Fintech · Industry brief

On July 6th, 2026, Delaware enacted three major bills (SB 16, 18, and 19) fundamentally reshaping the state's financial services regulation. SB 16 modernizes banking law to recognize digital assets as personal property, giving Delaware chartered banks clearer authority to hold and transfer digital assets. SB 18 replaces the prior Sale of Checks Act with a new money transmission licensing framework modeled on the multistate Money Transmission Modernization Act and creates a dedicated licensing regime for virtual currency businesses, with existing licensees having until their next renewal or twelve months to comply. SB 19 establishes a state licensing regime for payment stablecoin issuers requiring reserve assets equal to outstanding stablecoins, minimum capital, custody standards, and government compliance capabilities including the technical ability to freeze or seize stablecoins. A key implementation milestone will be whether Delaware's stablecoin regime receives certification as substantially similar to the federal GENIUS Act. Banks, money transmitters, virtual currency businesses, and payment processors should review their licensing obligations, delegate arrangements, compliance programs, and disclosures against the new framework. Source: JDSupra Legal News, citing Delaware Senate Bills 16, 18, and 19.

CME sued the CFTC on June 18 over regulatory classification of perpetual futures contracts, arguing that Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetuals meet the Dodd-Frank Act's definition of swaps rather than futures and should face heavier oversight. The CFTC approved Kalshi's Bitcoin perpetual futures on May 29 and simultaneously issued a policy statement allowing designated contract markets to self-certify similar crypto perpetuals without further review, with Kalshi's trading volume reaching $16.1 billion by early July (source: CME federal court complaint, CFTC approval, Reuters). Stripe and private equity firm Advent International submitted a $53.4 billion cash bid for PayPal on July 16 at $60.50 per share, a 28 percent premium, backed by roughly $50 billion in financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley. PayPal's board formally rejected the bid as of July 20, with analysts valuing fair value at $70 to $115 per share. The proposed deal would pair Stripe's Bridge stablecoin with PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin and Venmo's 100 million users, with both sides expected to continue negotiations (source: Reuters, July 16). In the IPO pipeline, Plaid is in early talks for a US listing following a February funding round valuing it at $8 billion, Kraken confidentially filed for an IPO targeting second-half 2026 at a $20 billion valuation, and Revolut is preparing a 2026 public listing at $75 billion (source: multiple reports).