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WE-Launch
This Week in Review | Trump to Host Dinner for TRUMP Holders; Musk and US Treasury Secretary Engage in Heated Argument at the White House
BlockBeats will curate the key industry news of the week (4.21-4.27) in this article, and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and stay informed about industry trends.
Important News Recap
Trump to Host Dinner for Top 220 TRUMP Holding Addresses, Drawing Criticism from Senators; Largest TRUMP Holder 'Sun' Suspected to Be HTX Cold Wallet
On April 24, the TRUMP token official social media account announced that a private dinner will be held on May 22, 2025, at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C., inviting the top 220 TRUMP holding addresses. Upon the news, the TRUMP token surged over 75% briefly, breaking above $16.
According to the arrangement, the top 25 whale holders will also be invited to an exclusive reception and enjoy a VIP White House tour the next day. The official revealed that President Trump himself will attend the dinner as a special guest. However, it was emphasized that if Trump is unable to attend due to force majeure or other reasons, eligible invitees will receive a limited edition TRUMP NFT as compensation. In addition, all expenses related to the dinner must be borne by the invitees, who must be at least 18 years old, undergo a security check, and sign a liability waiver. To coincide with this dinner event, the official announced that the initial unlocked tokens and the TRUMP coin shares to be released daily over the next three months will be additionally locked for 90 days.
However, the TRUMP dinner and token plan have also sparked political controversy. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut criticized the TRUMP coin dinner as potentially the "most brazenly corrupt act by any sitting president." Another Senator, Jon Ossoff, stated that this could lead to Trump's impeachment.
On the 25th, according to Arkham monitoring, the VIP first seat at the TRUMP dinner, "Sun," registered using an HTX cold wallet. On-chain data shows that this wallet holds $14.6 million worth of TRUMP, accounting for 27.81% of its wallet's total assets, with the top-ranked asset in terms of share being BAN. Related reads: "Trump Hosts $TRUMP Buyers' Dinner, Allowing Whales to Earn $730,000 in 30 Minutes", "Who Will Dine with Trump?"
Trump Softens Stance on Tariffs and Denies Intention to Fire Powell, Cryptocurrency Market Cap Reaches $3 Trillion, Bitcoin Surges Above $95,000
On April 23, U.S. President Trump stated that tariffs on Chinese goods will not reach as high as 145% as previously suggested, with a significant expected reduction but not a complete elimination. When asked if he would take a hardline stance against China, Trump said he would not. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal cited sources saying that Trump has ultimately decided not to dismiss Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, as Treasury Secretary Benson and Commerce Secretary Lutenick warned of dire consequences. Prior to this, the White House legal team had begun studying the relevant legal feasibility. Possibly influenced by this development, the cryptocurrency market bounced back, with the total market cap surpassing $3 trillion, a 24-hour increase of 4.07%, and Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin holdings' value rising above $100 billion.
However, on the tariff issue, there are still discussions within the U.S. administration about different options. According to a Wall Street Journal report on the 23rd, the Trump administration is considering two adjustment plans for tariffs on China: the first plan involves lowering the existing tariff rates to around 50%-65%; the second plan is a "tiered plan," which categorizes Chinese goods into two groups, imposing a 35% tariff on goods "not related to national security" and at least a 100% tariff on goods "of strategic importance." Nevertheless, White House Press Secretary Levitt emphasized that Trump's stance on China's tariffs has "not softened."
On the 24th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun clearly stated during a regular press conference that China and the U.S. have not engaged in negotiations or discussions on the tariff issue, let alone reached an agreement. The Ministry of Commerce also stated on the same day that if the U.S. truly wants to resolve the issue, it should completely lift all unilateral tariff measures against China. On the 25th, Bitcoin continued to rise, breaking the $95,000 mark again after 55 days.
Over the past week, the U.S. has been sending out conflicting and even contradictory signals regarding tariffs on China. On the 26th, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump further stated that he is "unlikely" to approve a new 90-day tariff suspension measure. He emphasized to accompanying reporters, "Unless China makes substantive concessions, he will not lift the additional tariffs on China." Related reading: "Crypto Market Surges, Is it a Reversal or a Rebound? | Trader Observations", "Bitcoin Surges 7%, Is the 'Digital Gold' Narrative Back?", "Bitcoin Returns to $90,000, Which Altcoins Are Worth Watching?", "Full Text of U.S. Treasury Secretary Benson's Speech and Q&A: It Will Take 2-3 Years for China and the U.S. to Reach a Trade Agreement"
Son of US Commerce Secretary Teams Up with SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex to Establish Bitcoin Investment Fund Under 21 Capital
On April 23, according to the Financial Times, Brandon Lutnick, the son of US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Chairman of brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, is collaborating with SoftBank Group, Tether, and Bitfinex exchange to create a Bitcoin investment fund. The fund, named Cantor Equity Partners, plans to raise $3 billion worth of Bitcoin through a newly formed company called 21 Capital. Tether is set to contribute $1.5 billion, while SoftBank Group and Bitfinex will each invest $900 million and $600 million, respectively. The Financial Times revealed that the project is expected to be officially announced in the coming weeks. However, the deal has not been finalized yet, and specific details may still be subject to change. Related read: "Crypto Market Under the Trump Administration: Son of US Commerce Secretary Partners with SoftBank"
Trump Media Tech Group Secures Agreement to Launch Crypto ETF
On April 22, Trump Media Tech Group (DJT.O) officially finalized an agreement with Crypto.com and Yorkville America Digital to issue an ETF. Previously reported by BlockBeats, on March 25, Trump Media Tech Group announced that it has reached a preliminary cooperation agreement with the crypto exchange platform Crypto.com. The group plans to jointly launch a series of ETFs and related products through its fintech brand Truth.Fi, slated for an official launch in 2025, pending final agreements and regulatory approvals. The new fund will receive technical support and crypto asset custody from Crypto.com, covering cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, as well as securities assets related to the "Made in America" theme, spanning multiple industries including energy. Trump Media Tech Group plans to utilize up to $250 million of its own funds for investment, with the funds being custodied by Charles Schwab.
UN Report: Illicit Cryptocurrency Projects like PlusToken Are Powerful Tools of Cybercrime Groups
On April 21, a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed that crime groups in East and Southeast Asia are expanding globally, laundering billions of dollars through illicit crypto mining. They have infiltrated regions with weak regulation and established an underground crypto ecosystem. The Cambodian platform HUWANG Guarantee (now Haowang) became a money laundering hub, circulating over $24 billion since 2021, accelerating transfers to Telegram, stablecoins, blockchain, and online gambling to evade oversight.
Binance Announces Listing and Delisting Criteria
On April 25, Binance issued an announcement detailing its listing and delisting criteria across platforms such as Binance Alpha, Futures, and Spot, focusing on:
1. Alpha Listing Criteria:
· Non-circulating projects: Evaluate project fundamentals, tokenomics, technical risks, team background, and compliance.
· Circulating projects: In addition to the above, consider secondary market performance, such as trading volume, liquidity, historical volatility, FDV, and market cap.
2. Futures Listing Criteria:
· Projects already listed on Alpha: Emphasize Alpha-phase trading volume, price stability, compliance, and token unlock schedules; if no major negative changes occur, they can enter the Futures platform.
· New projects not listed on Alpha: Must meet comprehensive criteria like fundamentals, tokenomics, technical risks, team background, and compliance.
3. Spot Listing Criteria:
· Projects listed on Alpha/Futures: High trading volume, price stability, good compliance, and adherence to token distribution and unlock plans are required.
· New TGE projects: Focus on fundamentals, tokenomics, technical risks, and team compliance.
Furthermore, Binance stressed that it will continuously monitor projects' market performance, team background, compliance, and security, and projects that fail to meet the standards will face delisting.
Binance to Launch Alpha Point Rating System This Week, Determining Wallet TGE and Alpha Airdrop Eligibility
On April 25, according to official sources, the latest version of the Binance App introduced the Alpha Point rating system. As explained by the officials, this system evaluates user activity within the Binance Alpha and Binance Wallet ecosystems to determine eligibility for events like Wallet TGE and Alpha token airdrops. Binance Alpha points are calculated daily based on the user's asset balance in Binance CEX and Binance non-custodial wallet addresses over the past 15 days, as well as the total sum of Alpha token purchases; currently, the sale of Alpha tokens will not contribute to Alpha points.
Binance Wallet Added Two New TGEs This Week: Hyperlane Oversubscribed by 69.22x; OKZOO Oversubscribed by 600x
On April 21, Binance Wallet TGE announced the launch of Hyperlane. The new rules for this event are as follows: Participants are required to make a valid purchase of at least $20 worth of Binance Alpha tokens through Binance Wallet (non-custodial) or Binance between March 22, 2025, 00:00:00 UTC, and April 20, 2025, 23:59:59 UTC. The next day, Hyperlane concluded its funding and distributed the tokens, with a final input of 70,047.45 BNB, oversubscribed by 69.22 times.
On April 25, Binance Wallet announced the launch of the 12th TGE: OKZOO. Participants are required to have a minimum of 45 Binance Alpha points. According to the project's website, OKZOO is a BSC ecosystem DePin project, "the world's first city-scale decentralized environmental data network driven by advanced AIoT machines." OKZOO ended up being oversubscribed by 600 times. Related Read: "Binance Wallet IDO Survival Report: Data from 10 Projects Proves Narrative Matters More Than Traffic?"
Musk and U.S. Treasury Secretary Engaged in Intense Argument at the White House Last Week
On April 24, according to AXIOS citing sources familiar with the matter, Musk, head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and U.S. Treasury Secretary Besant engaged in a heated argument at the White House last Thursday regarding the appointment of personnel at the IRS, causing such a loud commotion that President Trump and other officials took notice. An eyewitness stated, "Two billionaires, middle-aged men turned the West Wing of the White House into a WWE wrestling ring." "They didn't throw punches in the Oval Office, but the president witnessed the altercation. Later, the two took the argument into the corridor, and another intense argument broke out," with Besant criticizing Musk for overcommitting to budget cuts for DOGE without following through. Musk retorted by calling Besant "Soros's proxy" and accusing him of running a "failed hedge fund." It was reported that the argument escalated to the point where they were "chest to chest" at one time until an aide intervened to separate them. Related Read: "One Month Before Leaving Office, Has the Political Alliance Between Trump and Musk Collapsed?"
Paul S. Atkins Officially Assumes Office as the 34th Chairman of the U.S. SEC This Week
On April 22, according to an official announcement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul S. Atkins has officially assumed office as the 34th Chairman of the U.S. SEC. Paul S. Atkins was nominated by Trump on January 20 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 9 with 52 votes to 44 votes. He previously served as an SEC commissioner and has been actively involved in digital asset and market regulation reform, emphasizing regulatory transparency and cost-effectiveness.
