Digital currency markets demonstrated resilience this week, posting gains despite the U.S. federal government shutdown. While recent outperformers including XPL, ASTER, and STBL showed weakness, broader market sentiment remained positive amid several significant institutional developments.
BlackRock appears poised to introduce an Ethereum staking ETF as early as October, while the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened pathways for state-chartered trusts to serve as digital asset custodians. This regulatory clarity coincides with substantial Bitcoin acquisitions, including Metaplanet’s $616 million purchase and BTCW’s planned $100 million investment.
Corporate adoption continues expanding with Upexi engaging Solana’s Big Brain for advisory services and Thumzup allocating $2.5 million to Dogehash Technologies. Tether has partnered with video platform Rumble to boost USDT adoption, while Strive has introduced open issuance protocols and seeks banking charter approval.
Infrastructure developments include Phantom’s new stablecoin on Solana and WLFI’s plans to tokenize real-world assets paired with USD1. The industry also faced challenges, with Binance’s X account compromised and UK authorities working to retain control of £5 billion in seized Bitcoin. TRON Inc. remains down 85% from its peak amid data processing slumps, while XRP’s Chief Technology Officer is returning to a board position.
