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Bitget Brings Wall Street-Style Fixed Coupon Notes to Tokenized US Stocks

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Bitget Brings Wall Street-Style Fixed Coupon Notes to Tokenized US Stocks

  • Bitget has launched Fixed Coupon Notes tied to tokenized US stocks.
  • It allows users to earn predefined USDT coupons while waiting to buy selected rTokens at a target price.
  • The product extends tokenized equities beyond spot trading into structured strategies, but investors risk receiving the tokens above market value if the underlying stock falls below the strike price.

Bitget is adding fixed-coupon notes tied to tokenized US equities, extending the competition among crypto exchanges to recreate Wall Street investment products around blockchain-based stocks.

The exchange launched its Fixed Coupon Note, or FCN, Plan on Tuesday. Users deposit USDT and choose a predetermined price at which they are willing to acquire a tokenized stock, while earning a fixed coupon during the product’s term.

The initial lineup includes rTokens linked to Nvidia, Micron Technology, Marvell Technology, SanDisk and SK Hynix. The rTokens are issued through Reality Protocol and designed to track the economic performance of the corresponding securities.

The structure essentially turns a stock-buying target into a yield-bearing position.

If the stock’s observation price at maturity is at or above the selected strike price, the investor receives the USDT principal back along with the agreed coupon. If the price is below the strike, the principal is converted into the corresponding rToken at that strike price, with the coupon still paid in USDT.

That second outcome is where the risk sits.

Unlike simply waiting with a limit order, investors can earn a return on their committed capital. But they also agree in advance to take delivery of the tokenized stock if its price drops below the strike, even when the market price has fallen substantially further.

“There are times when you want exposure to a stock but the price is not where you want it to be,” Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said in a statement shared with AlexaBlockchain.

“FCN gives users a set price they are comfortable buying at and earn while they wait. Bringing stocks onto Bitget was one part of building UEX. Now we are giving users more ways to access and use these assets, beyond simply buying and selling them on spot,” she added.

A Wall Street Structure Moves Into Crypto

Fixed-coupon notes are well established in traditional wealth management.

Conventional equity-linked FCNs typically pay a predetermined coupon while exposing investors to the possibility of receiving the underlying shares rather than their original cash principal if certain price conditions are met. DBS, for example, describes the downside scenario as one in which the investor receives the coupons but has the principal converted into the underlying asset at a predetermined strike price.

Bitget is applying broadly similar economics to tokenized stocks and stablecoin funding.

The company describes the launch as the first crypto-exchange product combining an FCN structure, USDT settlement and delivery of US stock rTokens. That is a narrowly defined claim, however, rather than the first structured yield product built around tokenized equities.

Bybit introduced tokenized stocks into its Dual Asset product on July 23, allowing users to select an xStock, target price and investment term for a non-principal-protected structured yield strategy. Its initial assets included tokenized exposure to Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Coinbase, Amazon and SpaceX.

The similarity is important.

Both products allow investors to earn a predefined return while accepting the possibility of settlement in a tokenized equity when a target price is reached. Bitget differentiates its version through its FCN format, USDT settlement and Reality-issued rTokens.

Why Does It Matter?

The development suggests tokenized stocks are moving into a second phase.

Crypto platforms initially competed on whether they could offer blockchain-based exposure to equities at all. They are increasingly competing on what investors can do with those assets once they are inside the platform.

Kraken, for example, expanded xStocks into perpetual futures in February, giving eligible non-US customers leveraged exposure to tokenized equities and equity indexes. The exchange said the contracts can be traded continuously and used for directional, hedging and basis strategies.

Robinhood has taken another route, offering European customers stock tokens that track US-listed securities. Its tokens are derivatives rather than direct ownership of the underlying shares.

Taken together, the products increasingly resemble a parallel capital-markets stack: spot equity exposure first, followed by leverage, yield products and structured strategies.

Bitget has been building toward that model through its wider rToken offering. The company says Reality-powered rTokens are designed to provide 1:1 asset-backed economic exposure, with underlying securities held through brokerage infrastructure and independent verification of the backing.

Tokenization Doesn’t Remove Structured-Product Risk

The convenience comes with additional layers of complexity.

Bitget’s FCN is explicitly non-principal-protected. An investor who receives rTokens at the strike price can suffer an immediate mark-to-market loss when the underlying stock has fallen substantially below that level by maturity.

Consider a simplified example.

