Hi Investors,
This week underscored the shifting balance of power in crypto regulation, infrastructure consolidation, and the maturation of institutional onchain finance. NYSE announced a tokenized securities platform, BVNK partnered with Visa to power stablecoin payments, and Polygon Labs acquired Coinme and Sequence for $250MM+ to build its Open Money Stack. 50T CEO Dan Tapiero predicted Bitcoin will reach $180,000 this cycle.
Below are the key developments:
Market Moves
50T CEO Dan Tapiero predicts Bitcoin will reach $180,000 in the current cycle, citing falling interest rates and global currency debasement
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NYSE announced development of a tokenized securities platform enabling 24/7 trading, instant settlement, and stablecoin-based funding, with parent company ICE partnering with BNY Mellon and Citi on tokenized deposits for clearinghouses
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BVNK partnered with Visa to power stablecoin payments for Visa Direct, enabling businesses to pre-fund payouts with stablecoins and send payments directly to recipients' wallets
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Polygon Labs acquired stablecoin payments platform Coinme and wallet infrastructure provider Sequence for $250MM+ to build its Open Money Stack, then cut 30% of its workforce
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London Stock Exchange Group launched a 24/7 blockchain-based settlement platform on Canton Network for tokenized bank deposits
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Coinbase withdrew support for the CLARITY Act hours before Senate Banking Committee's scheduled markup, forcing an indefinite postponement
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CFTC tapped Tyler Winklevoss and other crypto CEOs as first members of its new innovation panel to advise on digital asset policy
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Portfolio Headlines
KRAKacquisition Corp, a SPAC backed by Kraken, Tribe Capital, and Natural Capital, filed for a $250MM Nasdaq IPO to acquire companies in crypto infrastructure
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Figure launched OPEN, allowing companies to issue and trade equity natively on Provenance Blockchain, with BitGo custody and Jump Trading market-making
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Figure launched an RWA consortium on Solana to bring its $1Bn+ in monthly loan originations onchain through PRIME
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Anchorage Digital partnered with Spark Protocol to enable institutional borrowing from DeFi lending markets, keeping BTC collateral offchain in qualified custody
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Animoca Brands acquired SOMO, a digital collectibles and gaming company
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Ledger Wallet rolled out a BTC yield feature in collaboration with Lombard and Figment
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Institutional & Enterprise
Jamie Dimon said JPMorgan is actively exploring tokenization and prediction markets amid evolving US regulation
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Galaxy debuted a $75MM tokenized CLO on Avalanche to fund the Arch Lending facility
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State Street announced a digital-asset rollout, joining the crypto infrastructure buildout among major custodians
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Grayscale added AI, DeFi, and consumer tokens to its asset consideration list for potential new products
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Prediction Markets & Trading
Backpack launched closed-beta prediction markets with cross-margin
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Robinhood rolled out prediction market Custom Combos, expanding its event-based trading offerings
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World Liberty Financial launched a lending platform for its USD1 stablecoin
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Funding Rounds
Alpaca: $150MM Series D (Drive Capital, Citadel Securities, Kraken) at $1.15Bn valuation for global brokerage infrastructure APIs
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LMAX Group: $150MM strategic financing from Ripple to integrate RLUSD across institutional trading infrastructure
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Project Eleven: $20MM Series A (Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures) for post-quantum cryptographic solutions
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VelaFi: $20MM Series B (XVC, Ikuyo, Alibaba Investment) for stablecoin-powered financial infrastructure expansion
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Regulatory & Global
Vitalik Buterin outlined conditions for a self-sustaining, quantum-safe Ethereum in a technical roadmap post
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Ripple won early money license approval in Luxembourg for Europe expansion
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Zcash Foundation announced the SEC ended its investigation with no enforcement action
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EU crypto exchange Bitpanda is eyeing a $5Bn IPO in 2026
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China-led cross-border CBDC platform mBridge surged past $55Bn in transaction volume
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Dubai banned privacy token use on exchanges and tightened stablecoin rules in a crypto regulatory reset
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Notable Developments
Crypto data platform CoinGecko is weighing a sale for around $500MM
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A hacker stole $282MM in crypto in a hardware wallet social-engineering attack
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DTCC digital assets head stated the organization is not building walled gardens for tokenization
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Crypto card-based stablecoin payments are the fastest-growing retail use case, compounding at ~106% CAGR since 2023
Aave now controls over 50% of all DeFi lending TVL, marking the first time since 2020 that a single protocol has achieved outright majority share