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Open USD poses new threat to Circle by challenging USDC’s core business model, CoinShares says

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Open USD poses new threat to Circle by challenging USDC’s core business model, CoinShares says

USDC’s circulating supply has fallen to about $73 billion from nearly $80 billion in March, trimming its share of the roughly $312 billion stablecoin market as competition from newly regulated issuers intensifies.

Circle shares fell more than 17% on the day Open USD was announced, though CoinShares said the decline was likely amplified by technical selling linked to the Russell index reconstitution.

Still, the report argued the market may be overreacting. Open USD has yet to launch, important details remain unresolved and Circle retains a significant advantage through USDC’s deep liquidity and years of integrations across exchanges, DeFi and payments.

Open USD is unlikely to pose a major threat to Tether, whose dominance in emerging markets and offshore dollar liquidity gives USDT, the largest stablecoin by far, a different competitive moat, the report added.

For now, investors should watch whether Circle changes its distribution strategy and whether Open USD can convert its high-profile backing into adoption, CoinShares said. Until then, the project remains a credible, but unproven, challenge to USDC.

CoinShares is not alone in noting the challenge posed by Open USD. Japanese investment bank Mizuho downgraded Circle to underperform from neutral and slashed its price target to $50 from $85 in a note to clients on Tuesday, arguing that the new rival’s business model threatens the stablecoin issuer’s long-term economics.

Japan’s Landmark Vote Reclassifies Bitcoin And Crypto As Financial Assets

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Japan’s Landmark Vote Reclassifies Bitcoin And Crypto As Financial Assets

Japan’s parliament passed an amendment on Wednesday that reclassifies cryptocurrency as a “financial asset,” a shift that pulls bitcoin and other digital assets out of the country’s payments regime and into the framework that governs stocks, bonds, and investment trusts, according to a report from public broadcaster NHK.

The change strips crypto of its prior status under the Payment Services Act, where regulators treated it as a means of settlement, and folds it into the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), the same statute that oversees traditional securities. 

The amendment moves bitcoin and other crypto under a single investor-protection standard. NHK reports the change takes effect within a year, with a target of fiscal 2027.

Japan’s new authority over bitcoin and the crypto asset class

Japan’s cabinet first approved this measure as a draft amendment in April 2026, but that step only sent the bill toward the Diet for debate. Wednesday’s vote marks the final enactment into law, alongside formal approval of a separate plan to cut the top tax rate on crypto gains from 55% to a flat 20% starting in 2028.

The move rewires how Japan supervises the asset class. As financial instruments, crypto assets now fall under insider-trading rules that bar issuers, exchange operators, and other parties with access to non-public information from trading ahead of events such as token listings, delistings, or major technical incidents.

Exchanges face new disclosure obligations. Platforms must publish data on each token’s issuer, blockchain design, and volatility profile, a standard that mirrors the reporting demands placed on securities firms. Regulators also gain broader market-surveillance authority over the sector, according to local reports. 

Penalties climb under the new law. The maximum prison term for unregistered crypto operators rises from three years to 10, while the top fine increases from 3 million yen to 10 million yen, near $62,000. The tougher enforcement signals a move to treat crypto misconduct with the same severity as securities fraud.

A path to bitcoin ETFs and a tax cut

The reclassification carries two consequences that reach beyond compliance. First, it opens a path for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds. Because FIEA governs the products that funds can hold, moving crypto under its umbrella removes a structural barrier that kept Japanese asset managers from launching regulated bitcoin ETFs.

Second, it clears the way for a tax overhaul. Japan taxes crypto gains as miscellaneous income at rates that reach 55 percent, among the steepest treatment in any major market. Lawmakers approved a plan to cut the top rate to a flat 20 percent, a level that matches the tax on stock gains. The reduction, tied to the 2026 Tax Reform Outline, activates in 2028.

The reforms arrive as Japan accelerates a broader Web3 push and as regulators weigh reserve requirements for exchanges that resemble the buffers held by securities firms. User accounts on Japanese exchanges have grown, and domestic crypto firms are positioning for a wider base of retail investors.

For an industry that has long viewed Japan as an early and cautious mover, the vote marks a decisive turn toward legitimacy. 

The country that once served as a template for crypto regulation is now aligning digital assets with its capital markets, a decision that could pressure other jurisdictions to follow.

R25 Brings Consumer Credit RWA Vault to Binance Wallet Earn

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R25 Brings Consumer Credit RWA Vault to Binance Wallet Earn

  • R25 has launched Axil Prime Credit on Binance Wallet, bringing tokenized emerging-market consumer loans to retail audience.
  • The 3-month USDC vault targets double-digit gross yield and includes a $300,000 incentive pool.

