BlackRock is doubling down on Ethereum by buying up more Bitmine shares during the market dip, the firm disclosed on Thursday. The asset manager’s Bitmine holdings surged by 166% to $246 million in the fourth-quarter of 2025, according to a 13F-HR form filed with the SEC, Fintel data shows. Tom Lee, the chair of Bitmine who predicts $250,000 per Ethereum, commented on the move with clapping emojis in a post on X. BlackRock’s big vote of confidence comes as Ethereum’s price has fallen by 60% from its Au ...

Feb 12 (Reuters) - LSEG said on Thursday it plans to build an on-chain settlement service for institutional investors called ‌the LSEG Digital Securities Depository, which will connect traditional ‌and digital securities markets. This will enable trading and settlement of tokenised bonds, equities and ​private market assets across multiple blockchain networks, while remaining interoperable with existing settlement platforms, the London Stock Exchange operator said. The move comes as LSEG faces pressure ...

Tokenised collateral is shifting from experimental pilots into core financial market infrastructure, according to comments from Keith Grose, UK CEO of Coinbase, as central banks and institutions accelerate real-world deployment. Grose explains growing engagement from central banks signals that tokenisation has moved beyond the crypto-native ecosystem and into mainstream financial plumbing, particularly around liquidity and collateral management. From Pilots to Production “When central banks start talki ...

Europe has undoubtedly emerged as an early leader in this area. With MiCA now in force and the DLT Pilot Regime enabling structured digital-securities experimentation, the region has moved beyond fragmented sandboxes. The European market is the first to implement a unified, continent-wide regulatory framework for tokenised assets. Instead of treating compliance as an obstacle, the region has elevated regulatory clarity into a competitive advantage . It provides the legal, operational and technical certainty ...

The New York Stock Exchange is building a platform to trade tokenised versions of US-listed equities and exchange-traded funds and settle those trades on the blockchain. The platform will allow instant settlement, 24/7 trading and stablecoin-based funding, according to a company statement on Monday. Intercontinental Exchange Inc, owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is seeking US regulatory approval to launch the new platform some time this year. If approved, the platform will “power a new NYSE venue t ...

Core Insights - Bitmine is staking nearly $4 billion worth of Ethereum, representing about one-third of its total holdings of $13 billion, positioning itself as the largest staking provider in the crypto ecosystem with projected annualized revenue of $374 million [1] - Bitmine owns 3.45% of the total Ethereum supply and aims to increase this to 5%, despite Ethereum trading 37% below its all-time high [2] - The overall crypto market has seen a significant decline, losing $1 trillion in value, with current market capitalization at $3.1 trillion, which is 27% lower than its peak in October [2] Company Developments - Bitmine has received backing from prominent institutional investors, including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund and Cathie Wood's ARK Invest, making it the largest Ethereum treasury globally [1] - The company recently purchased an additional $76 million worth of Ethereum, indicating continued investment in the asset [5] Market Context - Despite the downturn in crypto prices, Ethereum is gaining traction on Wall Street, with JPMorgan selecting it for its first tokenized money market fund valued at $9 trillion, and Morgan Stanley filing for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund [5] - Bitmine's strategy comes at a challenging time for Digital Asset Treasuries (DATs), which have faced pressure as many public firms transitioning to DATs are trading below their underlying crypto asset values [4] Future Outlook - Tom Lee, a prominent figure in the Ethereum space, predicts a bullish future for Ethereum, suggesting a potential price of $250,000 per Ethereum, equating to a $30 trillion valuation for the blockchain's token [6] - Lee anticipates that 2026 will be a year of recovery for crypto prices, with stronger gains expected in 2027-2028, likening the current market conditions to a "mini crypto winter" [7]

Russia’s patents office has granted Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, approval for a trademark for the Hadron tokenisation platform. Tether submitted its application to the Russian Federal Intellectual Property Office, known as Rospatent, in October 2025, the Russian newspaper RIA Novosti reported on January 10. Rospatent reviewed the application late last year and approved it earlier this month, the outlet wrote. The development indicates Tether is looking to get in on Russia’s fast-growing c ...

