TLDR CRYPTO 2025-06-26

FHFA DIRECTS FANNIE & FREDDIE TO CONSIDER CRYPTO IN MORTGAGE RISK ASSESSMENTS

The U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency has issued a directive requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to consider cryptocurrency as a borrower asset in single-family mortgage risk assessments, marking a major step in legitimizing crypto within traditional housing finance. The move enables crypto, if held on regulated U.S. exchanges, to count toward reserves without needing to convert to USD. Enterprises must account for volatility and risk-adjust appropriately.

REPUBLIC LAUNCHING TOKENIZED PRE-IPO TRADING

Republic is launching tokenized representations of pre-IPO SpaceX shares, letting retail investors buy exposure onchain for as little as $50. It plans to expand to firms like OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe, and more. Tokens will mirror secondary-market prices and bypass the usual $10,000+ and accredited-investor requirements for private-company stakes. This move raises legal and disclosure questions about retail access to private equity. Blockchain promises lower costs, faster settlement, greater transparency, and broader accessibility for investors.

SOFI TO LAUNCH BLOCKCHAIN REMITTANCES WITH STABLECOINS

SoFi will introduce international remittances over blockchain networks using US dollars and select stablecoins, enabling 24/7 transfers with rapid local‐currency deposits at a lower cost than traditional wires. The fintech company also plans to relaunch crypto trading for Bitcoin and Ethereum later this year, with future offerings like staking, crypto‐collateralized borrowing, and blockchain infrastructure services via its Galileo platform. CEO Anthony Noto's strategy follows SoFi's 2023 exit from digital‐asset services and utilizes new OCC guidance allowing national banks to provide crypto custody and stablecoin services.

ZKSYNC AIRBENDER: THE WORLD'S FASTEST OPEN-SOURCE RISC-V ZKVM

ZKsync Airbender is an open-source RISC-V zkVM that outperforms existing proving systems by 4-6x on single GPUs, delivering sub-second proofs for ZKsync blocks and averaging under 35 seconds to prove Ethereum blocks on one H100. Benchmarks show Airbender achieves 21.8 MHz base-layer throughput on H100 – 6x faster than SP1 Turbo and 20x faster than RiscZero – and runs efficiently. By slashing proving costs to $0.0001 per transfer and enabling near-real-time, consumer-grade block proving, Airbender promises to drive decentralized, fast, and low-cost interoperability across chains and support new use cases like client-side proofs and ZK-native apps.

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HOW CENOA AND BRIDGE EMPOWER ENTREPRENEURS IN EMERGING MARKETS

Cenoa partnered with Bridge to enable instant virtual USD accounts for users in markets like Turkey, Nigeria, and Mexico, helping solopreneurs bypass FX markups, account freezes, and cross-border friction. The platform now delivers up to 10x lower costs than legacy options like PayPal or SWIFT, with onboarding times under 3 minutes and over $5 million in monthly volume. With 30x transaction growth and expansion to 40+ countries, Cenoa is showcasing stablecoins as a powerful tool for economic inclusion and global ecommerce participation.

A TRANSPARENCY FRAMEWORK VS PHANTONOMICS

Excess VC capital in bull markets creates a “market for lemons,” fueling low-quality token projects. Phantonomics describes opaque tokenomics that insiders exploit. Common transparency pitfalls include hidden revenue flows, equity-token misalignment, foundation billing abuses, unclear vesting schedules, and privileged market-maker deals.

COINBASE EXPANDS EXCHANGE-AS-A-SERVICE AMID COMPETITIVE PRESSURE

Coinbase is doubling down on its Exchange-as-a-Service model, offering custody, trading, staking, lending, and stablecoin infrastructure as a turnkey package for banks and brokerages. The pitch is to skip years of internal buildout and integrate a trusted, crash-tested crypto stack in weeks. While rivals like Kraken also play in this space, Coinbase is shifting its focus from fighting for retail share to powering the backend of the broader financial ecosystem.

THE HORSES OF WEB3 MARKETING APOCALYPSE

Web3 marketing is plagued by copied playbooks, like airdrops, fake engagement, and irrelevant campaigns, that fail due to misaligned audiences and lazy execution. Teams should use onchain data to identify real users, critically assess whether an airdrop will retain value, and treat DevRel as a core distribution channel rather than mere support. Genuine creativity, grounded in deep product understanding and user research, trumps recycled tactics, and building conviction through small, honest wins will organically grow a committed community.

RUMPEL VS. AIRDROPS: LIQUIDITY FOR LOYALTY POINTS BEFORE TGE

Rumpel offers tradable ERC20 point tokens on Uniswap v3, giving users liquid exposure to pre-TGE loyalty points from projects like EtherFi and Ethena, unlike Pendle, Spectra, or Whales Market, which either lock capital or restrict trading.

POLYMARKET HITS $1B+ MONTHLY VOLUME, EYES $200M RAISE AT UNICORN VALUATION

Polymarket is sustaining over $1 billion in monthly trading volume and is reportedly closing in on a $200 million fundraising round at a valuation above $1 billion.

UNISWAP'S DUAL ASSET MODEL SPURS INCENTIVE MISALIGNMENT CONCERNS

Uniswap set a damaging precedent by splitting value capture between its token and equity, creating direct competition between stakeholders.

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