The Federal Reserve Revokes the 2022 Bank Guidance on Crypto-Related Activities
On April 25, the Federal Reserve announced the revocation of regulatory guidance regarding bank cryptocurrency and stablecoin activities, along with updates to related business expectations. This move aims to ensure that regulatory requirements remain in line with evolving risks and further support innovation in the banking system. The announcement stated that the Federal Reserve has formally rescinded the 2022 regulatory letter, which previously required state member banks to provide advance notice for planned or existing cryptocurrency activities. Following the revocation, the Federal Reserve will no longer require banks to fulfill reporting obligations but will instead monitor such activities through regular supervisory procedures. Related reading: "Fed's 'Choke Point Action 2.0' Ends, What Does Banking Loosening Mean for the Crypto Market?"
Ethereum Foundation to Host Genesis Block's Tenth Anniversary Celebration on July 30
On April 24, the Ethereum Foundation's official blog announced that a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Ethereum genesis block will take place on July 30 at 3:26:13 PM (UTC). The Ethereum Foundation will support a series of global gatherings, online artifacts, and live streams to welcome the next decade of Ethereum. The Ethereum Support Program (ESP) will offer up to $500 in funding for eligible community events. Event applications must meet the following criteria: focus on Ethereum, free to attend, open to the public, and held on July 30.
Gitcoin Announces the Closure of Its Primary Software Development Department, Grants Lab, Due to a Lack of Sustainable Revenue Model
On April 25, Gitcoin co-founder Kevin Owocki announced on social media that Gitcoin would be closing its primary software development department, Grants Lab, and bidding farewell to some of its outstanding team members. This decision is one of the most difficult since Gitcoin's inception. The rationale behind this decision lies in the changing landscape of the ecosystem: public goods funding models are evolving, the L2 ecosystem is maturing, collaborative mechanisms are continuously innovating, and new competitors are emerging. Additionally, key members of the Grants Lab team have been leaving, and the team currently lacks a clear, sustainable revenue model, leading to financial expenditures exceeding sustainability. Therefore, Grants Lab will not apply for a budget in the second half of 2025, and the remaining funds will be used to provide severance packages to affected employees. Gitcoin stated that they would make every effort to support the transitioning employees with respect and care.
Ethereum L2 Network Zora Completes TGE This Week, but Airdrop Allocation Raises User Concerns
On April 23, the Ethereum L2 network Zora launched its native token, ZORA, and initiated an airdrop. At the same time, Binance opened ZORA token trading on its Alpha platform and airdropped 4,276 ZORA tokens to eligible users. The official Zora airdrop allocated 1 billion ZORA tokens to 2,415,024 addresses, with an average distribution of only 1571.1 ZORA per person, equivalent to approximately $37. Recent participants in the airdrop, including speculative users and Binance Alpha users, received far more tokens than the original supporters, sparking widespread community outrage and being seen as a betrayal of early supporters. Additionally, the Zora airdrop snapshot was divided into two parts, but the specific allocation criteria were never made public, leading to a lack of transparency throughout the process. Further reading: "Zora's Token Issuance Office: A Metamorphosis from NFT Freshness to Social Mania", "ZORA Airdrop Disaster: Early Users 'Liver' for Four Years, Less Than $40 Per Capita"
Singapore Exchange Plans to Launch Bitcoin Perpetual Futures in the Second Half of This Year, Targeting Institutional and Professional Investors
On April 21, according to The Business Times, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) announced its plan to launch Bitcoin perpetual futures in the second half of 2025, targeting institutional and professional investors. This move aligns with the broader trend of traditional exchanges entering the crypto derivatives market, driven by increasing demand for digital assets and strong support for cryptocurrency from former U.S. President Trump. Perpetual futures allow investors to trade the price movements of cryptocurrencies, but unlike traditional futures, these derivatives have no expiration date.
Circle to Launch New Payment and Cross-Border Remittance Network, Aims to Compete with Visa and Mastercard
On April 21, stablecoin USDC issuer Circle announced the upcoming launch of a new payment and cross-border remittance network—marking the company's "next product move." A source familiar with the matter stated, "Circle is rolling out a payments network initially targeting remittances but ultimately competing with Mastercard and Visa." The unveiling of this new product is aimed at banks, fintech companies, payment service providers, remittance providers, and strategic partners of USDC. Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire will share his vision for the stablecoin giant's next steps in the payments sector at the event.
One-Third of South Korean Billionaires Currently Hold Cryptocurrency
On April 21, according to Cointelegraph, one-third of South Korean billionaires now hold cryptocurrency. The Korea Wealth Report 2025 by the Korea Financial Institute stated: "The high-net-worth individual's expectations for the growth of virtual assets indicate that the field is maturing."
KiloEx Reveals Hacker Incident Analysis: User Assets Fully Returned as Contract Key Function Was Not Rewritten
On April 21, KiloEx released a root cause analysis report of the hacker incident. The report pointed out that the incident was caused by the TrustedForwarder contract in its smart contract inheriting the MinimalForwarderUpgradeable from OpenZeppelin but not rewriting the execute method, allowing this function to be called arbitrarily. The attack occurred on April 14 from 18:52 to 19:40 (UTC), with the attacker deploying malicious contracts on chains such as opBNB, Base, BSC, Taiko, B2, and Manta to launch the attack. After negotiating with the attacker, KiloEx agreed to keep 10% as a reward, and the rest of the assets have been fully returned to the project's multi-sig wallet. The platform has completed the vulnerability fix and resumed operations (user assets fully returned).
SOL Strategies Reaches $500 Million Convertible Note Financing Agreement, Intending to Increase SOL Holdings
On April 23, according to official news, the "MicroStrategy-like for Solana" SOL Strategies announced that it has reached a $500 million convertible note financing agreement with ATW Partners, intending to increase SOL holdings. The official statement mentioned that this is the largest financing deal of its kind in the Solana ecosystem to date, and SOL Strategies aims to promote the development of an institutional staking platform. Related readings: "Publicly Listed Companies Start $500 Million 'Buying' Mode, SOL Becomes the Next BTC for MicroStrategies", "From BTC to SOL: The New Trend of Traditional Enterprise Cryptocurrency Allocation"
ZKsync Development Company Matter Labs Sued for Alleged Intellectual Property Theft
On April 22, according to CoinDesk, ZKsync development company Matter Labs was sued by the now-defunct digital asset bank platform BANKEX, accusing it of intellectual property theft. The complaint stated that in 2017, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had commissioned BANKEX to develop software for Plasma technology, with Vlasov and Korolev, as BANKEX employees, in charge of the project. However, the two were accused of secretly founding Matter Labs, transferring BANKEX's technology, and profiting from it. The lawsuit also involved Matter Labs co-founder Alex Gluchowski, investment firms Dragonfly and Placeholder Capital partner Chris Burniske, alleging their involvement or knowledge. A Matter Labs spokesperson responded that the accusations are "baseless," stating that ZKsync is original technology and unrelated to BANKEX.
Cryptocurrency Investment Firm Unicoin Refuses to Settle with the US SEC and Plans to Defend Against Charges in Court
On April 22, according to Decrypt, cryptocurrency investment firm Unicoin is preparing to face off against Wall Street's top regulatory authority as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated it will continue to pursue responsibilities of this Miami-based company. Unicoin co-founder Alex Konanykhin stated that the SEC's enforcement division had given Unicoin until April 18 to engage in settlement negotiations regarding charges of willful violations of federal securities laws' registration and anti-fraud provisions. This deadline has passed, and Konanykhin stated he has no intention of settling but instead vows to defend himself in court.
Malaysian Prime Minister Meets Binance Founder CZ This Week to Drive Blockchain and Tokenization Adoption
On April 23, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim met with Binance founder CZ to drive blockchain and tokenization adoption. The meeting underscores Malaysia's ambition to become a regional hub for blockchain innovation. Anwar pledged to closely collaborate with regulatory bodies to establish a conducive legal framework to support and drive the development of digital assets. This visit is part of CZ's strategy to strengthen relationships with emerging markets in digital finance policy.
NBA Star O'Neal Settles Lawsuit with FTX, Reportedly Received Nearly $750,000 in Endorsement Fees
On April 24, according to Cointelegraph, former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal has reached a settlement with investors who lost money due to FTX's bankruptcy. Court documents indicate that the settlement amount is confidential, and specific terms will be disclosed after the investors formally seek preliminary court approval. O'Neal, along with other celebrities and athletes, was accused of promoting the now-bankrupt FTX trading platform, allegedly causing losses to investors. O'Neal was officially served with the FTX class-action lawsuit complaint at his home on April 17, and was required to appear in federal court to publicly address his involvement in FTX's "misleading advertising campaign." FTX had paid O'Neal nearly $750,000 in endorsement fees, approximately $308,000 to tennis star Naomi Osaka, nearly $206,000 to Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and around $271,000 to former Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz.
Coinbase and PayPal Reach Partnership to Advance PYUSD Payment App
On April 24, Coinbase is expanding its partnership with PayPal to accelerate the adoption, distribution, and usage of PayPal's USD stablecoin (PYUSD). Coinbase will support a 1:1 exchange between PYUSD and USD through its custody and trading platform, enhancing the utility of PYUSD and exploring new on-chain use cases for PYUSD.
JD Group Vice President: JD's Stablecoin Issuance Aims to Enhance Global Supply Chain and Cross-Border Payment Capability
On April 22, according to Daily Economic News, JD Group's Vice President and Chief Economist Dr. Shen Jianguang recently gave an interview in Hong Kong. He pointed out that stablecoins represent a company-level decentralized commercial issuance that is minimally affected by macroeconomic fluctuations. JD's issuance of a stablecoin is intended to further enhance JD's global supply chain and cross-border payment capabilities. Currently, JD has entered the stablecoin issuance "sandbox" testing phase in Hong Kong, where the development of stablecoin-related legislation is still ongoing without clear terms. It is expected that once Hong Kong's "Stablecoin Bill Draft" is approved, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority can formally issue detailed regulations on stablecoin issuance.
Overview of Major Funding Projects This Week: Arch Labs, BitradeX, Symbiotic, Theo, Nous Research, Manus Development Team
On April 22, it was reported that blockchain infrastructure development company Arch Labs completed a $13 million Series A funding round, valuing the company at $2 billion. This funding round was led by Pantera Capital.
On April 23, it was reported that the digital asset trading platform BitradeX completed a £12 million Series A funding round, led by Bain Capital. The funding will be used to accelerate BitradeX's global expansion, launch Artificial Intelligence Strategy Labs in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore in the next six months, and enhance its proprietary technology stack and compliance infrastructure.
On the same day, cryptocurrency equity protocol Symbiotic announced a $29 million Series A funding round, led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and over 100 angel investors from teams such as Aave, Polygon, and StarkWare.
On April 24, it was reported that the startup trading platform Theo raised $20 million in two funding rounds, including a $4.5 million seed round led by Manifold Trading in March 2024 and a $15.5 million round a year later led by Hack VC and Anthos Capital. Both rounds of funding were in token warrants, promising allocations of yet-to-be-issued cryptocurrency.
