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Business Upturn
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
Anchorage Digital Partners with Ethena Labs to Launch the First GENIUS-Compliant; Federally Regulated Stablecoin
Business Wire India Anchorage Digital, home to the first and only federally chartered crypto bank, today announced a strategic partnership with Ethena Labs, the creator of USDe and USDtb, to bring USDtb to the U.S. as the first-ever stablecoin with a clear pathway to becoming compliant with the recently enacted GENIUS Act—America's new law to regulate issuance of stablecoins. The launch will be the first to leverage Anchorage Digital's stablecoin issuance platform—a turnkey solution for institutions to launch and distribute fully regulated digital dollars. Anchorage Digital's decision to partner with Ethena, a project focused on developing secure, compliance-driven rails and products that provide institutional investors with access to the unique advantages of digital assets, marks a significant step forward in aligning innovation with regulation in the U.S. financial system. Under the partnership, the USDtb stablecoin—which is currently issued offshore—will be issued in the U.S. by Anchorage Digital Bank, positioning the firm as the leading U.S. stablecoin issuer for institutions seeking compliant, programmable, digital dollars aligned with the highest regulatory standards set by the GENIUS Act. Issuing this stablecoin under the U.S.-compliant framework enables smoother integration with the U.S. financial system and provides institutions with more accessible, regulated pathways to hold USDtb. 'The passage of the GENIUS Act provides the regulatory clarity that enables federally regulated institutions like Anchorage Digital Bank to fully participate in the stablecoin ecosystem. We're proud to support Ethena in bringing their product to the U.S.—helping deliver even greater transparency and confidence to their partners. As stablecoins become a foundational layer of modern finance, it's essential they're built on infrastructure that's secure, compliant, and built to last.' — Nathan McCauley, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital 'While we've already seen strong demand for USDtb, we expect GENIUS compliance to empower our partners and holders to confidently and significantly expand its use across new products and platforms. By partnering with Anchorage Digital—the only federally regulated crypto bank in the United States—we reinforce the foundation needed to continue scaling the product without compromising on speed, flexibility, or trust.' — Guy Young, CEO of Ethena Labs Stablecoins are quickly becoming the lifeblood of the future of finance—both in America and globally—powering everything from real-time settlement and cross-border payments to next-generation fintech infrastructure and decentralized markets. By enabling safe, scalable, and regulated issuance, Anchorage Digital is helping ensure that this foundational layer of modern finance is built on trust, resilience, and U.S. leadership. About Ethena Labs Ethena Labs is the creator of USDe and USDtb and a contributor to the Ethena protocol. Ethena is the protocol behind USDe, the third-largest and fastest growing USD-denominated crypto asset in history with over $6 billion in TVL today across one of the largest sets of DeFi users, alongside integrations with some of the largest centralized exchanges and major DeFi applications. Ethena Labs is backed by Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Dragonfly, Binance Labs, Bybit and OKX among others. About Anchorage Digital Anchorage Digital is a global crypto platform that enables institutions to participate in digital assets through trading, staking, custody, governance, settlement, stablecoin issuance, and the industry's leading security infrastructure. Home to Anchorage Digital Bank N.A., the only federally chartered crypto bank in the U.S., Anchorage Digital also serves institutions through Anchorage Digital Singapore, which is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore; Anchorage Digital NY, which holds a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services; and self-custody wallet Porto by Anchorage Digital. Recently, through the enactment of GENIUS, Anchorage Digital Bank became the only U.S., federally regulated and GENIUS-compliant stablecoin issuer bank. The company is funded by leading institutions including Andreessen Horowitz, GIC, Goldman Sachs, KKR, and Visa, with its Series D valuation over $3 billion. Founded in 2017 in San Francisco, California, Anchorage Digital has offices in New York, New York; Porto, Portugal; Singapore; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Learn more at on X @Anchorage, and on LinkedIn. View source version on Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire India. Business Upturn take no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash
Bloomberg
08-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Anchorage CEO Discusses Solana ETF, Circle, Stablecoins
The REX-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF (ticker: SSK) is the first spot Solana staking fund. It launched on July 1 with Anchorage Digital as its custodian. Anchorage CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley speaks with Sonali Basak and Tim Stenovec on "Bloomberg Crypto" about the new fund and Circle seeking to create a national trust bank in the US. In 2021, Anchorage was conditionally approved to convert Anchorage Trust Company into Anchorage Digital Bank. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anchorage CEO Discusses Solana ETF, Circle, Stablecoins
