Seeds of Wisdom RV and Economic Updates Saturday Morning 7-26-25

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Good Morning,

Stablecoin Supply Rises by $4B Amid New U.S. Legislation

• Over $4 billion in new stablecoin supply entered circulation in the week following passage of the GENIUS Act.
• Wall Street firms and federally chartered crypto banks are launching compliant fiat-backed stablecoins.
• The U.S. now has a legal framework supporting dollar-pegged digital assets for institutional use.

GENIUS Act Sparks Institutional-Grade Stablecoin Boom

Just days after the United States passed its first comprehensive crypto legislation, the stablecoin market cap surged by more than $4 billion, signaling a pivotal moment in the evolution of digital finance.

The GENIUS Act, signed into law on July 18, establishes a federal framework for fiat-backed stablecoins, giving banks, asset managers, and fintech firms long-awaited legal clarity to enter the space.

For an asset class long mired in regulatory uncertainty—split between SEC scrutiny, CFTC jurisdictional claims, and stalled congressional action—this new law offers a decisive greenlight.

What the GENIUS Act Delivers

The legislation sets clear rules for fiat-backed stablecoin issuers, including:

  • 1:1 reserve requirements
  • Mandatory independent audits
  • Proper licensing under federal standards

The framework was crafted to protect consumers while providing institutional legitimacy—and early signs show the strategy is working.

Anchorage, WisdomTree, and Wall Street Move In

In the immediate aftermath of the bill’s passage:

  • Anchorage Digital, the U.S.’s only federally chartered crypto bank, announced a new stablecoin issuance platform in partnership with Ethena Labs. Their upcoming product, USDtb, will fully comply with GENIUS Act standards.
  • WisdomTree, a $100B Wall Street asset manager, unveiled USDW, a fiat-backed stablecoin supporting dividend-paying tokenized assets. This makes WisdomTree one of the first traditional financial firms to deploy a regulated stablecoin.
  • Bank of AmericaJPMorgan, and Citigroup have publicly confirmed they are exploring their own GENIUS Act-compliant stablecoins, a sign of mainstream adoption accelerating.

Fiat-Backed Stablecoins Dominate the Market

The new legislation focuses exclusively on fiat-collateralized stablecoins, which currently represent 85% of the market.

  • Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC remain the two largest players, with a combined market cap exceeding $227 billion.

Unlike algorithmic stablecoins—which lost credibility following Terra’s 2022 collapse—fiat-backed tokens are backed by dollars and U.S. Treasurys, offering a much more stable profile for institutional investors.

Crypto-backed coins like DAI, collateralized by assets such as ETH, continue to operate but play a much smaller role (DAI’s market cap stands at approximately $4.3 billion).

Stablecoins Go Institutional

The $4 billion expansion is not just a market reaction—it’s a structural shift.

Stablecoins are no longer niche crypto products. They’re rapidly evolving into infrastructure-grade instruments used in:

  • Dividend distribution
  • Cross-border settlement
  • Tokenized asset platforms
  • Potential integrations with central banks and government systems

Perhaps most importantly, they now enjoy bipartisan support in Congress, transforming a volatile regulatory risk into a national innovation agenda.

Conclusion: A Regulated Future for Digital Dollars

The GENIUS Act represents a major turning point in U.S. crypto policy. For the first time, fiat-backed digital dollars have a federal legal foundation.

With Wall Street entering the marketbanks deploying on-chain assets, and startups building compliant platforms, the stablecoin ecosystem is entering a new era—regulated, integrated, and institutional.

@ Newshounds News™
Source: 
CoinTribune   

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El Salvador’s Bitcoin Reserve Fails to Benefit Average Citizens, Says NGO Executive

• Bitcoin is no longer legal tender in El Salvador under IMF agreement terms.
• State-led BTC education efforts have disappeared, according to grassroots NGOs.
• The country’s Bitcoin accumulation strategy may serve government holdings, not public use.

Bitcoin’s Legal Status Quietly Repealed Under IMF Loan Terms

El Salvador’s once-celebrated Bitcoin experiment is under scrutiny again after local nonprofit leaders confirmed that recent policy shifts have removed Bitcoin’s legal tender status—placing its benefits out of reach for the general population.

Quentin Ehrenmann, general manager at My First Bitcoin, a local NGO focused on Bitcoin education, told Reuters that state-backed initiatives to promote Bitcoin have stalled. The shift came after the government signed a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which required El Salvador to scale back its crypto agenda.

“Since the government entered into this contract with the IMF, Bitcoin is no longer legal tender, and we haven’t seen any other effort to educate people,” Ehrenmann explained.
“The government, apparently, continues to accumulate Bitcoin, which is beneficial for the government — it’s not directly good for the people.”

IMF Loan Terms Restrict Bitcoin Purchases and Public Involvement

In addition to repealing the legal tender status of Bitcoin in the public sector, the El Salvadoran government also agreed not to purchase any new Bitcoin, a condition confirmed by a recent IMF report.

