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A new Cambridge study placed Ethereum near the lower end of energy intensity among major proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, although the network still used more electricity overall than most of the PoS networks studied.The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance estimated that Ethereum consumes about 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually. When adjusted for market value, the network used roughly 33 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per $1 million, the second-lowest figure among the proof-of-stake networks assessed, behind BNB Chain.Solana used the most electricity among the PoS networks studied, at about 13.48 GWh per year. Its energy intensity was roughly 283 kWh per $1 million of market value, around 8.5 times Ethereum’s, while the networks in the comparison consumed about 38 GWh combined.The report provides one of the most detailed assessments yet of Ethereum’s post-Merge footprint, giving policymakers and investors a more current basis for comparing blockchain sustainability.Illustration of post-Merge Ethereum consumption. Source: CambridgeNew estimates map Ethereum’s energy useCambridge measured how much electricity Ethereum nodes used at the wall across 20 combinations of the network’s main software clients. It found that a typical home setup used about 18 watts, while a more powerful workstation used roughly 153 watts.Using Ethereum’s mix of residential and professionally hosted nodes, the researchers estimated an average power draw of about 105 watts per node. Cambridge counted around 8,522 discoverable full nodes, with 64% running in cloud or enterprise facilities and 36% on residential connections.Cambridge said Ethereum’s remaining emissions are now driven mainly by the electricity grids supplying its nodes. The study estimated that about 56.4% of the network’s electricity mix came from renewable and nuclear sources, compared with 43.6% from fossil fuels.Related: Vitalik Buterin shares priorities for new ‘Lean Ethereum’ strawmapEthereum moved from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake validation through the Merge in September 2022. The Merge replaced miners competing with one another using energy-intensive computing equipment with validators who secure the network by staking Ether.After the Merge, energy estimates showed that the upgrade had reduced the network’s electricity use by more than 99.9%, as the mining process used to secure the blockchain was removed. Magazine: Bitcoin nearing late stages of bear market: Jamie Coutts, Real Vision

Strategy executive chairman Michael Saylor and Blockstream CEO Adam Back have doubled down on their opposition to BIP-110, a proposed temporary fork to limit non-monetary transactions on the Bitcoin network.Bitcoin Improvement Proposal-110 was introduced in December 2025 to stop nonfungible token-like Ordinals inscriptions and other arbitrary data from “spamming” the network and to preserve Bitcoin’s main use as a peer-to-peer cash system.While critical of Ordinals activity, Saylor and Back fear a fork could do more harm than good to the network’s credibility. “There are 110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam,” Saylor said in a post to X on Saturday, adding that BIP-110 could invalidate ordinary transactions on the network.Source: Michael SaylorBIP-110 is one of the more notable protocol-level disputes in the Bitcoin development community since the Blocksize Wars between 2015 and 2017, when ecosystem participants debated whether it was worth risking a chain split to raise the block size limit for scalability. BIP-110 was introduced by pseudonymous Bitcoin developer “Dathon Ohm” with the support of Ocean protocol founder Luke Dashjr. BIP-110 is a long shot from activatingBIP-110 won’t be activated unless 55% of Bitcoin nodes validating blocks are in support of the proposal across a Bitcoin block “period.”In the last period, period number 475 between block 955,584 and 957,599, only 1% of blocks were BIP-110-supportive.The dispute comes at a time when Ordinals activity is at near all-time lows, with fewer than 10,000 Ordinals inscribed into the Bitcoin blockchain on a daily basis over the last month, down massively from the more than 400,000 seen during its peak in August 2023.Change in daily Ordinals inscriptions since December 2022. Source: Dune AnalyticsMeanwhile, Back offered a deeper critique of BIP-110, describing it as a “quest to police other people.” Related: Bitcoin doesn’t need Ethereum-style yield, says Strategy’s Michael Saylor He said Bitcoin’s decentralization should mean “you can’t impose your views on others,” calling it incompatible with Bitcoin’s cypherpunk ethos of permissionless, censorship-resistant money.Dashjr and other BIP-110 proponents have called Ordinals-driven bloat a “serious threat” to the network, prompting the need for an imminent fix.They have also argued BIP-110 wouldn’t cause a chain split, as many fear, while adding that the BIP-110 fork imposes a temporary one-year limit and thus wouldn’t invalidate fee-paying transactions over the long term.Features: From Bitcoin critics to blockchain believers: The 5 biggest crypto backflips 

