Latest news with #FalconX
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wall Street Giant Cantor Debuts Bitcoin Lending Business With First Tranches to FalconX, Maple
Wall Street investment bank Cantor said on Tuesday it has executed the first transaction of its new bitcoin BTC lending business as part of the firm's plan to offer $2 billion in first firms to secure financing from the credit facility include Maple Finance, a crypto lender with over $1.8 billion of assets on its platform, and FalconX, a digital asset prime brokerage. The Wall Street giant announced its plan to launch the business in July, saying it wanted to build a platform to support bitcoin investors' financing needs. "Institutions holding bitcoin are looking to broaden their access to diverse funding sources, and we are excited to support their liquidity needs to help them drive long term growth and success," said Christian Wall, co-CEO and global head of fixed income at Cantor. Cantor Fitzgerald also manages stablecoin issuer Tether's stockpile of U.S. Treasuries that backs the value of the $142 billion USDT stablecoin. The firm's former CEO, Howard Lutnick, currently serves as the Secretary of Commerce and has been a vocal proponent of integrating BTC into traditional finance. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
OpenFX raises $23m to bring real-time settlement to cross-border payments
Foreign exchange infrastructure company OpenFX has emerged from stealth with $23 million in funding led by Accel. 0 FX, Lightspeed Faction, Castle Island Ventures, Flybridge, and Hash3 joined the round for OpenFX, the brainchild of Prabhakar Reddy, who previously co-founded digital asset prime brokerage FalconX. The startup is building a real-time, open, transparent FX network that enables near-instant settlement of cross-border transactions. The company claims its platform reduces payment friction by making FX transfers 99% faster and up to 90% cheaper, while operating 24/7/365. Its multi-layer liquidity architecture connects traditional banking rails with digital-native systems, enabling 90% of transactions to settle in under 60 minutes, compared to the industry standard of two to seven days. Launched in stealth in early 2024, OpenFX has validated its cross-border payment platform and settlement network at scale, processing billions in transactions across the top G20 FX pairs, signing up remittance providers, neobanks, brokerages, payment processors, and global payroll companies. The new funding will be used for a push into Latin American and Asian markets, launching treasury management solutions, and extending the firm's regulatory framework across strategic jurisdictions. Says Reddy: "The $200 trillion annual FX market still runs on infrastructure designed in the 1970s, trapping approximately $4 trillion in working capital and extracting hundreds of billions in unnecessary fees annually. "While domestic real-time payments have become the standard, cross-border money movement remains stuck in an analog era. We're building the critical settlement infrastructure needed for the AI-driven economy, where money moves as freely as data—unrestricted by time zones, banking hours, or legacy systems."
Al Arabiya
7 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Bitcoin rally takes largest token past $111,000 for first time
Bitcoin surpassed $111,000 for the first time to reach a record high, with traders increasingly bullish on the prospects of the original cryptocurrency amid mounting institutional demand. Bitcoin climbed as much as 3.3 percent on Thursday to hit a record of $111,878, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Smaller tokens also rose, with second-ranked Ether at one point up about 5.5 percent. A wave of optimism is buoying Bitcoin after the advancement of a key stablecoin bill in the US senate fueled hopes of greater regulatory clarity for digital-asset firms under President Donald Trump, who is avowedly pro-crypto. Surging demand from Michael Saylor's Strategy — which has stockpiled over $50 billion worth of Bitcoin — and a growing list of token hoarders is another driving force behind the rally. 'It has been a slow motion grind into new all-time highs,' said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX Ltd. 'There's no shortage of demand for BTC from SPAC and PIPE deals, which is manifesting in the premium on Coinbase spot prices.' Such buyers include a flurry of obscure small-cap companies and public firms newly formed by crypto heavyweights which are financing their purchases by offering anything from convertible bonds to preferred stocks. An affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald LP is working with stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings SA and SoftBank Group to launch Twenty One Capital Inc., a company that emulates Strategy's business model. A subsidiary of Strive Enterprises Inc. co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy is merging with Nasdaq-listed Asset Entities Inc. to form a Bitcoin treasury company. 'Unlike previous cycles, this rally is not momentum-driven alone,' said Julia Zhou, COO of crypto market maker Caladan. 'It is quantitatively underpinned by measurable, persistent demand and supply dislocations.' Bitcoin's outperformance relative to smaller cryptocurrencies is widening. An index that tracks so-called altcoins is down about 40 percent year-to-date, while Bitcoin is up 17 percent so far in 2025. In options markets, traders built eye-catching Bitcoin positions earlier this week with the $110,000, $120,000 and $300,000 calls expiring on June 27 logging the most open interest — or number of outstanding contracts — on Deribit, the derivatives exchange. Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said in a note that the fresh record shows that Bitcoin's steep decline from a previous high set on Jan. 20 to below $75,000 in April was 'a correction within a bull market.' 'A sustained break above $110,000 is needed to trigger the next leg higher towards $125,000,' he added. Bitcoin's latest milestone comes as Trump prepares to meet with the biggest holders of his memecoin at a dinner at his golf club just outside Washington on Thursday. The event has raised concerns among ethics experts, who argue that it offers access through transactions that directly benefit the president, and has sparked criticism over potential conflicts of interest. Such events 'highlight crypto's increasing cultural visibility, though they have not had a measurable impact on market dynamics at this stage,' said Yuan Rong Tan, a trader at QCP Capital.
