News linked to both this project and an event.
According to an official announcement from Plume, the network has officially launched nBND, an on-chain vault product backed by the Fidelity Total Bond ETF (FBND). FBND is an actively managed ETF that primarily invests in investment-grade bonds, high-yield bonds, and emerging market debt. Prior on-chain investment solutions had largely focused on short-duration treasuries, and the launch of nBND marks an extension into longer-duration, actively managed products for institutional-grade assets on-chain. Cynthia Lo Bessette, Head of Digital Asset Management at Fidelity, and Plume co-founder Teddy Pornprinya engaged in an in-depth discussion regarding these investment solutions.
According to Tech.eu, venture capital giant DIG Ventures has announced that its third fund has raised $120 million. Backed by Horsley Bridge, Sofina, Granite, and an endowment fund from a top U.S. university among other institutions, the fund will invest in AI-native enterprise software and cloud infrastructure startups at the Pre-seed and seed stages. Its investment focus covers infrastructure areas supporting AI-native enterprise software development, such as data, identity authentication, compliance, and orchestration. The fund plans to lead most investment rounds and has already begun deploying capital.
on September 28, Coinbase teased the upcoming launch of a Pokemon digital card pack service backed by physical cards, allowing users to open packs via their phones and choose to either store the cards in a vault or have them delivered to their homes.Coinbase has not yet disclosed the service launch date, pack pricing, card draw odds, storage and delivery fees, eligible regions, physical card custodian, or grading standards, nor has it confirmed whether secondary resale or on-chain ownership recording will be supported. (Bitcoin.com News)
Bitcoin Treasuries posted on X that The Smarter Web Company has launched the inaugural offering of its Bitcoin-backed preferred shares MORE to institutional and retail investors, with an expected listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on October 14. The initial offering price is £90, approximately $119, with an annual dividend yield of 12%, paid weekly.
Odaily News: UK-based Bitcoin treasury company The Smarter Web Company has received shareholder approval to launch MORE, the UK's first Bitcoin-backed preferred stock. In addition, the company expects to raise $20 million to $33 million through an IPO to purchase more Bitcoin and fund cash-flow-generating operating businesses. (Bitcoin Treasuries)
Bitcoin News posted on X platform that Coinbase has launched fixed-rate, fixed-term USDC loans backed by Bitcoin through Morpho Midnight, allowing borrowers to obtain USDC without selling their Bitcoin.The interest rate and repayment date for this product are determined at the start of the loan; if the borrower fails to repay the USDC and interest by the maturity date, the collateralized Bitcoin may be liquidated. Coinbase's existing floating-rate Bitcoin-backed loans powered by Morpho have surpassed $1.4 billion in active or outstanding loan volume, with collateral value of approximately $3 billion.
According to PR Newswire, Bitcoin application layer platform Citrea has announced the acquisition of Crest, a self-custody private Bitcoin wallet. Backed by Founders Fund and Galaxy Ventures, Citrea states the acquisition aims to bring Zcash-style zero-knowledge privacy pools into the Bitcoin ecosystem. Crest founder Meliksah Gurtemel will join Citrea as head of product. Over the next few weeks, Crest will launch a Bitcoin mobile wallet supporting automatic shielding, private BTC transfers, and cross-chain private payments (enabling BTC to be privately swapped for USDC or ETH for payments to EVM addresses). Citrea co-founder and CEO Orkun Mahir Kılıç noted that addressing Bitcoin privacy represents the largest breakthrough for Bitcoin layers to meet genuine user demand, with Crest serving as the primary gateway for both users and liquidity flowing into Citrea.
Odaily News: European asset management company 21shares has launched physically-backed Zcash ETP and Ether.fi ETP on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam markets, tracking ZEC and ETHFI respectively. Investors can gain exposure through brokerage accounts without directly holding the tokens.ETHFI is the governance and utility token of the decentralized finance protocol Ether.fi. Both ETPs carry an annual management fee of 2.5%. (Cointelegraph)
Circle announced that its Digital Asset-Backed Borrowing (DABB) feature is now live on the Arc and Ethereum networks, available to eligible Circle Mint institutional clients. Clients can deposit Bitcoin, mint Circle Wrapped Bitcoin (cirBTC), and supply cirBTC as collateral to third-party lending markets via a self-custody wallet within a single workflow. Borrowed USDC will be settled directly into the Circle Mint account balance, without requiring the sale of the pledged Bitcoin; the collateral can be released upon USDC repayment.
