WalletConnect released a 68-page report on the state of policy, compliance and regulation across payments, DeFi, trading, custody and tokenization, saying major markets have shifted from debating whether to regulate crypto to implementing regulatory frameworks. The report notes that cross-border rules remain highly fragmented as jurisdictions move at different speeds from legislation to enforcement. The report says the EU’s MiCA framework has applied in full since December 2024, with national transition periods ending on July 1, 2026. ESMA’s temporary register lists about 330 authorized crypto-asset service providers, while more than 1,000 pre-MiCA firms reportedly failed to obtain authorization before the deadline. Hong Kong issued its first stablecoin issuer licenses in April 2026, Japan’s amended Payment Services Act took effect in June, and the U.S. GENIUS Act has become law, with full implementation due no later than January 18, 2027. WalletConnect said jurisdictions are increasingly assigning compliance duties to regulated touchpoints, requiring issuers and service providers interacting with self-custody addresses to meet obligations including AML, sanctions screening, travel rule compliance and recordkeeping. The report said tools such as sanctions screening, on-chain analytics, address control verification and reusable identity credentials show compliance and self-custody are not mutually exclusive, while DeFi remains the largest unresolved area for global regulators.