0x0.ai: AI Smart Contract

Jack Kubinec

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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The Solana-based golfing loyalty app GolfN has gone live on the App Store, Lightspeed has learned exclusively.



The mobile app combines collectibles with digital caddie features and a native GOLF token for an experience that CEO Jared Phillips described to me as “Chase rewards meets Strava meets Pokémon Go.” The app’s self-reported waitlist of over 47,000 golfers will now gain access to the latest shot at crypto consumer rewards.&nbsp;



Upon downloading GolfN, I was directed to create a free account. I then received three digital golf clubs, which enable rewards, but logging a round with my free account will only earn me non-financialized “tickets.”



To gain access to points, which will soon become convertible to Solana-based GOLF tokens, users have to get a paid GolfN membership that runs between $50 to $1,000 per month. These memberships come with a slew of perks and will also let users accrue points that can become GOLF, which can be redeemed for things like golf gear or traded on the open market. GolfN will also circulate partly via “rentals” of virtual golf club collectibles.



When I asked Phillips how the economics of such a scheme can work, he said he expects golfers to be willing to shell out a monthly fee to be rewarded for the money they put into golf, similarly to how membership-based credit cards work. For GolfN’s golf industry partners, the app can offer more finely-tuned customer data, Phillips said.



As for the users themselves, Phillips estimated GolfN will have a 10:1 ratio of non-crypto to crypto people since the app is built for golfers more than for crypto-natives. Nevertheless, Phillips argued that “not everyone in crypto golfs, but everyone in crypto is golf-adjacent.”



“The average person in crypto is more highly educated than not — usually bachelor’s degree —&nbsp; generally makes more money, and has more disposable income,” Phillips said, noting that a number of crypto people have “come out of the woodwork” as golfers while he’s been building the app.



Golf and crypto’s demographic overlap has made the sport a target for crypto experimentation in the past, particularly with LinksDAO — a group that <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/03/linksdao-nft-sale-books-first-10m-toward-buying-an-actual-golf-course">raised</a> $10 million in a 2022 NFT sale with the promise of buying a golf course. It actually went on to do so, <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2023/08/03/linksdao-the-online-community-that-bought-a-golf-course-is-accepting-new-members">acquiring</a> Spey Bay Golf Club in Scotland in 2023 and gating club membership with the NFTs. LinksDAO has <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/02/12/linksdao-plans-to-launch-a-community-token-on-base">become</a> part owner of a second course in Kansas City.



GolfN boasts a lot of potential demand. But if the app has an Achilles’ heel, it may be its complexity. Even as someone who writes about crypto full-time, my head spun for a few minutes trying to grok the distinctions between GOLF, points, tickets, digital clubs and digital golf balls. We’ll see if the golfers fare better.



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crypto apps

Solana-based golf rewards app GolfN hits App Store

Casey Wagner

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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US stocks and bitcoin moved a bit higher Wednesday morning before paring gains after May’s CPI came in cooler than expected, suggesting that tariff-related price hikes are so far not a reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;



After a slight rally at the beginning of the session, the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were down 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, at 2 p.m. ET. Bitcoin, meanwhile, had lost 1.1% to trade around $108,800.&nbsp;



Headline CPI rose 0.1% over the month and 2.4% annually. Economists had projected the figures to come in at 0.2% and 2.4%, respectively.&nbsp;



Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also rose 0.1% over the month and 2.8% year over year, compared with expectations of 0.3% and 2.9%, respectively.&nbsp;



Economists had largely expected tariffs to start impacting consumer prices in May, but today’s figures suggest otherwise. There’s a few theories as to why:&nbsp;



First, businesses could be eating costs for now, as opposed to passing them off to consumers. The fact that many of the higher tariff rates have been paused and the policies are still in limbo make this theory more likely, in my opinion.&nbsp;



We also know that companies bulked up their inventories at the start of the year to get ahead of tariffs, so if they are using stocked-up supply, it makes sense that prices aren’t moving higher.&nbsp;



Second, data shows that Chinese manufacturers have increased exports to Southeast Asia, likely in an effort to avoid US tariffs. Exports to this region increased 15% year over year in May, according to government data released earlier this week. Meanwhile, shipments to the US fell 34.5%. This could be helping delay tariff-related price increases.&nbsp;



June’s data will more accurately reflect how the United States’ latest deal with China is impacting exports, assuming this new truce is inked and lasts. More on that later.&nbsp;



Third, consumer caution is high. We’ll get updated consumer sentiment numbers on Friday, but May’s figure came in at 52.2, unchanged from April. The CPI report showed new vehicle prices declined 0.3% over the month, suggesting that dealerships are offering reduced prices due to lower demand.&nbsp;



Speaking of that latest trade truce, the US and China have reached a new (old?) preliminary trade deal, President Trump said Wednesday.&nbsp;



Late last night, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that the London meeting concluded with officials agreeing to a “framework” to “implement” the plan they hatched three weeks ago in Geneva.&nbsp;



This morning, Trump clarified that the latest deal includes China rolling back its rare earth material export limitations. The US agreed to rescind recent visa restrictions for Chinese students and relax export controls on AI chips. He and Xi Jinping still need to officially sign off, Trump added.&nbsp;



We’ll be keeping an eye on that, so you keep an eye on your inbox.



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China

CPI print comes in softer than expected

This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thedrop" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Not all OpenSea users are happy about its plans to kill some features, as the company sets a date for its newly-launched OS2 to fully replace its predecessor.



OS2, which primarily splits users into “Collectors” and “Pros,” was first <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/opensea-nfts-overhaul-comeback">teased</a> back in November but saw its full <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/opensea-sea-token-os2-launch">public launch</a> late last month.&nbsp;



In a <a href="https://opensea.io/blog/articles/saying-goodbye-to-os1-whats-changing-and-what-comes-next">post</a>, OpenSea revealed yesterday that it won’t rollover all OS1 features to the latest marketplace version and will sunset OS1 come June 16, giving traders no choice but to use OS2.&nbsp;



Deals, English auctions, testnet support, and the Shopping Cart feature are all going away in less than a week from now. OpenSea said in its post that Deals and English auctions simply weren’t being used by enough traders to justify making those features part of OS2.



“While there are no immediate plans to bring this functionality into the new OpenSea, we plan to listen to feedback and could decide to include it in a future product roadmap,” the crypto firm said of Deals.



On Crypto Twitter, I tracked over a dozen users specifically taking issue with OpenSea ditching the Deals feature. Deals was first <a href="https://x.com/opensea/status/1682077991029932032">launched</a> back in July 2023 and was <a href="https://x.com/opensea/status/1682077994502815745">advertised</a> as a way to do custom, make-your-own deals like three NFTs for one NFT plus some ETH, for example, without having to risk it in the DMs.



“Without a ‘Deals’ feature (which isn’t available in V2) it poses major scam risks for collectors,” <a href="https://x.com/randomcdog/status/1932335368508149988">wrote</a> one trader.



“I loved using the &#8216;Deals&#8217; feature—it was fun, engaging, and led to plenty of interesting trades,” <a href="https://x.com/feurez/status/1932352658146271515">explained</a> another.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcuaiJp7DxEPHsfN0YmF8zrZLLsfPMdm3kzmV3PCT6Qa2Sk9lmpQVsE4csDVQ5c4qDUKfaqe52Y4hvVDAGl8KgPw2__Rh0cgatVhN4ybfF5RpeSIhqtz7H9ajhXyIVCMGIphH1r?key=Wc42brSCVTcdemJA-338vA" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Deals on OpenSea.</figcaption></figure>



“We need [the] deals feature to keep us safe please,” <a href="https://x.com/justinaversano/status/1932465620911812865">added</a> NFT artist Justin Aversano.



