Tether International Ltd., the holding company behind the largest stablecoin, USDT, posted second-quarter net profit of $4.9 billion. The company held over $162.5 billion in reserves against $157.1 billion in liabilities, the USDT tokens issued, according to the latest attestation by accounting firm BDO. That puts excess reserves at $5.4 billion. Exposure to U.S. Treasuries, […]
News from Web3, Bitcoin and crypto crurrency launches and market updates
Bitcoin development firm Blockstream has unveiled “Simplicity,” a programming language for smart contracts built on the layer-2 network Liquid. Co-founded by cryptographer and early Bitcoin contributor Dr. Adam Back, Blockstream has introduced Simplicity with the aim of solving the limitations of Bitcoin as a venue for smart contracts. “Simplicity gives Bitcoin expressive smart contracting power, […]
Helium, one of the most well-known DePIN projects on Solana, is launching a new service called Helium Plus, aimed at transforming how businesses contribute to the Helium Network. Helium Plus will enable public Wi-Fi providers and businesses to join the network using existing Wi-Fi routers, with no additional hardware required. This will open the door […]
As was almost universally expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday left its benchmark fed funds rate range steady at 4.25%-4.5%. In a rare departure from norms, two Fed governors — Michelle Bowman and Chris Waller — dissented from the decision, preferring instead to trim rates by 25 basis points. It’s the first time two Fed […]
The Protocol: Ethereum Turns Ten
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Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, CoinDesk’s Tech & Protocols reporter. In this issue: Ethereum At 10: Where Next For The World Computer? Linea to Burn ETH With Every Transaction in Bold L2 Upgrade Solana Players Unveil ‘Internet Capital Markets’ Roadmap Square […]
Coinbase (COIN) and JPMorgan (JPM) have formed a long-term strategic partnership to expand access to digital assets and enhance customer security. The deal, announced earlier today, underscores Coinbase’s role as a core blockchain infrastructure provider, not just a trading venue, for major U.S. banks, according to a note on Wednesday from brokerage firm Bernstein. Rather […]
ATOM tumbled 3.7% in the 24-hour session ending July 30 at 14:00 GMT, falling from $4.60 to $4.43 under intense selling pressure. The most aggressive drop occurred between 10:00 and 11:00 GMT, when the price plummeted from $4.48 to $4.39 on an explosion of volume to 2.71 million—nearly triple the daily average. This steep decline […]
Over the past decade, Ethereum has become the foundation of on-chain finance. It introduced programmable money, enabled the tokenization of real-world assets and launched the DeFi movement. But now, its success presents a new challenge: invisibility. As Ethereum powers more applications behind the scenes, it risks becoming something everyone uses but no one notices. The […]
Altcoins slid sharply Tuesday as traders braced for a wave of economic events, including a Federal Reserve interest rate decision due Wednesday. Leading the pack are XRP, solana (SOL) and cardano (ADA) which all fell more than 3% over the past 24 hours as well as dogecoin (DOGE), avalanche (AVAX) and sui (SUI) which are […]
The digital assets industry’s most reliable U.S. Senate ally, Cynthia Lummis, has introduced her latest crypto bill, which would ensure mortgage borrowers could use their cryptocurrency holdings to help secure their loans. Last month, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte directed government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to come up with proposals […]
Crypto Has a Comms Issue
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Earlier this month, NPR ran a headline, “Why there’s so much excitement around a cryptocurrency called stablecoin.” If you want to understand where crypto stands with legacy media in 2025, start there. The piece was a basic primer on a decade-old innovation that settles nearly $27 trillion annually, surpassing the combined annual transaction volume of […]
NEAR Protocol registered a 3% decline from $2.84 to $2.75 throughout the 24-hour period, with valuations consolidating within a $0.18 bandwidth before pronounced terminal-hour liquidation catalysed a breach through established support parameters. Market Analysis: Consolidation Transitions to Decline NEAR Protocol demonstrated a consolidation pattern throughout the preceding 24-hour session from 28 July 15:00 to 29 […]