Cryptocurrency and Blockchain

Bitcoin jumped 23% to nearly $79,000 this week after the U.S. Treasury announced it would at least double its long-dated bond buybacks, from $2 billion to $4 billion per operation, running September 9 through November 4. The Treasury is not printing new money—it is selling short-term debt to buy back older, less-liquid 10- to 30-year bonds, a move analysts likened to Operation Twist 2.0. The announcement sent long-dated yields lower by as much as 10 basis points, the 10-year yield fell sharply, and the dollar weakened, all conditions that reduce the opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset like Bitcoin. Standard Chartered analyst Geoff Kendrick said Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by year-end if it holds above the technical level of $65,500, which it has now cleared. The move triggered a short squeeze: roughly $1.4 billion in crypto short positions were liquidated in four hours, with significantly less of that in Bitcoin alone, amplifying the rally. Ether surged significantly to above $2,400 in the same period, posting a 20% weekly gain. The Treasury's buyback program is designed to smooth liquidity in an illiquid corner of the bond market—off-the-run securities account for a small portion of the Treasury market but generate a substantial share of daily trading volume—not to deliver monetary stimulus, but traders read it as a signal of policy support for risk assets.

X is exploring stablecoin payments for creators, with Circle's USDC among the options under discussion as the platform phases out its Revenue Sharing program in favor of Original Content Rewards. The shift would let X settle creator payouts on public blockchains rather than routing them through fragmented domestic banking networks, a practical advantage for cross-border transfers. No final payment structure, launch timeline, or supported countries have been announced, and critical details—custody, wallet verification, transaction fees, and loss-of-key policies—remain unconfirmed. Creators would need 500 followers and 500,000 impressions from verified accounts over the past three months to qualify; payouts are based on impressions of original posts viewed by Premium users. US tax law requires creators to recognize stablecoin income at fair market value upon receipt. X Money, the platform's payments app for Premium and Premium+ users launched in July, currently relies on traditional banking infrastructure rather than cryptocurrency. Meta has already tested USDC payments to select creators in Colombia and the Philippines, and SpaceX accepts stablecoin payments from Starlink customers for cross-border transactions. The GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, established federal regulatory requirements for payment stablecoins, including reserve, disclosure, and redemption standards for approved issuers.

Laser Digital, the digital-asset subsidiary of Nomura, received authorization Friday to operate as a crypto asset exchange service provider in Japan, the first new entrant the country has licensed in four years. The last platform to win approval was Binance Japan in October 2022. Laser Digital Japan will initially supply liquidity to domestic virtual asset service providers already licensed to serve retail customers; institutional trading is planned for a later phase with no announced launch date. The approval arrives as Japan's parliament reclassified crypto assets as financial instruments under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act in July, moving them from the Payment Services Act where they were treated primarily as payment instruments. That shift introduces insider trading rules and stronger oversight; the new framework takes effect within one year of the July 23 promulgation, on a date set by Cabinet order. A 2026 survey by Nomura and Laser Digital found 79% of respondents planned to invest in crypto assets within three years, signaling institutional demand ahead of the plumbing to serve it. Japan's current tax treatment of individual crypto profits reaches about 55%; the planned system would apply roughly 20% taxation on qualifying gains, expected to take effect January 2028. Laser Digital began preliminary discussions with Japan's Financial Services Agency in October 2025 and already holds a full crypto business license in Dubai, where it runs Bitcoin and Ethereum funds for institutional buyers.