13 Aug 2025, 01:59

Coinbase brings back the stablecoin bootstrap fund to expand USDC liquidity

Coinbase is reopening its revamped Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund for the first time in nearly six years, aiming to boost stablecoin liquidity across decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. Initially, the fund will provide liquidity to Aave, Morpho, Kamino, and Jupiter, with Coinbase Asset Management overseeing the program. It will supply liquidity in USDC and EURC on behalf of Circle, with plans to add other stablecoins. According to Coinbase’s chief business officer, Shan Aggarwal, the fund’s purpose is to “deploy capital in on-chain protocols to ensure sufficient liquidity for their unique use cases.” The total size of the fund remains undisclosed. The initial focus is on major DeFi platforms: Aave and Morpho on Ethereum, known for lending and borrowing, and Kamino and Jupiter on Solana, recognized for liquidity provision and trade aggregation. In a statement to CNBC, Coinbase emphasized that these moves are part of a long-term strategy to guarantee ongoing USDC availability for both established and emerging networks . This effort aims to lower borrowing costs, minimize trading slippage, and support protocol growth. Coinbase builds on 2019’s success Coinbase has been leveraging its balance sheet to supercharge the growing DeFi ecosystem. This new fund follows its first Stablecoin Bootstrap Fund, launched in 2019. American stablecoin saw a launch to seed liquidity for the USDC when it was still new to the open, decentralized markets. This was simple but very effective in the first phase. Compound, a crypto-based lending and borrowing platform, received $1 million in investment from Coinbase, with another $1 million going to dYdX, a derivatives trading venue. There were no grants; they were working capital redeployed to protocol liquidity pools to lower borrowing costs and speed up trade. The effort didn’t stop there as Coinbase diversified beyond IRL companies last year by including Uniswap (one of the biggest decentralized exchanges) and PoolTogether (a no-loss savings game rooted in the DeFi concept) in the fund. The $1.1 million Binance Balance Injection process was a further onchain staining of USDC utility in everyday activity. The results were significant. These early liquidity injections helped USDC become a fundamental store of value and vehicle currency throughout DeFi. By guaranteeing that traders and borrowers could always access USDC with frictionless, stable rates, this enabled significant trust and adoption in the fund. Today, USDC has evolved into a multi-chain powerhouse. It operates across all the previously mentioned ecosystems and Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, processing billions in daily transactions. Integrated into thousands of smart contracts, it underpins borrowing markets with several billion dollars locked at any given time. Coinbase says the timing of the relaunch matters. “Onchain financial services are at an inflection point,” the company added, arguing that both crypto natives and newcomers are increasingly turning to stablecoin-powered DeFi tools for borrowing, lending, and trading instead of traditional alternatives. Coinbase aims to support emerging projects In addition to more established names, Coinbase intends to support smaller or newer protocols. These projects often have difficulty gaining early liquidity, which may hinder their growth potential. Coinbase said it is seeding the pools and lending markets by injecting them with stablecoins directly to give them a more robust start, at least on its platform. The method would further stabilize interest rates by improving predictability for users of DeFi products. This purchase will allow us to put together even more resources to accelerate the interest and use we are seeing today,” Aggarwal said. He recommended that the liquidity support be token “agnostic” and decided on a protocol-by-protocol basis. Cryptopolitan Academy: Want to grow your money in 2025? Learn how to do it with DeFi in our upcoming webclass. Save Your Spot

