Author: John Smith

Bernstein has maintained an Outperform rating and $140 price target on Circle Internet Group, implying about 59% upside after CRCL closed Friday at $87.98, as the brokerage expects USDC adoption to support the company even without passage of the CLARITY Act. Summary Bernstein maintained its Outperform rating and $140 Circle price target, implying about 59% upside from Friday’s close. USDC supply increased by about $1.7 billion over the past week after nearly six months of largely flat growth. Adjusted stablecoin transaction volume is tracking at a $17 trillion annualized rate through July, according to Bernstein. Bernstein said Circle’s growth cycle…

Solana validators and delegators began voting on three network governance proposals on Aug. 23, covering a proposed constitution, faster SOL disinflation and a redesigned transaction fee structure. Summary Three Solana governance proposals are testing constitutional rules, faster disinflation and redesigned transaction fees simultaneously. Voting remains open through epoch 1023, currently expected to end Thursday at approximately 15:30 UTC. SGP-0002 would double annual disinflation from 15% to 30% while preserving Solana’s terminal inflation floor. SGP-0003 proposes a fixed inclusion payment alongside a resource fee burned entirely by the protocol. Stake-weighted approval requires one-third participation and support from two-thirds of participating stake…

Stablecoin neobank Fasset raised $68 million in a Series C funding round led by Japan’s SBI Group, reaching a private valuation of $1 billion on Aug. 24. Summary Fasset raised $68 million in a Series C round led by Japan’s SBI Group Monday. The financing valued Fasset at $1 billion and lifted its 2026 fundraising to $119 million. Fasset says annualized transaction volume exceeds $40 billion across customers operating in 125 countries worldwide. Chief executive Mohammad Raafi Hossain said revenue grew sixfold while profitability continued for twelve months. Fasset’s Own Network connects financial institutions across more than 100 banking corridors…

Upbit will add a South Korean won trading market for Lighter’s LIT token at 1:00 pm KST on Aug. 24, according to an official exchange announcement. Summary Upbit will open LIT trading against South Korea’s won at 1:00 pm KST August 24. Deposits and withdrawals are supported only through Ethereum using Upbit’s specified LIT contract address exclusively. Buy orders will remain restricted for approximately five minutes after KRW trading begins on Upbit. Only limit orders will be available during the first two hours of trading support initially. LIT staking grants access to Lighter’s liquidity pool and can provide platform fee…

Robert Kiyosaki renewed his call to buy Bitcoin on Aug. 22, arguing that financially educated investors use scarce assets to protect their wealth from inflation and a weakening U.S. dollar. Summary Kiyosaki urged investors to buy Bitcoin, gold, silver, and selected real estate as dollar hedges. Treasury is doubling long-dated buyback limits to at least $4 billion per operation in September. Treasury buybacks manage market liquidity and debt operations; they are not Federal Reserve quantitative easing. Kiyosaki’s $350,000 Bitcoin target for August 2024 did not materialize despite his continuing long-term bullish forecasts. Bitcoin traded near $76,000 following a weekly rally…

Onchain investigator ZachXBT said he may automatically reject future requests from crypto victims in seven jurisdictions. Summary ZachXBT said he may automatically reject future victim requests originating from seven named jurisdictions worldwide. Canada, the UK, India, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria and Bangladesh appeared on his stated list publicly. His planned website would restrict access from jurisdictions he personally characterized as low quality regions. No launch date, website address, eligibility rules or appeal process has been publicly disclosed yet. The proposed restrictions reflect ZachXBT’s personal experiences, not government sanctions, court orders or legislation anywhere. The named jurisdictions were Canada, the UK, India,…

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong urged senators to support the CLARITY Act during an Aug. 20 interview, arguing that permanent legislation could protect crypto users and limit regulatory overreach by future administrations. Summary Senate records schedule the CLARITY Act cloture motion for September 15 at 2:15 p.m. Eastern. Armstrong said statutory crypto rules would protect consumers while limiting future government regulatory overreach risks. The House passed H.R. 3633 by 294-134 before Senate Banking advanced it 15-9 in May. Sixty Senate votes are required for cloture, leaving Republicans dependent on support from several Democrats. September 16 agency action remains Armstrong’s stated alternative,…

Kalshi has blocked customers in Washington while asking a King County judge to reconsider an injunction restricting its prediction markets. Summary Washington requires Kalshi to block residents from seven event-contract categories under an amended preliminary injunction. Kalshi requested reconsideration after Washington agreed to delay enforcement against federally regulated competitor OG temporarily. September 2 is the scheduled decision date for Kalshi’s reconsideration request without oral argument currently. Michigan and Nevada also restrict Kalshi access while litigation over federal preemption continues nationwide. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig expects new event-contract proposals covering consumer protection and market governance requirements. The Aug. 21 motion argues…

BitMart said on Aug. 21 that it was exploring a restructuring plan involving creditor distributions and the phased restart of selected operations, less than four weeks after announcing a complete wind-down. Summary BitMart appointed White & Case while evaluating creditor distributions and a phased operational restart plan. September 9 is BitMart’s deadline for another update, not a guaranteed restructuring completion date yet. Existing notices still schedule all trading to end August 26 at 01:00 UTC unless revised. BitMart has not published creditor eligibility, payout percentages, reserve data or a court filing publicly. BMX trades near $0.06 after losing roughly 80%…

Michael Saylor renewed his case for Bitcoin on Aug. 23, describing the asset as a mechanism for converting economic value into a digital form that individuals, companies and governments can control. Summary Michael Saylor described Bitcoin as digital economic energy that entities can securely control and preserve. Strategy reported holding 840,447 Bitcoin, representing roughly 4% of Bitcoin’s fixed 21-million maximum supply worldwide. Strategy’s preferred shares are conventional securities, not blockchain tokens collateralized directly by specific Bitcoin holdings. At $77,175 Bitcoin prices, Strategy’s holdings exceeded aggregate acquisition cost by approximately $1.5 billion on Sunday. Strategy held $4.80B cash reserve after raising…