Crypto-linked stocks advance as Trump signs stablecoin law
(Reuters) -Shares of crypto-linked companies jumped on Monday, as ether prices scaled their highest this year after President Donald Trump signed into law a bill regulating stablecoins in the U.S.
Trump signed the GENIUS Act late on Friday, marking a huge win for crypto industry that has been lobbying for a regulatory framework to gain greater legitimacy. The bill was passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 308 to 122 on Thursday, after Senate approval.
Bitcoin, the world's biggest cryptocurrency, inched 0.2% up, though it remains more than 3% away from its all-time high of $123,153 hit last week.
The bill bans yields or interest payments on regulated stablecoins, which Deutsche Bank said is leading to a rise in ether prices, on expectations that investors are moving into the world's second biggest cryptocurrency as an alternative for yield generation in decentralized finance.
"Banks, payments players and fintechs would continue buying operational ETH to pay transaction fees for deploying stablecoins and tokenised assets on the blockchain," said Gautam Chhugani, senior analyst at global digital assets, Bernstein.
Ether was last trading at $3,816.7 after hitting its highest level for the year on Sunday.
Crypto exchange Coinbase Global gained 1.9%, while stablecoin issuer Circle Internet rose 0.9%.
Stablecoins are designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 U.S. dollar peg, and their use has exploded, mainly by crypto traders moving funds between tokens.
Some large Wall Street banks such as Bank of America have also been working on launching their own stablecoins.
FOLLOWING STRATEGY
U.S.-listed shares of companies, which have been adding cryptocurrencies to their coffers lately, were on the rise on Monday.
Shares of BitMine, where tech billionaire Peter Thiel is the top investor and whose chairman is Fundstrat's Tom Lee, advanced 4.7%. Other ether holding firms Bit Digital, BTCS and SharpLink Gaming climbed between 2.6% and 9.4%, respectively.
Companies such as GameStop have been rushing to add crypto to their balance sheets, following the footsteps of Strategy. Shares of the largest corporate holder of bitcoin have skyrocketed nearly 3,000% since 2020 and climbed 2.2% on Monday.
Blank-check firm Dynamix Corporation surged 30% as the Ether Reserve, a new crypto venture backed by prominent crypto investors, was set to merge with the company to form The Ether Machine.
Other cryptocurrencies also advanced, with Solana hitting its highest level since February. The ProShares Ultra Solana ETF also jumped 16.6%.
XRP also gained 1%, trading close to its record highs.
The broader crypto sector's market value hit $4 trillion on Friday, according to CoinGecko data.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Amphenol forecasts upbeat quarterly results on strong demand for electronic equipment
FILE PHOTO: Aerospace components manufactured by Amphenol are displayed at the 54th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo (Reuters) -Amphenol forecast third-quarter results above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, after seeing strong demand for its products such as cables, sensors and antennas, sending its shares up 4%. Massive investments by technology and defense firms in new technologies like artificial intelligence, which require significant computing infrastructure, have boosted demand for Amphenol's equipment. The company's communications solutions segment, which makes high-speed cable and antennas, reported sales of $2.91 billion in the second quarter, more than doubling its sales from a year ago. Total second-quarter sales were $5.65 billion, above estimates of $5.04 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. The Connecticut-based company forecast third-quarter revenue between $5.4 billion and $5.5 billion, a growth of about 34% to 36% from a year ago. Analysts expected $5.25 billion. Amphenol also projected quarterly adjusted earnings per share between 77 cents and 79 cents, above expectations for 69 cents. Amphenol provides high-speed cables, sensors and antenna solutions for end markets such as automotive, commercial aerospace, defense, industrial and data communications. (Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
Free Malaysia Today
2 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Japan's PM Ishiba to announce resignation next month, says Mainichi
Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is expected to meet ruling party heavyweights later today for discussions on the election outcome. (AP pic) TOKYO : Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba plans to announce his resignation by the end of next month, the Mainichi newspaper reported today. Ishiba is facing growing opposition from within his Liberal Democratic Party for his vow to stay in power despite the ruling coalition's bruising defeat in Sunday's upper house election. According to the Yomiuri daily, Ishiba told his close associates yesterday evening that he would explain how he would take responsibility for the election loss once a solution was reached on trade negotiations. In a post on Truth Social posted today, Asian hours, US President Donald Trump said he had just completed a 'massive' deal with Japan that included US$550 billion in investments into the US. Speaking after Trump's post, Ishiba said he was ready to meet or speak over the phone with Trump after being briefed on the details by Japan's top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa, who has been in Washington for trade talks. 'I can't say until I scrutinise the outcome of the agreement,' Ishiba told reporters when asked how the deal with Washington could affect his decision on whether to step down. In explaining his decision to stay on, Ishiba has stressed the need to avoid creating a political vacuum as Japan faced challenges including difficult trade negotiations with the US that would have a huge impact on the export-reliant economy. 'I will stay in office and do everything in my power to chart a path toward resolving these challenges,' Ishiba said in a news conference on Monday, adding that he intended to speak directly with Trump as soon as possible and deliver tangible results. Ishiba is expected to meet ruling party heavyweights later today for discussions on the election outcome.
