Buttcoin

Katherine Ross

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"/>



Crossover’s officially expanding to the United States.&nbsp;



I spoke to CEO Brandon Mulvihill about the move, institutional interest, and the rise of over-the-counter (OTC) trading.&nbsp;



It’s probably already pretty obvious that this change is happening because of the shifting environment in the United States. Mulvihill told me it’s the perfect time for the team to enter the US markets — because it’s obviously a more favorable regulatory environment, but also because it looks like institutional interest is really picking up.&nbsp;



“Almost the day after the election, the US institutions were calling us immediately,” he told me. Mulvihill and his other cofounders started their careers in TradFi, so they’re pretty familiar with both crypto and the more, well, traditional side of finance.&nbsp;



And, with CrossX — its electronic communications network — Crossover does stand out as over-the-counter (OTC) trading picks up in crypto.&nbsp;



“One of the big drivers we see internationally is that people are getting out of — especially the crypto-native market makers and…quant hedge fund — they&#8217;re moving away from the on-exchange world into OTC trading, which should not be surprising, because if we look at the foreign exchange market, the same thing happened,” he said. Crossover is also the “largest OTC destination cleared by Hidden Road.”



He noted that even banks, which Mulvihill expects to be one of the “slowest financial institutions to the market” are already making headway, with the JPMorgan <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-17/jpmorgan-to-pilot-deposit-token-jpmd-on-coinbase-linked-public-blockchain?srnd=phx-crypto">announcement</a> about JPMD and stablecoin progress by the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/banking/crypto-stablecoin-big-banks-a841059e?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAhSMoPcmOmAKC-LFtF9vIAkvrsxT32tv3mKrYUR72SV9gSZBrgax_8_krstsXk%3D&amp;gaa_ts=6851c701&amp;gaa_sig=IHNDW_Km5xkDw3GBlDQ_9AXzhaafufpXBIoNHObggT2BXLuH_1mGRRUUdjMMz65KqL944JKxPRcn80kwkinL9w%3D%3D">likes of Bank of America</a>.



“They are all aggressively, from what we see, building out or finally finalizing battle plans,” he said, reiterating that he still thinks there’ll be a “little bit of time before [banks] come in.”



Add to that the regulatory changes on the horizon. Mulvihill told me that the Crossover team has offered comments on the market structure bill, which is still working its way through DC. He told me he’s heard that it could come between August to the end of the year, though he was cautious to actually predict a timeline.&nbsp;



But the bill itself “changes the game,” he said, calling it “the most positive thing that, I think, has happened in crypto since the ETFs were launched.”



“As a result, what we&#8217;re going to see are mainstream, blue-chip financial institutions coming in waves. I think we&#8217;re going to see M&amp;A explode. I think we&#8217;re going to see investment explode. I think you&#8217;re going to see a real explosion of new customers into the space as a result of this bill.”



And this just reiterates the market potential for Crossover.



“We just fundamentally don&#8217;t believe that the institutional market can grow orders of magnitude in its current market structure form,” Mulvihill noted. Instead, it’ll evolve from here. Just like crypto has pushed TradFi to evolve, which is perhaps why Crossover is striking while the iron is heating up and moving into the US.&nbsp;



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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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Empire Newsletter

Why Crossover is expanding into the US

Polemos, a leading Web3 gaming infrastructure platform dedicated to bridging the gap between traditional gaming and the decentralized future, today announced a new strategic partnership with The Sandbox. This collaboration signifies a major leap forward in expanding the reach and utility of Web3 gaming within the vibrant Asian market, with a focus on immersive metaverse experiences.



The alliance between Polemos and The Sandbox is set to unlock opportunities for gamers and creators across the region. By combining Polemos&#8217; robust platform for NFT utility and decentralized gaming ecosystems with The Sandbox&#8217;s deep expertise in metaverse development and its extensive network in the Asian gaming and creative industries, the partnership aims to accelerate the mainstream adoption of Web3 technologies. Currently, Polemos is preparing for its highly anticipated Token Generation Event (TGE), slated for June 23rd, 2025, hosted by Kommunitas.



The Sandbox, a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, is a decentralized virtual world that has become a cornerstone of the open metaverse, enabling players to create, own, and monetize their gaming experiences. The Sandbox, specifically, focuses on cultivating this innovative ecosystem within the dynamic Asian market, fostering local talent, and onboarding prominent regional IPs and brands into the metaverse. This focus aligns with Polemos&#8217; mission to onboard users into Web3 with seamless, intuitive tools and experiences.



&#8220;We are incredibly excited to partner with The Sandbox (SEA), a true pioneer in shaping the metaverse landscape, especially within such a crucial and rapidly evolving market,&#8221; said Carl Wilgenbus, CEO of Polemos. &#8220;This represents a big step in our journey to expand Web3 gaming. The Sandbox commitment to fostering a vibrant creator economy and their deep understanding of regional nuances will be instrumental in expanding our reach and delivering truly engaging experiences to a broader audience. As we approach our TGE, this collaboration underscores the significant traction and potential of the Polemos ecosystem.&#8221;



Polemos provides a comprehensive suite of tools that simplify engagement with blockchain games including the ability to seamlessly trade, buy, sell, and even rent NFTs and other assets. Furthermore, Polemos&#8217; unique scholarship program empowers aspiring gamers, offering them the tools and support needed to grow, play, and earn more effectively within the Web3 gaming paradigm. These features will offer tangible benefits and expanded opportunities for participants within The Sandbox metaverse.



&#8220;Our mission at The Sandbox is to empower creators and users to build and own their digital experiences within the metaverse,&#8221; said Cris D. Tran &#8211; Regional General Manager Web3 (SEA) &#8211; The Sandbox. &#8220;Partnering with Polemos, a platform that shares our vision for accessibility and utility in Web3 gaming, allows us to further enhance the value proposition for our community. Their expertise in asset management, frictionless onboarding, and player empowerment will unlock new dimensions of creativity and earning potential for users in The Sandbox, especially across Asia.&#8221;



This strategic alliance underscores Polemos&#8217; commitment to accelerating Web3 adoption globally, with a particular emphasis on high-growth regions like Asia. The upcoming $PLMS Token Generation Event on June 23rd, 2025, will further empower the Polemos ecosystem, providing a foundational utility token that drives participation, governance, and economic activity within the platform and its burgeoning partnerships.



About Polemos: Polemos is a leading Web3 gaming infrastructure platform, enabling seamless player onboarding, asset management, and engagement across blockchain games. Through strategic partnerships and innovative technologies, Polemos bridges Web2 and Web3 gaming, creating a frictionless experience for players. The platform focuses on creating awareness by educating mainstream Web2 players about the opportunities and value within Web3 games and blockchain technology, simplifying access by breaking down blockchain complexities, and enhancing engagement by building innovative tools and features that enrich gameplay, deepen player interactions, and empower gaming communities.



About The Sandbox: A subsidiary of Animoca Brands, The Sandbox is a leading decentralized virtual world that empowers players, creators, and artists to create, own, and monetize their experiences using NFTs and its utility token $SAND. The Sandbox specifically focuses on fostering the growth of the open metaverse across the Asian continent, collaborating with regional brands, intellectual properties, and creators to build a vibrant and diverse digital landscape.