A response from OpenSea CMO Adam Hollander added another layer to the reasons behind the feature’s shutdown.



“The functionality simply doesn&#8217;t work with ERC 721-C contracts where royalties are enforced,” he <a href="https://x.com/HollanderAdam/status/1932519970824462513">said</a> of Deals. “As more and more of these contracts have been deployed, the product felt increasingly broken and inconsistently useful.”



Hollander emphasized, however, that OpenSea will continue to encourage — and listen to — user feedback as they update the marketplace.



OpenSea’s Deals feature is still unique among NFT marketplaces and caters to traders looking to swap more than just one NFT for some crypto.&nbsp;



Deals has also been home to some strange blockchain incidents, like when one collector apparently <a href="https://thedrop.beehiiv.com/p/tokenize-it">lost</a> his Bored Ape in an $80,000 whoopsie.



But not everyone’s against OpenSea killing Deals. Yuga Labs Director of Art Eli Scheinman <a href="https://x.com/eli_schein/status/1932523387823202376">argued</a> that the decision actually “makes a lot of sense.”



“It is a relatively niche product feature used mostly for high-end art. This will be a continued trend — marketplaces will have to get more verticalized and focus on specific user audiences,” Scheinman said.



Originally launched on Ethereum, OpenSea has been expanding its scope in other areas lately, with an increased focus on adding support for more and more blockchains, plus Solana memecoins and crypto gaming assets.&nbsp;



Ethereum NFT trading volumes have largely stagnated so far this year following a short-lived surge in February. This month so far, OpenSea has seen anywhere from roughly <a href="https://dune.com/sealaunch/NFT">$1.4 million</a> to $2.4 million in daily ETH NFT volume traded.



The NFT industry more broadly is facing pressure to shake up strategies as <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/nftglobal?timeFrame=year">total annual sales</a> last year were down 62% from 2022 all-time highs.



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NFTs

OpenSea sunsets ‘Deals,’ other features in OS2 shakeup

Donovan Choy

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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In the wake of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-hits-75-nyse-trading">Circle’s IPO</a> and Plasma’s token sale, stablecoins are undisputedly in vogue.



Meanwhile, the US Senate is going into a final vote on the landmark stablecoin bill, dubbed the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-advances-genius-act">GENIUS Act</a>, this week.



What does the stablecoin landscape look like today?



First, total stablecoin supply remains up and to the right — $249 billion in the last week. USDT and USDC represent the lion’s share of stablecoins, about 88% ($218 billion) of the entire stablecoin market put together.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcwOcBAI_1ARWa4GWK9q7hORy4CfolwJ45QA9kdi4a4tWP6cQNMNqfKD3KjkD8TeDtASgakuQaXFPgK81uM1oaF5XWuUl_t-NgxVZCTfRvHtaQyEMQ8XmJQvfbKtuoGbYNgBaFGtw?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/l1?dashboard=225">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>



Okay, stablecoin supply is growing, but how are they being used?



B2B use cases drive the largest share of stablecoin usage today.



B2B cross-border payments tracked at nearly $3 billion in February 2025 alone, compared to $1.1 billion for card-based spending, $1.5 billion in peer-to-peer payments, or $275 million in B2C payments across the same time period.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeMXE7gk2EeffMZD7wbBCo1uOq_XW6EFA4mzjZTB8EYdS4F1R0Ury-IIOU_2exUgm--Zg_wkDbpYz-dgk3Wh60u_5UPsfjvkCTJne0XhcXjTldCTyP2MKw0fyi6mEHSYTd4fr9m?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://www.stablecoin.fyi/use-case#b2b-stablecoin-volumes">Stablecoin.fyi</a></figcaption></figure>



18% of small and medium US businesses “[that] are aware of cryptocurrency” use stablecoins for their business needs in 2025 — up from 8% in 2024, according to Coinbase’s State of Crypto 2025 <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/sygt3q11s4a9/6oinXHvVekdIUw2Ch7yIQw/22d0185eba3c49322ce7cf0d287ea872/SOCQ2Report_final.pdf">report</a>.



The chains facilitating the most stablecoin transfers? Ethereum, Base and Tron.&nbsp;



In May, Ethereum saw $1.2 trillion in volumes (29%), while Base had $1 trillion (26%) and Tron $687 billion (17%). Total stablecoin volumes in May came up to $4 trillion.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdMht8oQftaPSSSvZmqb1ELTZHuK87BgVNg2dqZyZo28efugDVzXJUumx2D8JaCBNeIeXjXaPWk2LRRCdOqHv6iGpzSeBgAU2HdEYfJoxOKC2a46vh-w1N46HM5dhh0kxazQo9_?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.artemisanalytics.com/stablecoins?tab=chains">Artemis</a></figcaption></figure>



Should the GENIUS Act come to pass, which players stand to gain the most?



If the GENIUS Act requires stablecoins to be backed by US dollars or Treasury bills, the answer is probably: TradFi regulated issuers such as Circle, traditional Fintech companies like PayPal, and banks and money market funds, Blockworks Research analyst Luke Leasure told me.



Decentralized stablecoins like Ethena’s USDe or Sky’s (previously Maker) USDS are not entirely backed by cash equivalents, so would not be compliant with GENIUS (unless registered in the US).



Yet, there are still downstream positive effects for DeFi from a burst in stablecoin growth.



In particular, money markets like Aave and Pendle stand to gain.



On Aave v3 alone (across all chains), stablecoins make up about $10.2 billion in TVL.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfta1DbYCfqjWBYsWOCcjBCPHFUcCn24uc-Lrx2I6qU-qeYvm6iVvZCjMSxd4rQ0PgiymNXKItoUtRpiK8_TQWgAnXxHqXC1T_-1xDgoVkMe0tMQlUrJWqw-VgBfL1x1hgTu7p6CA?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/tvl/aave-v3">DefiLlama</a></figcaption></figure>



What about Pendle?



Though Pendle is technically a “yield trading” app, it has cemented itself as a de facto go-to-market platform for all yield-bearing assets, particularly stablecoins.



High risk appetite users onchain don’t just want to stake and earn an underlying T-bill yield, they want to speculate on points.



A snapshot of Pendle’s $5.3 billion in TVL today demonstrates the business’s effectiveness in capturing the downstream growth of new yield-bearing stablecoin launches. About ~61% of it comprises Ethena’s USDe and eUSDe (a restaking token), Sky’s USDS and OpenEden’s USDO.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeMAW-x1DpEbtyttgYSbMOGeSquG7_iNAY9SGmkRPPK4MNB0irqYXh-WMUjmPFkjX6jUHYczCYVRzJjtJ3uLxYWIDevFeNFQYk8q4Ei8t2xFUrB2UcjxFf6Ify6du9hx_QmUxMTQw?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/tvl/pendle">DefiLlama</a></figcaption></figure>



A recent <a href="https://www.modularcapital.xyz/writing/pendle">report</a> from Spartan Group and Modular Capital found that Pendle has captured approximately 30% of the whole $11 billion yield-bearing stablecoin market — about 1.3% of total stablecoin supply.



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0xResearch Newsletter

What does ‘stablecoin summer’ look like?

David Canellis

This is a segment from the Supply Shock newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Eleven years ago to the day, the Bitcoin space was grappling with the ballooning hash rate of one massively popular mining pool: Ghash.io.



