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Binance Invests $100M in Circle to Boost USDC Development

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the "Crypto Currents" weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.BINANCE INVESTS $100M IN CIRCLE:Circle Internet Groupand Binance announced Tuesday anThe companies have entered into a new, five-year commercial agreement focused on expanding USDC access across emerging markets. Further, Binance has made a $100M strategic equity investment in Circle. Under the new agreement, Binance will accelerate the promotion, awareness, and integration of USDC on its platform, especially across emerging markets, and Circle will provide the infrastructure services that support holding and using USDC. Binance's equity investment in Circle was made through a private placement of Class A common stock at a purchase price reflecting a five percent discount to the market price of CRCL prior to closing. Binance has agreed not to transfer the shares for a period of up to two years from the closing date, subject to customary exceptions."Binance has built one of the largest and most dynamic platforms in the world for using digital currency, creating the internet's largest financial super app, and becoming the most widely used wallet in the world for dollar stablecoins," said Jeremy Allaire, CEO. "Together, we see incredible opportunities to leverage USDC to expand dollar access, support savings and investment with innovative digital asset products, and reach people and businesses throughout global emerging markets."Following the news, Clear Street reiterated a Buy rating and $107 price target on Circle. The firm views the development as an incremental positive for relationship optimization and supply visibility, as it secures USDC promotion to Binance's 300M+ users, deepens the emerging-markets dollar-access push, and lands ahead of OUSD's expected launch later this year. The equity stake aligns Binance with USDC's success, echoing Coinbase'sdistributor-shareholder model, the analyst said.FED PROPOSES FRAMEWORK FOR STABLECOIN ISSUERS:On Thursday, The Federal Reserve Board has requested public comment on two proposals related to establishing a regulatory framework for Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers under the GENIUS Act. "The first proposal would require that Board-supervised payment stablecoin issuers fully back their stablecoins with certain permissible reserve assets, such as short-term Treasury bills and certain other high-quality, liquid assets. The proposal would also establish standardized capital requirements to address certain credit and operational risks of payment stablecoin activities, as well as risk management standards, in accordance with the law. Separately, the proposal would introduce rules for Board-supervised firms that safekeep the assets backing payment stablecoins. It would also clarify the permissibility of stablecoin and related activities for Board-supervised banks. The second proposal would establish a tailored application process for Board-supervised banks applying to issue payment stablecoins. These applicants would be required to submit a business plan and financial information, among other documents. The proposal would also create a process governing appeals, hearings, and final determinations for applications. The comment period will close 60 days after publication in the Federal Register," the Fed stated.COINBASE OFFERS ACCESS TO IPO ALLOCATIONS:Coinbase announced Monday that it nowfor retail traders in the U.S. "Coinbase is expanding access to primary financial markets by bringing initial public offering allocations to U.S. retail traders. Beginning with Oura's IPO this week, eligible customers can request shares at the offer price before open-market trading starts. This new feature is yet another step toward growing the Everything Exchange, as our US customers now gain early exposure to high-interest companies before they hit public exchanges," the company announced.Clear Street raised the firm's price target on Coinbase to $224 from $204 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The company on Friday filed with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to list cash-settled, perpetual-style futures on individual U.S. stocks, covering roughly 50-60 names including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, the analyst said. Clear believes the filing can drive additional product launches at Coinbase and "challenge the status quo within the existing market structure." Perpetual futures on single stocks in the U.S. could arrive earlier than expected, added the firm.NYSE, BLOCKCHAIN.COM PARTNER FOR TOKENIZED SECURITIES TRADING:Blockchain.com and the NYSE Groupannounced Wednesday the signing of athat will provide Blockchain.com's user base access to tokenized U.S. exchange-listed equities and ETFs on the NYSE's previously announced