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Website: <a href="https://forge.polemos.io/">forge.polemos.io</a></li>



<li>X: <a href="https://x.com/Polemos_io">Polemos_io</a></li>
</ul>



This content is sponsored and does not serve as an endorsement by Blockworks. The veracity of this content has not been verified and should not serve as financial advice. We encourage readers to conduct their own research before making financial decisions.



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Polemos forges strategic partnership with The Sandbox leading up to $PLMS TGE

Byron Gilliam

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/brand/the-breakdown">subscribe</a>.



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<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“The bad cars tend to drive out the good.”



— George Akerlof
</blockquote>



In his 1970 paper “The Market for Lemons,” economist George Akerlof explained what happens when sellers have more information than buyers.



In the market for used cars, for example, the odds you’ll get a lemon are disproportionately high due to an “asymmetry in available information.”



Because buyers can’t tell good cars from bad ones, they end up trading at the same price — a price that’s too low for a good car and too high for a bad one.



Owners of bad cars, knowing what they have, are therefore incentivized to sell (usually to buyers who can only guess what they’re buying.)&nbsp;



This floods the market with lemons.



“Gresham’s law has made a modified reappearance,” Akerlof warned. “For most cars traded will be the ‘lemons,’ and good cars might not trade at all.”



The result is lower quality for buyers and a market that slowly eats itself.



“It is quite possible,” Akerlof wrote, “to have the bad driving out the not-so-bad driving out the medium driving out the not-so-good driving out the good in such a sequence of events that no market exists at all.”



This may be where crypto is heading, too: “ Liquid token investors are concerned that tokens are becoming a lemon market,” Felipe Montealegre told the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGtLIf_UW9U">Empire podcast</a> this morning.



That might seem surprising, given that blockchains are inherently transparent, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing for crypto projects to disclose.



One argument against regulating tokens has always been that there’s nothing to regulate; regulation is primarily about disclosure and in crypto, everything you’d need to know about a fully decentralized project is theoretically disclosed onchain.



But few projects are fully decentralized.



For all the rest, highly price-relevant details like lock-ups, market-making deals and OTC transactions remain opaque.&nbsp;



Even the most basic things like how much revenue a project earns or how many tokens exist are often difficult to determine.



The primary sellers of any given token — typically the token’s creators — know all these things, of course. That asymmetric informational advantage may be turning crypto into a market for lemons.&nbsp;



But perhaps not for long!



This morning, Blockworks launched a “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/token-transparency-framework">Token Transparency Framework</a>” that will encourage token projects to eliminate the informational advantage crypto sellers have over buyers simply by telling buyers everything they need to know.



This is the premise of all securities regulation.



US regulators like to say that their goal is to protect investors, but their job is simply to inform them.



It may be the most important job in markets.



Before the SEC was created in 1934, investors had so little information about companies and the equities they issued that most didn’t bother with the stock market. They bought bonds instead, knowing at least that companies were legally bound to pay them back.



Those who did try their luck in the stock market spent most of their time attempting to second guess what a company’s insiders might do next — because the insiders were the only ones that knew anything.



The introduction of securities regulation and insider trading laws was an attempt to correct this by creating at least a perception of fairness that would encourage broader participation in stock markets.&nbsp;



Forward-thinking companies and exchanges welcomed their regulators, knowing that if people didn’t think the investing game was fair, few people would play it.



(Just visit any schoolyard playground to see how long an unfair game will last.)



But investing is more than a game, of course, so the stakes were much higher.



“If capitalism is to be maintained,” NYSE President Emil Schram told <a href="https://time.com/archive/6804272/wall-street-every-man-a-capitalist/">Time Magazine</a> in 1941, “the Stock Exchange has to be accepted by the public, a place where we can raise the capital we need. We have to get people out of the idea that the exchange is just a big gambling den.”



It seems to have worked: An estimated <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/1711/stock-market.aspx">62% of US adults</a> now own equities, vs. <a href="https://www.sechistorical.org/collection/papers/1940/1940_1001_DistributionOwnership_1.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com">less than 3%</a> in the 1930s.&nbsp;



With luck, Blockworks’ transparency framework could do something similar for crypto.



<a href="https://x.com/smyyguy">Dan Smith</a> describes the framework he helped create as a “crypto-native S1,” referencing the exhaustive IPO filing in which the SEC compels companies to divulge every possible thing a prospective investor could possibly want to know.



And that is pretty much the SEC’s entire job.



Regulators don’t pass judgement on whether a stock offering is good or bad, only that a company is sharing enough information to allow investors to make that determination for themselves.&nbsp;



Blockworks’ transparency framework is an important step in the same direction.



To prevent crypto from becoming a market for lemons, buyers just need to know what sellers do.



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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/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>

The Breakdown Newsletter

Crypto doesn’t have to be a market for lemons

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>.



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This isn&#8217;t a promo piece. This is a totally normal weekly markets update that just so happens to include news of a <a href="https://blockworks.co/token-transparency">sweeping transparency initiative</a> that may reshape token due diligence forever, thanks to your friendly neighborhood content goblins at Blockworks.



Just so we&#8217;re all clear.



The week began with SOL in a minor rotation. We&#8217;re still off local highs, but prices <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/sol">remain</a> steady within the $140-$150 range. Bitcoin similarly <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">hodls</a> around $104k, reasonably unfazed by <a href="https://www.investors.com/news/strait-of-hormuz-oil-prices-iran-israel-conflict-stock-market/">geopolitical noise</a> out of the Strait of Hormuz.&nbsp;



Though, if we&#8217;re reading tea leaves, crypto will likely remain range-bound until there&#8217;s clearer direction from the Fed or a decisive break in macro volatility.



Kamino v2 is now three weeks old. According to <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/kamino-v2-a-new-growth-lever">a recent report</a> from Blockworks Research, it has pulled $230 million in new deposits, $90 million in fresh loans and turned looping PT-tokens into an institutional-grade yield strategy.



Jupiter volumes are cooling from memecoin fever highs but still <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/kamino-v2-a-new-growth-lever">dominate</a> Solana&#8217;s DEX flow. Margin markets are consolidating. Drift now commands ~$923 million in deposits and ~$230 million in borrows, with growing integration between perps and lending. MarginFi, sidelined by earlier exits, is stirring again.



Maple and Apollo markets are open for business, offering exposure to real-world private credit through syrupUSDC and sACRED. Multiply strategies remain <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/kamino-v2-a-new-growth-lever">dominant</a>, with SOL utilization north of 80% across major markets.



A problem that persists, though, is that when it comes to Solana&#8217;s most sophisticated DeFi strategies, so much of this activity remains difficult to track and trust. Underlying mechanics tend to be scattered across contracts, governance threads and backwater Discord channels.



Which brings us, in a very convincing segue, to Blockworks&#8217; new Token Transparency Framework.



Launching this week, the framework <a href="https://x.com/Blockworks_/status/1935321626788380714">introduces</a> an open-source standard for token project disclosures. It establishes 18 weighted criteria across four categories, including project purpose, revenue sources, equity-token relationship, token allocation and vesting schedules, related-party transactions, market-making agreements and more.



Each project is <a href="https://blockworks.co/token-transparency">scored out of 40</a> based on the completeness and materiality of its disclosures, with Blockworks acting as the first audit layer atop these self-reported filings.



