Autor Cointelegraph by Nate Kostar

Kraken parent Payward has partnered with SoFi in a deal that will bring SoFiUSD to Kraken and connect the crypto platform to SoFi’s 24/7 dollar settlement network.Under the partnership, SoFi will use Kraken Prime as an additional source of digital asset liquidity, while Payward will join the SoFi Exchange Network (SEN) and gain access to SoFi’s business banking services.The companies said qualified custody services could be added as the partnership expands, while Kraken’s institutional and business clients will gain access to SEN for round-the-clock US dollar settlement.SoFiUSD, issued by SoFi Bank, is a dollar-backed stablecoin launched in 2026 for payments and settlement, with reserves held in cash and short-term US Treasurys.Source: PaywardAccording to a Thursday blog post from Kraken, SoFi will route digital asset orders through Kraken Prime, which uses smart order routing to evaluate pricing and market depth across supported venues in real time and route orders based on where they can be filled most effectively.SoFi has 15.8 million members and already offers crypto trading through its app. Kraken said routing those trades through Kraken Prime will give SoFi access to liquidity across multiple trading venues rather than relying on a single order book.Related: Kraken parent Payward acquires Magic Labs’ wallet businessPayward expands traditional finance tiesThe SoFi partnership follows a series of moves by Payward and Kraken to expand beyond crypto markets and build ties with traditional financial institutions.Earlier this week, London Stock Exchange Group reportedly partnered with Payward to offer tokenized versions of leading UK equities through LSE 24, a new 24/5 trading venue set to launch in 2027. In August, Kraken added round-the-clock exposure to the S&P 500 through its funded trading program, with commodities expected to follow.Kraken has also expanded into public markets through xStocks, the tokenized equities platform developed by Backed Finance, which Kraken acquired in early 2026. The exchange has since used the platform to offer eligible users exposure to shares tied to the SpaceX and Jersey Mike’s IPOs through tokenized equities and, in some cases, direct share allocations.Source: KrakenPayward’s push into traditional finance comes as the company prepares to go public, although its IPO plans have reportedly been pushed back several times. The company confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2025. However, reports indicate that the listing has been pushed to the second quarter of 2027 at the earliest.Magazine: Recovery specialists crack $1B crypto wallet… but find just $10

Coinbase has launched crypto derivatives trading in Canada, giving eligible users access to perpetual and dated futures tied to Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL) and other assets.The products are offered through Coinbase Financial Markets, a futures commission merchant registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which operates in Canada under foreign dealer and futures commission merchant exemptions.Coinbase said Wednesday that the offering includes 23 crypto perpetual and dated futures, five commodity futures and the Coinbase 50 Index. The company said it is the first major crypto-native platform to offer direct native crypto futures in Canada.Access is limited to eligible Canadian customers, including those with at least $5 million in net financial assets or registered investment advisers and dealers. The contracts use nano-sized positions and offer leverage of up to 10x.Related: BlackRock launches 2 Canada ETFs, with one allocating 3% to BitcoinUS trading platforms expand in CanadaThe Coinbase launch comes as US trading platforms broaden their crypto offerings in Canada.On Monday, US online brokerage Webull expanded crypto trading to Canadian customers using Coinbase’s infrastructure for trading and custody, adding digital assets alongside its existing stocks, ETFs and options offerings. Webull cited rising adoption as one reason for the move, with crypto ownership in Canada climbing to 25% this year from 10% in 2023, according to Ontario Securities Commission research.Robinhood entered the Canadian market in June through its $180 million acquisition of local crypto company WonderFi, gaining control of Canadian exchanges Bitbuy and Coinsquare. The deal also brought roughly 300,000 funded customers, along with WonderFi’s Canadian licenses and regulatory approvals, under Robinhood.Robinhood entered Canada after completing its acquisition of WonderFi. Source: Vlad TenevThe influx of trading platforms comes as Canada tightens oversight of other parts of the crypto market. In April, Ottawa proposed banning crypto ATMs over concerns about scams and money laundering, while lawmakers advanced legislation that would prohibit cryptocurrency donations to political parties and candidates.Magazine: BTC will hit $1M by 2030… but Arthur Hayes is buying ETH instead

The US state of Wyoming is adding near-real-time onchain reserve verification to its state-issued Frontier Stable Token through an expanded integration with blockchain oracle network Chainlink.The Wyoming Stable Token Commission said Wednesday it adopted Chainlink Proof of Reserve to publish verified data on FRNT’s reserves and token supply onchain. The system combines independent examinations by The Network Firm with Chainlink’s infrastructure to make the data available in near real time.Wyoming already publishes daily reserve attestations for FRNT, while the GENIUS Act requires monthly disclosures of reserve composition and outstanding stablecoin supply. The commission said the integration will provide more timely visibility into changes in FRNT’s backing between reporting periods.The commission is also working to adopt Chainlink’s Secure Mint feature, which would require verified reserves to equal or exceed FRNT’s total supply before new tokens can be minted.FRNT, launched in January, is backed by US dollars and short-term US Treasurys, with interest income generated from its reserves deposited into Wyoming’s School Foundation Program.The move comes about two weeks after Wyoming fully migrated FRNT from LayerZero to Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol, making CCIP the token’s exclusive cross-chain infrastructure.Related: Charles Schwab adda Solana, Avalanche and Chainlink to nascent crypto platformChainlink expands institutional footprintChainlink has picked up several integrations across tokenized equities, stablecoin settlement and traditional financial market infrastructure in recent months.Most recently, Chainlink became the pricing-data provider for Coinbase’s B20 tokenized equities following their August launch on Base. The feeds cover stocks including Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet, allowing DeFi protocols to value the tokens for uses including lending, trading and collateral.In June, Chainlink joined European and South Korean banking groups in Project Pangea, which is exploring the use of regulated euro- and won-denominated stablecoins for atomic foreign exchange settlement across the two regions.Its push into traditional financial infrastructure has also included the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which said in May it would integrate Chainlink technology into a planned 24/7 platform for managing tokenized collateral. That month, Fidelity International also launched a tokenized liquidity fund using Chainlink and Sygnum infrastructure, with JPMorgan providing daily net asset value data for pricing.Chainlink’s LINK token has gained more than 34% over the past month, trading at around $11.07 on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko data.LINK has gained around 34% over the past month. Source: CoinGeckoMagazine: Does the Bitcoin rally mean we haven’t wasted our lives in crypto?

