NEW: Sen. Cynthia Lummis said Congress must pass the Clarity Act this session or risk waiting until 2030 for the next viable chance to revive market-structure legislation. "That's years of jobs, investment, and tax revenue we can avoid squandering if we finish this now," Lummis added.

Huo Xing Finance reported on Sept. 7 that the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently concluded that roughly $9 billion in suspected Iran-linked "shadow banking" transactions flowed through U.S. correspondent accounts in 2024. FinCEN said about $5 billion was traced to foreign shell companies, while another $4 billion was linked to overseas oil firms suspected of serving as front entities for Iran. The finding underscores how Iran-related actors can tap the U.S. dollar system indirectly via intermediaries and correspondent banks in major financial hubs including the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore, without holding U.S. bank accounts. According to the report, these networks rely on shell companies, currency exchanges and layered transfers routed through oil, shipping, investment and technology businesses to mask ties to Iran. Beyond traditional channels, Iran is increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies to bypass sanctions. Reuters has previously estimated that crypto activity involving Iran could reach $8 billion to $10 billion in 2025. The U.S. government has recently broadened its secondary sanctions framework against Iran to cover digital assets as well as the gold, technology, aviation and shipping sectors.

BlockBeats reports that the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently identified roughly $9 billion in suspected Iran-linked "shadow banking" flows that passed through U.S. correspondent accounts in 2024. FinCEN estimates about $5 billion originated from overseas shell companies, while another $4 billion involved foreign oil firms suspected of serving as front entities for Iran. According to the report, Iran-related actors can tap the U.S. dollar system through intermediaries and correspondent banks in financial centers such as the UAE, Hong Kong, and Singapore, without maintaining direct accounts at U.S. banks. The networks are described as masking Iran ties via layered transactions that use shell companies, currency exchange services, and businesses spanning oil, shipping, investment, and technology. The report adds that Iran is increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies to evade sanctions. Reuters previously estimated Iran-linked crypto activity could reach $8 billion to $10 billion in 2025. The U.S. government has recently broadened secondary sanctions on Iran to cover digital assets, gold, technology, aviation, and shipping.

With just eight voting days left for the Senate in September, the countdown is on for the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act. Sen. Cynthia Lummis warned that if Congress fails to finish the bill now, the next meaningful window to revisit comprehensive crypto market-structure legislation could be 2030. The measure has already passed the House with broad bipartisan support, 294"134. In the Senate, progress has slowed as lawmakers clash over proposed ethics standards and provisions tied to stablecoins, including language on interest and yield. Lummis argued that delaying action would come at a steep economic cost, pointing to years of lost potential jobs, investment and tax revenue that could flow from clearer rules for digital assets. She said, "If the Clarity Act doesn't pass this Congress, the next real opportunity to bring market structure legislation back up is 2030." The next key date is Sept. 15, 2026. That is not the final passage vote. It is a cloture vote that would determine whether the Senate can begin debating the bill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed the motion to start debate, but the bill will need 60 votes to overcome a filibuster. With Republicans holding 53 seats, supporters still need seven additional votes. Even if cloture is invoked, the calendar is tight. The Senate has only eight voting days in September to pass the bill before the November midterms. The political fight has also spilled into the markets. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is campaigning hard against the legislation, citing concerns about crypto industry influence, ethics and investor protection, and urging Democrats to vote no. On Polymarket, two traders have reportedly wagered about $1.5 million on the bill failing. Market-implied odds of passage have dropped to roughly 15%, down from 82% in February. Those traders expect the Senate to vote, but do not expect the bill to become law.

Hanwha Investment & Securities has reportedly built a tokenized securities platform designed to operate across multiple blockchain networks, including Avalanche (AVAX), as South Korea moves to bring security tokens under its existing capital markets regime. According to a Sunday report by Seoul Economic Daily, the brokerage partnered with blockchain technology firm FairSquare Lab, with development beginning in 2025. The system is not limited to Avalanche and also supports Hyperledger Besu. The initiative arrives ahead of regulatory changes scheduled for Feb. 4, 2027, when amendments recognizing distributed ledgers as legally valid securities registers are set to take effect in South Korea. Hanwha Expands Tokenization Footprint The new platform adds to Hanwha Group's broader exposure to blockchain and tokenization. Over several years, three Hanwha affiliates have accumulated a combined 9.6% stake in Securitize (SECZ), making the group the company's largest shareholder. Separately, Hanwha Investment & Securities disclosed in July that it invested 30 billion Korean won ($22.3 million) in Digital Asset, the operator of Canton Network. FSC Outlines Phased Rollout South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) has set out a three-stage roadmap for implementing the upcoming securities token amendments. Starting in February, when the new laws take effect, tokenization will be allowed for privately placed money market funds and bonds, fractional investment securities, and unlisted stocks structured through a trust wrapper. If the initial rollout is deemed successful, the regulator plans to extend the framework to all publicly offered securities. Over the longer term, the FSC aims to establish onchain payment rails that would allow investors to settle tokenized securities using stablecoins. Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. The views expressed may reflect the author's personal opinions and do not represent The Crypto Basic's position. Readers should conduct their own research before making investment decisions. The Crypto Basic is not responsible for any financial losses.

