CFTC and SEC Issue Joint Interpretation That Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Others Are 'Not Securities in Principle'

The Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has filed accusations against five individuals with the Economic Crime Suppression Division, alleging they jointly provided digital asset trading services through the Vcex.io platform without authorization between December 24, 2021 and September 2, 2022. The accused are Assure Technology Co., Ltd., Mr. Yutthana Srisuriyaporn, Mr. Siwanat Yamdee, Mr. Keerati Prasanthai, and Miss Pimchaya Wattanakulyothin. Assure Technology, along with Mr. Siwanat and Miss Pimchaya, jointly operated the platform, which allowed users to match buy and sell orders or exchange digital assets, collected fees as a regular course of business, provided services in Thai, and promoted the platform through events held in various locations nationwide as well as online channels. This constitutes operating a digital asset exchange business without a license, in violation of Section 26 of the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561, and is punishable under Section 66 in conjunction with Section 83 of the Criminal Code. Meanwhile, Mr. Yutthana, Mr. Siwanat, and Mr. Keerati, who serve as authorized signatory directors and are responsible for the operations of Assure Technology, must be held liable along with the company under Section 94 of the same Emergency Decree. Following the accusation, the case will proceed through the investigation stage by inquiry officials, the prosecution's indictment order, and the court's consideration, respectively. In addition, the SEC has forwarded information about the Vcex.io platform to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society under the Emergency Decree on Measures for the Prevention and Suppression of Technological Crimes (No. 2) B.E. 2568 in order to order the blocking of access to the platform, and the public will be unable to access it starting from November 7, 2026.

On the 7th, Japan's Financial Services Agency published a dedicated page compiling the names and other details of entities conducting crypto asset exchange business without registration. The agency announced this on its official X account, and added a new item titled "Beware of Transactions with Unregistered Operators!!" to the cautionary information on its top page. The new page lists three domestic operators and 22 overseas-based operators in table form, showing operator names, locations, the nature of their business, and the date of listing. The most recent addition, listed in September, is Hong Kong-based Izakaya Limited, which operates the crypto asset trading service "IZAKA-YA." Bybit Fintech Limited, which operates the major overseas exchange Bybit, has been listed three times: in May 2021, March 2023, and November 2024. Conducting the buying, selling, exchange, or management of crypto assets as a business with Japanese residents as counterparties requires registration as a crypto asset exchange operator under the Payment Services Act, and when the FSA confirms an operator conducting business without registration, it issues a warning letter and publishes the operator's name.

The Central Bank of Russia published its first registry of licensed crypto service providers on Tuesday under new crypto regulations that took effect on September 1, listing four cryptocurrency exchange service providers and five digital asset custodians. Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, was added to the list of custodians alongside Atomyze, Voltari and Cloud Infrastructure, while T-Invest Lab, Zefir and Sistema-Crypto appeared on the list of crypto exchange service providers. VTB Bank appeared on both lists. Sberbank said on Monday that it had applied for digital asset custodian status and planned to launch its first crypto products on December 1, initially planning to support Bitcoin, Ether and USDt through its existing SberBank Online, SberInvestments and SberBusiness platforms. The registrations follow Russian President Vladimir Putin's signing of a crypto law in August that created a regulatory framework for exchanges, asset custodians, brokers and investors. The law places the market under the supervision of the Central Bank of Russia and keeps Russia's ban on using crypto to pay for goods and services.

Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange and Web3 company, said Bitcoin's price has been supported by a much weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls reading, leading the market to expect the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy committee to cut interest rates at its October meeting. Meanwhile, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of 2.65 billion dollars in September, the second-highest monthly inflow on record since October 2025, and the Crypto Fear & Greed Index rose to 69, placing it in the greed zone and reflecting stronger market confidence. Gracy Chen noted that in the 13 years Bitcoin has been trading, October has delivered positive returns about 77% of the time, with an average return of 18.64%, and that positive momentum tends to carry through into November. In the short term, resistance stands at 87,300 dollars and support at 82,500 dollars. However, a risk lies ahead in the US midterm elections in November, since historically stocks and Bitcoin have risen ahead of elections and then fallen sharply every time. To handle rising client trading activity, Bitget has replenished its user protection fund back above 300 million dollars within a week of the security incident on September 24, having used the fund to cover roughly 388 million dollars in financial impact so clients could withdraw funds normally. In addition, the latest Proof of Reserves transparency report as of September 29, 2026, showed a total reserve ratio of 131%, confirming that the platform's reserve assets remain above the 1:1 benchmark against all user assets.