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We are closer than ever to cementing America’s global leadership in digital asset innovation. Next week, the Senate will hold its final vote on the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act – the GENIUS Act – bringing this landmark stablecoin legislation one step closer to becoming law. Following Senate passage, the bill will advance to the House for consideration. This marks a significant step forward – not just for the crypto industry, but for American consumers, investors, and the global strength of the U.S. dollar.
The numbers tell the story. Today, more than $190 billion in dollar-backed stablecoins are in circulation worldwide, doubling annually. Stablecoins aren't speculative crypto assets – they are digital dollars that enable instant, low-cost transactions anywhere in the world. In regions facing currency devaluation or authoritarian financial controls, stablecoins provide access to the economic stability of the U.S. dollar. Not only is this pro-innovation – it's pro-democracy.
The GENIUS Act provides the clarity the industry urgently needs. By establishing sensible guidelines, it ensures stablecoins maintain stable value through high-quality liquid reserves, regular audits, and clear redemption rights. These aren't excessive burdens – they’re reasonable protections already practiced by responsible issuers.
Most importantly, what the GENIUS Act provides is certainty, allowing responsible innovation to flourish while preventing bad actors from undermining the system.
Passing GENIUS can’t wait. As other nations develop central bank digital currencies and alternative payment systems designed to circumvent dollar dominance, the United States faces a choice: embrace the innovation that's already spreading dollars globally, or cede this ground to other countries. The legislation provides the framework we need – strong reserve requirements, transparency rules, and consumer protections – without stifling the innovation that makes stablecoins so powerful.
Progress on stablecoin legislation has been bipartisan, reflecting a growing recognition across the political spectrum that this technology serves American interests. Republicans see free-market innovation and reduced government intervention. Democrats value the financial inclusion and consumer protection aspects. Both parties understand that maintaining dollar supremacy isn't partisan – it's patriotic.
Globally, stablecoins are already making a profound difference. In Argentina, where inflation has exceeded 100%, residents use dollar stablecoins to preserve their savings. In Ukraine, humanitarian organizations have used them to deliver aid instantly when traditional banking channels failed. Across Africa and Southeast Asia, entrepreneurs have access to dollar liquidity and can build businesses that connect to the global economy. Each transaction strengthens the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency.
The technology community knows what's on the line. That's why companies of all sizes – from traditional financial institutions to Silicon Valley startups – want clarity around stablecoins. They're not asking for light-touch regulation or special treatment; they're asking for clear rules that allow them to build in America, serve American interests, and extend American financial leadership globally.
Meanwhile, every month that goes by, more stablecoin activity moves offshore, more innovation happens outside our borders, and more ground is ceded to competitors. The European Union has already implemented stablecoin guidelines. Singapore, the UAE, and others are rolling out frameworks to attract this activity.
Dollar-backed stablecoins don't compete with the Federal Reserve; they extend its reach. They don't undermine American banking; they create new customers for it. They don't weaken financial oversight; they make it more effective through programmable compliance and real-time transparency. Stablecoins are foundational infrastructure, not ideology.
Passing the GENIUS Act requires no vast expenditures or bureaucratic complexity. It simply offers clear rules for American innovation to thrive, safeguards consumers, and fortifies the dollar’s global influence.
The message to Congress is clear: Don't let this moment pass. The world won’t pause while America deliberates. With the GENIUS Act, we can ensure that the future of global finance remains dollar-denominated, governed by American values, and powered by our unmatched American ingenuity.
Expectations of a more benign regulatory environment in the U.S. is leading to an increase in the number of crypto companies looking to go public and an uplift in venture capital (VC) funding, investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Wednesday.
The GENIUS Act's progress in the Senate has become a "key factor in anticipating a clearer and more supportive regulatory environment," analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote.
"The anticipation of such a U.S. regulatory environment is conducive to crypto corporate activity such as IPOs and VC funding," the authors wrote.
The Senate's Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act mandates federal regulation for stablecoins with a market cap of over $10 billion with the potential for state regulation if it aligns with federal rules.
Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies whose value is tied to another asset, such as the U.S. dollar or gold. They play a major role in cryptocurrency markets and are also used to transfer money internationally.
The bank noted that the number of crypto IPOs so far this year matches the pace of offerings seen in the bull market of 2021.
Press reports suggest that more crypto companies, including Ripple, Kraken, Consenys and CoinDesk's owner Bullish are getting ready to IPO this year, the report said.
