The UK government is moving forward with a temporary moratorium on political donations made via cryptocurrencies, with amendments planned to the Representation of the People Bill and a "retrospective effect" from March 25. Once enacted, parties, candidates and MPs would have 30 days to return any unlawful donations received in the interim, and the ban would remain until Parliament and the Electoral Commission deem the rules robust enough for transparency and confidence.

On March 25, the Reserve Bank of Australia said the country is moving past experimentation toward real-world deployment of tokenized assets and wholesale digital currencies. It also presented Project Acacia research estimating tokenized money and assets could save about $16.7 billion (AU$24 billion) a year by reducing manual work, settlement delays, and capital costs. The RBA also announced a long-term DFMI sandbox for banks and fintechs to test tokenized products under supervision while highlighting risks such as liquidity fragmentation and platform incompatibility.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has signaled support for real-world asset tokenization after Project Acacia findings suggested it could add 24 billion Australian dollars ($16.7 billion) a year to the economy. Assistant Governor Brad Jones said the focus is shifting from whether tokenization will play a role to how it should be implemented, including work on a new DFMI sandbox. He also highlighted interest in linking wholesale CBDC activity with deposit tokens, stablecoins and the RITS payments system.

Franklin Templeton has teamed up with Ondo Finance to roll out tokenized versions of five ETFs tied to equities, bonds and gold, with onchain trading designed to run 24/7. The products are intended for investors using digital wallets, with Ondo market makers supporting liquidity even when traditional exchanges are closed. The companies said the launch is planned outside the U.S., targeting Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America.

Google has set a 2029 target to complete its post-quantum cryptography migration, saying advances in quantum hardware and error correction are bringing risks closer. The company warned that current encryption, digital signatures and authentication services could be threatened as quantum capabilities accelerate.

At a Wednesday hearing, crypto and market-structure executives told the US House Financial Services Committee that tokenized securities should remain subject to existing investor-protection and market-surveillance rules. Lawmakers also pressed witnesses on how KYC, AML and sanctions compliance would work across permissioned and public blockchains, including whether identifiers can be embedded at the protocol or token level.

Visa (NYSE: V) said Wednesday it has joined the Canton Network as its first major global payments Super Validator, aiming to help regulated financial institutions move payment flows onchain while preserving required privacy standards. Visa is one of 40 Super Validators and will have voting power over decisions tied to the network’s payment infrastructure. The company also cited an annualized stablecoin-settlement run rate of $4.6 billion and said it supports 130+ stablecoin-linked card programs across 50 countries.

Franklin Templeton said it will work with Ondo Finance to issue onchain, tokenized versions of five existing ETFs spanning U.S. equities, high-yield credit, and gold. The tokens are designed for wallet-based access, will trade 24/7, and are intended to be usable across DeFi, with initial availability planned outside the U.S.