M ore than 128,000 users and 35 ecosystem teams, including Gauntlet, Neutral, and M1, will transition their trading to USDT as Drift Protocol relaunches. The move replaces USDC as the platform's primary settlement asset.
Related Brief 12h ago
stablecoins Tether’s $134M Bet on SDEV Isn’t About Speculation—It’s About Building the Rails for 570 Million People to Use Digital Dollars Daily
Stablecoin transaction volumes have already surpassed $33 trillion—more than Visa and Mastercard combined. For over 570 million people, Tether’s USDT isn’t speculative; it’s how they move, hold, and spend money. The $134 million financing round closed by Stablecoin Development Corporation (SDEV) in January 2026 isn’t about price swings or trading hype. It’s about building the infrastructure those users depend on. Tether Investments joined R01 Fund LP, Framework Ventures, and Sky Frontier Foundation in the private placement, directing capital toward hardening the rails that carry digital dollars across borders and blockchains. The proceeds allowed SDEV to acquire more than 2 billion SKY tokens and scale its role as an on-chain holding company. SDEV, which rebranded from NovaBay Pharmaceuticals and switched its ticker to SDEV in early April 2026, now serves as a public-market conduit to the stablecoin economy—offering institutional and retail investors regulated exposure to a sector that moves $300 billion in circulating value. Tether’s participation signals more than financial backing. It reflects a strategic push toward reliability and usability. That same month, Tether launched tether.wallet, its first self-custodial wallet for retail users, stepping directly into competition with MetaMask, Trust Wallet, and Phantom. The move marks a shift from being purely a settlement layer across 160 countries to becoming a consumer-facing platform. As regulatory clarity improves in key markets, the focus is no longer on whether stablecoins will be accepted—it’s on whether the infrastructure can sustain daily, global financial demand. Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, put it plainly: the next phase isn’t innovation for its own sake. It’s about systems that make digital dollars practical for everyday life, especially where traditional finance fails. Robust infrastructure enables that. And now, it has $134 million more to build it.
This transition is a condition of a recovery plan backed by up to $150 million in combined support from Tether and other partners. Tether contributed up to $127.5 million of that total.
Related Brief 1d ago
cryptocurrency regulation The CLARITY Act’s Delay Moves Its Next Real Chance to 2030
The next viable window for the CLARITY Act may not open until 2030. Senator Cynthia Lummis has warned that if the bill does not reach the Senate floor by May, it will be shelved for the remainder of 2026 due to midterm election pressures. The Senate Banking Committee did not schedule the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act for markup the week of April 20, despite expectations it would after the Easter recess. Chairman Tim Scott cited three unresolved issues: the dispute over stablecoin yield, outstanding DeFi provisions, and the need to align all Republican committee members—each potentially adding two more weeks of delay. Senator Thom Tillis is finalizing a compromise that would permit activity-based rewards on stablecoins but ban passive yield, a framework banks have opposed. Tillis told Politico he remains open to changes. Even if a markup occurs, the bill must secure 60 Senate votes, reconcile with both the Agriculture Committee’s version and the House-passed bill from July 2025, and be signed into law. With only 18 working weeks before the October midterm recess, the path has narrowed. Polymarket now assigns a 58% probability to the bill becoming law in 2026, down from 82% at the start of the year. The next opportunity, Lummis said, may not come again until 2030.
The support follows an April 1 exploit that resulted in approximately $285 million in user losses. Rather than a one-time capital payout, the recovery structure ties the restoration of user balances to Drift's trading activity and exchange revenue. Capital is introduced progressively based on platform performance and usage metrics.
Related Brief 1d ago
on-chain analytics Ethereum stablecoin activity hits lowest levels since December
The demand for stablecoin-related swaps on the Ethereum network has declined. Daily Active Addresses—the total number of addresses participating in transaction activity on the network—have fallen to their lowest levels since December. For USDT, the metric has dropped to 202,300 addresses. For USDC, the USDC metric has dropped to 109,300 addresses. This decline in transaction activity suggests that holders of the two largest stablecoins are reducing their moves on the network. These trends are reported by on-chain analytics firm Santiment.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated the collaboration reflects confidence in Drift's role in the DeFi ecosystem and aims to align recovery with long-term growth. Tether cited its history of coordinating with 310 law enforcement agencies across 64 countries to recover over $800 million in digital asset crime as the rationale for its involvement.
Related Brief Just now
investment banking Goldman Sachs Earnings Beat Signals Shift Toward Defensive Market Sentiment
Investors are adopting defensive positions beneath index-level momentum. This shift in sentiment follows an earnings beat by Goldman Sachs, though the stock closed lower. CEO David Solomon cited rising geopolitical risks involving Iran and signaled increased loan loss provisions. The market response reflects a transition from earnings optimism to risk-awareness.
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