The GENIUS Act promises safer, fully reserved dollar stablecoins and faster payments, but by steering issuers toward T-bills and cash, it may also hardwire a new demand engine for US debt. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, signed into law on July 18, is billed as the statute that finally drags dollar‑pegged tokens out of the regulatory gray zone into a supervised, payments‑first framework. Supporters say it offers legal clarity, consumer protections and a path for programmable money. Critics say it raises a deeper question: If issuers are tightly steered into holding cash and short‑term Treasurys, does that make them structural buyers of US debt? That’s the case laid out by author and ideologist Shanaka Anslem Perera, who writes that under GENIUS, “Every digital dollar minted becomes a legislated purchase of US sovereign debt.” Read more
The toll in deadly flooding and landslides across parts of Asia climbed past 1,100 on Monday as hardest-hit Sri Lanka and Indonesia deployed military personnel to help survivors. Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week. Much of the region is currently in its monsoon season but climate change is producing more extreme rain events and turbocharging storms. The relentless rains left residents clinging to rooftops awaiting rescue by boat or helicopter, and cut entire villages off from assistance. People salvage their belongings from a flooded house along the banks of Kelani River, following Cyclone Ditwah in Peliyagoda, Sri Lanka on December 1. - Reuters Arriving in North Sumatra on Monday, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said, “the worst has passed, hopefully”. The government’s “priority now is how to immediately send the necessary aid”, with particular focus on...
Bitcoin’s first monthly MACD rollover this cycle, alongside onchain data, raised the odds of a deeper pullback, as BTC price forecasts now include the mid-$60,000s. Bitcoin (BTC) sellers are getting increasingly louder as several more bearish signals have emerged for this week. Key takeaways: Bitcoin’s monthly MACD rollover keeps risks skewed toward further downside. Read more
Strategy funded a new reserve from stock sales to cover at least 12 months of dividends as it boosts its Bitcoin stash to 650,000 coins amid market volatility. Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the world’s largest public Bitcoin holder, is creating a $1.44 billion US dollar reserve to support dividend payments on its preferred stock and interest on its outstanding debt. Strategy on Monday announced the establishment of a US dollar reserve funded through proceeds from the sale of Class A common stock under its at-the-market offering program. “Strategy’s current intention is to maintain a USD Reserve in an amount sufficient to fund at least twelve months of its dividends, and Strategy intends to strengthen the USD Reserve over time, with the goal of ultimately covering 24 months or more of its dividends,” the company said. Read more