Schlagwort: crypto market news

• GCUL enters private testnet, aiming for 2026 commercial rollout.
• Python-based smart contracts enhance developer accessibility.
• Google-CME partnership tests 24/7 settlement for payments and collateral.

Google Cloud has officially stepped into the blockchain infrastructure space with its Layer-1 platform, Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), which entered a private testnet phase in late August 2025.

The move positions Google as an emerging competitor in the institutional blockchain market, offering neutral, high-performance distributed ledger technology designed for financial institutions and payment providers.

GCUL supports Python-based smart contracts, making it more accessible for developers and enabling sophisticated on-chain programmable logic.

What it means for financial services and blockchain adoption

Google’s GCUL is designed to serve as a neutral infrastructure layer, tackling a key challenge in existing blockchain ecosystems, where financial firms often hesitate to build on networks controlled by competitors.

For instance, stablecoin issuers like Tether typically avoid blockchains developed by rivals such as Circle, while payment providers like Adyen have been cautious about adopting Stripe’s blockchain solutions.

By maintaining neutrality, GCUL could drive broader institutional adoption, allowing any financial institution to develop blockchain applications without competitive conflicts.

The Google-CME Group partnership, announced publicly in March 2025, underpins GCUL’s early development and testing.

CME Group has completed initial integration and testing, focusing on using the blockchain to enable 24/7 settlement of collateral, margins, and fees, with the potential to reduce costs and improve liquidity.

Full testing with market participants and the commercial rollout of services are expected in 2026.

Google’s blockchain addresses the surging demand for stablecoin transactions and faster payment solutions.

According to a study cited by Google, stablecoin volumes tripled in 2024, reaching $5 trillion in organic transactions, while total volumes climbed to $30 trillion globally.

The report highlighted that fragmented payment systems continue to drive high costs and inefficiencies in cross-border trade, with potential global GDP losses projected at $2.8 trillion by 2030.

GCUL aims to tackle these challenges by providing a transparent, low-latency transaction infrastructure.

What we know about GCUL’s technology and market position

Technically, GCUL features Python-based smart contracts, supporting flexible and widely adopted programming standards.

The platform is built not only to streamline payments but also to function as an infrastructure hub for capital markets, enabling native commercial bank money on-chain and supporting agentic payment capabilities.

Google plans to expand GCUL across its broader cloud ecosystem, granting access to a wide network of institutional partners and developers.

Compared with other emerging Layer-1 blockchain projects, such as Stripe’s Tempo and Circle’s Arc, Google emphasizes GCUL’s role as a neutral player in financial infrastructure.

While Stripe’s blockchain prioritizes payment app performance and Ethereum compatibility, and Circle’s platform focuses on stablecoin transactions, foreign exchange, and capital markets applications, GCUL is designed as a more open, less vertically integrated Layer-1 solution, enabling interoperability across competing institutions.

The post Decoding Google’s Layer-1 blockchain: what it means and what we know appeared first on CoinJournal.

• XAUt0 adoption slower, with $2.5 million market cap according to CoinGecko.
• Polygon supports over $1 billion in USDT liquidity and six million wallets.
• Tether’s USDT surpasses $167 billion market cap, XAUT crosses $1 billion in August.

Polygon has become the latest blockchain to adopt USDT0 and XAUt0, the omnichain versions of Tether’s USDT and XAUT stablecoins, as the stablecoin market continues to expand rapidly.

The upgrade was announced by USDT0 operator Everdawn Labs, with the integration introducing new cross-chain liquidity standards built on LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) framework.

The move positions Polygon as a key hub for stablecoin payments, decentralised finance (DeFi), and enterprise use cases.

It follows a year in which Tether’s USDT reached a market capitalisation of more than $167 billion in August, and gold-backed XAUT crossed the $1 billion mark on 8 August.

USDT0 and XAUt0 expand across blockchains

USDT0 and XAUt0 differ from traditional stablecoins by not being directly backed by assets such as cash or gold. Instead, they are minted when users deposit USDT or XAUT into a specific contract on Ethereum, which serves as the “LockBox” chain for the ecosystem.

