Paulo Vidal, a Dogecoin Foundation developer, has created a new protocol that transforms DOGE addresses into International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs). This development could make it easier to link Dogecoin with conventional financial systems, offering a new level of usability for both crypto enthusiasts and mainstream players. While the protocol is still in its early stages, Vidal has shared updates on its developments and insights into its core features.
Dogecoin Dev Introduces Banking IBAN For DOGE
Dogecoin could be taking a step closer to mainstream financial integration as Vidal unveils an innovative protocol that allows addresses tied to the meme coin to function like bank-validated IBANs. Announced on X this week, the Dogecoin developer explained that his effort to simplify Dogecoin addresses has evolved into a D-IBAN system fully compliant with ISO 13616-1:2020 Standard.
Vidal has explained that the D-IBAN protocol allows Dogecoin addresses to be formatted in a way that banking systems can easily validate, effectively bridging the gap between cryptocurrency and traditional finance. He explained that the system supports multiple address types, including P2PKH, P2SH, P2WPKH, and time-locked addresses, automatically detecting the type from the address prefix. Additionally, it automatically detects the address type and uses the same MOD-97-10 Checksum algorithm used by banks worldwide.
The Dogecoin developer notes that the D-IBAN encoding is fully reversible, allowing users to convert back and forth without losing any data. The protocol also formats the IBAN into standard four-character groups for readability, making DOGE addresses more user-friendly and appearing bank-compliant.
Beyond the core D-IBAN functionality, Vidal has also introduced playful and practical extensions of the system. The DogeMoji protocol converts addresses into memorable, visually appealing emoji sequences—ideal for social media or QR codes.
The second DogeWords protocol encodes addresses into short, positive word sequences that are easy to read and remember, while maintaining complete reversibility and ensuring accuracy through validation. Both D-IBAN features are designed to make Dogecoin easier to share and interact with in creative ways.
Community Reacts To D-IBAN Invention
Members of the crypto community who read about Vidal’s new D-IBAN protocol responded with a mix of enthusiasm, curiosity, and caution. Crypto analyst Astro noted that sending fiat to a crypto address via IBAN would require compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules, KYC verification, and potentially obtaining a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license.
Astro warned that integration with traditional banks could undermine the decentralized narrative of blockchain technology, contending that banks and crypto have inherently conflicting interests. A community member also highlighted that creating a mathematically valid IBAN from a Dogecoin address does not guarantee that banks will process actual transactions. He stated that only IBANs issued by authorized institutions are recognized for fund transfers.
Vidal addressed these concerns by emphasizing that the D-IBAN protocol is intended to provide optional banking integration rather than enforce it. He argued that banks could handle Dogecoin in a familiar format while users retain full control of their wallets, preserving self-custody and upholding the core principles of decentralization.
The United States Army has released a set of new Requests for Information aimed at advancing the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, or CAML, a next-generation autonomous fires platform intended to reshape how the service moves, loads, and employs missile systems across future battlefields. The notices, issued through the PAE Fires CAML Product Office, outline three […]
The pathway to acquiring Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has often been perceived as complex, involving multiple steps. However, a monumental shift is now underway as Apple Pay has integrated into leading crypto platforms, and getting a major upgrade is becoming as seamless and intuitive as any other digital transaction. This integration removes one of the biggest barriers to entry by replacing traditional transactions.
Why Apple’s Entry Signals A Turning Point For Global Crypto Payments
Apple Pay is now directly integrated with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. A crypto site, CryptosRus, has revealed on X that Apple users can now purchase BTC and other cryptocurrencies directly within Trust Wallet using Apple Pay. This integration will make buying crypto as easy as buying Apps from the App Store, dramatically lowering friction for newcomers with no more clunky bank transfers, complex onboarding forms, and steep learning curves.
With a few simple taps via Apple Pay, the crypto will be in your Trust Wallet. In short, Apple is helping to replace fear and friction with just tap-and-own simplicity. This Apple Pay and crypto is the kind that will seamlessly onramp.
Bitcoin and crypto adoption are sharply gaining traction globally. In a surprising turn for one of the world’s most tightly controlled economies, Turkmenistan has officially legalized Bitcoin and broader cryptocurrency trading. CryptosRus stated that President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has signed a new Sweeping bill that sets the stage for a fully regulated crypto market to begin in 2026.
