Crypto's Banking Roots Take Hold

Crypto's core business is maturing towards banking models as more of its value is routed through financial infrastructure. One example of this trend is BlackRock, which has introduced two tokenized money market products to support stablecoin issuers under the US GENIUS Act framework.

The first product allows approved investors to transfer ownership onchain while the underlying assets remain invested in cash and short-term US government securities. The second product is a new institutional money market vehicle for digital asset markets, designed to be compatible with multiple blockchains and automatically reinvest income.

This move reflects Wall Street firms entering tokenized markets not only as issuers but also as infrastructure providers for the assets that underwrite onchain finance. Tether reported a second-quarter net operating profit of $1.5 billion, driven primarily by interest earned on its US Treasury holdings and repurchase-related arrangements.

Meanwhile, American Bitcoin, linked to the Trump family, improved production in the second quarter, producing 932 BTC and narrowing losses. However, it remains unprofitable and has completed a 1-for-15 reverse stock split to maintain its Nasdaq listing.