Venture capital funding is also on the rise, and has exceeded levels seen in 2023/24, on an annualized basis, the bank said.
IPOs give crypto investors a way to diversify their digital asset exposure beyond just bitcoin BTC and ether ETH, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. It means they can take advantage of opportunities in areas such as blockchain infrastructure, payments and settlement, custody and tokenization, the report added.
Read more: Flashbots Veterans Raise $20M to Tackle Crypto User Experience With OneBalance
The cryptocurrency market is experiencing significant volatility due to Israel’s strikes on Iran. Avalanche AVAX has been particularly affected, undergoing a substantial 13% correction with high trading volume.
Despite the sharp decline, buyers have established strong support in the $18.57-$18.70 range, with recent price action showing signs of stabilization and potential consolidation, according to CoinDesk research’s technical analysis model.
The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, memecoins and exchange coins — has lost 6.2% in the last 24 hours.
Technical Analysis
• AVAX underwent a significant correction, dropping from $21.26 to a low of $18.57, representing a 12.65% decline over the 24-hour period.
• Strong support was established around $18.57-$18.70.
• Recent price action formed an ascending channel with resistance at $19.52, while the 24-hour trading range of $2.69 highlights substantial volatility.
• In the last hour, AVAX demonstrated recovery, climbing from $19.04 to $19.13 (0.45% gain).
• Volume analysis reveals particularly strong buying interest, with exceptional volume (86,895 units) propelling price to session highs near $19.26.
• The final 15 minutes established support at $19.06, with buyers pushing AVAX back above $19.13.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
Telegram’s token TON dipped 8% in 24 hours, dropping from $3.20 to a low of $2.93 with significant selling pressure, according to CoinDesk research’s technical analysis model. TON was hit harder than other cryptocurrencies in the CoinDesk 20: the index (which includes the top 20 coins by market capitalization except for stablecoins, memecoins and stablecoins) is down 6.2% in the same period of time.
The selloff occurred after Israel struck Iranian facilities and military leadership late on Thursday night.
Technical Analysis
• TON experienced a significant 8.4% correction, dropping from $3.20 to a low of $2.93 over a 24-hour period.
• Above-average volume of 3.36 million established a strong resistance at the $3.09 level.
• A notable volume spike of 7.74 million created a high-volume support zone around $2.94.
• Price subsequently consolidated between $2.95-$2.99, with recent price action showing signs of stabilization.
• In the last hour, TON showed recovery, climbing from $2.95 to $2.96, representing a 0.3% gain.
• Strong buying interest emerged with 284,843 units traded, establishing support at $2.96.
• Minor pullbacks quickly found support, suggesting resilient buyer interest.
Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
Brazilian fintech firm Meliuz (CASH3) plans to raise R180.08 million ($32.4 million) through an equity offering, according to a filing.
The funding is earmarked specifically for the purchase of bitcoin, aligning with the company’s recent strategic shift to incorporate bitcoin into its balance sheet.
The offering, priced at R7.06 ($1.27) per share, was about 5% less than Meliuz’s closing price of R7.43 on Thursday. The stock has fallen more than 5% in today's trading.
BTG Pactual served as the book-runner for the deal, according to the filing.
Earlier this year, Meliuz announced that the company plans to raise $78 million in equity to become “the first bitcoin treasury company” in Brazil.
The fintech company, which calls itself "3rd fastest growing shopping App in Brazil," boasts about 41 million loyal users as of the first quarter of this year, according to a presentation. The company currently has a market cap of R647.08M ($116.5M), according to TradingView data.
The first quarter of 2025 was one of the best periods on record for U.S.-listed bitcoin BTC mining companies, Wall Street bank JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report Friday.
"Four of the five operators in our coverage reported record revenue and profits," analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce wrote.
In aggregate, the miners earned gross profit of about $2.0 billion with gross margins of 53%. Those figures compare with $1.7 billion and 50% in the previous quarter, the bank said.
MARA Holdings (MARA) mined the most bitcoin in the bank's coverage universe for the ninth quarter in a row, the report said.
IREN (IREN) earned the most gross profit of the group for the first time, the bank noted. The miner also recorded the "lowest all-in cash cost per coin at just ~$36,400."
Conversely, MARA posted the highest cost per coin of around $72,600, the bank said.
