Top 5 Moves by Crypto Companies

• Crypto.Com. The exchange confirmed that a phishing campaign targeted an employee in 2023. The incident was contained within hours, did not compromise customer funds, and was reported to regulators, though it was not publicly disclosed at the time.

• BNB / CZ-backed Aster DEX launches and rockets past rivals. New perpetual DEX Aster - launched on BNB Chain with BNB/YZi Labs support - logged massive activity. DefiLlama/CoinGlass showed daily perp volumes as high as $24.7B - briefly outpacing Hyperliquid and other perp DEXs. The surge coincided with BNB Chain reducing gas fees by 50%

• MetaMask rolled out MetaMask USD (mUSD) — a short-term Treasury-backed, wallet-native stablecoin — with revealed plans to come up with its token too.

• Ethena expands into the Middle East with $20M from M2 Capital; CZ family office increases exposure. UAE-based M2 Capital invested $20 million to back Ethena’s regional push as USDe supply surpasses $13B, while CZ’s family office has deepened its stake.

• BitGo files for a US IPO. Institutional custody provider BitGo filed an S-1 to go public (NYSE: BTGO). It reported rapidly growing revenues and $90B in assets under custody in its IPO filing disclosures.

New Product Launches

• Nansen - Launched AI Agents for Traders. Advanced on-chain data met AI, giving traders automated insights and execution tools.

• Fold - Launched Bitcoin rewards credit card powered by Visa + Stripe. Merchant and consumer adoption paths became clearer, strengthening BTC-native payments.

• Trump’s WLFI - Co-founder Zak Folkman confirmed debit card and retail app launch by The launch, in partnership with Bithumb, pushes WLFI deeper into retail payments and consumer adoption.

• Plasma - Launched Stablecoin-native NeoBank. Merged banking services with instant on-chain settlement rails.

• Curve founder Michael Egorov - Launched Bitcoin yield protocol. Targeted staking/yield innovations built directly on BTC rails.

• Google - Introduced new Agent Payments Protocol (AP2). Developed with 60+ partners including Mastercard, AmEx, PayPal, Adyen, Ant International, Coinbase, Etsy, Intuit, Salesforce, ServiceNow, UnionPay, and Worldpay.

Board & Executive Level Moves

• SOL Strategies: CEO Leah Wald stepped down with Chief Strategy Officer Michael Hubbard named interim CEO. Amid the firm’s expansion into staking and validators’ infra, this came as a move that creates short-term leadership transition risk as the firm searches for a permanent successor.

• Bakkt: Fintech veteran Mike Alfred joined Bakkt’s board to bolster growth and product strategy.

• Tether: Benjamin Habbel (ex-Google / Limestone) was appointed Chief Business Officer to lead Tether’s portfolio and growth push across AI, energy, mining and other verticals.

• Capital Group → Metaplanet: Capital Group purchased an ~11.45% (~$500M) stake to become Metaplanet’s largest shareholder. It came as the company rapidly scales its corporate Bitcoin treasury and global footprint.

Regulatory & Policy Watch

Moves in US:

• CFTC leadership change: The White House is weighing Jill Sommers or Kyle Hauptman as the next CFTC Chair, a decision that could reshape U.S. derivatives and crypto oversight.

• California politics: Former state assembly leader Ian Calderon is running for governor, pledging to make California the undisputed leader in Bitcoin and crypto adoption.

• SEC to introduce ‘innovation exemption’ rules, aiming to provide clearer pathways for tokenized and digital-asset offerings.

• US (SEC/FINRA): Both regulators have opened investigations into crypto “strategic reserve” firms, signaling heightened scrutiny of treasury-backed structures. Corporate treasuries holding tokenized reserves may face new oversight, affecting custody and risk strategies.

• VanEck: The asset manager will meet with the SEC’s crypto task force to discuss ETF tokenization and staking risk frameworks.

Around the World:

• US–UK: A new US–UK Task Force has been launched to deepen cooperation on crypto supervision and stablecoin standards.

• Europe: Nine major European banks — UniCredit, ING, DekaBank, Banca Sella, KBC Group, Danske Bank, SEB, CaixaBank, and Raiffeisen Bank International — are developing a euro-denominated stablecoin as an alternative to USD dominance.

• Canada: The country’s AML watchdog fined KuCoin’s parent company approximately $14.09 million for regulatory breaches.

