Adam Efrima is the SSV Core team Co-founder. He has been active in the crypto industry since 2013. Over eight years living in China working in the financial industry and fintech space, Adam has worked in CITIC Bank covering outbound investments for Chinese SOEs, he was also in charge of setting up the eToro Shanghai operation. Since then, Adam has been deeply involved in Ethereum staking, co-founding top performing staking project Bloxstaking as well as co-founding SSV Network, a decentralized validator infrastructure for ETH staking.

Adam Simmons is Chief Strategy Officer at RDX Works, a key contributor to the Radix public ledger. He has over 13 years of experience in building &amp; growing businesses in a range of industries including online video, blockchain &amp; digital marketing. With experience in both senior leadership &amp; hands-on roles, he has repeatedly recruited, managed, and trained highly successful teams within marketing, customer success and operations functions. Adam is also a previous member of the UK Paralympic Sprint Kayaking Team and has competed in multiple World and European Championships.


Adam Swick is the Chief Growth Officer at Marathon Digital Holdings. Prior to joining Marathon, he served as a principal at Refinery Ventures, where he was responsible for identifying and recommending business strategies to accelerate the growth of all companies in Refinery’s portfolio. Before Refinery, Swick was the director of strategic finance at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, where he managed the company’s balance sheet, debt program, investor relations, and all forecasting activities. Prior to Kraken, he founded Swick Capital, a crypto-asset hedge fund, worked at Pritzker Group Venture Capital, and was a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Swick holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a BS in finance from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Adrian Brink is the co-founder of Namada and Anoma, where he focuses on building privacy-preserving systems that are resilient to global crises. Previously, he was a core developer at Tendermint (Cosmos) and worked at the Web3 Foundation. He also co-founded Cryptium Labs, which was later sold to Chorus One, and Metastate, where he contributed to major upgrades to the Tezos protocol​.

Adrien Stern is the founder &amp; CEO of Reveel, the omnichain payments infrastructure that enables one-click cross-chain payments to connect people across borders and networks. Before founding Reveel, Adrien led digital transformation efforts at BNP Paribas CIB. He was also previously a venture builder, and owns Bridge Music, a record label and recording studio. Adrien has a Bachelor’s degree in Sciences of Management from The University of Lausanne and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Esade. 

Alex Hoffman is Head of Ecosystem at Superposition Finance. Superposition is revolutionizing DeFi by addressing its core challenges through robust risk management powered by Concordia’s best-in-class risk engine, omnichain functionality, and transparency.

Alexei Zamyatin is a co-founder of BOB, a first-of-its-kind hybrid Layer-2 powered by Bitcoin and Ethereum. He has been a Bitcoin and interoperability research contributor since 2015 and is most known for his work on trustless cross-chain bridges and L2s. Alexei holds a PhD in computer science from Imperial College London.


Alison Haire is the CEO and founder of Lilypad, a serverless, decentralized compute network that democratizes access to computational power by providing scalable infrastructure for AI, machine learning and other high-demand processes. Before founding Lilypad, she held roles at companies such as Filecoin, IBM and Accenture. Under her leadership, Lilypad leverages idle GPU capacity worldwide to fuel an open AI economy, providing cost-effective and scalable compute resources. Her work focuses on making high-performance computing accessible to more developers and researchers, while challenging the dominance of large centralized cloud providers​​.

With over 20 years of experience leading and designing games and tech companies, Alun is well-versed in creating innovative products that tackle experiential and developer challenges. In addition to his stewardship of LAOS Network, he is CEO and co-founder of the company building LAOS, Freeverse, which focuses on building scalable blockchain infrastructure. His history as the co-creator of ‘Barcelona World Race - THE GAME,’ a cutting-edge video game enabling virtual participation in real-world events, and his wider passion for gaming, have fed into his vision for LAOS Network as a solution for the intersection of Web3 tech with both gaming and real-world applications. Alun also led Shar3d.io, a pioneering company enabling collaborative 3D web applications, and served as CTO of Bodypal.com, a virtual garment services company. He holds a Ph.D. in Medical Physics from University College London.



Amanda Cassatt is the founder and CEO of Serotonin. Amanda previously served as Chief Marketing Officer of ConsenSys from 2016 through 2019. Joining one year after the launch of Ethereum, Amanda played a crucial role in defining, creating, and growing the narrative for ConsenSys, Ethereum, and blockchain overall.

Amanda stewarded the ConsenSys brand through its global expansion across enterprises, governments, developers, and consumers. She created and scaled the marketing team to over 50 people, serving both the ConsenSys brand and 50+ portfolio companies such as MetaMask, Infura, Truffle, and Gitcoin; managing teams in product marketing, growth, design, content, community, events, email, analytics and SEO. Amanda’s contributions to some of the most successful product launches, token sales and fundraises landed her on Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016. Amanda is the author of the world's first web3 marketing book, Web3 Marketing: A Handbook for the Next Internet Revolution.

Amanda Keleher currently serves as Chief People Officer at Consensys, one of the largest and fastest-growing companies in the blockchain technology space. A well-rounded business leader with an over 25-year career in the technology space, Amanda is the driving force behind the human element of Consensys where she is responsible for overseeing all of the aspects of people, from building and maintaining the company culture to harnessing human capital as a key driver of business. 

Before joining ConsenSys, Amanda served as the Head of People at ThoughtWorks, a global technology consultancy company, for nearly ten years, where she led the global scale expansion by opening offices around the world and recruiting a diverse workforce at a time when the DevOps movement had just been born and a new skill set were yet to be developed. After her time at ThoughWorks, she served as the Executive Vice President, People &amp; Culture of Index Exchange, one of the world’s premier ad tech organizations; and as VP of People at Little Bits and Intent Media where she excelled in designing effective and creative strategies to attract and retain world-class talent in hyper competitive environments

Andrea Berry is a seasoned online video strategist with 15+ years of experience in transformative media partnerships. 

