cross-border payments for businesses. The company said it would use the capital to expand into Southeast Asia and Latin America while increasing liquidity across its network.Trace Finance secured $32 million the following month to expand its cross-border payment infrastructure, which combines banking, foreign exchange and stablecoin settlement services for businesses operating across multiple markets.The investments come as stablecoin payments continue to expand. A joint analysis by McKinsey and Artemis Analytics estimated that stablecoins processed $390 billion in annualized real-world payments in 2025, including about $226 billion in business-to-business transactions. Annualized real-world stablecoin payment volume by use case. Source: McKinsey, Artemis AnalyticsMagazine: UK government defers capital gains on certain crypto with ‘no gain, no loss’ approach

The US Department of the Treasury and HM Treasury released a set of recommendations as part of the Transatlantic Taskforce for the Markets of the Future, which included stablecoin activity and tokenized finance.In a joint statement on Tuesday, the two treasury entities issued four recommendations focused on digital assets as part of bilateral cooperation between the two countries on financial markets. The task force recommended that authorities consider a private-sector-led group focused on “testing of cross-border use cases for tokenized assets” and that financial agencies in the US and the Bank of England identify shared approaches on the regulation of tokenized assets. On stablecoins, the US and UK released a joint statement aimed at regulatory alignment and establishing a “dynamic stablecoin market across borders.” “Each government intends to tailor its requirements to seek comparable outcomes for comparable risks and activities, seeking to advance financial stability while avoiding market distortions or disincentivizing cross-border competition,” said the statement.The Treasury statement did not explicitly mention the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, signed into law last year and waiting for regulations to be approved before its effective date in January 2027. However, the US-UK recommendations said stablecoins “should be fully backed, on at least a one-to-one basis, by high-quality, liquid assets,” aligning with the US law.Related: UK government defers capital gains on certain crypto with ‘no gain, no loss’ approachReport signals tokenization could add $44 billion to UK economic outputThe US-UK statement followed a report that the United Kingdom could add up to $44 billion to its annual economic output by 2035, “provided the UK is one of the leading jurisdictions for tokenization, tokenization scales globally, and UK domestic adoption increases in line with major peers.“ The report, from a UK government-backed industry task force, called on the country to issue tokenized bonds by the first quarter of 2027 and plans to test financial transactions on the blockchain.Magazine: Crypto’s CLARITY Act faces partisan fight over ethics on Senate floorCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

The UK’s tax authority announced that it planned to treat “certain disposals” related to cryptocurrency lending and liquidity pools as transactions that would effectively defer the country’s capital gains requirements.In a Monday announcement, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said that starting on April 6, 2027, it would adopt a “no gain, no loss” approach to disposals involving crypto loans and liquidity pools. According to the tax authority, this measure would defer capital gains tax on digital assets “until an economic disposal.” “This measure will support fairness in the tax system,” said the UK tax authority. “It aligns the tax treatment more closely with the economics of these arrangements by ensuring that gains and losses are generally recognized only when the participant makes an economic disposal of the cryptoassets.”The measure, expected to impact about 700,000 individuals and trustees, would represent a significant change from the authority’s 2022 guidance on crypto liquidity pools and lending following a consultation period. Under UK law for 2025-2026, taxpayers pay between 18% to 24% for capital gains related to crypto transactions depending on whether they qualify as basic-rate or higher-rate.Related: UK tokenization push could add as much as $44B to annual output by 2035: ReportAccording to the tax authority, it would treat crypto transactions as “no gain, no loss” under UK capital gains laws for the acquisition or disposal of an interest in a lending arrangement in exchange for the same type of asset, borrowed assets acquired at market value and similar conditions with automated market makers.“This is the right direction, mainly driven by the industry feedback demonstrating that any other approach would cause significant admin burden for the tax payer,” said Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov in a Monday X post.Crypto candidate enters Nigel Farage’s by-election raceIn UK politics, Reform leader Nigel Farage will not stand completely uncontested in a by-election caused by his resignation last week amid reports of the politician receiving contributions from billionaires tied to the crypto industry. On Tuesday, the leader of the Solana community group Superteam UK, Stephen Newnham, said he will run as an independent candidate against Farage and others. The by-election representing Clacton is scheduled for Aug. 13 and will include candidates like comedian and author Jon Harvey in costume as Count Binface, a self-described “independent space warrior” wearing a helmet in the shape of a trash bin.Farage triggered the by-election with his resignation, saying that he wanted the people of Clacton to judge his actions. The Reform figure reportedly received a $6.7 million donation from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, which he described as a ”reward” for the UK’s exit from the European Union and later as a “gift,” and other financial assistance from George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster linked to a crypto casino.Magazine: Strategy became a symbol of the dot-com crash: Could history repeat?

Japan’s largest domestic payment network, JCB, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Circle to explore using USDC for cross-border payments and merchant transactions.Under the memorandum, the companies will initially explore using USDC for JCB’s internal cross-border fund transfers through a proof of concept, while also evaluating stablecoin payments at merchants in Japan for international visitors. The companies said they will also assess technologies that support interoperability across multiple blockchain networks.The agreement builds on a separate initiative JCB launched in January with Digital Garage and Resona Holdings to test stablecoin payments at physical stores in Japan. That project focuses on identifying technical and operational challenges to bringing stablecoin payments to domestic merchants.Beyond the initial proof of concept, JCB and Circle said they will evaluate additional applications for stablecoin infrastructure aimed at cross-border payments and merchant services, though they did not provide a timeline for commercial deployment.USDC is the world’s second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with a circulating supply of about $73 billion, behind Tether’s USDT at roughly $184 billion, according to DefiLlama data.Source: DefiLlamaRelated: USDC issuer Circle wins final approval for US national trust bank charterJapan accelerates stablecoin payment adoptionThe agreement adds to a growing number of stablecoin payment initiatives announced in Japan this year, as companies test blockchain-based payment and settlement systems across retail and corporate use cases.In June, Circle and Japan’s largest investment bank, Nomura, were reported to be developing a stablecoin-based foreign exchange settlement service for Japanese companies. The service would allow businesses to convert yen into USDC for cross-border transactions and near-instant settlement.On Monday, convenience store operator Lawson announced plans to test yen-denominated stablecoin payments at a Tokyo location beginning in August, while Japanese payments company Netstars launched a merchant payment service supporting USDC, USDT and JPYC across the Solana and Polygon blockchains.Japan was among the first major economies to establish a legal framework for stablecoins, allowing banks, trust companies and licensed money transfer providers to issue fiat-backed tokens under amendments to the Payment Services Act that took effect in 2023.The country has also been advancing broader digital asset reforms. In June, the Lower House passed a bill that would classify crypto assets as financial instruments, potentially opening the door to crypto exchange-traded funds and bringing the sector under stricter market rules.Magazine: Strategy became a symbol of the dot-com crash: Could history repeat?