Autor Cointelegraph By Sam Bourgi

Shares of stablecoin issuer Circle surged Monday after the company reported mostly upbeat earnings and disclosed that a major crypto venture capital fund had purchased $222 million worth of its blockchain tokens.Circle’s shares rose almost 16% to close at $131.76, its highest level since March 18, according to Yahoo Finance. CRCL stock gave back some of its gains in initial after-hours activity.The gain extends Circle’s strong run in 2026. Shares are now up 66% year to date, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $35 billion.Circle (CRCL) stock. Source: Yahoo FinanceMonday’s surge pushed Circle shares closer to Wall Street’s consensus price target of $138.50, according to TipRanks.Among the most bullish analysts is Peter Christiansen of Citigroup, who has a 12-month price target of $243. Gautam Chhugani of Bernstein has set a target of $190. Both analysts, along with 10 others tracked by TipRanks, rate the stock a “buy.”Related: Circle stock sinks 10% amid analyst downgrade, Drift Protocol probeStrong earnings and Arc token raise stoke optimismCircle’s rally was driven by a largely upbeat earnings report and fresh details about its expanding blockchain strategy.The company said its USDC stablecoin reached $77 billion in circulation at the end of the first quarter, up 28% from a year earlier. Only Tether’s USDt has a larger circulating value, at $189 billion.During the first quarter, Circle’s revenue rose 20% to $694 million, while adjusted earnings increased 24% to $151 million.Circle’s key financial metrics for Q1 2026. Source: CircleIn its earnings report, Circle also disclosed that it raised $222 million in a presale of its ARC token, a blockchain-based utility token designed to support transactions within its Arc network. The fundraising valued the project at $3 billion.“The successful adoption of the Arc network, including through the benefit of the ARC token, has a huge flywheel effect onto our stablecoin network and our digital assets,” Circle CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire told analysts on the company’s earnings call on Monday.Investors in the round included a16z Crypto and a consortium featuring BlackRock, Apollo Global Management and ARK Invest. Analysts said the results reinforced Circle’s leadership in the fast-growing stablecoin market.Andrew Jeffrey of William Blair told clients that Circle shares “will probably remain volatile” in the near term, but said the company has multiple positive catalysts driven by its “significant stablecoin commerce advantage.”Dan Dolev of Mizuho said Circle continues to demonstrate new use cases for stablecoins, broadening the technology’s role beyond crypto trading.Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just Bitcoin

Ripple has secured a $200 million credit facility from funds managed by Neuberger Berman to expand the lending capacity of its institutional prime brokerage business, highlighting continued demand for financing services in the digital asset market.The company said Monday that the debt facility will allow its Ripple Prime unit to offer more margin loans and other financing products to hedge funds, trading companies and other institutional clients active in both crypto and traditional markets. Ripple Prime president Noel Kimmel said the additional capital will help the unit serve a broader range of institutional clients as demand for crypto financing and brokerage services continues to grow.Neuberger Berman is a global investment manager with more than $560 billion in assets under management. Ripple acquired prime brokerage platform Hidden Road in 2025 and has since tripled the unit’s revenue, according to the company. Ripple did not disclose whether the business is profitable or how much of the $200 million facility has been drawn.Source: Fundraising DigestRelated: Ripple CEO says market structure bill not ‘done deal,’ despite compromiseHidden Road acquisition gave Ripple a foothold in institutional brokerageRipple announced its acquisition of Hidden Road in April 2025 and completed the roughly $1.25 billion deal about six months later. The acquisition allowed the company to launch its institutional prime brokerage business, which was later rebranded as Ripple Prime.Hidden Road was a global prime broker that provides clearing, financing and execution services to hedge funds, market makers and other institutional investors across digital assets and traditional markets. At the time of the acquisition, the company cleared roughly $3 trillion in annual trading volume and served more than 300 institutional clients.The transaction marked the first known acquisition of a global prime broker by a crypto-native company, giving Ripple a direct foothold in institutional market infrastructure.Ripple Prime has also seen growing adoption. Last month, crypto exchange operator Bullish expanded its integration with the platform to provide institutional clients with more direct access to Bitcoin options trading.The integration gives Ripple Prime users access to Bullish’s regulated Bitcoin options market, with stablecoins including Ripple USD (RLUSD) accepted as collateral.The Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin has a market value of more than $1.5 billion. Source: CoinMarketCapRelated: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just Bitcoin

