Bitcoin’s recent weakness mirrors broader economic uncertainty, as unreliable economic data and shifting expectations on US growth and policy cloud investor confidence. Key takeaways: Disney and other consumer names disappointed on earnings, adding pressure to markets after the prolonged US government shutdown. Analysts see no sign of insider-driven Bitcoin selling, with BTC instead reflecting wider doubts about valuations and US economic stability. Read more
Threshold has introduced upgrades to its tBTC bridge, which it claims will better position the $500 billion worth of Bitcoin held by institutions and whales to access DeFi opportunities. Crypto infrastructure platform Threshold has rolled out a major upgrade for its tBTC bridge, aimed at enticing institutions to put their billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin to work in decentralized finance protocols. Threshold’s latest upgrade now enables institutions to mint tBTC directly to supported chains in a single Bitcoin (BTC) transaction, without secondary approvals and without gas fees, while redemptions back to the Bitcoin network are equally as straightforward, Threshold said in a statement. Threshold’s head of marketing, Rizza Carla Ramos, went into more depth in an interview with Cointelegraph at the Web Summit in Lisbon this week, explaining that the feature improvements could incentivize more Bitcoin-holding institutions to put their BTC to work in DeFi instead of just letting it sit there and waiting for it...
The move pushes MoonPay deeper into stablecoin infrastructure, giving issuers a ready-made stack for launching fully backed digital dollars across multiple chains. Crypto payments platform MoonPay has launched a new stablecoin suite that allows companies to issue and manage stablecoins across multiple blockchains, supported by an integration with M0. The collaboration offers enterprises a stack to launch and distribute their own stablecoins at scale, MoonPay said on Thursday. The rollout marks MoonPay’s expansion from a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp to a full-stack stablecoin infrastructure, covering issuance, ramps, swaps and payments. "By integrating with the M0 platform, MoonPay becomes a key provider of stablecoin infrastructure, spanning on/off ramps, payments, and now custom issuance," said Luca Prosperi, co-founder and CEO of M0, a platform powering builders of application-specific stablecoins. Read more
The XRP ETF launch is on track to be one of the hottest crypto ETF launches in 2025, but asset prices also dipped on launch day. The Canary Capital XRP (XRPC) exchange-traded fund — which holds spot XRP — pulled in more than $46 million in its first hours of trading on Thursday, even as both the token and the ETF slipped in price. XRPC recorded $26 million in trading volume within the first 30 minutes of the launch, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart added: The highly anticipated ETF has been on analysts’ radar since 2024, with the odds of an XRP investment vehicle surging following the reelection of US President Donald Trump in and the ensuing pro-crypto regulatory pivot. Read more
Reports suggested that the feature unlocked by the financial transaction app could roll out in early 2026. Jack Dorsey’s Block announced that users will soon be able to send and receive stablecoins through its mobile platform Cash App. In a Thursday notice, Cash App announced plans to release several features for crypto and blockchain users, including the ability to spend Bitcoin (BTC), convert fiat into BTC payments and send and receive stablecoins. Fortune reported that the features could be implemented on the app in early 2026. “Soon, millions of Cash App customers will be able to make fast, low-cost payments even if they don’t hold Bitcoin,” said the notice. Read more