Byron Gilliam

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<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
&#8220;The dollar is always going to be the reserve currency. Anyway, for a long time.&#8221;&nbsp;



— Jerome Powell
</blockquote>



When the price of oil suddenly quadrupled in 1973, Saudi Arabia was wholly unprepared for the billions of dollars that started flooding in.



Strictly speaking, the money never actually made it “into” the Kingdom: Global buyers of Saudi oil sent their payments to accounts at Citibank and JPMorgan in New York — where the money sat idle because Saudi finance officials barely knew how to move it, let alone invest it.



With billions piling up in non-interest bearing accounts, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) reluctantly asked an American banker, David Mulford, to manage it for them.



Mulford and a small team moved to the underdeveloped port town of Jeddah where they scrambled to secure accommodation in houses newly-built in a part of the desert with no roads (to get there, you simply drove over the sand).



The houses lacked telephones, televisions, mail delivery and even trash removal (the bankers left their trash in the sand for Bedouins’ goats to feed on).



The office they commuted to six days a week was even worse.



They were assigned a single room in a “decrepit” building, furnished with only chairs and desks — no computers or telephones.



“Across the hall from our room a simple toilet was set in a long, deep room with an open drain behind it,” Mulford wrote in his <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Packing-India-DAVID-MULFORD-ebook/dp/B00NU62U36/ref=sr_1_3?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LOBUN5zB9XV0oSGK2tFiXyc1UhA-SVwKAJG3H-rIy99eO7oIlMLcXWcgl9PADmuEt9Hy5s6wE3QoN9rE02IQC7zz1VkT34SDz96Fs0ogcn-bAkQralgtN-7sViJC32oW-vO3BPg-oitFRYSLCnH6M6Np266erYCcdqKUlerTOuHbSV-S8O6TbMGy5BTH3QTF1KsrZmuzjZHUvaQAGLysjbso_Us7htB-mbFGYhXrLzY.QIz7Ev6QkEqIZ1X--TazBzBNkN2BkOtqT8I2pULHYIY&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;qid=1765389659&amp;refinements=p_27%3ADAVID+MULFORD&amp;s=digital-text&amp;sr=1-3&amp;text=DAVID+MULFORD">autobiography</a>. “This was used by our section of the building and flushed once a day at three in the afternoon.”



Investment deals were negotiated, agreed and processed via the building’s single telex machine (a kind of hybrid typewriter/telegraph) that was constantly in use — a single deal required dozens of telex messages and weeks to complete.



And yet, as Mulford recalls, “we had to invest money at the rate of approximately $500 million per day just to prevent ourselves from falling behind.”



Mulford’s account of his nine years at SAMA debunks the persistent conspiracy theory that the Saudis invested their oil money in US Treasurys as a quid pro quo for a security guarantee.



Instead, the Saudis invested in US Treasurys because they had to: No other market in the world could absorb the $20 billion a month the Saudis had to invest.



And none was so safe and easy to invest in — important factors when investing by telex.



SAMA actually tasked Mulford with moving 30% of their investment funds out of the US market. But he struggled to do it.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



“In most markets outside the US in those days, a currency trade of $5-10 million was enough to move markets,” he explains, “so there were practical limitations on the amount of currency diversification that we could achieve.”



This, I think, challenges the idea that dollar dominance can be engineered through either coercion or clever policy: The Saudis chose Treasurys because of what America was, not what it promised or demanded.&nbsp;



Even in the 1970s economy — plagued with both recession and inflation and a president that resigned in disgrace — US financial markets retained the depth (quantities of high-quality assets), liquidity (easy tradability of those assets) and safety (rule of law) that made it the best option for the world’s largest investor.



Today, the US has all the best companies, too: Non-US investors own roughly <a href="https://www.apolloacademy.com/foreign-ownership-of-us-equities-treasuries-and-us-credit/">$19 trillion</a> of US equities (more than double what they own in Treasurys).



It also has a central bank that&#8217;s retained its inflation-fighting credentials despite political pressure to finance ever-bigger fiscal deficits.



The current head of that central bank, Jerome Powell, fundamentally <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/powell-says-expects-dollar-remain-173200618.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com">attributes</a> the dollar dominance to “democratic institutions” and “the rule of law.”



That institutional foundation is central to its appeal.



“I think the dollar will remain the reserve currency as long as those things are in place,” he added.



There’s no guarantee they forever will be, of course — and many economists doubt they will be for much longer.



Ken Rogoff, for example, <a href="https://www.hoover.org/research/dollar-dominance?utm_source=chatgpt.com">warns</a> that the dollar is “fraying at the edges” as foreign investors worry about a “breakdown of our institutions,” unpredictable policy making (that may disadvantage foreign capital), and threats to central bank independence.



All of which is adding up to “a loss of confidence in investing in the United States.”



If so, efforts to manufacture demand for the dollar — through, say, promoting stablecoins — are unlikely to help much.



Stablecoins are in demand precisely because the dollar is in demand — a dynamic that’s unlikely to ever work in reverse.&nbsp;



If the US chooses to surrender the dollar’s structural advantages, no amount of manufactured demand will save it.



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Dollar

Dollar dominance can’t be manufactured

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<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“What had central bankers shaking in their boots, may end up being what steadies the ground beneath them.”



— David Beckworth on stablecoins
</blockquote>



Writing in The Atlantic, David Frum warns that stablecoins are “by far the most dangerous form of cryptocurrency” and that by legalizing them, the GENIUS Act has “lit a fuse to America’s next financial catastrophe.” Specifically, Frum expects stablecoin assets to surge to $4 trillion (citing an estimate from Citi), and that nearly all $4 trillion of it will go into three-month Treasurys (the riskiest asset issuers are allowed to buy under the GENIUS Act).



Then, he says, there will inevitably come a time when Treasurys crash — as they did in 2022-2023 — which will cause a bank run on stablecoins as holders withdraw their money before issuers are forced to realize their marked-to-market losses on the $4 trillion of Treasurys they hold.



Better yet, Frum thinks stablecoins “bristle with all the dangers of subprime-mortgage securities” and will end up forcing the government to socialize the losses it creates with a 2008-style bailout.&nbsp;



But the 2022-2023 crash in Treasurys played out over 18 months.



So it’s unclear to me why an 18-month decline in an asset that matures every three months would cause people to panic about stablecoin issuers that take no leverage.&nbsp;



But I present Frum’s take here because 1) it’s kind of amusing in its alarmism and 2) it probably represents what a lot of non-finance people are thinking: Stablecoins are dangerous because they will inevitably fail.



<a href="https://www.imf.org/en/publications/fandd/issues/2025/09/stablecoins-tokens-global-dominance-helene-rey">Stablecoins are dangerous because they will inevitably succeed</a>



Writing for the IMF, Hélène<a href="https://www.imf.org/en/settings/globals/publications/fandd/authors/helene-rey"> Rey</a> warns that stablecoins will be such a success that they’ll “threaten government revenues…and destabilize the international financial system.”



