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Circle Goes Full Circle

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By sheer luck, I had an opening bell media hit with NYSE TV this last Thursday, the day Circle listed as CRCL. The NYSE studio is upstairs at gallery level. I’d first visited the NYSE on the same gallery balcony as a boy with my Dad. I remember getting the impression that IBM was a huge company that represented the future.

Circle staff and guests filed in at 9:15, a much larger delegation than most bell-ringings. Not only was the floor packed, but both galleries were full. As the applause started, precisely at 9:29:30, everything else stopped. This wasn’t the usual opening bell tea ceremony. NYSE President Lynn Martin stood beside an air-punching Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, and the specialists, floor brokers, and other floor inhabitants joined in the cacophony. The energy took over the whole floor in a way that felt exceptional.

I asked, cheekily, to the NYSE TV folks which specialist booth would trade CRCL. No one had any idea what I was talking about. The producer decided to move our hit to the floor with a handheld microphone and change our subject from bitcoin to stablecoins on the fly. That was fine—plenty to say about stablecoins.

Standing within feet of Jeremy Allaire on the floor next to the bell balcony, doing our five-minute segment, it was pure electricity. It was the feeling when you finish a marathon and a beaming volunteer places a medal around your neck.

Accomplishment and validation. This was a moment enabled by a friendlier SEC and coincident with meaningful blockchain legislation, but it didn’t have the vibe of MSTR rapture or youthful DeFi exuberance. It felt mature and financial—adults celebrating.

A long time coming

USDC sprang to life in September 2018, just before a local peak in U.S. interest rates. In retrospect, it was a handy time to launch, when carry (yield from backing assets) was positive but yield expectations in crypto (whose practitioners mostly grew up in a zero interest rate world) remained low. When COVID hit, in 2020, ZIRP (Zero-Interest-Rate-Policy) returned suddenly, threatening the business model, but prompting crypto adoption and experimentalism.

When the Fed aggressively raised rates in 2022 to help metabolize $5 trillion in COVID fiscal stimulus, stablecoins faced the opposite combination of supportive and threatening forces: higher carry revenues, but traumatized markets.

Circle’s failed SPAC attempt spanned this transition. Announced in July 2021 when 3-month yields were 0.05%, the Concord Acquisition deal was renegotiated in February 2022 (as rates began their historic climb) and ultimately terminated in December 2022—right as rates hit 4.42%. The SEC never declared the S-4 registration statement effective. The transaction «timed out» waiting for regulatory approval, just as the underlying economics of Circle’s business were being boosted by soaring rates.

Like yields

Now, several years into a 4-5% rate environment, the model has adapted and appears to be working. USDC holders can receive «rewards» on Coinbase that are similar to risk-free yields. On-chain cash holdings and collateral can be enhanced with tokenized treasuries. The GENIUS Act on stablecoins appears in good shape for passage, opening up the market for greater stablecoin adoption and participation.

The U.S. government has a new potential multi-trillion dollar customer for U.S. treasuries, providing much-needed demand for U.S. debt, which has become a chess piece in global trade. Circle (and other stablecoin issuers) are enjoying a good carry scenario, although near-term profitability has significant interest rate risk, now under the watchful scrutiny of CRCL shareholders and analysts.

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Crypto Market Maker Wintermute Snags Bitcoin Credit Line From Cantor Fitzgerald

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Wintermute, a digital assets-focused market maker and OTC desk, has attained a bitcoin(BTC)-backed credit line from Cantor Fitzgerald, following similar financing deals announced last month with Maple Finance and FalconX.

Cantor said the newly launched Bitcoin Financing Business is expected to provide up to $2 billion in financing during its initial rollout. The size of Wintermute’s deal with the investment bank was not disclosed.

The lending and borrowing of crypto was taking place on an industrial scale several years back, but many of the firms involved either incurred heavy losses or were forced into bankruptcy as contagion spread through the industry. But Cantor’s debut perhaps signals a new and more institution-friendly phase.

Wintermute is currently expanding its presence in the U.S., where a groundswell of movement is happening in crypto trading under Donald Trump’s pro-innovation administration.

Institutional demand for digital assets such as bitcoin, stablecoins, and select high beta altcoins continues to accelerate, driven by catalysts such as ETF developments and shifts in interest rate environments, said Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy.

“Given the capital intensive nature of our operations, especially OTC trading, which involves managing settlement windows and maintaining capital across multiple venues, the facility enhances our ability to hedge risks effectively across exchanges and maintain broad market coverage,” Gaevoy said in an email.

Read more: Wall Street Giant Cantor Debuts Bitcoin Lending Business With First Tranches to FalconX, Maple

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BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Snaps Four-Week Downtrend in Volumes

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BlackRock’s spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on Nasdaq under the ticker IBIT rose 3.49% last week, snapping a four-week downtrend in trading volumes.

A total of 210.02 million shares changed hands in the week ended June 27, registering a 22.2% growth from the preceding week’s volume tally of 171.74 million shares, according to data source TradingView. That’s the first weekly growth since the third week of May.

The renewed upswing in volume comes amid continued demand for the ETF. Last week, IBIT registered a net inflow of $1.31 billion, following the preceding week’s tally of $1.23 billion. The largest publicly listed fund has amassed $3.74 billion in investor money this month, according to data source SoSoValue.

The 11 spot ETFs listed in the U.S. have collectively registered a net inflow of over $4 billion this month, marking the third consecutive monthly inflow.

IBIT's weekly chart with trading volumes. (TradingView/CoinDesk)

The chart shows that IBIT has formed a bull flag, mimicking the bullish continuation pattern on the spot BTC price chart.

A breakout, if confirmed, would signal an extension of the bull run from early April lows near $42.98.

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Bhutan Bets on Binance Pay to Power Crypto-Backed Tourism Economy

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Bhutan is going full tilt on crypto — not just to modernize its financial rails, but to attract high-value global travelers and build a digitally resilient economy.

At the Digital Bhutan panel, co-hosted by Binance, officials laid out a clear vision: bring crypto out of theory and into everyday life.

“Tourists complain they can’t use SWIFT or pay easily. Binance Pay fixes that,” said Damcho Rinzin, director of the department of tourism. Rinzin added that travelers are already using crypto to buy local goods — in one case, even groceries to cook their own meals.

Bhutan’s ambitions remain modest, just 300,000 visitors a year. But it wants them to stay longer and spend more — with Binance Pay’s 40 million plus user base as a lever. Binance CEO Richard Teng framed it as a shift from speculation to infrastructure.

“This is the first national crypto payments system,” Teng said. “The average crypto tourist spends $1,000 — nearly three times a regular tourist — and merchants receive instant settlements,” he added.

With over 1,000 merchants onboarded, and zero fees on Binance Pay compared to steep charges from other providers, Bhutan hopes to build a community-driven, tech-savvy ecosystem that aligns with its values. DK Bank, which played a pioneering role in Bhutan’s early bitcoin mining efforts, is now spearheading crypto adoption on the ground.

“Mobile and QR payments are already high,” said the bank’s CEO, Ugyen Tenzin said. “Crypto just fits,» he added.

«And this is just the start,» said Hobeng Lim, managing director of finance at Gelephu Mindfulness City. Gelephu Mindfulness City is a planned city in the country which merges technology, like blockchain, with culture, and sustainability.,

Lim added that they are many more blockchain-native projects in the pipeline, with digital assets formally recognized as a future growth engine.

“Crypto is not a side experiment, It’s a core industry,” Lim said.

Read more: Bhutan’s Crypto Reserve Could Pave Way for Economic Growth in Other Countries

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