Shares in Bitcoin treasury company Empery Digital rose on Friday after the firm disclosed it had sold nearly half its Bitcoin holdings to fund an AI data center project and pay down debt.Empery Digital (EMPD) shares popped 4.2% to $3.95 within the first 35 minutes of trading on Friday after the company revealed that it sold 1,400 Bitcoin (BTC) at an average of $62,200 a coin for roughly $87.1 million over the past two months. Empery, which previously operated as an electric powersports vehicle manufacturer, said some of the proceeds funded its 25% stake in a Hunt Properties-affiliated venture, which is acquiring an industrial site to be converted into an AI data center. Another $10 million was also used to pay off outstanding debt.While EMPD retraced to $3.86 — closing up 1.58% on the day — the initial pop suggests that investors viewed the Bitcoin sale favorably at a time when confidence in Bitcoin treasury strategies is fading and capital is flowing toward AI instead. EMPD’s change in share price over the last five trading days. Source: Google FinanceEmpery’s Bitcoin sales follow months of pressure from Tice P. Brown, a near-10% shareholder in the company, who called on the firm to abandon its Bitcoin-buying strategy and demanded that the CEO and entire board resign. Empery had pivoted to a Bitcoin-centric treasury strategy in mid-2025 when Bitcoin was pushing towards its all-time high of $126,080 set in October.The Bitcoin sales trimmed Empery’s holdings by 48% to 1,514 Bitcoin, worth $97 million at current prices.Related: Bitcoin miners’ AI pivot faces investor scrutiny over insider sales Empery held a company-high 4,081 Bitcoin at its peak before offloading some of the holdings in March and April.Strategy sold more BTC after STRC incidentEven Strategy — the largest corporate Bitcoin holder — sold 3,588 Bitcoin worth $216 million earlier this month, parting from its previous “never sell your Bitcoin” position in a move that actually saw shares in the company rise.Strategy said it used the Bitcoin sale to cover dividend payments for investors in its top perpetual preferred stock offering, Stretch (STRC), which broke below its $100 par value to below $75 last month, raising fears that its dividend model was unsustainable. Features: Bitcoin nearing late stages of bear market: Jamie Coutts, Real Vision Cointelegraph 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.

Hedera-based lending protocol Bonzo Lend lost about $9 million after an attacker manipulated the price of SAUCE used as collateral, allowing the account to borrow assets far beyond the value deposited.In a preliminary incident report published Saturday, Bonzo said the attacker deposited 250 SAUCE, worth only a few dollars, before submitting a price update that inflated the token’s value by roughly 12 orders of magnitude. The wallet then borrowed 6.63 million USDC and 34.5 million wrapped HBAR from the lending pool.The case illustrates how oracle failures can turn low-value collateral into a tool for draining large amounts of liquidity from lending protocols, even when the application and underlying network continue operating as designed. Bonzo attributed the incident to a flaw in Supra’s on-chain oracle verifier, which accepted a manipulated SAUCE price carrying a zeroed signature. The protocol said Supra acknowledged the issue and deployed a fix, while stressing that the incident was not a vulnerability in Bonzo Lend’s contracts or Hedera’s core network.Estimated economic impact of the incident. Source: Bonzo FinanceDeFi hacks continue to pressure the sector The incident adds to a growing number of exploits targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in 2026. The second quarter had become the most-hacked quarter on record by incident count, with 83 exploits and about $755 million stolen. Cross-chain bridge exploits accounted for $351 million, while compromised administrator attacks and fake token price manipulation represented 37% of quarterly losses. In 2026, DeFi’s total value locked (TVL) had fallen 39% to over $70 billion in June from about $115 billion in January. CryptoRank recorded 121 hacks and roughly $942 million in losses over the period, saying repeated security incidents likely weighed on user confidence and reinforced capital outflows.Related: ‘All DeFi unsafe’ claim sparks AI security debate after April hack surgeThe Bonzo incident also follows a similar collateral-pricing exploit on Stellar. In February, attackers drained roughly $10 million from a YieldBlox DAO-managed lending pool after manipulating the price path used to value USTRY collateral, allowing them to borrow assets beyond the token’s real worth. Magazine: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?Cointelegraph 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.

