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Whale Alert reported $299.5 million Dogecoin transfer from Binance to unknown wallet

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson said the enthusiasm surrounding XRP stems from a structural dynamic he calls Web 2.5, where a centralised company continuously builds real-world value around its native blockchain, creating a self-reinforcing cycle that retail and institutional markets reward.

Speaking in a wide-ranging discussion, Hoskinson described the pattern plainly. Ripple acquires a prime broker, closes a partnership, secures a licence, and each move adds to the value proposition of the XRP Ledger. The company and the token are linked, and the market prices in every step forward.

“Brad and the other gang, they just bought a prime broker and they just did this,” Hoskinson said. “Well, that’s a centralised company, right? But they know that that company’s going to use the XRP Ledger and so they’re going to kind of create this virtuous cycle here. The efforts of one actor is kind of driving the value proposition of the thing.”

Also Read :Ripple (XRP) Price Prediction 2026, 2027-2030: Will XRP Reach $5?

A Model He Once ResistedHoskinson placed XRP alongside Tether, Circle, BNB, and Canton as examples of what he calls Web 2.5, hybrid structures that combine regulated corporate entities with blockchain infrastructure underneath. He acknowledged he spent years pushing back against this model before concluding the market had settled the argument.

“There’s nothing wrong with it. I’ve been fighting it. I mean, I’ve thrown in that towel a long time ago,” he said. “If you look at CoinMarketCap, XRP, BNB, Circle, Tether, look at where they sit. That’s where all the growth is right now.”

The Web 2.5 category, in his framing, functions like a club. A central entity builds the infrastructure, attracts institutional participation, and drives network effects. Users and capital follow.

Also Read : Is XRP Really ‘Nothing’? Exclusive: What Hayes and Hoskinson Are Missing About Ripple

Where the Growth Goes NextHoskinson said the Web 2.5 boom will not stay contained to those platforms. As these hybrid networks bring billions of users into crypto, he expects activity to migrate into true Web 3 markets if cross-chain bridging infrastructure develops properly. Projects focused on interoperability and privacy, he argued, stand to capture that overflow.

For XRP specifically, the implication is that its position at the front of the institutional adoption wave, backed by Ripple’s regulatory wins and acquisition strategy, gives it structural advantages that pure decentralised protocols currently lack.

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Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson made noteworthy statements regarding the Cardano ecosystem and the Midnight project. Hoskinson stated that they are working on a major development outside of cryptocurrency, adding that it will be a “Joe Rogan-level” announcement.

Hoskinson stated, “I have something really special that has nothing to do with crypto, and it’s going to be huge. I can’t wait to talk about it once it’s announced. It’s something on the level of Joe Rogan, it’s massive.”

Hoskinson also touched upon Cardano’s past price performance, reminding those who say Cardano is dead that ADA previously rose from $0.025 to $3. Hoskinson responded, “Don’t tell me Cardano is dead. ADA dropped from $1.48 to $0.025, then went up to $3. As long as you have a philosophy, a mission, and a goal to solve real problems, you’re never completely out of the game.”

According to Hoskinson, if Midnight is successful, a new structure capable of reaching $10 billion in size could emerge within the Cardano ecosystem. Hoskinson stated that Midnight offers a significant testing ground, particularly in terms of privacy, cross-chain transactions, and agentic trading standards, and that the project could create a “snowball effect.”

Cardano’s founder stated that Midnight supports agentic standards like OWS and x402, and that these are being developed within Midnight City. Hoskinson noted that agentic trading provides a strong testing ground for intent-based transactions and multi-chain signatures, and that successful implementation of this system could accelerate growth.

Hoskinson also argued that Midnight could pave the way for significant growth in the private Bitcoin DeFi space. According to him, Bitcoin could be represented on Midnight in a tax-neutral, custody-free format; users could lend private stablecoins, transact on different networks like XRP, HYPE, ETH, and SOL, and move their earnings to any ecosystem they choose through atomic cross-chain swaps.

Hoskinson, also mentioning Michael Saylor, said he would respectfully welcome a model in the Bitcoin DeFi space that allows users to easily buy Bitcoin, store it in their own wallets or with a multi-signature structure, and earn returns. According to Hoskinson, such an approach could create a new DeFi layer on top of Bitcoin by allowing billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to be held in users’ own custody structures.

*This is not investment advice.

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Tether Backs Mercado Bitcoin With $20 Million@Tether has led a $20 million strategic financing round in Mercado Bitcoin, the São Paulo-based digital asset platform, to accelerate the build-out of on-chain financial infrastructure across Latin America. The deal signals a broader push by Tether to deploy capital into emerging-market blockchain rails, following a string of similar investments in recent months.

The funding will support the migration of payments, credit, and capital markets onto blockchain infrastructure. Mercado Bitcoin brings an established footprint to the partnership: the platform serves over 4 million clients across 12 years of operation, operates as a cryptocurrency exchange, asset tokenization company, and digital bank, and is Brazil's first crypto unicorn. According to the original announcement, the user base has since grown to 4.5 million.

Regulatory Licenses and Tokenized Asset AmbitionsA key part of the investment rationale is Mercado Bitcoin's regulatory standing. The company holds over 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a Payment Institution license from the Banco Central do Brasil, giving it a regulated framework from which to offer on-chain financial products at scale.

The capital also supports R2B, Mercado Bitcoin's tokenized asset issuance arm. Since launching its asset tokenization unit, MB Tokens, the São Paulo-based exchange has issued more than 340 tokenized products, including tokenized private credit, fixed-income instruments, and revenue-sharing products. The platform ranks as the number one real-world asset token issuer in Brazil and fifth globally.

The investment fits a broader pattern for Tether. Tether Investments functions as an independent arm, deploying capital from Tether's profits into technology and infrastructure. The stablecoin issuer has been active across several deals in 2026, directing funds into Bitcoin infrastructure and financial services platforms globally.

For Mercado Bitcoin, fresh capital from one of the digital asset industry's most prominent names adds both funding and credibility as it competes to position Latin America as a leading region for regulated, on-chain finance. The tokenization of real-world assets is projected to surge from approximately $0.6 trillion in 2025 to nearly $19 trillion by 2033, according to a report by Ripple and Boston Consulting Group.

Sources:
CoinDesk: Mercado Bitcoin to Tokenize $200M in Real-World Assets
Tether.io: Tether Investments Strategy Overview

Richard Heathcote, Tether’s former Chief Investment Officer, is looking to offload a portion of his 1.26% stake in the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin. The move comes just months after Heathcote stepped back from his day-to-day role at the firm.

What we know about the deal Heathcote transitioned from CIO to a non-executive advisory role in March 2026, handing his operational responsibilities to Zachary Lyons. Now he’s looking to monetize at least some of his ownership position.

PJT Partners, a well-known advisory firm on Wall Street, is managing the discussions around the stake sale. No specific transaction size or valuation has been disclosed yet.

Tether has approved the sale. But this is purely a personal divestiture. The company itself isn’t raising new capital through this transaction.

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Tether previously explored fundraising at a suggested valuation of up to $50B. A secondary sale at a different implied valuation could tell us a lot about how the market currently views the business, especially since that earlier fundraising attempt didn’t materialize into a public deal.

Tether’s position in the market USDT, Tether’s flagship stablecoin, currently has a circulation worth approximately $184B. Tether commands approximately 59% of the entire stablecoin market.

The company has remained consistently profitable, in large part because of its massive holdings of US Treasuries. Tether essentially earns yield on every dollar backing USDT while charging nothing to hold the stablecoin.

During Heathcote’s tenure as CIO, the firm’s investment strategy expanded well beyond Treasuries. Tether’s portfolio now spans sports franchises, technology ventures, and other alternative assets. He was instrumental in shaping that diversification.

Regulatory pressures and European scrutiny Tether faces ongoing regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Europe, where the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework has imposed new requirements on stablecoin issuers. Several European exchanges have already delisted or restricted USDT trading to comply with MiCA standards.

In the US, stablecoin legislation has been working its way through Congress. The outcome of that process could either entrench Tether’s position or create new headaches.

What this means for investors The implied valuation from this transaction, whenever it closes, will be closely watched. If Heathcote sells at a figure that implies a company valuation significantly above or below that prior $50B benchmark, it sends a signal about how sophisticated buyers are pricing Tether’s regulatory risk, its growth trajectory, and the sustainability of its profit engine.

Traders should watch for any pricing details that leak from the PJT-managed process. A high implied valuation could boost confidence in stablecoin-adjacent tokens and firms. A discount to prior benchmarks might raise uncomfortable questions about whether the market is repricing regulatory risk across the entire sector.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Tether is investing $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin as part of a strategic financing round, the company announced Tuesday. The move strengthens its commitment to expanding blockchain-based financial infrastructure in Latin America.

Mercado Bitcoin, one of the region’s largest regulated digital asset platforms, serves 4.5 million customers and has issued more than R$2 billion in tokenized assets.

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Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the investment reflects confidence in the company’s regulated digital financial platform and its leadership in tokenization and blockchain-based financial services across Latin America.

“Tether’s mission is to build open, accessible, and efficient financial infrastructure for the world. Mercado Bitcoin has built exactly that,” Ardoino stated. “Its depth of regulatory licensing, tokenization infrastructure, and integrated financial services is unmatched in Latin America. We look forward to supporting Mercado Bitcoin’s next phase of growth as a strategic partner and investor.”

