Velvet Unicorn by Virtuals

Casey Wagner

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



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It was a busy holiday weekend in the US.&nbsp;



The headline news was that President Trump signed his sweeping domestic policy package — the “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/tax-bill-trump-congress-gop">big, beautiful bill</a>” — into law on July 4.&nbsp;



With the BBB squared away, the White House is back in tariff mode. Reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries are slated on Wednesday to move back to the higher levels set on so-called Liberation Day.



This morning, in two Truth Social posts, Trump shared letters presumably sent to Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. They stated that the US will impose a 25% blanket tariff on all imports from both countries starting on Aug. 1.



Passing the BBB was Republican lawmakers&#8217; first Trump-imposed deadline, but there’s another due date looming. The president wants a stablecoin and market structure bill on his desk by August.&nbsp;



With only three more work weeks before Congress’ summer recess begins, they’ll have to work quickly.&nbsp;



To get this done, the US House last Thursday declared the week of July 14 as “Crypto Week.” Representatives will consider three digital asset-focused bills: the GENIUS Act, the CLARITY Act and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance Act.&nbsp;



The GENIUS Act <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genius-stablecoin-act-passes-senate-vote">passed in the Senate</a> last month with a final tally of 68-30. There were 18 Democrats who voted “yea.”&nbsp;



Hailed by proponents as a milestone for the crypto industry and an important first step in bringing regulation to a facet of the market, those against the GENIUS Act argue the bill doesn’t provide enough consumer protection and unfairly benefits Trump-linked stablecoin interests. Sen. Elizabeth Warren is just one of several vocal Democrats criticizing the bill.



Other Dems admit that the bill might not be perfect, but it’s better than nothing.&nbsp;



“We weren’t able to include certainly everything we would have wanted, but it was a good bipartisan effort,” Democrat Senator Angela Alsobrooks told reporters last month ahead of the Senate vote. “This is an unregulated area that will now be regulated.”



Now House members will have a look at the bill, and they’re going to make changes. Representatives are likely to try and bring the bill more in line with the STABLE Act, a similar version of the legislation that never made it to the Senate.&nbsp;



The GENIUS Act notably calls for a tiered approach to overseeing stablecoin issuers, allowing those with under $10 billion in issued assets to be monitored at the state level. The STABLE Act establishes that the primary authorities for stablecoin regulation will be at the federal level, and state power is more conditional.&nbsp;



The CLARITY Act is the House’s stab (via the Financial Services and Agriculture Committees) at a crypto market structure bill. The proposed legislation divides authority between the CFTC and SEC and establishes a formal definition for “digital commodities.” Next week, we expect Reps. will quarrel about innovation vs. investor protection and get into decentralization thresholds.&nbsp;



The Anti‑CBDC Surveillance State Act probably ranks last in the order of most important crypto measures in the House. But it’s still an issue many Republicans feel strongly about.&nbsp;



The bill seeks to block the Fed from issuing or researching a federal central bank digital currency. Again, the market structure and stablecoin bills will “Trump” (see what we did there) the anti-CBDC bill, but the latter will be part of “Crypto Week” nonetheless.



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Donald Trump

Move over, big, beautiful bill: Crypto Week is coming

Ben Strack

CoreWeave’s pending acquisition of Core Scientific reflects the ongoing race to meet the growing demand for high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure as AI needs evolve.



A year after Core Scientific (CORZ) rejected CoreWeave’s bid to buy out the bitcoin miner — and with CORZ stock roughly tripling since that time — the combination is now deemed mutually beneficial.



The <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coreweave-to-acquire-core-scientific">all-stock deal</a> would give CORZ stockholders 0.1235 newly issued shares of CoreWeave (CRWV) stock for each share of CORZ stock.&nbsp;



Expected to close in the fourth quarter, the transaction is valued at roughly $9 billion and comes two months after CoreWeave’s <a href="https://www.coreweave.com/blog/coreweave-completes-acquisition-of-weights-biases">acquisition</a> of AI developer platform Weights &amp; Biases in May.&nbsp;



&nbsp;While Core Scientific tallied $67 million in digital asset self-mining revenue during the first quarter, CoreWeave CEO Michael Intrator made clear the company is not looking to expand its crypto market footprint.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“Our lens on the physical infrastructure is that it provides us with tremendous optionality to be able to provide massive computing infrastructure for our clients,” he said during a Monday investor call.



Goldman Sachs predicts global data center power demand to increase up to 165% between 2023 and 2030. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said during a February earnings call that Amazon Web Services plans to spend $100 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025.&nbsp;



The CoreWeave-Core Scientific combination would eliminate roughly $10 billion of future lease overhead for existing contractual sites over the next 12 years, CoreWeave executives noted. It also gives the cloud provider the ability to repurpose infrastructure dedicated to crypto mining for HPC usage in the medium term, they added.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Previous bid rejected, CoreWeave’s IPO&nbsp;</h2>



The two companies last year signed various 12-year contracts whereby Core Scientific agreed to offer 200 megawatts of infrastructure to host CoreWeave’s HPC services.



CoreWeave then offered to buy all outstanding CORZ shares in cash for $5.75 per share. The company’s stock price hovered around $15 at 1:30 pm ET Monday — down 17% on the day.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Core Scientific’s board of directors determined the CoreWeave proposal last year significantly undervalued the company. The firm had <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/post-bitcoin-halving-mining-strategies">touted the value of its infrastructure</a> — noting that its HPC contracts offer a stable, high-margin revenue stream that balances out its more volatile bitcoin <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/mining">mining</a> business.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/core-scientific-rejects-coreweave-buyout-bid-after-big-hpc-deal">Core Scientific rejects CoreWeave buyout bid after big HPC deal</a>



Now though, CEO Adam Sullivan said the company could “accelerate the availability of world-class infrastructure for companies innovating with AI” while letting shareholders “participate in the tremendous upside potential of the combined company.&#8221;



A Core Scientific spokesperson declined to comment further.



When asked about the timing of the deal, Intrator didn’t comment on last year’s acquisition bid.&nbsp; — instead noting the importance of owning infrastructure as competition ramps up.



“We think it’s really important to present to the market options for building massive scale solutions to the most complicated compute requirements that they have,” Intrator said.



CoreWeave listed its shares on the Nasdaq exchange in March. The stock opened at $39 and peaked around $184 last month.



But the company needed scale before it could pursue “transformational M&amp;A,” said Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital assets research. CoreWeave’s post-IPO rally gave it the equity currency to get aggressive, he added.



“That said, it looks like this deal hasn’t drawn much interest from merger arbitrage funds,” Sigel told Blockworks Monday. “CoreWeave’s low float and high borrow costs make it tough to hedge, which likely explains the Core Scientific unwind and 20% drawdown post-announcement.”



CRWV shares traded around $160 at 1:30 pm ET, down nearly 3% on the day.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The VanEck Onchain Economy ETF (NODE), which Sigel manages, had a roughly 5% position in Core Scientific, as of July 3.&nbsp;



“At $14.25, CORZ looks attractive if CRWV holds steady, given the fixed exchange ratio implies meaningful upside,” he told Blockworks.



Dan Weiskopf, co-portfolio manager of the Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK), said it remains to be seen what such a deal means for CoreWeave&#8217;s pipeline of future data center deals. Like NODE, BLOK has allocated about 5% of its assets to CORZ.



“We believe Core Scientific has been working to expand its gigawatts of capacity outside of what has been announced, so it would not be a surprise to see CoreWeave announce additional deals with more capacity,” Weiskopf said. “The operating expertise that these two teams have together will bring synergies based upon the trust from working together for so many years.”



