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Project Overview
Circle(NASDAQ:CRCL) is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to leverage the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce, and financial applications worldwide. Circle is the issuer of USD Coin (USDC), one of the fastest-growing dollar digital currencies powering always-on, internet-native commerce and payments. Today, Circle's transactional services, business accounts, and platform APIs are giving rise to a new generation of financial services and commerce applications that hold the promise of increasing global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of financial value.His stock code is CRCL.
Bank for International Settlements: Global coordination on stablecoin regulation is critical to preventing market fragmentation
Pablo Hernandez de Cos, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), stated that global coordination on stablecoin regulation is critical to preventing severe market fragmentation; otherwise, regulatory divergences across jurisdictions could trigger regulatory arbitrage. He noted that stablecoins are typically pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar and may undermine monetary and fiscal policy, exert stress on financial markets, and hinder efforts to combat illicit financing. Currently, the two largest stablecoins—issued by Tether and Circle—account for approximately 85% of the global $315 billion stablecoin circulating supply. He also remarked that these stablecoins resemble securities more than money—particularly in terms of redemption frictions—and operate more like ETFs.
Tokenization startup Brix closes $5.5M funding round, with participation from Circle Ventures and others
According to The Block, Brix—a startup focused on tokenizing emerging-market assets—has announced a $5.5 million funding round. Participants include Yapi Kredi’s venture capital arm, FRWRD, IS Asset Management, and crypto investment firms Circle Ventures, ConsenSys, and Borderless Capital. Brix plans to launch on the MegaETH network, aiming to bring traditionally institutional trading strategies—such as Turkish lira arbitrage—on-chain.
Y Combinator completes its first funding round using stablecoins, paying $500,000 in USDC to prediction market startup Totalis
According to The Block, renowned startup accelerator Y Combinator has completed its first fully stablecoin investment, paying $500,000 in USDC to prediction market startup Totalis via three on-chain transactions on Solana. The funds are held in custody by Ramp, a financial operations platform. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan stated that the accelerator will make stablecoin payments available to all YC-backed startups—not limited to crypto-related companies. Totalis plans to use Ramp to execute both stablecoin and fiat transactions simultaneously and to pay credit card bills from its stablecoin account.
Bitget Wallet Launches May Day QR Code Payment Campaign with Cashback up to 1,000 RLUSD per Transaction
Bitget Wallet has launched a Labor Day QR code payment campaign, running from April 28 to May 7, further driving the adoption of stablecoin payments in everyday consumption and travel scenarios across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. During the campaign, users who complete offline QR code payments using USDT or USDC will receive RLUSD cashback for each transaction. From May 1 to May 7, Bitget Wallet will randomly select one paying user per day to receive an additional 1,000 RLUSD cashback. To lower the barrier to first-time usage, Bitget Wallet will also airdrop XRP to eligible participants—serving as the account reserve required to activate RLUSD withdrawals. RLUSD is a compliant U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). This campaign marks Bitget Wallet’s first real-world consumer application following its integration of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) mainnet and onboarding of the RLUSD payment ecosystem at the end of March—and represents a key milestone in advancing Bitget Wallet’s Everyday Finance strategy.
a16z: Stablecoins Are Reshaping Global Financial Infrastructure, Accelerating the Arrival of a New On-Chain Finance Era
A research report released by a16z Crypto states that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into the foundational layer of a new global financial infrastructure, giving rise to a new generation of “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) models. Unlike the previous wave of BaaS, this new model is built on onchain infrastructure and integrates account management, payments, foreign exchange, and credit functions via self-custodial wallets—significantly reducing reliance on traditional intermediaries. The report classifies blockchains into three categories: general-purpose public chains (e.g., Solana and Ethereum), purpose-built chains optimized for payment use cases (e.g., Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc), and compliance-focused networks designed for regulated institutions (e.g., Canton). On the regulatory front, following the passage of the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers are competing aggressively for national trust charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), aiming to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails and secure a central position within the payments stack. The report also notes that stablecoins have made significant progress in the “middle mile” of cross-border payments; however, liquidity bottlenecks between stablecoins and local fiat currencies remain unresolved in emerging markets. Looking ahead, as stablecoin scale grows, the onchain credit market is poised to become the next major opportunity after payments—providing capital to borrowers underserved by traditional financial systems. Moreover, the widespread adoption of stablecoins is expected to further reinforce the U.S. dollar’s global dominance.
