51 Insights - Weekly Briefing

Marc Baumann

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  1. 164: Capital is repricing

    6 DAYS AGO

    164: Capital is repricing

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. What a week, folks – and only in crypto. We have a packed newsletter for you today to untangle everything that happened. In case you missed it: Bitcoin crashed 30% in 7 days below $60K (is not already back at $70K) amid a brutal market-wide crash that wiped over $1T in value and lead $5B+ in liquidations. Strategy and Bitmine are sitting on billions in unrealized losses, choosing not to sell and instead continuing to buy more, with Strategy adding 855 BTC this week. BlackRock's IBIT posted record-setting redemptions. And the FUD machine is running full speed: * Epstein files just revealed he tried to steer Bitcoin's early development, funded Bitcoin Core devs through MIT, invested $3M in Coinbase in 2014, and Blockstream's CEO is facing calls to resign over island visit emails. * Traders are hunting for a hidden blowup. Pantera's Franklin Bi says the seller looks like a large Asia-based player with limited crypto-native counterparties. * Mining capitulation is accelerating. Hash rate economics are breaking down at these prices. That’s what we can tell you here. A lot more is going on that we’ll tell you in our upcoming PRO briefing. Now what? One thing to remember: the people building have never been more serious. Even if the people trading have never been more scared. On top of that, we have major highlights this week: * Xi Jinping pushing Yuan to global reserve * Hong Kong crypto institutional capture * Tether $100M Investment in Anchorage * Fidelity FIDD stablecoin launch * Vitalik Buterin said that Ethereum L2 don’t scale * Polymarket hit with a nationwide class action Let’s jump in 👇 Top Boardroom Reads * State of prediction markets (Pantera) * State of Fintech 2025 Report (CB Insights) * 2026 Stablecoin Momentum Report (Zerohash) * European Banks Are Embracing Stablecoins (S&P Global) * Interoperability Standards for Digital Assets (MIT) * From the Unbanked to the Unbrokered (Coinbase) Top Signals This Week Xi Jinping pushing Yuan to global reserve On February 1, 2026, President Xi Jinping made internationalizing the yuan a top national priority. He issued a directive in the Communist Party journal Qiushi to create a “powerful currency” for global reserve status. This move, described as monetary reform, is in line with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) starting a multi-year effort to accumulate large amounts of gold. The bank officially holds over 2,300 tons of gold, but some estimates put the actual amount much higher. [RELEASE] Why this matters: This directly challenges the US dollar’s reserve status and boosts de-dollarization through BRICS trade. This strategy indicates a shift toward a hard-asset-backed currency system. The discussion highlights the need to review investments in gold, Bitcoin, or hard assets as geopolitical changes aim to avoid the US dollar’s debt-based valuation. 📩 Work with us. We take 3 sponsors slots per quarter. Two are filled. We're selective because our readers are 35,000+ executives (75% C-level or founder). If you have a product that actually solves a problem for institutional crypto, [let's talk →]. If you're looking for cheap impressions, we're not the right fit. Hong Kong crypto institutional capture Hong Kong has shifted from “New Money” speculation to “Old Money” stability. Officials enforced strict bank-grade rules, pushing out major retail exchanges like OKX and Bybit. In their place, traditional giants like HSBC and state-linked Chinese firms are creating a regulated settlement layer. Through “Project Ensemble,” the city is now testing tokenizing real-world assets like bonds and shipping bills. Why this matters: Hong Kong has deliberately moved crypto away from retail speculation and towards institutional infrastructure. Now, only large state-linked funds dominate Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, creating trusted channels for future investment from mainland China. The main goal is tokenization: if banks and funds transfer trillions of dollars in assets to this platform, Hong Kong will become Asia’s key settlement hub, but for now, liquidity remains limited. 🚨 Want more intelligence and understand what this means for your institution? Subscribe to PRO below: Tether $100M investment in Anchorage On February 5, 2026, Tether invested $100 million in Anchorage Digital, the federally chartered U.S. crypto bank and the issuer of its new compliant USA₮ stablecoin. The move tightens an already close partnership and gives Tether equity in the regulated infrastructure it now relies on for institutional growth in US. [RELEASE] Why this matters: For years, U.S. institutions preferred USDC over USDT due to Tether’s offshore and opaque nature. Now, with USA₮ being fully federally regulated and this $100M investment in its U.S. chartered issuer, Tether gains the regulatory trust that institutions require. It maintains its massive liquidity advantage while shedding its old baggage, putting it in a favorable position for the next wave of serious institutional demand. DAT death spirals as markets crash As Bitcoin drops below $65K, the biggest DATs face billions in unrealized PnL. The industry now splits into two paths: firms turning treasuries into financial franchises and those in liquidity and valuation death spirals. Some large DATs keep buying—Strategy added 855 BTC this week. Smaller DATs struggle, making 2026 a key year for consolidation. [RELEASE] Why this matters: In 2026, DATs will consolidate. The largest and best-capitalized ones, like Strategy and Bitmine, will survive. DATs that actively manage assets for yield, such as Bitmine with $374M in annual staking rewards, will also thrive. Smaller treasuries that can’t raise capital or generate yield will have to sell, either by merging or closing. Read our full analysis below: Fidelity FIDD stablecoin launch On February 4, 2026, Fidelity Investments officially launched its USD-pegged stablecoin, the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), issued by Fidelity Digital Assets on the Ethereum blockchain. Backed 1:1 by cash, cash equivalents, and short-term U.S. Treasuries, FIDD complies with the recent GENIUS Act framework. The token went live for both retail and institutional clients via Fidelity’s platforms, with an initial market cap exceeding $59M. [RELEASE] Why this matters: Fidelity leveraged the most underestimated advantage in financing existing customer relationships by skipping the distribution model that forces Circle, Tether to work with exchanges, giving Fidelity 100% margin retention, while maintaining the regulatory legitimacy Tether lacks through its OCC-supervised national trust bank charter and direct access to 50M retail accounts plus $17.5 trillion in institutional assets. Shift in Ethereum L2 strategy On February 3, 2026, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, made a post that sparked a lot of discussion. He said that most current L2s stopped short and therefore don’t function as true scalability extensions of Ethereum, even though L2 technology itself remains essential and here to stay. Buterin now suggests we see Layer 2s as specialized chains. Each has its own unique features, like privacy and app-specific tools. [POST] “L1 itself is scaling, fees are very low, and gas limits are projected to increase greatly in 2026. Original vision of L2s and their role in Ethereum no longer makes sense, and we need a new path.” — Vitalik, Co-founder of Ethereum. [POST] Why this matters: With L1 scaling improvements, not every institutional L2 has to use the same general-purpose model. Major general-purpose L2s like Coinbase’s Base, OKX’s X Layer, and Kraken’s Ink need to rethink their strategies, while institutions will focus on specialized L2s for regulatory compliance, performance or privacy. Example: Hyperliquid. It cuts costs, speeds up innovation, and better meets customer needs while securely linking to Ethereum. 🙌 Work with us: We build bespoke research + thought leadership that arms your sales team with institutional-grade content that pre-sells your solution before your BD team even gets on the call. The companies doing this are closing enterprise deals 5X faster because they’re following up on research that prospects already forwarded to their Board. Learn more. News Flash * Polymarket hit with a nationwide class action lawsuit in the SDNY. Link * Gemini to exit U.K., EU and Australia, and focus on U.S. Link * Tether launches open-source MiningOS to challenge Bitcoin mining giants. Link * Hong Kong to start granting stablecoin issuer licenses in March 2026. Link * Wall Street giant CME Group is exploring issuing its own ‘CME Coin’. Link * ARK Invest goes on $19M buying spree as crypto stocks nurse losses. Link * Ripple Prime adds support for Hyperliquid for institutional access. Link * U.S. crypto policy shows hints of progress with bipartisan regulatory. Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    11 min