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Artificial Intelligence

CoreWeave’s pending Core Scientific buy gives ‘optionality’ as AI needs evolve

Kate Irwin

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



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A new ambitious shooter game is in development.



Distinct Possibility Studios has just come out of stealth after two years and revealed its flagship title: a first-person, open-world military extraction shooter game with blockchain integrations, dubbed Reaper Actual.



A pre-alpha “Foundation” version of the PC game with some onchain assets is expected “in the coming weeks,” according to a release.



Game industry veteran John Smedley is behind the new studio. Smedley is a gaming exec and developer who worked in Sony’s gaming division for over a decade. He ran two other smaller gaming studios in between his time at Sony and Amazon Game Studios, and created the 1999 MMORPG EverQuest before all of that.&nbsp;



Reaper Actual is <a href="https://reaperactual.com/">billed</a> as an “open-world persistent shooter.” This means players (Reapers) won’t be loading into copies of the same generic, untouched map with fresh randomized loot in every match like they do in Call of Duty Warzone and Fortnite.&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">Big things are brewing for gaming on Tezos! Watch this space — this is only the beginning<a href="https://t.co/fUH1O1GeM1">https://t.co/fUH1O1GeM1</a>&mdash; Tezos (@tezos) <a href="https://twitter.com/tezos/status/1940842478573326500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Instead, the virtual world will be changeable and those changes will matter more. And when you log off and log back on, the world may be very different than when you last left it.



The game’s island map of Marova is expected to be larger than game maps we’ve seen before in CoD-like titles. It’s slated to have PvPvE action, meaning a mix of player-on-player violence and environmental targets and hazards for players to tackle.



The team is planning to charge for the game upfront at first, with plans to transition to a free-to-play model over time with rewards for early buyers.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">By the numbers</h2>



Distinct Possibility has raised $30.5 million in funding for its project in a round led by gaming-forward VC firm <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-games-shouldnt-monetize-early-nfts">Bitkraft</a> and Brevan Howard Digital.



The Tezos Foundation, Delphi Ventures, Shima Capital, Hashed and others also invested.



$30 million in funding is substantial — and pretty unheard of in crypto gaming these days. But is it enough to make an ambitious AAA-level live ops shooter game with MMORPG elements and market it to the masses, competing against titles with nine-figure budgets?&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcV8rDUrsfHiIY_JX4JJsKagQT48PG9CwsLcdZQM6Rr-3UI1s_NN-QjRQCyzMS4Mtt0RE_XLUGo_sNMcngo-TruSMUO1ZelZ2oVEboGukd2zUxgAMC64w6IA9fs7tKxbn--qlTwDw?key=Xf2yTwlyqpO8ZmiTFjRSIw" alt=""/></figure>



Based on a <a href="https://x.com/Tactrohs/status/1940817922773209425">post</a> from an engineer at third-party game development studio Iron Belly, plus Distinct Possibility’s <a href="https://www.dps.gg/about">website</a>, it looks like Distinct Possibility is using multiple outsourcing firms to build the game, including Iron Belly (which <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/neon-machine-shrapnel-in-the-red">Shrapnel</a> also used), Big Moxi, and Secret Dimension, in addition to its own team of over 40 staff.



Big Moxi has 47 employees listed on Reaper Actual’s site, and Secret Dimension has half a dozen. That means at least 93 people are working on the game, if the website’s numbers are correct.



<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">Sit down with Tramell Isaac and Matt Higby as they guide you through Reaper Actual&#39;s core gameplay systems and visual style in this overview video. 📽️ From Reapers to bases and locales across Marova, get a glimpse of the world we&#39;re building alongside players! <a href="https://t.co/nYemtGZtAP">pic.twitter.com/nYemtGZtAP</a>&mdash; Reaper Actual (@ReaperActualDPS) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReaperActualDPS/status/1940772659647955277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 3, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



There are other ways to get more cash besides VC funding, though, as we’ve seen other crypto shooters do in the past to varying degrees of success. Deadrop sold NFT avatars and in-game item packs (before it <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/gaming-tokens-deadrop-shutdown">shut down</a>), and Shrapnel has sold tokens and NFTs as well.&nbsp;



That said, it’s debatable whether selling items to prospective players ahead of time is a good idea, as it increases expectations and speculation around an eventual launch.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Blockchain-optional</h2>



Reaper Actual is using the EVM L2 <a href="https://docs.etherlink.com/">Etherlink</a> (that uses Tezos rollup tech) for its blockchain elements. Gamers will be able to trade in-game items as well as custom items they create using the Etherlink rails.



The game is also using Sequence’s full stack, <a href="https://x.com/0xsequence/status/1940848992281415859">according</a> to the crypto gaming infra firm. Sequence offers software and tools for devs, including integrated wallets, custom marketplaces and other features, with a focus on supporting EVM-compatible chains.



I wonder how the mainstream gamers will react when they realize there&#8217;s a blockchain version of the game.



“We look at it as an awesome game first full stop. Then we have enabled an amazing ecosystem that is entirely optional,” Smedley <a href="https://x.com/j_smedley/status/1940893488192934141">told me</a> in response to my tweet about the game.&nbsp;



“In fact play on Steam or Epic and you never have to look at it. We think people will take notice in how we are doing it. Ethically and fairly,” he wrote.



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Could ‘Reaper Actual’ be the breakout crypto shooter?

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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Bitcoin held up over the holiday weekend to notch its highest-ever weekly finish on Sunday at $109,263. The move capped a strong rebound from late-June profit-taking, driven by solid institutional flows and bullish momentum.



During the shortened trading week, spot bitcoin ETFs <a href="https://farside.co.uk/btc/">posted net inflows</a> of $667 million, a strong show of demand despite quieter volumes around the Fourth of July US trading break.



Markets are now looking ahead to next week’s big macro events, with June CPI and PPI reports expected to clarify the inflation path and the Fed’s likely stance for the rest of 2025. Over the past few weeks, the consensus has <a href="https://www.bankrate.com/banking/federal-reserve/how-to-read-fed-dot-plot-explained">shifted</a> to two rate cuts as most probable over three. This week is lighter on data, but rates markets are pricing in minimal odds of a July move and growing debate over whether any cuts can happen at all before year end. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/us-close-several-trade-deals-announcements-be-made-next-days-bessent-says-2025-07-06/">intimated</a> it will postpone its tariff implementation deadline to August.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">“Crypto Week?”</h2>



On the policy front, US lawmakers are preparing for what some have dubbed “Crypto Week.” Starting July 14, House Financial Services Chair French Hill (R-AR) and House Agriculture Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) will plan a <a href="https://x.com/RepFrenchHill/status/1941537464465883417">series of votes</a> related to the Digital Asset Markets Clarity Act — the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/congress-crypto-market-structure-bill-regulation-cftc">market structure bill</a> — and the GENIUS Act, also known as the stablecoin bill. The latter was already passed by the Senate with <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genius-stablecoin-act-passes-senate-vote">bipartisan support</a>.



Ahead of that, the Senate Banking Committee is set to hold a <a href="https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/from-wall-street-to-web3-building-tomorrows-digital-asset-markets">hearing</a> on Wednesday, July 9, titled “From Wall Street to Web3: Building Tomorrow’s Digital Asset Markets.” The hearing is set to include testimony from Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger, Chainalysis CEO Jonathan Levin, Paradigm’s Dan Robinson, and Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Satoshi-era coins move</h2>



Beyond policy headlines, the Fourth of July holiday delivered real <a href="https://x.com/lookonchain/status/1941126810961653780">onchain fireworks</a>. Around 80,000 BTC — worth over $8.6 billion today — held in untouched wallets dating back to 2011 suddenly moved for the first time in over 14 years. Four of eight known addresses transferred 40,000 BTC (~$4.35 billion) onchain in one of the largest-ever awakenings of “ancient” coins.



