The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act), establishing a permanent statutory boundary between federal agencies in regulating digital assets, was formally placed on the U.S. Senate Legislative Calendar. However, its immediate passage faces strong resistance as the bill recently stumbled over crucial hurdles regarding ethics disputes and law enforcement concerns. Prediction market odds on Polymarket for the bill passing have plummeted to 47-48% (down from over 74%), with a few session days left before the August recess to debate the bill alongside competing national security priorities.

Nevertheless, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) issued by the SEC and CFTC   and the subsequent joint interpretive release established the first formal five-part token taxonomy, explicitly classifying digital collectibles as non-securities. This provided significant regulatory clarity by confirming that NFTs are not a security.  The NFT art market has transitioned away from the speculative frenzy of 2021 into a more consolidated ecosystem with curated, high-end digital art featuring themes of the 250th anniversary of our nation.  On Flag Day, celebrated on June 14th, which marks our nation’s first crypto President’s 80^th Birthday, many museums are showing their commitment to preserving Digital Art for Future Generations and holding USA 250 themed exhibitions.

The Museum of Art + Light (MoA+L) unveiled its permanent digital art collection, featuring more than 40 works by 15 internationally recognized digital artists. Developed in partnership with Iconic, the collection represents a significant commitment to collecting, preserving, and exhibiting digital art that reflects the breadth, innovation, and cultural significance of digital artistic practice in the 21st century by a contemporary art museum in the US.

“From the beginning, our partnership with the Museum of Art + Light has centered on the belief that digital art deserves the same level of institutional support, preservation, and public engagement as any other artistic medium,” said Chris Cummings, Founder and CEO of Iconic. “We are honored to have collaborated in helping establish a collection that not only celebrates today’s leading digital artists but also creates an important cultural resource for the future.”

Conceived as the first contemporary art museum in the world to showcase immersive, digital, and permanent collections from its inception, the MoA+L has intentionally built a collection that spans generative art, AI-assisted works, digital poetry, blockchain-native artworks, and hybrid physical-to-digital pieces to assemble a collection that captures key voices shaping contemporary digital culture.

“Building a permanent collection dedicated to digital art was never an afterthought for the Museum of Art + Light, it was foundational to our vision,” said Erin Dragotto, Executive Director of the Museum of Art + Light.

“As museums around the world continue to explore how digital art fits within their collections, we have had the unique opportunity to build a collection intentionally from the ground up. These acquisitions ensure that some of the most influential artists working with technology today will be preserved, studied, and shared with audiences for generations to come.”

The National Lighthouse Museum (NLM) on June 14th, Flag Day, the NLM is launching the Statue of Liberty Art Show, which runs until January 2nd, 2027. Curated by Stevie Peters, the art show showcases a historical photo of Lady Liberty when she first arrived at NY Harbor — that is on loan from Victoria Westhead — and oil paintings by award-winning artists Hunt Slonem and Selva Ozelli.

Hunt Slonem joins the Statue of Liberty Art show with his signature “Bunny, Bird and Butterfly” series, which includes a US flag representing abundance, hope, and fertility; his Abraham Lincoln series depicting the timeless icon of American history as a “great soul,” a symbol of law and personal liberty; and his Chandelier series, which reflects his fascination with light and historic grandeur.

“On Marilyn [Monroe]’s desk, she had a picture of her mother and a picture of Lincoln. And she said, ‘I really didn’t know who my father was, so it might as well be Abraham Lincoln.’ I work with diviners and mystics, and one of them started channeling Lincoln in my house, [Lincoln] guided me to paint certain things, like my doves: he wanted me to paint them as a symbol of freedom.”

Selva Ozelli, joins the Statue of Liberty Art Show with her Ocean Lovers-Angel Fish Flag CCL a 20 ft by 13 ft US Flag from her Flag CCL series that represents the seven rays on the Statue of Liberty’s crown, depicting our world’s seven continents, seven seas, and its angel fish inhabitants, which are often regarded as a symbol of hope, peace, and spiritual guidance.

“I am honored to join the Statue of Liberty Art Show along with a historical photo of Lady Liberty and my favorite artist Hunt Slonem with my Ocean Lovers – Angel Fish Flag CCL painting. 

For one hundred and forty years, The Statue of Liberty  in New York Harbor and  hundreds of replicas and models of “Lady Liberty” located around the world ranging   from small, historical models in Paris to full-sized or scaled-down copies in cities like Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Las Vegas have become a very important symbol of  the global spread of liberty, freedom, democracy, law, hope and inspiration to serve every creature  of our world.”

