Usdc

Bitcoin-backed lending is increasingly being used for tuition, emergency expenses, business working capital and major purchases rather than only speculative trades. Lenders say borrowers want liquidity without selling BTC, while the sector moves toward fixed-rate products and broader hard-asset collateral models.

OKX has attracted fresh investment from Circle, Ripple, QRT and Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures at a $25 billion pre-money valuation. The move strengthens its effort to evolve beyond crypto trading into payments, stablecoins and tokenized traditional assets.

Arbitrum has joined the Global Dollar Network, bringing Paxos issued USDG into major DeFi venues across the Ethereum layer 2 ecosystem. The move gives Arbitrum and its builders a path to participate in stablecoin reserve economics as rival digital dollar alliances race for distribution.

OKX has introduced OKX Money, a consumer app built around digital dollar balances, stablecoin transfers and card-based spending. The product offers eligible users up to 10% annual yield on qualifying USDG holdings, up to 10% cashback and conversion from more than 50 local currencies.

Citi and Coinbase are linking stablecoin payments with institutional banking infrastructure through flows between fiat and tokens. The expansion reflects wider efforts by payment networks to add blockchain settlement while adoption still depends on practical business advantages.

OKX and Intercontinental Exchange are preparing a blockchain-based venue that could bring major U.S. equities including Nvidia, Tesla and Apple into tokenized markets. The planned structure would use stablecoins, one-for-one share backing and automated liquidity pools instead of a traditional order book.

Stripe plans to extend its stablecoin card programs to more than 100 countries by the end of the year, widening access to digital dollar payments for businesses and consumers. The push comes as stablecoin card spending reached about $1.2 billion last month, roughly triple the level seen a year earlier.

The crypto market advanced 1.4% over the past 24 hours to $2.92T as traders leaned into expectations that the Federal Reserve may pause rate hikes. Bitcoin is again challenging the $86K–$87K area, with technical traders watching whether US jobs data can support a move toward $94K or trigger a risk reversal.

Aztec Labs has brought back zk.money, a self-custodial wallet designed to conceal payment amounts, balances and recipients on the Aztec Network. The early Alpha release supports Ethereum deposits in DAI, USDC and USDT, with limits, sanctions screening and notable security caveats.

Franklin Templeton is expanding its off exchange collateral program to Bybit, allowing eligible users to pledge tokenized money market fund shares for USDT or USDC credit lines. The structure keeps underlying assets with regulated custody platform ByCustody while mirroring their value inside Bybit’s trading environment.

The attacker behind Bitget’s $387.5 million breach has moved about $83 million in stolen XRP from three holding wallets, while roughly $75 million remains in the original accounts. Bitget says its protection fund will cover the loss, customer balances are unaffected, and withdrawals are scheduled to resume in stages from Sept. 28 through Oct. 2.

Binance’s investment in Circle and a new five-year commercial agreement could deepen USDC’s reach across global crypto trading and emerging markets. Analysts see stronger distribution for USDC, though Tether’s entrenched liquidity and user habits remain major barriers to a rapid market-share shift.

Circle and Tether have blacklisted a wallet tied to the Bitget exploit, trapping about $318,000 in USDT and USDC. The move addresses only a small portion of the stolen funds, with more than 63,000 ETH still sitting in exploiter addresses that cannot be frozen by an issuer.

Crypto gambling platform Duelbits has gone offline after attackers drained roughly $7 million from hot wallets across multiple blockchains. The platform says user funds are safe while investigators examine a suspected private key compromise.

Washington is considering a plan to promote dollar-backed stablecoins overseas through partnerships with private companies. The strategy could increase demand for U.S. Treasuries while raising concerns over capital flight and pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Coinbase users can now borrow USDC against bitcoin with the interest rate and repayment date set at the time of origination. The fixed-rate product runs through Morpho Midnight and settles on Base, adding a DeFi-based alternative to Coinbase’s existing variable-rate lending business.

Binance bought $100 million worth of Circle shares through a private placement that closed Sept. 17. The investment sits alongside a five-year commercial agreement under which Circle will pay monthly incentives tied to USDC held through Binance-linked wallet infrastructure.

Hyperliquid has introduced perpetual futures tied to the Bitcoin Volmex Implied Volatility Index, giving traders a direct way to trade expected bitcoin volatility. The USDC-denominated market brings onchain access to an index often compared with Wall Street’s VIX.

Coinbase, Robinhood and Circle could be early beneficiaries as U.S. regulators test a pathway for tokenized stocks to trade on public blockchains. Analysts say the opportunity spans custody, tokenization infrastructure, stablecoin settlement and broker products, though compliance demands and market limits remain significant.

Hyperliquid’s HYPE token climbed to a fresh all-time high at $92 after the launch of Manual Borrows added a new utility layer for the asset. With volume rising and the $90 ceiling broken, traders are watching whether momentum can carry HYPE toward $100.

Circle’s Arc blockchain launched with major institutional validators and strong transaction activity, but its first day was dominated by speculative memecoin trading rather than stablecoin payments. Several early tokens have dropped sharply from launch highs, fueling debate over whether Arc can balance corporate payments ambitions with crypto’s riskier trading culture.

The European Central Bank is inviting e-commerce and mobile-commerce merchants to participate in a 12-month digital euro pilot beginning in the second half of 2027. The test will examine online, offline, in-store, mobile and peer-to-peer payments using a beta version that resembles the digital euro but is not legal tender.

Polymarket has appointed veteran finance executive Warren Jenson as its first chief financial officer. The move comes as the prediction market operator works to scale its CFTC regulated U.S. exchange and broaden its global trading platform.

A cybersecurity assessment by Hacken found that roughly half of circulating USDT, about $91.3 billion on Tron, is governed by a contract that could be taken over with two signing keys. Bluechip still raised Tether’s corporate grade to C from D after a KPMG audit found reserves exceeded liabilities by $6.8 billion.