Coindesk

Good Morning, Asia. Here's what's making news in the markets:Welcome to Asia Morning Briefing, a daily summary of top stories during U.S. hours and an overview of market moves and analysis. For a detailed overview of U.S. markets, see CoinDesk's Crypto Daybook Americas.While stablecoins (USDT, USDC) dominated U.S. headlines last month amid the GENIUS Act and Circle's (CRCL) blockbuster IPO, Asia's quieter yet strategic adoption is reshaping the region’s cross-border finance.Asian banks increasingly see stablecoins like USDT and USDC as defensive tools against deposit flight and lost transaction revenue. Behind the scenes, stablecoins are already playing an important role in the region's financial plumbing.Fireblocks' Head of Asia, Amy Zhang, said in a recent interview with CoinDesk that major banks across...

Shares of crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) climbed to their highest level since its April 2021 Nasdaq debut on Thursday, bringing the stock nearly full circle after plunging more than 90% during the depths of 2022's crypto winter.COIN hit $382 Thursday before paring some of the gains and closed higher by 5.5%. The stock's more than doubled since plunging alongside April's tariff-induced market panic.Coinbase’s 2021 listing marked a watershed moment for the digital asset industry, but also signaled a peak in crypto. The stock rose as high as $382 before sliding over 90% amid the prolonged 2022 bear market.Now, investors are increasingly positioning Coinbase as a long-term winner in the next phase of crypto growth, defined by rising stablecoin adoption, institutional...

Bitcoin BTC traded in a tight range just during U.S. hours Thursday ahead of a big options quarter expiry on Friday.The top cryptocurrency is currently trading for $107,500, down 0.2% in the past 24 hours, while the CoinDesk 20 — an index of the top 20 coins by market capitalization, except for stablecoins, exchange coins and stablecoins — lost 0.9% in the same period of time."This Friday marks one of the largest option expiries of the year on Deribit,” Jean-David Péquignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit, told CoinDesk. BTC options open interest stands at $40 billion, Péquignot said, and 38% of these contracts will expire on Friday. “Max pain price for Friday is at $102,000, with a put/call ratio of...

The bitcoin treasury trend — which has seen many firms globally adopting Michael Saylor’s strategy — entered a new phase on Thursday.Lingerie Fighting Championships (BOTY), a Las Vegas-based women’s MMA league, announced plans to acquire $230,000 worth of bitcoin within 30 days and up to $2 million over the next six months.The decision to add BTC to its treasury coincides with LFC’s first shows in the UK. LFC43: Sindependence Day 2 is set for July 4 in London and has already sold out. LFC44: Underground Knockouts follows in Cardiff on July 6.The firm did not provide any explanation for its bitcoin adoption in its press release. However, CEO Shaun Donnelly told CoinDesk that LFC believed that "bitcoin has lots of...

One year after unsuccessfully trying to purchase Core Scientific (CORZ), cloud and AI infrastructure firm CoreWeave (CRWV) is again in talks with the bitcoin miner, according to the WSJ.Exact terms haven't been discussed, but a deal could be finalized in coming weeks, according to the story.Roughly one year ago, CoreWeave tried to acquire CORZ for $5.75 per share, or about $1 billion. Up 25% today on this news, CORZ is currently trading above $15 per share.Among other miners moving higher (though not nearly the magnitude of CORZ) are Hut 8 (HUT), IREN (IREN), and Cipher Mining (CIFR).Source link