  2. 30 JAN

    163: The Canton moment

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc & the 51 team. While Blackrock took a quiet $100M stake in Canton, BitGo IPO’d at $2B and Tether launched its US stablecoin USAT, the biggest shift in crypto this week came from Capitol Hill: “Advancing this bill brings us closer to a U.S. regulatory framework that protects consumers while allowing American innovation and businesses to thrive.” — John Boozman, U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Chairman * The Senate Agriculture Committee advanced the first-ever crypto market structure bill, voting to give the CFTC authority over digital asset spot markets, but a full Senate vote is still pending. [RELEASE] * On Jan 28, SEC released a statement saying stocks and other securities don’t avoid U.S. securities laws just because they’re issued or wrapped as tokens. It also drew a clear line between issuer-issued tokens and third-party “synthetic” versions, signaling tighter scrutiny of tokenized markets. [RELEASE] * The SEC and CFTC formally launched “Project Crypto,” committing to work together on clear regulations. [RELEASE] Meanwhile, Standard Chartered has issued a warning: stablecoins represent a "real threat" to bank deposits. Our highlights this week: * BitGo’s $2.1B custody IPO * Fidelity announced the launch of the FIDD Stablecoin * Tether launches “USAT” stablecoin * BlackRock’s $100M Canton position * Coinbase rolls out prediction market * SEC taxonomy for tokenized securities Let’s jump in 👇 Top Boardroom Reads * 2026 Trends Shaping Investment Products (BlackRock) * Charting Crypto Q1 2026 (Coinbase, Glassnode) * BIG IDEAS 2026 (Ark Invest) * Navigating Crypto in 2026 (Pantera) * Market Know-How 1Q 2026 (Goldman Sachs) * Onchain finance: Future and institutional adoption. (Dfns, BCG) * PwC Global Crypto Regulation Report 2026 (PwC) * Digital Wallets in Enterprise Payments (Circle) * The Rise of CMLNs: Crypto Crime Report 2026 (Chainalysis) * Stocks Becoming Policy, Bitcoin Becoming Money (Jack Mallers) Top Signals This Week BitGo $2.1B public IPO On Jan 22, BitGo Holdings (NYSE: BTGO) successfully priced its initial public offering of 11.8M Class A shares at $18.00 per share, beating the marketed range of $15-$17 according to reports and closed its first day of trading at $18.68 per share, just above its IPO price. The offering raised approximately $212.8M , with only 6.7% of the IPO’s shares being sold by existing stockholders. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as lead underwriters. Why it matters: BitGo’s IPO serves as the definitive litmus test for institutional crypto appetite in 2026, marking the first time a federally chartered digital asset bank has hit the public markets to bridge the gap between "wild west" volatility and fiduciary-grade stability. Also proving that the market is ready to value the "boring" but essential plumbing infrastructure of institutional custody. Read our full analysis below: Fidelity Investments announced the launch of the FIDD Stablecoin On January 28, 2026, Fidelity Investments formally announced the launch of its native stablecoin, the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), marking the entry of the first major U.S. asset manager into the regulated issuance space. [RELEASE] [See analysis] * Rails: Issuance is vertically integrated through Fidelity’s National Trust Bank. * Scope: Targets active settlement infrastructure and institutional on-chain cash. * Goal: Replacing regulatory arbitrage (shadow banking) with federally compliant liquidity under the GENIUS Act. Why it matters: Unlike crypto-native issuers, Fidelity already sits inside millions of retail accounts, retirement plans, and institutional portfolios, letting it move money on-chain without relying on banks or third parties. That means faster settlement, new yield products, and tighter integration between traditional investing and digital assets, all while keeping economics in-house. Plus, it brings its $6.8T powerhouse to vertically integrate reserves and custody under the federal GENIUS Act. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Tether launches “USAT” On January 27, 2026, Tether officially launched USA₮ (USAT), a new dollar-backed stablecoin explicitly designed for the U.S. market. Unlike its global counterpart USDT, this token is issued by Anchorage Digital Bank, the first federally chartered digital asset bank. The token operates on Tether's Hadron platform and is backed by 1:1 reserves in U.S. currency, demand deposits, or short-term Treasuries, exactly as mandated by the GENIUS Act (enacted July 18, 2025). [RELEASE] Why this matters: Regional banks are in trouble. Community institutions like Huntington Bancshares, M&T Bank, and Truist Financial rely on deposit bases to fund lending. Their Net Interest Margin (NIM), the spread between deposit costs and loan rates, is how they fund the credit that powers Main Street. When a corporation moves $1M from a bank account to USA₮, it is permanent. The bank loses the ability to lend that $1M as a mortgage or business loan. To attract deposits back, the bank must raise savings rates, which increases funding costs, which compresses lending. Plus, it also threatens the value proposition of Circle. 🚨 Want more intelligence and understand what this means for your institution? Subscribe to PRO below: BlackRock’s $100M Canton position BlackRock acquired a 2.2% passive stake in Tharimmune, Inc. (765,829 shares via Schedule 13G filing), the publicly traded Super Validator operator on the Canton Network. This stake translates to indirect ownership of approximately 75–120 million Canton Coins (valued at ~$100M). Concurrently, the DTCC received SEC approval (No-Action Letter) to tokenize U.S. Treasury securities on Canton, with production launch expected H1 2026 and broader rollout H2 2026. [FILING] [NEWS] Why it matters: Canton is the privacy-enabled settlement layer chosen by DTCC, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, Citadel Securities, and Euroclear, institutions processing $9T in monthly transaction volume and $100T in custodied assets. The DTCC co-chairs the Canton Foundation alongside Euroclear, effectively controlling governance over tokenized finance infrastructure. BlackRock's entry into the cap table of Canton's only public exposure vehicle signals institutional confidence in the migration path for Treasury securities and, eventually, all DTC-eligible assets. Coinbase Rolls Out Prediction Market to U.S. Customers On January 29, 2026, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) officially launched its prediction market platform to users across all 50 U.S. states. The rollout, built in partnership with the CFTC-regulated exchange Kalshi, allows verified U.S. customers to trade "event contracts" directly within the main Coinbase app using USD or USDC. [RELEASE] In December, they acquired The Clearing Company. [RELEASE] Why it matters: The overlooked catalyst is a new U.S. law taking effect in 2026 that makes traditional sports betting far less tax-efficient, especially for frequent bettors, while prediction markets sit under a different regulatory regime and avoid this penalty. Read the full analysis below👇 SEC taxonomy for tokenized securities On January 28, 2026, the SEC’s Divisions of Corporation Finance, Investment Management, and Trading and Markets issued joint guidance clarifying the application of federal securities laws to tokenized assets. The statement categorizes the market into two distinct frameworks: * issuer-sponsored tokenization (direct issuance) and * third-party sponsored models (custodial entitlements or synthetic exposure). The staff reaffirmed that the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to record ownership does not change the fundamental legal status or registration requirements of a security. [RELEASE] Why it matters: This guidance establishes a clear regulatory preference for “issuer-led” models, where DLT is integrated into the master securityholder file, over third-party synthetic products. By classifying many third-party “linked” tokens as security-based swaps, the SEC is effectively restricting retail access to these instruments. This provides a compliant roadmap for institutional infrastructure providers, like DTCC and regulated transfer agents, while creating significant legal hurdles for DeFi platforms offering synthetic price exposure. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. News Flash * Avalanche gets first US ETF as VanEck debuts AVAX fund. Link * WisdomTree expands tokenisation ecosystem to Solana. Link * Ripple launches ‘Ripple Treasury’. Link * Revolut scraps US merger plans in favour of push for standalone licence. Link * Binance and OKX will introduce tokenised U.S. stock products. Link * The Central Bank of Iran has acquired US dollar stablecoins worth $0.5B. Link * Robinhood to enable 24/7 trading and “self-custody” with tokenized stocks. Link * Mesh hits unicorn status, raising $75M. Link * Republic Europe announces the launch of a new Kraken SPV. Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    10 min
  3. 162: Davos just confirmed it

