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The recently enacted stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act is predicted to fundamentally alter the relationship between banks and retail depositors, according to a Multicoin Capital executive. Tushar Jain, co-founder and managing partner of Multicoin Capital, suggests the legislation marks "the beginning of the end" for traditional banks' practice of offering minimal interest on deposits. He anticipates a significant shift of retail deposits from traditional bank accounts to higher-yield stablecoins, driven by competition from major technology companies like Meta, Google, and Apple. These tech giants are expected to leverage their massive distribution networks to offer superior stablecoin yields and user experiences, featuring instant settlement and 24/7 payments, which will force banks to raise their interest rates to remain competitive, ultimately impacting bank profitability.
Concerns among US banking groups centre on the potential for wide adoption of yield-bearing stablecoins, which they fear could destabilize the traditional banking system by undermining its reliance on deposits for lending. While the GENIUS Act prevents stablecoin issuers from directly offering yield, it doesn't explicitly ban exchanges or affiliates from doing so, creating a potential loophole. The US Department of the Treasury estimated that mass stablecoin adoption could result in approximately $6.6 trillion in deposit outflows from the banking system. With average US savings account interest at 0.40% and stablecoin yields on platforms like Aave at around 4%, the significant interest rate discrepancy is a key driver, pushing banks to pay more interest to depositors to mitigate the substantial risk of deposit flight. Source
Samsung has significantly deepened its collaboration with the crypto exchange Coinbase, introducing streamlined cryptocurrency purchasing capabilities for its 75 million Galaxy device owners in the United States via Samsung Wallet and Samsung Pay. This integration allows Coinbase users to buy crypto directly within the Samsung Wallet application, enhancing investment management on the secure platform. As part of this team-up, Samsung Wallet users receive exclusive incentives, including a complimentary three-month subscription to Coinbase One—which offers zero trading fees on certain assets and boosted staking rewards—along with a $25 credit for new traders following their initial transaction.
This move reinforces Samsung's long-standing commitment to the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, following years of integrating crypto wallet and trading features on its devices, making industry investments, and even offering NFTs as device pre-order bonuses. The companies have hinted at future international expansion following this U.S. launch. This news also coincides with a positive market reaction, with Coinbase's stock rising and Bitcoin's price increasing, reflecting the broader embrace of cryptocurrency functionality within mainstream consumer technology. Source
Decentralized finance's (DeFi) major barrier to accessing trillions in traditional finance capital is the fundamental lack of confidentiality, as the transparency of public blockchains makes all deposits, loans, and positions public, which is unacceptable for institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), a privacy-preserving technology that allows computations on encrypted data without ever decrypting it, is the critical advancement poised to solve this issue. FHE enables sensitive data, like encrypted credit scores or Know Your Customer (KYC) information, to be checked by a smart contract to approve uncollateralized loans, which mirrors credit-based lending in traditional finance and is currently restricted in DeFi due to its reliance on overcollateralization. By keeping trades and positions private, FHE could transform DeFi into an institutional-grade financial system, moving beyond its current total value locked, which is small compared to global financial markets.
FHE's application in lending goes beyond just enabling uncollateralized loans, as it allows for the rebuilding of DeFi protocols with confidential ERC-20 tokens, hidden loan amounts, and protection against Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) attacks, creating a new, more secure primitive for lending. This evolution would permit institutions to use private collateral pools and allow retail users to borrow without collateral and be shielded from predatory bots. However, for DeFi to fully scale using FHE and draw in external capital, several design challenges must be addressed, including discretely notifying liquidators for encrypted values, aligning technical and legal aspects for enforcing credit systems, improving MEV defence through batching, and creating user-friendly decryption tools. Despite these complexities, the rapid development of FHE suggests that a future where DeFi combines Swiss-bank confidentiality with efficiency and real-world credit is rapidly approaching. Source
Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, has filed an application for a National Trust Company Charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This move aligns the company with a growing trend among digital asset firms, including stablecoin issuers like Circle and Paxos, and fintech company Ripple, which are also seeking the same federal regulatory oversight. The trust charter is not a full banking license and does not permit deposit-taking or lending; instead, it would enable Coinbase to manage its own reserves and take custody of institutional assets, building on its existing custody business. Coinbase was explicit in stating it has no intention of becoming a traditional bank, but rather aims for clearer rules and greater regulatory security to confidently innovate in the crypto space.
