CryptoMarket and Blockchain News

$5 million in PFAS settlement cash could help slow Wausau water rate hikes. Here's the plan headed to the Water Works Commission Tuesday.

* Latest pilots strengthen green market connectivity across Greater Bay Area * About 100,000 Green Electricity Certificates traded by 15 corporate entities * Settlement of Shenzhen Emission Allowance transactions successfully tested Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) today (Wednesday) announced the successful completion of two cross-boundary pilot programmes facilitated by Core Climate, together with a cooperation agreement with the Guangzhou Power Exchange Centre (GPEC) to support the further development of the Green Electricity Certificate (GEC) market. The first pilot enabled Hong Kong corporates to purchase GECs through GPEC, while the second tested the settlement of Shenzhen Emission Allowance (SZEA) transactions with the Shenzhen Green Exchange (SGE). Together, the initiatives expand access to green energy instruments and strengthen carbon market connectivity across the Greater Bay Area. HKEX Group General Counsel and Group Chief Sustainability Officer, Paul Chow, said: “These pilots are important steps in strengthening green energy and carbon market connectivity across the Greater Bay Area. The GEC transactions mark HKEX’s first collaboration with a Chinese Mainland onshore power exchange, while the SZEA pilot builds practical experience for closer cooperation between the carbon markets of Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. We will work towards commercialising GECs in Hong Kong, with the aim of making them available through Core Climate, while strengthening collaboration with our partners to develop transparent, efficient and connected sustainable finance infrastructure across the region.” Bringing together 15 corporate entities across a range of sectors, the first pilot was conducted in collaboration with GPEC, Shenzhen Power Supply Co and the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, generating total transaction volume of about 100,000 GECs. GECs are China’s nationally-recognised Energy Attribute Certificates, with each certificate representing one megawatt-hour of renewable electricity. Since GECs were accepted in March 2025 by RE100 — a global initiative for companies committed to using 100 per cent renewable electricity — they have become an increasingly relevant tool for meeting renewable electricity commitments. By raising awareness and broadening their use cases, the pilot gives Hong Kong corporates an additional credible instrument to address Scope 2 emissions and advance their decarbonisation goals. Building on the pilots, HKEX and GPEC have signed a cooperation agreement to establish a cross-boundary GEC trading pathway and expand the use of GECs by companies in Hong Kong. The collaboration will focus on trading arrangements, practical use cases, knowledge sharing and market development, supporting the Greater Bay Area’s green transition and advancing regional green market connectivity. In the second pilot, Core Climate provided settlement services for three pairs of SZEA transactions with SGE. The pilot marked the first cross-boundary settlement between onshore and offshore carbon exchanges, strengthening carbon market connectivity between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. The SZEA pilot builds on the memorandum of understanding signed by HKEX and SGE in October 2023. It supports the nation’s dual carbon goals and responds to policy priorities in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong to explore cross-boundary carbon trading and settlement, providing practical experience for the continued development of the region’s carbon markets. Launched in 2022, Core Climate is Hong Kong’s international environmental marketplace, offering trading, custody and settlement services for a selection of internationally certified carbon projects from around the world. The platform enables corporates, investors and project owners to access transparent and certified environmental instruments, and forms part of HKEX’s broader commitment to advancing Hong Kong’s role as a leading sustainable finance centre. GEC pilot participants (in alphabetical order): *  Airport Authority Hong Kong * Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited * CGN (Guangdong) New Energy Investment Company Limited * China Power International Development Limited * China Resources New Energy (TengXian) Company Limited * Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited * Henderson Land Development Company Limited * Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limied * Nayong Shenneng New Energy Co * Negawatt ZERO2 * Shanghai Commercial Bank Limited * Shenneng (Luquan) Energy Development Company Limited * The Bank of East Asia, Limited * The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited * Tianyang Shenneng Wind Power Company Limited   SZEA pilot participants (in alphabetical order): * China Energy Conservation & Environmental Protection (Hong Kong) Investment Company Limited  * CICC Commodity Trading Limited * Guotai Haitong Securities Company Limited * Huatai Securities Company Limited * Petrochina International (Hong Kong) Corporation Limited * SEC Power Sales & Services Company Limited * Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Company Limited * Shenzhen Qianhai China Carbon Integrated Energy Technology Limited * Towngas (Shenzhen) Carbon Asset Operation Company Limited  

Alaska pilots who lost vacation accrual during 31 to 60 day military leaves share $500,000. No claim form — payment is automatic. Opt out by Oct. 31.