Banking Circle officially launches stablecoin settlement services after obtaining the CASP license
According to an official announcement by Banking Circle, the company officially launched its stablecoin settlement service on April 27, 2026. Prior to this, Banking Circle had obtained a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), on April 15. The new service enables instant, two-way conversions between fiat currencies and major stablecoins—including USDC, USDG, and EURI—and leverages Banking Circle’s core banking platform to deliver 24/7 settlement with full regulatory traceability. Globally, the stablecoin market capitalization currently stands at approximately €250 billion, with annual payment transaction volume reaching around €330 billion and monthly on-chain transaction volume exceeding €8 trillion. Laust Bertelsen, CEO of Banking Circle, stated that stablecoins have become core infrastructure for cross-border settlement and treasury management. This launch aims to combine the efficiency of blockchain-based payments with banking-grade compliance standards, serving Banking Circle’s global network of over 750 payment institution clients.
Lending protocol Purrlend suffered an attack, with losses of approximately $1.52 million
the lending protocol Purrlend was attacked on the MegaETH and HyperEVM networks, resulting in losses of approximately $1.52 million. The attacker extracted approximately $1.2 million in assets from the HyperEVM network, including 449,683 USDC, 214,125 USDT0, 194,745 USDH, and portions of UBTC, wstHYPE, UETH, kHYPE, and WHYPE. The attacker also extracted approximately $324,000 in assets from the MegaETH network, including USDT0, WETH, and USDm. Purrlend has since paused the protocol and launched an investigation. The attacker's address has been identified on the block explorers of both networks.
OSL Group Partners with Circle to Expand Global Access to USDC
According to The Block, OSL Group has announced a partnership with Circle’s affiliated entities to expand USDC integration across its payment and trading platforms. Through OSL Global, users can exchange USD for USDC at a 1:1 ratio and trade BTC, ETH, SOL, USD, and USDT pairs in a dedicated USDC trading zone. Meanwhile, OSL has adopted USDC as its unified margin asset and integrated USDC into its payment services to support compliant digital dollar settlement and payment use cases. OSL also stated that it plans to support Circle’s tokenized money market fund, USYC, subject to regulatory requirements and platform eligibility criteria.
Coinbase and Other Crypto Institutions Send Joint Letter to U.S. Senate Urging Passage of the CLARITY Act
the crypto advocacy groups Blockchain Association and CCI, together with over 120 industry institutions including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, and Circle, have sent a joint letter to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, urging an accelerated review process for the CLARITY Act. The industry parties stated that the United States needs to establish a unified regulatory framework for digital asset markets, clarify regulatory responsibilities, and strengthen investor protection. They emphasized that relying solely on enforcement-based regulation cannot create a long-term stable environment. The institutions warned that prolonged policy ambiguity will lead to an outflow of capital, talent, and technology, weakening America's strategic advantages. They also called for the development of tailored federal unified regulatory rules for stablecoins, tokenized assets, and decentralized technologies.
Sun Yuchen withdrew 93.41 million USDT from the Spack deposit pool and deposited them into HTX.
According to on-chain analyst Ai Aunt (@ai9684xtpa), Sun Yuchen has withdrawn all 93.41 million USDT from the Spack USDT deposit pool. This amount previously accounted for 9.89% of the USDT single-pool deposit TVL and was fully deposited into HTX within the past half hour. Notably, Sun Yuchen also withdrew 10,417 USDC.