In short, she thinks so much of the world’s savings will be redirected to stablecoins that banks will no longer be able to lend, international governments will no longer be able to borrow, and central banks will no longer be able to set monetary policy.



The knock-on effects of such widespread stablecoin adoption will include “financial stability risks, potential hollowing out of the banking system, currency competition and instability, money laundering, fiscal base erosion, privatization of seigniorage and intense lobbying.”



Most alarmingly, Rey worries that this privatization of seigniorage will result in “significant wealth accumulation by…a few companies and individuals,” thereby undermining “the public good dimension of the international monetary system.”



Yikes.



“We must brace ourselves for substantial consequences,” she concludes.



<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/miran20251107a.htm">Stablecoins are not dangerous</a>



Like Rey, the Federal Reserve’s Steven Miran values our dollar-based international monetary system: “The reserve assets and currency provided by the US are global public goods.”&nbsp;



But that leads him to the opposite conclusion on stablecoins: “Stablecoins might establish an easier means for the financially repressed to enjoy these global public goods and evade draconian restrictions on their finances.”



Crypto people generally think of the Fed’s reserve assets (all the money it prints, basically) as a public bad.



But Miran is right on both substance and tactics: Framing US fiat as a public good is likely the best way to counter the anti-crypto arguments represented by The Atlantic and the IMF.



Unlike Frum and Rey, Miran sees “little prospect of funds broadly fleeing the domestic banking system” — mostly because the GENIUS Act mandates that they do not pay yield and are not FDIC-guaranteed (the flip side of Frum’s argument).



Instead, the “real opportunity in stablecoins is to satiate untapped foreign appetite for dollar assets from savers in jurisdictions where dollar access is limited.”



While Rey views this unsatiated appetite for dollars as a threat to all non-US governments, Miran says it&#8217;s a benefit to non-US people — because it “leapfrogs the challenges of high and unstable inflation or volatile exchange rates.”



It’s a convincing argument; certainly the most convincing of the three presented here.



But only if you can bring yourself to agree that fiat is a public good.



<a href="https://macroeconomicpolicynexus.substack.com/p/the-rise-and-redemption-of-stablecoins?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=4309188&amp;post_id=166029841&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=3o9&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email">Stablecoins are stabilizing</a>&nbsp;



David Beckworth says that stablecoin alarmism “overlooks an important point: the widespread adoption of dollar-based stablecoins could actually help dampen the global financial cycle.”&nbsp;



Beckworth cites the aforementioned Hélène Rey, who has detailed the destabilizing effects of emerging market borrowers doing so much of their borrowing in US dollars.&nbsp;



Stablecoins, Beckworth says, could fix this by reducing the currency mismatch on private-sector balance sheets: When a strengthening dollar increases the value of dollar-denominated debts, the simultaneous increase in the value of their stablecoins will cushion the shock for emerging markets.



In other words, “stablecoins can act as a decentralized balance sheet stabilizer” for the global economy.



Combined with the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will “act as a backstop” to stablecoins in a future crisis — the very thing David Frum worries about! — the spread of stablecoins “may become one of the very tools that softens the peaks and troughs of the global financial cycle.”



“What had central bankers shaking in their boots,&#8221; Beckworth concludes, “may end up being what steadies the ground beneath them.”



<a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/founder-chicago-cryptocurrency-company-indicted-alleged-10-million-money-laundering">Stablecoins can be laundered, too</a>



Firas Isa, founder of an Illinois-based crypto ATM company, has been indicted on charges of money laundering — a reminder that despite the transparent nature of blockchains, many criminals believe the first step in laundering money is to put it onchain.



The (alleged) fact that Isa was able to collect $10 million of fees for converting stolen cash into cryptocurrency demonstrates that crypto crime isn’t just about stealing money that’s already onchain — it’s about laundering funds that were stolen off-chain, too.



Many worry this will get even easier as stablecoins get bigger and more integrated into the traditional banking system.



Hélène Rey, for example, says stablecoins could “help channel money linked to illicit or sanctioned activities and substantially erode the tax base of many countries.”



David Frum says “there is something perverse about a plan to boost demand for Treasury debt by making it easier for crooks to circumvent US laws against terrorist financing and money laundering.”



I don’t have a counterargument to cite against either of those takes, unfortunately.&nbsp;



<a href="https://x.com/KulveerRanger/status/1978912664379085126?s=20">Stablecoins can be boring, too</a>



Stablecoins recently made for perhaps the dullest exchange in UK parliamentary history when Lord Kulveen Ranger asked His Majesty’s government what it thought of them.&nbsp;



Responding on behalf of the King, Lord Livermore predicted that stablecoins will be useful in “reducing costs and enhancing efficiencies” in international payments.&nbsp;



As hot takes go, that is less newsletter-worthy than predictions that stablecoins will cause the next financial crisis, undermine the global financial system, save the global financial system or facilitate crime. But it’s much more likely, too.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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stablecoins

Stablecoins will transform everything — but commentators disagree on how

Marc Arjoon

Boccaccio

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Happy Wednesday. Equities stayed strong, while crypto cooled slightly after recent rallies ahead of key inflation data. Elsewhere, Western Union unveiled its stablecoin push and its new US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT) on Solana.



MegaETH’s public sale auction ends tomorrow, and we think it’s probably one of the best opportunities this year, if you are able to get any allocation above the minimum.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Indices</h2>



Global markets diverged sharply as traditional risk assets held firm while crypto sectors saw a broad selloff. The Nasdaq 100 (+0.8%) and S&amp;P 500 (+0.3%) extended their recent resilience, supported by strong tech earnings and cooling Treasury yields. Gold (-0.8%) and BTC (-1.0%) both slipped, signaling modest risk rotation rather than outright fear or a mild “risk-off” tilt within digital assets, even as equities stayed buoyant.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="830" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-109623" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-150.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



Crypto sectors painted a sea of red. Gaming (-4.5%) led declines, followed by Meme (-3.3%), L2 (-3.2%), and L1 (-3.2%), a notable reversal in higher-beta categories that had outperformed earlier in the month. Ethereum and Solana ecosystems (both -2.7%) also lagged, as network activity slowed and profit-taking intensified post-recent rallies. The one bright spot was AI (+3.5%), which bucked the trend amid renewed enthusiasm for decentralized compute narratives and broader tech strength.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="859" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-109624" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-151.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /></figure>



The day’s weakness in crypto appears sentiment-driven, coinciding with macro caution ahead of upcoming US inflation data and continued ambiguity over ETF inflows. Onchain volumes have softened, suggesting traders are waiting for fresh catalysts before reengaging risk.



