business

Circle Deepens Japan Commitment as SBI Group Prepares USDC Launch

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2025

Circle Internet Financial, the Boston-headquartered U.S. firm behind the USDC stablecoin, is deepening its ties to Japan’s burgeoning digital assets market.

Japanese SBI VC Trade, a crypto exchange operating as a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, a major internet-based financial conglomerate in the country, is expected to play a key role in Circle’s commitments in Japan.

After receiving regulatory approval earlier this month, SBI VC Trade now plans to leverage USDC in Japan, marking the first token of its kind approved under Japan’s stablecoin regulatory framework.

Circle has established a Japanese entity, Circle Japan KK, to support the stablecoin’s local operations. SBI VC Trade is set to launch USDC trading on March 26, 2025, the pair announced Monday.

Domestic exchanges Binance Japan, Bitbank, and BitFlyer also plan to list and distribute USDC in the near future, per the statement.

Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said on X the development would unlock “tremendous opportunities” for Japan’s digital assets markets, powering payments, cross-border finance, commerce, and FX, among other use cases for USDC.

The approval builds on a partnership between Circle and SBI Holdings that began in 2023, combining USDC distribution with banking and Web3 technology for the Japanese market.

USDC is fully reserved and backed 100% by cash and cash-equivalent assets, with reserves held at regulated financial institutions that publish third-party monthly attestations, according to documentation from Circle.

It also goes beyond just introducing a new crypto product in the country, Jay Jo, a senior research analyst at Tiger Research, told Decrypt.

Once launched, besides the usual listing and trading on exchanges, Japanese companies could “offer custody services and develop various stablecoin-based businesses,” Jo explained.

While the country “still prohibits trust-based yen stablecoins,” future regulatory developments could help shape where its crypto and digital asset sector could go, Jo said.

However, the continued depreciation of the Japanese yen could create market dynamics, given the current tensions between it and the U.S. dollar.

If the yen shows sustained weakness, “Japanese investors might shift to USDC” as a hedge and potentially “increase selling pressure on JPY,” Jo added.

“Easier access to dollar-denominated assets” could lead to accelerated outflows from traditional yen investments, Jo said. This could happen “especially if interest rate differentials remain wide.”

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

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Bitcoin

GameStop Approves Adding Bitcoin To Treasury Reserves

Published

18 hours ago

March 26, 2025

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GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME) announced that its board of directors has unanimously approved an update to the company’s investment policy, allowing Bitcoin to be held as a treasury reserve asset. The decision follows a series of engagements between GameStop Chairman and CEO Ryan Cohen and prominent figures like Michael Saylor in the Bitcoin industry.

On February 8, Cohen met with Strategy Chairman and well-known Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor, sparking speculation that GameStop may be adding BTC to its balance sheet. A couple weeks after, Cohen responded to CoinDesk via a tweet stating “Letter received.” after receiving a letter from Strive Asset Management CEO Matt Cole, which urged GameStop to adopt Bitcoin as a reserve asset.

In its announcement, GameStop noted that its investment policy now permits investments in “certain cryptocurrency assets, including Bitcoin and U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins.” The company also acknowledged associated risks, including the potential impact of these investments on its financial results and internal financial controls.

The policy update was disclosed alongside the company’s financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended February 1, 2025.

For the fourth quarter, GameStop reported net sales of $1.283 billion, a decrease from $1.794 billion in the same period the prior year. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses fell to $282.5 million, compared to $359.2 million in the fourth quarter of the previous year. Net income for the quarter was $131.3 million, up from $63.1 million a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $96.5 million, compared to $88.0 million in the prior year’s fourth quarter.

GameStop also disclosed that it held $4.775 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities at the end of the quarter. The company completed its exit from Italy and finalized the wind-down of store operations in Germany during this period.

For the full fiscal year 2024, GameStop reported net sales of $3.823 billion, down from $5.273 billion in fiscal year 2023. SG&A expenses for the year were $1.130 billion, compared to $1.324 billion in the prior year. Net income for the year reached $131.3 million, significantly higher than the $6.7 million reported in fiscal year 2023. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year was $36.1 million, compared to $64.7 million in the previous year.

