Stablecoin issuer firm Paxos has applied for a national bank trust charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), making it the latest U.S. stablecoin company to seek federal regulatory oversight. According to a Monday press release, Paxos aims to convert its New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) trust charter into a national one, a move that would put the firm under federal supervision. Paxos issues the PYUSD stablecoin for payments firm PayPal, and it’s also a founding member of the consortium behind the Global Dollar (USDG) token. “[The] OCC oversight will help build on our historic commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety and transparency,” Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-founder of Paxos, said in a statement. Paxos’ move follows similar applications by rival issuers as competition is heating up in the fast-growing stablecoin market. Circle (CRCL), the company behind the $65 billion USDC (USDC) token, and Ripple, issuer of RLUSD, applied for national bank trust charters last month. The U.S. Congress also enacted rules for stablecoins and issuers with President Donald Trump signing the GENIUS Act into law last month, improving regulatory clarity for the sector. The company obtained conditional approval for a national bank trust charter in 2021, but their application expired in 2023 before Paxos was able to receive full approval from the OCC. Read more: NYDFS Fines Stablecoin Issuer Paxos $26.5M for Compliance Failures Tied to Binance’s BUSD Powered by WPeMatico

BONK started the week on a volatile note, with the Solana-based memecoin climbing to an August high of $0.00002841 before sliding 8%. The advance marked one of its strongest levels in recent weeks, and was met with swift institutional trading that erased much of the early gains, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis data model. Selling pressure accelerated between 11:00 and 13:00 UTC, when trading volumes surged to between 1.12 trillion and 2.16 trillion tokens. This could have been down to coordinated profit-taking, with large holders rotating out of positions. The sell-off drove BONK down 8% to a low of $0.00002554, a move that tested the key technical support near $0.00002620. The token saw a brief recovery at around 13:00 UTC following news a publicly traded company appeared to be planning on building a BONK treasury. Nasdaq-listed health beverage company Safety Shot (SHOT) agreed to purchase $25 million worth of the memecoin in exchange for offering $35 million of SHOT shares to BONK’s founding contributors. While overhead resistance at $0.00002854 remains the primary technical barrier, BONK’s ability to hold support and recover from heavy selling may provide the foundation for renewed upside momentum if positive market sentiment continues. Technical Analysis Price Range: $0.00002554 to $0.00002841 over 24 hours (12% volatility). Resistance: $0.00002854 level confirmed as sell zone. Support: Critical $0.00002620 level held during sell-off. Volume Spikes: 1.12–2.16 trillion tokens traded during liquidation. Recovery Channel: Higher lows at $0.00002565, $0.00002572, $0.00002570. Breakout Trigger: $0.00002632 level cleared on 49.5B token surge. Trend Signal: 8% drop followed by 2% rebound suggests potential base building. 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. Powered by WPeMatico

BNB has been seeing turbulence over the last 24-hour period, enduring a 4% swing over the period between the $793 to $827 range, before settling just above the $800 level. The token initially moved to a peak of $827 as the rally started, with more than 146,000 tokens traded in a single hour before sellers stepped in to reserve these gains. Trading remained choppy since, with short-lived recoveries failing to break resistance levels near $800 decisively. Despite the volatility, BNB treasury purchases haven’t wavered, with CEA Industries becoming the largest corporate holder of the cryptocurrency after a $160 million purchase. The move pushed BNB’s market capitalization to nearly $112 billion, cementing its position as the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. While the price swings rattled traders, the underlying demand suggests continued long-term interest. Technical Analysis Overview BNB’s $33.34 trading range over the 24-hour period represents a 4% volatility band between its $793.99 low and $827.33 high. The rally stalled at the $827.33 resistance level, where high-volume selling pressure capped gains. Support formed near $794, reinforced by heavy buying during the morning correction. Short-term resistance sits near $800.50, where multiple recovery attempts failed despite intraday volume spikes. A breakout above this level could re-test $811.22 and open the path back to $827.33. A breakdown below $794 risks further downside toward the $780 area. Volume profile shows two key liquidity zones: a morning surge of 146,403 units traded at resistance and a 114,685-unit flush at support, both indicating strong institutional participation. These zones may guide short-term price reactions if volatility persists. 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. Powered by WPeMatico

