Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly wrap-up of crucial tales in cryptocurrency tech improvement. We’re Margaux Nijkerk & Jamie Crawley, reporters at CoinDesk.
On this concern:
- Nasdaq-Listed SoFi Faucets Bitcoin Lightning for Remittances
- Bitcoin DeFi Venture Enters Solana with BTC-Backed Token YBTC
- Valantis Acquires stHYPE, Increasing Liquid Staking Attain on Hyperliquid
- Hyperbeat Secures $5.2M Backing From ether.Fi, Electrical Capital
Community Information
SOFI TAPS BITCOIN LIGHTNING FOR REMITTANCES: SoFi Applied sciences will quickly enable remittance funds on high of the Bitcoin layer-2 Lightning Community by way of a partnership with Lightspark, aiming to carry real-time worldwide cash transfers to its members. SoFi’s remittance product, which is predicted to roll out later this yr, will enable customers to ship U.S. {dollars} by way of the SoFi app, with recipients receiving native forex deposits overseas, utilizing Lightspark’s Common Cash Handle (UMA). Lightspark’s UMA gives entry to a worldwide cost rail designed for velocity and scale. Transfers will show upfront alternate charges and costs, addressing longstanding ache factors in conventional remittance providers. The launch follows SoFi’s reentry into crypto, after halting providers in 2023 throughout its transition to a nationwide financial institution. Earlier this yr, it revealed plans to supply worldwide remittances by way of blockchain and stablecoins and permit customers to spend money on crypto. — Jamie Crawley Learn extra.
BITLAYER ENTERS SOLANA WITH YBTC: Bitcoin DeFi venture Bitlayer has partnered with Kamino Finance and Orca to carry its bitcoin-backed token, YBTC, to the Solana ecosystem. This integration is meant to mix Bitlayer’s safety with Solana’s velocity and scalability, aligning with Bitlayer’s purpose of increasing the Bitcoin DeFi sector. It would present bitcoin holders with native BTC publicity and yield alternatives, mentioned Charlie Hu, co-founder of Bitlayer. YBTC, pegged 1:1 with BTC, is central to Bitlayer’s BitVM bridge, which is designed for trust-minimized bitcoin transfers by eliminating centralized intermediaries. The token serves as a direct illustration of customers’ locked BTC inside the Bitlayer ecosystem, enabling seamless interoperability between Bitcoin and decentralized finance functions. By holding YBTC, Solana customers can maximize yields by way of Kamino’s institutional-grade earn vaults, which give auto-compounding and optimized BTC-denominated returns, serving to property develop effortlessly. — Omkar Godbole Learn extra.
VALANTIS ACQUIRES stHYPE: Valantis, a decentralized alternate (DEX) protocol, has acquired Staked Hype (stHYPE), the second-largest liquid staking token (LST) on Hyperliquid. Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed. stHYPE, which launched as the primary LST on HyperEVM, presently holds about $180 million in complete worth locked (TVL), in response to the stHYPE web site. Following the deal, stHYPE’s operations, improvement, and scaling can be managed by Valantis Labs. Addison Spiegel, founding father of Thunderhead, the staff behind stHYPE, will function an advisor to Valantis. Liquid staking has grow to be a central pillar inside Hyperliquid’s ecosystem. In accordance with DeFiLlama, liquid staking accounts for greater than half of Hyperliquid L1’s $2.26 billion in DeFi TVL. The acquisition builds on Valantis’ earlier launch of LST-specific DEX swimming pools for each stHYPE and hHYPE, which collectively have attracted almost $70 million in TVL and processed greater than $500 million in buying and selling quantity. — Oliver Knight Learn extra.
HYPERBEAT GETS $5.2M IN SEED: Hyperbeat, a protocol powering yield infrastructure on the Hyperliquid decentralized alternate, has closed a $5.2 million oversubscribed seed spherical co-led by ether.fi Ventures and Electrical Capital. The elevate can be used to construct out their yield infrastructure for merchants, protocols, and establishments which might be tapped into the Hyperliquid ecosystem. The spherical additionally drew investments from Coinbase Ventures, Chapter One, Selini, Maelstrom, Anchorage Digital, and group backers by way of the HyperCollective. Hyperbeat serves because the native yield layer for Hyperliquid, constructing permissionless monetary infrastructure that enables anybody to earn, stake, and spend straight from their on-chain portfolio. It unlocks yield generated by Hyperliquid’s funding charges—beforehand accessible solely to classy market individuals—and packages it into easy, tokenized vaults. The information of the seed elevate comes as Hyperliquid’s complete worth locked surpasses $2.1 billion, and as establishments are beginning to develop better curiosity in its ecosystem. — Margaux Nijkerk Learn extra.
