TLDR CRYPTO 2025-06-19

TRUMP ON GENIUS STABLECOIN BILL: ‘GET IT TO MY DESK, ASAP'

President Trump has called on the House to pass the GENIUS Act “LIGHTNING FAST” after its 68–30 approval in the Senate, urging lawmakers to send the stablecoin bill to his desk without delay or amendments. The GENIUS Act establishes a regulatory framework for US dollar-pegged stablecoins, requiring 1:1 reserves, licensing, AML compliance, and strict reserve usage rules to mitigate financial risk. Proponents argue it would cement US leadership in digital assets, while critics, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, warn of potential conflicts of interest tied to Trump's crypto ventures. The bill now heads to a closely divided House, where Republican support will be critical for final passage.

TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT SAYS CRYPTO WILL 'LOCK IN' DOLLAR SUPREMACY

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that stablecoins could help “lock in” the dollar's global dominance by becoming major buyers of US Treasurys, positioning crypto as a strategic asset for the US economy. Bessent projected the USD-backed stablecoin market could exceed $2 trillion within three years, up from today's $240 billion.

COINBASE COMMERCE PAYMENT PROTOCOL POWERING SHOPIFY

Coinbase and Shopify have launched the Commerce Payments Protocol on Base, enabling trust-minimized, multi-step payment flows that meet the needs of real-world commerce. The protocol introduces a smart contract-based escrow system that supports operations like authorize, capture, refund, and void, bringing the flexibility of traditional payment systems to onchain transactions. It also introduces the concept of operators as trusted entities that facilitate transactions without compromising user intent or security. Now powering USDC payments across Shopify merchants, this open protocol lays the groundwork for scalable, composable crypto commerce accessible to developers worldwide.

ACCOUNT ABSTRACTION (EIP-7702) ON SONIC

Sonic is activating EIP-7702, enabling account abstraction for all users without new wallet addresses. This lets accounts delegate to smart contracts and gain features like batch transactions, social recovery, custom gas payments, and app-level authentication. With Sonic's native Fee Monetization system, developers can sponsor gas sustainably, turning wallets into programmable revenue engines while users gain flexibility and security at the protocol level.

Arbitrum, Hyperliquid and Unichain. Start building on Across

DEFI DERIVATIVES: EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

DeFi derivatives have surged in adoption since 2020, now holding $5.37B in TVL with daily volumes rivaling centralized exchanges, but they face structural challenges around liquidity, execution, and scaling. There are tradeoffs across design choices (AMM vs. orderbook, cross-margin models, and clearing layers) and it can be difficult to transition protocols (e.g., GMX and dYdX) without fragmenting users or liquidity. While TradFi still wins on capital efficiency and margin infrastructure, DeFi offers unmatched permissionless innovation and global access, positioning it as the future of derivatives settlement once scaling and interoperability are resolved.

PENDLE THESIS: “THE BEST STABLECOIN BETA PLAY?”

Stablecoins are entering a hyper-growth phase, evidenced by trading volumes outpacing PayPal 20x and Visa 3x and Circle's IPO being 25× oversubscribed. By tokenizing yield-bearing assets into Principal and Yield Tokens, Pendle has secured 30% of the fast-growing YBS market and deployed 80% of its $7 billion TVL in stablecoins, delivering $35–40 million in annualized revenue. Upcoming launches, including Boros for perpetual funding-rate tokenization and Citadel for cross-chain and institutional markets, promise to dramatically expand Pendle's addressable market and push annual revenues toward $100 million. Trading at a sub-20 P/E despite Circle's 80x multiple, Pendle's entrenched network effects, vePENDLE governance model, and revenue-sharing mechanics suggest significant upside as stablecoin adoption accelerates.

INSIDE WEB3 MARKETING

Web3 Key opinion leader (KOL) marketing is evolving toward micro-influencer campaigns using tools like Kaito and Cookie3 to score authenticity, but most agencies still rely heavily on a small core of trusted creators. While micro-KOLs offer decentralization, they risk echo chambers and overexposure, whereas classic paid KOLs often fail to convert unless the product is genuinely strong. Long-term relationships, cross-engagement, and authentic content remain the most effective strategies, especially on platforms beyond X like Telegram and Substack.

NEW L1/L2 PLAYBOOK

Platforms live or die by killer applications rather than raw throughput or low fees. Without a flagship app, a blockchain is the on-chain equivalent of a console with no games. New chains today succeed either by delivering a rare 10x technical leap or, more reliably, by building a breakout app first and then spinning the underlying infrastructure into a dedicated chain. Hyperliquid and Abstract exemplify this app-first flywheel: obsessive product focus attracts users, which fuels tailored chain adoption, liquidity inflows, and a widening moat. Going forward, the most enduring blockchains will debut as must-use games, financial tools, or social networks that prove product-market fit before protocol-market fit.

POLYGON POS SET TO HIT 1K+ TPS WITH UPCOMING HARDFORK

Polygon PoS is scheduled for its Bhilai hardfork, aimed at pushing transaction throughput above 1,000 TPS, on July 1.

TOP 30 PROTOCOLS BASED ON 30D FEES

Tether and Tron continue to dominate fee generation, raking in over $430M and $347M in the past 30 days.

STABLECOINS WIN AS THE LEGACY SYSTEM FAILS

Stablecoins aren't viral because they're trendy, they're viral because the legacy system keeps breaking.

KRAKEN THESIS

Kraken has veteran leadership, a tight-knit team, and a customer-centric culture.