CoinMENA, a cryptocurrency exchange operating in the United Arab Emirates, has signed a banking agreement with Standard Chartered to enhance how customers move between crypto and fiat. The deal is designed to strengthen fiat payment infrastructure, with Standard Chartered set to support key functions including on- and off-ramps and transaction management through virtual account arrangements.

In a separate development, Bloomberg reports that the Central Bank of the UAE has approved Revolut’s applications for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services licenses—another sign that mainstream fintech is preparing for deeper involvement in the UAE’s regulated financial landscape, even as questions remain about whether digital-asset services will be included at launch.

Key takeaways

• CoinMENA says Standard Chartered will support fiat on- and off-ramps, client money accounts, and virtual-account transaction management in the UAE.
• The exchange frames the partnership as a way to improve transparency and liquidity settlement with approved global counterparties.
• CBUAE approval of Revolut’s Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services licenses indicates regulatory progress for broader fintech payments in the UAE.
• Revolut’s reported licenses cover payments and stored value; they do not amount to a clear, explicit green light for digital-asset trading or related services.

CoinMENA links fiat rails to Standard Chartered

CoinMENA announced that it has entered a banking agreement with Standard Chartered, aiming to “strengthen fiat payment infrastructure” for customers in the UAE. According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the exchange will use Standard Chartered to facilitate fiat on- and off-ramps as well as client money accounts.

The agreement also covers virtual account-based transaction management, which CoinMENA says is intended to bring more structured handling of transfers. The exchange believes this will help improve transparency and liquidity settlement when transacting with approved global counterparties.

The move comes as the UAE’s digital asset ecosystem continues to mature and attract more institutional participation. For many exchanges, reliable access to regulated banking infrastructure is increasingly treated as a prerequisite for scaling fiat volumes, reducing operational friction, and meeting compliance expectations tied to customer funds handling.

Standard Chartered emphasizes the UAE’s regulatory pull

Standard Chartered UAE, Middle East and Pakistan CEO Rola Abu Manneh said in the announcement that the UAE has positioned itself as a leading regulatory environment for digital assets. She suggested this creates collaboration opportunities for financial institutions and regulated firms.

That emphasis matters because crypto firms increasingly rely on bank partnerships not just for payment convenience, but for settlement reliability and compliance processes that can be difficult to replicate through non-bank alternatives. In this context, CoinMENA’s choice to anchor parts of its fiat flow around a major global bank reflects a broader trend in which exchanges seek “bank-grade” rails as they expand.

CoinMENA co-founders Dina Sam’an and Talal Tabbaa underlined the strategy in a joint statement, arguing that the industry’s future hinges on banking, regulatory, and operational foundations—not solely on technology.

Why bank agreements are becoming a competitive lever

For UAE-based exchanges, fiat rails are often the difference between frictionless onboarding and a payment process that can be slow, inconsistent, or difficult to scale. While the press release does not quantify outcomes such as reduced settlement time or improved throughput, it does outline the operational components involved: fiat on- and off-ramps, client money accounts, and virtual account transaction management.

These elements are particularly relevant for exchanges that want to attract a wider range of users, including those who prefer predictable banking workflows and clear custody or segregation practices for customer funds. The pledge of “improved transparency” also suggests that CoinMENA views clearer transaction handling and settlement processes as critical to trust and compliance.

Investors and users should watch how partnerships like this translate into day-to-day experience—such as deposit and withdrawal reliability, the smoothness of conversion flows, and whether settlement with counterparties becomes more consistent as volumes grow. Over time, exchanges with stronger banking connectivity may be better positioned to handle institutional-level demand that depends on dependable fiat processing.

Revolut’s UAE licenses signal wider payments expansion

Separately, Bloomberg reports that the Central Bank of the UAE has approved Revolut’s applications for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services licenses. The report frames this as the fintech moving closer to a UAE launch, with Revolut reportedly planning to build out technology, operations, and local capabilities before it makes its services available.

Bloomberg also notes that UAE users are expected to receive multi-currency accounts, physical and virtual cards, and domestic and international transfers through Revolut’s app. The combination of stored value and retail payment services indicates a focus on payments infrastructure and consumer financial utility rather than a direct digital-asset platform at the outset.

At the same time, the scope of authorization remains a key point for readers. The licenses approved in the report relate to stored value and retail payment services, not an explicit waiver for “virtual asset” activity. Revolut has not publicly confirmed—per Bloomberg’s reporting—whether its UAE offering will include digital asset trading, transfers tied to crypto, staking, or access to its Revolut X exchange.