Her early successes include helping to launch Qello Concerts, the first direct-to-consumer live-music OTT service, later transforming it into Qello Media Services and Vimeo’s OTT channels offering across various industries as their first strategic sales director for their enterprise.

Currently, as the Head of Business Development at Theta Labs, Andrea leverages her expertise in online video and blockchain to drive strategic partnerships and growth opportunities for the company. She helps enterprises take advantage and lean into the opportunities Web3 presents. 

Andrew Redden is the CEO and CTO of Last Network, a blockchain platform focused on sustainable cash flow and reinvestment. Previously, he worked at Gitcoin and has contributed to numerous DeFi and Web3 projects. Redden's career reflects a commitment to developing technologies that prioritize long-term viability and community engagement​.

Andrew Thurman is a Data Editor based in Washington, DC. He previously wrote for CoinDesk and Cointelegraph, and worked in various roles for Chainlink and Nansen. His analysis has been quoted in The Financial Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, Reuters, The BBC, CNBC, and elsewhere. Contact Andrew at andrew@blockworks.co.

Andrey Sergeenkov writes educational articles as a freelancer. His works have been published in Coindesk, Cointelegraph, Entrepreneur and CoinMarketCap. He believes that transforming society towards lifelong learning, combined with decentralization in government and business, will lead to exponential social development.

Andy Bromberg is CEO of Beam and Contributor to the Eco Protocol. Eco has raised more than $90 million from an array of leading investors, including a16z Crypto, L Catterton, Activant Capital, Founders Fund, Pantera Capital, and others. Prior to Eco, Andy was Co-founder and President of CoinList. Andy is also a founding board member at FreeWorld, a non-profit seeking to end institutionalized poverty in the United States by providing access to living-wage jobs for people with criminal histories. He studied Mathematics and Computer Science at Stanford University and co-founded the Stanford Bitcoin Group.

An established and versatile Financial Executive with over two decades of experience running multiple trading businesses across top-level banks such as HSBC, Barclays, and UBS. After running the top Agency and SSA business for both UBS and Barclays, he took over Emerging Markets macro trading for Barclays. In 2018, wanting to go deeper into Emerging Markets he took a role as Head of Latam local markets trading where he was responsible for trading activities across Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. In 2021 DeMartino moved into Crypto when he became CEO and founder of Coinbase Risk Strategies focused on DeFi and Derivatives trading. More recently he started Trident Digital Group, a crypto-native solutions firm that is focused on lending and safe yield generation and stablecoin adoption.


Anthony Scaramucci is the founder and managing partner of SkyBridge, a global alternative investment firm, and founder and chairman of SALT, a global thought leadership forum and venture studio.

Prior to founding SkyBridge in 2005, Scaramucci co-founded investment partnership Oscar Capital Management, which was sold to Neuberger Berman in 2001. Earlier, he worked in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs &amp; Co.

In 2022, Scaramucci was ranked #47 in Cointelegraph’s Top 100 Influencers in Crypto and Blockchain. In 2016, he was ranked #85 in Worth Magazine’s Power 100: The 100 Most Powerful People in Global Finance. In 2011, he received Ernst &amp; Young’s New York Financial Services “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award.  Anthony is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and a board member of the Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation. He is the author of five books.

Scaramucci served on President Donald J. Trump’s 16-person Presidential Transition Team Executive Committee, and in 2017 briefly served as Chief Strategy Officer of the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank and White House Communications Director.

Scaramucci, a native of Long Island, New York, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Tufts University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School.

Antoni is a co-founder of Aleph Zero Foundation (Switzerland), an organization overseeing the development of the Aleph Zero blockchain, and a Managing Partner of Cardinal Cryptography (Poland), firm focused on core development of the Aleph Zero ecosystem.

Ari Juels is the Weill Family Foundation and Joan and Sanford I. Weill Professor in the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech and the Technion and a Computer Science faculty member at Cornell University. He is a Co-Director of the Initiative for CryptoCurrencies and Contracts (IC3). He is also Chief Scientist at Chainlink Labs. He is the author of crypto thriller novel The Oracle (Talos Press), which was released on 20 February 2024.

Austin Alexander is co-founder of LayerTwo Labs, a company focused on advancing the Bitcoin ecosystem through innovative solutions and specializing in the development of Drivechain, a specific type of blockchain sidechain designed to foster creativity and scalability within Bitcoin.

Austin Campbell is the founder and managing partner of Zero Knowledge Consulting and an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School. Previously, he has run portfolio management at Paxos for the stablecoins as well as being the chief risk officer of Paxos National Trust, has managed fixed income trading desks at JP Morgan and Citi, and has been a portfolio manager and structurer at Stone Ridge, the parent of NYDIG. He holds a BS in Mathematics from CSU Chico and a MBA from NYU Stern.

Ben Mills is the co-founder of Meso, a payments platform connecting banks and blockchains. Prior to Meso, Ben spent a decade building payments products as an early team member at Braintree (acquired by PayPal), as Head of Product at Venmo, and working on Solana Pay at Solana Labs.

Ben Rubin is the CEO and co-founder of Towns, a decentralized messaging platform dedicated to redefining online communication. Rubin has a rich background and a decade of experience in creating digital spaces that build trust and foster human connection. Prior to founding Here Not There Labs, the developer of Towns, Ben founded two venture-backed startups, Meerkat and Houseparty, both of which reimagined how people interact digitally. He scaled his communication products to hundreds of millions of users and raised over $70M in funding from Sequoia Capital and Greylock. After Houseparty was acquired by Epic Games in 2019, Ben went on to found Here Not There Labs, a venture-backed startup with over $30M in funding from a16z crypto and Benchmark Capital.

