Coindesk

Decentralized Layer 1 blockchain XRP Ledger's (XRPL) sidechain that's compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is set to go live in the second quarter, Jaazi Cooper, director of product management at Ripple, and David Schwartz, Ripple's chief technology officer said at the ongoing APEX 2025 conference in Singapore.EVM compatibility refers to the ability of the blockchain to run Ethereum-based decentralized applications and smart contracts seamlessly.The XRPL EVM sidechain testnet went live early this year and is experiencing rapid growth, according to Peersyst Technologies."87 new entities – with no prior XRP involvement – are now contributing to the ecosystem: infrastructure, apps, and demand generation," Peersyst said on X. "When mainnet goes live, all of it becomes part of the XRP...

SINGAPORE – Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of crypto company Ripple Labs, stated at the XRP Ledger Apex, the Ripple (XRP) community conference in Singapore, that he remains bullish on stablecoins – a sentiment he said is reinforced by the recent blockbuster Circle CRCL initial public offering (IPO)."Circle IPO's clearly went very well. That's a reflection of investor interest in crypto, both institutions and retail. The financial future will be blockchain-based," Garlinghouse said at Apex.Garlinghouse said that one factor in the success of Circle's IPO is the market's fundamental belief that the GENIUS Act – the U.S. stablecoin legislation – will pass.As CoinDesk previously reported, the GENIUS Act, a stablecoin regulatory bill, is poised for imminent Senate passage with bipartisan support, potentially...

President Donald Trump's pick to be chairman of the U.S. commodities watchdog, Brian Quintenz, fielded crypto questions more than any other topic at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, and he assured the lawmakers that the agency can walk a middle ground between unhampered innovation and robust consumer safeguards.Even as Quintenz awaits the Senate Agriculture Committee's vote on whether to advance his nomination as chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Congress is working on market structure legislation that could elevate that agency as the marquee regulator of U.S. crypto activity. Quintenz, a former CFTC commissioner, is no stranger to that sector, having served as venture capital firm a16z's head of policy."I have always viewed market structure legislation as an...

Bitcoin recaptured the $110,000 level for the second consecutive day, perhaps dragged higher by even larger gains among altcoins.Up 0.9% more than 1% in the last 24 hours, bitcoin was trading just above $110,000 shortly after the close of U.S. stock markets Tuesday. The CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, excluding stablecoins, exchange coins and memecoins — has risen 3.3% in the same period of time, mostly thanks to ether ETH, solana SOL, chainlink LINK all gaining 5%-7%.The standout performances, however, were put on by uniswap UNI and aave AAVE, which soared a whooping 24% and 13%, respectively. The move was prompted by optimistic comments on the topic of DeFi by Securities and...

Solana SOL surged 5% in after U.S. hours on Tuesday on a Blockworks report saying that U.S. regulators are moving forward in the regulatory process necessary to make spot SOL exchange-traded funds (ETF) reality.The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly asked prospective issuers to amend their S-1 filings in the next week, according to the story, and will comment on the paperwork in the next 30 days after submission.SOL jumped above $164 in the minutes following the report, up nearly 5% over the past 24 hours.After the debut of bitcoin BTC and ether ETH spot ETFs in the U.S. last year, asset managers are racing to get regulatory approval to launch similar vehicles for smaller cryptocurrencies, offering traditional investors easier...