Journalist

Tanzeel Akhtar

Journalist

Tanzeel Akhtar

About Author

Tanzeel Akhtar is a seasoned journalist who has been reporting on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology since 2015. Her work has appeared in leading publications including The Wall Street Journal,…

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Last updated: 

August 27, 2025

Finastra, a financial services software firm, has announced a collaboration with Circle Internet Group, Inc. (NYSE: CRCL), a stablecoin firm, to allow banks to integrate USDC settlement into cross-border payment flows.

In an announcement, the firm explains that this initiative will use Finastra’s payment hub solutions, including Global PAYplus (GPP), marking the first time Finastra will connect financial institutions to Circle’s payment infrastructure.

The companies said the partnership will also allow for faster international transfers by combining Finastra’s banking network’s scalability with USDC’s stability and transparency.

USDC Settlement Option

Through this collaboration, Finastra’s GPP customers—already processing over $5 trillion in cross-border transactions daily—will be able to settle transactions in USDC, even when underlying payment instructions remain denominated in fiat currencies.

This new option reduces reliance on traditional correspondent banking networks, allowing banks to accelerate settlement times without compromising compliance requirements or foreign exchange processes.

Empowering Banks With New Options

“This collaboration is about giving banks the tools they need to innovate in cross-border payments without having to build a standalone payment processing infrastructure,” said Chris Walters, CEO of Finastra.

He explained that by linking Finastra’s payment hub to Circle’s blockchain-based settlement infrastructure, banks can explore payment models while maintaining operational continuity.

Expanding USDC’s Global Role

“Finastra’s reach and expertise in powering the payments infrastructure for leading banks worldwide makes them a natural choice to further expand USDC settlement in cross-border flows,” said Jeremy Allaire, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Circle.

With stablecoin adoption gaining momentum, the Finastra-Circle partnership represents a major move in reshaping international payments.

Circle Debuts Layer-1 Blockchain Arc Using USDC for Native Gas

Earlier this month, Circle unveiled Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin finance. This marks what the company calls a “defining moment” as it moves toward developing a full-stack internet financial platform.

The announcement came alongside Circle’s fiscal Q2 2025 results, which showed substantial growth in its core business. Circle reported that USDC in circulation surged 90% year-over-year to $61.3 billion, reaching $65.2 billion as of August 10, 2025. Total revenue and reserve income grew 53% to $658 million, while adjusted EBITDA climbed 52% to $126 million.

The company posted a net loss of $482 million, primarily due to $591 million in non-cash charges tied to its June IPO. That offering raised $1.2 billion, with 19.9 million newly issued shares sold at $31 each, generating $583 million in net proceeds.

CEO Jeremy Allaire described the IPO as a “pivotal moment” for Circle and for the broader adoption of stablecoins, noting accelerating interest from global financial institutions and internet companies.

Digital Asset and a consortium of major financial institutions have completed an on-chain U.S. Treasury repo transaction on the Canton Network, involving USDC as the cash leg and tokenized Treasuries as collateral.

The trade, executed on Tradeweb during the weekend, is being positioned as an industry first for enabling atomic settlement of both legs entirely on-chain within a public-permissioned institutional network.

Per the announcement, the Treasuries were custodied at the Depository Trust Company (DTC), a subsidiary of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), and then mirrored onto Canton for use as freely transferable collateral.

USDC was minted natively on Canton to support the transaction, enabling instant exchange and removing reliance on traditional banking hours or Fedwire settlement. The execution over a Saturday demonstrated the potential for continuous financing and collateral mobility outside legacy market windows.

Participants included Bank of America, Citadel Securities, Societe Generale, Virtu Financial, DTCC, Circle, Cumberland DRW, and Tradeweb, among others.

The firms described the trade as part of the Global Collateral Network initiative, which seeks to integrate high-quality liquid assets such as Treasuries into a unified, always-on market infrastructure that combines institutional compliance requirements with programmable settlement.

What makes this special?

While tokenized Treasuries are already issued on public blockchains such as Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, XRP, Avalanche, and Stellar by multiple asset managers and fintechs, most existing implementations either settle one leg off-chain or operate without large-scale participation from major banks and central securities depositories.

In this case, both cash and collateral were tokenized and settled atomically on the same ledger within a framework designed for permissioned institutional use, integrated directly with established trading venues.