Beyond crypto trading, Mercado Bitcoin now offers services spanning payments, lending, tokenization, banking infrastructure and cross-border finance under more than 10 licenses in Brazil and Europe.

The funding will support Mercado Bitcoin’s growth in tokenized investments, payments, credit and on-chain capital markets, while advancing Tether’s strategy of investing in companies developing practical blockchain infrastructure for mainstream financial services.

“The discussion is no longer whether finance will move on-chain,” Roberto Dagnoni, Chairman and CEO of Mercado Bitcoin, said. “The focus now is on building the infrastructure that will support tokenization, stablecoins, payments, and capital markets at scale, reshaping how money moves, investments are accessed, and capital is deployed.”

“This investment strengthens our ability to accelerate the next generation of on-chain financial services in Brazil and across global markets,” he added.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Former Tether Chief Investment Officer Richard Heathcote is seeking to sell part of his 1.26% stake in the stablecoin issuer, according to Bloomberg.

Heathcote is working with PJT Partners to find buyers for the stake, with discussions still in early stages and no valuation disclosed.  

The potential sale would offer a rare look into the private market value of Tether, the company behind USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin.

Tether has no public listing, and its ownership has historically been concentrated among a small group of shareholders, making any secondary transaction unusually significant.

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Heathcote stepped down from his CIO role in March and moved into an advisory position, according to the reports. During his time at Tether, he oversaw the reserves backing USDT, a portfolio that has grown into one of the largest pools of dollar linked assets in crypto.  

The size of the stake appears small on paper, but the underlying company is not. USDT has roughly $184 billion in circulation, according to the Bloomberg based reports, while Tether has evaluated a potential fundraising round that could value the company at about $50 billion.  

A transaction at that level would make Heathcote’s full 1.26% holding worth about $630 million on an implied basis. The final value could differ depending on the size of the stake sold, buyer demand, transfer restrictions and any discount applied to minority shares in a private company.

The sale process comes as Tether’s broader capital plans remain under scrutiny. Tether has paused a potential $50 billion fundraising effort while it moves toward a full audit by a Big Four accounting firm.  

That audit remains central to how traditional investors may price Tether. The company publishes reserve attestations, but a full audit from a Big Four firm would carry more weight with institutional buyers evaluating the company’s balance sheet, reserve quality and earnings power.

Tether’s business has become increasingly tied to US Treasury markets. The company reported $1.04 billion in net profit for the first quarter of 2026, with Treasury holdings reaching $141 billion. Reuters reported that US Treasury bills remained the largest part of Tether’s reserves in the first quarter.  

That scale makes any equity sale more than an internal shareholder matter. A completed transaction could establish a reference valuation for Tether, giving investors, competitors and regulators a clearer benchmark for the company behind the dominant dollar stablecoin.

It could also sharpen comparisons with Circle, Tether’s main regulated stablecoin rival. Circle’s public market valuation gives investors a visible reference point for USDC, while Tether remains private despite commanding the larger stablecoin supply.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Estefano Gomez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Richard Heathcote, who until earlier this year served as Tether Holdings SA's chief investment officer, is planning to sell a small stake in the stablecoin issuer, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. Heathcote is working with investment bank PJT Partners to sell part…

Richard Heathcote, who until earlier this year served as Tether Holdings SA's chief investment officer, is planning to sell a small stake in the stablecoin issuer, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Heathcote is working with investment bank PJT Partners to sell part of his 1.26% holding in Tether, according to Bloomberg's sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly. Negotiations with potential buyers are underway, though no final price or buyer has been disclosed.

Executive HandoverTether said in March that Heathcote was stepping down as CIO to move into a non-executive advisory role, giving up day-to-day responsibilities. His deputy, Zachary Lyons, took over the position.

As CIO, Heathcote had overseen the reserves backing Tether's USDT stablecoin, the largest by circulating supply, and steered an aggressive investment push that included stakes in soccer clubs and humanoid-robotics ventures, per Bloomberg's March report.

Rare Window Into OwnershipTether has historically disclosed little about its capitalization table or the equity stakes held by executives. A sale process run through a Wall Street bank offers one of the first concrete data points on how the company's ownership is structured below its founders, and could eventually signal a market-set valuation if a transaction price becomes public.

The stake sale comes as Tether's stablecoin business continues to dominate the sector, with USDT remaining the largest stablecoin by circulating supply. Bloomberg's reporting did not disclose the size of the stake being sold in dollar terms or identify any prospective buyers.

Tether did not comment on the planned sale in Bloomberg's report, and Heathcote could not immediately be reached through the company's channels.

Tether has invested $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin to support the Brazilian company’s expansion across tokenized assets, blockchain payments, lending, and on-chain capital markets.

Summary

Tether has invested $20 million in Mercado Bitcoin to expand tokenized assets, blockchain payments, lending, and capital markets. Mercado Bitcoin plans to use the funding to grow its payments infrastructure, tokenization business, and international presence. The investment comes as Tether continues expanding beyond USDT, including its upcoming Bitcoin-native USDT launch via RGB. According to a July 7 announcement from Tether on Tuesday, the investment forms part of a strategic growth financing round for Mercado Bitcoin, one of Latin America’s largest digital asset platforms.

Tether to Invest $20 Million in Strategic Financing Round for Mercado Bitcoin to Accelerate Onchain Financial Infrastructure in Latin America
Learn more: https://t.co/HImBaiwaX3

— Tether (@tether) July 7, 2026 The stablecoin issuer said it is backing companies that combine regulatory approvals with large-scale blockchain infrastructure, as demand for tokenized financial services continues to grow across the region.

Founded in São Paulo in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has evolved beyond cryptocurrency trading into an on-chain financial services provider. The company said it now serves 4.5 million users and has issued more than 2 billion Brazilian reais worth of tokenized assets.

It also holds more than 10 regulatory licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a payment institution license from the Central Bank of Brazil, while operating brokerage, securitization and asset management businesses.

The funding will expand blockchain-based financial services Mercado Bitcoin said the fresh capital will be used to strengthen its payments infrastructure, increase the availability of tokenized investment products for retail and institutional clients, expand lending and credit operations, develop on-chain capital markets, and support international growth.

Commenting on the investment, Tether Chief Executive Paolo Ardoino said:

“Mercado Bitcoin has built exactly that, a regulated, full-stack on-chain financial platform serving millions of users across one of the world’s most dynamic financial markets.”

Ardoino added that the company’s combination of licensing, tokenization infrastructure and integrated financial services stands out across the region.

Roberto Dagnoni, chairman and chief executive of Mercado Bitcoin, said financial services are increasingly moving onto blockchain networks, with tokenization, stablecoins, payments and capital markets becoming the next stage of industry development.

According to Dagnoni, Tether’s investment will help accelerate the company’s expansion of on-chain financial services in Brazil and overseas markets.

Tether continues investing beyond its stablecoin business As banks and consumers increasingly adopt blockchain-based payment systems, Tether pointed to Brazil’s financial ecosystem as an important market because of its digital adoption, regulatory progress and the success of Pix, the country’s instant payment network developed by the central bank. The company said these conditions have supported faster adoption of blockchain-based financial products.

The investment adds to a series of recent deals completed by Tether. In June, the company announced it would lead a funding round of up to $1.4 billion for German robotics company NEURA Robotics.

During the same month, Tether signed a memorandum of understanding with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre to collaborate on tokenization initiatives and blockchain education. It also announced plans to discontinue Alloy by Tether and its aUSDT token after reviewing market demand and platform usage.

Separately, as previously reported by crypto.news, Tether has confirmed that USDT will return to Bitcoin as a native asset through the RGB protocol. According to an exclusive interview published by Bitcoin Magazine, the rollout is being developed with software company UTEXO, which will commercially issue and distribute Bitcoin-native USDT in partnership with Tether.

The launch is expected within weeks using RGB protocol version v0.11.1, bringing USDT back to the Bitcoin network where it originally debuted through the Omni Layer in 2014.

Neither Tether nor Mercado Bitcoin disclosed the valuation of the financing round or its total size. Tether described its participation as a long-term strategic investment supporting Mercado Bitcoin’s next phase of development as the company expands blockchain-based financial services across Latin America and international markets.

Tether has invested $20 million in a strategic growth financing round for Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil's largest crypto exchange, the stablecoin issuer announced Tuesday. The deal backs Mercado Bitcoin's push into tokenization, payments, credit and capital markets across Latin America. Mercado Bitcoin,…

Tether has invested $20 million in a strategic growth financing round for Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil's largest crypto exchange, the stablecoin issuer announced Tuesday. The deal backs Mercado Bitcoin's push into tokenization, payments, credit and capital markets across Latin America.

Mercado Bitcoin, founded in 2013, has grown from a digital asset exchange into a full-stack regulated platform, according to Tether's release. It now serves 4.5 million users, has issued more than R$2 billion ($370 million) in tokenized assets, and holds more than 10 licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a Payment Institution license from Banco Central do Brasil, plus broker-dealer, securitization and asset management capabilities.

"Mercado Bitcoin has built exactly that, a regulated, full-stack on-chain financial platform serving millions of users across one of the world's most dynamic financial markets," Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in the release. He called its regulatory licensing and tokenization infrastructure "unmatched in Latin America."

Where the Money GoesMercado Bitcoin plans to use the capital to expand payments infrastructure, scale tokenized investment products for retail and institutional investors, grow lending and credit, advance on-chain capital markets, and continue international expansion, per the release.

