TLDR CRYPTO 2025-06-30

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SOUTH KOREA BACKS KOREAN WON STABLECOINS AS STRATEGIC PRIORITY

Newly elected President Lee Jae Myung has made Korean won–based stablecoins a national priority, aiming to reduce capital outflows and improve monetary independence. Proposed legislation would lift the ban on won-backed stablecoins, create a licensing regime, and promote usage across industries like gaming and e-commerce. While critics argue the won lacks global demand and risks becoming a proxy-CBDC, supporters say there's real utility for cross-border trade and digital Korean services.

BOLT EMBRACES STABLECOIN PAYMENTS FOR GLOBAL MARKETPLACES

Bolt, a San Francisco-based payments platform, has introduced stablecoin payment support through its new Bolt Connect product, aiming to streamline cross-border transactions for merchants and marketplaces. This integration allows for faster settlements and reduced transaction costs by minimizing reliance on traditional banking intermediaries. Consumers benefit from instant payments without incurring foreign transaction fees.

REX-OSPREY TO LAUNCH SOLANA, ETHEREUM STAKING ETFS

REX Shares and Osprey Funds received SEC sign-off on June 28, clearing the launch of two C-corporation ETFs – ESK for Ethereum and SSK for Solana – that will both track spot prices and distribute onchain staking rewards to holders. By electing C-corp status, these funds will internally tax staking distributions before paying them out as dividends, charging a 0.75% management fee. US spot Ethereum ETFs have traded for nearly a year and only futures-based Solana ETFs exist today. Both products will list on Cboe BZX, using this legal workaround to expedite the availability of staking-yield ETFs.

REPUBLIC INTRODUCES MIRROR TOKENS

Republic is launching Mirror Tokens to give retail investors economic exposure to private companies' future valuation events for as little as $50 via Apple Pay or stablecoins. The tokens aren't equity but track performance based on predefined triggers, using secondary-market data to set initial pricing, and are subject to a $5,000 purchase cap under US exemptions. After a lock-up period, holders will be able to trade on a regulated secondary marketplace. Built on Solana for low-cost, global accessibility, the Mirror Token framework will start with SpaceX and soon expand to firms like xAI, Ramp, and Perplexity, opening private-market opportunities to everyday investors.

BUILDING THE STABLECOIN BANKING STACK

This early framework outlines the essential services needed to bring stablecoins into mainstream finance. It includes identity-linked wallets for compliance, crypto-to-fiat conversion rails for domestic and cross-border payments (e.g. FedNow and SEPA), card payments with fraud prevention, and yield-bearing savings accounts integrated with lenders or DeFi protocols. The stack aims to mirror legacy banking (accounts, cards, and savings), but with stablecoins at the core, unlocking faster, cheaper, and more programmable financial services.

WHY CRYPTO + MARKET OUTLOOK FOR 2025

Crypto embodies the native financial layer of the internet, offering ownership, composable financial tools, and a meritocratic attention economy that aligns with Gen Z's values and need for new wealth-generation paradigms. Sustainable success in crypto comes from deep due diligence, clear theses, and patient accumulation. There is a bullish macro outlook driven by anticipated Fed rate cuts and dollar weakness. This author's high-conviction positions include revenue-yielding protocols (SYRUP, EULER, and Pendle), cycle winners like HYPE, and infrastructure bets on Solana and its ecosystem.

TELEGRAM IS LOSING THE MINIAPPS BATTLE

Despite having a billion users and the TON blockchain, Telegram is losing the miniapps battle to Farcaster due to systemic issues including millions of botted users, copy-paste projects with no real impact, and a February 2025 mandate requiring all miniapps to integrate TON blockchain, which caused significant developer backlash. A report revealed TON's declining ecosystem metrics, while builders are increasingly migrating to Farcaster which offers real users instead of bot armies, quick iteration cycles, and multi-chain support from Solana, Celo, and Monad. Farcaster is prioritizing sustainable ecosystem development over quick wins.

POLYGON TARGETS 5,000 TPS BY YEAR-END

Polygon's new “Gigagas Roadmap” outlines aggressive scaling targets: 1,000 TPS and ~5s finality by July, ramping to 5,000+ TPS and 1s block times by year-end. Key upgrades include the Bhilai hardfork and Heimdall v2, both live on testnet and slated for mainnet deployment in July. Long term, Polygon plans to deepen integration with its Agglayer architecture and push for institutional adoption, positioning PoS as a high-performance, low-latency chain.

HUNTING DEFI GEMS ON DEFILLAMA

A simple 5-step process to uncover DeFi protocols gaining traction: visit DeFiLlama, filter for TVL > $1M, sort by 7-day gainers, and investigate the top movers.

LIDO DAO VOTES TO ENABLE DUAL GOVERNANCE, GIVING STAKERS VETO POWER

Lido DAO has approved a dual governance system allowing stETH holders to delay or block proposals passed by LDO token holders, marking a major protocol upgrade.

STABLECOIN STARTUPS SURPASS 2021 VENTURE CAPITAL PEAK

VC activity in stablecoins and payments has surged past the 2021 cycle high, with Q3 and Q4 of 2024 hitting record deal counts of 43 and 42 respectively.

COINBASE TEASES MAJOR APP UPGRADES

Coinbase is rolling out native DEX trading, US perps, 4.5% APY on USDC, and 14% APY staking as it expands onchain access and capital efficiency across its app.