According to BitcoinTreasuries.NET on X, OranjeBTC (OBTC3) has launched DIGY11 on B3, Brazil's largest stock exchange — the world's first Bitcoin-backed digital credit-themed ETF. The ETF targets an annualized yield of approximately 18%, paid monthly.
Odaily News: The Smarter Web Company has announced plans to launch the UK's first Bitcoin-backed preferred shares, subject to shareholder approval. The company expects to raise $20 million to $34 million through a potential IPO, to be used for increasing its Bitcoin holdings and acquiring cash-flow-generating operating businesses.
According to The Straits Times, Australian AI infrastructure company Firmus announced a multi-year agreement with OpenAI to supply computing power from two data centers in Malaysia, establishing OpenAI as Firmus's anchor customer. Following the signing of the agreement, Firmus's contracted capacity across its global client portfolio has exceeded 900 megawatts. Backed by institutional investors including Nvidia, Jane Street, Blackstone, and Coatue Management, Firmus holds a recent valuation of over $10.5 billion. The company currently operates data centers in Australia and Singapore, with five additional facilities under development across the Asia-Pacific region. It plans to deploy Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin processors at scale in the Asia-Pacific.
According to Bloomberg, AI company Humain is planning to raise its first $2.5 billion in funding to establish a fund dedicated to data center investments. Sources familiar with the matter said the fund will finance 250 megawatts of data center capacity being developed in partnership with Al Moammar Information Systems, with the total scale potentially expanding to 1 gigawatt in the future. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Humain is advancing local AI compute and data center infrastructure to meet growing demand for AI processing.
According to Bloomberg, Ireland has announced a new savings account plan that allows investors to hold stocks and ETFs within the account while enjoying tax benefits. Backed by the state, the account is expected to officially launch in early next year, offering full tax exemption up to a certain threshold, with a low fixed tax rate applied to amounts exceeding it. The specific tax-free threshold and related details will be formally announced in the budget on October 6.
Odaily News: Stablecoin issuer Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that stablecoins are a more credible form of money than tokenized bank deposits, as the former is almost fully backed by U.S. Treasuries, while the latter typically has only 10% liquid asset backing.Pablo Hernandez de Cos, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), said stablecoins raise concerns regarding redemption capacity, supply, interoperability, and their potential to facilitate criminal activity, adding that tokenized bank deposits represent a more direct path to preserving the foundations of the monetary system while leveraging tokenization.Ardoino noted that USDT's market capitalization has surpassed $183 billion and is used in some emerging markets for domestic and cross-border commerce. In discussions surrounding the CLARITY Act, banks have expressed concerns that allowing crypto exchanges to offer incentives on stablecoins could trigger deposit outflows. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to CoinDesk, cryptocurrency platform Bullish will provide $100 million in stablecoin debt financing to USD.AI to support loans collateralized by GPUs and other high-performance computing assets, advancing AI infrastructure development.
Odaily News - U.S. mortgage lender Better Mortgage and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase have announced the launch of a bitcoin-backed mortgage product that allows U.S. homebuyers to use BTC as collateral for their down payment loan, eliminating the need to sell their bitcoin holdings. The product is now officially open for applications.The product consists of a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage paired with a separate down payment loan. Borrowers are required to pledge BTC valued at least 250% of the down payment loan amount, with the collateral transferred to Better's custody account on Coinbase Prime. Both loans carry the same interest rate and amortization period, and are repaid through a single monthly payment.A decline in the bitcoin price will not independently trigger a margin call or alter the mortgage terms, but if a borrower falls 60 days or more behind on payments, Better may liquidate the pledged BTC. Applicants must be U.S. residents with a verified Coinbase account, and Coinbase One members can also earn a 1% rebate of up to $10,000, which can be applied toward closing costs and fees. (Cointelegraph)
Better partners with Coinbase to launch Bitcoin-backed loans, allowing borrowers to access funds using BTC as collateral without liquidating assets, thereby gaining liquidity while avoiding capital gains taxes.
Odaily News: According to Onchain Lens monitoring, Fireblocks Custody (9Ryc...4xfCxk) has deposited USD1 worth $28 million to Binance in three transactions over the past 21 hours, with amounts of $10 million, $15 million, and $3 million respectively.
According to Bloomberg, the Trump family-backed cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial has received preliminary conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for a national trust bank charter, with plans to establish World Liberty Trust Company. Upon final approval, the institution will be able to directly issue and redeem the stablecoin USD1, manage its reserve assets, and provide digital asset custody services.