Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is leading a $12.9 million funding round for ZAR, a one-year-old fintech startup aiming to make dollar-backed stablecoins accessible to everyday consumers in Pakistan and other emerging markets. The round drew participation from Dragonfly Capital, VanEck Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst, according to a Tuesday report by Bloomberg.
Disclosure: The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to the author and do not represent the views and opinions of crypto.news’ editorial. The crypto industry has an infrastructure problem that’s rarely discussed directly: we’ve been building financial systems on blockchains that weren’t designed for finance, which requires us to rethink blockchain architecture. Summary General-purpose
Bitcoin is becoming increasingly unattainable for average investors, raising questions about whether the current bull market can sustain its momentum beyond the traditional four-year cycle. Crypto market intelligence company 10x Research suggested Bitcoin (BTC) is becoming too expensive for sustained retail purchases, a development that may endanger the predicted extension of the current bull market
France is taking a bold step toward embracing Bitcoin as part of its financial strategy. A new bill introduced in the National Assembly proposes that the country acquire 2% of Bitcoin’s total supply. With roughly 420,000 BTC over the next seven to eight years. If approved, France would become the first European nation to establish
Cryptocurrency buying activity by Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) firms has plummeted since the market crash on October 10. In fact, Bitcoin purchases dropped to the lowest level seen all year, according to a top analyst. David Duong, Head of Coinbase Research, posted the analysis on his X account on Tuesday. He started with the question,
Circle (CRCL), the firm behind the $76 billion stablecoin USDC$0.9998 is inching closer towards launching its payments-focused Arc blockchain, starting a test phase with a wide roster of institutional partners. The firm said on Tuesday it has deployed Arc’s public testnet version, allowing over 100 financial institutions, asset managers and tech firms already involved, such
The biggest question in bitcoin right now is: has it topped for the cycle at $126,500 on Oct. 6, or is there still more room to run? Every four years, a halving cuts the new supply of bitcoin in half. Historically, the most explosive gains have occurred roughly 18 months after a halving, yet despite
South Korea’s central bank is contemplating a return to gold buying for the first time since 2013, signaling a potential shift in its reserve management strategy. The move comes amid growing demand for the precious metal, as investors seek protection from inflation and currency weakness. Bank of Korea Weighs Buying Gold Again According to the
Hong Kong authorities have concluded the second phase of the e-HKD pilot program, with the central bank digital currency launch mostly aimed at institutional clients. Summary The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has completed Phase II of its digital Hong Kong dollar pilot program, revealing that both e-HKD and tokenized deposits enable cost-effective, programmable, and
Hunter Horsley, chief executive officer at Bitwise Invest, has predicted that “every” Wall Street institution will be doing something in crypto within the next 12 months. “Software is eating the world. Crypto is going to eat capital markets,” Horsley said in a recent social media post. Widespread adoption According to a recent chart developed by