Digital asset company Galaxy and Ethereum treasury platform Sharplink will launch a private fund that will invest Ether in decentralized finance (DeFi) strategies, signaling growing institutional interest in earning onchain yield from crypto holdings.The proposed fund, called the Galaxy Sharplink Onchain Yield Fund, is expected to launch in the coming weeks with $125 million in initial commitments, the companies said Monday.Sharplink plans to contribute $100 million from its staked Ether (ETH) treasury, while Galaxy will commit $25 million and serve as the fund’s manager.The fund will allocate capital to DeFi liquidity protocols and other onchain yield opportunities, with the goal of generating additional returns while allowing Sharplink to maintain its long-term exposure to Ether.Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz said the structure reflects growing institutional demand for blockchain-based investment products that offer yield and risk management tools similar to those used in traditional finance.The value of Sharplink’s Ether portfolio. Source: CoinGeckoSharplink is one of the largest corporate holders of Ether, with more than 868,000 ETH on its balance sheet. At October market highs, those holdings were valued at nearly $4 billion.Related: Crypto Biz: Wall Street wants more than just BitcoinSharplink posts nearly $686 million Q1 loss as ETH price declinesSharplink has continued to expand its Ethereum treasury strategy despite a sharp first-quarter loss driven by Ether’s price decline.The company on Monday reported a net loss of $685.6 million, or $3.25 per diluted share, primarily due to non-cash accounting charges related to the drop in ETH prices during the quarter. Of that total, $506.7 million was attributed to unrealized losses on its Ether holdings.Ether fell from a mid-January high of about $3,354 to $2,104 on March 31, according to CoinMarketCap data. It was last trading hands on Monday at about $2,339.Revenue in the quarter rose to $12.1 million from $700,000 a year earlier, reflecting growth in the company’s operating business. Since launching its Ether treasury strategy in June 2025, Sharplink has earned approximately 18,800 ETH in cumulative staking rewards. The company ended the first quarter with $16.9 million in cash.Sharplink’s balance sheet as of March 31, 2026. Source: SharplinkThe results underscore the volatility associated with crypto treasury strategies, particularly for companies that accumulated large positions over the past year. Similar pressures have affected Bitcoin treasury companies, where earnings can swing sharply with underlying asset prices.Related: Crypto treasury companies likely to consolidate in 2026: Crypto exec

