News linked to both this project and an event.
an Optimism community governance proposal has been passed, reallocating 546.9 million OP tokens originally intended for user airdrops to the "Strategic Ecosystem Fund" managed by the Optimism Foundation, sparking discussions within the community over governance transparency and user rights.The OP tokens involved in this proposal account for approximately 12.7% of the total supply, valued at around $49.7 million at current prices. The Optimism Foundation stated that as the ecosystem strategy shifts toward institutional adoption and enterprise partnerships, large-scale user airdrops no longer fully align with the current development direction, and unused tokens can be deployed for ecosystem incentives, partnership building, and enterprise-level project expansion.The vote ultimately passed with 17.974 million OP in favor and 10.931 million OP against. The pivotal turning point came 16 minutes and 52 seconds before the vote closed, when Test in Prod (delegate.testinprod-io.eth), the core development team of the Optimism ecosystem, cast 8.486 million OP in support, raising the approval ratio from 45.77% to 61.84% and ultimately pushing the proposal through.Excluding Test in Prod's vote, the proposal's support rate would stand at only 46.47%, failing to pass, and the relevant tokens would likely have remained in the user allocation pool. The Optimism Foundation previously committed to disclosing the cumulative usage of the fund and related outcomes through annual budget reports. This vote has also reignited discussions about the influence of "large delegated voting power" in DAO governance and the balance of token holder rights. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News - Bitcoin extended its gains on Wednesday and climbed above $72,000 on Thursday, reaching its highest level since June 1.Market analysis suggests that the recent rally is primarily driven by easing pressure in the U.S. Treasury market. The White House's earlier signals of support for Treasury market stability alleviated investor concerns over bond market volatility. However, the longer-term trajectory still depends on changes in Federal Reserve liquidity policy.Analyst Pedro Fontes noted that if the world's largest debt market requires policy support to maintain stable operation, it would further strengthen demand for assets that are scarce, predictable, and not reliant on government debt expansion—characteristics that Bitcoin aligns with. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index fell 0.88% to 98.77 yesterday, hitting a fresh low since May.Strive Founder and CEO Matt Cole stated that the dollar index has been in a long-term "structural downtrend," and a weaker dollar could create a more favorable investment environment for assets like Bitcoin. Markets will continue to monitor the White House's further remarks on the bond market, shifts in geopolitical conditions, and U.S. initial jobless claims data today, as these factors could influence Treasury yields and market liquidity expectations. (CoinDesk)
According to CoinDesk, American Bankers Association CEO Rob Nichols stated that the association supports the Clarity Act establishing a digital asset regulatory framework, but believes the provisions regarding stablecoin rewards in the bill still need strengthening. Their concern is that if related parties such as crypto trading platforms provide interest-like rewards to stablecoin holders, it could prompt funds to flow from bank deposits to stablecoin wallets, affecting banks' lending capacity.
According to CoinDesk, the Trump family-linked crypto project World Liberty Financial stated that it does not own, operate, or control the Hong Kong artificial intelligence platform WorldClaw, which only uses its stablecoin USD1 as a payment channel. WorldClaw provides developers with access to multiple AI models through WorldRouter, supports payments using USD1, and some plans can be accessed by locking WLFI tokens.
According to CoinDesk, Cash App has integrated with crypto payment platform MoonPay, expanding its cryptocurrency services from previously primarily supporting Bitcoin and the USD stablecoin USDC to various digital assets including Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and USDT.
Odaily News: Payment app Cash App is expanding its cryptocurrency services through crypto payment platform MoonPay, allowing 50 million users to purchase tokens such as ETH, SOL, XRP, and USDT. Additionally, users can top up major wallets like Ledger, BitPay, Trust Wallet, MetaMask, and Uniswap through Cash App. Previously, Cash App's crypto services only supported Bitcoin, with USDC support added earlier this year. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News: Payment company Visa is seeking settlement and over-the-counter (OTC) trading partners with cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. The partner will also be responsible for settlement of the newly launched Open USD stablecoin project, which plans to support multiple stablecoins. (CoinDesk)
According to CoinDesk, Visa is seeking new stablecoin settlement and OTC trading partners to replace BVNK, which was previously acquired by Mastercard. Relevant product request documents indicate that Visa expects partners to hold cryptocurrency exchange licenses in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Singapore, and to support multiple stablecoin conversion and settlement services, including handling settlement for the Open USD stablecoin project promoted by Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard.
