S&P Global has led a strategic investment in crypto data provider Kaiko that has expanded the company’s Series B funding round to $110 million as it builds data infrastructure for tokenized capital markets.

Kaiko said Monday that BNP Paribas, Bpifrance, Broadridge, Canton Foundation, Coinbase Ventures, DRW Venture Capital, Nasdaq Ventures, Royal Bank of Canada, Stellar and Susquehanna Private Equity Investments participated in the investment.

Existing shareholders Anthemis, Point Nine and Revaia took part in the financing as well. Kaiko did not disclose its valuation or specify how much S&P Global and the other investors contributed individually.

The funding gives Kaiko fresh capital to develop its market data business while extending its infrastructure into onchain financial markets, where banks and other financial firms have been testing tokenized securities, settlement systems and blockchain-based financial products.

Kaiko funding reaches $110 million

The expanded Series B builds on the $53 million Kaiko raised in June 2022, when Eight Roads led a funding round involving Revaia and existing investors Alven, Point Nine, Anthemis and Underscore.

Crypto.news previously reported that Kaiko secured the $53 million investment during a period of falling digital asset prices and stress across the crypto market.

The latest financing brings a different set of financial institutions into Kaiko’s shareholder base. Several of the new investors have businesses spanning market data, banking, exchanges, blockchain infrastructure and capital markets.

Kaiko said the new investors have joined a Strategic Industry Working Group chaired by the company. The group will concentrate on data and infrastructure needed for tokenized markets as financial assets increasingly move onto blockchain networks.

Fresh capital will be directed toward Kaiko’s existing digital asset market data operation and its infrastructure for onchain capital markets. The company currently provides data covering more than 150 exchanges and protocols.

Kaiko has spent several years building products around institutional crypto pricing, liquidity, indices and market information. Its expansion has included acquisitions as well as integrations with companies that provide digital asset infrastructure to banks and other financial institutions.

In November 2024, Kaiko acquired index provider Vinter as part of its expansion into digital asset indices and European exchange-traded products. The transaction was described at the time as Kaiko’s third and largest acquisition, though financial terms were not disclosed.

Kaiko had previously bought quantitative data firm Kesitys in April 2022 and Napoleon Index from CoinShares later that year.

More recently, the company acquired DeFi infrastructure provider Cometh and U.S. digital asset data company Amberdata, extending the areas covered by its data and technology business.

S&P Global deepens work with Kaiko

S&P Global’s investment follows existing work between Kaiko and S&P Dow Jones Indices on blockchain-based benchmarks and crypto indices.

“As digital assets accelerate, S&P Global is investing for the future, and this investment underscores that conviction,” S&P Dow Jones Indices CEO Cathy Clay said.

Earlier this month, the two companies launched the S&P Kaiko Digital Asset Indices, bringing their crypto index products into a single co-branded suite.

Their relationship had already extended into tokenized traditional financial benchmarks. In April, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Kaiko unveiled plans to tokenize the iBoxx U.S. Treasuries index on Canton Network.

Under that project, the index was designed to operate through smart-contract infrastructure carrying index data, intellectual property rights, licensing conditions, fees and access controls. The arrangement was intended to let developers use the benchmark in blockchain-based financial products while retaining the controls required by institutional market participants.

The project placed the iBoxx benchmark on the same network where other financial firms have been working with tokenized government securities and institutional settlement infrastructure.

S&P Dow Jones Indices has continued building digital asset benchmarks outside its work with Kaiko. In August, S&P and Pantera Capital introduced a crypto index built around protocol revenue, liquidity and market capitalization, with ETH, BNB, SOL, TRX and HYPE among its largest constituents at launch.

Tokenized markets draw institutional infrastructure

Kaiko’s new Strategic Industry Working Group brings together several companies that already have exposure to digital asset or tokenized financial infrastructure.

Canton Foundation’s participation connects the group with Canton Network, where Kaiko and S&P have worked on the tokenized iBoxx Treasury index. Financial institutions have been testing the network for use cases involving securities, collateral, repo markets and settlement.

Activity on Canton has extended into government bond markets. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has been involved in work examining Japanese government bond repo transactions on the network, while another industry group has been studying tokenized JGBs, stablecoin settlement, T+0 processing and round-the-clock market access.

The network has attracted capital from large financial institutions as well. Digital Asset, the company behind Canton, raised $355 million in June in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participants including Citadel Securities, Apollo, BNP Paribas, CME Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, HSBC, Optiver and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

BNP Paribas and Coinbase Ventures now appear among the investors in Kaiko’s expanded Series B as well.

Institutional products have started using Kaiko data as their underlying pricing source. Bitwise’s Canton Coin ETP, launched on Deutsche Börse Xetra in May, tracks the Kaiko CANTO Reference Rate LDNLF index and carries an annual expense ratio of 0.85%.

