Corporate cryptocurrency treasuries have continued to expand this week, with publicly listed US companies announcing plans to secure hundreds of millions for alternative cryptocurrency treasury reserves.
On Monday, Nasdaq-listed Helius Medical Technologies revealed a $500 million corporate treasury initiative centered around the Solana token (SOL), highlighting further corporate adoption of cryptocurrency.
The following day, SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered, disclosed intentions to raise $250 million for a digital asset investment fund, aiming for launch in 2026 and backed by Middle Eastern investors targeting global investment prospects.
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 like Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe BZX.
The SEC’s approval of these new standards coincided with the greenlighting of Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund (GLDC), marking the first multi-asset crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) to receive approval in the US.
Nasdaq-listed Helius announces $500 million funding for Solana treasury
Helius Medical Technologies, publicly traded on Nasdaq, is launching a $500 million corporate treasury reserve focused on Solana, marking 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 at $6.88 per share, alongside stapled warrants exercisable at $10.12 for three years. The deal includes $500 million in equity and up to $750 million in warrants, if fully exercised.
Helius stated that net proceeds from the offering will be utilized to create a crypto treasury strategy, with the Solana (SOL) token as its primary reserve asset. The firm plans to “significantly scale holdings over the next 12-24 months using best-in-class capital market strategies such as ATM sales.”
Furthermore, Helius will investigate staking and lending prospects within the Solana ecosystem to generate additional revenue from the SOL treasury, while adhering to a “conservative” risk profile.
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Standard Chartered venture arm to raise $250 million for digital asset fund: Report
SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered, is gearing up to launch a $250 million digital asset investment fund in 2026, indicating a rising institutional interest in digital assets.
The firm intends to secure capital to establish an investment fund centered on digital assets in the financial services sector, as reported by Bloomberg on Monday, citing operating partner Gautam Jain.
The fund, set for launch in 2026, will have backing from Middle East investors, focusing on global investment opportunities, Jain informed Bloomberg.
SC Ventures’ initiative follows a trend of corporate treasury firms formulating long-term accumulation strategies, raising expectations for increased institutional inflows into the crypto market over 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 representative from SC Ventures expressed to Cointelegraph, adding:
“We are continuously exploring opportunities in the digital asset space, whether through direct investments or joint ventures.”
Additionally, the firm is also “evaluating opportunities in dynamic regions, like the Middle East and Africa,” the representative added.
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Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade moves to December, blobs to double after
Core developers of Ethereum have scheduled the tentative launch of the network’s next significant hard fork, named Fusaka, for early December, aiming to enhance scalability and efficiency.
The Fusaka upgrade is slated to go live on December 3, while the increase in blob capacity is expected to occur two weeks after, targeting around December 17, followed by another blob capacity hard fork on January 7, 2026.
Both blob capacity hard forks will more than double the current blob capacity, according to Ethereum researcher Christine D. Kim.
Prior to the upgrade’s activation on the Ethereum mainnet, three public testnets will be conducted between early October and mid-November.
“The initial finding indicates that we can proceed with a Max blob count of 15 for BPO1 [Blob Parameter Only] and Max blob count of 21 for BPO2. There are a total of 5 BPOs planned for Fusaka, ensuring mainnet scales effectively and safely,” Ethereum developer community ethPandaOps noted in a post on X this Thursday.
BPO (Blob-Parameter only) forks solely adjust parameters related to blob targets and limits, requiring no updates from the client side.
Blobs facilitate the storage of large off-chain datasets, enhancing the efficiency of layer-2 networks while reducing transaction costs.
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Curve Finance community to vote on $60 million proposal to make CRV a yield-bearing asset
The decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) of Curve Finance is currently voting on a proposal that could unlock new revenue streams for the protocol and its ecosystem.
The proposal, presented in August by founder Michael Egorov, seeks to establish a $60 million credit line of crvUSD for Yield Basis. Voting commenced on Wednesday, with 97% of votes cast endorsing the proposal at the time of writing.
Under Yield Basis, CRV token holders who stake their tokens would receive veCRV (vote-escrowed CRV) in return, effectively generating income for stakers. Yield Basis is projected to return between 35% and 65% of its value to veCRV holders, while an additional 25% will be designated for the ecosystem.
Egorov stated that the credit line would sufficiently cover creating pools for three assets: WBTC (WBTC), cbBTC (cbBTC), and tBTC (tBTC).
“To enhance incentives for the Curve ecosystem as well as to compensate for using Curve technology (cryptopools) that supports its core, Yield Basis allocates an amount equal to 25% of YB that Yield Basis liquidity providers receive to Curve,” Egorov detailed in the proposal.
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40% of Americans would use DeFi with laws in place: Crypto lobby poll
A recent survey indicates that more than 40% of Americans are willing to use decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols if proposed legislation is enacted.
The DeFi Education Fund (DEF), a crypto lobby group, released a survey on Thursday showing that many Americans are “curious about DeFi” as they expressed a lack of trust in the traditional finance system.
Conducted by Ipsos from August 18 to 21, the survey polled 1,321 US adults. Ipsos Public Affairs vice president Alec Tyson noted that the study revealed “emerging awareness of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance as many Americans voiced frustrations with the current financial institutions’ ability to provide security, personalized control, and flexibility.”
40% of Americans open to DeFi
The poll revealed that 42% of respondents indicated they would likely try DeFi if proposed laws were passed, with 9% stating they were “extremely or very likely” and 33% saying they were “somewhat likely” to try.
Congress is currently considering bills aimed at defining the legal status of various cryptocurrencies and specifying how the nation’s financial regulators will oversee the sector.
Four in ten respondents, or 40%, stated they’d “likely try out DeFi,” with 84% of those intending to use it for online purchases.
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DeFi market overview
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveals that most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week positively.
The Aster (ASTER) token surged over 600%, making it the week’s top gainer among the top 100, followed by the Immutable (IMX) token, which increased by over 50% during the past week.
Thank you for reading our summary of this week’s most significant DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights, and education regarding this rapidly advancing field.