Ghash, which was owned by <a href="http://cex.io">CEX.io</a> (an exchange still operating today) was widely <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=644185.0">considered</a> the best mining pool in 2014. It had automatic payouts and ultra-low fees, and it even shared transaction fees with the entire pool, whereas others tended to keep those for themselves.



There was also clear and responsive tooling for tracking hash rates and incomes, and it supported more merge-mined coins than any other pool. Users could even trade hash rate and mining contracts via the CEX.io platform.



One problem: Ghash was attracting too many miners.



“The people behind GHash are to mining as Mark Zuckerberg is to social networking,” one Reddit user wrote. “If there wasn&#8217;t a 50% concern they would have over 90% of the pooled network by now I&#8217;m sure.”



Users on Bitcointalk had been sounding the alarm. “GHash is at 48% WTF. This is fucking serious people get off GHash the consequences for 51% are huge. It could be detrimental for bitcoin going forward. Once people realize that the Achilles heel in bitcoin is real, they&#8217;ll permanently mark it with a negative stigma.”



Discus Fish, the second-most powerful pool <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/06/13/bitfury-pulls-1phs-of-mining-power-from-ghashio-amid-community-uproar">at the time</a>, only had 11% of the total hash rate.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdLn648JjdBU_U64cOGkOepN_-LHSjU6dNLRTWfBZ6GVElNCUQeToyD2Asp1H36TC8I0AL_vc6leRQ9skpsBUhqNl3LfHX6QRz6sJZcYGug0SvfMzHDKqQvTW7Ff_1F4vc_syk4?key=aSNHP7ap7LHoDKSFi9P4Fg" alt=""/></figure>



“Bitcoin pirates with their DDOS botnets” is a great name for a punk band.



It was also the second time in six months that Ghash’s popularity had become an issue. After gathering 42% of the hash rate, the pool released a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140109211601/https://ghash.io/ghashio_press_release.pdf">memo</a> stating it would restrict registrations for new miners and pledged to help its existing users diversify into other pools. Many miners exited Ghash, dropping its share of the hash rate back to 38% within a day.&nbsp;



So by the time Ghash’s hash rate had swelled to 50% at multiple times in a week, five months later, it was up to BitFury to scale its pooled operations back significantly, starting with 1 PH/s (about 1% of the total hash rate), followed by more petahashes over a 72-hour period. Ghash’s influence would fade over the next six months, shutting down completely by early 2015.



Bitcoin is, of course, optimal when no one entity controls even close to half of the hash rate. It doesn’t matter if it&#8217;s a mining pool, made up of thousands of individual miners, or a multi-billion dollar mining behemoth.&nbsp;



On a technical level, the danger for malicious double-spending is clear. In the real world, these types of situations tend to be more of a <a href="https://x.com/andyroth/status/1725520692198715480">temporary</a> branding issue, and the ecosystem has historically mitigated the issue quickly enough.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeCSM7SH5zJYO-IQHrKwe9SqBiUzGaG72OlmGP22Yh_LTzA-faMWq_IVUuDjcXPX5O87yHqz3q_O_KRzlU327bAp_lNA_VGIYKp7JjS_EvkFYzo8jWobOYzoVgUkufAHFabAXGlsg?key=aSNHP7ap7LHoDKSFi9P4Fg" alt=""/></figure>



The panic spread over to mainstream media, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/16/bitcoin-currency-destroyed-51-attack-ghash-io">reflected</a> concerns from some Bitcointalk users.



These days, three mining pools altogether wield more than half of the hash rate — Foundry, AntPool, ViaBTC or F2Pool on any given day.



Is that better than 2014? For sure. But it could still be better. Alejandro de la Torre, CEO and co-founder of the pool <a href="https://www.dmnd.work/">DMND</a>, tells me the issue is not necessarily a problem of potential collusion; it’s that the mining pools themselves are building Bitcoin blocks, rather than the individual miners within the pool.



“Everything is decentralized except for the blocks. Let’s say the top five players build more than 80% of the blocks. These top five players, half of them are in the United States, the other half are in China. So what if the Chinese government comes in and says, ‘Hey, stop doing that, or start having this’? Or the Americans say, ‘You need to do all this compliance or we’ll send your ass to jail.’”



De la Torre worries such measures are very simple for governments to take — it just means knocking on the doors of the top mining pool operators. “It’s a huge risk for Bitcoin, the biggest risk right now in Bitcoin.”



Similarly to OCEAN, DMND’s solution is to decentralize the responsibility of forming blocks away from the pools and toward whoever actually generates the correct hash, thereby reducing the threat of government intervention. There would be a higher chance that every other block would be constructed by a different miner within the pool, ideally each one in a different physical location.



Efforts like these may seem like competition, even among pools for miner mindshare. But that’s only on the surface.&nbsp;



Underneath, miners and the pools they use can only ever serve one master, the Bitcoin protocol itself — regardless of who they’re supposed to enrich.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a>: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha directly in your inbox.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thedrop">The Drop</a>: Apps, games, memes and more.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Bitcoin

Everything in Bitcoin is decentralized — except the blocks

Katherine Ross

Stripe is acquiring Privy, a crypto wallet provider.&nbsp;



Privy says that it will remain an “independent product” but will operate under Stripe’s umbrella. It will “move faster, ship more, and serve you even better, so you can stay focused on your users.”



The amount was not immediately disclosed. Stripe didn’t immediately return a request for comment.&nbsp;



Bloomberg first <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-11/payment-company-stripe-to-acquire-crypto-wallet-provider-privy?taid=68499be47922900001efdf80&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_content=business&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;embedded-checkout=true">reported</a> the news.



“From our earliest conversations with Stripe, they impressed us with their craft, ambition, and willingness to imagine new worlds,” Privy said in a post. “Like us, they believe in bringing crypto and fiat closer together to change how value moves through the Internet.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">1/ Today, we&#39;re proud to announce that Stripe is acquiring Privy. We couldn’t be more excited. Privy will continue as an independent product – but now we’ll move faster, ship more, and serve you even better, so you can stay focused on your users. <a href="https://t.co/8CHJqhqYy7">pic.twitter.com/8CHJqhqYy7</a>&mdash; Privy (@privy_io) <a href="https://twitter.com/privy_io/status/1932816495719166167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The acquisition is just the latest example of Stripe doubling down on crypto.&nbsp;



It bought stablecoin firm Bridge for $1.1 billion in one of the largest crypto acquisitions in history last year. It also reintegrated crypto payments in the US last fall.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-bridge-acquisition-stablecoin-infrastructure">https://blockworks.co/news/stripe-bridge-acquisition-stablecoin-infrastructure</a>



Back in May, Stripe announced that it was rolling out Stablecoin Financial Accounts, which will allow businesses to hold their balances in stablecoins and gives them the option to receive funds on both crypto and fiat rails. 



“Because stablecoins make it dramatically faster and cheaper to move money internationally, many of the world’s largest companies are turning to Stripe to help assemble their stablecoin strategies. But a challenge remains: making it possible to spend stablecoins at businesses that only accept fiat currencies,” Stripe said in a <a href="https://stripe.com/en-hk/newsroom/news/sessions-2025">press release</a> at the time.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</li>



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
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M&amp;A

Stripe acquires crypto wallet provider Privy

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Franklin Templeton is <a href="https://www.franklintempleton.com/press-releases/news-room/2025/franklin-templeton-launches-patent-pending-intraday-yield-feature-on-benji-technology-platform">introducing intraday yield</a> to Benji users.&nbsp;



Basically, investors can “own a tokenized security for part of the day, transfer it to another investor, and still earn yield for the period they were a shareholder.”