On April 25, it was reported that decentralized AI startup Nous Research completed a $50 million Series A funding round, with almost all funding provided by crypto venture capital giant Paradigm, bringing Nous' token valuation to $1 billion.
On the same day, Bloomberg reported that the Chinese startup behind Manus AI raised $75 million in a funding round led by US venture capital firm Benchmark. This round of funding, which also included participation from existing investors, increased the startup's valuation fivefold to nearly $500 million. The company, named "Butterfly Effect," reportedly plans to leverage this funding to expand into markets such as the US, Japan, and the Middle East.
This Week's Top Articles
"Farcaster Transformation, a16z Funds $180 Million to Disrupt Web3 Social"
The development journey of Farcaster has revealed the gap between Web3 social practices and the ideal narrative: from initially emphasizing decentralization and encouraging developers to build the ecosystem, to now shifting towards asset-centricity, achieving commercialization through built-in wallets and Mini Apps. Farcaster has essentially become a token incentive-driven asset distributor, where user activity and community engagement heavily rely on the earnings effect rather than social interaction. This not only reflects the decentralized social challenges in user growth and content retention but also signals that the crypto narrative is heading towards decline. After the fading of the venture capital halo, the entire industry is starting to confront the absence of real value and demand.
A crypto player, after accumulating assets worth two billion, fell victim to a scam orchestrated by a fraud ring disguised as a successful girlfriend. Through over two years of time, elaborate setups, and emotional manipulation, the victim was eventually swindled of all their wealth. The scammers, by forging career backgrounds, creating investment returns, and frequently inducing crises, continuously guided the victim to make transfers until completely draining their trust and funds. This scam reveals that the newly rich crypto community is prone to becoming precise targets due to loneliness and greed. The real danger lies in the confidence of those who think they cannot be deceived.
The Canadian publicly listed company SOL Strategies, in partnership with ATW Partners, has signed an agreement to establish a convertible note financing mechanism of up to $500 million, specifically to purchase and pledge SOL tokens. The first tranche will issue $20 million in notes, with interest paid through staking rewards. Formerly known as Cypherpunk Holdings, the company has substantially shifted to the Solana ecosystem in recent years, divesting Bitcoin and non-core assets, significantly increasing holdings and staking SOL. Their validator node operation and revenue have seen rapid growth. Amid approvals for a SOL ETF and inflow of funds, SOL Strategies has become the largest Solana-focused publicly listed company in North America, akin to MicroStrategy in the Bitcoin space, seen as a key driver of accelerated development in the Solana ecosystem.
"Earning $100,000 in 3 Months on Polymarket, How Was It Done?"
This article provides a detailed account of how the author earned $100,000 through arbitrage in prediction markets. The author capitalized on pricing differences for the same event across platforms to lock in risk-free profits, with a focus on pricing errors in multi-outcome markets. Key steps included identifying spreads, acting quickly, automating monitoring, and exiting early to extract APY. The author emphasized the importance of niche markets, volatility, and thorough rule examination, offering an efficient Web3 arbitrage guide.
"SUI Surges 30% Intraday, What Noteworthy Projects Are in Its Ecosystem?"
Against the backdrop of a overall crypto market recovery, the SUI ecosystem demonstrated particularly strong performance, with an overall increase of over 23%. Several projects such as DeepBook, Cetus, and Momentum saw significant gains. The ecosystem transitioned from gaming to a trading chain focus, expanding into various areas including DeFi, AI, and NFTs. Innovative technologies like DeepBook's native order book, Walrus airdrops, and zkLogin were introduced, providing robust support for mobile and on-chain applications.
"Three-Day Rally Up 54%, Where Does SUI's Growth Momentum Come From?"
With a recent three-day surge of 54% and strong data, SUI broke through historical resistance levels, showcasing its full-stack rise driven by technological innovation, ecosystem flywheel growth, and capital momentum resonance. Balancing high performance and decentralization, SUI has established a comprehensive presence ranging from DeFi and Meme+AI to hardware ecosystems, attracting mainstream institutions to reshape valuation logic. This marks the blockchain competition officially entering a new phase of the "digital economic operating system."
"One Month Before End of Term, Has the Political Alliance Between Trump and Musk Broken Down?"
Trump and Musk were once close due to their joint efforts in government reform. However, their relationship gradually deteriorated due to conflicting interests stemming from tariff policies. While Musk's leadership of the Department of Government Efficiency saved huge expenses, backlash ensued as it hurt vested interests, causing setbacks for Tesla and a significant decline in Musk's personal assets. Ultimately, Treasury Secretary Besent prevailed over Musk in a White House argument, and Trump chose allies more aligned with his own interests, signaling Musk's marginalization within the power center. This brief marriage of technology and politics is heading towards its end.
"ZORA Airdrop Disaster: Early Users 'Livered' for Four Years, Per Capita Less Than $40"
After years of preparation, Zora's coin launch has led to widespread community disappointment. The airdrop allocation was too low and extremely unevenly distributed, with most users receiving tokens worth less than the gas fee. On the contrary, whales easily scooped up a large portion of the rewards. In addition, the token itself has no practical use, the distribution rules are opaque, and the team holds too much of the supply, further angering early supporters. The chain's on-chain reputation has collapsed, activity has plummeted, on-chain social interactions are under scrutiny, and a full-blown trust crisis has erupted.
"Bull Market Returns, Can Ethereum's Pectra Upgrade Reverse the Tide?"
Ethereum faces fierce competition from new chains like Solana, with its price not hitting new highs and its activity declining. The Pectra upgrade and the RISC-V proposal aim to improve scalability, reduce costs, and maintain security and compatibility. Meanwhile, Solana's rapid rise due to efficiency and low costs challenges Ethereum's position.
"Market Cap Surpasses $25 Million in 12 Hours, Is $JOS Legit or Another 'Insider Deal'?"
After AI project JuliaOS launched on the Solana chain, its market cap quickly surged from $650,000 to $25 million, sparking controversy as over half of the tokens are controlled by early binding addresses. JuliaOS is a multi-chain AI Agent framework developed in the Julia language by a Norwegian team with advisors from the Qubic project. While the project's technical direction and choice of programming language have received some recognition, the anonymous team and opaque early presale arrangements have raised red flags among on-chain players. The market cap has since plummeted significantly, with the market taking a wait-and-see approach regarding its future transparency and community trust building.
"Trimming Staking Rewards, Aptos' New Proposal Targets Whale 'Earners'"
The Aptos community's AIP-119 proposal plans to gradually reduce the staking reward rate from about 7% to 3.79% over three months to alleviate inflationary pressures, improve capital utilization efficiency, and promote a healthier ecosystem. Despite concerns about small node profitability and capital outflows, supporters believe this is a key step in breaking the reliance on high APY and reshaping Aptos' economic model. It signals Aptos' proactive adjustment in governance, ecosystem incentives, and long-termism.
"The 'On-chain Fiat' Ceiling and the Network Effect of Stablecoins"
Stablecoins have broken the traditional payment trilemma with "better, faster, cheaper," providing a 24/7, low-cost, permissionless open payment network for global users. They are evolving from intermediary tools to mainstream value vehicles, although they still face bottlenecks such as fiat currency conversion. However, as the network effect expands, stablecoins are poised to reshape the global financial landscape.
"Vitalik and Balaji's Top Ten Predictions: Crypto, AI, and the Future Order"
At a recent The Network State event, Balaji and Vitalik delved into Ethereum's center-left positioning in the crypto world, DeFi's shift from pipelines to an alternative financial system, the future of the US dollar and stablecoins, the amplifying effect of artificial intelligence on human intent, and the potential of DeSci as a force for transformation in the healthcare industry. Both agree that the future will not be reshaped through reform of the old system but by rebuilding a new world order through on-chain coding.
As the SOL ETF process accelerates, the Solana Foundation has introduced a new "one in, three out" policy. By removing validators reliant on foundation delegation and those with external stakes of less than 1000 SOL, they aim to enhance validator independence. However, this may actually result in the elimination of a large number of small to medium nodes, exacerbating centralization risks. Although the policy has a buffer period, in the context of institutional inflows and the rise of large nodes, for the Solana ecosystem to truly achieve decentralization, it will need to lower the validator participation threshold.
"Bloomberg: Has US Treasuries Really Lost Their Safe Haven Appeal?"
During the market turmoil caused by Trump's tariff hikes, US Treasuries failed to act as a safe haven as before and instead declined alongside risk assets, with yields seeing the largest single-week increase in twenty years. Investors are concerned about the inflationary pressure from tariffs, policy uncertainty, and widening fiscal deficits, leading some funds to flow into cash, German bunds, gold, and other safe-haven assets. Additionally, factors such as foreign selling and hedge fund position unwinding have exacerbated the abnormal volatility in the US Treasury market, prompting a reassessment of the US Treasuries' status as a global "risk-free" asset.
"Vitalik's Long-Term L1 Execution Layer Proposal in Full: Using RISC-V to Replace EVM"
Vitalik proposes replacing the current EVM with RISC-V as the Ethereum smart contract virtual machine language to fundamentally optimize execution layer performance, break through scalability bottlenecks, simplify system architecture, while retaining core abstractions such as accounts, storage, etc., ensuring minimal changes to the development experience. The proposal also aims to achieve bidirectional compatibility between EVM and RISC-V contracts. The ultimate goal is to significantly improve the proof efficiency of ZK-EVM while maintaining compatibility, driving the Ethereum execution layer towards a more concise and efficient architecture.
"Without Fixed-Rate Perpetuals, Can DeFi Ever Be Complete?"
Although a large floating-rate market has been established in DeFi, there is still a lack of native tools, like CME rate futures, to hedge interest rate risks. Due to the lack of linkage with traditional financial rates, protocols in DeFi such as AAVE experience significant interest rate fluctuations and are often in a premium state. By introducing interest rate perpetual contracts pegged to DeFi and TradFi rates, not only can both borrowers and lenders effectively hedge interest rate volatility, but it can also pave the way for fixed-rate loans, improving market efficiency, attracting more traditional financial institutions, and achieving integration between the two.
"Is Base 'Stealing' Ethereum's GDP?"
Base has rapidly risen in the Ethereum ecosystem, bringing user growth and application vitality. However, it has also had an impact on Ethereum mainnet's fee revenue and ETH burning mechanism, leading to a so-called "GDP transfer." The report suggests that Ethereum is investing in the future through its L2 roadmap, but in the short term, a structural decline in L1 economics will continue. If scaling solutions cannot be implemented quickly, there may even be a need to issue more ETH to maintain network security. In the process of enterprise transformation, Ethereum faces the trade-off between efficiency and decentralization, and must also be wary of being replaced by L2 solutions it has incubated itself.
After a brief explosion, the AI project experienced multiple external setbacks, causing the bubble to burst prematurely. However, the recent launch of several AI Launchpads indicates that the field is entering a "rebuilding" phase. While the Meme Launchpad runs parallel to the AI Launchpad, the latter emphasizes practicality and ecosystem development. Leading projects such as Virtuals and AI16Z are constantly evolving and introducing new mechanisms and products, aiming to empower the entire ecosystem. Driven by the MCP concept, the AI narrative may be on the verge of a second rebound. As long as one continues to participate, it is still possible to seize the opportunity in the new round.
