hodler

2 Apr 2026, 17:14

Ripple CTO Explains Why Major Firms May Choose XRP Over USDT and USDC Stablecoins

Ripple CTO David Schwartz has outlined why major firms may still choose XRP for some use cases even as stablecoins such as RLUSD, USDT, and USDC gain a larger role in digital payments. His comments came in response to a public debate about whether banks and companies would want to use XRP if Ripple itself holds a large amount of the token and if stablecoins now offer a lower-volatility alternative. Schwartz addressed that concern directly on X after a post questioning why global banks would adopt XRP if doing so could also increase the value of Ripple’s holdings. He argued that a company would not usually reject a product that makes business sense simply because it may also benefit another firm. His response framed the issue as a commercial decision based on utility rather than a question of whether Ripple could also gain from broader usage. The Ripple CTO also responded to another common question now facing the market: whether XRP remains relevant in a payments environment where stablecoins are growing quickly. He said there are cases in which volatility makes a stablecoin the better option and cases where a regulated asset backed by a trusted issuer is useful. That places XRP and stablecoins in different roles rather than in a simple one-or-the-other contest. Schwartz Says Stablecoins and XRP Serve Different Needs Schwartz identified three areas where he believes cryptocurrencies can still offer advantages over stablecoins. The first is that a stablecoin is only stable relative to one currency. In multi-jurisdiction payment flows, that may not solve every problem if the stablecoin needed for a specific fiat corridor either does not exist or does not have the right qualities. His second point focused on issuer control. He said stablecoins can be frozen or clawed back by the issuer, while cryptocurrencies do not carry the same counterparty structure. In his explanation, that can matter in cases where users want to avoid dependence on a regulated issuer that may be subject to court orders or jurisdictional disputes. The third argument was economic rather than operational. Schwartz said that if stability is not required, some users may prefer a cryptocurrency because it can offer upside that a stablecoin does not. He gave the example of money locked in escrow for a long period, in which a user might prefer XRP or BTC to dollars if preserving upside matters more than price stability. Ripple Expands Corporate Infrastructure as RLUSD Grows The debate over XRP versus stablecoins is ongoing as Ripple broadens its institutional product stack. Ripple recently launched Digital Asset Accounts and Unified Treasury within Ripple Treasury, allowing finance teams to manage fiat, XRP, RLUSD, and other digital balances on a single platform. Brad Garlinghouse said the company’s goal is to give corporates a trusted, regulated entry point into workflows they already use while removing friction between fiat and digital asset management. Moreover, Ripple Treasury processed $13 trillion in payments last year Ripple has also expanded its prime brokerage profile. This week, Ripple said Kroll assigned Ripple Prime an investment-grade issuer rating of BBB. Garlinghouse described the rating as validation of Ripple Prime’s strength, reliability, and technology as the business continues to grow. At the same time, RLUSD continues to expand, having reached a market capitalization of about $1.56 billion today. The Ripple stablecoin has also been linked to new payment and treasury use cases, including Convera’s B2B payments partnership and wider distribution through SBI in Japan. XRP Price Action Stays Under Technical Pressure While the debate around utility continues, the XRP price chart remains focused on the short-term structure driven by escalating US-Iran war tensions. The market recently confirmed a bearish intraday distribution pattern, with repeated failures below the $1.3670-$1.3680 resistance zone. That rejection was followed by a breakdown into the $1.3030 target area before a modest bounce developed. The immediate technical question is whether XRP can hold that bounce or whether the market resumes lower. If price breaks back below the recent low, the case for a larger, higher-time-frame reversal would strengthen. If buyers reclaim the broken structure and move back above the $1.3350 area, the pressure from the latest breakdown would begin to ease.

2 Apr 2026, 14:03

Even In Crypto-Heavy 2025, The Biggest Crypto Audience Was Still On Mainstream Websites