Bitget Wallet Launches May Day QR Code Payment Campaign with Cashback up to 1,000 RLUSD per Transaction
Bitget Wallet has launched a Labor Day QR code payment campaign, running from April 28 to May 7, further driving the adoption of stablecoin payments in everyday consumption and travel scenarios across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. During the campaign, users who complete offline QR code payments using USDT or USDC will receive RLUSD cashback for each transaction. From May 1 to May 7, Bitget Wallet will randomly select one paying user per day to receive an additional 1,000 RLUSD cashback. To lower the barrier to first-time usage, Bitget Wallet will also airdrop XRP to eligible participants—serving as the account reserve required to activate RLUSD withdrawals. RLUSD is a compliant U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). This campaign marks Bitget Wallet’s first real-world consumer application following its integration of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) mainnet and onboarding of the RLUSD payment ecosystem at the end of March—and represents a key milestone in advancing Bitget Wallet’s Everyday Finance strategy.
A whale deposited $2 million into HyperLiquid to open a 3x short position on Brent crude oil.
According to on-chain analyst Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens), a whale address deposited $2 million worth of USDC into HyperLiquid and opened a short position of 80,000 contracts on BRENTOIL with 3x leverage, betting on a decline in crude oil prices.
A whale sold 50,000 HYPE tokens 4 hours ago, cashing out $2.07 million in USDC.
According to on-chain analyst Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens), the whale tummy.hl (@tummyy1) sold 50,000 HYPE tokens 4 hours ago at an average price of $41.43, receiving 2.07 million USDC in return. Data shows that after the sale, this address still holds 100,000 HYPE tokens, valued at approximately $4.16 million at the current price.
Whale deposits $2 million USDC into HyperLiquid and opens crude oil short position
According to on-chain analyst Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens), a whale deposited 2 million USDC into HyperLiquid and opened short positions of 21,000 BRENTOIL and 19,000 CL with 3x leverage.
Sun Yuchen has deposited a total of $1.3 billion in assets into Spark.
According to on-chain analyst Ai Aunt (@ai9684xtpa), Sun Yuchen’s address 0x939…6a1d1 withdrew $300 million worth of USDS from Sky and deposited it into Spark within the past three hours. This address has now deposited approximately $1.3 billion in assets into Spark, with USDS farming rewards totaling $5.38 million. Specifically, USDS deposits amount to $436 million, representing 18.72% of the deposit pool; USDC deposits total $135 million, accounting for 28.17%; and USDT deposits stand at $93.39 million, making up 9.89%.
Aftermath Finance attacked, approximately $1.1 million in USDC stolen
according to Blockaid monitoring, an ongoing attack has occurred on Aftermath Finance's perpetual contract protocol on the Sui Network, with approximately $1.1 million worth of USDC stolen across 11 transactions within about 36 minutes. Analysis indicates the vulnerability stems from a fee accounting flaw in the perpetual contract liquidation system, which the attacker exploited to artificially inflate synthetic collateral and drain funds from the protocol's treasury.
AftermathFi Perpetual Contracts Exploited in Vulnerability Attack, ~$1.1M USDC Stolen
According to on-chain security firm Blockaid (@blockaid_), AftermathFi’s perpetual contract on Sui Network was exploited via a vulnerability on April 29. The attacker (address: 0x1a65...2d41e) stole approximately $1.1 million in USDC across 11 transactions within roughly 36 minutes. The attack exploited a flaw in the perpetual contract liquidation fee calculation, enabling illicit withdrawals from the protocol’s treasury via synthetic collateral inflation.
DeFi United Raises Over $300 Million in Funding
Circle Ventures, Consensys, and Joseph Lubin have announced their support for the DeFi United initiative, aimed at mitigating losses caused by the Kelp DAO vulnerability. Circle Ventures is supporting the ecosystem by purchasing AAVE tokens. Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin have confirmed the provision of 30,000 ETH to DeFi United. To date, DeFi United has raised over 132,000 ETH, with a total value exceeding $300 million. These funds will be used to cover bad debts resulting from an attacker minting unbacked rsETH via the LayerZero bridge and borrowing assets on Aave. Previously, Aave proposed a donation of 25,000 ETH, while Lido DAO, Ether.fi, and Kelp have respectively proposed or pledged donations of 2,500 ETH, 5,000 ETH, and 2,000 ETH.
