LATEST: CFTC Provides Offshore Crypto Firms Path To Serving US Based Customers

U.S. crypto markets are set for a shakeup as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced foreign crypto trading platforms can register as Foreign Boards of Trade (FBOTs) and directly serve American customers. Acting Chairman Caroline Pham said the move will “welcome back Americans that want to trade efficiently and safely under CFTC regulations,” framing it as part of the regulator’s “crypto sprint” to support innovation.

At the same time, real estate management firm Caliber has revealed a bold new treasury strategy, committing to buy and hold LINK tokens. The Nasdaq-listed company said its board approved using equity funds to accumulate LINK for “long-term appreciation and staking yield.” Shares of Caliber (CWD) surged over 60% Thursday, trading at $2.90 and pushing its market cap to nearly $6.8 million.

These twin developments highlight growing institutional support for digital assets. While the CFTC’s move clears a path for global crypto firms to re-enter U.S. markets, Caliber’s adoption of an altcoin strategy signals rising corporate appetite for blockchain-based investments.

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21Shares files for spot Sei ETF

21Shares today filed a form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to register the 21Shares Sei ETF, a trust offering direct exposure to SEI, the Sei Network’s native token.

The filing names Coinbase Custody Trust Company as the ETF’s custodian, with Coinbase, Inc. acting as prime broker. Net asset value would be calculated using the CF SEI-Dollar Reference Rate — New York Variant, published by CF Benchmarks, which aggregates prices across multiple spot venues to ensure transparency and reduce reliance on any single market feed.

The filing also allows for discretionary staking of SEI if regulators and tax authorities determine it would not compromise…

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LATEST: Arizona Real Estate Firm Caliber Establishes LINK Token Digital Asset Treasury

Real estate management firm Caliber (Nasdaq: CWD) announced Thursday it will adopt a digital asset treasury (DAT) strategy centered on accumulating LINK tokens. The company said its board has approved the use of equity funds to purchase cryptocurrency, specifically LINK, with plans to hold the tokens long term and generate yield through staking.

The Scottsdale-based company’s shares soared over 60%, trading at $2.90 by late morning, pushing its market cap to about $6.8 million, according to Yahoo Finance. Caliber joins a growing number of smaller-cap Nasdaq firms adopting DAT strategies as a way to diversify holdings and attract investor interest in digital assets.

Industry watchers note that while DATs are creating new buy-side demand for crypto, concerns remain about sustainability and risks tied to such strategies. Even so, Caliber’s move underscores how traditional businesses are increasingly leaning into crypto exposure, betting on both appreciation and income from staking.

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The Sandbox co-founders ousted from exec roles amid mass layoffs

This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

The metaverse is long over.

And yet, it’s always been here, since the dawn of the internet. You’re in the metaverse as you read this.

The metaverse in the 2022-era sense of the word was little more than a fancy marketing play around rebranding VR. But every video game, every livestream, and every social media app is arguably all part of the existing metaverse that is the internet.

Paradoxically, the metaverse as corporate executives imagined it never materialized, because it was already here this whole time.

Today we’re unpacking some details about what’s been going on at The…

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Solana validators commence vote on landmark Alpenglow consensus protocol

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

Solana validators have begun voting on SIMD-0326, the governance proposal for its new Alpenglow consensus protocol.

The proposal needs at least 33% of validators to reach quorum. As of this morning, at least 11.8% (135) of Solana’s ~1.3K validators have voted in favor, based on Dune.

When you send a transaction on Solana today, the chain takes about ~12.8 seconds (32 slots * 0.4s slot time) to reach deterministic finality, though it is also sometimes informally referred to as having a soft/optimistic transaction finality of 500-600ms.  

12.8 seconds is fast compared to the 12.8…

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LATEST: Tether Expands By Launching USDT Natively On Bitcoin Using RGB Protocol

Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, has announced the launch of USD₮ on RGB, a next-generation protocol designed to bring digital assets directly onto the Bitcoin network. The move signals a major step forward for stablecoins by making them native to Bitcoin’s secure and decentralized ecosystem.

RGB, which recently went live on mainnet with its 0.11.1 release, enables private, scalable, and user-controlled issuance of assets. With this integration, USD₮ can now be transacted directly on Bitcoin, offering lightweight, private, and fast payments worldwide. Users will be able to manage USD₮ and Bitcoin in the same wallet, enjoy sovereign transactions, and even transfer value offline—expanding Bitcoin’s utility far beyond a store of value.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized the importance of this milestone, calling it a step toward “a freer financial future.” The launch highlights Tether’s continued leadership in digital assets while strengthening Bitcoin’s position as the foundation for global, everyday money.

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U.S. Government Posts GDP Data On Bitcoin Blockchain

The U.S. government has officially begun publishing gross domestic product (GDP) data on public blockchains. According to Bloomberg, the Commerce Department’s announcement on Thursday brings blockchain into the core of America’s economic reporting, making GDP available on nine networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

Commerce officials emphasized that the blockchain rollout is not a replacement for traditional economic data releases, but rather “another avenue” for distribution, according to Bloomberg. The move, however, carries significant symbolic weight, as it effectively places the government’s seal of approval on technology once viewed with deep…

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ETH poised to set tempo for the rest of the bull run

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

Whether you’re bullish, bearish, or channeling some other animal spirit, you’re forgiven for feeling the pressure right now.

It’s been two weeks since bitcoin’s last all-time high and only four days since ether set a new price after almost three years.

Bitcoin could trend sideways and even downward for all anyone would care. 

ETH sets the tempo for the foreseeable future. Scary stuff.

This is good for ETH

Before we zoom in on ETH, let’s see the momentum it’s inherited from bitcoin.

The chart below plots every bitcoin bull market together, as if they all started on the…

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Nunchuck Wallet Brings Programmable Bitcoin To Everyone With Miniscript Support

Today Nunchuck Wallet releases support for fully generalized Miniscript use, bringing a degree of flexibility and control to their users not seen before. 

For those unfamiliar with Miniscript, it is a policy language invented by Core developer and former Maintainer Pieter Wuille to make the creation of customized Bitcoin scripts easier and safer. Miniscript takes the most commonly used pieces of Bitcoin script, i.e. signature locks, timelocks, hashlocks, etc. and creates a “higher level” programming language for users to create custom scripts. 

This higher level language is designed to be safely analyzable and composable, meaning that once users create a customized script they…

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LATEST: VanEck CEO Recognize Ethereum As Wall Street’s Leading Crypto Token

Ethereum may emerge as the dominant blockchain for stablecoins, according to Jan van Eck, CEO of investment giant VanEck. Speaking to Fox Business, van Eck argued that banks and financial services will be forced to adopt blockchain technology to handle the rapid growth of stablecoins — now worth over $280 billion in circulation. He called Ethereum “the Wall Street token,” predicting it will be the backbone of future financial transactions.

Van Eck pointed to the new U.S. Genius Act, recently signed into law, which regulates payment stablecoins at the federal level. He emphasized that no bank or institution can afford to reject stablecoin payments, saying companies must integrate digital dollar technology within the next year or risk losing business. A Fireblocks survey supports this view, showing 90% of institutional players are exploring stablecoin adoption.

The remarks come as Ethereum recently hit a record high above $4,946. VanEck, which manages an Ether ETF approved by the SEC, currently holds over $284 million tied to ETH prices, highlighting the growing confidence of traditional finance in crypto markets.

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