Free Malaysia Today
2 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Wall Street ends mixed, crude slides as trade deadline looms
The S&P 500 closed with nominal gains as underperforming tech shares dragged the Nasdaq into the red. (AP pic) NEW YORK : The Dow gained while the Nasdaq lost ground on Tuesday and crude settled lower as investors assessed a spate of mixed earnings and signs that President Donald Trump's protracted trade war is hitting corporate profit margins, even as Trump's dealmaking deadline approached. The S&P 500 closed with nominal gains as underperforming tech shares dragged the Nasdaq into the red. Gold extended its gains in opposition to the softening dollar, and US Treasury yields eased for the third-straight session. '(Investors are) looking for additional catalysts and you're seeing some cautious comments coming out of companies,' said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in Fairfield, Connecticut. 'They're hearing mixed guidance when it comes to all this uncertainty revolving around tariffs and the direction things are heading.' Second-quarter earnings season has hit full stride, with nearly one-fifth of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 79% have beaten analyst expectations, according to LSEG data. Analysts expect year-on-year S&P 500 earnings growth of 7%, on aggregate, a sizable improvement over the 5.8% growth predicted as of July 1, per LSEG. Still, the effects of the trade war have begun seeping into corporate results. General Motors' second-quarter core profit slid 32% as steep tariff costs took a US$1.1-billion bite from its bottom line. Prospects of a US-European Union trade deal appeared to be fading as Washington's Aug 1 deadline loomed, prompting EU members to ramp up possible 'anti-coercion' retaliatory measures. US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday he would meet with his Chinese counterpart to discuss delaying the Aug 12 trade talks deadline with China again, as the world's two largest economies wrestle with the flow of technology and rare earth materials. 'These are pretty classic negotiations; nothing ever happens until it has to happen,' says Chuck Carlson, CEO at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. 'Nothing gets done until the deadline, then either the deadline gets extended or there's some resolution that comes out of nowhere.' 'The flip side of this is Trump's going to have to follow through eventually,' Carlson added. 'Otherwise, he's going to be the boy that cried wolf, and his negotiating power is going to be sapped because people will believe he's never going to follow through.' The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 179.12 points, or 0.40%, to 44,502.19, the S&P 500 rose 3.99 points, or 0.06%, to 6,309.59 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 81.49 points, or 0.39%, to 20,892.69. European shares ended lower, weighed down by disappointing earnings and looming anxieties over the lack of progress in US trade negotiations. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.68 points, or 0.07%, to 930.31. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.41%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 8.50 points, or 0.39% Emerging market stocks fell 3.93 points, or 0.31%, to 1,249.53. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed lower by 0.17%, to 657.56, while Japan's Nikkei fell 44.19 points, or 0.11%, to 39,774.92. The dollar continued to edge lower amid a subdued currency market as investors awaited any sign of progress in trade talks ahead of the August 1 deadline. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.5% to 97.36, with the euro up 0.49% at US$1.1752. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.56% to 146.56. Bitcoin gained 1.98% to US$119,320.90. Ethereum declined 2.41% to US$3,668.31. US Treasury yields appeared set to notch a third-straight day of declines as the market took a breather on the heels of Monday's rally. The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 2.8 basis points to 4.342%, from 4.37% late on Monday. The 30-year bond yield fell 2.6 basis points to 4.9111% from 4.937% late on Monday. The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 1.9 basis points to 3.833%, from 3.852% late on Monday. Oil prices weakened on growing worries over softening demand as the Aug 1 tariff deadline drew closer. US crude slid 1.47% to settle at US$66.21 per barrel, while Brent settled at US$68.59 per barrel, down 0.9%. Gold prices surpassed a five-week high, extending their gains on the softening dollar and weaker US bond yields. Spot gold rose 1.07% to US$3,431.87 an ounce. US gold futures rose 1.15% to US$3,441.00 an ounce.