Dollar stablecoins could improve access to foreign currency in economies with fixed or heavily managed exchange rates, but may also amplify currency runs when pressure on the domestic currency becomes severe, according to a new paper published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The findings come from a working paper by economist Brandon Joel Tan. Titled “Stablecoins and Fragility in Fixed Exchange Rate Regimes,” the paper modeled how stablecoins affect parallel foreign-exchange (FX) markets when official dollar access is rationed. The findings highlight that stablecoins can help people get access to dollars when banks or official exchange channels cannot meet demand. However, during a currency crisis, the same widely watched stablecoin price could prompt many people to abandon the local currency simultaneously, suggesting that regulators may need temporary limits on unusually large or panic-driven transactions. Tan argued that stablecoins make “dollar-like claims easier to access” while creating a visible, high-frequency price for dollar demand. When a country’s official exchange rate is far from the market rate, that price can signal growing dollar scarcity and prompt more people to move out of the local currency at the same time. Stablecoins emerge as parallel FX benchmarksThe paper’s argument reflects how stablecoins are already being used in countries where official access to dollars is limited. On June 9, 2025, Bolivian airport retailers were seen pricing goods using USDT as a reference, while still accepting US dollars or bolivianos. In 2024, Cointelegraph reported that Argentines were using underground “crypto caves” to exchange pesos for dollar-stablecoins at rates closer to the unofficial market. The practice gave residents another way to preserve savings as the peso lost value and currency controls restricted access to the dollar. Related: Tokenization makes finance more efficient but introduces risks: IMFWhile these uses highlighted the benefits of stablecoins, regulators have also recently warned about broader risks. On March 24, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) said dollar stablecoins could expose emerging economies to currency substitution, weaker monetary policy and the circumvention of capital-flow measures. The FSB urged lawmakers to assess how the stablecoin sector develops to understand and respond to liquidity and operational risks as stablecoins interlink with the broader financial system. Magazine: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?Cointelegraph 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.

Robinhood said eligible US-based customers will soon be able to connect third-party AI agents to make crypto trades on their behalf, marking the latest expansion in autonomous trading after the company rolled out a similar product to equities and options traders in May.“You can work with an agent to create a strategy with specific guardrails and not need to be constantly monitoring your account,” a Robinhood executive said during a presentation on Friday.Robinhood didn’t set a date for when it would roll out the product to eligible US crypto traders but noted that its UK customers would be next in line to access the offering.Equities traders can already ask AI agents to invest in crypto mining stocks on their behalf. Source: RobinhoodThe push for autonomous crypto trading adds to Robinhood’s broader crypto strategy, which has primarily focused on real-world asset tokenization and the company’s Ethereum layer 2 Robinhood Chain, which launched earlier this month.Robinhood’s senior vice president and general manager of crypto, Johann Kerbrat, said the new blockchain processed 17 million transactions from nearly 350,000 wallet addresses in its first week.Meanwhile, over 70,000 agentic accounts have already been created by Robinhood equities and options traders since late May, when the platform launched a beta version of the product.AI agents serve to even the playing fieldDuring the presentation, the Robinhood executive said the AI agents would enable retail users to base trades on data that they would have otherwise missed, putting them on a more equal playing field with institutions:“This is another big step towards giving retail investors every advantage that institutions have enjoyed for decades.”Robinhood offers the agentic accounts through several third-party AI companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI and SpaceX’s Grok.Robinhood is also enabling eligible users to have credit card purchases made on their behalf by AI agents.It comes as crypto industry executives like Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire have tipped that AI agents will become the dominant users of blockchain payments in the next few years. AI agent crypto payment integrations are also taking placeSeveral notable integrations advancing AI agent-driven stablecoin spending have emerged in recent months, including one by Amazon Web Services in May when it integrated Coinbase’s x402 payments protocol into Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, allowing agents to transact in the USDC (USDC) stablecoin. Related: Robinhood Venture Fund invests $75M in OpenAI In April, crypto wallet startup Oobit launched a Visa-supported virtual card for AI agents to make online purchases in USDt (USDT) on behalf of businesses. AI agent payments adoption laggingDespite the integrations, data shows that AI-agent transaction activity on the blockchain remains relatively small, with Artemis data showing that only $2 million in transaction volume was facilitated through the AI agent-supported x402 protocol in June.Features: The 5 types of real world assets being tokenized fastest onchain 

