In an era where digital payments dominate everyday transactions — from online shopping and mobile wallets to contactless in-store purchases — the security of cardholder data has never been more critical. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) stands as the global benchmark for protecting sensitive payment information. Developed by the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC), it applies to any organization that processes, stores, or transmits credit or debit card data.

1. Exploding Cyber Threats and Data Breaches

Cyberattacks targeting payment systems have surged. Ransomware, phishing, supply-chain exploits, and advanced persistent threats (APTs) are common. Non-compliant businesses face higher breach risks — studies show compliant organizations experience up to 50% fewer incidents. A single breach can expose thousands of card records, leading to massive fraud and identity theft. PCI DSS enforces controls like encryption, access restrictions, and vulnerability management to minimize these risks.

2. Building and Maintaining Customer Trust

Consumers now prioritize security when choosing where to shop. A visible commitment to PCI DSS signals reliability — think “Your card details are safe with us.” In contrast, a breach erodes trust overnight, resulting in lost customers, negative reviews, and long-term reputational damage. Compliant businesses often see higher conversion rates and loyalty because customers feel protected.

3. Avoiding Severe Financial and Legal Penalties

Non-compliance carries heavy costs:

• Fines from card brands (up to $100,000+ per month in severe cases)
• Increased transaction fees
• Liability for fraud losses and breach-related expenses (legal fees, notifications, credit monitoring)
• Potential loss of payment processing privileges

With stricter enforcement under v4.0.1 — including mandatory MFA for admin access, enhanced password policies, anti-phishing measures, and continuous monitoring — regulators and acquirers are less tolerant of lapses.

4. Enabling Secure Digital Innovation

Modern businesses rely on cloud services, APIs, e-commerce platforms, and third-party processors. PCI DSS v4.0.1 introduces flexibility (e.g., customized approaches and targeted risk analysis) while raising the bar on emerging risks like payment page skimming and insecure authentication. Compliance helps organizations innovate safely — adopting new tech without exposing card data.

5. A Foundation for Broader Cybersecurity Maturity

PCI DSS isn’t just about cards — its 12 core requirements (build and maintain secure networks, protect cardholder data, maintain vulnerability management, etc.) strengthen overall security posture. Many organizations use it as a baseline for GDPR, HIPAA, or ISO 27001 alignment.

Bottom Line in 2026

In a world of nonstop digital transactions and sophisticated cybercriminals, PCI DSS compliance protects customers, safeguards revenue, and demonstrates responsibility. It’s no longer a “checkbox” — it’s a strategic imperative for any business handling payments.

If your organization processes card data, assess your current status against v4.0.1 requirements today. Non-compliance risks far outweigh the effort of achieving it.

What challenges have you faced with PCI DSS? Share in the comments — I’d love to discuss real-world tips!

Why PCI DSS Remains Crucial in Today’s World (2026 Perspective) was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Nomura’s crypto subsidiary, Laser Digital, has launched a natively tokenised Bitcoin yield strategy directed at institutional and eligible accredited investors seeking income on top of long-only BTC exposure.

In a press release shared with CryptoNews, the company explains that Laser Digital Bitcoin Diversified Yield Fund SP (BDYF) combines directional Bitcoin exposure with income-generating, market-neutral strategies designed to deliver excess returns over Bitcoin across market cycles.

The fund is positioned as an evolution of Laser Digital’s Bitcoin Adoption Fund, which launched in 2023 ahead of the first U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.

First Natively Tokenised Bitcoin Yield Fund

Laser Digital said BDYF is the world’s first natively tokenised Cayman-domiciled Bitcoin yield fund. Unlike traditional tokenised structures that rely on special-purpose vehicles or feeder funds, the tokenised share class is issued directly at the main fund level, allowing on-chain ownership alongside traditional share classes.

Tokenisation is handled exclusively by KAIO, while Komainu serves as the fund’s main custodian. The structure allows for in-kind contributions, atomic settlement, and streamlined on-chain fund administration, according to the firm.

Strategy: Growth Plus Income

The fund is designed to maintain long-term, long-only exposure to Bitcoin while actively monetising carry-like opportunities through diversified market-neutral strategies, including arbitrage, lending, and options.

Laser Digital said the strategy prioritises capital preservation over yield chasing, with institutional-grade risk controls intended to ensure income generation does not compromise the safekeeping of underlying BTC.

The fund targets long-term Bitcoin holders such as digital-asset treasury entities, traditional institutions, and sovereign allocators, with a goal of delivering more than 5% excess net returns over BTC performance across rolling 12-month periods, depending on market conditions.

