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As gold hits record highs amid economic uncertainty, Tether Gold (XAUt) sees continued growth, mirroring institutional and central bank demand for the metal. A volatile macroeconomic landscape has sparked a new gold rush among institutional investors and central banks, with gold bullion hitting record highs this year — a trend that has also extended to Tether’s gold-backed digital token. By the end of the second quarter, Tether Gold (XAUt) — a tokenized commodity offering direct exposure to physical bullion — was backed by 7.66 tons of fine troy ounces of gold, according to the company’s latest attestation report, verified by BDO Italia. This reserve supports over 259,000 XAUt tokens in circulation, giving the asset a total market capitalization exceeding $800 million. Read more
The US housing regulator's decision to recognize crypto assets in mortgage applications marks a historic shift from exclusion to integration, opening new pathways to homeownership. Opinion by: Dr. Scott Lehr In the early 2000s, getting a loan in the United States without verifying your income or assets was possible. It was called a “no-doc” or “low-doc” loan. The aim was to help self-employed or contract workers, but it was widely abused. Today, lenders verify income, assets, debt and employment. Whether the centralized fraternity likes it or not, the financial world is changing. What once required W-2 wage-and-tax forms, gatekeepers and credit files is now being rebuilt on transparency, autonomy and a blockchain wallet. Read more
Sygnum’s Fabian Dori says the GENIUS Act brings the U.S. closer to global consensus on stablecoin regulation, paving the way for real-world use cases. The GENIUS Act is poised to change the stablecoin landscape by steering issuers away from yield-based models and toward payment-focused use cases, according to Sygnum chief investment officer Fabian Dori. “The GENIUS Act was recently amended to create a clear separation between interest/yield-bearing stablecoins and those used for payments,” Dori told Cointelegraph. He said this brings the US framework closer to the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, laying the foundation for “global consensus.” Dori added that the real impact of the GENIUS Act goes beyond regulation. “By providing long-sought-after clarity, it gives confidence to organizations and issuers to develop original, innovative ‘killer apps’ that don’t just serve their customers’ current needs, but create demand for entirely new services, including payments,” he said. Read more
Divine Research has issued 30,000 unbacked USDC loans using Sam Altman’s World ID to verify borrowers, targeting underserved users. San Francisco-based lender Divine Research has issued around 30,000 unbacked short-term crypto loans since December, using OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s iris-scanning platform World ID to verify borrowers. Divine offers loans under $1,000 in the USDC (USDC) stablecoin, mainly to overseas borrowers underserved by traditional finance. It uses World ID to ensure users cannot open multiple accounts after defaulting. “We’re loaning to average folks like high-school teachers, fruit vendors . . . basically anyone with access to the internet can get access to our funds,” Divine founder Diego Estevez told the Financial Times. “This is microfinance on steroids.” Read more
Pudgy Penguins shut down rumors of an OpenSea buyout, calling the speculation unnecessary and pointing instead to growing brand partnerships. Pudgy Penguins has denied speculation that it acquired NFT marketplace OpenSea, following a wave of social media chatter suggesting a deal may have closed as early as December 2024. In a Saturday post on X, Beau, head of security at Pudgy Penguins, dismissed the acquisition talk. “Pudgy Penguins didn’t buy OpenSea… chill,” he wrote. He claimed that the project has big plans, so there’s no need to focus on just one possible acquisition. “Talk about partnering with Lufthansa and NASCAR, and go find the next great brand for us to proliferate with,” Beau wrote. Read more
A crypto analyst disagreed with the statement, saying, “Everyone dies. At some point, investment returns become irrelevant.” A prominent crypto analyst has sparked debate in the Bitcoin community by claiming that Bitcoin OGs are losing confidence in the asset as it becomes increasingly adopted by institutions. “Many of the most ardent early whales have seen their faith shaken and have been selling at these prices,” Scott Melker, aka The Wolf of All Street, said in an X post on Saturday. “Bitcoin is amazing, but it’s obviously been co-opted to some degree by the very people that it was created as a hedge against,” Melker said. Read more
