Latest Crypto News & Market Updates

Mastercard integrates Open USD stablecoin into BVNK platform

Mastercard is folding a newly launched stablecoin called Open USD into BVNK, the crypto infrastructure platform it bought earlier this year, in a move that marks one of the clearest signs yet of a broader Mastercard stablecoin integrationstrategy taking shape across its payments network. The plan gives banks and businesses a way to hold, move, and settle digital dollars through rails they already use for everyday fiat transactions, rather than treating crypto as a separate, walled-off system.　　Key takeawaysMastercard is integrating the Open USD stablecoininto its BVNK platform, the stablecoin infrastructure company it acquired earlier this year.Open USD, also called $OUSD, launched on September 30 across Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Tempo blockchains.Businesses can mint and redeem $OUSD 1:1 with the US dollar with no minting or redemption fees.Founding partners — Coinbase, Mastercard, Shopify, Stripe, and Visa — have committed more than $1 billion toward $OUSD liquidity.$OUSD is also reachable through Stripe and Visa, with Coinbase support going live on October 1.　　Mastercard Integrates Open USD Stablecoin Into BVNK Platform　　Through BVNK, Mastercard is giving banks and companies access to Open USD, enabling them to use the token together with fiat currencies and other stablecoins when handling payments, settlement, and liquidity management. According to

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Circle urges EU to revise stablecoin reserve rules in MiCA review

Stablecoin issuer Circle urged the European Commission to revise reserve requirements in its response to a consultation on reviewing the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).　　In Thursdays summary of its response, the USDC and EURC issuer said mandatory bank-deposit requirements expose stablecoin issuers to banking-sector credit and counterparty risks.　　Circle faced those risks firsthand in March 2023, when USDC temporarily lost its dollar peg after the company disclosed that $3.3 billion of its reserves were held at Silicon Valley Bank. The funds were subsequently made available after US authorities protected the banks depositors.　　The consultation, which closed Wednesday, sought feedback on how MiCA is working and whether it remains fit for purpose as crypto markets develop. Responses will inform the Commissions assessment of the regulation and activities beyond its current scope.　　Related: MiCA focus shifts from rulemaking to supervision, ESMA chair says　　Circle aligns with central bank on reserve requirements　　MiCA currently requires e-money token issuers to hold at least 30% of reserves in commercial bank deposits, with a higher minimum of 60% for significant issuers, according to Circle.　　Circle backed reconsidering the mandatory deposit minimums and replacing them with a more flexible minimum asset liquidity requirement, agreeing with the European Central Bank.　　The company also called for

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Bitcoin briefly hits $87K as weak US jobs data sends bond yields lower

Bitcoin (BTC) spiked past $87,000 on Friday as US jobs data missed expectations.　　Key points:Bitcoin tapped $87,200 but failed to make new multi-month highs as overhead resistance held.September US nonfarm payrolls came in below expectations at 29,000, while the August and July figures were revised lower.Analysts saw further BTC price upside on the back of falling US bond yields　　Bond yields extend fall on weak labor-market data　　Data from TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $87,229 on Bitstamp, just shy of new eight-month highs.　　BTC/USD four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView　　September nonfarm payrolls data came in below expectations, with the economy adding just 29,000 jobs against an anticipated 84,000. August numbers, which had beat expectations on release, were revised down from 162,000 to 133,000.　　US stocks gained at the Wall Street open as traders scaled back hawkish bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes following the weaker jobs data. The S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1% and 1.8%, respectively.　　“This marks the third weakest jobs report of 2026,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter noted in a reaction on X.　　The latest data from CME Groups FedWatch Tool showed just an 18% chance of the Fed enacting a 0.25% rate hike at its October meeting, down from 64% a week

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71% of UK finance leaders expect tokenization to reshape financial services: Lloyds