Cointelegraph reached out to Revolut for comment but did not receive a response before publication, leaving details about a possible digital-asset component uncertain.

Bloomberg also reports that Revolut is considering additional expansion across the Middle East and North Africa, including Turkey and Morocco. If so, the UAE could become a test case for how rapidly the firm scales regulated payments in the region ahead of any expanded service offerings.

What to watch next in the UAE’s regulated finance build-out

These two developments—CoinMENA’s banking agreement with Standard Chartered and Revolut’s central bank licensing progress—highlight the UAE’s push toward deeper integration between regulated banking rails and digital finance services. The immediate questions for market participants are whether CoinMENA’s fiat improvements translate into measurable user and liquidity outcomes, and whether Revolut’s UAE rollout stays strictly within payments or eventually broadens into explicitly licensed digital-asset functions.

Singapore’s Monetary Authority has added Bybit to its Investor Alert List, placing one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges alongside other platforms that are not licensed to offer regulated services to users in the city-state.

According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Bybit Fintech Limited and its trading platform were added to the Investor Alert List on June 17. The regulator said the list identifies entities that may be wrongly perceived as being licensed, authorized, or otherwise regulated by MAS.

Unlike an enforcement action or operating ban, the Investor Alert List serves as a public warning tool. MAS noted that the list is not exhaustive and is compiled based on information available at the time of publication. Bybit’s entry includes the exchange’s main website.

Founded by Singaporean entrepreneur Ben Zhou, Bybit has grown into the second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume globally. Despite those roots, the company already restricts Singapore users under its terms of service and has implemented measures such as geo-blocking local IP addresses.

Singapore requires firms offering digital payment token services to obtain authorization under the Payment Services Act. Exchanges that operate without the necessary approvals risk regulatory action if they solicit or serve local residents.

Singapore maintains pressure on licensed and unlicensed firms

For local investors, MAS continues to direct users to its Financial Institutions Directory to verify whether a platform holds the appropriate licenses before using its services.

The latest warning comes as Singapore maintains a strict compliance stance across the crypto sector. In May, MAS revoked the Major Payment Institution licence of Bsquared Technology after finding false or misleading statements and identifying significant weaknesses in risk management, conflict-of-interest controls, and outsourcing arrangements. The regulator also said it was reviewing whether senior officers at the firm could bear personal responsibility for the breaches.

That case stood out because Bsquared had already obtained regulatory approval before losing its licence. Together with warnings directed at unlicensed platforms, the move underscored MAS’s focus on investor protection and compliance oversight.

Elsewhere, the regulator has continued to approve firms that meet its standards. Recent approvals for crypto infrastructure providers such as BitGo have highlighted the high compliance threshold required to operate in Singapore’s regulated market.

No disruption to Bybit’s global operations has been reported following the Singapore listing. The exchange continues to offer trading services, token listings, proof-of-reserves disclosures, and other products in jurisdictions where it is permitted to operate.

Bybit had not issued a public statement on the MAS listing at the time of publication and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

MAS’s action also follows a different regulatory outcome for Bybit in Malaysia. In April 2026, the exchange was removed from the country’s investor alert list after engaging with local regulators and addressing compliance concerns.

Bybit expands products while facing regulatory scrutiny

Outside Singapore, Bybit has continued to broaden its product lineup and compliance efforts.

Just days before the MAS alert, Bybit partnered with Plume to launch institutional fixed-income vaults through the exchange’s real-world asset section. The offering allows users to deploy stablecoins into products linked to traditional fixed-income instruments associated with PIMCO and China Merchants Bank International.

Key Points

• FulcrumSec, a cybercrime extortion operation, alleges it extracted more than 1.3 terabytes of confidential files from Novo Nordisk following the company’s decision to reject a $25 million ransom payment.
• The compromised information purportedly contains source code, confidential pharmaceutical research, clinical study documentation, and proprietary AI system files.
• The threat actors report they infiltrated the network through a GitHub access credential found in March, maintaining persistent access for more than two months.
• On June 11, Novo Nordisk publicly acknowledged a security breach involving unauthorized entry into select internal technology infrastructure and exposure of personal information.
• FulcrumSec now states it plans to pursue targeted private transactions for portions of the stolen materials while pledging to withhold patient information, employee records, and production facility data.

