Third-Week Crypto Partnership Surge
The third week of October introduced a wave of strategic crypto partnerships bridging conventional finance, sports activities, and real-world utility.
From Plume unlocking institutional Bitcoin yield to the NHL venturing into prediction markets with Kalshi and Polymarket, and Bybit increasing funds in Europe and Armenia — crypto’s mainstream crossover is accelerating quick.
Plume and Function Partner to Unlock Institutional Bitcoin Liquidity for RWAs
Plume has built-in Function’s FBTC because the native asset for Bitcoin on its RWA-focused Layer 2 community, permitting establishments to make use of BTC seamlessly throughout its DeFi and real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem. The integration designates FBTC because the standardized bridge for bringing Bitcoin onchain — enabling institutional customers to collateralize, earn yield, and deploy BTC into compliant RWA merchandise.
Function CEO Thomas Chen stated the collaboration “prompts actual RWA utility” for Bitcoin, reworking it from a passive to a productive asset class.
Plume cofounder Teddy Pornprinya famous that Bitcoin is “evolving from one thing you maintain to one thing you utilize,” emphasizing institutional entry to safe, yield-generating alternatives.
The partnership delivers institutional-grade infrastructure with auditability, AML compliance, and interoperability. It aligns with Plume’s “Yield is the New Meta” thesis, unlocking Bitcoin’s $2.2 trillion dormant worth whereas connecting conventional finance with DeFi liquidity.
By enabling Bitcoin to generate real-world yield, Plume and Function are setting a brand new commonplace for BTCfi — reworking Bitcoin into the muse for on-chain institutional finance.
Function, backed by Galaxy Digital and Mantle, brings over $1.5 billion in TVL, whereas Plume continues to pioneer modular, RWA-centric infrastructure for compliant, composable DeFi.
NHL Becomes First Major League to Partner with Prediction Markets Kalshi and Polymarket
In a groundbreaking transfer, the NHL has signed multiyear licensing agreements with prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket, marking the primary time a serious U.S. sports activities league has partnered with platforms outdoors the normal sportsbook mannequin. The offers enable each firms to make use of official NHL branding — together with staff names and “Stanley Cup” references — on markets the place customers can commerce contracts tied to recreation outcomes beneath regulatory supervision.
Kalshi, regulated by the CFTC, will supply contracts nationwide, even in states proscribing sports activities betting. Polymarket, constructed on blockchain know-how, plans to relaunch with stronger U.S. compliance after securing a $2 billion funding from the Intercontinental Exchange. Both corporations will obtain visibility throughout main occasions just like the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Winter Classic, inserting them alongside established companions resembling DraftKings and FanDuel.
Industry analysts say this transfer indicators a “historic shift” towards blockchain-based market participation in skilled sports activities. However, state regulators have raised considerations that prediction markets might blur authorized boundaries round betting. Despite pushback, Kalshi and Polymarket’s partnerships mark a serious milestone, opening the door for prediction markets to problem conventional sportsbooks and reshape fan engagement by way of crypto-native innovation.
Crypto.com Partners with South Korea’s Travel Wallet to Launch Co-Branded Crypto Card
Crypto.com has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Travel Wallet, a serious South Korean fintech platform for world digital funds and forex alternate. The partnership will see Travel Wallet develop into Crypto.com’s most popular issuing associate in South Korea, launching a co-branded pay as you go card that permits customers to spend each fiat and crypto worldwide.
With over 8 million customers and help for 40+ currencies, Travel Wallet will even combine Crypto.com’s Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS) instruments into its app, enabling customers to commerce digital property seamlessly. Both corporations plan to advertise Travel Wallet’s KRW-denominated stablecoin to facilitate sooner, lower-cost cross-border funds and collaborate on a joint rewards and referral program.
Crypto.com COO Eric Anziani stated the partnership enhances spending and buying and selling comfort for Korea’s crypto-savvy vacationers. Travel Wallet CEO Kim Hyung-woo referred to as it the beginning of a “new fee paradigm” uniting fintech and blockchain finance.
Bybit EU Partners with Ski Austria, Blending Crypto Innovation with Alpine Excellence
Bybit EU, the Vienna-based and MiCAR-licensed European division of Bybit, has introduced a serious partnership with Ski Austria (Österreichischer Skiverband, ÖSV) — marking the primary time a nationwide ski federation has joined forces with a regulated crypto platform. The partnership, operating by way of the 2025/26 FIS World Cup season, unites the precision of alpine sport with the innovation of digital finance.
Under the settlement, Bybit EU turns into an Official Partner of Ski Austria, supporting athletes throughout the FIS World Cup and main worldwide occasions. Branding will seem at high venues together with Sölden, Gurgl, Semmering, Stubai, Montafon, and Flachau, alongside joint fan activations and digital campaigns throughout Europe.
Bybit EU Managing Director Georg Harer stated the partnership celebrates shared values like “self-discipline, transparency, and the braveness to steer change.” Ski Austria CEO Christian Scherer famous it as a milestone, proving that “conventional and tech-driven sectors” can thrive collectively.
The collaboration reinforces Bybit EU’s mission to combine regulated crypto finance into mainstream tradition, combining duty, innovation, and group engagement — and displaying that belief and efficiency outline each world-class athletes and digital finance pioneers.
Bybit Partners with Idram to Enable Crypto Payments Across Armenia
Bybit, the world’s second-largest crypto alternate by buying and selling quantity, has joined forces with Idram, Armenia’s main digital funds platform, to launch a QR-based crypto fee system out there at over 25,000 service provider places nationwide.
The integration permits customers to pay with cryptocurrency by way of Bybit Pay, just by scanning Idram QR codes — the identical system that powers over 90% of Armenia’s QR fee market. The initiative bridges Web3 with on a regular basis retail, letting each locals and worldwide guests make seamless, crypto-powered purchases at hundreds of shops and repair suppliers.
Bybit’s Head of Marketing, Sophie Chen, stated the partnership marks “one other step in constructing our world attain and elevating crypto comfort,” emphasizing that collaboration with established fintechs accelerates crypto adoption. Idram CEO Arsene Kdenian added that connecting Idram’s QR community with Bybit Pay makes digital asset funds “simple and accessible” for customers throughout Armenia.
Beyond home use, the combination lays the groundwork for regional growth throughout Eurasian Economic Union markets, enhancing monetary inclusion and empowering retailers to take part within the world crypto financial system — all whereas providing vacationers a clean, borderless fee expertise.
The put up Third-Week Crypto Partnership Surge appeared first on Metaverse Post.
