Western Union has entered into a partnership with Crossmint to support the launch of its USDPT stablecoin and Digital Asset Network on the Solana blockchain. The collaboration will integrate Crossmint's wallet and payment APIs with Western Union's infrastructure so fintech platforms can move funds via USDPT and tap into Western Union's global payout network.

Electronic trading firm Tradeweb has led a $31 million Series B round in institutional crypto platform Crossover Markets, giving the CROSSx operator a $200 million valuation. The deal includes a strategic partnership to connect Tradeweb's global institutional network to spot crypto liquidity on CROSSx and will fund the expansion of the ECN, which has handled over $50 billion in volume since 2023. Additional venture funding has recently gone to infrastructure firms Talos, Mesh, Rain and VelaFi as investors target trading, payments and settlement services for digital assets.

Crypto exchange MEXC has expanded its tokenized equity lineup through Ondo Finance, adding 17 new onchain stock pairs that trade against Tether and waiving trading fees on them for the first 30 days. A separate announcement this week introduced seven additional tokens linked to US defense and energy companies, with withdrawals for the new assets scheduled to open on March 5. The latest listings build on a tokenized equity product MEXC and Ondo first launched in September 2025.

On Tuesday, Africa Bitcoin Corporation executive chairman Stafford Masie told the Coin Stories podcast that in some African circular economies, locals treat Bitcoin as everyday money and prefer satoshis over U.S. dollars amid rapid currency debasement. He contrasted 4%–5% annual inflation in Western markets with similar levels occurring within an afternoon in parts of Africa and likened the shift to the continent's leap from legacy systems to mobile technology and digital assets.

BitGo Europe GmbH has extended its crypto-as-a-service platform to all 30 countries in the European Economic Area, allowing banks and fintech firms to integrate regulated custody, trading and fiat on- and off-ramps via APIs. The service offers multi-asset wallets with SEPA fiat rails and custodial coverage reportedly insured up to $250 million, while BitGo's shares, listed under BTGO on the New York Stock Exchange since Jan. 22, were recently trading at $10.20. This expansion comes amid a broader move by European financial institutions to adopt MiCA-aligned digital asset custody through partnerships with specialized providers.

Bitfinex Securities plans to restart USDt-denominated tokenized bond issuances on Bitcoin's Liquid Network for Luxembourg-based fund ALTERNATIVE, after four earlier offerings totaling $6.2 million since 2023. The new sales are expected to surpass $10 million, with onchain fundraising, coupon payments and principal repayments, while the broader move coincides with an ongoing U.S. policy debate over yield-bearing stablecoin products.

Northern Trust Asset Management has introduced a tokenized share class for its NIF Treasury Instruments Portfolio, entering the digital assets arena with a blockchain-based ownership mirror. The fund continues to invest in short-term US Treasurys and seeks to maintain a $1.00 per-share value, while nearly $11 billion in US Treasury debt is now represented on public blockchains. The new share class will initially be available via BNY's LiquidityDirect platform, which runs on Goldman Sachs' Digital Asset Platform.

US asset manager REX Shares has launched the GIF ETF, which packages nine single-stock Growth & Income strategies tied to names including Coinbase and MicroStrategy into one income-focused fund trading on Cboe. The ETF targets about 1.25x exposure to each underlying stock while generating weekly distributions from covered call option premiums.

Hut 8 reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $279.7 million on Dec. 31, reversing income of $152.2 million a year earlier, while quarterly revenue climbed to $88.5 million. Compute revenue rose to $81.9 million over the same period, and the miner agreed to a 15-year, $7 billion AI data center lease backed by Google as it shifts deeper into high-performance computing. The company ended the year with about $1.4 billion in cash and Bitcoin reserves and access to up to $400 million in revolving credit.