digital ATS, subject to any required regulatory approvals. The collaboration seeks to broaden the NYSE's access to crypto-native investors through Blockchain.com's global customer base. Additionally, the MOU includes bidirectional market data distribution across the companies' respective platforms. NYSE's affiliated business, ICE Data Services, plans to distribute Blockchain.com's crypto market data and analytics to its subscribing clients, providing traditional investors with more intelligence about digital asset investment opportunities. Blockchain.com plans to incorporate certain ICE and NYSE exchange data feeds into its app, equipping more than 44 million confirmed accounts with access to real-time stock information."The future of capital markets belongs to institutions that unite the trust of traditional finance with the innovation and accessibility of digital assets," said Lynn Martin, President, NYSE Group. "Blockchain.com's international footprint and digital asset expertise make it a natural complement to our tokenized securities platform upon launch. We look forward to furthering their efforts to bring customers' trading activity onto the blockchain and giving them more data and choice in how they participate in the digital financial ecosystem."BITGET REPORTS $352M STOLEN IN HACK:Gracy Chen, CEO of crypto exchange Bitget, said in a Thursday X post that the company's security systems detected unauthorized transfers from some of its hot wallets, adding its security team activated emergency response protocols immediately. She said, "What we have confirmed: Estimated funds affected: approximately $351.6M; Cold wallets remain fully secure. Bitget operates a three-tier wallet architecture — the breach contained only a portion of the hot wallet and warm wallet layers; User funds are safe. The full amount of this loss falls within the coverage of Bitget's User Protection Fund, which currently holds over $464M. Actions we have taken: Emergency response team activated within minutes of detection; Abnormal transfer addresses identified, flagged, and reported; Withdrawals temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure, pending security review; Law enforcement and on-chain security firms have been formally notified and are engaged. What this means for you: Your account balances are accurate and your assets are protected; Deposits and trading remain fully operational; Withdrawals are temporarily paused and will be restored as soon as the security review is complete. What comes next: We will provide updates on an hourly basis across this channel and all official platforms. A full incident report — including root cause analysis and corrective actions — will be published within 24 hours. We will not speculate on the attack vector until the investigation is complete."OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:Forward Industries'SOL holdings, price target raised to $11 from $9 at B. RileySecuritizeinitiated with anRosenblatt ups target on 'significant positive' from SECBitmine Immersionreportsprice target raised to $34 from $30 at B. RileyDeFi DevelopmentaddsStrategypurchasesreports USD reserve of $5.04B as of September 20, price target raised to $195 from $175 at B. RileyStrivepurchases 1,355 bitcoin, reportsprice target raised to $44 from $32 at TD Cowen, to $33 from $26 at B. RileyBitGolaunchesappoints Greg Cipolaro as headIreninitiated with aTeraWulfinitiated with a, with a Buy at UBSCore Scientificinitiated with, with a Buy at UBSHut 8initiated with awith a Buy at UBSCipher Miningexpandsinitiated with a Neutral at Rothschild & Co Redburn, with a Buy at UBSHyperscale Datato formBullishprice target raisedLion GroupreaffirmsCME Groupto launchon October 19, pending reviewSoFi Technologies, MasterCardannounceB. Riley raises price target on Solana Companytoon Nakamototoon SharpLink GamingtoGalaxy Digital, Sky Protocol announceStreamexannouncesCRYPTO STOCK PLAYS:Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital, Coinbase, Core Scientific, Mara Holdings, Strategy, Riot Platformsand TeraWulf.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 4% this week to $83,856 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.

TD Cowen Analyst Says CFTC Directive Will Shut Down Most Prediction Market Contracts

TD Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg writes that CFTC's issued advisory that will effectively shut down most so-called Mention Market event contracts - contracts tied to whether something is said or a person attends a specific event - is helpful to prediction markets. The directive reduces the pressure on Congress to fast track legislation to crack down on market manipulation, and this legislation could become a vehicle for broader limits on prediction markets. Some of the publicly traded names with exposure to prediction markets include Draftkings (DKNG), Robinhood (HOOD), Coinbase (COIN), CME Group (CME), and Flutter (FLUT).