Kaiko has worked with institutional digital asset infrastructure provider Taurus as well. A 2025 integration made Kaiko’s pricing and liquidity information available through the Taurus platform, extending access to clients using its digital asset infrastructure.

Taurus has since continued expanding the blockchain networks available to financial institutions through its technology. In August, the company completed an 18-month Hedera integration covering custody, staking, token issuance, node infrastructure and smart contract deployment for banks and regulated institutions.

Kaiko said its latest investment will support the core market data operation while financing further development of data infrastructure designed for onchain capital markets. The company has not disclosed a timetable for deploying the new capital or the valuation attached to the expanded Series B round.

Fragmented regulatory regimes are limiting stablecoin adoption in international trade, according to Juan Marchetti, director of the trade in services and investment division at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“The constraint is not technology. It is actually regulation and the lack of development of regulatory frameworks,” said Marchetti during a Monday speech in Geneva, at the launch of WTO’s study on stablecoins in world trade.

He cited an October 2025 report from the Financial Stability Board which found that only 39%, or 11 out of 28 surveyed jurisdictions, have finalized their stablecoin regulatory frameworks.

Marchetti added that stablecoins may improve some of the main friction points of trade finance, but currently only account for 3% of total international payments due to fragmented regulatory regimes. 

The WTO’s report identified five friction points that may be improved by stablecoin adoption, including high costs, low speed, limited access, insufficient transparency and foreign exchange limitations.

Stablecoins ability to ease friction in international payments. Source: Cointelegraph/WTO

The report also revealed that stablecoin payments in cross-border payments grew 35-fold between 2020 and mid-2024.

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Emerging economies stand to gain most from stablecoin adoption: WTO

Developing economies stand to benefit most from stablecoin adoption due to their ability to reduce remittance fees. However, these same countries have the least developed regulatory regimes to facilitate adoption, according to the WTO’s director. He said:

“Contribution to trade will depend far less on the technology than on regulatory convergence, interoperability and the surrounding financial infrastructure, especially in developing economies that stand to gain.”

Some of the largest global payment processors are exploring stablecoins to improve cross-border payments.

In August, Mastercard partnered with stablecoin orchestration network Borderless to pilot how to bring more trust into cross-border stablecoin transfers through the payment processing giant’s Crypto Credential framework. In June, it announced plans to expand its settlement capabilities to include intraday, weekend and holiday card settlement, including settlement through stablecoins.

Also in August, Western Union said it partnered with stablecoin infrastructure provider Rain to launch a digital wallet and Visa-branded card that enables users to hold and spend a US dollar-backed stablecoin in 37 markets, planning to expand it to more than 60 markets by the end of the year.

Magazine: Why Australia’s $17B crypto opportunity depends on regulation

China has pushed back against a proposal to slow advanced artificial intelligence development, turning a debate over AI safety into a wider dispute over technology and national competition. The response followed an essay from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who called for tighter safeguards and slower progress in frontier AI systems. China’s state-backed Global Times described the proposal as a “Cold War playbook” targeting the country’s technological development.

The dispute also drew attention after the Coin Bureau account shared the development on X. Its post said Beijing had criticized Amodei’s position and linked the debate to U.S. efforts to restrict advanced AI technology exports to China.

Key Takeaways

• China has condemned the AI slowdown proposal made by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, considering it as a “Cold War” approach to technological rivalry.
• Dario Amodei advocates the need for slower advancement in frontier AI technologies to ensure sufficient time for safety research to be in sync with the development of more potent AI.
• Amodei has advocated for stringent measures on AI chips supplied to China, arguing that access to advanced computing hardware plays an important role in the advancement of frontier AI.
• China has rejected the idea of geopolitical AI rivalry and insisted on international cooperation in AI policy.
• Donald Trump has taken a different view and said there is no need for any slowdown in AI technologies in the United States compared to China.
• The discussion links AI safety and semiconductor policies because advanced AI requires substantial computational capability.

Amodei Calls for Slower Frontier AI Development

Amodei published an essay outlining a framework he calls “pacing the frontier.” He argued that AI capabilities are advancing faster than safety research can keep up. He pointed to recursive self-improvement as one reason for caution, referring to AI systems becoming capable of helping develop more advanced AI systems.

His proposal does not call for stopping AI development altogether. Instead, it seeks to slow the rate at which frontier models gain new capabilities. Amodei proposed independent safety evaluators, cooperation among AI companies, and common safety standards among democratic countries. He also called for international coordination on AI risks.

Amodei also addressed China directly. He urged the United States to maintain restrictions on advanced AI chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment supplied to China, arguing that access to computing hardware will shape China’s ability to develop increasingly capable AI systems.

Beijing Rejects the AI Containment Argument

China’s response focused on the technology restrictions within Amodei’s proposal. Global Times argued that the measures could restrict China’s AI development through technology barriers. It also accused Washington of seeking to maintain an advantage in advanced technology.

