Governor Mike Braun has signed House Bill 1042 into law, formalizing new protections for digital asset users in Indiana and setting guardrails around how state and local authorities may regulate cryptocurrency activity.

HB 1042 becomes law as Indiana expands legal clarity for digital assets

The measure, which cleared the Indiana General Assembly earlier this session, establishes statutory definitions for cryptocurrency and limits the ability of state and local governments to impose discriminatory taxes, fees, or restrictions specifically targeting digital assets.

Supporters describe the legislation as a “Bitcoin rights” framework designed to provide clarity and predictability for residents who hold or transact in crypto.

Under HB 1042, state and local governmental units are prohibited from enacting rules that single out digital asset transactions for special taxation or treatment compared to other forms of payment. The law also reinforces the right of individuals to self-custody digital assets, preventing most public agencies from restricting a person’s ability to hold cryptocurrency in a private wallet.

Regulatory authority remains with the appropriate financial oversight bodies, including the state’s Department of Financial Institutions.

The legislation also opens the door for cryptocurrency exposure within certain state-managed retirement and savings programs. Under HB 1042, plan administrators for designated public retirement and education savings plans will be required to offer a self-directed brokerage option that includes at least one cryptocurrency-linked investment choice, such as a regulated exchange-traded fund tied to bitcoin.

The measure does not mandate that pension funds directly purchase or hold digital assets as part of their core portfolios; instead, it allows individual participants to decide whether to allocate a portion of their retirement savings to crypto through approved investment vehicles.

Backers of the bill have argued that the measure positions Indiana as a pro-innovation state amid growing national debate over crypto regulation. By clearly defining cryptocurrency in statute as a digital medium of exchange secured by cryptography and not issued by a central authority, lawmakers say the state reduces ambiguity for courts, regulators and businesses operating in the space.

The signing follows increasing legislative activity across the United States focused on digital asset rights and taxation.

With HB 1042 now enacted, Indiana joins a small but growing number of states that have codified protections for crypto holders while maintaining oversight through existing financial regulatory frameworks.

TLDR:

• Korea’s chip dominance creates a single-point failure risk for the global AI supply chain during energy route disruptions.
• Memory inventory levels remain too low to absorb a prolonged shock from Middle East shipping instability.
• Defense stocks surged as capital rotated from tech growth into security-linked sectors during the crash.
• Crypto and AI markets both face exposure to hardware delays driven by rising energy and logistics costs.
  

South Korea’s stock market recorded one of its sharpest two-day declines this year after renewed geopolitical tensions shook global risk sentiment. 

The selloff erased hundreds of billions in value and pushed semiconductor shares sharply lower. 

While oil prices and regional conflict dominated headlines, a deeper structural weakness emerged. The market reaction highlighted how the AI boom depends on fragile energy and logistics links.

AI Supply Chain Crisis Reveals Korea’s Memory Chip Vulnerability

The benchmark KOSPI index fell more than 15% in 48 hours after circuit breakers halted trading for the first time in over a year. Roughly $270 billion in market value disappeared in a single session, according to exchange data shared by Shanaka Anslem Perera.

Shares of Samsung dropped about 10%, while SK Hynix slid nearly 12%. Together, the two firms dominate global memory supply for artificial intelligence hardware.

Industry figures show the pair controls about 67% of worldwide DRAM production and close to 80% of high-bandwidth memory revenue. HBM is a core component for modern AI processors used in data centers and cloud infrastructure.

This concentration has turned South Korea into a critical chokepoint for AI hardware. Every new hyperscaler expansion depends on uninterrupted output from Korean fabrication plants.

However, the country imports around 97% of its energy needs. Most of that supply travels through the Strait of Hormuz, a corridor now under renewed threat after tensions involving Iran escalated.

Energy Route Risk Tests Global AI and Crypto Market Assumptions

Shanaka’s data shows global DRAM inventories sit at just two to three weeks, while NAND reserves last only three to four weeks. Any prolonged disruption would force production cuts and delay hardware delivery schedules.

The projected memory market is expected to exceed $440 billion in 2026, driven by demand from AI data centers and advanced chips such as those produced by NVIDIA. Those forecasts assume stable energy access for manufacturing hubs.

Defense-linked stocks moved in the opposite direction during the selloff. Hanwha Aerospace rose about 20%, and LIG Nex1 gained nearly 30%, according to Korean market data.

This shift suggests investors rotated toward security and energy resilience rather than exiting the market entirely. Capital flows pointed to concern over infrastructure risk, not just short-term geopolitics.

Foreign investors also sold roughly 5 trillion won per session during the downturn. The weaker won raised import costs and increased pressure on semiconductor margins.

In crypto-linked markets, traders tracked the move as a signal of potential delays in AI hardware deployment. AI narratives tied to blockchain scaling and GPU demand remain sensitive to supply chain shocks and energy price swings.

Market data provided by Shanaka showed that oil staying above $85 for several weeks could force revisions to semiconductor cost models. The episode exposed how tightly the AI economy links to energy logistics and narrow geographic production bases.

Ripple is expanding its stablecoin payments platform for banks and fintechs, aiming to reduce the need to park money overseas and speed up cross-border transactions.

Ripple Payments, the company’s global payments platform that connects financial institutions to blockchain-based settlement rails, has been upgraded to support a broader stablecoin workflow, including collection, custody, conversion and payout, the San Francisco-based company announced Tuesday. 

The move positions Ripple to compete more directly with legacy payment providers, as it is designed to reduce reliance on pre-funded accounts and traditional correspondent banking networks, which can tie up capital and delay cross-border transactions.

The privately held fintech is valued at $17.7 billion, according to pre-IPO shares platform Forge Global.

Ripple Payments is live in more than 60 markets and has processed over $100 billion in transaction volume to date. The company cited Switzerland’s AMINA Bank, Brazil’s Banco Genial, Malaysia’s ECIB and Philippines-based AltPayNet as examples of companies participating in the network.

Ripple said the expansion builds on its recent acquisitions of custody and treasury automation company Palisade, and Rail, a platform that enables customers to hold and exchange fiat and stablecoins. Ripple acquired Rail last August for $200 million.

Related: Ripple expands European footprint with Amina stablecoin payment partnership

Ripple deepens institutional bet as RLUSD supply reaches $1.5 billion

The expansion comes as Ripple continues to grow its stablecoin payment services, alongside deeper integration of its dollar-pegged token, Ripple USD (RLUSD).

RLUSD accounts for a small but growing share of the global stablecoin market, with a circulating supply of about $1.5 billion.

Regulatory momentum has accompanied that growth. In December, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency conditionally approved national trust bank charters for Ripple’s planned Ripple National Trust Bank, as well as for other crypto companies, including Circle, BitGo, Paxos Trust Company and Fidelity Digital Assets.

If finalized, the charters would allow Ripple and its peers to manage assets and stablecoin reserves under federal oversight, though it would not authorize deposit-taking or lending, as traditional banks do.

The expansion also coincides with ongoing discussions in Washington, DC, around a US crypto market structure bill, where lawmakers and industry groups are negotiating how stablecoins should be regulated. 

Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, attended a February meeting at the White House with other crypto and banking representatives to discuss the legislation’s stablecoin provisions, underscoring the company’s involvement in shaping emerging regulatory frameworks.

Related: Barclays probes blockchain for banking functions like payments, deposits: Report