The US Department of Justice is reportedly moving to drop charges against the founder of BitClub Network, a purported crypto mining platform that allegedly defrauded investors of $722 million between 2014 and 2019.A court filing shows Matthew Goettsche’s attorneys wrote to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi on Wednesday, stating that the parties “reached an agreement in principle” to resolve the pending charges “but need time to finalize the terms.”Goettsche’s attorneys’ letter to New Jersey district court Judge Claire Cecchi. Source: Bloomberg LawThe filing came after the deputy attorney general’s office in Washington reportedly ordered the New Jersey attorney general’s office to dismiss the case against Goettsche with prejudice, according to a report on Friday from Bloomberg Law, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Goettsche was indicted in December 2019 and was set to face trial in October for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and selling unregistered securities. A reversal would mark one of the more notable changes in US crypto enforcement history, particularly given that three of his former colleagues, Silviu Balaci, Joseph Abel and Gordon Beckstead, have pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme.The potential reversal follows an April 2025 memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who directed the DOJ to end its “regulation by prosecution” strategy against the digital asset industry.Cointelegraph reached out to the DOJ for comment but didn’t receive an immediate response.BitClub operated from April 2014 to December 2019, claiming to be a Bitcoin mining pool where investors could buy shares and earn passive returns. BitClub allegedly falsified earnings values to investors and fabricated mining data to entice more investors into the scheme.Related: Acting AG Todd Blanche confirms ‘code is not a crime’ in DOJ pivot Past court filings show Goettsche once described his model as one built “on the backs of idiots.”DOJ is still taking down crypto’s bad actorsIn April, California man Evan Tageman was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his role in a criminal enterprise that stole about $263 million worth of crypto from victims through social engineering scams and burglary. The DOJ also froze over $700 million in crypto tied to investment scammers targeting Americans in April, while in February, it seized nearly $580 million in crypto linked to a criminal scam group operating in Southeast Asia.Features: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line? Cointelegraph 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.

Crypto exchange Kraken is adding AI-powered financial tools to its mobile app as exchanges increasingly compete to offer personalized investing tools beyond basic trading features.According to a company announcement, users will begin by setting financial goals and preferences, allowing the app to tailor its interface and recommendations around those objectives rather than requiring customers to navigate complex trading tools. The company said the redesigned platform will help users pursue goals such as buying a home, saving for retirement or building an emergency fund.Kraken said its “financial intelligence” continuously monitors markets, identifies investment opportunities and recommends trades, but does not execute transactions autonomously. Every recommendation requires the user’s approval before a trade is placed, with the company positioning the technology as a decision-support tool rather than an automated trading system.According to CNBC, the app then uses that information, along with a user’s risk tolerance, funding preferences and financial profile, to generate a suggested portfolio for users to review and adjust before investing. Once invested, it provides personalized portfolio updates and investment suggestions tailored to each user’s holdings.Speaking to CNBC, Kraken chief data officer Kamo Asatryan said the technology is designed to give everyday investors the same market awareness as the exchange’s most active traders by continuously monitoring markets, identifying opportunities and recommending trades. “[T]here’s an opportunity for everyday people to become high-frequency traders and do so using plain English,” he said.Related: Bitcoin miners’ AI pivot faces investor scrutiny over insider salesAI agents spread across crypto platformsCrypto exchanges and fintech firms are increasingly embedding AI into their trading platforms, allowing users to analyze markets, manage portfolios and place trades through conversational interfaces.In June, OKX launched a beta marketplace where AI agents can transact autonomously, complete onchain tasks and build blockchain-based reputations. In the same month, Coinbase introduced a tool that lets AI agents make payments and trade cryptocurrencies on behalf of users using its x402 payments protocol.Adoption is also accelerating. Last month, Chainalysis reported that agentic payment activity on Coinbase’s Base network had surpassed 100 million transactions. The report found that while transaction growth has stabilized, higher-value transfers have become more common, suggesting AI-driven payments are moving beyond micropayments and early experimentation.Source: CoinbaseOn Friday, fintech firm Revolut launched an upgrade to its Revolut X exchange, allowing customers to connect AI assistants, including Claude, Gemini, Cursor and OpenClaw, to analyze markets, backtest trading strategies and place orders through natural-language prompts. Like Kraken’s platform, users must review and approve every trade before execution.Magazine: Bitcoin’s quantum dilemma: Bigger blocks or STARK proofs?

