Google could grab a TeraWulf data center stake if Anthropic bails on its lease

Google is holding a card it hasn't played yet. The tech giant could end up owning a piece of TeraWulf's AI data center project if Anthropic walks away from its lease, according to CoinDesk. In plain terms: Google's downside protection is a stake in the very buildout it's tied to.

That structure puts Anthropic's commitment at the center of the story. As long as the AI company keeps paying on its lease, the arrangement stays as-is. A default flips the script and hands Google an equity path into the TeraWulf site.

Elsewhere in crypto, Kraken's parent company Payward has been buying up AAVE tokens, per CoinDesk, as it pushes deeper into DeFi. AAVE is the governance token tied to the Aave lending protocol. For a centralized exchange group, stacking a blue-chip DeFi token is an unusual expansion move.

On the insurance side, Standard Chartered and SBI Group are backing Soter, a crypto-focused insurer, CoinDesk reported. Insurance remains one of the thinner corners of the digital asset world, and two heavyweight banking names putting money behind it is a notable vote of confidence.

The three items land on the same day and point the same direction: traditional finance and big tech keep finding ways into crypto infrastructure. Google gets a lease-failure hedge, Payward gets DeFi exposure, and Soter gets bank-grade backers.