[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | U.S. Completes Airstrikes on Iranian Military Targets... Tensions Rise Over Energy Shipping Routes

According to Odaily, U.S. Central Command announced that it has completed a new round of airstrikes targeting Iran.

The strikes hit dozens of military targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran’s coastal areas. The Strait of Hormuz is a major oil transit route, and rising tensions in the Middle East could affect energy prices and sentiment toward risk assets.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on the 15th that as long as the United States continues attacking Iran, not “a single drop” of oil or natural gas will be exported from the region, Odaily reported, citing Xinhua News Agency.

The remarks came amid escalating military tensions between the United States and Iran. Concerns over disruptions to Middle Eastern energy exports could contribute to higher international oil prices and greater financial market volatility.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added multiple cryptocurrency addresses linked to organizations associated with the Cuban regime to its sanctions list, PANews reported on the 15th.

According to the report, the sanctioned addresses include those on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, Tron, Dash, Zcash, and Litecoin networks.

The sanctions also targeted state-linked entities including the Association of Cuban Revolutionary Combatants and Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism. OFAC said it froze accounts controlled by Ukrainian national Dmytro Rashevskyi and Belarusian national Yevgeniy Vladimirovich Silayev, alleging that they operated virtual tools that caused harm to the United States.

Tether has frozen four wallet addresses on the Tron network, PANews reported on the 15th.

The wallets held a total of 131 million USDT, and the reason for the freeze has not yet been clearly confirmed.

According to on-chain analyst Spector, the funds mainly originated from withdrawals from payment service provider DTC Pay and cryptocurrency exchange Bitso.

Spector said the frozen wallets were linked to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Central Bank of Iran, both of which are subject to U.S. OFAC sanctions.

The United States and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement through their Transatlantic Regulatory Working Group to strengthen digital asset cooperation, outlining a roadmap related to stablecoins and tokenized assets.

According to PANews, the two countries agreed that regulated stablecoins can improve the efficiency and competitiveness of the financial system and pledged to expand cooperation to reduce market fragmentation.

The joint statement called on the Bank of England, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop frameworks for handling tokenized assets. It also said there is a need to clarify protections for stablecoin holders, reserve segregation, custody standards, and measures to facilitate cross-border funding.

The statement was released on the first anniversary of the passage of the U.S. GENIUS Act, and Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said during a House Financial Services Committee hearing that related rules are being prepared ahead of the July 18 deadline.

Morgan Stanley has filed amended documents related to Ethereum and Solana ETFs, according to Odaily.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said on X that the expected trading tickers for the ETFs are MSSE and MSOL, respectively, with a fee of 0.14%.

Japan’s House of Representatives has advanced a bill to reclassify Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ETFs to a plenary vote, Odaily reported.

The vote is expected to take place within days. The bill could affect the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs and other crypto investment products in Japan, as well as discussions on lowering related tax rates.

Japan has previously continued discussions over reforming its cryptocurrency tax system and whether to allow spot ETFs.

South Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance is reportedly pushing legislation to incorporate new asset types, including cryptocurrencies, into the state asset management system.

According to a July 15 report by PANews, citing The Block, the ministry is preparing a Basic Act on Asset Management to manage state-owned assets more effectively.

The bill appears to focus on including asset types such as cryptocurrencies, which had not been clearly covered under the existing framework, within the scope of state asset management.

South Korea’s National Tax Service is reportedly moving to establish a dedicated organization and build an integrated analysis system in preparation for the implementation of virtual asset taxation in 2027.

PANews, citing Chosun Ilbo, reported that the National Tax Service is pushing to create a Digital Asset Comprehensive Division and a virtual asset integrated analysis system.

Under the current system, investment gains from virtual assets are taxed at 22% after a 2.5 million won deduction. A National Assembly public petition calling for the abolition of the virtual asset tax has received support from 50,000 people, but it has not yet been placed on the legislative agenda, delaying discussions.

Industry participants have raised concerns about tax fairness, noting that unlike stock investments, loss carryforwards are not permitted for virtual assets. Related discussions are expected to intensify after the government announces its tax revision proposal at the end of July.

SBI Global Asset Management and DigiFT have launched JX, a tokenized investment product on Solana, according to Odaily.

JX is a product that implements a Japanese high-dividend stock investment strategy on-chain, offering qualified and institutional investors blockchain-based exposure to a Japanese equity strategy.

SBI Asset Management is responsible for managing the strategy. The Solana Foundation said the launch marks the entry of Japan’s asset management industry into on-chain finance.

According to the Solana Foundation, the tokenized real-world asset (RWA) market grew from $5.9 billion last year to $21.9 billion.

Circle has minted approximately 750 million additional USDC on the Solana network, Odaily reported, citing Onchain Lens.

As a result, cumulative USDC issuance on Solana in 2026 has reached approximately 69.01 billion tokens. The increase in USDC issuance is interpreted as a sign of expanding liquidity within the network.