Five Democratic senators have called for committee hearings “to investigate the national security implications of President Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings” as the chamber considers digital asset market structure legislation.In a Friday notice, the Democratic ranking members of five US Senate committees and subcommittees asked lawmakers to address President Donald Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure, in which he reported earning about $1.4 billion connected to crypto ventures like his memecoin and family’s World Liberty Financial platform. The lawmakers said that the reports “heighten concerns about the President pushing Congress to pass crypto legislation in favor of the very industry he’s cashing in on,” referring to the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, on which the Senate is expected to vote this month.“We call on our respective Committees to hold hearings to investigate the national security implications of President Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings, including the influence of the [United Arab Emirates] or unknown third parties on President Trump’s actions,” said the notice.Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the Democrats who called for hearings into Trump’s ties to crypto, speaks to CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Thursday. Source: Richard BlumenthalAs members of the minority in both the Senate and House of Representatives, Democrats have less authority to hold their own hearings and oversight without Republican support. However, Senate rules require 60 votes to end a filibuster and advance a bill, meaning that Republicans will need help from some Democrats to pass CLARITY.Related: Donald Trump says ‘nothing wrong’ with $1.4B crypto windfall while in officeSome Senate Republicans, like Cynthia Lummis, continue to push for CLARITY to pass even as many Democrats signal they will withhold support without clear ethics provisions. Representative French Hill, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee and helped the bill pass in the House in 2025, said that Trump’s ties made passing legislation “more complicated.”CBDC ban to become law after Trump’s refusal to sign billThe notice from Democrats came just hours before a bill barring the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC) until Dec. 31, 2030, is expected to become law on Saturday. Trump canceled the signing ceremony for the bipartisan housing bill containing the CBDC ban and did not issue a veto of the legislation, leaving the measure to automatically become law after 10 days.Magazine: Crypto’s CLARITY Act faces partisan fight over ethics on Senate floorCointelegraph 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.

A bipartisan housing bill containing a ban on a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States is set to become law as the deadline approaches for President Donald Trump to sign it.Just after midnight on Friday, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act will have been in Trump’s hands for 10 days, excluding Sundays, the maximum amount of time a bill can be on the president’s desk without a veto or a signature. Under the US Constitution, the legislation will automatically become law without action from Trump, who canceled the signing ceremony for the bill on Jun 24.In a Friday social media post, Trump confirmed that he would not sign the housing bill, calling Republicans in Congress who voted on the legislation “dumb” and urging the Senate to instead prioritize a controversial voting bill, the SAVE America Act. The legislation, which would require people to provide proof of US citizenship in person to register, has received widespread criticism for claims that it would disenfranchise citizens already eligible to vote.Source: Donald TrumpThe housing bill, passed by the House of Representatives and Senate in June with support from Democrats and Republicans, included language barring the Federal Reserve from issuing or creating a CBDC “or any digital asset that is substantially similar” until Dec. 31, 2030. Many analysts saw the digital dollar ban as a political giveaway to gain Republican support. Trump did not address the CBDC ban in his Friday post.Related: Trump backs CFTC authority over prediction markets“[H]e’s refusing to sign the biggest housing bill in 30 years,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, who co-sponsored the bill, on Trump’s actions. “The good news: it’s going to become law anyway.”Could Trump’s inaction also affect crypto market structure?Although the US president said in May that he intended to “future-proof” digital asset regulations, his refusal to sign legislation unrelated to the SAVE America Act has raised questions about whether the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act under consideration in the Senate could face a similar situation as the housing bill.The CLARITY Act, considered by many to be one of the most significant pieces of legislation affecting digital asset regulation, has already passed the House and two crucial Senate committees. Republican leaders in Congress expect that the bill will be heading to the full chamber for a floor vote in July once lawmakers return from state work periods on Monday.Trump’s ties to the crypto industry have already complicated discussions between Democrats and Republicans over the market structure bill. The president disclosed earning more than $1.4 billion in income from his crypto ventures in 2025, including memecoins and the family’s World Liberty Financial platform.Magazine: Crypto’s CLARITY Act faces partisan fight over ethics on Senate floor