The Bitwise Invest executive admits he “could be wrong” but doesn’t see 2025 as the end of the upside for Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s price could see significant upside in 2026, bucking the traditional four-year market cycle, according to Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan. The prediction comes as other analysts are divided on whether Bitcoin (BTC) will stray from its historical pattern or follow the traditional halving cycle and peak in the coming months. “I bet 2026 is an up year,” Hougan said in an X video on Friday. “I broadly think we’re in for a good few years,” Hougan added. Read more
Analysts call XRP’s dip on Thursday a healthy correction, while Galaxy Digital’s CEO says Ether could outperform Bitcoin within the next six months, and other news. The Australian Federal Court ruled in favor of fintech company Finder.com, clearing it and its yield-generating product, Finder Earn, in a legal battle with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) that lasted almost three years. In a Thursday court decision, Justices Stewart, Cheeseman and Meagher confirmed a previous judgment that Finder Wallet and Earn complied with consumer financial laws. The federal court “confirmed the initial finding that Finder Earn was not a financial product,” Finder said in a Thursday blog post. Read more
Solo miners successfully adding blocks to the Bitcoin blockchain network is a rare event, but still not impossible in 2025. A solo Bitcoin (BTC) miner successfully mined a block on Saturday, collecting the 3.125 BTC block reward, valued at $372,773. The miner, operating through the Solo CK pool, a solo mining service, successfully mined block 907283, which contained 4,038 transactions and block fees totalling $3,436. Rising network hashrate and difficulty make it increasingly harder for solo miners to compete with large-scale, corporate mining firms. Read more
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have permanently reduced volatility and altered Bitcoin market dynamics, according to analysts. Bitcoin (BTC) will no longer experience “parabolic” price rallies or “devastating” bear markets, because BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have permanently reduced volatility and altered market dynamics, according to Blockware BTC analyst Mitchell Askew. “BTC/USD looks like two entirely different assets before and after the ETF,” the analyst wrote on Friday. The chart he shared showed a sharp reduction in price volatility following the January 2024 launch of the Bitcoin ETF in the United States. The analyst said: Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote that the reduced volatility has helped Bitcoin “attract even bigger fish and gives it a fighting chance to be adopted as currency.” The tradeoff to this is that there will likely be no more “God Candles,” the analyst added. Read more
Bitcoin delivers a classic liquidity grab with a correction below $115,000 only to bounce back, while traders eye a BTC price showdown with new all-time highs next. Key takeaways: Bitcoin traders now turn their focus to higher levels after Friday’s $115,000 liquidity grab. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee predicts Bitcoin could hit $250,000 by year-end. Read more
A young and tech-savvy population, combating inflationary pressures, is driving Bitcoin adoption and a new financial system in Pakistan. Pakistan’s demographics position the country as a major catalyst for Bitcoin (BTC) adoption, allowing it to “leapfrog” developed nations, according to Bilal Bin Saqib, Pakistan’s state minister of crypto and blockchain. “A global policy shift has happened, not just in Pakistan, but all around the world,” Bin Saqib told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. The government of Pakistan moved to regulate crypto in November 2024. The country has 40 million crypto wallets and is one of the “top five” countries in terms of crypto adoption, which the minister attributed to Pakistan’s young demographic. He told Cointelegraph: Read more
XRP selling pressure could mushroom if the recent 50 billion XRP sale from a wallet linked to Ripple's Chris Larsen was "just the warm-up." Key points: Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen sparks warnings to XRP investors after a wallet linked to him sends 50 million tokens to exchanges. Larsen notionally has over 2.5 billion XRP left, which would create massive selling pressure if distributed. Read more
Wrench attacks on prominent crypto executives are shaping the narrative on centralized crypto custody. Crypto custodians are reporting increased interest in their services amid the rising frequency of so-called “$5 wrench attacks” on cryptocurrency traders, investors and project leaders. In the last year, several high-profile wrench attacks — physical attempts to steal someone’s crypto — have targeted prominent investors and business executives in the blockchain industry. The crypto mantra of “not your keys, not your coins” has lost its power among some investors who fear for their personal safety. Cold wallets may offer full control over digital assets, but they also present a single point of attack. Read more