Blockchain watchers quickly noted that none of the BTC was sent to exchanges, easing fears of an immediate sale. Instead, the coins appear to have migrated from old legacy (P2PKH) addresses to modern Bech32 (SegWit) formats, boosting security and lowering future transaction fees. Bitcoin’s price barely dipped.



Analysts I’ve followed see motivations ranging from inheritance planning to consolidation under safer custody, with some even <a href="https://x.com/magnumincor/status/1942086008763207692">speculating</a> about longer-term implications for Bitcoin’s quantum resistance.&nbsp;



Charles Guillemet, chief technology officer at hardware wallet maker Ledger, had <a href="https://x.com/P3b7_/status/1942191296136835569">an interesting observation</a>: Someone had sent OP_RETURN messages to the same dormant wallets days earlier, claiming legal possession and demanding proof of ownership by October. While that prompted hack speculation, it’s also plausible the real owner may have seen those notices and proactively moved funds as a safeguard.



My colleague Jeff Albus pointed out that there’s an entire gray market economy around old wallet.dat files — copies of Bitcoin wallets known to contain funds but believed to be inaccessible due to lost keys or forgotten passwords. Although previously uncrackable, it’s possible that some of these are now being unlocked through modern techniques. A legal notice like the one sent via OP_RETURN could be an attempt to mitigate legal liability before actually pursuing these old BTC.



All told, despite a quiet macro calendar this week, crypto markets have no shortage of storylines.



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0xResearch Newsletter

Bitcoin starts week near record high as 80K BTC moves after 14 years

David Canellis

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



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Fifteen years ago exactly, Satoshi released Bitcoin v0.3. Well, it was really yesterday, but it was in the evening, so it counts.



The version was Satoshi’s sixth going by <a href="https://www.bitcoin.com/satoshi-archive/emails/bitcoin-list/">this archive</a> of the official bitcoin mailing list. It was bundled with a Mac OS X version built by <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/3-piping-hot-pizza-day-facts-for-bitcoin-connoisseurs">Laszlo Hanycez</a> and extra features including control of the nodes via the command line and a “hashmeter” performance display for mining, which was still being done with CPUs across the board.



The update notably came with 20% faster hashing. But whatever competitive edge was quickly dulled by the arrival of the first GPU miners on the network less than two weeks later.&nbsp;



GPUs were capable of much more than 20% — but that’s for another time.



In any case, you could tell Satoshi was excited. Their announcement <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=238.0">post</a> had two exclamation points, and there was even an extra one in the title: “Bitcoin 0.3 released!” It also featured arguably the most appealing tagline in Bitcoin history:



“Escape the arbitrary inflation risk of centrally managed currencies!”



Still, there wasn’t much initial fanfare. The Bitcointalk thread only received four replies, the same amount seen on the Bitcoin.org <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110522084201/http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?board=1.1800">forum</a> (that version of the thread gathered about 500 views in total).&nbsp;



We can infer from the post below that Satoshi intended v0.3 to be Bitcoin’s first official version, under v1.0. Early adopter <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/happy-bitcoin-mmo-day-tale-in-the-desert">Andrew “teppy” Tepper</a> had crowdsourced feedback on his proposed <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=234">submission</a> to Slashdot in the days leading up to the version’s release, but Satoshi walked back Bitcoin’s graduation from beta status in a reply:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdJfcVL13YUn_nnIb7GdKDpaJI7FxMWC2WklBqSN-aP0lwQm1q8jOck8sqgQnAQwB81uxEKn7fvXcGUTBhHjAd8Wv88O12Ha8fHtIByqd7qg1q9KUbQ52J4PsKi79eZqzexKUsH?key=qEqpfBJAQzbDA0OyTOO60w" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Satoshi wasn’t a big fan of teppy’s first draft</figcaption></figure>



It worked. Slashdot featured teppy’s submission on its front page on July 11, 2010 — widely regarded as the first instance of a major media platform publicizing Bitcoin (it’s even in Slashdot’s Wiki entry). Bitcoins were trading for about $0.05 at the time.



&#8220;How&#8217;s this for a disruptive technology? <a href="http://www.bitcoin.org/">Bitcoin</a> is a peer-to-peer, network-based digital currency with no central bank, and no transaction fees. Using a proof-of-work concept, nodes burn CPU cycles searching for bundles of coins, broadcasting their findings to the network.”&nbsp;



“Analysis of energy usage indicates that the market value of Bitcoins is already above the value of the energy needed to generate them, indicating healthy demand. The community is hopeful the currency will remain outside the reach of any government.&#8221;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdcY7HE43F1qGY7_nX7Ga_UCZrBke2l0Ns5-WEWCNi73wK-nJnThxAlt__noPF1zrafqGXzSNDxo0HlMbKiaLQDmZaKnyoQloknLIqnp-1m9Q-aUVkB29YV4dnw236qGJ8Km-9cPA?key=qEqpfBJAQzbDA0OyTOO60w" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This was Bitcoin’s equivalent of Nirvana releasing Nevermind in 1991, feat. Smells Like Teen Spirit. It would quickly make the band a household name.</figcaption></figure>



Bitcoin’s price began its first major bull run about three months following the Slashdot post, in October 2010, and would reach dollar parity by February 2011. 



Slashdot also celebrated that milestone with another front-page <a href="https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/02/10/189246/online-only-currency-bitcoin-reaches-dollar-parity">feature</a>, which when played back-to-back showed just how important Bitcoin’s first few fans really were.



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<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

Bitcoin’s journey to the mainstream started 15 years ago

Katherine Ross

I’ve got some good news for you: Venture capital fundraising seems to be bouncing back after a slow May.&nbsp;



According to <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com">Blockworks Research</a> data, there was roughly $2.8 billion raised last month. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="1034" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png" alt="" class="wp-image-104823" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=1600 1600w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=1536 1536w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=398 398w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=404 404w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=339 339w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXc4dFYdIc1ShiBevb5nhSMLg4t2SjJeIVGtiFTWaJvMR51Wi-owI4iF89Lcl-Lh64XdBjm-MJhCDNsaGq78Ia8JJveu0gPF5hzG7yVjXT57jy31e0GyqsJoq-JGZR7XNhxbBLIDkQ.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://www.blockworksresearch.com">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>



If you remember from <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/venture-capital-funding-may-2025">the last time we took</a> a look at this data, VC funding topped off around $594 million in May. A dip from April, and quite a decline from March (which saw $2.9 billion in funding).&nbsp;



As you can see in the chart above, even last month’s impressive numbers don’t top March, but they did come pretty close.&nbsp;



The biggest rounds last month came from Kalshi (raising $185 million in a Series C), Digital Asset ($135 million), and Zama ($57 million). If you want to include private token sales, then World Liberty Financial joins the list after the UAE bought up <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/uae-fund-buys-100-million-trumps-world-liberty-tokens-2025-06-27/">$100 million</a> of WLFI and a16z bought up <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eigencloud-launch-a16z-eigenlayer">$70 million worth</a> of EigenLayer’s tokens.&nbsp;



