Crypto Custody Provider Announces IPO, Bank Launches Tokenized Deposits
By Robert A. Musiala Jr.
In a recent press release, BitGo Holdings, Inc., a digital asset infrastructure company, “announced the launch of its initial public offering of 11,821,595 shares of Class A common stock pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the ‘SEC’).” According to the press release, “BitGo is the digital asset infrastructure company, delivering custody, wallets, staking, trading, financing, and settlement services from regulated cold storage.”
In related news, the U.S. arm of a major global bank recently announced that it has “taken the first step in its strategy to tokenize deposits by enabling the on‑chain mirrored representation of client deposit balances on its Digital Assets platform.” According to a press release, the new product creates “on-chain digital book entries that represent participating clients’ existing demand deposit claims against the bank” and operates on the bank’s private permissioned blockchain. The press release notes that early participants in the new product launch include “a wide range of prominent financial institutions and digital natives.”
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OCC Proposal Clarifies National Trust Bank Authority for Non-Fiduciary Activities
By Keith R. Murphy
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) recently issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend existing national bank chartering regulations to clarify that national trust companies are permitted to engage in non-fiduciary activities. According to a report addressing the proposal, based in part on the GENIUS Act, a number of crypto firms applied in recent months to become national trust banks, which are banks limited to the operations of a trust company and restricted to fiduciary or trust activities. Despite opposition to the crypto company applications by full-service banks and industry groups, the OCC conditionally approved five national trust bank charter applications filed by digital asset-focused companies. OCC Comptroller Jonathan Gould previously noted that the OCC had for decades permitted national trust banks to engage in non-fiduciary custody activity, as noted in the report, and while the OCC’s proposed rulemaking does not specifically address cryptocurrency, it is intended “to clarify the longstanding authority of national banks limited to the operations of trust companies and activities related thereto to engage in nonfiduciary activities in addition to their fiduciary activities.” Comments on the proposed rulemaking must be received on or before Feb. 11.
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CLARITY Act Fact Sheets Published, Markup Postponed
By Robert A. Musiala Jr.
On Jan. 13, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs published a press release and four related fact sheets addressing the pending legislation titled The Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. According to the press release, “[a]head of the Senate Banking Committee’s markup, Republicans have released four detailed fact sheets outlining how the legislation cracks down on illicit finance, protects everyday Americans, delivers long-overdue regulatory clarity, and ensures the next generation of financial innovation stays in America.” The series of one-page fact sheets addresses how the CLARITY Act (1) protects everyday Americans, (2) delivers regulatory clarity for the crypto industry, (3) protects software developers while promoting responsible decentralized finance innovation and (4) cracks down on illicit finance. According to reports, on Jan. 14, the Senate Banking Committee postponed its planned markup of the bill to accommodate ongoing negotiations.
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Researchers Identify Crypto Malware Attack; 2025 Crypto Crime Stats Published
By Amos Kim
Security researchers recently identified six malicious packages uploaded to the Node Package Manager (npm) repository as part of a software supply chain attack intended to steal account credentials, deploy back doors on compromised systems and extract sensitive cryptocurrency information. According to reports, the exploit is linked to the Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-sponsored hacking organization, and leverages npm’s broad developer user base to distribute malware through packages engineered to resemble legitimate open-source tools. The packages were reportedly downloaded more than 300 times. The effort aligns with a broader pattern in which Lazarus targets developer ecosystems such as npm and PyPI to gain initial access to infiltrate developers’ machines through routine package installation.
Separately, Chainalysis recently released the introduction to its 2026 Crypto Crime Report, revealing that illicit cryptocurrency addresses received at least $154 billion in 2025, representing a 162 percent year-over-year increase. The report notes that stablecoins now account for 84 percent of all illicit transaction volume. Chainalysis outlined four key trends shaping the 2025 illicit-finance landscape:
- Nation-state threats driving record volumes: North Korean hackers stole $2 billion in 2025, including a $1.5 billion heist from Bybit. Russia’s new A7A5 token transacted more than $93.3 billion, facilitating large-scale sanctions evasion.
- Dominance of Chinese Money Laundering Networks (CMLNs): These networks have evolved into “full-service criminal enterprises,” supporting fraud, proceeds from North Korean hacks, sanctions evasion and terrorist funding.
- Full-stack illicit infrastructure providers: Criminals increasingly rely on visible on-chain infrastructure such as hosting services and domain registrars designed to resist takedowns and other disruption efforts.
- Intersection of cryptocurrency and violent crime: The report highlights rising “physical coercion attacks,” where victims are forced under threat to transfer digital assets, as well as increased use of cryptocurrency in human trafficking activities.
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