The big picture: In an interview on CoinDesk’s Public Keys, Bitwise Head of Research Ryan Rasmussen said investors are underestimating Circle’s opportunity as stablecoins move toward a multi-trillion-dollar market.

• Rasmussen expects the stablecoin market to grow from roughly $300 billion to between $3 trillion and $5 trillion.
• He said Circle is particularly well positioned as U.S. stablecoin regulation takes shape, with its existing market share giving it a head start.
• “I think we’ll look back five years from now and Circle will be not only a stablecoin giant, but a payment giant,” Rasmussen said.

Closer look: Rasmussen’s thesis isn’t just that more stablecoins mean more reserve revenue for Circle — he sees payments infrastructure becoming a major second business.

• Circle is building infrastructure designed to facilitate payments in a stablecoin-driven financial system.
• Rasmussen said that expansion is being “very mispriced by the market,” as investors remain focused on Circle’s reserve-based business.
• He compared Circle’s potential trajectory to global payments giants including Visa and Mastercard.

The competition: Banks, consumer companies and other incumbents are preparing their own stablecoins, but Rasmussen doesn’t see that as a major threat to Circle.

TRON closed its second quarter with a sharp rebound in stablecoin activity, ending the period holding $87.9 billion in circulating USDT—a level that, according to a Messari report, pushed TRON ahead of Ethereum in USDT circulation. The network also handled $2.1 trillion in USDT transfers across the quarter, underscoring how central stablecoin throughput remains to TRON’s growth story.

Messari’s “State of TRON Q2 2026” report attributes much of the expansion to stablecoin market concentration and renewed transfer momentum. It found that USDT made up 98.5% of TRON’s stablecoin market, while the overall stablecoin base grew 4.1% quarter-over-quarter to a record $89.2 billion. Average daily USDT transfer volume also returned to growth, rising 4.3% to $22.8 billion after it had declined in the first quarter.

Key takeaways

• USDT circulation on TRON hit $87.9 billion in Q2, with Messari noting TRON surpassed Ethereum on circulating USDT.
• USDT transfers increased meaningfully, with average daily transfer volume up 4.3% to $22.8 billion.
• Network usage hit new highs: 11.8 million average daily transactions (+8.7%) and 3.6 million active addresses (+11.7%).
• Fees reversed a two-quarter decline, rising 15.9% to $699.4 million as network fees climbed for the first time since an August 2025 governance change.
• DeFi activity weakened, with DeFi TVL down 1.9% to $4.4 billion and DEX volume falling for a fourth straight quarter.

Stablecoin momentum returns, and activity follows

The quarter’s headline numbers point to a clear relationship: higher stablecoin transfer flow translated into stronger on-chain usage. Messari reports that TRON averaged 11.8 million daily transactions during Q2, up 8.7% quarter-over-quarter. Daily active addresses also increased, climbing 11.7% to 3.6 million.

On peak days, usage reached even more visible milestones. The report says TRON processed a record 14.6 million transactions on June 15. For investors and traders tracking TRON’s health, this kind of throughput matters because it often correlates with broader stablecoin utility—especially when USDT dominates the stablecoin mix.

Messari’s breakdown reinforces that dominance. With USDT at 98.5% of TRON’s stablecoin market, the network’s stablecoin growth is effectively synonymous with USDT growth. That can create outsized upside when transfers accelerate, but it also concentrates risk if stablecoin demand shifts across chains.

Network fees improve after an earlier policy shift

Beyond volume, Q2 also marked a change in revenue dynamics. Messari notes that higher activity helped reverse a two-quarter decline in TRON network fees. Fees increased 15.9% to $699.4 million, their first quarterly increase since an August 2025 governance change reduced the price of TRON’s “energy unit,” a key metric that influences transaction costs.

From an economic perspective, this is an important nuance. Lower energy unit prices can reduce per-transaction costs, which may improve user experience but can also compress fee totals—at least until activity ramps enough to offset the unit price effect. Messari’s finding that the fee decline has now been reversed suggests Q2’s throughput was strong enough to compensate for the earlier pricing change.

DeFi fades while fundamentals for stablecoins strengthen

Not all parts of TRON’s ecosystem followed the same direction. Messari reports that DeFi TVL fell 1.9% to $4.4 billion. The report also shows that average daily DEX volume dropped 21.7% to $49.3 million, continuing a trend of contraction: it was the fourth consecutive quarterly decline.