The REX-Osprey Solana + Staking ETF (ticker: SSK) is the first spot Solana staking fund. It launched on July 1 with Anchorage Digital as its custodian. Anchorage CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley speaks with Sonali Basak and Tim Stenovec on "Bloomberg Crypto" about the new fund and Circle seeking to create a national trust bank in the US. In 2021, Anchorage was conditionally approved to convert Anchorage Trust Company into Anchorage Digital Bank. Sign in to access your portfolio
Crypto Insight
03-07-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
First Solana staking ETF hits $12M in ‘healthy' first trading day
The United States' first Solana staking exchange-traded fund (ETF) ended its debut trading day with $12 million in inflows — a positive sign for crypto staking-enabled ETFs. The REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF debuted on the Cboe BZX Exchange on Wednesday, recording $33 million in trading volume and $12 million in inflows, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. The fund, trading under SSK, gives investors direct exposure to spot Solana along with staking yields, making it the first crypto staking ETF to be approved in America. It was a 'healthy start to trading,' said Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, who observed that it had seen $8 million in trading volume in the first 20 minutes. Balchunas also commented on the impressive first-day volumes, stating that it 'blows away' the Solana futures ETF and XRP futures ETFs but was much lower than the spot Bitcoin and Ether funds when they launched. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a combined $4.6 billion worth of shares traded on their first day in January 2024. 'The launch of crypto staking ETFs is a defining moment for digital assets and a significant step forward in full access to the crypto ecosystem,' said Anchorage Digital co-founder Nathan McCauley, whose firm is the staking and custodian partner for the REX-Osprey ETF. Regulatory hurdles The REX-Osprey fund faced regulatory hurdles with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which objected to it in late May after clearing an initial registration. The issue was whether the product qualified as an 'investment company' under securities laws, but the firm managed to get around this by investing at least 40% of its assets in other ETPs, mostly domiciled outside the US. More eyes on spot Solana ETF, altcoin ETF summer Unlike spot Solana ETFs that still require approval from the SEC, REX-Osprey's Solana ETF is structured under the Investment Company Act 1940, which sidesteps the standard 19b-4 filing process. In May, NovaDius Wealth Management president Nate Geraci described it as 'regulatory end-around.' However, some have debated whether the fund should be considered a traditional spot Solana ETF. Meanwhile, the ETF's recent performance could shed light on institutional demand for a spot Solana ETF, which may launch this year. Seyffart and Balchunas recently pegged a 95% chance that spot Solana ETFs would be approved by the end of the year. 'We expect a wave of new ETFs in the second half of 2025,' Seyffart said earlier this week, predicting that spot XRP, Solana, and Litecoin products would be greenlit by the SEC before the end of the year. On Tuesday, the regulator approved a Grayscale application to convert its Digital Large-Cap Fund into an ETF. The fund comprises a basket of the top five digital assets by market capitalization. Minor reaction for SOL prices There was no major reaction in Solana prices, which have gained 3.6% over the past 24 hours, lower than most of the other high-cap altcoins. The asset was trading around $153 at the time of writing and was up around 5% over the past week, but still down 48% from its January peak. However, Solana CME futures saw 'record demand, signaling rising institutional interest' as open interest hit $167 million following the ETF launch, reported SolanaFloor. Source:
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Anchorage CEO: Stablecoins to become ‘core plumbing' in finance
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Crypto-focused bank Anchorage Digital placed its bets on stablecoins last month when it unveiled plans to acquire stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol for an undisclosed sum. It's been a big year for the novel technology, which is meant to maintain a stable value by being pegged to fiat currency like the U.S. dollar. Major stablecoin issuer Circle filed its initial public offering in May, and as of Wednesday its stock price has surged over 160%. Fiserv launched a stablecoin in collaboration with Circle on Monday; JPMorgan Chase launched a stablecoin-like token for institutional clients early this month; and the GENIUS Act – meant to create a regulatory framework for the tokens – is moving through the legislature. Stablecoins are 'cornerstone' to Anchorage's long-term vision and 'foundational' to the future of finance, CEO and co-founder Nathan McCauley said – 'not just as payment tools, but as critical infrastructure that powers tokenized assets, decentralized finance, and next-generation financial products.' In a recent email interview with Banking Dive, McCauley detailed his thoughts on how stablecoins are both foundational technology and a bridge to other innovations. '[T]hey solve a real-world problem: enabling fast, transparent and programmable movement of value across borders, platforms and asset classes,' he said, and 'they unlock the utility needed for the next wave of innovation, including tokenized assets, on-chain capital markets and real-time financial services.' 'Without stablecoins, tokenized assets don't have a native settlement layer. Without stablecoins, programmable finance can't operate at scale,' McCauley said. 