The new law establishes a dedicated state Commission that will oversee licensing, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) protocols, cold-storage rules, mining registration, and even the power to halt or require refunds for token issuances. According to CryptoRus, this is a sign that even the most controlled states are being pushed into crypto adoption as the global regulation accelerates.
Bitcoin Decentralized Rails More Resilient Than TradFi Hardware?
An author and ideologist, Shanaka Anslem Perera, pointed out that the day $13.4 billion in Bitcoin options expired, the traditional financial system nearly collapsed. At the crucial hour of 03:00 GMT, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) froze, a cooling failure originating from a single data center. The failure led to 90% of global derivatives trading being halted.
Meanwhile, a larger sum of $15 billion in crypto options was settled on time, with each block confirmed and every trade seamlessly executed. The machines that price the world stopped working because they were overheated, and the decentralized alternative rails ran exactly as designed. “This isn’t a coincidence, it’s a stress test, and only one system passed the test,” Shanaka noted.
Turkmenistan has made a historic move by legalizing cryptocurrency under a tightly controlled framework, indicating a major policy shift for one of the world’s most closed economies.
According to a report from local outlet Business Turkmenistan, on November 28, President Serdar Berdimuhamedov signed legislation that will take effect in 2026, establishing a regulated environment for the cryptocurrency industry while maintaining strict state oversight.
New Law Opens Door for Digital Assets and Mining, But Central Bank Maintains Tight Control
The law sets out licensing requirements for crypto exchanges and custodial services, mandates know-your-client and anti-money laundering protocols, and obliges firms to use cold storage solutions for digital assets.
Credit institutions are barred from offering crypto services, and the state reserves the authority to halt, void, or mandate refunds of token issuances. Cryptocurrency mining and mining pool operations must also be registered, and covert activities are explicitly prohibited.
The legislation empowers the central bank to authorize distributed ledgers or operate its own infrastructure, effectively steering participants toward permissioned and surveilled networks.
Despite these regulatory openings, the law maintains that cryptocurrencies will not be recognized as legal tender, currency, or securities.
It categorizes digital assets into “backed” and “unbacked,” with regulators tasked with defining liquidity conditions, settlement protocols, and emergency redemption for backed tokens.
The move follows a November 21 government meeting in which Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers Hojamyrat Geldimyradov outlined the technological, legal, and organizational foundations for introducing digital assets.
A proposal to establish a special State Commission dedicated to the sector was also submitted.
Turkmenistan has long enforced a strict ban on cryptocurrency activity, prohibiting trading, mining, and the use of digital assets.
Authorities routinely raided illegal mining operations and seized equipment, though underground activity persisted via VPNs and peer-to-peer platforms.
The measures are intended to preserve control over the national currency, the Turkmenistani manat, and reduce risks from speculative investment and illicit transactions.
Severe internet restrictions and government surveillance further isolated citizens from global crypto markets.
A landlocked former Soviet republic with around 7.6 million people in 2025, Turkmenistan relies heavily on natural gas exports.
Its politics are dominated by a centralized presidential system, widely considered authoritarian, and the country maintains strict media and internet controls, including bans on platforms like X and Telegram.
Ashgabat, the capital, is known for its white marble architecture and the world’s largest indoor Ferris wheel.
Countries Worldwide Step Up Digital Asset Oversight Amid Growing Markets
The country’s adoption of regulated cryptocurrency comes amid a global wave of legislative activity. In 2025 alone, several nations introduced or expanded frameworks to oversee digital assets.
Pakistan is inviting overseas crypto firms to apply for licenses under its new regulator, a step to bring order to a fast-growing digital economy.#Pakistan#CryptoLicensehttps://t.co/OwnwgyeF07
Poland’s crypto-asset market bill advances to the Senate, introducing licensing, fines up to 10M PLN, and potential prison terms. #cryptobill#Polandhttps://t.co/a8R1O4iGBc
Basel Committee faces calls to reform strict stablecoin capital rules as U.S., U.K., and Japan resist current framework.#Stablecoin#US#UKhttps://t.co/wuvO8UE0sz
Each of these steps reflects a growing international recognition of tokenized finance and the necessity of integrating digital assets within formal financial systems.
Turkmenistan’s legislation, therefore, positions the country within this broader international trend while reflecting its longstanding emphasis on state control.
South Korea is preparing one of its most aggressive crackdowns on cryptocurrency-related financial crime by expanding its travel rule requirements.
Key Takeaways:
South Korea will extend its crypto Travel Rule to cover sub-$700 transactions, closing a loophole used to evade identity checks.
