Investors: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z crypto), BlackRock, Apollo Global Management, Intercontinental Exchange, SBI Group, Standard Chartered Ventures, General Catalyst, Marshall Wace, ARK Invest, IDG Capital, HAUN Ventures, Bullish
Circle raised $222 million in a presale of Arc tokens for its new institutional blockchain designed for stablecoin-based capital markets and regulated financial activity.
Firefly Reaches Swedish Launch Site, SSC Space Signs First Defense Contract
SSC Space secured a $21.5M defense contract with Sweden's Defense Materiel Administration, with Firefly Aerospace as the launch vehicle partner. Infrastructure completion was announced on June 30, positioning U.S. orbital launch capability on mainland Europe for the first time.
Fedimint v0.11.0 Ships Gateway Recovery via Mnemonic
Fedimint released v0.11.0 on April 17, 2026, with gateway recovery from seed phrases and NAT-transparent networking — removing the last major operational barrier to running community Bitcoin banking infrastructure.
California ISO Plans $7B Transmission Overhaul to Break North-South Bottleneck
CAISO's draft 2025–2026 Transmission Plan calls for 38 upgrades costing $7 billion, anchored by a new 500 kV line on Path 15 to handle 15–20 GW of load growth driven by data centers and electrification through 2040.