    24 JAN

    162: Davos just confirmed it

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc. Davos is usually where the establishment pats itself on the back. This year, they looked over their shoulder. Suddenly, crypto isn’t a “scam” , but national defense. And the bankers who spent a decade mocking it? They are panic-buying the infrastructure. Jamie Dimon (and others) are realizing that if they don’t upgrade to the “new physics of money”, they won’t just lose market share, they’ll be displaced. “We can now move infinite data at the speed of the internet at zero cost... the physics of money becomes the physics of the internet”, says, Jeremy Allaire, CEO Circle. Sergio Ermotti, UBS CEO, declared blockchain “the future of traditional banking”, while UBS is launching Bitcoin and Ethereum trading. Meanwhile, President Trump reasserted his stance on crypto: “I’m also working to ensure America remains the crypto capital of the world... China wanted that market too... We have to make it so that China doesn’t get the hold of it.” — Donald Trump, President of USA Davos just confirmed it: Fighting the future is no longer just bad business. It’s "un-American." Money is being rewired. Our highlights this week: * NYSE develops 24/7 tokenized securities trading * UBS to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum trading * WEF crypto sentiment is bullish * Bermuda becomes the first on-chain nation * FanDuel enters prediction markets Let’s jump in 👇 Top Boardroom Reads * How stablecoins can expand financial access to the most underserved and unbanked (WEF) * Why Polygon chose payments, with Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs (51) * The Stablecoin toolkit (Wharton) * Quantum Threat (Citi) * How stablecoins are transforming cross-border payments (Deutsche Bank) * Cathie Wood’s 2026 Outlook (Ark Invest) * Year in Review 2025 (Binance) * Systemic Risk in DeFi: A Network-Based Fragility Analysis of TVL Dynamics (Study) * The four-year cycle is dead. What will drive crypto in 2026? (Wintermute) Top Signals This Week NYSE announces 24/7 tokenized securities trading On January 19, 2026, ICE filed with the SEC to launch a fully electronic, 24/7 on-chain tokenised exchange for U.S.-listed equities and ETFs. The platform combines the NYSE’s high-performance Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based settlement to enable atomic delivery-versus-payment. This is the same centralised limit order book (CLOB)1 used by institutional High-Frequency Trading (HFT) firms (like Citadel Securities and Jump Trading). [RELEASE] Why it matters: Consider a European investor who wants to buy technology stocks. Currently, they might trade on a local exchange that closes at 5:00 PM CET or wait for the US open. In the new regime, they can trade Apple or Nvidia on the NYSE at any hour. This creates a massive competitive moat against regional exchanges like the London Stock Exchange (LSE) or the Tokyo Stock Exchange (JPX) that still operate on limited hours. Why hold a dormant asset when you can hold an active one? The NYSE effectively becomes the “World Stock Exchange”. Read our full analysis below: UBS enters Bitcoin & Ethereum UBS ($6.9T AUM) is launching Bitcoin and Ethereum trading for private clients, with CEO Sergio Ermotti declaring blockchain “the future of traditional banking.” This pivot isn’t random; it immediately follows the January 1st activation of new Basel III standards, which dramatically lowered the capital requirements for banks holding digital assets. Why it matters: With half the world’s billionaires on its roster, even a conservative 1% allocation from UBS clients creates $60 billion in buying pressure. This signals that the world’s most conservative capital—wealth that survived two world wars—is now comfortable moving on-chain, effectively de-risking the asset class for every other wealth manager on the planet. 🚨 Want more intelligence and understand what this means for your institution? Work with the 51 Intel team to embed continuous, high-signal market intelligence into your organization. WEF 2026 top crypto narratives Davos 2026 confirmed what insiders already knew: The financial system is restructuring in real time. Here are the top narratives that we observed: * Stablecoins are now globally accepted: High optimism regarding utility and adoption; Friction regarding regulatory limits on yield and competition with traditional banks. * Tokenisation of RWAs: Strong consensus on the inevitability of tokenization for efficiency; Divergence on whether the settlement layer should be private stablecoins (US view) or CBDCs (European view). * The convergence of AI and crypto: The “Machine Economy” is viewed as a primary driver for future crypto volume. * Regulation and political will: The political backdrop of 2026 is defined by the “Genius Act,” a bill establishing a US federal framework for digital assets. * The future of banking and finance: Banks are now acknowledging the threat of the rise of fintechs. Consensus that “hybrid” models, where banks integrate crypto rails for settlement, are the immediate future, rather than a total replacement of banks. The prevailing sentiment is that the technology (tokenisation and stablecoins) has won the argument on utility. The remaining battles are political: who controls the rails (sovereign vs. private), who captures the value (banks vs. tech firms), and which nations set the rules (US vs. Europe/China). 👉Subscribe to PRO to receive the full analysis on key statements from Trump, Fink, Dimon, Ermotti, Allaire, Armstrong, Musk and what it means for investors Bermuda goes on-chain On January 19, 2026, the Government of Bermuda formally partnered with Circle and Coinbase to transition to a “fully on-chain national economy.” [RELEASE] * Rails: The government selected Base (an Ethereum Layer-2) as its national settlement layer and USDC as its medium of exchange, rejecting the CBDC model. * Scope: The migration covers government tax collection, welfare disbursements, and retail merchant systems. * Goal: To eliminate the “island tax” of correspondent banking and reduce the cost of capital for its $780B insurance market. Why it matters: Bermuda hosts 75% of global Insurance-Linked Securities (ILS). These are catastrophe bonds, capital set aside to cover hurricanes, earthquakes, or cyber events. The money is locked up for one to three years by design. If a pension fund commits $5M, that capital is inaccessible until maturity. That structure broke in 2023. As interest rates rose, investors lost patience with long lockups. The reinsurance market faced a $60B capital gap almost overnight. Traditional funding simply pulled back. Now, tokenization turns locked, long-dated insurance capital into something flexible: smaller entry sizes, real liquidity, and faster payouts. It brings new capital back into reinsurance without changing the underlying risk. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Fanduel enters prediction markets FanDuel, the American gambling company with 12M users, has launched “FanDuel Predicts” nationwide. [RELEASE] Why it matters: The overlooked catalyst is a new U.S. law taking effect in 2026 that makes traditional sports betting far less tax-efficient, especially for frequent bettors, while prediction markets sit under a different regulatory regime and avoid this penalty. * The Loophole: Trades on these platforms are classified as Section 12562 contracts. * The Impact: Losses are fully deductible, and gains receive the favorable 60/40 tax treatment (60% long-term / 40% short-term capital gains). * The Consequence: We are witnessing a mass migration of “whale” capital from traditional sportsbooks to regulated exchanges to avoid the OBBBA cap. More below. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. News Flash * Coinbase established independent advisory board on Quantum computing. Link * HK to issue stablecoin licenses in Q1. Link * Strategy buys $2.1b BTC, largest buy in 1+ year. Link * Central Bank of Iran has acquired US dollar stablecoins worth $0.5B. Link * Trump hopes to sign the crypto bill ‘very soon’. Link * Ondo launches tokenised stocks on SOL. Link * BitGo raises $213m in IPO, $2b+ valuation. Link * US M2 supply hits $22.3T. Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    9 min

