Guido Cannetti, an Argentinian Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, is now the first martial arts athlete in the country to receive 100% of his salary in stablecoins, amid rising inflation and Argentina's economic deteriorating, announced the crypto payroll company Bitwage on Monday. Dubbed El Ninja, he returns to the Octagon on October 1st in the United States to face the local fighter Randy Costa. According to Bitwage, Guido will receive his payment in USDC stablecoin via the Stellar Network on Vibrant, a wallet application developed by the Stellar team specifically for Argentines experiencing inflation. As per official government figures', inflation …

The market capitalization of USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin issued by U.S.-based payment tech firm Circle, has dropped below $50 billion for the first time since January 2022. On the weekly chart, USDC's market cap, which reflects the number of U.S. dollar-backed tokens in circulation, fell to $49.39 billion on Sep. 26, down almost 12% from its record high of $55.88 billion, established merely three months ago. In contrast, the market cap of Tether (USDT), which risked losing its top stablecoin position to USDC in May, crossed above $68 billion on Sep. 26, albeit still down 17.4% from its record …

Most crypto investors have probably never heard of Wintermute Trading before the Sept. 20 $160 million hack, but that does not reduce their significance within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The London-based algorithmic trading and crypto lending firm also provides liquidity to some of the largest exchanges and blockchain projects. As a crypto-native trading firm, meaning digital assets have been the core since its inception in July 2017, Wintermute’s expertise in the sector is attested by $25 million in funding from global venture capital investors like Fidelity Investments, Pantera Capital and Blockchain.com Ventures. Lending and venture capital firms have limited impact on …

Major Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has opted to delist the USD Coin (USDC) from its platform and convert the remaining balances into Binance-backed Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin. WazirX officially announced on Monday that it has stopped deposits of USDC alongside other stablecoins like Pax Dollar (USDP) and TrueUSD (TUSD). According to the announcement, the platform will instead offer the BUSD stablecoin to enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users. WazirX will implement BUSD auto-conversion for users' existing balances of USDC, USDP and TUSD at a 1:1 ratio on Oct. 5, the firm said. “Users will be able to view their …

Crypto derivatives exchange Bybit has partnered with stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial to expand its suite of spot trading pairs denominated in USD Coin (USDC) — a move the company says will increase retail and institutional access to USDC-settled products. Under the partnership agreement, Bybit will expand its USDC spot pairs to include several additional cryptocurrencies and make auto conversions between the United States dollar and USDC available, the company disclosed Wednesday. Bybit said it intends to collaborate with Circle on other initiatives to boost stablecoin and crypto adoption. Currently, Bybit supports around 35 USDC spot pairs, according to a …

The percentage of USD Circle (USDC) stablecoins held by major wallet addresses dropped to its lowest point in almost two years as the cryptocurrency market downturn continues. Cryptocurrency analytics firm Glassnode has released the latest data on USDC metrics, reflecting a recent sell-off of the second biggest U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin by market capitalization. $USDC Percent Supply Held by Top 1% Addresses just reached a 22-month low of 87.667% Previous 22-month low of 87.669% was observed on 20 August 2022 View metric:https://t.co/EU57HUtLdu pic.twitter.com/dG7Qj1bAjF — glassnode alerts (@glassnodealerts) August 22, 2022 As Cointelegraph previously reported, sanctions imposed on cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash …

Stablecoin issuers like Tether (USDT) and Circle have accumulated a significant share in the United States Treasury market, outperforming major traditional finance players. Various stablecoin providers collectively held $80 billion worth of short-term U.S. government debt as of May 2022, according to a study by the investment bank JPMorgan, The Financial Times reported on Aug. 20. Tether, Circle and other stablecoin firms accounted for 2% of the total market for the U.S. Treasury bills, holding a bigger share of T-bills than totally owned by Warren Buffett’s investment giant Berkshire Hathaway. Stablecoin issuers have also outperformed offshore money market funds (MMF) …

The market capitalization of Tether (USDT) tokens has increased by nearly $2 billion since the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash. The Office of Foreign Asset Control essentially barred Americans from using Tornado Cash on Aug. 8, blacklisting 44 USD Coin (USDC) and Ether (ETH) addresses connected to the service to a list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN). OFAC alleges that Tornado Cash was used by individuals and criminal organizations to launder over $7 billion worth of cryptocurrency since 2019. Funds linked to North Korean Lazarus Group hackers are also believed to have …

A new nonfungible token collection is aiming to give a substantial contribution to a charitable foundation supporting Ukrainians following Russia's invasion. Blockasset says the NFT release has been organized in collaboration with world heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk, who is from Ukraine himself. The sale comes ahead of Usyk's world title defence against Anthony Joshua on August 20. There are 2,000 one-of-one NFTs of unique artwork, and they feature quirky designs by the world-renowned artist Dosbrak — chronicling some of the key moments from the boxer's undefeated professional career. When the invasion began, Usyk had joined Kyiv's territorial defence battalion …

Circle has released a full breakdown of its USD Coin (USDC) holdings for the first time — a move designed to offer transparency and instill greater trust in the stablecoin issuer. As of June 30, Circle’s $55.7 billion reserves were comprised of $42.12 billion in short-term United States Treasuries and $13.58 billion in cash held at regulated financial institutions in the country, the company disclosed Thursday. The weighted average maturity of its Treasury assets was 43.9 days. “The USDC reserve is held solely in cash and 3-month U.S. Treasuries, held in segregated accounts for the benefit of USDC holders, and …

Banking Circle, a European bank focused on cross-border payments, is adopting a major U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin for payment rails. The firm officially announced on Friday the adoption of the USD Coin (USDC) on its platform as a payment acceptance, processing and settlement method. The new payment feature is enabled as part of Banking Circle’s new service targeting banks and payment providers, allowing them to facilitate payments outside traditional bank rails. Coinbase, a major cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, will be one of the crypto liquidity providers for Bank Circle, the announcement notes. The USDC adoption by Banking Circle is …

The growth of Circle's native stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) in the last two months compared to its $66-billion rival giant Tether (USDT) is nothing short of spectacular. USDT, USDC market cap ratio hits the lowest on record Notably, USDC's market capitalization has grown by 8.27% since May, reaching its highest level of $55.9 billion on July 2. In contrast, USDT has suffered an over 19% drop in its market valuation, currently treading around $66.14 billion. This is the closest USDC has come to challenging USDT's supremacy in the stablecoin sector based on the diminishing gap between their market caps. In …