CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) CEO Terry Duffy revealed the derivatives giant is exploring launching its own crypto that could operate on a decentralized network, as CME stock broke out from an inverse head and shoulders pattern targeting $320.

The ‘CME Coin’ Announcement

Duffy on Wednesday confirmed during the company’s latest earnings call that CME is exploring “initiatives with our own coin that we could potentially put on a decentralized network,” Coindesk reported. 

The comment came in response to Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analyst Michael Cyprys asking about tokenized collateral.

Duffy distinguished between collateral sources. “If you were to give me a token from a systemically…

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back against speculation around a Strategic Bitcoin reserve, making clear that the federal government has no legal authority to support or “bail out” Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) using public funds.

No Bitcoin Bailout Authority

During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on financial stability risks, a lawmaker questioned whether the U.S. government could support Bitcoin by directing banks to buy it or by deploying taxpayer funds into crypto markets.

Bessent firmly rejected the premise, stating that neither the Treasury Department nor federal regulators have the authority to compel banks to purchase Bitcoin or to invest public money into crypto…

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IREN Ltd (NASDAQ:IREN) used to dig for Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). Now it wants to mine the cloud. In less than two years, the company has leapt from crypto pioneer to “Neocloud” upstart — and Thursday’s second quarter earnings will decide whether that reinvention looks visionary or overreach.

$9.7B Microsoft Partnership

Once known as Iris Energy, IREN has pivoted hard into AI infrastructure, locking in a $9.7 billion partnership with Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) to host next-generation compute.

What began as stranded-energy Bitcoin sites are now being rebuilt into data centers meant to power AI workloads at scale.

The transformation is dramatic — but also expensive, and Wall Street knows…

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Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino on Wednesday said reports of a $20 billion fundraising plan were misunderstood, as investor concerns over valuation and regulation prompt the stablecoin giant to scale back discussions.

Funding Round Narrowed Threefold

Tether initially explored raising $15 billion to $20 billion at a valuation reportedly near $500 billion, but advisers are now discussing a significantly smaller round of roughly $5 billion, according to the Financial Times.

Ardoino said the larger figure was a misconception and stressed that Tether does not require external capital, citing strong profitability and a lack of interest among insiders in selling shares.

Investor hesitation has centred on…

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Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP) is integrating Hyperliquid (CRYPTO: HYPE) into Ripple Prime, its institutional prime brokerage platform, marking the first time the company has directly supported a decentralized finance venue.

The First DeFi Integration

The integration allows Ripple Prime clients to access Hyperliquid’s on-chain derivatives markets while managing those positions alongside traditional markets like foreign exchange and fixed income, a press release announced on Wednesday.

Ripple Prime acts as the sole counterparty, sitting between clients and underlying trading venues.

Institutions can manage positions across multiple platforms under a single risk and margin framework instead of…

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