Ripple launched a $750 million tender offer to buy back shares from employees and early investors at a $50 billion valuation, signaling continued private operations despite long-running IPO speculation. CEO Brad Garlinghouse expressed confidence that Ripple could eventually become a trillion-dollar crypto company if it collaborates effectively with the XRP ecosystem. Across Protocol proposed exchanging tokens for company equity, a major structural shift for DeFi. If early feedback is positive, a governance vote will follow. The news drove an 85% spike in ACX token price. Mastercard introduced a Crypto Partner Program with 85+ participants, including Binance, Ripple, PayPal, and major blockchain teams, aiming to enhance global on-chain payments across its vast merchant network. The Wall Street Journal reported that the DOJ is investigating over $1 billion in alleged Iranian transactions routed through Binance. Binance denied the claims, filing a defamation suit and asserting those staff departures were unrelated to sanctions compliance. Binance US named Stephen Gregory as its new CEO. Prediction market platform Myriad announced a move to BNB Chain and integration with USD1, making its product more akin to a professional trading platform and reporting $167 million in trading volume.