Amid China’s cryptocurrency crackdown, souring investor sentiment and the United States Federal Reserve chairman blasting stablecoins, there hasn’t been much to cheer about on the crypto front lately, but Circle Internet Financial’s initial public offering announcement in mid-July showed that a crypto startup was still capable of attracting billions of dollars in fresh investments. Circle’s merger with Concord Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, values Circle at $4.5 billion, and the combined entity is expected to debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CRCL before the end of the year. The merger/offering was generally …

Hop Protocol, a team working on interoperability within Ethereum’s layer-two ecosystem, has launched its Hop bridge for the first time. A Monday blog post notes that the bridge has been launched with limited functionality, currently supporting “instant” USD Coin (USDC) transfers between the Ethereum mainnet, Polygon and xDai Chain. Hop plans to expand the number and assets it supports over “the next couple of weeks,” including crypto assets Ether (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), as well as stablecoins Dai (DAI) and Tether (USDT), and forthcoming layer-two networks Optimism and Arbitrum. We're proud to officially launch the Hop bridge …

Stablecoin issuing platform ICHI has launched a Decentralized Monetary Authority, or DMA, that enables cryptocurrency networks to more easily mint their own stablecoins securely. By utilizing ICHI’s DMA, cryptocurrency communities can create and govern their own fully-collateralized stablecoins and set their value at exactly $1. ICHI’s developers say their platform solves the myriad of challenges associated with existing stablecoins, including the need to sell other cryptocurrencies to mint more tokens. This problem is akin to selling a stock, which simultaneously decreases the value of that stock. ICHI’s platform seeks to provide the benefits of fiat-backed coins like USDC and USDT …

Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have opened the doors to a whole new world of finance. In their most basic form, cryptocurrencies allow people to transact in a fully trustless, transparent and efficient manner, cutting out the centralized intermediaries and counterparty risk previously associated with digital money transfers. Thanks to blockchain technology, value can now be transferred on a worldwide scale within seconds/minutes and with relatively low fees — and that’s not all. However, Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) are still too volatile to be used as currency, a factor that has hindered their mass adoption. Although Bitcoin and blockchain technology …

A decentralized platform allows investors to gain access to well-balanced baskets of digital assets that serve as an effective store of value. Digital Reserve offers several portfolios — the construction of which are based on votes from community members. The project says no single entity or person is in control, as users interact directly with smart contracts. The first portfolio is geared toward capital appreciation. While 40% is allocated to Wrapped Bitcoin, 40% is also dedicated to PAX Gold, an asset-backed token that is pegged to a troy ounce of the precious metal. The remaining 20% is allocated to Wrapped …

Major cryptocurrency lending company BlockFi has added support for two new assets to its list of supported digital currencies. According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 8, the firm has added major altcoin Litecoin (LTC) and USD Coin (USDC) — the dollar-backed stablecoin from major United States-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. The new additions mean that BlockFi users can now trade and receive loans as well as interest with the aforementioned cryptocurrencies. Clients can earn monthly compounding interest through the BlockFi Interest Account (BIA). USDC carries an annual percentage yield (APY) of 8.6%, while Litecoin’s APY through the …