The primary benefit of the charter, if approved, is the promise of regulatory clarity and uniform oversight, which is crucial for fostering broader institutional adoption of digital assets. The federal charter would allow Coinbase to streamline its operations and potentially launch new products beyond custody, such as payments and other related services, with greater confidence. This strategic decision underscores Coinbase's deeper integration into traditional finance, following a recent partnership with JPMorgan Chase and its existing custody services for major asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity. Crypto platform Anchorage Digital was the first in the sector to successfully receive this OCC charter in 2021, setting a precedent for other firms in the industry. Source
Stripe CEO Patrick Collison asserts that yield-bearing stablecoins, which are tokenized fiat currencies operating on blockchain technology, will ultimately compel banks and other established financial institutions to offer customers competitive interest rates on their deposits. He pointed out the strikingly low average savings account interest rates in the US, at 0.40%, and in the EU, at 0.25%, contrasting this with his view that depositors rightfully deserve a return on their capital closer to market rates. Collison criticized the efforts by some lobbying groups, following the passage of the US GENIUS stablecoin bill, to further restrict any form of yield associated with stablecoin deposits, calling this attempt to preserve cheap deposits a "consumer-hostile" and ultimately self-defeating business strategy.
The article highlights a clear conflict between the traditional financial sector and the burgeoning stablecoin market. The banking industry strongly lobbied against interest-bearing stablecoins during the deliberation of the US GENIUS bill, which ultimately provided a regulatory framework for stablecoins but included a prohibition on yield-sharing by issuers. Banks and their allies in Congress, like Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, argued that allowing stablecoins to offer interest would undermine the traditional banking system by encouraging deposit outflows and eroding market share. However, executives in the crypto space see the rise of stablecoins as a natural evolution, with Tether co-founder Reeve Collins predicting that all future currency, including fiat, will essentially become a stablecoin. Source
The UK government's attempt to retain the majority of the 61,000 Bitcoin seized in a 2018 criminal fraud case has ignited a debate within the British crypto industry over the asset's future. One perspective, represented by the British Blockchain Association, argues that the long-term holding of the Bitcoin as a strategic reserve is inconsistent with the Proceeds of Crime Act. This legislation prioritises the recovery of criminal proceeds and compensation for victims, not long-term investment. Furthermore, holding a volatile asset like Bitcoin would contradict established UK Treasury financial principles by introducing unnecessary price risk, especially as the government concurrently seeks ways to address a large public finance deficit.
Conversely, industry group CryptoUK believes that immediately selling off the frozen Bitcoin would undermine the government's stated commitment to boosting the UK crypto sector, pointing out that other jurisdictions are exploring strategic cryptocurrency reserves. While acknowledging the symbolic power of a government Bitcoin reserve, the British Blockchain Association suggested that a more realistic approach, should the courts allow forfeiture, would be a phased and transparent sale of the assets to minimise market impact. Both groups ultimately agree that the government should focus on developing a high-quality regulatory regime for the industry, with the Blockchain Association also advocating for a feasibility study and a small pilot allocation to explore a strategic role for Bitcoin in the UK's future reserve policy. Source
The crypto market is entering a new week with significant momentum, having reached a total market capitalization all-time high of $4.32 trillion, largely fueled by Bitcoin's recent surge to a record price of $125,500 over the weekend. This rally, viewed by analysts as the start of an "Uptober" and Q4 upswing, saw Bitcoin consolidate around the $124,000 mark at the time of writing, while Ether briefly peaked at $4,600 before easing back to $4,537, with most altcoins seeing a temporary boost before falling back as attention returned to the major crypto asset. Despite the ongoing US government shutdown which has muted the flow of economic data, previous indications of labor market weakness and a drop in the ISM Services index suggest growing justification for the Federal Reserve to consider another interest rate cut later in October, an expectation that is generally positive for risk assets like cryptocurrency.
The US economic calendar for the week ahead is centered on Federal Reserve communications, as the government shutdown continues and generally minor in terms of data releases. Key events include the release of the Fed's September meeting minutes on Wednesday and a scheduled speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Thursday, alongside speeches from other governors, which investors will scrutinize for clues on future monetary policy in the absence of official economic statistics. Additionally, the New York Fed inflation expectations report is due on Tuesday, offering insight into future inflation trends which have recently been on the rise, while the all-important September jobs report is tentatively scheduled for Friday, pending a resolution to the government shutdown, a development that could either provide clarity or further uncertainty to market participants. Source
Markethive is promoting its "Swarm" conference rooms as a secure and censorship-resistant solution for communication and collaboration, aligning with its commitment to free speech and privacy in a digital world facing increasing authoritarian control. The company positions itself alongside high-profile entrepreneurs like Telegram's Pavel Durov and X's Elon Musk, who have publicly advocated for online freedom against what the article terms a "woke mind virus" and a "collectivistic ideology." The Markethive ecosystem is designed to be a vast, decentralized network, utilizing blockchain, cryptocurrency infrastructure, and resilient cloud systems to ensure an impenetrable and unstoppable platform for its users, which aims to empower entrepreneurs and organizations by fostering an environment for the open exchange of truthful information away from the grasp of global authoritarians.