Mercado Bitcoin Chairman and CEO Roberto Dagnoni said the company has spent "more than a decade building the regulated foundation" for on-chain finance and that the investment "strengthens our ability to accelerate the next generation of on-chain financial services in Brazil and across global markets."

The deal extends Tether's pattern of strategic stakes in regional financial infrastructure, following its $200 million investment in payments platform Whop in February and its backing of Ark Labs to bring stablecoins to Bitcoin in March.

Tether has invested $20 million in Brazilian crypto platform Mercado Bitcoin to support the company's expansion into tokenized assets, stablecoin payments, lending and other blockchain-based financial services across Latin America.

Since its 2013 launch, Mercado Bitcoin has expanded beyond crypto trading into regulated financial services, including tokenized assets, credit, stablecoin payments and cross-border services.

The company said it has more than 4.5 million users, has issued more than 2 billion Brazilian reais (about $370 million) worth of tokenized assets, and operates under nearly a dozen licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a payment institution license from Brazil's central bank.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said Mercado Bitcoin has built one of Latin America's most comprehensive regulated onchain financial platforms, citing its licensing, tokenization infrastructure and integrated financial services.

In February, Mercado Bitcoin announced it had deployed more than $20 million in tokenized private credit, one segment of its broader tokenization business, on Bitcoin (BTC) sidechain Rootstock.

Tether using profits for strategic investmentsThe Mercado Bitcoin investment aligns with Tether Investments' strategy of backing companies developing blockchain-based financial infrastructure.

Tether issues USDT (USDT), the world's largest stablecoin, with about $184 billion in circulation. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported approximately $1.04 billion in net profit, which it is tapping for strategic investments.

In April, the firm participated in a $134 million funding round for Stablecoin Development Corporation, a NYSE American-traded company focused on expanding access to the stablecoin economy and digital asset infrastructure.

A month later, Tether invested in remittance platform LemFi to support the integration of USDT as a settlement layer for cross-border payments across Africa and Asia. The companies said the partnership would expand stablecoin-based payment infrastructure across key remittance corridors.

Later in May, Tether announced plans with the Government of Georgia to launch a stablecoin pegged to the Georgian lari under the country's digital asset framework.

Beyond stablecoin-related initiatives, Tether has also invested in sectors including artificial intelligence, energy, biotechnology and digital media through its investment arm.

Despite speculation about a potential listing, CEO Paolo Ardoino has said the company has no plans to go public.

Source: DefiLlama

Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than crypto

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Tether has invested $20 million in the Brazil-based crypto platform Mercado Bitcoin, aiming to accelerate the growth of blockchain-based financial services across Latin America. According to available sources, this capital injection is intended to help Mercado Bitcoin broaden its offerings in tokenized assets, stablecoin payments, lending products, and various other digital finance services.

Mercado Bitcoin’s growth strategyLaunched in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has evolved from a simple crypto trading platform to a regulated provider of financial services. Today, the company operates in areas including tokenized assets, lending solutions, stablecoin transactions, and cross-border financial services, indicating a significant expansion beyond its original scope.

The company recently announced it has surpassed 4.5 million users. Additionally, Mercado Bitcoin reported issuing more than 2 billion Brazilian reals—approximately $370 million—in tokenized assets. The firm operates under around 12 licenses across Brazil and Europe, including a payment institution license granted by the Central Bank of Brazil.

Paolo Ardoino highlighted that with its licensing framework, tokenization infrastructure, and integrated financial services, Mercado Bitcoin has become one of the most comprehensive regulated on-chain finance platforms in Latin America.

In February, as part of its tokenization push, Mercado Bitcoin launched over $20 million in private credit assets using Rootstock, a Bitcoin sidechain, to facilitate more secure and programmable financial products.

Mini glossary: Rootstock is a sidechain compatible with the Bitcoin network, supporting smart contracts and enabling the development of tokenization and decentralized finance applications within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Tether’s investment approachThis move is in line with Tether Investments’ broader strategy of providing capital to companies developing blockchain-based financial infrastructure. Tether is the company behind USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin, with roughly $184 billion in circulation.

In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported a net profit of approximately $1.04 billion. Tether has channeled these substantial resources into a series of strategic investments.

Tether also participated in April in a $134 million funding round for Stablecoin Development Corporation, a company focused on expanding access to the stablecoin economy and digital asset infrastructure.

In May, Tether invested in LemFi, a payment platform aimed at supporting the use of USDT for settlements in cross-border payment corridors in Africa and Asia. During the same period, Tether revealed plans to develop a Georgian lari-pegged stablecoin with the government of Georgia as part of the country’s digital asset framework.

No public offering plansBeyond stablecoin projects, Tether’s investment division is active in sectors such as artificial intelligence, energy, biotechnology, and digital media, signaling a diversification into industries outside of financial infrastructure.

Despite market speculation over a possible public listing, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has previously stated that the company does not have plans to go public.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

Key Highlights Syntiant Corporation submitted documentation for a public offering on the Nasdaq exchange with ticker symbol “SYTN” The firm specializes in energy-efficient artificial intelligence processors for on-device machine learning applications Major investors include Intel Capital, Microsoft Global Finance, and Knowles Corporation First quarter 2026 financials show $64.5M in revenue against a $20.9M net loss The offering contributes to an expanding wave of artificial intelligence companies entering public markets Syntiant, a developer of artificial intelligence chips and software solutions, has submitted its initial public offering documents to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange, capitalizing on sustained investor enthusiasm for AI technologies.

Syntiant, an Intel and Microsoft-backed edge-AI chip/software maker, filed for IPO.

The company makes ultra-low-power AI chips and software for on-device AI in earbuds, wearables, and industrial systems.

Q1 results:
Revenue: $64.5M vs $66.6M YoY
Net loss: $26.2M vs $16.8M YoY… pic.twitter.com/9VlB4iBCK0

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 6, 2026

Headquartered in Irvine, California, the enterprise intends to begin trading with the ticker “SYTN” on the Nasdaq Global Market. Financial terms regarding the offering size remain undisclosed at this time.

Established in 2017 by a quartet of tech entrepreneurs, Syntiant engineers energy-efficient AI processing units specifically architected to execute machine-learning algorithms directly within devices, eliminating dependence on cloud infrastructure.

The organization characterizes its technological approach as “physical AI” — terminology referring to localized sensing and neural computation that empowers devices to detect and react to environmental stimuli without external connectivity.

Applications for its processor technology span wireless earbuds, wearable technology, industrial machinery, and automotive systems.

Investment Partners and Funding Sources Syntiant counts Intel Capital, the corporate venture division of Intel, among its principal financial supporters. Additional stakeholders include Microsoft Global Finance and Knowles Corporation, as detailed in the company’s securities filing.

In a strategic acquisition completed in December 2024, Syntiant purchased Knowles Corporation’s consumer MEMS microphone division. This business unit manufactures microphones utilized in mobile phones, wireless earbuds, and various consumer electronics.

The enterprise delivers what it characterizes as an integrated, ultra-low-power ecosystem. This architecture merges neural decision processing units, sensor products, and artificial intelligence models enabling clients to implement functionality locally while strategically leveraging cloud resources.

Financial Performance During the opening quarter of 2026, Syntiant recorded a net loss totaling $20.9 million against revenues of $64.5 million.

This performance contrasts with the corresponding period one year prior, when the company posted a $14.1 million net loss on $66.6 million in revenue. The data reflects a modest revenue decline accompanied by expanding losses on an annual comparison basis.

The underwriting syndicate for the public offering includes Citigroup, BofA Securities, UBS Investment Bank, and Needham & Company as lead managers. Additional participating firms comprise Stifel, Cantor, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Craig-Hallum, Rosenblatt, Roth Capital Partners, and Wolfe | Nomura Alliance.

Market Environment for Public Offerings Syntiant’s public market debut forms part of an accelerating trend of artificial intelligence companies accessing public equity markets throughout the current year.

J.P. Morgan analysts project that equity issuance exceeding $260 billion will materialize in 2026, as corporations seek to capitalize on strengthening investor sentiment.

The filing arrives amid continued public market investor interest in semiconductor and artificial intelligence enterprises.

Syntiant has yet to announce a preliminary price range or trading commencement date for its shares.

Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.

Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.

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Stablecoins are increasingly becoming part of humanitarian aid delivery. The recent extension of the Stellar-UN partnership reflects broader experimentation with blockchain-based payment rails in humanitarian operations.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the initial test pilot with Stellar on digital payments and tracking will enter a new scaling phase. 

In a statement, Robert Pasicko, UNDP Alternative Finance Lab, hailed digital payments as a crucial way of driving financial inclusion in some countries. 

We have shown that digital payments can reach the people that conventional systems miss, and in some of the hardest places to operate.

The two organizations have been running a test pilot for the past 16 months across Haiti, Syria, Guatemala, Kenya, and other countries. Some of the tests included cash-for-work stipend transfers in areas with low cellular network connectivity. 

Notably, the pilot test found that transfer costs reduced from 10% to 2% with blockchain rails compared to conventional methods. There was also a 100% success rate in transfers, even in areas with poor cellular network coverage. 

For Stellar’s Legal Chief, Candace Kelly, the results prove the viability of blockchain rails in last-mile connectivity. 

These pilots showed what open, public blockchain infrastructure can do when it is built around the realities of the last mile.