  4. 17 JAN

    161: Washington stalled. Bitcoin didn’t.

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc. Big week for crypto regulation: The industry just shot itself in the foot. “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.” — Brian Armstrong, CEO and Co-founder of Coinbase Twenty-four hours before Congress was set to vote on the most comprehensive crypto bill in U.S. history, Coinbase pulled its support. His stance: the CLARITY Act would ban stablecoin yield, narrow tokenized asset pathways, and expand surveillance in DeFi. Plus: Coinbase would lose around $1.4B in annual revenue. Now, the Senate Banking Committee has postponed the markup meeting, which was scheduled on January 15, 2206 - and billions of dollars in investment, and years of bipartisan work could evaporate. Policy chaos. Our highlights this week: * CLARITY Act collapse reveals deep fractures in U.S. crypto coalition * Polygon pivots to payments with $250M acquisition * BNY Mellon launched tokenised deposits * Bitmine invests $200M in MrBeast * Swift proves tokenised bonds work on existing rails Let’s jump in 👇 Top Boardroom Reads * Crypto consumer adoption in 2025, Deutsche Bank * Why Polygon chose payments, with Marc Boiron, CEO of Polygon Labs (51) * Why Bitcoin’s biggest risk isn’t regulation, with Garrick Hileman (51) * Myth vs. Fact: The CLARITY Act (US Senate Committee) * Beyond Stablecoins: The Rise of the Internet Financial System (Circle) * Do We Have Enough Power? (Galaxy Digital) * Cryptocurrency’s Transition to a Sovereign Financial Infrastructure 2025-2030 (Study) * Global M&A Outlook 2026 (JPMorgan) * VanEck Q1 2026 Outlook: Risk On (VanEck) * How Stablecoins Can Improve Payments and Global Finance (IMF) Top Signals This Week The CLARITY Act collapse What happened: The U.S. Senate Banking Committee's CLARITY Act, designed as a comprehensive crypto regulatory framework, collapsed on January 14, 2026, when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong withdrew support less than 24 hours before the markup. The bill's "Market structure draft," released January 12, included three provisions that triggered industry revolt: a ban on stablecoin yield payments (worth ~$1.4B in annual Coinbase revenue), mandatory SEC clearing for tokenised equities, and extended Bank Secrecy Act compliance to open-source developers. Chairman Tim Scott cancelled the vote. Why it matters: The legislative failure exposes a growing divide between crypto operators and venture capital interests. While firms like a16z supported the bill to achieve asset liquidity and commodity status for tokens, Coinbase prioritised protecting its high-margin stablecoin business. Furthermore, it also highlights the ABA’s successful lobbying to protect traditional deposit bases, despite a more pro-crypto Senate leadership. So what? China weaponised yield on January 1st. The People’s Bank of China announced that commercial banks can pay interest on e-CNY wallets, transforming the digital yuan into a direct “yield-bearing” competitor to the USD in international stablecoin settlemet. What's next: The legislative window is closing fast. Senate insiders expect revised drafts in February, but passage before the November 2026 midterms is increasingly unlikely, pushing comprehensive federal crypto regulation into 2027 at the earliest. Read more below.👇 Polygon pivots to payments with $250M acquisition Polygon Labs announced on January 13, 2026, that it will acquire Coinme and Sequence in deals totaling over $250M, positioning itself as a regulated U.S. payments provider. [RELEASE] The deal bundles to form the “Open Money Stack”: * Coinme’s licensed fiat on-/off-ramps and retail touchpoints (48 state Money Transmitter Licenses) * Sequence’s wallet abstraction and cross-chain orchestration * AggLayer liquidity (a ZK-powered settlement engine) So what? Polygon is undergoing a radical “narrowing.” By moving away from being a general-purpose “World Computer” and focusing on being the “Global Payments Layer,” they are positioning themselves to capture a good share of the $300B+ stablecoin market. More below. BNY Mellon launched tokenised deposit What happened: BNY launched tokenised deposits on the Canton Network, a privacy-enabled interoperability protocol designed by Digital Asset. Clients (Citadel Securities, Intercontinental Exchange, Circle) can now move commercial bank money across blockchains 24/7 with atomic settlement and zero counterparty risk. A $100M deposit becomes $100M in tokens. Transfers are instant. Redemption is instant. No T+2 settlement window. No trapped capital over weekends. [RELEASE] So what? Citi projects tokenized deposits could handle $100–140T in annual transaction flow by 2030. Stablecoins, the public alternative, are projected at $95–200T in velocity, but that's misleading. A dollar in a stablecoin circulates faster than a dollar in a tokenized deposit because it's used for retail payments and DeFi. But for the $2.5 quadrillion derivatives market, for margin optimization, for collateral management, where trillions of dollars sit idle every weekend, tokenized deposits win on utility. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Bitmine invests $200M in MrBeast What happened: Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the largest corporate holder of ether (valued at $13.6B), is investing $200M in Beast Industries, the company behind YouTube creator MrBeast. The deal closes by January 19 and gives Bitmine equity in a platform commanding 450M+ YouTube subscribers. Beast Industries plans to launch a decentralized finance–enabled financial services platform, building on earlier trademark filings for "MrBeast Financial." [RELEASE] Why it matters: By targeting Gen Z and Gen Alpha, demographics increasingly resistant to legacy banking, the initiative seeks to normalise blockchain-based financial products through creator-led trust. For Bitmine, which holds 3.36% of the circulating Ether supply, the move creates a direct pipeline to onboard millions of new users into the Ethereum ecosystem, effectively turning its reserves into productive consumer capital. Our view: With DATs losing momentum, this looks like a bottom-up approach by Bitmine to manufacture organic utility for its $13.6B Ether position, pivoting from a reliance on institutional catalysts to a strategy of aggressive retail onboarding through creator-led trust. Swift proves tokenised bonds work on existing rails What happened: Swift, in collaboration with partners including BNP Paribas, Société Générale – FORGE, and Intesa Sanpaolo, has completed a series of trials for orchestrating tokenised bond transactions and cross-border payments. The initiative demonstrated seamless delivery-versus-payment (DvP) settlement and lifecycle management across multiple blockchains and traditional systems. Consequently, Swift is now integrating a blockchain-based shared ledger into its infrastructure to enable real-time, 24/7 global transaction execution. [RELEASE] Why it matters: Crypto startups bet on replacing SWIFT's network. SWIFT just proved it can layer blockchain settlement UNDER the existing network. Every bank already trusts SWIFT. Nobody needs to migrate. The 200+ billion daily messages keep flowing through SWIFT - just with better back-end plumbing. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. News Flash * Dubai moves to ban privacy coins. Link * Wells Fargo allows BTC as collateral for loans. Link * Venezuela used USDT to bypass sanctions. Link * Ripple secures FCA authorisation in the UK. Link * BitPanda eyes Frankfurt IPO in 1H26. Link * StanChart plans crypto prime brokerage. Link * Interactive Brokers adds 24/7 USDC funding. Link * Anchorage enables off-chain collateral for lending. Link * Visa Direct will use BVNK’s infrastructure. Link * DFSA shifts crypto token oversight to firms. Link * 80% of Venezuela’s oil revenue is collected in stablecoins. Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    10 min

