Paxos’ USDH plan brings PayPal/Venmo links, a $20-million fund and yield sharing. Could it turn Hyperliquid into DeFi’s next liquidity hub? Put simply, too much profit is directed to issuers. In most cases, the yield from reserves flows back to those managing the stablecoin rather than to its users. When you hold a stablecoin like USDC (USDC) or Tether’s USDt (USDT), the issuer (Circle or Tether) holds real dollars or safe assets (such as US Treasurys, money market funds or cash) to back every token in circulation. Read more
Bitcoin Core proponents defend OP_RETURN changes as neutral, while critics warn of spam and capture. Bitcoin Core’s next major upgrade has reignited old tensions in the community, pitting developers who want a neutral, fee-driven network against purists who see non-financial data as spam. Bitcoin Core v30, expected in October, will remove the 80-byte cap on OP_RETURN, the part of a transaction script that allows users to embed arbitrary data. Bitcoin Core is software that runs the Bitcoin network, maintained by an open group of developers but widely relied upon by miners and node operators. While alternatives such as Knots exist, Bitcoin Core is the protocol’s reference implementation that is run by the majority of the network. Read more
Coinbase Ventures led a $14.6 million round for Bastion, a startup providing white-label stablecoin issuance with backing from Sony, Samsung, A16z and others. Update (Sept. 24, 5:45 pm UTC): This article has been updated to correct the date of Bastion’s $25 million raise in September 2023. Stablecoin infrastructure startup Bastion has raised $14.6 million in a funding round led by Coinbase Ventures, the company said Wednesday. According to a Wednesday announcement, the round also saw the participation of Japanese tech giant Sony, the investment subsidiary of South Korean phone maker Samsung, the crypto arm of venture capital (VC) firm Andreessen Horowitz and crypto VC firm Hashed. Read more