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/franklin-templeton">Franklin Templeton’s</a> Roger Bayston explained: “To actually splice the day, to be able to do that, opens up market opportunities and things like collateral markets, where money may be moving in and around multiple times a day, but as long as you&#8217;re in Benji, you can earn the interest for that part of the day, and it begins to find application and other things too.”



And investors can now purchase tokenized securities using <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/stablecoins">stablecoins</a>.&nbsp;



Bayston told me this announcement is just one of the many things he and his team are working on. They have been “heads down” to focus on bringing new utilities to Benji.&nbsp;



Right now, there’s about $7 trillion in money market fund assets in the US, and there’s room to improve them.&nbsp;



“So crypto-native private funds that have been using stablecoins as collateral for their structured transactions can now begin to use Benji in that construct…that collateral market activity that&#8217;s all brand new use cases for money markets; and we see the future where the TradFi markets will begin to use these same feature sets, because these have benefits of moving money really quickly, and that money continuing to earn, right? Continuing to work for you during that whole process,” he explained.&nbsp;



And, look, I know what you’re thinking: These tokenized funds aren’t the sexiest crypto use case, but there’s clearly a lot of capital to tap there.&nbsp;



Besides, Bayston believes that if “stablecoins were a killer app for blockchains in general, tokenized money funds are going to be another one because they complement each other.”



He admitted that he’s spending a lot of time looking at how one can get liquidity between the two.&nbsp;



“Money funds are five business days. Stablecoins are 24/7, and so there is liquidity between those two things, which I think is a future opportunity for market makers and market participants by and large,” he said.&nbsp;



But he’s also learning that it’s not just about <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/tokenization">tokenization</a> this year.&nbsp;



“I think what we&#8217;re learning in 2025 is the use of a lot of different assets on blockchain rails can be effective as collateral, and…if you&#8217;re acting as collateral, that means you&#8217;re borrowing something against it. Well, this is the business of banks, right? So the banks have a lot of interest in building infrastructure or beginning to utilize infrastructure where a number of different assets become easier to deal with in the collateral management process,” he explained.&nbsp;



So far, banks have shown a lot of interest in figuring out how all of this works, especially in different scenarios like a collateral liquidation.



“They do see this as a way of using new and other types of assets, using these blockchain rails for the truth of record and the ease of transferability of those ownership things as a new ecosystem for collateral, which allows them to do what their basic business is, which is lend,” Bayston said.&nbsp;



So perhaps a bit in the weeds, but it’s an area of potential adoption we haven’t quite explored yet.&nbsp;



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Empire Newsletter

Tokenized money market funds could be the next ‘killer app’

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Another day, another bitcoin rally.&nbsp;



After making a run approaching its all-time high last night, bitcoin was back in the red this afternoon, hovering around $108,600 and trading 1.4% lower over the past 24 hours as of 2 p.m. ET.&nbsp;



Bitcoin’s latest move is similar to what it did three weeks ago, when the largest cryptocurrency notched a new all-time high just shy of $112,000. BTC went from around $103,000 to above $110,000 in roughly two days.&nbsp;



As Noelle Acheson pointed out in today’s Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, bitcoin’s late-May rally coincided with a surge in short liquidations. In other words, investors were buying up BTC to cover their leveraged short positions.&nbsp;



Short BTC liquidations lately are similarly high, so Acheson estimates that last night’s run up was likely driven by leverage covering vs. new spot investors. I’d have to agree.&nbsp;



That being said, bitcoin often trades like a Big Tech stock: It’s high volatility and, at least in recent months (dare I say years), has not been insulated from macroeconomic moves.&nbsp;



Bitcoin’s correlation to the Nasdaq Composite is currently 0.81, according to data from Yahoo Finance. The crypto’s correlation with gold has recently moved negative, now sitting at -0.07, per Yahoo Finance.&nbsp;



The “bitcoin is digital gold” narrative has certainly lost steam in recent years, with the cryptocurrency rising and falling along with risk appetites. Just look at what happened in April: BTC lost more than 11% the week after April 2 (Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day”). The S&amp;P 500 shed 12%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 13%.&nbsp;



Before the HODLers come for me, yes, bitcoin bounced back stronger than stocks. Since April 2, BTC has gained around 29%. The S&amp;P 500 is up 7%, and the Nasdaq Composite has gained just under 12%.&nbsp;&nbsp;



I still think bitcoin is going to trade on big macro news (interest rate decisions, inflation data, employment reports, etc.), but I’ll add that Big Tech companies are obviously more vulnerable to tariff policies, and we’ve seen that in the price action.&nbsp;



Apple is down more than 17% year to date. Alphabet has lost more than 5% since the start of 2025.&nbsp;



Bitcoin is up more than 16%.&nbsp;



Looking ahead, the eight biggest US tech stocks (Mag 7 plus Broadcom) have seen an average downward earnings revision for Q2 of -5.9% (-2.2% if you exclude Tesla). Half of these names are currently underperforming the S&amp;P year to date (Tesla, Apple, Alphabet and Amazon).&nbsp;



I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to expect that BTC will continue to outperform these stocks, at least until the trade war settles down (assuming it does settle down, of course). Reminder that this is not investment advice, just your local newsletter writer taking a look into her crystal ball.&nbsp;



With the second quarter nearing an end and few updates on trade deals, we’ll just have to wait and see.



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Will tariffs be the catalyst for bitcoin’s decoupling?

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has asked prospective Solana ETF issuers to submit amended S-1 forms within the next week, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Blockworks.&nbsp;



The agency told issuers it would make comments on the S-1s within 30 days of their submission, two sources added.



“We have received comments from the SEC and have been asked to address and file an amended S-1, which we plan to do so shortly,” a 21Shares spokesperson told Blockworks.



The SEC asked issuers to update language surrounding in-kind redemptions and how issuers would approach staking, two of the sources said, adding that the agency appears open to including staking as part of Solana ETFs.



One source estimated these updates could put Solana ETFs on track to be approved within three to five weeks. Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart told Blockworks that he’s eyeing approval this year, <a href="https://x.com/JSeyff/status/1924886375347716466">possibly as soon as July</a>.&nbsp;



“We think the SEC may now focus on handling 19b-4 filings for Solana and staking ETFs earlier than planned. Issuers and industry participants likely have been working alongside the SEC and its crypto task force to hash out rules, but the final deadlines for the agency&#8217;s decisions on such applications aren&#8217;t until October,” Seyffart wrote in a note this week.



Crypto exchange-traded products are regulated funds that give investors exposure to the spot price of underlying crypto tokens. Numerous issuers are vying for Solana ETFs, including Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, Bitwise, Canary Capital, 21Shares and Grayscale.



The SEC, VanEck, Fidelity, and Bitwise declined to comment. Canary Capital, Grayscale, and Franklin Templeton didn’t immediately return requests for comment.



Grayscale, in a similar move to its bitcoin and ethereum ETFs, is looking to convert its SOL Trust into a spot ETF.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Last month, the SEC <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-grayscale-solana-etf">delayed a decision</a> on Grayscale’s Solana ETF, saying it hadn’t “reached any conclusions” on the 19b-4 filing to list the proposed spot ETF.&nbsp;



The regulator officially recognized Grayscale’s filing in February. That month, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart acknowledged the move as “significant” because the SEC had previously “refused” to acknowledge such filings.&nbsp;



“We are under the assumption that most, if not all [filings for crypto ETFs] will be approved this year, some possibly earlier than others,” he said at the time.



