CoinbaseMarkets said Coinbase will end support for eight non USD trading pairs as part of an effort to improve overall market health and consolidate liquidity. The impacted pairs include tokens such as Ankr, yearn finance, and Basic Attention Token, with trading and related support scheduled to be terminated under the platform's delisting process.

Chainlink ($LINK) is starting the week with a constructive signal from the ETF market. Despite @Chainlink's top-tier fundamentals, that standing hasn't been fully reflected in the performance of its spot ETFs. Flows may be turning. Spot $LINK ETFs recorded $426K in net inflows yesterday. Even more notable is the eight-day streak of net inflows recorded from August 14–25.

Aave Labs has published an Aave Request for Comment (ARFC) on the Aave Governance Forum dated September 14, proposing deployment of a new Aave V4 Isolated Hub and Spoke designed to let institutional, custodied assets be used as collateral for stablecoin borrowing. Under the proposal, institutional borrowers would place collateral with Anchorage and retain custody for the duration of the loan. The custodied balance would be mirrored onchain via non-transferable Custodied Collateral Tokens (CoCT), minted and burned by CustodySync, a system built by Chainlink. Borrowers would stake CoCT on the Spoke and draw stablecoins from the Isolated Hub. Aave said the full loan lifecycle, including liquidations, would be synchronized between the custodian and Aave using Chainlink infrastructure. The design is scoped to a single Isolated Hub and a single Spoke governed by the Aave DAO, and would not modify any existing Hubs, Spokes, or reserves. The underlying assets would never leave custody: Anchorage would hold the assets and serve as the account control protocol counterparty, while Chainlink would not hold any assets. CoCT is described as a restricted-transfer ERC-20 token, with minting and burning limited to CustodySync; the proposal calls for one contract per borrower position. The initial rollout would launch a single CoCT representing BTC held in custody at Anchorage. Next steps include community discussion of the ARFC, a Snapshot vote if there is support, and submission of an Aave Improvement Proposal (AIP) with final parameters.

Blockchain data shows 191,000,000 USDC, valued at 191,112,690 USD, was transferred from Aave to an unidentified whale wallet.

Aave Labs said it has posted an ARFC to the Aave Governance Forum dated Sept. 14, seeking approval to deploy a new Aave V4 Isolated Hub and Spoke aimed at enabling stablecoin borrowing backed by institutionally custodied collateral. Under the proposal, institutional borrowers would place collateral with Anchorage and keep custody for the duration of the loan. That custodied balance would be reflected onchain via nontransferable custodied collateral tokens (CoCT), which would be minted and burned by CustodySync, a Chainlink-designed system. Borrowers would stake CoCT on the Spoke and draw stablecoins from the Isolated Hub. Aave said the full loan lifecycle, including liquidations, would be kept in sync between Anchorage and Aave using Chainlink infrastructure. The design is scoped to one Isolated Hub and one Spoke governed by the Aave DAO, and would not alter existing Hubs, Spokes, or reserves. The underlying assets would remain with the custodian at all times. Anchorage would hold the assets and serve as the account control protocol counterparty, while Chainlink would not custody any assets. CoCT would be a restricted-transfer ERC20 token, with minting and burning limited to CustodySync, and one contract deployed per borrower position. The initial rollout would launch a CoCT for BTC held in custody at Anchorage. Next steps include discussion of the ARFC, a Snapshot vote if the proposal gains support, and submission of final parameters as an AIP.

Arbitrum has seen a sharp pullback in stablecoin liquidity over the past seven days. DefiLlama data shows the network's stablecoin supply is down 9.1% over the last week as of writing, bringing the total to $3.71B. The move implies roughly $400M in stablecoins has exited the ecosystem in that period.

Institutional exposure to XRP continued to build. Spot Ripple ETFs recorded net inflows of $11.3 million on September 15, and have posted net outflows on only two sessions since the start of last month. The funds now account for about 1.71% of XRP's circulating supply, with assets under management near $1.6 billion.