Odaily News: Sheldon Lee, founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMart, stated that a post on X claiming users were unable to withdraw funds and that some employees had not received their July salaries is a "fabricated rumor," adding that the exchange's Chinese-language account had been hacked. Critics, including users and on-chain investigator ZachXBT, have demanded that BitMart resume withdrawals or undergo an independent third-party audit. BitMart is gradually winding down operations, with the final trading day set for August 26. Troubled investment firm Echo Base said it had proposed a funded restructuring plan to BitMart but received no response. The firm warned that resolving a large volume of customer claims may require proceedings through the courts. (CoinDesk)
According to CoinDesk, Compound Finance has completed leadership adjustments and approved its largest-ever decentralized autonomous organization budget of $52 million to drive the transition towards institutional decentralized finance. The protocol plans to focus on attracting institutional users and expand operations around real-world assets, partner integrations, and traditional financial market credit infrastructure.
Odaily News: Decentralized lending protocol Compound Finance has completed a leadership overhaul and approved a record $52 million budget. The protocol's total value locked has fallen from a peak of $12 billion in 2021 to $1.2 billion, and it is now seeking to restore growth. Compound Finance is pivoting to serve institutional clients, developing real-world asset products, partner integration solutions, and credit infrastructure to meet the compliance and technical standards of traditional finance. Industry executives say Compound Finance's new leadership team and substantial budget align with the broader shift within the decentralized finance sector toward serving financial institutions. The sector's overall assets had previously declined due to market weakness and security breach incidents. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News: As Wall Street and global financial institutions accelerate their entry into the digital asset space, the boundaries between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) are gradually blurring. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stated that the era of "going long Bitcoin and short bankers" is over, and financial institutions are pivoting to the other side of the crypto industry, driving digital asset adoption.Hunter Horsley noted that this summer, two financial institutions, each managing over $1 trillion in assets, approved the launch of crypto products in a bear market environment, showing that large institutions are expanding client access to digital assets. "Everyone put on the crypto jersey this year. Now, everyone is working for the crypto industry," Horsley said. He pointed out that these institutions, managing over a trillion dollars in client assets, would not have opened such services during the 2022 crypto market downturn, but are now actively embracing this sector.Fabian Dori, Chief Investment Officer at Sygnum, also believes the relationship between banks and the crypto industry has undergone a structural shift. "The trade of 'going long Bitcoin and short bankers' is over. Banks have moved from resisting digital assets to building, supporting, and distributing them through custody, tokenization, and compliant trading," a change driven primarily by growing client demand and gradually clarifying regulatory rules, rather than short-term market cycles.Nathan McCauley, CEO of Anchorage Digital, said that over the past two years, its client base has increasingly reflected the convergence of traditional and crypto finance. Large financial institutions typically choose to partner with specialized crypto infrastructure companies rather than building their own technology systems.In recent years, a growing number of financial institutions have entered the crypto space, including Swissquote, DBS Bank, BBVA, BNY Mellon, Credit Suisse-affiliated entities, as well as Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News: Financial services firm Swissquote Group has lowered its full-year revenue and profit guidance after reporting a 66.2% decline in crypto net income for the first half of the year. During the period, the company's cryptocurrency trading volume fell 63.5% to CHF 2.58 billion, approximately USD 3.2 billion. Following the announcement, Swissquote Group's shares dropped 14%. (CoinDesk)
Odaily Planet Daily: Crypto asset trading platform Bullish has announced its financial results for Q2 2026. The company stated that as global securities markets gradually migrate to public blockchains, Bullish is planning to build a comprehensive issuer-supported tokenized securities service system covering issuance, listing, trading, and tracking.Bullish CEO Tom Farley stated that the global securities market, valued at nearly $300 trillion, is transitioning to public blockchains, and Bullish aims to work with issuers to drive this process. Upon completion of the proposed acquisition of Equiniti, the company will form an integrated platform covering tokenized securities issuance, listing, trading, and tracking.Financial data shows that Bullish's Q2 digital asset sales reached $32.6 billion, down from $58.6 billion in the same period last year; the net loss was $280 million, compared to a net profit of $108.3 million in the same period last year, corresponding to a diluted loss per share of $1.78.However, the company's core business performance improved. Q2 adjusted revenue (non-IFRS) reached $92.6 million, up 62% year-over-year from $57 million in the same period last year; among which subscription, services, and