As digital assets gain mainstream adoption, establishing a legal framework for stablecoins is a “good idea,” said US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. In an April 16 panel at the Economic Club of Chicago, Powell commented on the evolution of the cryptocurrency industry, which has delivered a consumer use case that “could have wide appeal”…
Read more
Blockchain infrastructure provider Figment has been selected as the staking provider for 3iQ’s newly approved Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF), underscoring Canada’s continued efforts toward adoption of digital asset financial products. Figment will enable institutional staking for the 3iQ Solana (SOL) Staking ETF, which launches on the Toronto Stock Exchange on April 16 under the ticker…
Read more
Synthetic stablecoin developer Ethena Labs is winding down its German operations less than a month after regulators identified “deficiencies” in its dollar-pegged USDe (USDE) stablecoin, signaling heightened scrutiny around crypto assets in Europe’s largest economy. Ethena Labs reached an agreement with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, also known as BaFin, to cease all operations of…
Read more
The US Federal Reserve is prepared to use its vast arsenal of monetary policy tools to prevent financial and economic conditions from deteriorating rapidly but will do so only if liquidity dries up or markets become disorderly, a top central banker said. In an interview with the Financial Times, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said…
Read more
The S&P 500 Index briefly experienced Bitcoin-level volatility in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement, underscoring the panic and fear gripping traditional markets amid the ongoing trade war. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas alerted his followers on X that the S&P 500’s volatility, as measured by the “SPY US…
Read more
Cryptocurrency exchange HashKey has received approval from Hong Kong regulators to offer staking services, potentially broadening the institutional appeal of proof-of-stake investments such as the spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs). HashKey was granted approval on April 10 after the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) provided regulatory guidance on staking services to Licensed Virtual…
Read more
Digital payments company Block Inc. has reached a $40 million settlement with New York regulators over alleged compliance misconducts tied to its Cash App platform, Bloomberg reported on April 10. Block was fined by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) following an investigation into Cash App’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and cryptocurrency compliance operations,…
Read more
Crypto startup Meanwhile has raised $40 million to scale its Bitcoin-denominated life insurance business, targeting so-called “inflation-prone economies” where policyholders may seek alternatives to traditional fiat-based payouts. The Series A investment round was led by Framework Ventures and Fulgur Ventures, with additional participation from Xapo founder Wences Casares, the company disclosed on April 10. Meanwhile…
Read more
United States securities laws are not flexible enough to account for digital assets, as evidenced by the parade of crypto-native companies that have tried and failed to get into the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) good graces, Rodrigo Seira, special counsel to Cooley LLP, told a House Committee hearing on April 9. The hearing, titled…
Read more
With US President Donald Trump imposing 104% tariffs on Chinese imports, Beijing is responding by letting the yuan weaken against the dollar — a move that analysts say could spark the next leg of the Bitcoin bull market. On April 8, the yuan-to-US dollar exchange rate fell to its lowest level since 2023, signaling the…
Read more