An investor might agree to acquire a tokenized stock at $90 while it trades at $100. If it finishes at $80, the investor still receives the tokens based on the predetermined $90 strike, leaving the coupon to offset only part of the decline.

The token itself also needs to be distinguished from directly owning the corresponding public stock.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission said in January that tokenized securities can use different legal structures and confer different rights depending on whether they are issued by the securities issuer itself or by an unaffiliated third party.

That distinction is becoming more relevant as tokenized equities spread across crypto platforms.

Exchanges Are Building Beyond Spot Stocks

The broader race now involves both crypto companies and traditional market operators.

Nasdaq received SEC approval in March for a framework allowing eligible securities to trade and settle in tokenized form, while the New York Stock Exchange’s parent, Intercontinental Exchange, has also been developing blockchain-based trading infrastructure.

Crypto exchanges, meanwhile, are trying to build products around tokenized equities before those markets fully converge with conventional exchanges.

FCNs turn Bitget’s rTokens from something users can simply buy or sell into collateral for a defined investment strategy.

Bitget said it will run a promotional campaign for the FCN product from Aug. 17 through Sept. 18.

The above article “Bitget Brings Wall Street-Style Fixed Coupon Notes to Tokenized US Stocks” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/bitget-brings-wall-street-style-fixed-coupon-notes-to-tokenized-us-stocks/

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.

US Attorneys Blast Ex-Celsius CEO’s Motion to Vacate as ‘Without Merit’

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US Attorneys Blast Ex-Celsius CEO’s Motion to Vacate as ‘Without Merit’

An effort by Alex Mashinsky, the former CEO of now-defunct cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, to convince a federal court to vacate his 12-year sentence for fraud and market manipulation faces pushback from US prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

In a Friday filing, SDNY Attorney James McDonald and Assistant US Attorney Allison Nichols said that the court should deny Mashinsky’s petition to vacate his conviction and sentence, saying that many of his legal arguments were “without merit” and pushing back against claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. 

The former Celsius CEO informed the court in May that he would be proceeding pro se — that is, representing himself in the case — and filed a motion to vacate, including claims about cryptocurrency exchange FTX and his former colleague, the company’s chief revenue officer Roni Cohen-Pavon.

“Mashinsky has not even submitted a sworn declaration in support of these baseless allegations, and his petition should be denied without a hearing or further fact-finding,” said prosecutors, adding:

“[…] He presents a litany of complaints, blaming others for problems at Celsius and rehashing the evidence presented at his sentencing hearing. Though Mashinsky stops short of claiming that he is factually innocent, he blames his lawyers for failing to press certain arguments on his behalf.”

As of Tuesday, the judge overseeing the case had not responded to the federal prosecutors’ filing. Mashinsky was sentenced in May 2025 to 144 months in prison, having pleaded guilty to commodities fraud and securities fraud related to “manipulative and deceptive devices” at Celsius. Cohen-Pavon, who according to the government provided “substantial assistance” to the prosecutors case again Mashinsky, was sentenced to time served in May.

Related: Celsius co-founders Leon, Goldstein to pay FTC over $6M

Celsius was one of a slew of crypto companies to file for bankruptcy in 2022 amid a market downturn starting with the collapse of Terraform Labs. Authorities indicted Mashinsky and Cohen-Pavon in 2023 and both subsequently pleaded guilty. The former CEO was ordered to pay $48 million in forfeiture at sentencing and agreed to pay $10 million as part of a separate settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission.

Mashinsky banned from commodities markets trading

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced in June that the former Celsius CEO was permanently banned from trading in markets within the commodities regulator’s purview.

The CFTC case was one of the last against Mashinsky and Celsius to be resolved following the company’s collapse in 2022. However, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil action against the co-founder, first filed in 2023, was still ongoing despite the court reaching a judgment against the platform months after the initial complaint.

As of July 30, the SEC reported that its attorneys and Mashinsky were “engaged in settlement discussions.“ The regulator asked the court for 60 days to file a status report on the matter, pushing any potential resolution to the end of September.

Magazine: ‘Fabricated rumors’ about BitMart founder, Binance bStocks dominate: Asia Express

Bitcoin has gone quiet as traders chase ‘5x or 10x’ payoffs elsewhere

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Bitcoin has gone quiet as traders chase ‘5x or 10x’ payoffs elsewhere

Bitcoin’s price swings have hit a cycle low, squeezed by a market tug-of-war with no clear winner. The traders who once lived off its chaos have taken their risk appetite elsewhere.

