Stock Perps Launch Then Get Sued, Moscow Picks a Date, and SEC Narrows Governance

A derivatives regulator opened the route for perpetual futures on individual US stocks, and 4 contracts went live immediately; Russia’s sanctioned main exchange will run bitcoin, ether, and tether from the start of December; and SEC staff set out when a protocol’s voters do and do not add up to a controlling party

AI Power Bottleneck (Sponsored)

Berkeley Lab: data centers projected at up to 12% by 2028

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Data centers used 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023, per Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Its 2028 projection: up to 12%.

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*This ad is sent on behalf of Guardian Financial Publishing LLC, doing business as Stable Financial Publishing, 1013 Centre Road Suite 403-D, Wilmington, DE 19805. Nothing here is investment, financial, legal, or tax advice, and it is not a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Investing involves substantial risk, including loss of principal; past performance does not guarantee future results. Data-center electricity figures are third-party estimates and projections, and AI IPO timing reflects investor expectations, not company guidance. References to OpenAI, Anthropic and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are for informational purposes only; Stable Financial Publishing is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by OpenAI, Anthropic or Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Stable Financial Publishing, its owners, employees and contributors may hold positions in securities mentioned and may trade them at any time. Privacy: https://guardian.pub/privacy-policy/ · Terms: https://guardian.pub/terms-of-service/

Market-Moving News

Today’s theme is jurisdiction. Who gets to approve a product, who gets to clear it, and who gets to decide that a crowd of voters is not secretly a boardroom.

A derivatives regulator moved first and is already in court. A sanctioned exchange picked a date. And a securities regulator’s staff put something useful in writing without filing a single case.

Stablecoins

Circle's Stablecoin Payment Network Hits a $41 Billion Annual Pace

Circle's Payment Network reached $41.3 billion in annualized payment volume, up from $14.7 billion at the end of the previous quarter. The increase puts its payment activity at nearly 3 times the earlier pace.

Circle also reported 205 enrolled financial institutions. The figures give its stablecoin payments business a measurable foundation, although enrollment does not establish how many institutions are actively processing transactions.

Stablecoins Gain a Larger Payments Role

The network connects financial institutions so they can route and settle payments using stablecoins over blockchain networks. Operating around the clock allows transfers to continue outside traditional banking hours, subject to compliance and risk controls.

Growing payment activity creates another use for Circle's digital dollars alongside their role in crypto trading. It also gives the company a broader business to develop beyond issuing USDC and earning income on its reserves.

The Annual Pace Needs Staying Power

The $41.3 billion figure uses activity from the final 30 days of the quarter, projected across a year. Circle has not processed that amount over a completed year, and higher payment volume alone does not establish how much revenue the network earns.

Take: Circle's payment growth provides concrete evidence that stablecoins are finding uses beyond trading. Judging the business opportunity requires you to connect rising transaction volume with repeat activity and the fees Circle can retain. Sustained payment revenue would strengthen the business alongside its reserve income.

Regulation

Hong Kong Passes Crypto Reporting Rules Ahead of 2027 Start

Hong Kong's Legislative Council passed legislation requiring covered crypto businesses to collect customer and transaction information from 2027. The city will begin exchanging crypto-related tax information with partner jurisdictions in 2028.

The legislation adopts the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, connecting digital-asset activity to international tax reporting. Exchanges, brokers, and other covered providers with a qualifying connection to Hong Kong must register, conduct customer checks, and meet reporting duties.

Reporting Extends Beyond Cashing Out

Relevant transactions include exchanges between crypto and conventional currencies, swaps between crypto assets, and transfers, including transfers to external wallets.

Providers must collect identification and tax-residence information for reportable customers. Reporting also includes aggregated transaction figures for each relevant crypto asset, bringing activity across different tokens into the reporting process.

Platforms Face More Work Behind the Scenes

Businesses will need records and reporting systems that can meet the requirements as activity grows. Customer checks also extend beyond opening an account, since changes in circumstances can require updated information.

Hong Kong's tax department plans further guidance and technical assistance. International information exchanges will operate with eligible partners under confidentiality and security requirements.

Take: Hong Kong's move makes reporting capacity a larger part of running a crypto platform. The change gives you another way to assess a business's strength: whether its systems can support growth while meeting its obligations. Reliable customer records and transaction reporting become part of the infrastructure that keeps the business operating.