Volatility remains contained, a sign that the pullback may be more of a rotation than a liquidation. All eyes now turn to macro prints later this week (unemployment rate, wage growth, Q3 GDP growth, ISM and more) which could determine whether the next move in crypto is another correction or a renewed push higher.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Market Update</h2>



Western Union’s (WU) Q3 2025 financials outlined an explicit “Stablecoins in Remittances” initiative focused on four verticals: treasury optimization, crypto-fiat on- off- ramps, expanded banking reach and direct customer access. That’s corporate speak for “we’re building a stablecoin bridge.” After eight straight quarters of digital revenue growth and double-digit transaction expansion, the firm is now positioning itself as a compliant layer between regulated banking rails and permissionless stablecoin liquidity.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1405" height="595" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-109622" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=1405 1405w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-149.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1405px) 100vw, 1405px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://s21.q4cdn.com/100551446/files/doc_financials/2025/q3/3Q25-Presentation-FINAL.pdf">Western Union</a></figcaption></figure>



The strategy aligns with what’s already happening onchain: USDT and USDC volumes through emerging market exchanges have doubled YTD, while USDC remittance corridors (like Philippines and Brazil) are seeing faster settlement speeds and lower costs than traditional wires. Western Union’s “digital-first” expansion into Latin America, via Argentina and Brazil wallets, makes stablecoin integration a natural next step. This news pushed the stock higher, and WU is up (+16.7%) since.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="940" height="624" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png" alt="" class="wp-image-109621" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=940 940w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=387 387w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=393 393w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=330 330w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-148.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px" /></figure>



For Western Union, this is a welcome sign from investors after a torrid year. For crypto markets, this marks a pivotal macro signal. Stablecoin adoption is crossing from DeFi yield-chasing into regulated payments infrastructure. As Tether’s dominance rises (now ~60% of supply), expect compliance-focused issuers like Circle to lean heavily into B2B remittance partnerships, especially as global fintechs scramble to match Western Union’s move. Moreover, yesterday it announced its plan to launch US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), its new stablecoin and an “innovative Digital Asset Network” designed to bridge the digital and fiat worlds (built on Solana and issued by Anchorage Digital Bank). Watch for Western Union’s 2025 Investor Day (Nov. 6), for any more moves that could set off a new wave of “TradFi stablecoin” trade setups.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">MegaETH public sale</h2>



The MegaETH public sale concludes tomorrow after running for 72 hours as an English auction that began on Oct. 27 at 9 a.m. ET. Unlike traditional token sales, this English auction format allows the market to determine the fair price through competitive bidding. The system works by establishing a clearing price — the lowest price point where total bids can fill the entire 500 million token allocation. All successful bidders pay this same clearing price regardless of their individual bid amounts, meaning someone who bids at the maximum $0.0999 per token would still only pay the final clearing price if it settles lower. Bidders who fall below the clearing price receive full refunds, while those at or above it secure allocations. The auction format eliminates gas wars and first-come-first-served advantages, creating a more equitable distribution mechanism.



The sale offers 500 million MEGA tokens, representing 5% of the total 10 billion token supply, conducted entirely on Ethereum mainnet using USDT as the payment method. The auction operates within a price range from $0.0001 to $0.0999 per token, with the starting price set at $0.0001 representing a $1 million fully diluted valuation and the ceiling price of $0.0999 representing a $999 million FDV. Individual participants can bid between $2,650 minimum and $186,282 maximum, with a tick size of $0.0001 for bid increments. The structure includes a mandatory one-year lock-up period for US accredited investors who receive a 10% discount, while non-US participants can optionally choose the same lock-up terms for the discount benefit. Following the auction&#8217;s conclusion tomorrow, the allocation calculation period runs from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5, with withdrawals and refunds available from Nov. 5-19, and final allocation and reallocation occurring from Nov. 19-Nov. 21.



As expected, the MegaETH public sale has been tremendously successful so far, with a 14x oversubscription as of today. This number will likely only increase as we head into the final day, with the majority of deposits/bids coming in in the last few hours.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Wow, someone made a free money machine and attracted a lot of people who wanted free money. That’s crazy Hyperliquid <a href="https://t.co/s8X84N6Pjy">pic.twitter.com/s8X84N6Pjy</a>&mdash; Sisyphus (@0xSisyphus) <a href="https://twitter.com/0xSisyphus/status/1983458476023251408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



After all, if someone makes a free money machine, the only logical action is to deposit as much as possible. Currently MegaETH trades on pre-markets (on Hyperliquid, woohoo!) at a 4.5 billion FDV valuation, giving depositors a 4.5x on any deposit they make. The main issue is that it’s likely that any depositor can at most hit a 4.5x on the minimum bid amount: $2,650 USD. The MegaETH team has given public information on what allows bidders to receive more allocation, mostly revolving around past wallet interactions, social media presence, as well as some of the new “social credit” platforms like Ethos.



Much like any scenario where there is a free money machine involved, we’ve seen a plethora of Sybil activity. If the minimum bid is $2,650 USD, and you have 450 Echo/Sonar accounts you can make a lot more money, with a higher chance of making money than if you are a good, astute cryptocurrency enjoyer with the right social and DeFi/onchain credentials.



We’ve discussed MegaETH on the podcast plenty of times, generally leaning towards bullishness for the chain. The team have a unique approach to ecosystem building (the MegaMafia is now in cohort 2, with the third on the way), and are focusing on unique applications — not Uniswap, Aave, Morpho or Compound forks (which seem to dominate the majority of other chains).&nbsp;



Kunal Goel, previously at Messari, now at LayerZero, <a href="https://x.com/kunalgoel/status/1983304334835077425">released a valuation model yesterday</a>, with his base case for MegaETH sitting at $14 billion USD. Although some of his assumptions are a bit brave (assuming blocks are always filled because of the existence of MEV/arbitrage bots), it does highlight that the MegaETH team has been thinking more about revenue and value accrual than other L2s have historically.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">MegaETH&#39;s scale is so impressive that any time you run the numbers, all intuitive projections get blown out. While the market is pricing it as yet another L2, my model finds the opportunity is actually much MUCH larger. I&#39;ve modeled out four scenarios: 🐂 BULLISH &#8211; MegaETH… <a href="https://t.co/uM4DtommkU">pic.twitter.com/uM4DtommkU</a>&mdash; Kunal G (@kunalgoel) <a href="https://twitter.com/kunalgoel/status/1983304334835077425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



No matter your opinion on MegaETH’s valuation, we’ve had two key takeaways on our end these past few months:



A lot of significant returns now come from private public markets (Echo, Sonar etc.), predeposits etc. What was 2021’s whitelists and discord roles (and subsequent Sybilling, buying and selling of whitelists and discord roles) has now evolved into Sonar and Echo (and subsequent Sybilling, buying and selling of KYC’d Sonar and Echo accounts).



There are now chains which are explicit about their focus on revenue and those focused on another narrative (e.g. decentralization). Which offers better returns, still unknown (e.g. XRP vs. Hyperliquid or ETH vs. SOL).



