BlackRock and Ethena Labs announced a deepened partnership. BlackRock’s institutional investment management platform Aladdin will expand support for Ethena’s stablecoin products, with USDe joining the list of crypto assets backed by Aladdin. The two parties will also launch a $100 million liquidity mechanism via Securitize, enabling conversions between BlackRock’s tokenized U.S. Treasury fund BUIDL and stablecoins including USDC and USDtb. Eligible clients will be allowed to complete swaps between stablecoins and BUIDL during non-trading hours, aimed at boosting interoperability between tokenized assets and digital dollars.

According to market reports, BlackRock plans to integrate USDE into its investment platform, which has $25 trillion in assets under management.

Cantor Fitzgerald has raised target prices for multiple semiconductor companies, citing the durability of the AI infrastructure cycle and stronger-than-expected long-term industry growth. The adjustments are as follows: Micron’s target price was lifted from $1,500 to $2,000 (rating: Overweight); Marvell’s target price was raised from $220 to $300 (rating: Neutral); Lam Research’s target price was increased from $425 to $500 (rating: Overweight); Intel’s target price was lifted from $90 to $150 (rating: Neutral); and AMD’s target price was raised from $500 to $700 (rating: Overweight). Cantor forecasts that AI infrastructure construction will propel the semiconductor industry into a multi-year super cycle, with sector revenue potentially exceeding $3.5 trillion by 2030.

JPMorgan said that based on its conversations with clients and market participants, institutional demand for perpetual futures remains limited, with the products more widely viewed as speculative trading tools rather than alternatives to traditional derivatives. The report noted that while perpetual futures enable 24/7 trading and eliminate rollover costs, most trading activity stems from traders seeking leveraged directional exposure, not institutions with genuine hedging needs. Additionally, factors including basis risk, the absence of a term structure, insufficient physical delivery, and the lack of traditional clearing guarantees for on-chain products are constraining institutional adoption, per the report. (CoinDesk)

Following the announcement of Strategy’s "Digital Credit Capital Framework", both MSTR and STRC posted notable rebounds. Meanwhile, Bitcoin saw a volatile move: it hit a one-hour high of $60,700, up 1.31%, before pulling back. The cryptocurrency is now back below $60,000, trading at $59,914.75.

According to official announcements, Circle-issued USDC will become the first stablecoin supported on the digital asset custody platform of global financial services firm BNY, as the two parties deepen their cooperation on institutional-grade stablecoin services. BNY clients can now hold USDC in their digital asset custody wallets, and instruct Circle via BNY to mint USDC from U.S. dollars or redeem USDC back to U.S. dollars, covering the full lifecycle of institutional stablecoin operations. Kash Razzaghi, Circle’s Chief Commercial Officer, stated that this partnership is a continuation of the two firms’ long-standing relationship, bridging the gap between on-chain assets and traditional assets for BNY clients. Going forward, the two sides plan to expand this capability to additional stablecoin issuers and digital cash workflows.