R25 DApp has launhed an emerging-market consumer-credit strategy on Binance Wallet. The launch tests whether private lending products can attract the same retail demand as tokenized Treasuries.

The Axil Prime Credit vault lets eligible Binance Wallet users deposit USDC into a 3-month lending strategy managed by Axil. The portfolio is intended to generate returns from consumer loans across emerging markets.

Binance began offering access through its Wallet DeFi interface on July 15.

The accompanying campaign has a subscription limit of 70 million USDC and requires a minimum deposit of 100 USDC. Participants during the promotion, which runs through July 19, will divide $300,000 worth of PROS tokens, the native asset of the Pharos network.

Binance Lists a 13% Target Yield

The yield figures require some qualification.

R25 said the vault targets approximately 14.3% gross annualized yield with launch incentives, while Binance’s announcement lists an expected return of 13%, alternately describing it as APY and APR.

The Binance promotion also distributes the $300,000 PROS pool according to each participant’s share of qualifying deposits. The final token reward will therefore depend on total campaign participation and the market value Binance uses when calculating distributions.

That distinction matters because promotional incentives can temporarily lift an advertised return above the cash yield generated by the underlying loans.

The vault is also not a liquid savings product. Deposits are subject to a fixed three-month lock-up, after which redemption requests may take up to 20 additional days to process

Deposits can automatically roll into another three-month cycle when users do not submit a redemption request during the designated window.

The Distribution Model Is the Bigger Development

Consumer loans have appeared in tokenized credit products before.

Credix, for example, began connecting onchain investors with fintech lenders in emerging markets several years ago. Centrifuge and Goldfinch have also financed pools containing consumer loans, receivables and other forms of private credit.

The distinguishing feature of the R25 launch is its distribution.

Instead of asking investors to find a specialist private-credit protocol, bridge assets independently and interact directly with an unfamiliar application, R25 is placing the vault inside Binance Wallet’s DeFi interface.

Users can enter the product through the wallet’s protocol menu and receive APC3M tokens representing their position on Pharos. Binance Wallet describes its DeFi service as an aggregator covering lending, staking, restaking and other onchain yield products.

R25 calls Axil Prime Credit the first emerging-market consumer-credit vault distributed through Binance Wallet. The broader asset class is not new to blockchain, but access through one of the crypto industry’s largest consumer platforms could give it a considerably wider retail audience.

“Bringing R25’s infrastructure to Binance Wallet DeFi puts expert-curated yield in front of millions of users who could not easily reach it before,” Sean Chung, vice president of global business development at R25, said in a statement shared with AlexaBlockchain.

“Custody, issuance, valuation, and redemptions all have to work cleanly before a product like this can be distributed at scale, and that is what our architecture is built to standardize. Axil Prime Credit is the first product to show what it can carry.”

Why Consumer Credit Is Moving Onchain

Tokenized real-world assets have so far been led by instruments that are relatively simple to price and redeem.

Tokenized US Treasury products had about $15.5 billion in distributed value in mid-July, according to RWA.xyz. Tokenized credit, which includes private, corporate, structured and specialty lending, stood at roughly $7 billion.

Consumer credit offers potentially higher yields, but it is considerably more complicated.

Returns depend on thousands of individual borrowers making payments. Investors must also evaluate the quality of loan originators, underwriting standards, servicing arrangements, local legal protections, currency exposure and recovery procedures.

R25 says Axil Prime Credit uses a diversified portfolio and structural protections including overcollateralization, pledged bank accounts and junior capital buffers. Axil is responsible for portfolio construction and credit management, while R25 supplies the tokenization infrastructure and Pharos provides the blockchain settlement layer.

Those protections may reduce losses, but they cannot eliminate defaults.

Unlike an overcollateralized crypto loan, a consumer loan cannot generally be liquidated automatically when its value falls. Recoveries depend on offchain servicing companies, contracts and courts in the countries where borrowers are located.

More From AlexaBlockchain

Earlier Credit Projects Show the Risks

The history of onchain private credit has produced both growth and losses.

Goldfinch financed loans to businesses and lenders in emerging markets, and its loan book approached $100 million at its peak. Galaxy Digital said the portfolio later contracted by more than 70% following defaults.

One Goldfinch borrower, African motorcycle-finance company Tugende, became the subject of a possible near-total loss on a $5 million loan after an unauthorized intercompany transaction. The exposure was spread through Goldfinch’s diversified senior pool, limiting the effect on any single pool investor but demonstrating that tokenization does not remove conventional credit risk.

Other private-credit products have attracted meaningful capital.

