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Former Bittrex Execs Raise $40M in Bitcoin to Back Barbados-Licensed Insurance Firm

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Tabit Insurance, a Barbados-regulated insurance company established by former executives from the now-shuttered cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex, said it raised a $40 million reserve composed entirely of bitcoin (BTC) with which to write traditional insurance and reinsurance business.

The insurer, which emerged in January of this year with plans to offer bitcoin-backed liability policies for company directors and officers (D&O), claims to be the first regulated risk carrier to rely on bitcoin-only reserves to write traditional policies priced in U.S. dollars. The firm has a class 2 insurance license from the Barbados Financial Services Commission.

The crossover between crypto and insurance usually involves shoehorning existing risk categories for loss and theft into covering hot and cold versions of digital assets custody. Tabit’s approach is interesting because it explores ways firms and individuals can capitalize on their bitcoin holdings without getting involved in trading or incurring significant counterparty risk.

Tabit co-founder and CEO Stephen Stonberg said bitcoin holders are invited to contribute assets to the firm’s system of segregated reserve cells, which is managed using non-custodial tech from Fireblocks, to earn yields of around 10%. A good analogy from the world of insurance is the way accredited investors, known as “Names,” deploy assets into insurance syndicates at the Lloyd’s of London insurance market.

“For a technology like crypto, you may need a new underwriter, but the way the insurance is done is fundamentally the same as before,” Stonberg said in an interview. “We are holding our regulatory capital in bitcoin, and I think bringing in a new capital source to the insurance industry and innovating with the balance sheet is an opportunity that other people weren’t really looking at.”

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CoreWeave Goes Public at $40 Per Share, Raises $1.5 Billion

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Artificial intelligence-focused firm CoreWeave raised $1.5 billion for its initial public offering (IPO), valuing the company at roughly $23 billion, Bloomberg reported on Thursday night, confirming earlier reports that it had downsized its IPO.

The cloud provider sold 37.5 million shares at $40 each. It had initially planned to sell 49 million shares at $47 to $55 each, but a weaker-than-expected stock market posed difficulties for the company.

The company initially sought to raise $4 billion at a $35 billion valuation, reporting $1.9 billion in revenue last year but still seeing a net loss of nearly $900 million.

AI powerhouse Nvidia, an investor in CoreWeave, is anchoring the IPO with a $250 million order, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

CoreWeave is closely tied to bitcoin miner CoreScientific, which struck a multi-billion deal with the New Jersey-based firm to expand its artificial intelligence capabilities.

Nvidia’s own stock price is down 12% since the beginning of the year, The Information reported late Thursday, reflecting broader weakness in AI-focused firms.

UPDATE (March 28, 2025, 00:20 UTC): Adds additional detail.

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Sei Foundation Explores Buying 23andMe to Put Genetic Data on Blockchain

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The Sei Foundation, the nonprofit development organization behind the layer-1 blockchain Sei (SEI), is exploring the acquisition of bankrupt personal genomics company 23andMe and putting the genetic data of 15 million users on blockchain rails.

The foundation announced the initiative in an X post on Thursday, calling the plan its «boldest DeSci bet yet» — referring to the decentralized science movement. Earlier this year, it also launched a $65 million venture capital fund dedicated to DeSci startups building on the Sei network.

The foundation said that genomic data security is a national security matter, particularly as 23andMe grapples with financial difficulties. The company, known for its direct-to-consumer DNA testing services, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week.

If the acquisition proceeds, the Sei Fundation plans to integrate 23andMe’s data onto its blockchain and give users ownership of their genetic data, ensuring privacy through encrypted transfers and allowing individuals to decide how their data is monetized.

«This isn’t just about saving a company, it’s about building a future where your most personal data remains yours to control,» the foundation said.

Numerous state attorneys general have warned 23andme customers to delete their data from the platform in recent days since the company’s bankruptcy filing.

SEI, the native token of the network, climbed as much as 3% following the news before giving back some of the gains.

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Tokenized Gold Hits Record $1.4B Market Cap as Trading Volumes Soar in March

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The market capitalization of tokenized gold climbed to a record $1.4 billion in March with trading volumes soaring to yearly highs, CoinDesk Data’s monthly stablecoin report shows.

The growth in market value and activity happened alongside the physical yellow metal’s rally to fresh all-time highs above $3,000 per ounce. Tether’s gold-backed token (XAUT) and Paxos’ PAXG dominate among the offerings, with market capitalizations of $749 million and $653 million, respectively.

The trading volume with gold tokens surpassed $1.6 billion through the month, the highest level in more than a year, according to the report.

The overall stablecoin market, which includes tokens with prices pegged to fiat currencies and commodities, climbed above $231 billion market cap this month, growing for the 18th consecutive month, the report said.

Tether’s USDT, the largest stablecoin on the market, also increased to a record supply of $144 billion. However, its market share dropped to the lowest level (62.1%) since March 2023 as the stablecoin landscape is getting increasingly competitive. Circle’s USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, grew 7% in a month to near $60 billion.

Decentralized finance protocol Ethena’s recently launched dollar stablecoin USDtb, which uses BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund BUIDL as a reserve asset, quickly gobbled up over $1 billion of assets to become the 8th largest by market cap.

In terms of trading volumes on centralized exchanges, USDT’s dominance slightly declined, but still stood above competition at 75.7% through the month among the top ten stablecoins. Meanwhile, USDC and Hong Kong-based First Digital’s FDUSD saw their trading market cap dominance rise to 13.6% and 10%, respectively.

Regulatory shifts have been reshaping the market of euro-denominated stablecoins, as exchanges moved to comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Kraken delisted USDT and other non-compliant stablecoins for European users, following the footsteps of other exchanges such as Coinbase and Crypto.com.

Circle’s EURC stablecoin was a notable beneficiary of the developments, growing nearly 30% to $157 million market cap and claiming a 45% market share of all euro stablecoins.

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