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eToro's DeFi Pivot, Standard Chartered on USDC Rails & UK FCA Crypto Rules
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
eToro bets $12.5M on onchain perpetual futures as its crypto profits collapse 72% — a structural pivot, not a retreat. Plus Standard Chartered joins USDC rails and the UK FCA finalises its cryptoasset framework.
Audio is available on Spreaker — see link below.
eToro just put twelve and a half million dollars into a DeFi derivatives platform at the exact moment its crypto division is reporting a seventy-two percent collapse in year-over-year profits. That tension is the signal worth paying attention to today.
The context that makes this move interesting is eToro's own financial position. Cryptocurrency-related profits dropped from forty-six million dollars in Q one twenty-twenty-five to thirteen million dollars in Q one twenty-twenty-six.
eToro isn't alone in this direction. Robinhood and Coinbase are both accelerating into onchain derivatives and tokenized assets.
On the institutional side, Standard Chartered has partnered with Circle to give its clients direct access to USDC issuance and redemption. That means a top-tier international bank is now operationally embedded in regulated stablecoin infrastructure.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has now published its final cryptoasset policy. The stablecoin framework includes a one percent K-SII capital coefficient, clear backing asset requirements, and new market abuse rules under the MARC framework.
The near-term questions to track are straightforward. Can eToro's Extended investment produce returns at a scale that offsets its crypto revenue decline?
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