On June 11, Novo Nordisk publicly acknowledged a security incident, reporting that intruders had obtained unauthorized entry to a restricted set of internal technology systems. This announcement followed months during which FulcrumSec, a ransomware and extortion collective, had allegedly maintained concealed access to the pharmaceutical giant’s digital infrastructure.

At the moment of the public disclosure, NVO stock was hovering near $66. The shares have experienced downward pressure over recent months, and this cybersecurity episode introduces additional complications for investors.

Novo Nordisk A/S, NVO

According to FulcrumSec, their initial entry point was a GitHub authentication token they located in March. This credential provided them with entry to internal software repositories, which they subsequently leveraged to harvest additional login information and expand their foothold within Novo Nordisk‘s digital environment.

The group asserts it maintained undetected presence within the network for over two months. During this period, they claim to have exfiltrated approximately 1.3 terabytes of information encompassing more than 700,000 separate files.

FulcrumSec contacted undisclosed executives at Novo Nordisk with a $25 million payment demand. The pharmaceutical company responded on June 3—about 48 hours following the initial contact—using a Proton Mail account to authenticate their identity. Subsequently, Novo Nordisk refused to meet the payment terms.

Following the rejection, FulcrumSec indicates it is now pursuing selective private transactions for specific segments of the stolen information.

The threat actors informed Reuters they would actually prefer public disclosure of the materials, characterizing it as “a more effective deterrent for future companies to avoid paying.”

Contents of the Stolen Materials

FulcrumSec alleges the compromised files encompass source code, confidential details regarding both commercialized and developmental pharmaceuticals, clinical research data, and information connected to Novo Nordisk’s production operations.

The group also claims possession of internal artificial intelligence model files. This particular element carries significance considering Novo Nordisk’s publicized collaboration with OpenAI, which aimed to embed AI capabilities throughout drug development, production processes, and business operations by the end of 2026.

FulcrumSec maintains it will withhold certain data categories from release. These protected materials include documentation on thousands of staff members and medical professionals, information concerning approximately 11,500 anonymized clinical trial participants, and operational technology files from Novo Nordisk’s manufacturing locations.

The collective characterized this selective withholding as component of its “harm-reduction strategy.”

Evaluating the Threat Actor’s Legitimacy

Thomas Willkan, research director at cybersecurity organization Lab-1, informed Reuters that FulcrumSec is “usually quite legit in terms of both their capabilities and also their claims.” Willkan has maintained close surveillance of FulcrumSec since the group’s first appearance in October 2025.

Reuters noted it could not immediately authenticate the legitimacy of the materials published by the threat actors.

A representative from Novo Nordisk stated the organization “is aware of claims that data allegedly copied externally without authorisation from our systems has been published online,” and verified communication with appropriate regulatory bodies.

DataBreaches.net documented on June 15 that FulcrumSec provided alleged communications with Novo Nordisk beginning June 1, including a catalog of over 700,000 items totaling approximately 1.3 terabytes.

VX-Underground also published a report on Monday regarding an unidentified threat actor compromising Novo Nordisk. FulcrumSec maintains its intrusion represents a distinct incident from that reported breach.

Pavel Durov’s seven-step plan to rebuild Gram around Telegram is four steps in. The speed upgrade, the fee cut, the validator takeover, and the rename have all shipped. Here is what each one did, and what the three undisclosed steps might be.

In April 2026, Pavel Durov began publishing a roadmap on his Telegram channel under a deliberately provocative name: Make TON Great Again, or MTONGA. It is a seven-step plan to transform The Open Network, the blockchain behind the token now called Gram, into the primary payment and application layer for Telegram’s roughly one billion users. Four of the seven steps have shipped. Three remain undisclosed. And each revealed step has moved the price, which is why traders treat the unannounced ones as scheduled catalysts waiting to fire.

This guide walks through what MTONGA actually is, what each of the four completed steps did, why the market has reacted the way it has, and what the three remaining steps might turn out to be. If you hold Gram, trade it, or are trying to understand why the token keeps spiking and fading, the roadmap is the framework that explains the pattern.

What MTONGA is, in one paragraph

Make TON Great Again is Durov’s name for the coordinated push, launched in April 2026, to upgrade The Open Network and bind it tightly to Telegram. The roadmap matters because it marks a reversal: Telegram built the network in 2018, abandoned it in 2020 after an SEC enforcement action, and left the independent TON Foundation to run it for years. MTONGA is Durov personally retaking the wheel, becoming the network’s largest validator, reclaiming the original Gram name, and announcing a sequence of technical and branding moves designed to make the chain fast enough and cheap enough to serve Telegram’s billion-user base. The name echoes a political slogan, but the goals are technical and strategic: speed, low fees, direct Telegram control, and a brand that Telegram’s users already recognize.