Crypto: Aid support vs. terrorism financing In fact, crypto firms have increasingly been active in charity operations.

Binance, for example, sent $3M USDT to victims in the recent earthquake in Venezuela. The exchange has made similar efforts to the Philippine flood victims and the Ebola outbreak response in DRC and Uganda. 

However, in some conflict areas like Sudan and Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover, the international and local banking systems failed.

Effectively, this locked out victims from aid support. For UNDP and Stellar, blockchain rails have helped solve this kind of last-mile friction.  

What challenges still remain? Besides, a report by Market Impact found that the U.S has cut its humanitarian aid support by 88%.

As such, donor organizations can’t afford to lose the little they have to high exchange rates and transfer costs. Per the report, stablecoins have helped reduce aid delivery costs by over 80% in some countries, reinforcing the Stellar-USDP tests. 

Still, the above benefits have also attracted sanctioned entities seeking to bypass capital controls or enable terrorist financing. For example, the US froze over $1B of Iran’s crypto funds over alleged terrorist financing.  

Overall, these developments show the growing influence of crypto in global humanitarian efforts and geopolitics. 

Final Summary Stellar to extend UNDP partnership to scale crypto aid delivery and support last-mile connectivity.  Pilot tests established that the aid delivery cost dropped from 10% to 2% using stablecoins compared to other payment methods.  

Tether is still the biggest stablecoin on earth by the measure everyone quotes. By the measure that tracks actual money movement, the race is over and Circle won it: USDC now carries roughly 70 percent of adjusted stablecoin volume, more than double USDT, powered by banks that chose a compliant token over building their own. Inside the two-stablecoin world that just became official.

Summary

USDC now dominates adjusted stablecoin volume, even though USDT still leads by market capitalization. The stablecoin market has split into a settlement layer led by USDC and a savings layer led by USDT. Banks and institutions are choosing compliant stablecoin rails instead of building proprietary tokens from scratch. Tether remains stronger in transaction count, emerging-market usage, and offshore dollar demand. The next major fight is over yield, distribution, and whether new consortium or native stablecoins can challenge USDC’s settlement moat. Crypto has spent years waiting for the flippening, the day one giant overtakes another and the market’s mental map has to be redrawn. It finally happened, and almost nobody framed it that way, because it happened in the wrong column of the spreadsheet.

By market capitalization, the column everyone quotes, nothing has changed: Tether’s USDT stands near $184 billion, Circle’s USDC near $73 billion, a gap so wide it reads as settled. But June’s data from Visa’s onchain analytics dashboard measured the other thing, the volume of stablecoin transactions that represent real economic activity, and the order inverted completely. Of a record $1.79 trillion in adjusted stablecoin volume in June, USDC carried about $1.21 trillion, a 67 percent share. USDT carried $573 billion. Across the first half of 2026, USDC’s share ran near 70 percent against roughly 25 percent for Tether, the widest gap ever recorded, in the largest half-year of stablecoin activity ever recorded: $8.82 trillion, more than all of 2024 combined.

Six years ago the same dashboard would have shown the mirror image. In 2020, USDT handled nearly 90 percent of adjusted volume and USDC less than 10. The reversal did not happen in one dramatic quarter; it compounded quietly through regulation, bank adoption, and a bifurcation of the stablecoin world into two markets that barely compete anymore. The supply crown and the volume crown now sit on different heads, and the split is not a paradox. It is the clearest single picture of what stablecoins have actually become.

This is the anatomy of the quiet flippening: what the adjusted numbers do and do not measure, how Circle won the settlement layer while Tether kept the savings layer, why the banks tipped it, and what each giant’s position is actually worth in the market taking shape.

USDC Surpasses USDT in Trading Volume

Since 2019, USDT has almost dominated the stablecoin market, only gradually overtaking it in 2026. This peaked in June, when USDC accounted for 68% of total trading volume, pushing USDT down to just 32%.

The impetus for USDC's rise comes… pic.twitter.com/le1iNdQtpe

— Aubrey Amanda (@AubreyAman_Web3) July 7, 2026 Three eras of the volume race The June data is a snapshot of a race that has run in three distinct eras, and the arc explains why the current gap is unlikely to be a fluke.

The first era, through roughly 2021, was total Tether dominance by every measure. USDT was the dollar of crypto trading, the default quote pair on every offshore venue, and adjusted volume tracked that role: nearly 90 percent share in 2020, against a single-digit USDC. Circle’s token was a compliance curiosity, held mostly by American funds that needed an auditable dollar.

The second era, 2022 through 2024, was the slow crossover. USDC’s adjusted share reached about 45 percent by 2022 as DeFi standardized on it and American institutions began moving real size. The era included USDC’s near-death experience, the 2023 depeg during the regional banking crisis, which cost it supply and reputation, and yet the volume trend barely bent, because the institutional workflows kept building. By early 2025 the dashboards recorded the first clean monthly flips, USDC’s adjusted volume exceeding Tether’s for the first time since 2019, an event Wall Street noticed before crypto did; equity analysts raised Circle targets on the data while crypto media filed it under statistics.

The third era is the one the June numbers describe: not flipping but separation. In February 2026, stablecoin volume set what was then a record near $1.8 trillion, with USDC around $1.26 trillion against roughly $514 billion for USDT, and observers noted the flip had become consistent, month after month, whatever the market regime. June widened it further. Three eras, one direction, across bull markets, bear markets, a depeg, and an IPO: the volume race stopped being a race some time ago, and the market is only now updating its mental model to match its own data.

What adjusted volume actually measures Raw blockchain volume is one of the most gameable numbers in finance. Tokens bouncing between an exchange’s own wallets, bot loops, and consolidation transfers can inflate throughput arbitrarily, which is why raw stablecoin figures in the tens of trillions have always deserved suspicion. Visa’s dashboard, built with analytics firm Allium, exists to strip that noise: it filters out exchange-internal transfers, bot-driven activity, and other non-economic movement to approximate the volume that represents someone actually paying, settling, or moving money.

By that filtered measure, June was a landmark month twice over. The $1.79 trillion total was an all-time record, up 63 percent from May’s $1.1 trillion and 125 percent from roughly $795 billion in June 2025, growth that coincides with banks and corporates adopting stablecoin settlement at scale. And the composition was unambiguous: roughly two of every three adjusted dollars moved through USDC.

One number in Tether’s favor deserves equal prominence, because it explains everything else in this story. USDT processed 145 million transactions in June against USDC’s 57 million. Tether moves far more transactions; Circle moves far more money. The average economic USDT transfer is small, the average USDC transfer is enormous, and that single contrast contains the entire structure of the modern stablecoin market: one token is used by tens of millions of people, the other is used by institutions moving size.

The methodology deserves its caveats. Adjusted volume is an inference, filters embed judgment calls, and Visa has been a Circle partner since 2020, a relationship critics note when the dashboard flatters USDC. But the trend is corroborated across independent trackers, has run consistently since USDC volumes first flipped Tether’s in early 2025, and has widened every quarter since. Whatever the error bars, the direction is not in dispute, and no serious competing dataset tells a different story about where the economic flow now lives.

How Circle won the money-movement layer USDC’s volume dominance was built deliberately, over years, on a single strategic premise: the durable stablecoin business is not trading chips, it is regulated settlement, and regulated settlement goes to whoever institutions are allowed to touch.

Every major Circle decision traces to that premise. Reserves in T-bills and cash at named institutions with monthly attestations. American regulatory posture through the GENIUS Act era. MiCA compliance in Europe while Tether refused the framework’s reserve rules and watched itself forced out of the regulated European market. The result is a token that a compliance department can approve, and in 2026 the compliance departments arrived: Standard Chartered became the first global systemically important bank to offer USDC minting and redemption through ordinary banking infrastructure, and BNY, the largest custodian on earth with some $59 trillion under administration, made USDC the first stablecoin on its digital asset custody platform. Neither built a proprietary coin. Both plugged into Circle’s network, a pattern that says the standards war for institutional dollar settlement is being won by adoption rather than announcement.

That is the flywheel behind the 70 percent: banks settling with each other, corporates managing treasury, funds moving collateral, payment firms clearing cross-border flow, all in large denominations, all in the token their regulators recognize. Circle’s chief executive has said the company even routes its own internal treasury transfers through USDC, which is the kind of detail that sounds like marketing until the volume data makes it representative.

The bank adoptions carry a structural signal beyond their volumes. When a systemically important bank offers minting and redemption through its own infrastructure, it is wiring a private token into the regulated payment system at the layer where finality lives, and when the largest custodian on earth holds that token for clients, the token acquires the operational trappings of a settlement asset: audited custody, insurance frameworks, regulatory reporting. Each integration also deepens the moat in a way rivals cannot shortcut, because bank onboarding is measured in years of diligence, and a consortium or challenger coin starts that clock from zero. The eighteen months of institutional plumbing now wrapped around USDC may prove more durable than any single quarter’s market share, and it is the part of Circle’s position that the OUSD launch, whatever its partner roster, cannot copy by press release.

The victory has an asterisk the market spent late June pricing: winning the settlement layer as a single company invited the settlement layer to organize against you. The Open USD consortium, the 140-partner shared-issuance model whose launch reads as Circle’s own partners building its replacement, knocked Circle’s stock to its worst day since March and drew a bearish Jefferies note warning that OUSD could erode exactly the institutional franchise the Visa data celebrates. The stock recovered within days, helped by ARK buying $17.8 million of shares into the dip and by growing doubts about how committed those 140 partners actually are, but the strategic point stands. USDC proved the institutional stablecoin market exists; proving it belongs to one issuer is a separate fight, and it has only started.

