Author: Blockto Team

Venture Firm Strengthens Presence in Region With Rapid Onchain Growth A16z Crypto has launched its first Asian office in Seoul marking a major step in its long term strategy to deepen involvement in one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto markets. The firm says its decision is driven by the region’s unusually high levels of onchain participation and the growing role Asia plays in global digital-asset adoption. The new office will be led by former Polygon Labs executive SungMo Park, whose regional experience is expected to guide founders seeking to scale across diverse Asian markets. In announcing the move, A16z executives…

A New Approach to Secure Wellness Data Integration Tether has introduced a health-tracking platform designed to keep biometric information fully under user control, reflecting a broader shift toward local, device-based artificial intelligence. Tether’s new system, QVAC Health, centralizes data from wearables, nutrition apps and activity trackers into a unified dashboard that operates offline. Instead of routing information through external servers, the platform performs all processing on the users device, supported by encrypted storage and peer to peer model updates. At launch, QVAC Health features experimental computer-vision tools capable of estimating calorie and macronutrient intake from photos. These assessments can be…

New regional surey shows digital assets becoming a core component of long-term wealth strategy A new regional wealth study shows that Asia’s richest investors are preparing to deepen their involvement in digital assets, marking one of the strongest signals yet of mainstream adoption in the region. According to the APAC HNWI Report 2025 nearly six in ten high-net-worth individuals say they intend to increase their cryptocurrency allocations within the next two to five years. The survey, which included 270 respondents with more than $1 million in investable assets across ten Asia-Pacific markets, found that 87% of participants already have exposure…

OCC review reveals nine major banks limited services to cryptocurrency firms and other controversial sectors The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has confirmed that the United States’ largest banks imposed service restrictions on a wide range of politically sensitive industries including cryptocurrency companies between 2020 and 2023. According to the regulator’s preliminary review institutions made “inappropriate distinctions” when deciding which lawful businesses couuld access financial services. The OCC launched the investigation following a presidential directive issued in August, requiring federal agencies to examine whether banks had engaged in systematic debanking of customers based on their political affiliations…

New regulatory approval positions Gemini to expand derivatives and event-based trading Crypto exchange Gemini has received a major regulatory green light that will allow it to enter the fast-growing U.S. prediction markets sector. The company confirmed that its affiliate Gemini Titan has secured a designated contract market license from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, opening the door for a new range of event-based trading products. Gemini said U.S. users will soon be able to trade event contracts directly through its web platform, a move that marks one of the exchange’s most significant expansions since going public. The firm also plans…

Move strengthens Stripe’s blockchain push as Tempo testnet opens to developers Payments leader Stripe has acquired the team behind Valora a mobile crypto wallet platform, in a move that deepens its investment in blockchain technology and expands its capabilities in stablecoin focused infrastructure. The acquisition comes just one day after Stripe and its partners launcched the Tempo blockchain testnet, a new layer 1 network built to support fast, browser-based stablecoin creation. Valora CEO Jackie Bona confirmed that the wallet’s engineering team will join Stripe to work on its crypto initiatives, bringing expertise in global payments, digital wallets and mobile-native Web3…

The latest Federal Funds Rate announcement has confirmed a widely anticipated move, with policymakers lowering the benchmark rate from 4.00% to an actual 3.75%, perfectly matching the 3.75% forecast. This 25-basis-point cut marks a strategic adjustment aimed at supporting economic momentum while keeping inflation pressures in check. In today’s decisin officials signaled confidence that monetary easing can be introduced without destabilizing broader price trends. The shift from the previous 4.00% level represents a meaningful change in the policy path, particularly after several quarters of stable or restrictive settings. The reduction to 3.75% reflects an effort to balance cooling economic indicators…

Internet Computer retests multi-month lows as seller momentum strengthens Internet Computer (ICP) has returned to a downward trajectory after early attempts at recovery lost strength. The token has now fallen back toward the lower boundary of its December support region, raising concerns about whether the market is preparing for a deeper continuation of the broader decline. Market structure shows ICP breaking below the key range support that previously acted as a stabilizing zone, exposing the price to further downside risk. The slide toward the $3.48 area coincides with increasing trading activity, suggesting that sellers are regaining dominance after a short-lived…

Company argues MSCI’s plan risks distorting global equity benchmarks and undermining U.S. competitiveness Strategy has pushed back against a new proposal from MSCI that would bar companies holding 50% or more of their assets in digital assets from inclusion in major global equity indices. In a formal response letter, Strategy urged MSCI to maintain neutral and consistent index standards, warning that the suggested threshold is “arbitrary, unworkable and harmful to innovation.” Led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the company argued that digital asset treasury companies (DATs) are fundamentally operating businesses, not passive investment funds. The letter emphasized that Strategy uses…

Partnership with Kaio highlights accelerating sovereign interest in onchain real-world assets Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital has begun evaluating how tokenization could expand access to its private market investment strategies, marking one of the strongest signals yet that sovereign-linked capital is exploring onchain real-world assets (RWAs). The initiative is being carried out in collaboration with institutional RWA infrastructure provider Kaio. The assessment will examine how Kaio’s digital framework could help institutional and accredited investors tap into Mubadala Capital’s alternative investment products through tokenized structures. Executives say the goal is to determine whether regulated digital rails can streamline distribution and lower historical…