News linked to both this project and an event.
The regulatory environment for the crypto industry continues to improve, but macro interest rate risks are dampening market sentiment. The US CLARITY Act has passed the Senate Banking Committee with a 15:9 vote, moving closer to a full Senate vote. The market expects that this bill could provide a clearer regulatory framework for tokenization, stablecoins, and smart contract platforms, potentially accelerating institutional capital inflow.Kavi Jain, Senior Research Associate at Bitwise, stated that the progress of the CLARITY Act is a significant milestone for US digital asset regulation. It is expected to particularly benefit smart contract platforms like Ethereum and Solana, and drive growth in institutional activities related to stablecoins, tokenized funds, and on-chain capital markets.However, the macro environment continues to exert pressure on the crypto market. US April inflation data came in higher than expected, driven primarily by rising energy prices. The market is now even beginning to price in the possibility of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve before April 2027. Meanwhile, the US 30-year Treasury yield has reached 5% for the first time since 2007, indicating growing market concern over long-term inflation risks. Analysts suggest that in a high-interest-rate environment, the appeal of high-risk assets, including Bitcoin, may be suppressed. (CoinDesk)
According to The Block, Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, noted that three enterprise-grade blockchains—Arc (by Circle), Canton Network, and Tempo (by Stripe)—have collectively raised over $1 billion in funding recently. All three funding rounds occurred after the signing of the GENIUS Act in July 2025. Hougan believes this legislation broke a prior regulatory stalemate that had discouraged institutional capital from entering the space. Hougan identified three key signals: First, all three blockchains prioritize native privacy-preserving transactions as a core design feature, addressing institutions’ need for transaction confidentiality. Second, the implementation of the GENIUS Act has significantly reduced regulatory uncertainty; the next critical variable is the pending Clarity Act, from which stablecoins and tokenization infrastructure stand to benefit. Third, these blockchains are backed by top-tier institutions—including Goldman Sachs, Citadel, BlackRock, Stripe, and Visa—marking a stark contrast to Ethereum and Solana, which emerged from grassroots origins. Hougan stated that his firm’s capital remains primarily allocated to native crypto projects, and he believes these emerging enterprise chains will raise the overall competitive bar and attract additional capital inflows.
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan stated that privacy is becoming a core infrastructure direction for the next phase of the crypto industry. Recently, three institutional-grade blockchains focused on stablecoins and asset tokenization—Arc, Canton, and Tempo—have accumulated over $1 billion in total funding, indicating a rapidly growing demand from institutions for "privacy-friendly on-chain financial systems."Among them, stablecoin issuer Circle contributed $222 million in funding for Arc, giving it a valuation of approximately $3 billion; Digital Asset’s Canton blockchain is reportedly seeking $300 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation; and Tempo, backed by Stripe and Paradigm, has previously completed $500 million in funding at a valuation of $5 billion.Hougan noted that this funding wave reflects three major trends: the gradual clarification of the U.S. regulatory framework, increased institutional demand for on-chain privacy, and intensified competition among new blockchain networks supported by large enterprises. Current public blockchains still face structural trade-offs between speed, cost, security, and privacy. However, scenarios involving stablecoins and RWA tokenization require systems that simultaneously offer high performance, compliance, and privacy, making “verifiable privacy” a critical prerequisite for institutional adoption of on-chain finance.Hougan further stated that, for enterprises, “all transactions being publicly broadcast” is not an advantage but a potential flaw. In the future, users and institutions may find it increasingly difficult to accept a fully transparent on-chain financial environment. He believes that privacy capabilities could become the “killer app” driving the crypto industry into its next phase of mainstream adoption. Additionally, following the passage of the U.S. Genius Act in 2025, regulatory certainty has significantly increased, providing a clearer policy foundation for institutional funds to enter the crypto infrastructure space. (CoinDesk)
a regulatory review delay by the U.S. SEC has prevented the first batch of ETF products linked to prediction markets from launching as scheduled, postponing their listing timeline. Multiple institutions, including Roundhill Investments, GraniteShares, and Bitwise Asset Management, submitted applications for over 20 prediction market-related ETFs in February this year. These event-driven products cover topics such as election outcomes, economic recessions, tech layoffs, and commodity prices.Under SEC rules, ETFs typically automatically become effective within 75 days of filing, unless the regulator requests further review. These products were originally expected to launch this week, but their listing has been delayed as the SEC has requested issuers to provide additional details on product mechanisms and disclosures. Relevant sources indicate this delay may be a short-term adjustment. These ETFs typically track "yes/no" event probabilities—such as election results or economic indicators—through derivative instruments and are linked to CFTC-regulated prediction market platforms like Kalshi. Each contract pays $1 if the event occurs, or zero otherwise.While prediction market trading has recently grown rapidly due to increased activity surrounding political events and geopolitical conflicts, it has also raised regulatory concerns regarding insider trading and market manipulation. Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer noted that innovative financial products often require a longer regulatory cycle but may ultimately succeed, emphasizing that prediction market ETFs could become a new channel for retail investors to access event-based trading. (Reuters)