Standard Chartered

Compound Finance has replaced its leadership team and approved a record $52 million budget as it seeks to regain momentum in decentralized lending. The protocol is shifting toward institutional clients through real-world asset offerings, partner integrations and credit infrastructure built for traditional finance requirements.

Standard Chartered-led Anchorpoint Financial has begun a limited rollout of HKDAP, a Hong Kong dollar-backed stablecoin, after securing one of the city’s first issuer licences. HashKey Exchange and OSL Group are now authorized distributors, giving eligible institutions and professional investors access to minting and redemption channels.

Laser Digital, Nomura Group’s digital assets arm, has made a strategic investment in UAE-based Layer1 blockchain ZIGChain. The partnership targets institutional onchain vault products, private credit access across the Gulf States, and Sharia-compliant offerings.

Circle shares advanced in premarket trading after the stablecoin issuer topped profit expectations despite a slight revenue miss. The company also highlighted growing institutional support for Arc, its layer 1 blockchain network, alongside continued expansion in USDC activity.

A group of major global banks has completed real cross-border payments using tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits in a BIS-led pilot. The test points to growing institutional interest in shared-ledger settlement as banks seek faster, more traceable international payments.

Crypto executives and banking leaders increasingly see younger consumers moving toward wallets that hold stablecoins, tokenized deposits and other digital assets. The shift points to a future where banks remain important, but the standalone bank account may no longer be the default financial hub.

Stablecoin supply has retreated from its May peak, with June marking the largest dollar decline since the Terra-Luna collapse. Market participants say the drop is meaningful for crypto liquidity, though still modest compared with the 2022 bear-market contraction.

Circle’s USDC widened its lead over Tether’s USDT in adjusted stablecoin transaction volume during the first half of 2026. Visa data showed monthly stablecoin activity reached a record $1.79 trillion in June as banks expanded digital currency settlement services.

Major financial institutions are moving deeper into stablecoin services as demand grows for regulated payment, custody, treasury and settlement rails. Standard Chartered and BNY are expanding USDC access while European lenders push euro-denominated alternatives to keep tokenized finance anchored in local currency.

Ethereum Institutional has secured support from across the Ethereum ecosystem, including commentary from Standard Chartered Bank and several prominent industry firms. Backers say the initiative could speed institutional adoption and reinforce Ethereum’s role in tokenized assets and financial infrastructure.

Standard Chartered has begun coverage of Morpho with a bullish end-2030 price target, arguing the protocol is positioned to benefit from tokenization and DeFi growth. The bank said Morpho’s lending and onchain infrastructure businesses could scale alongside a projected 37-fold expansion in DeFi assets.

Bitcoin traded roughly flat near $65,800 as traders waited for the Federal Reserve’s first rate decision under new Chair Kevin Warsh. Meanwhile, Uniswap, Hyperliquid, Solana and Ether drew fresh inflows as macro conditions turned more supportive for risk assets.

Standard Chartered analyst Geoffrey Kendrick says bitcoin likely formed a cycle low around $59,000 as investor flows improve and macro pressure eases. He says a break above $83,000 would be a strong confirmation that a new uptrend is underway.