Corporate cryptocurrency treasuries have continued to expand this week, as publicly traded US companies unveil plans to amass hundreds of millions for altcoin treasury reserves.
On Monday, Nasdaq-listed Helius Medical Technologies revealed a $500 million corporate treasury initiative centered on the Solana token (SOL), indicating growing corporate crypto engagement.
The following day, SC Ventures, the venture arm of Standard Chartered, disclosed intentions to raise $250 million in capital for a digital asset investment fund, scheduled to launch in 2026 and supported by Middle Eastern investors focusing on global opportunities.
On the regulatory front, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced new generic listing standards aimed at expediting reviews for spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on exchanges like Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe BZX.
The SEC approved these new standards along with Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund (GLDC), which signifies the first approval of a multi-asset crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) in the US.
Nasdaq-listed Helius announces $500 million funding for Solana treasury
Helius Medical Technologies, listed on Nasdaq, is initiating a $500 million corporate treasury reserve focused on Solana, marking one of the largest Solana-related treasury initiatives to date.
The company announced on Monday an oversubscribed private investment in public equity (PIPE) offering, pricing common stock at $6.88 per share, along with stapled warrants exercisable at $10.12 over three years. The deal encompasses $500 million in equity and up to $750 million in warrants, contingent on full exercise.
Helius plans to use the net proceeds from the offering to create a crypto treasury strategy with the Solana (SOL) token as its primary reserve asset. The company aims to “significantly scale holdings over the next 12-24 months through a premier capital markets program incorporating ATM sales and other established strategies.”
Helius will explore 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
Standard Chartered’s venture division is gearing up to introduce a $250 million digital asset investment fund by 2026, signaling a burgeoning institutional interest in digital assets.
SC Ventures of Standard Chartered aims to raise this capital to initiate an investment fund centered on digital assets in the financial services sector, as reported Monday by Bloomberg, referencing operating partner Gautam Jain.
The fund, set for a 2026 launch, will be supported by Middle Eastern investors with a focus on global investment avenues, Jain informed Bloomberg.
SC Ventures’ initiative reflects a trend among corporate treasury firms developing long-term accumulation strategies, raising expectations for increased institutional inflows into the crypto market over the coming years.
“Digital assets are a high-conviction theme for SC Ventures, as reflected in our digital asset-native ventures: Libeara, Zodia Markets, Zodia Custody, and our existing digital asset investments,” a representative from SC Ventures remarked to Cointelegraph, adding:
“We continuously assess opportunities in the digital asset domain, whether through direct investments or partnerships.”
Besides digital asset ventures, the firm is also “exploring opportunities in dynamic regions, such as the Middle East and Africa,” the representative noted.
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Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade moves to December, blobs to double after
Ethereum’s core development team has earmarked early December for the tentative launch of the network’s forthcoming major hard fork, named Fusaka, aimed at enhancing the network’s scalability and efficiency.
While the Fusaka upgrade is set to debut on December 3, the increase in blob capacity is scheduled for two weeks later, around December 17, followed by an additional blob capacity hard fork on January 7, 2026.
Both blob capacity hard forks will more than double the existing blob capacity, according to Ethereum researcher Christine D. Kim.
Before the upgrade is implemented on the Ethereum mainnet, three public testnets will be run from early October to mid-November.
“The initial assessment indicates 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 projected for Fusaka, ensuring mainnet scalability – safely,” remarked Ethereum developer community member ethPandaOps in a post on Thursday.
BPO (Blob-Parameter only) forks modify only the parameters related to blob targets and limits, not necessitating client-side updates.
Blobs efficiently store large data sets offchain, 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 Curve Finance decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is currently voting on a proposal aimed at creating new revenue streams for the protocol and its ecosystem.
The proposal, put forth 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 in favor of the proposal at the time of this writing.
The Yield Basis would allow CRV holders who stake their tokens to receive veCRV (vote-escrowed CRV) in exchange, essentially generating income for stakers. Yield Basis would return between 35% and 65% of its value to veCRV holders, while an additional 25% would be allocated for the ecosystem.
Egorov stated that the credit line would facilitate the creation of pools for three assets: WBTC (WBTC), cbBTC (cbBTC), and tBTC (tBTC).
“To enhance incentives for the Curve ecosystem and to cover fees for utilizing Curve technology (cryptopools) for its core operations, Yield Basis allocates 25% of YB that liquidity providers are obtaining to Curve,” Egorov detailed in the proposal.
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40% of Americans would use DeFi with laws in place: Crypto lobby poll
More than 40% of Americans are willing to engage with decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols if proposed legislation is enacted, according to a recent survey.
The DeFi Education Fund (DEF), a crypto lobby group, found in a survey released on Thursday that many Americans express curiosity about DeFi, attributing low trust in the traditional finance system.
Conducted by Ipsos from August 18 to 21, the survey included 1,321 US adults. Ipsos Public Affairs vice president Alec Tyson noted that the study indicated an “emerging awareness of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance” as many respondents voiced frustrations with existing financial institutions’ capabilities to provide security, personalized control, and flexibility.
40% of Americans open to DeFi
The poll revealed that 42% of participants are likely to experiment with DeFi if the proposed legislation is enacted, divided between 9% who indicated they are “extremely or very likely” and 33% who said they are “somewhat likely” to try.
Congress is currently reviewing bills that would clarify the legal status of various cryptocurrencies and delineate how the country’s financial regulators will oversee the sector.
Two in five, or 40%, of respondents expressed that they would “likely try out DeFi,” with 84% of those indicating they would use it for online purchases.
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DeFi market overview
As per data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization concluded the week positively.
The Aster (ASTER) token surged over 600% to become the week’s largest gainer in 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 again next Friday for more stories, insights, and education regarding this rapidly evolving space.
