Weekly Recap: ICE Invests Another $600M in Polymarket

Happy weekend, Defiers!

This week, the NYSE's parent company ICE completed its nearly $2 billion bet on Polymarket with a fresh $600 million cash injection, cementing prediction markets as a serious institutional asset class.

Wall Street and DeFi are converging faster than ever, but Washington is making sure the banks get a say in how. The latest CLARITY Act draft bans rewards on passive stablecoin balances, a win for banks that sent Circle stock tumbling 19%.

Bitcoin slid to a two-week low near $65,500 as $443 million in longs were wiped out amid escalating U.S.-Iran tensions and a broader risk-off move that dragged the Nasdaq 10% below its January highs.

Meanwhile, Sky-backed incubator Obex began deploying $1 billion in USDS across eight projects: Maple, USDAI, Daylight, Centrifuge, Securitize, River, TVL Capital, and Better.

Finally, Bittensor’s TAO surged in March after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang endorsed its decentralized AI training model, boosting its subnet token ecosystem and indicating that the AI x crypto narrative still has legs, even in a market gripped by fear.

Enjoy!

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Top Stories This Week

NYSE Owner ICE Pours Another $600 Million Into Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, announced a new $600 million direct cash investment in Polymarket, completing the exchange operator's structured investment arrangement with the prediction market.

Meanwhile, Polymarket tightened its insider trading rules.

Bitcoin Hits Two-Week Low as $443M in Longs Get Wiped Out

Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in more than two weeks on Friday, dropping below $66,000 as escalating Middle East tensions triggered a broader risk-off rout across global markets.

Latest Clarity Act Draft Bans Rewards on Passive Stablecoin Balances

The draft bans yield payments for simply holding a stablecoin and restricts any structure that is economically equivalent to a bank deposit.

Obex Starts Deploying $1B in USDS Into Mortgages, AI Hardware, and Solar Energy

Obex, the stablecoin incubator administered by Framework Ventures and backed by a $2.5 billion mandate from the Sky ecosystem, has unveiled its inaugural cohort of eight projects and begun deploying up to $1 billion in USDS across them.

Bittensor Subnet Tokens Surge as TAO Rally Boosts Ecosystem

Bittensor's native TAO token has rallied roughly 90% over the past month, and the momentum is spilling over into its subnet token ecosystem.

Trending

• NYSE Owner ICE Pours Another $600 Million Into Polymarket
• Bitcoin Hits Two-Week Low as $443M in Longs Get Wiped Out
• MARA Sells 15,000 BTC for $1.1 Billion to Retire Convertible Debt
• Felix Launches Tokenized Stocks and ETFs on Hyperliquid Via Ondo Finance
• Brazil's New Anti-Gang Law Lets Authorities Liquidate Seized Crypto to Fund Police Operations
• Coinbase and Better Launch Crypto-Backed Mortgages With Fannie Mae Backing

That’s it for today — have a great weekend! If you enjoyed this newsletter, tell your friends! https://thedefiant.io/subscribe