What has been happening this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? Current events and background reports in our weekly review.

Selected articles of the week

The world's largest banks no longer want to leave the stablecoin market to crypto firms. This week, 21 institutions announced the formation of a joint company, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and UBS. The dollar token is set to launch in the first half of 2027, with plans to expand to further G7 currencies, starting with the euro.

The move hardly comes as a surprise: Tether and Circle still dominate the field almost unchallenged, and stablecoins have grown into a core settlement instrument for crypto trading and cross-border payments. Regulated banks entering the market could accelerate adoption among corporate and institutional clients that have so far hesitated to use tokens issued by crypto-native firms. However, key questions remain open. Neither the name of the stablecoin nor the underlying blockchain, custodian or redemption terms are known. Moreover, the joint company itself will only take shape this year. At least the GENIUS Act has provided a US federal framework for payment stablecoins since 2025, taking full effect in early 2027 – a timeline that aligns with the group's launch window. The group's pace stands out: in October 2025 it counted only ten members. Meanwhile, 37 further institutions are working on a euro stablecoin under the name Qivalis, signalling that bank-issued stablecoins are becoming a broader trend across currencies.

Major banks plan joint dollar stablecoin for 2027

21 institutions, among them Goldman Sachs, UBS and Deutsche Bank, want to issue a bank-owned dollar stablecoin in the first half of 2027.

Goldman Sachs steps back in after the XRP crash

Goldman Sachs becomes largest holder of spot XRP ETFs

The Q2 2026 13F filings show USD 87.4 million in XRP ETFs at Goldman Sachs, after the bank had exited almost entirely in the prior quarter. 13F filings, required quarterly by the US SEC for large institutional investment managers, offer a delayed but verifiable view of such positions – and the swing illustrates how quickly banks are repositioning around crypto ETFs as these products become established parts of the market structure.

Strategy ends its selling phase with an expensive buyback

Strategy buys Bitcoin for USD 370 Million after summer pause

Strategy buys 4,603 Bitcoin for USD 369.7 million and ends the first selling phase in its history, lifting holdings to 845,050 BTC. As the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, the company's purchases have long been watched as a signal of institutional demand, which makes the resumption of buying after its first-ever selling phase a notable data point for the market.

Sberbank expects the new rulebook to cover only a fifth of the market

Sberbank forecasts USD 46 billion crypto trading in Russia

Sberbank expects regulated crypto trading of up to USD 46.4 billion in the first year of Russia's new crypto law, about a fifth of current activity. The estimate implies that the bulk of Russian crypto activity would remain outside the new legal framework, at least initially.

A memecoin swallows half of the tokenized Hims shares

Memecoins on Robinhood Chain distort tokenized stock prices

Memecoins on Robinhood Chain lock up tokenized stock floats, and one pool drove the HIMS wrapper to 4.5 times its NYSE price. The case highlights a structural risk of tokenized stocks on permissionless infrastructure: when large portions of a token's float are locked in liquidity pools, scarcity can push wrapper prices far away from the underlying exchange price.