The company has not yet disclosed how much Bitcoin it plans to purchase or when it will begin acquiring BTC, and CEO Ryan Cohen has not yet commented publicly on the addition of Bitcoin to GameStop’s balance sheet at the time of publishing.

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business

Cboe Exchange Submits Filing to List Fidelity Solana ETF

Published

19 hours ago

March 26, 2025

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Cboe has submitted a filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that would allow the exchange to list shares of a Fidelity exchange-traded fund tracking the price of Solana.

The19b-4 form, filed Tuesday, is a major step in the SEC’s approval process, although Fidelity must still file an S-1 registration statement describing the product.

The filing comes just days after Fidelity registered a Delaware Trust entity for its Solana fund, which would be based on the performance of the sixth largest digital asset by market capitalization.

The token was recently trading at about $145, up nearly 1.2% in the past 24 hours, according to data provider CoinGecko.

Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary, 21Shares, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck have also submitted filings for spot Solana ETFs. Earlier this year, Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas has penciled in a 70% chance that Solana ETFs would receive a green light this year, although he would not predict the timing.

Those applications are part of a deluge of proposed altcoin funds, including XRP, Dogecoin and Cardano, that have followed the wild success of spot bitcoin ETFs, which have generated more than $35 billion in net inflows since their approvals starting last January, and more muted achievements of spot Ethereum funds.

Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund has received about $11.5 billion in net flows in its more than 14 months of existence, the second most among the spot bitcoin funds.

According to a CoinShares report, crypto-backed investment products generated $644 million in net inflows last week following five consecutive weeks of outflows. The rebound was largely driven by inflows to products based on Bitcoin, followed by Solana-based offerings.

Edited by James Rubin

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Bitcoin

Tabit Insurance Raises $40 Million Bitcoin-Funded Insurance Facility

Published

2 days ago

March 24, 2025

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Tabit Insurance SCC has announced the capitalization of a $40 million insurance facility, funded entirely in Bitcoin, according to a press release sent to Bitcoin Magazine. This marks the first time a property and casualty (P&C) insurer has held all of its regulatory reserves in BTC while continuing to denominate its insurance policies and premiums in U.S. dollars. The company expressed the benefits of its funding approach, allowing regulators and auditors to verify reserves in real time.

According to Tabit, its use of BTC as capital is intended to provide an alternative source of capacity for the insurance industry. The company operates as a segregated cell company, which allows for additional cells to be formed to deploy capital in the insurance sector. This structure also enables BTC holders to earn USD returns through their own segregated cells.

William Shihara, co-founder of Tabit, stated, “Our approach to capital allocation underscores our confidence in providing a steady hand to our partners. By combining traditional balance sheet strength with carefully chosen assets like bitcoin, we’re able to stay responsive to market shifts and better serve the insurance community. This solution offers a regulated dollar return which we’re excited to earn on an alternative asset class such as bitcoin.”

The company also emphasized that its reserves are verifiable on the blockchain through a proof-of-reserves model, which allows for real-time transparency beyond the typical quarterly disclosures in the insurance industry.

“At Tabit, we saw a clear opportunity to enhance transparency within an industry that has been sorely lacking in innovation,” said Stephen Stonberg, co-founder and CEO. “We’re eager to move the insurance sector into the future by demonstrating what is possible by allowing an insurer to access a largely new and untapped source of insurance capital: digital assets.”

Tabit is headquartered in Bridgetown, Barbados, a jurisdiction known for its captive insurance market and is a top ten global captive jurisdiction. The company states that Barbados’ regulatory framework provides oversight for its operations.

Tabit plans to work with insurance carriers, brokers, and organizations seeking additional capacity or alternative risk financing options. It also aims to collaborate with large holders of digital assets who want to generate USD income while maintaining BTC exposure. More information about Tabit Insurance SCC can be found on their website here.

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