Why Launch Now

Laser Digital said the launch reflects Bitcoin’s maturation into a mainstream institutional asset with deep liquidity and increasingly robust market infrastructure.

At the same time, macro uncertainty, persistent inflation risk, and rising correlations across traditional asset classes are pushing allocators to seek diversifiers that can also generate income.

The objective, the firm said, is to turn a passive Bitcoin allocation into a more capital-efficient exposure that retains upside participation while producing a sustainable income stream aligned with institutional mandates.

Executive Commentary

Jez Mohideen, co-founder and CEO of Laser Digital, said recent volatility has pointed out growing demand for yield-bearing crypto strategies. “Yield-bearing, market-neutral funds built on calculated DeFi strategies are the natural evolution of crypto asset management,” he said.

Sebastien Guglietta, head of Laser Digital Asset Management, adds that while Bitcoin functions as a store of value, it does not naturally generate yield. “Our strategy seeks to address that gap by offering a sustainable income stream for long-term Bitcoin holders,” he said.

Regulatory and Product Line Context

Laser Digital Middle East FZE, a regulated virtual asset service provider under Dubai’s VARA regime, acts as investment manager to the fund.

BDYF joins the firm’s existing actively managed strategies, including the Laser Digital Carry Fund and the Multi-Strategy Fund, as part of its expanding institutional digital asset offering.

In October, it emerged that Nomura Holdings is preparing to deepen its presence in Japan’s digital asset market as crypto activity surges, with its wholly owned subsidiary Laser Digital Holdings seeking a license to offer trading services to institutional clients.

The post Nomura-Backed Laser Digital Launches Tokenised Bitcoin Yield Fund Targeting Excess Returns appeared first on Cryptonews.

Delphi Digital is betting that Solana’s next major upgrade cycle will reposition the network as an “exchange grade” environment capable of supporting onchain order books that can realistically contend with centralized venues on latency, liquidity depth, and market structure. In a Jan. 20 post on X titled “2026 is the Year of Solana”, the research firm argued Solana’s 2026 roadmap is its “most aggressive upgrade cycle” yet, one that “overhaul[s] everything from consensus to infrastructure to become the decentralized Nasdaq.”

Why Delphi Digital Calls 2026 “The Year Of Solana”

Delphi framed the roadmap less as a grab bag of performance enhancements and more as a capital-markets push: “Solana’s roadmap is about transforming it into an exchange grade environment where a native onchain CLOB can viably compete with CEX latency, liquidity depth, and fairness. Here are all the upgrades making this possible.” In that view, shaving milliseconds matters only insofar as it produces predictable, enforceable execution outcomes for applications like high-frequency trading and central limit order books.

The centerpiece, Delphi wrote, is Alpenglow, a consensus redesign it called “the most significant protocol level change in Solana’s history.” The firm said Alpenglow introduces a new architecture built around Votor and Rotor, with Votor changing how validators reach agreement. Rather than “chaining multiple voting rounds together,” validators would aggregate votes offchain and “commit to finality in one or two rounds,” producing “theoretical finality in the 100-150 millisecond range, down from the original 12.8 seconds.”

Delphi emphasized Votor’s parallel finalization paths as a resilience feature, not just a speed play. If a block gets “overwhelming support (80%+ stake)” it finalizes immediately; if support is between 60% and 80%, a second round triggers, and finality follows if that also clears 60%. The goal, Delphi argued, is to preserve finality even with unresponsive segments of the network.

Alpenglow also introduces what Delphi called a “20+20” resilience model: safety holds as long as no more than 20% of stake is malicious, while liveness persists even if another 20% is offline, “tolerat[ing] up to 40% of the network being either malicious or inactive while still maintaining finality.” Under this design, Proof of History is “effectively deprecated,” replaced by deterministic slot scheduling and local timers. Delphi said the upgrade is expected to roll out in early to mid 2026.

Delphi also pointed to Firedancer, Jump’s C++ validator client, as a structural upgrade aimed at reducing a long-standing operational risk. Solana has historically relied on a single client, now known as Agave, and Delphi described that “monoculture” as a central weakness because client-level faults can cascade into broader network halts.

Firedancer’s objective, Delphi said, is a deterministic, high-throughput engine that can process “millions of TPS with minimal latency variance.” Ahead of full readiness, Delphi highlighted “Frankendancer,” a transitional build that combines Firedancer’s networking and block production modules with Agave’s runtime and consensus components, as a bridge to “substantially” increased client diversity.

