• The decline of Bitcoin futures on CME: Optimism in the Bitcoin market after Donald Trump's election victory has waned, as indicated by the narrowing spread between next month's and the current month's Bitcoin futures on CME. The market seems to have moved past the narrative that a pro-crypto president is beneficial for the industry, with current macro correlations driving the market. The CME futures curve remains in contango.
• BlackRock's BUIDL fund surpasses $1 billion: BlackRock's BUIDL token, issued alongside Securitize and backed by U.S. Treasury bonds, has surpassed $1 billion in assets, driven by a $200 million allocation from the cryptocurrency protocol Ethena. BUIDL, an important reserve asset for many income-generating products, is increasingly being used as collateral on trading platforms and plays a crucial role in the tokenization of traditional financial instruments. Ethena's USDtb token creates income, backed by stablecoins USDC and USDT along with the BUIDL token, now has a supply of $540 million, reflecting strong confidence in the value of tokenized assets.
• Tokenized Treasury bonds reach $4.2 billion: Amid a broad market correction, digital asset investors have turned to tokenized U.S. Treasury bond products, pushing their total market capitalization to a record $4.2 billion. This asset class has added $800 million in market value since late January, with two tokens from Ondo Finance, BlackRock's BUIDL, Franklin Templeton's BENJI, and Superstate's USTB all expanding over the past month. Hashnote's USYC has decreased. The growth of tokenized Treasury bonds surpassing stablecoins during the cryptocurrency downturn is seen as a 'flight to quality,' with investors shifting to safer, income-generating assets, according to Brian Choe, head of research at rwa.xyz.
The Trump family has discussed the Binance.US deal.
A representative of the Trump family discussed purchasing shares in the U.S. branch of Binance.
Shares may have been bought through a project backed by the Trump family, World Liberty Financial, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Steve Witkoff, a friend of the U.S. president, has been involved in negotiations.