"In-Depth Analysis of Bittensor: What Projects Does the Subnet Have to Look Forward to?"
This article introduces the Bittensor ecosystem, a Web3 platform that drives decentralized AI development through "Darwinian AI." The author shares enthusiasm for cryptocurrency and AI, discussing the convenience and potential risks of centralized AI products, such as data ownership and platform stability issues. Through competition and incentive mechanisms utilizing the $TAO token and subnet structure, Bittensor promotes the natural selection and evolution of AI models, attracting investor attention.
"Ethereum's Challenge: How to Address Value Drain in the Modular Stack?"
Although migrating transactions and activities from the Ethereum main chain to Rollups, L2, or L3 is not necessarily a bad thing, it essentially extracts value from Ethereum, which in the long run weakens ETH's position. Using the Toyota "Genchi Genbutsu" concept and real-world examples of Rollup projects, the author points out that when projects start building their chains from the Ethereum ecosystem, their mindset shifts from idealism to a commercial orientation, and ETH gradually becomes the "neglected mother." While this trend is realistic, if Ethereum does not address it, its future position in the modular stack may decline, necessitating a contemplation of countermeasures.
"AI Token Prices Soar: Comprehensive Overview of the Next Potential Breakthroughs in Crypto AI"
From the AI Meme GOAT-triggered AI Agent craze to the CryptoAI temporary downturn caused by Trump's issuance of MemeCoin, the market has undergone the process of bubble bursting and rebuilding. Today, CryptoAI is resurging, with new projects like $zerebro and $AIOS rapidly growing. Bittensor is attracting institutional attention due to its liquidity advantage, Virtuals Protocol is launching an AI business protocol and a point emission mechanism to restructure the ecosystem, and innovations in gaming, DeFAI, infrastructure, and other directions continue to emerge. Overall, the integration of Crypto and AI is entering the second half, transitioning from conceptual hype to a new stage of practical product implementation and value capture.
This article, using the metaphor of a ski causing an avalanche, delves into the profound analysis of the impact of Trump's aggressive tariff policy on the financial market, especially how it triggered fluctuations in the U.S. Treasury market and its chain reactions. Arthur Hayes points out that the U.S. Treasury Department alleviated market panic through bond repurchases to stabilize bond prices by providing liquidity to hedge funds, indirectly driving Bitcoin's strength. Against the backdrop of global financial derisking and increased U.S. dollar liquidity sensitivity, Bitcoin is seen as a hedge asset against the instability of the fiat currency system and may continue to lead, driving a new round of altcoin market trends.
The TRUMP token once triggered market frenzy due to the celebrity effect. However, with insider exposure and market decline, the price plummeted from its peak by over 90%, with a large number of whales choosing to liquidate their positions, resulting in highly concentrated chips. Despite recent positive stimuli such as the Trump dinner, sparking a brief rebound, the project is suspected of manipulation. Some retail investors and new large holders are deeply mired in losses, reflecting the highly speculative and extremely risky nature of MEME coin markets. Even with top-tier traffic support, they can hardly escape the fate of being harvested.
"Backpack+AI, Even Coding Novices Can Script Low-Risk Earnings"
The airdrop activity on the Backpack trading platform continues to rise in popularity, with trading volumes reaching new highs. Users have obtained platform tokens and other potential airdrops through real trading behavior. Pro player CJ, without understanding programming, used AI to create arbitrage scripts. In a low-risk environment, he earned money through arbitrage strategies in a "fluffing" manner and shared how to achieve "eating multiple meals with one fish" through multi-platform linkage. This demonstrated a feasible path to efficiently obtain returns and airdrops in a bear market.
"ETH vs SOL Showdown: Node War and Infrastructure Moat Behind the $587 Billion Staked"
While Solana and Ethereum are fairly close in terms of total staked value, Ethereum still holds an advantage in security due to its node distribution and maturity of staking infrastructure. Ethereum has effectively mitigated centralization risks and attack difficulty by limiting single node staking caps, encouraging retail participation, and promoting diverse client and distributed validation technologies like Obol. On the other hand, Solana exhibits higher node centralization, stricter hardware requirements, and less widespread distributed staking technology, making it relatively more vulnerable in the face of potential attacks.
Against the backdrop of the Trump administration signaling crypto-friendly policies, Cantor Fitzgerald, in collaboration with SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex, is establishing a $3 billion Bitcoin investment platform called 21 Capital. This move aims to replicate MicroStrategy's success path, achieve public listing through an SPAC structure, and attract institutional investments. Not only does this signify further embrace of crypto assets by traditional financial capital, but it also highlights the potential influence of political-business relationships in the project, potentially paving the way for a new era of institutionalized digital asset allocation.
"From Candy Vendor to Crypto Billionaire: Coinbase Founder's $8 Billion Entrepreneurship Rule"
Brian Armstrong, the founder of Coinbase, drew inspiration from the Bitcoin whitepaper, committed himself to the cryptocurrency space, and amassed an $8 billion fortune within five years. He emphasizes that the real opportunity lies in being a "seller of shovels" rather than a "gold digger," advocating for regulatory reform, encouraging stablecoin and digital dollar legislation. He sees the cultural potential of Memecoins, while reminding investors to focus on project code activity, community interaction, and responses to criticism. He believes that cryptocurrency will not replace traditional finance but can serve as a strong complement, with future emphasis on products that seamlessly integrate with the traditional system.
"What Is Left of Coinbase Without Regulatory Advantage?"
Although Coinbase holds a high position in the regulatory system due to its compliance advantage, it has been experiencing a continuous decline in user experience. Issues such as low customer service efficiency, high fees, and lack of response to ordinary users have led to widespread dissatisfaction. Data shows that its individual investor activity is far lower than that of competitors, and the platform is gradually moving away from retail users. Simultaneously, system bugs, chaotic customer support mechanisms, and frequent security vulnerabilities have damaged user trust. High fees and the official apathetic attitude have further intensified user attrition. Coinbase's development on the institutional path is now coming at the cost of sacrificing the experience of ordinary users.
"From 'World Computer' to 'Settlement Layer Commodity'? Ethereum's L2 Survival Strategy Guide"
Ethereum is facing fierce competition from emerging platforms like Solana, with issues such as Layer 2 network fragmentation, declining value capture capability, weakened ecosystem control, and strategic leadership vacuum seriously affecting its user experience and economic model. As the market's expectations for Web3 fall short, Ethereum's dominant position is being questioned. To regain competitiveness, Ethereum needs to drive the implementation of L2 interoperability standards, strengthen ETH-centric infrastructure, regain ecosystem control, and adopt a more decisive, performance-oriented leadership approach to address challenges, in order to achieve a strategic turnaround from decline to revival.
"Does 'On-Chain Ethics' Exist? Vitalik's Idealism and the Conflict of L1 Free Economy"
Vitalik publicly criticized projects like Pump.fun on Farcaster for lacking ethical principles, sparking a heated debate in the Ethereum, Solana, and Base communities on on-chain application ethics standards and technical neutrality. The show's guests discuss Vitalik's eligibility to make value judgments from the perspectives of product-market fit, on-chain freedom, governance philosophy, and point out that the differences in community culture behind different public chain ecosystems reflect not purely technical issues, but rather cultural differences. Despite his controversial statements, his unwavering commitment to ideals and non-market-driven spiritual leadership position is also highlighted.
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Never Underestimate the Significance of the US Stablecoin 'Infrastructure Bill'
If the US stablecoin bill, the "GENIUS Act," passes smoothly this time, its significance will be tremendous. I even think it's significant enough to enter the top five in Crypto history.
Although abbreviated as the GENIUS Act, which translates directly to the Genius Act, it is actually the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, which translates to "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Dollar Stablecoins."
The proposal is lengthy, with several key points summarized for everyone:
· Mandatory 1:1 Full Asset Backing: Assets include cash, demand deposits, and short-term US Treasuries. At the same time, misappropriation and rehypothecation are strictly prohibited.
· High-Frequency Disclosure: Reserve reports must be published at least monthly, introducing external audits.
· Licensing Requirement: Once the circulating market cap of the issuer's stablecoin exceeds $100 billion, it must transition into the federal regulatory system within a specified timeframe, adopting banking-grade regulation.
· Introduction of Custody: The custodian of the stablecoin and its reserve assets must be a regulated qualified financial institution.
· Clear Definition as a Payment Medium: The bill explicitly defines stablecoin as a new type of payment medium, primarily regulated by the banking regulatory system, rather than restricted by the securities or commodities regulatory system.
· Embracing Existing Stablecoins: A maximum 18-month grace period after the bill's enactment, aimed at encouraging existing stablecoin issuers (such as USDT, USDC, etc.) to promptly obtain licenses or become compliant.
After finishing the main content, let's talk about the significance of this matter with an excited heart.
Over the years, when others asked, "After working in the Crypto industry for 16 years, what application have you created?"
In the future, you can confidently tell others—Stablecoins.
Some people have held opposing views. In the past, people's impression of stablecoins was that they were an opaque black box. Every few months, there would be FUD — whether Tether's assets were frozen or Circle had a significant black hole deficit.
In fact, if you think about it, Tether easily rakes in billions of dollars a year just from the interest on those underlying government bonds. Circle, slightly less, also made a $1.7 billion profit last year.
They basically made money while standing there. From a motivational standpoint, they have no malicious intentions. In fact, they are the most eager for compliance.
Now, this opaque black box will become a transparent white box.
In the past, the only complaint was that Tether's funds might have been frozen by the United States. Now, they will be directly placed into U.S. compliant custodial institutions, with high-frequency disclosures, so you can rest assured.
【No need to worry about a rug pull】 is such a huge advantage—I think especially all Crypto people understand this.
Stablecoins were once almost on the verge of being overtaken by CBDCs. In any country, if a central bank digital currency really exists, it is highly likely not built on a blockchain, at most it is built on some internal central bank consortium chain, which to be honest, is meaningless.
When CBDCs were at their peak, that was the most dangerous time for stablecoins.
If CBDCs had become a reality back then, stablecoins today would have been relentlessly suppressed into a dark corner, and blockchain would only be able to play a minimal role.
The remaining half-dead stablecoins would even have to learn the standards of central bank digital currencies, completely relinquishing their standard-setting power.
And now, stablecoins have won (or are about to).
Instead, everyone should learn the 【Blockchain + Token】 standard.
Nowadays, many blockchains actually have no meaningful applications on top, only stablecoin transfers. For example, with Aptos, the only scenario I use Aptos for is transfers between Binance and OKX.
And now, stablecoins will be legislated, what does that mean?
That's right, blockchain will become the only standard.
In the future, every stablecoin user will be the first to learn how to use a wallet.