Per Tie Terminal data, 21 projects with a focus on artificial intelligence raised roughly $116 million last month.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1126" height="696" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png" alt="" class="wp-image-104825" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=1126 1126w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=416 416w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=422 422w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=354 354w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXd2arZZSezJr0lIyHDjWwRxHF-oV1BytxpNEVDhPVs3R1Mx_JsmynFmw5QCxZzxp_Ee3qE3IyqMhwEcqspSv3bxKPCzXRcJhLsSpFbzpRcMiBVOucaZHaZapxy0plD9vgsuG0u5eQ.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1126px) 100vw, 1126px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Tie Terminal </figcaption></figure>



But while it had the most deals, it wasn’t the biggest category by amount raised…not by a long shot. Instead, that award goes to Prime Services, which is basically a fancy way to sum up firms offering a variety of financial services.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1126" height="698" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png" alt="" class="wp-image-104824" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=1126 1126w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=1024 1024w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=415 415w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=421 421w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=353 353w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXfgQB4UV4dFOm6iFuK5EAkWAQumOuONij9QqXZkQlTTPecFqjkWoWzM23KC1l6ebDqLuz-NiS0wUd14Z_xr5axGKB1IMHuiCnRn2ugMW6sus9GUeSxjryfgtqgolqkVDDpdK9R9.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1126px) 100vw, 1126px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Tie Terminal </figcaption></figure>



Five prime services projects raised a collective $1.15 billion in funding last month. So while AI is the hot narrative, and we are seeing folks put their money where their mouths are, clearly the bulk of the funding is still going toward projects that offer financial services.&nbsp;



Blockworks Research data also <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/deal-flow/?dashboard=190">points to infrastructure still receiving</a> a fair share of funding. Infra projects raised a whopping $881 million last month.&nbsp;



But the most interesting data — for me at least — actually comes from the breakdown of the funding. Not by category, but rather by type.&nbsp;



Looking back at Blockworks Research data, later-stage funding is on the rise. Pre-seed and seed rounds raised around $121 million, but Series B raised $127 million. And even later rounds, which go from Series C to F, raised $185 million.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="874" height="272" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png" alt="" class="wp-image-104826" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=874 874w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=768 768w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=428 428w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=470 470w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=389 389w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AD_4nXeXHpgq9ghFCY3iIQJdGt69BYIdBUMYS52IsgyL_MZTbJ1RmUcX8GnjSxw5Z2xLhHHf2Rf6gJ1MvBt6PCC2cfu9UygeqUvGauZmT3C5zygxSeCOThou8gJv6F5E4Oua3Hy2FFTReA.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 874px) 100vw, 874px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Types of raises from May, per Tie Terminal data</figcaption></figure>



On average, in May, the biggest type of raise came from seed rounds, so clearly there was a shift. While it’s notable, especially as crypto continues to digest Circle’s IPO, it’s a bit too early to read much into it. It is, however, a data point I plan to keep a close eye on next month.



Overall, though, this was exactly the rebound I was looking for after examining May’s data last month. It shows that there’s still a lot of strength in certain categories, while things like AI are seeing more of a pickup when it comes to VC attention.



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



Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
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Venture capital funding tops $2.8B in June

CoreWeave will acquire Core Scientific, the company announced Monday morning. 



The news comes after the two engaged in a lengthy battle last year that saw Core Scientific <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/core-scientific-rejects-coreweave-buyout-bid-after-big-hpc-deal">rejecting a bid from CoreWeave</a>. 



The all-stock transaction, which will see Core Scientific shareholders receive 0.1235 shares of CoreWeave Class A common Stock, is expected to help the newly-public CoreWeave “verticalize its data center footprint to future-proof revenue growth and enhance profitability.” The deal is worth roughly $9 billion.&nbsp;



“Together with CoreWeave, we will be well-positioned to accelerate the availability of world-class infrastructure for companies innovating with AI while delivering the greatest value for our shareholders, who will be able to participate in the tremendous upside potential of the combined company,” Core Scientific’s Adam Sullivan said in a statement.&nbsp;



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/hut-8-data-center-ai-project">Bitcoin miner’s data center project to be ‘game-changer’</a>



The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Wall Street Journal reported at the end of June that the two were in talks on a deal after the failed talks last year.&nbsp;



“This acquisition accelerates our strategy to deploy AI and HPC workloads at scale,” said Michael Intrator, CoreWeave&#8217;s CEO. “Owning this foundational layer of our platform will enhance our performance and expertise as we continue helping customers unleash AI’s full potential.”



Initially, Core Scientific was willing to come to the table for talks, Blockworks’ Ben Strack <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/core-scientific-rejects-coreweave-buyout-bid-after-big-hpc-deal">reported last year</a>, but they rejected the bid as being too low. 



The two <a href="https://investors.corescientific.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/74/core-scientific-to-provide-approximately-200-mw-of-infrastructure-to-host-coreweaves-high-performance-computing-services-capturing-significant-ai-compute-opportunity">announced</a> cloud provider hosting deals last year, which sparked CoreWeave’s interest in the bitcoin miner.



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Core Scientific

CoreWeave to acquire Core Scientific in all-stock deal

<a href="https://plume.org/?utm_source=blockworks">Plume</a>, the first full-stack chain and ecosystem purpose-built for real world asset finance (RWAfi), has announced a strategic integration with <a href="https://trondao.org/?utm_source=blockworks">TRON</a> to launch SkyLink across the TRON Network. TRON’s vast global user base, which generates some of the highest stablecoin volume and transaction throughput in crypto, now has direct access to asset-backed yields from tokenized U.S. Treasuries, private credit, and other real-world financial products issued on Plume. 



This marks a major development for TRON, historically known as the leading decentralized payments and settlement network in emerging markets. With SkyLink now live, stablecoins circulating on TRON can be natively deployed into RWA yield strategies and institutional-grade investment assets – while expanding Plume’s reach to one of the largest and most active DeFi user bases in the world.&nbsp;



“TRON is one of the most systemically important networks in crypto today – moving billions in stablecoins daily across global economies,” said Chris Yin, CEO of Plume. “This integration allows Plume to leverage TRON’s leading settlement network and&nbsp; provide broader access to real-world assets and real yields. SkyLink launching on TRON will enable more users and institutions to preserve dollar liquidity while earning sustainable returns.”&nbsp;



SkyLink is Plume’s omnichain RWA yield distribution protocol, enabling secure, permissionless access to institutional-grade financial products across chains. Leveraging LayerZero’s SyncPools architecture, SkyLink ensures that yield is streamed continuously and transparently to users’ wallets via mirrored YieldTokens, while underlying liquidity remains locked on each native chain – including TRON.&nbsp;



“TRON is built for speed, scale, and accessibility, and this collaboration with Plume brings a new dimension to that mission,” said Sam Elfarra, Community Spokesperson for the TRON DAO. “By integrating SkyLink, we’re enabling users around the world to access compliant and institutional-grade, dollar-denominated investment products like treasuries, corporate bonds, and structure credit directly from their wallets or custodians, unlocking a new era of financial empowerment through DeFi.”



SkyLink’s mirrored YieldTokens enable continuous, onchain yield streaming while preserving liquidity on each native network. Powered by LayerZero’s SyncPools architecture, SkyLink ensures omnichain compatibility, unified compliance standards, and native composability across supported ecosystems – including Solana, TRON, Sui, Soneium, Injective, Omni Network, and more.&nbsp;



About Plume



Plume is the first full-stack RWA Chain and ecosystem purpose-built for RWAfi, enabling the rapid adoption and demand driven integration of real world assets. With 200+ projects building on the network, Plume offers a composable, EVM-compatible environment for onboarding and managing diverse real world assets. Coupled with an end-to-end tokenization engine and a network of financial infrastructure partners, Plume simplifies asset onboarding and enables seamless DeFi integration for RWAs so anyone can tokenize real world assets, distribute them globally, and make them useful for native crypto users. Learn more at <a href="http://plume.org/?utm_source=blockworks">plume.org</a>.  