The regulation that drew the map The two-market structure did not emerge from consumer preference alone. It was drawn, border by border, by the two major stablecoin frameworks of the decade, and reading the volume data without the legal map underneath misses half the causation.

Europe’s MiCA regime was the first sorting machine. Its reserve composition rules, requiring a heavy share of reserves in bank deposits, were terms Circle accepted and Tether publicly refused, and the consequence rolled through 2025 and 2026 as an orderly expulsion: exchange after exchange delisting USDT for European customers, the retirement of Tether’s own euro token, and USDC inheriting the regulated continent largely by walkover. Every institutional euro that touches dollar stablecoins now flows through the compliant channel by law, not choice, and the June volume data includes that annexation.

America’s GENIUS Act performed the same sort with different tools. By defining the licensed payment stablecoin and its reserve, attestation, and redemption duties, it converted regulatory risk into a checklist that Circle had spent years pre-clearing, and it gave every American bank, custodian, and public company a statutory answer to the only question their lawyers ask: which token are we allowed to touch? The Standard Chartered and BNY integrations are downstream of that answer. Tether, structurally offshore and strategically unlicensed in the American sense, retains full access to the markets where those questions are not asked, which is to say the markets where its 145 million monthly transfers live.

The map explains the truce better than any competitive theory. Circle cannot chase Tether’s corridors without shedding the compliance identity its volumes depend on; Tether cannot chase Circle’s institutions without accepting the rulebooks it has made a brand of refusing. Each token is fenced into its dominance by the same laws that produced it, and the fences are the strongest force holding the two-market world in place. They are also, of course, laws, and laws change, which is why every scenario that breaks the truce runs through a legislature before it runs through a market.

Why Tether is not losing, exactly Read carelessly, a collapse from 90 percent of volume to 25 looks like decline. Tether’s financials say otherwise, and the difference is the most instructive part of the story.

Tether’s franchise was never institutional settlement. It is the dollar itself, delivered to people and businesses whose banks cannot or will not provide one: savers in weak-currency economies, merchants in cross-border trade, the entire emerging-market retail layer for which a dollar balance on a phone is the product and yield or compliance are afterthoughts. That business shows up in the data exactly where it should, in the 145 million transactions, in dominance of offshore trading pairs, in a supply base near $184 billion that keeps growing, and in the roughly four cents of Treasury yield the issuer keeps on every one of those dollars. Measured by profit per employee, Tether remains arguably the most successful financial company ever built, and none of that is dented by losing volume share in a market segment it never seriously contested.

The strategic retreats are real, but they are choices, consistent to the point of stubbornness. Tether refused MiCA’s reserve composition rules and ceded regulated Europe; it has kept its distance from the American framework’s constraints; it has diversified into gold, Bitcoin infrastructure, and payment rails for markets the compliant system ignores. The pattern is a bet that the offshore dollar economy is larger, stickier, and more defensible than the onshore settlement business, and that being the de facto savings instrument of the non-banked world beats competing with banks for the privilege of serving banks.

What the volume data reveals is not Tether losing a war but both sides declining to fight one. The two largest stablecoins now operate in barely overlapping markets: USDC is becoming the interbank dollar of crypto-adjacent finance, USDT the eurodollar of the global South. Each dominates where the other barely shows up. The single number that used to describe this industry, market cap share, has quietly stopped describing anything at all.

The transaction-count asymmetry is the human version of the same fact. One hundred forty-five million USDT transfers in a month is not an institutional statistic; it is a behavioral one, tens of millions of small remittances, merchant payments, and savings top-ups, the texture of a population using a dollar it was never issued. Averaged out, the typical economic USDT transfer runs in the thousands of dollars while the typical USDC transfer runs above twenty thousand, and no strategy deck could draw the two customer bases more clearly than that single ratio does.

Why supply and volume disagree The apparent paradox at the center of this story, the smaller token moving more than double the money, dissolves once the two metrics are read as measuring different economic facts.

Market capitalization measures parked dollars: every token in existence, wherever it sits, however long it sits there. Tether’s $184 billion is, in large part, savings, dollar balances held by people and businesses as a store of value, in wallets that may not transact for months. Savings are sticky and enormous, and they are the correct thing for supply to measure. Adjusted volume measures working dollars: balances that exist to move, settling trades, clearing invoices, rotating treasury. A settlement dollar can turn over dozens of times in the period a savings dollar turns over once, which is how $73 billion of USDC generates twice the economic flow of $184 billion of USDT. The ratio between the two metrics is effectively a velocity gauge, and it says USDC circulates at many times Tether’s speed.

Velocity is also why the flippening arrived silently. Supply is the vanity metric of stablecoins, easy to chart and emotionally legible, and by supply nothing dramatic ever happened. But payments businesses are valued on flow, not float parked elsewhere, and by flow the market share shift of the past three years is among the largest in the industry’s history. The week of the June data made the disconnect explicit: USDC’s supply actually slipped, from $73.75 billion to under $73 billion as some capital rotated after the OUSD consortium launch, in the very stretch its volume set records. A token can lose parked dollars and gain working ones simultaneously, and which loss or gain matters depends entirely on which business you think stablecoins are in.

The purpose-built infrastructure follows the same split. The new generation of payment-first stablechains is being designed around velocity, throughput and settlement finality for working dollars, while Tether’s ecosystem investments lean toward reach, rails that put savings dollars in more hands. Each giant is building for the metric it already wins, which is the strongest evidence that both understand exactly what the June data means.

JUST IN: Circle reports Q1 revenue and reserve income of $694m, USDC circulation at $77B, and $21.5T onchain transaction volume pic.twitter.com/2Z2z35ZfTy

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) May 12, 2026 The stakes hiding in the split The bifurcation is stable today. Three forces could break it, and each is worth watching precisely because the two-market truce depends on none of them firing.

The first is the yield question. Every adjusted dollar of volume runs on float that earns Treasury rates for issuers, and the war between banks and crypto over who keeps that yield is the live legislative fight of the summer. A world of legal yield pass-through re-opens every settled position: banks issue in earnest, consortium models gain their reason to exist, and the institutional volumes now concentrated in USDC become the most contested flow in finance, because they are the cheapest deposits anyone has ever gathered. Circle’s 70 percent is, among other things, the largest pile of other people’s interest income in the industry, and everyone can see it.

The velocity split makes the yield math stranger than either side’s talking points. Float income accrues on parked dollars, not moving ones, which means Tether’s savings-heavy $184 billion is a better yield engine per token than Circle’s fast-turning $73 billion, and the volume champion earns less on its franchise than the volume laggard earns on its own. Circle’s answer has been to monetize flow itself, payment services, settlement products, network fees, the classic evolution from float business to payments business, while Tether can simply sit on the world’s most profitable savings account. If yield pass-through ever becomes legal, the pressure lands asymmetrically: savings dollars will chase whoever pays, while settlement dollars care about integration and finality more than basis points. The two-market split, in other words, would survive even the fight that everyone assumes redraws the map.

The second is convergence from below. Tether’s retail fortress assumes the compliant system keeps ignoring its markets. The wave of branded and regional settlement coins, bank consortium tokens, and payment-first chains suggests the opposite trajectory, an organized effort to bring regulated digital dollars to precisely the corridors USDT owns. Tether’s distribution advantages there are enormous and its rivals’ record so far is thin, but the moat is regulatory abstention, and abstention is a policy that changes.

The third is a stress event. The volume crown makes USDC systemically important in a way market cap never did: it is now plumbing for banks, custodians, and corporate treasuries, and plumbing gets tested. USDC has depegged before, in the 2023 banking crisis, and survived on transparency and a government backstop of its banking partners. The next test arrives with far more institutional weight on the rails, and how it resolves will do more than any dashboard to decide whether the compliant stablecoin experiment keeps compounding. Tether faces the mirror-image test: its stress scenario is not a depeg but a designation, an enforcement or policy shock in one of its core corridors, and its resilience rests on exactly the opacity that would make such a shock hard to price. Two franchises, two failure modes, and neither has been examined at current scale.

Two crowns, one lesson The quiet flippening will not produce a settled winner, because it did not describe a contest. It described a divergence: the stablecoin market pulled apart into a settlement layer and a savings layer, and each layer chose its champion according to its own logic. Institutions chose the token their rules allow; the unbanked chose the token their reality delivers. Volume went one way, supply the other, and both charts are telling the truth. The error was ever expecting one instrument to serve both masters, when no version of the analog dollar ever has either.

The lesson is for everyone still fighting the last war. For years the industry treated stablecoins as a single throne with USDT sitting on it and challengers queuing. The 2026 data retires the metaphor. There are at least two thrones, probably more as the payment chains and consortium coins carve their own niches, and the interesting competition is no longer between Tether and Circle but at each throne’s edges: OUSD and the banks pressing on Circle’s settlement franchise, regulated regional coins pressing on Tether’s corridors, and the yield fight in Washington threatening to redraw the whole map.