Core Insights - Lloyds Banking Group has executed the first-ever Gilt purchase using tokenised deposits on a public blockchain in the UK, marking a significant milestone in digital finance [1] Group 1: Transaction Overview - The transaction involved Lloyds Bank PLC issuing tokenised deposits on the Canton Network, which is designed for regulated financial markets [2] - Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets utilized these tokenised deposits to purchase a tokenised UK Gilt issued by Archax [2] - Following the trade, Archax transferred the underlying funds back to its standard Lloyds bank account, demonstrating interoperability between blockchain and traditional banking systems [3] Group 2: Technology and Design - The Canton Network's public-but-private design was crucial, allowing broader industry participation while ensuring confidentiality and compliance, essential for institutional adoption [4] - Tokenisation enables instant settlement and atomic transactions, reducing counterparty risk, improving liquidity, and shortening settlement cycles, addressing inefficiencies in traditional capital markets [6] Group 3: Benefits of Tokenised Deposits - Tokenised deposits allow businesses to transact on blockchain networks while maintaining characteristics of traditional bank deposits, such as interest accrual and regulatory protections [7] - Firms can access and trade a wider range of assets across both traditional and on-chain markets using a single cash instrument [7] - Additional benefits include real-time settlement, smart contract automation to mitigate operational risk, and enhanced transparency through distributed ledger records [8] Group 4: Future Implications - The Gilt purchase aligns with the UK government's exploration of issuing digital versions of traditional securities, showcasing how tokenisation can support this initiative [5] - Lloyds' transaction builds on previous digital asset collaborations with Archax, indicating a pathway to more efficient financial markets without compromising traditional banking safeguards [9]

Group 1: Core Insights - Russians are increasingly adopting cryptocurrency, supported by banks and regulators, to create an investment ecosystem that can bypass Western sanctions [1] - The future of finance in Russia is seen as digital, with expectations for tokenized securities, commodities, industrial Bitcoin mining, and crypto derivatives to gain traction by 2026 [1] Group 2: Digital Financial Assets (DFAs) - Digital financial assets (DFAs) in Russia have grown over a third, reaching a market size of $13 billion in 2025, according to the central bank [2] - DFAs are built on private blockchains and can only be traded on domestic platforms with central bank permits, positioning them at the center of Russia's blockchain-driven economic expansion [2] Group 3: DFA Market Growth - The total volume of Russian DFA placements increased by 33% in the first nine months of 2025, with yields on short-term DFAs surpassing short-term bond yields by an average of 1.7% [3] - The Russian government aims to achieve tax parity for DFA investors in 2026, aligning them with traditional bondholders, which is expected to significantly boost the DFA market [4] Group 4: Licensing and Market Expansion - Since the issuance of its first DFA by Atomyze, Moscow has granted operating licenses to 16 additional firms, primarily banks, with a startup named Madrigal also receiving a DFA-issuing license [5] - The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) and Russian banks are promoting crypto derivatives, launching their own funds as Russians are unable to invest in US-based Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs [6]

Core Insights - The article discusses the differences and similarities between traditional finance and cryptocurrencies, emphasizing that while some financial principles remain applicable, cryptocurrencies represent a new form of financial innovation [1][2]. Group 1: Financial Activities - Finance fundamentally consists of three activities: lending, investing, and insurance, with all financial products fitting into these categories [1]. - Financial innovation historically aimed to reduce friction in these activities or obscure them, whereas cryptocurrencies are seen as a genuine innovation [2]. Group 2: Decentralized Finance and Tokenization - Tokenization allows for the breakdown of large claims into smaller ones, and decentralized finance (DeFi) aims to replicate financial market functions by eliminating intermediaries [3]. - Bitcoin serves as a modern tool for insuring against currency debasement, although its effectiveness as a transaction currency remains questionable [3]. Group 3: Risks and Historical Context - The article critiques the notion that DeFi will completely eliminate middlemen, suggesting it may instead facilitate rent extraction by a concentrated financial industry [4]. - The wisdom from traditional finance warns against leveraging borrowed money to invest in volatile assets like Bitcoin, labeling such strategies as imprudent [5][6]. - A described strategy in the crypto world, known as "looping," mirrors old financial schemes and poses significant risks, akin to a pyramid scheme [6][7].