Tradeweb’s platform handled execution, with the transaction designed to preserve participant confidentiality while demonstrating technical feasibility.

According to the announcement, additional transactions using the same structure are planned later this year as part of broader testing of the network’s interoperability and privacy features.

The Canton Network describes itself as a public, interoperable blockchain with permissioned access for regulated entities, aiming to link separate applications and asset types into a single environment for cross-asset settlement.

The repo trade forms part of its roadmap to connect traditional financial infrastructure with on-chain settlement rails for round-the-clock market operations.

Mobile giant AT&T is preparing to pay millions of dollars to current and former customers to settle a class action lawsuit over a pair of massive data breaches.

A judge has granted preliminary approval for a settlement that will hand $177 million to people affected by the breaches.

The first breach is believed to have happened back in 2019, with hackers stealing sensitive data from 7.6 million current and 65.4 million former customers.

Although AT&T believes the data may have been taken from one of its vendors, the firm has acknowledged that data including customers’ social security numbers, names and dates of birth was exposed.

The second breach happened last year, when hackers breached the company’s Snowflake cloud workspace environment, stealing smartphone call and text metadata of nearly 110 million customers from May of 2022 to October of 2022.

People who can prove they suffered financial damages as a result of the data breaches will likely receive a larger share of the payout.

At time of publishing, affected customers are expected to receive notice of eligibility by mail or email, with the claims process coming in August.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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The European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council has approved research efforts that will use central bank money to settle distributed ledger technology (DLT) transactions, as the body looks to make its payment systems more efficient.

One short term approach is called “Pontes” which will link DLT platforms with Eurosystem TARGET services that ensure the flow of cash and securities across Europe. A pilot will be launched by the third quarter of 2026. A more long term solution called “Appia” will facilitate global operations and analyze DLT-based solutions, the post said on Tuesday.

“The decision is in line with the Eurosystem’s commitment to supporting innovation without compromising on safety and efficiency in financial market infrastructures,” the release said.

The ECB has been exploring how to utilize DLT technology to boost payments settlement, something which central banks across the world have been looking at. It conducted exploratory work on wholesale central bank money settlement between May and November 2024. A report on the results of this work was also published on Tuesday that identified DLT having benefits such as reducing costs and countering credit and settlement risks.

Read more: ECB Targets October to Finish Digital Euro Preparation Phase

Millions of T-mobile customers affected by a massive hack and data breach are beginning to receive their share of a $350 million class action settlement.

According to the settlement administrator, the distribution of settlement payments has now begun and will continue over the next several weeks.

The 2021 cyberattack compromised the personal data of a staggering 76 million US customers, exposing names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and other sensitive information.

T-Mobile agreed to the settlement in July of 2022 to resolve claims from the August 2021 breach.

Customers eligible for payments will receive a digital deposit or paper check based on their selection during the claim process, with amounts ranging from $25 to $100, with some eligible for up to $25,000 for substantial documented losses.

The settlement also includes two years of free identity protection services for affected customers.

The breach, one of the largest in U.S. history, prompted lawsuits accusing T-Mobile of failing to secure customer data.

T-Mobile says it has since enhanced its cybersecurity protocols to prevent future incidents, and the company did not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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Victims of a massive data breach are set to receive their share of a multi-million dollar settlement after a court preliminarily approved the deal.

According to the settlement portal, $20 million will be shared among more than five million affected users of the cybersecurity firm Fortra’s file transfer platform.

The impacted data includes “names, addresses, dates of birth, member identification numbers, telephone numbers, employer names, Social Security numbers, start and end dates of health plan coverage, and health insurance information.”

The lawsuit was filed against Fortra, as well as rail service provider Brightline, healthcare firms Aetna, Community Health, Elevance Health, Fortra, Imagine360, Intellihartx, NationsBenefits and Santa Clara Family Health Plan.

Class members who provide “reasonable documentation for losses” of the 2023 data breach will receive up to $5,000. In the absence of documentation proving the extent of the losses they suffered as a result of the data breach, class members will receive around $85.

Claims must be submitted by August 29th. Besides the cash payment, class members are also eligible to receive dark web monitoring services for one year to mitigate the risks of potential identity theft and fraud.

The payments will be made once the court gives the class action settlement final approval. A final approval hearing of the lawsuit settlement terms will be held in mid-September.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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