Exchanges will be forced to apply full KYC to small transfers and face stricter financial and compliance reviews.
High-risk offshore platforms will be blocked, and criminals barred from owning stakes in licensed crypto firms.
The new threshold covers transactions under 1 million won ($680), which until now allowed users to bypass identity checks by breaking transfers into smaller amounts, according to Yonhap News.
South Korea’s FSC Chief Vows Crypto AML Push With Expanded Travel Rule
Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Lee Eok-won confirmed the plan Wednesday during a briefing to the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, saying authorities would tighten oversight on crypto rails increasingly used for money laundering and tax evasion.
“We will crack down on crypto money laundering […] expanding the Travel Rule to transactions under 1 million won,” Lee said.
Currently, South Korea’s travel rule largely applies to higher-value transfers, requiring exchanges to collect and exchange identifying information about senders and recipients.
The new proposal would eliminate that loophole, forcing crypto platforms to apply the same disclosure standards to smaller transactions that were often used to evade reporting.
Once the change is implemented, exchanges operating in South Korea will be required to gather full identity data on crypto users even for low-value trades and transfers.
Regulators believe this will significantly reduce the use of digital assets for overseas remittances tied to illegal activities and unreported income.
BREAKING: South Korea now suspects North Korea’s Lazarus Group is behind the recent hack on crypto exchange Upbit via Yonhap.
Lazarus has been linked to almost every major exploit in the last few years: • the WazirX attack • the Bybit breach • multiple bridge and… pic.twitter.com/l3CQFnXlp7
The FSC also plans to introduce tougher restrictions on so-called “high-risk” offshore exchanges that facilitate transactions for Korean users without being licensed domestically.
According to the regulator, these platforms will be blocked outright if they are deemed to pose heightened risks of fraud or money laundering.
In addition, crypto exchanges will face more intense reviews of their financial stability.
The government plans to widen the criteria for Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration, evaluating whether platforms have adequate reserves, internal controls and compliance systems in place.
New rules will also bar individuals with prior convictions for tax crimes or drug offenses from becoming major shareholders in licensed crypto firms, a move aimed at preventing criminal networks from gaining influence over regulated platforms.
South Korea to Grant FIU Pre-Emptive Freezing Powers
The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will also introduce pre-emptive account-freezing powers in serious cases, allowing investigators to lock suspicious accounts before funds can be moved beyond recovery.
Officials said legislative amendments are expected to be submitted to the National Assembly in the first half of 2026, with South Korea also expanding coordination with global regulators such as the Financial Action Task Force to align with international standards.
Despite five years since the tax law’s initial approval in 2020 and three previous delays, authorities have failed to establish critical systems for transaction monitoring, income classification, and cross-border enforcement.
Many Bitcoin advocates now align with Tether’s ecosystem, unintentionally helping extend the fiat system they claim to resist.
Bitcoin’s Quiet Compromise
When the GENIUS Act became law on 18 July 2025, the crypto industry celebrated it as the end of regulatory uncertainty. The Act requires licensed stablecoin issuers to hold liquid reserves such as cash and U.S. Treasuries, publish monthly disclosures, and submit to federal or state supervision. At the same time, Congress shelved a federal central bank digital currency.
Supporters saw this as a victory for innovation, but critics called it a quiet federalization of private money. The United States no longer needs to issue its own digital dollar. It has simply delegated that function to private issuers operating under oversight. For Bitcoiners, whose movement was built around sound, decentralised money, that shift should have triggered alarm bells.
Custody of those assets rests with Cantor Fitzgerald, the Wall Street firm led by Howard Lutnick. Lutnick has publicly defended the soundness of Tether’s reserves, confirming Cantor’s role as custodian while emphasizing that it holds no equity stake in the company.
The connection is now more delicate: Lutnick was later nominated for a senior White House economic position overseeing elements of trade and financial regulation. That appointment places a federal policymaker in proximity to one of the largest private holders of U.S. government debt and the key custodian for a company whose dollar backed token depends on the U.S. Treasuries for profit. The optics are uncomfortable. What began as a business relationship now blurs into a potential conflict of interest, embedding Tether in Wall Street’s plumbing and within the political apparatus that governs it.
In effect, Tether has become a private central bank: issuing dollar liabilities, earning seigniorage, and distributing liquidity through the crypto economy, all while piggy backing on U.S. sovereign debt. Its profit per employee rivals the most profitable institutions in finance.
