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EOS Network rebrands to Vaulta in shift to Web3 banking

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The EOS Network, a blockchain that launched in 2018 amid the initial coin offering boom, has rebranded to Vaulta and will pivot to focusing on Web3 banking. 

The switch to Vaulta is tentatively scheduled for the end of May and will include a new token and the establishment of an advisory group known as the Vaulta Banking Advisory Council to help with the firm’s new direction, the company said in a March 18 statement.

In a separate statement, the firm said the network’s EOS (EOS) token will transition to the Vaulta Token, which will be available on the nearly 140 exchanges where EOS trades and through a swap portal available in May. It added that the token’s ticker and technical details will be revealed at a later date. 

Source: EOS Network

Vaulta will also inherit EOS Network’s underlying infrastructure, including integration with the Bitcoin digital banking solution, exSat, which complements Vaulta’s BankingOS system, offering a suite of financial services through partnerships with Ceffu, Spirit Blockchain and Blockchain Insurance Inc. 

EOS Network’s rebranding to Vaulta marks a significant course correction for the blockchain,  which launched to great fanfare in June 2018 off the back of a year-long and largest-ever $4.1 billion ICO run by the company behind the network, Block.one.

Following its launch, EOS was a top 10 project by market cap for several years. But its value has been in steady decline and is now just inside the top 100, sitting at 95, according to CoinGecko.

There’s a range of opinions about where EOS went wrong. Some who volunteered to assist in developing the network say there was a lack of support and direction from Block.one. 

Related: Tracing the evolution of Blockchain, with Eos Network Foundation exec

Block.one made a $24 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2019, and some commentators argued that the firm’s focus then shifted from EOS’ base tech to other projects — like the social app-turned-NFT marketplace Voice and the crypto exchange Bullish.

Goodblock CEO Douglas Horn believes EOS investors were misled from the start, telling Cointelegraph Magazine in 2023 that “Block.one did a deceitful ICO, whether that was planned from the beginning or not.”

Magazine: Whatever happened to EOS? Community shoots for unlikely comeback

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Coin Market

Trump-affiliated crypto mining venture mulls IPO — Report

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American Bitcoin Corp., a Trump family-backed crypto mining operation, has plans to raise additional capital, including through an initial public offering (IPO), according to an April 1 report by Bloomberg. 

On March 31, Hut 8 — a publicly traded Bitcoin (BTC) miner — acquired a majority stake in American Bitcoin (formerly American Data Centers), whose founders include Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. 

After the deal announcement, Hut 8 transferred its Bitcoin mining equipment into the newly created entity, which is not yet publicly traded. 

While American Bitcoin will focus on crypto mining, Hut 8 plans to target data center infrastructure for use cases such as high-performance computing. The deal “evolves Hut 8 toward more predictable, financeable, lower-cost-of-capital segments,” Asher Genoot, CEO of Hut 8, said in a statement.

“So you can see this in the long term as two sister publicly traded companies,” Genoot told Bloomberg. “One that is energy, infrastructure data centers and the other one that’s Bitcoin, AISCs and reserves and together they form a vertically integrated company that has some of the best economics out there.”

According to Bloomberg, American Bitcoin is working with Bitmain, a Chinese Bitcoin mining hardware supplier. Bitmain has faced scrutiny after the US blacklisting of its artificial intelligence affiliate Sopghgo, Bloomberg reported. 

Bitcoin mining revenues per quarter. Source: Coin Metrics

Related: Analysts eye Bitcoin miners’ AI, chip sales ahead of Q4 earnings

Pivoting to new business lines

Bitcoin miners are increasingly pivoting toward alternative business lines, such as servicing artificial intelligence models, after the Bitcoin network’s April 2024 “halving” cut into mining revenues.

Halvings occur every four years and cut in half the number of BTC mined per block.

Miners are “diversifying into AI data-center hosting as a way to expand revenue and repurpose existing infrastructure for high-performance computing,” Coin Metrics said in a March report.

Declining cryptocurrency prices have put even more pressure on Bitcoin miners in 2025, according to a report by JPMorgan.

Magazine: Elon Musk’s plan to run government on blockchain faces uphill battle

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Coin Market

Circle files for Initial Public Offering planned for April

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Crypto stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group has filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to go public on the New York Stock Exchange.

The USDC (USDC) issuer is planning to list its Class A common stock under the symbol “CRCL,” according to its April 1 Form S-1 registration statement with the SEC.

Circle’s prospectus does not detail the number of shares to be offered or what its initial public offering target price will be.

The filing also showed that Circle brought in $1.67 billion in revenue for 2024, a 16% year-on-year increase.

Its net income last year was $155.6 million — a 41.8% fall from 2023, while 2022 saw a net loss of $761.7 million.

Circle’s financials over the last three years ended Dec. 31. Source: SEC

Over 99% of Circle’s revenue last year came from its stablecoin reserves, the filing showed. The company generates income by holding yield-bearing treasury bills.

Circle has previously attempted to go public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger in 2021— which it abandoned in December 2022 — and again in January 2024 via a confidential filing with the SEC.

Related: Circle, Intercontinental Exchange to explore stablecoin integration

Crypto exchange Kraken and blockchain security firm BitGo are among the other industry players also reportedly seeking a public listing either this year or early 2026.

Circle became the first stablecoin issuer to receive regulatory approval in Japan on March 25 — launching USDC on the SBI VC Trade crypto exchange the following day.

USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap at $60.1 billion, trailing only Tether (USDT) at $143.9 billion, CoinGecko data shows.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

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Coin Market

Crypto miner backs US senator's efforts to incentivize using flared gas

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Texas Senator Ted Cruz proposed a bill aimed at incentivizing crypto miners to use flared gas for energy generation in the state.

In an April 1 notice, Cruz said he had introduced the Facilitate Lower Atmospheric Released Emissions, or FLARE, Act in the US Senate, aiming to make Texas “the number one place for Bitcoin mining.” Mining advocacy group Digital Power Network supported the bill, and Bitcoin (BTC) miner MARA Holdings endorsed the proposed legislation on X, claiming it would reduce emissions and “unlock stranded energy.”

April 1 draft of FLARE Act. Source: Ted Cruz

According to the text of the bill, the FLARE Act proposed amending the US Internal Revenue Code to incentivize market participants — including digital asset miners — to “capture gas that would otherwise be flared or vented and to use such gas in value-added products.” If signed into law, the legislation would take effect on properties put into service starting in 2026.

Related: Bitcoin mining using coal energy down 43% since 2011 — Report

A US senator serving since 2013, Cruz, a Republican, has sometimes proposed legislation that aligns with mainstream figures in his party, including US President Donald Trump. He introduced a bill in March to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and disclosed personally holding up to $100,000 in Bitcoin as of August 2024.

Crypto bills moving through US Congress

In addition to the energy incentives proposed in the bill, Cruz ​​said the language “prohibits entities owned by China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia” that may be operating in Texas from recovering their costs in the same manner. Many US miners, including MARA, Riot Platforms and CleanSpark, operate in the state.

It’s unclear whether Cruz’s bill will be a legislative priority in the Senate as Congress considers bills to regulate stablecoins and establish a market structure for digital assets in the US. Some lawmakers have also proposed legislation potentially banning a US CBDC and removing regulatory obstacles to allow Americans to invest in crypto for their retirement plans.

Magazine: Ex-Alameda hire on ‘pressure’ to not blow up Backpack exchange: Armani Ferrante, X Hall of Flame

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