Ben Strack is a senior reporter covering macro and crypto-native funds, financial advisors, structured products, and the integration of digital assets and DeFi into traditional finance. Prior to joining Blockworks, he covered the asset management industry for Fund Intelligence and was a reporter and editor for various local newspapers on Long Island. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in journalism.

Contact Ben via email at ben@blockworks.co

Bessie is a Brooklyn-based reporter covering DeFi and technology. Bessie worked as a tech journalist for The Org prior to joining Blockworks and was a management consultant for KPMG in another life. She is originally from Melbourne, Australia and holds an MA from New York University. She is also the mother of a bratty cat named Mochi. You can reach Bessie at bessie@blockworks.co

Bezalel Eithan Raviv, an ex-member of IDF Cyber Unit 8200, is a seasoned entrepreneur with deep expertise in technology and innovation. He now leads Lionsgate Network, a blockchain analysis firm specializing in professional money recovery services for digital asset investors in the +$2.5 trillion market. Prior to this role, Bezalel founded an investment banking firm supporting AI startups and developed Halleluiah, a pioneering web3 migration pattern for global music copyrights.

Billy Luedtke is the CEO and founder of Intuition, an information protocol powering a more trustful internet. Billy previously served as senior technology advisor at EY, a leading global professional services organization providing assurance, tax, audit, strategy and transactions. At EY, Billy created the company’s blockchain consulting practice, leading the technical development of blockchain-enabled distributed systems. Billy later became a senior token engineer at Consensys, a leading Ethereum developer (MetaMask, Infura, Linea). Billy continues to serve as an advisor at Consensys and MetaMask.

Billy Sebell is the Executive Director of the XDC Foundation and an early contributor to the XDC Network. Since early 2018, Billy has worked to develop the XDC community, focused on ecosystem and network growth and implementing use cases in trade finance. Billy previously spent more than 25 years in manufacturing and consumer products, dealing with the challenges businesses face in capital markets and international trade.

Bob Bodily is the Provo, Utah-based CEO and Co-Founder of Bioniq, a BTC Ordinals wallet and marketplace. He has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience and a Ph.D. in educational/instructional technology from Brigham Young University, with 25 articles and 1K citations. He is a data engineer with 100K+ lines of production Python code, and he has two previous software startups, including an EdTech SaaS that sold in 2021.


Bogdan is the Co-Founder and CTO of Tenderly, the full-stack infrastructure solutions provider powering Web3 developer teams with the essential tools and services throughout their development journeys. 

Prior to co-founding Tenderly, Bogdan worked as a software engineer for major software platforms such as MVP Workshop and Go Daddy where he was responsible for constructing and managing the development of distributed cloud systems before realizing the lack of infrastructural support for Web3 developers. With his vast experience in constructing, expanding, and overseeing extensive distributed cloud systems, he is well-versed in the intricacies of blockchain technologies and their practical applications. 

Brandon Truong is lead product contributor for ZetaChain. He previously co-founded social platform Yada (which was acquired in 2020) and spent time building products for BuzzFeed and Udacity. 


 Brian Pak is CEO &amp; Co-Founder of ChainLight, an award-winning blockchain security firm that specializes in smart contract audits and on-chain monitoring. He is also a co-founder of Theori, an established US-based offensive cybersecurity company, since 2016, which he still leads today, having now amassed trusted partners including Microsoft, Google and Samsung. Brian’s early career started when he co-founded and developed Kaprica Security, inventing and patenting the Skorpion Charger, an Android mobile charger that can detect malicious software with no user action required. He has worked on research and development projects with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US. Brian is also a founder of the team PPP (Plaid Parliament of Pwning) which won DEF CON CTF, one of the most prestigious hacker competitions held in Las Vegas, in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023. Brian graduated with a Masters Degree in Software Security Research from Carnegie Mellon University.

Three years ago, his act of burning a physical Banksy ignited global discourse on NFTs and Web3, exposing the industry's flaws. Now, through XION, founder Burnt Banksy leads a mission to democratize Web3 to the masses, making ownership accessible to all by removing unnecessary barriers and complications through chain abstraction. To date: XION has raised over $36M in funding with the goal of "making crypto disappear." Ultimately, Burnt Banksy wants to provide the benefits of crypto to people without requiring them to know anything about crypto.

Byron Donalds grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and he is also the proud son of a hardworking and loving single mother. His mother dedicated her time instilling in him that greatness requires sacrifice, which drives him as a devoted family man and United States Congressman.  

Byron is a graduate of Florida State University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance and marketing. Byron's career led him to Southwest Florida, where he worked in the banking, finance, and insurance industries. Elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2016, Byron represented Hendry County and east Collier County in the State Capitol. During his tenure in the Florida House, Byron served as the PreK-12 Quality Subcommittee Chair during the 2018-2019 Legislative Session and served as the Insurance &amp; Banking Subcommittee's Chairman 2019-2020 Legislative Session. While serving in the Florida House, primarily focused on elder affairs, criminal justice reform, and ensuring that each child has access to a world-class education. 

Byron is committed to serving and giving back to the community that gave him so much. He has served Southwest Florida in many ways, including previously serving on the Board of Trustees for Florida Southwestern State College after being appointed by then-Governor Rick Scott. Byron continues to volunteer in his church as a youth leader and a mentor. He also enjoys volunteering as a coach in youth football and basketball leagues.

Congressman Byron Donalds lives in Naples, Florida, with his wife, Erika, and their three sons: Damon, Darin, and Mason. Byron has spent his entire adult life serving others, whether it be through volunteering, business, or leadership. He is committed to representing Florida's 19th Congressional District's conservative values in Washington DC to ensure a stronger Florida and a stronger nation.

Byron Gilliam writes the Blockworks Daily newsletter, in which he tries to explain crypto markets to traditional investors and traditional markets to crypto investors (while trying to explain both to himself). Before joining Blockworks, Byron spent 25 years trading international equities for banks and brokers in Frankfurt, London, Paris and New York. He holds a bachelor's degree in History from Binghamton University. Contact Byron at byron@blockworks.co.