As an aside, I actually think Ethereum's concerted push for EIP-7702 is quite forward-thinking. While other chains are all about memes, thank you Ethereum for sticking to account abstraction.
EIP-7702 is about Account Abstraction, which can support, for example:
· Social Account Registration Wallet
· Paying GAS with Native Coin
· And more
This paves the way for future new users to heavily use stablecoins, solving the last-mile problem.
Furthermore, once stablecoins receive legislative support, deposits and withdrawals will become even easier.
Let's imagine a scenario: previously, hindered by the gray nature of stablecoins, but after the bill passes, many traditional brokerages can support stablecoins themselves. The money from a US stock investor can be converted into stablecoins in minutes and instantly deposited into Coinbase. Believe it or not.
Let's imagine another scenario: if the brilliant bill smoothly passes through the House of Representatives, next, you will see:
Due to the extremely lucrative nature of this trading, existing stablecoin leaders and newly entering traditional giants will crazily start promoting their stablecoin products.
And an outsider, due to these promotions, will start using stablecoins. And then one day, after finding out that the wallet account has been created, will explore Bitcoin inside. Is mining Bitcoin difficult?
Stablecoins are a huge Trojan horse. The moment you start using stablecoins, you unwittingly step half a foot into the Crypto world.
As a large reservoir for digesting US debt, although stablecoins cannot directly absorb debt, they at least provide ammunition for the US debt secondary market. These functions are quite important, and slowly, stablecoins are becoming a part of the US debt market's body. Therefore, once the US legislation is passed and experiences the benefits, there is no turning back.
And, we are also confident that stablecoins are indeed one of the great innovations in our industry. People who have used stablecoins will find it hard to return to the traditional cash-banking system.
Once the bill is passed, users can't go back. In the future, concerns are about to be resolved, standards will be mastered, and the era of large deposits seems to be on the horizon.
Original Article Link
Pharos, deeply integrated with AntChain, is about to launch. How can we get involved?
$COIN Joins S&P 500, but Coinbase Isn't Celebrating
On May 13, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Coinbase would officially replace Discover Financial Services in the S&P 500 on May 19. While other companies like Block and MicroStrategy, closely tied to Bitcoin, were already part of the S&P 500, Coinbase became the first cryptocurrency exchange whose primary business is in the index. This also signifies that cryptocurrency is gradually moving from the fringes to the mainstream in the U.S.
On the day of the announcement, Coinbase's stock price surged by 23%, surpassing the $250 mark. However, just 3 days later, Coinbase was hit by two consecutive events: a hack where employees were bribed to steal customer data and a demand for a $20 million ransom, and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the authenticity of its claim of having over 100 million "verified users" in its securities filings and marketing materials. These two events acted as mini-bombs, and at the time of writing, Coinbase's stock had already dropped by over 7.3%.
Coincidentally, Discover Financial Services, being replaced by Coinbase, can also be considered the "Coinbase" of the previous payment era. Discover is a U.S.-based digital banking and payment services company headquartered in Illinois, founded in 1960. Its payment network, Discover Network, is the fourth largest payment network apart from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
In April, after the approval of the acquisition of Discover by the sixth-largest U.S. bank, Capital One, this well-established digital banking company of over 60 years smoothly handed over its S&P 500 "seat" to this emerging cryptocurrency "bank." This unexpected coincidence also portrayed the handover between the new and old eras in Coinbase's entry into the S&P 500, resembling a relay race scene. However, this relay baton also brought Coinbase's accumulated "external troubles and internal strife" to a tipping point.
Over the past decade, cryptocurrency exchanges have been the most stable "profit machines." They play a role in providing liquidity to the entire industry and rely on trading fees to sustain their operations. However, with the comprehensive rollout of ETF products in the U.S. market, this profit model is facing unprecedented challenges. As the leader in the "American stack," with over 80% of its business coming from the U.S., Coinbase is most affected by this.
Starting from the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, traditional financial capital has significantly onboarded users and funds that originally belonged to exchanges in a more cost-effective, compliant, and transparent manner. The transaction fee revenue of cryptocurrency exchanges has started to decline, and this trend may further intensify in the coming months.
According to Coinbase's 2024 Q4 financial report, the platform's total trading revenue was $417 million, a 45% year-on-year decrease. The contribution of BTC and ETH's trading revenue dropped from 65% in the same period last year to less than 50%.
This decline is not a result of a decrease in market enthusiasm. In fact, since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, the inflow of BTC into the U.S. market has continued to reach new highs, with asset management giants like BlackRock and Fidelity rapidly expanding their management scale. Data shows that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) alone has surpassed $17 billion in assets under management. As of mid-May 2025, the cumulative net inflow of 11 major institutional Bitcoin spot ETFs on the market has exceeded $41.5 billion, with a total net asset value of $1214.69 billion, accounting for approximately 5.91% of the total Bitcoin market capitalization.
Institutional investors and some retail investors are shifting towards ETF products, partly due to compliance and tax considerations. On one hand, ETFs have much lower trading costs compared to cryptocurrency exchanges. While Coinbase's spot trading fee rate varies annually in a tiered manner but averages around 1.49%, for example, the management fee for IBIT ETF is only 0.25%, and the majority of ETF institution fees fluctuate around 0.15% to 0.25%.
In other words, the more rational users are, the more likely they are to move from exchanges to ETF products, especially for investors aiming for long-term holdings.
According to multiple sources, several institutions, including VanEck and Grayscale, have submitted applications to the SEC for a Solana (SOL) ETF, with some institutions also planning to submit an XRP ETF proposal. Once approved, this may trigger a new round of fund migration. According to a report submitted by Coinbase to the SEC, as of April, the platform's trading revenue from XRP and Solana accounted for 18% and 10%, nearly one-third of the platform's fee revenue.
However, the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs passed in 2024 also reduced the fees for these two tokens on Coinbase from 30% and 15% to 26% and 10%, respectively. If the SOL and XRP ETFs are approved, it will further undermine the core fee revenue of exchanges like Coinbase.
The expansion of ETF products is gradually weakening the financial intermediary status of cryptocurrency exchanges. From their original roles as matchmakers and clearers to now gradually becoming mere "on-ramps and off-ramps" for funds, exchanges are seeing their marginal value squeezed by ETFs.
On May 12, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins gave a keynote speech at the Tokenization and Cryptocurrency Working Group roundtable. The theme of his speech revolved around "It is a new day at the SEC," where he indicated that the SEC would not approach enforcement and regulation the same way as before but would instead pave the way for cryptocurrency assets in the U.S. market.
With signs of cryptocurrency compliance such as the SEC's "NEW DAY" declaration, an increasing number of traditional brokerages are attempting to enter the cryptocurrency industry. One of the most representative cases is the well-known U.S. brokerage Robinhood, which began expanding its crypto business in 2018. By the time of its IPO in 2021, Robinhood's crypto business revenue accounted for over 50% of the company, with a significant boost from the Dogecoin "moonshot" promoted by Musk.
In Q1 2025 earnings report, Robinhood showcased strong growth, especially in revenue from cryptocurrency and options trading. Fueled by Trump's Memecoin, cryptocurrency-related revenue reached $250 million, nearly doubling year-over-year. Consequently, Robinhood Gold subscription users reached 3.5 million, a 90% increase from the previous year, with the rapid growth of Robinhood Gold providing the company with a stable source of income.
Meanwhile, RobinHood is actively pursuing acquisitions in the cryptocurrency space. In 2024, it announced a $2 billion acquisition of the long-standing European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. Additionally, Canada's largest cryptocurrency CEX, WonderFi, which recently went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, also announced its integration with RobinHood Crypto. After obtaining virtual asset licenses in the UK, Canada, Singapore, and other markets, RobinHood has taken a proactive approach in the compliant cryptocurrency trading market.
Furthermore, an increasing number of brokerage firms are exploring the same path. Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers, and others are also dipping their toes into cryptocurrency trading, with some having applied for or obtained the VA license from the Hong Kong SFC. Although their user bases are currently small, traditional brokerages have a natural advantage in user trust, regulatory licenses, and low fee structures. This could pose a threat to native cryptocurrency platforms in the future.
In April 2025, security researchers discovered that some Coinbase user data was leaked on the dark web. While the platform initially responded by attributing it to a "technical misinformation," it still raised concerns among users regarding its security and privacy protection. Just two days before Dow Jones Indexes announced Coinbase's addition to the S&P 500 Index, on May 11, 2025, Coinbase received an email from an unknown threat actor claiming to have obtained customer account information and internal documents, demanding a $20 million ransom to keep the data private. Subsequent investigations confirmed the data breach.
Cybercriminals obtained the data by bribing overseas customer service agents and support staff, mainly in "non-U.S. regions such as India." These agents abused their access to Coinbase's internal customer support system and stole customer data. As early as February this year, blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed on X platform that between December 2024 and January 2025, Coinbase users lost over $65 million to social engineering scams, with the actual amount potentially higher.
Among the victims was a well-known figure, 67-year-old Ed Suman, an established artist in the art world for nearly two decades, having been involved in the creation of artworks such as Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" sculpture. Earlier this year, he fell victim to an impersonation scam involving fake Coinbase customer support, resulting in a loss of over $2 million in cryptocurrency. ZachXBT critiqued Coinbase for its inadequate handling of such scams, noting that other major exchanges have not faced similar issues and recommending Coinbase to enhance its security measures.
Amidst a series of ongoing social engineering incidents, although there has not been any impact on user assets at the technical level so far, it has raised concerns among many retail and institutional investors. Especially institutions holding massive assets on Coinbase. Just considering the U.S. BTC ETF institutions, as of mid-May 2025, they collectively hold nearly 840,000 BTC, and 75% of these are custodied by Coinbase. If we price BTC at $100,000, this amount reaches a staggering $63 billion, which is equivalent to the nominal GDP of two Iceland in the year 2024.
In addition, Coinbase Custody also serves over 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds, family offices, pension funds, and endowments. As of the Q1 2025 financial report, Coinbase's total assets under management (including institutional and retail clients) reached $404 billion. The specific amount of institutional custodied assets was not explicitly disclosed in the latest report, but it should still be over 50% based on the Q4 2024 report.
Once this security barrier is breached, not only could the rate of user attrition far exceed expectations, but more importantly, institutional trust in it would undermine the foundation of its business. Therefore, after a hacking event, Coinbase's stock price plummeted significantly.
Facing a decline in spot trading fee revenue, Coinbase is also accelerating its transformation, attempting to find growth opportunities in derivatives and emerging assets. Coinbase acquired a stake in the options platform Deribit at the end of 2024 and announced the official launch of perpetual contract products in 2025. This acquisition fills in Coinbase's gap in options trading and its relatively small global market share.
Deribit has a strong presence in non-U.S. markets, especially in Asia and Europe. The acquisition has enabled Coinbase to gain a dominant position in bitcoin and ethereum options trading on Deribit, accounting for approximately 80% of the global options trading volume, with daily trading volume remaining above $2 billion.
