Author: James Wilson
Summary Ripple plans to apply for a Virtual Asset Service Provider license from the Central Bank of Brazil, pulling its operations under Brazil’s new crypto framework instead of operating as a grey “technology vendor.” Banks and fintechs including Banco Genial, Braza Bank and Nomad already use Ripple infrastructure for same‑day dollar transfers, real‑backed stablecoins and cross‑border fund flows, while partners like CRX and Justoken issue tokenized commodities and other RWAs via Ripple custody tools. For Ripple and XRP watchers, Brazil combines deep remittance corridors, a sophisticated banking sector and pragmatic tokenization rules, making it a key test case for whether…
U.S. stocks opened higher on Tuesday, extending a risk‑on regime across the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq even as crypto‑linked names like Coinbase and MicroStrategy once again trade more like volatile Bitcoin proxies than companies being valued on their own fundamentals. Summary Gate data cited by ChainCatcher show the Dow opening up 0.66%, the S&P 500 up 0.42% and the Nasdaq up 0.33%, extending a risk‑on regime where dips in U.S. equities remain shallow and quickly bought. Crypto‑linked stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy continue to trade less on cash flows and business execution and more as leveraged wrappers on Bitcoin,…
Tether’s QVAC Fabric integrates BitNet LoRA to fine‑tune and run multi‑billion‑parameter AI models on consumer GPUs and flagship phones, pushing serious AI work to the edge. Summary QVAC Fabric brings BitNet LoRA fine‑tuning and inference to AMD and Intel GPUs, Apple’s Metal stack, and high‑end mobile GPUs, claiming 2–11x speedups over CPU baselines and up to 90% lower memory use. Tether says it has fine‑tuned models up to 3.8 billion parameters on Pixel 9, Galaxy S25, and iPhone 16, and up to 13 billion parameters on iPhone 16, pushing on‑device AI far beyond today’s typical sub‑3B demos. The release fits…
A hacker group from China posing as a cybersecurity firm has allegedly stolen 7 million dollars via wallet supply‑chain attacks, targeting Trust Wallet and other clients before an internal dispute triggered a whistleblower leak. Summary Operating under Wuhan Anshun Technology, the group presented itself as a security outfit while allegedly using Electron apps, browser plugins, and remote‑control tools to exfiltrate mnemonics and drain wallets across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Arbitrum and more. A disgruntled member claims the crew stole about 7 million dollars across 37 token types, then leaked internal details after a fight over profit splits and unpaid “severance,” saying…
GSR is buying its way into the underwriting layer of crypto, spending 57 million dollars to turn itself from a market maker into a full‑stack capital markets and treasury platform for token issuers. Summary GSR is acquiring Autonomous and Architech for a combined 57 million dollars, aiming to control the full lifecycle of digital asset projects from token design and launch to governance, liquidity and secondary‑market trading under one coordinated umbrella. Autonomous will keep operating independently to help teams launch and run tokenized organizations, while Architech is being folded into GSR’s advisory arm to anchor its institutional consulting, filling long‑standing…
Citibank has cut its 12‑month Bitcoin target to 112,000 dollars and Ethereum to 3,175 dollars, warning that stalled U.S. legislation and fading ETF enthusiasm are capping upside. Summary In a new note cited by ChainCatcher, Citibank cut its 12‑month Bitcoin target from 143,000 dollars to 112,000 dollars and lowered its Ethereum target from 4,304 dollars to 3,175 dollars, even as both trade near record levels. Citi blames stalled comprehensive U.S. crypto legislation, softer expectations for spot ETF inflows and underwhelming on‑chain usage, now projecting 10 billion dollars of net Bitcoin fund inflows and 2.5 billion dollars into Ethereum products over…
Arbitrum’s 2025 Transparency Report shows 2.1 billion transactions, 20 billion dollars in TVL, nearly 10 billion in stablecoins, and surging RWA and ETF activity as it courts institutions. Summary Arbitrum’s 2025 Transparency Report highlights more than 2.1 billion cumulative transactions, around 20 billion dollars in TVL, and stablecoin supply up 80% year‑on‑year to nearly 10 billion dollars. The ecosystem now hosts over 1,000 projects and 100‑plus chains, with Robinhood listing nearly 2,000 tokenized stocks and ETFs on Arbitrum and asset managers like Franklin Templeton and WisdomTree pushing RWA volume above 800 million dollars. With revenue engines such as Timeboost generating…
Zcash price shot up over 25% on Tuesday, outpacing the broader crypto market and taking the spot of the leading gainer of the day. Summary Zcash price surged over 25%, becoming the top gainer of the day after confirming a multi-month falling wedge breakout on the daily chart. Technical indicators, including a bullish MACD crossover and a green Supertrend, signal strengthening upward momentum. On-chain fundamentals remain strong as shielded pool liquidity hit a record high, and the network hashrate reached a new all-time peak. According to data from crypto.news, Zcash (ZEC) price briefly hit a daily high of $288.12 on…
Vietnam is reportedly looking to tighten restrictions on overseas cryptocurrency trading as authorities move to bring more activity under domestic oversight. Summary Vietnam is preparing rules to restrict overseas crypto trading, with authorities aiming to curb capital outflows and tighten oversight of digital asset activity. Five firms, including affiliates of Techcombank, VPBank, and LPBank, have cleared an initial round to participate in the country’s pilot licensing program for domestic crypto exchanges. According to a Reuters report, Vietnam’s finance ministry is drafting rules that would prevent local residents from trading on foreign crypto platforms, in a bid to curb capital outflows…
Crypto.com has partnered with KG Inicis to introduce crypto payment options for foreign tourists visiting South Korea. Summary Crypto.com has partnered with KG Inicis to enable crypto payments for foreign tourists across South Korea through its merchant network. International travelers will be able to pay using digital assets, while merchants can choose to settle transactions in fiat or crypto instantly. The two companies plan to roll out Crypto.com Pay across KG Inicis’ merchant network, according to a March 17 press release. The integration will allow international travelers to pay for goods and services using digital assets at both physical stores…