Latest news with #Alchemy
Gulf Insider
01-07-2025
- Business
- Gulf Insider
Stablecoins Are Becoming 'Default Settlement Layer
Stablecoins have become the backbone of internet payments, with adoption now outpacing major traditional card networks in onchain volume, according to Noam Hurwitz, head of engineering at Alchemy. Hurwitz told Cointelegraph that stablecoins have seen 'explosive' adoption, adding that they are 'becoming the default settlement layer for the internet.' Companies like PayPal and Stripe are integrating stablecoins to leverage onchain infrastructure, enabling faster and cheaper transactions. 'They've already surpassed Visa and Mastercard in onchain volume by 7%,' Hurwitz noted, signaling a decisive shift in how money moves online. Alchemy, which provides infrastructure to some of the largest stablecoin ecosystems, is at the center of this transformation. Hurwitz said Alchemy is 'the onchain provider for Robinhood Wallet' and powers stablecoin flows for fintech giants like Visa, Stripe, Circle, and PayPal. Hurwitz said that stablecoins make money 'cheap, fast, global, and secure to transfer.' These features have made them popular for various purposes, with broad adoption emerging across cross-border payments and prediction markets like Polymarket. He added that stablecoins have become massive buyers of US Treasurys, with Tether alone generating $13 billion in profits last year while holding around $113 billion in US debt. 'Tokenized money is the base of the tokenized financial system,' Hurwitz said, calling recent financial innovation built on this foundation 'exciting.' Tether holds more US Treasurys than Germany. Source: TFTC Hurwitz said stablecoins are already functioning as the 'default rails' for internet payments in many respects but flagged challenges stemming from the fragmented blockchain landscape. Institutions, he explained, want to move quickly but must assess provider reliability and counterparty risks, especially in a nascent industry. 'Can a small startup really support enterprise-grade operations while building and scaling the services they need?' he asked. Hurwitz pointed to Kinexys, a tokenized bank deposit launched by JP Morgan, as a major milestone. The permissioned deposit token enables institutional clients to access yield-bearing deposits on a public blockchain with '24/7 settlement, near real-time liquidity and the potential ability to pay interest to holders.' Last week, the US Senate passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, a landmark bill establishing federal guardrails for stablecoins. 'With the recent passage of the Genius Act, the regulatory landscape is becoming clearer and more structured, which benefits established financial players while also encouraging innovation,' Hurwitz said. Meanwhile, Hurwitz pointed out key technical bottlenecks in improving developer and end-user experience despite strong growth. 'Companies benefit immensely from settling on crypto rails, but want to decouple the user experience from the underlying technology — and doing so takes deep technical expertise,' he explained. Looking ahead, Hurwitz expects most financial services to deploy their own blockchains, especially layer 2 networks, to better scale and monetize their ecosystems. He predicted that infrastructure improvements would drive 'seamless crosschain interoperability' between these networks, enabling a more connected and efficient financial system built on stablecoins. Despite Hurwitz's optimistic view of stablecoins, a new Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report challenges the notion that they can serve as money in a modern financial system. The BIS Annual Economic Report 2025 claims stablecoins fail critical singleness, elasticity, and integrity tests. The organization described stablecoins as 'digital bearer instruments' that resemble financial assets more than actual money. Also read: Indian Politician Calls For Bitcoin Reserve Pilot As US Embraces Crypto
Crypto Insight
30-06-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
Stablecoins are becoming ‘default settlement layer' for internet: Alchemy
Stablecoins have become the backbone of internet payments, with adoption now outpacing major traditional card networks in onchain volume, according to Noam Hurwitz, head of engineering at Alchemy. Hurwitz told Cointelegraph that stablecoins have seen 'explosive' adoption, adding that they are 'becoming the default settlement layer for the internet.' Companies like PayPal and Stripe are integrating stablecoins to leverage onchain infrastructure, enabling faster and cheaper transactions. 'They've already surpassed Visa and Mastercard in onchain volume by 7%,' Hurwitz noted, signaling a decisive shift in how money moves online. Alchemy, which provides infrastructure to some of the largest stablecoin ecosystems, is at the center of this transformation. Hurwitz said Alchemy is 'the onchain provider for Robinhood Wallet' and powers stablecoin flows for fintech giants like Visa, Stripe, Circle, and PayPal. Stablecoins used for various purposes Hurwitz said that stablecoins make money 'cheap, fast, global, and secure to transfer.' These features have made them popular for various purposes, with broad adoption emerging across cross-border payments and prediction markets like Polymarket. He added that stablecoins have become massive buyers of US Treasurys, with Tether alone generating $13 billion in profits last year while holding around $113 billion in US debt. 