Crypto has spent years acting like attention and activity are basically the same thing. If traffic surges, the market must be alive. If specialist media cools off, the assumption is that interest is cooling off too. It is an easy habit to fall into, especially in an industry that grew up on narratives, cycles, and headlines. Still, 2025 made that habit much harder to defend. A recent Outset Data Pulse report shows a market that kept buzzing even as traffic to crypto-native media moved the other way. The more interesting part is not just that crypto media weakened. It is that the largest crypto audience was still sitting outside crypto-native media altogether. Mainstream Media Held The Real Scale Looking at traffic across 349 outlets tracked through the recently launched Outset Media Index (OMI), the report found that crypto-native media still pulled in more than one billion visits across 2025, which sounds big until you look at how the year actually unfolded. Traffic started at around 106 million visits in January and ended the year at just under 71 million in December. That’s a drop of a bit more than 33%. There were a few moments when things bounced, especially in July, but those bumps were minor. By the time the year was closing out, crypto-native media was clearly drawing less attention than it had at the start. What makes it even more telling is that the audience was still spread all over the place. This was never a market held up by just two or three giant brands. The top ten outlets together made up only about a quarter of total crypto-native traffic, while the long tail, smaller publications most people barely mention in broad media conversations, still carried most of the audience. This was a story about how thinly spread crypto media still is, even when the overall pool gets smaller. Then comes the part that really changes how this story is read. Mainstream financial, tech, and general news sites with regular crypto coverage pulled in close to seven billion visits in 2025. That is more than six times the crypto-native audience. Image Source: Outset Data Pulse Meanwhile specialist outlets were sliding, mainstream traffic was heading upwards, climbing from around 367 million visits in January to nearly 586 million by December. That’s what makes the year interesting. Even when crypto was still very much in the conversation, the biggest audience for content was already somewhere else, not crypto-native websites. The Headlines Weakened, The Activity Didn’t If crypto-native media traffic were the whole story, 2025 would look like a year of fading attention and weakening momentum, but the on-chain side of the report makes that reading much harder to sustain. The headlines were still there, but they were no longer giving a full picture of where the market’s energy actually was. Stablecoin supply climbed from $216 billion in January to $307 billion by December, which is a 41% increase over the year. That suggests more capital was sitting inside the crypto system even as specialist media was pulling in fewer readers. Also, that capital was not idle. USDT transfer volume reached almost $19 trillion across 2025, with the sharpest acceleration coming in the second half. By October, monthly transfer volume had hit $2.5 trillion, more than double where the year began. That points to a market where money was still moving aggressively, through settlement, payments, and the day-to-day mechanics of crypto activity, even if that movement was no longer mirrored by rising traffic to crypto-native outlets. The same goes for trading. DEX spot volume reached $1.7 trillion for the year and rose from $112 billion in January to $214 billion in October. Image Source: Outset Data Pulse Put together, those numbers make the bigger point pretty hard to miss: the market underneath was still active. Liquidity was building, stablecoins were flowing, and decentralized trading was expanding. So, the decline in crypto-native media traffic reads more like a market that is no longer relying on specialist media attention to prove it is alive. Attention and Usage Stopped Moving Together The report also tested whether media traffic and blockchain usage moved in any clear sequence. They did not. Over the course of 2025, there was no consistent lead-lag relationship showing that rising traffic reliably came before rising on-chain activity, or that stronger blockchain activity reliably pulled media attention up afterward. That may be the report’s most important conclusion: crypto-native media traffic no longer tracks the deeper market behavior very well. An indexed comparison of crypto-native traffic, mainstream traffic, and aggregated on-chain activity made that visible in simple terms: specialist media declined, mainstream media stayed large and grew, and blockchain usage kept climbing through much of the year. There are obvious caveats. Mainstream traffic reflects total readership, not just visits to crypto-related pages. Social platforms still carry a lot of narrative energy that traffic data alone cannot fully capture. Monthly data smooths over shorter bursts that matter intraday. However, even with those limitations, the divergence is hard to miss. That leaves crypto-native media in a different position than the one it held a few years ago but, the main point is not really about media at all. It is about maturation. Industries that rely entirely on attention are fragile. Industries that keep functioning while attention fragments are usually becoming something else. In 2025, crypto looked a little more like the latter. That also makes 2026 feel like a very different kind of test: not whether crypto-native media still exists, but whether it can stay useful in a market that has clearly changed.