  5. 9 JAN

    160: The signal showed up fast.

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc. 2026 didn’t wait. Last week, we shared our top 12 narratives for 2026. Seven days later, the market started confirming them. On January 5, Bank of America opened the door for 15,000 advisors to recommend Bitcoin ETFs. Forty-eight hours later, Morgan Stanley crossed a bigger line: filing to launch its own Bitcoin and Solana ETFs. You’re right: Not distribution, but issuance. Coincidence? No. It’s regulation finally doing its job. These are the regulatory drivers that will shape 2026: * Genius Act: Federal framework for payment stablecoins in the U.S.. * MiCA: The transition period ends July 1, 2026. From that point on, no license means no business in the EU. * OCC expansion: The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) became the primary regulator for non-bank stablecoin issuers in the U.S. * CARF: Effective January 1, 2026, forcing global crypto platforms into full tax reporting mode. * CLARITY Act: poised for a Senate vote next week, finally resolving the SEC vs CFTC tug-of-war and giving clear market structure rules. 🚨 Don’t miss our New Year offer: 20% off PRO subscriptions, ends January 14. Our highlights this week: * United States seized 3% of Bitcoin * Morgan Stanley files for crypto ETFs * Real-estate enters prediction markets * A deeper look at XXI after it became public Let’s jump in 👇 Top Boardroom Reads * Our top 10 signals of 2025 (51) * Report: 2026 Digital Asset Outlook: Dawn of the Institutional Era (Grayscale) * Report: 2026 look ahead (Fidelity) * Report: Crypto infrastructure for banks (BitGo) * Report: Crypto payments 2025 (Orochi) * Why the application layer is crypto’s next $10T opportunity, with Richard Galvin, CIO of DACM (51) * Stone Ridge 2025 Investor Letter (Stone Ridge) * Prediction Markets: An Important Financial Primitive (U.S. District Court) * SoK: Privacy-Preserving Transactions in Blockchains (Study) Top Signals This Week United States seized 3% of Bitcoin U.S. military operations in early January 2026 detained Nicolás Maduro on narco-terrorism and corruption charges. This creates a clear legal path: by labeling the regime a criminal enterprise under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), it allows the Treasury to seize all illicit proceeds, including cryptocurrency holdings. [NEWS] The estimated seizure of Bitcoin is 600,000 BTC (~$55–67B) along with 303B barrels of crude oil. Why it matters: The U.S. now controls approximately 4–5% of total Bitcoin supply when combining existing holdings (~200,000 BTC from prior seizures) with the Venezuelan acquisition. Zoom out: This concentration of the world’s most powerful entity into digital assets triggers a geopolitical game theory problem: rival nations cannot afford to leave the U.S. as the sole hegemon of the crypto ecosystem. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately condemned the seizure as a violation of international law. Russia (holding >50K BTC) views it as an escalation of “hybrid warfare.” Both nations hold cryptocurrency from their own seizures (China: ~190,000 BTC from PlusToken). Our take: In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. The policy is explicit: seized Bitcoin “shall not be sold and shall be maintained.”U.S.-controlled seizure of Venezuela’s Bitcoin isn’t a sell-off risk. It’s the ultimate supply shock. Read more below.👇 Morgan Stanley files for crypto ETFs Morgan Stanley ($1.5T in wealth management assets) just became the first major U.S. bank to issue its own crypto ETFs, Bitcoin and Solana, not just distribute it. By moving to capture issuance fees, custody economics, and staking yields directly, the bank has signaled that the era of agency is over; the era of vertical integration has begun. [SEC filing] Be smart: The SEC’s 2025 “Generic Listing Standards” changed everything. Approval timelines for new crypto ETFs were slashed from 270 days to just 75 days. And regualtion in the US is no longer a hurdle. Our take: While others banks focus on tokenization, custody or stablecoins, Morgan stanley went for the highest margin product. BlackRock’s IBIT with $69B AUM makes $138-172M in annual recurring revenue from a single product. Morgan Stanley wants that 0.20-0.25% management fee on EVERY dollar of AUM. More below. Real-estate enters prediction markets Polymarket, the largest decentralized prediction market, partnered with Parcl Labs to bring real-time, settlement-grade real estate contracts to crypto. Instead of tinkering with old systems, they rebuilt the data layer entirely. And in doing so, they’ve unlocked the world’s largest asset class, real estate, as a liquid, tradeable market. [RELEASE] So what? Parcl updates daily and includes cash sales, new construction, and listing changes, unlike Case-Shiller, which lags 60+ days and excludes 60% of market activity in places like Boston and Miami. Read more below. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Twenty One Capital is a monetary stack play On December 9, 2025, Twenty One Capital began trading on the NYSE under the ticker “XXI” as the third largest Bitcoin holder (~$4B). [RELEASE] Be smart: Everyone sees Twenty One Capital as another MicroStrategy clone. The market saw it too: XXI dropped 25% on its NYSE debut to $11, trading at 0.80x NAV. But, the catch is its investors: Tether, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank. Zoom in: Howard Lutnick was confirmed as U.S. Commerce Secretary on February 18, 2025, after divesting his Cantor positions. But his family still controls Cantor Fitzgerald, which controls XXI's structure. As Commerce Secretary, Lutnick oversees semiconductor export controls and GPU/ASIC supply chains, directly impacting both AI datacenter builds (Stargate) and Bitcoin mining equipment availability. This creates a potential competitive moat for U.S.-aligned firms like XXI/Cantor/SoftBank. Whether intentional or not, XXI now has implicit policy protection that no other Bitcoin treasury enjoys. Our take: while investors fixate on the Bitcoin treasury playbook, they're missing what Tether, Cantor Fitzgerald, and SoftBank actually built: a closed-loop monetary infrastructure disguised as a public company. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. News Flash * BoA started advising crypto ETPs to clients. Link * J.P. Morgan will bring USD JPM Coin (JPMD) to Canton. Link * MSTR will remain in MSCI indexes. Link * Vitalik shares Ethereum roadmap. Link * Maduro Polymarket win triggers bill to bar government officials from insider trading. Link * Polymarket partners with Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal. Link * Nike quietly sold its digital products subsidiary RTFKT in December 2025. Link * Tether launched Scudo, a new unit of account for Tether Gold (XAU₮). Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    9 min

  6. 26/12/2025

    159: 2026, the year of...