13 Aug 2025, 01:45

Asia Morning Briefing: Polymarket Bettors Foresee $5K ETH by End of August

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets: Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas. As Asia begins its trading day, ETH is trading above $4600, up 10% in the last 24 hours, as the possibility of a rate cut in September works its way through the market. Some traders see it likely that ETH could quickly challenge its all-time high of $4876 set in 2021. Polymarket bettors are going a step further; they believe that $5000 is possible before the end of August, and they are also giving a 28% chance of the asset's price crossing $5800 before the month ends. The surge has helped pull bitcoin dominance down from 65% to 59% as traders rotate into altcoins. In a recent report, analysts at Glassnode wrote that ETH is now nearing the +1 standard deviation “Active Realized Price” band around $4.7K, a level that has triggered heavy selling in past cycles. But behind the scenes, there's a growing liquidity sink that might weigh heavily on ETH's next phase of growth. A new CryptoQuant report shows that Ethereum is increasingly serving as a liquidity source for TRON’s USDT ecosystem. On Aug. 9, CryptoQuant data shows that a record $7.7 million worth of ETH was bridged to TRON and converted into USDT, while June 25 saw $19 million worth of ERC20 tokens, mostly USDC, make the same move. Inflows from TRON back to Ethereum remain minimal, highlighting a one-way flow of value that supports TRON’s stablecoin economy but siphons liquidity from Ethereum’s native DeFi activity. Over time, persistent outflows can weigh on spot demand and reduce Ethereum’s ongoing fee revenue and staking rewards as more of the stablecoin economy clears elsewhere. If this trend persists, Ethereum’s role could increasingly resemble that of a wholesale funding layer, powering liquidity for rival networks rather than capturing the transactional activity itself. That dynamic may not derail the current rally in the short term, but it could limit the sustainability of higher valuations if capital flight toward faster, cheaper settlement layers like TRON continues unchecked. But for now, the market has its eyes on $5K ETH. Market Movers BTC: Bitcoin holds $119,943 (+0.4%) with bullish momentum intact, though resistance looms at $123K amid ETF outflows and ETH’s rally, according to CoinDesk's market insights bot. ETH: ETH is trading above $4600 as the possibility of a 50 bps rate cut looms large. Gold: Gold edged up to around $3,350 as U.S. inflation data reinforced Fed rate cut bets, while easing U.S.-China trade tensions limited gains. S&P 500: The S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs as July CPI data met expectations, boosting bets on a September Fed rate cut and lifting tech stocks. Nikkei 225: Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 1% after a record close Tuesday. Elsewhere in Crypto Polymarket active traders jump 18% as six-month slump ends, but average trade size falls (The Block) Top crypto VC Matt Huang to lead Stripe blockchain Tempo as CEO, stay at Paradigm (Fortune) Who is Patrick Witt, President Trump's Next Senior Adviser on Crypto? (CoinDesk)

13 Aug 2025, 01:39

Binance aligns with Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs in $250M crypto crime crackdown

Binance has become a member of a new anti-money laundering initiative to tackle terrorism financing and other criminal activity involving cryptocurrency. The partnership brings together high-profile industry players, including Tron and Tether, and blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs in the fight against scams, hacks, and money laundering activity affecting billions of dollars in funds belonging to users and businesses around the globe. The team has yielded major dividends in less than a year. It has now frozen over $250 million in illegal cryptoassets (more than double the amount reported seized during their first six months). From major investment frauds and ransomware attacks to blackmailing and terror financing, these assets relate to everything. The achievement highlights the depth of the threat to the crypto sector and the increasingly adept nature of collaborative strike-back in a more organized fashion. T3 FCU freezes illicit crypto worldwide The T3 Financial Crime Unit (T3 FCU) is a real-time system for tracking and dismantling illicit blockchain transactions through public-private collaboration. Founding members Tron, Tether, and TRM Labs work closely with law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat money laundering, investment fraud, extortion, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes. Pooling resources, the group monitored suspicious deals worth billions of dollars and intercepted high-value assets before disappearing into hidden channels. New figures from the group show the sums are frozen in generic terms, making up thousands of individual cases across over 100 countries. The new T3+ program broadens the reach of that unit by including exchanges, banks, and other industry participants to share intelligence in real time. The WEF has just announced that Binance will be the first to join, introducing global projects, which is a big step forward. Binance’s inaugural collaboration with T3 FCU saw the exchange freeze nearly $6 million tied to long-term online fraud dubbed a “pig butchering” scam, bilking victims into fake investments. This partnership will allow Binance compliance and security teams to work closely with T3 FCU analysts to help flag and freeze suspected funds faster than possible. The founder of Tron, Justin Sun, said the move would broaden existing and new collaborations to curb illicit activity on the blockchain in real time. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that bad actors have nowhere to hide on the blockchain when companies collaborate. Hackers speed up attacks, leaving less time to act The alliance is, notably, timely. More than $3 billion in crypto was stolen in the first half of 2025, according to a report from Swiss blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger. Some of this activity happens in seconds, as hackers have been known to clean out an account within less than 3 minutes from when they first breached it. Breach-to-funds-moved time averages 15 hours. The money is fully laundered in about 23% of cases before the public discovers the hack. The recovery rates are abysmal; in contrast, only 4.2% of the stolen funds were dealt with in the year’s first half. Theft prevention is where centralized exchanges become critical, but in a race against time. The report said that about 15% of the illegal cryptocurrency goes through these platforms, adding that compliance teams typically have around 10–15 minutes to block suspect trades before funds vanish. While in principle, T3 FCU has returned a lot of money, the means are inciting a lot of criticism from the crypto community. Tether froze $86k of stolen USDT. It was only last month that Tether popped up in the news headlines as it froze $86,000 of stolen USDT and prompted once again discussion over centralized control within an otherwise decentralized ecosystem. Finally, critics have cautioned that enabling stablecoin issuers and exchanges to freeze particular transactions could undermine user autonomy. However, supporters say it is an essential tool to shield victims and keep faith in the system. Industry leaders say that the best defence is to work together. Now that Binance is on board, T3 FCU likes to be in a position to respond faster and make the criminal community less agile. KEY Difference Wire : the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage

