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Japanese investment giant SoftBank is dipping its toes back into crypto by backing a new bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle, Twenty One Capital, in conjunction with Tether, Bitfinex, and Cantor Fitzgerald.For some, the SoftBank Group—which has $308.7 billion assets under management—taking an interest in bitcoin is a welcome development and another sign of mounting institutional crypto adoption. After all, SoftBank functions more or less like a Japanese sovereign wealth fund, according to Jeff Park, head of alpha strategies at Bitwise.But for seasoned observers, it could be more of a déjà-vu than a breakthrough.Flashback to 2019, SoftBank made headlines when its founder, Masayoshi Son, took a gigantic loss on a personal bitcoin investment.Son had taken exposure to cryptocurrency in late 2017, when...

Michael Saylor's bitcoin buying strategy had both believers and skeptics. But a new rival just emerged, already holding nearly $4 billion BTC on its balance sheet—and it's a bullish sign, according to at least one Wall Street analyst. When SoftBank, Tether, and Cantor Fitzgerald unveiled plans to launch a new bitcoin investment company called Twenty One, structured explicitly around holding bitcoin as its primary business, many called it a significant rival to Saylor's Strategy (MSTR). Its day-one bitcoin balance sheet holding would rank it as the third-largest publicly held bitcoin treasury on day one.In traditional finance, one could argue that such a big competition could hamper a dominant company's market share and capital raise opportunities, especially since Twenty One...

Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) said it will introduce free conversions between PayPal’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, PYUSD, and the U.S. currency in a move aimed at accelerating the shift toward on-chain payments.The move, open to both retail and institutional customers, is part of a partnership aimed at promoting PYUSD as a payment currency. Coinbase also plans to use its platform to offer PYUSD to PayPal’s extensive network of merchant partners, which could ease the use of stablecoins in everyday transactions.Stablecoin rivalry heats upStablecoins — digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies, predominantly the dollar — are one of the fastest-growing sectors in crypto. They are marketed as a faster and cheaper alternative to legacy payment systems, and are increasingly popular for payments across...

In today’s crypto for advisors, Dovile Silenskyte from WisdomTree talks about the growth of crypto products and how they’ve evolved into a strategic investment allocation.Then, Kim Klemballa from CoinDesk Indices answers questions about digital asset benchmarks and trends in Ask an Expert.– Sarah MortonUnknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the `components.types` optionYou’re reading Crypto for Advisors, CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that unpacks digital assets for financial advisors. Subscribe here to get it every Thursday.Unknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the `components.types` optionThe Evolution of Crypto Products — From Speculative Bets to Strategic AssetsCrypto is no longer the “Wild West” of investing. Once dismissed as mere speculative bets, digital assets have matured into a...

TON Foundation, the entity behind the Telegram-linked TON blockchain, has appointed Maximilian Crown, co-founder of MoonPay, as its CEO.Crown was the CFO and COO at the crypto infrastructure provider and has relationships with banks, payments companies, and regulatory bodies. He will remain on the board at MoonPay.The move comes one month after the TON Foundation announced that it had received $400 million worth of investment from venture capitalist firms that purchased the TON token.Active users on the TON blockchain jumped from 4 million to 41 million in the past year. However, the TON token, is down by 46% in the same period. It aims to onboard 30% of Telegram's active users to the blockchain by 2028. “TON’s speed, scalability, and...