Crypto Chaos: From Circle Woes to Bitcoin ETFs and Quantum Threats
Circle drama, Bitcoin ETFs, tokenized everything, and even quantum computers crashing the party – tonight’s crypto tape had a bit of everything. Let’s start with Circle, which spent the day in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. The company’s stock slid more than 20% as investors worried the proposed CLARITY Act could clamp down on stablecoin rewards – a big part of the appeal for some users. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan is calling the selloff way overdone, arguing that USDC (USDC) is still positioned to be a major winner in what he sees as a $1.9 trillion stablecoin market by 2030. On his math, that could justify a $75 billion valuation for Circle, with room to potentially double from there. Complicating the narrative, Circle was also under fire after on-chain sleuth ZachXBT highlighted wallets tied to Iran’s Wallex. Circle and Tether froze about $2.49 million, and Circle then went further, freezing USDC in sixteen exchange hot wallets over a U.S. civil case before quietly unfr...