FalconX said its tokenized institutional credit vault reached $144 million in June, with a 30-day gross yield of approximately 8.25% before its performance fee. That strategy is based on an institutional loan book rather than emerging-market consumer loans, but its expansion indicates demand for credit yields above those typically available from stablecoin lending markets.

The outcomes also show why transparency becomes more important as these products reach retail wallets.

Investors need timely information about loan performance, arrears, defaults, recoveries, geographic concentration, junior protection and changes in net asset value. A blockchain can record transactions and ownership, but it cannot independently verify whether an offchain borrower will repay.

R25 Is Building for Delayed Settlement

R25’s infrastructure is based on Ethereum vault standards including ERC-4626, ERC-7540 and ERC-7575.

ERC-4626 standardizes how tokenized vault shares are issued and redeemed. ERC-7540 adds asynchronous deposits and withdrawals, allowing a vault to accommodate assets that cannot settle instantly. ERC-7575 supports structures in which multiple asset entry points can be linked to a common vault share.

That asynchronous structure is important for private credit.

A Treasury token may have predictable daily liquidity. Consumer loans instead generate repayments over weeks or months, while valuations, cash movements and redemptions may rely on administrators and banking systems outside the blockchain.

R25’s modular architecture separates custody, valuation, issuance, fees and redemption processing. The design is intended to let one system support both instantly settling crypto strategies and slower real-world portfolios.

The technology may make such products easier to package and distribute. It does not make the underlying loans liquid.

A Test for Retail RWA Demand

The Binance Wallet integration will test whether retail crypto users want exposure to real-world credit when the product is placed alongside familiar DeFi opportunities.

The yield premium is likely to attract attention. But the 3-month commitment, potential redemption delay, borrower defaults and dependence on PROS incentives make the risk profile substantially different from holding USDC or a tokenized money-market fund.

Binance also states that the vault is a third-party service, may not be available in every jurisdiction and is not supervised as a regulated Binance investment product.

For R25, the launch is therefore about more than one vault.

It is an attempt to show that consumer loans, private funds and other assets with delayed settlement can be turned into standardized onchain products and distributed through mainstream crypto wallets.

The above article “A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Year-Long Creative Journey Behind “Adventures of Pax Pengu & Polly”” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/creative-journey-behind-adventures-of-pax-pengu-polly/

Read Also: This is the First U.S.-Chartered Depository Bank to Offer Stablecoin Invoicing

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

A timeline of the Ethereum Foundation’s ongoing shakeup

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A timeline of the Ethereum Foundation’s ongoing shakeup

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s tech newsletter covering the most important stories in blockchain. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.

We’re giving you a deeper look at the biggest trends, breakthroughs and debates shaping blockchain technology each week.

This week, we’re unpacking the timeline of all the changes at the Ethereum Foundation since the year began.

Bitcoin Price Predictions Now Include up to $80,000 Next Month

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Bitcoin Price Predictions Now Include up to $80,000 Next Month

Bitcoin (BTC) may hit up to $80,000 by August, a new prediction says as data lays out key nearby BTC price levels.

Key points:

  • Bitcoin can continue to $70,000 and higher next month if it clears nearby resistance, says new analysis.
  • Market participants identify the most significant support and resistance levels now circling spot price.
  • A macro tide could be the spark to ignite the next move higher this week.

BTC price roadmap sees $68,000 within two weeks

In an X update on Wednesday, crypto trader and analyst Michaël van de Poppe said that BTC/USD was successfully defending “crucial” support.

“It’s holding the crucial level at $61,000 and flipping important MAs for support, indicating that there’s more momentum on the horizon,” he wrote, referring to moving average trend lines. 

“I’m expecting to see a rally to $68,000 in the next 1-2 weeks, followed by a continuation towards $75,000-80,000 in August.”

BTC/USDT one-day chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X

Van de Poppe’s first target coincides with exchange order-book liquidity hurdles that price would encounter if it were to break out of its local range.

Updating X followers on whale orders, monitoring resource CoinGlass showed the area at $67,000 and above as key for the cohort. Support, meanwhile, sat principally between $63,500 and $63,800.

BTC/USDT 15-minute chart with whale orders. Source: CoinGlass

Others remained cautious, with declining spot-market volume causing suspicion about the strength of the latest gains.

“Wouldn’t get excited about this pump, this can easily end up being a failed auction above value area,” commentator Exitpump warned on Tuesday.

BTC/USDT perpetual contract one-hour chart. Source: Exitpump/X

Previously, trader and analyst Rekt Capital warned that July strength should reverse by August as Bitcoin repeats standard bear-market behavior.