'Tokenized money is the base of the tokenized financial system,' Hurwitz said, calling recent financial innovation built on this foundation 'exciting.' Hurwitz said stablecoins are already functioning as the 'default rails' for internet payments in many respects but flagged challenges stemming from the fragmented blockchain landscape. Institutions, he explained, want to move quickly but must assess provider reliability and counterparty risks, especially in a nascent industry. 'Can a small startup really support enterprise-grade operations while building and scaling the services they need?' he asked. Hurwitz pointed to Kinexys, a tokenized bank deposit launched by JP Morgan, as a major milestone. The permissioned deposit token enables institutional clients to access yield-bearing deposits on a public blockchain with '24/7 settlement, near real-time liquidity and the potential ability to pay interest to holders.' Interest in stablecoins surge with new regulations Last week, the US Senate passed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins, or GENIUS Act, a landmark bill establishing federal guardrails for stablecoins. 'With the recent passage of the Genius Act, the regulatory landscape is becoming clearer and more structured, which benefits established financial players while also encouraging innovation,' Hurwitz said. Meanwhile, Hurwitz pointed out key technical bottlenecks in improving developer and end-user experience despite strong growth. 'Companies benefit immensely from settling on crypto rails, but want to decouple the user experience from the underlying technology — and doing so takes deep technical expertise,' he explained. Looking ahead, Hurwitz expects most financial services to deploy their own blockchains, especially layer 2 networks, to better scale and monetize their ecosystems. He predicted that infrastructure improvements would drive 'seamless crosschain interoperability' between these networks, enabling a more connected and efficient financial system built on stablecoins. Despite Hurwitz's optimistic view of stablecoins, a new Bank for International Settlements (BIS) report challenges the notion that they can serve as money in a modern financial system. The BIS Annual Economic Report 2025 claims stablecoins fail critical singleness, elasticity, and integrity tests. The organization described stablecoins as 'digital bearer instruments' that resemble financial assets more than actual money. Source:
CNBC
25-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Stablecoins will allow new types of financial products to be built, says Alchemy CEO
Nikil Viswanathan, Alchemy CEO, talks the passage of the Genius Act, the growth of stablecoin adoption, AI integration and more.
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Every Bank and Fintech Wants DeFi Under the Hood: Alchemy
Ever since President Donald Trump's administration signaled favorable crypto regulations, banks, financial institutions and big fintech firms have been looking to bring funds on-chain, and seamlessly offer compliant access to decentralized finance (DeFi), according to blockchain development firm Alchemy. DeFi, traditionally a way for anonymous users to engage in a complex system of automated lending and borrowing of assets, can bring to a whole new audience of users to conventional finance (TradFi), with the possibility of compliance guardrails in place and abstracting away the headache of dealing in smart contracts. The common pattern is best described as growing a 'DeFi mullet,' according to Alchemy, a picks and shovels provider for blockchain builders that has been described as the 'AWS of crypto,' a reference to Amazon Web Services, the ubiquitous cloud computing platform that powers much of today's internet. 'I see firms like Fidelity, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Revolut and Robinhood, who are all at different stages of evolution, but who all want to allow their users to take their funds, like their USD or like fiat money funds, and then use DeFi tools,' Alchemy CTO Guillaume Poncin said in an interview. 'The common pattern is best described by the term 'DeFi mullet.' These are the most interesting use cases, I think, where you can use DeFi under the hood, and the user doesn't even really need to know that that's happening,' Poncin said. A concrete example of this type of thing is the way users of U.S.-listed exchange Coinbase (COIN) can easily get loans in exchange for locking up their bitcoin BTC, a type of margin loan that retail investors don't normally get access to, Poncin pointed out. 'Now it should be possible for Fidelity to offer these types of margin loans against your money-market fund account, as an example,' Poncin said. 'All of this is plumbed into [crypto] wallets and DeFi, so that as a user, it's just one click. You want a loan against your Vanguard holdings? Here is a loan.' 