“Whether people have seen Lady Liberty in real life in different cities or only in photographs, whether the people are American or from other nationalities or cultures, the Statue of Liberty,  which first served as a lighthouse standing tall in NY Harbor across from our museum has come to symbolize something important for people in their own lives at a very personal level – she represents a certain level of security, constancy, freedom, democracy, the rule of law, hope, and the abolition of slavery serving as a universal beacon of light, liberty and inspiration. We invite everyone who wants to see the Statue of Liberty Art Show or Lady Liberty herself and the largest waterfront spectacle, SAIL 4th 250…Where Light Meets Liberty! that will take place from July 3-8, 2026, in the Port of New York and New Jersey, with the main spectacle, the International Parade of Tall Ships, scheduled for July 4, 2026.

These events are part of America’s Semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary celebration and is expected to be the largest international maritime gathering in U.S. history, with over 30 tall ships from around the world, sailing up the Hudson River. Our museum, which is hosting a July 4 Watch Party Breakfast, will serve as a key viewing spot. For further details or to be an event sponsor, contact www.lighthousemuseum.org,” explained Linda Dianto, Executive Director of NLM.

About the Author:

Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA, is an international digital asset legal expert and author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally.  Her writings are translated into 45 languages and republished in over 200 global publications.  She is recognized as an expert media/TV commentator on global digital asset regulation, tax, and technology matters.

Metaplanet (3350) acquired Siiibo Securities, a Tokyo-based Type I Financial Instruments Business Operator, in a deal valued at approximately 2.1 billion yen ($13.1 million), the Japanese bitcoin treasury company announced on Friday.

Following the completion of the transaction, Siiibo Securities will become a wholly owned subsidiary, renamed Metaplanet Securities.

The acquisition marks the first major step in Metaplanet’s “Project Nova,” a long-term strategy aimed at building a bitcoin-focused financial ecosystem. The company, which holds 40,177 BTC ($2.6 billion) as of May 31, views bitcoin not only as a treasury asset but also as the foundation for a new generation of financial products and services.

Siiibo Securities specializes in corporate bond issuance and distribution through an online platform and has supported more than 100 bond offerings for over 40 companies. Metaplanet believes the firm’s regulatory licenses, customer base, and securities expertise complement its ambitions in digital assets and tokenized finance.

The companies expect synergies including the development of bitcoin-linked investment products, expanded securities distribution capabilities, and the creation of tokenized financial instruments. Metaplanet also plans to leverage Siiibo’s platform to provide new yield-generating opportunities for investors and strengthen its presence in Japan’s evolving digital asset market.

Binance will support the rebranding of Toncoin to Gram, moving the exchange’s TON markets to the GRAM ticker through a staged process ending in early July.

Binance said it will support the Toncoin rebrand to Gram and handle the technical process for affected users. The exchange will swap TON tokens to GRAM at a ratio of 1 TON to 1 GRAM.

“Binance will handle all technical requirements for users who are involved in this event,” Binance said in its announcement.

The change means users holding TON on Binance do not need to manually complete the swap. The exchange will move eligible balances to the new GRAM ticker after the rebrand process is completed.

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Binance old TON pairs will close

Binance will remove all TON spot trading pairs at 03:00 UTC on June 30. The affected pairs include TON/FDUSD, TON/IDR, TON/TRY, TON/U, TON/USD1, TON/USDC, and TON/USDT.

All pending TON spot orders will be canceled when trading stops. Binance will then open GRAM/FDUSD, GRAM/IDR, GRAM/TRY, GRAM/U, GRAM/USD1, GRAM/USDC, and GRAM/USDT at 08:00 UTC on July 2.

Deposits and withdrawals of TON will be suspended at 03:30 UTC on June 30. GRAM deposits and withdrawals will open at 07:00 UTC on July 2, one hour before spot trading begins.

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After the process ends, Binance said it will no longer support deposits and withdrawals of TON tokens. Users who move TON to Binance close to the deadline must leave enough time for deposits to process.

Futures and other products face deadlines

Binance Futures will close all TONUSDT USD-M perpetual positions and settle the contract at 09:00 UTC on June 23. Users will not be able to open new orders from 08:30 UTC on that date.

The exchange also warned futures users to monitor open positions during the final hour. Binance said reduced liquidity and market volatility may affect settlement conditions before the contract is removed.

