Crypto’s business adopts money-market and Treasury tools

BlackRock announced two tokenized money-market products aimed at stablecoin issuers. One product tokenizes shares of an existing Treasury liquidity strategy on the Ethereum blockchain, allowing approved investors to transfer ownership onchain while the underlying assets remain invested in cash and short-term U.S. government securities. The second is a new institutional money market vehicle built for digital-asset markets that supports multiple blockchains and automatically reinvests income. BlackRock already operates a large tokenized Treasury fund and introduced the products after passage of the GENIUS Act, which established a federal framework for payment stablecoins.

Tether’s latest attestation showed a $1.5 billion net operating profit for the second quarter, driven mainly by interest on U.S. Treasury securities and repurchase agreements. The report listed a reserve surplus of $4.11 billion as of June 30. Tether’s circulating USDT supply rose by $446 million to $184.6 billion, keeping a market share above 60 percent. The broader stablecoin market is valued at about $307 billion. Higher short-term interest rates increased yields on Treasury bills and cash equivalents, supporting the company’s earnings. Tether remains one of the largest holders of U.S. Treasury securities.

Tokenized real-world assets showed mixed results. A report found tokenized gold maintained value during a sharp sell-off but saw limited use as collateral in decentralized lending markets. Spot trading volume for tokenized bullion reached $90.7 billion in the first quarter. At the same time, roughly $63 million of Tether Gold and PAX Gold was used as collateral on Aave v3 and Morpho, about 1.5 percent of their combined $4.2 billion market capitalization. On March 23, lending protocols processed a large cluster of XAUT liquidations after gold fell about 10 percent in a week; JPMorgan analyst Greg Shearer described the episode as an “extremely brutal flush.” Gold futures have declined by more than 20 percent from January peaks.

Public bitcoin mining results emphasized production and balance-sheet management. Nasdaq-listed American Bitcoin, co-founded by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. and majority-owned by Hut 8, reported record second-quarter production of 932 BTC. Mining revenue rose 8 percent to $67 million from $62.1 million in the prior quarter, and the company narrowed its net loss to $57.2 million from $81.8 million. The miner completed a 1-for-15 reverse stock split to remain listed on Nasdaq and held about 8,002 BTC as of June 30, roughly 3,090 of which were pledged as collateral under equipment purchase agreements with Bitmain.

Asset managers and stablecoin issuers are using short-term government debt and money-market structures to manage reserves and earn yield. Tokenized cash-equivalent products and onchain collateral use continue to expand across digital-asset markets, and companies are adjusting capital structures and collateral arrangements in response to higher interest rates and regulatory developments.