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc. Happy Holidays! Below are the sharpest signals we’ve seen hiding beneath the year-end noise. Here are my top 12 narratives I am interested in going into 2026: * RWA’s & 24/7 settlements * Stablecoin TradFi implementation and rails * Onchain cross-border payments * Tokenized treasuries & deposits (vs stablecoins) * Public vs. corporate chains * DeFi x TradFi (yield products) * Privacy * Quantum resistance * Prediction markets * Perp DEXes * Autonomous finance * Crypto-as-a-service infra plays What are you looking at? 🎁 Year-end discount: Secure our limited 20% year-end discount on PRO subscriptions! Ending January 1st. My prediction is that RWAs are going to have their comeback in 2026, starting with equities. Don’t forget: we’re still SO early. Our highlights this week: * Coinbase doubles down on prediction markets * J.P. Morgan to launch crypto trading for institutional clients * Stripe’s 1.5% tax on the old world * Klarna integrates USDC funding Let’s jump in 👇 🚨 We have a series of killer podcasts coming up & just opened new sponsorship slots. Grab your spot here! Top Boardroom Reads * 2026 Investment Outlook (BlackRock) * Why the application layer is crypto’s next $10T opportunity, with Richard Galvin, CIO of DACM (Fiftyone) * Understanding Stablecoins (IMF) * 2026 Digital Asset Outlook: Dawn of the Institutional Era (Grayscale) * 2026 crypto market outlook (Fidelity) * OUTLOOK 2026 Promise and Pressure (JPMorgan) * The Year Ahead: 10 Crypto Predictions for 2026 (Bitwise) * Plan for 2026: Predictions from Our Portfolio Managers (VanEck) * 2026 Crypto Market Outlook (Coinbase) * 26 Crypto, Bitcoin, DeFi, and AI Predictions for 2026 (Galaxy Research) * How Crypto will rewire finance in 2026 (SVB) * The Man Who Can’t Be Moved (Saanya Ojha) * Silent Sirens, Flashing For Us All (Jack Clark, Anthropic Co-Founder) News Flash * Aave, the biggest DeFi lending protocol, is entering governance war. Link * Pro-crypto Michael Selig sworn in as new CFTC Chair. Link * Amplify debuts stablecoin and tokenisation ETFs on NYSE Arca. Link * Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, considers launching crypto-backed loans. Link * Solstice and Cor Prime completed the first institutional stablecoin funding trade using public blockchains. Link Top Signals This Week Coinbase doubles down as prediction markets go mainstream Coinbase announced its tenth acquisition this year - The Clearing Company, a prediction markets startup. The deal closes in January 2026. This follows Coinbase’s launch of its own prediction platform, positioning it as a direct competitor to Robinhood, Interactive Brokers, and CME-FanDuel. [RELEASE] After the U.S. election, multiple use-cases expanded beyond politics: * Financial macro outcomes (S&P500, oil, CPI, GDP) * Policy outcomes * Sports + entertainment * Broader “trade on headlines” consumer behavior Why it matters: Prediction markets reached $44B in trading volume in 2025, with Polymarket and Kalshi accounting for $21.5B and $17.1B, respectively. Prediction markets are transitioning from niche speculative tools into a primary financial infrastructure, bridging the gap between digital assets and traditional derivatives. The sector’s projected growth to $1T by 2030 is fueled by tokenization, which allows these contracts to be used as DeFi collateral. Be smart: The IRS has yet to guide whether gains should be classified as capital assets, gambling winnings, or Section 1256 contracts. Fun fact: AI bots are already making millions per month on Polymarket by exploiting market inefficiencies. Our view: Prediction markets are becoming a new consumer financial rail. The institutional and crypto-native ecosystem convergence benefits from high-frequency retail engagement. However, the distinction between "investment" and "gambling" will ultimately determine long-term liquidity and institutional adoption of these markets. JPMorgan to launch crypto trading for institutional clients JPMorgan is weighing spot and derivatives crypto trading for institutional clients. This is driven by regulatory change: OCC issued Interpretive Letter 1188, confirming national banks can act as “riskless principal” intermediaries, buying from one counterparty and selling to another without holding inventory risk. [NEWS] In the last 60 days alone, the bank: * Launched the JPMD deposit token on the Base (Ethereum L2) public blockchain. * Arranged the first U.S. commercial paper issuance (for Galaxy Digital) on the Solana blockchain, settled in USDC. * Launched its first tokenised money-market fund, MONY, on Ethereum. Why it matters: J.P. Morgan doesn't need to "win" crypto-native users. By acting as an intermediary, they allow institutional allocators to trade crypto within their existing compliance and reporting frameworks. If a hedge fund can trade BTC through its JPM Prime account, the incentive to use a crypto-native exchange vanishes. Stripe’s 1.5% tax on the old world Stripe has launched Tempo, its payment blockchain on public testnet. It is also charging a 1.5% transaction fee for businesses accepting payments in stablecoins. While that looks pricier than pure-play crypto processors, it’s a masterclass in vertical integration. [SEE FULL ANALYSIS] Why it matters: This isn't a fee for a blockchain transfer; it's a fee for payment acceptance. Stripe is providing the "last mile" of commerce: fraud protection, 101-country compliance, and instant conversion to USD for merchant bank accounts. For a business, 1.5% is significantly cheaper than the 3%+ often charged for cross-border credit card transactions. Our view: Traditional card networks solved for authorization speed (the “swipe”), but they never solved for settlement speed (the “cash”). Merchants typically wait 3-5 days for international funds. Tempo collapses this timeline to near-instant settlement, eliminating the need for corporate treasuries to hold idle “buffer cash” across global subsidiaries. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. Klarna swaps banks for blockchains Klarna is bypassing traditional bank loans to fund its business using USDC. Through a partnership with Coinbase, the "Buy Now, Pay Later" giant is tapping into a $78B pool of digital dollar liquidity to settle its institutional debts faster and cheaper than ever before.[RELEASE] How it works: Klarna needs massive amounts of short-term cash to pay merchants while they wait for customers to pay them back. Usually, they get this from consumer deposits or bank loans. Now, they’re getting it by issuing "Commercial Paper" (short-term debt) directly in USDC on public blockchains. Why it matters: Enabled by the regulatory framework of the 2025 GENIUS Act, the partnership allows Klarna to tap into a $78B USDC market, bypassing traditional banking intermediation for faster, 24/7 settlement. It creates a dual-layer strategy: using institutional USDC for operational funding while preparing "KlarnaUSD", their own stablecoin, for consumer-facing payments in 2026. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    9 min
  7. 158: Exchange everything