Meanwhile, 80-90% of Deribit's customer base consists of institutional investors, with their professionalism and liquidity in the Bitcoin and Ethereum options market highly favored by institutions. Coinbase's compliance advantage, coupled with its already robust institutional ecosystem, makes it even more suitable. By using institutions as an entry point, it can face the squeeze from giants like Binance and OKX in the derivatives market.
Facing a similar dilemma is Kraken, which is attempting to replicate Binance Futures' model in non-U.S. markets. Since the derivatives market relies more on professional users, fee rates are relatively higher and stickiness is stronger, making it a significant source of revenue for exchanges. In the first half of 2025, Kraken completed the acquisition of TradeStation Crypto and a futures exchange, aiming to build a complete derivatives trading ecosystem to hedge the risk of declining spot transaction fee income.
With the surge of Memecoin in 2024, Binance, OKX, and various CEX platforms began massively listing small-market-cap, highly volatile tokens to activate active trading users. Due to the wealth effect and trading activity of Memecoins, Coinbase was also forced to join the battle, successively listing popular tokens from the Solana ecosystem such as BOOK OF MEME and Dogwifhat. Although these coins are controversial, they are frequently traded, with fee rates several times higher than mainstream coins, serving as a "blood-boosting" method for spot trading.
However, due to its status as a publicly traded company, this practice is a riskier endeavor for Coinbase. Even in the current crypto-friendly environment, the SEC is still investigating whether tokens like SOL, ADA, and SAND constitute securities.
In addition to the forced transformation strategies carried out by the aforementioned CEXs, they are also starting to lay out RWAs and the most talked-about stablecoin payment fields, such as the PYUSD launched through a collaboration between Coinbase and Paypal, Coinbase's support for the Euro stablecoin EURC by Circle that complies with EU MiCA regulatory requirements, or the USD1 launched through a collaboration between Binance and WIFL. In the increasingly crowded trading field, many CEXs have shifted their focus from just the trading market to the application field.
The golden age of transaction fees has quietly ended, and the second half of the crypto exchange platform game has silently begun.
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Key Market Intelligence on May 14th, how much did you miss out on?
1.Binance Alpha Launches HIPPO, BLUE, and Other Tokens
2.Believe Ecosystem Tokens See General Rise, LAUNCHCOIN Surges Over 250% in 24 Hours
3.Tiger Securities Introduces Cryptocurrency Deposit and Withdrawal Service, Supports Mainstream Cryptocurrencies such as BTC and ETH
4.Current Bitcoin Rally Possibly Driven by Institutions, Retail Traders Yet to Join
5.Binance Wallet's New TGE Privasea AI Participation Requires a 198 Point Threshold, with a Point Consumption of 15
Source: Overheard on CT (tg: @overheardonct), Kaito
PUMP: Today's discussions about PUMP focus on its new creator revenue-sharing model: the platform will allocate 50% of PumpSwap revenue to token creators, sparking varied reactions from users. Some criticize the move as insufficient or even misleading, while others view it as a positive step the platform is taking to reward creators. Meanwhile, PUMP faces market pressure from emerging competitors like LetsBONKfun and Raydium, which are rapidly gaining market share. Users also express concerns about PUMP's sustainability and potential regulatory risks in the U.S., with discussions extending to the platform's impact on the entire memecoin ecosystem.
COINBASE: Today, Coinbase became the first crypto company to join the S&P 500 Index, replacing Discover Financial Services, sparking widespread industry attention. The entire crypto community views this milestone as a significant development, signaling that crypto assets are further integrating into the mainstream financial system. The news has sparked lively discussions on Twitter, with many users pointing out that this may attract more institutional investors to enter the Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency markets.
XRP: XRP became the focal point of today's crypto discussion, with its significant market movements and strategic advances drawing attention. XRP has surpassed USDT to become the third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, sparking market excitement and discussions about its future potential. The surge in market capitalization and price is believed to be related to increasing institutional interest, deepening strategic partnerships, and its role in the crypto ecosystem. Additionally, XRP's integration into multiple financial systems and its potential as a macro asset class are also seen as key factors driving the current market sentiment.
DYDX: Today's discussions about DYDX mainly focused on the dYdX Yapper Leaderboard launched by KaitoAI. The leaderboard aims to identify the most active community participants, with a total of $150,000 in rewards to be distributed over the first three seasons. This initiative has sparked broad community participation, with many users discussing the potential rewards and the incentive effect on the DYDX ecosystem. Meanwhile, progress on the ethDYDX to dYdX native chain migration and historical airdrop events have also been topics of discussion.
1. "What Is 'ICM'? Holding Up the $4 Billion Market Cap Solana's New Narrative"
Overnight, the hottest narrative in the crypto space has become "Internet Capital Markets," with a host of crypto projects and founders, led by the Solana ecosystem's new Launchpad platform Believe, releasing this phrase. Together with "Believe in something," it has become the new slogan heralding the onset of a bull market. What exactly is the so-called "Internet Capital Market," will it become a short-lived hype phrase like the Base ecosystem's previous Content Coin, and what related targets are available for selection?2.《LaunchCoin Surges 20x in One Day, How Did Believe Create a $200M Market Cap Shiba Inu After Going to Zero?｜100x Retrospective》
LAUNCHCOIN broke through a $200 million market cap today, with the long-lost liquidity and such a high market cap "Memecoin" almost bringing half of the on-chain crypto community CT into the fray. The community is crazily discussing this token, with half of it being FOMO and the other half being FUD. This token, originally issued by Believe founder Ben Pasternak under his personal identity, transformed into a new platform token after a renaming. From once going to zero to a $200 million market cap, what happened in between?May 14 On-chain Fund Flow
Within 24 hours, GOONC's market cap soared to 70 million, could GOONC be the next billion-dollar dog on the Believe platform?
Bitcoin has broken $100,000, Ethereum has surpassed 2500, and is Solana's hot streak about to make a comeback?
The current market is in a state of macro euphoria, with GOONC riding the wave today, skyrocketing 10x in just a few hours, reaching a market cap of tens of millions of dollars, trading volume soaring past 50 million, and rumors swirling that the developer may be from OpenAI (unconfirmed but intriguing enough).
A ludicrous and absurd Solana meme that some actually buy into.
GOONC is a meme coin that has sprouted from the "gooning" subculture, offering no technological innovation or practical use, its sole function being speculation.
It takes inspiration from an NSFW term "gooning," which refers to a person being deeply immersed in certain content (you know what), eventually entering a nearly religious-like trance.
In Reddit (such as r/GOONED, r/GoonCaves) and some counterculture media outlets (such as MEL Magazine in 2020), "gooning" has gradually transitioned from an adult label to a meme-addicted, digital content and virtual self-indulgence synonym, arguably the epitome of Degen spirit.
GOONC is playing around with this concept, packaging the addictive nature, uselessness, and irony of gooning into a tradable financial product. The project team has made it clear: "We do not solve blockchain problems, we only trade absurdity." Blunt but oddly genuine.
GOONC launched on May 13, 2025, using the meme coin launch platform Believe App's LaunchCoin module on Solana. This tool is highly Degen: zero technical barriers, a few clicks to create a coin, perfect for projects like GOONC that can come up with ideas out of the blue.
The mastermind behind GOONC is also quite something and is the most talked-about, with KOL @basedalexandoor on X platform (alias "Pata van Goon") personally involved. His profile even caught the attention of Marc Andreessen, co-founder of a16z, making onlookers unable to resist speculating if GOONC has a hint of OpenAI lineage.
While this 'OpenAI Endorsement' is currently just community speculation, it is definitely a good card to play to fuel hype. Saying "we are pure speculation" on one hand, while tagging a few "AI + a16z" on the other.
GOONC took off as soon as it launched. After its launch on May 13, 2025, its market capitalization skyrocketed to $22 million within 4 hours, with a trading volume exceeding $25.6 million in 24 hours. According to platform data, the first day of trading saw an astonishing +41,100% surge, soaring from $0.0000001 to $0.02, becoming a "missed-the-boat" situation.
GOONC quickly formed an active trading community post-launch, with a lot of discussion and trading signals appearing on X platform (such as the 292x return signal provided by DeBot). Liquidity pools on exchanges like Raydium and Meteora grew rapidly, supporting high trading volumes and price increases.
The real climax occurred between May 13 and May 14, with the market cap rising to $5.5 million in the morning and directly surpassing $55 million in the afternoon. By the 14th, it briefly approached a $70 million market cap, with the trading volume soaring to $59 million. Some community members even posted screenshots claiming an increase of +85,000%, creating a new myth out of the ruins.
As of 1:30 pm on May 14, the price stabilized around $0.039, with a total market cap and FDV both around $39.6 million, and a 24-hour trading volume of $5.43 million. Active platforms include XT.COM, LBank, Meteora, and others.
Although there was a slight pullback from the peak ($0.07), the coin's popularity remains strong. For a coin that relies purely on "irony + community + X post" to thrive, this performance is already at a stellar level.
Currently, the background of the token's development team is not transparent, increasing the potential risk of a rug pull. Rugcheck.xyz warns that the creator of the GOONC contract may have permission to modify the contract (e.g., change fees or mint additional tokens), posing certain security risks.
Community members speculate that the meteoric rise of GOONC may be the "last hurrah".
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After Surging 40%, Has Ethereum Price Peaked Upon Exiting the Craze?
Whether you are an insider or an outsider, these days you must be familiar with the news about Ethereum. The reason is simple, causing Ethereum enthusiasts to sigh with emotion and almost throwing off-guard those who defend Ethereum, Ethereum, with a "3-day surge of 40%," climbed to the top of the Douyin Hot List.
As we all know, Ethereum launched the Pectra upgrade on May 7th. This most significant network upgrade since early 2024 integrates the Prague execution layer hard fork and the Electra consensus layer upgrade, significantly improving Ethereum's performance through 11 improvement proposals. The account abstraction feature (EIP-7702) allows users to flexibly manage wallets through social media accounts or multi-signature schemes, reducing the user threshold, attracting more users and developers. The staking mechanism optimization increases the validator ETH cap from 32ETH to 2048ETH and introduces a flexible withdrawal method, making it easier for institutions and individuals to participate in network security, enhancing the market's confidence in Ethereum's long-term value.
At the same time, Pectra optimized the interaction efficiency of Layer 2 networks such as Arbitrum and Optimism, making transactions faster and cheaper, leading to a surge in on-chain activity. As a crucial step for Ethereum's transition from "2G" to "5G," the Pectra upgrade not only enhances network vitality but also "recharges confidence" in the market, directly driving the price increase.
Related Reading: "Ethereum Skyrockets 22% in One Day, E Enthusiasts Rejoice"
It's not just Ethereum itself, as Wall Street also brought important bullish news.
The world's largest asset management company, BlackRock, proposed to the SEC allowing Ethereum ETFs for staking. This proposal is expected to elevate Ethereum ETFs from a mere investment tool to a bond-like "interest-bearing asset," bringing investors both capital appreciation and passive income, igniting market optimism about Ethereum's future potential.