Cameron B. Pick is a partner and patent attorney at the Chicago-based intellectual property boutique law firm Marshall, Gerstein &amp; Borun. He prosecutes patents for emerging technologies, including blockchain and crypto, among other innovative areas. He may be reached at cpick@marshallip.com. 

Candace Kelly is the Chief Legal and Policy Officer for the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world's financial infrastructure. She leads the team responsible for SDF’s legal affairs and the policy team that is focused on bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. Previously, Candace worked for Uber Technologies, Inc., where she helped navigate the company’s response to regulatory investigations and advised on safety, security, privacy, consumer protection, and law enforcement response. Prior to that she served for 17 years at the United States Department of Justice.

Carlos Mercado is a data scientist at Flipside Crypto, specializing in the convergence of data science, cryptocurrency, economics, and open-source research. His expertise spans the Ethereum ecosystem and over 20 other blockchains, where he leverages SQL, R, Python, and Solidity to develop innovative data models and analytics tools. Carlos's notable contributions include the creation of the True Freeze DeFi primitive and leading the production of the 2023 Crypto Users Report, generating significant industry impact. Prior to Flipside, he applied his skills in AI strategy and product development at Guidehouse and offered data science consulting services.


​​Casey Wagner is a Senior Reporter based in New York. Casey covers crypto regulation, markets and central banks. Prior to joining Blockworks, she reported on macroeconomics at Bloomberg News. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Media Studies. Contact Casey via email at casey@blockworks.co

Charles Hoskinson is a Colorado-based technology entrepreneur and mathematician. He attended Metropolitan State University of Denver and University of Colorado Boulder to study analytic number theory before moving into cryptography through industry exposure.

His professional experience includes founding three cryptocurrency-related start-ups – Invictus Innovations, Ethereum and IOHK – and he has held a variety of posts in both the public and private sectors. He was the founding chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation’s education committee and established the Cryptocurrency Research Group in 2013.

His current projects focus on educating people about cryptocurrency, being an evangelist for decentralization and making cryptographic tools easier to use for the mainstream. This includes leading the research, design and development of Cardano, a third-generation cryptocurrency that launched in September 2017.

Chris Barrett serves as the Director of Communications at Chainlink Labs and has been involved with Chainlink since 2017. Chainlink is the only on-chain data and cross-chain platform that enables financial institutions to develop customized, flexible, compliant, and future-proof blockchain applications and tokenized assets. Before this role, he founded a leading PR agency for technology startups, where he worked with over 1,000 innovative companies. Chris is also an avid runner, having maintained a streak of running for over five consecutive years. 

Chris Brooks founded CryptoAssetRecovery.com in 2017 to help digital asset owners recover lost assets. Chris was a programmer at Fidelity Investments, VP of Technology at venture-backed Carescout (which sold to GenWorth, a spinoff of General Electric) and has founded and sold three bootstrapped internet companies. 

Chris Swenor is a seasoned entrepreneur and blockchain pioneer with a 20-year career that kicked off as a self-taught programmer at age 13. He swiftly moved from corporate roles into startups, leading several to successful acquisitions. Chris started venturing into blockchain and cryptocurrency in 2013, founding Reach in 2019, a platform that has since attracted over $13M in funding and onboarded more than 8,000 developers.

In recent years, Chris founded Humble, a decentralized exchange on Algorand, and Alloy, a blockchain gaming platform acquired in 2023. He is currently working on Voi Network, a layer 1 blockchain empowering its community with user-centric governance and economics. 

Christopher Perkins is President of CoinFund, a web3 focused Registered Investment Advisor.  He is also a member of the CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee and its Digital Asset Markets Subcommittee.

Ciarán Murray is a seasoned veteran of the blockchain industry. Aside from advising on numerous blockchain projects over the years, and releasing a synthetics assets proof-of-concept last year, Ciarán previously worked in the media industry for British Sky Broadcasting. He is not only well placed to understand the issues facing the media industry but also how to apply blockchain and other distributed technologies to remedy them.

Da Hongfei is the founder of Neo, an open-source, community-driven blockchain platform designed to welcome developers into the Smart Economy. Hongfei operates as CEO of Neo Global Development (NGD), the executive arm of the Neo Foundation that is committed to developing the Neo protocol and its supporting ecosystem. He is seen as a luminary in the Web3 space and as a blockchain pioneer in Asia. Hongfei received his education at the South China University of Technology, receiving degrees in technology and English.

Damian Alvarez is a communications professional helping Web3 clients get their stories heard. He is currently the Head of Communications at Aori, an omni-chain logic layer that leverages off-chain data storage to enable high-frequency on-chain trading. He has worked at agencies such as Edelman and YAP Global to assist a variety of emerging and established clients to engage in industry-wide narratives surrounding technology. He may be contacted at damian@aori.io.

Dan Keeler is Editor-in-Chief at Blockworks. Prior to joining Blockworks, he was Frontier Markets Editor at the Wall Street Journal where he managed the Journal’s coverage of smaller emerging markets as well as created a number of high-profile events and a highly regarded newsletter. Before joining the WSJ, he was the Editor of Global Finance magazine. He is also the founder of New York’s FM Network, a group that hosts gatherings of finance professionals focused on smaller emerging markets.

Contact Dan via email at dan@blockworks.co

Dan Smith is a Senior Research Analyst based in the United States covering Curve, Convex, Aave, and Compound. Daniel previously worked in tax and valuation at EY and Bennett Thrasher. He is focused on using data visualization tools to better understand the health and profitability of various DeFi protocols. Contact Dan at daniel@blockworks.co

Daniel Batten is a ClimateTech investor, Bitcoin environmental impact analyst, CEO advisor and author. He is most widely known for his data-driven approach to Bitcoin mining research.


