With the expected passage of the GENIUS Act this week, the $260‑billion stablecoin market is on the cusp of becoming a formally regulated part of the U.S. financial system. The next step is institutional, bringing the time‑tested model of clearinghouses into the world of tokenized money. Why clearing matters Traditional clearinghouses, formally called central clearing
U.S. President Donald Trump’s rhetoric toward Fed Chair Jerome Powell appeared to stoke volatility in the crypto market on Wednesday, as investors weighed whether he could soon fire the official. The price of Bitcoin rose as high as $119,500, then fell to around $119,000—yet it’s up even higher now to $119,650, currently up 2% over
US President Donald Trump plans to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell soon, according to a senior White House official. It was also learned that Trump brought up this possibility in his meeting with Republican members of Congress last night. While the majority of lawmakers attending the meeting supported this move, the official noted that Trump
U.S. stocks traded slightly higher on Wednesday as investors digested strong earnings results from major banks and the latest producer price index data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were up 140 points and 0.16% respectively, while Nasdaq Composite hovered at the flatline with 0.04%. Slight upticks in the blue-chip and benchmark indices
Cathie Wood-led investment firm Ark Invest has seen significant sell-offs in both Coinbase (COIN) shares and its own spot Bitcoin ETF, ARKB. Ark Invest Sells $1 Million in Coinbase Stock and Its Own Bitcoin ETF The company raised approximately $13.3 million by selling 34,207 Coinbase shares and $8.7 million by selling 225,742 ARKB shares. The
Talos, a provider of institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure backed by PayPal and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has acquired blockchain-data provider Coin Metrics in a deal valued at more than $100 million, Fortune reported Wednesday, citing a source familiar with the transaction. The acquisition combines Talos’ trading and portfolio-management suite with Coin Metrics’ on-chain analytics, historical pricing
A new survey shared with The Defiant shows that while many Brazilians appear to trust stablecoins, using them in everyday life is still a challenge. A July 2025 report from payments app Oobit that surveyed Brazilian crypto users aged 23 to 45 found that around 91.8% hold stablecoins — mostly Tether (USDT) — and about
The governor of the Bank of England has cast doubt on whether the U.K. needs a digital pound, or CBDC, becoming the latest official in a major economy to question the merits of central bank digital currencies. While Andrew Bailey says it’s crucial to embrace cutting-edge transaction methods, he questioned whether this CBDC, known informally
Story Highlights The Fed is expected to keep rates steady at 4.25%–4.50% on July 19, with a 96.9% chance of no change, according to Matthew Dixon. Stable rates could benefit crypto markets, while political pressure from President Trump adds tension ahead of the 2026 election cycle. The next Federal Reserve FOMC meeting is scheduled for
New stablecoin rules from major jurisdictions, particularly the U.S., are reshaping the global digital asset market and presenting significant challenges for Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of over $160 billion. A recent research report from Zhou Hao, the Chief Economist at Guotai Junan International, a multi-billion-dollar financial services firm, suggests that