Schwab Opens the Door to Three More Tokens, and the SEC Starts Rewriting Custody

One of the biggest names in traditional finance expanded its reach into the market. Regulators also moved closer to changing a rule that has been hanging over institutional crypto for years.

And then DeFi provided its usual reminder that access and security are two very different things.

There is more happening beneath the surface than the headlines suggest.

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Market-Moving News

A major brokerage is expanding its crypto offering, but the interesting part is not simply that it is adding more assets.

The selection itself says something about where traditional finance thinks the market is heading.

Meanwhile, the SEC has moved a long-awaited crypto custody proposal another step forward. The details are still under wraps, but the eventual rules could affect who gets to handle digital assets for regulated investors.

And on the DeFi side, another lending protocol just found out that a small token can cause a very large headache.

TradFi

SBI Pours $270M Into Ajaib to Build an Asian Stablecoin Network

SBI Holdings is investing $270 million in Indonesia’s Ajaib Group, taking roughly a 20% stake as the Japanese financial giant expands its digital-asset network across Southeast Asia.

The deal makes Ajaib an equity-method affiliate of SBI and gives the group exposure to a platform already spanning traditional investments, crypto, stablecoins, payments, and OTC settlement services.

Ajaib has now raised more than $500 million since 2019, while the latest round represents Indonesia’s largest technology fundraising since 2022.

SBI Buys Distribution

Ajaib gives SBI something harder to build than blockchain infrastructure: an existing financial platform serving one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing investor markets.

Indonesia already has more than 20 million retail investors, while Ajaib also provides stablecoin settlement and liquidity services for corporate and institutional clients.

SBI can now connect that distribution base with its broader digital-asset businesses, including crypto exchanges and institutional trading infrastructure across Asia.

The Yen Stablecoin Gets a Bigger Stage

The investment also fits SBI’s development of JPYSC, its planned yen-denominated stablecoin.

SBI has linked the Ajaib partnership to its wider APAC Digital Economic Zone, where blockchain settlement, tokenized assets, and cross-border payments are expected to play larger roles.

The $270 million deal does not mean JPYSC immediately reaches Ajaib customers, but it creates a ready-made route if SBI pushes the stablecoin deeper into Southeast Asia.

Take: SBI is buying more than a minority stake; it is buying access to an established digital-finance distribution network. You get the stronger signal once stablecoin settlement and tokenized products begin moving through Ajaib at meaningful scale.

Mining

Bitcoin Miner IREN Plans Massive $25B to $30B AI Buildout

IREN is preparing to spend between $25 billion and $30 billion on AI infrastructure in fiscal 2027, pushing its transformation from Bitcoin miner toward large-scale cloud computing much further.

The company has already secured about $4.7 billion of contracted cloud annual recurring revenue and raised roughly $19 billion over the past year. Around $14 billion of capital remains available or undrawn as IREN builds out additional GPU capacity.

AI cloud revenue reached $128.8 million last year, up from just $16.4 million.

Bitcoin Infrastructure Finds a New Job

Bitcoin mining still generated $578.2 million of revenue, but the economics of AI are increasingly pulling capital in another direction. IREN says recent cloud contracts generate more than $20 million per IT megawatt, with future deals under discussion closer to $25 million. 

Management also estimates GPU investments can recover their cost in roughly two years. The company recorded $638.8 million of impairments as older Bitcoin-mining hardware was decommissioned.

The Spending Gets Enormous

A $25 billion to $30 billion buildout puts IREN into a completely different capital category from the traditional Bitcoin-mining business.

The strategy also brings substantial execution risk. IREN posted a $702.6 million annual net loss, and not all of the planned capacity already has customers or financing attached.

Take: Bitcoin miners spent years securing cheap electricity and data-center sites, and AI is now placing a much higher potential value on those same assets.

You can measure how far that shift has gone when a miner starts discussing tens of billions in AI spending while retiring part of its mining fleet.

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Industry

Circle Pushes USDC into Mainstream Global Sports

Circle has made USDC the principal shirt sponsor of Chelsea FC, putting the stablecoin on one of the most visible commercial surfaces in global sports. Chelsea will debut the USDC-branded kit against Brighton on Sunday. 