Daniel Cawrey has been involved full-time in the crypto space since 2013, including as an editor at CoinDesk. He is author of 2020’s “Mastering Blockchain” and 2023’s “Understanding Crypto” books, both available on Amazon.

Daranee Ganesh is a publishing and production manager based in Washington, DC. She holds an LLB with a focus on emerging technologies. Prior to Blockworks, Daranee worked on several legal and non-profit projects aimed at integrating decentralized solutions in the social justice framework, specifically within immigration and environmental law. Contact Daranee at daranee@blockworks.co.

Darren Kleine is an Alberta-based reporter covering podcast content at Blockworks. Previously reporting for Cointelegraph, he wrote feature content and a weekly series focused on the personal stories of influential figures in the Web3 space. He has been an active participant in the NFT art scene since 2020, creating works on curated platforms including SuperRare and KnownOrigin and hosting an NFT art-focused podcast called NFP with DKleine. Contact Darren Kleine at darren@blockworks.co.

David is an Editor based in the Netherlands focused on data-driven journalism. Previously, he wrote for TheNextWeb's crypto vertical before launching Protos in 2021. He's a reformed hardline Bitcoiner passionate about permissionless and decentralized networks. Contact David at david@blockworks.co

David Schwed serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Halborn, an elite blockchain security firm. Prior to Halborn, he was the Global Head of Digital Assets Technology at BNY Mellon, the world's biggest custodian bank, where he integrated the IT strategy for the company's digital asset services. David was also CISO for Galaxy Digital, where he led the development of information security and IT infrastructure, and served as a risk committee advisor, evaluating emerging threats in financial services. He also founded the Cybersecurity Master's Program at Yeshiva University’s Katz School of Science and Health, sharing his expertise as a practitioner-in-residence.


Delphine Forma is the policy lead for Europe &amp; UK at Solidus Labs, a leading market compliance and market integrity firm in digital assets. With a career spanning roles in major banks and blockchain ventures, she brings extensive experience in compliance and legal across sectors. She is the founder of the crypto compliance and legal TG group with 1,400 members. A Sciences Po Lyon alumna, Delphine also holds advanced degrees in European Criminal Business Law and anti-money laundering.

Denelle Dixon is the CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization focused on working with and supporting changemakers to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. She leads the teams that help maintain Stellar's codebase, support the communities around Stellar, and advocate on behalf of the network with international stakeholders. Before joining Stellar, Dixon served as COO of Mozilla, one of the most successful mission-driven open-source organizations.. During her tenure at Mozilla, she led the organization’s business, revenue and policy teams including the ongoing fight for net neutrality and the global effort to ensure that people can control their personal data.

Dermot O’Riordan serves as a Director at the POKT Network Foundation where he helps steer product development and strategy. From Ireland to Silicon Valley, Dermot’s career ranged from advising tech companies and VC firms to leading marquee industry events. His interest in Web3 was sparked in 2016 with the rise of DAOs, leading him to dive deeper into the blockchain space, where he served as an advisor to projects like Radix and Dusk, and later, spearheading growth at Eden Block.

Donovan is a reporter based in Singapore. He previously worked in editorial at Bankless and is a huge fan of spaghetti Westerns and the Wu-Tang Clan. Contact Donovan at donovan@blockworks.co.

Elena leads product marketing at Hiro Systems, a developer tooling company bringing smart contracts to Bitcoin. She has spent the past six years working in blockchain and cryptocurrency startups. Elena co-founded Blockchain Latinx, an online community that explores what blockchain means for Latinos and for Latin America. She has an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

Eli Cohen is a corporate lawyer with 25+ years of experience in commercial transactions, financial services and regulatory matters and has worked in Asia, Europe and the United States. He is the General Counsel for Centrifuge, a real-world asset (RWA) tokenization and securitization platform and Chief Compliance Officer for Anemoy Capital SPC Limited a British Virgin Islands fund company issuer of the tokenized Anemoy Liquid Treasury Fund 1. He is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, has a Masters in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Eli Zeger writes about democracy and its relationship with technology. His work has been published in the Boston Review, Noema Magazine, Strange Matters, Zora Zine, among numerous other publications.

Elliot is the Head of Climate Strategy at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol, where he is helping unlock Bitcoin's clean energy potential by bridging sustainable miners and climate-conscious investors. In his role at Sustainable Bitcoin Protocol, Elliot educates policymakers and NGOs on Bitcoin’s relationship with the energy system. He is a climatetech operator focused on alleviating energy poverty, bridging the digital divide, and promoting financial inclusion through technologies such as Bitcoin. Elliot was previously a Schwarzman Scholar and has served in the military, US Department of Energy, Clinton Foundation, and more. 

Evan Thomas is General Counsel for Alluvial, a software development company supporting the Liquid Collective liquid staking protocol. He was previously at Wealthsimple, Canada’s largest consumer fintech, where he was Head of Legal for Wealthsimple’s crypto trading platform. While at Wealthsimple, Evan helped launch Canada’s first regulated staking product. Before Wealthsimple, Evan was a litigator at Osler, Hoskin &amp; Harcourt LLP for nearly 15 years. Among other notable cases, Evan was hearing counsel to 3iQ Corp. in its appeal securing regulatory approval for Canada’s first publicly traded bitcoin fund in 2019.

Felix Jauvin is the host of the On the Margin podcast. Based in British Columbia, Canada, he lives and breathes where crypto and macroeconomics intersect.

Felix Xu, crypto geek, early adopter, and NFT collector. Felix graduated from NYU Stern and founded two crypto projects, ARPA and Bella Protocol, among the global top 500 by market cap. Felix previously worked at Fosun Investment, Sackler family office, and Vertical Research in New York and Beijing. Felix loves sailing, kitesurfing and was featured in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for his NFT collection.

