51 Insights – What Matters in Digital Assets

Hey, it’s Marc. J.P. Morgan just did what no major bank had dared: it will now lend against Bitcoin and Ethereum. That single decision pulls crypto into the global credit system. This is a small step for JPM, but a big step for crypto, particularly Ethereum (more below).In the same week, Aave launched Horizon, letting institutions borrow stablecoins against tokenized Treasuries and funds on-chain. Read that together: banks are accepting crypto as collateral while DeFi starts accepting bank-grade collateral.The signal is clear: rails are converging. And again, everything except Bitcoin will be priced as infrastructure. The alpha isn’t any longer “up only”. It’s who owns issuance, distribution, collateral flows, and the spread as these rails sync.Also this week:* Coinbase goes full-stack with $357M Echo acquisition* Trump pardons CZ, the Binance founder* Polymarket confirms U.S. return & token airdropWe’ll unpack all of these highlights below 👇🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Top Boardroom Reads * Enterprise-grade private, permissioned L2s on Ethereum (zksync)* State of crypto 2025 (a16z)* Gold’s reign, Bitcoin’s rise. (Deutsche Bank)* FGNexus Alpha Brief October (FGNX & 51)🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekJ.P. Morgan Makes Bitcoin and Ethereum Bankable CollateralJPM will let institutional clients pledge Bitcoin and Ethereum as loan collateral by year-end. Assets sit with third-party custodians (think Fidelity/BNY). It extends JPM’s existing acceptance of crypto ETFs as collateral into native tokens. [NEWS]The goal? To bring crypto into traditional credit workflows.So what? This makes BTC and ETH officially “bankable.” It places digital assets beside gold and Treasuries as recognized collateral. For Ethereum especially, this is validation of its role as financial infrastructure, a yield-bearing, settlement-ready asset inside the world’s biggest bank. This move formally integrates crypto into core banking workflows: balance sheet lending, repo, and margin facilities.Aave’s launches DeFi’s first institutional credit market Aave Labs unveiled Horizon, a permissioned on-chain lending market for institutions to borrow stablecoins against tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Horizon launches with a consortium of top-tier partners: Circle, Superstate, Centrifuge, Chainlink, Ethena, OpenEden, Ripple, Securitize, VanEck, WisdomTree, KAIO, and Ant Digital Technologies. [RELEASE]So what? Horizon is the missing bridge between tokenization and credit markets. RWAs are no longer passive, illiquid assets, they now serve as programmable collateral that can generate liquidity in real time. For investors, it means two things: new yield opportunities from institutional borrowers and DeFi’s transformation into a full-fledged wholesale funding market. This is the first DeFi-native credit desk built for Wall Street scale.Coinbase goes full-stackCoinbase acquired Echo for $375M , a fast-growing onchain capital formation platform enabling public and private token sales. Echo’s product Sonar allows compliant, self-hosted token launches with full onchain transparency. Since inception, Echo has facilitated 300+ deals, raising over $200M directly from communities. [RELEASE]The big picture: This builds on Coinbase’s acquisition of Liquifi earlier this year, giving it end-to-end coverage of tokenized markets: creation (Liquifi), issuance (Echo), and trading (Base), all integrated with custody, compliance, and stablecoin rails. So what? Coinbase now owns the full capital stack of crypto finance. It’s no longer just an exchange, it’s becoming the infrastructure provider for compliant tokenized fundraising. As soon as U.S. regulation will allow public token sales, Coinbase will be the default platform for issuers and investors alike. Think of it as building the NASDAQ, NYSE, and AngelList of the onchain era. Polymarket token incomingPolymarket’s CMO confirmed a POLY token and airdrop are coming, but only after the platform completes its CFTC-approved reentry into the U.S. market. The company is currently testing an invite-only U.S. app with event contracts tied to macro, politics, and culture. [NEWS]So what? Backed by ICE’s $2B investment, Polymarket is evolving into the institutional layer for event-driven data, turning sentiment, probabilities, and information into tradeable assets. For investors, it’s an emerging market for alpha, a new data class that bridges prediction, liquidity, and macro hedging.🚨Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. News Flash* Sony Bank has filed for a crypto banking charter to issue stablecoins. Link* Stripe-backed Tempo blockchain raises $500 million Series A at a $5 billion valuation. Link* Coinbase, Ripple & Gemini listed as donors for Trump’s $300 M White House ballroom. Link* Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. files S-1 to raise $1 B and buy HYPE tokens. Link* Revolut secures MiCA license, preps for EU crypto launch. Link* Aave launches V4: liquidity hubs + spokes for capital efficiency. Link* Google announces 13,000× quantum speed breakthrough. Link* Fed Governor Waller: “Crypto is woven into the financial system.” Link* Ripple-backed Evernorth files SPAC to create public XRP treasury. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & TeamPS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. * Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hey, it’s Marc. When gold outperforms Bitcoin, BlackRock starts building on-chain infrastructure, and JP Morgan invests $1.5T in U.S. infrastructure, something is cooking (we’ll unpack all of this below and in our CEO Notes).“We need to be tokenising all assets, especially assets that have multiple levels of intermediaries.” — Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO“Bitcoin is likely to become a reserve asset for central banks. Alongside gold, by around 2030.” – Deutsche BankThe signal is clear: Smart money is moving from fiat dependence to real and digital (hard) assets. I highly recommend Maja Vujinovic ‘s read on this: Powell, JPMorgan, and the Quiet Pivot. Oh, and before I forget: This week, crypto markets also experienced their largest-ever liquidation event, with over $19–20B in leveraged positions wiped out. And, DeFi held firm while centralised exchanges stumbled. [Read full story]Also this week: * Ant Group’s builds on Ethereum* Citi to launch crypto custody in 2026We’ll unpack all of these highlights below. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Top Boardroom Reads * Stablecoins beyond payments (Visa)* Powell, JPMorgan, and the Quiet Pivot (Maja Vujinovic)* Real World Assets: The Practitioner’s Guide (Rebank)* Ethereum’s Endgame: Why Credible Neutrality Beats Speed, with William Mougayar (51)* The Compelling Case for Crypto (Franklin Templeton)* Stablecoins (KPMG)🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekCrypto's biggest liquidation ever$19-20B in total liquidations occurred within 24 hours, affecting over 1.6M traders, triggered by President Donald Trump’s announcement of escalated tariffs against China. Here’s the breakdown. * Long positions liquidated: $16.7-16.8B* Traders affected: 1.6M+* Single-hour liquidations: $7B (within one hour of Trump’s announcement)* Open interest destroyed: $65B wiped outLet’s do the math: Open interest in perpetual DEXs fell 50% ($25.7B → $13.7B) but recovered to $17B within days, with Hyperliquid leading the rebound. So what? The event exposed how geopolitical shocks can trigger systemic fragility in 24/7 crypto markets, but it also showed how far DeFi has come. While Binance froze trading and mispriced stablecoins, decentralized protocols like Hyperliquid, Aave, Ethena, and Solana handled record liquidations, redemptions, and transactions without breaking. That’s the real headline: in crypto’s biggest stress test to date, permissionless infrastructure outperformed the world’s largest regulated exchanges.👉Subscribe to our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here.BlackRock will tokenise everythingOn Tuesday, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager—$13.46 trillion in AUM—told Wall Street that BlackRock is building proprietary tokenisation technology to rebuild capital markets on-chain. [NEWS]The goal? To onboard the next generation of investors.“If we can tokenize an ETF, we can bring investors who start with crypto into traditional long-term products. Over the next decade, we’ll move away from traditional assets by repotting them in a digital form and keeping investors inside that ecosystem.” – Larry FinkSo what? BlackRock initially relied on specialised partners like Securitize for BUIDL’s issuance. Now it’s internalising the stack. The move signals BlackRock intends to weave tokenisation, issuance, and compliance directly into Aladdin, its flagship risk management and trading platform serving $13.4T in AUM. The shift from “owning assets” to owning the infrastructure of ownership has begun. Ant Group builds on EthereumAnt Group, the owner of Alipay (1.4B users, $20T annual volume), launched Jovay Network, a high-performance Ethereum Layer 2 solution. [NEWS]The goal? To turn the world’s largest fintech app into a global blockchain infrastructure provider.What’s happening: Jovay is a high-performance Ethereum L2 targeting 100,000 TPS using a hybrid ZK + TEE design. It connects directly to AntChain, Ant’s private blockchain, which already manages $8.4B in tokenised energy assets — 15 million power devices including wind turbines and solar panels.So what? Ant Group processes 1.5× Visa’s global volume and 15× PayPal’s. If even 1% of Alipay’s flows touch Jovay, it instantly becomes the largest on-chain payments network in history.JP Morgan’s $1.5T betJPMorgan Chase just launched one of the largest private initiatives in U.S. history, a $1.5T, 10-year Security and Resiliency Initiative (SRI) to strengthen America’s economic backbone across defence, energy, and frontier technologies. [RELEASE]So what? Most of the $1.5T plan fuels lending, underwriting, and advisory work for clients across critical sectors. But the real strategic edge lies in the $10B the bank will invest directly, buying stakes in cutting-edge manufacturing and frontier technologies. By tying its core business to national security priorities, JPMorgan isn’t just chasing profit; it’s locking in long-term relevance, influence, and political leverage in the next phase of U.S. industrial policy.🚨Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. Citi’s crypto custodyCiti just confirmed it’s launching crypto custody in 2026. They’ve been quietly building it for 2–3 years, writing code, lining up partners, getting regulatory clearance. They also invested in a stablecoin payment company, BVNK. [NEWS]So what? Wall Street banks (State Street, JP Morgan, BNY Mellon and now Blackrock) are not just adopting stablecoins but have started building/ owning the infrastructure. The move comes after the SEC scrapped the SAB 121 rule in January, which previously forced banks to treat customer crypto as a liability, making custody economically unfeasible. Simply put, traditional banks are positioning themselves to fully capitalise on one of the biggest transformations in finance since electronic trading.News Flash* Stripe adds stablecoin payments for recurring subscriptions using USDC. Link* New York launches city office for digital assets. Link* Bhutan moves its national ID system from Polygon to Ethereum. Link* CME launches CFTC-approved options trading for Solana and XRP. Link* Morgan Stanley opens crypto fund access to all wealth clients. Link* Cantor Fitzgerald considers acquiring Securitize in a SPAC deal. Link* S&P Ratings brings real-time stablecoin risk data on-chain via Chainlink. Link* US lawmaker moves to make Trump’s crypto 401(k) order law. Link* French ODDO BHF launches Euro-backed stablecoin EUROD. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & TeamPS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. * Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyzHi, it’s Marc. ✌️“You cannot build a reputation based on what you are going to do. Trust must be earned over time. The track record matters.”William Mougayar on why Ethereum’s 10-year record matters more than competitor speed claims.William Mougayar, an early internet pioneer and one of the first to recognise the potential of Ethereum, has been in the technology business for nearly four decades. He met Vitalik Buterin in late 2013 and has had a front-row seat to the evolution of the blockchain industry ever since. He advised the Ethereum Foundation through its early growing pains, served as chairman of the Kin Foundation during Solana’s 35-cent days, and has spent four decades watching technology waves from Hewlett-Packard to peer-to-peer protocols.His thesis: The general-purpose L1 wars are over. Ethereum won. What remains is specialization, consolidation, and the infrastructure layer maturing into a $700B capital base.🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here.🎧 Jump to the best parts* (07:03) → The double-spend solution and programmable money: William traces blockchain’s lineage from 1990s Cybercash to Napster’s peer-to-peer revolution to Satoshi’s breakthrough, explaining why “if this, then that” logic with money attached changed everything.* (17:05) → The first principles of blockchain: William argues that trust, decentralisation, and credible neutrality are far more critical than speed, explaining why institutions prioritise consistency and fairness over flashy performance metrics.* (28:48) → Why Ethereum sacrificed L1 activity by design: The intentional shift to L2s wasn’t weakness—it was strategic expansion. “Ethereum is no longer just the L1. Ethereum is an ecosystem.” Why comparing Solana’s base layer to Ethereum’s base layer is intellectually dishonest.