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USDC and CCTP to launch on Aptos, with Stripe adding Aptos support in crypto products

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[PRESS RELEASE – Palo Alto, California, November 21st, 2024]

Integration to enhance DeFi use cases on Aptos, expand interoperability, and streamline global payment solutions for merchants.

Aptos Foundation today announced the upcoming integration of Circle’s native USDC and Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on the Aptos Network, as well as Stripe adding support for Aptos in its crypto products. These integrations make Aptos the home for interoperable DeFi and the fastest, cheapest, and most reliable enterprise-grade blockchain, further expanding its global financial ecosystem.

The integration of Aptos into Stripe’s crypto onramp and payouts products, paired with native USDC, will provide reliable fiat on and off-ramps for the Aptos network, streamline merchant pay-ins and payouts, and offer a seamless connection between traditional finance and blockchain technology.

Today, USDC is the largest regulated dollar-backed stablecoin with over $37B in circulation. With more than $160M in circulation on Aptos, bridged USDC is the most prevalent stablecoin available on the network. With this integration, native USDC will be issued through the regulated entities of Circle directly on the Aptos network and CCTP will enable developers to design cross-chain experiences by connecting their Aptos apps to the network of supported blockchains.

Bridge providers such as Stargate, built on LayerZero, will provide a smooth transition from the existing bridged USDC on Aptos to native USDC over time. There are no immediate changes to the AptosBridge built on LayerZero, and it will continue to operate as normal.

Additionally, ahead of the native launch of USDC, bridged USDC from the AptosBridge will be renamed to “lzUSDC” on block explorers. There will be outreach to ecosystem apps to encourage them to make the same change in their app UI and documentation.

The launch of CCTP will bring new levels of interoperability to DeFi on Aptos, enabling secure and efficient native USDC transfers. With the addition of Aptos, CCTP will support nine blockchains – including Arbitrum, Base, Ethereum, and Solana —and 72 routes with 1:1 capital efficiency. This move will allow for seamless cross-chain onboarding, swaps, purchases, treasury rebalancing, and more – all while maintaining an accessible and intuitive user experience.

With the addition of Aptos to Stripe’s crypto products, users will be able to seamlessly convert fiat currencies into USDC, directly through Aptos-enabled wallets. This integration will enable the use of USDC for Stripe’s global network of businesses. The combination of Stripe’s payment tools and Aptos’ scalable network unlocks new opportunities for global merchants and payment providers to process transactions faster, more securely, and at lower costs.

“Adding support for the Aptos blockchain inside our crypto products broadens consumer and merchant access to more efficient global fund flows with stablecoins; whether it be a retailer accepting payments from around the world, or a platform paying creators no matter where they are,” said John Egan, Head of Crypto at Stripe. “This collaboration brings Stripe’s global network together with the power of the Aptos blockchain, opening new avenues for both merchants and consumers to access efficient, stablecoin-based payments.”

“The DeFi ecosystem on Aptos has grown to five times its original size in the past year alone, and it’s clear why,” said Nikhil Chandhok, Chief Product Officer at Circle. “Aptos has emerged as a highly efficient way to move money across the globe. The arrival of native USDC and CCTP will only enhance this, and further the vision we share with the Aptos Foundation team of a future where secure digital dollars create a more accessible economy for everyone.”

“USDC and CCTP are the gold standards in DeFi, and Stripe is among the most trusted names in financial infrastructure,” said Bashar Lazaar, Head of Grants and Ecosystem at Aptos Foundation. “Circle and Stripe’s integration of Aptos moves the needle in creating a more accessible, secure, and decentralized future of finance. We’re all looking forward to this integration, and are eager to see what the incredible builders in the Aptos ecosystem make possible with this powerful new technology in their toolkit.”

“Aptos makes the globally connected economy accessible to everyone by simplifying the movement of economic value,” said Mo Shaikh, CEO of Aptos Labs, which provided technical expertise for the integrations. “I’m looking forward to seeing Aptos becoming a unifying force in the global economy, providing infrastructure that enhances payment efficiency while bringing the peer-to-peer money movement to life for its ecosystem and builders.”