Nearly three-quarters of major UK financial institutions expect tokenization to reshape financial services, as banks and asset managers increasingly explore blockchain-based infrastructure for payments, settlement and liquidity management.　　The finding comes from an annual survey by Lloyds Banking Group, the UKs largest financial services provider, which polled 100 senior decision-makers across major UK banks, insurers, asset managers and financial sponsors.　　Faster payments and settlement emerged as the biggest potential benefit, cited by 60% of respondents, while 41% pointed to improved collateral and liquidity management.　　Lloyds said moving assets and payments onto digital infrastructure could also free up capital and liquidity tied up in financial transactions, allowing institutions to deploy those resources elsewhere.　　“The next phase is about turning those individual use cases into infrastructure that works at scale, with the interoperability and common standards needed to connect digital and traditional markets,” said Rob Hale, co-head of global markets at Lloyds.　　Lloyds has also tested the technology directly. Earlier this year, the bank worked with Archax and Canton Network on what it described as the UKs first public blockchain transaction using tokenized deposits to purchase a tokenized UK government bond.　　Related: Crypto adoption blooming in Germany, while UK is falling ‘behind,’ says CoinShares researcher　　UK builds infrastructure for

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Evernorth’s Nasdaq XRP treasury is approved, but its real buying power isn’t the $300 million expected

Evernorths shareholder vote has advanced its plan to become a publicly traded XRP treasury. Its next round of token buying hinges on cash left at closing: disclosed delayed subscriptions, conditional notes and expected trust proceeds imply roughly $88.5 million in gross sources if all three settle, before expenses and other uses.　　Related Asset XRP #5 XRP · $1.50 24-hour change: down 0.20% Loading price history… 24H Down 0.20% 7D Down 4.06% 30D Up 12.11%　　Evernorth and Armada Acquisition Corp. II, its merger partner, announced on October 1 that shareholders had approved the combination on September 30. They expect closing on October 7, subject to remaining conditions, followed by trading of the combined companys Class A stock on Nasdaq under XRPN on October 8.　　That timetable brings the funding question into focus. The companys approximately $300 million gross-cash figure includes a private placement program whose advance funding had already supported a roughly $214 million XRP purchase reported in November 2025. Cash already converted into tokens cannot finance the next acquisition a second time.　　Related Company Nasdaq An American stock exchange　　XRP was about $1.53 on CryptoSlates market page around press time.　　Cash raised and cash still to settle　　The October 1 announcement lists $225 million from related private

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Once a $2.3 Billion Network, Ethereum Layer-2 Blast Is Shutting Down

In briefBlast, the Paradigm-backed Ethereum layer-2, is shutting down, saying it costs more to run than it earns and has no credible path to sustainability.Users have until Oct. 26 to withdraw through Blasts interface. After that, funds remain reachable only through its bridge contracts on Ethereum.Once holding more than $2.3 billion, Blast joins Zero Network and Silicon Network among Ethereum layer-2s winding down this year.　　Blast, the Ethereum layer-2 network that once drew billions of dollars with promises of built-in yield and airdrops, is calling it quits.　　The team said Friday on X that maintaining the network now costs more than it earns, and that it sees no credible path to making the chain economically sustainable. “As a result, weve made the difficult decision to wind Blast down,” the team wrote.　　Myriad: Where does Ethereum go next？ Click to make your prediction.　　Users are being asked to move their assets back to Ethereums mainnet, including balances held in Blasts PWA, or progressive web app. Blast said it will cut its withdrawal delay to 24 hours, but withdrawals will first pause for about a week while it pulls the networks assets out of Lido, a liquid staking protocol.　　Users have until Oct. 26 to withdraw through

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Senate Democrats block Husteds data center bill weeks before the midterms

Senate Democrats have blocked the Ratepayer Protection Act, the bill that Ohio Republican Jon Husted wrote to shield households from the electricity costs of the data center boom.　　The measure fell flat at a 57 to 43 tally, three votes short of the 60 it needed to scale through. Only four Democrats voted in its favor.　　The blockage also kills the senators last chance to show voters that he is acting on affordability before the November midterm election.　　The contest for the seat that Husted currently occupies is seen as one of the tightest Senate races for the upcoming elections.　　Discover more　　Crypto news alerts　　Financial news digest　　Currencies & Foreign Exchange　　He is up against former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown, who has been tying Husted to the rise in power bills for the average citizen. Brown accuses Husted of being complicit in the 240 data centers now operating in Ohio and the rising power bills that come with them.　　Why did Husted put his name on the bill？　　The Ratepayer Protection Act would amend existing energy law so that state utility regulators must at least consider a federal standard.　　Under the act, nonresidential customers who are consuming 100 megawatts or more at a single site would pay the full incremental