Seyffart noted that both the filings for Solana and XRP ETFs have derivatives-based ETFs already, which paves the way for spot approval.&nbsp;



“So I would just be absolutely and utterly stunned if the SEC does something to not allow a spot XRP or spot Solana ETF to launch,” he added.&nbsp;



In April, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said that they were boosting the chance of a SOL ETF to 90% from 70%.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Would love to hear directly from Atkins, but all good chance of happening. Here’s our latest odds of approval for all the dif spot ETFs via <a href="https://twitter.com/JSeyff?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JSeyff</a> <a href="https://t.co/nLhYJJmO9U">https://t.co/nLhYJJmO9U</a> <a href="https://t.co/4AcJVwhics">pic.twitter.com/4AcJVwhics</a>&mdash; Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1917444433282490606?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Forward Guidance’s Ben Strack <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-etf-sec-approval-timelines-july-october">previously reported</a> that the 240-day deadlines for the products are in October, meaning that the SEC must make a decision on them. However, Blockworks’ sources expressed optimism that the agency’s approval for the ETFs could come sooner.



In a move <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=solana+cme+blockworks&amp;sca_esv=87b41ab4477c98ab&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS1087US1087&amp;biw=1312&amp;bih=1167&amp;tbm=nws&amp;ei=hAFDaIfOKbOPur8PzqCeuQU&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiHoKvvht2NAxWzh-4BHU6QJ1cQ4dUDCA4&amp;uact=5&amp;oq=solana+cme+blockworks&amp;gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LW5ld3MiFXNvbGFuYSBjbWUgYmxvY2t3b3JrczIFECEYoAEyBRAhGKABSOAQUPwFWIgQcAB4AJABAJgBd6AB4AeqAQM4LjO4AQPIAQD4AQGYAgugAoEIwgIKEAAYgAQYQxiKBcICBRAAGIAEwgIGEAAYFhgewgILEAAYgAQYkQIYigXCAgUQIRirAsICBRAhGJ8FwgIHECEYoAEYCsICBBAhGAqYAwCIBgGSBwM4LjOgB45GsgcDOC4zuAeBCMIHBTAuOS4yyAcY&amp;sclient=gws-wiz-news">widely seen as positive</a> for potential SOL ETFs, CME launched SOL futures in February. It previously launched futures markets for both BTC and ETH prior to the ETF launches, a move that helped the SEC approve the products.&nbsp;&nbsp;



As a result, numerous SOL futures ETFs have <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sol-futures-etfs-to-launch">launched</a> — including two from Volatility Shares.



Updated 6/11 at 10:00 am ET with comment from 21Shares. 



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ETFs

SEC asks potential Solana ETF issuers to update S-1s: Sources

Kate Irwin

This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thedrop" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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There’s another card trading platform in the ring: Enter Drip Shop Live, aka Drip, which has a shopping site, a livestreaming-focused mobile app and plans for more crypto integrations.&nbsp;



Drip has just released Instant Packs, a new feature that gives anyone the ability to “open” physical cards online whenever they want, instead of during limited-time, limited-edition windows to buy from drops or live auctions. Instant Packs are intended to give the feeling of opening a physical card pack, and the physical cards are then shipped to buyers.



Packs can include cards from a range of IPs. You’ll see a lot of Pokémon on their site, but there’s also some Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, and Dragon Ball Z cards. There’s a category for sports cards, though there aren’t actually a lot of that type listed on the site yet.&nbsp;



On Drip, collectors can buy and sell unopened card packs, individual cards, collectors’ boxes, “slabs” or graded encased cards. It’s possible to pay with crypto or fiat currency.&nbsp;



For Instant Packs, the team (for now) is focusing on digitizing slabs, its most popular category.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcBy8tM0yu4tWQ1lm0lei5G2_GwMtgNEdm4WGP3t5cCZwSihpgHFHr27AENxrn7H1g9FyU6N_WCWOknGRfEGkl8jlt4ciYIIc0EXs9ZXurhbjz2vCtOYYmbc04SaaC9_yxCcqsIBQ?key=NUoV0zL-O9jcgjUyYj_R7w" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Screenshots I took while exploring Drip’s app on iOS.</figcaption></figure>



“We configure the packs using an algorithm that maps probabilities to each reveal. These reveals are 100% random based on the probabilities we map,” Drip CEO and cofounder Javaughn Lawrence told me in an email. “Users can also preview what’s in each pack by 1) looking at the collections in each pack 2) trying in demo mode.”



Drip has a mobile-first feel because their iOS and Android apps offer the livestreaming component. But their website isn’t bad, either.&nbsp;



While the site feels more like eBay, the mobile app is a lot like TikTok Live and TikTok’s shopping features. Both the Drip Android and iOS app versions have positive reviews overall (its Android version has over 100,000 downloads so far). There are about 40 sellers offering collectibles on the platform right now, Lawrence said.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdLYDRU9DFHYw6ixg3QrF2AGQD2jfw1-xMfpEd-G7SODRpFkOxnDUgiq0xuY3zwnN4kV_OHJhxvdXdVde0DU4P1j25WsrL0pEWcz_KXwbVPEEkZi2-MG1dng4hFSEKL3lfQZWHjsg?key=NUoV0zL-O9jcgjUyYj_R7w" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Drip on the web.</figcaption></figure>



The apps are designed to appeal to live streamers and the entire category of influencers who make videos about card collecting and pack-ripping more broadly, plus the collectors and fans who watch them (think creators like <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@pokedexter_">Pokedexter</a>, who I know from my Twitch-streaming and TikTok days).&nbsp;



While the packs and cards on the site aren’t NFTs or onchain right now, Lawrence shared that the Drip team is currently in talks with a few different blockchains, including L1s and L2s, to determine who to work with to explore that possibility. They’re doing a pilot with Ronin in a few weeks.



It’s also possible to open Instant Packs on desktop via a web browser. I did it via Drip’s demo, and they definitely try to give that ASMR card-opening experience with an emphasis on the shiny wrapper and that ripping sound.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXema3ZTh2ryc0q_CFj1Z19KhyyhIZLiygOkMPAj77Z2BteFI2cYUGLvkn6ZTptqxS7k8A3_2bS4fGi0igDpBaHUgqaRLp-MfrWTto1qEojGlvqBxGgfPbL9ea_Z4iZEHmOxG39eMA?key=NUoV0zL-O9jcgjUyYj_R7w" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Screenshot from a pack-pulling demo on browser (I did not actually get a card).</figcaption></figure>



Drip also has an in-shop synthetic currency called Driplets, which can be used to get giveaway entries on the app or other rewards. Lawrence said that while the currency isn’t a token right now, “this will be the beginning of our social token when we put that onchain.”



For now, Instant Packs are just for opening cards, but Drip could add a loot box-style opening experience for toys, sneakers, or even jewelry at some point in the future.



The app is a bet on the future importance of livestreaming to shopping and collector culture, for sure. That’s what makes it stand apart from Courtyard, which is mainly a slab-buying platform where buyers can choose whether to “vault” or redeem a card (the physical cards have onchain counterparts).



Courtyard, which uses Polygon, has continued to see substantial sales since a spike back in January. It’s netted over <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/courtyard">$53.7 million</a> in sales in the past month across over 459,000 transactions and more than 74,600 buyers.