The largest half-year in stablecoin history ended with the crown split and the market bigger than ever, which suggests the split is not a problem to be resolved but the structure of the industry from here. Somewhere in the $8.82 trillion is the answer to the question that actually matters, and it is not which token wins. It is that the dollars have already moved onchain, in size, through whichever door each holder was allowed to use, and neither crown fits back in the old box. The next dashboard update will move the shares a point or two in one direction or another, and it will not matter. The structure is the story now, and the structure is two markets, two dollars, and no single throne left to fight over.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Digital asset markets are volatile and you can lose your entire investment. Always do your own research. Information current as of July 7, 2026.

Getting a smart contract audited has traditionally been one of crypto’s most expensive chores. Professional security firms charge tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes six figures, for a thorough review. Austin Griffith, a well-known Ethereum Foundation developer, just dropped the price to a single dollar.

The service, called “the one dollar audit,” went live on July 7 at onedollaraudit.com. For $1 USDC, developers can submit a smart contract and receive an AI-powered security review. Payments flow through the x402 protocol, and the resulting audit reports are recorded onchain using the ERC-8004 standard.

How the pieces fit together First, there’s the AI audit itself. Instead of a team of human auditors spending weeks combing through Solidity code, an AI model analyzes the smart contract and flags potential vulnerabilities. It won’t replace a full manual audit from a top-tier firm, but as a first pass? For a dollar? That changes the calculus for every solo developer shipping a weekend project.

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Second, there’s x402. This is a protocol designed to facilitate microtransactions between software agents. The name riffs on HTTP status code 402 (“Payment Required”), which was originally reserved for digital payments but never widely implemented. In this context, x402 allows the payment to happen natively as part of the request itself. No checkout page, no invoice, no waiting. A developer (or another AI agent) sends a dollar and gets a review back.

Third, there’s ERC-8004. This standard focuses on establishing onchain identity and reputation for AI agents. By recording each audit review using ERC-8004, every assessment becomes a permanent, verifiable record on Ethereum. Over time, this creates a trust layer: you can look at a contract and see whether it was reviewed, what was found, and by which agent.

Why this matters beyond the price tag By collapsing the cost to $1, security reviews become feasible for hobby projects, hackathon prototypes, and early-stage contracts that would never justify a traditional audit budget. It doesn’t eliminate the need for comprehensive human-led audits on high-value protocols, but it dramatically lowers the floor for baseline security checks.

The community response has been largely enthusiastic. Jesse Pollak, a prominent figure in the Ethereum ecosystem, highlighted the service’s innovative approach. Some users, however, raised a practical concern: the audit results are publicly visible on the site. For developers working on unannounced projects, having vulnerabilities listed in public before they’re fixed is suboptimal. There have been calls for a private review option.

What this means for investors An AI audit is not equivalent to a manual audit by Trail of Bits or OpenZeppelin. If developers treat a $1 AI review as a substitute for rigorous security analysis on high-value contracts, the consequences could be severe. The service is best understood as a screening tool, not a certification. Investors evaluating protocols should ask whether projects relied solely on automated reviews or complemented them with deeper assessments.

Griffith’s track record gives the project credibility. He’s contributed to Ethereum’s educational infrastructure and has been directly involved in developing both ERC-8004 and x402. In August 2025, he proposed ERC-8004, a standard encompassing an onchain identity model based on ERC-721, mechanisms for reputation registries, and validation processes designed to improve trust in agent interactions.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

The world’s biggest stablecoins are increasingly becoming chain-specific financial products, with Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) serving distinct roles across the crypto ecosystem rather than competing head-on.

Dune’s Digital Asset Brief found that USDT overwhelmingly dominates onchain payments. During the first half of 2026, the biggest stablecoin settled about $95 billion in identified commerce payments, compared with $14 billion for second-biggest USDC. It also accounted for roughly 92% of the $48 billion in business-to-business payment volume. On Tron, USDT’s largest network, around 93% of the token’s supply is held in ordinary wallets rather than on exchanges, underscoring its role as a payment and remittance asset.

USDC, meanwhile, has established itself as the dominant stablecoin in decentralized finance. USDC on Base processed roughly $2.6 trillion in transfer volume in June, the highest of any token-chain pair, while on Ethereum, that stablecoin handled another $1.6 trillion. 

USDC on Base recorded daily velocity of about 20 times its circulating supply in June, reflecting its extensive use in trading and DeFi. Source: Dune

The findings suggest the traditional USDT-versus-USDC narrative is becoming less useful. Instead, each stablecoin is carving out its own niche, with USDT dominating payments and USDC underpinning much of crypto’s trading and DeFi activity.

USDT’s supply is split almost evenly between Tron and Ethereum, while USDC remains heavily concentrated on Ethereum despite expanding to newer blockchains. Source: Dune

The findings come as the two digital assets continue to dominate the stablecoin market. Together, they account for roughly 83% of the sector’s approximately $315 billion market capitalization, according to Dune, which tracked more than 200 stablecoin tokens across multiple blockchains.

US lawmakers reshape stablecoin rulesThe stablecoin sector has gained momentum in the United States following the passage of the GENIUS Act. Signed into law in 2025, GENIUS established the first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, paving the way for banks and other companies to issue US dollar-pegged digital assets.

Lawmakers are now debating the CLARITY Act, which would establish a broader market structure for digital assets by defining when crypto assets fall under the jurisdiction of the US Securities and Exchange Commission or the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While the bill does not regulate stablecoins directly, it would shape the broader regulatory environment in which stablecoin issuers, exchanges and DeFi platforms operate.

CLARITY cleared the Senate Banking Committee in May and could receive a full Senate vote before the August recess, although Galaxy recently trimmed its odds of passage before the break to 50% as lawmakers run short on time.

Magazine: Kraken’s $600M stablecoin firm, Huione scandal deepens: Asia Express

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Zcash developers are using formal verification to mathematically prove the correctness of the Ironwood network upgrade and shielded pool to rule out undetectable counterfeiting bugs after a recently disclosed vulnerability in Orchard exposed the limitations of relying on conventional code audits, as explained by developer and crypto researcher Sean Bowe in a Tuesday blog post.

Ironwood is designed to address a flaw discovered in the Orchard shielded pool and restore confidence in the cryptocurrency’s supply integrity. The flaw was discovered by Shielded Labs researcher Taylor Hornby and patched before any known exploitation.

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According to the developers, undetectable counterfeiting can only arise from flaws in a protocol’s mathematical specification or from broken cryptographic assumptions, while implementation bugs always leave evidence that can be detected by replaying the blockchain with corrected software.

The team said its formal verification effort focuses on proving the correctness of Ironwood’s cryptographic specification rather than auditing implementation code, arguing this is sufficient to rule out undetectable counterfeiting bugs under standard cryptographic assumptions.

The work is being carried out with contributors from zkSecurity and the Zcash Open Development Lab using the Lean theorem prover alongside traditional audits and AI-assisted analysis.

Expected to activate this month, Ironwood will close the old shielded pool and launch a corrected replacement. Users will migrate funds through a “turnstile” mechanism designed to help demonstrate that no counterfeit ZEC entered circulation while eventually capping the amount of value remaining in Orchard.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Vivian Nguyen. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Strategy And FTX: Similarities?This was followed by a surge in withdrawals, an $8 billion deficit in FTX’s accounts, culminating in a liquidity crisis when FTX suspended user withdrawals, and eventually the exchange’s collapse.

Martinez said the event marked the “final bottom” of the 2022 Bitcoin bear market.

Is This Leading To BTC Bottom?Martinez then suggested that the current situation around Strategy felt “eerily similar.”

“I am not saying Strategy is FTX. My point is about market psychology,” Martinez added. “Rumors create doubt. Doubt creates selling. Selling exposes vulnerabilities.”

They argued that these dynamics could mark a bottom for Bitcoin, as it happened in the fall of 2022.

Strategy Becomes BTC SellerLongtime Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff said that Strategy has fundamentally changed its operating model, and would need to sell a "lot more" of its BTC holdings to preserve dollar reserves amid the ongoing slump.

As of this writing, the firm’s paper losses on its BTC stash have ballooned to over $10 billion.

Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $63,154.85, down 0.03% over the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Strategy shares were up 1.03% in after-hours trading after closing at $100.77 during Monday’s regular trading session.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings indicate that MSTR has underperformed with a weaker price trend across short-, medium-, and long-term timeframes.

Photo Courtesy: Lev Radin on Shutterstock.com

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Key Takeaways Deutsche Bank elevated First Solar (FSLR) from Hold to Buy, increasing the price target from $245 to $272 Deutsche Bank’s Corinne Blanchard highlighted the company’s $2.1 billion net cash reserve and described it as “fundamentally strong” Shares declined 1.6% to close at $229.28 on Tuesday, extending 2026 losses beyond 12% An upcoming Section 232 decision regarding foreign polysilicon imports, anticipated by early August, could serve as a major catalyst Wells Fargo increased its price objective to $320 while maintaining an Overweight stance, pointing to potential earnings growth from tariff outcomes Shares of First Solar continued their descent on Tuesday, dropping 1.6% to finish at $229.28, despite receiving an upgrade from Deutsche Bank that elevated the stock to Buy status alongside a price target increase from $245 to $272.

First Solar, Inc., FSLR

Corinne Blanchard, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, characterized the solar manufacturer as a “fundamentally strong” investment opportunity, emphasizing its substantial $2.1 billion net cash position recorded in the second quarter. She views the current valuation as an attractive entry point for investors with medium- to long-term horizons.