Lending protocol Purrlend suffered an attack, with losses of approximately $1.52 million
the lending protocol Purrlend was attacked on the MegaETH and HyperEVM networks, resulting in losses of approximately $1.52 million. The attacker extracted approximately $1.2 million in assets from the HyperEVM network, including 449,683 USDC, 214,125 USDT0, 194,745 USDH, and portions of UBTC, wstHYPE, UETH, kHYPE, and WHYPE. The attacker also extracted approximately $324,000 in assets from the MegaETH network, including USDT0, WETH, and USDm. Purrlend has since paused the protocol and launched an investigation. The attacker's address has been identified on the block explorers of both networks.
Volo, a DeFi protocol in the Sui ecosystem, was hacked, with approximately $3.5 million in assets stolen.
According to an official announcement by Volo, a security vulnerability occurred today on the Sui network involving Volo—a BTCFi and LST protocol—resulting in the theft of approximately $3.5 million in assets (including WBTC, XAUm, and USDC) from three specific vaults. Immediately after the incident, the team notified the Sui Foundation and ecosystem partners and froze all vaults to prevent further losses. Volo stated that the vulnerability affected only these three vaults; the remaining vaults are not exposed to the same attack vector, and the other ~$28 million in TVL remains secure. The official announcement emphasized that Volo will bear the loss entirely and will not pass it on to users. A comprehensive post-mortem report and remediation plan will be released upon completion of the investigation.
Rhea Finance Discloses Attack Cause: Slippage Protection Logic Flaw Leads to $18.4 Million Loss
According to an official disclosure by RHEA Finance, on April 16, 2026, the NEAR ecosystem lending protocol RHEA Finance (formerly Burrow Finance) suffered a hack targeting its margin trading functionality, resulting in losses of approximately $18.4 million. The attacker began preparations several days prior to the incident by creating multiple fake token pools on Ref Finance and injecting liquidity into them, thereby constructing malicious swap routes. Exploiting a vulnerability in the protocol’s slippage protection mechanism—which failed to account for scenarios where intermediate tokens were reused during multi-step swaps—the attacker caused borrowed debt tokens to be routed into fake token pools under their control. This triggered widespread forced liquidations, ultimately draining the protocol’s reserve pool. During the attack, the attacker deleted a total of 55 intermediary accounts to obscure their trail. As of now, the attacker has repaid approximately 3.359 million USDC and 1.564 million NEAR to the RHEA lending contract. Additionally, 4.34 million USDT have been frozen—3.291 million frozen by Tether and 1.053 million frozen by NEAR Intents. The protocol’s smart contracts have been paused, and the team is collaborating with centralized exchanges to jointly trace the funds; relevant law enforcement agencies have also been notified.
Bitget Wallet Launches May Day QR Code Payment Campaign with Cashback up to 1,000 RLUSD per Transaction
Bitget Wallet has launched a Labor Day QR code payment campaign, running from April 28 to May 7, further driving the adoption of stablecoin payments in everyday consumption and travel scenarios across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. During the campaign, users who complete offline QR code payments using USDT or USDC will receive RLUSD cashback for each transaction. From May 1 to May 7, Bitget Wallet will randomly select one paying user per day to receive an additional 1,000 RLUSD cashback. To lower the barrier to first-time usage, Bitget Wallet will also airdrop XRP to eligible participants—serving as the account reserve required to activate RLUSD withdrawals. RLUSD is a compliant U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). This campaign marks Bitget Wallet’s first real-world consumer application following its integration of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) mainnet and onboarding of the RLUSD payment ecosystem at the end of March—and represents a key milestone in advancing Bitget Wallet’s Everyday Finance strategy.