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Tokenization

Morgan Stanley Converts U.S. Stocks and Treasuries Into Tokens

Morgan Stanley has converted U.S. stocks and Treasury securities into tokenized form through DTCC's Tokenization Service. The bank is among the first users of a system with 20 firms signed up, including JPMorgan, Citi, and Fidelity.

The development brings blockchain-based securities into established financial infrastructure. DTCC launched the service on October 28, allowing eligible participants to convert securities already held by its depository subsidiary into digital representations.

The Assets Keep Their Existing Rights

The tokens preserve the ownership rights, protections, and economic benefits attached to the underlying securities. Eligible users can convert between traditional and tokenized forms and transfer the digital versions to supported wallets.

The system is designed to make securities easier to move and use as collateral, meaning assets pledged to support borrowing or other financial obligations.

Actual Use Still Needs Greater Scale

Morgan Stanley has confirmed conversions but has not disclosed their dollar value. The service currently connects to Canton and DTCC's private Besu network, with additional networks planned for 2027. The next business test is whether firms regularly use those digital assets in transactions and collateral transfers.

Take: Morgan Stanley's move gives tokenization a concrete role inside a major bank's operations. The commercial opportunity becomes clearer when you connect easier asset transfers with the time and money banks spend processing transactions. Sustained use and measurable savings will determine how much value the system adds.

President Gold Shift (Sponsored)

Gold Just Passed U.S. Treasuries as the Top Reserve Asset

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Last year gold overtook U.S. Treasuries as the largest reserve asset held by world central banks: 27% of reserves against 22%.

Central banks have bought an average of 1,000 tonnes a year for four straight years.

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Future Forward

A price print, an unlock, and Solana’s big night out.

Economic Data:

📈 US October inflation lands Tuesday at 8:30 am ET. The Fed held at 3.75% to 4.00% last week rather than moving either way. A hotter-than-expected print shifts rate expectations and puts pressure on risk assets, crypto included.

Token Unlocks:

🔓 Solayer releases 27M LAYER on Tuesday at 11:10 pm ET. That is 2.7% of maximum supply, which reads mild until you notice it is closer to 13% of the float actually trading. Community and ecosystem wallets take the larger share, with the rest going to the foundation.

Conferences:

🎤 Solana Breakpoint runs November 15 to 17 at Olympia London. The first UK edition, which puts the conference on the doorstep of the institutions, allocators and policymakers driving this year’s tokenization and stablecoin agenda.

Crypto Know-How: Who Eats the Loss When the Other Side of Your Trade Vanishes

Two of today’s stories run straight through a clearing house, so here is what one does.

A central counterparty steps in after a trade and becomes buyer to every seller and seller to every buyer. Its members then face it rather than each other. You almost certainly do not face it yourself, reaching the market through a broker or futures commission merchant that handles your margin and sits between you and the clearing layer.

The protection comes in tiers, and the order matters. Take CME’s published version. A defaulting member’s own collateral and fund contribution go first, then the clearing house’s own pre-funded money, then the pooled contributions of members who did not default. Still short, it can call on members for more, up to a cap.

So risk does not vanish. It gets mutualized and concentrated, and one institution ends up holding the thing that decides whether a bad day stays contained.

Plenty of centralized crypto venues still bundle trading, custody, and settlement into one company, while decentralized ones lean on contracts instead. Neither has that waterfall underneath it, which is the argument sitting under the regulated-venue push.

Everything Else

• Seven rising companies could replace the Magnificent Seven as market leadership shifts following a volatile first quarter.

• WLFI is the subject of a motion from Justin Sun asking a court to sanction World Liberty Financial and its lawyers, alleging the Trump-linked venture withheld UAE citizenship and ownership details until months into their dispute. The court has established none of it. 

• BNB’s issuer says the breach that cost it billions ran for months, starting with compromised developer software in June, a fake recruitment interview in September, an internal AI tool used to reach wallet systems in October, and the unauthorized transfers at the end of that month. 

• PUMP was among the Solana assets named in Binance’s phased withdrawal restoration, which listed selected tokens across 9 networks while warning that availability returns one asset and network at a time rather than all at once. 

• RUNE swaps are running again on bitcoin and ether after a software update, with trading live across 11 chains and assets, while Cosmos Hub, BNB Smart Chain and Solana stay halted and 14 active nodes have yet to upgrade. 

• XMR held above $630 as privacy names kept outrunning the majors, a gap that has been widening for a month rather than a single session, with Zcash putting on another 9.7% in the same window.