Huge Tech firms that when dismissed Bitcoin (BTC) as a stability sheet asset at the moment are watching Technique, led by Government Chairman Michael Saylor, amass a digital asset treasury approaching the scale of their very own money piles. The surge comes as Bitcoin hit a brand new all-time excessive above $126,000 this week, pushed by investor demand for laborious belongings seen as hedges in opposition to US greenback debasement — a story more and more likened to gold.
Nonetheless, Bitcoin isn’t the one nook of crypto attracting main institutional cash. The Intercontinental Trade (ICE) has invested $2 billion in Polymarket, a decentralized prediction platform, valuing the agency at roughly $9 billion. The transfer alerts rising convergence between conventional finance and decentralized blockchain infrastructure, as establishments discover tokenized markets and real-world occasion forecasting.
In the meantime, Tether is again within the headlines after a publicly listed AI-driven firm, Rezolve AI, acquired Smartpay, a fintech platform that processed over $1 billion in USDt (USDT) transactions over the previous yr. The deal highlights stablecoins’ increasing position in funds and the intersection of AI, blockchain and digital {dollars}.
This week’s Crypto Biz underscores how institutional adoption is shifting from cautious statement to direct participation, whether or not in digital belongings, prediction markets or stablecoin-powered finance.
Technique’s Bitcoin stash now rivals Huge Tech money reserves
Earlier this week, the worth of Technique’s roughly 640,000 BTC briefly surpassed $80 billion, as Bitcoin climbed to a brand new all-time excessive close to $126,000. That valuation places the corporate’s Bitcoin reserve inside vary of the $95 to $97 billion in money and equivalents held by Amazon, Microsoft and Google mum or dad Alphabet.
The milestone highlights how Bitcoin’s rising worth, pushed by its scarce provide, strong community fundamentals and rising attraction as a hedge in opposition to US greenback debasement, has remodeled Technique’s stability sheet into one of many largest company asset holdings on the earth.
In the meantime, the US greenback is on observe for its worst annual efficiency in 5 many years, additional fueling curiosity in different shops of worth resembling Bitcoin.
Intercontinental Trade invests $2 billion in Polymarket
Intercontinental Trade (ICE), the mum or dad firm of the New York Inventory Trade (NYSE), has made a strategic funding in crypto-based prediction market Polymarket, valuing the corporate at roughly $9 billion post-money. The funding, totaling $2 billion, marks one of many largest capital infusions right into a blockchain prediction platform so far.
The deal is notable given ICE’s standing because the operator of the world’s largest inventory trade by market capitalization, signaling rising institutional confidence in onchain prediction markets as reputable instruments for forecasting and worth discovery.
Polymarket has seen fast development, notably across the 2024 US presidential election, the place its markets tracked and precisely forecast the eventual consequence. The corporate is now stated to be exploring a return to the US market, working with the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) to navigate regulatory pathways and guarantee compliance.
Rezolve AI acquires Smartpay as Tether-linked funds acquire momentum
Rezolve AI, a public e-commerce and AI platform, has acquired fintech infrastructure agency Smartpay, greatest recognized for enabling stablecoin transactions, in a deal that highlights the accelerating convergence of digital belongings and synthetic intelligence. Phrases of the acquisition weren’t disclosed.
The transfer strengthens Rezolve’s partnership with Tether, the issuer of the US dollar-pegged stablecoin USDt (USDT), and faucets into Smartpay’s rising transaction volumes — greater than $1 billion in USDt funds processed over the previous 12 months.
Smartpay’s platform is primarily energetic in Latin America and Central Africa, the place it permits customers to pay with stablecoins whereas retailers obtain settlements in native fiat currencies. The acquisition positions Rezolve to increase its presence in rising markets the place stablecoin adoption is rising, pushed by foreign money volatility and restricted entry to conventional banking.
Plume Community secures SEC switch agent registration as tokenization features traction
Plume Community, a layer-2 blockchain targeted on real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, has registered as a switch agent with the US Securities and Trade Fee (SEC) — a transfer that underscores the rising integration of blockchain expertise into conventional monetary infrastructure beneath evolving regulatory frameworks.
Changing into a registered switch agent permits establishments to handle key back-office capabilities for securities issuers, together with recording possession modifications, sustaining shareholder data and facilitating transfers. Plume stated it now plans to convey these processes onchain, enabling larger transparency and effectivity for tokenized belongings.
The registration locations Plume amongst a small however increasing group of blockchain companies searching for to align tokenization efforts with US securities laws. It additionally displays the SEC’s rising engagement with the RWA sector, which has attracted billions of {dollars} in tokenized worth throughout belongings like Treasurys and personal credit score.
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