Stacks Ecosystem Q1 2026: sBTC TVL Reaches $545 Million; Zest Protocol TVL Rises to $75.9 Million
Stacks Releases Q1 2026 Ecosystem Metrics: sBTC Total Value Locked (TVL) Reaches $545 Million, and Deposit Caps Have Been Fully Removed; Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Active Deployed Capital on the Stacks Protocol Stands at $121 Million—Zest Protocol TVL Accounts for $75.9 Million, Granite $26 Million, and StackingDAO $20 Million. During the Same Period, the Bitcoin Staking Pilot Product Dual Stacking App Attracted Over $100 Million in Participating Capital. On the Infrastructure Front, Integrations with Fireblocks, BitGo, Circle, and Nansen Are Now Live. Regarding Network Upgrades, Stacks Completed Version 3.3.0.0.6 in March 2026, and SIP-034 Enhancements Increased Network Capacity by up to 30x.
DeFi United Raises Over $300 Million in Funding
Circle Ventures, Consensys, and Joseph Lubin have announced their support for the DeFi United initiative, aimed at mitigating losses caused by the Kelp DAO vulnerability. Circle Ventures is supporting the ecosystem by purchasing AAVE tokens. Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin have confirmed the provision of 30,000 ETH to DeFi United. To date, DeFi United has raised over 132,000 ETH, with a total value exceeding $300 million. These funds will be used to cover bad debts resulting from an attacker minting unbacked rsETH via the LayerZero bridge and borrowing assets on Aave. Previously, Aave proposed a donation of 25,000 ETH, while Lido DAO, Ether.fi, and Kelp have respectively proposed or pledged donations of 2,500 ETH, 5,000 ETH, and 2,000 ETH.
a16z: Stablecoins Are Reshaping Global Financial Infrastructure, Accelerating the Arrival of a New On-Chain Finance Era
A research report released by a16z Crypto states that stablecoins have evolved from niche trading tools into the foundational layer of a new global financial infrastructure, giving rise to a new generation of “Banking-as-a-Service” (BaaS) models. Unlike the previous wave of BaaS, this new model is built on onchain infrastructure and integrates account management, payments, foreign exchange, and credit functions via self-custodial wallets—significantly reducing reliance on traditional intermediaries. The report classifies blockchains into three categories: general-purpose public chains (e.g., Solana and Ethereum), purpose-built chains optimized for payment use cases (e.g., Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc), and compliance-focused networks designed for regulated institutions (e.g., Canton). On the regulatory front, following the passage of the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers are competing aggressively for national trust charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), aiming to gain direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment rails and secure a central position within the payments stack. The report also notes that stablecoins have made significant progress in the “middle mile” of cross-border payments; however, liquidity bottlenecks between stablecoins and local fiat currencies remain unresolved in emerging markets. Looking ahead, as stablecoin scale grows, the onchain credit market is poised to become the next major opportunity after payments—providing capital to borrowers underserved by traditional financial systems. Moreover, the widespread adoption of stablecoins is expected to further reinforce the U.S. dollar’s global dominance.
Circle: Purchasing AAVE Tokens to Support DeFi Ecosystem Development
Circle posted on X platform, stating that Circle Ventures is purchasing AAVE tokens. Aave is helping shape the future of on-chain finance, and Circle Ventures will support the ecosystem and the entire community built around it.
Banking Circle officially launches stablecoin settlement services after obtaining the CASP license
According to an official announcement by Banking Circle, the company officially launched its stablecoin settlement service on April 27, 2026. Prior to this, Banking Circle had obtained a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) license from Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), on April 15. The new service enables instant, two-way conversions between fiat currencies and major stablecoins—including USDC, USDG, and EURI—and leverages Banking Circle’s core banking platform to deliver 24/7 settlement with full regulatory traceability. Globally, the stablecoin market capitalization currently stands at approximately €250 billion, with annual payment transaction volume reaching around €330 billion and monthly on-chain transaction volume exceeding €8 trillion. Laust Bertelsen, CEO of Banking Circle, stated that stablecoins have become core infrastructure for cross-border settlement and treasury management. This launch aims to combine the efficiency of blockchain-based payments with banking-grade compliance standards, serving Banking Circle’s global network of over 750 payment institution clients.
