Western Union Debuts USDPT Stablecoin on Solana

Opera is proposing to swap its cash-based deal with Celo for a 160 million CELO token allocation, making it a significant stakeholder in the payments network pending token holder approval. The move would involve a one-time transfer of tokens to an Opera-controlled Safe, capped at 10% of total staked CELO for governance purposes.

Crypto.com is reducing its workforce by 12%, or approximately 180 employees, to focus on AI-driven operations. This marks the third round of layoffs in four years for the Singapore-based exchange. The move aligns with a broader trend in the crypto industry towards automation and AI integration.

Following the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain interest rates, Bitcoin dropped over 4% to $69,537, while the Nikkei, gold, and S&P 500 also experienced declines. Investor confidence waned, with predictions of Bitcoin hitting $84,000 decreasing to 50%.

A new protocol launching this week aims to bring decentralized finance directly onto Bitcoin's base layer, allowing trading and token issuance through standard Bitcoin transactions. OP_NET embeds smart contract interactions into ordinary Bitcoin transactions confirmed by miners, maintaining consensus across nodes.

A Los Angeles rideshare driver, Bruce Choi, was arrested for allegedly obtaining over $2 million in COVID-19 relief loans fraudulently. He used the funds to purchase cryptocurrency, leading to charges of wire fraud and money laundering.

BTQ Technologies has implemented BIP 360 on its Bitcoin Quantum testnet to test quantum-resistant transactions. The company aims to create a separate blockchain for Bitcoin to address quantum computing threats.

The debate over quantum computing potentially breaking Bitcoin's cryptography is ongoing, with varying estimates on the vulnerability of exposed public keys. Galaxy Digital's head of research, Alex Thorn, emphasizes ongoing efforts to make Bitcoin quantum-resistant through technical upgrades and addressing edge cases.

Bitcoin's early holders are selling off large amounts of BTC following the Federal Reserve's indication of slower rate cuts. One whale dumped 650 BTC, while another OG offloaded 1,000 BTC, causing a 1% price dip to $70,600. The market, including Ethereum, XRP, and Solana, suffered similar losses.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission formally approved Nasdaq's proposal to trade some stocks in tokenized form, starting with Russell 1000 stocks and certain index ETFs. Tokenized shares must match traditional counterparts in rights, symbols, and trading priority, settling through the Depository Trust Company if eligible.

OX Security reported a phishing campaign targeting developers using OpenClaw's name to lure victims into a fake site for wallet theft. The attackers use GitHub to identify potential victims and steal wallet data through obfuscated JavaScript code.