Margin, loans, Simple Earn, Dual Investment, Pay, Gift Card, Convert, and Buy & Sell Crypto services will also face separate deadlines. Binance Margin will remove TON from cross and isolated margin on June 23.

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TON Simple Earn products will stop accepting support from June 26. Remaining positions will be redeemed to users’ spot accounts, then resubscribed as GRAM products after the swap where applicable.

Gram rebrand follows Telegram push

The rebrand returns Toncoin to the Gram name used in Telegram’s original blockchain plan. TON will remain the name of the network, while GRAM will become the token ticker on Binance.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Pavel Durov said Gram was the original name of the token in TON’s first white paper. He also said the rebrand does not require a token swap at the network level.

As reported earlier this month, Toncoin rallied earlier in June after the Gram plan revived trader interest. TON traded near $1.71 on June 12, with a 24-hour gain of about 4%, according to crypto.news data.

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The Binance timeline now gives holders clear exchange deadlines. Spot holders can wait for the automatic swap, while futures, margin, loan, and product users may need to close or adjust positions before the listed dates.

Crypto scammers have set up at least three World Cup-related fraud operations linked to four cryptocurrency addresses as millions of fans prepare to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs.

TRM Labs said it identified two fake ticketing websites and a fixed-match betting scheme that were already targeting football fans as the tournament opened on Thursday across the United States, Canada and Mexico. 

FIFA expects roughly 6.5 million attendees during the competition and projects a global economic impact of about $40.9 billion, creating a large market for ticket purchases, travel bookings and betting activity.

“Criminals always look to exploit major events and cultural moments and they don’t wait until kickoff,” Ari Redbord, global head of policy at TRM Labs, told Cointelegraph. Redbord said fraud operators typically establish their infrastructure weeks before a major event and expand their activity once public attention reaches its highest point.

According to Redbord, cryptocurrency transactions also provide investigators and compliance teams with opportunities to trace suspicious activity before losses spread further.

Authorities have already warned of World Cup scams

Weeks before the tournament began, U.S. authorities had already raised concerns about World Cup-themed fraud campaigns.

In a July 4 warning, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said criminals were promoting fake World Cup tickets, hospitality packages, merchandise offers, streaming subscriptions and sports betting deals through websites and social media accounts designed to resemble legitimate FIFA services.

Law enforcement officials noted that requests for payment through cryptocurrency, wire transfers, gift cards and other hard-to-recover methods often serve as warning signs of fraud. Fans were urged to purchase tickets only through FIFA’s official channels and avoid links distributed through social media posts, text messages and messaging applications.

Security concerns have extended beyond ticket sales. The Sheriff’s Department said attackers were creating websites that closely imitated official FIFA pages in an attempt to collect payment details, login credentials and other personal information.

Separately, the FBI also warned in May that threat actors were spoofing FIFA-related websites ahead of the tournament. According to the agency, those operations were designed to gather personal data, sell counterfeit tickets and carry out additional malicious activity.

Fake domains impersonating FIFA website. Source: FBI

FIFA has also cautioned supporters against purchasing tickets through unofficial sources. The organization said tickets obtained outside its official platform could be invalidated or cancelled without notice.

Ticket demand has become a focal point as the tournament gets underway.

The Council on Foreign Relations reported that several opening matches in the United States and Canada had not sold out on FIFA’s platform as of Monday. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that official resale portals still listed about 176,000 unsold group-stage tickets earlier this week.

While legitimate tickets remain available through official channels, TRM Labs’ findings suggest fraud operators are attempting to capitalize on fan demand through counterfeit sales and betting-related schemes.

The latest warning arrives during a year of rising crypto-related fraud. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, cryptocurrency theft has already reached $3.4 billion in 2026.

Metaplanet has agreed to acquire Japanese securities firm Siiibo Securities for JPY 2.1 billion, adding a licensed brokerage platform that it plans to use for Bitcoin-linked investment products and yield-focused offerings.

According to a June 12 announcement from Metaplanet, the Tokyo-listed company has signed a share transfer agreement to purchase all outstanding shares of Siiibo Securities and convert the firm into a wholly owned subsidiary. The transaction is expected to close on July 13, after which Siiibo Securities will be renamed Metaplanet Securities.

The deal gives Metaplanet direct control of a Type I Financial Instruments Business Operator, a license category that allows the structuring and distribution of securities products in Japan. Company documents describe the acquisition as the first major merger and acquisition transaction under Project Nova, Metaplanet’s long-term plan to build a Bitcoin-focused financial services ecosystem.

