Appold Market Watch - Week ending 28 March 2025

Market Update & Industry News - Week ending 28 March 2025

🔷 InterContinental Exchange (ICE), the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, announced plans to use Circle’s USDC stablecoin and the recently acquired money market fund USYC to develop new products across derivatives, clearing, and data services as part of a broader push into tokenised markets.

Appold view: This announcement follows the significantly rising institutional interest in stablecoins and tokenisation, with Circle being the obvious choice for ICE based on their regulatory approvals and home jurisdiction. However, traditional exchange businesses are not known for executing strategies quickly, so the lag between announcement and launch could be testing.

🔷 Sam Altman backed blockchain venture World Coin Network is reportedly in talks with payments giant Visa  to bring Visa card functionality to World Network self-custody wallets. The partnership would deliver various applications, including fiat on and off-ramps, and allow stablecoin-based payments to vendors that are part of Visa’s global network.

Appold view: Visa has been actively involved in the digital asset sector for a number of years, so this partnership would not be unprecedented. However, such a collaboration underscores a broader trend: incumbent financial players are increasingly open and actively looking to embed blockchain rails within traditional payment systems.

🔷 According to the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Director of Payments and Digital Assets, the FCA plans to introduce a new authorisation regime for digital asset firms in 2026. The new regime will be more expansive and stricter than the current digital asset anti-money laundering (AML) registration framework, which has been in place since 2020. The FCA is still formulating the approval process that firms will be required to undertake and the impact on firms currently authorised under the AML registration. Any decisions made will likely then be put through public consultation.

Appold view: Digital asset firms in the UK have overwhelmingly struggled to register with the FCA under the current AML framework, so it is difficult to see how a more expansive, stricter regime will improve engagement between the FCA and the industry.

🔷 Ripple announced a partnership with Nigerian payments provider Chipper Cash to boost cross-border payments in Africa using XRP. The partnership will provide Chipper Cash’s more than five million users across nine countries with a more efficient alternative to traditional money transfer methods in the region.

Appold view: Retail and peer-to-peer activities have largely driven digital asset adoption in Africa, so it is prudent for Ripple to seek to tap into this market through Chipper Cash’s client base. It can be hoped that easier access to digital assets will allow for faster, cheaper money transfers, improving financial access for millions

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