BakerHostetler Builds Dedicated Crypto Litigation Team as Digital Asset Disputes Grow

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BakerHostetler Builds Dedicated Crypto Litigation Team as Digital Asset Disputes Grow

  • BakerHostetler has launched a dedicated Crypto Asset Disputes team.
  • It will handle litigation, enforcement, insolvency, asset recovery and cross-border matters involving digital assets.
  • The move builds on the firm’s Web3 practice, launched in 2018, and reflects the growing specialization of crypto-related legal work as digital assets become more integrated with traditional finance.

BakerHostetler is carving out a dedicated practice for crypto-related litigation, reflecting how disputes involving digital assets are becoming a more established part of corporate and financial law.

The US law firm on Tuesday launched a Crypto Asset Disputes team covering litigation and arbitration involving cryptocurrencies, blockchain technology and emerging digital markets. The practice will be led by New York partner Joanna F. Wasick, a founding member of BakerHostetler’s broader Web3 and Digital Assets team.

BakerHostetler says it is the first Am Law 100 firm to establish a dedicated Crypto Asset Disputes team.

The distinction is narrower than being the first major law firm to handle crypto litigation. Several large firms already maintain substantial digital-asset litigation practices, including Latham & Watkins, McDermott Will & Schulte, Skadden and Greenberg Traurig.

What BakerHostetler is doing is formally separating disputes into a specialist team within a crypto practice it has been building for years.

“Crypto disputes are no longer an emerging issue; they are a core business risk for market participants across the digital asset ecosystem,” Wasick said.

“BakerHostetler has been litigating and arbitrating crypto asset disputes for years, across commercial, regulatory, insolvency and enforcement matters,” she added. “This team provides a formal platform for those capabilities and brings together BakerHostetler’s deep litigation bench, technical fluency and practical experience in digital assets to help clients navigate disputes that often move quickly, cross borders and involve novel questions of law and technology.”

More From AlexaBlockchain

From crypto regulation to crypto litigation

The new practice will cover commercial and tort disputes, securities and commodities litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement actions, asset tracing, bankruptcy disputes and cross-border proceedings.

Those categories illustrate how crypto litigation has expanded beyond early disputes over token sales or whether particular digital assets qualify as securities.

Crypto platforms and investors now face questions involving ownership in bankruptcy, fraud recovery, sanctions, commodities rules, contractual obligations and the treatment of assets that can move across jurisdictions within minutes.

The bankruptcy failures of Celsius, FTX and BlockFi helped expose some of those unresolved questions. Courts have had to address issues including whether customer crypto belongs to an insolvent company, how claims should be valued and when digital assets should be valued during bankruptcy proceedings.

Asset recovery adds another layer.

Unlike conventional financial assets held through identifiable intermediaries, stolen or disputed cryptocurrency can move through multiple wallets, blockchains and jurisdictions. That can require lawyers to combine conventional litigation tools with blockchain analysis and asset tracing.

BakerHostetler’s existing Web3 practice already lists litigation, arbitration and regulatory enforcement among its services, drawing on the firm’s wider litigation organization.

The new team therefore represents an organizational shift more than an entirely new legal capability.

An eight-year buildout

BakerHostetler’s move follows an expansion into digital-asset law that began well before the latest institutional push into crypto.

Its Web3 and Digital Assets team was established in 2018. Its work now spans blockchain protocols, token issuers, decentralized-finance projects, NFTs, regulatory matters, enforcement and disputes.

In 2020, BakerHostetler created its Digital Assets and Data Management Practice Group, bringing together areas including privacy, cybersecurity, emerging technology and digital assets. The group now includes more than 100 attorneys and technologists, according to the firm.

Its crypto work also became increasingly tied to financial-market regulation.

In December 2024, BakerHostetler launched its Digital and Innovative Markets team to advise clients where traditional securities, commodities, derivatives and crypto markets overlap. The practice covers regulatory strategy, enforcement, transactions, market structure and product development.

BakerHostetler said Tuesday that Isabelle Corbett Sterling will now lead that team.

Both the Digital and Innovative Markets group and the new disputes practice will operate alongside the firm’s Web3 and Digital Assets team, led by partner Robert A. Musiala Jr.

Chambers currently ranks BakerHostetler in Band 3 nationally for FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies, describing the firm as active in blockchain and cryptocurrency matters including regulatory enforcement and product launches.

Why Does It Matter?