The Swarm conference rooms, or Hive Swarm, provide dedicated virtual meeting spaces for all Markethive members, both free and subscription-based, with features built on advanced WebRTC technology for seamless, cross-browser collaboration. The rooms offer tools such as a shared calendar, digital whiteboard, screen-sharing, recording, and multi-camera management, the latter being particularly useful for larger organizations like churches to produce high-quality live streams. To accommodate different needs, a tiered subscription model is being introduced with seating capacities ranging from a base of five seats for free members up to one hundred for the Entrepreneur One Upgrade, with options for further scalability. A key security feature is the policy of requiring participants to access the weekly Markethive conference link through the platform to ensure real names are displayed, preventing anonymous hijacking and safeguarding the integrity of discussions. Source
Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, asserts that Solana will become Wall Street's preferred network for stablecoins and the tokenization of real-world assets, despite Ethereum's current dominance. He believes the traditional finance audience finds Bitcoin "ephemeral" and difficult to grasp, but recognizes the significant potential of stablecoins to reinvent payments and tokenization to revolutionize markets like stocks, bonds, and real estate. When evaluating blockchain solutions for investment, Hougan states that Solana's superior speed, throughput, and finality—citing settlement speed improvements from 400 to 150 microseconds—make it extremely appealing to Wall Street traders who value rapid transactions.
While Solana's stablecoin supply has grown to $13.9 billion, giving it a 4.7% market share, it still trails the industry leader, Ethereum, which boasts $172.5 billion in onchain stablecoin value, holding a 59% market share, a figure that rises to 65% when layer-2 solutions are included. However, Bitwise has a strong belief in Solana, with its CEO previously suggesting the platform may have an advantage over Ethereum in the staking exchange-traded fund market due to its faster unstaking period, which aligns better with the short time frames required by ETFs. Bitwise currently offers the Bitwise Physical Solana ETP, though with modest assets under management, and awaits a final SEC decision on its spot Solana ETF application, due on October 16. Source
Bitcoin has achieved a new all-time high, breaking above $125,000 for the first time in its history on significant trading volume, driven by bullish sentiment and resulting in the liquidation of nearly $100 million in short positions in just one hour. This surge, part of a year-long rally, is attributed to favorable macroeconomic conditions and growing institutional interest, which analysts expect to continue fueling demand for the leading digital asset. One crypto asset manager suggested that a prolonged government shutdown could further drive interest in hard assets, supporting Bitcoin's appeal as an alternative store of value.
Despite a brief stall in the rally as traders took profits just below the previous high, the current breakthrough suggests further gains are expected. Analysts at Standard Chartered are highly optimistic, with the bank’s global head of digital assets projecting the price of Bitcoin will reach at least $135,000 in the near term and could climb past $200,000 before the end of the year. This sentiment is echoed by users on the Myriad prediction market who accurately predicted the $125,000 milestone and currently favor Bitcoin to outperform Ethereum in the month of October. Source
In major African economic hubs like Nairobi and Lagos, stablecoins such as USDT and USDC have become essential, everyday financial tools for individuals and small businesses navigating severe local inflation, volatile foreign exchange rates, and the world's highest remittance costs. Adoption is driven by practical economics: stablecoins function as "digital dollars" for saving and trading, allowing users to preserve capital against rapidly eroding local currency purchasing power, with Nigeria alone processing nearly $22 billion in stablecoin transactions between July 2023 and June 2024. The true utility is enabled by seamless integration with mobile money services like M-Pesa through solutions such as Kotani Pay and fintechs like Yellow Card, which significantly cut the cost of cross-border transfers for family and business support, often beating the Sub-Saharan African remittance average of 8.45%.
Despite their clear benefits in providing speed, affordability, and value protection for use cases like saving, payroll, and trade, stablecoins carry risks related to reserve reliability, operational scams, and unpredictable regulatory environments. Nigeria, for instance, has recently swung from a banking ban to cautious permission before moving toward a stricter policy that included crackdowns on P2P venues and crypto exchanges. While the regulatory landscape is rapidly evolving with new tax laws and licensing requirements in both Kenya and Nigeria, the on-the-ground trend points toward stablecoins becoming increasingly integrated into "crypto in the background" services where the user simply benefits from instant, low-cost movement of value without directly interacting with the tokens. Source
The firm mNAV is capitalizing on the growing trend of U.S. companies adopting Bitcoin as a treasury asset by building specialized, transparent dashboards for them, adhering to the "In a gold rush, sell shovels" philosophy. Co-founder Marty Kendall, an engineer based in Australia, explained that the company, which recently rebranded from MicroStrategist, focuses on providing clarity for dozens of "Bitcoin treasury firms" that are attempting to emulate Strategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder. The dashboards track key metrics like mNAV—shorthand for multiple-to-net asset value—which assesses a company’s market capitalization against its digital asset holdings, and also gauges performance relative to Bitcoin and accumulation goals for these new entrants, which now include companies from sectors like cannabis, distilling, and healthcare devices.
