News Roundup — Circle and Binance have announced a strategic partnership to drive global USDC adoption

Major news stories this week;

1. Circle and Binance have announced a strategic partnership to drive global USDC adoption
2. Russian lawmaker proposes strategic Bitcoin reserve to counter geopolitical challenges
3. RLUSD, Ripple’s stablecoin, gains approval from New York’s Dept. of Financial Services
4. Japanese Lawmaker Asks Government to Create National Bitcoin Reserve
5. Italy to scale back tax hike on cryptocurrency capital gains, lawmakers say

Story Summaries;

1. USDC will be integrated into Binance’s ecosystem, enabling 240 million users to use it for trading, saving, and payments. Binance will also adopt USDC in its corporate treasury, reflecting a shift to on-chain financial operations. Circle will provide technology and liquidity solutions to enhance user experience and build trust, while both companies aim to expand USDC offerings and advance digital finance worldwide.
2. Anton Tkachev, a Russian State Duma member, has proposed creating a national Bitcoin reserve to help counter economic sanctions and ensure financial stability, following positive remarks from President Putin about Bitcoin. Tkachev argues that Bitcoin offers a solution to mitigate risks from sanctions, inflation, and currency volatility, with its rising value making it a viable store of value. The proposal aligns with Russia's broader efforts to integrate digital assets into global trade and could set a precedent for other sanctioned nations to adopt cryptocurrencies as strategic reserves.
3. Ripple CTO David Schwartz expressed hopes for a year-end launch of RLUSD, stating that exchange and partner listings for RLUSD will be live soon. RLUSD is in beta testing on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks, with $41.7 million worth of tokens on Ethereum and $10.4 million on XRPL. Ripple aims to enter the stablecoin market with RLUSD, a U.S. government bond-backed cryptocurrency, positioning itself against major players like Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC).
4. Japanese lawmaker Satoshi Hamada has urged the government to establish a national Bitcoin reserve, citing global trends in countries like the U.S. and Brazil. He highlighted Bitcoin's neutrality and resilience to geopolitical influence, advocating its use as a strategic asset within foreign reserves. While Japan's strict crypto regulations have limited market growth, there is growing support among lawmakers and businesses for reforms to position the nation as a blockchain leader.
5. Italy plans to reduce proposed tax increases on cryptocurrency capital gains after industry criticism and internal disagreements within the economy minister's party. Initially, the 2025 budget sought to raise the tax rate from 26% to 42%, but ruling League party members Giulio Centemero and Federico Freni stated the increase would be scaled back significantly during parliamentary discussions. They argued that higher taxes could drive activity into the shadow economy and called for fair treatment of cryptocurrencies. Political sources suggest the government may even maintain the current 26% rate.

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And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!

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