* (34:40) → Debunking Solana’s narrative: DEX volumes, app revenue, L2 value extraction, capital turnover, and speed. William systematically dismantles each with data: Ethereum does 8.4B in DEX volume vs Solana’s 5B when L2s are included. Top 10 Ethereum apps revenue: $4B; Solana: $2B.* (40:03) → A new valuation for blockchains: Why traditional metrics like P/E ratios and discounted cash flows fail to capture the value of public blockchain infrastructure, and why network effects and the flow of money are better indicators.👉 Subscribe to our digital asset treasury newsletter for all the alpha!We sat down with William Mougayar, author of The Business Blockchain and founder of the Ethereum Market Research Center, to cut through the noise and return to the first principles of what makes a blockchain valuable and enduring.Why it’s important: As the Layer 1 landscape becomes increasingly competitive, narratives often diverge from fundamentals. With billions of dollars at stake, understanding the core tenets of decentralization, trust, and credible neutrality is crucial for investors, builders, instituions and enterprises. William provides a masterclass in separating hype from reality, drawing on his decades of experience in technology cycles.Where to find * X: @wmougayar* Blog: https://wamougayar.xyz * Research: https://ethmrc.com 🎙️ In our conversation, we discussed:* Pre-Bitcoin digital cash and peer-to-peer technologies* What made Ethereum’s smart contracts a revolutionary leap forward* Why the “Layer 1” label is a misleading oversimplification for Ethereum* The critical importance of credible neutrality and censorship resistance* A detailed rebuttal of common anti-Ethereum arguments, particularly regarding Solana* The flaws in using “revenue” as the primary metric for valuing a blockchain* How value accrues to ETH through its role as a productive, foundational asset* The evolution of valuation models from the early internet to today’s blockchain ecosystems* What’s next for blockchain adoption, from institutional finance to consumer appsWatch or listen now:YouTube • Spotify • Apple PodcastsRecommended podcasts:Recommended reports:🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.My biggest takeaways from this conversation:1. The “general-purpose blockchain” game is over

Hey, it’s Marc.Today, major news broke that G7 banks are about to launch a stablecoin. They’re coming for Tether and Circle. More on that below. Another story that caught my eye: Luxembourg’s sovereign wealth fund allocated 1% of its portfolio ($9M) to a BTC ETF. That’s first state-level Bitcoin investment in the Eurozone. But did you know that Norways and Switzerland’s Central Bank already hold 100s of millions in Strategy shares for indirect Bitcoin exposure? Wild. The most conservative financial institutions on the planet are buying Bitcoin exposure through corporate proxies. Let’s do the math: There are nearly 100 sovereign wealth funds globally, managing over $14 trillion.If just 10% of global sovereign wealth funds allocate 1% to Bitcoin? That’s $140 billion in new demand.For context: Bitcoin ETFs have pulled in $163B total since launch in January 2024.Then: Coinbase and Mastercard are apparently in a bidding war for BVNK, a stablecoin startup backed by Visa and Citi (think of it as Bridge). We just had them on the show: “Crypto and traditional finance have been living in separate worlds, but they’ll fully merge. In the future, everything will be on-chain in some form, and the distinction will disappear.”— Robinhood CEO Vlad TenevThis is a timely quote for another BIG story this week: Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) invested $2B in Polymarket, a crypto prediction market. Yes, ICE, the $80B parent of NYSE. Probably one of the biggest moments in DeFi history.Also this week: * Softbank & Binance onboard half of Japan’s population to crypto* BNY Mellon pilots tokenized deposits* Galaxy has launched GalaxyOne, a unified wealth platform.* Kraken expands its U.S. equities platform 24/5We’ll unpack all of these highlights below. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Top Boardroom Reads 👉Subscribe to our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here.* G20 Roadmap for Cross-border Payments (FSB)* Digital Asset Outlook (State Street)* The Ethereum Foundation’s Commitment to Privacy (Ethereum Foundation)* The $135B Treasury Wave (Fiftyone)* Stablecoin growth - policy challenges and approaches (BIS)* How Stablecoins Are Eating Payments, with Chris Harmse (Fiftyone)* The First RWA Unicorn IPO (Fiftyone)🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekG7 banks launch a stablecoin What happened: Ten of the world’s largest banks — including Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Citi, UBS, and Deutsche Bank — are teaming up to launch a G7-backed stablecoin network that will issue bank-backed stablecoins pegged to the USD, EUR, JPY, GBP, CAD, and CHF. [ANNOUNCEMENT]The message is clear: banks are taking stablecoins back. For the first time, the G7’s largest institutions are building shared rails for digital currencies that settle instantly across a unified blockchain framework.So what? It’s the strongest challenge yet to Tether and Circle’s $245B duopoly. For years, banks dismissed stablecoins as risky. Now, they’re racing to reclaim the rails they once owned. The Genius Act made it legal for regulated firms to issue their own stablecoins, shifting money creation from banks to corporates and fintechs like Stripe, PayPal, and Circle, which now move trillions on-chain. Stablecoins processed $27.6 trillion in transactions in 2024, officially exceeding Visa’s and Mastercard’s annual payment volume. That’s transaction flow banks used to own.Full analysis for PRO readers👇PayPay brings 70M users into cryptoSoftBank-owned PayPay, Japan’s largest cashless payment app, just bought a 40% stake in Binance Japan, instantly onboarding 70 million users — half the country’s population — into crypto [NEWS]. Why it matters: PayPay controls 67% of Japan’s QR code payments and handles one in every five cashless transactions. Now, users can buy crypto with PayPay Money, withdraw proceeds into their wallets, and access Binance Japan without ever leaving the app. It’s also the biggest distribution play Binance has ever pulled off — direct access to 60% of Japan’s adults through a single integration.Wall Street’s $2B DeFi moveIntercontinental Exchange (ICE), the global leader in exchange operations and owner of the venerable New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has completed a strategic investment of up to $2B in Polymarket, a decentralised prediction market platform. [ANNOUNCEMENT]This is probably one of the biggest moments in DeFi history.The message is clear: This deal is about data, distribution, and tokenisation. ICE will push Polymarket data to thousands of institutional investors globally.So what? ICE is the plumbing of global finance. 13 exchanges, 6 clearing houses, $25T+ in annual trading volume. The immediate benefit? Exclusive data distribution. Global rights to sell Polymarket’s event-driven data to institutions. Immediate revenue stream. Hedge funds will pay for real-time probability signals on Fed decisions, elections, economic indicators. Bloomberg sells terminal data. ICE just bought prediction market data.🚨Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. Galaxy’s new super appGalaxy has launched GalaxyOne, a unified wealth platform combining high-yield FDIC-insured cash accounts, crypto and equity trading, and institutional-grade investment products to help individuals manage and grow their portfolios seamlessly. [RELEASE]Why it matters: Most retail investors still juggle siloed apps, stocks & ETFs, trading, crypto wallets, while professional platforms run on seamless, risk-aware infrastructure. A neobank app combining cash, crypto, and equities directly challenges Robinhood and traditional, fragmented finance apps. BNY Mellon is exploring tokenised depositThe world’s largest custodian with $55.8T in AUM, BNY Mellon, is actively exploring the use of tokenised deposits for enabling institutional client payments over distributed ledger technology (DLT) rails. [NEWS]The message is clear: Existing payment rails are expensive, and institutions will switch to blockchain infrastructure if it saves cost and time for them. Why it matters: BNY Mellon’s Treasury Services unit processes roughly $2.5T in payments each day, making the shift to instant, 24/7 settlement capabilities a systemic necessity. The move signals accelerating institutional blockchain adoption with major cost-efficiency gains up to 30%. Kraken isn’t building a crypto exchangeKraken expands its U.S. equities platform with stock transfers, lending, and 24/5 trading, a move that blurs the line between crypto and Wall Street. [RELEASE]Why it matters: Legacy brokers sleep on weekends and settle trades in days. Kraken runs 24/5 and settles in seconds. The company’s now gunning for Robinhood’s retail base, Coinbase’s institutional users, and Wall Street’s liquidity, all while setting up for a potential $15B IPO in 2026.News Flash* Citi invests in BVNK, deepening US banks’ stablecoin adoption. Link* Tokenised gold surpasses $3B as investors seek protection from weakening fiat.* MetaMask launches in-wallet perpetuals trading through Hyperliquid. Link* S&P has launched the Digital Markets 50 Index. Link* Grayscale launches first U.S. crypto ETFs with Ethereum and Solana staking. Link* Samsung Wallet integrates Coinbase in the US and Canada. Link* Morgan Stanley now guides $2T advisors on crypto portfolio allocations. Link* Walmart’s OnePay will offer Bitcoin and Ether trading, custody. Link* CME to launch 24/7 crypto futures and options trading. Link* BBVA enables 24/7 crypto trading via SGX FX integration. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & TeamPS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. * Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyzHi, it’s Marc. ✌️“Money should travel at the speed of the internet. Stablecoins make that possible.”— Chris Harmse, Co-founder & CBO of BVNKBVNK, a leading stablecoin payment infrastructure provider, just hit $20 billion in annual transaction volume with 320 employees.In May, they partnered with Worldpay, which processes $2.3 trillion annually for 1M+ merchants, to enable stablecoin payouts across 180+ countries.🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. 🎧 Jump to the best parts* (08:28) → The new financial stack: Chris outlines the six core ‘payment primitives’ (send, receive, store, earn, spend, comply) driving adoption and explains how companies can now build entire neobanks on top of stablecoin rails, reaching 200 markets instantly.* (15:13) → The three catalysts behind the 2025 Stablecoin summer: Why did the market explode this year? Chris pinpoints the trifecta of regulatory clarity, massive payment volumes, and a critical mass of global users that created the perfect storm for enterprise adoption. * (20:41) → Competing with giants like Stripe: As big players enter, Chris explains why fragmentation creates opportunity and how BVNK’s value proposition is to abstract away all complexity, making blockchain payments as seamless as using a credit card.* (29:15) → Regulation, regions, and the next 3 years: Why LatAm, Africa, and Southeast Asia are leading adoption from the bottom up, and why regulatory clarity has turned from headwind to tailwind for global enterprises.👉 Subscribe to our digital asset treasury newsletter for all the alpha!We sat down with Chris Harmse, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at BVNK, to explore the surge in demand for stablecoins for payments and their transformative impact on global finance.Why it’s important: Stablecoins have crossed $300B in supply, putting them on par with some of the largest U.S. retail money market funds and regional banks. Initiatives like Stripe’s Open Issuance, BVNK’s WorldPay partnership and Circle’s Payment Network CPN show that money movement on blockchains is hitting mainstream. BVNK: Founded in 2021, BVNK is a London-based fintech company that provides a full-stack stablecoin operating system for businesses, enabling them to integrate stablecoin payments and treasury solutions into their operations. It has processed $20B+ in transactions and is valued at $750M, backed by top investors and enterprise partnerships across 180+ countries.Where to find Chris Harmse:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisharmse/X: https://x.com/chrisharmse89Website: https://bvnk.com/about-us 🎙️ In our conversation, we discussed:* Why traditional payment rails are broken and fragmented* The evolution of stablecoins from niche to enterprise-scale* Which use cases (payouts, commerce, treasury) are scaling fastest* How BVNK differentiates in an increasingly crowded market* Why regulatory clarity flipped the narrative in 2025* The WorldPay partnership and its network effects* How emerging markets are driving adoption from the bottom up* Where value will accrue across the payments stack (issuers vs. distributors vs. L1s)* Navigating the complexities of KYC and compliance in a blockchain world* Future outlook: Regulation and enterprise adoptionWatch or listen now:YouTube • Spotify • Apple PodcastsRecommended podcasts:Recommended reports:🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.My biggest takeaways from this conversation:1. Enterprise adoption has matured1. Enterprise adoption has matured—the conversation shifted from education to executionThe pilot phase is over. Chris argues that enterprises no longer need stablecoin 101 - they’re architecting specific use cases. The traditional financial system, with fragmented domestic schemes and SWIFT-dependent cross-border rails, can’t compete with instant, 24/7, low-cost blockchain infrastructure.“Two to three years ago, people were thinking about pilots. That has shifted to today where they’re going live and they’re doing billions and billions of dollars of TPV.”