China’s Foreign Ministry took a broader position on the dispute. Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said confrontation and aggressive competition could disrupt international efforts to establish AI governance. Beijing has also called for greater international cooperation on artificial intelligence.

The disagreement reflects a technical divide in AI development. Advanced models require large amounts of computing power, which depends heavily on high-end chips and data-center infrastructure. Restrictions on those resources can therefore affect how quickly companies train and deploy increasingly capable models.

Trump Rejects Calls to Slow the AI Race

The debate has also exposed differences within the United States. President Donald Trump rejected calls for Washington to slow AI development because of safety concerns. During a visit to Ireland, Trump said the United States should maintain its lead over China and stated that “whoever wins AI, wins.”

Trump’s position contrasts with Amodei’s proposal for a slower pace. Other technology leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, have expressed support for pacing frontier AI development. Altman has also said that pacing does not mean stopping AI progress.

AI Safety and US-China Competition Converge

The disagreement now combines two separate questions: how quickly advanced AI should develop and how much access China should have to the technology behind it. Amodei has argued that both issues need to be addressed as AI capabilities advance.

China, meanwhile, has rejected the framing of tighter restrictions as a neutral safety measure. Global Times has linked those policies to broader efforts to limit China’s technological progress. The debate is expected to remain part of wider discussions over AI governance, semiconductor controls, and competition between Washington and Beijing.

Despite Bitcoin failing to hold above $80,000 following the recent rally, the cryptocurrency is unlikely to revisit the lower price levels it has hovered near for much of this year, according to CoinMarketCap Head of Research Alice Liu.

“I think we might have already touched the bottom,” Liu tells Cointelegraph on Trade Secrets, referring to Bitcoin falling to around $59,000 in June this year, approximately 53% below its October all-time high of $126,100. 

Bitcoin recently tapped $81,600 at the start of September, an approximate 28% rally since mid-August. It pushed the CoinMarketCap Crypto Fear & Greed Index, which measures overall sentiment in the crypto market, back up to Greed after posting Fear scores for most of the year.

However, Liu says some of the more interesting narratives are unfolding outside Bitcoin, particularly in the markets for tokenized real-world assets and perpetual futures. “For Hype [Hyperliquid], there are two things I want to mention. Number one is the activity, and number two is the price, because the network activity doesn’t necessarily translate to the price, and vice versa,” she says.

Hyperliquid ‘still leads’ says Alice Liu

“One interesting thing is I was looking at the RWA perps for the past two months, so the perpetrals backed onto tokenized stocks, tokenized ETFs, and tokenized indices,” she says. Liu said that while Hyperliquid currently holds market share, that might not always be the case as centralized exchanges swoop in.

“Tokenization of the perps, people normally traded on Hyperliquid. But since Binance started to launch the RWA perps, the volume and liquidity quickly moved to Binance,” Liu says. 

“Binance takes about 50% of the market share. But when it comes to DEX, Hyperliquid still leads in that space,” she says.

Hyperliquid is up 47.50% over the past 30 days. Source: CoinMarketCap

“Hyperliquid is still a venue where a lot of the liquidity is getting aggregated, and a lot of the product’s scale is created there.” 

On the Hyperliquid token’s price, Liu points to a different driver. “Hype did hit an all-time high recently: $86. And what’s really interesting is the buybacks.” She explains that Hyperliquid is leading the pack in token buybacks, which is when a project uses its revenue to buy back its own tokens on the open market.

“Hype has spent over $400 million USD on token buybacks. So I think some of this price action momentum we’re seeing is supported by that as well,” Liu says.

She says that Hyperliquid only has a small amount of tokens unlocked, so we’ll continue to see the token unlocks gradually come out.

Alice Liu is more cautious on the AI-crypto narrative

Liu says that means the Hype price is dependent on revenue flowing in to support buybacks.

“So, will we have enough activity on the network to generate the revenue to continue with the buybacks to support the price level? I think that’s one of the key things to watch.” 

While Liu remains bullish on Hyperliquid, she is more cautious on the AI-crypto narrative, particularly AI tokens with little or no utility that surged in popularity in late 2023.

“They are facing such big competition at the moment with the actual AI stocks, all the memory stocks, and all the AI companies. So I think that might be the competitor they’re facing,” Liu says

“For the previous cycle meme-ified AI tokens that do not have any utility or infrastructure, and are purely just backing onto a concept. I think those could potentially go to zero,” she says.

However, Liu emphasizes that there are “some really solid” AI infrastructure projects. “I think they will have utilities too. But even then, I think they’re likely to get a price discount,” she says.

Liu says Bitcoin and the broader crypto market are being underestimated as a place to park funds in the current economic environment, but she takes a more conservative view than Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, who have both predicted Bitcoin will reach $1 million by 2030.

“Bitcoin to $500K by 2030,” Liu laughs.

“It’s not unlikely that we might hit one million, but I’ll give it a more conservative answer,” Liu adds.