ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Texas House Republican Cody Harris spoke on November 21 at the North American Blockchain Summit about the development of Texas's gold-backed token. He believes that the gold-backed tokens issued by the Texas government could serve as a gateway for Texans to explore digital assets like Bitcoin.Previously, in April 2023, two Texas lawmakers introduced two bills aimed at creating a state-issued digital currency backed by gold. Under the plan, each unit of the digital currency would represent a specific fraction of an ounce of gold held in trust. Harris stated that this initiative could help skeptics become more accepting of cryptocurrency by providing a government-issued digital alternative before transitioning to decentralized assets like Bitcoin; for those who are very reluctant to own Bitcoin or explore cryptocurrency, tokens issued by startups may feel somewhat "reassuring" compared to government-issued tokens. While encouraging Texas's gold-backed digital currency project, Harris is opposed to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, blockchain analytics company Dune announced three items at the DuneCon event held in Bangkok, Thailand, on Monday morning, including a new platform, the company's latest acquisition, and new metrics aimed at tracking meaningful blockchain adoption.Launched today, Dune Echo is a new product from the analytics company that connects developers with real-time blockchain data across 30 chains, including Ethereum, its multiple L2 networks, and Solana, currently in testing. Data on token balances and transaction queries can be accessed within 300 milliseconds after block propagation.Dune also announced the acquisition of a16z-backed smlXL, a blockchain company whose products can simulate real-time blockchain transactions. The announcement did not disclose the value of the acquisition.

ChainCatcher message, according to the Tether's Q3 2024 attestation report, the total scale of secured loans in its reserves reached $6.72 billion, exceeding the "excess" funds in the reserves, which totaled only $6.1 billion. This means that Tether (USDT) is again partially supported by these secured loans. The report indicates that the secured loans are fully backed by liquid assets and are monitored regularly, measured at amortized cost (the nominal value of short-term secured loans), and any expected credit loss provisions are adjusted in accordance with IFRS 9.However, it is important to note that Tether Group's total "equity" of approximately $14 billion still exceeds the scale of secured loans.

ChainCatcher news, the Bitcoin Voter Project, a political action committee (PAC) supported by executives from the crypto mining industry, has launched two ads for Republican candidate Ted Cruz.Members of the PAC include executives from cryptocurrency mining companies Marathon Digital Holdings, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms. The ads claim that Ted Cruz understands "embracing Bitcoin," but do not explicitly mention any policies of his opponent Colin Allred.

ChainCatcher news, according to official news, Visa has announced the launch of the Tokenized Asset Platform VTAP (Visa Tokenized Asset Platform), aimed at helping banks issue fiat-backed tokens.The VTAP solution has been made available to participating financial institution partners on the Visa developer platform.

ChainCatcher news, stablecoin issuer Paxos announced on platform X that the market capitalization of the gold-backed stablecoin PAXG has reached a new high of 500 million dollars. Paxos stated that each PAXG token is backed by 1 troy ounce of gold stored in the London LBMA vault.In addition, recent spot gold prices have been continuously refreshed, reaching 2670 dollars per ounce yesterday, setting a new historical high.

ChainCatcher news, sources reveal that the blockchain fintech startup Partior is operating with a reduced number of employees. The company laid off about 30 employees in July, and several others, including members of the leadership team, have also left. Notably, Partior is the latest startup supported by Temasek Holdings to be affected by layoffs and employee departures in the past 10 months.Previously, it was reported that the cross-border payment and settlement blockchain company Partior completed a $60 million financing round, led by Peak XV Partners.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Abu Dhabi financial regulator plans to regulate fiat-referenced tokens (FRT), and the regulator has invited the public to provide feedback on the proposed regulatory framework. The Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) stated that the proposal defines FRT as a digital asset whose transfer and storage are electronically achieved through the use of distributed ledger technology.The Abu Dhabi Global Market Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) indicated that FRT issuers will be subject to operational restrictions and requirements. The FSRA proposed that the market value of reserve assets should be at least equal to the face value of all circulating FRT at the end of each business day. FRT should also be valued at the daily market price. The regulator further suggested that institutions issuing two or more FRTs should operate and maintain independent reserve asset pools for each FRT and manage each reserve asset pool separately.The FSRA has set October 3, 2024, as the deadline for submitting comments on the proposal. After receiving feedback, the FSRA will consider whether modifications to the proposed regulatory framework for FRT are necessary.