mNAV views these corporate Bitcoin buyers as a crucial vehicle for the asset's broader adoption, moving beyond products like exchange-traded funds. After its initial dashboard for Capital B proved highly popular, the company expanded its services and now powers the dashboards for 17 firms featured on the Bitcoin for Corporations executive network, managing everything from Strategy’s massive stockpile to smaller holdings. Kendall also noted the potential for mNAV to extend its offerings to individual investors, giving them the ability to bypass sifting through regulatory filings and instead access deep analysis on these treasury firms, helping to counter the shallow, hype-driven analysis often found on social media. Source
The domain industry, despite managing 360 million registered domains and having a $10 billion premium segment, remains highly illiquid and trapped in slow Web2 trading mechanisms, contrasting sharply with the rapidly tokenizing world of Real-World Assets (RWA). While assets like real estate and treasuries are embracing blockchain to achieve near-instant settlement and fractional ownership, domain sales still take months and incur high broker commissions of 15%-30%. This antiquated process and friction points mean less than 1% of registered domains trade annually, representing a massive economic inefficiency for a pure digital asset that should be infinitely more liquid. The industry's failure to adopt tokenization is destroying billions in potential value, as premium domains cannot be easily leveraged as collateral for DeFi loans, and it risks ceding market dominance to natively blockchain-integrated naming systems like ENS.
Tokenization offers the immediate technological capability to transform domain trading, converting domains into tradable NFTs that would enable fractional ownership, instant settlement, and 24/7 global trading with much lower fees, similar to the over $7 billion in tokenized treasuries now trading. The regulatory path for domains is arguably clearer than for other RWA categories since domains are already established digital property with defined ownership frameworks. Early movers who implement tokenization will capture significant network effects, attracting both premium domains seeking liquidity and traders seeking quality inventory. The industry must join the internet's financial evolution by building modern domain infrastructure or risk becoming the only major asset class left behind in obsolete Web2 trading mechanisms. Source
Donald Trump's stance on cryptocurrency has undergone a complete reversal, transforming him from a staunch critic who called Bitcoin a "scam" in 2019 to a pro-crypto president. His personal embrace of the digital asset space began with non-fungible token collections, which he launched starting in 2022 on the Polygon and Bitcoin Ordinals networks, claiming the surprising number of crypto buyers helped change his views. This shift culminated in a full-fledged political pivot, where he branded himself as the crypto-friendly candidate, accepting digital asset donations, and publicly stating his goal to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet" during the 2024 Bitcoin Conference. The Trump family has also become deeply involved, launching the decentralized finance project World Liberty Financial, which offers borrowing and lending services on Ethereum, and the hugely valuable Solana-based TRUMP meme coin just before his inauguration as the 47th US President.
Upon returning to the White House, President Trump has quickly translated his pro-crypto campaign promises into policy and administrative actions, fulfilling a pledge to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the country. He has signed a crypto-related bill into law to end the Internal Revenue Service's DeFi broker rule, and his administration's Securities and Exchange Commission has scrapped numerous lawsuits from the previous administration, signaling a friendlier regulatory environment for the industry. Furthermore, he issued an executive order prohibiting the debanking of crypto-related companies, siding with industry complaints against traditional financial institutions. The Trump family's commercial ventures continue, with his sons involved in launching an American Bitcoin mining firm and a crypto wallet, while the President's media company bought two billion dollars worth of Bitcoin and related securities, fully cementing his commitment to the digital asset revolution. Source
Unity has released a security patch to address a critical vulnerability discovered in June that affected its gaming engine, which is used to build a large portion of the top mobile games. The flaw allowed third-party code to run in Unity-based applications, primarily targeting the Android mobile platform but also impacting games on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and potentially allowing local code execution and access to confidential user information. Security experts warned this could pose a risk to users of mobile crypto wallets, as a malicious application on the same device could hijack the game's permissions, or even potentially lead to device-level compromise, which could target private keys, seed phrases, or other sensitive data.
The vulnerability was present in projects dating back to 2017, leading to an urgent call for developers to update and republish all affected applications using the newly patched Unity Editor or a standalone patching tool provided by the company. Technology industry partners, including Microsoft and Google, responded to the threat with Google urging immediate developer updates and Microsoft releasing a security alert and updating Windows Defender for protection. Some game developers like Obsidian Entertainment temporarily removed titles from digital storefronts as a precaution while they implemented the necessary fixes, though Unity confirmed there was no evidence of the vulnerability having been actively exploited and no reported impact on users. Source
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
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