The crypto industry saw major developments across blockchain security, institutional stablecoins and regulation. Core DAO is preparing an emergency hard fork after validators received excessive rewards, while a 21-member financial consortium is working toward a new U.S. dollar stablecoin. Meanwhile, Singapore is exploring whether selected foreign-issued stablecoins could gain access to its regulatory framework.
Core DAO Prepares Emergency Hard Fork After Reward Incident
Core DAO is moving ahead with an emergency hard fork after discovering that a small number of validators had accumulated substantially more CORE rewards than the protocol was supposed to distribute.
The project said the situation has been contained and that the affected validators can no longer continue claiming excessive rewards.
Core emphasized that the planned upgrade will move the network forward rather than rewrite its history. Previously confirmed transactions will remain intact, and the blockchain will not be rolled back.
The incident was described as being limited to the protocol’s reward mechanism, with Core stating that user assets remained secure. The project has also promised a technical postmortem explaining how the issue occurred.
Several cryptocurrency exchanges temporarily restricted CORE-related activity during the investigation. Coinbase paused Core-network transfers, while Bithumb, Coinone, Bitget and LBank introduced various deposit or withdrawal restrictions.
Core has yet to disclose the total amount of excess CORE generated, how long the abnormal reward activity lasted, whether the additional tokens entered circulation, or the precise vulnerability that enabled the validators to receive them.
The forthcoming technical report is expected to provide greater clarity on the incident and the measures being implemented to prevent a recurrence.
21 Financial Institutions Plan New Stablecoin Venture
Institutional involvement in stablecoins is also accelerating.
A consortium of 21 major financial institutions is preparing to establish a company focused on issuing a U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin, with an initial launch targeted for the first half of 2027.
The group includes major names such as Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, UBS, Santander, MUFG and Fidelity Investments.
The proposed stablecoin is expected to target multiple segments of the market, including institutional, wholesale and retail users. Potential applications include international payments and settlement of digital assets.
The consortium also plans to expand beyond the dollar. A euro-denominated stablecoin is expected to be the first additional currency considered, with other G7 currencies potentially following.
Regulatory compliance will be a central component of the initiative, with the project expected to operate in accordance with relevant requirements under the U.S. GENIUS Act and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
The initiative builds on work that began in 2025, when 10 banks were exploring the possibility of creating reserve-backed digital money that could operate on public blockchain networks.
The expansion to 21 participants highlights how quickly traditional financial institutions are moving toward blockchain-based settlement infrastructure as regulatory clarity improves.
Banks Increasingly Embrace Stablecoin Infrastructure
The planned venture is part of a wider shift in how established financial institutions view stablecoins.
Rather than treating digital currencies solely as speculative assets, banks and financial companies are increasingly examining stablecoins as potential tools for payments, settlement, liquidity management and cross-border transfers.
Several major institutions have already introduced or supported dollar-linked digital currencies, while financial firms in Asia are exploring stablecoins denominated in local currencies.
The growing institutional interest suggests that stablecoins could increasingly become part of mainstream financial infrastructure rather than remaining primarily a crypto-market trading instrument.
Singapore Reconsiders Its Approach to Foreign Stablecoins
Singapore is also reviewing its stablecoin policy.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has opened a consultation covering potential changes to its stablecoin framework, including how certain tokens issued across multiple jurisdictions could be treated.
One proposal would allow a stablecoin jointly issued by a Singapore-based company and an overseas issuer to qualify for Singapore’s regulatory framework if the associated risks can be adequately controlled.
Such tokens could potentially receive the designation “MAS-regulated stablecoins.”
The regulator is also considering whether a limited number of stablecoins issued overseas could receive recognition if they are governed under regulatory regimes considered sufficiently comparable to Singapore’s own framework.
Cross-Border Payments Drive Regulatory Interest
The proposals reflect growing interest in stablecoins as instruments for international settlement.
Because blockchain-based tokens can move across borders without relying entirely on traditional banking rails, regulators are increasingly examining whether they can improve the speed and efficiency of wholesale transactions.
Singapore’s consideration of selected foreign-regulated stablecoins could therefore create additional pathways for international digital-asset payments while maintaining regulatory safeguards.
The approach also illustrates the challenge facing policymakers: completely isolating domestic stablecoin markets could limit cross-border applications, while unrestricted access could introduce risks involving reserves, supervision, consumer protection and financial stability.
Three Developments Point to a Changing Crypto Landscape
The three developments highlight different aspects of crypto’s evolution.
Core DAO’s emergency upgrade demonstrates the continuing importance of protocol security and reliable token-issuance mechanisms.
The 21-institution stablecoin initiative shows that major financial companies are increasingly willing to build blockchain-based payment infrastructure themselves.
Singapore’s regulatory review illustrates how governments are gradually adapting their frameworks to accommodate stablecoins that operate across national borders.
Together, these developments suggest that the next stage of digital-asset adoption may be driven less by speculative trading and more by financial infrastructure, payments and regulated blockchain applications.
As governments establish clearer rules and major financial institutions enter the stablecoin market, the dividing line between traditional finance and digital assets continues to narrow. At the same time, incidents such as Core DAO’s reward problem underline that stronger infrastructure and security standards will be essential as blockchain networks handle increasingly important financial activity.