The Philippines' central bank has proposed a 12-month moratorium on issuing new licenses for payment operators as it undertakes a comprehensive overhaul of its regulatory framework for crypto-related services. Existing local exchanges would be allowed to continue operating, but would be subject to tougher due diligence requirements and new limits on settlement activity.

IQE Plc CEO Jutta Meier warned that the compound semiconductor indium phosphide (InP) is sliding into a supply crunch, with China's export controls constricting access to a material the industry struggles to substitute. The alert comes as demand for InP substrates accelerates, while available supply moves in the opposite direction. Market pricing is already reacting. Average prices for six-inch InP wafers have risen about 250% since the controls took effect, reaching roughly $5,000 per wafer. China added indium phosphide to its export control list around early February 2025. The move is consequential because China accounts for about 70% of global indium output. InP substrates are a critical input for high-speed optical communications chips, which underpin data transmission in fiber networks and data centers. As AI workloads expand, operators are upgrading interconnect bandwidth between servers, lifting demand for InP-based components. Meier's comments echo warnings across the sector. Lumentum's CEO has said the InP supply-demand gap could exceed 30%. Coherent has also pointed to supply-chain exposure tied to InP availability. IQE reported first-half 2026 revenue of £64.6 million, up 43% year over year, with adjusted EBITDA of £6.0 million. The company attributed much of the growth to rising orders from AI data center customers for InP epiwafers used in optical interconnect chips. IQE plans to convert existing manufacturing capacity to increase InP output in the second half of 2026 and is pursuing long-term supply agreements to secure raw materials. It also intends to move from its current listing to the London Stock Exchange Main Market in the first half of 2027. The strain is broader than IQE. Substrate makers such as AXT and suppliers like Japan's Sumitomo are directly exposed to constraints on indium feedstock. With roughly 70% of global production effectively behind an export-control barrier, the industry is under pressure to diversify sourcing. For AI infrastructure buildouts, the InP constraint can ripple through the supply chain: data centers need optical transceivers; transceiver makers need InP chips; chipmakers need InP wafers; wafer producers need indium. Tightness at any point can push out timelines for deploying new AI capacity.

Huoxing Finance reports that a New York Fed study released on September 7 finds the U.S. dollar's share of global official foreign-exchange reserves has fallen from 64% to 56% over the past decade, but the shift does not reflect systematic selling of dollar assets by central banks. Researchers said there is limited evidence of widespread official efforts to diversify away from the dollar. The study shows that in two separate periods since 2015, the number of countries increasing their dollar holdings was roughly equal to the number reducing them. The drop in the dollar's reserve share was mainly driven by concentrated portfolio adjustments by a small group of large reserve managers, not a broad global reallocation. From 2015 to 2019, the move was largely attributed to two central banks; from 2019 to 2023, Mexico and Morocco also became meaningful contributors. The New York Fed said most economies still manage reserves for conventional reasons—maintaining dollar liquidity, supporting exchange-rate stability, and buffering funding shocks—rather than deliberately steering away from the dollar. IMF data also shows the dollar's reserve share fell to its lowest level since 1995 in January this year, primarily due to passive valuation effects from a weaker U.S. dollar rather than large-scale central-bank sales.

BlockBeats reported that a New York Fed study released on Sept. 7 concludes that the recent decline in the U.S. dollar's share of global official foreign-exchange reserves does not reflect a broad, coordinated move by central banks to cut dollar exposure. The researchers note that the dollar's reserve share has slipped from about 64% to 56% over the past decade, but find little evidence of widespread official diversification away from the greenback. Since 2015, the number of countries increasing their U.S. dollar assets has been roughly balanced by those reducing them, across two distinct phases. According to the study, the overall decline has been driven mainly by concentrated portfolio rebalancing among a small set of large reserve managers, rather than broad-based global reallocation. From 2015 to 2019, two central banks accounted for most of the shift; from 2019 to 2023, Mexico and Morocco also emerged as notable contributors. The New York Fed adds that, for most economies, reserve adjustments continue to serve conventional objectives—meeting U.S. dollar liquidity needs, managing exchange rates, and cushioning funding shocks—instead of actively avoiding the dollar. Separately, IMF data show the dollar share of reserves fell to its lowest level since 1995 in January, largely reflecting passive valuation effects from a weaker U.S. dollar rather than large-scale dollar sales by central banks.