    19/12/2025

    158: Exchange everything

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc. “Public blockchains are more transparent than any legacy financial system ever built... crypto could become the most powerful financial surveillance architecture ever invented.” — Paul Atkins at SEC crypto task force roundtable The real action this weeks are infrastructure updates: Coinbase, DTCC, SoFi, JP Morgan. The winners? Ethereum, Canton, and Solana. On top of that, the OCC has approved five national trust bank charters for digital asset entities. Now, these entities will be reviewed under the same standards used for traditional banks. Our highlights this week: * JPMorgan launches its first tokenized MMF “MONY” on Ethereum * Coinbase launches tokenization and stablecoin as-a-service * SoFi becomes the first national bank to issue a public stablecoin * DTCC picks Canton to tokenize U.S. Treasuries * OCC grants federal bank charters to Circle, Ripple, and Fidelity * Visa launches 24/7 USDC settlement for U.S. institutions Let’s jump in 👇 PS: We have a series of killer podcasts coming up & just opened new sponsorship slots. Grab your spot here! Top Boardroom Reads * Why altcoins will be bigger than Bitcoin, with Yat Siu, Co-founder of Animoca Brands (51) * Banks in the Age of Stablecoins (Fed) * 17 things we’re excited about for crypto in 2026 (a16z) * Stablecoins, Financial Stability, And Treasuries (S&P Global) * Crypto Report Card: Scoring 2025’s Predictions (Pantera) * The End Of Interchange (AVC) Top Signals This Week JPMorgan’s $100M “MONY” Move on Ethereum JPMorgan just launched MONY, a $100M tokenized money-market fund live on the Ethereum mainnet. Powered by their Kinexys Digital Assets platform (formerly Onyx), the fund is seeded with JPM’s own capital and marks their most aggressive step into public DeFi rails to date. [NEWS] [ANALYSIS] Why it matters: While BlackRock’s BUIDL fund ($1.8B) and Franklin Templeton’s BENJI led the way, JPM’s entry signals that the largest bank in the U.S. now views Ethereum as a legitimate settlement layer. But the real “innovation” isn’t the fund itself, it’s the funding mechanism. Investors can subscribe and redeem using USDC. By integrating Circle’s stablecoin into the plumbing of a major MMF, JPM is admitting that private bank coins can’t compete with the liquidity and reach of public stablecoins. Our view: By treating public blockchains as settlement rails, JPM is commoditizing the infrastructure while maintaining the customer interface. The First Nationally Chartered Stablecoin: SoFiUSD SoFi Bank, N.A. (an OCC-regulated, FDIC-insured institution) officially launched SoFiUSD, a fully reserved stablecoin on the public Ethereum blockchain. Unlike JPMorgan’s “JPM Coin” which exists on a private ledger, SoFiUSD is permissionless, meaning it can interact with the broader DeFi ecosystem while maintaining “bank-grade” oversight. [NEWS] Why it matters: By issuing a stablecoin from a national charter, SoFi eliminates the two biggest hurdles for institutional adoption: counterparty risk and regulatory ambiguity. Because SoFi holds its reserves directly at the Fed, it has zero liquidity or credit risk, something even USDC (Circle) and USDT (Tether) cannot claim as non-banks. This creates a “Triple-A” equivalent stablecoin that can move 24/7 with instant finality. Our view: SoFi isn’t just launching a product; they are offering “Stablecoin-as-a-Service.” Through its technology arm, Galileo, SoFi can now…. (continue below) Coinbase is no longer a crypto exchange On December 17, 2025, Coinbase rolled out a coordinated set of upgrades aimed at becoming a full-spectrum financial platform, aka the “everything exchange”: * Trading of major stocks & ETFs, 24/5. zero fees. Thousans more coming. * Perpetual futures for stocks (outside of US). Massive for global liquidity. Coming early 2026. * Prediction markets: together with Kalshi, Coinbase is turning the world’s events – elections, Fed rates, sports – into tradeable assets. * Tokenization as-a-service * Stablecoins as-a-service …marking a clear move to bring traditional assets and payments onto a single, regulated digital stack. [RELEASE] Why it matters: By using the Base blockchain as the settlement layer and USDC as the medium of exchange, they are bypassing legacy clearinghouses. This allows for cross-collateralization: you can now theoretically use your Nvidia stock to instantly hedge an election outcome or a sports contract. Be smart: For a decade, Coinbase was a "leveraged bet" on crypto volatility; when trading slowed, revenue vanished. The “Everything Exchange” strategy breaks that dependency. Our view: The most slept-on part of this? Stablecoin-as-a-Service. Coinbase is now (continue below)… Crypto just became the banking system The U.S. banking regulator OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) approved five crypto-focused firms to operate as national trust banks, pending final conditions. Two are brand new banks (Ripple and Circle), and four: BitGo, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Paxos are upgrading from state to federal oversight. [RELEASE] The OCC’s actions are the executive implementation of the GENIUS Act, passed by the 119th Congress on July 18, 2025. So what? This puts major digital-asset players under the same federal framework as traditional trust banks. The regulator is signalling that crypto custody and settlement can sit inside the mainstream banking system, not outside it. This opens an $85T institutional custody market without traditional banks’ permission. Canton won the $100T settlement race DTCC announced that it will begin tokenising U.S. Treasury securities that are already held at DTC, its core custody arm. This will happen on the Canton Network, with a live production MVP targeted for the first half of 2026. [RELEASE] So what? DTCC is the core utility of U.S. capital markets. Its subsidiaries process securities transactions valued at approximately $3.7 quadrillion annually and maintain custody of assets valued at $99T. By choosing Canton, a permissioned, privacy-preserving network designed for regulated institutions, DTCC is also signalling how it thinks tokenisation should happen: inside existing rules, with known participants, and without exposing sensitive trading activity to the public. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. Visa launches 24/7 USDC settlement for U.S. institutions Visa has officially launched USDC settlement for U.S. financial institutions, moving its stablecoin program from a global pilot into the core of the American payment system. U.S. issuers and acquirers, starting with Cross River Bank and Lead Bank, can now settle their obligations using Circle’s USDC on the Solana blockchain. Additionally, Visa is a design partner for Arc, Circle’s new Layer 1 blockchain, where it plans to operate a validator node and further scale its onchain settlement. [RELEASE] So what? The traditional banking system operates on a “business day” schedule, leaving a 48-hour liquidity gap every weekend. By using USDC, Visa enables seven-day settlement, letting banks move money and manage liquidity without waiting for Fed systems to reopen. With Visa’s stablecoin volumes already running at a $3.5T annualized pace, this is a live upgrade to the plumbing of global commerce. News Flash * Trump administration says "we are closer than ever to passing the landmark crypto market structure legislation." Link * Visa launched a Stablecoin Advisory Practice for bank clients. Link * Interactive Brokers allows stablecoin funding. Link * Tether considers tokenising stock at $500b value. Link * Bitcoin hoar ding company Strategy remains in the Nasdaq 100. Link * SEC has concluded its investigation into the Aave Protocol. Link * Exodus, MoonPay to launch US dollar stablecoin in early 2026. Link * Strategy buys $980m BTC, BitMine buys $321m ETH. Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO Readers: Read our alpha insights below! – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    11 min

