S&P 500 climbs after solid retail sales data

The post MoneyGram launches stablecoin-powered app in Colombia appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. MoneyGram has launched a new mobile application in Colombia that uses USD-pegged stablecoins to modernize cross-border remittances. According to an announcement on Wednesday, the app allows customers to receive money instantly into a US dollar balance backed by Circle’s USDC stablecoin, which can be stored, spent, or cashed out through MoneyGram’s global retail network. The rollout is designed to address the volatility of local currencies, particularly the Colombian peso. Built on the Stellar blockchain and supported by wallet infrastructure provider Crossmint, the app marks MoneyGram’s most significant move yet to integrate stablecoins into consumer-facing services. Colombia was selected as the first market due to its heavy reliance on inbound remittances—families in the country receive more than 22 times the amount they send abroad, according to Statista. The announcement said future expansions will target other remittance-heavy markets. MoneyGram, which has nearly 500,000 retail locations globally, has experimented with blockchain rails since partnering with the Stellar Development Foundation in 2021. It has since built cash on and off ramps for stablecoins, developed APIs for crypto integration, and incorporated stablecoins into its internal settlement processes. “This launch is the first step toward a world where every person, everywhere, has access to dollar stablecoins,” CEO Anthony Soohoo stated. The company emphasized compliance, citing decades of regulatory experience, though stablecoin oversight remains fluid. The US Congress passed the GENIUS Act earlier this year, establishing a framework for stablecoin regulation, which MoneyGram has pointed to as providing clearer guardrails. This is a developing story. This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor Jeffrey Albus before publication. Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters: Source: https://blockworks.co/news/moneygram-stablecoin-app-colombia

The post Solana Treasury Firm Holdings Could Double as Forward Industries Unveils $4 Billion Raise appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. In brief Forward Industries, the largest publicly traded Solana treasury company, filed to raise $4 billion through an at-the-market equity offering to expand its SOL holdings. The company’s stock (FORD) fell 8.2% following the announcement, while the proceeds could more than double the $3.1 billion currently held in Solana treasuries. DeFi Development Corp. also registered a preferred stock offering with the SEC, following similar funding tactics used by Bitcoin treasury companies like MicroStrategy. Forward Industries, the newest and largest publicly traded Solana treasury company, has filed to raise $4 billion through an at-the-market equity offering. For the sake of comparison, this $4 billion raise is nearly the same size as Bitcoin treasury Strategy’s Stride preferred stock raise in July. And it’s double the size of the Strife preferred stock offering the company did in May. The proceeds would be used for working capital; pursuit of its Solana token strategy, and “the purchase of income-generating assets to grow its business,” the company said in a press release. Forward Industries declined to comment to Decrypt on what other income-generating assets it’s considering adding to its balance sheet.  As markets opened Wednesday morning, Forward saw its stock price take a dive. The shares, which trade under the FORD ticker on the Nasdaq, dipped to $31.29 before rebounding to $34.28 at the time of writing—marking a 8.2% fall for the session. If the company sells all the shares and spends the bulk of the proceeds on buying Solana, it could more than double the amount of SOL being held in treasuries. At the time of writing, there’s already $3.1 billion in Solana treasuries, according to crypto price aggregator CoinGecko. Users on Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt parent company DASTAN, have been growing more confident that SOL will reach $250 sooner than…

Microsoft will invest $4 billion to build a second AI data center in Wisconsin, bringing its total investment in the region to over $7 billion.