For more information about Aptos Foundation and DeFi on Aptos, visit: https://aptosfoundation.org/ecosystem/projects/defi.

About Aptos Foundation

Aptos Foundation is dedicated to supporting the development of the Aptos protocol, decentralized network and ecosystem and driving engagement with the Aptos ecosystem. By unlocking a blockchain with seamless usability, Aptos Foundation aims to bring the benefits of decentralization to the masses.

About Aptos Network

Aptos is a next-generation Layer 1 blockchain. Aptos’ breakthrough technology and programming language, Move, are designed to evolve, improve performance and strengthen user safeguards. Please visit https://www.aptosfoundation.org for more information on the Aptos blockchain.

About Circle

Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Through its regulated entities, Circle is the issuer of USDC and EURC – highly liquid, interoperable, and trusted money protocols on the internet. Circle’s open and programmable platform and APIs make it easy for organizations to run their internet-scale business, whether it is making international payments, building globally-accessible Web3 apps or managing their internal treasury. Users can learn more at https://circle.com.

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Headquartered in San Francisco and Dublin, the company aims to increase the GDP of the internet.

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Critical XRP Metric Reaches New Record: What Does it Mean for Ripple’s Price?

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TL;DR

  • XRP whales, or those holding at least 10,000 tokens, have continued to accumulate in recent months, as the total number of such wallets now exceeds 300,000.
  • Although XRP’s price has remained relatively sluggish on a weekly scale, industry experts believe whale accumulation is “insanely bullish.”

As the graph below will show you, XRP whales went on a substantial buying spree after the US elections, which was somewhat expected given the anticipation for big regulatory changes in the country that could affect domestic crypto businesses, such as Ripple.

After a minor hiatus in December when the total number of such investors dropped, they returned in full force at the start of 2025 and haven’t looked back since, aside from some minor deviations.

Data from Glassnode shows that the number of addresses holding over 10,000 XRP has gone above 300,000, which is a record of its own. According to popular industry commentator Amonyx, this is “insanely bullish” as it serves as “absolute proof of surging investor confidence.”

Recall that whales bought over 900,000,000 XRP in April alone. In USD terms, this massive fortune was worth close to $2 billion.

With the SEC legal case seemingly behind Ripple, the company is now focused on expansion after the acquisition of Hidden Road and the failed attempt to take over Circle. The XRP Army, on the other hand, is anticipating the approval of a spot ETF after the recent good news on the futures ETF front.

However, the US securities regulator delayed making a decision on Franklin Templeton’s XRP ETF applications and the new deadline is set for mid-June. ETF experts believe the summer of 2025 will see the approval of numerous such financial vehicles tracking the performance of various cryptocurrencies, including XRP.

Maybe that’s what the “big money” is preparing for.

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4 Headlines That Terrify Solana Short Sellers in May

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These are positive signals indicating more growth in long-term price support for Solana tokens.

The growth in the stablecoin market cap on the Solana ecosystem in 2025 has been absolutely staggering. More details on that are below. But, these are the kind of healthy Web3 indicators that help evaluate network effects and user activity for financial risk assessment.

Solana prices have been trending along with the broad crypto market over the past 12 months. But they may be on a trajectory to outperform many other altcoins in Q2 2025.

Here are five reasons why:

1. Bullish Long Term SOL Cup and Handle Pattern

On Apr. 28, popular Crypto X chart technical analyst Ali Martinez (“Ali Charts”) posted an interesting observation to some 136K followers..

The Solana price chart does certainly form a bullish cup and handle pattern starting around Oct. 2022. The cup completes in Nov. 2024, and the handle forms during market panic after Trump took office.

This chart pattern is a classic technical analysis signal of a bullish reversal about to begin in exchange markets. The fact that the pattern spans some two-and-a-half years does not discredit its usefulness as a price signal for Solana in May.

This classically reliable pattern usually becomes more reliable the longer it takes to form.

Ali added that the Bollinger Bands squeezing the middle on the 4-hour chart for SOL tokens also smelled like something is cooking in Solana markets.