Step one: Catchain 2.0 and sub-second speed

MTONGA opened on April 9, 2026, with the upgrade that made the rest possible.

Durov announced that the network had become roughly ten times faster, with transactions confirming in under a second where they previously took around five seconds or more. The engine behind the change was Catchain 2.0, a new consensus mechanism that cut block production time from about 2.5 seconds to roughly 400 milliseconds and introduced a streaming layer that pushes updates to applications almost instantly instead of making them wait for the next block.

For users, the practical effect is that payments clear in about a second, trades execute in real time, and apps respond immediately, the responsiveness a consumer payment network needs if it is going to feel like sending a message rather than waiting on a blockchain.

There was a tradeoff worth understanding, because it touches the token’s economics.

More frequent blocks mean more validator rewards, which strengthens the incentive to stake but also raises issuance: the network’s annual inflation is expected to rise from roughly 0.6% toward 3.6% as a consequence of the faster block production. That is a meaningful increase, and it sits underneath the bull case as a quiet headwind, more tokens are created to reward the validators securing the faster chain. The speed is a genuine upgrade; the inflation bump is its cost.

Step two: the sixfold fee cut

With speed in place, the next move lowered the cost of using the network.

Base transaction fees were cut roughly sixfold, standardizing the cost at around $0.0005 per transfer regardless of network congestion. TON fees were already low compared with Ethereum or Solana, so the significance is less about the absolute saving and more about what cheap, predictable fees enable: micropayments and high-frequency applications that only make sense when each transaction costs a fraction of a cent.

A network aiming to host in-app payments, tipping, and consumer commerce for a billion people needs fees low enough that users never think about them, and the sixfold cut moves toward that, with Durov having referenced feeless transactions as a longer-term goal. The fee reduction is the economic complement to the speed upgrade: fast and nearly free is the combination a consumer payment layer requires.

Step three: Telegram becomes the largest validator

Step three was the most strategically consequential, because it changed who controls the network.

On May 4, 2026, Durov announced that Telegram would replace the Switzerland-based TON Foundation as the primary steward of The Open Network and operate as the chain’s largest validator, staking millions of tokens through the messenger’s own infrastructure.

This reversed years of deliberate separation between Telegram and the network, the separation that was built after the 2020 SEC settlement specifically to distance the company from the project. Telegram binding its corporate infrastructure and stake to the chain is the clearest signal yet that the company is committing its fate to the network, the thing the market had most wanted and most doubted since the independent foundation took over.

This move drew predictable centralization concerns, since a single dominant validator is a concentration of power, and Durov pushed back by arguing that Telegram serving as a large validator actually encourages other major players to join the validator pool as a counterbalance.

Whether that holds in practice is an open question, but the strategic point is unambiguous: after years at arm’s length, Telegram is now formally in control of the network’s direction, which is the foundation the rest of the roadmap and the entire Gram investment thesis rest on.

Step four: the Gram rename

Step four is the one most people heard about, and the one that changed the least, mechanically.

In early June, Durov announced that the native token would reclaim its original name, Gram, the name from Telegram’s 2018 whitepaper that was abandoned after the SEC forced the project to shut down in 2020.

A community vote on the TON Vote platform passed with 81.22% support, and the rename took effect on June 15, 2026, changing the token’s name and ticker from TON to GRAM while leaving the blockchain itself called The Open Network.

No token swap, migration, or claim was required: balances, addresses, staking, and contracts all carried over, and a holder of 10 Toncoin simply held 10 Gram. For most holders, the rename was a display and ticker change, not a technical event.

What made the rename matter was symbolic and strategic, not mechanical.

Reclaiming Gram reconnects the token to its origins and to the Telegram brand its users already recognize, closing a gap that always made “Toncoin” confusing to the messenger’s own audience. It also signals regulatory confidence, since reviving the name the SEC once litigated against is a statement that Telegram believes the climate has changed.

A pure rename changes no supply, no fees, and no on-chain mechanics, which is why the right way to read step four is as the branding capstone on the three technical and strategic moves that preceded it.

Inveniam Capital Partners has announced plans to acquire layer-1 blockchain Mantra and affiliated entities, signaling a deeper move into infrastructure tied to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). The deal builds on Inveniam’s prior commitment to the network, after the firm made a $20 million strategic investment in Mantra in August 2025, according to the company’s Tuesday announcement.