The five mining companies that the bank tracks issued only $310 million of equity in the quarter, a drop of $1 billion from the fourth quarter last year. CleanSpark (CLSK) did not raise any equity in the period, the bank noted.
The bank estimated the companies spent $1.8 billion in total on power, $50 million more than in the previous quarter.
The bank has an overweight rating on CleanSpark, IREN and Riot Platforms (RIOT), and a neutral rating for Cipher Mining (CIFR) and MARA.
Read more: Bitcoin Miner Price Targets Raised to Reflect Improved Industry Economics: JPMorgan
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 3027.78, down 4.4% (-137.85) since 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.
None of the 20 assets are trading higher.
Leaders: BTC (-2.2%) and XRP (-2.9%).
Laggards: SUI (-8.2%) and NEAR (-7.8%).
The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally.
JPMorgan (JPM) raised its price targets for a number of bitcoin BTC mining companies to reflect first-quarter results and changes to the bitcoin price and the network hashrate, the bank said in a report Friday.
The bank lifted its CleanSpark (CLSK) price target to $14 from $12, its Riot Platforms (RIOT) objective to $14 from $13 and its MARA Holdings (MARA) target to $19 from $18.
"Our price targets generally increased due to higher bitcoin prices and improving mining profitability," analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce wrote.
JPMorgan said it tweaked the price targets to reflect a 24% increase in the bank's spot bitcoin assumption and a 9% increase to its network hashrate estimate.
The hashrate refers to the total combined computational power used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain, and is a proxy for competition in the industry and mining difficulty.
JPMorgan reiterated its overweight rating on CleanSpark, IREN (IREN) and Riot, and its neutral rating for Cipher Mining (CIFR) and MARA.
Read more: Bitcoin Mining Profitability Improved in May, JPMorgan Says
Cardano co-founder Charles Hoskinson has floated the idea of converting $100 million worth of ADA tokens into bitcoin BTC and stablecoins.
"We could take $100 million of ADA in the treasury, convert it to a blend of stablecoins incumbent in Cardano so USDM and USDA and convert some of it in bitcoin to prime bitcoin DeFi," Hoskinson said on a YouTube live stream.
He then hit back at critics that claimed a $100 million sale would impact the price of ADA, calling them "inexperienced" before adding that the sale "would not cause any problems at all."
The goal of the sale would be getting the ratio of stablecoin issuance and TVL to around 30% to 40% versus the current roughly 10%.
Total value locked on Cardano stands at $356 million with just $31 million worth of stablecoins minted on-chain, DefiLlama data shows.
Solana meanwhile has $9.8 billion in TVL and $11 billion worth of stablecoins minted on-chain.
In a tweet Hoskinson said that the stablecoin situation is "killing Cardano" and that the proposal would generate "non-inflationary revenue" and help build the Cardano DeFi economy.
Hoskinson's comments are at odds with those of Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard, who told CoinDesk in March that TVL is not a metric he used for adoption.
Chinese tech giant Tencent is exploring a potential acquisition of Nexon, the South Korean game developer behind the hit title Dungeon & Fighter, Bloomberg reports. Nexon is heavily invested in Web 3 gaming, including the ambitious MapleStory franchise.
The firm has reportedly approached the family of Nexon’s late founder Kim Jung-ju, who controls a 44.4% stake in Nexon via holding company NXC Corp, to discuss a potential acquisition.
Discussions are still preliminary, and there’s no guarantee they will result in a deal, the report states, citing sources close to the matter.
If successful, Tencent would be acquiring a company with a $16.6 billion market capitalization, a move that could reignite its ambitions in global gaming M&A after a slowdown sparked by Chinese regulatory crackdowns in 2020.
The deal could help Tencent secure long-term control over popular intellectual property and give it a firmer foothold in South Korea’s lucrative gaming market.
But any deal would be complicated.
The Kim family inherited control after the founder’s death in 2022 and has since handed shares to the Korean government to cover inheritance taxes. The government has been unable to offload its stake.
Tencent previously tried to buy Nexon in 2019, but talks collapsed over pricing. This new attempt follows Tencent’s $1.3 billion investment in a new Ubisoft unit and a 10% stake in K-pop label SM Entertainment.
The Chinese tech giant is also expanding in the blockchain space, announcing earlier this year that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop a suite of blockchain API services with Ankr.
Read more: S. Korean Gaming Giant Nexon to Use Polygon for Popular MapleStory Universe