The growth of corporate cryptocurrency treasuries continued this week, as publicly listed US companies unveiled plans to gather hundreds of millions for altcoin reserves.
On Monday, Nasdaq-listed Helius Medical Technologies initiated a $500 million corporate treasury initiative centered on the Solana token (SOL), indicating a shift toward wider corporate crypto adoption.
The following day, Standard Chartered’s investment arm, SC Ventures, revealed plans to secure $250 million in capital for a digital asset investment fund, which is set to launch in 2026 with backing from Middle Eastern investors and a focus on global opportunities.
On the regulatory side, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced new generic listing standards designed to expedite reviews for spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on exchanges such as Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe BZX.
These new standards were approved alongside Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund (GLDC), marking the first approval of a multi-asset crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) in the US.
Helius Launches $500 Million Fund for Solana Treasury
Helius Medical Technologies, listed on Nasdaq, is launching a $500 million corporate treasury reserve focused on Solana, positioning it as one of the largest treasury initiatives centered on Solana to date.
The company announced on Monday that it priced an oversubscribed private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering of common stock at $6.88 per share, with stapled warrants exercisable at $10.12 over three years. The deal comprises $500 million in equity and up to $750 million in warrants, assuming full exercise.
Helius noted that it will use the net proceeds to create a crypto treasury strategy, with the Solana (SOL) token as its core asset. The company stated its intention to “significantly scale holdings over the next 12-24 months through a best-in-class capital markets program involving ATM sales and other effective strategies.”
Helius also plans to explore staking and lending options within the Solana ecosystem to generate extra revenue from the SOL treasury while maintaining a “conservative” risk approach, it explained.
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Standard Chartered to Raise $250 Million for Digital Asset Fund
Standard Chartered’s SC Ventures is gearing up to launch a $250 million investment fund for digital assets in 2026, highlighting the increasing institutional interest in the realm of digital assets.
SC Ventures aims to raise this capital for a fund concentrating on digital assets within the financial services sector, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday, citing Gautam Jain, the operating partner.
Expected to launch in 2026, this fund will receive backing from Middle Eastern investors and will target global investment prospects, Jain informed Bloomberg.
SC Ventures’ strategy aligns with a growing trend of corporate treasury firms establishing long-term accumulation strategies, further fueling expectations that substantial institutional inflows may enter the crypto market in the coming years.
“Digital assets remain a high-conviction theme for SC Ventures, as evidenced by our digital asset-native ventures: Libeara, Zodia Markets, Zodia Custody, and our existing digital asset investments,” a SC Ventures representative told Cointelegraph, adding:
“We continuously evaluate opportunities within the digital asset space, whether through direct investments or joint ventures.”
Besides digital asset investments, the firm is also assessing opportunities in dynamic regions like the Middle East and Africa, the representative added.
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Ethereum’s Fusaka Upgrade Scheduled for December
Ethereum’s core developers have tentatively scheduled the launch of the next major network hard fork, dubbed Fusaka, for early December, aiming to enhance the scalability and efficiency of the network.
The Fusaka upgrade is slated to go live on Dec. 3, while an increase in blob capacity is expected two weeks later, around Dec. 17, followed by another blob capacity hard fork on Jan. 7, 2026.
Both blob capacity hard forks will more than double the current blob capacity, according to Ethereum researcher Christine D. Kim.
Before the upgrade goes live on the Ethereum mainnet, three public testnets will be conducted from early October to mid-November.
“The preliminary conclusion indicates a Max blob count of 15 for BPO1 [Blob Parameter Only] and a Max blob count of 21 for BPO2. In total, 5 BPOs are planned for Fusaka, ensuring safe scalability for the mainnet,” stated Ethereum developer community team ethPandaOps in a recent X post.
BPO (Blob-Parameter only) forks modify parameters related to blob targets and limits, necessitating no updates on the client side.
Blobs store substantial datasets off-chain, enhancing the efficiency of layer-2 networks while lowering transaction costs.
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Curve Finance Community Votes on $60 Million Proposal for Yield-Bearing CRV
The Curve Finance decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is currently voting on a proposal that could unlock new revenue streams for the protocol and its ecosystem.
The proposal, presented by founder Michael Egorov in August, seeks to establish a $60 million credit line of crvUSD for Yield Basis. Voting commenced on Wednesday, with 97% of votes cast in favor of the proposal as of this writing.
Under the Yield Basis, CRV holders who stake their tokens would receive veCRV (vote-escrowed CRV), generating income for stakers. Yield Basis aims to return between 35% and 65% of its value to veCRV holders, with an additional 25% reserved for the ecosystem.
Egorov mentioned that this credit line would facilitate the creation of pools for three assets: WBTC (WBTC), cbBTC (cbBTC), and tBTC (tBTC).
“To generate more incentives for the Curve ecosystem and to cover the fee for utilizing Curve technology (cryptopools) in its core, Yield Basis allocates 25% of YB earned by Yield Basis liquidity providers to Curve,” Egorov stated in the proposal.
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40% of Americans Open to DeFi Once Laws are Established: Crypto Lobby Poll
Over 40% of Americans expressed willingness to utilize decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols if forthcoming legislation is enacted, as revealed in a new survey.
The crypto advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) published a survey on Thursday illustrating that many Americans are “curious about DeFi,” with respondents displaying a lack of trust in traditional finance systems.
This survey, conducted by Ipsos from August 18 to 21, involved 1,321 US adults. Ipsos Public Affairs vice president Alec Tyson noted a growing interest in cryptocurrency and decentralized finance, reflecting frustrations with the ability of current financial institutions to deliver security, personalized control, and flexibility.
40% of Americans Open to DeFi
The poll indicated that 42% are likely to experiment with DeFi once proposed legislation is enacted, with 9% identifying as “extremely or very likely” and 33% as “somewhat likely” to give it a try.
Congress is currently evaluating bills that aim to define the legal status of various cryptocurrencies and outline the responsibilities of financial regulators overseeing the sector.
Four in ten respondents expressed they would “likely try out DeFi,” with 84% of them indicating they would use it for online purchases.
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DeFi Market Overview
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicates that most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization saw positive performance this week.
The Aster (ASTER) token surged over 600%, marking it as the top gainer in the top 100, while the Immutable (IMX) token increased by over 50% during the same period.
Thank you for reading our summary of the most significant DeFi developments of the week. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights, and educational content pertaining to this rapidly evolving field.