Media Contact: Leila Stein — <a href="mailto:press@plumenetwork.xyz">press@plumenetwork.xyz</a>   



About TRON DAO



TRON DAO is a community-governed DAO dedicated to accelerating the decentralization of the internet via blockchain technology and dApps.



Founded in September 2017 by H.E. Justin Sun, the TRON blockchain has experienced significant growth since its MainNet launch in May 2018. TRON hosts the largest circulating supply of USD Tether (USDT) stablecoin, exceeding $80 billion. As of June 2025, the TRON blockchain has recorded over 316 million in total user accounts, more than 10 billion in total transactions, and over $21 billion in total value locked (TVL), based on TRONSCAN.



Media Contact: Yeweon Park — <a href="mailto:press@tron.network">press@tron.network</a>



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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Plume Network brings real-world yield to TRON’s global payment ecosystem

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">
“Since 1971, when the United States indefinitely suspended its promise to convert paper dollars into gold, we all use Massachusetts currency.”



— Dror Goldberg
</blockquote>



The American colonies won their independence from Great Britain with a weapon of their own invention: fiat currency.



In 1690, the Massachusetts Bay Colony had made monetary history when it issued 7,000 GBP in “bills of credit” to soldiers returning from a failed raid into Quebec.



The disgruntled soldiers had expected to be “paid” in plunder, and when that failed to materialize, the colony gave them newly printed paper money instead — paper that was valuable only because it was required for paying taxes.



It wasn’t the first paper currency ever — that honor belongs to the Song Dynasty, which issued paper money in China roughly 700 years earlier.&nbsp;



But those ancient notes were initially redeemable for copper coins.



The Massachusetts bills of credit, by contrast, were the first paper money in history to hold value solely because the issuing government required them for tax payments.



It was a neat trick: Print paper money and then force people to earn it (by soldiering, for example) because they needed it to pay their taxes.



The Massachusetts money was “an invention on a global scale and a great intellectual breakthrough,” as Dror Goldberg documents in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Money-American-Invention-Governments-ebook/dp/B0BXX5G7TD/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1A06GRPHIJFIA&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VxXZIFgtI1-2iniBdN3vx-Os7TFH24Sva69R6SZY-H0.qEJQBDSq5jp46XsnxeYybK2pTq2Qlg2_eNN2sLOD5u4&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=easy+money+dror+goldberg&amp;qid=1751502757&amp;sprefix=easy+money+dror+goldberg%2Caps%2C141&amp;sr=8-1">Easy Money: American Puritans and the Invention of Modern Currency</a>.



“It was a fundamental change in the legal foundation of money, shifting the anchor of money for the first time in history from the intrinsically valuable goods it was made of to the circulation of money into and out of the state’s treasury.”



“Who needs gold when you have taxes?” Goldberg neatly sums up.



As simple as that idea was, however, governments were a bit slow to catch on.&nbsp;



The Massachusetts Bay Colony ended its first experiment in fiat money just two years later when it retired all of the bills it had issued (after collecting them for taxes).&nbsp;



Other American colonies followed their example, but also only in brief spurts — and there was only one such experiment outside of the colonies: a 1716 issuance of billets de banque that quickly plunged France into the financial crisis known as the Mississippi Bubble.



The world only recognized the power of tax-backed paper currency a few decades later, when the colonies collectively used it to win independence from their British overlords.&nbsp;



In 1775, the cash-strapped Continental Congress paid the rebel army it had raised by issuing paper currency backed only by the promise that the individual colonial governments would accept it for tax payments.



It didn’t go very well.



Despite the proof-of-concept in Massachusetts, people struggled with the idea of tax-backed money — so much so that the Continental Congress printed its dollars with an entirely fictional promise right on the front.



In large letters, each dollar declared that “THIS BILL entitles the Bearer to receive TWENTY Spanish MILLED Dollars or the value thereof in Gold or Silver.”



But the only thing the government ever intended to give in return for a continental dollar was a tax receipt.



Also, the Continental Congress printed far too many of them. By 1781, continental dollars had lost nearly all of their purchasing power.



But against all odds, it kept an army in the field. And in so doing, it proved that fiat currency, however unsound, could win wars — and even print a nation into existence.



“The noise of the rebels’ printing press was the stamp heard round the world,” as Dror Goldberg puts it.



After the war, however, even the victorious Americans recoiled at the thought that money could be backed by nothing more than the power to collect taxes.



“Paper is poverty,” Thomas Jefferson wrote just a decade after paper money had come to his rescue. “It is only the ghost of money, and not money itself.”&nbsp;



Nearly everyone agreed.



It wasn’t until 1971 — 281 years after the Massachusetts innovation — that the United States fully accepted the idea that money could be backed by nothing more than its power of taxation.



This might not end well.&nbsp;



The American government is currently exploring the outer boundaries of just how much tax-backed currency the world is willing to accept.



But if you celebrated the American Revolution today, you should consider celebrating the great American invention of fiat currency too.



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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>



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The Breakdown Newsletter

The other American Revolution: Fiat currency

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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Standing outside the Clase Azul loft in downtown Brooklyn, I called my mother to inform her I had just spent $2,000 on a bottle of tequila.



“Are you drunk?” came her stunned reply.



Reader: I was not drunk. I was investing. Two and a half weeks later, I had sold the bottle for $3,000 — courtesy of the blockchain.



In early June, BAXUS co-founder Tzvi Wiesel invited me to join him at a Clase Azul private tasting and bottle launch. At the event, the tequila brand’s head distiller led a tasting, pointing out notes of apple and a blue and orange bottle meant to evoke the New York skyline. Then, the gathered faithful were given the option to buy one or two bottles of “The Loft Brooklyn Collection” — available exclusively in New York.&nbsp;



For much of the event, the salespeople didn’t pay much mind to me, a schlubby crypto journalist, compared to the older, richer-looking clientele. But a few minutes later, I found myself in a cool back room, my hand shaken by an eager-looking employee clad in black. After taking a picture with my $2,000 booze, I sent the bottle home with Wiesel, who then scanned and uploaded it to BAXUS’ Solana-powered spirits marketplace.



BAXUS stores liquor in physical vaults on behalf of spirits collectors. Each bottle is 3-D scanned and paired with an NFT that can be bought or sold on BAXUS. Transactions are settled in USDC, and users can on- or off-ramp from fiat with Coinflow. BAXUS takes a 10% sellers’ fee. Collectors can make multiple swaps without physically possessing a bottle, and if they want to actually drink their liquor, BAXUS will ship it for a $25 fee.&nbsp;



I unsuccessfully listed my bottle for $3,500, but then I got a bite at $3,000, which set me up with a $700 profit after fees. (That’s a 35% return in a couple weeks. Why am I sending this newsletter out for free?)



The whole process was made possible by blockchain tech.&nbsp;



“Blockchain enabled the seamless payment via crypto, the instant settlement in your account, the owner to keep the bottle in the vault while still being able to show verifiable proof of ownership,” Wiesel said in a text. “Think about how the original process required you to go to Brooklyn, pay with a credit card, etc. [If] you wanted to resell it you would have had to go and find a buyer online (illegally) and then [try] to establish trust that you actually have the bottle and will send it to them. This eliminated all of the friction.”