Specifically, BlackRock has proposed to amend its S-1 filing to allow investors to create and redeem ETF shares directly with Ethereum instead of the U.S. dollar (i.e., in-kind redemption). This move, combined with its $2.9 billion BUIDL Fund launched in March 2024, aims to deepen the integration of traditional finance with blockchain. The BUIDL Fund is a tokenized fund operating on the Ethereum network, investing in traditional assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds. This setup is highly attractive to institutional investors, as they can not only benefit from Ethereum's price appreciation but also earn stable cash flow through staking.
Robert Mitchnick, BlackRock's Head of Digital Assets, stated in a CNBC interview in March 2025 that the addition of staking functionality will significantly enhance the appeal of the Ethereum ETF. He admitted that when the Ethereum spot ETF was launched in July 2024 without staking functionality, the market demand was lackluster, and staking could be the key to reversing this trend.
Meanwhile, the SEC's shifting stance on cryptocurrency regulation has also fueled this upward trend. During the tenure of the previous SEC chairman, the regulatory approach was tough, and staking was strictly viewed through the Howey test as a potential unregistered security. Therefore, when approving the Ethereum spot ETF in May 2024, staking functionality was explicitly prohibited.
However, with Trump back in the White House and Paul Atkins taking over the SEC, there has been a noticeable relaxation in crypto regulation. Apart from BlackRock, ETF issuers such as Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, and 21Shares have also submitted applications for similar staking and in-kind redemption.
Related reading: "New Chairman Takes Office, SEC Transforms into 'Crypto Daddy' Within 48 Hours"
If staking ETFs are approved, the benefits are likely to go beyond price appreciation. The introduction of staking functionality could redefine the role of crypto assets, making them more similar to traditional financial products that provide returns and value appreciation, thereby driving Ethereum closer to mainstream finance.
Currently, the SEC still needs to address several decisions related to crypto ETFs, including whether to approve ETFs for Solana, XRP, Litecoin, and even Dogecoin. With the calls for an "altcoin season" growing louder, Ethereum's strong performance may just be the beginning of a larger crypto market frenzy.
In addition, the Trump family-related DeFi project WLFI is also bullish on this wave of rise, with frequent on-chain activities. According to on-chain data analyst @ai_9684xtpa's monitoring, a WLFI-related address is currently borrowing coins to go long on ETH, borrowing 4 million U from Aave to buy 1590 ETH at an average price of $2515 per ETH.
For this epic surge of Ethereum after half a year of silence, the community has indeed gained more confidence and hope, which has also led to a revival of the entire altcoin market. However, amidst the joy, there are also voices of pessimism. Below is a summary conducted by BlockBeats based on community discussions.
The optimists point out that the current market structure is similar to the eve of the bull markets in 2016 and 2020, predicting a life-changing surge in the next 3-6 months, where some altcoins may even achieve astonishing single-day gains of up to 40%.
@liuwei16602825 stated that this surge signifies the return of the bull market as a sure thing. There is no need to worry about a pullback. The driving force behind the surge uses a high-cost isolated operation, fearing a drop more than any retail investor and will definitely do everything to support the price.
Related Reading: "Ethereum Leads the Surge Triggering the 'Altcoin Season' Speculation, How Do Traders View the Future Market?"
The bears mainly believe that this surge is different from the bull market of 2021, as the current market lacks the confidence of large-scale retail investors entering and holding positions for the long term, with funds rotating too quickly.
@market_beggar observed that a Bitfinex E/B whale has started to close positions and believes that if this whale maintains its high-speed position-closing operation for the next few days, it can be inferred that the whale no longer sees the upside potential of ETH, preparing to take profits and exit. The closing time will be a key focus going forward.
@FLS_OTC stated that there are still many uncertainties at the macro level, and the liquidity cannot support a major bull market. At this stage, it is a "last hurrah," not a complete reversal, and will continue to remain in a short position.
@off_thetarget believes that after ETH transitioned from POW to POS, it lost the "gold standard" of mining machine power cost support. The staking economic model led to a breakdown in value anchoring. Additionally, the L2 ecosystem (such as Starknet, zkSync, etc.) suffered from liquidity fragmentation, failing to establish an effective capital inflow mechanism, causing the collapse of the split disc pattern. Furthermore, the ETH community's excessive pursuit of technical narratives divorced from real-world needs resulted in a weak ecosystem growth. Therefore, he believes that ETH's intrinsic value system has crumbled, and the price is bound to plummet to the 800-1200 range, with a decisive short position at 1800.
@Airdrop_Guard, based on the core logic of the "High Probability Trading Strategy," where three sets of underlying logic different trading systems (such as volume depletion, price supply-demand, long/short position funding rate, etc.) simultaneously issue a short signal at the same point (2580), creating a high-probability trading opportunity. He emphasizes that these systems must be based on different algorithms and logics (rather than mere technical indicator overlays). The current ETH trend aligns with the short conditions in multiple independent dimensions of his trading system, hence the decision to short.
Overall, Bitcoin still maintains over 54% market dominance, and institutional funds' continued preference for it may limit the altcoin's upward potential. The market's future direction will depend on multiple factors, such as Bitcoin's price trend, global macroeconomic conditions, and whether funds can effectively rotate from Bitcoin to the altcoin sector.
Although Ethereum's recent leadership in the market has brought about optimistic sentiment, investors still need to remain rational as different sectors of altcoins are likely to show divergence in trends. Whether this round of Ethereum's rise will usher in a true altcoin frenzy may require more time and conducive conditions.
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Never Underestimate the Significance of the US Stablecoin 'Infrastructure Bill'
If the US stablecoin bill, the "GENIUS Act," passes smoothly this time, its significance will be tremendous. I even think it's significant enough to enter the top five in Crypto history.
Although abbreviated as the GENIUS Act, which translates directly to the Genius Act, it is actually the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins, which translates to "Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Dollar Stablecoins."
The proposal is lengthy, with several key points summarized for everyone:
· Mandatory 1:1 Full Asset Backing: Assets include cash, demand deposits, and short-term US Treasuries. At the same time, misappropriation and rehypothecation are strictly prohibited.
· High-Frequency Disclosure: Reserve reports must be published at least monthly, introducing external audits.
· Licensing Requirement: Once the circulating market cap of the issuer's stablecoin exceeds $100 billion, it must transition into the federal regulatory system within a specified timeframe, adopting banking-grade regulation.
· Introduction of Custody: The custodian of the stablecoin and its reserve assets must be a regulated qualified financial institution.
· Clear Definition as a Payment Medium: The bill explicitly defines stablecoin as a new type of payment medium, primarily regulated by the banking regulatory system, rather than restricted by the securities or commodities regulatory system.
· Embracing Existing Stablecoins: A maximum 18-month grace period after the bill's enactment, aimed at encouraging existing stablecoin issuers (such as USDT, USDC, etc.) to promptly obtain licenses or become compliant.
After finishing the main content, let's talk about the significance of this matter with an excited heart.
Over the years, when others asked, "After working in the Crypto industry for 16 years, what application have you created?"
In the future, you can confidently tell others—Stablecoins.
Some people have held opposing views. In the past, people's impression of stablecoins was that they were an opaque black box. Every few months, there would be FUD — whether Tether's assets were frozen or Circle had a significant black hole deficit.
In fact, if you think about it, Tether easily rakes in billions of dollars a year just from the interest on those underlying government bonds. Circle, slightly less, also made a $1.7 billion profit last year.
They basically made money while standing there. From a motivational standpoint, they have no malicious intentions. In fact, they are the most eager for compliance.
Now, this opaque black box will become a transparent white box.
In the past, the only complaint was that Tether's funds might have been frozen by the United States. Now, they will be directly placed into U.S. compliant custodial institutions, with high-frequency disclosures, so you can rest assured.
【No need to worry about a rug pull】 is such a huge advantage—I think especially all Crypto people understand this.
Stablecoins were once almost on the verge of being overtaken by CBDCs. In any country, if a central bank digital currency really exists, it is highly likely not built on a blockchain, at most it is built on some internal central bank consortium chain, which to be honest, is meaningless.
When CBDCs were at their peak, that was the most dangerous time for stablecoins.
If CBDCs had become a reality back then, stablecoins today would have been relentlessly suppressed into a dark corner, and blockchain would only be able to play a minimal role.
The remaining half-dead stablecoins would even have to learn the standards of central bank digital currencies, completely relinquishing their standard-setting power.
And now, stablecoins have won (or are about to).
Instead, everyone should learn the 【Blockchain + Token】 standard.
Nowadays, many blockchains actually have no meaningful applications on top, only stablecoin transfers. For example, with Aptos, the only scenario I use Aptos for is transfers between Binance and OKX.
And now, stablecoins will be legislated, what does that mean?
That's right, blockchain will become the only standard.
In the future, every stablecoin user will be the first to learn how to use a wallet.
As an aside, I actually think Ethereum's concerted push for EIP-7702 is quite forward-thinking. While other chains are all about memes, thank you Ethereum for sticking to account abstraction.
EIP-7702 is about Account Abstraction, which can support, for example:
· Social Account Registration Wallet
· Paying GAS with Native Coin
· And more
This paves the way for future new users to heavily use stablecoins, solving the last-mile problem.
Furthermore, once stablecoins receive legislative support, deposits and withdrawals will become even easier.
Let's imagine a scenario: previously, hindered by the gray nature of stablecoins, but after the bill passes, many traditional brokerages can support stablecoins themselves. The money from a US stock investor can be converted into stablecoins in minutes and instantly deposited into Coinbase. Believe it or not.
Let's imagine another scenario: if the brilliant bill smoothly passes through the House of Representatives, next, you will see:
Due to the extremely lucrative nature of this trading, existing stablecoin leaders and newly entering traditional giants will crazily start promoting their stablecoin products.
And an outsider, due to these promotions, will start using stablecoins. And then one day, after finding out that the wallet account has been created, will explore Bitcoin inside. Is mining Bitcoin difficult?
Stablecoins are a huge Trojan horse. The moment you start using stablecoins, you unwittingly step half a foot into the Crypto world.
As a large reservoir for digesting US debt, although stablecoins cannot directly absorb debt, they at least provide ammunition for the US debt secondary market. These functions are quite important, and slowly, stablecoins are becoming a part of the US debt market's body. Therefore, once the US legislation is passed and experiences the benefits, there is no turning back.
And, we are also confident that stablecoins are indeed one of the great innovations in our industry. People who have used stablecoins will find it hard to return to the traditional cash-banking system.
Once the bill is passed, users can't go back. In the future, concerns are about to be resolved, standards will be mastered, and the era of large deposits seems to be on the horizon.
Original Article Link
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$COIN Joins S&P 500, but Coinbase Isn't Celebrating
On May 13, S&P Dow Jones Indices announced that Coinbase would officially replace Discover Financial Services in the S&P 500 on May 19. While other companies like Block and MicroStrategy, closely tied to Bitcoin, were already part of the S&P 500, Coinbase became the first cryptocurrency exchange whose primary business is in the index. This also signifies that cryptocurrency is gradually moving from the fringes to the mainstream in the U.S.