Business Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
Bitcoin rally takes largest token past US$111,000 for first time
[SINGAPORE] Bitcoin surpassed US$111,000 for the first time, with traders increasingly bullish on the prospects of the original cryptocurrency amid mounting institutional demand. Bitcoin climbed as much as 3.3 per cent on Thursday (May 22) to hit a record of US$111,878, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Smaller tokens also rose, with second-ranked Ether at one point up about 5.5 per cent. A wave of optimism is buoying Bitcoin after the advancement of a key stablecoin Bill in the US senate fuelled hopes of greater regulatory clarity for digital-asset firms under President Donald Trump, who is avowedly pro-crypto. Surging demand from Michael Saylor's Strategy – which has stockpiled over US$50 billion worth of Bitcoin – and a growing list of token hoarders is another driving force behind the rally. 'It has been a slow motion grind into new all-time highs,' said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX 'There's no shortage of demand for BTC from Spac and PIPE deals, which is manifesting in the premium on Coinbase spot prices.' Such buyers include a flurry of obscure small-cap companies and public firms newly formed by crypto heavyweights which are financing their purchases by offering anything from convertible bonds to preferred stocks. An affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald is working with stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings and SoftBank Group to launch Twenty One Capital, a company that emulates Strategy's business model. A subsidiary of Strive Enterprises co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy is merging with Nasdaq-listed Asset Entities to form a Bitcoin treasury company. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up 'Unlike previous cycles, this rally is not momentum-driven alone,' said Julia Zhou, COO of crypto market maker Caladan. 'It is quantitatively underpinned by measurable, persistent demand and supply dislocations.' Bitcoin's outperformance relative to smaller cryptocurrencies is widening. An index that tracks so-called altcoins is down about 40 per cent year-to-date, while Bitcoin is up 17 per cent so far in 2025. A group of 12 US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have drawn strong inflows, with investors pouring in about US$4.2 billion so far in May. In options markets, traders built eye-catching Bitcoin positions earlier this week with the US$110,000, US$120,000 and US$300,000 calls expiring on Jun 27 logging the most open interest – or number of outstanding contracts – on Deribit, the derivatives exchange. Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said in a note that the fresh record shows that Bitcoin's steep decline from a previous high set on Jan 20 to below US$75,000 in April was 'a correction within a bull market.' 'A sustained break above US$110,000 is needed to trigger the next leg higher towards US$125,000,' he added. Bitcoin's latest milestone comes as Trump prepares to meet with the biggest holders of his memecoin at a dinner at his golf club just outside Washington on Thursday. The event has raised concerns among ethics experts, who argue that it offers access through transactions that directly benefit the president, and has sparked criticism over potential conflicts of interest. Such events 'highlight crypto's increasing cultural visibility, though they have not had a measurable impact on market dynamics at this stage,' said Yuan Rong Tan, a trader at QCP Capital. BLOOMBERG
Business Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Bitcoin tops US$110,000 for first time as US optimism lifts crypto
[KUALA LUMPUR] Bitcoin surpassed US$110,000 for the first time to head towards another record high, with traders increasingly bullish on the prospects of the original cryptocurrency. Bitcoin climbed as much as 2.2 per cent in early Asian trading on Thursday (May 22) to hit US$110,707, before paring gains, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A wave of optimism is buoying Bitcoin after the advancement of a key stablecoin bill in the US Senate fuelled hopes of greater regulatory clarity for crypto operators. Surging demand from Michael Saylor's Strategy – which has stockpiled over US$50 billion worth of Bitcoin – and a growing list of digital-asset hoarders is another driving force behind the rally. 'It has been a slow motion grind into new all-time highs,' said Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX. 'There's no shortage of demand for BTC from Spac and Pipe deals, which is manifesting in the premium on Coinbase spot prices.' Such buyers include a flurry of obscure small-cap companies and public firms newly formed by crypto heavyweights which are financing their purchases by offering anything from convertible bonds to preferred stocks to finance. An affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald is working with stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings and SoftBank Group to launch Twenty One Capital, a company that emulates Strategy's business model. A subsidiary of Strive Enterprises co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy is merging with Nasdaq-listed Asset Entities to form a Bitcoin treasury company. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up In options markets, traders built eye-catching Bitcoin positions earlier this week with the US$110,000, US$120,000 and US$300,000 calls expiring on Jun 27 logging the most open interest – or number of outstanding contracts – on Deribit, the derivatives exchange. Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG, said in a note that the fresh record shows that Bitcoin's steep decline from a previous high set on Jan 20 to below US$75,000 in April was 'a correction within a bull market'. 'A sustained break above US$110,000 is needed to trigger the next leg higher towards US$125,000,' he added. Bitcoin's latest milestone comes as Trump prepares to meet with the biggest holders of his memecoin at a dinner at his golf club just outside Washington on Thursday. The event has raised concerns among ethics experts, who argue that it offers access through transactions that directly benefit the president, and has sparked criticism over the potential conflict of interest. BLOOMBERG