Early adopters <a href="https://x.com/Blockworks_/status/1935321703154074041">include</a> Jito, Jupiter, Raydium, Morpho, Aerodrome and Stride, all of which have completed filings and received <a href="https://impressive-horses-5641a8b530.media.strapiapp.com/Jupiter_Token_Transparency_Framework_Q2_2025_6351fa32d7.pdf">published transparency scores</a>.&nbsp;



Transparency is a baseline for trust. As capital rotates between lending markets and perps platforms, protocols are leaning into increasingly complex primitives, from principal token loops and private credit vaults to structured auto-compounding strategies.



With macro still mostly in wait-and-see mode, eyes are back on core infrastructure: lending dynamics, staking derivatives and real volume durability. Expect protocols with clear risk frameworks and transparent capital flows to lead the next rotation.



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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/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>
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Blockworks Research

Macro volatility keeps Solana range-bound

Casey Wagner

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged for a fourth consecutive time. Federal Open Market Committee members still expect to issue two rate cuts this year, unchanged from their projections in March.&nbsp;



“No one holds these rate paths with a great deal of conviction,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during Wednesday afternoon’s press conference, cautioning the public to not read too closely into the so-called “<a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcprojtabl20250618.pdf">dot plot</a>.”&nbsp;



“We do this once a quarter. It&#8217;s a hard thing to do,” he added.&nbsp;



Central bankers now expect the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflationary gauge, to hit 3%, versus 2.7% in March.&nbsp;



Committee members anticipate unemployment to end the year at 4.5% versus 4.4% in March. Median expectations for gross domestic product dipped to 1.4% from 1.7% in March.&nbsp;



In terms of when those two interest rate cuts might come, Powell said it is “very, very hard to say when that will happen,” but he insisted that it will eventually happen.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“As long as the economy is solid, though, as long as we&#8217;re seeing the kind of labor market that we have and reasonably decent growth and inflation moving down, we feel like the right thing to do is to be where we are,” he added.&nbsp;



When asked whether he planned to stay on as a Fed Governor after his term as Chair ends in May 2026, Powell said he isn’t “thinking about that.”&nbsp;



“I’m thinking about this,” he said.&nbsp;



The comment comes after President Donald Trump earlier in the day expressed frustration with Powell and his decision to leave rates untouched so far this year.&nbsp;



“Europe had 10 cuts, and we had none,” Trump told reporters. “And I guess he’s a political guy, I don’t know. He’s a political guy who’s not a smart person, but he’s costing the country a fortune.”



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<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>



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Federal Reserve

Fed leaves rates unchanged, increases inflation projections

Ben Strack

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>.



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



As you’ve probably heard a thousand times: Tokenization is in its early stages.&nbsp;



But a new tidbit seems to confirm that the utility of onchain assets will continue to evolve.&nbsp;



As it stands now, stablecoins are “really the only [RWA]” that have gained substantial product-market fit, Ondo Finance CEO Nathan Allman recently told me. (My fuller Q&amp;A with Allman will hit<a href="http://blockworks.co/"> Blockworks.co</a> a bit later).&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-shares-nyse-day-one">Circle had its IPO</a> earlier this month and the Senate<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genius-stablecoin-act-passes-senate-vote"> passed the GENIUS Act</a> last night, both of which brought stablecoins further into the public eye.



While the promise of more widespread access to<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tokenized-rwa-segments-will-boom-next"> tokenized stocks, bonds</a> and other assets has not yet been fully realized, another tokenized RWA with growing traction is money market funds.&nbsp;



BlackRock got into that game with Securitize via the USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) launch in March 2024. Its assets under management stand at roughly $2.9 billion.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1213" height="492" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=1024&amp;h=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-104119" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=1213 1213w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-3.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1213px) 100vw, 1213px" /></figure>



Now, certain institutional clients using Crypto.com and Deribit can post BUIDL as collateral. The thought is enabling capital allocation flexibility while getting the relative price stability of tokenized Treasurys.



And the yield.



As Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo put it in a statement: “The fund is evolving from a yield-bearing token into a core component of crypto market infrastructure.&#8221;



Tokenized money market funds are not here to replace the ~$240 billion stablecoin market, industry watchers have noted.



Standard Chartered’s Waqar Chaudry<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tokenized-yield-funds-complement-stablecoins"> told me in March</a> that the two are “definitely complementary,” adding: “Many might prefer tokenized funds for collateral management.”



But while BlackRock’s Robbie Mitchnick sees tokenized yield funds as the predominant cash savings vehicle, he believes stablecoins “will retain their dominance” for payments and transactions. Deribit’s nearly $1.2 trillion in trading volume was one reason<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-deribit-deal-focus-derivatives"> </a>Coinbase <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-deribit-deal-focus-derivatives">agreed to buy</a> the company last month. 



We’ll see if and how today’s development contributes to accelerated tokenized yield fund adoption. And, of course, we’ll get back to you.



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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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BlackRock

BUIDL as collateral? Another step in the tokenization story

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>.



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



Crypto “L3” chain B3 has acquired PC builder Andromeda Insights and is releasing the <a href="https://shop.b3.fun/products/b3pc-crypto-gaming-pc-military-grade-encryption-self-destruct-button-secure-hardware-wallet">B3PC</a>, a blue-lit prebuilt for gamers that’s got some crypto integrations plus a dedicated “Destroy” button.



B3 <a href="https://x.com/b3dotfun/status/1934997553864421439">says</a> it acquired Andromeda because the PC startup is already financially successful, reportedly making “millions” in annual revenue and seeing 1,000% annual growth without a marketing budget.&nbsp;



Released imagery of one example of the customizable PC shows seven preinstalled case fans, two T-Force RAM sticks, an RTX 5090 GPU and a unique case design.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfahANf5oO-FvdAbOSL8Rs4fuAI46D-6hxJHRfg0wLzzE72bP9AtfbIKKpEMwKMhtolHjeud-Oy1zXXu44sT3jqmg0_RP9Toa-SnCz50xU0QU9dXH9oiBRg8Hfzt6UqHjFWQ2s0ug?key=jQOFNMLzsMMe36c8MN0SWg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Side view of the B3PC.</figcaption></figure>



Each B3PC will also come with an integrated Trezor Safe 5 crypto hardware wallet and an attached NFT that signifies the desktop PC onchain.



One part of this build that B3 really wants you to know about are its two privacy-forward options for wiping its built-in SSD. You can purge it digitally (and reuse it) with the Secure Erase feature regardless of whether the PC has power. It looks like that’s what the “Delete” button is for.



Or, if you’re looking for a more severe option, you can “Self-Destruct” your machine’s memory by pressing and holding the “Destroy” button for 10 seconds. This scary red button has a protective cover, though, to prevent your cats or kids from purging your PC by accident.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcKbiUbU9-1bC5B_AI-rX8yGz76ExqPLZmEP2HrVHg5d0ztGQzVqGjemxGW-rd0bVN3EGKWx3mD-ucRxkzKOweK1L-GRlmDlKjeUZSHQW8tPCzTmyOrsWsjdgFbUXjebGG9yRwllg?key=jQOFNMLzsMMe36c8MN0SWg" alt=""/></figure>



The Self-Destruct mode essentially sends a high voltage to burn the PC’s NAND flash memory, according to B3’s website.