As part of that strategy, Metaplanet said it intends to develop and distribute Bitcoin-related financial products to Japanese investors by combining Siiibo’s securities infrastructure with the company’s Bitcoin treasury business.

Company records show Metaplanet held 40,177 BTC as of May 31, 2026, making it Japan’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder and the third-largest corporate holder globally. The company valued those holdings at a net asset value of JPY 457.6 billion.

Metaplanet expands beyond Bitcoin accumulation

While Metaplanet has become widely known for building one of the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin treasuries, the acquisition signals an effort to generate financial products tied to those holdings rather than focusing solely on balance-sheet accumulation.

Under the transaction, Metaplanet will gain access to Siiibo’s online corporate bond platform and existing investor network. Siiibo has supported more than 40 companies and over 100 bond issuances, primarily through private placement corporate bonds and venture debt financing.

Company materials state that the securities firm possesses both the regulatory licenses required to distribute financial products and an established base of retail and corporate investors. Metaplanet said those capabilities will allow it to introduce new income-oriented products, including BTC-linked bonds and other Bitcoin-related investment instruments.

“The acquisition of Siiibo Securities is Metaplanet’s first major M&A transaction and a significant step toward realizing Project Nova,” said Simon Gerovich, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of Metaplanet.

“We view Bitcoin not merely as a treasury reserve asset, but as the foundation of the next generation of financial ecosystems,” he added.

Management said future initiatives could include Bitcoin-linked debt products, digital securities offerings, security tokens and financial products built around Bitcoin-related assets.

“Japanese households hold roughly $7.4 trillion in cash, deposits and low-yield products, and as Japan shifts from deflation to inflation, that capital has begun searching for yield. By bringing Siiibo’s Type I registration and online securities platform into the group, we will develop and distribute Bitcoin-related yield products directly to Japanese investors, supported by the 40,177 BTC on our balance sheet, the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury in Asia,” Gerovich said in an X post.

Funding for the Siiibo acquisition is expected to come primarily from cash reserves and borrowings. Metaplanet said it may supplement financing with its Bitcoin-backed credit facilities, which have aggregate borrowing capacity of up to $500 million.

Following completion of the transaction, Metaplanet plans to appoint two company directors to the securities firm’s board. The company said it does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on consolidated financial results for the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, 2026.

Acquisition follows focus on shareholder returns

The transaction comes days after Metaplanet reiterated that Bitcoin Yield remains its primary performance metric and said share buybacks remain a potential capital allocation tool when its mNAV ratio trades below 1.0x.

In comments published on June 9, Gerovich noted that management would strongly consider repurchasing common shares if the company’s market valuation falls below the value of its underlying Bitcoin holdings. At the time, Metaplanet reported an mNAV ratio of 0.92x based on its 40,177 BTC treasury.

Rather than relying on a single financing approach, the company has previously highlighted multiple capital allocation tools, including buybacks, preferred shares, and additional fundraising to support its Bitcoin strategy.

Recent disclosures also showed Metaplanet is pursuing what it described as Japan’s first listed perpetual preferred share product while building systems capable of supporting recurring dividend distributions.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rescinding two core National Market System (NMS) rules, a move that could remove a substantial legal barrier to tokenized US stocks trading in decentralized finance (DeFi). The proposal targets Rule 611, which bans trade-throughs across exchanges, and Rule 610(e), which restricts displaying bids at the same or higher prices elsewhere. If adopted, the change would ease the path for tokenized equities to operate more freely within crypto trading venues.

The SEC said the changes would be considered as part of its ongoing effort to modernize the framework governing digital assets in U.S. markets. The agency opened a 60-day window for public comment on the proposal and will review responses before finalizing any rulemaking. The move follows the SEC’s broader emphasis on integrating crypto and blockchain technologies into existing market structures while safeguarding investors.

Key takeaways

• The SEC proposes scrapping NMS Rules 611 and 610(e), removing trade-through and bid-display constraints that currently apply to U.S. equities trading across exchanges.
• industry observers argue the change could unlock tokenized US stocks on DeFi platforms by eliminating a major regulatory hurdle that has constrained automated markets and cross-venue execution.
• Automated market makers (AMMs) in crypto face inherent alignment challenges with trade-through rules, as they execute at pool prices and cannot always stop a trade when a better quote exists elsewhere.
• Sources expect the SEC to replace the rules with a new best-execution framework, potentially allowing AMMs to operate under the updated regime.
• The proposal arrives amid broader regulatory activity around tokenized assets, including ongoing work under the SEC’s Project Crypto and prior discussions about tokenized stock trading plans.