Policymakers in New Hampshire’s executive council voted against a proposal that would have allowed the state to issue $100 million in bonds backed by Bitcoin (BTC).At a Wednesday hearing, the five-member panel voted 3-2 against the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority’s (BFA) proposed issuance of $100 million in BTC-backed bonds. The proposed investments, which the authority approved in November 2025, already had support from Governor Kelly Ayotte.“It was an extremely short-sighted decision,” said state representative Keith Ammon in a Thursday X post after the vote. “I can’t believe I witnessed it in person. They should gather all relevant facts and information and reconsider their vote at a future meeting.”Councilors Karen Liot Hill, Dave Wheeler and Janet Stevens voted against the measure, while Joseph Kenney and John Stephen approved it. The crypto investment vehicles, issued by the BFA and with CleanSpark putting up BTC as collateral, would have marked New Hampshire’s continued approval of digital asset policies, following its May 2025 crypto reserve law. Related: Bank of Korea governor outlines tokenized bond vision, unified ledger planWhile the BTC-backed bonds had support from many in the crypto industry, some experts warned against the proposal, saying it carried “substantial risk” for New Hampshire residents. Moody’s assigned the Bitcoin bond a provisional Ba2 rating in March.New Hampshire to join prediction markets fight against CFTC?With gaming authorities in many US states having already filed lawsuits against prediction market platforms like Kalshi and Polymarket over sports betting, some have speculated that New Hampshire could join the legal fight challenging the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) authority. State Senator Tim Lang reportedly planned to introduce legislation restricting prediction markets in New Hampshire in April, but as of Friday, the platforms were still live in the state.Magazine: Has Bitcoin bottomed for this cycle? Analysts say ‘not yet’Cointelegraph 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.

Crypto exchange Backpack has launched 24/7 trading for select tokenized US equities, allowing international investors to trade stocks including SpaceX, Micron and SanDisk around the clock.Under the initial offering, Backpack said that investors would receive direct ownership of the underlying securities rather than synthetic exposure, with trades settling instantly and funded in fiat currency or stablecoins. The initial offering includes a limited selection of US equities, with additional stocks planned.The company also offers Solana-based tokenized versions of the securities, which can be transferred between wallets, used in decentralized finance applications and converted 1:1 into the corresponding shares through Backpack.Backpack said the service is available to investors in more than 150 countries and regions and that trades are backed by liquidity from traditional exchanges.The company added that tokenized SpaceX shares became the most actively traded tokenized version of the private rocket and AI company after launching in June, though it did not disclose trading volumes or provide comparisons with competing offerings.Related: Tokenized stock transfers surge 105% in a month to $8.4BEarlier this year, Backpack unveiled a token distribution model tied to its planned US initial public offering. Users who stake the exchange’s native token for at least one year will be eligible to exchange it for company equity after the IPO, while part of the token supply will remain locked until at least one year after the listing.Traditional finance joins tokenized equities pushBackpack’s launch comes as tokenized equities have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the onchain real-world asset (RWA) market. According to RWA.xyz data, the tokenized stock market has grown from about $379 million to $1.85 billion over the past year. Over the past 30 days alone, distributed value has climbed 28.6%, while monthly transfer volume has surged over 85% to $8.76 billion.Tokenized stocks. Source: RWA.xyz Crypto exchanges have led much of that growth. Kraken, which acquired xStocks developer Backed Finance in late 2025, has expanded the platform across its exchange, while Bybit and Bitget have also integrated xStocks. Coinbase and Binance have likewise rolled out tokenized equity offerings in recent months.Traditional exchanges have also embraced tokenization. In March, the SEC approved Nasdaq’s pilot to trade tokenized stocks alongside conventional securities on the same exchange, while the New York Stock Exchange partnered with Securitize to develop a 24/7 platform for tokenized stocks and ETFs.The following month, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced plans to launch a tokenized securities service in October after a pilot involving more than 50 financial and crypto firms. Magazine: Will the crypto lobby’s $189M campaign get CLARITY over the line?