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Bitcoin Halving and Approved BTC ETF Will Enhannce Adoption: Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino (Interview)

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Will Tether go public any time soon? What are the new CEO’s plans for the company? What is keet io? Why is the Bitcoin Lightning network the best BTC payment solution? These and many more questions were answered by Paolo Ardoino, the new chief exec of the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, in a recent interview with CryptoPotato.

Additionally, he spoke about another project of his – keet io, which serves as a peer-to-peer web conferencing tool.

Last but not least, Ardoino gave his two cents about BTC’s current rally, the halving, and whether or not there will finally be a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US.

Changes in Tether

During the first interview Ardoino had with CryptoPotato almost two years ago, the then-CTO refuted the claims that the company had any intentions to go public, similar to many other US-based digital asset firms, like Coinbase, which did so during the previous bull market.

A lot has changed in Tether since then, including Ardoino assuming the main executive position at the firm in October of this year. On the question of whether or not the company has changed its tune on going public, the new CEO said now:

“As I have stated previously, Tether is not planning to go public. Our focus remains on our mission, which is to serve a diverse range of customers worldwide, particularly those in emerging markets. We believe that our efforts should be concentrated on delivering value to our customers rather than pursuing short-term profits for shareholders.”

Speaking about his new role and responsibilities, he outlined his commitment to “transforming Tether into a technology-focused company,” with its main goal being real-world ecosystem growth in many key areas. This goes beyond stablecoins into areas like communications, data, AI, renewable energy, and Bitcoin mining.

He explained that the decision to take the leadership role at Tether was a “strategic” one before adding:

“We are leveraging our dominant position in the stablecoin industry to pursue other areas of focus such as peer-to-peer communications, renewable energy, resilient data storage, and bitcoin mining. This transition was a natural progression, considering my involvement in leading Tether’s expansion strategy over the last couple of years.”

tether

Bitcoin ETF in the States?

Arguably, the two most talked-about upcoming events for 2024 in the crypto industry are the Bitcoin halving and the potential approval of the first spot BTC ETF in the States. Ardoino weighed in on the matter, highlighting the halving’s positive effects on the entire ecosystem:

“In 2024, the upcoming Bitcoin halving event is poised to amplify the network’s resilience, further cementing its position as a cornerstone of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Historical data from previous halvings showcases a consistent pattern: each halving has triggered substantial increases in Bitcoin’s value.”

When it comes down to future price increases after the event, Tether’s CEO added that there have been such movements in the past, which were “scarcity-driven.” After all, the BTC block rewards are slashed in half after each event, and the pre-programmed inflation decreases.

Ardoino believes the upcoming fourth halving will also help BTC in terms of global adoption due to increased media coverage and growing interest from institutions and will solidify the cryptocurrency “as a formidable asset class within the broader financial landscape.”

Nevertheless, he warned that investors should do comprehensive research of their own before allocating any funds to investment assets.

In terms of the widely-anticipate ETF, Ardoino said:

“I believe the prospects of the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF are promising. The growing interest in Bitcoin from institutional investors, as evidenced by the recent surge in Tether issuance, is indicative of the market’s readiness for such a development. The potential approval of a Bitcoin ETF could further catalyze institutional adoption and bring more legitimacy to the crypto space.”

His Role at Keet Io

Aside from his well-known role at Tether, Ardoino is also the co-founder and CSO of keet io. He described the project as a “P2P web conferencing tool that aims to redefine digital communications.”

It’s an alternative to Zoom but operates as a decentralized, censorship-resistance, and user-empowering platform.

“Keet.io is incubated by Holepunch, a platform for creating apps, with support from Tether. Our technology is based on “Holepunch,” which enables the creation of distributed networks. These networks eliminate single points of failure while giving individuals ownership over their data and communications. This represents a significant paradigm shift as concerns grow around data harvesting and censorship of centralized services.

Keet io plans to launch a free, open-source platform on February 14 this year, which will allow “anyone to build P2P versions of popular apps, like YouTube or Uber for people to use.”