Besides that, there are some other features that may appeal to the privacy-conscious, as well as fans of “rugged” tech.&nbsp;



The B3PCs use AES encryption (alternatively, you can enable encryption on any existing Windows 11 PC by using Bitlocker).



When it comes to external temps, these PCs have been tested to handle environments anywhere from -55°C to 125°C (-67°F to 257°F). They also come with power surge protection to prevent short-circuits or electrostatic damage.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdU-Yedqzo73JqfbHBOhpG8UxVQqEi6SnQycx1FdipybjFwakefQzH7CAxgzvaypa2u9VbtT4finpiX8PxJTesKNHG2fzikMp2VFOX7H25gL-8VZS_yWJvgEuRJX1ZakXtJqhG65A?key=jQOFNMLzsMMe36c8MN0SWg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: B3PC’s scary red button.</figcaption></figure>



Preorder deposits are now open for $200 worth of fiat or any cryptocurrency, but the PCs aren’t expected to ship until early next year. If you pay in B3’s token, you’ll get a discount, though it’s unclear how much will be shaved off.&nbsp;



The exact cost of a B3PC will vary based on what’s added, but Andromeda typically charges anywhere from $1,400 to just under $5,000 per prebuilt (for reference, it’s easy to spend upwards of $2,000 on a decked-out gaming rig when building one yourself — and prebuilts tend to cost a bit more by default).



B3 — which was developed by ex-Coinbase staff — is solely focused on gaming. But the browser-based, vertical-format hypercasual games it offers right now through <a href="https://basement.fun/">Bsmnt</a> don’t require a PC at all, and definitely not one that costs thousands of dollars. Apparently, the PCs will come with some B3 games preloaded, which I’m not sure everyone will want (gamers generally dislike bloatware, and a lot of PC gamers dislike mobile-style games).



Gaming-related activity doesn’t seem to be happening at all on Base itself right now. The category currently makes up less than 0.1% of all transactions on the Ethereum L2, according to Blockworks Research data.



B3, however, is seeing some transactions. <a href="https://explorer.b3.fun/">Over 7.1 million</a> wallet addresses have interacted with the chain, which builds on the Base stack. B3 has seen over 119 million total transactions since it launched last year.



The B3 team hinted that the B3PC is its first hardware product, with more to come in the future.



The gaming PC market is expected to keep growing, but not spike massively, in coming years. Grandview Research estimates it was around $61.8 billion last year, and may grow to $129.9 billion by 2030.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdNGJQSS3rLf1Nz1Ia8OW3ADqKs8S86XyBOkN-U7MyrpsqjEu3zTvQAyIOzYZeL2iD1WidWQxRz9x_LtvNueEWvZivuE-Y053I1hSUZCOlbtnI0ZvXke8r3UCDHB5N4Y4vpFsaB7A?key=jQOFNMLzsMMe36c8MN0SWg" alt=""/></figure>



Mobile gaming, by contrast, is already double the size of the PC market for a variety of reasons, including easier accessibility and lower cost. It was believed to be a <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/mobile-games-market">$139 billion</a> market in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.2% in the next five years.



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Gaming

B3 acquires PC startup, unveils desktop with ‘Destroy’ button

Macauley Peterson

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



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On June 12, a massive outage originating in Google Cloud disrupted over 70 services globally, affecting platforms like OpenAI (ChatGPT suffered its longest outage to date), Cloudflare, Spotify, Discord, Snapchat, UPS, DoorDash and more. We often don’t appreciate how much critical infrastructure we’re now routing through opaque, centralized systems. And it’s not just a Web2 story. It’s also a DeFi one.



Before the likes of OpenAI were scrambling to reboot, another less publicized outage rippled through crypto: TRM Labs, a widely used blockchain compliance provider, went down on June 10 for nearly 12 hours after a Salesforce-related failure. If you were using TRM directly to screen transactions, your policy layer went offline.



If, on the other hand, you were using Predicate, you simply switched providers and kept running.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What is Predicate?</h2>



Predicate is building a programmable policy enforcement layer for DeFi. Think of it as an operating system for pre-transaction compliance. Its latest <a href="https://predicate.io/blog/risk-management-framework-for-institutional-liquidity-on-uniswap-v4">white paper</a>, co-published with <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/paxos">Paxos</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/uniswap">Uniswap</a>, outlines how hooks in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/uniswap-v4-goes-live">Uniswap v4</a> can now enforce asset-specific rules before swaps or liquidity deposits occur. That’s things like jurisdictional geofencing, market conduct constraints or investor accreditations, according to Predicate CEO Nikhil Raghuveera.



“You might have a pool that enforces different rules for different users that could be based on their IP [or] on accreditation or some other kind of entity status,” Raghuveera told Blockworks. “It could be literally anything.” That includes onchain or offchain data.



In the case of Paxos, whose USDL stablecoin is yield-bearing and rebasing, the situation is especially nuanced. US regulators may treat such an instrument as a money market fund, so Paxos International, which issues USDL from Abu Dhabi, must geofence US access. Using Predicate, the Paxos liquidity pool on Uniswap enforces a custom policy enforced via frontend IP gating or onchain attestations. A second hook wraps USDL into a non-rebasing token behind the scenes so it can interact with Uniswap’s accounting model. Thus, Paxos meets its regulatory constraints without compromising composability.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Part of the modular movement</h2>



When recalling the outage headaches, a highlight is Predicate’s fallback architecture. Compliance “verdicts” (e.g., “This wallet passes TRM’s screen”) are signed by off-chain operators and checked onchain via Uniswap hooks. If one provider like TRM fails, another — say, Elliptic or Crystal — can step in without changing the smart contracts.



This modularity mirrors trends in decentralized AI, where teams like <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/daily/issue/post_ffe9ae74-0750-4e9c-9475-0b45e2612965">Venice AI</a> use decentralized networks such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/daily/issue/post_9690fc34-cf42-4cb2-94fe-a7589dc910bc">Akash</a> to route around centralized GPU bottlenecks.



“Policy is critical infrastructure because policies determine whether a transaction can go through or not,” said Raghuveera. “You need a holistic set of different pieces in case something goes down.”



We’ve spent years making smart contracts composable. Predicate reminds us that policy must be composable too: resilient to upstream failures, upgradable without liquidity migration and adaptable to jurisdictional nuance.



Institutional DeFi won’t scale on a “one-size-fits-all KYC.” But programmable, source-agnostic compliance enforcement might just work…and still keep the cypherpunks happy.



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0xResearch Newsletter

Predicate, Paxos, and the policy layer

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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I subscribe to the multiverse theory.



So, drifting in an endless sea of cosmic baubles beyond the borders of our universe, is a world where Ross Ulbricht has more bitcoin than any other person on Earth.



Unfortunately, the following happened in our shared reality.



It was around this time in 2014 that the US government, through the Marshals Service, was preparing its first ever bitcoin auction: almost 30,000 BTC seized from the Silk Road master wallet.



The coins would’ve technically been worth around $18 million back then, the equivalent of nearly 20% of the average daily BTC trading volume, per <a href="https://data.bitcoinity.org/markets/volume/all?c=e&amp;t=b">Bitcoinity</a> data. Currently, they’d fetch $3.3 billion.