USDT0, launched in January 2025, functions as the omnichain version of USDT, enabling access to dollar-pegged liquidity across multiple networks. XAUt0 followed soon after, providing gold-backed liquidity in a similar format.

Polygon becomes the eleventh supported blockchain for USDT0 and the third for XAUt0, after earlier deployments on TON and Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM.

The tokens have expanded steadily: USDT0’s market capitalisation climbed to nearly $1.6 billion in just two months, while XAUt0 has so far reached $2.5 million, according to CoinGecko data.

Cointelegraph reports that Polygon’s integration also represents a milestone for XAUt0, marking its third blockchain expansion. By contrast, USDT0 has spread more widely, finding adoption across 11 blockchains since its January launch.

Why Polygon is central to stablecoin adoption

Polygon was selected for the integration due to its strong existing presence in the stablecoin ecosystem. The network already supports over $1 billion in USDT liquidity and more than six million wallets, making it a significant base for both retail and institutional adoption.

The network has also undergone major infrastructure upgrades such as AggLayer and the Bhilai Hardfork, which enhance its scalability and compatibility with cross-chain projects.

These upgrades have made Polygon an “ideal home” for omnichain stablecoins, with the upgrade ensuring that current Polygon-based USDT (PoS USDT) automatically becomes part of the USDT0 network without a change in contract address.

With this integration, both dollar-pegged and gold-backed liquidity become natively accessible on Polygon. This combination opens new possibilities for DeFi applications, payment systems, and real-world asset (RWA) adoption at an institutional scale.

A milestone in stablecoin interoperability

The integration is also notable for being USDT0’s second major upgrade involving more than $1 billion in liquidity, following its earlier launch on Arbitrum. Polygon now plays a critical role in providing the infrastructure for seamless stablecoin transfer across multiple chains.

Since Ethereum acts as the LockBox chain, all USDT0 and XAUt0 minted tokens across networks correspond to reserves locked on Ethereum. This system ensures that the supply across blockchains remains consistent with deposits on the base chain.

The broader context highlights the growing demand for stablecoins as a foundation for digital payments and tokenised assets.

With USDT’s dominance surpassing $167 billion in market value and XAUT gaining traction past $1 billion, the addition of omnichain liquidity tools like USDT0 and XAUt0 reflects a market increasingly focused on interoperability and scalability.

The post Polygon integrates USDT0 and XAUt0 as stablecoin liquidity expands past $1.6 billion appeared first on CoinJournal.

• Litecoin trades near $112, just in the green on the day but at risk of fresh losses.
• The LTC price hovers at key support level as bulls attempt to hold bears off.
• Bullish crypto market and catalysts such as spot Litecoin exchange-traded funds could help LTC go higher.

Litecoin (LTC) is trading at $112, about 2% up in the last 24 hours, but in the red over the past week and month time frames.

Meanwhile, the 24-hour trading volume of $694 million is more than 22% down on the previous day as top altcoins look to bounce.

As LTC price drops towards the $110 level, can bulls hold onto gains or is the altcoin poised for a revisit of the psychological $100 mark and lower?

Litecoin price forecast: Is LTC set for a revisit of $90 next?

Litecoin price has broken below the middle line of an ascending channel pattern. Price at $112 suggests a broader crypto pullback could accelerate LTC’s dip to support at $100 and possibly to $90.

The technical indicators on the daily chart support a likely flip lower, with RSI and MACD giving sellers the upper hand.

Open Interest has also dropped slightly, down to $994 million from the record highs of $1.27 billion hit recently as LTC spiked.  OI in Litecoin futures does notably remain higher than the lows of $800 million seen in early August.

A break above $120 could thus allow bulls to test the upper channel barrier near $140 and aim for the psychological $200 mark.

While the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator shows a bearish crossover from mid-August and prints red histogram bars, a mixed setup has other indicators signaling potential resilience.

For instance, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart sits at 46, but is upsloping to suggest buyers could keep off a fresh dip towards the oversold territory.