13 Aug 2025, 01:35

Metaplanet Inc. Expands Bitcoin Holdings by 518 BTC, Reinforcing Commitment to BTC-Centric Strategy

Metaplanet Inc. has acquired 518 BTC, valued at roughly $61.4 million, bringing its total Bitcoin holdings to 18,113 BTC, approximately $1.85 billion. This strong commitment underscores its Bitcoin-centric strategy and

13 Aug 2025, 01:30

Vivopower Partners With Crypto.com to Expand XRP Treasury and Shareholder Access

Vivopower is catapulting its XRP-driven strategy with a Crypto.com partnership, merging institutional-grade custody, global stock access and deep DeFi integration for unprecedented investor reach. XRP-Focused Vivopower Selects Crypto.com for Custody and Stock Listing Vivopower International Plc (NASDAQ: VVPR) announced on Aug. 12, 2025, that it has selected Crypto.com as a strategic partner to expand its

13 Aug 2025, 01:30

Mega-Whales Are on the Move — Which Altcoins Are Seeing Massive Accumulation?

The August 2025 on-chain data is in — and it’s clear that mega whales , the deep-pocketed investors holding tens of millions in crypto, are making big moves. Across Ethereum, Avalanche, Dogecoin, and even select meme coins, large-scale accumulation is accelerating. Historically, this behavior precedes major market rallies as retail traders follow the lead of these market-moving entities. But the latest rotation trend is worth noting: several whales who recently took profits from Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) are now reallocating capital into MAGACOIN FINANCE , a presale-stage project building momentum ahead of its debut on centralized exchanges. This early migration hints that large players are positioning for both short-term upside in blue chips and long-term exponential gains in promising small caps. Ethereum Leads the Charge Ethereum remains the undisputed favorite among whale buyers. More than 200 new addresses holding over 10,000 ETH have appeared since July, pushing large-holder netflows up 270% in a single week. In total, whales have accumulated over $300 million in ETH during recent dips, buoyed by steady ETF inflows — including allocations to BlackRock’s Ethereum Trust. Layer-1 and Meme Coin Picks Avalanche (AVAX): Whale netflows into AVAX have surged 380%, with accumulation outpacing selling for weeks. Technical analysts say sustained demand could push AVAX through key resistance and toward new all-time highs. Dogecoin (DOGE): Large holders have snapped up over 2.1 billion DOGE, taking advantage of pullbacks. Total whale holdings now exceed 26.39 billion DOGE, reviving talk of another speculative rally. Binance Coin (BNB): Addresses holding at least 10,000 BNB have grown sharply since July’s price correction, indicating whale confidence in a rebound. Toncoin (TON): Despite price swings, TON’s net whale inflows remain firmly positive — a sign of conviction tied to its Telegram-linked adoption story. Meme Coins Gaining Ground PEPE: Wallets worth over $1M boosted their PEPE holdings by 1.36% in early August, supporting a price floor even during consolidation. Pengu (PENGU): A niche meme coin, PENGU has seen 11% whale wallet growth in just days, a sign of strong speculative interest MAGACOIN FINANCE — A Whale-Watched Newcomer While established altcoins dominate headlines, MAGACOIN FINANCE is quietly emerging as a magnet for opportunistic whale capital. Early blockchain scans show wallets associated with high-value traders steadily building positions during the presale phase. The attraction is clear: MAGACOIN offers a fixed supply, dual independent audits, and an engaged community , giving it both credibility and viral growth potential. As one analyst put it, “This is one of the few small caps where you see the same whale wallet patterns that preceded DOGE and SHIB’s breakout years.” With exchange listings on the horizon, some whales are reallocating recent ADA and SOL profits into MAGACOIN, betting that its debut could deliver outsized percentage gains compared to already-mature Layer-1s. The Bigger Picture Mega-whale accumulation matters because it drives liquidity, sets the tone for retail sentiment, and often sparks trend reversals. This month’s buying patterns reveal a two-pronged strategy: Blue-chip stacking in ETH, AVAX, and BNB for network stability and institutional flows. High-risk, high-reward positioning in meme coins and early-stage projects like MAGACOIN FINANCE to capture asymmetric upside. If history repeats, the next few months could see these positions mature into the kind of rallies that define market cycles. For investors, tracking whale moves — especially when they converge on a mix of proven assets and emerging players — can provide a valuable early signal. Learn more about MAGACOIN FINANCE: Website: https://buy.magacoinfinance.com/ Access: https://magacoinfinance.com/access Twitter/X: https://x.com/magacoinfinance Telegram: https://t.me/magacoinfinance Continue Reading: Mega-Whales Are on the Move — Which Altcoins Are Seeing Massive Accumulation?