  8. 13/12/2025

    157: The Fed is bullish

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.51insights.xyz Hey, it’s Marc. “Under my leadership, SEC is prioritizing innovation and embracing new technologies to enable this on-chain future.” - That’s the Chair of the SEC, Paul Atkins, folks. Context: While crypto world is gathering at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Bitcoin MENA and Solana Breakpoint, one of the most significant regulatory shifts happened yesterday: DTCC, the backbone of U.S. capital markets, just received a green light from the SEC that could eventually migrate $100 trillion of assets on-chain. Meanwhile: The Fed has cut the interest rate on bank reserves to 3.65% and is actively expanding its balance sheet with short-term Treasuries. In plain English? The Fed is putting more money into the banking system. Historically, this is the single strongest macro tailwind for crypto. Here is what matters this week: * DTCC receives tokenization green light from SEC * CFTC lets banks use BTC, ETH, and USDC as collateral * State Street brings money markets to Solana * SEC is rewriting the capital markets with a new Sandbox * JPMorgan enables on-chain commercial paper using USDC We’ll unpack all of these highlights below 👇 PS: We have a series of killer podcasts coming up & just opened new sponsorship slots. Grab your spot here! Top Boardroom Reads * The $400T tokenization migration, with Carlos Domingo, CEO Securitize (51) * Tokenized Collateral, Stablecoins, and 24/7 Trading and Clearing Infrastructure for Regulated Derivatives Markets (SEC) * The Internet’s Blueprint for Ethereum: A Trillion-Dollar Public Goods Valuation Framework (EMRC) * Everyone’s wrong about quantum computing (a16z) * I do not regret spending 8 years of my life in crypto (Nic Carter) * The Anatomy of a Crypto Neobank (Messari) Top Signals This Week The $100 trillion green light What happened: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a “No-Action Letter” to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), authorising its subsidiary to launch a service for tokenizing real-world assets. Expected in the second half of 2026. [Release] [Letter] [Platform] Why it matters: The DTCC isn’t just another player; it is the operating system of American capital, custodying over $100 trillion in assets and processing quadrillions in annual transactions. DTCC confirmed to Bloomberg their “ultimate aspiration” is to add the entire depository. Our view: This is one of the most important signals of the year. While the DTCC will utilize a private AppChain built on Hyperledger Besu (an Ethereum-compatible client) for privacy and compliance, their explicit goal is interoperability across the TradFi and DeFi ecosystems. This reinforces the thesis that the future financial rail is EVM-compatible, cementing Ethereum’s standard as the settlement layer for the global economy. CFTC lets banks use BTC, ETH, and USDC as collateral CFTC has permitted Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC (high-quality liquid assets) to serve as margin collateral for Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs; = regulated financial intermediaries) under a pilot program. The regulator has effectively removed the rule Staff Advisory 20-34 that forced digital asset holders to sell their tokens for cash before they could hedge. Bitnomial is the first exchange to receive approval for this model. [RELEASE] Why it matters: The U.S. banking system still works on weekday hours, but crypto trades nonstop. The CFTC pilot narrows that gap by letting firms use stablecoins as margin, opening the door to real 24/7 collateral movement in regulated markets. Bitnomial shows how this works: collateral stays inside the clearing system and can be sold instantly, which reduces risk and speeds everything up. But it also exposes a new problem. If Bitcoin crashes on a Saturday, banks still cannot move dollars to cover losses. Be smart: The SEC and CFTC are reviewing “Blueprint Tokenised Collateral” proposals that use tokenised T-bills and 24/7 stablecoins to fix the weekend gap. Our view: By allowing BTC/ETH/USDC as collateral, U.S. FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) now offer the same capital efficiency as offshore venues. This removes the extra costs and delays that previously forced people to use risky foreign platforms. 🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here. State Street brings money markets to Solana State Street Investment Management and Galaxy Digital are building a new investment product called SWEEP (State Street Galaxy Onchain Liquidity Sweep Fund). Ondo Finance will be puting $200M into SWEEP through its existing OUSG fund. It will launch on the Solana blockchain in early 2026. [RELEASE] Why it matters: State Street ($5.12T AUM) is one of the largest custodian banks in the world. Moving from private pilots to a public blockchain like Solana signals that top-tier institutions are finally comfortable with the security and compliance of public networks. The capital size is modest, but the shift from sandbox pilots to production-grade infrastructure marks a turning point for institutional onchain adoption. Our view: This is a clear win for both Ondo Finance and Solana. Ondo is taking the smart path by partnering with major players instead of trying to beat them, becoming the place where their products reach users. It also sets up an important test: how well State Street’s older systems can connect to Solana’s fast, modern network. 🙌 Work with us: We arm financial institutions and digital asset leaders with bespoke research, thought leadership to shape the most important conversations, scale trust, and win business. SEC is rewriting capital markets After a delay due to the government shutdown, SEC Chair Paul Atkins confirmed the “Innovation Exemption” launches in January 2026. This directive, part of “Project Crypto“, allows digital asset firms to launch on-chain products under a temporary “sandbox” without immediate registration.[Update] “ICOs transcend all four topics. Three of those areas are on the CFTC side, so we’ll let them worry about that, and we’ll focus on tokenized securities.” – Paul Atkins, SEC Chair Why it matters: The strategic implication here is binary: digital assets are graduating from a speculative asset class to the operating system of capital markets. By establishing a clear taxonomy (distinguishing “Tokenized Securities” from “Network Tokens” and “Digital Commodities”), Atkins is unlocking the $16 trillion opportunity in Real World Assets (RWA). Today, tokenised RWAs sit at a meagre $36B. The Innovation Exemption is the regulatory unlock required to move bonds, real estate, and private equity on-chain at scale. JPMorgan enables on-chain commercial paper using USDC JPMorgan arranged a U.S. commercial paper issuance for Galaxy Digital on the Solana public blockchain, with Coinbase and Franklin Templeton buying the paper and proceeds paid in USDC. [RELEASE] How it works: J.P. Morgan created the on-chain USCP token (valued at $50M) and handled delivery-versus-payment settlement; Galaxy was the issuer and structurer; Coinbase provided custody and on/off ramps; Franklin Templeton participated as a buyer. Why it matters: It turns a proof-of-concept into an actual playbook: a global bank arranging the deal, institutional investors buying it, a public chain running the settlement, and a dollar stablecoin moving the money. By collapsing issuance, custody, and settlement into a single on-chain flow, it shows how core capital markets plumbing can be rebuilt for speed and simplicity. News Flash * Fed quietly restarts money printer with T-bill QE. Link * Stripe charges 1.5% for stablecoin transfers after Tempo launch. Link * XXI goes public via Cantor’s SPAC deal. Link * Tether launches privacy-first health platform. Link * SEC ends Biden-era investigation into Ondo Finance. Link * BMW used JPMorgan’s blockchain for automated FX transfers. Link * OCC clears banks to facilitate crypto trades. Link * YouTube launches stablecoin payouts through PayPal for U.S. creators. Link * HashKey launches Hong Kong IPO seeking up to $214.7M. Link * Tether gains Abu Dhabi’s approval to expand USDT. Link * EU plans 2027 reforms centralizing market and crypto oversight under ESMA. Link That’s all for now, folks. PRO: read our alpha insights below! Take care – Marc & Team 💎 Investor Insights (Alpha)

    9 min
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