'So, while they may have started as a bridge between crypto and fiat, stablecoins are now becoming core plumbing in the digital financial system.' Editor's note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. NATHAN MCCAULEY: At scale, fully fiat-backed stablecoins are the most viable today — particularly when issued under clear regulatory frameworks and backed by high-quality, short-duration assets like U.S. Treasuries. They offer transparency, simplicity and the predictability that institutions and regulators need to trust and adopt stablecoins at scale. Overcollateralized models, like those used in DeFi, have a role to play — especially in crypto-native environments — but their capital inefficiency and volatility limits broader institutional adoption. As for algorithmic stablecoins, the track record speaks for itself. Without credible, collateral-backed mechanisms, they introduce systemic risk and tend to fail under stress. That may evolve over time, but for now, they're not ready for large-scale, real-world financial applications. Ultimately, institutions are looking for stability, compliance and trust. Fully fiat-backed models check those boxes today — and they're the foundation upon which broader innovation can responsibly build. Some of our biggest challenges today aren't purely technical, but rooted in the need for regulatory clarity. There have been significant steps forward in that direction. The Senate passing the GENIUS Act was a significant step forward, and hopefully once stablecoin legislation passes the House and is signed by the president, it will help facilitate stablecoin adoption while strengthening the U.S. dollar. We can't lose sight of market structure reform since deciding which regulator has jurisdiction over which products and services will be critical to unlocking the clarity market participants need. Another challenge is that not all stablecoins are built the same — and that variability has real operational consequences. From how tokens are issued and burned, to how they handle upgrades or integrate compliance controls, the technical design can vary significantly. That means we often have to tailor our infrastructure on a coin-by-coin basis to ensure the same level of security, traceability and institutional readiness. And finally, there's the 24/7 operational demand. Stablecoins don't follow banking hours, and institutional clients expect real-time movement, compliance and reporting around the clock. Supporting that at scale, while maintaining regulatory-grade security and auditability, is a non-trivial undertaking. Credibility in stablecoins comes down to three things: transparency, regulation and operational integrity. At Anchorage Digital, we evaluate stablecoin issuers with the same rigor institutions apply to counterparties in traditional finance. That starts with transparency: do we have full visibility into the underlying reserves? Are the assets fully backed, held in high-quality, liquid instruments? And are the reserves subject to independent, regular attestation or audit? We also look at regulatory posture. Is the issuer operating under a clear legal framework? Do they have the appropriate licenses? Are they aligned with global standards for compliance, risk management and disclosure? Finally, we assess the issuer's technical and governance infrastructure. Can the stablecoin be integrated securely into institutional workflows? Is the underlying protocol resilient? How are minting and redemption controlled? For us, credibility isn't just about market reputation — it's about whether a stablecoin can meet the operational, regulatory and risk standards our institutional clients expect. Historically, stablecoins gained traction on the retail and crypto-native side — used for trading, remittances and as a dollar proxy in emerging markets. But that's changing fast. Today, the fastest-growing demand is coming from institutions. We're seeing asset managers, fintechs, corporates and even governments exploring stablecoins for treasury management, cross-border payments, instant settlement and on-chain fund distribution. What they need isn't just access to stablecoins — they need the infrastructure to issue, hold, move and integrate them securely and compliantly. That shift reflects a broader trend: stablecoins are evolving from a crypto tool to a core financial primitive. The infrastructure is following that trajectory — moving from retail wallets to institutional custody, compliance and operational tooling at scale. In short: Demand started with retail, but the future is decidedly institutional. We'll see both, but ultimately we believe in a network model like the Global Dollar Network, where network participants share the rewards, and there's a regulated issuer. The key is that successful stablecoins will have proper regulatory frameworks and institutional-grade infrastructure. Not every bank or fintech firm needs to issue their own coin, but many will participate through partnerships or specialized applications. In a year, we expect the stablecoin landscape to be more regulated, more institutionally adopted and more globally relevant. You'll see increased clarity from U.S. and international regulators, more banks and fintechs entering the issuance space, and growing demand for yield-bearing and tokenized cash equivalents built specifically for enterprise use. In 10 years, stablecoins will be so embedded in the financial system that we won't call them 'stablecoins' anymore — they'll just be part of how money moves. They'll underpin everything from cross-border payments and capital markets settlement to real-time treasury operations and on-chain financial products. And they'll be issued not just by startups but by central banks, major financial institutions and trusted fintech infrastructure providers. What we're witnessing now is the early formation of a new financial standard — one that's faster, more transparent and natively digital. Stablecoins are the on-ramp to that future. Today's payment system will look antiquated in comparison. Recommended Reading Grasshopper lines up new executives amid lending push Sign in to access your portfolio