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Solana ETFs Overtake XRP Funds With $1.91 Billion in Assets

Solana ETFs have overtaken XRP products in total net assets after an eight-day inflow streak brought in nearly $254 million. The shift is notable because SOL still has a smaller market capitalization than XRP, yet its ETF complex now represents a much larger share of the underlying tokens value.　　Key TakeawaysSolana ETFs topped XRP with $1.91B in assets after eight straight inflow days.SOL funds now represent 2.74% of solanas market cap, signaling deeper institutional penetration.The potential next milestone concerns whether solana ETFs can overtake XRPs $1.79B in cumulative inflows.　　$254M in 8 Days Sees Solana ETFs Top XRP ETFs　　Solana is quietly winning one of the most closely watched races in crypto ETFs.　　Solana exchange-traded funds (ETFs) first surpassed XRP products in total net assets on Sept. 17, ending the day with $1.42 billion compared with $1.39 billion for XRP ETFs, per data from Sosovalue.　　Since then, solana funds have attracted $253.98 million across eight consecutive inflow days. Paired with an upward price swing across most of the crypto market in recent weeks, that has lifted total net assets on SOL ETFs to $1.91 billion as of Oct. 1. XRP ETFs brought in $83.63 million over the same period, taking their assets to $1.69 billion.　　The

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Once a $2 billion Ethereum layer-2, Blast is shutting down after assets plunge 98%

The chains economics deteriorated quickly as speculative capital moved elsewhere and activity faded. Total value locked peaked over $2 billion in June 2024, according to DeFiLlama, and has since fallen to only $32 million. Meanwhile, Blast generated just $1,793 in revenue from network usage last month, down from a peak of about $3.5 million in June 2024, DeFiLlama data shows.　　Blast total value locked and chain revenue (DeFiLlama)　　Its demise points to a broader shakeout among blockchain networks.　　Running a chain means paying for development, infrastructure and security even after user activity dries up. A recent wave of crypto exploits has drawn additional attention to security spending, while AI tools may also make it easier for attackers to probe code for weaknesses.　　Competition is getting tougher, too.　　Large consumer platforms with built-in distribution have launched their own Ethereum-based networks. Crypto exchange Coinbase · rolled out Base and has turned its exchange users and developer ecosystem into a source of activity, while Robinhood · launched its own Ethereum layer-2 network earlier this year, with massive early onchain activity.　　That leaves smaller chains fighting for developers, users and transaction fees in an increasingly crowded market. Blasts closure shows what may happen when the economics no longer add up.

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Tethers USDT eyes Bitcoin return as Utexo plans October launch

Utexo has outlined an October launch for USDT on Bitcoin, with three planned services covering private transfers, direct BTC swaps, and Bitcoin-backed loans.　　SummaryOctober is the planned mainnet launch window, with Lightning Network support planned for a later stage.Utexo says borrowers will be able to use native Bitcoin as collateral without wrapping their holdings.The proposed privacy model includes a blacklist for transaction outputs linked to sanctioned or illegal activity.Tether co-led Utexos $7.5 million funding round announced in March alongside two other investment firms.　　Utexo has secured a commercial license to issue USDT on Bitcoin and use its trademark for distribution to exchanges, wallets and payment providers, according to co-founder Viktor Ihnatiuk. The Tether-backed company plans to begin issuance in October.　　Under the proposed rollout, Utexo will provide the software connections, developer tools and cloud services that other businesses need to offer Bitcoin-based USDT products. According to the company‘s plans, the first deployment will use Bitcoin mainnet before support extends to Lightning, Bitcoin’s payment network.　　USDT transfers would keep payment details off the public ledger　　Through RGB, Utexo plans to support stablecoin transfers in which participants check transaction information themselves, while ownership is tied to Bitcoin‘s unspent transaction outputs. According to the project’s description, most payment

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