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0xResearch Newsletter

Stablecoins step into the remittance game

Blockworks

Western Union plans to launch a US dollar-backed stablecoin on the Solana blockchain next year, marking its biggest step yet into digital assets.&nbsp;



The new token, called the US Dollar Payment Token (USDPT), will be issued by Anchorage Digital Bank and will allow Western Union’s 100 million customers to send money internationally without exposure to local currency volatility.



The news was first <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/western-union-early-telegraph-pioneer-joins-the-crypto-arms-race-a0aa7f02?mod=hp_lead_pos8">reported</a> by the Wall Street Journal.&nbsp;



The initiative follows the passage of the Genius Act, signed by President Trump in mid-2025, which created the first federal framework for stablecoins.&nbsp;



Western Union <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251028647920/en/Western-Union-Announces-USDPT-Stablecoin-on-Solana-and-Digital-Asset-Network">said</a> the stablecoin will be accessible through partner exchanges and integrated into a new digital asset network connecting crypto wallets and its 400,000 retail outlets worldwide.



According to the WSJ, Western Union CEO Devin McGranahan described the launch as a natural extension of the company’s 175-year history of using technology to connect people.&nbsp;



By using stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies — Western Union aims to cut settlement times and transaction costs while reducing dependence on legacy correspondent banking systems.



This story was updated at 1:30 pm ET to reflect confirmation from Western Union.



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Solana

Western Union to launch Solana-based dollar stablecoin

IBM has launched a new platform for banks, governments, and corporations to build and manage blockchain-based services with enterprise-grade security and compliance, the company said in a press release.&nbsp;



Developed with digital wallet infrastructure provider Dfns, the Digital Asset Haven platform allows institutions to manage the full digital asset lifecycle — from custody to transaction and settlement — across more than 40 connected public and private blockchains.



Bloomberg first <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-27/ibm-launches-digital-assets-platform-as-crypto-activity-jumps">reported</a> the news.&nbsp;



IBM <a href="https://newsroom.ibm.com/ibm-digital-asset-haven">said</a> the platform integrates its Z and LinuxONE infrastructure with Dfns’ multi-party computation (MPC) and hardware security module (HSM) custody technology.&nbsp;



It also includes native support for governance frameworks, programmable multi-party approvals, and policy-driven compliance tools. Dfns, which has created over 15 million wallets for 250 clients, brings digital asset custody and transaction management expertise to the partnership.



According to Tom McPherson, IBM General Manager for Z and LinuxONE, Digital Asset Haven “empowers governments and enterprises to build the next generation of financial services” with the same resilience and security standards as IBM’s core financial infrastructure.&nbsp;



Dfns CEO Clarisse Hagège added that the collaboration “goes beyond custody to orchestrate the full digital asset ecosystem,” paving the way for large-scale institutional deployment.



The launch arrives as financial institutions increasingly explore tokenization and stablecoin infrastructure following U.S. legislative clarity under the GENIUS Act.&nbsp;



IBM joins a growing field of enterprise providers developing compliance-ready blockchain services amid rising demand for asset tokenization and blockchain settlement capabilities.



This is a developing story.



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IBM unveils blockchain development platform for governments and institutions

BlackRock has launched the iShares Bitcoin ETP on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), marking its first exchange-traded bitcoin product open to UK retail investors. The physically backed product holds bitcoin through custody provided by Coinbase, with coins transferred daily from trading wallets into segregated, offline cold storage.



Jane Sloan, EMEA head of global product solutions at BlackRock, told the <a href="https://www.ftadviser.com/bitcoin/2025/10/20/blackrock-launches-bitcoin-backed-fund/">Financial Times</a> that the listing comes as the UK crypto investor base is projected to reach 4 million within a year.&nbsp;



“Built on institutional-grade infrastructure, [the ETP] enables UK investors to gain exposure to bitcoin with the confidence of robust custody and regulatory oversight,” Sloan said.



The launch follows rising domestic interest in digital assets: a recent BlackRock report found a 12% increase in crypto investments since 2022, with a further 21% of UK adults expected to invest for the first time over the next year.



The iShares Bitcoin ETP extends BlackRock’s digital asset lineup following its earlier spot bitcoin ETF approval in the U.S. in January 2024, a pivotal moment for institutional adoption. Unlike derivatives-based exposure, the UK-listed ETP is directly backed by bitcoin held in Coinbase’s cold wallets, reducing counterparty and rehypothecation risks.



The listing underscores a <a href="https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-opens-retail-access-crypto-etns">gradual easing</a> of regulatory stances toward crypto-linked investment products in Europe, though the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continues to caution retail investors on volatility and potential losses when investing in digital assets.



This is a developing story.



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Bitcoin

BlackRock lists bitcoin ETP for UK retail investors

VanEck has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a VanEck Lido Staked ETH ETF.



It’s the first U.S. exchange-traded fund proposal tied to stETH, the token representing ether staked through the Lido protocol.&nbsp;



Filed on Oct. 20, the <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2091159/000162828025045249/vanecklidostakedethereumet.htm?ref=blog.lido.fi">S-1 registration</a> seeks approval to offer regulated exposure to Ethereum’s staking ecosystem within a conventional ETF framework.



According to VanEck’s filing, the proposed fund would hold stETH, a liquid staking token that allows holders to access staking rewards while retaining liquidity.&nbsp;



The ETF aims to mirror Ethereum’s staking economics while maintaining daily liquidity and full onchain transparency. Lido’s protocol has generated over $2 billion in staking rewards and currently secures nearly $40 billion in total value locked, according to the foundation.



Kean Gilbert, Head of Institutional Relations at the Lido Ecosystem Foundation, <a href="https://blog.lido.fi/vaneck-files-for-lido-staked-eth-etf/">said</a> the filing “signals growing recognition that liquid staking is an essential part of Ethereum’s infrastructure.” The foundation noted that the ETF structure could offer institutional investors a tax-efficient, compliant path to staking exposure without direct onchain interaction.



The move follows recent clarification from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, which stated that certain liquid staking operations do not constitute securities transactions when conducted under administrative parameters.



This is a developing story.



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VanEck files for first Lido staked ETH ETF

Ripple has acquired GTreasury, a leading treasury management software provider, in a $1 billion deal that extends the company’s reach into corporate finance and cash management.&nbsp;



The acquisition, announced Thursday, marks the latest step in Ripple’s expansion strategy following its earlier purchases of prime brokerage firm Hidden Road and stablecoin payments platform Rail.



GTreasury, based in Chicago, provides software that helps multinational corporations manage liquidity, payments, and risk across global operations. Ripple said combining its blockchain settlement infrastructure with GTreasury’s treasury tools will allow companies to manage digital and fiat assets in real time.&nbsp;



“Ripple’s and GTreasury’s capabilities together bring the best of both worlds, so treasury and finance teams can finally put their trapped capital to work, process payments instantly, and open up new growth opportunities,” said Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse in the announcement.