The project has already incorporated a few payment features, such as USDT and Bitcoin Lightning. He outlined keet io’s reasoning:

  • Firstly, Bitcoin Lightning offers a significant advantage in terms of transaction speed. Lightning Network is the best scalability layer available for Bitcoin payments and offers a real-time user experience that is suited for a real-time communication app like Keet.
  • Secondly, Bitcoin Lightning also provides cost efficiency. Traditional on-chain transactions can sometimes involve substantial fees, which can be a deterrent for users. By leveraging the Lightning Network, we can minimize these costs, making it a more attractive option for our users.
  • Lastly, the use of Bitcoin Lightning aligns with our commitment to promoting decentralization. Keet.io is built on the principles of peer-to-peer technology, emphasizing user empowerment and censorship resistance. Bitcoin Lightning, being a peer-to-peer network itself, fits well with our ethos.
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Solstice Labs Announces Upcoming USX Launch, a Solana-Native Stablecoin Built for Transparent Yield

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[PRESS RELEASE – Dubai, UAE, April 28th, 2025]

Backed by Deus X Capital, Solstice will debut USX this summer alongside a native yield protocol launching with over $100M in committed TVL, bringing permissionless delta-neutral returns to Solana from day one.

Solstice Labs, an onchain asset manager backed by $1 billion digital asset investment firm Deus X Capital, today announced USX, a stablecoin purpose-built for sustainable yield on Solana. Launching this summer, USX offers permissionless access to a native yield protocol that has over $100 million in committed total value locked (TVL), providing users access to institutional-grade returns through automated delta-neutral trading strategies.

Designed for both institutions and everyday users, USX is a synthetic stablecoin optimized for performance on Solana. The USX peg is maintained by the 1:1 collateralization of fiat-backed stablecoins, such as USDC and USDT, and partnerships with some of the biggest market makers and liquidity providers in the industry. Users are able to lock USX into Solstice’s YieldVault to access real-time returns generated through off-chain funding-rate arbitrage and dynamically hedged staking-yield strategies, leveraging a 3-year track record showing 19.2% average over the last 12-months and protected by a dedicated insurance fund.

“We’ve seen the same dynamic repeat in crypto: DeFi yields are constantly over-engineered, opaque or reserved for institutional players,” said Ben Nadareski, CEO and Co-Founder of Solstice Labs. “USX is designed at its core to change this by simplifying competitive yields in a transparent and sustainable way. All stablecoin users should have the opportunity to capture the yield that larger protocols keep to themselves while not giving up utility in the base asset. That’s the promise of DeFi, and that’s what we’re building at Solstice.”

The Solana Stablecoin for Everyone

Solana has quickly emerged as one of the fastest-growing stablecoin ecosystems, expanding its share of stablecoin liquidity from 2.5% to 5.4% in just two months, at the time of publication. But while the chain has become a hub for stablecoin velocity, especially in MEV, arbitrage, and orderbook-style trading, it still lacks a dominant Solana-native stablecoin built for yield.

USX is designed to fill that gap, purpose-built for Solana’s low-latency, high-throughput infrastructure. As stablecoin transfer activity increasingly shifts from centralized exchanges to trading-driven DeFi applications, USX positions Solana at the forefront of capturing new onchain capital via yield-native stable assets.

USX’s launch is supported by a growing network of infrastructure, security, and liquidity partners to enable off-exchange settlement solutions, expanding the stablecoin’s utility across both centralized and decentralized exchanges.

Built by the Team Behind Solstice Staking

USX and its protocol are part of the Solstice umbrella, which also includes Solstice Staking AG, after a recent acquisition. Solstice Staking is one of the most trusted staking operations in the industry, currently securing:

  • $1B+ in staked assets
  • 9,000+ validator nodes
  • 100% renewable energy-powered infrastructure
  • 99.99% uptime for institutional reliability

With a track record rooted in stability, Solstice is now focused on creating the next evolution of DeFi; one where transparency, performance, and access go hand in hand.

Coming Summer 2025

USX will officially launch in Summer 2025, with early access and beta incentives for all users to be announced in the coming weeks. For updates, users can visit https://solsticelabs.io/ or follow @solstice_io. Meet the team this week in Dubai during Token2049 at the Solana Mega Mixer, co-hosted by Solstice Labs and the Solana Superteam.

About Solstice Labs

Solstice Labs AG, a Deus X Enterprise company, in partnership with the Solstice Foundation is reimagining financial asset management for the onchain era. Solstice’s Protocol leverages a registered approved manager to offer institutional-grade products to investors. Key products include USX, a Solana-native stablecoin alongside Solstice’s YieldVault, a democratized yield-bearing protocol that allows participants to access institutional-grade delta-neutral yields.

Bolstering the group’s crypto credentials, Solstice Labs AG also operates Solstice Staking AG, one of the most trusted infrastructure providers in the industry, securing over $1 billion in assets across 9,000+ validator nodes.

Users can learn more at https://solsticelabs.io and follow @solstice_io.

About Deus X Capital

Deus X Capital is a specialist investment and operating company focused on private equity, venture capital, and venture build opportunities in the capital markets, fintech, and digital assets sectors. Deus X has more than $1bn in assets under management and its unique expertise, extensive network, and diverse capabilities to foster lasting value within the financial technology sector.