On infrastructure, Delphi spotlighted DoubleZero as a private fiber overlay for validators, likening its transmission profile to traditional exchange connectivity: “the same infrastructure traditional exchanges like Nasdaq and CME rely on for microsecond level transmission.” The argument is that as validator sets expand, propagation variance becomes the enemy of tight finality windows. By routing messages along “optimal paths” and supporting multicast delivery, Delphi said DoubleZero can narrow latency gaps across validators—an enabler for both Votor’s quorum formation and Rotor’s propagation design.

Delphi also framed Solana’s block-building roadmap as a market-structure project. It described Jito’s BAM (Block Assembly Marketplace) as separating ordering from execution via a marketplace and privacy layer, with transactions ingested into TEEs so “neither validators nor builders can see raw transaction content before ordering takes effect,” reducing pre-execution behavior like frontrunning.

Harmonic, meanwhile, targets builder competition by introducing an open aggregation layer so validators can accept proposals from “multiple competing builders in real time,” with Delphi summarizing: “Think of Harmonic as a meta-market and BAM as a micro-market.”

Raiku rounds out the thesis by adding deterministic latency and programmable execution guarantees adjacent to Solana’s validator set, using Ahead-of-Time (AOT) transactions for pre-committed workflows and Just-in-Time (JIT) transactions for real-time needs—without modifying L1 consensus.

Delphi ultimately tied the technical roadmap to market demand: Solana’s spot trading gravity, the consolidation of onchain perps toward a handful of venues, and the need to reach performance parity with centralized platforms. It cited expectations for “new Solana native perps like Bulk Trade coming early next year,” and pointed to products like xStocks bringing “onchain equities directly to Solana,” arguing that liquidity and attention are consolidating toward a chain with faster settlement, better UX, and denser capital.

At press time, SOL traded at $127.

Cryptocurrency markets began last week on firm footing supported by aggressive institutional buying and continued inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Bitcoin finally broke above the closely watched $95,000 resistance level after multiple failed attempts in recent weeks rallying into a $97,000–$98,000 range. The move was triggered by sustained demand from large corporate buyers such as MicroStrategy alongside improving sentiment around regulated investment vehicles, according to Laser Digital.

Despite the bullish breakout momentum proved difficult to maintain. As the week progressed buying pressure eased and prices began to consolidate around the $95,000 level suggesting the rally had become increasingly vulnerable to macro-driven shocks.

Tariff Headlines Trigger Risk-Off Move

Over the weekend renewed geopolitical tension weighed heavily on broader risk markets after former U.S. President Donald Trump proposed new tariff measures targeting European Union and NATO countries.

While crypto assets appeared insulated from the news sentiment deteriorated sharply once U.S. equity futures opened weaker during early Asian trading hours.

This shift triggered aggressive selling across digital assets. Bitcoin fell to approximately $92,500, while Ethereum dropped to around $3,200, effectively erasing the majority of gains recorded during the prior week.

The move highlights crypto’s continued sensitivity to global macro and geopolitical developments, particularly during periods of heightened uncertainty.

On Monday Bitcoin’s price action is showing near-term consolidation after a sharp pullback, with BTC trading around $93,000following a rejection from the mid-$90,000s.

Near-Term Outlook Hinges on Macro Developments

Looking ahead near-term price action is expected to remain highly reactive to how U.S.–EU trade tensions evolve. Any escalation could pressure risk assets while signs of de-escalation may provide room for stabilization. Geopolitical risks in the Middle East remain elevated with tensions increasing over the weekend and contributing to a more cautious market backdrop.

From a macro perspective, markets face a busy week. Key events include the World Economic Forum in Davos, upcoming U.S. GDP and PCE inflation data and a Bank of Japan policy meeting.

Although there are no scheduled Federal Reserve speeches due to the blackout period, markets may still see policy-related developments. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has indicated that a Fed chair announcement could occur closer to the Davos Forum, adding another potential catalyst for volatility.

Caution Returns After Breakout Attempt

While last week’s breakout above $95,000 marked a technical milestone for Bitcoin the subsequent pullback shows the fragile nature of sentiment at elevated price levels.

With macro and geopolitical risks back in focus, traders are likely to remain cautious in the near term, watching for clarity on tariffs, central bank direction and broader risk appetite before committing to the next directional move.

The post Crypto Rally Fades as Geopolitical Risks Re-Enter Focus: Laser Digital appeared first on Cryptonews.

Anchorage Digital, a New York–based crypto bank, is moving to raise fresh capital as it prepares to enter public markets. According to Bloomberg, people familiar with the matter say the firm is looking to secure between $200 million and $400 million in new funding.