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Drip Shop Live launches Instant Packs for trading cards

Macauley Peterson

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Ethereum’s 12-second block time has long been a sticking point for traders and dapps chasing the speed of high throughput chains like Solana or the UX of centralized exchanges. But a new system called TOOL (Trustless Orderflow Operations Layer) is aiming to change that, and do it without changing Ethereum itself.



Billed as a “middleware” solution, TOOL slices each 12-second Ethereum block into 12 one-second mini-rounds, each with a sealed-bid auction for transaction execution. This approach promises sub-second trade confirmations on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum Mainnet</a> — not <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/rollups">rollups</a> or sidechains — and without changes to the protocol.



The TOOL team <a href="https://docs.nuconstruct.xyz/s/212d8a9e-66f5-41cf-bfb8-dff38edd691f">says</a> the system is designed to process order flow off-chain to offer faster and cheaper execution — without compromising Ethereum’s mainnet security or decentralization.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How it works</h2>



At the core of TOOL is a network of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) — secure hardware enclaves used to process order flow privately. When you submit a transaction through a TOOL-connected RPC, it enters a sealed auction where searchers compete to include your trade. If your transaction wins, you receive a one-second execution commitment, even before the transaction hits the chain.



“We enforce transaction privacy and transaction processing rules with TEEs,” pseudonymous founder of TOOL developer nuConstruct, <a href="https://x.com/0x9212ce55?">0xprincess</a>, told Blockworks. They added that “we keep the network live by opening it to all participants that are naturally incentivized to support it: Arbitrage searchers, Solvers, RPC providers, DEX traders and so on.”



TOOL does not rely on slashing or staking to enforce behavior, like an <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/eigenlayer">EigenLayer</a> or <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/symbiotic">Symbiotic</a> AVS would. The reasoning, per the team:&nbsp;



“Attackers’ profit and users&#8217; loss for [privacy or fair sequencing] attacks cannot be estimated, and so, it cannot be enforced by slashing any meaningful amount of collateral.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What to expect</h2>



Some may be wary that TOOL places significant trust in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/0xresearch-newsletter-mev-trusted-execution-environments">proprietary TEEs</a>. If a vulnerability leaks enclave data, the guarantees around privacy and fair ordering could vanish. However, it&#8217;s important to note that nuConstruct uses Intel TDX (Trust Domain Extensions), not the older SGX. TDX offers stronger security guarantees and isolation, which mitigates some of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/secret-network-crypto-transactions-not-so-secret-after-all">risks associated with SGX</a>.



In the unlikely event of a hardware compromise — which would require both a zero-day vulnerability and physical access to the TEEs — the team believes its system would remain resilient. TOOL&#8217;s permissionless and self-adapting p2p nature, combined with proactive defense mechanisms, ensures that the network can continue to protect user transactions, according to 0xprincess.



The team also argues that additional economic mechanisms like slashing wouldn’t help here anyway — and would just gatekeep new participants.



There’s also the question of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/measuring-decentralization-is-your-crypto-decentralized">decentralization</a>: TEEs are mostly hosted on centralized cloud providers today. And TOOL’s fast confirmations only work when validators opt in.



But the team says TOOL is still better than alternatives on this score, and was built “with Ethereum&#8217;s first principles in mind.”



“TOOL aims to be censorship resistant and to have unmatched liveness properties due to being a fully permissionless peer-to-peer network,” 0xprincess said.



And for users — wallets and dapps — the UX lift is minimal: “Opting into TOOL is only a matter of changing an RPC endpoint,” they said.



It may be even more censorship resistant that the existing Ethereum roadmap’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ethereum-is-not-under-attack-understanding-mev-boost-relays">Proposer-Builder Separation</a> (PBS), 0xprincess notes: “In the current PBS design, transactions are [gatekept] by Builders and Relays, and if a validator wants to receive high value blocks it has no choice but to receive blocks from those parties.”



Instead, TOOL is positioned as an alternative or successor to Flashbots’ popular <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/flashbots-block-building-network-mev">MEV-boost</a>. Its first product is a &#8220;Searcher Network&#8221; MVP, a decentralized network of searchers who compete to find and submit the most profitable MEV opportunities.



NuConstruct has raised $6 million from seed investors, led by <a href="https://blockworks.co/podcast/empire/6cc9a6fa-dfcb-11ee-a5dd-4f9a9a4a49ad">Cyber Fund</a> and including Maven11, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/dcg">DCG</a>, Greenfield Capital and Eden Block.



Success hinges on “quickly achieving 50%+ pre-commitment rate on the validator side and aggregating 80+% private order flow in the space in the course of the next three months.”



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TOOL promises 1-second execution on Ethereum without rollups

This is a segment from the Supply Shock newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Let’s say a “generation” is about 30 years. In that case, Bitcoin has just entered the second half of its first one.



Whether Bitcoin is on track to ubiquity faster than electricity really depends on your mental model of Bitcoin itself.



There’s no question that bitcoin is money. But anecdotally, few people want to spend it, lest they risk missing out on monumental future fortunes.



Of course, it wasn’t always this way. In February 2012 — almost two years after <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-pizza-day-price-record-billion">Laszlo’s pizzas</a> — a fertility doctor named C. Terence Lee set about a personal and professional quest to onboard his patients to Bitcoin by accepting BTC for his services. He started with a “Bitcoin accepted here” sign in his window, and then a Reddit post.



“Jumping in to do my part to support the BTC economy. This may be a historic first?” Lee wrote in a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130617014247/https://www.reddit.com/r/BitMarket/comments/pzczn/wtsusa_male_fertility_evaluation/">post</a> on the BitMarket subreddit, titled: “[WTS][USA] Male Fertility Evaluation.”



Lee was offering a 15-minute consultation to discuss fertility questions and a sperm analysis in exchange for 15 BTC, valued at $70 or so at the time. “Actual value over $100,” he wrote.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfaOkew5xucTzm3Hi_0dB_0oG0_WXjiTps_iZctywl_BxccmvOPOvQ9O1KbIAOgI8q8b5pv8QK0AcRT0t4V_jrl4RL6zFplNbZj1I4OBMAZxEMZH7jfTvVf1eIUdYeLE0OCyCBW?key=ke2Vj3Y57wrz-FJ9GrG0Nw" alt="" style="width:692px;height:auto"/></figure>



Within three months, he’d found a Bitcoin customer.&nbsp;



“The patient turned out not&#8230;so much having a burning desire to know about his fertility, but he was a Bitcoin enthusiast, and he liked the idea of participating in history, in this ritual ceremony of what could be perhaps the world&#8217;s first Bitcoin medical transaction,” Lee <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4Mqm9F0V30">explained</a> at a 2013 conference in San Jose.



“So we chatted about Bitcoin. He taught me a lot about mining. That&#8217;s how he acquired bitcoin. And we did a sperm test, and it turned out he had really good sperm…after it was done he sent me 15 bitcoins… “



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bitcoin 2013 conference - C Terence Lee, MD - A Physicians Experiences with Bitcoin" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/E4Mqm9F0V30?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



From there, Lee experimented with various ways to attract customers to pay with bitcoin. He’d ask them directly if they’d heard of it, which produced mixed results.&nbsp;



“In some cases, when I brought up Bitcoin they stopped, and they looked at me like I was a telemarketer or used car salesman,” Lee said. “In some cases, when I explained the best that I could about what Bitcoin was, they even started reacting with suspicion or disapproval — as if I had suggested that I wanted to be paid in vials of crack cocaine or something like that.”