QCP Capital: Crypto market still needs “conviction”

In market research issued on Monday, trading company QCP Capital suggested that a macro “catalyst” could be all that was needed to propel crypto higher.

Related: Bitcoin bear market will bottom when two-month RSI metric hits zero, trader predicts

As Cointelegraph reported, the coming days will see the release of key US inflation data prior to the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest-rate changes at the end of the month. Tuesday’s data came in below expectations, helping to send Bitcoin back toward $65,000.

“Should this week’s macro data and earnings continue to validate the bullish narrative, improving risk sentiment could spill over into digital assets as investors rotate into markets that have lagged the broader equity rally,” QCP wrote. 

“Until then, crypto appears caught between supportive long-term fundamentals and a market still waiting for conviction.”

Japan Brings Crypto Under Financial Market Rules

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Japan Brings Crypto Under Financial Market Rules

Japan is set to reshape its cryptocurrency market with stricter trading rules, stronger user protections and a framework closer to traditional finance.

The country’s parliament on Wednesday passed revisions that classify crypto assets as financial assets under Japan’s Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), according to a report by local news agency Nikkei.

The changes move Japan’s crypto regulation away from the Payment Services Act (PSA), which treated digital assets primarily as payment instruments, and introduce insider trading rules and stronger oversight for crypto businesses.

The overhaul marks one of Japan’s biggest shifts in digital asset policy as regulators worldwide continue debating how crypto should fit within existing financial systems.

Crypto exchanges face tougher oversight

Under the revised framework, crypto businesses operating in Japan will face additional compliance obligations designed to improve market integrity and protect users.

The updated rules prohibit issuers, exchanges and other market participants from trading while aware of undisclosed material information, creating insider trading restrictions similar to those applied in traditional finance (TradFi).

Source: Reuters Legal

The revised rules increase penalties for companies operating without registration, reportedly raising the maximum prison sentence from three years to 10 years and increasing fines from around 3 million Japanese yen ($19,000) to around 10 million yen.

Related: Japan stablecoin payments advance with Lawson trial, Netstars launch

Insider trading violations could result in penalties of up to five years in prison, fines of up to 5 million yen, or both, the report notes.

Global regulators align crypto with financial rules

In line with Japan’s move to bring crypto closer to TradFi, the revised law also reportedly changes the terminology for registered businesses from “cryptocurrency exchange” to “cryptocurrency trading company.” The change reflects the broader financial role regulators now assign to the sector.

Japan’s crypto regulation developments reflect a broader global trend of regulators applying existing financial frameworks to crypto rather than treating the sector as entirely separate.

South Africa’s tax authority published draft guidance in early July outlining how existing tax rules apply to crypto assets, while US regulators continue clarifying how existing securities and commodities laws apply to digital assets.

Magazine: Thai scammer’s $122M wallet, Japan embraces crypto credit: Asia Express

Bitcoin, ether hold steady after rising on U.S. inflation report: Crypto Markets Today

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Bitcoin, ether hold steady after rising on U.S. inflation report: Crypto Markets Today

Bitcoin BTC$64,650.29 and ether (ETH) consolidated during Asian and European hours after rallying on Tuesday following a weaker-than-forecast U.S. inflation figure.

Bitcoin, while more than 3% higher over 24 hours, fell 0.6% since midnight UTC as tensions between Iran and the U.S. over tanker movements in the Strait of Hormuz ramped up. The largest cryptocurrency earlier touched a three-week high of $65,200.

Ether marked a similar trajectory, remaining 5% higher over 24 hours even after dropping 0.8% since midnight. It touched $1,895, the highest level since June 3, on Tuesday.

U.S. equities also rose in the period, with Nasdaq 100 futures and S&P 500 futures posting respective gains of 0.53% and 0.22%.

The altcoin market also showed pockets of strength; PUMP rose by 8.5% since midnight after a team and investor unlock was mopped up by investors, suggesting robust demand.

Derivatives positioning

  • BTC derivatives positioning remains largely unchanged. Open interest ticked up to $17.3 billion, though the move is not meaningful, the three-month annualized basis held at 3.8% and funding rates remained broadly in the 0%-8% annualized range across multiple venues. In essence, the market continues to consolidate
  • Options positioning tilted more bullish as the 24-hour call/put ratio moved to 66/34 following yesterday’s softer 58/42 read and the one-week delta skew held steady at ~15%. The ATM term structure remains in contango, with the front end around 32%–33% and the long end at ~42.5% out to mid-2027 – indicating a calm, non-stressed volatility environment with a renewed lean toward upside positioning.
  • Coinglass data shows $357 million in 24-hour liquidations, with a 19-81 split between longs and shorts. ETH ($132 million) and BTC ($118 million) were the leaders in terms of notional liquidations.
  • The Binance liquidation heatmap indicates $63,500 as a core liquidation level to monitor in the event of a price drop.

