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Standard Chartered Says It’s the First Global Bank to Offer Spot Bitcoin, Ether Trading

Cryptocurrency-friendly lender Standard Chartered is claiming bragging rights of being the first global bank to offer spot trading in bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) to institutional clients.
The offering, rolled out through the bank’s UK branches, is available initially via our U.K. entity, during Asia and Europe trading hours, with 24/5 access under consideration as client demand evolves, said Rene Michau, global head of digital assets.
“Standard Chartered is the first global systemically important bank to be offering cryptoasset trading.” Michau said in an email. “We define institutional clients as financial institutions such as asset managers and investors, and large multinational companies who are clients of our corporate and investment banking division.”
Standard Chartered has been involved in crypto and digital assets for some time. The bank now offers digital assets custody and trading through its corporate and investment bank, and through the companies StanChart invested in, such as Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets. It also offers digital asset tokenization services, through its portfolio company Libeara.
The new service is integrated into Standard Chartered’s existing trading platforms, allowing corporates, asset managers and institutional investors to access crypto markets through familiar FX interfaces. Clients can settle trades to a custodian of their choice, including Standard Chartered’s in-house custody service.
The focus for now will remain on BTC and ETH spot trading with plans to expand the services suite for these crypto assets including the introduction of non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) trading, Michau said.
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CoinDesk 20 Performance Update: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Drops 3.1% as Index Trades Lower

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 3578.43, down 1.3% (-47.45) since 4 p.m. ET on Monday.
Two of 20 assets are trading higher.
Leaders: SUI (+3.4%) and XLM (+2.2%).
Laggards: BCH (-3.1%) and POL (-2.8%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
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Crypto Banking Startup Dakota Raises $12.5M for Global Stablecoin Push

Dakota, a crypto-integrated banking platform for businesses, has raised $12.5 million in a Series A round to expand its borderless banking services, the firm said on Tuesday.
The investment was led by CoinFund, with participation from 6th Man Ventures and Triton Ventures.
The announcement comes at a time when stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies tied to an external asset, predominantly to the U.S. dollar, are increasingly becoming part of traditional finance plumbing and a tool for cheaper, faster cross-border payments. Stablecoin regulation is also advancing in the U.S., with the Senate already having passed the GENIUS Act and the House aiming to vote on the proposal on Thursday.
«We believe stablecoins can revolutionize business banking,» Alex Felix, CIO of CoinFund, said in a statement. «Dakota is unlocking that potential by combining the familiarity of a bank account with the power of crypto rails.»
The startup, founded by alumni of Coinbase, Square, and Airbnb, lets businesses hold and move funds in U.S. dollars or stablecoins while using traditional payment networks like ACH, SWIFT and SEPA. Businesses can send or receive payments via regular bank accounts on the platform without touching crypto directly. Behind the scenes, it uses blockchain to settle transfers nearly instantly, offering an alternative to conventional banking.
The firm keeps customer deposits fully reserved and backed 1:1 by short-term U.S. Treasuries, aiming to eliminate liquidity and counterparty risks.
With the funding, the firm is now expanding its services to over 100 countries, including the UK, European Union, Singapore and parts of Latin America.
«Business today is borderless, and dollars are a universal language,» said Dakota CEO Ryan Bozarth. «We want to give entrepreneurs from Bogotá to Bangalore the same access to U.S. dollar banking that a startup in San Francisco would have.»
Read more: House Gears Up for Crypto Market Structure Vote on Wednesday, Stablecoins Thursday
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Risc Zero’s ‘Boundless’ Incentivized Testnet Goes Live

Boundless, the decentralized zero-knowledge (ZK) compute marketplace powered by RISC Zero, has launched its incentivized testnet (which it is calling “Mainnet Beta”) on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum layer-2 network.
With Boundless’ incentivized testnet, developers can build and test applications in an environment as if the protocol is in fully live format. The network has already landed early support from industry heavyweights like the Ethereum Foundation, Wormhole and EigenLayer.
A decentralized marketplace for zero-knowledge compute connects those who need zero-knowledge proofs — such as developers building rollups, bridges, or privacy-preserving applications — with a distributed network of independent “ZK provers or miners” who generate and verify those proofs. Instead of relying on centralized parties, this model allows anyone with the right hardware to contribute computing power and be rewarded for doing that cryptographic work.
Zero-knowledge (ZK) technology allows parties to prove that a transaction is valid without revealing sensitive details like identities or amounts. ZK proofs are widely seen as crucial to the next generation of privacy and scaling focused blockchain projects.
The network relies on a Proof of Verifiable Work (PoVW) consensus mechanism. “PoVW is an open proving market where ZK miners, like institutions and individuals with high-performance GPUs, are rewarded for successfully verifying proofs,» the team wrote in a press release shared with CoinDesk. “Unlike traditional Proof of Work, miners get rewarded for verification within a ZK Virtual Machine, ensuring efficiency, fairness, and security.”
In addition, those who will participate in the incentivized testnet will be able to earn early allocations of the network’s forthcoming token, $ZKC, with an airdrop event planned for later this year. Rewards are distributed based on the volume, speed, and complexity of proofs generated.
The team also shared that the network’s real mainnet is planned for the third quarter of 2025, with the token going live then too.
“Boundless makes blockchains more scalable by allowing secure, cross-chain computing without repeating the same tasks. This boosts efficiency, strengthens security, and lets developers and miners join in across different ecosystems,” said Shiv Shankar, the CEO of Boundless, in the press release.
Read more: Blockchain Capital Leads $40M Round for Crypto Firm RISC Zero
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