Russia\'s lower house has passed a bill to legalise cryptocurrency investment and trading while banning its use to pay for goods and services domestically. Trading would be allowed only through licensed, registered exchanges, with custodians, brokers and asset managers assigned formal roles and exchanges subject to capital requirements. Retail investors would face suitability tests and limits. The measure takes effect in stages from Sept. 1, 2026, but still needs approval by the upper house and President Vladimir Putin.

SBI Holdings has made Singapore crypto exchange Coinhako a subsidiary, bringing its digital asset holdings into the group ecosystem, including 1.11 trillion Shiba Inu tokens. The acquisition was carried out through SBI Ventures Asset and completed after final approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. SBI plans to use Coinhako as a base to expand blockchain-based financial services in Southeast Asia and link users to the yen-pegged stablecoin JPYSC and tokenised real-world asset products.