Author: Benjamin Lee

Institutional investors just sold an overall total of $414 million in Bitcoin and crypto assets in one week, according to a new update from CoinShares. It marks the first selloff in five weeks amid concerns over the prolonged Iran conflict and higher inflation. The US led the outflows with $445 million. Switzerland recorded minor outflows of $4 million. Germany and Canada bought the dip, adding inflows of $21.2 million and $15.9 million respectively. Ethereum suffered the heaviest losses with $222 million outflows, pushing its year-to-date flows into a net outflow of $273 million. Bitcoin saw $194 million outflows but still…

The US-based crypto exchange Coinbase has added two little-known crypto assets to its listing roadmap. The exchange says it’s considering adding Diem (DIEM) and Opengradient (OPG) to its platform for spot trading. “The launch of trading for these assets is contingent on market-making support, and sufficient technical infrastructure. We will announce the launch of trading separately once these conditions have been met.” DIEM is an ERC-20 token on the Base blockchain from Venice.ai. The coin is designed to tokenize AI compute as an onchain asset, with each token representing $1 per day of renewable, never-expiring access to Venice’s AI models…

Crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun says he’s filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, alleging the project improperly froze his tokens and stripped his governance rights. Sun detailed the move in a new post on X. “Today, I filed a lawsuit in California federal court against World Liberty Financial to protect my legal rights as a holder of WLFI tokens.” According to Sun, the conflict stems from actions taken by individuals associated with the project. “They wrongfully froze all of my tokens, stripped me of my right to vote on governance proposals, and have threatened to permanently destroy my tokens by…

Crypto exchange Kraken has announced a global partnership with MoneyGram aimed at making it easier for users to convert digital assets into cash. The collaboration will allow millions of Kraken customers to withdraw crypto as fiat currency across more than 100 countries, leveraging MoneyGram’s extensive global cash pickup network. Users will be able to access payouts in hundreds of fiat currencies, with transactions processed instantly or near instantly in many cases. The move targets one of crypto’s persistent challenges – reliable off ramps into local currency. By integrating Kraken’s exchange and liquidity infrastructure with MoneyGram’s payments network, the companies aim…

Tether has announced plans to launch GEL?, a stablecoin pegged to the Georgian Lari, in partnership with the Government of Georgia. The announcement marks one of the first efforts to place a national currency directly onto digital asset infrastructure under a purpose-built stablecoin regulatory framework. Tether’s USD? carries a market capitalization approaching $190 billion, with 24-hour trading volumes that regularly surpass Visa and Mastercard. Tether has not described the asset as a central bank digital currency (CBDC). GEL? aims to enable lower transaction costs, near-instant settlement, and programmable payments. Georgia’s framework is designed for compatibility with the U.S. GENIUS Act,…

The world’s largest digital asset-focused investment platform says institutional capital will initially target four blockchain networks as regulatory clarity improves.  In a new report, Grayscale says expected regulatory changes, including the Clarity Act that aims to establish rules for classifying and regulating digital assets and guidance from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), will likely drive use cases such as tokenized assets and decentralized finance (DeFi). The firm says the development will likely benefit the leading chains for tokenized assets and DeFi, namely the leading smart contract platform Ethereum (ETH), the high-performance network Solana (SOL), the Web3-focused decentralized blockchain…

Institutional investors just sold an overall total of $1.67 billion in Bitcoin and crypto assets in one week, according to a new update from Coinshares. The outflows mark the third consecutive negative week and the second-largest weekly outflow of the year, with three-week cumulative outflows now standing at $4.21 billion. Bitcoin led the selling with $1.438 billion pulled out, which is its biggest weekly outflow this year. Ethereum witnessed $257 million in outflows. US products accounted for most of the redemptions at $1.63 billion. Germany recorded $25.7 million, Sweden $6.6 million and Hong Kong $4.5 million in outflows. Assets under…

The CEO of financial services titan JPMorgan Chase says banks will fight back against the CLARITY Act, the landmark crypto bill that seeks to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the US.  In a new interview, Jamie Dimon takes aim at the proposed legislation saying that it lacks adequate guardrails to protect investors. He says the bill also fails to address the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) law that aims to combat illicit financial transactions. “It allows them to effectively pay interest on deposits—stablecoins or something like that—without the protection that they should have and it…

A crypto analytics firm says large investors are boosting their stakes in Bitcoin, Ethereum and XRP, hinting that the prolonged market downturn could soon be over. CryptoQuant’s new report, “Buying the Bear: A Signal of the Bear Market’s Final Stage” examines the recent accumulation by the largest wallets. The firm says whales have stepped up positions across the key crypto assets, displaying buying activity that often marks the final phase of a bear market. “Smart money is positioning across the majors. Bitcoin whales are accumulating. Bitcoin whale holdings (excluding exchanges and mining pools) have risen through 2026 to roughly 3.06M…

A leading stablecoin issuer has secured federal approval to launch a dedicated trust bank for digital asset custody services. Circle Internet Group says it has received final approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., operating as Circle National Trust. The new institution will provide institutional custody for USDC and other digital assets under full federal oversight. Circle Chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire says the milestone strengthens Circle’s regulated infrastructure and places the bank under direct OCC supervision. “OCC approval to establish Circle National Trust marks a defining step…