S&P Global Ratings assigned a B- (stable outlook) issuer credit rating to Sky Protocol, the decentralized lending platform formerly known as Maker Protocol, in a first for the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry. The Ethereum-based protocol issues the USDS stablecoin, created when borrowers post approved collateral. With a $7.1 billion market cap, USDS trails only USDT and USDC in size. Sky also offers savings vaults, enabling holders to earn yield via savings USDS (sUSDS). Jonathan Manley, S&P’s global head of market outreach, called the rating a “significant milestone” that will help bring greater transparency to DeFi. The move comes as S&P expands its coverage into blockchain-based finance, recently rating tokenized treasury funds and blockchain mortgage securitizations. Sky is itself an investor in Janus Henderson’s tokenized treasury products. S&P’s separate Stablecoin Stability Assessment rates USDS’s peg-maintenance ability at 4 (constrained) on a five-point scale. The rating underscores growing overlap between traditional credit analysis and the evolving DeFi market. Powered by WPeMatico

ALT5 Sigma Corp. (ALTS) said it plans to load up on WLFI tokens in a $1.5 billion deal that will see the token of the Trump family’s crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, become a core treasury asset. The company said it will issue and sell 200 million shares, split between a direct offering and a private placement, to fund the purchase. The move will leave ALT5 holding 7.5% of the total WLFI supply, it said. World Liberty CEO Zach Witkoff will become chairman of ALT5’s board, Eric Trump will become a director of the company, co-founder Zak Folkman will become a board observer and crypto investor Matt Morgan will take over as chief investment officer. ALT5 Sigma will sell 100 million shares to institutional investors for $7.50 each, and another 100 million in a private placement in exchange for WLFI tokens. WLFI was recently priced at $0.3659, according to CoinGecko data. The financing is expected to close Aug. 12. Proceeds from the cash portion of the deal will fund crypto treasury operations, buy additional WLFI tokens, pay down debt, settle litigation and bolster working capital. Founded in 2018, ALT5 operates crypto payment platform ALT5 Pay and over-the-counter trading desk ALT5 Prime, claiming over $5 billion in processed digital asset transactions. By making WLFI a cornerstone of its balance sheet, ALT5 is betting that the token’s fortunes will be lifted by both crypto market momentum and the Trump family’s political cachet — a wager that could hinge as much on the 2025 campaign trail as on Wall Street. 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. Powered by WPeMatico

As Ethereum continues to power an expanding ecosystem, crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) stands out as one of the leading public companies aligned with the blockchain, Wall Street broker Bernstein said in a research report Monday. The network’s native token ether (ETH) has rallied 80% since June 5, the report noted, catalyzed by Circle’s (CRCL) listing and the market’s realization that most stablecoins are minted on the Ethereum network. Coinbase operates one of the largest Layer 2 chains on Ethereum, Base, which processes more than 9 million transactions daily, encompassing stablecoins, trading, financial applications, and consumer-facing services, analysts led by Gautam Chhugani wrote. While Base has no native token, transaction gas fees are settled in ether, positioning Coinbase to earn sequencer fees in ETH. This contributes to an annualized revenue run rate of $75 million, the analysts wrote. Beyond transaction fees, Base has also emerged as the dominant chain for token deployments, Bernstein said. Coinbase’s decision to integrate all Base tokens into its primary exchange platform has significantly increased trading activity, further boosting ETH-denominated brokerage fees. The launch of the Base App, a consumer wallet for buying, selling, holding, and transferring crypto (including stablecoin payments), further strengthens Coinbase’s exposure to Ethereum and its ecosystem. In addition to its operational activities, Coinbase holds a sizable ether treasury valued at $590 million (136,782 ETH), making the company a direct beneficiary of the token’s price appreciation, the broker said. As Coinbase highlighted in its second quarter earnings report, July trading fees surged approximately 40% compared to the Q2 average, driven by increased ether trading activity. This surge reflects the broader market excitement surrounding ether, and with over 250 tokens listed on Coinbase, the exchange is poised to benefit from the broader Ethereum ecosystem growth, the report added. Bernstein has an outperform rating on Coinbase stock with a $510 price target. The shares were 4% higher, trading around $323 at publication time. Read more: Coinbase’s Weak Q2 Is a Blip, Not a Breakdown: Says Benchmark Powered by WPeMatico