It’s frequently said that crypto needs to solve real problems. In this case, crypto solved my problem of having acquired a limited edition tequila bottle for less than its market value. I hope to face this problem again sometime soon.



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Food and beverages

I made a profit flipping tequila on the blockchain

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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It may have been a short trading week, but on the economic data front, things have been very busy.&nbsp;



The US labor market was in full focus, first with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/june-adp-report-miss-jobs">ADP’s print</a> on Wednesday and then the Department of Labor’s report on Thursday.&nbsp;



Here’s a recap:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">June ADP report shows private-sector payroll decrease</h2>



The June ADP employment report came in remarkably lower than projections. Analysts expected the private sector to add 100,000 positions, but in reality, payrolls decreased by 33,000, according to ADP.



It’s the first negative print since March 2023, although the figure has declined every month since March 2025. Take this with a grain of salt, though. A government employment report painted a different picture (more on that later).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Jobless claims lower than expected</h2>



Initial jobless claims for the week ended June 28 came in lower, at 233,000. This compares 240,000 expected and 237,000 the week prior. It’s the softest reading in six weeks, but the figure still remains elevated compared to this time last year.



Summer is typically volatile for unemployment figures, so keep that in mind for the coming weeks. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BLS employment report shows payroll growth</h2>



The Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics June employment report showed public and private payrolls grew by 147,000, outpacing expectations (~110,000). This comes in line with the 12‑month average (~146,000), while the unemployment rate dipped to 4.1% as participation fell slightly.



Sectors that saw the most growth were state/local government (+73,000) and healthcare (+39,000). Private‑sector hiring slowed, coming in at 74,000 — its weakest since October. 



This is, of course, much higher than the figure reported by ADP, but it’s not terribly uncommon for these two reports to come in mixed (they have different data reporting cutoffs, methodologies, etc).



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Economy

For the US labor market, June data was mixed

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"/>



I’ve been hearing more chatter about decentralized file storage lately.



Yeah, it’s not exactly a sexy topic. But one could argue that decentralized storage is integral to a crypto ecosystem that’s actually decentralized and not concentrated within one or two corporate entities.&nbsp;



And even if decentralization doesn’t really matter to you, does fraud? How about the rise of AI-generated data and files that could be used to hack or scam you, or brick your phone when you need it most?



“With something like AWS [Amazon Web Services], you can’t actually verify if a file is what it’s supposed to be or not. And that fundamentally breaks blockchains and crypto transactions,” Pinata CEO Kyle Tut told me in an interview.&nbsp;



Decentralized storage methods could be ultimately used as a way to combat fraud by verifying authentic information including provenance data — especially in the increasingly AI-dominated world we’re hurtling toward.



“If we want to have automated transactions, whether they’re AI-powered or not, you need to have files and data sets that are verifiable and authentic. And so that is where we spend all of our time, is ensuring that data and files are exactly what they’re supposed to be. And if they changed, we know that they’ve changed,” Tut said.



<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">To show how it works, we built Pinnie’s Guestbook, an onchain app with social data from <a href="https://twitter.com/farcaster_xyz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@farcaster_xyz</a>, deployed on <a href="https://twitter.com/arbitrum?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@arbitrum</a>. → <a href="https://twitter.com/ponder_sh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ponder_sh</a> indexes each message from the smart contract → <a href="https://twitter.com/pinatacloud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@pinatacloud</a> stores them on IPFS, keeping the data queryable even if the node resets <a href="https://t.co/lMgnoE0UNn">pic.twitter.com/lMgnoE0UNn</a>&mdash; Pinata (@pinatacloud) <a href="https://twitter.com/pinatacloud/status/1940101795428409514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 1, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Pinata has worked with a number of NFT collections and marketplaces like OpenSea and Sorare to decentralize their assets. Typically, it’s images, videos, and JSON files that get stored. More recently, it’s worked with memecoin platform pump.fun to store memecoin art files, too.



“IPFS [InterPlanetary File System] is, like, a very difficult protocol to get to work. And so what we spend all of our time on is ensuring that it&#8217;s fast and stable. We have seven-plus years of ensuring that when you&#8217;re trying to get files, you&#8217;re getting them fast and you&#8217;re getting them reliably,” Tut explained.



But his ultimate goal is to get everyone to run an <a href="https://docs.ipfs.tech/concepts/what-is-ipfs/#defining-ipfs">IPFS</a> node plus a crypto wallet on every device they own.&nbsp;



“That&#8217;s the only way that you can generate true provenance of that file from creation to consumption,” Tut said. “Where we&#8217;re going post-AI, where AI can DDoS everything, we need to verify what this file is, where it came from, who created it, when was it created? Like all those types of little things need to happen, and the only way you can do that is through IPFS and wallet signatures on-device. You have to sign this data as soon as it’s generated.



“Our whole underlying assumption and the future that we&#8217;re building to is [that] all files need to be identified through IPFS, and then they need to be signed by a blockchain. We don&#8217;t care what blockchain. And that&#8217;s kind of the beauty of IPFS. At the end of the day, it can work with every blockchain,” he said.



Spinning up nodes and wallets left and right is certainly a lot to ask people to juggle — and isn’t realistic for everyone right now.&nbsp;



But maybe this uncertain AI-driven future ahead will convince more of us that it’s worth the hassle.



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</ul>

Why we need a wallet on every device in a post-AI world

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">
“Because that’s where the money is.”



— Willie Sutton, on why he robbed banks
</blockquote>



<a href="https://www.google.com/finance/quote/CRCL:NYSE?window=1M">Circle traded at 1x AUM</a>



At its June 23, history-making peak, Circle shares traded at an enterprise value (market cap minus cash) of roughly $62 billion.



That is wild because Circle’s assets under management is…wait for it…$62 billion!



In other words, stock market investors were briefly valuing Circle at 100% of AUM.



(It’s down to about 67% now.)



By contrast, BlackRock Asset Management’s enterprise value is just 1.5% of the $11.5 trillion of assets it manages.



That’s clearly not a metric any Circle investor cares about, but I still find it extraordinary — and the shares seem extraordinarily expensive on <a href="https://x.com/jonbma/status/1935727836339281965">more standard metrics</a>, too.



The most extraordinary metric, however, is simply the stock’s performance: CRCL shares ended their first day of trading up 180% from the IPO price, and their second day up 247%.



Fortune <a href="https://fortune.com/2025/06/10/circle-ipo-stock-price-valuation-outlook/">reports</a> that this makes Circle the best performing IPO of any large stock since 1980 —&nbsp; a genuinely incredible achievement considering that the dotcom boom is included in that large sample size.&nbsp;



But things got even crazier: CRCL subsequently traded as much as 750% above its IPO.



I don’t, however, think the IPO was underpriced.



In their initial research report, analysts at Goldman Sachs (which led the IPO), put an <a href="https://x.com/HadickM/status/1939721883185762794">$80 price target</a> on the shares — nearly 60% below current levels.



(Amusingly, Goldman still rates the shares as a “hold.”)



That understandably makes people question why Goldman priced the IPO all the way down at $31 — especially considering that the issue was 25x oversubscribed.



But investment banks don’t unilaterally dictate IPO prices. Instead, it’s mostly a function of what their institutional customers are willing to pay.&nbsp;



And it’s likely the case that while the Circle offer was 25x oversubscribed at $31, it might have been zero times subscribed at, say, $41.