FSLR has tumbled more than 12% year-to-date in 2026, significantly underperforming the S&P 500’s 9.4% gain during the same timeframe.

Blanchard noted that the momentum generated by a clean-energy sector rally in May has dissipated. However, she emphasized that the company’s core investment thesis remains intact.

Trading well below its 52-week peak of $320.95, the stock’s recovery trajectory may depend heavily on developments in the nation’s capital.

Federal Polysilicon Ruling Could Unlock Stock Performance Blanchard anticipates a positive stock reaction following clarity on the federal government’s Section 232 investigation examining foreign polysilicon imports. The decision, projected to arrive by early August, would enable company leadership to finalize strategic decisions regarding domestic and overseas operations — both currently in a holding pattern.

The solar manufacturer has already begun relocating equipment to domestic facilities after committing to onshore its finishing operations last year. Blanchard forecasts an “acceleration of financial performance” in upcoming quarters, with 2027 positioned to represent a more normalized operational year.

First Solar holds a unique position as America’s sole thin-film solar panel producer. This status provides significant advantages under Section 45X of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides cumulative manufacturing tax incentives for U.S.-based solar production.

This domestic manufacturing footprint has garnered additional attention during the Trump administration’s national security examination of Chinese-manufactured energy inverters. As a producer operating without Chinese technology dependencies, First Solar could gain considerably if domestic content requirements become more stringent.

Wells Fargo Projects $320 Price Point Wells Fargo joined the bullish chorus, elevating its price target from $255 to $320 while reaffirming an Overweight recommendation. The firm’s analyst pointed to “asymmetric upside” linked to the Section 232 determination, suggesting a positive outcome could elevate domestic solar module pricing and generate substantial earnings growth.

This upgrade came on a day when options trading volume in FSLR was notably elevated at market open, indicating some market participants were positioning themselves ahead of the analyst action.

Broader market strength provided supportive backdrop. The Nasdaq advanced 1.1% while the S&P 500 climbed 0.8% during the session when Wells Fargo released its analysis.

The solar industry has experienced significant headwinds recently. The Zacks Solar sector had plummeted over 23% in the month preceding the Wells Fargo commentary. FSLR’s analyst-driven momentum represented a notable sentiment shift for the industry, albeit temporarily.

Wall Street consensus on the stock tilts decidedly positive. Among 37 analysts monitored by FactSet, 23 assign Buy or Overweight ratings, 11 recommend Hold, and two rate it Underweight. KeyBanc Capital Markets stands alone with a Sell recommendation.

Notwithstanding the recent upgrades, FSLR shares have declined by double-digit percentages since early June. The stock’s next significant movement likely hinges on the timing and substance of the forthcoming polysilicon tariff determination.

Tiger Brokers upgrades Coinbase's rating to "Buy", sets target price at $200.

Tiger Brokers has upgraded its rating on Coinbase from "Hold" to "Buy" and set a $200 price target. The firm stated that after a sharp pullback earlier, the risk-reward ratio has improved, Bitcoin’s toughest bear market phase may be over, and a new cryptocurrency market cycle is expected to kick off, fueled by recovering liquidity, rising institutional demand, and improved risk appetite.

2 hours ago

SpaceX's listing has driven record highs in tokenized stock trading, with on-chain transaction volume reaching $3.86 billion in June.

Driven by SpaceX's record IPO, on-chain tokenized stock trading volume surged 145% month-over-month in June to $3.86 billion, hitting an all-time high. Of this total, trading volume for tokenized SpaceX stock (ticker: SPCX) reached $1.19 billion, accounting for 31% of the monthly tokenized stock trading volume. The SPCX token issued by BlackRock Securities saw $1.08 billion in trading volume, the market's most active product, while SPCXx from xStocks recorded $852 million. The total market capitalization of the tokenized stock market rose to $1.53 billion in June, up 6.64% month-over-month, marking the 15th consecutive month of growth. While popular assets like Nvidia and Tesla remain actively traded, market attention has clearly tilted toward SpaceX.

2 hours ago

U.S. SEC Releases 2026 Regulatory Agenda, Proposes Revisions to Rules for Crypto Trading Platforms and Brokers

U.S. SEC releases its 2026 regulatory agenda, with plans to advance crypto asset regulatory reform by the end of this year. The agency intends to revise multiple rules applicable to broker-dealers and crypto trading platforms, including adjusting brokers’ minimum liquid capital requirements, customer asset protection standards, and record-keeping provisions, to clarify how these rules apply to crypto assets. Meanwhile, the SEC also plans to revise the regulatory framework for trading platforms and explore launching "safe harbor" and regulatory exemption mechanisms related to crypto asset issuance, custody, and trading—aiming to provide clearer regulatory guidance for the market while continuing to crack down on illegal activities. The SEC notes that the new rules are designed to enhance market certainty, boost capital formation and innovation, and ensure adequate investor protection. This direction aligns with the industry-friendly regulatory path SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has pursued since taking office, marking a sharp contrast to the law enforcement-dominated regulatory approach of former Chairman Gary Gensler.

2 hours ago

The $9.9 billion stock swap deal between Naver and Dunamu has been delayed again until the end of the year, as South Korea’s digital asset law remains unresolved.

Naver Financial and Dunamu have delayed the completion of their full stock swap transaction to December 31, marking the second postponement of the deal. The transaction, which aims to integrate Dunamu—operator of South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit—into Naver Financial, was originally scheduled to close on September 30. Dunamu unveiled the new timeline on the 6th via a corrected disclosure of documents first submitted last November, with unfinished digital asset legislation and pending antitrust review cited as key variables. The company has pushed its extraordinary general meeting from August 18 to November 19, and reset the shareholder record date to October 22. Multiple government approvals remain required for the deal to proceed, including merger clearance from the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), approval for Naver Financial’s major shareholder change under credit information regulations, and acceptance of Dunamu’s major shareholder change filing under specific financial transaction information laws. Dunamu noted that progress in any of these steps could further extend the timeline or even lead to the deal’s collapse. It also pointed out that the Digital Asset Basic Act currently under parliamentary review is a practical variable affecting the transaction’s progress and outcome. When the bill is enacted, regulators are simultaneously considering imposing bank-style strict liability rules on exchanges, requiring platforms to compensate users for losses caused by hacking incidents.

2 hours ago

View: Despite weak stock performance, the AI industry "still revolves around NVIDIA"

CNBC stock commentator Jim Cramer said that despite recent weak market sentiment toward Nvidia and sustained pressure on its share price, the company remains a core player in the AI industry. He noted the current sell-off of Nvidia has been excessive, with its forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio dropping to near this year’s lowest levels. Cramer pointed out that while some firms—including Chinese AI company DeepSeek—are developing in-house AI chips, they still heavily rely on Nvidia’s technology, and no signs have emerged yet that the company will lose its industry-leading position. Additionally, he stated that some investors have sold Nvidia shares recently to free up capital for other tech stocks, including newly listed SpaceX.

2 hours ago

Ethereum briefly rallied to surpass $1,800.

According to HTX market data, Ethereum briefly rebounded to break through the $1,800 mark, currently trading at $1,799.84, with a 1.45% increase in the past 24 hours.

2 hours ago

As AI agents take on more of the work of building and operating on-chain, the question shifts from what can a model say to what can a model do. While an agent can reason brilliantly about Hedera for a number of tasks, if it can also reach the network for accurate, up-to-date information for both direct interaction and querying, its capabilities are highly enhanced.

Two emerging standards make that possible: the Model Context Protocol (MCP), which gives agents a universal way to connect to tools and data, and Agent Skills, which give agents the packaged expertise to use those tools well.

Hedera developers can use both. The newly-launched Hedera Hosted MCP Server lets any MCP-compatible client tap into Hedera network capabilities without standing up local infrastructure, and the open-source Hedera Skills marketplace gives AI coding agents the domain knowledge to build on Hedera correctly. Together they turn a general-purpose AI assistant into a capable Hedera developer.

Two ways to expand agent capabilities It helps to separate the two ideas because they solve different problems.

MCP is about structure. It is an open standard – originally introduced by Anthropic and now stewarded by the Linux Foundation – that standardizes how an AI application connects to external tools, data, and services. Instead of writing a one-off integration for every model and every framework, a developer exposes capabilities (tools) once through an MCP server, and any MCP-compatible client – Claude Desktop, Cursor, or a custom application – can discover and call them. MCP has quickly become the de facto way agents reach the outside world.

Agent Skills are about configurability. A Skill is a modular knowledge package: a folder containing instructions, references, and optional code that teaches an agent how to perform a specialized task reliably. Where MCP hands an agent a set of tools, Skills hand it the playbook for using them. Crucially, Skills load through “progressive disclosure” – the agent pulls in only the instructions relevant to the task at hand, rather than carrying every reference in its context at once.

Put simply: MCP gives an agent hands, and Skills give it knowledge and configurable capabilities. Hedera offers both.

The Hedera Hosted MCP Server The Hedera Hosted MCP Server is a managed, remote instance of the Hedera Agent Kit, exposing its tools over MCP. That “hosted” part matters: developers get Hedera network capabilities without deploying or maintaining any agent infrastructure themselves. You point your client at an endpoint, supply an account ID, and the Hedera tools appear in your assistant’s tool list.