The creation of a specialist disputes group is another indication that crypto is being treated less as an isolated technology practice and more like an established financial market capable of generating its own recurring litigation.

That matters to law firms because the legal needs of the sector are changing.

During the earlier phases of crypto adoption, much of the legal work centered on token launches, securities classifications and regulatory interpretation. The market now also generates bankruptcies, enforcement cases, commercial disputes, fraud claims, asset-recovery proceedings and conflicts involving products that cross between traditional and blockchain-based finance.

The legal industry is already adapting.

Latham & Watkins is ranked Band 1 by Chambers for US crypto-asset disputes and combines that work with a broader Digital Assets & Web3 practice. McDermott Will & Schulte is also ranked Band 1 for Crypto-Asset Disputes and says its crypto lawyers handle litigation, investigations, transactions and regulatory strategy.

Skadden similarly advises digital-asset companies and investors in securities and commercial litigation and arbitration, while Greenberg Traurig operates a global Blockchain & Digital Assets group comprising more than 100 lawyers across different disciplines.

That means BakerHostetler’s launch is not evidence that large law firms are only now discovering crypto disputes.

Instead, it points to the next stage of specialization: firms reorganizing existing crypto expertise into narrower practices built around litigation, financial-market regulation and other recurring areas of client demand.

Ted Kobus, who leads BakerHostetler’s Digital Assets and Data Management Practice Group, said understanding cryptocurrency alone is no longer sufficient.

“Clients need advisers who understand how digital assets intersect with data, technology, regulation and enterprise risk,” he said. “These teams bring those capabilities together under one roof, allowing us to provide practical, business-focused counsel from prevention through resolution.”

For BakerHostetler, the trajectory has moved from a broad blockchain practice in 2018, to a wider digital-assets and data organization in 2020, a financial-markets-focused team in 2024, and now a practice devoted specifically to disputes.

That progression mirrors a larger change in crypto itself: the legal questions are increasingly about what happens when digital assets become embedded in ordinary financial and commercial activity — and when those transactions go wrong.

The above article “BakerHostetler Builds Dedicated Crypto Litigation Team as Digital Asset Disputes Grow” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/bakerhostetler-builds-dedicated-crypto-litigation-team/

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.