Unlocking tokenized stocks: what the proposal changes

Industry participants have long argued that traditional guardrails—designed for a world of centralized venues—limit the efficiency and reach of tokenized equity trading. By rescinding Rule 611, which prevents a stock order on one exchange from trading at a worse price than on another venue, the SEC would remove a structural constraint that can hinder cross-platform arbitrage and execution quality. Likewise, eliminating Rule 610(e)’s bid-display prohibition could reduce the friction in displaying competitive quotes across multiple venues.

Galaxy Digital’s head of research, Alex Thorn, framed the potential shift as a major unlocking for tokenized stocks. “One of the biggest unlocks yet for tokenized stocks,” Thorn said, would come from removing a central barrier to trading alternatives on DeFi platforms. Thorn’s assessment highlights how the current rules interact with tokenized equities, where on-chain trading mechanisms operate with price discovery pooled from multiple sources rather than a single centralized order book.

Thorn emphasized that automated market makers (AMMs)—which pool assets to facilitate trades—would struggle under the existing regime, because their execution depends on pool prices rather than a single, live external quote. “AMMs can’t comply with trade-through rules as they are designed today; they ‘trade against whatever the pool price is,’” Thorn explained. He added that an AMM would also struggle to halt a trade if a better quote existed elsewhere, effectively risking constant violation of trade-through protections and potentially categorizing a tokenized stock pool as an illegal trading center under the current framework.

The SEC’s move is not happening in a vacuum. It comes as the agency has signaled a broader push to adapt regulatory structures to digital assets. Earlier coverage noted the SEC’s strategic emphasis on digital assets through 2030, and the agency has been weighing how to balance innovation with investor protection in this evolving space. The current proposal explicitly invites public input during the 60-day comment period, signaling that the agency may refine its approach in response to feedback from industry participants and other stakeholders.

As part of its broader policy arc, the SEC’s work intersects with ongoing discussions about tokenized stock trading plans. Reports from last month indicated the commission was considering a plan to allow tokenized stock trading but postponed release after exchanges raised concerns about execution and implementation. The new proposal could be seen as an alternative pathway toward enabling tokenized equities within a regulated framework, subject to stakeholder input and potential structural adjustments.

For readers tracking the regulatory backdrop, the SEC’s efforts should be viewed alongside ongoing explorations into how best to regulate digital assets while preserving market integrity and investor confidence. In parallel with the rules review, the agency’s broader strategy—often framed under headings like “Project Crypto”—reflects a desire to bring digital-asset activities into closer alignment with traditional market infrastructure where appropriate.

Context and what to watch next

The 60-day comment window is a crucial period for market participants, exchanges, token issuers, and developers building tokenized stock products. Revisions to the proposal could alter the shape of best-execution obligations, potentially adding clarity or constraints that affect how tokenized equities are traded in DeFi environments. Observers will be paying attention to whether the SEC settles on a formal best-execution framework as a successor to the rescinded rules and how that framework would accommodate AMMs and other automated trading mechanisms.

Related coverage confirms that the SEC’s digital-asset agenda has faced practical execution challenges, including discussions about how tokenized stocks will be integrated into regulated markets and the concerns raised by traditional exchanges about how such products would operate. Those discussions underscore the balance regulators seek between enabling innovative access to markets and maintaining protections for investors.

Readers should watch for the agency’s response to public input and any subsequent rulemaking steps. If the best-execution approach is adopted, it could mark a meaningful turning point for the alignment of on-chain trading with established market protections, potentially accelerating the deployment of tokenized stock trading platforms within a regulated ecosystem.

Source: Alex Thorn, Galaxy Digital; coverage of SEC initiatives and tokenized stock discussions referenced in ongoing reporting on Project Crypto and related regulatory developments.

Can Robinhood or Kraken’s tokenized stock offerings ever be truly decentralized? Industry debates continue as regulators weigh how to apply traditional market protections to innovative digital-asset trading formats. For now, the SEC’s latest proposal stands as a meaningful signal that the regulatory landscape for tokenized securities could be reshaped in the coming months, with implications for traders, issuers, and developers building in the tokenized-stocks space.