Uncategorized
Donald Trump Signs Order Letting Crypto Into 401(k) Retirement Plans

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to allow crypto investments in 401(k) retirement plans, opening the gates for millions of dollars to flow into the asset class.
The order, which also allows for private equity investments, is poised to dramatically widen the scope of what retirement plan providers can direct funds to. This in turn could help crypto prices while further integrating digital assets with the broader financial system.
«Alternative assets, such as private equity, real estate, and digital assets, offer competitive returns and diversification benefits,» a fact sheet published Thursday said.
While it was never technically prohibited to add crypto to a retirement plan, the Department of Labor previously put out guidance for fiduciaries to “exercise extreme care before they consider adding a cryptocurrency option to a 401(k) plan’s investment menu for plan participants.»
In May, that guidance was fully rescinded. Trump’s order would now direct the DOL to publish new guidance which would put cryptocurrencies in the same bucket as other assets.
This could encourage wealth managers, who previously stayed away from the risky asset class, to reconsider their positions, possibly bringing millions of dollars into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) holding bitcoin (BTC) and other assets, or the cryptos directly.
“This order isn’t about the government saying ‘crypto belongs in 401(k)s.’ It’s about the government getting out of the way and letting people make their own decisions,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise.
The order comes as crypto assets have finished one of its best quarters to date, with many of them reaching new all-time highs in June amid several promising steps towards clearer regulation in the U.S. Bitcoin, which is currently trading at $117,351 and is up 26% year-to-date, has also been seeing its volatility shrink to levels not seen since 2023, signaling a maturing market and investor confidence.
While both spot crypto as well as other financial vehicles holding the assets will be ok to add to retirement plans, given the risk-averse nature of such investments, many managers could reach for the ETFs rather than direct exposure.
“I already trade the BTC ETFs in my IRA. I think the BTC ETFs are fine for retirement accounts. But straight coin seems too risky and would be better suited to non retirement accounts,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, CEO of Hirsch Holdings and editor-in-chief of Stock Trader’s Almanac.
The spot bitcoin ETFs have seen unprecedented success since their launch in January 2024. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) alone is now handling over $85 billion worth of bitcoin.
Debanking order
Trump signed several executive orders on Thursday, including another one addressing debanking. A fact sheet published by the White House said the order would «ensure that Federal regulators do not promote policies and practices that allow financial institutions to deny or restrict services based on political beliefs, religious beliefs or lawful business activities, ensuring fair access to banking for all Americans.»
The order itself directs federal banking regulators, the Small Business Administration and the Treasury Secretary, alongside other officials, to «remove the use of reputation risk or equivalent concepts that could result in politicized or unlawful debanking» within the next six months.
The order itself did not mention crypto, though the fact sheet said the «digital assets industry has also been the target of unfair debanking initiatives.»
Uncategorized
CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Index Drops 2.5% as Nearly All Constituents Decline

CoinDesk Indices presents its daily market update, highlighting the performance of leaders and laggards in the CoinDesk 20 Index.
The CoinDesk 20 is currently trading at 4248.74, down 2.5% (-109.09) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.
One of 20 assets is trading higher.
Leaders: AVAX (+0.6%) and BCH (-0.8%).
Laggards: UNI (-9.9%) and LINK (-7.0%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
Uncategorized
Pantera-Backed Solana Treasury Firm Helius Raises $500M, Stock Soars Over 200%

Helius Medical Technologies (HSDT) announced on Monday it’s raising more than $500 million in a private financing round to create a Solana-focused treasury company.
The vehicle will hold SOL, the native token of the Solana blockchain, as its reserve asset and aims to expand to more than $1.25 billion via stock warrants tied to the deal, the press release said.
The financing was led by Pantera Capital and Summer Capital, with participation from investors including Animoca Brands, FalconX and HashKey Capital.
Shares of the firm rallied over 200% above $24 in pre-market trading following the announcement. Solana was down 4% over the past 24 hours.
The firm is joining the latest wave of new digital asset treasuries, or DATs, with public companies pivoting to raise funds and buy cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH) or SOL.
Helius is set to rival with the recently launched Forward Industries (FORD) with a $1.65 billion war chest backed by Galaxy Digital and others. That firm confirmed on Monday that has already purchased 6.8 million tokens for roughly $1.58 billion last week.
Helius’ plan is to use Solana’s yield-bearing design to generate income on the holdings, earning staking rewards of around 7% as well as deploying tokens in decentralized finance (DeFi) and lending opportunities. Incoming executive chairman Joseph Chee, founder of Summer Capital and a former UBS banker, will lead the firm’s digital asset strategy alongside Pantera’s Cosmo Jiang and Dan Morehead.
«As a pioneer in the digital asset treasury space, having participated in the formation of the strategy at Twenty One Capital (CEP) with Tether, Softbank and Cantor, Bitmine (BMNR) with Tom Lee and Mozayyx as well as EightCo (OCTO) with Dan Ives and Sam Altman, we have built the expertise to set up the pre-eminent Solana treasury vehicle,» Cosmo Jiang, general partner at Pantera Capital, said in a statement.
«There is a real opportunity to drive the flywheel of creating shareholder value that Michael Saylor has pioneered with Strategy by accelerating Solana adoption,» he added.
Read more: Solana Surges as Galaxy Scoops Up Over $700M Tokens From Exchanges
Uncategorized
American Express Introduces Blockchain-Based ‘Travel Stamps’

American Express has introduced Ethereum-based ‘travel stamps’ to create a commemorative record of travel experiences, as part of the firm’s revamped travel app.
The travel experience tokens, which are technically NFTs (ERC 721 tokens), are minted and stored on Coinbase’s Base network, said Colin Marlowe , VP, Emerging Partnerships at Amex Digital Labs.
The travel stamps, which can be collected anytime a traveler uses their card, are not tradable NTF tokens, Marlowe explained, and neither do they function like blockchain-based loyalty points – at least for the time being.
“It’s a valueless ERC-721, so technically an NFT, but we just didn’t brand it as such. We wanted to speak to it in a way that was natural for the travel experience itself, and so we talk about these things as stamps, and they’re represented as tokens,” Marlowe said in an interview.
“As an identifier and representation of history the stamps could create interesting partnership angles over time. We weren’t trying to sell these or sort of generate any like short term revenue. The angle is to make a travel experience with Amex feel really rich, really different, and kind of set it apart,” he said.
The Amex travel app also includes a range of tools for travels and Centurion Lounge upgrades, the company said.
-
Business11 месяцев ago
3 Ways to make your business presentation more relatable
-
Fashion11 месяцев ago
According to Dior Couture, this taboo fashion accessory is back
-
Entertainment11 месяцев ago
10 Artists who retired from music and made a comeback
-
Entertainment11 месяцев ago
\’Better Call Saul\’ has been renewed for a fourth season
-
Entertainment11 месяцев ago
New Season 8 Walking Dead trailer flashes forward in time
-
Business11 месяцев ago
15 Habits that could be hurting your business relationships
-
Entertainment11 месяцев ago
Meet Superman\’s grandfather in new trailer for Krypton
-
Entertainment11 месяцев ago
Disney\’s live-action Aladdin finally finds its stars