Allocation Update – Q2 2026

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Allocation Update – Q2 2026
DAOs/Governance Research Faculty Research Fellowship: Ethereum Studies (AY 2025–2026) Enables Prof. Strnad to dedicate substantial research time to Ethereum-focused problems, including DAO governance, decentralized system administration, and optimistic rollup challenge periods, while advising OpenLab scholars. Security Research EL+CL & Glamsterdam Security Enhances Ethereum’s security by proactively identifying vulnerabilities in execution and consensus layer clients ahead of the Glamsterdam upgrade. This research strengthens the network’s resilience. Nodes and Clients Application Lodestar 2026 Develops and maintains the Lodestar consensus client, implementing hard forks and contributing protocol research. This supports operator UX and ecosystem tooling for TypeScript and Zig Ethereum communities. Link Ethereum Protocol Application Lighthouse – May to October 2026 Lighthouse client development continues with ePBS, Gloas, and partial messages networking for mainnet. This work expands tree sync, the Diamond testing framework, and ZK-verified consensus. Formal verification and client hardening efforts also progress. Link Cryptography Developer tooling Poulpy PIR tooling Develops a production-grade, Rust-based Private Information Retrieval library. This enables efficient, batched queries for key-value databases up to 32GB, optimizing server and client communication without requiring state. Link Ethereum Protocol Developer tooling ETHeorem Maps Ethereum consensus specifications to client implementations, ETHeorem enables systematic security assessment across Lighthouse, Prysm, geth, and Reth. This agentic system combines LLMs with program analysis for full-stack coverage. Ethereum Protocol Application Ream – Lean Consensus Client in Rust Develops Ream, a Rust-based Lean Consensus Client, to advance post-quantum-ready consensus with fast finality and 4-second slots. This renewal supports core client development, testing infrastructure hardening, and scaling devnets to 10,000 validators. Link Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Robust Incentives Group Models economic incentives and participant behavior to optimize protocol game theory, enhancing network stability and efficiency. Application Infrastructure Research Ethereum LLM Optimization (Inseeq) Enhances AI models with current Ethereum development tooling and ethskills data. This improves LLM accuracy and strengthens Ethereum’s appeal for developers seeking a blockchain to build on. Link Cryptography Research Technical Review of Fiat–Shamir From Duplex Sponges Audits the security arguments of Fiat-Shamir transformations instantiated via duplex sponges. This work clarifies key abstractions to support future Lean formalization, strengthening zero-knowledge proof systems. Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs Additional Hardware – Brevis Brevis is building an on-premise, multi-GPU L1 block-proving stack to stress-test real-world operational resilience. This initiative will generate an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook for future provers. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development quic-go priorities for ethp2p Enhances quic-go, the Go QUIC implementation underpinning Ethereum’s consensus layer networking. This work improves performance, transport capabilities, and connection efficiency for go-libp2p. Application Infrastructure Developer tooling Web3j: Sustaining Ethereum’s JVM and Android integration infrastructure Keeps Web3j, the dominant JVM client library, in sync with upcoming Glamsterdam hard fork. This ensures continued seamless integration for Java, Kotlin, and Android applications, alongside AI-targeted documentation. Link Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs Additional Hardware – Succinct Labs Succinct is moving L1 block-proving to on-premise, multi-GPU setups. This will stress-test operational resilience and reduce cloud dependency, generating an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook for future provers. Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs Additional Hardware – SilentSig Enables ZisK to transition their L1 block-proving stack to on-premise, multi-GPU configurations. This initiative will generate an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook to reduce ecosystem dependency on centralized cloud providers. Other Ecosystem development Blockchain Curriculum train the trainers program for Mindanao Enables 8 Philippine academic institutions to develop blockchain curricula. Supports faculty in becoming trainers, fostering local Ethereum education through a 6-day program. Application Infrastructure Developer tooling mevlog-rs – EVM transactions querying CLI/TUI powered by Revm Indexes on-chain data into a local SQLite database, accessible via TUI and MCP. This tool enables flexible local querying and IPFS sharing of results for developers and LLM agents. Link Ethereum Protocol Research Transaction Assertions Enables users to programmatically verify transaction outcomes before signing with EIP-7906. This includes positive and negative conditions against any smart contract, enhancing security and user control. Link Application layer Application Steward, A Self-Sovereign Ethereum Wallet with an On-Device AI Assistant Builds Steward, a fully local macOS Ethereum smart account wallet. Every component, from the light client to the AI assistant, runs on-device, ensuring end-to-end verifiable security and sovereignty. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Cryptography Develops novel cryptographic primitives and security protocols, enhancing Ethereum’s foundational security and privacy for all users. Privacy Research The Open Anonymity Project Enables unlinkable access to gated API services, starting with AI inference. This open-source modular stack uses blind signatures and TEE-friendly servers for anonymous credit verification. Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs Additional Hardware – Matter Labs Enhances Matter Labs’ L1 block-proving stack by transitioning to on-premise, multi-GPU configurations. This initiative stress-tests operational resilience and reduces cloud dependency, generating an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Cryptography Research Formalizes the security model of Encrypted Mempools, enhancing transaction privacy and network resilience for Ethereum users. Security Developer tooling Verity Develops Verity, a Lean 4-based smart contract language and formally verified compiler. It enables developers to write, formally specify, and prove contract properties, compiling to EVM bytecode with verified semantics. Link Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Protocol Snarkification Verifies cryptographic protocols and zkVM circuits, ensuring mathematical correctness for Ethereum’s scaling infrastructure through formal methods. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Robust Incentives Group Optimizes protocol game theory by applying mechanism design and economic modeling to understand and improve participant incentives. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development ZK + testing exploration work Explores zkVM runtime behavior across diverse hardware to optimize proving performance. This research aims to identify bottlenecks and enable more practical, near real-time proving for Ethereum mainnet applications. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Geth Supports Geth’s core protocol development, client maintenance, and the implementation of new Ethereum Improvement Proposals. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Protocol Prototyping Translates novel protocol research into working code. This enables empirical testing of theoretical assumptions and quantifies design trade-offs for future Ethereum upgrades. Security Application SafeLens Enables offline verification of Gnosis Safe multisig transactions. SafeLens generates evidence packages for signatures, hashes, and enriched proofs, allowing local transaction replay and human-readable details via built-in interpreters. Link Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs On-Prem Multi-GPU Prover Initiative – SilentSig Enables ZisK to transition L1 block-proving to on-premise, multi-GPU setups. This initiative stress-tests operational resilience and reduces cloud dependency, generating an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook for the ecosystem. Link Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs On-Prem Multi-GPU Prover Initiative – Brevis Develops an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook, enabling L1 block provers to transition from cloud-hosted environments to resilient multi-GPU configurations, reducing centralized dependencies. Link Nodes and Clients Application Gean, A Lean Ethereum Consensus Client Builds Ethereum’s long-term resilience with Gean, a new Go-based consensus client. This open-source implementation replaces quantum-vulnerable cryptography and diversifies the client ecosystem from Africa. Link Privacy Developer tooling Quixote Private Reads + Aave Integration Enhances Quixote, a Rust EVM event indexer, with Tor-based private reads and GraphQL support. Demonstrates its value by integrating it into the Aave frontend, replacing TheGraph for improved data access. Link Security Developer tooling Ethereum Protocol Security Agents – SPECA & LeanAgent Develops an LLM-powered system to automate Ethereum client spec compliance checking and bug discovery. This includes formal verification of Gasper Lean 4 and a pipeline to bridge SPECA outputs into Lean 4 formal specifications. Security Developer tooling Cantina Apex AI Code Analyzer for Security Vulnerabilities Enhances Ethereum’s security posture with 52 AI-powered smart contract scans for client and protocol repositories over the next year. Cryptography Research leanVM under Bitcoin constraints Optimizes leanVM’s post-quantum signature aggregation for Ethereum’s consensus layer. This work enhances speed, improves efficiency, and ensures Bitcoin compatibility to establish an industry-wide standard. Link Other Ecosystem development Programming the AI x Ethereum Convergence in Rome Fostering the AI x Ethereum intersection, Urbe Hub in Rome hosts recurring workshops, demos, and builder sessions. This initiative cultivates cross-pollination events, strengthening both communities and collaborating with the EF dAI Team. Link Cryptography Developer tooling Fast Field Arithmetic for CompPoly Develops efficient, verified implementations of prime and binary tower fields in Lean4. This work covers small STARK fields, large SNARK/curve fields, and binary tower fields, all proven correct via RingEquiv. Link Application layer Research Ethereum “Reasonably Necessary” Frontier Use Case R&D Investigates unique Ethereum use cases with real-world impact. This research also explores novel organizational structures beyond traditional crypto setups. Zero-knowledge Proofs Developer tooling CompPoly Polynomials Lean Libary – Parts of Roadmap 2 Optimizes polynomial evaluation in CompPoly using Horner, batch, and NTT methods. Implements and verifies the Guruswami-Sudan algorithm for zkVMs, complete with Lean proofs and benchmarks. Link Security Application LLM-Based Client Compliance Analysis for Ethereum Enhances Ethereum client security by deploying AI agents to scan Geth, Nethermind, Lighthouse, and Prysm against EIP specifications, identifying divergences and edge-case bugs. Other Research Onchain Capital Instruments for Digital Public Goods Develops onchain ESG funding instruments for Digital Public Goods, leveraging Ethereum to shift public goods funding from grants to scalable capital markets. This initiative designs bond-like mechanisms for large-scale infrastructure. Link Cryptography Developer tooling Bivariate Polynomials — CompPoly Phase 2, Item 6 Extends CompPoly with advanced bivariate polynomial operations, including Guruswami-Sudan infrastructure and performance optimizations like Kronecker substitution, enhancing cryptographic primitive development. Cryptography Research The recursive extraction problem Investigates the security of recursive SNARKs, probing the limits of knowledge extractors in deep recursion. This research will analyze SNARK variants with superpolynomial extractor complexity to inform new proof frameworks for real-world systems. Cryptography Ecosystem development Efficient Single-Server PIR for Ethereum Indexers Evaluates modern Private Information Retrieval schemes for Ethereum data access. This work will specify a state-of-the-art scheme, complete with reusable tests, to enhance user privacy and reduce MEV risks. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Poseidon Develops efficient post-quantum signature schemes for Ethereum’s execution layer, leveraging Poseidon-based constructions to prepare the network for the post-quantum transition. Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs On-Prem Multi-GPU Prover Initiative – Matter Labs Decentralizes L1 block-proving by moving infrastructure from cloud to on-premise, multi-GPU setups. This initiative will open-source an On-Prem Ops Playbook, providing a blueprint for future provers to enhance resilience. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | STEEL Enhances Ethereum’s core Python specifications (EELS) and test suites (EEST). This critical work ensures client compatibility and strengthens network consensus. Privacy Application Kohaku Wallet Frontend Support – Follow Up Refactors the Kohaku browser extension wallet and Railgun SDK integration. This work enhances maintainability and modularity, advancing the wallet for broader adoption and community contributions. Link Other Ecosystem development Bhutan Blockchain Offline Residency 2026 Cultivates a new cohort of Ethereum developers in Bhutan through an intensive residency. This program fosters local talent and seeds a self-sustaining developer community in the region. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | PandaOps Enables safe, well-tested network upgrades by building custom tooling, deployment scripts, and data pipelines for Protocol R&D. Application Infrastructure Ecosystem development Open Intents Framework – Adoption & Maintenance 2026 Develops the Open Intents Framework, enhancing cross-chain liquidity rebalancing and supporting ERC-7683 specification development. This expands multi-chain capabilities and tooling for Ethereum. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Hong Kong Polytechnic University – Sponsorship of the Research Centre for Blockchain Technology (RCBT) Fosters academic excellence in blockchain technology through scholarships for outstanding MScBT students. Supports talent development and engagement with Devconnect/Devcon, alongside sponsoring Asiacrypt 2026. Zero-knowledge Proofs Ecosystem development CompPoly Roadmap Contributions — Exponentiation, Multilinear Transforms, ECC Optimizes exponentiation and proves multilinear transform equivalence for CompPoly. Integrates error-correcting interpolation via Berlekamp-Welch, enhancing the protocol’s robustness. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Protocol Consensus Analyzes and designs advanced consensus mechanisms. This work strengthens protocol guarantees, fostering long-term network decentralization. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Funding Coordination Facilitates connections between EF grantees and external funding sources. This helps essential public goods projects secure vital support from government, philanthropic, and ecosystem partners. Zero-knowledge Proofs Research Ethproofs On-Prem Multi-GPU Prover Initiative – Succinct Labs Enables decentralized provers to transition from cloud to on-premise, multi-GPU setups. This initiative will yield an open-source On-Prem Ops Playbook, strengthening ecosystem resilience and reducing reliance on centralized infrastructure. Security Developer tooling Octane: LLM-Powered Protocol Security for Ethereum Clients Enhances smart contract security with AI-powered vulnerability detection. This subscription provides 25 comprehensive scans, a project dashboard, and VIP support for up to four client projects. Link Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | zkEVM Advances ZK-EVM research, developing scaling solutions and integrating ZK-proofs directly into the Ethereum execution layer. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Protocol Security Enhances Ethereum’s security posture through proactive code reviews, advanced tooling, and robust bug bounty program management. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Protocol Consensus Analyzing consensus mechanisms to strengthen long-term decentralization. This research helps close the gap between current protocol guarantees and future network goals. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Cryptography Supports research into advanced cryptographic primitives and security protocols, ensuring Ethereum’s continued leadership in secure, privacy-preserving technology. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | Cryptography Advances Ethereum’s cryptographic security by designing and analyzing new primitives and protocols. This ensures robust, privacy-preserving technology for the future. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Verified zkEVM ArkLib Day at ZKProof 8 Expands ZKP standardization efforts by bringing together over 1,000 practitioners at ArkLib Day at ZKProof 8. This event fosters collaboration on formal verification and applied zero-knowledge proofs. Link Security Developer tooling Noir to LLZK compiler Develops a Noir to LLZK compiler, bridging two critical SNARK ecosystems. This enhances interoperability and expands the developer base for LLZK tooling, strengthening Ethereum’s SNARK security efforts. Link Application layer Developer tooling Composable Orchestration, Batching Ethereum UX and Interop Enables dynamic smart account batching and predicate-based execution. This project standardizes and open-sources a production orchestration stack, making composable multi-step, multi-chain transactions a public good for the Ethereum ecosystem. Link Zero-knowledge Proofs Developer tooling Improved Proving Infrastructure for RISC-V zkVMs Verifies SP1 Hypercube zkVM’s arithmetization using Lean 4, formally proving its constraint systems correctly implement RISC-V ISA semantics for each instruction. Ethereum Protocol Ecosystem development Internship Program 2026 | zkEVM Advances ZK-EVM research, developing scaling solutions and integrating ZK-proofs directly into Ethereum’s execution layer for enhanced efficiency. Privacy Application Kohaku Wallet Frontend Support Refines the Kohaku browser extension for a robust, privacy-first wallet UX on Sepolia. Integrates Privacy Pools and Railgun, optimizing the Ambire fork and user flows. Link