Lee changed up his strategy to only quiz his most trusted patients. There was one couple, who, on their fourth attempt at IVF, agreed to pay in bitcoin for a 50% discount, with Lee walking them through exchanging US dollars for bitcoin via CryptoXChange, a now-defunct exchange operating out of Australia.



The sperm stuck, leading <a href="https://money.cnn.com/2013/06/10/technology/innovation/bitcoin-baby/index.html">CNN to reveal</a>, on this day in 2013, “the world’s first Bitcoin baby” — a baby bought entirely with bitcoin. Thirty bitcoin to be exact, an amount then worth $500, or $3 million today.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfPGZcWLgvjBE_d3Y58OJz70P8WhnKhbNzlHG8MZtN2yhxKRgPQM3cj6n_oHfzRWeHTIOJELRalaAJYyL2enL2dLZQMWJRCWL-dgNZxuVORlvXTix8x9atkoMJjGfcMa9goJgt5WQ?key=ke2Vj3Y57wrz-FJ9GrG0Nw" alt="" style="width:642px;height:auto"/></figure>



Lee said in his presentation that multiple other patients paid in bitcoin following that milestone, resulting in more Bitcoin babies. We’ve reached out to his practice for more info about how it’s gone since then.



Still, with the way Bitcoin’s narratives have played out, it’s almost as if the efforts of early adopters like Lee worked too well, too quickly.&nbsp;



Using bitcoin as money today just isn’t as relevant to the uninitiated as buying and HODLing it. (Interestingly, the term “HODL” would be <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375643.0">coined</a> only six months following the announcement of the first Bitcoin baby.)



It’s not impossible for Bitcoin to go full circle and return to its money proposition once more. When it’s done with price discovery, perhaps, in another few generations.



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The first Bitcoin baby: how a fertility doctor encouraged early adoption

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Plasma received $500 million in stablecoin deposits rather quickly yesterday, shocking some and affirming that the token sales appetite is back in full force.&nbsp;



But let me back up for a second. Plasma, which <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/02/13/exclusive-stablecoin-company-plasma-raises-24-million-from-framework-to-launch-its-own-blockchain/">raised</a> $24 million from the likes of Framework Ventures, is gearing up for a sale of its XPL token. Plasma team member Googly was careful to clarify that the sale hasn’t yet happened.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Just to be very clear here. The sale has not yet happened. Size will never change: it will be $50m, full stop. There was $500m deposits (initial $250m, raised at $500m to allow more people in) to get points giving you the option, not the obligation to participate in the sale.&mdash; Googly 👀 (@0xG00gly) <a href="https://twitter.com/0xG00gly/status/1932068878718468485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Ahead of the deposits, Blockworks Research penned a subscriber-exclusive <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/flashnotes/xpl-deposit-and-public-sale">note</a> from analyst and 0xResearch podcast host Boccaccio, which dropped before the deposits even went live. If you didn’t already know, Plasma is a stablecoin company building a Tether-focused blockchain.



“We expect Plasma to allow 3-4 rounds of deposits over the deposit phase, with the total deposit reaching $1.5B to $1.75B. At this level, if Plasma launched at $2B TGE, APR on deposits would range between 35-50% if the lock up was for 3 months, and range between 25-40% if the lock up was for 4 months,” Boccaccio wrote yesterday.



His tone in the piece was cautious yet optimistic, he noted that there are “uncertainties” but also told me that he likes Plasma “overall.”



“They are purpose-built and focused on stablecoins, particularly payments, with their zero-fees on payments model. There are a few other stablecoin chains launching, some similarly backed by Tether/Bitfinex/Paolo [Ardoino]. At this point, it&#8217;s really a product, [business development] and [go-to-market] competition between these chains,” he said.



For me, Plasma also served as an example that pump[dot]fun’s targeted $4 billion valuation through its $1 billion raise — a story <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/pumpdotfun-token-sale">Lightspeed’s Jack Kubinec and I broke last week</a> — will have a lot of appetite despite how upset people were on X.&nbsp;



“Pump would not have looked to raise 1B if they didn&#8217;t think they could fill it. I think Pump will fill quickly, and it&#8217;ll get some [of] the ‘it&#8217;s extractive’ people off its back. People want exposure more than they want to philosophize about morality, and this should give them the opportunity to do so,” Boccaccio said.&nbsp;



But Plasma has some big shoes to fill. The stablecoin space is heating up, as we’ve written about <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/stablecoin-rise-businesses-b2b-transactions">multiple times here on Empire</a>. However, I am curious if Plasma can make a meaningful impact on the space, and perhaps compete with something like Tron.&nbsp;



“It is very difficult to take on Tron. They have probably the biggest moat within crypto at the moment, apart from Tether themselves,” Boccaccio noted. “The chain has been getting more expensive, particularly for payments, but any competitor needs to be very boots-on-the-ground in markets where Tron dominates and build strong contracts and relationships. It will be difficult to get people to switch over.”



The appetite is there, sure, but — as Boccaccio noted yesterday — the chain launch is going to be a very important component here because it creates a “substantial opportunity cost.” So keep an eye on Plasma’s timeline.&nbsp;



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blockchain

What Plasma’s deposits say about overall demand

Jeff Albus

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



Validator clients are the software that nodes run to participate in consensus and maintain the network. They <a href="https://blockworks.co/analytics/solana/solana-supply-staking-and-validators/solana-validator-clients">validate and vote</a> on blocks, process transactions, and generally just keep the network alive, handling both consensus and execution in a single piece of software.



Historically, Solana&#8217;s entire ecosystem has relied on one implementation, a Rust-based client developed by Solana Labs, and now maintained by Anza under the name Agave. Today, however, the vast majority of stake (90%+) runs on Jito-Solana, a fork of the Agave client with added MEV infrastructure.



The centralization of that effort is a problem, though. If Jito-Solana were to fail, the network risks performance issues or even a chain halt.



Jump Crypto&#8217;s Firedancer is the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/lightspeed-newsletter-solana-firedancer-testnet">leading contender</a> meant to break that monoculture, and it gets a heck of a lot of lip service in our community. This is not without good reason, of course. Once it&#8217;s live, it&#8217;ll be modular, wicked fast, and capable of handling over a million transactions per second.



But firepower aside, it&#8217;s hardly Solana&#8217;s only client in development. In fact, multiple teams are working on their own clients, with some already live and potentially capable of matching or even outmaneuvering Firedancer&#8217;s ambitions.



