Kalshi banned former Representative George Santos for insider trading, while U.S. and U.K. authorities seized crypto tied to Hamas and froze $13.5 million in Premier League funds linked to Sorare. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs plans a shared stablecoin by 2027, Zerohash refiled for a national trust bank charter, and Singapore proposed updates for foreign stablecoins.
01Company specific
Kalshi Permanently Bans George Santos Over Illegal Trading
Kalshi’s enforcement against candidates betting on their own events establishes that prediction markets must police political insider trading to protect their CFTC-regulated status.
Prediction market platform Kalshi issued its first lifetime trading ban against former U.S. Representative George Santos for insider trading. Santos traded on event contracts tied to whether he would attend President Donald Trump's State of the Union address in February 2026. Kalshi fined Santos $71,356 after finding he misled the public about his attendance plans to manipulate contract prices and secure over $17,000 in profit. The enforcement follows a separate July settlement with the Trading Commission where Santos agreed to pay a $35,000 penalty and accept a three-year trading ban. Kalshi also penalized North Carolina congressional candidate Laurie Buckhout with a three-year suspension and a $2,590 fine for betting on her own race. Prediction markets face mounting pressure from state and federal regulators over insider trading and the manipulation of event contracts.
Major Banks Including Goldman Sachs and BofA Plan Shared Stablecoin Launch
A multi-bank consortium creates the shared liquidity and regulatory compliance that single-issuer bank tokens lacked, posing the first structural institutional threat to Tether's fiat-reserve monopoly.
A consortium of 21 major financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Citi plans to form a new company to issue a US dollar-denominated in the first half of 2027. The venture builds on an initial October 2025 exploration by 10 banks and targets wholesale, institutional, and retail markets for cross-border payments and digital settlement. The group eventually plans to expand into other G7 currencies with a euro offering as its next priority, aligning its design with the US GENIUS Act and Europe's MiCA framework. This bank-backed initiative enters a market dominated by Tether, which has issued over $180 billion in dollar-pegged tokens, while early bank alternatives like Societe Generale's token have struggled to gain widespread circulation.
Zerohash Refiles Trust Bank Charter Application with OCC
Excising stablecoin issuance and transfer agency from national trust applications isolates execution and custody under federal oversight, sacrificing single-charter efficiency to lower regulatory barriers for asset-servicing infrastructure.
American Banker reports that Zerohash refiled its national trust bank charter application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on August 18. The digital infrastructure provider is making a second attempt after its initial March filing was returned without a decision in July. The updated filing narrows the proposed bank scope by dropping management and transfer agent services, leaving custody, , and settlement functions under national supervision while keeping other operations under state authority. The company also adjusted its proposed leadership structure by removing Andrew Lucas as chief trust officer and planning to fill two executive roles prior to beginning operations. Other firms have faced mixed outcomes with the agency this year, as regulators recently approved World Liberty Trust Company while denying applications from Bunq and Wise.
Crypto-Backed PAC Scales Back Spending in Massachusetts Primary
Super PAC cash reserves concentrated in a few incumbents shift crypto lobby risk from general election spending to primary challenger pushback over industry donations.
Protect Progress spent just over $189,000 on media supporting Representative Jake Auchincloss in the Massachusetts primary, according to cointelegraph.com. The Fairshake affiliate poured the funds into ads and mailers for the incumbent in the 4th congressional district. Democratic challenger Jason Poulos criticized the spending in an August 16 letter while claiming Auchincloss accepted $77,500 from industry sources since 2020. Fairshake and its affiliates previously spent about $3.6 million on House and Senate races in Alaska, Florida, and Wyoming in August. The super PAC reported holding $122 million in cash on hand as it prepares for the midterm elections.
FBI Seizes Over $560K in Crypto Funding Network Linked to Hamas
Relying on public blockchain ledgers and unencrypted communication channels for terrorism financing exposes donors to law enforcement tracking, ultimately turning crypto's transparency into an investigative tool.
fortune.com reports that the FBI seized more than $560,000 in donations intended for Hamas. The Justice Department announced the disruption of the financing network, which included taking control of website domains and communication platforms used for fundraising and recruitment. Hamas began testing virtual currency fundraising around early 2019 through its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, using Telegram channels and direct online portals. Law enforcement obtained information on thousands of individuals who contacted Hamas to donate. An investigative break occurred last year when a confidential U.S. source alerted law enforcement to a Telegram post soliciting contributions to a Hamas-associated email address.
UK Crime Agency Freezes $13.5M Premier League Bank Account in Crypto Probe
High-profile sports licensing deals face systemic counterparty risk when web3 partners operate in regulatory gray zones that expose legitimate corporate receivables to asset seizure.
Coindesk.com reports that the U.K. National Crime Agency froze over $13.5 million held in a Premier League bank account. The Westminster Magistrates' Court issued the freezing order in January 2025 under the Proceeds of Crime Act. The targeted funds represent the initial payment from Sorare under a $140 million partnership deal signed in 2023. Law enforcement officials confirmed that the Premier League is not suspected of any wrongdoing. The agency initiated the freeze to prevent the dissipation of while investigating potential links to third-party criminality. This inquiry runs parallel to a separate prosecution by the Gambling Commission accusing Sorare of providing unlicensed gambling facilities. The Premier League is contesting the freezing order in court, seeking to vary terms that currently run until September 14.
Singapore MAS Proposes Regulatory Updates for Stablecoins
Allowing multi-jurisdictional issuance and select foreign tokens signals that central banks must adapt strict local-only reserve mandates to preserve domestic regulatory authority over cross-border liquidity.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore published a consultation paper proposing amendments to its payments legislation to recognize multi-jurisdictional and foreign-issued . The updates revisit a 2023 regulatory framework that previously required qualifying stablecoins to be issued solely within Singapore. Under the new proposals, tokens jointly issued by local and foreign entities could qualify as MAS-regulated stablecoins if risks are mitigated, while a limited number of foreign-issued tokens could gain recognition for cross-border wholesale transactions. The framework amendments under the Payment Services Act also cover reserve-backed value stability, , and redemption at par. Issuers remain prohibited from paying interest on regulated stablecoins and must maintain recovery and orderly wind-down plans. Public comments on the proposals are open until October 16.
Institutional momentum and regulatory frameworks are advancing alongside aggressive legal enforcement against illicit crypto usage. Whether expanding regulatory oversight can keep pace with cross-border stablecoin adoption and political enforcement actions stays unresolved.
This, every morning.
SuMarket writes Cryptocurrency and Blockchain every morning, along with every other section of the market and the companies and topics you follow. Free to read.