Hey, it’s Marc.Token2049, the world’s biggest crypto event, just wrapped in Singapore and this year felt different: stablecoin rails, tokenized treasuries, and prediction markets. Meanwhile, SWIFT just picked Ethereum to build a blockchain with 30+ global banks. The same network that moves $150T a year is admitting crypto rails are the future.Stripe just launched stablecoin-as-a-service. Every fintech, exchange, and enterprise can now mint its own stablecoin in a few lines of code. We’re heading toward a world where every major institution issues money. And nobody yet knows what the endgame looks like.Also this week: * Cloudflare that controls 20% of the internet launched Internet Money* Visa Direct will start to prefund payouts with stablecoinsWe’ll unpack all of these highlights below. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Top Boardroom Reads 👉Subscribe to our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here.* Inside Pantera’s $500M Solana Treasury Play, with Cosmo Jiang (51)* The stablecoin duopoly is ending (Nic Carter)* Stablecoins 2030 - Web3 to Wall Street (Citi)* Crypto treasury in a world of wallets (Ubyx)* The State of Wealth in 2025 (Fintech Prime Time)* Fintech 101: The Tokenisation of Real World Financial Assets (Fintech Blueprint)* Why crypto targets massive markets (Bitwise Asset Management)🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekSWIFT’s picks EthereumSWIFT announced on Sept 29 it will launch a blockchain-based ledger with ConsenSys and 30+ major banks - JPMorgan, HSBC, Citi, BNP Paribas, Deutsche, Santander, Wells Fargo, BNY Mellon, and more. The system will enable real-time, 24/7 cross-border settlements using tokenised deposits and smart contracts. [RELEASE]Why it matters: SWIFT moves $150T annually through 11,500 institutions. But settlements take 5 days with multiple intermediaries, hidden fees, and manual AML checks. Meanwhile, stablecoins scaled from $20B (2020) to $300B today, processing trillions annually. Banks are losing material cross-border payment share. SWIFT’s move is defensive but necessary.🚨Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. Stripe launches stablecoin-as-a-serviceWhat happened: Stripe announced three new products that let any business launch, hold, and use stablecoins with just a few lines of code: [RELEASE] * Open Issuance: Launch and manage your own stablecoin with reserves from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Superstate.* Stablecoin Financial Accounts: Hold, convert, spend, and send stablecoins directly from a Stripe account in the US.* On/Off-Ramp Infrastructure: Move between fiat and stablecoins with local APIs and stablecoin Visa cards in 15+ countries.Why it matters: For a decade, Circle (USDC) and Tether (USDT) have controlled 85%+ of the $245B stablecoin market. Every challenger — from Terra to Binance’s BUSD, failed to dent that dominance. Stripe just changed the economics. Businesses, DeFi protocols, wallets, and even fintechs can now mint their own “house stablecoins,” capture yield, and own user float instead of passing profits to Circle/Tether. This could fragment the market and accelerate the decline of the old duopoly.Our take: This isn’t just Stripe going after payments, it’s Stripe offering stablecoin infrastructure as a service. If neobanks, exchanges, and apps adopt Stripe’s rails, the next $200B in stablecoin growth won’t be captured by USDC or USDT but by thousands of custom issuers. Think of it as the Shopify moment for stablecoins: Stripe handles the messy compliance and plumbing; platforms keep the margin. For treasurers, that means yield opportunities. For marketers, it opens the door to brand-owned money. For Circle and Tether, it’s an existential challenge: the float is up for grabs.Visa Direct will prefund payouts with stablecoinsWhat happened: At SIBOS, Visa announced a pilot for stablecoin prefunding on Visa Direct. Instead of parking fiat in advance, businesses can pre-fund Visa accounts with USDC or EURC. Visa treats those balances as “money in the bank,” unlocking faster global payouts and reducing working-capital drag. [Release]So what? By allowing businesses to pre-fund accounts with stablecoins, Visa transforms frozen capital into liquid assets that can be moved in minutes, not days. Visa treating USDC and EURC as “money in the bank” for prefunding signals mainstream trust in stablecoins and enables near-instant cross-border payouts. But this also raises threats for regional banks to lose liquidity and fee-based income from correspondent banking services. Our take: The real signal isn’t the pilot itself, but Visa treating USDC/EURC like deposits, effectively blurring the line between bank balances and blockchain balances. Cloudflare launched Internet MoneyCloudflare announced NET Dollar, a US dollar–backed stablecoin designed to power instant, programmable payments for the agentic web. It is positioning its global network as a payments rail for machine-to-machine microtransactions, pay-per-use APIs, and fractional payouts. [RELEASE]So what? With Cloudflare handling ~20% of all internet traffic, its entry into stablecoins is viewed as a potential turning point in the future of online payments. However, it needs open standards and interoperability (like Google’s Agent Payments Protocol/ Coinbase’s x402), otherwise the ecosystem risks siloing and fragmentation if every cloud/cloud-edge provider issues its own token. Must watch: Execution. If developer and AI platforms adopt Cloudflare’s token for agent-driven payments and if creators see tangible value in new microtransaction models, it could become core web infrastructure. Chainlink’s and UBS’ $100T tokenisation bridge Chainlink and UBS just demonstrated how to manage tokenised funds for workflows like subscriptions and redemptions, directly from existing systems using SWIFT ISO 20022 messages via Chainlink Runtime Environment (CRE). Banks access blockchains through the same SWIFT infrastructure they’ve used for decades, no new key management or system upgrades required. [RELEASE]So what? For years, the biggest barrier to institutional adoption of tokenised assets has been the massive operational headache of integrating them. This collaboration provides the “plug-and-play” solution, giving institutions blockchain’s speed, efficiency, and programmability without operational disruption. News Flash* Coinbase partners with Samsung to bring Coinbase One to 75M US Samsung Galaxy users. Link* Stripe partnered with OpenAI for agentic payments. Link* FG Nexus partners with Securitize to trade shares on Ethereum. Link* Franklin Templeton’s Solana ETF is listed on DTCC as SOEZ. Link* AlloyX launches tokenised money market fund RYT on Polygon blockchain. Link* CME Group to offer 24/7 cryptocurrency futures and options trading. Link* Animoca to offer tokenised equity on Solana for broader investor access. Link* Telegram to let users trade tokenised U.S. stocks and ETFs in-app. Link* Government shutdown delays SEC reviews of pending crypto ETF approvals. Link* Tixbase becomes the ticketing partner for 2025 Copa América de Béisbol. Link* Avalanche Treasury merges with $MLAC in $675M deal to expand. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & TeamPS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. * Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyzHi, it’s Marc. ✌️“Solana is just faster, cheaper, and more accessible.It maps perfectly to the same consumer demand cycle that made Amazon unbeatable.”— Cosmo Jiang, General Partner at Pantera Capital🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. 🎧 Jump to the best parts* (10:56) → Why “NAV per share” is the new “free cash flow per share: Cosmo explains how digital asset treasuries work just like banks or Amazon in its prime: execution and capital allocation matter more than hype. Investors should look at NAV-per-share growth, not token price, just as Amazon’s stock rewarded reinvestment before profits.* (22:03) → Inside Solana Company (NASDAQ: HSDT): We break down how Pantera structured Solana Company to systematically acquire and stake Solana, combining a $500M PIPE, $750M in stapled warrants, and differentiated staking economics. Actionable takeaway: public vehicles can outperform ETFs when they compound yield and use capital markets tools (buybacks, convertibles) to increase tokens per share.* (29:43) → Solana vs. Ethereum & Why Tokens Are Infrastructure Equity: Cosmo makes the case that Solana isn’t just “cheaper”, it’s a cash‑flow‑producing platform growing faster than ETH on incremental users, developers, and fees. He reframes tokens as ownership units in productive networks, not commodities. For investors, that means valuing Solana the way you’d value a high‑growth infra company, not a currency.👉 Subscribe to our digital asset treasury newsletter for all the alpha! We sat down with Cosmo Jiang, General Partner at Pantera Capital and Board Observer at Solana Company, to unpack the rise of digital asset treasury companies (DATs) and why Solana is at the centre of the next wave.This isn’t just a copy of MicroStrategy. It’s a redesigned flywheel, engineered for speed, yield, and public markets scale.Why it’s important: Digital asset treasury companies (DATCOs) have raised $20B in 2025 so far. July alone accounted for nearly $10B, making DATs (digital asset treasuries) the single largest category of crypto fundraising this year. While Bitcoin still dominates, increasing flows are moving to Ethereum, Solana, TON, and other altcoin-focused DATs.Pantera: It is one of the original and largest institutional investors in digital assets. Its portfolio spans eight tokens, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and BNB across U.S., U.K., and Israeli companies. These include BitMine Immersion, Twenty One Capital, DeFi Development Corp, and Mill City Ventures III.Where to find Cosmo Jiang:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosmojiangX: https://x.com/cosmo_jiangPantera: https://panteracapital.com/team/ 🎙️ In our conversation, we discuss:* Origin of digital asset treasuries (DAT)* Why Solana beats Bitcoin and Ethereum on raw product-market fit* What Pantera saw that made them launch a $1.25B SOL-native public vehicle* Why public equities are the ultimate crypto onboarding funnel for institutions* How Solana Company is engineered to maximize SOL per share * Why most investors underestimate how active Solana already is* Understanding MNAV and navigating market cycles* Why Solana is becoming the default blockchain for payments, AI, and RWAs* Debunking core crypto misconceptions for institutional investors* The case for treating tokens like infrastructure equity, not software* The rise of corporate chains and the multi-chain futureWatch or listen now:YouTube • Spotify • Apple PodcastsRecommended podcasts:My biggest takeaways from this conversation:

Hey, it’s Marc.“There is room for both gold and Bitcoin to coexist on central bank balance sheets by 2030.” — Deutsche Bank, in a new report released this week. Did you know that Norwegian and Swiss National Bank already have $700M+ of Bitcoin exposure by owning Strategy stocks? PS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. Then: Citi came out with a new report and estimated the stablecoin market size to grow up to $4T by 2030. [Full report]🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Then: Hyperliquid just minted its own dollar. USDH went live this week with ~$2.2M in first-day trading, giving the exchange a native currency to power its markets. The timing is sharp: only a week earlier, Circle launched USDC on Hyperliquid with new cross-chain rails spanning 14+ blockchains. The stage is set for a showdown between “platform-native” and “network-native” money. [Read more] Whereas, Tether seeks $20B raise at $500B valuation, rivaling OpenAI, among world’s most valuable private companies. Also this week: * House GOP pushes 401(k) access to crypto* Vanguard, the $10T asset manager, to launch crypto ETFs* CFTC moves to allow tokenised collateral in derivatives* HSBC expands tokenised deposits to cross-border corporate settlements* Morgan Stanley nears launch of crypto trading via E-Trade. LinkWe’ll unpack all of these highlights below. 👉 We launched a new newsletter on digital asset treasuries. Subscribe below! Top Boardroom Reads 👉Subscribe to our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here.* A conversation with VP of Technology at Solana Foundation (51)* $20B DAT Surge (51)* Bitcoin vs. Gold: The Future of Central Bank Reserves by 2030 (Deutsche Bank)* Stablecoins 2030: Web3 to Wall Street (Citi)* How Bitcoin can Shape the Future of Wealth Management (Bitcoin Suisse)* OpenAI + NVIDIA: $100B Bet on 10GW AI Infrastructure (51)* Central bank money as a catalyst for fungibility: the case of stablecoins (ECB)* Vitalik on L2s (Vitalik Buterin)* Stablecoin for treasuries (BVNK)* HYPE’s Damocles Sword (Maelstrom)* Nasdaq TradeTalks: New Tech Is Driving Market Structure Evolution (DTCC)🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekVanguard goes cryptoVanguard, the $10T asset manager, is about to roll out crypto ETF access across its platform, reaching 1 in 6 U.S. households. For years, Vanguard swore off Bitcoin ETFs, calling them “too volatile.”