Kraken has secured a Federal Reserve “master account,” giving its banking arm direct access to the Fed’s core payment systems and making it the first crypto firm to operate on the same rails as traditional financial institutions.

The company said its unit, Kraken Financial, received approval for a Federal Reserve “master account,” the Wall Street Journal first reported. The account provides direct access to Fedwire, a major interbank payment network that processes trillions of dollars in transfers each day.

Until now, Kraken had to rely on partner banks to send or receive U.S. dollars. Direct access changes that flow as the firm can now settle payments itself, which may speed up deposits and withdrawals for large traders and institutional clients.

“This approval is a watershed moment for the digital asset industry,”U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis said in a press release.

“The Federal Reserve has acknowledged what I’ve always said was the case — that a digital asset company can balance innovation with strong risk management,” she added. “[This] is going to create the 21st century financial services industry.”

Kraken Financial operates under a Wyoming charter designed for crypto-focused banks. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City oversaw the application.

“This news has been a long time coming, but Wyoming welcomes it nonetheless,” said Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. “This approval of a master account for Kraken by the Federal Reserve signals support for Wyoming’s banking and digital asset laws.”

The approval is limited, however. Kraken will not receive the full set of services available to traditional banks, as it won’t earn interest on reserves or tap the Fed’s emergency lending.

Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011, has been slowly moving towards an initial public offering (IPO). Several of its rivals, including Gemini, Coinbase, and CoinDesk’s parent company Bullish, have already made their public market debut.

Its parent company, Payward, has been on an acquisition spree, adding the token management platform Magna last month. Last year, it acquired U.S. futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion and U.S.-licensed derivatives trading venue Small Exchange for $100 million.

It also moved into the tokenization space with the acquisition of tokenized stock specialist Backed Finance, the issuer of xStocks.

UPDATE (March 4, 3:55pm UTC): Adds comments from Cynthia Lummis’ press release.

TLDR:

• Alchemy Pay now holds Money Transmitter Licenses in 15 U.S. states after securing Delaware approval.
  
• The Delaware MTL authorizes Alchemy Pay to offer regulated money transmission services in the state.
  
• Alchemy Pay plans to launch a stablecoin and develop Alchemy Chain, backed by its growing MTL network.
  
• Beyond the U.S., Alchemy Pay holds regulatory approvals in Australia, South Korea, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. 

Alchemy Pay has received a Money Transmitter License in Delaware, marking another regulatory step in the United States.

The fiat-crypto payment company now holds such licenses in 15 states nationwide. Delaware law requires entities transmitting money to be licensed under the state bank commissioner’s office.

This approval supports Alchemy Pay’s broader goal of building a compliant payment infrastructure across the country, including future plans for a stablecoin and a dedicated blockchain network.

Expanding Regulated Operations Across U.S. States

Under Delaware law, transmitting money through checks, drafts, or monetary instruments is a regulated activity. Businesses must operate under the Delaware Office of the State Bank Commissioner.

Alchemy Pay has fulfilled these requirements and now holds a valid license. It can therefore offer fully compliant money transmission services within the state.

The Delaware approval brings the company’s total U.S. MTL count to fifteen states. The list includes Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Wyoming. Arizona, South Carolina, Kansas, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Nebraska also hold Alchemy Pay MTLs. More state applications remain active and are currently under regulatory review.

Alchemy Pay announced this milestone on social media, confirming the company’s progress:

“With this approval, #AlchemyPay now holds MTLs in 15 U.S. states, further strengthening its compliant fiat-crypto payment infrastructure and laying the groundwork for future stablecoin initiatives.”

This wider regulatory coverage helps the company reach more users across the country. It also supports access to compliant fiat-crypto on-ramps and off-ramps at a larger scale. The continued expansion reflects a deliberate, compliance-first growth strategy.

These licenses also lay the groundwork for Alchemy Pay’s future financial products. The company plans to launch a proprietary stablecoin, which requires strong regulatory backing.

It is also developing Alchemy Chain, a blockchain infrastructure built around stablecoin use. Both initiatives depend on the compliance foundation that these MTLs are building.

Regulatory Progress Extends Across Global Markets

Alchemy Pay has also made meaningful regulatory progress in markets outside the U.S. The company registered as a Digital Currency Exchange Provider in Australia.

In South Korea, it completed an Electronic Financial Business registration. Both approvals strengthen its position in key Asia-Pacific financial markets.

In Switzerland, Alchemy Pay joined the VQF, a recognized Self-Regulatory Organisation. This admission places the company within a well-established Swiss financial oversight framework.

The VQF is an official SRO recognized by Swiss regulators. Membership confirms that the company meets quality assurance standards in Swiss financial services.

The company also gained regulated exposure to Hong Kong’s financial market. It did so through an investment in HTF Securities Limited.

HTF holds Hong Kong SFC Type 1, 4, and 9 licenses. This indirect participation adds another regulated market to Alchemy Pay’s global reach.

Taken together, these approvals show a pattern of consistent regulatory engagement worldwide. Alchemy Pay has pursued compliance across different legal systems and financial frameworks.

Each approval reinforces the company’s credibility with regulators, users, and institutional partners. The strategy positions the company to support the next generation of global digital payments.

Coupang Pay, the fintech arm of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang, is actively recruiting in-house legal counsel specializing in stablecoins. The hiring signals a significant escalation in the company’s digital asset ambitions.