If RSI pops above the neutral point of 50 and market conditions align, LTC could see the above scenario play out.

What could help Litecoin price higher?

Network growth, including a significant hashrate spike, suggests confidence in the proof-of-work coin.

This and market sentiment point to a scenario where bulls ride the overall crypto uptick in the coming months to drive higher.

The upcoming approval of spot ETFs, with Litecoin among those with notable high odds of a nod, add to this outlook.

In this case, the SEC’s October 2025 decisions on spot Litecoin ETFs from Grayscale, Bitwise, and CoinShares, which carry a 90% approval probability, per Bloomberg analysts, could be huge catalysts.

Experts say a SEC approval for LTC spot ETFs could drive institutional inflows of up to $500 million in Litecoin at launch, printing the trajectory that saw Bitcoin’s price rally to new highs in early 2024.

The post Litecoin price forecast: what next as LTC drops to key support? appeared first on CoinJournal.

• XRP futures OI falls 30% to $7.7B as price slips from $3.66 peak to $2.98.
• Whale inflows signal selling pressure, keeping XRP near $3 support zone.
• Analysts see long-term uptrend intact, with 2025 targets above $5 still viable.

XRP futures open interest (OI) has fallen sharply over the past month, highlighting a reduction in speculative positioning as the cryptocurrency consolidates below the $3 mark.

While the decline raises caution over near-term momentum, historical trends suggest the cooling leverage environment could offer opportunities for accumulation.

Open Interest retreat signals cooling speculation

According to derivatives data, XRP’s futures OI has dropped by 30% over the past month, falling to $7.7 billion from $11 billion.

This pullback has coincided with spot prices retreating from a recent peak of $3.66 to $2.98.

A decline in open interest often reflects waning speculative activity, with traders either taking profits or reducing exposure due to uncertainty.

This is not the first time XRP has seen such a sharp reset.

In Q1, open interest dropped 65%, plunging from $8.5 billion to $3 billion, while spot prices fell more than 50%.

The current trend, while less severe, mirrors that earlier setup, raising the prospect of traders re-engaging once OI finds a new base.

On the technical front, XRP has a daily fair value gap between $2.33 and $2.65, which analysts highlight as a likely demand zone if open interest continues to ease.

Historically, moderating leverage has preceded stabilisation periods or accumulation phases that pave the way for fresh rallies.

Controlled leverage flush reduces risk of cascading selloffs

Despite the pullback, liquidation data suggests that market stress remains contained.

Only $22 million in long positions were liquidated on Monday, with $56 million in liquidations during the 6% correction on August 14.

Compared with prior episodes of sharp selloffs in overheated conditions, these figures reflect a relatively controlled leverage reset.

The limited liquidations reduce the risk of cascading sell pressure that can exacerbate declines in volatile markets.

This controlled backdrop offers a degree of resilience, supporting the case that XRP may find a price bottom in the near term.

If the $2.33–$2.65 support zone holds, traders could interpret the current leverage unwind as constructive rather than a sign of deeper structural weakness.

Whale inflows pressure near-term outlook

While open interest has cooled, on-chain data signals potential headwinds from large holders.

According to CryptoQuant, XRP’s rally to $3.66 was accompanied by significant inflows to exchanges, with the heaviest activity coming from whale wallets holding 100,000 to 1 million XRP.

Historically, such spikes in whale inflows have preceded major market tops, including levels above $3 in 2018, $1.90 in 2021, and $0.90 in 2023.

Currently, XRP is consolidating just below $3 while exchange inflows remain elevated, indicating sustained selling pressure from large investors.

If this pattern persists, downside risks toward the $2.6 support zone may materialize.

However, analysts note that a strong defense of the $3 threshold would underscore market resilience and potentially set the stage for a renewed bullish push.

Structurally, XRP’s broader uptrend remains intact.

Compared with past cycles, the cryptocurrency is positioned in a stronger technical environment, with long-term targets above $5 in 2025 still achievable despite near-term volatility.

The post XRP Open Interest declines 30% as price consolidate below $3 appeared first on CoinJournal.