Crypto Market Update: Securitize Launches Tokenized Stocks

Bitcoin price update

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$82,265.70, trading 2.2 percent higher over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin briefly surpassed US$83,000 following a more than 2 percent drop and two days of heavy spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows, brought on by broader geopolitical and macro pressures weighing on digital assets.

“Unless the Middle East conflict reaches a decisive diplomatic resolution, market turmoil will continue to constrain digital asset valuations,” Simon-Peter Massabni, head of business development at XS.com, said in an emailed statement.

Bitcoin price chart

Ether and altcoin price update

• Ethereum (ETH) was priced at US$2,474.32, trading 2.7 percent higher over the last 24 hours.

• XRP (XRP) was priced at US$1.38, up 4.6 percent over the past 24 hours.

• Solana (SOL) was trading at US$108.55, trading 2.7 percent higher over the past 24 hours.

Today's crypto news to know

Read on for a round-up of the biggest crypto market news:

• Securitize brings tokenized shares to Solana
• Wells Fargo reportedly considering Kraken for crypto market access
• Chainlink launches CCIP vault adapters
• Moody’s assigns credit rating to Sky Protocol
• Washington moves US$1 billion in Bitcoin linked to Bitfinex hack

Securitize to bring tokenized shares to Solana

Securitize (NYSE:SECZ) plans to bring blockchain-based versions of shares in Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to market, with each token backed by an underlying share.

The digital asset company said it will launch the products on Solana, initially allowing eligible investors to trade during extended market hours. Stock tokens will retain the ownership rights and economic benefits associated with the underlying shares, and will be available in the US, the EU and other permitted jurisdictions.

"Tokenized stocks should give investors more than a price on a wrapper that tracks a stock and is only offered offshore," said CEO Carlos Domingo. "The opportunity is to bring equities onchain without leaving behind the ownership, investor protections and market infrastructure that make US capital markets work."

Wells Fargo reportedly considering Kraken for crypto market access

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) is discussing a potential cryptocurrency liquidity deal with Payward, the company behind the exchange Kraken, according to sources cited by Coindesk.

Payward could supply liquidity for the bank's digital asset trading, connecting Wells Fargo to crypto markets without requiring it to build the entire trading infrastructure itself. According to Coindesk's sources, the discussions remain preliminary; neither company has commented on the potential arrangement.

The talks add to a growing list of partnerships between established financial institutions and crypto companies seeking a larger role in traditional finance. Wells Fargo already offers spot Bitcoin ETFs to eligible wealth clients, and has backed crypto compliance company Elliptic and trading technology provider Talos. It has also explored blockchain-based deposits and joined a consortium developing a dollar-backed stablecoin.

In addition to that, Wells Fargo hired former Citi banker Mark Gracia earlier this year to strengthen its digital assets team. Separately, the bank advised Nasdaq (NASDAQ:NDAQ) on its September agreement to invest US$100 million in Payward and expand cooperation on tokenized equities and market surveillance.

Meanwhile, Payward is said to be pursuing another partnership with custody bank BNY Mellon (NYSE:BK), with discussions reportedly covering areas such as trading, payments, custody, wealth management and crypto products.

Chainlink launches CCIP vault adapters

Chainlink launched CCIP Vault Adapters on Thursday (October 8), expanding its Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) functionality to support decentralized vault deposits across multi-chain ecosystems.

The new adapters allow yield vaults deployed on one blockchain to accept direct, single-click deposits from users holding assets across more than 80 distinct blockchains.

Instead of manually bridging tokens, switching chains and approving multiple transactions, the adapter uses CCIP’s programmable transfer capability to bundle bridging, token routing and vault execution into a single transaction.

Key early adopters and integration partners include major DeFi protocols and liquid staking platforms such as Aave, Lombard and RockawayX.

Moody’s assigns credit rating to Sky Protocol

Moody’s Ratings has assigned a B3 issuer rating with a "stable outlook" to Sky Protocol.

In traditional bond markets, a B3 rating sits in high-yield/speculative territory. This marks the first-ever credit rating assigned by Moody’s to a decentralized stablecoin protocol.

Sky, formerly known as MakerDAO, is one of decentralized finance’s largest lending protocols and stablecoin issuers. Sky powers the governance-backed USDS stablecoin and features the Sky Savings Rate, allowing users to earn yield on holding stablecoin assets. The protocol functions through an ecosystem of capital allocators, the Sky Agent Network, that deploy liquidity into diversified collateral pools while maintaining reserve balances.

Moody’s highlighted Sky’s thin equity buffers relative to its total asset base as a key credit risk.

Sky is now the only stablecoin protocol rated by both major traditional rating agencies, complementing its existing B rating from S&P Global Ratings.

Washington moves US$1 billion in Bitcoin linked to Bitfinex hack

The US government moved 12,267 BTC worth roughly US$1.01 billion from a wallet holding funds seized in connection with the 2016 Bitfinex hack, according to blockchain analytics firm Arkham. The Bitcoin come from the roughly 94,000 BTC authorities seized in 2022 from Ilya Lichtenstein, who admitted to orchestrating the Bitfinex hack, and his wife, Heather “Razzlekhan” Morgan, who pleaded guilty to money laundering alongside him.

The wallet sent nearly all the 12,267 BTC to a new, unlabeled address at 9:33 a.m. EDT on Thursday, with just 0.0012 BTC going to a second wallet. Arkham’s data shows that both transfers have since moved again; however, the latest transaction did not send the funds directly to an exchange.

The move follows Wednesday (October 7) transfers of about US$119 million in USDT and roughly 2,574 BTC, worth around US$215 million, to Coinbase Prime through intermediary addresses.

The government also moved US$288 million in seized crypto to Coinbase Prime in July, although the platform’s custody services mean those deposits do not confirm a sale.