Japan’s slow and risk-averse approval system, not taxes, is the real barrier driving Web3 startups and liquidity offshore, says WeFi CEO Maksym Sakharov. Japan’s regulatory bottlenecks, not taxes, are the real reason crypto innovation is leaving the country, according to Maksym Sakharov, co-founder and CEO of decentralized onchain bank WeFi. Sakharov told Cointelegraph that even if the proposed 20% flat tax on crypto gains is implemented, Japan’s “slow, prescriptive, and risk‑averse” approval culture will continue to push startups and liquidity offshore. “The 55% progressive tax is painful and very visible, but it’s not the core blocker anymore,” he said. “The FSA/JVCEA pre‑approval model and the absence of a truly dynamic sandbox are what keep builders and liquidity offshore.” Read more
A $1-million Bitcoin would upend global finance, reshaping wealth, inflation, energy markets and the very role of fiat currencies. Bitcoin has already achieved major highs that very few thought possible. The ink on the current drivers of its all-time high is still wet. One of the major catalysts was the introduction of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in early 2024, such as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. By mid-2025, US Bitcoin ETFs had amassed $14.8 billion in net inflows, with BlackRock’s ETF alone raising over $1.3 billion in just two days. Read more
Tyler Winklevoss claims JPMorgan paused Gemini's onboarding after he criticized the bank’s data access fees, calling the move anti-competitive. Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss has accused JPMorgan Chase of halting the crypto exchange’s onboarding process in response to his public criticism of the bank’s new data access policy. In a Friday post on X, Winklevoss claimed JPMorgan retaliated after he called out the banking giant’s new move as anti-competitive behavior that could harm fintech and crypto firms. “My tweet from last week struck a nerve. This week, JPMorgan told us that because of it they were pausing their re-onboarding of Gemini as a customer after they off-boarded us during Operation ChokePoint 2.0,” the Gemini boss wrote. Read more
BlackRock's ETHA leads with $440 million as Ether ETFs stretch their inflow streak to 16 days, pushing total net assets to $20.66 billion. Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) posted another strong session on Friday, drawing $452.72 million in net inflows and extending their inflow streak to 16 consecutive trading days, according to data from SoSoValue. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) once again dominated the charts, pulling in $440.10 million in daily net inflows. The fund now commands $10.69 billion in assets, the largest share among US Ether (ETH) ETFs. Bitwise’s ETHW followed at a distant second with $9.95 million, while Fidelity’s FETH added $7.30 million. Grayscale’s ETHE, however, continued to see redemptions, losing $23.49 million on the day and pushing its cumulative outflow to $4.29 billion, by far the largest net loss among all Ether ETF products. Read more
Ether's recent surge in social media dominance signals the potential risk for a price correction, according to Santiment. Ether’s recent price rally may be due for a cooldown, as a surge in social media mentions — reaching levels of “extreme euphoria” — points to the potential for a near term correction, according to sentiment platform Santiment. However, other indicators suggest Ether’s (ETH) rally may still have room to run, which has gained more than 50% over the past 30 days. “Social metrics are flashing warning signs. Since early May, Ethereum's price ratio against Bitcoin has surged by an incredible 70%,” Santiment said in a report on Friday. Read more
The Ripple executive says he felt really bad about the situation and "it wasn’t the authentic interaction with celebrities" that he was aiming for. Ripple’s chief technology officer David Schwartz confessed that he once faked fan questions for Black Sabbath and filtered the responses of recently deceased rock legend Ozzy Osbourne during what was meant to be an authentic Q&A with fans — an experience he now regrets. “I cheated,” Swartz said in an X post on Thursday. “To me personally, it was a failure, but to everyone else it was a success,” recalling his time at WebMaster when, as an employee, he was assigned to deliver responses to fan questions for Osbourne — who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 76 — and the other members of Black Sabbath using the company’s ConferenceRoom software. Read more5789 items