Coindesk

Global asset manager BlackRock's BUIDL token, issued in partnership Securitize and backed by U.S. Treasuries, crossed the $1 billion milestone in assets on Thursday, Securitize said. Pushing the fund's size above the threshold was a $200 million allocation this afternoon by crypto protocol Ethena, a Securitize spokesperson told CoinDesk. Ethereum blockchain data by Arkham Intelligence shows an entity minting $200 million worth of BUIDL tokens at Thursday 18:47 UTC.Crypto tokens backed by U.S. Treasuries are at the forefront of tokenization efforts, as digital asset firms and global financial heavyweights race to put traditional instruments such as bonds, private credit and funds on blockchain rails, aiming to achieve faster settlements and operational efficiencies. BUIDL is a key building block for multiple yield-generating...

Following two problematic tests of Ethereum's upcoming Pectra upgrade, the network's core developers decided on Thursday to create a new testnet to demonstrate the code update a final time before deployment."A new testnet, Hooli, is going live Monday to wrap up Pectra testing," said Tim Beiko, who coordinates the ecosystem's core developers at the Ethereum Foundation, in an X post following a developer call on Thursday. Pectra will be tested on Hooli on Wednesday, March 26 — when the test chain will be upgraded to the new version of Ethereum and evaluated for performance and stability.Pectra includes several code changes designed to make Ethereum faster, more efficient, and more user-friendly for both users and developers. One of the most significant...

As cryptocurrencies have been battered in a broad-market correction over the past weeks, digital asset investors sought refuge in tokenized U.S. Treasury products.Since late January, the combined market capitalization of Treasury-backed tokens grew $800 million to hit a fresh all-time record of $4.2 billion on Wednesday, data source rwa.xyz shows.Real-world asset platform Ondo Finance's (ONDO) products, the short-term bond-backed OUSG and USDY tokens, climbed to just shy of $1 billion combined, a 53% surge in market value over the past month. BUIDL, the token issued jointly by asset manager BlackRock and tokenization firm Securitize, gained 25% during the same period to surpass $800 million. Asset manager Franklin Templeton's BENJI token expanded to $687 million, a 16% increase, while Superstate's USTB...

Bitcoin's (BTC) role in decentralized finance (DeFi) is growing as the world's largest cryptocurrency evolves from more than just a store of value, Binance Research said in a report Thursday.The Bitcoin network is "evolving into a broader decentralized finance ecosystem with the emergence of Bitcoin DeFi," analyst Moulik Nagesh wrote.This is a sector that "unlocks bitcoin's capital efficiency" with the use of financial applications focused on lending, staking, stablecoins and decentralized exchanges (DEX's), the report said.DeFi is an umbrella term used for lending, trading and other financial activities carried out on a blockchain, without the need for traditional intermediaries.Binance noted that only ~0.8% of the bitcoin supply is currently being used in DeFi, and this presents a large "untapped opportunity."...

The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has advanced the crypto industry's stablecoin regulation bill, a first major step toward getting the effort to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law.With its first committee approval, the bill that would regulate U.S. stablecoin issuers at the federal level now needs passage by the overall Senate, and a similar version also awaits approval in the House of Representatives. While a number of hurdles remain, including an eventual melding of the different bills from each chamber, the committee advanced the bill with a 18-6 vote.Many Democrats on the committee acknowledged the need for the bill while also seeking to add a number of amendments to add additional regulatory controls and limits, each of...