Daily Summary2026-09-22

Strategy purchased 950 bitcoin for approximately $75.7 million between September 14 and 20, its first acquisition since late August, bringing holdings to 846,000 BTC — over 4% of eventual supply — per an 8-K filing reported by The Block and CoinDesk. The company simultaneously repurchased approximately $174 million of its STRC preferred shares, trading below par. Coverage noted bitcoin's rally above $85,000 turned Strategy's position from roughly $10 billion in unrealised losses weeks ago to an $8.3 billion gain.

The OCC granted preliminary conditional national trust bank approvals to Bastion Platforms, Catena Trust Bank and Agora on September 18, per Law360 and the agency's published decisions. Bastion converts a New York trust company into federally supervised white-label stablecoin infrastructure; Agora issues the AUSD stablecoin; Catena is building banking infrastructure for AI agents, including agent identity and spending controls. Coverage noted the pace: roughly 48 charter applications across 2011–2024, against some 40 in the past 18 months. None will carry FDIC insurance.

Saudi Arabia's central bank exited mBridge, the China-led cross-border CBDC platform, on May 13, 2025 after completing a proof of concept — a departure disclosed only this week by the Financial Times, citing SAMA's statement that the exit was planned. An anonymous source told the FT the kingdom continues engaging with the project discreetly. mBridge's remaining members — China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE, with Macau live this year — are moving toward commercial rollout under a Hong Kong entity. Separately, Riyad Bank's Jeel unit is exploring Ripple for payment corridors and custody; coverage notes no evidence links the two developments.