Let&#8217;s take a look at a few and compare.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Jito-Solana was an <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/solana-validators-mev-concerns">early breakaway</a> from Agave and is now the dominant client by stake weight. It&#8217;s not a ground-up rewrite but a fork of the original client with an MEV infrastructure. Jito introduced a bundle auction system that lets validators capture MEV more transparently, and share those rewards with stakers, not just slot leaders. By proving that validators would adopt client software offering new incentives, Jito opened the door for more experimentation and design specialization.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Sig is Syndica&#8217;s <a href="https://blog.syndica.io/introducing-sig-by-syndica-an-rps-focused-solana-validator-client-written-in-zig/">answer</a> to Solana&#8217;s performance ceiling. Where Firedancer pushes raw throughput for validators, Sig targets read operations. It&#8217;s written in Zig, a language focused on readability and memory control, and nearly all dapp interactions involve reading data rather than writing it. Sig overhauls the architecture to prioritize reads per second (RPS), resulting in dramatic speed gains for light clients, dapps and anyone syncing with the chain. It also has a more accessible codebase for contributors who find Rust daunting.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Paladin is a lightweight fork of Jito-Solana. Like Jito, it originated as a modified version of the original client and claims to <a href="https://buffalu.substack.com/p/understanding-paladin-an-analysis">add new logic</a> to handle MEV more transparently. Its core innovation is the P3 port, a protected lane for token-gated transactions intended to prevent sandwich attacks and curb extractive behavior. While Paladin promotes fairness and aims to redistribute MEV to stakers, it’s also faced <a href="https://buffalu.substack.com/p/understanding-paladin-an-analysis">criticism</a> for introducing fragmentation and reducing validator earnings. When reached for comment, Paladin core contributor Edgar Pavlovsky disputed data showing Paladin validators earn less. He argued that if anything, Paladin is less fragmenting than Jito, which adds extra steps to the transaction process via its block engine and bundler.</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>TinyDancer is something else entirely. It is Solana&#8217;s first <a href="https://docs.tinydancer.io">open-source light client</a>, offering trust-minimized mobile access. The client supports SPV-style verification, data availability sampling and even fraud proofs, all designed to let users confirm network integrity without relying on third-party RPCs.</li>
</ul>



These clients each approach the problem from different angles. Alone, they&#8217;re targeted solutions to narrow problems, but together, they make Solana stronger, safer and more decentralized. Though most are still in development or early adoption, they reflect a maturing ecosystem where no single team defines our path forward.



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Inside Solana’s expanding client stack

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forwardguidance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Representatives from the US and China kicked off a second round of trade talks in London today at 1 p.m. local time. National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told CNBC this morning it should be a “short meeting with a big strong handshake.”&nbsp;



Here’s hoping.&nbsp;



President Trump sent his top dogs: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade representative Jamieson Greer.&nbsp;



China’s delegation includes vice premier He Lifeng.&nbsp;



It’s the second US-China meeting on neutral ground in less than a month. Roughly three weeks ago in Geneva, representatives from both countries negotiated a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/05/joint-statement-on-u-s-china-economic-and-trade-meeting-in-geneva/">temporary truce</a>: a 90-day pause on retaliatory tariffs from both sides.&nbsp;



The amicability was short-lived, though, and it quickly became clear that the joint pause came with strings attached.&nbsp;



On May 30, Trump (via Truth Social) accused China of violating its half of the agreement. Greer later clarified on CNBC that China was “slow rolling” its compliance to the Geneva deal, specifically when it came to rolling back rare earth export restrictions.&nbsp;



Since April 4 (two days after “Liberation Day”), China has suspended almost all exports of several rare earth metals and magnets. This matters, because China mines 60% of the global supply of rare earths and manufactures 90% of the global supply of the magnets. Rare earth elements are essential for technology; they’re in cell phones, cars, lights, batteries, you name it.&nbsp;



The restrictions are poised to disrupt US supply chains, because the US doesn’t currently have much infrastructure to mine the metals domestically. Solvent extraction (the difficult process of separating rare earth minerals from one another) comes with bad impacts on the environment: high levels of toxic waste, water pollution, etc. The process was actually created in the US in the 1950s, but it’s expensive and unpopular in the States.&nbsp;



China said it implemented the export restrictions because rare earths have significant military applications. Trump and his administration have countered that China was actually retaliating against higher tariffs.&nbsp;



China became less inclined to back off on the rare earth restrictions after the United States’ escalation of its AI chip export restrictions, according to a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/china/u-s-china-trade-truce-risks-falling-apart-over-rare-earth-exports-c36ceb72?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAgx-dmss5tBM6B9oiloLup2S4TUVaOOxisMxNN4LIPyu5Jhtb3qo9Dyc0SeZ0s%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68408745&amp;gaa_sig=ElhNWTewNk-fEkX0uGYrpopTvdHdVcjfye_u_YZAS_2Eep0hO9VkdAEPfwPXlpoaqJj5byON7dRy11laI_hGRw%3D%3D">report</a> from the WSJ. Trump’s crackdown on Chinese student visas surely didn’t help calm the waters, either.&nbsp;



Over the weekend, though, things started looking up. China on Saturday loosened some of its export restrictions, although it did not specify which countries were impacted.&nbsp;



Trump on Friday said he expected today’s London meeting to go “very well,” based on a phone call he had with Xi Jinping.&nbsp;



The meeting also comes after a Chinese <a href="http://www.customs.gov.cn/customs/302249/zfxxgk/2799825/302274/302275/6560408/index.html">report</a> released this morning showed that Chinese exports to the US were down 35% year over year last month. This is the largest annual decline since 2020.&nbsp;&nbsp;



US markets were mostly muted Monday as investors waited for word from London. The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were up 0.3% and 0.5% over the day, respectively, at 2 p.m. ET.&nbsp;



Given the general lack of progress (publicly, at least) on the “90 deals in 90 days” front, even the smallest bit of positive news from London today could be a huge catalyst for markets. Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow for all the updates.



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US and China reps meet on neutral ground for a second time

This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thedrop" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Coinbase is taking action to reduce the number of users it’s locking out — and says its efforts are paying off.



“Account freezing has been a major issue at Coinbase for longer than is acceptable,” Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong <a href="https://x.com/brian_armstrong/status/1931079537686962401">said</a>. “I could list a bunch of the underlying reasons why it got so bad in the first place, but what&#8217;s more important is that we&#8217;ve made it a priority to fix, and we have been making good progress.”



Dor Levi, Coinbase VP of Product, <a href="https://x.com/dorvonlevi/status/1931042048116945247">explained</a> that he joined Coinbase recently with the goal of getting account-lock numbers down.



“Our restriction experience is not meeting my own bar,” Levi said.



Coinbase recently made some technical changes and improvements, including some to its infrastructure, teams, and machine learning models. They’ve been able to fine-tune said ML models to tackle the issue.



“Account freezes should be rare, limited to situations that warrant them, primarily when we&#8217;re legally obligated (e.g. sanctions or court orders) or protecting users (e.g. from scams or account compromises),” Levi wrote.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">I joined <a href="https://twitter.com/coinbase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@coinbase</a> 9 weeks ago with a vital goal: fixing unnecessary account restrictions. If you&#39;re on CT, you know how significant this issue has been for users. I myself am a Coinbase user and our restriction experience is not meeting my own bar. The goal is clear: Account… <a href="https://t.co/zvGuM3QSZi">pic.twitter.com/zvGuM3QSZi</a>&mdash; Dor (@dorvonlevi) <a href="https://twitter.com/dorvonlevi/status/1931042048116945247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Both Armstrong and Levi confirmed that account-lock occurrences are down roughly 82% within the past few months.



Coinbase often restricts user accounts when it’s concerned about what it detects as potentially suspicious activity. This means any activity that could be in possible violation of any nation’s laws, including <a href="https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/other-topics/other/does-coinbase-freeze-accounts">fraud</a>. Locked accounts can result in customers being forced to jump through various ID verification hoops and spend time speaking with support to try to resolve the issue.



Coinbase’s <a href="https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/other-topics/other/does-coinbase-freeze-accounts">site</a> says it “sometimes” places restrictions on user accounts, but claims that only very rarely does it fully “freeze” customer funds.



This change within Coinbase is a step toward keeping more of its users happy, especially as it faces scrutiny following a customer support-related <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-breach-fallout-data-exposed">data breach</a>.



We’re still waiting to see how or whether Coinbase ups its customer data security practices post-breach.



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