2. Solana Tokenized Stocks Announcement

Tokenized contracts stand to transform the world even more than Bitcoin’s settlement-based finance rocked the system. One of the most abundant use cases for that would be tokenized stocks.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in his annual letter to shareholders in April that tokenizing stocks will revolutionize financial markets. In a powerful statement, Fink wrote:

“Every stock, every bond, every fund—every asset—can be tokenized. If they are, it will revolutionize investing. Markets wouldn’t need to close. Transactions that currently take days would clear in seconds. And billions of dollars currently immobilized by settlement delays could be reinvested immediately back into the economy, generating more growth.”

The Solana Policy Institute and three other organizations announced on Apr. 30 a proposal submitted to the SEC called “Project Open.” The proposal is for a product that allows Solana to issue tokens for stocks that users can trade on the blockchain.

3. Bloomberg SOL ETF Approval Odds Jump to 90%

Meanwhile, on Apr. 29, Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, posted the latest approval odds from Bloomberg Intelligence for active crypto ETF applications at the SEC.

Bloomberg’s forecast for a Solana ETF approval from the SEC in 2025 jumped to 90%. Although there are currently more Ripple ETF applications than Solana, Bloomberg’s odds for a SOL ETF were higher, with XRP at 85%.

Solana tops the odds among altcoins at 90%, but Avalanche and Cardano have a 75% chance of approval, according to Bloomberg’s current estimation. When Bitcoin’s ETFs went live in Q1 2024, its price went on a 12-month historic rally.

4. Solana Stablecoin Market Cap Is Spacewalking

In addition to the technical and derivatives market signals, and Solana ecosystem development with more use cases, data from DeFiLlama shows an utterly significant increase in such stablecoins from under $5 billion a year ago to above $13 billion in May.

Web3 users like stablecoins for making currency swaps convenient and sheltering their money from market volatility while having it ready to deploy to take advantage of opportunities.

Having that much liquidity suddenly available for trading in under 12 months is an item of fundamental analysis for the bullish column for Solana this quarter.

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Arthur Hayes Sees Bitcoin at $1M: Here’s How It Compares to Wall Street Forecasts

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Earlier in the week, ex-Bitmex CEO Arthur Hayes laid out his most audacious Bitcoin (BTC) forecast yet: a staggering $1 million price tag by 2028.

He didn’t back down when pressed days later in a follow-up interview with analyst Kyle Chassé, instead laying out a roadmap for how global financial chaos will make it inevitable.

The $1 Million Thesis

In a series of posts on X, Chassé unpacked Hayes’ thought process, revealing the Maelstrom CIO’s prediction envisions a radical scenario where BTC is no longer just a speculative asset, but the ultimate hedge against a global financial system possibly teetering on collapse.

According to Hayes, the world is splitting into economic blocs, with the U.S. and China locked in a slow-motion decoupling. If traditional systems falter, the crypto investor expects the ensuing Treasury buybacks, bond market panic, and what he calls “monetary detonation” will nudge institutions to flee to BTC.

“Bitcoin isn’t risk-on anymore,” Chassé echoed. “It’s system-off.”

In his post, the crypto influencer explained that Hayes’ estimations will possibly play out in two phases: a surge to $250,000 by late 2025 as liquidity floods markets, followed by a moonshot to seven figures triggered by “ballooning deficits, debasement, and unstoppable digital scarcity.”

Corporate Forecasts

While some may consider the BitMEX co-founder’s view too ambitious, it’s not entirely disconnected from where parts of the traditional financial world see Bitcoin heading. Several firms have recently upgraded their BTC price targets amid strong demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs, reduced post-halving supply, and favorable macro backdrops.

Fundstrat’s Tom Lee and H.C. Wainwright both land near Hayes’ interim target, forecasting $225,000 to $250,000 for 2025. BlackRock and Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya come closest to Hayes’s million-dollar prediction at $700,000 and $500,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, Standard-Chartered and Matrixport have lifted their year-end targets to $200,000, while VanEck sees the possibility of a cycle top that reaches as high as $250,000.

While the projections fall far short of the $1 million mark, they are finally recognizing BTC’s potential to move well beyond its previous all-time highs.

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