The move positions Coupang as one of Asia’s most aggressive non-financial corporations to bet on stablecoin infrastructure ahead of imminent Korean legislation.

Legal Team as Strategy Unit

The company posted two simultaneous job listings on its careers page. One targets junior attorneys within two years of qualification. The other seeks senior or principal-level counsel with at least three years of relevant experience. Both postings list identical responsibilities across three areas: domestic fintech payments, stablecoin and virtual asset regulation, and global payment partnerships.

The stablecoin-specific duties are notably detailed. Candidates will review business structures for stablecoin issuance, utilization, and distribution. They will also handle regulatory engagement with Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit and the Financial Services Commission. The senior role adds a telling requirement: the ability to “translate new regulatory domains into business opportunities.”

Coupang Pay framed its legal team in explicitly strategic terms. The team “designs new business models while maintaining regulatory compliance,” the company said in its postings. That language positions the legal function closer to a product strategy unit than a traditional compliance department.

Already Inside the Infrastructure

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Coupang operates across South Korea and Taiwan and regularly remits significant sums to its US parent.

Coupang is no stranger to stablecoin infrastructure. In the second half of 2024, the company joined as an early partner of Tempo, a Layer 1 blockchain developed by Stripe. Tempo is purpose-built for stablecoin payments. Partners, including Visa, Deutsche Bank, and Standard Chartered, have been piloting real-world payment environments on-chain since late last year.

The financial incentive is clear. Coupang recorded approximately $33 billion in revenue last year. Assuming a 1% card fee rate, stablecoin adoption could save roughly $340 million annually. Cross-border remittance costs to its US parent add further pressure. Industry estimates put total annual savings between $155 million and $200 million, even after infrastructure costs.

Coupang operates across South Korea and Taiwan, where it also runs the Farfetch luxury platform. The job postings explicitly mention Coupang Taiwan, Farfetch, and a “global integrated app” as targets for overseas payment legal review. This suggests stablecoin integration is being planned well beyond Korea’s borders.

Legislative Tailwind, Political Headwind

The timing aligns with Korea’s legislative calendar. South Korea’s ruling party and the National Assembly are actively discussing a regulatory framework for KRW-backed stablecoin issuance, though no legislation has been finalized. It would mark the first time domestic won-denominated stablecoin issuance has been legally permitted in nearly nine years.

However, Coupang carries political baggage into this push. The company faced significant backlash last year following a personal data leak incident. Its decision to conduct an internal “self-investigation” rather than cooperate fully with regulators drew sharp criticism. Industry observers note this friction could slow domestic regulatory approvals for new financial services.

Korea’s stablecoin race is accelerating. Coupang appears determined not to be left behind.

GMX DAO has approved a plan to redirect rewards and concentrate liquidity on its own rails.

GMX DAO has passed a proposal to overhaul how value flows through the derivatives protocol, aiming to restore clearer price discovery and reduce dependence on centralized exchanges and fragmented liquidity pools. Under the new framework, a larger portion of protocol rewards will be routed to the DAO treasury instead of going straight to stakers, giving the community more flexibility to fund buybacks, incentives, and long-term development. At the same time, liquidity is being steered toward GMX’s own infrastructure, with an emphasis on deeper native markets rather than thin order books scattered across multiple venues. Backers of the proposal argue that concentrating liquidity and control inside the protocol can make prices less vulnerable to abrupt swings driven by external market makers and short-term speculative flows.

The changes come after a period in which GMX’s token performance lagged broader market rebounds, even as volumes on leading perpetuals venues climbed and blue-chip DeFi names saw renewed interest. Community discussions highlighted concerns that incentives were overly focused on short-term yield and that too much effective price discovery was occurring off-platform, where order flow and liquidity conditions are harder for the DAO to influence. By building a larger treasury and emphasizing native liquidity, GMX is attempting to align token economics more tightly with the actual usage and profitability of the protocol. The move echoes steps taken by other DeFi projects listed on platforms like Coinbase, which have shifted toward models that prioritize sustainable fee capture over aggressive emissions.

Protocol value and market structure

From a market-structure perspective, the GMX decision reflects a broader trend in DeFi, where protocols are reassessing how they balance user incentives, governance, and long-term resilience. Rather than relying on perpetual token emissions or external liquidity mining, more projects are experimenting with treasury-driven strategies, dynamic fee sharing, and targeted buybacks. This approach is influenced in part by the growing presence of institutional actors and payment firms that demand more predictable frameworks, similar to how companies like Visa structure reward flows and capital allocation in traditional finance. For GMX, building a sizable treasury war chest creates optionality: the DAO can respond to market stress, fund new product lines, or adjust incentive schemes without having to dilute holders through new token issuance.

The timing of the shift also intersects with a healthier, spot-led environment in major crypto assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), where leverage has normalized and ETF-driven flows are stabilizing. In that context, a derivatives protocol’s ability to offer deep, reliable on-chain markets becomes more important than simply broadcasting high nominal yields. As regulatory frameworks like MiCA advance and exchanges refine their listings of DeFi tokens, projects with transparent, treasury-backed value flows may be better positioned to attract both retail and professional liquidity. For GMX holders and users, the key question is whether the new model can translate into tighter spreads, more robust on-chain volumes, and a stronger link between protocol revenue and token performance without sacrificing the competitive incentives that first drew traders to the platform.