Ondo Finance is urging US regulators to bring perpetual futures tied to individual stocks onshore, arguing that the products can already operate under the country’s existing security futures framework without new rules.In three Aug. 24 comment letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Ondo argued that existing rules can accommodate perpetual stock futures while also accounting for modern margining practices and onchain market data.Ondo said its Panama-based affiliate already offers stablecoin-settled perpetual futures on individual US-listed stocks outside the United States, with the platform recording $8 billion in cumulative trading volume as of Aug. 14, around six weeks after its launch.Ondo ranks fourth among tokenized RWA managers by distributed value. Source: RWA.xyzThe company argued that scheduled funding payments can keep perpetual contracts aligned with the price of their underlying stocks, performing a similar function to expiration in traditional futures.“Nothing in the statutory definition of a security futures product requires a fixed expiration date,” Ondo said in its product-classification letter.Ondo also noted that many of the stocks underlying offshore perpetuals are principally traded on US exchanges. “Bringing that activity back to the U.S. should not be an open question; it’s something both agencies should actively pursue,” the company said.Ondo is among the largest managers of tokenized real-world assets, ranking fourth with about $2.6 billion in distributed value as of Wednesday, according to RWA.xyz data.Related: Ondo shifts from layer-1 blockchain plan to offchain execution networkUS regulators look to modernize market rulesOndo’s proposal comes as US regulators reconsider how existing market rules apply to onchain products, including perpetual futures and tokenized securities.President Donald Trump said in August that CFTC Chair Michael Selig was working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a “fully compliant and legal fashion.” Hyperliquid is best known for its onchain perpetual futures market, though neither the CFTC nor Hyperliquid has publicly detailed how US access would work.HYPE, the native token of Hyperliquid, jumped more than 20% following Trump’s comments and has gained nearly 49% over the past month to trade around $81 on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko data.HYPE has gained nearly 49% over the past month. Source: CoinGeckoThe SEC, which oversees securities markets, and the CFTC, which regulates US derivatives markets, have also stepped up coordination this year, signing a memorandum of understanding in March to harmonize oversight in areas where their jurisdictions overlap.On Tuesday, the SEC proposed overhauling its decades-old transfer agent framework, citing growing demand for blockchain-native recordkeeping and tokenized securities in US markets as the agency reexamines rules built for older market infrastructure.Magazine: BTC will hit $1M by 2030… but Arthur Hayes is buying ETH instead

Binance is expanding further into traditional finance by launching options trading on more than 1,000 US stocks and exchange-traded funds for eligible users outside the United States.The options will be offered through Binance’s Abu Dhabi-regulated broker-dealer, Nest Trading, with orders routed to US-registered Alpaca Securities for execution, clearing, settlement and custody.The launch builds on Binance’s existing equities offering of more than 7,000 US stocks and ETFs and adds to a growing lineup of traditional financial products available through the platform.Unlike equity-linked perpetual futures, the options are physically settled, meaning users who exercise them receive or deliver the underlying shares.According to Binance, the expansion comes as trading in traditional financial products on the platform has accelerated, with TradFi perpetual futures volume reaching about $433 billion in August, roughly 15 times January’s total.Related: Binance says employees questioned in UAE cleared and releasedTokenized stock market surges as exchanges expand offeringsAs crypto exchanges and traditional brokerages expand into tokenized equities, the onchain stock market has expanded sharply over the past year.Tokenized stocks now have about $2.6 billion in distributed value, up from roughly $346 million at the same time last year, according to RWA.xyz data. Monthly transfer volume has also climbed 93% over the past 30 days to $25.1 billion, while the number of holders has surged 157% to nearly 2.5 million.The value of tokenized stocks. Source: RWA.xyzLast week, Coinbase brought its B20 tokenized equities to Base, giving eligible non-US users 24/7 access to onchain versions of stocks including Apple, Nvidia, Meta and Alphabet. The assets can also be integrated into DeFi protocols for uses such as trading and collateralized borrowing.Kraken also pushed deeper into equities in August, opening access to more than 7,000 US-listed stocks for eligible European customers and placing them alongside its growing lineup of tokenized xStocks.In July, US online brokerage Robinhood launched Robinhood Chain alongside a new generation of Stock Tokens available to eligible users in more than 120 countries.Magazine: Mystery surrounds why an OG burned $1M in Bitcoin