In Different Information
- SkyBridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci’s funding administration agency, plans to tokenize $300 million value of its hedge funds on the Avalanche community. The agency is bringing its Digital Macro Grasp Fund and Legion Methods on-chain in partnership with tokenization supplier Tokeny and its dad or mum, Apex Group, which manages greater than $3.5 trillion in property, in response to the press launch shared with CoinDesk. Apex acquired Tokeny earlier this yr. The initiative makes use of the ERC-3643 token customary with operational assist from Apex’s Digital 3.0 platform, which handles issuance, administration, and distribution. — Kristzian Sandor Learn extra.
- Thumzup Media, which counts Donald Trump Jr. as a big shareholder, mentioned it should purchase Dogehash Applied sciences, Inc. in an all-stock deal, pivoting from digital advertising and marketing into industrial-scale crypto mining. Below the settlement, Dogehash shareholders will obtain 30.7 million Thumzup shares, in response to a Tuesday launch, valuing the transaction at $153.8 million, based mostly on the shares’ closing value. The mixed firm will rebrand as Dogehash Applied sciences Holdings, Inc. and listing on Nasdaq underneath the ticker XDOG, pending shareholder approval later this yr. The corporate says it should additionally use Dogecoin’s DogeOS layer 2 to stake in DeFi merchandise, aiming to spice up miner returns past customary rewards. — Sam Reynolds Learn extra.
Regulatory and Coverage
- The crypto business is mounting a counteroffensive in opposition to Wall Avenue bankers’ bid to rewrite the U.S.’ new stablecoin legislation, arguing that makes an attempt to roll again core provisions of the GENIUS Act would tilt the sector towards conventional banks. In a letter to Senate Banking Committee leaders dated Aug. 19, the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Affiliation urged lawmakers to reject proposals from the American Bankers Affiliation, Financial institution Coverage Institute and state banking teams that known as for stripping out Part 16(d) of the legislation and banning yield packages supplied by associates of stablecoin issuers. Part 16(d) permits subsidiaries of state-chartered establishments to conduct cash transmission throughout state strains in assist of stablecoin issuer actions, making certain holders can redeem their tokens nationwide with no need separate state licenses. Banking teams warned earlier this month that permitting state-chartered, uninsured establishments to concern stablecoins and function nationwide would quantity to regulatory arbitrage, bypassing state licensing regimes. — Sam Reynolds Learn Extra
- The U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest vice chair who supervises Wall Avenue banking, Michelle Bowman, made a crypto speech on Tuesday that would have been uttered by one of many business’s personal coverage wonks, advocating that banks get behind the digital property surge and that the Fed give the sector guidelines that will not get in crypto’s approach. On the Wyoming Blockchain Symposium, Bowman warned banks that do not embrace the shift towards crypto “will play a diminished position within the monetary system extra broadly,” and he or she additional underlined what’s already been an apparent change in crypto sentiment from U.S. banking regulators. “Your business has already skilled vital frictions with financial institution regulators making use of unclear requirements, conflicting steering, and inconsistent regulatory interpretations,” she mentioned. “We’d like a transparent, strategic regulatory framework that can facilitate the adoption of latest expertise, recognizing that in some instances, it could be insufficient and inappropriate to use current regulatory steering to deal with rising tech.” — Jesse Hamilton Learn extra.
Calendar
- Sept. 22-28: Korea Blockchain Week, Seoul
- Oct. 1-2: Token2049, Singapore
- Oct. 13-15: Digital Asset Summit, London
- Oct. 16-17: European Blockchain Conference, Barcelona
- Nov. 17-22: Devconnect, Buenos Aires
- Dec. 11-13: Solana Breakpoint, Abu Dhabi
- Feb. 10-12, 2026: Consensus, Hong Kong
- Might 5-7, 2026: Consensus, Miami
