Category: crypto

Circle’s Arc testnet is attracting major financial players like Goldman Sachs and Visa, aiming to establish a common standard for future money movement. Over 100 institutions are testing faster settlement and global interoperability on the blockchain network, with plans for a community-run system in the future.

The People’s Bank of China has established the Digital RMB Operation and Management Center to prepare for widespread adoption of the digital currency. The center will focus on building cross-border and blockchain infrastructure, complementing efforts by the Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to promote the yuan globally.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is leading a funding round for Zar, a startup exploring stablecoin use in Pakistan and other emerging countries through local stores. Stablecoin transactions surpassed Visa’s volume, reaching $46 trillion in the past year. Zar aims to enable cash-to-stablecoin conversions through physical agents in cash-heavy markets.

Bitget Wallet has integrated HyperEVM, providing users with access to Hyperliquid’s $5 billion DEX ecosystem, cross-chain transfers, and HYPE token utilities. Users can trade on Hyperliquid DEX, explore HyperEVM dApps, and engage with HYPE token utilities. The integration follows a successful testnet launch in December 2024 and strengthens Bitget Wallet’s support for over 130 blockchains.

SharpLink is deploying $200 million in Ethereum tokens from its treasury to Linea, a zkEVM scaling network by Consensys. The move supports staking and restaking activities for services like verifiable AI. The partnership aims to build institutional capital markets tools, demonstrating a shift towards trustless infrastructure and efficient yield generation onchain.

Shares of American Bitcoin, linked to Trump, are up 20% for the week, nearing 4000 BTC. Despite Bitcoin’s high trading levels, treasury companies are accumulating. American Bitcoin recently acquired 1,414 BTC, totaling 3,865 BTC. The company’s market cap is $5.29 billion, but some traders are cautious about its valuation.

Polygon is teaming up with Manifold Trading, a quant firm, to enhance its DeFi ecosystem with data-driven liquidity and institutional-grade execution features. This partnership aims to attract institutional investors to the DeFi market by providing professional liquidity management and infrastructure upgrades to drive growth and efficiency across the Polygon ecosystem.

Trump Media is expanding into the prediction market sector with the launch of Truth Predict on Truth Social through a partnership with Crypto.com. This move comes as the Trump family’s crypto income surpasses $800 million in six months, signaling a shift away from traditional business ventures towards digital assets.

S&P has rated Michael Saylor’s Strategy Inc., a Bitcoin treasury company, with a B- junk credit rating. This marks the first-ever rating for a Bitcoin treasury-focused company. The rating reflects Strategy’s heavy concentration in Bitcoin, limited diversification, concerns about liquidity, and risk-adjusted capitalization. Despite vulnerabilities, S&P maintains a stable outlook.

dYdX proposes $462K compensation for users after Oct. 10 outage, with 27 verified claims paid from insurance fund due to rare technical bug. Incident caused chain halt during market volatility. Proposal aims to enhance confidence in DeFi governance. Incident underscores transparency and risks of decentralized systems compared to centralized exchanges.