The Cardano Foundation has joined Mastercard's Crypto Partner Program, bringing the Cardano blockchain into a global effort centered on payments, stablecoins, and on-chain settlement. The collaboration positions Cardano to explore cross-border and B2B payment use cases and comes as the network accelerates work on stablecoin rails, AI-agent payments via x402, and scaling initiatives designed to increase transaction throughput. Mastercard's program links blockchain networks and crypto companies with Mastercard teams to build practical applications for digital assets, payments, and settlement. For Cardano, it creates a new route to test and develop blockchain-based payment infrastructure alongside one of the world's largest payment networks. Mastercard's blockchain track is aimed at cross-border money movement, B2B transactions, and settlement—areas where programmable transfers and faster settlement are often cited as key blockchain advantages. The announcement coincides with Cardano's broader push to strengthen its on-chain payments and stablecoin ecosystem. The network currently supports five active native stablecoins: USDCx, USDM, USDA, DJED, and iUSD. Additional assets can also reach Cardano through bridges. USDCx, launched on Cardano in February 2026, provides access to Circle's USDC liquidity through its xReserve infrastructure. Mastercard, for its part, has been broadening its stablecoin strategy beyond basic crypto spending. The company has highlighted stablecoin settlement, merchant payouts, and wallet infrastructure, as well as conversions between digital assets and fiat currencies. Its digital-asset platform connects blockchain networks to traditional payment rails, potentially giving partnerships such as Cardano's a wider commercial runway. Mastercard has also been building stablecoin settlement capabilities in the U.S. and Latin America, supporting assets including USDC, PYUSD, USDG, USDP, RLUSD, and SoFiUSD across multiple blockchain networks. Cardano is also pushing beyond standard consumer payments into programmable and agent-driven transactions. Through Masumi, the network supports x402 payments for AI agents and software services, enabling autonomous systems to exchange value via HTTP-based payment requests. The setup supports ADA and fungible tokens such as USDM, while Masumi adds escrow, identity, and on-chain verification features. Taken together, these developments broaden the potential scope of the Mastercard relationship beyond a narrow payments integration. As stablecoins, tokenized assets, and automated transactions gain traction, Cardano is positioning its infrastructure to support multiple modes of on-chain value transfer.

Grayscale has rolled out four ready-made crypto model portfolios designed for financial advisors to deploy with clients, each built around a distinct mandate. The firm's "Digital Assets Core Plus" portfolio is positioned as a broad, foundational crypto allocation and holds Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Solana [SOL], and Chainlink [LINK]. "Digital Assets Leaders" targets the five largest eligible crypto assets available through Grayscale's single-asset products. "Digital Assets Next Gen" aims to provide exposure to crypto assets beyond Bitcoin, spanning established and emerging projects. "Digital Assets Infrastructure" concentrates on tokens linked to protocols supporting areas such as smart contracts and tokenization. A notable feature is the heavy weighting given to Ripple's XRP in the "Digital Assets Next Gen" portfolio. As of August 31, the seven-asset sleeve allocated 42.34% to Ethereum, 26.11% to XRP, and 21.09% to Solana, with Bitcoin excluded. Together, those three positions make up roughly 90% of the portfolio. The remaining weight is distributed across Hyperliquid [HYPE], LINK, Avalanche [AVAX], and Sui [SUI]. Grayscale also applies a 40% cap per asset in the models. The portfolios are rebalanced quarterly, allowing allocations to shift as market capitalization and the eligible asset universe change. The launch follows Grayscale's filing of an amendment that could move its Litecoin Trust closer to an ETF structure. In market trading, XRP was changing hands around $1.40 at the time of reporting, up nearly 40% over the past month. Bitcoin traded at $76,846.10, up 22.1% over the same period, while Bitcoin dominance was testing resistance at 59.27% — a level where it has historically struggled to push higher. A break above that threshold could see Bitcoin continue to outperform altcoins; a rejection would point to capital rotating toward tokens such as XRP, Solana, and Ethereum. With the altcoin season index at 36 at press time, market conditions still favored Bitcoin. In brief: XRP receives a large allocation in Grayscale's "Digital Assets Next Gen" portfolio, while Bitcoin is not included.