Institutional accounts typically put in for more than they actually want so as to try getting a better allocation, so the “times oversubscribed” statistic is just marketing.&nbsp;



Regardless, the huge IPO pop has instantly changed the perception of Circle as a business.



I think of Circle as an asset manager running a tokenized money market fund — which I might have valued at 10% or 20% of AUM (generously, to account for its good growth prospects).&nbsp;



But the stock market clearly thinks that Circle is a tech stock, which can be valued at anything.



And the stock market is always right.



So even if Circle did leave money on the table, I’d say it was money well spent.



<a href="https://www.google.com/finance/quote/BMNR:NYSEAMERICAN?window=5D">BMNR is up 30x in three days</a>



Shares of BitMine, the latest in an ever-growing line of crypto treasury stocks, are trading at $135 today — three days after raising capital at $4.50.



BitMine aims to be an Ethereum version of MicroStrategy, and it’s off to a great start, so it might well achieve that.&nbsp;



(I’d still probably put my money on SBET, but I think all these things are silly, so what do I know.)&nbsp;



But who in their right mind thinks that paying 30x more for a stock than professional investors did three days ago is a good idea?



It’s hard for me to imagine and I’m not sure what to make of it.



But this, along with Circle, is a reminder that there’s a lot more money in stock markets than there is in crypto markets — and also a lot fewer ways to buy “crypto.”



This sudden mismatch of supply and demand has created a bizarre situation in which stock market investors appear to be far more bullish on crypto than crypto investors are.&nbsp;



Crypto tokens have been flatlining for months, but crypto-related equities are booming.



There’s even a boomlet in <a href="https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/07/02/coinbase-liquifi-acquisition-mergers-acquisitions-crypto-industry/">crypto-related mergers and acquisitions</a> going on.&nbsp;



IPOs, speculative excess, M&amp;A: The next crypto bull market is here — it’s just not happening in crypto.



Why is it happening on the stock market instead? Because that’s where the money is.



<a href="https://dacfp.com/whitepaper-0625/">Traditional investment advisors love crypto now, too</a>



Ric Edelman, the founder of a registered investment firm with $300 billion of assets under management, now <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/edelman-crypto-allocation-portfolio">recommends that investors allocate</a> as much as 40% of their savings to crypto.



The most conservative investors, he says, should allocate 10%.



Amazing.



In short, Edelman’s reasoning is that 1) with people living longer, even a 60-year-old investor should be investing on a 50-year time horizon and 2) crypto is one of the “exponential technologies” that long-term investors should seek exposure to.



“Thousands of companies in dozens of industries are at risk of obsolescence or massive market decline due to technological advancement,” Edelman warns, before making his case for crypto as a future-proof industry (because of bitcoin and stablecoins, basically).



Having skimmed his promotional PDF (thoughtfully written in a font large enough for 110-year-old investors to comfortably read), I’m a little skeptical that Edelman has studied crypto thoroughly enough to have a strong opinion on the multi-decade trajectory of this brand new asset class.



But, however right or wrong he proves to be (let’s check back in the year 2085), the most telling thing in his presentation may be the “dozens of ways” to invest in crypto that he cites — all of which are different ways to get exposure to bitcoin and ETH on the stock market.



Crypto is the future, he thinks, but I guess he doesn’t recommend using it.



Still, if the kinds of investors that Edelman advises are going to put 40% of their savings into exchange-listed crypto — or 10% even — we’re going to need a lot more exchange-listed crypto.



<a href="https://x.com/opt_fun">1,000x leveraged crypto trading is now available</a>



A new crypto exchange on Hyperliquid, opt.fun, offers traders 1,000x leverage on crypto trades “for one minute.”



That seems like a bad idea to me — for one second, even.&nbsp;



1,000x leverage implies an equity margin of 0.1%.&nbsp;



So if you bought something with a bid/offer spread of more than that, you’d immediately be stopped out for a total loss.



That may not be how opt.fun works, I’m not sure.&nbsp;



But I’m <a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/156031/uprise-lost-99-of-client-funds-while-shorting-luna-during-its-price-crash">reminded</a> of the AI-enabled quant fund that managed to lose all of its assets under management by getting stopped out of a short position in LUNA in the same week that LUNA fell 99.99%.



Even on a zoomed-in chart, you could barely discern the uptick that must have gotten it.



But the AI had shorted with so much leverage that the position was almost immediately stopped out.



If it had held on for just one more minute, it probably would have covered the short nearly 100% lower, possibly turning a tiny sliver of capital into, say, a 1,000%+ gain after leverage.



But a minute is a long time in markets — in crypto ones, especially.



(Edelman might be right to stay out of them.)



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Thursday links: CRCL, BMNR, RIAs and 1000x leverage

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TAPEDRIVE won the grand prize in the latest Colosseum hackathon, a popular hackathon-cum-venture accelerator started by original Solana Labs hackathon organizers.&nbsp;



The contest, which I tend to view as a partial litmus test for what Solana builders are interested in at the moment, had a large number of stablecoin entries, one organizer told me. But the grand prize winner took at a stab at a problem internal to Solana: the cost of storing data onchain.



Solana is the busiest blockchain in existence as things stand. With all of this onchain activity paired with fast block times, it can get expensive to store data on Solana. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and others have talked about this problem of reducing data storage overhead on the network.&nbsp;



TAPEDRIVE claims to have the ability to read or write data (that is, access or add it to the chain) 1,400x cheaper than Solana’s status quo.&nbsp;



The program basically bundles Solana data and adds less expensive cryptographic proofs to the blockchain. A network of miners is incentivized to store this data using the TAPE token. To earn these token rewards, TAPEDRIVE miners solve data storage challenges in parallel every minute to prove that they hold their assigned portion of the data archive. This all still relies on Solana’s proof-of-stake mechanism for security.



This sounds reminiscent of the first Colosseum <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/ore-wins-50k-solana-hackathon">hackathon winner in ORE</a>, which was a viral proof-of-work game built on Solana that had miners solve puzzles every minute.&nbsp;



The project’s founder, known as Z, told me they’re still “shell shocked” after winning. “I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to work on this full time now. Job’s not done. I’m fairly optimistic it could help a lot of teams once it’s dialed in,” they added.



Interestingly, TAPEDRIVE intentionally doesn’t use zero-knowledge technology for reasons laid out in the white paper of data storage platform Arweave, Z said.&nbsp;



The rest of the hackathon’s winners ran the gamut from prediction markets to gaming, but Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor said he thinks the strongest entries came from the stablecoins track. Builders in that area were pushing to “grow crypto payment adoption within specific regions and industries,” Taylor said.



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hackathon

Solana data storage project wins Colosseum hackathon

Felix Jauvin

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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As is the case with economic data these days, the devil is all in the details.