'I think a lot of fintechs are looking at that as a great proof of concept of what can be done. if you're tokenizing your money-market fund or tokenizing your other assets, private equity, whatever, eventually what you want is to give your users utility over that. And the utility vehicle is DeFi.' Alchemy appeared around five years ago, offering a developer platform for firms looking to build large scale blockchain operations. The firm went on to offer programmable links between programs known as APIs, allowing for data indexing, smart contract automation and smart wallets that feel invisible and intuitive, Poncin said. APIs, in effect, put the software plumbing behind the scenes and ease the burden on end users. 'The old school way with blockchain wallets would involve installing Metamask, but that's a very cumbersome process,' Poncin said. 'The new trend is, if you are Nike or Stripe, you want to provide crypto wallets to your users they don't even know about; they're completely invisible under-the-hood wallets.' CORRECT (June 23, 08:52 UTC): Corrects spelling of Revolut in fourth paragraph. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Harvey Celebrates nuEra Cannabis Opening with Groundbreaking Ceremony
HARVEY, Ill., June 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- nuEra Cannabis, one of Illinois' original and family-owned cannabis operators, marked a major milestone on June 16 with a groundbreaking celebration at 16950 S. Halsted Street Harvey — the future home of its newest dispensary and its first location in Chicago's south is completely transforming a former tire shop into a state-of-the-art retail space where customers will find a wide array of premium cannabis products. Strategically located near the Tri State Tollway and just steps from the upcoming Wind Creek Chicago Southland Casino, the dispensary is positioned to serve locals, commuters, and visitors from both Illinois and neighboring Indiana. The June 16 event brought together city officials, community leaders, and nuEra executives to celebrate not just the opening of a new business, but an investment in community revitalization and economic growth. 'Harvey is moving forward, and nuEra's investment is another clear sign of our city's positive momentum,' said Mayor Christopher J. Clark during the ceremony. 'This project is more than just a new business opening — it represents the revitalization of our commercial corridors, the creation of local jobs, and meaningful economic growth that benefits Harvey residents. We're proud to welcome nuEra to our community and look forward to partnering with a company that is committed to being a responsible, engaged corporate neighbor and working to Build A Better Harvey.'Inside the dispensary, customers will find nuEra's full product portfolio, including in-house brands like Interstate 420, Midweek Friday, and Alchemy, alongside curated selections from the best cultivators in the state. Shoppers can also join nuEra's High Flyers Club, a rewards program offering early access to product drops, exclusive deals, and stackable discounts that save members an additional 3–6% on every purchase. The Illinois-rooted company has opened three new dispensaries in the past year alone and is expanding into Kentucky in 2025, solidifying its position as one of the largest independent, vertically integrated cannabis operators in the state. 'We're proud to be part of Harvey's resurgence,' said Laura Jaramillo Bernal, Chief Operating Officer of nuEra Cannabis. 'This location reflects what nuEra is all about — investing in communities, creating access to high-quality cannabis, and being a strong local partner.' Hiring for both full and part-time positions at the Harvey location will begin soon. Those interested in job opportunities, grand opening details, and exclusive promotions can visit nuEra Harvey and sign up for explore nuEra's other Illinois dispensaries, visit the nuEra Illinois store directory. Or Visit Your Nearest nuEra Dispensary Chicago Dispensary East Peoria Dispensary Champaign Dispensary Urbana Dispensary Pekin Dispensary Aurora Dispensary DeKalb Dispensary East Dubuque Dispensary About nuEra Cannabis: nuEra Cannabis is an independent, family owned and operated cannabis retailer and cultivator with operations in Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan. As one of the original license holders, nuEra has helped shape the market from day one and now stands as one of the largest independent, vertically integrated operators in Illinois. With nine dispensaries across the state, its operations span cultivation, product manufacturing, wholesale, and retail. The name 'nuEra' reflects a belief that cannabis legalization in Illinois did more than change laws — it marked the beginning of a new era. An era of safer, higher-quality cannabis, greater access, and deeper community impact. From seed to sale, nuEra is committed to delivering premium products, empowering education, and building lasting partnerships across Illinois. For more information, visit Stay connected with nuEra on social media:Twitter: @nuEraCannabisFacebook: @ Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: CONTACT: For Further Information or Media Inquiries, Contact: Jonah Rapino Director of Marketing nuEra Cannabis media@ in to access your portfolio