The deal gives Ripple direct access to the multi-trillion-dollar corporate treasury market, positioning it to compete with incumbents such as Kyriba and SAP Treasury. Integrating blockchain-based settlement into traditional treasury operations could enable companies to move money instantly, reduce transaction costs, and improve working capital efficiency.



Ripple said GTreasury will continue operating as a subsidiary, maintaining its customer relationships while incorporating Ripple’s digital asset and liquidity infrastructure.



This is a developing story.



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M&amp;A

Ripple acquires GTreasury in $1B deal to expand into corporate finance

Kraken has acquired Small Exchange, a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed Designated Contract Market, from IG Group for $100 million, the company announced.



The deal positions Kraken to offer fully regulated onshore derivatives trading in the United States, extending its reach into the world’s largest capital market. The acquisition gives Kraken the regulatory foundation to design and operate U.S.-listed derivatives under direct CFTC oversight.



Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said the purchase marks “the foundation for a new generation of United States derivatives markets,” describing the move as an effort to consolidate spot, futures, and margin trading into one regulated ecosystem. The integration aims to reduce market fragmentation and bring high-performance, low-latency trading onshore — capabilities often available only in offshore venues.



The transaction follows Kraken’s earlier purchase of NinjaTrader, which gave clients access to CME-listed crypto futures, and builds on its prior acquisitions of Crypto Facilities in the U.K. and its regulated derivatives presence in Europe under MiFID II.&nbsp;



With operations now spanning six fiat currencies and more than 450 digital and traditional assets, Kraken is positioning itself as one of the few global crypto firms with derivatives venues across three major jurisdictions.



This is a developing story.



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This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor <a href="mailto:david@blockworks.co">David Canellis</a> before publication.

CFTC

Kraken acquires CFTC-regulated Small Exchange for $100M

Macauley Peterson

Citi has raised its base-case projection for stablecoin issuance to $1.9 trillion by 2030, up from $1.6 trillion earlier this year, with a $4 trillion bull case and a $0.9 trillion bear case.



On Day 3 of DAS London, Sophia Bantanidis, a research analyst on Citi’s Future of Finance team, presented the findings of the bank’s “Stablecoins 2030: Web3 to Wall Street” <a href="https://www.citigroup.com/rcs/citigpa/storage/public/GPS_Report_Stablecoins_2030.pdf">report</a>, calling the stablecoin boom “blockchain’s ChatGPT moment for institutional adoption.”



Bantanidis pointed to “a huge surge of announcements from digitally native firms integrating stablecoins into commerce, payments and real-world applications,” noting big e-commerce names are “partnering with the wallet providers to accept crypto and stablecoins.”



Stablecoin issuers could become a top Treasury holder —potentially more than any single jurisdiction today, the report says — with $1 trillion+ in T-bills by 2030, amassing political capital in the process.



Bantanidis also cited “regulatory tailwinds” — including the GENIUS Act — and “offshore international demand for holding USD,” as primary drivers of stablecoin growth.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="889" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-109130" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-50.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ethereum holds roughly $177b of the <a href="https://defillama.com/stablecoins">$306 billion total</a> stablecoin supply | Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/team/charts/3228">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>







Beyond growth in supply, Citi’s updated outlook projects even more eye-popping numbers for transaction volume. Since stablecoins “can circulate with really high velocity,” Bantanidis said the base case implies roughly $100 trillion in annual stablecoin transaction volume by 2030, or even double in the bull scenario.



But there’s a caveat, she told the London audience: “Stablecoins are not going to be the only game in town.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">&quot;The takeaway from both reports is that stablecoins are not going to be the only game in town,&quot; <a href="https://twitter.com/Citi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Citi</a>&#39;s Sophia Bantanidis says <a href="https://t.co/CoAnVDoIce">pic.twitter.com/CoAnVDoIce</a>&mdash; Digital Asset Summit 2025 (@blockworksDAS) <a href="https://twitter.com/blockworksDAS/status/1978407929263923239?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



“We envision a multi-format, monetary ecosystem,” Bantanidis said, predicting that “bank tokens…will outpace stablecoins in transaction volume by 2030.”



The report models $100–$140 trillion in annual bank-token turnover at modest penetration of large-value payment rails.



On adoption, corporate treasurers “can optimize liquidity management globally” via programmability, embedded compliance and conditional settlement — but many “are likely going to prefer bank tokens and tokenized deposits because of their risk appetite [and] regulatory considerations,” Bantanidis said.



Geopolitically, Citi believes dollar-backed stablecoins could extend USD dominance, with Hong Kong and the UAE among jurisdictions likely to embrace local-currency rails but, Bantanidis cautioned, “there are multiple regulatory loopholes that still need to be filled.” Risks include interoperability and fragmentation, the quality of the reserve assets, transparency and auditability.



Despite lingering uncertainties, one thing is clear, Bantanidis said: “Stablecoins are shifting from a niche decentralized finance experiment into a viable rail for moving money.”



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Banking

Citi posits bank tokens may be more popular than stablecoins

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted preliminary conditional approval for a de novo national bank charter to Erebor Bank.



The approval positions Erebor Bank, a venture backed by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and firms connected to Joe Lonsdale and Peter Thiel, to become one of the first federally-chartered banks built around the innovation-economy client base once served by Silicon Valley Bank.&nbsp;



According to Erebor’s June <a href="https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2025/nr-occ-2025-101.html">filing</a>, investors plan to commit around $250 million in capital through 8VC, Founders Fund, Haun Ventures, and other backers. The proposed leadership team includes Michael Hagedorn as president, with Owen Rapaport and Jacob Hirshman serving as co-chief executives.



Erebor’s application outlines a target clientele spanning crypto, AI, and defense startups as well as high-net-worth individuals in those sectors. The bank also intends to assist foreign banks with U.S. dollar-based transactions.&nbsp;



In its OCC filings, Erebor <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/palmer-luckey-joe-lonsdale-bank-erebor/">describes</a> plans to become “the most regulated entity conducting and facilitating stablecoin transactions,” to promote “broader acceptance of stablecoins,” and to accept cryptocurrencies as collateral for certain loans. Stablecoins are digital tokens whose value is pegged to a currency such as the U.S. dollar, often backed by cash or short-term Treasuries to maintain price stability.



Comptroller Jonathan V. Gould called the move a milestone for a “dynamic and diverse federal banking system,” adding that the agency “does not impose blanket barriers” to banks that want to engage in permissible digital-asset activities, provided they are conducted in a safe and sound manner.



While the OCC’s conditional approval confirms Erebor’s eligibility to proceed, the bank must still meet all pre-opening requirements, including capital adequacy, governance, and compliance testing.



This is a developing story.