. In 2024, Vanguard’s head of ETFs, Janel Jackson, called Bitcoin “immature” and “without inherent value”. [NEWS]Why it matters: Even a 1% allocation from its client base = $100B in flows, bigger than entire crypto ETF categories today. Once access goes live, crypto ETFs move from the edges of retail investing into retirement accounts, long-term portfolios, and passive allocations.Our take: Vanguard’s CEO Salim Ramji literally built BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF before joining Vanguard. BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF IBIT is the most successful ETF in the company’s history: $80B in assets since its launch in Jan 05, 2024. He knows exactly what he’s walking away from. The timing isn’t coincidence: The SEC just introduced generic listing standards. Expect 100s of ETFs over the coming 8-12 months and an institutional inflow we’ve never seen before. 401(k)s open to cryptoOn Sept 22, House Republicans pressed SEC Chair Paul Atkins to fast-track rules letting 401(k)s invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, private equity, and VC. This builds on Trump’s Aug 7 executive order directing regulators to clear the path. [NEWS]Our take: $9T sits in U.S. 401(k)s. Even a 1% allocation to crypto = ~$90B of new demand. For context, all U.S. spot BTC ETFs combined have ~$140B AUM today. This isn’t about retail traders, it’s about creating the largest long-term, dollar-cost-averaging inflow Bitcoin has ever seen. CFTC greenlights Stablecoins for derivativesThe Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched a formal initiative to allow tokenised collateral, including stablecoins, into U.S. derivatives markets. The plan: let traders use tokenised assets like stablecoins and money market funds (MMFs) as margin in derivatives markets. [RELEASE]Our take: This is the strongest signal yet that U.S. regulators will allow tokenised Money Market Funds (MMFs) and stablecoins as eligible collateral in the $600T global derivatives market (notional value). Collateral = the foundation of derivatives. Shifting from cash and Treasuries to tokenised instruments unlocks 24/7 liquidity, faster settlement, and lower capital costs. Hyperliquid’s stablecoinHyperliquid just launched its own stablecoin, USDH, with ~$2.2M in early trading volume against USDC. Native Markets, which beat Paxos, Frax, and Agora in a validator vote, is rolling out USDH as a fiat-backed token issued on HyperEVM and bridged across the Hyperliquid stack. Reserves sit in cash and short-dated Treasuries, with transparency via oracles and a feedback loop funneling earnings into HYPE buybacks. [NEWS] Our take: Stablecoin competition is no longer just Circle vs. Tether. Exchanges, L2s, and now trading platforms like Hyperliquid are pushing “house dollars” to own their settlement rails. USDH is an attempt to localise stablecoin utility, yield, and governance within the Hyperliquid ecosystem instead of letting profits flow out to external issuers like Circle (USDC).HSBC pushed the tokenised deposit service (TDS) in AsiaHSBC just expanded its tokenised deposit service (TDS) to cross-border corridors (Hong Kong ⇄ Singapore) and is eyeing scale into the UK/EU. It has completed its first live USD transfer between Hong Kong and Singapore for Ant International and is pitching 24/7 instant settlement as a new baseline for corporate treasury operations. So what? Stablecoins may have led the early race with speed and reach, but banks are striking back with their strongest asset: regulated deposits. By tokenising them, traditional financial institutions are creating digital money that delivers blockchain’s instant, programmable features with the safety, trust, and regulatory clarity only banks can offer. [ANNOUNCEMENT] $100B Bet on 10GW AI InfrastructureOpenAI and Nvidia signed a letter of intent: Nvidia may invest up to $100B in OpenAI to fund AI data centres using millions of Nvidia chips. [RELEASE] [See full story]So what: It is Nvidia pre-paying one of its largest customers to ensure demand. It validates that compute scarcity = strategy, as Nvidia is investing $100B just to guarantee demand and erecting a formidable moat against rivals like AMD, Intel, and Google’s in-house silicon.News Flash* Strive acquires Smeler Scientific. Link* Circle is exploring mechanisms to make USDC transactions reversible. Link* Anthony Scaramucci backs AVAX treasury aiming to raise $550M. Link* Morgan Stanley nears launch of crypto trading via E-Trade. Link* Swarm to offer nine tokenised stocks on the Plasma blockchain mainnet. Link* Forward Industries to tokenise stock, expanding Solana treasury and DeFi use. Link* World Liberty Financial to launch debit card and trading app soon. Link* Kraken and Legion launch the Yield Basis BTC protocol with merit-based sale. Link* Plasma launched a neobank, Plasma One. Link* Bank of Canada urges federal stablecoin rules to modernise payments, remittances. Link* UAE signs global crypto tax deal, launches consultation to shape rules. Link* China and South Korea launch CN and KRW stablecoins globally. Link* PayPal invests in Stable blockchain to expand PYUSD usage globally. Link* GSR proposes Digital Asset Treasury ETF. Link* Grayscale crypto index fund approved for ETF. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & TeamPS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals. * Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyzHey, it’s Marc. ✌️“Solana’s built to be the internet’s capital market fast, decentralized, and ready for the future.”We sat down with Matt Sorg, VP of Technology at Solana Foundation, for an insightful look into why Solana’s high-speed, low-cost blockchain is redefining how value moves globally.From his days leading AI at Unity to steering Solana’s tech vision, Matt’s journey reflects the cutting edge of blockchain innovation. Now, he’s helping Solana power everything from meme coins to institutional assets, with AI and quantum security on the horizon.We talked about:* Solana’s core philosophy: "Increased Bandwidth, Reduced Latency."* Why it’s the go-to for DeFi, NFTs, and DePIN* How Solana outpaces traditional finance* Preparing for a quantum-secure future* AI’s growing role in blockchain… and much more.Here are our key insights & take-aways. The Solana advantageMatt keeps it real about Solana’s edge:“Solana delivers internet-scale capital markets, moving value faster than anything out there.”Unlike traditional systems like Visa, which settle daily, Solana’s near-instant transactions let businesses scale at the speed of the internet. Think digital startups buying AI compute or tokenizing assets, Solana’s low fees and high throughput make it a no-brainer for innovators.Matt explained how Solana’s ecosystem thrives:

Hey, it’s Marc.The SEC approved “generic listing standards” that cut crypto ETF approvals from 240+ days to just 75. What this means: instead of only Bitcoin and Ethen reum ETFs, we could see 100+ new ETFs (Solana, XRP, DOGE, you name it) in the next 12 months. [More]On top of that, the Fed cut rates to 4.0–4.25% and signaled two more this year to support jobs: “Federal Reserve doesn't feel the need to move quickly on interest rate cuts.”— Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United StatesAnd if that weren’t enough, Google just launched the first open standard for AI agents to move money, including stablecoins. Pair this with PayPal rolling out crypto-native peer-to-peer payments and you see where payments are headed: programmable, instant, and borderless.Also this week: * MoneyGram, the world's largest on-off-ramp integrates stablecoins. * PayPal launches peer-to-peer crypto payments* Google launches open payment standard for agents, incl. crypto* Coinbase to launch Base token [deep dive]* Metamask launched mUSD stablecoin. * Ethereum Foundation forms an AI team. * Circle launches native USDC on HyperEVM. And much more…We’ll unpack all of these highlights below. 👉 We launched a new newsletter on digital asset treasuries. Subscribe below! Top Boardroom Reads * Stablecoins in focus: navigating the new digital financial landscape (EY)* The $1.6B Solana Treasury Bet, with Kyle Samani, Co-Founder of Multicoin Capital (51)* Weekly Digital Asset Treasury Update (51)* DAT Value Creation (Pantera Capital)* Digital Asset Alpha Letter August (FG Nexus)* Wall Street need a blockchain, that blockchain is Ethereum (Securitize)* BIS survey on central bank digital currencies and crypto (BIS)* How America weaponized crypto (51)* Circle vs. Hyperliquid (51)* Tempo, Libra, and the Illusion of Neutrality (Maja Vujinovic)🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekGoogle: Agents are now moving stablecoinsGoogle announced the Agent Payments Protocol (AP2), the first open standard for AI agents making payments (incl. cards, real-time bank rails and stablecoins). The spec and reference code are live on GitHub, and the effort already includes 60+ payments, cards and web3 partners (Mastercard, AmEx, PayPal, Coinbase, Adyen and more). [Announcement] [Analysis]Why it matters: This is first enterprise-grade standard for AI agents to transact with stablecoins and crypto. AP2 includes x402, Coinbase ’s extension for agent-to-agent stablecoin payments. That means AI agents can now send stablecoins across wallets natively on blockchain rails.Go deeper: The protocol solves three core problems that break traditional payments when a bot buys for you: authorization (did the user actually pre-authorize this agent for this task?), authenticity (does the cart reflect the user’s intent?) and accountability (who owns liability if something goes wrong?).So what? This is Google saying: "Agent commerce with digital money is happening. Here's the standard." The future of payments won’t look like Stripe or Visa. It’ll look like agents moving stablecoins on open protocols.SEC opens crypto ETF floodgatesThe SEC approved Generic Listing Standards for crypto ETFs. Instead of 240-day, case-by-case filings, any token with a regulated futures market and six months of price history now qualifies for a spot ETF, with a standardized 75-day approval window.* Bitcoin took 11 years to get one ETF.* Now, expect 100+ ETFs in the next 12 months (Solana, XRP, DOGE, and more).* Grayscale’s multi-crypto ETF with BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA was approved alongside.Why it matters: This marks the systemic shift. ETFs give pensions and institutions the cleanest on-ramp, with BTC and ETH ETF assets already tripling to $175B in a year. 59% of institutions now plan 5%+ crypto allocation. With rates falling and approvals now standardized, altcoin ETFs like Solana and XRP are inevitable, accelerating adoption and locking digital assets into Wall Street’s core product shelf.MoneyGram integrates stablecoinsMoneyGram, the world's largest on-off-ramp, launched a next-gen mobile app in Colombia that delivers inbound remittances as instant, USD-backed stablecoin balances (USDC), powered by Stellar and Crossmint. It is letting recipients hold, spend, or cash out dollars instead of local pesos, disrupting $860B remittances market. MoneyGram is the largest cash on/off ramp with nearly 500,000 retail locations across 170+ countries. [RELEASE] [Analysis]So what? With the peso down 40% in 4 years and $11.8B flowing in remittances, Colombians need dollar stability. If MoneyGram wins just 5% share, that’s $592M in USD wallets, shifting the battle from moving money to owning the customer’s balance.Why it matters: Remittances are a $860B market ripe for disruption, with blockchain slashing fees from ~10% to near zero. MoneyGram’s stablecoin app in Colombia is just the start, the real race is who scales dollar wallets across global corridors first.Circle vs. HyperliquidDays after Hyperliquid voted to launch USDH, a native stablecoin designed to funnel yield back into the protocol, Circle dropped its counterpunch: native USDC on Hyperliquid, complete with CCTP V2 for seamless cross-chain transfers across 14+ blockchains. [RELEASE] [Full Analysis]So what? Circle’s play is classic defence: drop native USDC + CCTP right after the USDH vote to remind Hyperliquid that USDC’s moat isn’t just liquidity, it’s trust and institutional rails. But this is bigger than Circle vs. USDH. Hyperliquid has become the test case for the “protocol state” — platforms using governance and market power to force issuers to share yield and align with the ecosystem. The fight is simple:* USDH → share the yield, keep value in the protocol* USDC → stay safe, stay liquid, stay globalCoinbase to launch Base tokenAfter years of denying it, Coinbase confirmed it is exploring a token for its Ethereum L2, Base. No design or timeline