Ross was arrested eight months earlier and had been held at MDC Brooklyn as he awaited trial, which wouldn’t start for another half a year.



On this day, 11 years ago, the US Marshals goofed: The agency <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/bitcoin-auction">accidentally reply-alled</a> to an emailed question from a prospective buyer, revealing the names and/or email addresses of all 40 bidders on the auction list.



US Marshal auctions are meant to be anonymous, so it was clearly a SNAFU.&nbsp;



CoinDesk <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140621151239/https://www.coindesk.com/list-possible-silk-road-bitcoin-bidders-allegedly-leaked-us-marshals">identified</a> 17 individuals as a result of the incident — all executives from in and outside crypto — including Barry Silbert, Fred Ehrsam and Michael Moro. A USMS spokesperson quickly apologized.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXemZjGVOrcpshaofyezXvl9tIvz-CkLTKlna2foRtQK2NgOxe-k6rEGx97M80XaAllR0mt6XOKgsQlrQXFW4vS9NEpN8vlimLXmf_LKiKapOR5UYmVEr52-NxxZlzVB2nuYrM1_2g?key=6zkWL3W4GGEb-b_k0QyAmQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A copy of the email with names and emails redacted (<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/06/18/bitcoin-auction">source</a>).</figcaption></figure>



In the end, someone who wasn’t identified ended up <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/02/venture-capitalist-tim-draper-wins-bitcoin-auction/?_php=true&amp;_type=blogs&amp;_r=0">winning</a> the whole stash of coins: legendary VC Tim Draper, who paid about $19 million. Draper said he would use the coins as liquidity to back an institutional-grade Bitcoin exchange and financial services platform, Vaurum, which was later <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2014/11/12/tim-draper-backed-bitcoin-exchange-vaurum-rebrands-as-mirror">rebranded</a> to Mirror.



Mirror never made it out of its invite-only phase. After a series of pivots, the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161006203229/https://mirror.co/#section_welcomehttps://web.archive.org/web/20161006203229/https://mirror.co/#section_welcome">platform</a> quietly went <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181119010251/https://mirror.co/">defunct</a> in late 2018.



As for the rest of Ulbricht’s coins, authorities seized 144,336  BTC personally belonging to Ross shortly after his arrest.&nbsp;



Ross initially fought to block the sale of those coins but was unsuccessful, with the government <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/10/25/fbi-says-its-seized-20-million-in-bitcoins-from-ross-ulbricht-alleged-owner-of-silk-road/">making</a> only $48 million at auction. Their current value would be in excess of $15 billion.



A combined 120,045 BTC was later seized from two individuals who had hacked Silk Road’s operational wallets on separate occasions.



In that alternate universe, where Ross still controls all of Silk Road’s bitcoin as they were in 2013, and his personal stash, his total balance would be 294,045 BTC ($30.7 billion) — about half Strategy’s current BTC treasury.



If pooled into one address, it would be the largest bitcoin balance on the entire <a href="https://bitinfocharts.com/top-100-richest-bitcoin-addresses.html">network</a>. Of course, Ross could’ve done anything with those coins between then and now, in that other universe.



At least in this one, Ross still got his freedom.



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History

How Ross Ulbricht could’ve been the richest Bitcoiner on Earth

Dan Smith

Today, the crypto market operates without a single, standardized disclosure framework.&nbsp;



Because of this, the market is left without key information about token supply and vesting schedules, insider incentives, and basic financial data in a fast-moving environment. This information gap fuels mistrust and, ultimately, results in the misallocation of investor capital.&nbsp;



In an effort to close that gap, Blockworks is proud to release the <a href="http://blockworks.co/token-transparency">Token Transparency Framework</a>. Blockworks led this effort with our partners <a href="https://twitter.com/TheiaResearch">Felipe Montealegre</a> of Theia, <a href="https://twitter.com/0xLouisT">Louis Thomazeau</a> of L1D, and <a href="https://x.com/cosmo_jiang">Cosmo Jiang</a> of Pantera.



This framework provides token projects with the ability to communicate a basic set of information to the market.&nbsp;



Designed as a one-time filing, the Token Transparency Framework focuses on 18 criteria, including:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Supply schedules</li>



<li>Market maker and exchange listing agreements</li>



<li>Related party transactions</li>



<li>Revenue streams</li>



<li>The relationships between equity and token</li>



<li>Foundation token allocations</li>



<li>Offchain entity structures</li>



<li>Financial disclosures</li>
</ul>



More available information means the industry can accelerate toward optimized best practices. Beyond the token issuers themselves, key players in the market directly benefit from this effort:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Professional investors access streamlined due diligence processes.</li>



<li>Market makers gain a simplified method to evaluate counterparty risk.</li>



<li>Centralized exchanges can accelerate listing velocity via structured data and disclosure.&nbsp;</li>



<li>Retail participants receive otherwise obfuscated information.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



The Token Transparency Framework represents an opportunity to improve capital allocation in the industry by helping projects signal credibility, allow investors to better underwrite risk with standardized disclosure of information, and prevent bad actors from profiting off ambiguity.&nbsp;



Blockworks views a grassroots disclosure framework as complementary to SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce&#8217;s Safe Harbor 2.0 and SEC Chair Paul Atkins&#8217; views on DeFi. Effective self-regulation better positions the industry for future success.



To this end, the Blockworks team <a href="https://www.sec.gov/file/ctf-memo-jito-labs-blockworks-061325">met with the SEC</a> on June 13 to discuss the framework and solicit feedback.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Initial Cohort</h2>



The framework is now live with an initial cohort of project submissions, including Jito, Aerodrome, Raydium, Stride, Jupiter and Morpho. Completed submissions are publicly available on the Blockworks website, and we encourage other token projects to reach out and apply.&nbsp;



I have immense respect for all teams that participated in the initial round of disclosures. There is no precedent for transparency; these are the first movers that set a new bar.&nbsp;



The transparency scores of the initial cohort all exceed 35, showcasing high visibility into each project’s operations. This will serve as a credible signal in a field of noise that will show the market these players are long-term oriented.&nbsp;



We were excited to see this push previously inaccessible information to the market, especially in responses related to the relationship between token and equity, any advisory billings to the foundation, and market maker agreements.



To put the scores of the initial cohort into perspective, we independently scored four recently launched projects that we believe have taken advantage of the lack of disclosure in this industry. The transparency scores of the problem group range from 8 to 13 — a stark contrast to the initial cohort. Yet, each of these tokens was still listed on a centralized exchange.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1156" height="648" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png" alt="" class="wp-image-104070" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=1156 1156w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=466 466w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AD_4nXevWdudhbMvjnnbiJRb_QXwF0VWqicHS71v7sZqES6FTpiHkN738UI2JZWJtYqEzyr1bFNfuYF74WzWxxjf8yEv0aGPOAb_UEyY39M2Lb5hrBLSHWqC1FYiPMtsaybky1tQ5mn37g.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1156px) 100vw, 1156px" /></figure>



Note, these scores are just for comparative purposes, as we did not reach out to these teams for additional information outside of what is already publicly available.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Framework Details</h2>



The framework’s criteria are divided into four categories:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Project and Team</li>



<li>Token Supply and Allocation</li>



<li>Transactions &amp; Market Structure</li>



<li>Financial Disclosure</li>
</ul>



Investors gain visibility into the operations of businesses and limit the risk of manipulation and abuse through transparent disclosure of these criteria. Negative events across the market in recent months prove the need for a standardized transparency standard.



