Circle, the issuer behind USD Coin (UDSC), announced that it has now begun to invest part of its funds in Circle Reserve Fund, created earlier in a partnership with the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock. The move came as a part of Circle’s effort to minimize risks and guarantee its holders the redeemability of their coins. According to a corporate blog post from Nov. 3, the Circle Reserve Fund is a registered Rule 2a-7 government money market fund managed by BlackRock, with a portfolio consisting of cash and short-dated U.S. Treasuries. The fund is available only to Circle. The company …

The European Union (EU) bill aiming to regulate cryptocurrencies could result in crypto influencers being charged with market manipulation if they fail to disclose potential conflicts of interest. The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill, which has been approved by the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on Oct. 10, is expected to be legislated after a few more hurdles. Patrick Hansen, stablecoin issuer Circle’s director of EU strategy and policy, has been closely following the passage of the bill and brought attention to a section in a Nov. 1 tweet that referred to public comments made without …

Stablecoin issuers Circle and Paxos have each received approvals for their respective licenses from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's central bank. Circle received in-principle approval for a Major Payments Institution License allowing it to issue cryptocurrencies and facilitate domestic and cross-border payments while Paxos received its license to offer digital payment token services. Circle and Paxos both announced their approvals on Nov. 2, which came a week after the MAS issued two consultation papers on proposals for regulating digital payment token service providers and stablecoin issuers under Singapore’s Payment Services Act (PSA). The PSA was passed by …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase says the adoption of USD Coin (USDC) has been “more conservative” outside of the U.S., which it believes is a result of international currency conversion fees. In an Oct. 20 statement, the exchange said there is currently three times more USDC bought with U.S. dollars as compared to other currencies. “Currently, 3x more USDC is bought with USD versus non-USD currencies. In part this is because, outside of the US, users usually have to pay fees in the process of converting their local currency into USDC, and this is a barrier to broader international adoption.” …

For all the doom and gloom surrounding crypto markets these days, there’s plenty to be excited about. Institutional investors are still actively buying Bitcoin (BTC), venture capital is still investing heavily into blockchain startups and forthcoming regulatory clarity is likely to pave the way for wider adoption, perhaps as early as next year. This week’s Crypto Biz newsletter features some exciting stories about adoption, not to mention Elon Musk’s deal to buy Twitter (finally). Sidebar: I had the opportunity to attend Circle Internet Financial’s Converge22 conference in San Francisco last week. In a media session on the sidelines of the …

Cross-chain communication between blockchains is more than just moving data from point A to B, but how it can connect applications and users for enhanced experiences and fewer gas fees in Web3, outlined Sergey Gorbunov, Axelar Network co-founder and CEO, speaking to Cointelegraph's business editor Sam Bourgi on Sept. 28 at Converge22, in San Francisco. As the crypto industry has developed over the past few years, blockchain interoperability has seen a surge in demand, attracting venture capital and welcoming players, such as Axelar, which reached unicorn status in February. According to Gorbunov, the company, founded in 2020, started with a …

USD Coin (USDC) issuers Circle have announced that it will soon roll out its stablecoin across five additional networks including Polkadot, Optimism, NEAR, Arbitrum and Cosmos. The firm first dropped the news at the Converge22 event on Sept. 28, and noted that support for most of these blockchains will be rolled out by the end of 2023, while USDC on Cosmos will go live at the start of 2023. In a Sept. 28 statement, Circle’s vice president of Product Joao Reginatto emphasized that the expansion of USDC will provide “greater liquidity and interoperability within the crypto economy,” especially for the …

At the Converge22 conference in San Francisco, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of stablecoin issuer Circle, said that the world is finally moving from the speculative value phase of crypto to the utility phase. Drawing parallels to the early days of the internet, he said: “It is an architecture that the internet was founded many decades ago: this idea of open networks, of open standards and protocols, of connecting entities, devices and people in interoperable ways, of a globally intertwined world of decentralized systems.” As told by Allaire, there are currently on-chain mechanisms to ensure safe, trustworthy interactions between crypto users. However, …

The market capitalization of USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin issued by U.S.-based payment tech firm Circle, has dropped below $50 billion for the first time since January 2022. On the weekly chart, USDC's market cap, which reflects the number of U.S. dollar-backed tokens in circulation, fell to $49.39 billion on Sep. 26, down almost 12% from its record high of $55.88 billion, established merely three months ago. In contrast, the market cap of Tether (USDT), which risked losing its top stablecoin position to USDC in May, crossed above $68 billion on Sep. 26, albeit still down 17.4% from its record …

The digital asset landscape in the European Union is evolving ahead of the passage of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation framework that aims to instill regulatory clarity around crypto assets. While well-intentioned, the current structure of MiCA may throttle innovation. But if a revised version of this policy passes, it could see the European Union become one of the leaders in the digital payment space. If not, then there is a genuine possibility of the continent falling behind. MiCA aims to set a regulatory framework for the crypto asset industry within the EU. At this point, much still needs …

Crypto exchange giant Binance has confirmed it has no plans to “auto-convert” Tether (USDT) to Binance USD (BUSD) at the moment, though noted that this “may change.” On Sept. 6, the crypto exchange surprised the market with the announcement it will cease trading support for U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) on its platform, along with USDP Stablecoin (USDP) and TrueUSD (TUSD). Any users that are still holding the three stablecoins on Sept. 29 will begin to have their holdings auto-converted to BUSD at a 1:1 ratio over a 24-hour period. Binance stated that the move was a decision to …

Crypto derivatives exchange Bybit has partnered with stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial to expand its suite of spot trading pairs denominated in USD Coin (USDC) — a move the company says will increase retail and institutional access to USDC-settled products. Under the partnership agreement, Bybit will expand its USDC spot pairs to include several additional cryptocurrencies and make auto conversions between the United States dollar and USDC available, the company disclosed Wednesday. Bybit said it intends to collaborate with Circle on other initiatives to boost stablecoin and crypto adoption. Currently, Bybit supports around 35 USDC spot pairs, according to a …