The acquisition also follows Inveniam’s rollout of NVNM Chain, a Mantra-based layer-2 network launched on May 13. NVNM Chain is positioned to help verify assets while avoiding exposure of confidential information—an approach that aligns with the broader push to make RWA workflows more audit-friendly without compromising privacy.

Key takeaways

• Inveniam Capital Partners will acquire Mantra and affiliated entities, deepening its involvement in RWA-focused blockchain infrastructure.
• The transaction follows Inveniam’s $20 million strategic investment in Mantra in August 2025.
• Inveniam earlier launched NVNM Chain (May 13), a layer-2 designed for asset verification while preserving confidentiality.
• The deal reflects an effort to connect tokenized real-world asset rails with AI-ready, regulated private-market data.
• Mantra has recently faced severe market turbulence around its OM token, including a sharp drawdown in April 2025.

Why the Mantra acquisition matters to RWA infrastructure

Mantra’s pitch has centered on enabling RWAs to move with blockchain-based verification while addressing one of the biggest practical constraints in tokenization: how to prove claims about real-world assets without disclosing sensitive information. NVNM Chain, launched on May 13, is framed specifically around that tradeoff, supporting asset verification without revealing confidential data.

For Inveniam, acquiring the layer-1 and associated entities suggests it wants more direct control over the technical and operational foundations behind that privacy-preserving verification model. The company says this is part of an effort to accelerate delivery of “digital private markets” capabilities to broader market participants—particularly those operating in institutional and regulated contexts where compliance requirements tend to be strict.

Strategic investment precedes NVNM Chain rollout

Inveniam’s latest move did not arrive out of nowhere. In August 2025, the firm made a $20 million strategic investment in Mantra, and it later launched NVNM Chain on May 13. In its announcement, Inveniam’s leadership tied these steps together, describing the initial investment as a bet that regulated blockchain infrastructure and AI-ready private market data would need to be integrated.

According to chairman and CEO Patrick O’Meara, the acquisition is intended to expand Inveniam’s role in private-market ecosystems. “This acquisition positions us to be value-additive to the global private markets ecosystem faster,” O’Meara said. He added that the aim is to enable market operators, asset owners, and institutional private-market investors to access “digital private markets” alongside DeFi-oriented markets.

From an investor and developer standpoint, that linkage between private-market data readiness and blockchain rails is a key part of the narrative. It also highlights what Inveniam appears to be targeting: not just token issuance, but end-to-end infrastructure that can support verification workflows while remaining compatible with institutional expectations.

A turbulent stretch for Mantra and its OM token

While the acquisition represents a push deeper into infrastructure, Mantra’s recent history includes notable volatility. Earlier in the year, the company announced layoffs and restructuring after what CEO John Patrick Mullin described as the most challenging year in its history, following the collapse of the OM token and continued market pressure.

On April 13, 2025, the Mantra (OM) token suffered a steep decline. According to CoinMarketCap data, OM fell by about 90% within hours, wiping out more than $5 billion in market capitalization, the platform reported.

In a post on X, Mullin argued that the drop was driven by centralized exchange behavior rather than internal selling. He blamed “reckless forced closures initiated by centralized exchanges on OM account holders.” He also clarified that the dislocation was not caused by the team, the MANTRA Chain Association, core advisors, or investors selling tokens, adding that tokens “remain locked and subject to the published vesting periods.”

That backdrop matters for readers because it frames the risk environment surrounding Mantra—even if the company’s longer-term infrastructure goals are now moving forward under new ownership. It also suggests that any future progress will likely be judged not only by technical milestones like NVNM Chain, but by how stakeholders regain confidence after periods of disruption.

Cointelegraph asked Mantra for deal details

Cointelegraph reached out to Mantra for additional details about the acquisition, but had not received a response by publication. As a result, readers should watch for further clarification on the structure and timeline of the transaction, along with any changes to governance, development priorities, or how Inveniam plans to integrate NVNM Chain and the underlying Mantra infrastructure.

More broadly, the move reflects a continuing trend in crypto infrastructure: firms looking beyond trading networks toward the data and verification layers needed for RWAs, and increasingly tying those efforts to privacy and AI-readiness. With Inveniam now seeking full ownership of the ecosystem it previously funded, the next signals to monitor will be whether technical verification advances translate into sustained adoption and whether market confidence stabilizes after earlier volatility.