Each criterion is weighted 0–3 by materiality. Then, it is calculated and aggregated into a &#8220;transparency score&#8221; that reflects the project’s transparency.



Importantly, this score is not a quality assessment on the team or project. Rather, it is a measure of the project or team’s overall transparency.&nbsp;



The responses, scores, and the framework itself will all be open source and publicly available to access.



Blockworks calls on the community to provide feedback on the criteria, for projects to complete the framework, for exchanges to use the framework as a resource in the listings process, and for investors to leverage the framework for due diligence.&nbsp;



We view this as a working document subject to future improvements and iteration. For a deeper conversation, reach out at <a href="mailto:research@blockworks.co">research@blockworks.co</a>.



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

A new framework for token market transparency

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/brand/the-breakdown">subscribe</a>.



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The charters establishing the First and Second Banks of the United States both included a clever clause that limited the ability of those proto-central banks to print money: Every bill issued had to be hand-signed by either the president or cashier of the bank.&nbsp;



This wasn’t an attempt to impose restrictive monetary policy, however — it was more about a Jeffersonian fear of big banks and institutions too far removed from local control.



But the effect was the same: Both the First and Second banks issued less money than their presidents wanted them to, simply because they couldn’t sign bills fast enough.



“We could at once give to the Southern &amp; Western sections of the country two or three millions of sound &amp; useful circulating medium,” Nicolas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, lamented in 1827. “But to make two millions of five dollar notes, it would be necessary to sign my name 400,000 times, which…is wholly impracticable.”



Biddle found a workaround when he began issuing “bank drafts” — interbank checks which allowed one branch to draw on another&#8217;s reserves (necessary because bank notes issued in one region weren’t always accepted at full value in other regions).



The drafts proved effective — they allowed the bank to provide credit in regions short of currency without Biddle, the third president of the Second Bank of the United States, having to sign thousands of new bank notes.



But those drafts also helped make Biddle the last president of the Second Bank of the United States.



Biddle’s bank drafts were perceived as an abuse of power that allowed the Second Bank to operate far more like a modern central bank the Jeffersonians in Congress were willing to abide — part of what made the bank a “monster,” in President Andrew Jackson’s term.



The Second Bank of the United States closed in 1836 because Congress declined to renew its charter.



Another experiment in restricting the supply of money came in 1863 when the National Currency Act required all nationally chartered banks to back the banknotes they issued with Treasury bonds.



Thereafter, to put $1 of currency into circulation, banks were required to buy $0.90 of federal debt — the result being that, unlike today, banks couldn’t issue notes based simply on local lending demand.



Instead, they could only issue slightly more in currency than they took in from customers as deposits — typically in gold, silver or federally issued &#8220;greenbacks.&#8221;



In 1879, the US government tied its own monetary hands even further by declaring that US dollars would be convertible into a fixed amount of gold — effectively limiting the money supply to the amount of gold the government could credibly promise to redeem.



That may sound appealing in this age of runaway deficit spending.



But the gold standard wasn’t pleasant for the people who lived through it; the monetary discipline it imposed came at a grave cost when the growing US economy demanded more money than the system could supply.



This left the country prone to debilitating bouts of deflation.



William Jennings Bryan declared the gold standard a “crown of thorns” in 1896; in 1924, John Maynard Keynes called the gold standard a “barbarous relic”; and economic historians say the link to gold is largely to blame for the Great Depression.



In 1934, Franklin Roosevelt ended the convertibility of dollars into gold for US citizens and in 1971 Richard Nixon ended it for central banks.



They didn&#8217;t have to — to stay on the gold standard, the US could have raised interest rates, raised taxes and cut spending instead.&nbsp;



But that was unthinkable in 1934 and politically unfeasible in 1971, so we&#8217;ve had a fully fiat monetary system ever since — with dollars backed only by the &#8220;full faith and credit&#8221; of the US government.



It’s worked out better than most predicted — perhaps unsurprising in retrospect since allowing the supply of dollars to expand with the US economy has proven more sensible than constricting it based on how much gold can be dug up in South Africa.



As good as fiat has been for the US, though, we may now be approaching another 1971 moment.&nbsp;



It won’t be as abrupt: If the US hadn’t voluntarily abandoned the gold standard, the gold would have simply left the country and that would have been the end of it.&nbsp;



Today, the process is more of a slow burn — a gradual erosion of faith in the government’s credit.&nbsp;



To forestall it, the US may have to make some of the hard decisions it chose to avoid making in 1971 — to raise interest rates, raise taxes or lower spending.



But even in today’s fully fiat system, the question of who ultimately stands behind the dollar still matters.



Dollar bills are signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, not the chair of the Federal Reserve — because even though it says “Federal Reserve Note” in big letters at the top of each bill, they are liabilities of the government, not the Fed.



But with a “big, beautiful bill” set to add trillions to US debt, the Fed appears to be the last line of defense.&nbsp;



At this week’s FOMC meeting, the market will be looking for clues as to how willing the Fed is to sign off on the government’s runaway spending.



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Will the Fed sign off on runaway spending? 

As expected, the Senate passed the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/genius-act">GENIUS Act</a> with bipartisan support Tuesday evening. It’s the first stablecoin-focused bill to pass a chamber of Congress.&nbsp;



The bill passed in a 68-30 vote. 



The GENIUS Act “ensures American consumers and businesses can participate in the digital economy with confidence and security,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who co-sponsored the legislation, said ahead of Tuesday’s vote.&nbsp;



The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1582/text?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%22genius+act%22%7D">bill</a> requires stablecoin issuers to maintain fully-backed reserves of US dollars or “similarly liquid” government-issued assets, such as bonds. Issuers with more than $50 billion in issued tokens must complete annual audits.&nbsp;



The law also affords more authority to state regulators, which will be required to maintain regulatory frameworks that are “substantially similar” to those at the federal level. Issuers who exceed $10 billion in issuance must be overseen by federal regulators or apply for an exemption.&nbsp;



Not all members of the minority party are satisfied. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a longtime <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/newsroom/minority/on-senate-floor-warren-urges-colleagues-to-use-their-leverage-and-vote-no-on-genius-act-until-critical-issues-addressed">critic</a> of seemingly pro-crypto policy, called the legislation “flawed.”&nbsp;



“A bill that meaningfully strengthens oversight of the stablecoin market is worth enacting,” she said on the Senate floor last month. “A bill that turbocharges the stablecoin market, while facilitating the President’s corruption and undermining national security, financial stability, and consumer protection is worse than no bill at all.”



Other Democrats resigned that while the bill is not perfect, it is a step in the right direction.&nbsp;



“We weren’t able to include certainly everything we would have wanted, but it was a good bipartisan effort,” Democrat Angela Alsobrooks told reporters on Monday. “This is an unregulated area that will now be regulated.”



The bill received more than 100 proposed <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1582/amendments">amendments</a> from Republicans and Democrats alike.&nbsp;



The next step for Congress will be to pass a market structure bill, Lummis added, saying that draft legislation will be released in the coming weeks.