• Netherlands: Dutch MP Thierry Baudet has proposed establishing a Bitcoin strategic reserve to bolster national resilience.

• South Korea (ruling party): The ruling party has set up a digital asset working group to draft stablecoin and crypto legislation.

• Philippines: The government launched a blockchain-based transparency system for its Department of Public Works and Highways after mass protests over corruption in multi-billion-dollar flood-control projects.

Top Fundings & M&As

Here are more specific, citation-backed one-liners you can drop into the Funding & Strategic Partnerships block:

• Divine: Raised $6.6M in a seed round led by Paradigm to scale its blockchain micro-lending / undercollateralized lending protocol and expand global lending operations.

• SharpLink × Superstate: Announced a partnership to issue SEC-registered tokenized equity (SBET) natively on Ethereum via Superstate’s platform, marking a major step for compliant on-chain stock issuance.

• RedotPay: Claimed unicorn status after a $47M strategic raise (with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Galaxy Ventures and others) to scale its stablecoin payments and card business.

• CleanSpark: Expanded its Bitcoin-backed credit facility with Coinbase Prime by $100M, securing additional liquidity for mining, energy and HPC investments.

• Y Combinator (Fintech 3.0 / Finance 3.0): Launched a Fintech 3.0 initiative in partnership with Base and Coinbase Ventures to fund and accelerate on-chain finance startups building regulated financial infrastructure.

• Kraken raises $500M at a $15B valuation. Kraken closed a $500 million financing round to accelerate growth and prep for an IPO, underscoring its position among well-capitalized centralized exchanges.

Partnerships / Acquisitions:

• Google × Cipher Mining: Google secured the right to purchase a 5.4% stake in Cipher Mining, signaling deeper tech–crypto infrastructure alignment.

• Franklin Templeton × BNB Chain: Asset manager Franklin Templeton expanded its self-developed tokenization platform Benji to the BNB Chain, boosting its reach in on-chain fund distribution.

• Strive / Semler: Strive agreed an all-stock acquisition of Semler Scientific (≈$1.3B), adding ~5,816 BTC to its treasury. This positioned the combined firm among the largest public corporate Bitcoin holders.

Top founders’ views this week

• Solana co-founder (Anatoly “Toly” Yakovenko): “Everything that generates income should have a token” - arguing profit-bearing businesses can return value to token holders.

• Changpeng “CZ” Zhao (Binance): “BNB started as a ‘chip’ for financing, but has evolved into an ecosystem independent of Binance.” s.

• Vitalik Buterin — on low-risk DeFi: “Low-risk DeFi could become Ethereum’s “Google Search” moment,” serving as a stable, core revenue engine for the network.

• Vitalik Buterin — on Base’s sequencer: Arguing “Base is doing things the right way”, he defended Base’s centralized sequencer choices as acceptable when tied to Ethereum’s decentralized base layer.

• Brian Armstrong (Coinbase CEO): “Bitcoin could reach $1,000,000 by 2030,” citing regulatory clarity and institutional adoption as key drivers.

Web3 Riches

• Crypto millionaires surge: The number of cryptocurrency millionaires worldwide has climbed to 241,700 - a 40% increase year-on-year, according to the Crypto Wealth Report 2025 by Henley & Partners. In this, Bitcoin billionaires dominate as more than half of all crypto billionaires hold their wealth primarily in Bitcoin.

• Tether’s mega-valuation: If Tether’s valuation hits $500 billion, it could catapult Chairman Giancarlo Devasini into the ranks of the world’s top five richest individuals — surpassing even some Wall Street legends.

Block of Fame Highlights This Week:

BrandTalk Rebrand: CoinGape News Media rebranded its CXO-level HubSpot of happenings to Block of Fame, continuing its mission to provide curated insights and growth intelligence for Web3 leaders.

Pulse Feature: Tether’s Multi-sector Empire — a deep dive into Tether’s expansion across stablecoins, AI, commodity trading, energy, communications, and media.

Innovation Spotlight: A Swiss Crypto Startup is Rethinking the Solution to Climate Change, leveraging blockchain technology for environmental impact and carbon transparency.

Watch the Exclusive Interview: Coinbase Ventures’ Jonathan King on Where Web3 Funding Is Headed. He discusses where Web3 funding is headed, offering insights into emerging trends, capital flows, and startup strategies.

First Crypto Magazine to Launch @Token2049. Grab your Copy here: https://coingape.com/brandtalk/magazine/

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