Crypto exchange Bullish has raised the size of its initial public offering to $990 million from $629 million, as the company looks to take advantage of a hot market for crypto firms. CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Bullish. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, Bullish is aiming to sell 30 million shares at a price of $32 to $33 each, or $990 million and a valuation of $4.8 billion at the top of the range. In a previous filing on Aug. 4, the company had planned to market 20.3 million shares at $28 to $31 each, or about $629 million and a $4.2 billion valuation at the top of the range. Bullish is one of many crypto companies hoping to take advantage of a booming IPO market in the space as the industry is starting to profit from a clearer regulatory framework and investor interest, not to mention sharply higher prices of late for leading cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether. Stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) was among first to go public in June and has seen its share price skyrocket 93% since. In an earlier filing with the SEC, Bullish disclosed that funds managed by BlackRock and Ark Investment Management have expressed interest to buy $200 million worth of shares of the company at the IPO price. The company, which would trade under the ticker “BLSH” also disclosed that it had posted a net income estimate of $106 million to $109 million for the second quarter after reporting losses for the first quarter and the fourth quarter of 2024. Powered by WPeMatico

BitMine Immersion Technology (BMNR), the bitcoin miner turned ether (ETH) treasury under Fundstrat’s Tom Lee’s leadership, said it added roughly $2 billion of tokens over the past week, bringing total holdings to near $5 billion. Bitmine’s ETH stash exceeded 1.15 million tokens as of Sunday evening, up from 833,137 the week before. BMNR shares were up over 10% pre-market at $57, extending Friday’s almost 25% advance. The firm added that its stock has become one of the most traded in the U.S. market averaging $2.2 billion in daily trading volume last week. That ranks BMNR 25th among U.S.-listed firms, topping bank giant JPMorgan (JPM) and chipmaker Micron Technology (MU). “We are leading crypto treasury peers by both the velocity of raising crypto NAV [net asset value] per share and by the high trading liquidity of our stock,” Chairman Tom Lee said. Bitmine pursues a strategy to accumulate ETH and stake tokens for a yield, competing with rivals such as SharpLink Gaming (SBET) and others. The firm ultimately aims to acquire 5% of the total ETH supply, valued at over $25 billion at current market prices. The buying frenzy by digital asset treasury companies helped ETH rally to new cycle highs, topping $4,300 over the weekend. Powered by WPeMatico

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 4119.66, up 1.0% (+40.29) since 4 p.m. ET on Friday. Seven of 20 assets are trading higher. Leaders: LINK (+8.9%) and ETH (+3.3%). Laggards: HBAR (-3.4%) and UNI (-3.3%). The CoinDesk 20 is a broad-based index traded on multiple platforms in several regions globally. Powered by WPeMatico

Polkadot’s DOT experienced considerable volatility in the 24-hour trading period with sharp declines wiping out earlier gains, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model. The model showed that DOT plummeted 6% in a dramatic 24-hour reversal from August 10 12:00 to August 11 11:00, declining from $4.15 to $3.91 amid exceptionally robust selling volume. Polkadot faced strong selling pressure as institutional liquidation drove prices lower, breaching multiple support thresholds, according to the model. The decline in DOT came as the wider crypto market rose, with the broader market gauge, the Coindesk 20, recently up 0.5%. In recent trading, Polkadot was 2.6% lower over 24 hours, trading around $3.91. Technical Analysis: Trading range of $0.24 representing 6% volatility between $3.91 and $4.15 thresholds. Volume surge to 4.96 million during final hour decline indicating institutional selling. Resistance established at $4.15 level following aborted rally attempt. Support level fragile near $3.90 with potential breakdown risk. Lower highs formation confirming bearish market structure deterioration. Volume exceeding 300,000 across multiple intervals during 11:15-11:30 selling pressure. 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. Powered by WPeMatico