Chainlink Leads 24-Institution Collaboration to Streamline $58B Corporate Actions Using Blockchain and AI

NYDFS Crypto Chief Adrienne Harris Steps Down After Four Years, Kaitlin Ascrow to Take Over

Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) and a key figure in U.S. crypto regulation, is stepping down after four years in the role. New York Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed her departure, with Harris highlighting her work in consumer protection, regulatory leadership, and modernizing the department.

During her tenure, Harris significantly expanded NYDFS’s crypto oversight by building the Virtual Currency Unit and issuing guidance on crypto listings and dollar-backed stablecoins. She also brought enforcement actions against major firms like Genesis, Gemini, and Robinhood, while helping recover over $725 million in restitution for New Yorkers. NYDFS has been active in regulating digital assets since launching the BitLicense framework in 2015.

Kaitlin Ascrow, currently the agency’s executive deputy superintendent of research and innovation and a former Federal Reserve official, will become acting superintendent on October 18.

Leak Ties Russia-Linked Network to $8 Billion Stablecoin Scheme for Sanctions Evasion and Election Influence

A leak of internal files tied to fugitive Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor has exposed what blockchain forensics firm Elliptic describes as a $8 billion crypto-based influence and sanctions-evasion network linked to Russia. At the center is A7, a group of companies allegedly owned and controlled by Shor and partly held by Russia’s sanctioned state bank Promsvyazbank.

Elliptic’s analysis shows A7 facilitating cross-border transactions for Russian actors blocked from traditional finance, describing it as “sanctions evasion as a service.” The network reportedly launched its own ruble-pegged stablecoin, A7A5, to reduce reliance on U.S.-based tokens like USDT. Internal messages reference multi-million-dollar stablecoin transfers used to build liquidity and evade regulatory oversight.

The leak also ties A7’s financial flows to political operations in Moldova, including activist payment apps, polling systems, Telegram bots, and alleged election interference. Funds were routed through companies in Kyrgyzstan using mixed settlement methods—crypto, cash, and promissory notes—with sanctioned political figures like Maria Albot appearing in related wallet activity.

While Elliptic notes attribution challenges and potential data imperfections, the leak underscores a wider trend: Russia and its allies are increasingly turning to domestically issued or ruble-backed stablecoins to bypass Western sanctions. Western regulators now have new wallet data to track and possible grounds for enforcement, while Moldovan politics face fresh scrutiny amid election tensions.

Swift Unveils Blockchain Ledger Prototype Backed by 30 Global Banks for Real-Time Cross-Border Payments

Swift is integrating a blockchain-based ledger into its global financial messaging network, marking its first early-stage move toward blockchain-native settlement across its 11,500 member institutions in over 200 countries. Announced at the Sibos conference in Frankfurt, the initiative is backed by more than 30 major financial institutions from 16 countries.

The first phase involves building a conceptual prototype with Consensys, focused on enabling 24/7 real-time cross-border payments. While Swift will handle the underlying infrastructure, individual banks and central banks will determine the types of tokenized assets involved — whether deposits, CBDCs, or securities.

Participating banks include Bank of America, Citi, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas. Swift framed the ledger as part of a dual-track modernization strategy: enhancing current fiat rails while preparing its network for tokenized finance. The organization has not provided a timeline for pilots or rollout, saying details will follow after the prototype is completed.

Jump Crypto Proposes Removing Solana’s Fixed Block Limit as Alpenglow Upgrade Paves Way for Dynamic Scaling

Jump Crypto’s Firedancer team has introduced proposal SIMD-0370 to remove Solana’s current fixed per-block compute unit (CU) limit of 60 million. The change would take effect after the upcoming Alpenglow upgrade, which enables dynamic block scaling and is scheduled for testnet rollout in December and mainnet activation in Q1 2026.

The proposal would let validators build blocks based on their hardware capacity, allowing high-performance validators to process larger blocks while slower ones skip them. Supporters argue this “performance flywheel” would boost throughput and fee revenue while scaling network capacity. Critics warn it could accelerate centralization by sidelining validators unable to afford hardware upgrades.

Alpenglow also introduces new consensus mechanisms—Votor and Rotor—that replace Tower BFT and Proof of History, cutting transaction finality from ~12.8 seconds to as low as 100–150 milliseconds. The Solana Foundation says this could enable Web2-level speed with L1 certainty, unlocking new use cases.

The upgrade includes a skip-vote mechanism for oversized blocks and aims to solve outages caused by high network activity. Anza will lead the implementation, while the Solana Foundation oversees governance. Firedancer argues the current CU cap is arbitrary and restricts network potential; they expect the change to position Solana to compete with internet-scale infrastructure.

Chainlink Leads 24-Institution Collaboration to Streamline $58B Corporate Actions Using Blockchain and AI

Chainlink has partnered with 24 major financial institutions, including Swift, DTCC, Euroclear, UBS, DBS, and BNP Paribas, to modernize corporate actions, a process that costs the banking sector $58 billion annually. The collaboration uses blockchain, AI, and cross-chain connectivity to accelerate data delivery from days to minutes, reduce settlement errors, and lower operational risk.

The system verifies corporate event data using AI, formats it into ISO 20022-compliant messages, and distributes it across multiple blockchains via Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). Institutions can now act as contributors or attestors, filling missing data and cryptographically signing records. Phase 2 demonstrated near-perfect data consensus and support for multilingual announcements. Future phases aim to cover complex actions like stock splits and expand jurisdictional coverage, bridging traditional finance with blockchain rails and enabling tokenized equities to reference the same verified data.