The agreement gives Circle far broader exposure than a typical crypto partnership, placing its flagship stablecoin directly in front of Premier League audiences around the world.

Crypto companies have sponsored football clubs before, but USDC taking the main shirt position marks a different level of visibility for a stablecoin brand.

USDC Moves Into Mainstream Marketing

Circle is effectively positioning USDC alongside traditional consumer and financial brands rather than keeping its identity confined to exchanges, wallets, and blockchain infrastructure.

Chelsea had reportedly been seeking around £65 million per year for the vacant shirt slot, although neither side disclosed the actual value of the Circle agreement.

The sponsorship position had remained open for roughly three years, making the deal especially prominent for both sides.

Stablecoins Compete for Recognition

Stablecoin competition is increasingly moving beyond reserves, transaction volume, and blockchain integrations. Circle now has USDC attached to a globally recognized sports brand, giving it repeated exposure to fans who may have little connection to crypto markets. 

Take: USDC is starting to be marketed like a global financial product rather than something built only for crypto users. Put the logo on Chelsea shirts every week, and you begin building recognition that blockchain integrations alone cannot deliver.

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Future Forward

The calendar is becoming more interesting for crypto investors, particularly around regulation and institutional access.

On the Radar:

🏛️ SEC custody proposal: The agency’s digital-asset custody changes are now under OMB review. The full proposal has not yet been published.

🏦 Schwab’s crypto expansion: SOL, AVAX, and LINK are expected to arrive on Schwab Crypto in the coming months.

🗳️ Senate crypto legislation: The Senate is expected to return to the Clarity Act fight in September, keeping market-structure legislation firmly on the calendar.

Coming Up:

📅 Bitcoin Asia: The Hong Kong conference runs August 27–28, putting institutional adoption and Asian crypto markets in the spotlight.

📅 September: The next major stretch for U.S. crypto legislation begins as the Senate considers market-structure rules.

Crypto Know-How: Why Crypto Custody Rules Are Such a Big Deal

Crypto custody sounds like plumbing.

For large investors, it is closer to a locked door.

Investment advisers handling client assets operate under custody requirements designed to protect those assets from misuse or loss. The traditional system assumes assets can sit with a bank, broker-dealer, or another qualified custodian under established procedures.

Crypto introduces a different set of problems.

Instead of a physical certificate or a conventional securities account, control can depend on private keys. Assets can also be staked, moved across networks, or interacted with through smart contracts. Those activities do not always fit neatly inside rules written around traditional securities.

That is why the SEC’s current rulemaking deserves attention.

The agency says the proposal is intended to clarify the framework for crypto custody while updating provisions it considers outdated. But the important details are still behind the curtain while the proposal goes through review.

The eventual rules could affect which firms can provide custody services, how investment advisers structure crypto exposure, and what kinds of activities can happen while assets remain within a compliant custody framework.

For investors, the bigger point is simple.

Institutional adoption is not only about whether a brokerage lets you buy a token. It is also about whether the legal and operational infrastructure exists for large pools of regulated money to hold it comfortably.

Schwab is expanding access from the retail side.

The SEC is working on the rules behind the institutional side.

Those two stories are starting to look increasingly connected.

Everything Else

• Tomorrow's biggest winners start as overlooked small-caps and a free guide names several current setups worth watching before the crowd notices.

• Bybit is launching 24/7 options tied to stock perpetuals, starting with SpaceX and Nvidia. The move pushes crypto exchanges further into traditional-equity exposure without requiring investors to leave the crypto trading ecosystem.

• Crypto custodian BitGo agreed to acquire NYDIG’s institutional trading business, bringing custody and institutional trading capabilities closer together under one roof. The deal is another sign that the infrastructure serving large crypto investors is consolidating.

• Robinhood Chain’s total value locked has jumped sharply, highlighting how newer networks are increasingly being built around specific financial use cases rather than trying to become everything to everyone.

• Dunamu and Visa announced a partnership covering stablecoins and AI, while Dunamu is also considering OUSD as part of its digital-asset strategy. It is another example of payments companies moving deeper into blockchain infrastructure rather than treating crypto as a separate corner of finance.