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Dogecoin (DOGE) to Match its ATH? Here’s What Could Spark the Surge

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TL;DR

  • A popular analyst suggests that if Dogecoin (DOGE) closes April above $0.20, it might ignite strong bullish momentum.
  • With Elon Musk dampening hopes for government-driven adoption, attention has shifted to the potential approval of a spot DOGE ETF, which could boost demand for the asset.

Time for Another Bull Run?

The OG meme coin saw its price rise by 12% in the past week, briefly exceeding $0.19. The uptick garnered the attention of numerous market observers, some of whom predicted much more impressive gains for the near future but under certain conditions.

The renowned analyst Ali Martinez believes Dogecoin (DOGE) can explode to its all-time high of $0.74 if it closes the month above $0.20. 

“Such a breakout would signal strong bullish momentum and potentially attract increased investor interest,” he added.

Trader Tardigrade and Muro also weighed in. The former claimed that DOGE reclaimed the 100 exponential moving average (EMA) “after breakdown” and envisioned a rise to as high as $0.80 in the following months. For their part, Muro believes that DOGE’s possible rally could ignite an altseason:

“Once DOGE starts pumping, it would be the official signal for a legit altseason, it’s always been the altseason indicator.”

Waiting for This Catalyst

After the disappointment faced after Elon Musk’s rather controversial and somewhat failed attempt to really cut down on excessive government spending, an agency that has DOGE’s name in it, the Dogecoin community has started to look for other catalysts that could act as price boosters. One example is the potential approval of a spot DOGE ETF in the United States. 

Grayscale, Bitwise, and Osprey Funds are among the companies racing to launch this kind of product. The chances of a green light before the end of 2025 have been rising lately, currently standing at around 58% (per Polymarket’s data). 

This type of investment vehicle will offer people the chance to gain exposure to Dogecoin without having to purchase the cryptocurrency directly. As a result, it could attract additional investors and inject fresh capital into the ecosystem.

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Bitcoin ETFs See $3.06B Weekly Inflows, Second-Highest on Record

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In what many see as a sign of Bitcoin’s deepening foothold among institutional investors, spot BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded a staggering $3.06 billion in net inflows last week.

This dramatic surge, unfolding between April 21 and April 25, marks the second-largest weekly performance by the ETFs ever since they were approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January 2024.

Notable Net Inflows

The latest data from SoSoValue paints a vivid picture of accelerating institutional commitment. Last week’s net inflow of $3.06 billion stands second only to the record set in November 2024, when spot BTC ETFs attracted $3.38 billion over a single week.

Trailing behind are the $2.73 billion raised between November 29 and December 6, 2024, and the $2.57 billion recorded between March 8 and March 15, 2024.

Net weekly inflows also breached the $2 billion mark on several other occasions, including $2.27 billion in the second week of February 2024, $2.24 billion in the first week of March 2024, and $2.22 billion in the first week of November 2024.

Looking at the daily breakdowns of the latest inflows, April 22 and 23 contributed hugely to the history-making surge, registering daily total net inflows of $936.43 million and $916.91 million, respectively. Things did drop off somewhat toward the end of the week, with Thursday 24 seeing $442 million in inflows and Friday 25 hitting just shy of $380 million.

So far, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) enjoys the highest cumulative net inflow of the BTC ETFs, with a total of $41.2 billion injected into it. The Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) is a distant second, with about $11.86 billion in net inflows, while Grayscale’s GBTC is in the red for $22.69 billion.

ETFs, Corporations Stabilizing BTC Prices

The period in which the spot Bitcoin ETFs exploded also marked a surge past $94,000 for the cryptocurrency’s price, a rally experts say is being fueled by wealth managers, corporate treasuries, and sovereign entities rather than retail speculation.

As Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley pointed out on X, search interest for Bitcoin on Google remains near historic lows even as prices soar. “This hasn’t been retail-driven,” the executive explained.

Previously, Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas expressed the same opinion, suggesting that corporations and exchange-traded funds were now the primary buyers of Bitcoin, a shift that is bringing greater stability to the asset’s price.

After trading sluggishly for much of early April, BTC broke decisively higher starting April 19. It vaulted past key resistance levels, accelerating through $90,000 to hit a weekly high of $95,768 before settling near $94,700.

Looking at Bitcoin’s fundamentals, technical analysts are predicting a bullish run past the $100,000 level, with others anticipating an even bigger surge to $155,000 amid network growth and strong accumulation.

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