HSBC and Ant Digital Technologies say they have successfully tested an AI-agent payment workflow that uses tokenized bank deposits, with settlement

Mono County accepted Antelope Valley RPAC recommendations and approved a $1,500 pilot fuels treatment and a staff funding mix for five prioritized projects drawn from $1,138,254 in Liberty Utilities settlement funds; the board directed staff to continue implementation planning and return with project details.

The Block's business desk is tracking a completed over-the-counter swap between DRW and Marex that references a tokenized S&P iBoxx Index, a deal that signals traditional finance firms are moving past pilot programs and executing live tokenized-asset derivatives. For institutional investors, completed transactions between established counterparties carry more signal than announcements: they indicate that legal, settlement, and risk frameworks are operational, not merely theoretical.

KEY HIGHLIGHTSTokenization of Nasdaq Equity: Zhibao Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: ZBAO) ("Zhibao," "we," or the "Company") has signed a strategic framework agreement with Bedrock to study and pilot a transfer-agent-level tokenization model for its SEC-registered Class A Ordinary Shares as native real-world asset (RWA) equity. Unlocking Liability-Side & Treasury Synergies: The partnership explores extending Zhibao's digital asset strategy to its capital structure via 24/7 continuous settlement and...

Key votes: consent agenda approved; multiple contract renewals authorized; $160,000 settlement approved in executive session; millage adopted (general fund 8.87); senior transportation extension held; ethics case procedure directive approved; My Justice Portal pilot funded.

Tether has signed an settlement with Kazakhstan’s central financial institution and Alatau Metropolis Authority to discover a tenge-backed stablecoin, asset

The DIGIT pilot will test distributed ledger technology and onchain settlement for UK sovereign debt, with issuance expected by the first quarter of 2027.

Greenwood County authorized a South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund application to request roughly $37,000 for a community action plan update, naloxone vending supplies and a six‑month recreation director position at the Boys & Girls Club; staff said opioid settlement funds are expected to be available for 15–17 years.

The DIGIT pilot will test distributed ledger technology and onchain settlement for UK sovereign debt, with issuance expected by the first quarter of 2027.

The DIGIT pilot will test distributed ledger technology and onchain settlement for UK sovereign debt, with issuance expected by the first quarter of 2027.

A consortium of leading Japanese financial institutions and blockchain technology providers has successfully completed Phase 1 and Phase 2 of "Project Trinity," a joint trial validating Delivery versus Payment (DvP) settlement for secondary market security token transactions using stablecoins. The consortium includes major firms such as Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Daiwa Securities, SBI Securities, Osaka Digital Exchange (ODX), SBI R3 Japan, BOOSTRY, Progmat, Datachain, and SBI VC Trade. ## Sign up for Japan FinTech Observer Cutting through the noise of Japanese Finance & FinTech Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Key Findings and Operational Highlights * **Structural Mitigation of Principal Risk:** Current secondary market trading for security tokens (ST) lacks simultaneous transfer of securities and cash, creating counterparty "principal risk" due to non-DvP settlement. Project Trinity solves this by utilizing smart contracts on a blockchain to execute ST delivery and stablecoin (SC) payment concurrently. * **Execution Details (Phase 2):** Conducted between April and September 2026, the operational testing phase simulated secondary trades on ODX's START market. SBI Securities and Daiwa Securities executed two proprietary ST transfer transactions using self-issued corporate ST bonds from SBI VC Trade. Settlement was fulfilled on a T+2 cycle using SMBC's trust-beneficiary-type stablecoins (Type 3 Electronic Payment Means). * **Technical Integration:** Progmat provided the ST platform and bond registry management. Cross-chain interoperability between separate blockchains for tokens and stablecoins was managed jointly by Progmat and Datachain. SMBC supplied the stablecoin infrastructure with technical collaboration from TISI and Fireblocks. * **System Capabilities Verified:** The trial successfully tested stablecoin purchasing and redemption cycles, DvP trade settlements, and error-handling workflows for liquidity shortfalls or matching discrepancies under scheduled timelines. * **Future Outlook:** Having verified legal, technical, and operational feasibility for T+2 DvP settlements, the participating firms identified key operational targets for commercial adoption. These include enhancing application performance and establishing operational frameworks capable of handling high-volume, multi-platform, and mixed-settlement environments as digital currency infrastructure evolves in Japan. * * * Japanese Financial Consortium to Pilot First Tokenized Deposit Settlements for Security TokensA consortium of six major Japanese financial and technology firms—including SBI Securities, Daiwa Securities, and SBI Shinsei Bank—have announced the launch of a collaborative project to verify real-world settlement of security tokens (ST) using tokenized deposits. The initiative aims to implement a Delivery Versus Payment (DVP) settlementJapan FinTech ObserverNorbert Gehrke