For market participants, this divergence between stablecoin rails and DeFi activity is worth monitoring. Stablecoins can remain highly active even when trading and on-chain lending demand soften, particularly if users primarily use the chain for payments or settlement rather than DeFi strategies.

TRON’s token supply dynamics also remained a mixed signal. Despite the higher activity levels, the report states that TRX supply stayed inflationary. Circulating supply increased by 87 million tokens during the quarter, with issuance continuing to outpace burns. That means network usage growth in Q2 did not translate into immediate deflationary pressure on supply.

Institutional access expands across trading, tokenization, and staking

Alongside the on-chain activity metrics, Messari highlights a separate thread: growing institutional access to TRON products during Q2. Securitize reportedly launched Hamilton Lane’s tokenized Senior Credit Opportunities Fund on TRON, described as the network’s first TRON-issued asset. The fund began with about $4.3 million under management.

Grayscale also expanded the conversation around institutional custody and exposure by adding TRX to its list of assets under consideration. Separately, a proposed staked TRX exchange-traded product from Canary Capital remained in registration, according to the report.

Broader market access reflected similar momentum. Bitnomial launched spot TRX trading in the United States, OKX Europe introduced MiFID-regulated TRX expiry perpetuals, and Binance.US restored trading in the token during the quarter.

The push for institutional infrastructure did not stop after Q2. Earlier coverage noted that Anchorage Digital added native TRX staking and custody for TRC-20 assets in July, enabling institutional clients to stake TRX directly from its custody platform.

Taken together, these developments suggest TRON’s narrative is broadening beyond consumer usage and stablecoin transfers toward more regulated, institutional-friendly access paths. For investors, that can matter because improved access often reduces friction—both operational and regulatory—when firms decide how to allocate capital across crypto assets.

Looking ahead, readers should watch whether TRON’s stablecoin-driven strength can pull more DeFi liquidity back in, given that DEX volumes and DeFi TVL fell for multiple quarters. At the same time, the sustainability of higher fees after the earlier energy unit change will likely be tested by the next round of network usage—especially on peak days like the June 15 transaction record.

Crypto industry leaders are voicing frustration after the U.S. Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act before its August recess, leaving the market structure bill facing a crucial procedural vote weeks before the 2026 midterm elections.

CLARITY Act faces a Sept. 15 procedural vote

Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the motion to proceed to the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act shortly before the Senate began its month-long recess, according to the Senate Daily Press.

The filing positions the legislation for an initial procedural test after senators return to Washington on Sept. 14. The cloture motion is scheduled to ripen on Sept. 15, according to previous crypto.news coverage.

The vote would determine whether the Senate begins formally considering the bill. It would not amount to final passage.

CLARITY would still need to move through debate and possible amendments before receiving a separate approval vote. Any Senate-approved version that differs from the measure passed by the House would also need to return to the lower chamber before reaching President Donald Trump’s desk.

The legislation needs at least 60 votes to clear the Senate’s cloture threshold. Republicans cannot reach that number without Democratic support, making the remaining bipartisan negotiations central to its prospects.

The House approved the CLARITY Act by a 294–134 vote on July 17, 2025, with 78 Democrats supporting the legislation. The Senate Banking Committee advanced its portion of the legislation by a 15–9 vote in May 2026, with Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks joining Republicans.

Crypto leaders criticize the Senate delay

Industry executives and advocates reacted negatively after lawmakers left Washington without holding a procedural vote.

“You can imagine how frustrated I am,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis said after the chamber failed to schedule the legislation for consideration before the recess.

Lummis added that she would continue working with other senators and described the effort as “far from over.” She had previously pushed for a CLARITY Act vote before the August recess, saying negotiators had spent months working through the bill’s CFTC provisions and other disputes.

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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong also called the delay disappointing but argued that broader crypto adoption would continue regardless of Congress’ schedule.

Armstrong pointed to stablecoin adoption, tokenization, and expanding digital asset markets as sources of continued momentum. Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad similarly said September would offer lawmakers another opportunity to “finish the job.”

As crypto.news previously reported, the delay has not produced an immediate decline in Coinbase shares. COIN closed Friday at $153.60, gaining about 5.7% during the session.

BitMine Chair Tom Lee offered a similar market assessment in the company’s weekly report. Lee said investors appeared more focused on softer inflation and employment data than on the immediate consequences of CLARITY failing to advance before the recess.

