Farmers in Paraná, Brazil became the first in the world to tokenize livestock — placing 10 dairy cows on the B3 national stock exchange as collateral to unlock nearly $20,000 in credit that traditional bank lending limits had blocked. Brazilian agtech firm Cowmed equipped each cow with an AI-powered Smarty Collar that tracks health, behavior, and location in real time, converting that data into an encrypted digital identity tied to the credit agreement on-chain. The continuous tracking prevents farmers from double-pledging the same cattle across multiple loans — solving a fraud problem that has historically made banks reluctant to accept livestock as collateral. Cowmed already monitors 100,000 cows worth over $395 million across 1,000+ farms and expects up to 20% of its network to adopt the tokenized model, potentially unlocking $77.6 million in fresh agricultural credit. It's a small pilot with a large implication: tokenized real-world assets don't have to start with treasuries and money market funds — sometimes they start with cows.
White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt told CoinDesk that Democrats should declare victory: Trump agreed to subject himself to ethics restrictions no other president has accepted — a temporary ban on senior officials issuing or sponsoring crypto, enforced by the DOJ, sunsetting in 2029. Democrats want state attorneys general to enforce it instead, calling DOJ enforcement a non-starter given Trump's control over his own AG. "I'm sorry, but you don't get to hit two home runs with one swing of the bat," Witt said. Senate Majority Leader Thune signaled Thursday the bill is likely to miss the August 7 window before summer recess — which could effectively kill it for 2026.
LMAX Group — the institutional-grade crypto and FX trading platform that processes over $20 billion in daily volume — is working with advisers to explore a potential sale or IPO, according to people familiar with the matter. The London-based company, which operates regulated venues in the UK, EU, and US and counts major banks and hedge funds among its clients, is seen as a potential acquisition target for a larger exchange or financial institution looking to add institutional crypto infrastructure. No timeline has been set and the process could result in no transaction, but the exploration signals growing appetite for regulated, institutional-quality crypto trading assets as the market matures.
