If this week’s Crypto Biz had a theme, it’s the steady march of traditional finance deeper into crypto’s core infrastructure.
Tether is reportedly courting major venture firms for a funding round that could value the stablecoin issuer alongside private tech giants like OpenAI. At the same time, US regulators are considering whether traditional stocks should trade onchain, as the convergence between the Securities and Exchange Commission, Wall Street and tokenization gains momentum.
Elsewhere, JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform added a major Gulf bank as a user, while a Nasdaq-listed biotech firm built a treasury entirely around a DePIN token.
SoftBank, ARK reportedly eye investment in Tether’s mega funding round
High-profile investors are reportedly in talks to back Tether’s upcoming funding round, which could value the stablecoin issuer at up to $500 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Venture capital firms SoftBank Group and ARK Investment Management are among those considering participation in a potential $20-billion raise. If completed, the round would place Tether’s valuation on par with that of major private firms such as OpenAI.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed that the company is exploring a raise from “a select group of high-profile investors,” though he did not provide details on the deal’s structure.
Tether, issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin USDt (USDT), is among the most profitable companies globally on a per-employee basis. The firm has been expanding beyond its core stablecoin operations into areas such as infrastructure, energy production and venture capital investments as it diversifies revenue sources beyond interest income.
SEC considers allowing stocks to trade onchain
In line with its recent recognition of tokenization as an “innovation,” the US Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly exploring a plan that would allow US stocks to trade onchain via approved crypto exchanges.
The development was first reported by The Information, which said the proposal remains in its early stages and would apply only to regulated digital asset platforms. If adopted, the framework could make US equities accessible to a broader group of traders and extend availability beyond traditional market hours.
Interest in tokenized securities has grown in recent months, with platforms such as Robinhood and Kraken introducing tokenized stock products. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq exchange has filed for an SEC rule change that would permit tokenized securities to be listed on its platform. Coinbase is also reportedly seeking SEC approval to offer similar products.
Qatari bank adopts JPMorgan’s blockchain platform
Qatar National Bank Group (QNB) will use JPMorgan’s Kinexys blockchain platform to process corporate US dollar payments more quickly and efficiently, highlighting blockchain’s growing role in traditional finance.
Kamel Moris, QNB’s executive vice president of transactional banking, told Bloomberg the development is a “treasurer’s dream,” citing the platform’s ability to operate around the clock. “We can guarantee payments as fast as two minutes,” Moris said.
Kinexys currently handles around $3 billion in daily transactions — a small fraction of JPMorgan’s $10 trillion in total daily payment flows. As Cointelegraph previously reported, Kinexys is also working with Chainlink and Ondo Finance to enable cross-chain treasury settlements.
Predictive Oncology forms DePIN-focused crypto treasury
Predictive Oncology, a Nasdaq-listed biotech company, has established a $344.4-million digital asset treasury composed entirely of Aethir (ATH) tokens, becoming the first publicly traded US firm to hold a token from a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN).
The capital allocation was developed in partnership with DNA Fund, a Web3 investment and advisory firm, and supported by investment bank BTIG.
The strategy provides Predictive Oncology with exposure to the DePIN sector — blockchain networks that coordinate and incentivize the deployment of real-world infrastructure, such as compute, storage or connectivity.
Aethir operates a decentralized cloud computing network that supplies GPU infrastructure for AI and other high-performance applications. Its ATH token currently has a market capitalization of about $640 million.
“Through Aethir, ATH controls one of the largest decentralized GPU networks in the world — 435,000 GPU containers across 200-plus locations in 93 countries with direct ties into Nvidia’s ecosystem,” DNA Fund co-founder Chris Miglino told Cointelegraph.
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