ChainCatcher news, the digital lending platform Ledn has announced that it has secured a $50 million Bitcoin-backed syndicated loan, which will be used to "drive the growth of Ledn's retail lending business."The loan comes from the Sygnum Bank Group, a global digital asset bank that manages $4.5 billion in client assets.Adam Reeds, CEO and co-founder of Ledn, stated, "As digital assets inevitably integrate into mainstream financial markets, we view this pilot transaction as the first of many syndicated loans."It is reported that a syndicated loan is a loan provided by a group of lenders, arranged and managed by one or more commercial banks or investment banks.

ChainCatcher news, one of Brazil's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Mercado Bitcoin, has announced the launch of a lending product that uses cryptocurrency as collateral, which will be paid to users in the local currency. This is the company's first such product, having received a payment institution license from the central bank last year.To avoid high risks associated with clearing, Mercado Bitcoin will limit loans to 30% of the holdings of exchange users. The exchange holds over $900 million in crypto assets, which means a credit capacity of over $300 million.

ChainCatcher news, Hong Kong's Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Chen Haolian, stated at the Legislative Council's Web3 and Virtual Assets Development Subcommittee meeting that the authorities are currently drafting the second version of the regulations for implementing a regulatory system for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers in Hong Kong, aiming to submit the draft to the Legislative Council for review by the end of this year.

ChainCatcher news, according to Crowdfund Insider, ClearBank has announced that it has been selected by Poundtoken to provide banking services, allowing it to hold its fiat-backed stablecoin reserves at the Bank of England. ClearBank offers secure accounts, real-time clearing, and embedded banking services for financial institutions.It is reported that Poundtoken is the UK's first regulated issuer of a pound stablecoin. The fiat equivalent assets of Poundtoken (GBP) are "held in secure and segregated bank accounts to support a one-to-one exchange for pounds."In addition, ClearBank will also provide real-time transfer services.

ChainCatcher news, according to the official announcement, WisdomTree today listed WisdomTree Physical Bitcoin (BTCW) and WisdomTree Physical Ethereum (ETHW) ETPs on the London Stock Exchange (LSE).The management expense ratio (MER) of these ETPs is 0.35%, making it one of the lowest fees among institutional-grade Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs, and they are fully backed by the underlying assets.It is reported that WisdomTree is one of the first issuers approved to list crypto ETPs on the LSE, and currently, these crypto ETPs are only open to professional investors.

ChainCatcher news, official news, the Manta Network ecological derivatives project LogX has launched airdrop-related trading activities. Participants can directly share 20,000 LOGX tokens, and additionally, they can further gain opportunities for LOGX airdrops. LogX is an on-chain derivatives project where users can trade perpetual contracts and has received investments from institutions such as Coinbase, IOSG, and Sequoia.

ChainCatcher news, tokenized asset issuer Backed has completed a new funding round of $9.5 million, led by Gnosis, with participation from Exor Seeds, Cyber Fund, Mindset Ventures, Stake Capital Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund, Blue Bay Capital, and Nonce Classic. With this investment, the company aims to accelerate its entry into blockchain channels for private tokenized issuance and asset management.According to the Web3 asset data platform RootData, Backed is the infrastructure for on-chain capital markets, connecting real-world assets to the blockchain. Backed issues ERC-20 tokens that track the value of real-world assets, such as stocks or ETFs. The tokens can be freely transferred across wallets, are fully collateralized by the underlying assets, and are issued in accordance with the Swiss DLT law.