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congress

Stablecoin bill passes the Senate with bipartisan support

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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With pump.fun set to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/pumpdotfun-token-sale">reportedly raise</a> $1 billion via a token sale, it’s fair to assume the memecoin launchpad will at least be open to exploring acquisitions as a way of putting its fresh capital to work. Based on my own guesswork and a few conversations with industry watchers, here are four businesses I think could make sense for a pump.fun acquisition.&nbsp;



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



Many memecoin traders don’t actually trade through pump.fun’s frontend, opting for the sniping and copy trading features offered by trading bots — many of which run on Telegram.



These bots collect fees on trading volume, which can end up being quite lucrative. Blockworks Research <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/telegram-trading-bots">estimated</a> the gross annual revenue for Solana trading bots to have been between $500 million to $1 billion in 2024.&nbsp;



Pump.fun has, so far, been fine to coexist, but as the speculative trading game grows more crowded — and particularly with the entry of more put-together <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/axiom-ycombinator-startup-solana-memecoin-revenue-10m">competitors like Axiom</a> — pump will need to scheme out how it can win back some of those trading volumes.&nbsp;



BullX, a popular Solana Telegram bot that has drawn <a href="https://protos.com/solana-focused-bullx-still-exists-despite-allegations-it-called-it-quits/">allegations</a> of founder disinvolvement, could be a good takeover target.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DEX Screener</h2>



On top of sniping, another category where pump.fun loses users is in token discovery. Rather than trying to find their next buy through pump’s somewhat limited and clunky interface, traders have historically turned to platforms like DEX Screener that come with more fine-tuned data and tracking features for traders.&nbsp;



A major way DEX Screener makes money is by charging memecoin projects for a more souped-up page on the platform, and DeFiLlama <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/dex-screener?revenue=true&amp;groupBy=cumulative">counts</a> it as having made over $100 million in revenue over the past year and change.&nbsp;



Pump.fun has already launched an “advanced” tab that offers DEX Screener-like features, but if it finds DEX Screener users too sticky to win over, it could make sense to just combine the two. It wouldn’t be the first time one went after the other’s users: DEX Screener <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/moonshot-vertical-integration-memecoins">released a memecoin launchpad</a> called Moonshot that, well, hasn’t been much of a moonshot.



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



The majority of onchain Solana activity comes from memecoin trading and swaps between SOL and stablecoins, as Blockworks Research’s Carlos Gonzalez Campo has <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/solana-meta-aggregators">pointed out</a>. Pump.fun is doing pretty well on the memecoin side of things, but likely few users are swapping USDC for SOL on pump.fun’s AMM.&nbsp;



Much of that volume goes to Jupiter, a DEX aggregator that algorithmically finds the best route for trades to travel to achieve the best possible price. It’s a valuable product, and even if a swap aggregator collects minimal fees, it could be a loss leader to draw users who may then convert to customers of more revenue-generating products.&nbsp;



One candidate here could be Titan, a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jupiter-competitor-private-mainnet">newer Solana DEX aggregator</a> that claims its swaps outperform Jupiter most of the time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Cube Exchange</h2>



The best business in crypto is arguably still just running an exchange. If pump.fun had its own centralized exchange, it could access a lot more liquidity and likely diversify out from memecoins into other fields like perpetual futures, or even try to capture trading volume on new asset classes.



Pump.fun memes could also get expedited listings on the exchange, maintaining the platform’s edge against the likes of Coinbase and Binance, which are sometimes slower to list popular new memecoins. Pump could use the distribution from the exchange to drive interest in things like pump.fun livestreams.&nbsp;



Compared to some other targets, acquiring an exchange is an expensive proposition. Cube makes sense because its CEO is Solana-native, having previously worked at the foundation, and the exchange’s <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/rankings/exchanges/">volume</a> doesn’t tend to run as high as some competitors. 



Backpack <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/backpack-ftx-eu-acquisition-complications/">acquired FTX EU</a> for $32.7 million earlier this year. Cube probably wouldn’t be that cheap, but pump is likely to have lots of cash.



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Lightspeed Newsletter

4 companies pump.fun could look at acquiring after its $1B raise

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 equities and bitcoin were in the red Tuesday afternoon as conflict in the Middle East stretched into a fifth day. Investors are also waiting to hear from the FOMC tomorrow about their interest rate decision and, more importantly, what the committee’s latest Summary of Economic Projections has to say.&nbsp;



Bitcoin had lost 2.7% over the day at 2 p.m. ET, hovering around $104,000. The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite opened lower and were trading 0.8% and 0.9% lower, respectively, at that time.&nbsp;



All signs point to the Fed holding interest rates tomorrow. And probably again in July. Should the Israel-Iran conflict lead to sustained higher oil prices, the FOMC’s timeline for cutting rates could be delayed further.&nbsp;



Speaking of that timeline, we’ll know a lot more tomorrow. The updated dot plot will tell us where committee members see rates ending 2025, plus where they think the unemployment rate, GDP and PCE are headed.&nbsp;



In March, most FOMC members reported expecting interest rates to land at 3.75–4% by the end of 2025. With the current rate being 4.25–4.5%, this means committee members expected two 25 basis point cuts (or one 50bps decrease) by December.&nbsp;



We know that the first few post-Liberation Day inflation data points have come in mild, milder than committee members had expected. Even so, should the market’s expectations for inflation increase, the Fed is going to get concerned. When businesses and consumers expect prices to rise, it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy.&nbsp;



It’s also worth noting that Chair Powell is probably in his final lap as head of the Fed. His term ends on May 23, 2026, and based on Trump’s past comments, we doubt Powell will be renominated.&nbsp;



There are eight (including this week’s) FOMC meetings between now and Powell’s presumed departure.



Secured overnight financing rate futures, which provide an avenue for investors to bet on the future of monetary policy, suggest that markets envision Powell cutting rates before the end of his term. Trading volumes on June 2026 options contracts have increased in recent months, per CME Group data.&nbsp;



Historically, though, outgoing Fed Chairs tended to spend their final year being more hawkish. Janet Yellen raised rates three times in the last 12 months of her term. Alan Greenspan, whose final year as Chair was in 2005, issued four hikes. Of course, these were during times of stable growth and low inflation.&nbsp;



In Powell’s case, the most hawkish move of all would be to raise rates this year. We (and markets) are all but certain that will not happen. What he might do instead, which would still be fairly hawkish, would be to delay rate cuts. “Higher for longer.”&nbsp;&nbsp;



All that said, should you buy options? I’m not in the business of offering investment advice, so I’ll hold my tongue, mostly.&nbsp;



My advice is to wait until Powell’s press conference tomorrow. We’ll have a better idea of what the Fed Chair is thinking then.



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FOMC preview: What to expect in Powell’s final months

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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Decentralized cloud computing provider io.net, which has its own IO token, is working with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/mysten-labs-walrus-decentralized-gaming">Walrus</a> team to let startups train, run and store their own custom AI models.



IO offers a network of GPUs for AI training and fine-tuning, while Walrus is enabling AI model storage in the deal. The integration will be available as a pay-per-use offering, meaning builders are only charged for the amount of storage and computing power they use.&nbsp;



This Bring Your Own Model (<a href="https://www.walrus.xyz/blog/io-net-builds-ai-ml-compute-on-walrus?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=organic&amp;utm_campaign=walrus">BYOM</a>) offering lets AI agent devs or AI app builders develop and operate AI models without needing to set up their own data centers or hardware to do it.



