#stablecoins

#stablecoins

The recent crypto boom has been marked by blockchain companies working to expand their appeal to mainstream consumers. That now includes Aave Labs, the developer behind a popular decentralized lending service, which on Monday announced plans to launch an app in Apple's App Store and opened up a waitlist for interested users. Aave is well-known in crypto as a leading project in DeFi, or decentralized finance.

RLUSD's growth has been remarkable. The dollar-backed stablecoin was introduced on the XRP Ledger in late 2024 under New York's strict trust charter. Within a year, RLUSD hit a $1 billion market cap, making it the 10th-largest dollar stablecoin globally. By November 2025, its circulating supply reached about $1 billion, split between Ethereum ($819 million) and the XRPL ($203 million).

One of the largest deals ever for a stablecoin startup has fallen through. Coinbase has called off acquisition talks with the U.K.-based BVNK, a spokesperson for the crypto exchange confirmed to Fortune. It wasn't immediately clear why Coinbase iced the deal, which had gotten as far as the due diligence process and seen the crypto giant and BVNK enter into exclusivity in October, meaning the startup couldn't entertain offers from other bidders.

Gabriele Sabbatini notes that, even in an age of instant communication, moving money around the globe is often slow and expensive. That's why he started Hercle, a firm that uses stablecoin technology to make global transactions more efficient. On Wednesday, Hercle announced it has raised $10 million in an equity round led by F-Prime, a global venture capital firm. It also raised a $50 million credit facility to support global expansion. Sabbatini declined to disclose Hercle's valuation.

Zelle, the bank-owned service that facilitates consumer money movement, said it plans to expand its services internationally. Zelle will rely on stablecoins to enable cross-border money movement, according to a statement Friday from Early Warning Services LLC, Zelle's parent company. All Zelle network banks will have the option to provide the service, according to the statement. Financial-technology firms such as Wise Plc have long operated in the cross-border money-movement space, but the banks' scale gives them an advantage in the crowded market.

Scott Lucas, JPMorgan's global head of markets digital assets, outlined the bank's approach in a CNBC interview, emphasizing an "and" strategy that balances existing financial infrastructure with emerging blockchain opportunities. On trading crypto, Lucas said that, "Jamie [Dimon] was pretty clear during investor day that we were going to be involved in the trading of that, but custody is not on the table at the moment," The bank has been experimenting with deposit tokens and stablecoins, tools that enable cash-like digital assets on distributed ledgers.

Almost one year after the fintech giant Stripe struck a $1.1 billion deal to acquire the stablecoin startup Bridge, two other big corporate players want to scoop up a stablecoin firm of their own. The U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase and the payments giant Mastercard have each held advanced acquisition talks to buy London-based BVNK, according to six sources familiar with the dealings, who asked for anonymity to talk about confidential business discussions.

There are those among us who like the idea of swiping and tapping their way through life, armed with a lifetime of digital information as they enter buildings, book online appointments and take train rides to work. Others are not so keen, fearing that big brother databases chock full of personal details will one day control their movements, if that is not happening already.

SWIFT - aka the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication - provides a messaging service that financial institutions use to move money around the world. The service is widely used but is slow because, as explained by ANZ Bank, SWIFT "doesn't actually move the money." "This means the instruction to pay and the movement of funds happen separately, often requiring a complex network of accounts and correspondent banks to enable a payment to be processed.

The Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) strategy has moved from an experiment to a consensus playbook for public companies seeking balance-sheet exposure. Digital Asset Treasuries are listed companies that accumulate tokens as treasury assets, using the stock market's financing power to steadily increase onchain holdings. In its half-year report, HTX research breaks down how the DAT strategy has become the industry standard, how perpetual aggregators ballooned, how stablecoins remain a dominant narrative, and more.

Zerohash, a crypto and stablecoin infrastructure company headquartered in Chicago, announced Tuesday that it had raised $104 million at a $1 billion valuation.

A new wave of millionaires is rising from culture, entertainment and Web3-native models like Stake.com. Crypto leadership shifts fast; most top names today weren't on the radar a decade ago. The crypto market is back in full force as of mid-2025. Total capitalization has surged to $3.8 trillion (up over 130% year-on-year), which has sparked a new surge of wealth across the industry.

China has been expanding use of digital currencies as it promotes wider use of its yuan, or renminbi, to reflect its status as the world's second-largest economy and challenge the overwhelming sway of the U.S. dollar in international trade and finance. However, restrictions on access to Chinese financial markets and limits on convertibility of the yuan, or "people's money," are big obstacles blocking its global use.

The $250 billion stablecoin market, dominated by Tether's ($158 billion) and Circle Internet 's ( ) ($62 billion), is a cornerstone of global digital finance. These U.S. dollar-backed tokens power everything from DeFi to cross-border payments. But China is wary of U.S. financial dominance, and is eyeing a yuan-backed stablecoin to challenge this duopoly. With Hong Kong as a potential launchpad and China's digital yuan gaining traction, is this a game-changer or just geopolitical posturing? More importantly, should Tether and Circle Internet worry?