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OCC guidance paves way for Erebor’s crypto-bank ambitions

Bridge, Stripe’s stablecoin unit, has applied to the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter.



The move was announced by co-founder Zach Abrams <a href="https://x.com/zcabrams/status/1978138910464324060">on X</a>.&nbsp;



Abrams said that the charter would enable Bridge to manage reserves, provide custody and other functions. The post cited the GENIUS Act, a legal framework for stablecoins that was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-signs-genius-law">signed into law</a> in July.



“We’ve long believed stablecoins will be a core, regulated financial building block. This regulatory infrastructure will enable us to tokenize trillions of dollars and make this future possible,” Abrams wrote.



The OCC charter, if approved, would place Bridge in a similar regulatory category to Paxos and Anchorage Digital, both of which hold charters. These charters permit companies to engage in digital asset custody and token issuance under federal banking supervision rather than state-by-state licensing.



Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge marked a major strategic step for the payments firm into stablecoins. The transaction, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-bridge-acquisition-stablecoin-infrastructure">announced</a> last year, was completed in February.&nbsp;



The latest move suggests a deeper integration of stablecoins into mainstream financial rails. Stripe <a href="https://stripe.com/en-hk/newsroom/news/sessions-2025">announced</a> new stablecoin-powered money management tools in May.



The OCC has not publicly commented on the filing. Bridge’s application remains pending, with review timelines typically spanning several months.



This is a developing story.



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Stripe’s stablecoin biz seeks national bank trust charter

Jack Kubinec

Founder sources I’ve spoken to seem to agree: There’s never been a better time to be selling a stablecoin startup.



I learned this the hard way last week. After noticing the relative dearth of recent crypto acquisitions, I was planning a bratty column titled: “Is the crypto M&amp;A season in the room with us right now?”&nbsp;



Then Fortune blew up my spot when it broke the news that Coinbase and Mastercard are offering between $1.5-2.5 billion to acquire stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK. Coinbase appears to currently have the inside track to win the bidding war, Fortune <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/10/09/bvnk-acquisition-coinbase-mastercard-stablecoins/">reported</a>.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-acquisition-azura-defi-raise">Stripe paid $1.1 billion</a> for stablecoin infrastructure shop Bridge last year, and BVNK could get double that amount. BVNK <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/12/17/exclusive-stablecoin-bvnk-750-million-series-b-bridge-stripe-haun/">reportedly</a> had $40 million in annualized revenue at the end of last year.



The revenue multiples that stablecoin startups can ask for in the current market environment are “pretty damn high,” said one stablecoin founder, who declined to be named. The founder added that despite the relatively low number of closed acquisition deals in recent months, the sharks are circling behind the scenes.



“If you can name a company in the space or tangential to the space, they are shopping around,” the founder said.



Stablecoin startups can fast track large financial or payments’ firms pathway to market in a post CLARITY Act world. This is partly because stablecoin tech may be cumbersome to build in-house and partly because stablecoin firms may have earned the requisite licenses to do business in the US.&nbsp;



“M&amp;A will be a key for institutions to play catch up games,” Jiazi Guo, founder and CEO of crypto tax firm ETZ Soft, said.



Some of these startups — the BVNKs and Bridges of the world — may have great pieces in place but lack the scale to absorb all the demand for stablecoins. The apparently high revenue multiples being demanded by stablecoin startups in the current environment could be justified by the projected revenue these firms could produce in the context of a larger company with more compliance infrastructure and distribution, said a second founder in the stablecoin space.



In conversations on crypto’s M&amp;A outlook, I heard names like Visa, Mastercard, and Square come up as potential buyers.&nbsp;



Within crypto, things can get murkier. Paying with stock helps billion-dollar-plus acquisitions actually happen, and while private crypto projects can offer tokens, those may be seen as risky assets to accept from a seller’s point of view.&nbsp;



Actors like Coinbase, Circle, Tether, and some layer-1s could be outliers here, either because they have gone public or have a large amount of free cash flow.&nbsp;



There has been a decent amount of acquisition activity within crypto in recent months, with firms like MoonPay making multiple smaller acquisitions. These deals may be more likely to be paid in cash, such as Solana staking firm Sanctum’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sanctum-acquires-ironforge">recent acquisition of IronForge</a>.



The complicating factor in some crypto-native acquisition deals can be tokens, which present thorny questions as to the rights of token holders. Tokens can also make it less logical for companies to merge, said one of the founders, who recounted an acquisition deal with a down-on-its-luck DeFi venue falling through due to complications surrounding the project’s token.



The <a href="https://thedefiant.io/news/defi/stargate-approves-usd110-million-takeover-by-layerzero">messy takeover attempt</a> Wormhole made for cross-chain protocol Stargate Finance illustrated how projects with token holder bases don’t always make for the easiest acquisition targets.



Still, my sources seem to think crypto M&amp;A is yet to peak for this market cycle. Perhaps a BVNK bidding war will be the activation energy that gets M&amp;A season kicked off in earnest.



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acquisition

It’s selling time for stablecoin companies

Morgan Stanley will lift all restrictions on which of its wealth management clients can invest in cryptocurrency funds, the firm told financial advisors on Friday, according to a CNBC report.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/morgan-stanley-drops-crypto-fund-restrictions-for-wealth-clients.html">Beginning</a> October 15, financial advisors will be able to recommend bitcoin and ether investment products to any client, including those using retirement or trust accounts. Previously, such access was reserved for investors with over $1.5 million in assets and an “aggressive” risk profile.



The policy change comes amid a broader recalibration in US financial regulation toward digital assets following the 2024 election of President Donald Trump. Morgan Stanley, which oversees about $8.2 trillion in client assets, is positioning itself to compete with digital-native brokerages such as Coinbase and Robinhood, which have grown their crypto offerings in recent years.



The firm also plans to enable direct trading of bitcoin, ether and solana through its E-Trade platform later this year.



Morgan Stanley’s global investment committee recently advised clients to limit initial allocations to crypto at roughly 4%, depending on portfolio objectives. Chief investment officer Lisa Shalett described crypto as a “speculative and increasingly popular asset class” that many—but not all—investors will want exposure to.



The bank will rely on automated monitoring tools to prevent excessive concentration in digital assets. At launch, advisors will be restricted to offering funds managed by BlackRock and Fidelity, but Morgan Stanley is evaluating other crypto fund providers as the sector matures.



This is a developing story.



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Morgan Stanley opens crypto fund access to all wealth clients

Binance Japan and PayPay announced on October 9, 2025, that they have entered a capital and business alliance aimed at merging cryptocurrency services with Japan’s leading cashless payment platform.



As part of the <a href="https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000037.000126862.html">agreement</a>, PayPay acquired a 40% equity stake in Binance Japan, signaling a strategic effort to integrate digital assets into mainstream financial ecosystems. The collaboration seeks to create seamless user experiences that bridge crypto and fiat transactions across PayPay’s network of over 70 million users in Japan.



