Schwab Adds Altcoins, Circle Minting Surges, Bitcoin Breaks Resistance
Charles Schwab, a $13 trillion asset manager, has added three altcoins to its cryptocurrency offerings. This move is part of the growing institutional interest in crypto assets over the past two years.
Circle, a leading stablecoin issuer, minted approximately 5 billion USDC over the last week, which is one of its largest weekly issuance pushes yet. This development has sparked hopes that it may signal a bullish trend for cryptocurrencies as the market cap of all stablecoins typically aligns with bull and bear cycles.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin's price reclaimed $80,000 per unit after breaking past a key $79,000 resistance level, pushing its market capitalization back to $1.61 trillion. This uptrend has been attributed in part to the reaction of investors to Bessent's new bond buyback strategy.
Ray Dalio noted that lowering yields may force those with fixed income-style investments to shift towards safe havens like gold and Bitcoin, which have both trended higher since the Treasury's announcement. However, Druckenmiller blasted the Treasury's $4B gambit, stating it is not formal yield curve control or 'QE'.
Coinbase has also announced its intention to offer crypto-backed mortgages, with a $260M waitlist demand already accumulated. This move positions Coinbase as a leader in cryptocurrency adoption and use cases.