Author: James Wilson

Ripple has hired London Metal Exchange treasury executive Joseph Thompson for its trading and markets team, according to an Aug. 28 report. Summary Ripple appointed Joseph Thompson to the trading and markets team, focusing on tokenization strategy and delivery. Thompson leaves LME on August 31 after nearly ten years working at the metals exchange. He previously held liquidity, funding and risk positions at Deutsche Bank, ICAP and LCH respectively. Ripple recently launched Delta One swaps covering U.S. equities, indices and digital assets for institutions. The appointment itself does not confirm any new commodity tokenization product or XRP-related market launch. Thompson…

Ripple has named Academy Award winner and Water.org co-founder Matt Damon as a keynote speaker for Swell 2026, scheduled for Oct. 27–29 at The Shed in New York City. Summary Matt Damon will deliver a keynote at Ripple Swell 2026, scheduled October 27–29 in Manhattan. Ripple will combine Swell and XRPL Apex for the first time across three stages together. Organizers expect more than 1,500 attendees, 75-plus speakers and over 50 sessions in total overall. New speakers include executives from Aviva, Susquehanna Crypto, Water.org and PEAK6 across finance sectors globally. Ripple supports Water.org’s Get Blue campaign, using RLUSD to transfer…

Tokenized stock transfer volume climbed more than 415% over the 30 days ending Aug. 29, reaching $29.5 billion as Coinbase brought four equity tokens to Base. Summary Tokenized stock transfer volume increased 415% over 30 days, reaching $29.5 billion, RWA.xyz data showed. Monthly active addresses rose 209% to 1.3 million as onchain equity activity accelerated sharply globally. Coinbase launched four initial tokenized stocks on Base, each backed one-for-one by an underlying share. Coinbase currently restricts Base stock tokens to eligible non-U.S. users under Regulation S offering rules. Onchain tokenized stock value reached $2.54 billion, rising about 637% from one year…

The Wall Street Journal reports that JPMorgan Chase is exploring a public stablecoin separate from its existing JPM Coin deposit token while 39 state banking associations form the BankChain Alliance and target a 2027 blockchain launch. The GENIUS Act gave banks the legal rails they needed. The question is no longer whether traditional finance will enter the stablecoin market. It is whether Tether and Circle can hold their ground when incumbents arrive with balance sheets 100 times larger. Summary JPMorgan Chase told the Wall Street Journal on Aug. 26 that it has no current stablecoin plan but is evaluating the…

Cardone Capital has added about 1,200 BTC and 2,000 multifamily units to its real estate-backed Bitcoin strategy, increasing both assets held across its private investment vehicles. Summary Cardone Capital has added about 1,200 BTC and roughly 2,000 multifamily units. Rental income from selected properties funds recurring Bitcoin purchases through a dollar-cost averaging plan. Grant Cardone plans to accumulate 10,000 BTC across 10 specialized investment funds. The private funds carry Bitcoin volatility, property-market risks, and limits on investor withdrawals. Grant Cardone said in an X post on Aug. 28 that his $5.3 billion real estate investment firm was “doubling down” on…

Crypto and blockchain companies disclosed $184.1 million across eight funding rounds between Aug. 22 and Aug. 28, led by RQD* Clearing’s $74 million growth investment. Summary Eight crypto and blockchain projects disclosed a combined $184.1 million in new financing. RQD* Clearing secured a $74 million minority growth investment led by Bain Capital. Fasset raised $68 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation. Hivemind Digital Group completed a $17 million strategic round led by M&G Investments. Infrastructure, stablecoin banking, and onchain trading attracted most of the disclosed capital. Stablecoin neobank Fasset followed with a $68 million Series C…

NFT sales volume fell 44.70% to $63.33 million over the past seven days, even as the number of buyer and seller addresses increased sharply across the market. Summary NFT sales fell 44.70% to $63.33 million, while transactions declined 14.13% to 802,330. Buyer addresses rose 30.48% to 227,316, while seller addresses climbed 54.64% to 247,373. Ethereum led with $35.56 million in sales despite recording a 49.01% weekly decline. Bitcoin placed second with $8.68 million as sales fell 59.53% and buyers rose 41.11%. Courtyard led collections with $6.09 million, while a Bitcoin NFT sold for $2.14 million. According to data from CryptoSlam,…

Nine consecutive sessions of net inflows have narrowed the gap with Bitcoin ETFs to almost nothing. But spot volume tells a different story, and one that matters more. Summary U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs recorded $225.8 million in net inflows on August 28, their strongest single day in 10 months, extending a buying streak to nine consecutive sessions worth $1.42 billion. BlackRock’s ETHA fund absorbed $1.02 billion of that total, or 72% of all category flows, without missing a single day of net buying across the entire run. The gap between Ethereum and Bitcoin ETF daily inflows narrowed to just $16.5…

A research paper published this week quantifies what happens when bank deposits move at blockchain speed. The number is large enough to reshape how banks fund the economy, and the crypto industry is building the pipes without acknowledging the consequences. Summary A research paper published on August 25 found that tokenized deposits could reduce U.S. bank lending capacity by $580 billion if the technology reaches widespread adoption, roughly 5% of total bank lending. The mechanism is straightforward: banks lend against stable deposits, and if deposits can move on chain in minutes instead of days, the deposit base becomes less stable,…

The Bank of Russia is building a surveillance apparatus for digital assets at the same time the Russian state relies on those assets to circumvent Western financial restrictions. The contradiction reveals how governments actually think about crypto. Summary The Bank of Russia added 2,600 crypto wallets to a monitoring system used by banks and law enforcement after more than 1 billion rubles flowed into the addresses during the first half of 2026. More than 74% of pyramid schemes identified by the regulator used cryptocurrencies to attract funds, down from 84% in 2025 but still the dominant payment channel for financial…