Anchorage Seeks Major Funding

Reports say the Firm is exploring a $200M–$400 million round to strengthen its business before a possible public listing. The plan would put Anchorage among a small group of crypto-native companies that have tried to list on stock markets after building regulated services for institutions.

The company’s bank affiliate holds a federal charter, a status that gives it a different footing compared with many crypto firms. That federal backing is often cited by investors as a reason Anchorage can offer custody and other services seen as safer by big clients.

Based on reports, Anchorage last raised capital in a previous round that valued the business at over $3 billion, and the fresh funding is viewed as a runway toward a public debut.

Anchorage Digital, whose affiliate is the first federally chartered US digital-asset bank, is seeking to raise fresh capital as it explores a potential public listing, according to people with knowledge of the matter https://t.co/6xLNEJN54W

— Bloomberg (@business) January 16, 2026

Regulatory Edge And Product Push

Some reports say the bank is also growing teams tied to stablecoin work and exploring partnerships that would widen its product set for large customers. These moves appear aimed at making the company more attractive to public investors.

Market observers note that crypto firms have been considering public listings more often as regulation clears up in certain areas and as institutional demand for custody and regulated rails grows.

Anchorage’s timing comes while other custody and asset firms weigh similar steps, a trend that could reshape how big investors access crypto services. The atmosphere is cautious, but there is clear interest in regulated players.

According to market chatter, the bank could seek a listing as soon as next year, although some coverage says 2027 is also possible. Sources quoted by Bloomberg gave a range of potential timing, and Anchorage has not provided a public comment on the plans.

If Anchorage completes a successful raise and goes public, the event would signal confidence in firms that combine crypto services with bank-style oversight.

Investors will be watching how the company uses the proceeds — whether to build new products, hire staff, or boost its balance sheet ahead of scrutiny that comes with public ownership. The next few months are likely to reveal more details as underwriting and investor talks advance.

Featured image from Yellow, chart from TradingView

Big Tech's AI-fueled memory shortage is set to be the PC industry's defining story for 2026 and beyond. Standalone, direct-to-consumer RAM kits were some of the first products to feel the bite, with prices spiking by 300 or 400 percent by the end of 2025; prices for SSDs had also increased noticeably, albeit more modestly.

The rest of 2026 is going to be all about where, how, and to what extent those price spikes flow downstream into computers, phones, and other components that use RAM and NAND chips—areas where the existing supply of products and longer-term supply contracts negotiated by big companies have helped keep prices from surging too noticeably so far.

This week, we're seeing signs that the RAM crunch is starting to affect the GPU market—Asus made some waves when it inadvertently announced that it was discontinuing its GeForce RTX 5070 Ti.

Read full article

Comments

Six and a half years ago—after a failed corporate sale attempt, massive financial losses, and the departure/layoff of many key staff—I wrote about what seemed at the time like the "imminent demise" of GameStop. Now, after five years of meme stock mania that helped prop up the company's finances a bit, I'll admit the video game and Funko Pop retailer has lasted much longer as a relevant entity than I anticipated.

GameStop's surprisingly extended run may be coming to an end, though, with Polygon reporting late last week that GameStop has abruptly shut down 400 stores across the US, with even more closures expected before the end of the month. That comes on top of 590 US stores that were shuttered in fiscal 2024 (which ended in January 2025) and stated plans to close hundreds of remaining international stores across Canada, Australia, and Europe in the coming months, per SEC filings.

GameStop still had just over 3,200 stores worldwide as of February 1, 2025, so even hundreds of new and planned store closures don't literally mean the immediate end of the company as a going concern. But when you consider that there were still nearly 6,000 GameStop locations worldwide as of 2019—nearly 4,000 of which were in the US—the long-term trend is clear.

Read full article

Comments

In late 2023, storage company Western Digital announced plans to split itself into two companies. One, which would still be called Western Digital, would focus on spinning hard drives, which are no longer used much in consumer systems but remain important to NAS devices and data centers. The other, called SanDisk, would handle solid-state storage, including the drives that Western Digital sold to consumers under its Blue, Black, Green, and Red brands.

That split effectively undid what Western Digital did a decade ago when it bought SanDisk for $19 billion. And we're just now starting to see the way the split will affect the company's existing consumer drives.

Today, SanDisk announced that mainstream WD Blue and WD Black SSDs would be discontinued and replaced by SanDisk Optimus-branded disks with the same model numbers.

Read full article

Comments

Bluetooth-enabled "smart" dab rigs are a harbinger of consumer cannabis trends.

How high-tech dab rigs are shaping the cannabis industry is a post from: MJBizDaily: Financial, Legal & Cannabusiness news for cannabis entrepreneurs