IO says it has <a href="https://x.com/ionet/status/1933585865852207428">over 10,000 GPUs</a> and CPUs globally.



Walrus and IOo’s BYOM offering will have to compete with other AI developer cloud services, though, like those from Bittensor, Lambda, Spheron, Akash, Gensyn, Vast AI, and Google’s Vertex products.&nbsp;



“Traditional centralized cloud models are not only expensive — they come with significant privacy risks and limited composability options that are challenging for developers who prioritize decentralization,” said Rebecca Simmonds, Managing Executive at Walrus Foundation.&nbsp;



“By leveraging our decentralized data storage solution, io.net will be able to provide the necessary compute power for advanced AI and ML development without any of the drawbacks of traditional models, making this a clear win for developers, users, and the entire Web3 industry,” the exec continued.



The internet can feel very centralized when giant cloud services experience outages, like what <a href="https://status.cloud.google.com/incidents/ow5i3PPK96RduMcb1SsW">happened to Google</a> last week (and impacted <a href="https://blog.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-service-outage-june-12-2025/">Cloudflare</a> as well as a range of other apps and sites). That’s one obvious reason why centralized AI compute might not be ideal.



Walrus’s mainnet launched in March, with its main pitch being programmable, decentralized storage. The Walrus Foundation announced a raise of <a href="https://www.walrus.xyz/blog/walrus-foundation-fundraising">$140 million</a> that month.



More broadly, the need for computing power for AI is expected to keep increasing annually. McKinsey researchers <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-cost-of-compute-a-7-trillion-dollar-race-to-scale-data-centers">predict</a> that data centers are going to need $6.7 trillion globally to keep up with demand by 2030 (though there’s a range of possible scenarios they modeled below).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdeE3FMjbeJu8JoUEwwOTegZVTaMJz6gbSiu-x-rj5KykoEnoagSm6dJLiBBXEv6KSZcVmu4SdyqiVBWH-xYl7Hh4-X0zfD6nYeQi6GrW3jP4bIdzxMsP5xME1Ibo56cOPkBSUa-w?key=g-Zjg6ACpeSZexUcVepx6g" alt=""/></figure>



AI compute is expected to need $5.2 trillion in investments to keep up with current demand in the next five years, while non-AI IT apps are expected to need much less than that at $1.5 trillion.



Walrus’s AI storage offering with IOo could help the Sui-based storage protocol see more adoption from AI builders and app devs, even from those outside of the crypto space. 



The Walrus mainnet currently has 4,167 TB in total storage capacity, with about 26% of that being used right now. The protocol has <a href="https://walruscan.com/mainnet/home">103 total</a> operators across 121 storage nodes.



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blockchain

Walrus, IO bring GPUs and decentralized storage to AI builders

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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EigenLayer today launched EigenCloud, a developer platform designed to bring crypto-economic trust to any application, whether on- or off-chain. The product debuts alongside a fresh $70 million investment from a16z, bringing the venture firm’s total commitment to over $170 million.



We’ve <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eigenlayer-restaking-mantle-zksync">previously covered EigenDA</a>, but today’s launch brings two additional service offerings to the fore: EigenVerify and EigenCompute.



The gist is to bring EigenLayer closer toward a full-fledged crypto’s AWS: a verifiability layer for Ethereum that combines off-chain execution with onchain guarantees. The protocol is already stocked with $12 billion in restaked assets, namely ETH. This TVL has, of course, fluctuated in USD terms with the ETH price, but has remained remarkably sticky in ETH terms.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf0bNR-EDg7GQV81XODzJeQCcqkcMN4HLSldZYirUvkiX-UtchyadWWoUriq9vtHK8F06d0Zt7hP5NNkqHmpL31UCbbCZDjI-Ch4tVQiMFkT_yNXx8-AmZLQcC4fr-d7rPlNsx9hA?key=NkCplN3EhAv5Yb7PMKid1Q" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/eigenlayer?denomination=ETH">DefiLlama</a></figcaption></figure>



EigenCloud promises a new generation of applications across AI, media, gaming and finance, with key features focused on provability: the what-when-why something happened.



For instance:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>AI agents that issue proofs for model inference or decision paths</li>



<li>Oracles and games where disputes are crypto-economically resolvable</li>



<li>Memecoins whose mechanics are enforced by programmable slashing</li>



<li>Media feeds immune to deepfakes or manipulated news</li>
</ul>



In short, any Web2 application that needs trust, but doesn’t need to be its own L1 chain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">EigenCloud components</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>EigenDA: A high-throughput data availability layer offering &gt;10 MB/s throughput. Think of it as a turbocharged alternative to Ethereum’s blobspace, ready for rollups and content-heavy workloads.</li>



<li>EigenVerify: A programmable dispute resolution system. Developers can specify fraud or correctness conditions, and violations are punished through slashing.</li>



<li>EigenCompute: Verifiable off-chain compute-as-a-service that abstracts, for instance, node management and links crypto-economic guarantees to general-purpose workflows.</li>
</ul>



Together, these primitives give developers a sort of plug-and-play access to verifiability, piggybacking on Ethereum’s validator infrastructure.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The risks</h2>



A compelling vision, to be sure. But it’s also early for practical applications and risks abound.



Much of EigenLayer’s TVL ramp-up was driven by airdrop speculation, and built up before slashing was enabled in April. But capital can flee just as fast as it arrived.



Second, critics (<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/restaking-ticking-time-bomb-eth">including Vitalik Buterin</a>) have warned about restaking contagion, potentially putting Ethereum&#8217;s social consensus between a rock and a hard place. However, EigenCloud’s primitives are secured by a separate operator set distinct from Ethereum’s core validators, so slashing on EigenLayer does not affect Ethereum consensus. Its architecture prevents a single unit of stake from being slashed multiple times across services, with cryptoeconomic guarantees underwritten by the EIGEN token.



Rival Symbiotic’s risk model is a bit different still, with <a href="https://docs.symbiotic.fi/intro/stake/">isolated vaults</a> and per-network slashing parameters. Since each vault operates independently, a failure in one vault does not cascade across all restaked funds.



Third, governance has a relatively big role. With a16z funding both the infrastructure and many of the AVSs it secures, some worry about ecosystem capture.



EigenCloud enters a crowded field, aside from Symbiotic. EigenDA competes with data availability networks like Celestia and Avail, and there are similar compute systems like Gensyn and Akash.&nbsp;



A select group of developers are getting access to EigenCloud today, including Securitize, which will use EigenVerify to validate pricing data for BlackRock’s $2 billion BUIDL fund. Broader access and staking rewards are expected to follow in waves.



The a16z $70 million token purchase sounds impressive, but it has a massive $4.5 billion fund, so it brings its bet to only about 3.7%.



If EigenCloud can execute on its promise, it could finally bridge the gap between Web2 flexibility and Web3 trust. But it still needs to prove that real slashing, decentralized governance and non-DeFi use cases will actually work and scale.



Correction, June 17, 2025 at 3:06 pm ET: Updated the slashing risks section to correctly reflect the current architecture.



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