Institutional capital is flowing back into digital assets, but this cycle looks very different from the last one.Prediction markets are beginning to attract serious attention from Wall Street, Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are once again seeing large inflows and venture giant a16z is loading up another multibillion-dollar crypto war chest. Meanwhile, traditional banks are quietly accelerating their push into tokenized finance infrastructure.Taken together, this week’s Crypto Biz points to a broader shift underway across the industry. Crypto companies are no longer just chasing retail traders — they’re increasingly building products for asset managers, banks, hedge funds and institutional investors looking for regulated ways to access digital assets.Prediction markets court institutional capitalPrediction markets are beginning to attract institutional interest after Kalshi executed what analysts at Bernstein described as the sector’s first bespoke institutional block trade. The transaction involved a custom contract tied to California carbon allowance auctions and was facilitated with liquidity support from Jump Trading.In a recent note to clients, Bernstein analysts said the trade marks an important step in the evolution of prediction markets from primarily retail-driven speculation into a more mature financial product category. Institutional investors are increasingly exploring event contracts tied to macroeconomic policy, elections and geopolitical developments as hedging tools.The report also highlighted how regulated infrastructure is becoming a bigger focus for the sector. Kalshi operates under regulatory oversight in the United States, while decentralized rivals have largely grown through crypto-native platforms outside traditional financial rails. Bernstein believes broader institutional participation could eventually push prediction market volumes into the trillions of dollars.Kalshi’s largest active event contracts. Source: BernsteinBitcoin ETFs see $1 billion in inflows as BTC retakes $80,000US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $1 billion in inflows as BTC climbed back above the $80,000 mark, highlighting renewed institutional demand for crypto exposure. The inflows marked one of the strongest single-day performances for the ETF sector in recent months and coincided with broader strength across digital asset markets, according to SoSoValue data. Analysts believe the ETF demand reflects improving investor sentiment and continued accumulation from institutional buyers using regulated investment products to gain Bitcoin exposure. The latest inflows build on an impressive April, when Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $1.97 billion.Bitcoin ETF inflows accelerated after BTC reached $80,000. Source: SoSoValueA16z crypto raises $2 billion for next wave of crypto fundingAndreessen Horowitz’s crypto venture arm, a16z crypto, has raised $2 billion for a new crypto-focused investment fund, marking one of the largest venture capital commitments to the sector in years. The fund will target crypto startups spanning blockchain infrastructure, Web3 applications and decentralized finance. It comes as venture activity begins showing signs of recovery after a prolonged slowdown across digital asset markets. While crypto funding remains well below 2021 levels, venture capital continues to invest in early-stage companies building core industry infrastructure.A16z has remained one of crypto’s most influential venture investors through the market downturn, backing projects across gaming, stablecoins, developer tooling and decentralized networks. Source: a16z cryptoTennessee bankers select Stablecore for digital asset servicesThe Tennessee Bankers Association has selected Stablecore as its preferred digital asset infrastructure provider, opening the door for roughly 175 member banks to access crypto-related banking services. The partnership is focused on helping financial institutions integrate stablecoins, tokenized deposits and other blockchain-based payment tools into their operations.Stablecore provides backend infrastructure that allows banks to offer digital asset services without building their own crypto technology stack. The company said its platform supports tokenized assets, stablecoin functionality and compliance integrations for regulated financial institutions.The agreement reflects growing interest among regional and community banks in digital asset infrastructure as traditional finance moves deeper into blockchain payments and tokenization. Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.

Fund managers are warming back up to digital assets, with Bitcoin continuing to dominate allocation preferences even as broader crypto sentiment improves, according to a new survey by CoinShares.The April survey gathered responses from 26 institutional investors overseeing a combined $1.3 trillion in assets under management. Allocations to digital assets remain relatively modest, at around 1%, reflecting what CoinShares described as “typical entry sizing” in the current de-risking environment.“Bitcoin remains the digital asset with the most compelling growth outlook,” CoinShares head of research James Butterfill wrote in the report. Sentiment toward Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) also improved modestly compared with previous quarters.According to the survey, around 32% of respondents have already invested in Bitcoin (BTC) and 25% have already allocated to Ether.The findings suggest institutional investors are gradually increasing exposure to crypto amid improving market sentiment, growing adoption of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and a more favorable regulatory backdrop.At the same time, respondents identified internal restrictions and regulatory uncertainty as the main barriers preventing broader adoption. The survey also pointed to a shift away from “legacy altcoins” and toward newer decentralized finance protocols and emerging blockchain sectors.Fund managers identified Bitcoin as having the strongest growth outlook among digital assets, followed by Ether and Solana. Source: CoinSharesRelated: Bernstein cites $4T tokenized credit opportunity for Figure Technology stockInstitutional inflows continue to build as sentiment improvesThe survey’s upbeat tone aligns with broader institutional flow trends. CoinShares data recently showed digital asset investment products recording several consecutive weeks of inflows, led primarily by Bitcoin demand.Crypto exchange-traded products attracted $1.2 billion in inflows through April 27, marking the fourth straight week of gains and bringing total inflows during that stretch to $3.9 billion.The momentum has extended into early May. US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded nearly $1 billion in net inflows this week as BTC climbed back above $80,000, according to SoSoValue data.Bitcoin ETF inflows have risen since last Friday. Source: SoSoValueThe inflow trend also aligns with a recent survey by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon, which found that 73% of institutional investors plan to increase their digital asset exposure this year, with most expecting crypto prices to rise over the next 12 months.The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States in January 2024 has been widely viewed as a turning point for institutional adoption. The ETF structure has also helped reduce operational friction for institutions by offering regulated exposure to Bitcoin without requiring direct custody of digital assets.Related: Crypto Biz: Capital has no consensusCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.