This is not inherently sinister, it’s what regulators demand, but it means enforcement now operates within the money itself. The control lever no longer sits solely with banks, it resides in the smart contract of the token issuer.
As Tether expands USDT onto Bitcoin adjacent networks such as Liquid and the RGB protocol, the same compliance logic will travel with it. The more Bitcoin infrastructure hosts these tokens, the more identity, KYC, and whitelisting mechanisms will appear around Bitcoin wallets and payment channels. The network that once prided itself on neutrality risks becoming a conduit for surveillance grade rails.
The Political Economy of the Digital Dollar
The GENIUS Act’s passage also realigned the politics of digital currency. Its sponsors framed it as an anti-CBDC measure, arguing that private stablecoins preserve choice and limit government power. However, the result is nearly identical to what a central bank digital currency would achieve: programmable, trackable dollars, only administered by corporations instead of the Fed. Some analysts have called this the birth of a “CBDC by proxy.”
The policy also meshes neatly with fiscal priorities. Every USDT minted represents demand for short dated Treasuries, effectively financing the same government that stablecoin advocates claim to bypass. Tether’s profits flow from the interest rate paid on those securities, an invisible subsidy from public debt to private issuers.
By situating stablecoins within the traditional bond market, the U.S. has created a dollar based feedback loop: bitcoin demand supports Treasury issuance, and Treasury yields support bitcoin profitability. In that loop, decentralization is incidental.
Co-opting the Bitcoin Narrative
Within the Bitcoin community, opposition to altcoins remains strong, but sponsorships, event partnerships, and integrations show how quickly principle bends toward funding. Bitcoin conferences increasingly feature Tether executives and supporters on stage, often framed as “bridges” to adoption.
A familiar refrain has emerged among those bitcoiners who take money from Tether, ‘if stablecoins are inevitable, it’s better they be run by Bitcoiners’. Another popular defence is that Tether provides a lifeline for people in countries locked out of the dollar system or suffering from hyperinflation and collapsing economies. This is an emotionally persuasive narrative. These convenient mantras turn compromise into virtue, allowing Bitcoiners to take sponsorships and funding from the same system they once swore to oppose.
That logic may offer comfort to some, but erodes clarity. USDT on Bitcoin does not make Bitcoin more sovereign; it makes the dollar more omnipresent. When Bitcoin developers or advocates align with Tether for sponsorship or exposure, they lend moral legitimacy to a system that thrives on fiat’s dominance. The irony is that Bitcoin’s fiercest defenders are now helping entrench the very structure it was built to escape.
Follow the Money
Tether’s scale gives it power in markets and in messaging. With billions in annual profits and deep links to Wall Street custodians, it can sponsor conferences, fund research, and influence narratives across the digital asset world. Its executives appear frequently at policy forums to present stablecoins as allies of innovation and freedom. Each appearance helps normalise the idea that regulated, dollar denominated tokens represent progress for Bitcoin.
But the money tells a different story. Each stablecoin transaction that settles in USDT extends the dollar system’s reach and perpetuates the weaponization of money. Every layer of compliance embeds surveillance deeper into the blockchain economy. And every Bitcoiner who accepts that trade off helps build a network where decentralization endures mostly as branding.
Bitcoin doesn’t need a conspiracy against it; it only needs its followers to forget what made it different. The GENIUS Act, the rise of Tether, and the regulatory preference for private rails all point to a future where digital cash exists, but never without permission. The Trojan horse is not Tether, it’s the belief that working with it preserves freedom.
In the end, too many Bitcoiners remain exactly where Tether wants them, still tethered to the system they are trying to escape.
This is a guest post by Plain Memo. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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The United States Army has released a set of new Requests for Information aimed at advancing the Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, or CAML, a next-generation autonomous fires platform intended to reshape how the service moves, loads, and employs missile systems across future battlefields. The notices, issued through the PAE Fires CAML Product Office, outline three […] 
Pakistan is inviting overseas crypto firms to apply for licenses under its new regulator, a step to bring order to a fast-growing digital economy.
Poland’s crypto-asset market bill advances to the Senate, introducing licensing, fines up to 10M PLN, and potential prison terms. 
Basel Committee faces calls to reform strict stablecoin capital rules as U.S., U.K., and Japan resist current framework.
BREAKING: South Korea now suspects North Korea’s Lazarus Group is behind the recent hack on crypto exchange Upbit via Yonhap.