Related news
Sun Yuchen withdrew 93.41 million USDT from the Spack deposit pool and deposited them into HTX.
According to on-chain analyst Ai Aunt (@ai9684xtpa), Sun Yuchen has withdrawn all 93.41 million USDT from the Spack USDT deposit pool. This amount previously accounted for 9.89% of the USDT single-pool deposit TVL and was fully deposited into HTX within the past half hour. Notably, Sun Yuchen also withdrew 10,417 USDC.
Bitget Wallet Launches May Day QR Code Payment Campaign with Cashback up to 1,000 RLUSD per Transaction
Bitget Wallet has launched a Labor Day QR code payment campaign, running from April 28 to May 7, further driving the adoption of stablecoin payments in everyday consumption and travel scenarios across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. During the campaign, users who complete offline QR code payments using USDT or USDC will receive RLUSD cashback for each transaction. From May 1 to May 7, Bitget Wallet will randomly select one paying user per day to receive an additional 1,000 RLUSD cashback. To lower the barrier to first-time usage, Bitget Wallet will also airdrop XRP to eligible participants—serving as the account reserve required to activate RLUSD withdrawals. RLUSD is a compliant U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Ripple and regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). This campaign marks Bitget Wallet’s first real-world consumer application following its integration of the XRP Ledger (XRPL) mainnet and onboarding of the RLUSD payment ecosystem at the end of March—and represents a key milestone in advancing Bitget Wallet’s Everyday Finance strategy.
Aftermath Finance attacked, approximately $1.1 million in USDC stolen
according to Blockaid monitoring, an ongoing attack has occurred on Aftermath Finance's perpetual contract protocol on the Sui Network, with approximately $1.1 million worth of USDC stolen across 11 transactions within about 36 minutes. Analysis indicates the vulnerability stems from a fee accounting flaw in the perpetual contract liquidation system, which the attacker exploited to artificially inflate synthetic collateral and drain funds from the protocol's treasury.
Visa Integrates Polygon for Stablecoin Settlement, Reaching $7 Billion Annualized Volume
Payment giant Visa has officially integrated Polygon into its global stablecoin settlement program. Issuers and acquirers under Visa can now settle stablecoins via the Polygon network. Polygon claims to have become the world's largest dollar stablecoin payment network, with 34% of dollar stablecoin transfers and 54% of USDC transfers occurring on Polygon. The network has approximately 3.19 million weekly active stablecoin users and an on-chain stablecoin supply of $3.62 billion. In March, the number of dollar stablecoin transactions reached 178.1 million. Visa's stablecoin settlement program has reached an annualized run rate of $7 billion this quarter, a 50% increase from three months ago. Polygon emphasizes that its network offers sub-cent transaction fees and approximately 4-second transaction finality, and is already being used by institutions such as Stripe, Revolut, Flutterwave, and BlackRock for real financial activity settlement.
AftermathFi Perpetual Contracts Exploited in Vulnerability Attack, ~$1.1M USDC Stolen
According to on-chain security firm Blockaid (@blockaid_), AftermathFi’s perpetual contract on Sui Network was exploited via a vulnerability on April 29. The attacker (address: 0x1a65...2d41e) stole approximately $1.1 million in USDC across 11 transactions within roughly 36 minutes. The attack exploited a flaw in the perpetual contract liquidation fee calculation, enabling illicit withdrawals from the protocol’s treasury via synthetic collateral inflation.
A whale deposited $2 million into HyperLiquid to open a 3x short position on Brent crude oil.
According to on-chain analyst Onchain Lens (@OnchainLens), a whale address deposited $2 million worth of USDC into HyperLiquid and opened a short position of 80,000 contracts on BRENTOIL with 3x leverage, betting on a decline in crude oil prices.