yet, but it’s now public strategy. [Tweet] [Full Analysis]Why it matters: With 13M daily txns, 865K active addresses, $5B TVL, and $1.28B in daily DEX volume, Base already outpaces Arbitrum and Optimism on activity. A token launch would instantly create a top-tier L2 asset and Coinbase’s $84B market cap adds a “Coinbase premium” that could push valuation to the $8B–$10B range.So what: Coinbase isn’t launching a token just to pump Base. They’re rewriting the growth story: from an exchange business to a platform + ecosystem giant.PayPal launches peer-to-peer crypto paymentsPayPal is launching PayPal Links, one-time, personalized payment links that let a sender drop a private, single-use payment into any conversation (text, DM, email); the feature debuts in the U.S. today, with the UK, Italy and more rolling out later this month. [RELEASE] [Analysis]Why it matters: Unlike Zelle®, Apple Pay or Venmo, these links work everywhere. No app switching, no friction. Right now, PayPal Links are just a smoother UX over PayPal’s existing payment rails. The real disruption: With crypto (coming soon), money can leave PayPal’s walled garden and move 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 crypto wallet. Money will move on blockchain rails, instantly, globally, at cents-per-transaction, bypassing banks. So what? PayPal is collapsing discovery → payment → settlement into a single shareable artifact, which (1) reduces merchant and checkout friction in conversational channels, (2) increases instant on-platform balances (creating float and product expansion opportunities), and (3) normalises crypto/stablecoin as a native settlement option inside mainstream P2P flows. News Flash* AI agents can use Circle wallets to unlock and pay for APIs. Link* SEC greenlights Grayscale crypto index fund conversion to ETF. Link* The Ethereum Foundation just announced the creation of its first AI-focused group, the dAI Team. Link* Amex now gives travellers digital passport stamps as NFTs. Link* SBI and global banks test real-time cross-border tokenised settlements. Link* UBS and Swiss banks trial tokenised deposits on the Ethereum blockchain. Link* London Stock Exchange launches blockchain platform for tokenized private funds. Link* Apollo tokenizes credit strategy as Grove invests $50M in ACRDX. Link* MetaMask's mUSD stablecoin went live. Link* Bitwise files with the SEC to launch a spot Avalanche ETF. Link* Santander’s Openbank now lets German retail clients trade crypto. Link* Forward Industries launches $4B share sale to expand Solana treasury. Link* DBS, Franklin Templeton, and Ripple launch tokenized money market fund. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & Team🚀 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.* Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyzHey, it’s Marc. ✌️“Solana is the foundation for Internet Capital Markets. And we’re building the most on-chain public company in the world to prove it.”We sat down with Kyle Samani — co-founder of Multicoin Capital, early Solana backer, and now Chairman of Forward Industries — a newly launched $1.65B Solana treasury company backed by Multicoin, Galaxy Digital, and Jump [RELEASE]. 📈 NASDAQ: FORD"We are now the largest Solana DAT Treasury company in the world. And I can tell you our aspirations are a lot greater than that. We just got to the starting line and we're sprinting."Kyle’s not new to making bold bets. From launching Multicoin in 2017 to leading Solana’s seed round in 2018, his views have often been early — and right. Now he’s taking that same conviction to public markets and is betting everything on Solana's internet capital markets vision.We talked about:* Why Forward Industries raised $1.65B for Solana (not Bitcoin)* The MNAV premium game and what happens in bear markets* How treasury companies can actually outperform holding crypto directly* Solana vs Ethereum* Why corporate layer ones will fail* The timeline for internet capital markets going mainstreamLet’s jump in. Why FORD exists“It’s not enough to just buy Solana and trade at a premium. We want to rebuild capital markets on-chain.”Kyle sees Forward Industries as the first fully on-chain public company — not just buying SOL, but running payroll, governance, dividends, and vendor payments entirely on-chain.The vision:* Public company treasury model, but with real utility and cash flow* On-chain fundraising and operations* Yield from Solana DeFi, staking, and credit arbitrageThey’ve already secured ~$1.65B, including personal capital from Kyle and institutional backers. Up to 75% of capitalcame from TradFi institutions, including pensions, endowments, and sovereigns.Solana > ETFsKyle breaks down why treasury companies can outperform ETFs:“ETFs give you fixed exposure. But with a treasury company, you can grow the asset per share through yield, arbitrage, and M&A.”His strategy:

Hey, it’s Marc.This week felt like a turning point. Nasdaq tokenizing stocks, Tether entering the US, Fidelity moving Treasuries onchain, Franklin Templeton plugging into Binance, and then, this: “Crypto’s time has come. Most crypto tokens are not securities, and we will draw the lines clearly. We must ensure that entrepreneurs can raise capital on-chain without endless legal uncertainty.” — SEC chair Paul AtkinsWow. On top of that, we’ve all been glued to the Hyperliquid showdown and why Circle is about to lose 10% of its yearly revenue. We’ll unpack all of these highlights below. 👉 Crypto Treasury Alpha: Subscribe to our newsletter on digital asset treasury vehicles as long as it’s free 👇Top Boardroom Reads * Stablecoin and the Future of Finance (IMF). How stablecoins reshape payments and challenge monetary control.* The New Entertainment Economy (51). How blockchain is rewriting music & media economics.* Blockchains as emerging economies (Fidelity). A framework to value chains as digital nations.* The stablecoin moment (State Street). GENIUS Act and its global market fallout.* 1 Million Bitcoin (Fiftyone). A snapshot digital asset treasuries.* Tempo, Libra, and the Illusion of Neutrality (Maja Vujinovic). Why both corporate and open chains will win. 🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekTether goes U.S.What happened: Tether is launching USAT, its first U.S.-compliant stablecoin in December. Anchorage Digital will issue, Cantor Fitzgerald will custody, and Bo Hines (ex-White House digital asset advisor) will run Tether U.S.Why it matters:* Direct shot at Circle: Tether already prints $13B in yearly profits vs. Circle’s $156M. With USAT, Tether now invades Circle’s regulatory home turf.* Boost for ETH & Tron: 78% of USDT supply lives on these chains — expect more flow as USAT scales.* Dollar dominance: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said it best: “We’re going to keep the U.S. the dominant reserve currency in the world — and we’re going to use stablecoins to do that.”So what? This is about who controls the rails of the dollar in the digital era. USDT has a $180B market cap today. I expect 100s of billions to be flowing into USAT over the next years. And Tether just went from offshore giant to U.S. player with Washington ties, Wall Street custody, and a clear regulatory framework.NASDAQ tokenizes stocks starting 2026Nasdaq has filed with the SEC to tokenize every stock on its exchange starting 2026.If approved, every listed share will trade in two forms:* traditional digital (today’s rails)* tokenized blockchain version (new rails)Same order book. Same rights. Same execution priority.Dive deeper: Nasdaq won’t run its own chain. Instead, it’s tapping DTCC’s AppChain, built on Hyperledger Besu (Ethereum-compatible), with a working group that includes Citi, Mastercard, Visa, Santander, Consensys, and Accenture.Why it matters: Tokenized assets are $28B today. Ripple + BCG project $18.9T by 2033. Until now, “tokenized stocks” were mostly wrappers and derivatives with no shareholder rights (Robinhood, Kraken). This would be different: issuer-recognized, regulator-approved, real equities onchain. And once stocks settle on blockchain, the rest of Wall Street will follow. This could be a once-in-a-generation overhaul of capital markets.Circle about to lose 10% of its yearly revenueWhat happened: Hyperliquid, a DEX with $700M TVL and more daily protocol revenue than Ethereum and Solana, wants its own native stablecoin: USDH. We’re witnessing one of the biggest showdowns in crypto right now. [NEWS]Why it matters: Hyperliquid has $5.5B in stablecoins sitting on it today. Most of that is USDC, on which Circle quietly collects the interest. At current rates that’s ~$200M a year (almost 10% of its revenue). Zero flows back to Hyperliquid. With a native USDH, that value could be captured by the Hyperliquid ecosystem instead. [ANALYSIS]Now Paxos, Ethena, Agora, Sky (MakerDAO), Frax, Native Markets and others are all competing with proposals ranging from BlackRock-backed reserves to PayPal integrations to fully decentralized issuance. The final vote will happen on September 14. The twist: Whoever issues USDH must share the yield back to the ecosystem, pay validators, fund the assistance pool, and buy back HYPE. That revenue could grow to $1B+ a year as stablecoin balances scale. Bottom line: Winning USDH doesn’t guarantee revenue, but it grants brand legitimacy, the seal of being Hyperliquid’s “native” stablecoin. Even if no proposal hits escape velocity, the network wins.Fidelity joins tokenization raceWhat happened: Fidelity just launched its $204M Fidelity Digital Interest Token (FDIT) ($16.4T AUA) on Ethereum, a tokenized Treasury MMF, making it the second mega-asset manager (after BlackRock’s $2.2B BUIDL fund) to move assets onchain. Ondo Finance is the anchor investor, with 99% of FDIT’s assets tied to its OUSG fund. [ANNOUNCEMENT]So what? This instantly makes Fidelity one of the largest players in the $7B tokenized Treasuries market and a direct challenger to BlackRock’s BUIDL. With $12T AUM, the potential pipeline is enormous.Devil’s advocate: FDIT already has 99% exposure to Ondo’s OUSG. If Ondo’s inflows stall or reverse, Fidelity’s on-chain MMF looks illiquid.Dive deeper: FDIT is ERC20-native, recording ownership, transfers, and settlement directly onchain. JPMorgan, Fidelity, and BlackRock are already using tokenized MMFs as collateral, proving real efficiency gains in settlement, margining, and capital flows.Big picture: Tokenisation is moving from pilots into production. BlackRock, Kraken, R3, Solana are pushing tokenised stocks, MMFs, bonds, real estate, and more.Bonus: Fidelity released a report where it compared tokenization to American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), concluding it as the blockchain equivalent of moving an offshore asset to be recognized for investment and trading in a local market. Franklin Templeton partners with BinanceFranklin Templeton ($1.6T AUM) partners with Binance (300M users) to build "tokenized financial products" that merge: [ANNOUNCEMENT]* Franklin’s compliant tokenization (BENJI platform + tokenized funds)* Binance’s global trading infrastructure + investor reachThis dwarfs any pervious partnerships.* BlackRock x Coinbase? US only.* JPMorganChase x Coinbase? 80M users, US only.* Franklin x Binance? 300M users + global markets + retail & institutions.Tokenized funds won’t sit in a silo; they’ll trade at scale. And 300M Binance users = instant distribution.Stepping back: Franklin Templeton was the first incumbent to launch tokenised money market funds in 2021 with FOBXX, now live on eight blockchains, and this year launched the first fully tokenised UCITS SICAV fund in Luxembourg.So what? The line between TradFi and DeFi is blurring faster than most investors realize.News Flash* BBVA brings crypto custody on-chain with Ripple. Link* SEC’s plan to let companies raise capital directly on-chain under clear rules. Link* SEC delays BlackRock’s Ethereum staking ETF, plus XRP and Solana funds. Link* DTCC released institutional-grade upgrades on its collateral appchain. Link* Ant Digital tokenises $8.4B in China’s renewable energy assets. Link* Solowin Holdings (NASDAQ: $SWIN ) acquires AlloyX, a stablecoin infrastructure provider, for $350M. Link* Kraken acquires Breakout, an evaluation-based proprietary trading firm. Link* Tetra Digital Group to launch Canada’s first regulated stablecoin in 2026. Link* R3 hits $17B in tokenised assets, launches Labs on Solana. Link* Trump Media plans five America First ETFs, pending SEC approval. Link* Grayscale files for BCH, LTC and HBAR ETFs. Link* Hong Kong to launch wholesale CBDC and tokenised interbank deposits. Link* Oracle jumped 40%+ and added nearly $250B of market value (currently $922B) in a single session. Read the full AI storyThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & Team🚀 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.* Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️“BNB is the most overlooked blue-chip crypto asset in the space. It’s tied to the largest company in crypto, and yet Western investors still don’t fully get it.”We sat down with David Namdar — hedge fund veteran, Bitcoin OG, Galaxy Digital co-founder — now CEO of BNB Network Company (BNC), a $500M digital asset treasury betting big on BNB.David has been in crypto for more than a decade. From attempting one of the first Bitcoin ETFs at SolidX, to building Galaxy Digital with Mike Novogratz, to now leading a digital treasury platform for BNB, his journey mirrors the evolution of crypto itself.We talked about: * Why treasury companies are exploding now* BNB as “digital infrastructure equity”* and why he believes BNB is positioned to outperform Bitcoin over the next five years.… and much more.The treasury company explosionDavid keeps it simple about what Michael Saylor achieved:"He's been able to accumulate over 3% of the Bitcoin supply. At current prices, that's $70B."The playbook: Take corporate cash, buy Bitcoin, trade at a premium, sell more equity, buy more Bitcoin. Repeat.Five years ago, MicroStrategy was a struggling software company worth under $1B with $400-500M in cash. Today, it's over $100B with $70-80B in Bitcoin."The market loved it and traded at a premium. Then, he started creating this idea of a flywheel where he could sell more equity or sell debt in order to buy more Bitcoin.But it took validation time. David explains why other companies are following now:"After the model has been kind of validated over the last five years by Saylor, and then a couple of the more recent ones that have succeeded, MetaPlanet in Japan...it went from having $1-2B market cap to $5-10B."That strategy proved two things:* Bitcoin works as a corporate treasury reserve.* Markets will reward bold execution with premiums.The BNB thesisHere's David's core argument: BNB is systematically undervalued because U.S. investors don't understand what they're missing."Iimagine if in the U.S. we didn't have access to Apple, Google, Facebook, now Meta. Imagine if the largest social network, the largest tech company, something like Nvidia, was entirely outside of the U.S. market."The numbers back this up. Binance has 290M users. Most use BNB to pay reduced gas fees. All of that activity drives token burns and value accrual."BNB then is kind of this digital infrastructure equity of the entire Web3 universe. It actually has more activity in stablecoins than Ethereum does."David's positioning framework:* Bitcoin = digital gold* Ethereum = digital oil* BNB = digital infrastructure equityWhy treasuries matter now: Unlike past cycles, this time the U.S. regulatory environment has opened up, making it easier to bring corporate structures and capital markets into crypto.David estimates $100–200B will flow into digital treasuries over the next year, not through exchanges, but through public-market vehicles that institutional investors can buy.That means:* More disciplined capital allocation* Less froth around meme coins* More focus on blue-chip digital assets“Our job is to accumulate as much of the asset as possible — with discipline.”Digital asset treasuries vs. ETFsIt is simple. With an ETF, you always own the same amount of underlying asset per share. With treasury companies, successful execution can multiply your holdings.David breaks it down:"If they succeed at executing on the strategy and selling at a premium and getting the flywheel going...then you can end up with significantly more of the underlying asset per share than what you started with."But he warns against hype chasing:"What ends up happening a lot of the time with these treasury companies is there's an announcement that gets made. The stock jumps up 5-20x and investors rush in and immediately are down 50-80%."His advice: Wait a few days, understand the strategy, and verify the team can execute.The premium questionArthur Hayes thinks that NAV premiums will decline. David agrees, but with nuance:"We are going to see a lot of the premiums decline, but we're also going to see some of them persist for a lot longer than people think."His math: Outside MicroStrategy, there's $30-50B in treasury assets with $10-25B in premiums. He expects $100-200B more capital to flow in over the next year."During that process...that 10, 20, 30 billion of premium that [MicroStrategy has] will probably go to some of these other companies that are more capable to actually accumulate the underlying asset."Key takeawaysHere are some key takeaways David shared for public companies and institutional investors:* Digital asset treasuries are the next big capital market vehicle: Expect $100B–$200B to flow into crypto treasuries (beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum) over the next 12 months, skipping exchanges and going directly into corporate treasury vehicles.* Premiums will redistribute, not disappear: While some NAV premiums will compress, successful treasury companies with strong execution will capture value from weaker players. Access to capital markets during downturns determines survival.* Infrastructure matters more than hype: The winners will be treasury companies with experienced teams, diverse capital access, and focus on long-term asset accumulation rather than short-term price pumps.* BNB positioned for AI + Robotics transaction growth: BNB’s lower cost structure vs. Ethereum/Solana makes it the likely leader for AI, robotics, and trillions of microtransactions. BNB is evolving into the infrastructure chain and can provide AI and blockchain companies with scalability advantages.Take care, MarcMore from us:🚀 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hey, it’s Marc.The big story this week: Stripe is launching its own “blockchain for payments.” Circle has Arc. Google has GCUL. Who's operating the nodes? How decentralized is this? How do the validator economics look like?Here’s the truth: these aren’t blockchains. They’re databases with extra cryptography and political and legal overhead. Meanwhile, the real progress is happening in open protocols: Ondo moving stocks on Ethereum, Galaxy putting its equity on Solana, and Aave turning RWAs into collateral.Interesting fact: For the first time, public companies now hold over 1M Bitcoin, nearly 5% of the supply. In just five years, corporate treasuries have amassed $110B in Bitcoin, echoing gold’s role as a reserve asset.👉 Crypto Treasury Alpha: We launched another newsletter covering institutional moves and digital asset treasury vehicles. Subscribe below 👇Also, our highlights this week:* Stripe and Paradigm launch Tempo, its L1 for payments* Fireblocks launches the Network for Payments* Ondo lists 100+ tokenised U.S. stocks and ETFs on Ethereum* Galaxy puts Nasdaq stock directly onchain * Aave turns RWAs into DeFi collateralAnd much more.Top Boardroom Reads * Why Digital Asset Adoption Is Accelerating (Goldman Sachs). An interview with Matthew McDermott, Global Head of Digital Assets.* DeFi Is Following The SaaS And Fintech Playbooks (Ark Invest). It explores the evolution of Decentralised Finance (DeFi), drawing parallels to historical unbundling and rebundling cycles observed in SaaS and fintech industries.* The New Entertainment Economy (Fiftyone). A webinar with industry leaders and builders from CreatorFi, EVEN, and Republic Film unpacking blockchain as an infrastructure in the music and entertainment space. * 6 myths about privacy on blockchains (a16z crypto). It addresses six common misconceptions about privacy on blockchains, emphasising that concerns about new technologies and privacy are not new, dating back to the telegraph.* Money’s new operating system (51). An fintech-focused stablecoin report.* The Great Chain Debate (Maja Vujinovic). Explores in a why centralzed blockchains from Stripe and Cricle won’t win. We agree. 🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekStripe builds its own blockchainStripe and Paradigm just launched Tempo, a blockchain purpose-built for payments. Co-designed with Visa, Deutsche Bank, Shopify, Nubank, OpenAI, and Anthropic, it comes with features like fiat-denominated fees and batch transfers (critical for payrolls and remittances, irrelevant for trading). [RELEASE]So what? Stripe isn’t saying “Tempo is the stablecoin chain.” They’re saying “Tempo is the payments chain.” It is working with top banks, which can plug their tokenised deposits into their infrastructure. Plus, Tempo’s design, fiat-denominated fees and batch payments are positioning it as the “neutral”, Stripe-grade settlement layer for finance. Our take: This is Stripe’s play to control the money rails. Just like Google with GCUL and Circle with Arc, the strategy is simple: own the chain, own the money. But here’s the catch: corporate blockchains always face the same wall: they can’t solve the trust problem. IBM’s Hyperledger fizzled, Meta’s Libra collapsed under regulatory pressure. Institutions like BlackRock or governments won’t settle trillions on rails owned by one company. They need neutral, credibly open infrastructure. Fireblocks launches the SWIFT of stablecoinsWhat happened: Fireblocks unveiled its Network for Payments, already processing $200B/month in stablecoin flows across 300+ firms, 40+ providers, and 100+ countries. Participants include Circle, Bridge (Stripe’s $1B acquisition), and major OTC desks, PSPs, and banks. The single API lets companies move, convert, and settle stablecoins globally without stitching together fragmented rails. [RELEASE]So what: Unlike Stripe’s Tempo (payments-focused L1) or Circle’s Arc (USDC-centric), Fireblocks isn’t building its own chain. It’s building the connectivity + orchestration layer across all chains and issuers. Think SWIFT, but for stablecoins:* Multi-issuer: Supports USDC, USDT, PYUSD, EURC, and others* Multi-rail: Works across blockchains, banks, and on/off-rampsThis neutral position matters. Again: No one wants to settle trillions on rails owned by one firm. Fireblocks sidesteps that trap: it doesn’t care which stablecoin or chain wins, it just moves the money.Punchline: While Stripe and Circle fight to own the rails, Fireblocks may quietly own the plumbing. And in payments, plumbing is where the real power sits.📈 Ondo puts 100+ U.S. stocks on EthereumWhat happened: Ondo Finance launched Ondo Global Markets, offering more than 100 tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on Ethereum, with support for Solana and BNB Chain to follow. Assets are backed 1:1 by U.S.-registered broker-dealers, transferable onchain 24/7, and integrated with wallets and protocols like BitGo, Ledger, 1inch, and LayerZero. [NEWS]So what: Stablecoins exported the dollar. Ondo wants to export the entire U.S. stock market.* Access: Ondo plans to scale to 1,000 assets by year-end, giving eligible investors in APAC, Europe, Africa, and LatAm onchain access to U.S. equities.* Liquidity: Tokens plug into DeFi rails for lending, collateral, and yield, beyond just “buy and hold.”* Scale: Competes directly with Kraken’s xStocks, Robinhood’s EU tokenized equities, and Coinbase’s pending U.S. tokenized stock play.The implications are massive for emerging markets. Buying U.S. equities today often requires complex FX, intermediaries, and high fees.Galaxy puts Nasdaq stock directly onchainGalaxy Digital just became the first Nasdaq-listed company to tokenise its SEC-registered public equity directly on Solana via Superstate’s Opening Bell. Unlike wrappers or synthetics, these tokens are legal GLXY shares with real shareholder rights, updated in real-time by Superstate as transfer agent. [RELEASE]So what? Most tokenised stocks so far (Kraken xStocks, FTX-era synthetics) were derivatives without issuer participation. In Galaxy’s model, shares are issued and recognised by the company itself, unlocking direct regulatory legitimacy and legal clarity. This signals that if equities can live onchain with full compliance, capital markets infrastructure is about to compress settlement times from days to seconds.Aave turns RWAs into DeFi collateralAave just launched Horizon, a lending market where institutions can borrow stablecoins against tokenised Treasuries, loans, and funds. At launch, collateral comes from Circle, Superstate, and Centrifuge, with backers like Ripple, VanEck, and WisdomTree in the mix. [RELEASE]So what? Until now, tokenized Treasuries and other RWAs were largely dead weight in DeFi, isolated from lending markets and capital-inefficient. Horizon changes that by making RWAs productive collateral. Qualified investors can post RWAs and borrow stablecoins; anyone can supply stablecoins (RLUSD, USDC, GHO) and earn yield from institutional borrowers.News Flash* Jack Ma's Yunfeng Financial Group bought $44M of ETH. Link* US SEC unveils agenda to revamp crypto policies, ease Wall Street rules* FIS launches AI-powered treasury suite. Link* VersaBank USA launches pilot for tokenised, FDIC-insured deposit receipts. Link* ~40% of daily code at Coinbase is AI-generated. Link* Trump family secures $5B paper fortune from WLFI crypto token launch. Link* Gemini just launched an XRP-branded credit card with Ripple. LinkThat’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & Team🚀 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.* Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hey, it’s Marc.“Ethereum is the Wall Street token.” That’s not crypto Twitter talking. It’s Jan van Eck, CEO of VanEck. His point is simple: every bank will need rails for stablecoins, and they’ll ask where to build them. His answer: Ethereum.That’s the backdrop this week as Google is building its own blockchain, Mastercard embeds stablecoins, and Rain made stablecoins swipeable at 150M Visa merchants. 👉 Crypto Treasury Alpha: We launched another newsletter covering institutional moves and digital asset treasury vehicles. Subscribe below 👇Also, our highlights this week:* Google is building its own blockchain, CME already testing it* Mastercard goes stablecoin-native, settlement live across EEMEA* U.S. puts macro data onchain* Rain raises $58M, makes stablecoins spendable at 150M+ merchants* Solana gets $1B Wall Street treasury vehicle, Galaxy, Jump, Multicoin leadingAnd much more.🚨Save your spot for our upcoming webinar!We’ll unpack how artists, music labels and filmmakers can strategically leverage blockchain to unlock direct-to-fan monetisation, onchain royalties, fan engagement and film financing. Spots are limited!Subscribe here to get notified of our upcoming events.Top Boardroom Reads * Ethereum meet Wall Street (Joseph Lubin). His take on SharpLink, Fundstrat and the future of Ethereum. * The productive treasury: A corporate guide to integrating Ethereum and digitalasset staking (Eigenlayer). * Google’s new Layer 1 blockchain (Rich Widmann). * Money’s new operating system (51). An fintech-focused stablecoin report. * Bitcoin Long-Term Capital Market Assumptions (Bitwise). The report details the macroeconomic factors influencing Bitcoin's outlook, such as rising U.S. debt, fiat debasement risks, friendlier regulation, and institutional adoption. * The State of Crypto Venture Capital in 2025 (Pantera Capital). Paul talked about how 2025 marks crypto’s most mature cycle yet, defined by record M&A and IPO activity, regulatory clarity, and convergence with AI, payments, and global finance.* Building the Stripe of Crypto Payments (51). A podcast with Iron CEO on how stablecoins are becoming the new rails for global finance.* The future of money is onchain (51). A discussion with the CEOs of OpenTrade and Ubyx on stablecoin use cases, infrastructure and programmatic yield. * The Relative Benefits and Risks of Stablecoins as a Means of Payment (BCA Research). The paper discusses the utility of stablecoins for retail payments through an objective, evidence-based approach that compares stablecoins with traditional retail payment methods.🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.Top Signals This WeekGoogle launches its own blockchainGoogle announced the Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), its own layer-1 blockchain earlier this year. It’s EVM-compatible, Python-programmable, and already being tested with CME Group for payments and tokenisation. Now, the announcement has gained new traction from a LinkedIn post of Google’s Web3 lead. [NEWS]Why it matters: GCUL isn’t just another chain. It’s Google applying the same playbook Stripe and Circle are running: own the rails, own the money. But here’s the catch: history is littered with failed corporate chains (IBM’s Hyperledger, Meta’s Libra). Why? Because centralized blockchains can’t solve the trust problem. Institutions like BlackRock or governments issuing digital currencies need credibly neutral, public infrastructure, not rails owned by one company. Don’t confuse distribution with trust. [OUR TAKE]Mastercard goes stablecoin-native What happened: Mastercard and Circle are rolling out stablecoin settlement (USDC + EURC) across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. For the first time, acquirers on Mastercard’s network can settle merchant payments in stablecoins instead of waiting days for fiat bank wires [RELEASE]. Why it matters: Merchants don’t get paid directly, acquirers do. Embedding stablecoins into the acquiring stack means:* Faster payouts → no waiting days for cross-border payouts* Lower costs → stablecoin rails vs legacy correspondent bankingThis is Mastercard putting stablecoins at the core of commerce rails, sidestepping banks and owning the flow of settlement [OUR TAKE].U.S. Government puts macroeconomic data onchainThe U.S. Department of Commerce (via the BEA) and Chainlink are publishing official GDP, inflation (PCE), and consumer demand metrics onchain across 10 blockchains (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Avalanche, etc.). These feeds are secure, audited, and enterprise-grade. [Announcement]Why it matters: Onchain GDP and inflation data embed macro directly into enterprise workflows:* Payments: stablecoin treasuries auto-adjust yields to inflation* Lending: DeFi loans auto-adjust rates if PCE spikes* Risk: automated hedges trigger on macro releasesThis bridged the gap between Wall Street workflows and onchain finance. Instead of reconciling off-chain feeds, institutions get real-time, tamper-proof data where they already operate, making blockchains not just transaction rails, but macro-aware financial infrastructure.Stablecoins you can swipeStablecoin platform Rain raised $58M (Series B led by Sapphire Ventures), bringing total funding to $88.5M just 5 months after its $30M Series A. The company reports 10x transaction growth YTD and says its rails now reach 1.5B+ people across 150 countries via Visa, wallets, and on/off-ramps. [RELEASE] [OUR TAKE]Why it matters: Stablecoins have $283B in circulation — but most are stuck on balance sheets, not in daily commerce. Rain fixes that by making stablecoins:* Spendable: direct settlement at 150M+ Visa merchants* Scalable: one API for money-in, storage, and payouts* Enterprise-ready: PCI, SOC 2, and audited contractsThis shifts stablecoins from “treasury assets” to operating capital that businesses can actually use for payroll, merchant payouts, and cross-border spend.🚨Download our latest stablecoin for a deep dive on RainSolana gets a $1B Wall Street vehicleWhat happened: Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital are raising $1B (with Cantor Fitzgerald as banker) to launch the largest Solana treasury company. Think of it as Solana’s de-facto ETF alternative: investors buy shares in a public vehicle that holds SOL, earns staking yield, and offers leveraged exposure.Why it matters: Bitcoin and Ethereum already have ETFs (11 BTC, 8 ETH) and multiple treasury companies (MicroStrategy, Metaplanet, SharpLink, FG Nexus, Bitmine). Solana has neither.This treasury vehicle:* Becomes the default institutional on-ramp to Solana* Offers 3–5% yield from staking + DeFi (vs. zero from ETFs)* Bridges SOL into capital markets, not just crypto exchangesOur take: Forget waiting on a Solana ETF. Wall Street just built one with yield.News Flash* Tron cuts fees 60% to protect $81B USDT dominance. [Link]* US banks lobbying to amend GENIUS [Link]* Citi’s tokenisation plan with Citi Integrated Digital Asset Platform (CIDAP). [Link]* B5G6G pushes barter trade stablecoin at Africa–Singapore Forum. [Link]* Bitwise files for LINK ETF [Link]* B Strategy plans $1b BNB DAT [Link]* Metaplanet buys $11.7m BTC, joins FTSE Japan [Link]That’s all for now, folks.Take care– Marc & Team🚀 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.* Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.* Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here.Got suggestions? Reply to this email. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

“The age of accounts is ending. The age of wallets is beginning.”— Tony McLaughlin, CEO of Ubyx, ex-CitiFor the release of our new stablecoin report “Digital Dollar, Real Yield,” we sat down with two of the sharpest operators in stablecoin infrastructure:* David Sutter, CEO of OpenTrade, powering yield infrastructure for fintechs using stablecoins* Tony McLaughlin, CEO of Ubyx and former Citi exec, building the first global clearinghouse for stablecoinsBoth are quietly shaping what the next decade of global finance will look like, faster, cheaper, programmable. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

“Enterprises don’t want ten integrations to enter the blockchain space. They want one partner that does it all: on-ramps, off-ramps, custody, cards, compliance.”We sat down with Max von Wallenberg, the co-founder and CEO of Iron to discuss how stablecoins are becoming the new rails for global finance.Iron is a stablecoin payments infrastructure company recently acquired by MoonPay. It provides stablecoin APIs that enable wallets, fintechs, and enterprises to move money seamlessly across fiat and crypto rails—covering on-ramps, off-ramps, global payouts, and banking-like functionality for wallets.We’ll talk about:* Regulatory catalyst* Enterprise FOMO* Infrastructure moats* Why every fintech will go stablecoin-native… and much more This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️“Blockchain is just infrastructure. The real question isn’t ‘Why do you need blockchain?’ but rather ‘Can it make your solution better, faster, and more scalable?.”The restaurant industry is a trillion-dollar business, yet most restaurants operate on razor-thin margins of 4% or less. Traditional platforms like OpenTable and Toast have created walled gardens that limit restaurants' control over customer relationships, payments, and loyalty programs.We sat down with Ben Leventhal, the founder and CEO of Blackbird Labs to discuss the future of first-party data ownership with blockchain.Blackbird, a blockchain-powered platform aims to revolutionize payments and loyalty by giving restaurants direct ownership over their transactions and customer data. It is proving that Web3 isn’t about hype—it’s about solving real-world business problems.Here’s what we’ve covered:* Why Blackbird was built: Restaurants rely on platforms like OpenTable, Toast, and POS systems, but these platforms own the customer data—not the restaurants. The biggest players in restaurant tech (OpenTable, Toast) control customer data. Blackbird enables restaurants to own their payments, loyalty programs, and consumer insights.* Saving millions using blockchain: Payment processing fees eat up 2-3% of revenue—a significant loss for low-margin businesses. Restaurants can reduce these costs significantly by leveraging blockchain.* Restaurants must own their consumer data: The restaurant industry operates on 4% margins—losing even 1-2% to third parties is a major issue. Owning first-party data means you can increase retention without paying intermediaries.* How Blackbird works: Instead of relying on third-party reservation and payment systems, Blackbird gives restaurants full control over transactions and customer data. It enables customers to check in, dine, and leave without manually paying—payment happens in the background. Transactions happen using Fly tokens, stored in an auto-generated wallet for every user, reducing friction.And much more.On the Consumer Experience with Blackbird,“Payments are loyalty. You can’t separate the two. Our goal is to make them seamless for both consumers and restaurants.”Key Take-Aways for Brand Leaders* Blockchain for payments & loyalty can work: Brands should explore tokenized loyalty programs that are interoperable across multiple locations and do not lock consumers into walled gardens.* Pro Tip: Ensure that customer data and transactions are stored in a way that the brand—not third parties—can leverage for direct relationships.* Blackbird’s FlyNet (L3 blockchain on Base) enables real-time transactions and ownership of consumer interactions. It combines payments, loyalty, and consumer data into one seamless platform.* Own your first-party data: Restaurants need flexible, modular tech stacks that empower them to own customer relationships, not rely on third-party platforms that take a cut.* Pro Tip: If your brand is in hospitality or retail, blockchain can help you to own first-party data and reduce reliance on intermediaries.* Removing friction in the customer experience pays off: Brands should look at how friction in payments, loyalty, or onboarding affects conversions and invest in streamlining the experience.* Pro Tip: Benchmark your checkout or payment experience against the best in digital commerce (Amazon, Apple Pay, Uber)—if it’s slower, fix it.* Blackbird allows seamless check-ins and auto-pay, eliminating the “waiting for the check” problem. * Result: Higher transaction volume, lower payment processing costs, and more engaged customers.* Blockchain is a tool, not the product: Do not start with technology—start with the problem and assess if blockchain (or AI, etc.) is the best solution.* Pro Tip: If your Web3 initiative doesn’t offer clear benefits over Web2 alternatives (better UX, lower costs, more control), reconsider the implementation.