Token talk

  • CoinMarketCap’s “Altcoin Season” indicator fell to 46/100 on Wednesday, likely due to the strength shown by the largest cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether.
  • The indicator was also dragged down by WLFI$0.05672, which lost around 1% since midnight UTC despite buoyancy in the broader market.
  • Hyperliquid (HYPE) demonstrated its strength, adding 4% since midnight as it looks to extend May’s rally, which has been characterized by a series of higher highs and higher lows. The next target would be a record high above $78.00.
  • HYPE’s rival token, LIT, stalled after a strong month, rising by just 0.5% as it started experiencing profit-taking and supply distribution as it neared its record high of $2.76.
  • There was also a strong gain for zcash (ZEC), which surged by more than 10% over the past 24 hours before consolidating around $557.

South Korea Sets 2027 Tokenized Government Bond Cbdc Pilot

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South Korea Sets 2027 Tokenized Government Bond Cbdc Pilot

South Korea plans to conduct a 2027 pilot linking tokenized government bonds to its institutional central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure, moving sovereign debt tokenization from a proposal to an official government timeline. 

On Tuesday, the government unveiled its 2026 Economic Growth Strategy for the Second Half, which includes the plan. In addition to assigning a date for the pilot, the strategy said authorities would study how to make the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) CBDC infrastructure interoperable with other blockchains, enabling a potential connection between external distributed ledgers and the bank’s permissioned system. 

The project would test whether South Korea’s wholesale CBDC, designed for use by financial institutions, can support capital markets infrastructure, rather than serving only as a digital payment instrument.

The document did not identify which bonds would be included, the size of the pilot, the participants, or which blockchain technologies would be used. It also did not provide specifics on whether the project would cover the initial issuance of government debt, secondary-market trading or only post-trade settlement. 

South Korea expands blockchain and tokenization agenda

The idea was first outlined publicly on July 1 by BOK Governor Hyun Song Shin during a panel at the European Central Bank Forum on Central Banking. Shin described government bonds as the “big prize” for tokenization and proposed bringing tokenized bonds, wholesale central bank money and tokenized commercial bank deposits onto a unified ledger as an extension of the BOK-led Project Hangang. 

The government strategy said the bond pilot would form part of a broader effort to promote a “blockchain economy.” Authorities plan to introduce measures in the second half of 2026 to support large-scale demonstrations and the development of technologies across the digital asset and blockchain ecosystem. 

The BOK said that faster, continuous settlement can transmit stress more quickly and introduce smart contract, liquidity and data oracle risks, as discussed in the paper at the ECB forum. It also said Project Hangang’s digital ledger and the central bank’s existing payment system do not yet communicate in real time.

Related: South Korea adds token securities to capital market overhaul

In addition to the pilot, the strategy called for broader measures to support the country’s blockchain and digital-asset industry, including legislation covering businesses and stablecoins. 

The bond pilot is expected to coincide with the rollout of South Korea’s regulated token securities market. Amendments recognizing distributed ledgers as valid securities registries are scheduled to take effect in February 2027. This allows regulated issuance and circulation of tokenized securities, including stocks, bonds and money-market products.

Magazine: Thai scammer’s $122M wallet, Japan embraces crypto credit: Asia Express

Bitcoin Price Jumps Above $64,000 As U.S CPI Falls

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Bitcoin Price Jumps Above $64,000 As U.S CPI Falls

Bitcoin price briefly climbed above $64,000 on Tuesday after the June Consumer Price Index came in softer than forecast, giving traders fresh reason to bet the Federal Reserve will step back from further tightening.

The Labor Department reported that headline CPI fell 0.1% in June from the prior month, pulling the annual rate down to about 3.9% from 4.2% in May. A near 10% drop in gasoline prices drove much of the decline. Bitcoin price, which had spent the past week under pressure from leverage flushes and geopolitical risk, turned higher on the print and traded near $63,800, a gain of about 2% on the day.

Softer inflation data eases the path toward rate cuts, and lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding an asset that pays no yield. As the reading crossed the wire, Treasury yields eased, the dollar gave back ground against major currencies, and equities pushed into the green. Gold added to its recent advance.

Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, held at about 2.9% year over year, above the Fed’s 2% target and a sign that underlying price pressure has not broken. That stickiness keeps a July hike on the table. 

Ahead of the release, futures markets priced a two-in-three chance the Fed holds its 3.5% to 3.75% range at the July 28-29 meeting, with the remainder betting on a quarter-point increase.