Today we received the latest jobs report, and the topline data looked fantastic.&nbsp;



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Non-farm payrolls came in at 147k vs. consensus estimates of 100k.</li>



<li>The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, below forecasts of an increase to 4.3%.</li>
</ul>



The 4.1% unemployment rate is much stronger than the FOMC’s recent estimates in their June Summary of Economic Projections, and likely takes any possibility of a July cut off the table:



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd6VYkw9H9OkljBOzVS4MyNfs4RtElua40P-Z6Sz7CXDn5oeASyZgAugdYNwfG-ImTYqyDareQL3bxdg5668MpFn-L_OFbRfH4eCTtsqaO-Jw4w0zR0iJvJIFog3GOgToRMcHF_QA?key=Hz-OnH6P0L1xfaCne1Hqvg" alt="" style="width:595px;height:auto"/></figure>



The key vector of what is driving this topline strength in the labor market is a decreasing labor force. This is due to plummeting immigration ever since Trump took office.&nbsp;



Looking at land border crossings, we can see these have cratered.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdlfY0CXLp81qEBLtC-4yVlrge3UiGXZ_LTJiqLxGgO-1PaLWBOkuOf1bjsZBHSDIq8IK4prdF0SO76oukiQfFjbLxy47ZBC6x-uxovHILoEJGPD0-qooChzmqoNCbie_MTcDBGsQ?key=Hz-OnH6P0L1xfaCne1Hqvg" alt="" style="width:603px;height:auto"/></figure>



One year ago, we saw this dynamic in reverse:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Huge levels of immigration under the Biden administration grew the labor force, which mechanically increased the unemployment rate, since it took time for those new entrants to get a job. And, in the meantime, those new entrants are considered unemployed in BLS data.</li>



<li>This was what caused the false-positive signal of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/on-the-margin-newsletter-recession-signals">the Sahm rule</a> that led to the Fed <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/fed-interest-rate-cut-50-bps">cutting 50bps</a> in quick order. </li>
</ul>



Putting it together: In the same way that immigration was causing a mechanically weak labor market last September, we now see a mechanically strong labor market.&nbsp;



This dynamic shrouds what’s happening deeper in the data.&nbsp;



Private payrolls came in at 74k, below expectations of 105k. The reason for the significant upside surprise came from government payrolls, which surged to 73k — up from 7k the previous month:



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfraLfl9afNnyJrV7jVCi2IFIpLmglSap8hDY2-PON7tFvO0D7mioh_lZI2UcIq8mJvrF6bXCBrTiVJu1KVFCX8SWS6XPwQRST76luLVg9_kMn4nTcI8tL4tatY0sueK9nCqk2tFw?key=Hz-OnH6P0L1xfaCne1Hqvg" alt="" style="width:599px;height:auto"/></figure>



Looking at the industries that drove payroll growth, education and health services continue to bleed lower, which is notable, as these have been the primary driver of payroll growth in recent years.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcs2_TRrkwx34Rf90yJW1y0EehQ7Ai2QIwd9ziu4us-ANbgJv9yIDXPW_-42jUNUgV3ocKAsYPeqxq68sPKR1hCPc5NNlNkJk9e5Khyj3oXTUODkw47xUj4PIIUPGYWhfNPswC0vw?key=Hz-OnH6P0L1xfaCne1Hqvg" alt="" style="width:610px;height:auto"/></figure>



This delicate balance in the labor market is mostly felt by those who are currently unemployed and finding it extremely difficult to get a new job.&nbsp;



Continuing jobless claims are grinding higher every week amid a labor market that punishes job seekers.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfHReCM00OFu1rzuR5Y0qJXLPatfj-9wZ1zZZctO_7JTG62ShVRCX7MOh5bsjLMOnO3HhE1wDoAXHeivzHk-vTo9kTFITgxHDYtrhHKK9d_bUTpBdR_8lzfN192o_s_GmTyna9PMQ?key=Hz-OnH6P0L1xfaCne1Hqvg" alt="" style="width:620px;height:auto"/></figure>



What’s interesting is that the economy isn’t rolling over quite enough to trigger any meaningful layoff cycle. And so, we see that initial jobless claims continue to chop around aimlessly:



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfWaUr-f1yjYtUMaIdJkk7BJLHTeY__SohEvmGIsjNiNaEkztrMLw_IKrbaC6Qt2Qie6Ff9nC8SKgq2K5gPpy3ZtffxNBoTcHZpMfS2WsuPwt-J86UEfBIbYxqAD6XGmDtm6EGCrA?key=Hz-OnH6P0L1xfaCne1Hqvg" alt="" style="width:620px;height:auto"/></figure>



Putting this all together, we have a labor market that has some valid issues — but is not bad enough to trigger any sort of meaningful policy response.&nbsp;



It looks increasingly likely that the Fed will continue to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/june-2025-fmoc-fed-interest">sit on its hands</a> and not make any meaningful move in either direction.



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The labor market is sending false signals

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A crypto researcher has whipped up an open-source payment processor within a week that lets a buyer tap a crypto wallet on a mobile device to pay for items without any processing fees typical of credit cards and terminals like Square.



Tim Robinson, head of crypto research at VC firm BlueYard, shared a video of the device in action this week making a payment with the MetaMask app on his phone.&nbsp;



The terminal, which he’s dubbed <a href="https://paragraph.com/@blueyard/building-a-crypto-payment-terminal">FreePay</a>, has a few different components, including an NFC reader and a screen for the seller to type in the amount they want to charge.



“We’re supposed to be replacing TradFi, not joining them,” Robinson said.



Robinson built a companion app for sellers using FreePay and an Android app for customers, but notes that FreePay only works with MetaMask and Coinbase Wallets (at least in its current form).



<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 was sick of seeing all these crypto debit cards for wallets, we&#39;re supposed to be replacing TradFi not joining them! How hard could it be to do it crypto native anyway? So I created this &#8211; FreePay &#8211; the worlds first open source, fee-free payment terminal. <a href="https://t.co/zLyZAY81fY">pic.twitter.com/zLyZAY81fY</a>&mdash; Tim Robinson (@timjrobinson) <a href="https://twitter.com/timjrobinson/status/1940331404627411261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 2, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



In recent months, crypto firms — from <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-amex-shopify-card-payments">Coinbase</a> to MetaMask, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/avalanche-visa-card-payments">Avalanche</a> to Solayer — have all unveiled their own various crypto payment cards using traditional payment processors like Visa, Mastercard and even American Express.&nbsp;



But while these big-name TradFi firms have widespread reach, their fees aren’t inconsequential and can cut into businesses’ bottom lines or result in those higher costs being passed on to consumers.



Visa credit card <a href="https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/download/merchants/visa-usa-interchange-reimbursement-fees.pdf">fees</a> per transaction can be anywhere from 1% to over 2%, while Amex fees are typically higher, and can range from 1.4% to over 2.5%.



Of course, blockchains come with their own set of fees, but ultimately that depends on the chain used. Ethereum L2 and Solana fees are much, much lower, especially when considering credit card fees plus the 2.6% and up additional fee added just for using a Square terminal.&nbsp;



“I started with L2 support because that&#8217;s what I know best, but because it&#8217;s open source anyone can extend it,” Robinson told me in a DM of FreePay, adding: “Would love to see others add more chains and more wallets to support the standards needed to work with it.”



Crypto use in the US does come with some tax rules, though, which can deter some from using it as a payment method because it’s more complex than a stablecoin or fiat currency payment.&nbsp;



But hey, if you want to spend your crypto directly from your wallet in a tap-to-pay method, FreePay looks like one potential way for merchants to let you do just that.



I personally think we’re still a little ways away from actually seeing crypto being used for daily, small payments at scale, but the crypto industry really should reconsider its full-tilt embrace of fee-heavy, decidedly centralized payment systems (and systems that refuse to bank businesses like legal dispensaries and sex workers).



As others have <a href="https://x.com/zachherbert/status/1938364193700450395">pointed out</a>, crypto could also benefit from more open-source tech more broadly, including hardware wallets. Open-source tech is inherently more decentralized by design — and allows different motives besides maximizing profits alone to come into play.&nbsp;



A lot of compromises have been made by big crypto firms in pursuit of “mass adoption.” But maybe it’s time we look back at history and remind ourselves why bitcoin was even invented in the first place.



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