Frank has a diverse career that spans creative writing, day trading, and a 12-year stint in financial planning. After experimenting with blockchain and being an early adapter to the Solana ecosystem, Mathis co-founded GenesysGo in 2021 to create a faster, more reliable and more secure decentralized data storage protocol. Their flagship product, shdwDrive is built on Solana and aims to bridge the gap between blockchain technology and traditional business infrastructure. GenesysGo is powered by a new type of decentralized data storage consensus mechanism, built from the ground up by the GenesysGo team.

Fraser is co-founder &amp; CTO of Cubist and an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. She is an expert in software correctness: her research focuses on systems security, automated bug finding, and formal verification, from verifying (parts of) production systems like browser JITs, to finding exploitable bugs in real codebases. Her tools have found many zero-day bountied bugs and CVEs in the Chrome and Firefox browsers and multiple operating systems. Fraser received her BA in English and her MS and PhD in Computer Science from Stanford.


Garrett Harper is the producer for the Empire podcast. Garrett worked in private equity and product management before jumping into crypto full-time in 2021. His favorite thing about crypto? It conflates art, gaming, finance, software, and psychology into one hyper-growth industry.

Gijs op de Weegh is the CEO and Founder of StablR, where he leads the strategy, business operations, and investor relations. He founded StablR out of his passion for implementing blockchain technology in the financial industry and exploring its possibilities. Before founding StablR, Gijs co-founded Payvision, an e-commerce payment service provider, in 2002. Under his leadership, Payvision grew to over 300 employees and achieved a turnover exceeding €4 billion.

Gísli Kristjánsson is co-founder and CTO of Monerium, the first company to issue fiat onchain. He fell in love with programming at the age of 13. After working as a bonds broker, Gísli saw the inefficiencies of securities settlements firsthand and recognized the potential of Bitcoin. Prior to co-founding Monerium in 2015, Gísli founded and sold a platform to give users access to geo-blocked content. Fun fact: Gísli’s Ethereum address is among the 1% of the oldest addresses.

Haden Patrick is Director of Business Operations of Cordial Systems, a provider of institutional-grade self custody software using a Zero Trust security model.  Haden has executive experience in team leadership, engineering and education originating from his 24 year career as a Naval Officer. After co-founding SoloKeys, the first open-source security key company, he went on to manage projects connecting web3 to traditional finance at a cryptocurrency trading firm before joining Cordial Systems.

Hadley Stern, Advisor to MPCH, has extensive experience in leadership roles within TradFi and digital asset industries. As Global Head of Custody at the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM) from 2021 to 2023, Hadley spearheaded the creation of the industry’s first bank-grade crypto-custody platform. Hadley also previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Bloq where he was responsible for the P&amp;L, product roadmap, and general operations. Hadley was Founding President of Fidelity Digital Asset Services where he led Fidelity's Blockchain Incubator and Digital Currency group and was pivotal in early product launches, including activating Bitcoin donations to Fidelity Charitable and building and running Fidelity first Bitcoin mining Operation.



Hannah Finnerty is Blockworks' editorial operations manager and is based in the US. Hannah previously worked in podcast production for The National in Abu Dhabi. She graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in multiplatform journalism and Middle Eastern politics. Contact Hannah at hannah@blockworks.co.

Hatu Sheikh is the co-founder and CMO of DAO Maker, the largest on-chain funding platform with 1.5M+ users. The platform's contracts have distributed over $600M, with a cumulative return of around 10x. Hatu has a strong background in marketing and strategy and has played a pivotal role in driving the success of various blockchain-based projects and tokens, crafting effective marketing strategies, and forging powerful synergies within the industry.

Harry Duckworth, a law graduate, embarked on a unique journey that led him to become the youngest trader at global commodities giant Trafigura. He then went on to set up desks for several hedge funds worldwide, accumulating over a decade of experience in trading, hedge funds, and emergent technologies. 

Through his work, he became fascinated by the revolutionary power of blockchain tech soon after the inception of Bitcoin. Years later he founded AgriDex International, to provide digital marketplaces and supply chain information for all participants in the global food chain. 

Hind Kurhan is a Co-Founder of Thesis Defense, a decentralized technology security auditing company whose mission is the facilitation of broad adoption of decentralized technology by improving security and audit consistency throughout the blockchain sphere.


Ian Rogers is the Chief Experience Officer at Ledger, leading the consumer-facing business delivering the world’s #1 way to buy and secure cryptocurrency.  Prior, Ian was the Chief Digital Officer at LVMH for five transformative years, working with a portfolio of nearly one hundred brands across luxury including Louis Vuitton, Dior, Sephora, and Hennessy.  Ian also sits on the boards of Dr Marten’s and Lyst.

Ian spent twenty years bringing digital music to the mainstream, first with Winamp then Yahoo!, Beats, and Apple.  Ian contributed to the 2015 launch of Apple Music including Beats 1, their digital streaming channel. Ian graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science (with honors, Phi Beta Kappa) from Indiana University in 1994.  Ian built some of the earliest music-related Web sites in the early 90s and has been working with Beastie Boys since 1993.

Igor Telyatnikov is the CEO and co-founder of the blockchain and financial services technology company AlphaPoint. Headquartered in New York, AlphaPoint supports over 10 million users, powering marketplaces and wallets in over 35 countries. With 15 years of experience in tech and innovation, Igor has empowered over 150 clients, including CME Group and Scotiabank. In 2022, he partnered with the Government of El Salvador to upgrade its Chivo Wallet into a national Bitcoin and dollar wallet, creating the first nationalized crypto ecosystem. Igor previously held roles at Cvetlo, LiftDNA, and Ingersoll Rand/Allegion, and has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing from Penn State University. He is a frequent speaker at industry events.