On the day of the announcement, Coinbase's stock price surged by 23%, surpassing the $250 mark. However, just 3 days later, Coinbase was hit by two consecutive events: a hack where employees were bribed to steal customer data and a demand for a $20 million ransom, and an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into the authenticity of its claim of having over 100 million "verified users" in its securities filings and marketing materials. These two events acted as mini-bombs, and at the time of writing, Coinbase's stock had already dropped by over 7.3%.
Coincidentally, Discover Financial Services, being replaced by Coinbase, can also be considered the "Coinbase" of the previous payment era. Discover is a U.S.-based digital banking and payment services company headquartered in Illinois, founded in 1960. Its payment network, Discover Network, is the fourth largest payment network apart from Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
In April, after the approval of the acquisition of Discover by the sixth-largest U.S. bank, Capital One, this well-established digital banking company of over 60 years smoothly handed over its S&P 500 "seat" to this emerging cryptocurrency "bank." This unexpected coincidence also portrayed the handover between the new and old eras in Coinbase's entry into the S&P 500, resembling a relay race scene. However, this relay baton also brought Coinbase's accumulated "external troubles and internal strife" to a tipping point.
Over the past decade, cryptocurrency exchanges have been the most stable "profit machines." They play a role in providing liquidity to the entire industry and rely on trading fees to sustain their operations. However, with the comprehensive rollout of ETF products in the U.S. market, this profit model is facing unprecedented challenges. As the leader in the "American stack," with over 80% of its business coming from the U.S., Coinbase is most affected by this.
Starting from the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs, traditional financial capital has significantly onboarded users and funds that originally belonged to exchanges in a more cost-effective, compliant, and transparent manner. The transaction fee revenue of cryptocurrency exchanges has started to decline, and this trend may further intensify in the coming months.
According to Coinbase's 2024 Q4 financial report, the platform's total trading revenue was $417 million, a 45% year-on-year decrease. The contribution of BTC and ETH's trading revenue dropped from 65% in the same period last year to less than 50%.
This decline is not a result of a decrease in market enthusiasm. In fact, since the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, the inflow of BTC into the U.S. market has continued to reach new highs, with asset management giants like BlackRock and Fidelity rapidly expanding their management scale. Data shows that BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) alone has surpassed $17 billion in assets under management. As of mid-May 2025, the cumulative net inflow of 11 major institutional Bitcoin spot ETFs on the market has exceeded $41.5 billion, with a total net asset value of $1214.69 billion, accounting for approximately 5.91% of the total Bitcoin market capitalization.
Institutional investors and some retail investors are shifting towards ETF products, partly due to compliance and tax considerations. On one hand, ETFs have much lower trading costs compared to cryptocurrency exchanges. While Coinbase's spot trading fee rate varies annually in a tiered manner but averages around 1.49%, for example, the management fee for IBIT ETF is only 0.25%, and the majority of ETF institution fees fluctuate around 0.15% to 0.25%.
In other words, the more rational users are, the more likely they are to move from exchanges to ETF products, especially for investors aiming for long-term holdings.
According to multiple sources, several institutions, including VanEck and Grayscale, have submitted applications to the SEC for a Solana (SOL) ETF, with some institutions also planning to submit an XRP ETF proposal. Once approved, this may trigger a new round of fund migration. According to a report submitted by Coinbase to the SEC, as of April, the platform's trading revenue from XRP and Solana accounted for 18% and 10%, nearly one-third of the platform's fee revenue.
However, the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs passed in 2024 also reduced the fees for these two tokens on Coinbase from 30% and 15% to 26% and 10%, respectively. If the SOL and XRP ETFs are approved, it will further undermine the core fee revenue of exchanges like Coinbase.
The expansion of ETF products is gradually weakening the financial intermediary status of cryptocurrency exchanges. From their original roles as matchmakers and clearers to now gradually becoming mere "on-ramps and off-ramps" for funds, exchanges are seeing their marginal value squeezed by ETFs.
On May 12, 2025, SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins gave a keynote speech at the Tokenization and Cryptocurrency Working Group roundtable. The theme of his speech revolved around "It is a new day at the SEC," where he indicated that the SEC would not approach enforcement and regulation the same way as before but would instead pave the way for cryptocurrency assets in the U.S. market.
With signs of cryptocurrency compliance such as the SEC's "NEW DAY" declaration, an increasing number of traditional brokerages are attempting to enter the cryptocurrency industry. One of the most representative cases is the well-known U.S. brokerage Robinhood, which began expanding its crypto business in 2018. By the time of its IPO in 2021, Robinhood's crypto business revenue accounted for over 50% of the company, with a significant boost from the Dogecoin "moonshot" promoted by Musk.
In Q1 2025 earnings report, Robinhood showcased strong growth, especially in revenue from cryptocurrency and options trading. Fueled by Trump's Memecoin, cryptocurrency-related revenue reached $250 million, nearly doubling year-over-year. Consequently, Robinhood Gold subscription users reached 3.5 million, a 90% increase from the previous year, with the rapid growth of Robinhood Gold providing the company with a stable source of income.
Meanwhile, RobinHood is actively pursuing acquisitions in the cryptocurrency space. In 2024, it announced a $2 billion acquisition of the long-standing European cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp. Additionally, Canada's largest cryptocurrency CEX, WonderFi, which recently went public on the Toronto Stock Exchange, also announced its integration with RobinHood Crypto. After obtaining virtual asset licenses in the UK, Canada, Singapore, and other markets, RobinHood has taken a proactive approach in the compliant cryptocurrency trading market.
Furthermore, an increasing number of brokerage firms are exploring the same path. Futu Securities, Tiger Brokers, and others are also dipping their toes into cryptocurrency trading, with some having applied for or obtained the VA license from the Hong Kong SFC. Although their user bases are currently small, traditional brokerages have a natural advantage in user trust, regulatory licenses, and low fee structures. This could pose a threat to native cryptocurrency platforms in the future.
In April 2025, security researchers discovered that some Coinbase user data was leaked on the dark web. While the platform initially responded by attributing it to a "technical misinformation," it still raised concerns among users regarding its security and privacy protection. Just two days before Dow Jones Indexes announced Coinbase's addition to the S&P 500 Index, on May 11, 2025, Coinbase received an email from an unknown threat actor claiming to have obtained customer account information and internal documents, demanding a $20 million ransom to keep the data private. Subsequent investigations confirmed the data breach.
Cybercriminals obtained the data by bribing overseas customer service agents and support staff, mainly in "non-U.S. regions such as India." These agents abused their access to Coinbase's internal customer support system and stole customer data. As early as February this year, blockchain detective ZachXBT revealed on X platform that between December 2024 and January 2025, Coinbase users lost over $65 million to social engineering scams, with the actual amount potentially higher.
Among the victims was a well-known figure, 67-year-old Ed Suman, an established artist in the art world for nearly two decades, having been involved in the creation of artworks such as Jeff Koons' "Balloon Dog" sculpture. Earlier this year, he fell victim to an impersonation scam involving fake Coinbase customer support, resulting in a loss of over $2 million in cryptocurrency. ZachXBT critiqued Coinbase for its inadequate handling of such scams, noting that other major exchanges have not faced similar issues and recommending Coinbase to enhance its security measures.
Amidst a series of ongoing social engineering incidents, although there has not been any impact on user assets at the technical level so far, it has raised concerns among many retail and institutional investors. Especially institutions holding massive assets on Coinbase. Just considering the U.S. BTC ETF institutions, as of mid-May 2025, they collectively hold nearly 840,000 BTC, and 75% of these are custodied by Coinbase. If we price BTC at $100,000, this amount reaches a staggering $63 billion, which is equivalent to the nominal GDP of two Iceland in the year 2024.
In addition, Coinbase Custody also serves over 300 institutional clients, including hedge funds, family offices, pension funds, and endowments. As of the Q1 2025 financial report, Coinbase's total assets under management (including institutional and retail clients) reached $404 billion. The specific amount of institutional custodied assets was not explicitly disclosed in the latest report, but it should still be over 50% based on the Q4 2024 report.
Once this security barrier is breached, not only could the rate of user attrition far exceed expectations, but more importantly, institutional trust in it would undermine the foundation of its business. Therefore, after a hacking event, Coinbase's stock price plummeted significantly.
Facing a decline in spot trading fee revenue, Coinbase is also accelerating its transformation, attempting to find growth opportunities in derivatives and emerging assets. Coinbase acquired a stake in the options platform Deribit at the end of 2024 and announced the official launch of perpetual contract products in 2025. This acquisition fills in Coinbase's gap in options trading and its relatively small global market share.
Deribit has a strong presence in non-U.S. markets, especially in Asia and Europe. The acquisition has enabled Coinbase to gain a dominant position in bitcoin and ethereum options trading on Deribit, accounting for approximately 80% of the global options trading volume, with daily trading volume remaining above $2 billion.
Meanwhile, 80-90% of Deribit's customer base consists of institutional investors, with their professionalism and liquidity in the Bitcoin and Ethereum options market highly favored by institutions. Coinbase's compliance advantage, coupled with its already robust institutional ecosystem, makes it even more suitable. By using institutions as an entry point, it can face the squeeze from giants like Binance and OKX in the derivatives market.
Facing a similar dilemma is Kraken, which is attempting to replicate Binance Futures' model in non-U.S. markets. Since the derivatives market relies more on professional users, fee rates are relatively higher and stickiness is stronger, making it a significant source of revenue for exchanges. In the first half of 2025, Kraken completed the acquisition of TradeStation Crypto and a futures exchange, aiming to build a complete derivatives trading ecosystem to hedge the risk of declining spot transaction fee income.
With the surge of Memecoin in 2024, Binance, OKX, and various CEX platforms began massively listing small-market-cap, highly volatile tokens to activate active trading users. Due to the wealth effect and trading activity of Memecoins, Coinbase was also forced to join the battle, successively listing popular tokens from the Solana ecosystem such as BOOK OF MEME and Dogwifhat. Although these coins are controversial, they are frequently traded, with fee rates several times higher than mainstream coins, serving as a "blood-boosting" method for spot trading.
However, due to its status as a publicly traded company, this practice is a riskier endeavor for Coinbase. Even in the current crypto-friendly environment, the SEC is still investigating whether tokens like SOL, ADA, and SAND constitute securities.
In addition to the forced transformation strategies carried out by the aforementioned CEXs, they are also starting to lay out RWAs and the most talked-about stablecoin payment fields, such as the PYUSD launched through a collaboration between Coinbase and Paypal, Coinbase's support for the Euro stablecoin EURC by Circle that complies with EU MiCA regulatory requirements, or the USD1 launched through a collaboration between Binance and WIFL. In the increasingly crowded trading field, many CEXs have shifted their focus from just the trading market to the application field.
The golden age of transaction fees has quietly ended, and the second half of the crypto exchange platform game has silently begun.
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