other revenue hit a record $62.7 million. Adjusted trading revenue was $29.9 million, up 24% year-over-year; adjusted EBITDA was $29.5 million, compared to $8.1 million in the same period last year; adjusted net profit was $14.3 million, compared to a loss of $6 million in the same period last year.In terms of business progress, Bullish stated that the acquisition of UK fintech company Equiniti is progressing and is expected to be completed in early 2027, subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals. Additionally, Bullish's CoinDesk indices continue to gain institutional adoption. Morgan Stanley has launched Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana-related trading products based on CoinDesk benchmark indices, attracting over $400 million in inflows during Q2.On the regulatory front, Bullish has received approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to provide secondary trading services for tokenized securities, becoming one of the first regulated platforms to offer issuer-supported tokenized securities trading.The company has also raised and refined its full-year 2026 guidance, projecting subscription, services, and other revenue (non-IFRS) of $225 million to $245 million, adjusted operating expenses of $225 million to $230 million, and financing costs of $52 million to $60 million. (Globenewswire)
According to CoinDesk, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) announced plans to utilize the Canton network to conduct a proof of concept for on-chain trading of Japanese Government Bonds (JGB) to achieve real-time 24/7 settlement, replacing the traditional settlement process requiring 1 to 3 days. MUFG stated that this move aims to enhance the operational and capital efficiency of repo transactions, noting that European and American financial institutions have already expanded proof of concept projects in this field, with JPMorgan Chase's Kinexys network having supported blockchain-based intraday US Treasury repo operations since 2020. MUFG pointed out that Japanese Government Bonds are widely used as collateral for repo transactions by domestic and international market participants due to their high credit ratings and liquidity, and the trend towards on-chain adoption is accelerating. Additionally, MUFG has previously partnered with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMBC) and Mizuho Financial Group to explore the joint issuance of stablecoins by March 2027; this JGB on-chain settlement test is a significant component of its blockchain strategic layout.
Odaily News: Flight data company FlightAware has withdrawn its lawsuit against prediction market platform Kalshi. The lawsuit was filed only one day prior, with FlightAware alleging that Kalshi used its flight data and trademarks without authorization to support bets related to flight cancellations. This withdrawal does not affect the possibility of FlightAware refiling the lawsuit. The case comes amid growing scrutiny on social media over Kalshi's aviation-related contracts, with questions raised about potential incentives for malicious interference with flights, alongside relatively low retail participation. Neither company has publicly commented on the case. The lawsuit had raised questions about whether prediction markets can use third-party data and trademarks without a commercial agreement, while Kalshi continues to face other regulatory and legal challenges in multiple states. (CoinDesk)
According to CoinDesk, Fidelity plans to add ETH staking functionality and a quarterly cash distribution mechanism to its spot Ethereum ETF—the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH). FETH currently has a net asset value of approximately $898 million and can stake up to 100% of its held ETH under normal circumstances. Under the arrangement, Fidelity will retain 85% of the staking rewards, with the remaining 15% allocated to the fund sponsor, custodian, and node operators (including Blockdaemon, Figment, and Galaxy). Net staking rewards will be prioritized to cover fund operating expenses, with the remainder distributed to investors as cash on a quarterly basis. This move is driven by a safe harbor announcement released by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in November 2025, which allows eligible crypto trusts to stake without losing their grantor trust tax status.
Odaily News: Cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com has begun offering tokenized derivatives tracking 1,500 US stocks and ETFs, including Apple, Tesla, and Nvidia. These products provide synthetic exposure to the price of the underlying stocks, with investors not holding the underlying shares and having no voting or other shareholder rights. The launch comes as multiple cryptocurrency exchanges enter the equities market, amid ongoing discussions over what rights tokenized stocks should represent. (CoinDesk)
According to CoinDesk, Crypto.com announced the launch of tokenized derivatives tracking approximately 1,500 US stocks and ETFs for eligible users in the European Economic Area and other approved markets, covering individual stocks such as Apple, Nvidia, and Tesla, as well as ETFs related to gold and silver. The product can be traded from a minimum of $1 and supports 24/7 trading.
Odaily News: Crypto-friendly bank Erebor Bank is in talks to raise $1.5 billion at a target valuation of $9.5 billion. The funds will be used to meet the 12% mandatory leverage ratio requirement and support loan business expansion, including a $200 million credit facility to Valar Atomics. Erebor Bank's total deposits grew from $1.1 billion in March to $4.6 billion in July, with customer growth primarily coming from the crypto, AI, and defense sectors. (CoinDesk)