Ishan is a University of Texas McCombs School of Business graduate with a BBA in Finance &amp; Marketing. He founded and managed a Private Equity Fund that reached an eight-figure Assets Under Management (AUM) and has also gained experience with many top 200 projects of crypto market cap. In 2022, he helped found SCRIB3, a Web3 Marketing and PR venture. He was notably among the first to raise an alert about potential deceptive and unethical business practices by FTX. Ishan contributes as a DeFi analyst, an active angel investor, and an advisor in projects like Polygon Technologies.

Jack Kubinec is a Solana ecosystem reporter based in Brooklyn, New York. Jack previously interned at Blockworks before joining full-time. He graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University with a degree in sociology. Contact Jack at jack.kubinec@blockworks.co.

Jag is the CEO and co-founder of re.al, an L2 build to facilitate deep onchain liquidity for tokenized RWAs. re.al seeks to redefine how RWAs are integrated into DeFi, using yield-generating real-world assets as novel building blocks in existing DeFi primitives.

James Cirrone is a breaking news reporter based in New York. Prior to joining Blockworks, James was a reporter and newsletter writer at Bloomberg News. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in journalism. He also played trumpet in the university’s marching band. Contact James via email at james.cirrone@blockworks.co.

Jason Allegrante is the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Fireblocks. He is an experienced Counsel with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry with both large, traditional financial institutions as well as early stage fintech startups.



Jason Dehni is the co-founder and group CEO of Credbull, a leading DeFi platform offering structured high fixed yield solutions in SME private credit. Jason has over 25 years of senior management experience in asset management, private banking, SME lending, insurance, risk management, and crypto across North America, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. His background includes serving as group COO &amp; MENA CEO of a publicly traded crypto asset management company, co-founder &amp; CEO of an SME trade finance platform, and senior leadership roles in asset management, wealth management,  insurance, and management consulting. Jason holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Honours BA in Economics &amp; Political Science from the University of Toronto. 

Jean-Marie Mognetti is Chief Executive Officer of CoinShares, a publicly listed investment firm that manages over five billion in digital assets on behalf of a global investor base, and an experienced commodities trader with a background in quantitative strategies. A veteran of the Global Advisors group of companies since 2011, Jean-Marie has served in various leadership roles throughout his tenure, most recently as CEO of Global Advisors (Jersey) Limited and director of GABI, the world’s first regulated Bitcoin fund. In addition to his management responsibilities as CEO, Jean-Marie oversees the firm’s proprietary trading arm, capital markets portfolio, and risk management practices – areas in which he has developed unique expertise over his career. Prior to joining Global Advisors, Jean-Marie was a quantitative strategist with Hermes Commodities Fund Managers, and an Energy Trader Assistant at Lehman Brothers. He holds Master of Science degrees in Mathematical Trading and Finance from Sir John Cass Business School in London, and Bank-Finance-Insurance from Université Paris Dauphine in Paris, in addition to a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and Finance from Université Paris Dauphine.

Jeff is an editor at Blockworks, based in the United States. He has been a part of the blockchain space for over a decade, most recently working as US news editor at Cointelegraph. His areas of focus include empowering artists and creators through technology, using proof-of-participation methods to reward self-improvement, reducing the effectiveness of Sybil attacks, seeking transparent equity for disadvantaged communities, and exploring fairer models of world governance. Contact Jeff at Jeffrey@blockworks.co.

Jesper Johansen is the founder and CEO of NORTHSTAKE, a regulated custodial staking company specialized in building regulatory compliant crypto staking products for institutional investors and financial institutions. The team holds backgrounds from financial institutions, pension funds, large investment companies to consulting, technology and audit firms, such as Accenture, Deloitte, PwC as well as blockchain and crypto projects e.g. DAI Foundation (MakerDao), Ethereum and L1/L2s. 

Prior to NORTHSTAKE, Jesper held leadership positions with Accenture Strategy and Deloitte Consulting advising clients in heavily regulated industries to implement new technologies and drive business transformation. He holds a MBA from Copenhagen Business School and a B.Sc. in International Business. 

Jess is the CEO of Reown, the onchain UX platform and builders of the WalletConnect Network. Previously she led Crypto at Checkout.com, a global fintech company. Jess was also a member of the Bank of England CBDC Engagement Forum and a member of UK Finance New Digital Money Steering Group, Innovate Finance Fintech Strategy Group and Department for International Trade Fintech Group.

Jess Sun is an independent writer and content strategist. She loves bringing good ideas to light, helping the people behind them shine, and bridging gaps in understanding. Follow her on Twitter or LinkedIn. Go to her website to learn about working with her.

Jesse Knutson is the head of operations at Bitfinex Securities, where he is responsible for expanding the platform’s issuance pipeline, overseeing distribution and building its user base while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Prior to this role, Knutson served as vice president of financial products at Blockstream, and held roles at prominent investment banks including Macquarie Group and Barclays.

Jim Myers is an engineer, early-stage investor, and the CTO &amp; Co-Founder of Flipside Crypto, a leading blockchain data analytics and business intelligence platform. Prior to co-founding Flipside, Jim developed the core technology that took products from 0 to 1 at companies such as Mylestone, Pluralsight, and Smarterer. Jim’s journey into the crypto industry began in 2015, eventually co-founding Flipside Crypto in 2017 to help empower crypto communities to create and share data-driven insights on the projects they care most about. Jim's passion for building extends to the broader startup community via his developer event series, Stack Dive, and as an angel investor to several local Boston-area startups, including AdHawk and LinkSquares. In a previous life, Jim developed advanced models to quantify risk and abnormal returns in the market for Financial Transmission Rights, a type of energy derivative.

JJ is an advisor, mentor and co-founder working across Bitcoin, mining and web3. He currently mentors for Outlier Ventures new Bitcoin Base Camp program and has co-founded a new protocol operating in stealth mode.