Initial initiatives under discussion include allowing purchases of cryptocurrencies through “PayPay Money” within the Binance Japan app and enabling crypto-to-fiat withdrawals into PayPay accounts. The companies described the move as a step toward a “new financial experience” that unites blockchain infrastructure with everyday digital payments.



Binance Japan CEO Takeshi Chino said the partnership marks “an important step toward Japan’s digital finance future,” highlighting plans to expand Web3 adoption through accessible payment tools. PayPay’s Financial Strategy Head Masayoshi Yanase emphasized the firm’s focus on offering secure, user-friendly solutions for crypto transactions integrated into PayPay’s platform.



Binance Japan has operated under the registration of the Kanto Local Finance Bureau as a licensed crypto asset exchange since August 2023, providing spot trading and lending services.&nbsp;



This is a developing story.



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Binance

PayPay takes stake in Binance Japan to merge crypto and cashless payments

Citigroup has invested in BVNK, a London- and San Francisco-based startup building payments infrastructure for stablecoins.



The company <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/09/biti-bvnk-stablecoin-banks-crypto.html">told</a> CNBC on Thursday that the investment, made through Citi Ventures, underscores the growing interest of major US banks in crypto-based settlement systems following regulatory advances like the GENIUS Act, which established clearer rules for dollar-pegged digital assets.



Stablecoins are increasingly being used for cross-border transfers because of faster settlement times and lower transaction costs compared with traditional systems. BVNK’s platform enables clients to move seamlessly between fiat and stablecoins, supporting global payments for merchants, contractors and digital banks.



Co-founder Chris Harmse said BVNK’s valuation now exceeds its prior $750 million round, though the company declined to disclose Citi’s investment amount. Harmse noted that the US is BVNK’s fastest-growing market over the past 18 months, attributing this to the GENIUS Act’s regulatory clarity and surging institutional demand for compliant infrastructure.



CEO Jane Fraser said in June that the bank is exploring issuing its own stablecoin and offering crypto custody services. Other Wall Street firms are following suit — JPMorgan launched its JPMD token, and Bank of New York Mellon and HSBC are developing tokenized deposit products.



BVNK, already backed by Coinbase and Tiger Global, competes with Alchemy Pay, TripleA and Ripple in the cross-border stablecoin market. Harmse said BVNK expects to reach profitability next year.



This is a developing story.



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Citi invests in stablecoin startup BVNK as banks deepen crypto ties

Bullish, the institutionally focused digital asset platform, announced a partnership with Deutsche Bank on Wednesday, set to expand fiat banking integration for its global exchange clients.



The <a href="https://www.bullish.com/news-insights/bullish-and-deutsche-bank-partner-to-deliver-seamless-fiat-integration-for-institutional-crypto-trading">collaboration</a> will see Deutsche Bank provide corporate banking services, including real-time fiat deposits, withdrawals, and reconciliation tools, for Bullish’s operations regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and Germany’s BaFin. The integration will leverage APIs for instant payments and enhanced reporting, aligning with growing institutional demand for secure and compliant crypto–fiat infrastructure.



Bullish President Chris Tyrer said the deal strengthens the company’s banking network and offers clients more efficient on- and off-ramp access. Deutsche Bank’s Head of Merchant Solutions, Kilian Thalhammer, described the move as part of the bank’s strategy to act as a “Global Hausbank” for digital finance, emphasizing security and transparency.



Since launching in 2021, Bullish has processed over $1.5 trillion in cumulative volume and currently ranks among the top ten global exchanges by spot volume in Bitcoin and Ether. Its regulatory reach spans the US, EU, Hong Kong, and Gibraltar, positioning it as a leading exchange bridging traditional and digital finance.



This is a developing story.



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Bullish

Bullish partners with Deutsche Bank for institutional fiat access

Square, the payment services arm of Block, has announced the rollout of integrated Bitcoin payments and an AI-powered voice ordering system for merchants.



<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/square-launches-ai-voice-ordering-and-an-integrated-bitcoin-solution-for-merchants/ar-AA1O5jkA">Announced</a> on Wednesday, the update allows business owners to accept Bitcoin directly through Square’s platform without relying on third-party processors, while a new artificial intelligence tool handles customer voice orders across devices and languages.



The combined release aims to streamline commerce by unifying crypto transactions and conversational AI within Square’s existing merchant ecosystem.



The company said the Bitcoin payment feature connects directly with Block’s infrastructure, leveraging the Lightning Network for faster and cheaper transactions. Merchants can choose to settle in Bitcoin or instantly convert proceeds to fiat currency. Square’s AI voice ordering system, meanwhile, enables restaurants and retailers to manage phone and kiosk orders through natural language prompts, trained on each business’s unique menu or product catalog.



This move marks Square’s latest expansion of Bitcoin utility across Block’s portfolio, following CEO Jack Dorsey’s ongoing push to integrate Bitcoin at the protocol level through projects like TBD and Spiral. While the company framed the update as a boost to merchant efficiency, it also positions Square competitively against fintech rivals such as PayPal and Shopify, which have pursued separate crypto integrations.



Block stated that the new Bitcoin and AI tools are available immediately for US merchants, with international support planned for 2026.



This is a developing story.



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Square announces Bitcoin payments for merchants

S&amp;P Global announced Tuesday, that it will launch the S&amp;P Digital Markets 50 Index, a new benchmark combining cryptocurrencies and publicly traded crypto-linked equities.



The index, <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-global-to-launch-innovative-crypto-ecosystem-index-a-new-way-to-combine-cryptocurrencies-and-crypto-linked-equities-302577058.html">developed</a> in partnership with Dinari, aims to provide a diversified view of the crypto ecosystem, spanning blockchain infrastructure, financial services and digital assets. Dinari will also issue a token tracking the benchmark, making the index accessible through blockchain-based instruments.



The index will include 35 companies involved in digital asset infrastructure and applications alongside 15 cryptocurrencies from the existing S&amp;P Cryptocurrency Broad Digital Market Index. S&amp;P Global said the index is designed to give investors a structured and transparent measure of performance across both traditional and decentralized finance sectors.



Cameron Drinkwater, Chief Product &amp; Operations Officer at S&amp;P Dow Jones Indices, said the move reflects the growing role of digital assets in global markets, offering consistent tools for evaluation and exposure. Dinari’s Chief Business Officer Anna Wroblewska described the initiative as a demonstration of how blockchain technology can modernize financial benchmarks, enabling combined access to equities and crypto within one instrument.



The new index expands S&amp;P Global’s suite of digital asset benchmarks, which already includes the S&amp;P Cryptocurrency Indices and S&amp;P Digital Market Indices.



This is a developing story.