2 Apr 2026, 11:11

Bitrue launches 40 tokenized assets with up to 100x leverage trading

Crypto exchange Bitrue is widening its push beyond digital assets, launching 40 tokenized instruments on its futures platform in a move that reflects the growing overlap between crypto trading and traditional market exposure. Announced on Thursday, the rollout gives Bitrue users round-the-clock access to tokenized versions of blue-chip stocks, a major US equity index and precious metals, all paired with USDT. The initial lineup includes NVIDIA, Tesla, Amazon, the NASDAQ-100 index, and tokenized gold and silver. According to the company, the products are available with leverage of up to 100 x , depending on the asset. A broader push into real-world assets The launch comes as crypto exchanges increasingly look to real-world assets, or RWAs, as a new growth avenue. Bitrue said demand for such products has become an important industry driver in 2026, particularly among retail traders looking for exposure beyond cryptocurrencies. Among the first 40 listings are NVIDIA Corp., Tesla Inc., Amazon Inc., NAS100 representing the 100 largest companies on the NASDAQ, and XAU and XAG for tokenized gold and silver. All are available through Bitrue’s futures market rather than as direct ownership instruments. Leverage and access at the centre Bitrue is pitching the new products as a faster and more accessible alternative to conventional brokerage-based market participation. The exchange said users can buy and sell the contracts directly in USDT without opening a secondary broker account, while trades are executed within seconds. The platform also emphasised the global and always-on nature of the offering. Unlike traditional stock market trading hours, these tokenized futures can be traded 24/7, regardless of a user’s location, subject to jurisdictional restrictions. “RWA demand continues to be a key driver of industry growth in 2026, with retail investors increasingly seeking to diversify their portfolios beyond crypto and into traditional asset classes,” said Adam O’Neill, Chief Marketing Officer at Bitrue. “The availability of leveraged tech stocks, indices, and precious metals provides heightened exposure to a class of investments that dominate headlines and more directly dictate the health of the world economy.” The leverage component is likely to be a major draw for active traders, but it also raises the risk profile significantly. Bitrue said maximum leverage ranges from 50 x to 100 x , depending on the asset. New collateral options and a trading incentive Alongside the futures launch, Bitrue said it has added a borrowing feature tied to tokenized gold and silver holdings. Users can collateralize those precious metal positions to receive USDT, allowing them to maintain exposure to metal prices while unlocking liquidity for other trades, including futures positions. The exchange is also introducing a 100,000 USDT trading contest to encourage participation in the new market segment. Traders who open positions in the newly launched futures products can receive bonuses equivalent to 20 USDT, while top performers over the next two weeks can earn rewards of up to 10,000 USDT based on ranking. Bitrue said the 40 tokenized assets are available immediately through its website and mobile app, with additional listings expected in the coming months. The investors must also note that these instruments do not confer ownership, dividend entitlements or shareholder rights, and are not registered securities. They are unavailable to users in the US, UK and certain other restricted jurisdictions. The investors must conduct their own research and assess the associated risks. The post Bitrue launches 40 tokenized assets with up to 100x leverage trading appeared first on Invezz

2 Apr 2026, 08:32

Tether US exec Jesse Spiro named chairman of $100M Fellowship PAC to push USAT

Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Tether US, Jesse Spiro, is now the chairman of the Fellowship PAC, a $100 million crypto-backed group that will support leaders who champion new ideas and grow USAT beyond Ethereum. The Fellowship PAC said it will invest in increasing USAT adoption and expand its market on many blockchains. The move comes amid a broader wave of political spending by crypto firms ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections. Tether executive leads PAC to drive USAT expansion Jesse Spiro previously led government and regulatory affairs at Tether US and will now guide the PAC’s strategy to support initiatives that expand USAT activity beyond Ethereum. Anonymous donors raised over $100 million to ensure the PAC has sufficient resources to promote innovation, educate the public about digital assets, and increase USAT adoption across different blockchains. Tether’s USAT is structured to comply with the recently enacted GENIUS Act , which introduced clearer rules for stablecoin issuers, including requirements for reserve transparency and asset backing. The leadership of USAT by former U.S. official Bo Hines emphasizes Tether’s strategy of becoming involved in the U.S. regulatory and political landscape. Hines has said the company’s goal is “to participate in the U.S economy in a big way” and now says he expects more growth in the next two years. The PAC’s mission is to support transparent, secure, and trustworthy systems, thereby protecting and strengthening U.S. leadership in digital assets. Similarly, the initiative will assist builders, developers, and technology companies in accessing the tools and networks they need to advance entrepreneurship and support innovation in financial infrastructure. Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Tether US said, “We have an opportunity to ensure the United States remains the global hub for builders, entrepreneurs, and technological progress. Fellowship PAC is committed to supporting leaders who understand what’s at stake and are willing to act.” Fellowship PAC uses crypto funds to grow innovation and USAT adoption The PAC will announce its first slate of candidate endorsements, focusing on individuals and groups that recognize the value of open markets. Other crypto-backed PACs, including Fairshake PAC , took a similar initiative by spending more than $130 million in the 2024 election cycle and recording $193 million in resources heading into the 2026 midterms. According to reports, the Fellowship PAC collects funds from multiple backers in the crypto industry, though the details remain hidden. In addition to financial support, the PAC will work with crypto industry stakeholders to provide a platform for builders, developers, and companies to partner on projects that improve USAT. Similarly, the committee is responsible for educating leaders and stakeholders on topics like blockchain platforms, stablecoins, and the use of USAT. This way, users and businesses will easily integrate the stablecoin into their day-to-day activities. What’s more, Fellowship PAC will run visibility campaigns that demonstrate USAT’s capabilities, help new users discover the stablecoin, encourage developers to build applications, and guide businesses in using the platform effectively. The PAC also monitors other crypto-backed committees, observes adoption patterns, and analyzes technical challenges to reduce errors and implement best practices that accelerate USAT adoption across multiple networks. With easy access to resources, guidance, and awareness campaigns, retail users will better understand the program, while institutions will get the support they need to integrate USAT into their daily operations. According to Jesse Spiro, Fellowship PAC aims to create a structured, long-term ecosystem in which USAT and similar platforms can expand safely and effectively. Instead of focusing on the immediate influence, the PAC will build a foundation for multi-chain growth and technological adoption. Still letting the bank keep the best part? Watch our free video on being your own bank .