Private markets saw significant AI infrastructure funding alongside major regulatory and legal developments. Crusoe raised $3.9 billion in a Series F round, while the SEC introduced a five-year exemption for trading tokenized U.S. stocks. Meanwhile, Ondo Finance faces a succession crisis following its founder's death, and Credit Acceptance agreed to a $710 million subprime lending settlement.
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SEC Introduces Innovation Exemption for Tokenized Securities
Conditioning regulatory relief on full voting and dividend rights while barring synthetics anchors tokenized assets to actual corporate equity rather than parallel derivative markets.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission introduced a five-year innovation exemption allowing limited trading of tokenized U.S. stocks on venues. Chairman Paul Atkins announced the temporary framework on Thursday to give tokenized securities a regulated path without immediate formal rule changes. The policy applies only to tokens representing actual shares with full shareholder rights, such as voting and . Synthetic products that only offer price exposure fall outside the exemption and may require restructuring to enter U.S. markets. Qualified platforms must also implement KYC checks, trading limits, and volume caps while allowing corporate issuers to veto unauthorized tokenization of their shares.
Crusoe Valued at $30.9 Billion in Latest Funding Round
Securing gigawatt-scale power contracts transforms data center developers from capital-intensive utilities into premium-valued AI assets by locking in the primary bottleneck to compute expansion.
According to channelnewsasia.com, infrastructure provider Crusoe has raised $3.9 billion in a Series F funding round valuing the company at $30.9 billion post-money. Atreides Management, Mubadala , and Valor Partners co-led the round, with participation from Nvidia, Founders Fund, QIA, and other investors. Crusoe will direct the capital toward expanding existing programs and constructing new AI factories. The Denver-based company reports holding more than $140 billion in total contracted value alongside over 6 gigawatts of contracted capacity, with 1 gigawatt currently operational. Meanwhile, the broader sector continues to draw massive capital commitments, including a $22 billion chip loan and a $5 billion equity investment from Blackstone for Alphabet-backed Crux AI.
Revolut Faces $3 Million Cyberattack Ransom Demand
Fintech reliance on automated law enforcement data requests creates an attack vector where compromised government credentials turn regulatory compliance channels into unmonitored exfiltration pipelines.
A group of hackers calling itself IAmNotAVillain publicly demanded 6,000 Monero, worth about $3 million, from Revolut within 24 hours while threatening to sell stolen customer records. Revolut stated it has received no direct contact or demand from the individuals making the claims. At least 680 customer accounts were affected by the breach, exposing identity documents and transaction histories. Attackers used a compromised government email account to obtain the records before Revolut discovered the requests were fraudulent. Italian authorities and prosecutors in Reggio Calabria have opened an investigation into the unauthorized access of a public interest computer system.
Morgan Stanley Raises Advisor Production Requirements to Maintain Compensation
By indexing payout grids to broad market appreciation, wealth managers force advisors to drive organic client acquisition rather than rely on passive fee growth.
americanbanker.com reports that Morgan Stanley will raise thresholds for its financial advisors by 10% across the board next year to maintain their current payout rates. The adjustment forces advisors to manage larger pools to prevent a pay cut, countering asset driven by three consecutive years of market gains. Gross revenue for the firm's financial advisors has increased by 56% on average over the past three years, while net new assets totaled $1.1 trillion over the same period. Actual payout percentages remain unchanged, spanning from 28% for the lowest producers to 55.5% for the highest. Advisors generating $1 million in annual revenue currently take home 44%, and those producing $2 million keep 48%. The firm is also increasing the retirement payout bonus from 15% to 17% for advisors with 30 or more years of service under the Advisor Legacy Program.
Morgan Stanley Advisor Payout Tiers (%)
Advisors producing $2 million take home a 48% payout rate.
Ondo Finance Succession Crisis Deepens Amid Family Legal Allegations
Intestate succession of controlling equity and protocol tokens transfers operational governance to non-crypto heirs, forcing tokenized finance protocols into traditional probate battles over executive control.
Coindesk.com reports that the succession crisis at Ondo Finance has escalated into a legal battle involving family allegations of dementia, alcoholism, and a disputed $11 million compensation package for acting CEO Ian De Bode. Founder Nathan Allman died suddenly without a will at age 32 in May, leaving his controlling stake and large holding of ONDO tokens to his parents. De Bode assumed the role of acting CEO following Allman's death, prompting Allman's mother, Kathleen Allman, to sue him over an alleged usurpation of corporate control. De Bode's proposed compensation package included a $900,000 annual salary and bonus, a $1 million signing bonus, and 26 million restricted token units valued at more than $9 million. Meanwhile, Allman's half-sister and an Ondo investor petitioned a Hawaiian court for a limited conservatorship over Kathleen Allman's share of the estate, citing cognitive impairment and financial mismanagement. Kathleen Allman denied the allegations and called the petition a desperate tactic following legal setbacks in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Subprime Auto Lender Reaches $710 Million Multi-State Settlement
Using a lender's own predictive underwriting data to establish predatory intent transforms proprietary risk-scoring algorithms from a competitive asset into direct regulatory liability.
Credit Acceptance agreed to a $710 million settlement with a coalition of 41 state attorneys general over allegations that it trapped low-income car buyers into high-risk loans, americanbanker.com reports. The auto lender used a proprietary scoring system to approve loans for borrowers that its own data indicated were unable to repay. The consent order includes $60 million in direct cash restitution for consumers, alongside $388 million in relief to erase outstanding loan balances for borrowers whose vehicles were repossessed between November 2015 and November 2025. An additional $246 million in debt relief will pay off remaining loans for current borrowers, while $15 million goes directly to participating state attorneys general. Beyond financial penalties, the agreement imposes operating restrictions that require the lender to cap vehicle prices at 109% of retail book value for certain high-risk borrowers and establish prepurchase risk disclosures. The settlement follows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau withdrawing as co-plaintiff from a joint 2023 lawsuit filed by New York state. Credit Acceptance did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and its stock price fell 1.8% on Thursday.
Settlement and Relief Allocation ($M)
Debt relief for repossessions accounts for the majority of the settlement.
housingwire.com reports that Oklahoma-based Gateway First Bank has agreed to acquire Colonial Savings F.A. to expand its -focused banking model in Texas. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal combines Gateway's national mortgage presence with Colonial's six locations across the Greater Fort Worth market. Gateway originated $2.5 billion in mortgages in 2025, up from $2.2 billion in 2024. Colonial closed roughly $470 million in mortgages in the 12 months before exiting originations in May 2023, later holding approximately $1 billion in and a $20 billion servicing before winding down its servicing business. Performance Trust Partners LLC advised Gateway, while Olsen Palmer LLC advised Colonial. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Gateway Mortgage Origination Volume ($B)
Gateway's mortgage origination volume grew from 2024 to 2025
Massive capital deployments in AI infrastructure clash with severe operational and legal risks across financial firms. Whether regulatory relief for tokenized equities can offset rising cybersecurity threats and corporate governance battles across alternative markets remains unresolved.
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