Agora, a stablecoin issuer, has successfully raised $12 million in seed funding, according to reports. Leading the round is venture firm Dragonfly, with additional contributions from General Catalyst and Robot Ventures.

Agora’s primary objective is to introduce a USD-pegged stablecoin, backed by cash reserves, U.S. Treasury bills, and overnight repurchase agreements. The company aims to establish partnerships with exchanges and other crypto entities, initially targeting non-U.S. clientele.

Nick Van Eck, co-founder of Agora and son of Jan Van Eck, CEO of investment firm VanEck, will oversee the management of funds in Agora’s reserves, as reported by Bloomberg.

Despite strong competition in the USD-pegged stablecoin market, with Tether and Circle dominating a significant portion, Agora is poised to carve its niche. Tether holds 55.34% of the total Ethereum stablecoin supply, while Circle’s share comprises 30.61%, according to data from The Block’s Data Dashboard.

Notably, VanEck’s spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund HODL garnered significant attention following its approval on January 11. The ETF experienced a surge in volume, with a reported 1,000% increase in early February. On April 1 alone, HODL recorded $22.82 million in USD volume, indicating substantial investor interest.

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Ethena has initiated the claim process for its governance token (ENA) airdrop, allocating 750 million tokens, equivalent to 5% of its total supply of 15 billion, to eligible participants. The project has announced that the token will commence trading on various centralized exchanges, starting at 4:00 a.m. EST.

This airdrop follows the “shard campaign,” a reward initiative aimed at early adopters, allowing user engagement through referral links and rewarding them with shards (or points). The number of tokens allocated to each user is determined by the total shards accumulated by April 1.

Ethena Labs, the development firm behind the synthetic dollar project Ethena, also known as USDe, has been supportive of the stablecoin, referred to as an “Internet Bond” and a “synthetic dollar.” In February, Ethena Labs secured $14 million in a strategic funding round, valuing the project at $300 million. The funding round was co-led by Dragonfly and Maelstrom, the family office of BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes.

Unlike traditional stablecoins, USDe implements a distinctive mechanism that doesn’t rely on direct fiat or asset backing. Instead, it employs strategies such as hedging derivative positions against collateral held by the protocol and an arbitrage system for minting and redeeming USDe, aimed at maintaining its peg to the US dollar.

In essence, USDe utilizes methods like shorting ether futures and earning yield through staking with Ethereum validators to generate a protocol yield, which is then shared with stablecoin holders.

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Bitcoin plunged by $5,000 within a span of 24 hours as interest rates surged, marking a turbulent start to April for cryptocurrencies and related stocks, especially mining stocks.

The flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, experienced a more than 6% decline on Tuesday, dropping to $65,150.00, resulting in a two-day loss of around 7%, according to Coin Metrics. This decline followed a trading price of approximately $70,000 on Monday morning. The drop was attributed to data indicating growth in the manufacturing sector for the first time since September 2022, coupled with cooling investor bets on June rate cuts. Bitcoin is currently down about 11% from its all-time high reached on March 14.

Ether also faced a decline, losing 6% to trade at $3,240.27.

Concurrently, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield reached its highest level of the year, while the U.S. dollar, which typically has an inverse relationship with bitcoin, hit its highest level in nearly five months.

The decline in Bitcoin’s price was possibly exacerbated by a large bitcoin holder, or “whale,” who transferred more than 4,000 bitcoin to the Bitfinex exchange late Monday night. Data from CryptoQuant indicates a spike in the exchange’s reserves, which typically signifies increased selling activity, aligning with the sudden drop in bitcoin’s price late Monday night.

Stocks associated with bitcoin’s performance also experienced declines. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase dropped 4%, while software provider MicroStrategy, which largely trades as a proxy for the price of bitcoin, lost nearly 7%. The largest mining stocks, Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms, experienced losses of 7% and 6%, respectively. CleanSpark, one of the best-performing miners this year, slid 6%.

The month of April could prove to be tumultuous for cryptocurrencies and related stocks, particularly mining stocks, as investors are eyeing the bitcoin halving event, which is set to slash the reward, and therefore revenue, of bitcoin miners in the second half of the month. While this event could negatively impact miners’ performance, historically it has set bitcoin up for rallies of 300% or more in the following months.

Despite the recent downturn, Bitcoin is still up 53% for the year 2024.

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Tether, one of the leading stablecoin issuers, has announced the completion of a System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) audit, marking the highest level of security compliance achievable for an organization. This independent audit, developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), highlights Tether’s dedication to ensuring a secure user experience.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, emphasized the significance of this compliance measure in assuring customers that their assets and data are managed in an environment adhering to the highest standards of data protection and information security. Ardoino highlighted Tether’s dedication to being the most trusted and compliant stablecoin in the world.

In line with its ongoing dedication to security, Tether has pledged to undergo annual SOC 2 audits to verify that its security practices consistently align with established standards. The firm aims to achieve SOC 2 Type II certification by the end of 2025, which evaluates the effectiveness of internal controls over 12 months.

Tether’s flagship stablecoin, USDT, boasts a market capitalization exceeding $104 billion, making it the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin and Ether. The recent milestone of reaching a $100 billion market cap on March 4 reflects a notable 9% year-to-date growth.

Beyond stablecoins, Tether is venturing into new territories. The company plans to invest approximately $500 million in constructing Bitcoin mining facilities in Uruguay, Paraguay, and El Salvador. With the goal of growing its computing power to represent 1% of the Bitcoin mining network, Tether aims to expand its direct mining operations to 450 MW by the end of 2025. The company’s approach involves setting up facilities within movable containers to adapt to changing electricity prices.

Ardoino emphasized that Tether’s mining endeavors are focused on gradual learning and growth, with no rush to become the largest miner globally. This strategic expansion aligns with Tether’s broader vision of innovation and resilience in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

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Coinbase and Circle, two prominent players in the cryptocurrency industry, are contesting aspects of a proposal from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that aims to introduce stricter criteria for the regulatory treatment of stablecoins held by banks.

The committee’s consultation document, released in December, outlines requirements for stablecoins to qualify for preferential regulatory treatment under a “Group 1b category.” These requirements include maintaining low volatility and adequate liquidity. Comments on the proposal were due by March 28.

In response, Coinbase expressed disappointment with the committee’s approach in a letter submitted on March 28, criticizing many of the requirements as not being based on the actual risk these assets pose to banks. Coinbase argued that the proposed criteria seem to reflect broader policy objectives rather than strictly financial risk considerations.

Additionally, Coinbase accused the committee of aiming to significantly limit banks’ ability to hold and utilize stablecoins.

Circle, the issuer of a popular stablecoin, also raised concerns about the committee’s treatment of permissionless blockchains. The committee suggested that permissionless blockchains present unique risks and indicated they would not be allowed in Group 1 for the time being.

Circle argued that banks should be encouraged to leverage technologies like permissionless blockchains to enhance their digital transformation and cybersecurity efforts. They emphasized their successful partnerships with global banking institutions and advocated for a collaborative approach rather than stigmatizing blockchain-based financial services.

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, comprised of global standard setters, plays a crucial role in shaping regulatory frameworks for financial institutions worldwide.

Coinbase and Circle are pushing back against proposed stablecoin regulations from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The proposed regulations aim to determine preferential treatment for stablecoins held by banks. Coinbase criticized the criteria as not being based on actual risk assessment, while Circle advocated for the use of permissionless blockchains in banking.

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