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Ethics and stablecoin rewards divide senators

The September timetable gives lawmakers more time to negotiate but also pushes the vote closer to the Nov. 3 midterm elections. The Senate will have roughly seven weeks between its return and Election Day, narrowing the available floor time for a complex bill.

Democratic demands for stronger ethics restrictions remain one of the main obstacles. Several lawmakers want the bill to address crypto investments and business interests held by senior federal officials and their families.

Those concerns have centered on Trump’s association with World Liberty Financial and the Official Trump memecoin launched shortly before he returned to office. Sen. Elizabeth Warren supports creating a federal crypto framework but has rejected the current CLARITY Act over corruption, consumer protection, national security, and financial stability concerns.

Banking groups are pressing senators from another direction. They argue that the legislation could still allow crypto companies to provide stablecoin rewards under certain conditions, potentially drawing deposits away from community banks.

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The current framework distinguishes between interest paid simply for holding a stablecoin and rewards connected to activities such as trading, payments, or loyalty programs. That distinction has placed companies such as Coinbase at the center of the dispute.

Banking associations have urged the Senate to close what they describe as stablecoin-yield loopholes. Crypto advocates counter that the legislation already prevents stablecoin issuers from paying deposit-like interest and that broader restrictions would protect banks from competition.

Prediction markets remain split on passage

Prediction markets show traders expect the Senate to vote on CLARITY in September, but they remain doubtful that the legislation will become law before the end of 2026.

A Kalshi contract with approximately $1.23 million in trading volume placed the probability of a Senate vote before Oct. 1 at 88%. That closely aligns with the Sept. 15 procedural schedule created by Thune’s filing.

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However, a separate Polymarket contract assigned only a 25% probability that CLARITY would be signed into law during 2026. More than $5.79 million had been traded on that market.

The difference reflects the additional steps required after the first Senate vote. Lawmakers must clear the 60-vote threshold, settle disagreements over ethics and stablecoin rewards, approve a final Senate text, and reconcile it with the House version.

Longer-term contracts have increasingly shifted expectations into 2027. Kalshi traders recently placed the probability of the legislation taking effect before July 1, 2027, at 41%, while assigning higher odds to passage under later deadlines, according to crypto.news reporting.

The Sept. 15 vote will provide the next concrete test. Clearing cloture would allow senators to begin considering the bill, but its final passage would still depend on whether negotiators can convert procedural support into a durable bipartisan agreement.

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Kris bursts into Bunk 5 gasping. You made it, Billy soothes, adding that it’s just play. “It doesn’t feel like play, Billy,” Kris says. “I know,” Billy answers. “But it is.” Everything the film taught them converges on the bed. Billy lies over her, tells her she’s almost there, almost dead, and asks her to do what Billy did on that mattress decades ago: watch herself through his eyes. Kris does. Billy once left her body to survive a scene; Kris leaves hers to arrive in one.
We enter Little Death’s perspective, taking in the blue door, the candles on the railing, the slow approach down the hallway, while Kris narrates her own stalking in a mounting gasp: He’s walking inside, he’s coming closer, she can see herself now. Terror is no longer distinguishable from arousal. “Billy, I don’t want to die,” she pleads, and then, in the same breath, “Billy, please don’t leave me.” Billy stays. The spear comes down through them both, and Einbinder plays the instant of it with astonishing precision: Kris’s face moving from something like surprise into unmistakable release, her eyes fluttering as the blood arrives.

Trump Media and Technology Group’s (DJT) bitcoin holdings shrank during the second quarter of the year as falling crypto prices saddled the Truth Social parent with $360.6 million in losses in the first half of the year.

The company held 9,477.16 bitcoin BTC$64,001.76 with a fair value of $557.1 million as of June 30, according to its quarterly filing Monday. That’s down from 9,542.16 BTC at the end of March, translating to a 65 BTC decline in holdings through the quarter.

Trump Media’s Crypto.com-linked cronos CRO$0.04726 holdings remained unchanged at roughly 756.1 million tokens, but their fair value fell to $40.6 million from $68 million at the end of 2025.

A significant chunk of the company’s bitcoin was also tied up as collateral. Trump Media, which is majority owned by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, had 4,260.73 BTC pledged against convertible notes and another 2,077.34 BTC pledged for its bitcoin options strategy as of June 30.

U.S. President Donald Trump owns a significant stake in the trust, which is controlled by Donald Trump, Jr., one of the president’s children.

The results landed only days after Trump Media pared back parts of its crypto ambitions.