* Numbers prove product-market fit: For emerging tech solutions in traditional industries, real adoption numbers matter—always ask for proof of traction.* Pro Tip: When evaluating new tech partnerships, demand KPIs like transaction volume, retention rates, and real-world adoption figures.* Blackbird is already processing over $500K+ in transaction volume in 2025. Over 1,000 restaurants onboarded across New York, San Francisco, and Charleston.Blockchain should be invisible—it’s a tool, not the product.Tune in to dive deeper into Blackbird’s infrastructure and the future of blockchain in the restaurant industry. That’s all for now.Marc & TeamPS: We help companies like Avalanche, Near, or MoonPay with industry-leading thought leadership campaigns. Interested? Start dominating your vertical. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️"The biggest AI impact isn't in chatbots—it’s in backend efficiencies like demand forecasting, inventory management, and pricing optimization."We sat down with Mario Lang, Executive Director & Global Technology Lead at The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., to discuss the key shifts in technology to define the next decade of luxury.The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) have explored emerging technologies, such as blockchain-based Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for authentication, consumer engagement, and resale tracking. They are also developing AI-driven customer service agents to enhance white-glove luxury experiences. Mario said: “Many brands fail in digital transformation because they silo innovation teams from core business units—tech must be embedded, not an afterthought.”In 2024, ELC and Microsoft expanded their partnership with an AI Innovation Lab to power prestige beauty with generative AI by accelerating consumer engagement, speed to market, and localized relevance across ELC’s 20+ brands. The company also built an AI tool to merge trend data with products to spot trends, optimize marketing, and boost profitability while improving consumer targeting and reducing marketing inefficiencies.AI, blockchain, and immersive commerce are no longer experiments—they are shaping how brands engage, optimize, and sustain long-term value.Here’s what we’ve covered:* Digital Product Passports (DPPs) – The future of CRM* AI in Luxury – Backend first, frontend next* NFTs – From collectibles to utility* AI-powered trend spotting & pricing optimization* Web3 loyalty programs* The shift to interoperable luxuryAnd much more.The future of luxury isn’t brand silos—cross-brand collaboration will redefine consumer engagement. Brands need to stop hoarding consumer data and embrace shared loyalty ecosystems.Key Take-Aways for Brand Leaders* DPPs will be the CRM: DPPs lower the barrier to consumer-brand interaction, replacing the outdated PII (Personal Identifiable Information) model. They authenticate luxury products, support resale, and build long-term consumer relationships.* Action: Start integrating DPPs in your supply chain today across sourcing, retail, and resale. The EU will require them soon for sustainability compliance.* No ID management platform currently exists that fully bridges procurement, retail, and consumer engagement—this is an untapped opportunity.* AI should first optimize operations, then elevate consumer experience: AI agents can enable hyper-personalized luxury service at scale, reducing human resource needs. The biggest opportunity isn’t in chatbots—it’s in backend efficiencies: demand forecasting, dynamic pricing, and supply chain optimization.* Action: Deploy AI to optimize inventory, promo pricing, and customer segmentation before launching consumer-facing AI experiences.* NFTs are not dead—they need utility: The NFT hype cycle is over, but functional NFTs tied to loyalty, gated access, or resale verification will thrive. Sports teams and entertainment brands are leading the way in NFT utility—luxury is behind.* Pro tip: Instead of a collectible, think of NFTs as a membership key—reward consumers with exclusive product drops, events, or brand collaborations.* Metaverse is evolving through AR & Wearables: Full-scale VR adoption is waiting on better hardware, but AR is already driving results in retail activations. Consumers expect seamless blending of digital and physical luxury experiences.* Action: Test AR activations in high-footfall retail spaces and track conversion from AR-driven engagement to purchase.* The future of luxury loyalty is interoperable: Consumers want brand-agnostic loyalty programs where benefits travel across brand ecosystems. The biggest brands are already tracking consumer behavior beyond direct sales—department store data is the next battleground.* Action: Consider partnering with other brands or platforms for shared loyalty programs. A perfect example: Cavs Rewards* The biggest opportunity isn’t just better loyalty—it’s disrupting wholesale retail data access, allowing luxury brands to reclaim customer insights lost in department stores.* Future-proofing- How to vet emerging technologies: Leaders need to assess tech through clear business outcomes, not just “innovation for innovation’s sake.” Brands that fail to connect technology to engagement, conversion, or efficiency will struggle with adoption.* Action: Categorize all new tech into:* Now – Solves an immediate business need (e.g., AI for pricing optimization)* Soon – Competitive advantage in 1-3 years (e.g., DPPs, loyalty evolution)* On the Horizon – Moonshot innovation bets (e.g., AR-based virtual commerce)* Pro tip: Never lead with “innovation” when pitching tech internally—frame solutions in terms of revenue, efficiency, and conversion.The next decade of luxury isn’t about digital gimmicks—it’s about using technology to lower friction while preserving exclusivity.Brands that integrate AI, blockchain, and immersive experiences into existing consumer journeys—instead of treating them as standalone experiments—will win.Dive deeper and listen to the full conversation.That’s all for now.Thanks,Marc & Team51 can help your Web3 & AI scale-ups to become the go-to name for enterprises & brands. We’ve built the highest-quality growth engine in Web3:* 70K+ B2B business leaders & direct corporate access to get in front of decision-makers.* Institutional grade research & BD execution to deliver high-intent corporate prospects & higher conversion rates* Sales enablement & GTM strategy to close enterprise deals faster.Clients include: Avalanche, MoonPay, Near Foundation, and others.Let’s talk. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.51insights.xyz/subscribe

Hi, it’s Marc. ✌️“There is no correlation between budget and success. The most successful brands are the ones that understand the community they’re entering and add value rather than just push ads. Spending millions doesn’t guarantee engagement—listening and iterating does.”We sat down with Charles Hambro, Co-founder and CEO at GEEIQ, to break down how brands can use Roblox, Fortnite, and other virtual worlds to drive engagement and stay ahead.GEEIQ is an analytics platform that helps brands track and optimize activations in virtual spaces. Since 2018, it has analyzed hundreds of brand campaigns, proving that gaming isn’t just for experiments—it’s a core marketing channel.Why it matters: Traditional social media is losing ground. Younger audiences are spending more time inside games than scrolling feeds. For brands, this isn’t just an opportunity—it’s the next battleground for attention.On why brands are moving into virtual worlds, Charles said:“Virtual worlds are not just games anymore—they’re social hubs. People aren’t just playing, they’re hanging out. That’s where brands need to be.”By the data: The last 5 years have seen a shift from social media to user-generated content (UGC) platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and Zepeto.* In Q4 alone, 110 brands launched activations in Roblox, more than Fortnite (75) and Sandbox (31) combined.* Roblox has seen 847 brand activations since 2018, nearly double Fortnite (477).Here’s what we’ve covered:* Why brands are shifting from social media to virtual worlds—and why Roblox dominates brand activations.* How virtual commerce is evolving—and what Walmart, Gucci, and Hugo Boss are testing.* The biggest mistakes brands make in gaming activations—and how to avoid them.* Why traditional social media and gaming platforms will merge—and how brands should prepare.And much more.Virtual commerce is still in the early stages. Brands should experiment with digital-to-physical strategies, but don’t expect instant ROI—yet. The real winners will be the brands that experiment early, listen to the data, and focus on engagement over impressions.The Ultimate AI x Crypto Intelligence PlatformCompare, analyze, and track AI startups & vendors in real-time — powered by research and data, not hype. Join the waitlist for exclusive early access 👉Key Take-Aways for Brand Leaders* Roblox is not the only game in town: Roblox leads in brand activations, but it’s not the only platform that matters. Fortnite, Zepeto, and others offer different opportunities based on budget, audience, and engagement style. The right choice depends on your strategy—not hype. Breaking it down:* Fortnite → High-quality brand activations, but bigger budgets required.* Zepeto → Strong Gen Z, female audience—ideal for fashion & lifestyle brands.* Decentraland & Sandbox → Web3 & NFT focus, but smaller user bases.* PRO TIP: If reach and engagement are the goal, Roblox is still the best bet. But don’t assume success—test, analyze, and refine before scaling.* From social media to virtual worlds: Brands no longer need approval from platforms like Roblox or Fortnite to launch activations. Just like users can create and publish content, brands can build their own experiences, virtual stores, or branded items without needing direct partnerships with the platform. Virtual worlds function like social platforms where brands can build their own spaces (similar to how they used to create Instagram profiles).* PRO TIP: Don’t treat virtual worlds like traditional gaming—approach them like social media platforms where users expect engagement, not ads.* Brand success isn’t about big budgets: Spending more doesn’t guarantee success—brands that listen to the community and add value perform better. Engagement, not impressions, drives ROI—time spent with a brand in virtual worlds outperforms traditional social media.* PRO TIP: Before launching, use data to study user behavior and adjust your activation accordingly.* E-Commerce in virtual worlds is just beginning: Walmart’s test in Roblox (powered by GEEIQ’s data) showed potential but had limits—only three real-world items were available for purchase. Meanwhile, Roblox partnered with Shopify to let creators sell physical goods directly in-game using Shopify’s checkout, with a full launch set for 2025. Gen Z and Gen Alpha already shop on social platforms and buy virtual items on platforms like Roblox. As virtual worlds evolve, in-game purchases could outpace traditional e-commerce.* PRO TIP: Brands should experiment with digital-to-physical commerce (e.g., selling digital skins that unlock real-world products) to prepare for this shift.* Virtual worlds will become more social: Meta’s Horizon Worlds could be the sleeping giant, with Meta’s 3B+ monthly users and deep platform integration. Expect mergers and acquisitions between virtual platforms and traditional social media. More social features (news feeds, TikTok-like experiences) will be integrated into virtual worlds.* PRO TIP: If you’re planning for long-term brand positioning, start testing activations in virtual spaces now—before competition floods in.* Blockchain and Web3 games aren’t dead: Blockchain and Web3 gaming aren’t a lost cause—they just need a fresh approach. Platforms like Decentraland and Sandbox didn’t resonate because NFTs weren’t the real draw. Users care more about immersive social and gaming experiences than the underlying tech. For blockchain to truly make an impact in gaming, it’s about traditional giants like Roblox or Fortnite seamlessly integrating on-chain assets.* PRO TIP: Brands should focus less on chasing the NFT hype and more on gamifying experiences that enhance engagement. The future of Web3 in gaming lies in creating multiple touchpoints, building lasting loyalty, and delivering real utility—like cross-platform asset ownership.Virtual worlds aren’t just an extension of gaming—they’re the future of brand engagement.Tune in to dive deeper into Charles’ brand strategy.That’s all for now.Thanks,Marc & Team📊 Data Drop: Top Brands in Gaming / Immersive CommerceWe have curated a dataset of 150+ of immersive commerce / gaming activations of major consumer brands. Subscribe to PRO to get free access to all the data (at the bottom of the article) 👇 This is a public episode. 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