Connecting is deliberately lightweight. The server uses the MCP Streamable HTTP transport at https://agentic-testnet-mcp.hedera.com/mcp, and you initialize a session by passing your Hedera Testnet account ID in a single HTTP header, x-hedera-account-id. On that first request, the server looks up your account’s public key on the Hedera Mirror Node and scopes the session to your account, so every subsequent tool call knows which account it is building transactions for.

For most clients, configuration is a small JSON block:

{ "mcpServers": { "hedera": { "url": "https://agentic-testnet-mcp.hedera.com/mcp", "headers": { "x-hedera-account-id": "0.0.YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID" } } } } Drop that into Cursor’s mcp.json or Claude Desktop’s config, restart the client, and the tools are ready. Standard MCP clients also handle session continuity for you – the protocol’s SDK captures the server’s mcp-session-id and silently attaches it to later requests, so there is no need to manage session tokens by hand.

Sign on your side, always The most important design choice in the hosted server is what it deliberately does not do. It operates exclusively in RETURN_BYTES mode: it never signs or submits transactions, and it never sees a private key. You only ever send your account ID.

When you ask the agent to do something that changes on-chain state – transfer HBAR, mint a token, deploy a contract – the server builds the transaction and returns it as hex-encoded bytes. Signing and submitting happen entirely on your side, using a local script or the Hedera SDK. This keeps custody where it belongs and removes the most dangerous failure mode of giving an AI agent network access: it can propose, but it cannot spend, until you sign.

Example: Sign and submit transactions Set up an operator account and a Hedera client, then decode, sign, and submit the bytes returned by a transaction-building tool:

const bytesObject = parsed.bytes || parsed.raw.bytes; const realBytes = Buffer.isBuffer(bytesObject) ? bytesObject : Buffer.from(bytesObject.data || bytesObject); console.log('Transaction bytes found. Executing...'); const tx = Transaction.fromBytes(realBytes); const result = await tx.execute(humanInTheLoopClient); const receipt = await result.getReceipt(humanInTheLoopClient); console.log('Transaction receipt:', receipt.status.toString()); console.log('Transaction ID:', result.transactionId.toString()); bytesHandled = true; There is a practical consideration worth flagging. General-purpose clients like Cursor and Claude Desktop can run any read-only query out of the box – checking balances, looking up token details, fetching exchange rates – because no signature is required. But if you ask them to perform a state-changing action, they will hand back the unsigned transaction bytes, and you will need to sign and submit them yourself with a local tool. The hosted server is, in effect, read-and-build for GUI clients, and full read-write for applications wired to do the signing.

What the tools cover The hosted server comes pre-configured with tools, grouped according to Hedera’s core plugins in a few familiar categories: Accounts (create accounts, update keys, transfer HBAR, manage allowances, query balances), Tokens (HTS) (create, mint, transfer, associate, and query fungible and non-fungible tokens), Smart Contracts (EVM) (deploy, call, and query ERC-20 and ERC-721 contracts), Consensus (HCS) (create topics, submit messages, query topic info), and a Transactions and Misc group for records, exchange rates, and node fees.

A few limitations are by design. The hosted instance connects to Testnet only – Mainnet integrations call for the self-hosted MCP server. No transaction execution happens server-side. And sessions live in memory, so if the server restarts, active clients simply re-initialize.

Hedera Agent Skills If MCP is how an agent reaches Hedera, the Hedera Skills repository is how it learns to build on Hedera well. It is an open-source (Apache-2.0) marketplace of plugins and skills for AI coding agents, combining Hedera-specific development tools with general-purpose dev-workflow intelligence. Each plugin is a packaged bundle of instructions, references, and working examples that extend what an agent can do.

Installation fits naturally into the tools developers already use. You add the skills with a simple command:

npx skills@latest add hedera-dev/hedera-skills Or, for Claude Code users, you can install the marketplace.

# Add the Hedera marketplace /plugin marketplace add hedera-dev/hedera-skills # Install individual plugins /plugin install agent-kit-plugin /plugin install system-contracts /plugin install native-services-js /plugin install hackathon-helper /plugin install dev-intelligence Once installed, skills are available automatically – the agent reaches for them when it detects a relevant task, loading only the reference files it needs.

The current lineup maps cleanly onto how people actually build:

agent-kit-plugin – a guide for creating custom plugins that extend the Hedera Agent Kit, covering plugin architecture, tool interface specs, Zod schema patterns for Hedera types, prompt-writing patterns, and error handling, with working examples. system-contracts – technical references for Hedera’s precompiled system contracts, including the Hedera Token Service contract (0x167) and the Schedule Service contract (0x16b), for developers writing Solidity that touches native Hedera services. native-services-js – guides for using Hedera native services with the Hiero JavaScript SDK, spanning token-service operations (creation, minting, KYC/freeze/wipe, airdrops, custom fees) and consensus-service patterns (topic creation, chunked messages, mirror-node subscriptions). hackathon-helper – two skills aligned to official judging criteria: an interactive PRD generator that produces a project plan with a predicted score, and a submission validator that scans a repo and grades it against all seven criteria with prioritized action items. dev-intelligence – a language-agnostic workflow toolkit for session continuity, quality gates, project scaffolding, and tech-debt tracking, including commands like /continue, /init, and /health and auto-validation hooks that run a linter or type-checker after every edit. Every plugin follows the same simple structure: a SKILL.md with instructions for the agent, a references/ folder of supporting documentation, and an optional examples/ folder of working code. It is a pattern any developer can read, fork, and contribute to.

Better together The real value shows up when the two standards work in concert. An agent connected to the Hedera Hosted MCP Server can read account balances and construct transactions; the same agent, equipped with the native-services-js or system-contracts skills, knows the right way to structure a token with custom fees, or which response code to handle when an HTS call fails. One gives the agent reach into the network; the other gives it the judgment to use that reach correctly – and to hand you well-formed bytes to sign.

That combination points at where on-chain development is heading. Just as x402 gives agents a native way to pay for resources, MCP and Agent Skills give them a native way to build. As autonomous systems become first-class participants in software development, they need both access and expertise delivered through open, composable standards. Hedera supporting MCP and shipping an open skills marketplace is a bet on exactly that future: agents that don’t just describe what to do on Hedera, but do it – safely, reliably, and with a developer still holding the keys.

Resources Hedera Hosted MCP Server Information

Learn more about Hedera Skills

Hedera AI Agent Kit

Hedera AI Studio

NEAR Protocol just rewrote its economic rulebook. The protocol’s on-chain governance body, House of Stake, passed proposal HSP-027 between June 20 and 27, 2026, voting to eliminate the developer gas rebate entirely. Starting with a nearcore upgrade expected around August 2026, every eligible execution fee on the network will be burned rather than partially returned to smart-contract owners.

NEAR co-founder Illia Polosukhin confirmed the vote’s outcome, endorsing the shift toward full fee burns as a step in the right direction for the NEAR token’s long-term economics.

What was the rebate, and why kill it now? The 30% developer gas rebate let smart-contract owners reclaim a slice of the gas fees their contracts generated. The average rebate per contract fell from roughly 27.6 NEAR in June 2025 to just 1 to 5 NEAR per month by 2026.

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Proposal HSP-027, authored by NEAR One’s Anton Astafiev, made the case that the rebate had diluted to the point of irrelevance. No significant dissent was recorded during the discussion period.

The implementation timeline is tied to the nearcore v2.14 upgrade, currently scheduled for around August 2026. Until that upgrade ships, the existing rebate mechanics remain in place.

The deflationary mechanics behind the vote Under the old model, 30% of eligible execution fees were recycled back to contract developers. Under the new model, those same fees get burned, permanently removing NEAR from circulation.

What this means for developers and investors For developers currently building on NEAR, if your dApp was accounting for gas rebates as any part of its revenue model, that line item disappears when nearcore v2.14 ships. For most projects, 1 to 5 NEAR per month was barely worth the accounting overhead. The governance proposal acknowledged this, with the community framing the change as a push toward more sustainable business models.

HSP-027 passed without significant opposition. Watch the August nearcore v2.14 upgrade closely, as the on-chain burn data in the weeks following implementation will be the first real-world test of how much additional supply pressure the rebate removal generates.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Team1, the global community arm of the Avalanche ecosystem, has rolled out a new Builder Grants program designed to put money directly into the hands of early-stage builders. The program offers two tiers of funding: Mini Grants of up to $10,000 and Accelerator Grants that can reach $30,000.

The program launched on July 1, 2026.

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Two tiers, two different builders Mini Grants, capped at $10,000, target what Team1 calls “budding entrepreneurs.” Accelerator Grants step things up to $30,000 and come with a more rigorous selection process. A voting committee made up of both Avalanche insiders and community members decides who gets funded.

Team1’s growing role in Avalanche Team1 isn’t new to the Avalanche ecosystem, and it isn’t operating on a shoestring budget. The group received a $1.15 million grant from the Avalanche Foundation back in December 2024, funding that was earmarked for community support and operational expansion.

The organization now claims more than 450 members spread across over 40 countries. Its playbook includes events, workshops, and educational resources, all aimed at converting curious developers into active Avalanche builders.

What this means for the Avalanche ecosystem and investors The $1.15 million that the Avalanche Foundation invested in Team1 in late 2024 is now being recycled into direct builder support. For AVAX holders, more builders on Avalanche means more applications, which means more transactions, which means more demand for the network’s native token.

The limited external coverage of this initiative suggests Team1 is playing an inside game, focusing on converting its existing community of 450-plus members into active builders rather than making a splash for the broader crypto market.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.