That finding directly contradicts statements from El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, which has repeatedly claimed that the country is buying BTC on a daily basis.

In January, the legislature moved to roll back public sector involvement in Bitcoin to remain compliant with the IMF’s financing terms—raising questions about whether El Salvador’s historic crypto-first policy has ended in failure or simply transitioned into a more private, government-controlled strategy.

NGOs and Foreign Journalists Paint a Contrasting Picture on the Ground

Despite the government’s crypto retreat, some Salvadorans and visiting journalists have continued to test Bitcoin’s use in everyday life.

In 2023, Cointelegraph correspondent Joe Hall visited El Salvador and successfully paid for a hostel stay using IBEX Pay, a Bitcoin Lightning Network-based merchant solution. This demonstrates that Bitcoin infrastructure still exists, but adoption is increasingly dependent on private payment providers and NGOs, not state support.

Conclusion: Bitcoin for the State, Not the People?

El Salvador once made global headlines as the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. But that symbolic move has been quietly reversed under the financial oversight of the IMF.

While the government continues to hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet, the public-facing infrastructure, education programs, and legal framework have receded. That shift has drawn criticism from NGOs and observers who argue that the original promise of financial inclusion through Bitcoin is fading.

With IMF loan compliance now a priority, El Salvador’s crypto strategy appears more centralized, opaque, and removed from public benefit—raising doubts about whether the bold experiment will continue to serve the population it once aimed to empower.

@ Newshounds News™
Source: 
Cointelegraph   

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How IOTA Is Quietly Solving the Real Problem in Global Trade with Real-Time Transparency and Feeless Transfers

• IOTA enables real-time customs checks and tamper-proof trade data across borders.
• East African pilot projects cut costs by 30% and sped up exports for smaller traders.
• Feeless architecture and digital audit trails reduce delays, eliminate friction, and increase trust.

The Hidden Bottleneck in Trade: Operational Friction, Not Fraud

Despite decades of technological progress, global trade remains encumbered by slow, fragmented, and paper-based systems. The real challenge isn’t fraud—but friction: missing documentation, slow approvals, and limited transparency.

IOTA, a feeless distributed ledger protocol, is addressing this challenge head-on. Its decentralized infrastructure is now powering real-time trade transparency and instant customs verification—eliminating weeks of delay with a system that charges no fees to participants.

“While others chase speculative hype, IOTA is laying the infrastructure that makes tokenized trade and compliant DePIN a reality,” one user commented on X.

Pilot Programs Deliver Tangible Results in East Africa

Early-stage deployments of IOTA’s Trade and Logistics Information Pipeline (TLIP) in Kenya and neighboring nations have shown measurable impact. Exporters using the system report:

  • 30% reduction in costs,
  • Significantly faster customs clearance,
  • Greater security and trust for small and mid-sized traders.

IOTA’s solution eliminated up to 50% of the logistics gap, helping smaller firms compete on more equal footing.

TWIN Infrastructure Replaces Paperwork with Secure Digital Credentials

The broader initiative, known as the Trade and Logistics Information Network (TWIN), replaces physical documents with digital equivalents, secured by verifiable credentials.

Once implemented, customs forms, invoices, and approvals can be exchanged securely and instantly—removing manual bottlenecks, redundant intermediaries, and national siloing in trade systems.

Nations participating in TWIN trials report:

  • Faster inter-agency coordination
  • 35% growth in SME export volume
  • Cost reductions of up to 80% in certain trade routes (as of June 2025)

Feeless Ledger, Tamper-Proof Audit Trails, and Institutional Partners

IOTA’s Tangle architecture—a feeless distributed ledger—underpins the entire framework. It ensures:

  • No transaction fees for end users
  • Scalability without congestion
  • Tamper-proof data, ideal for trade audits and dispute prevention

Organizations or institutions can sponsor required fees, allowing for sustainable, spam-resistant usage while keeping the network accessible.

The initiative is being coordinated through the TWIN Foundation, in partnership with:

  • The Tony Blair Institute,
  • TradeMark Africa,
  • The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation,
  • The World Economic Forum

Together, they aim to offer a shared, open-source infrastructure for digital trade, especially in developing markets historically excluded from global trade efficiencies.

Token Impact and Analyst Outlook

As of now, the IOTA token (MIOTA) is trading at $0.2080, up 4.6% over 24 hours, with a market cap of $815.4 million.

Recent technical analysis indicates a potential price move mirroring 2020, which could take the asset to $1+—a 300% increase from current levels—should institutional use and protocol adoption continue to expand.

Conclusion: Infrastructure First, Hype Later

While much of the blockchain space focuses on speculation and marketing, IOTA is building the rails of next-generation global trade. Real-world trials in East Africa and Europe show that digital trust, efficiency, and inclusion are no longer just theoretical.

By solving the real problems of global commerce, IOTA is positioning itself not only as a tech innovator, but as a quiet force reshaping how the world moves goods across borders.

@ Newshounds News™
Source: 
Crypto News Flash   

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