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S&P Global announces crypto ecosystem index blending digital assets and equities

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has taken a $2 billion equity stake in blockchain-based prediction market Polymarket, valuing the company between $8 billion and $9 billion, according to statements from both firms on Tuesday.



ICE shares <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/10/07/nyse-owner-intercontinental-exchange-2-billion-polymarket-stake.html">rose</a> more than 3% in premarket trading following the announcement. ICE CEO Jeffrey Sprecher said the partnership will allow both companies to “uniquely serve opportunities across markets,” while Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan <a href="https://x.com/Polymarket/status/1975528768039985449">described</a> it as a fusion of “institutional scale and consumer savvy.”



The deal marks one of the largest private investments ever made in a crypto-native platform, underscoring how traditional financial infrastructure is expanding into decentralized event-based markets.



Polymarket operates on Ethereum through Polygon, allowing users to trade on the probability of real-world outcomes such as elections, policy decisions, or sporting events — an approach sometimes called “event-driven finance.” The platform was recently cleared to operate in the United States and earlier this year received backing from 1789 Capital, a fund linked to Donald Trump, Jr.



Analysts at Piper Sandler project the prediction markets sector could reach $8 billion in annual revenue by 2030 as platforms like Polymarket and rival Kalshi attract institutional interest.



This is a developing story.



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Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange takes $2B stake in Polymarket

Ondo Finance has completed its acquisition of Oasis Pro, a regulated digital asset broker-dealer and alternative trading system (ATS).



The deal, announced in October 2025, provides Ondo with SEC-registered broker-dealer, ATS, and transfer agent designations. This will <a href="https://ondo.finance/blog/ondo-acquires-oasis-pro">enable</a> it to operate compliant markets for tokenized securities within the United States.



Founded in 2019, Oasis Pro operates as a FINRA-member broker-dealer and SEC-registered transfer agent, and was among the first firms authorized to support digital securities settlement in both fiat and stablecoins such as USDC and DAI.&nbsp;



Its infrastructure enables issuance, transfer, and secondary trading of tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), including equities, corporate debt, and structured products.



With this acquisition, Ondo Finance gains a regulatory foundation to bridge traditional capital markets with blockchain-based infrastructure. The firm, which has $1.6 billion in tokenized assets under management, plans to build out compliant tokenized securities offerings accessible to US investors.



CEO Nathan Allman said the acquisition represents “the most comprehensive suite of licenses and infrastructure necessary to develop regulated tokenized securities markets in the US.”



This is a developing story.



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Ondo Finance finalizes Oasis Pro acquisition to expand US tokenized securities platform

Grayscale Investments has just launched the first US-listed spot crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) offering staking.



The Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHE) and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF (ETH) now <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/10/06/3161548/0/en/Grayscale-Launches-First-Staking-Spot-Crypto-ETPs-in-U-S.html">enable</a> Ether staking, while the Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL) has activated staking capabilities ahead of its proposed uplisting as a spot Solana ETP.



The move provides traditional brokerage investors with access to staking rewards — previously confined to native crypto platforms — through regulated vehicles.



The products are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, meaning they operate outside the framework governing traditional mutual funds and ETFs. Staking, the process of locking up tokens to secure proof-of-stake blockchains like Ethereum and Solana in exchange for rewards, introduces yield potential but also adds operational and network risks.&nbsp;



Grayscale said staking will be managed through institutional custodians and diversified validator networks to reduce single-party risk.



This marks the first time US investors can access staking yield through exchange-traded exposure to Ethereum and Solana, expanding upon regulatory acceptance that began with spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and spot Ether ETFs in July 2024.&nbsp;



Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg called the initiative “first mover innovation,” underscoring the firm’s role in shaping institutional crypto access.



This is a developing story.



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ETFs

Grayscale debuts first US spot crypto ETPs with staking

The European Central Bank (ECB) has chosen technology providers to deliver core services for a potential digital euro.



In a notice <a href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/intro/news/html/ecb.mipnews251002.en.html">published</a> on October 2, the ECB said it had signed framework agreements with firms responsible for alias lookup, fraud and risk management, app development, offline payments, and secure exchange of payment information. Service requests will first go to the primary provider in each category, with a second vendor available if needed.



Among the selected companies are Feedzai and Capgemini Deutschland for fraud management, Almaviva and Fabrick for app and software development, and Giesecke+Devrient for offline payment solutions. EquensWorldline and Senacor FCS were chosen for secure information exchange, while Sapient GmbH and Tremend Software Consulting are included in multiple categories.&nbsp;



One additional provider for offline services will be announced later, according to the note.



The ECB stressed that the agreements involve no payments at this stage and include safeguards to adapt scope in line with European Union legislation. A decision to issue a digital euro will only follow adoption of the Digital Euro Regulation, which remains under debate. Development of specific components will depend on future approval from the ECB Governing Council.



The initiative reflects the EU’s ongoing effort to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that could coexist with cash, improve payment efficiency, and reduce reliance on private stablecoins. Even if ultimately adopted, however, a digital euro may not be launched until the end of the decade.



This is a developing story.



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ECB picks providers for digital euro components

CME Group, the leading US derivatives exchange, announced it will begin offering 24/7 trading for cryptocurrency futures and options in early 2026, pending a regulatory review.



Under the <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cme-group-to-offer-around-the-clock-trading-for-cryptocurrency-futures-and-options-302573425.html">plan</a>, CME’s cryptocurrency products will trade continuously on the CME Globex platform with only a two-hour weekend maintenance period. Transactions executed during holidays or over weekends will carry the following business day’s trade date, with clearing and settlement also processed on that timeline.



“While not all markets lend themselves to operating 24/7, client demand for around-the-clock cryptocurrency trading has grown as market participants need to manage their risk every day of the week,” said Tim McCourt, Global Head of Equities, FX and Alternative Products at CME Group. “Ensuring that our regulated cryptocurrency markets are always on will enable clients to trade with confidence at any time.”



The potential expansion comes on the heels of record volumes in CME’s crypto segment. In its latest market statistics, also <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/media-room/press-releases/2025/10/02/cme_group_reportssecond-highestq3andseptemberadv.html">published</a> today, CME reported a record average daily volume of 340,000 cryptocurrency contracts in Q3 2025, representing about $14.1 billion in notional value. Ether futures reached a quarterly record of 236,000 contracts, while Micro Ether futures set a record of 209,000 contracts.



In September alone, cryptocurrency ADV hit 309,000 contracts, with Micro Ether futures surging 472% year over year. These gains underscore the deepening role of digital assets within CME’s broader portfolio, which also saw strong growth in US Treasury, equity index, and metals trading.



If implemented as planned, the shift will reduce traders’ reliance on offshore venues for weekend and overnight risk management. It also signals CME’s intent to capture a greater share of institutional crypto derivatives activity within regulated US markets, though the change will require infrastructure adjustments in clearing, margin, and settlement to handle continuous operations.



This is a developing story.



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