US Treasury Moves Forward with Rules on GENIUS Act After July Deadline

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US Treasury Moves Forward with Rules on GENIUS Act After July Deadline

The US Department of the Treasury issued a notice of proposed rulemaking related to the implementation of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, a bill to establish a framework for payment stablecoins signed into law last year.

In a Monday notice, the Treasury Department said that it was opening a proposed rule up to public comment ahead of the January 2027 implementation of the GENIUS Act. Under the terms of the bill, the stablecoin law had been scheduled to go into effect 120 days after agencies finalize rules, or 18 months after it was passed in July 2025, making its effective date Jan. 18, 2027. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the department “welcomes input from stakeholders as [it works] to provide the regulatory certainty businesses need to innovate and grow in America.” 

Together with the Treasury Department, other US government agencies including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Federal Reserve Board have issued notices of proposed rules in 2026 related to the implementation of GENIUS. However, all departments reportedly missed the 120-day deadline in July to finalize regulations before January, signaling that GENIUS could go into effect without clear guidance.

Related: Wise to resubmit US bank charter application under GENIUS Act

According to Treasury, once the GENIUS Act goes into effect, an entity generally may not “issue a payment stablecoin” in the US without a related federal or state license. Public comment on the department’s proposed rules is open for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register.

US-UK regulators discuss GENIUS progress

In July, the UK-US Financial Regulatory Working Group met in London to discuss cooperation between the two country’s financial agencies, including implementation of the GENIUS Act.

Although UK authorities have taken steps to address stablecoin regulation, the pending implementation of GENIUS has some crypto industry insiders arguing the country is falling behind the US.

Magazine: Data of 54,000 wallet users leaked, CLARITY odds just 10%: Hodler’s Digest

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Ethereum Foundation warns some tools may break with Glamsterdam upgrade

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Ethereum Foundation warns some tools may break with Glamsterdam upgrade

Developers have been urged to test on Plataberget before Glamsterdam’s new gas model reaches Ethereum’s other testnets and mainnet.

Citi plans to launch bitcoin (BTC) custody for institutional clients later this year

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Citi plans to launch bitcoin (BTC) custody for institutional clients later this year

Citigroup plans to begin offering bitcoin custody later this year, bringing crypto into the same infrastructure it uses to safeguard traditional assets for institutional investors.

On Tuesday, the bank’s institutional infrastructure arm announced the launch of Custody+, a suite of services designed to make custody, settlement, foreign exchange and cash management faster.

The service, which does not yet have a launch date, will start with bitcoin BTC$64,098.11 and give clients access to traditional and crypto custody through the same framework.

Citi’s custody operation serves clients in more than 100 markets, including 62 markets where it runs its own custody network. By adding bitcoin custody, those clients could keep their bitcoin with the same bank that holds their stocks and bonds, making it easier for some institutions to invest in bitcoin without using a separate crypto custodian.

“Custody+ is the product of a multi-year commitment to building infrastructure that matches the speed of our clients’ strategies,” Amit Agarwal, head of custody at Citi Investor Services, said in a statement.

The crude-diesel price spread is wider than ever. BTC might feel it: Crypto Daily

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The crude-diesel price spread is wider than ever. BTC might feel it: Crypto Daily

The takeaway is that even as oil prices retreat from their second-quarter highs, oil products are getting more expensive. The broader market, including BTC, may not have fully priced that in yet.

A second detail is that oil itself may be due for a bounce. Crude has emerged from a four-month-long bearish trend (check the Daily Signal), and there’s still disruption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Those two effects, combined with concerns about government debt levels, continue to push yields on U.S. Treasuries and other advanced-economy bonds higher. That raises the opportunity cost of holding other assets and may cap bitcoin’s gains, a dynamic CoinDesk recently flagged.

One factor is still working in bitcoin’s favor, at least for now: the U.S. currency. The Dollar Index fell to a two-and-a-half-month low of 99.29 on Monday and broke down out of a bullish trendline, a technical signal pointing to further losses ahead. A weaker dollar has historically been a supportive backdrop for bitcoin.

Taken together, it’s a genuinely mixed tape that leaves bitcoin trading in the middle of several narratives pulling in opposite directions. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”

CFTC seeks public input on AI compute futures contracts as CME eyes October launch

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CFTC seeks public input on AI compute futures contracts as CME eyes October launch

The regulatory review could shape an emerging market that lets companies and investors trade and hedge the cost of increasingly scarce AI computing power.

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