Joey is ranked by Chambers and Partners as one of the top 12 lawyers in the world, advising many of the largest platforms around the globe in the space. He co-chaired the Gibraltar Government’s working group on Blockchain for 3 years, which was established to develop the infrastructure to accommodate a DLT regulatory framework. Joey is also a specialist consultant to the United Nations and trains and assesses authorities primarily around South East Asia in virtual asset developments, DeFi and regulation. He is a member of several think tanks including the prestigious global ‘Wharton Reg@Tech’ initiative, the Blockchain Industry Parliamentary Roundtable on Blockchain Technologies at Parliament in the UK, and also contributed to the UK Law Society on the Blockchain Legal and Regulatory Guidance publication. He was the Xapo Representative on the Libra/Diem Association and has also contributed to various stablecoin and CBDC developments. 

Joeyz Yu is an entrepreneur with over 18 years of experience in product design and development. He co-founded Sending Labs to revolutionize communication protocols and social applications for Web3, leading the development of their flagship products SendingMe and SendingNetwork. Previously, Joeyz co-founded MoboTab, where he created the Dolphin Browser, used by over 200 million users and later acquired by ChangYou. Joeyz's passion for empowering users and building exceptional teams drives his mission to shape the future of the internet. 

Jeff Albus

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/lightspeed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Volatility is back. After rallying to $167 on June 11, SOL <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/sol">reversed</a> sharply below $145 as geopolitical shocks rattled risk markets. Israeli airstrikes on Iran and the ensuing global rush to hard assets <a href="https://x.com/3orovik/status/1849954887469089125">appear to be the trigger</a> here.



Oil surged. Gold <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/13/oil-and-gold-prices-soar-after-israel-attacks-on-iran">climbed</a>. Solana and Bitcoin stumbled off a cliff.



Early Friday, we saw BTC <a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">dip briefly below $103k</a>, triggering over $400 million in long liquidations before rebounding to ~$105k. Solana dropped around 9.6% with $52 million in liquidations, third only to BTC and ETH.



Despite the correction, Solana&#8217;s <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/solana">core metrics have held</a>. Daily transaction counts remain around 80 million. Compute throughput is stable. Application revenue is steady at $4-7 million/day.



Solana&#8217;s DEX layer is rotating, with volume down to $2.5-3.5 billion, from over $6 billion in May. Pump.fun continues to dominate meme traffic while SolFi captures SOL-USD pairs. Meta-aggregators like Titan and Kamino Swap are <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/solana-meta-aggregators">quietly gaining ground</a>, offering better routing via off-chain sources like Pyth&#8217;s Express Relay, and even as volumes dipped, execution efficiency improved.&nbsp;



Underneath the rabble, <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/solana?dashboard=131">Solana&#8217;s staking layer is unshaken</a>. The stake rate holds at 65.4%, with net activations still outpacing deactivations. Liquid staking tokens, led by jitoSOL, remain steady near $7 billion. MEV tips from Jito declined post-frenzy, but validator income remains resilient. In other words, no real crisis of confidence is to be seen among active users.



It&#8217;s easy to see why some might worry superficially, what with SOL currently testing $140 support. A breakdown could open moves to $123 or even $110. But if BTC holds above $100k and oil premiums fade, SOL seems likely to stage a recovery.



Like it or not, the technical binary of reclaiming momentum vs. a deeper correction likely hinges a lot on bitcoin’s next move.



It&#8217;s a tough one to predict, given that the macro environment remains so unstable. Fed policy is tight, energy volatility is high, and crypto is once again correlated to equities and oil. That said, the US regulatory backdrop continues to shift positively.



President Trump&#8217;s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/donald-trump-digital-asset-summit-address">public embrace</a> of dollar-backed stablecoins and federal frameworks adds a long-term bullish undertone, for instance — especially for chains like Solana that anchor stablecoin infrastructure.



The bottom line is, Solana is weathering a macro squall with surprising internal strength. While price remains pinned by risk-off sentiment, the ecosystem&#8217;s throughput, revenue and <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/solana?dashboard=39">developer momentum</a> are intact.



If the market stabilizes and volatility recedes, Solana could quickly reassert leadership in the next leg up. If not, our real test won&#8217;t be whether the network avoids the downside but how well it builds through it. So it has been, and so (someday, though maybe not today) it shall be.



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Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<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>

Lightspeed Newsletter

Solana slides on macro pressure as oil and gold rally

Casey Wagner

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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Oil prices surged while global equities faltered Friday morning, on fears that Israel’s attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities could escalate into a broader conflict.&nbsp;



Brent crude, a benchmark for global oil prices, gained more than 8% in the early hours of Friday morning. West Texas Intermediate crude rallied as much as 14% before paring some gains, following <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-iran-strike-conflict/card/iran-s-oil-facilities-not-damaged-by-israeli-strikes-mma4B7MvDJPOKACxblQW?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAidSyDWPvncLEk3XZUIdfddvMuaoMI05hBctM5nUs1_NTS5h9wEb1w24VihBqQ%3D&amp;gaa_ts=684c4b2b&amp;gaa_sig=1J26WGQjipkVrEQct72Ujf8lnywrX45kNcbXpK4tKrSkVr592IdOSowBBu7uQH5eLxUPAxtqz-olFQ0pZJPEVA%3D%3D">reports from Iran</a> that oil facilities were not damaged by Israeli airstrikes.&nbsp;



Gold approached its all-time high as investors moved toward safe-haven assets.&nbsp;



The S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes hovered in the red for most of the session, trading 0.8% and 0.9% lower at 2 p.m. ET.&nbsp;



Trading like a risk asset, bitcoin was also in the red on Friday — trading 0.6% lower on the day at 2 p.m. ET to hover around $105,200.&nbsp;



US Treasury yields moved higher Friday morning, signaling investors’ fear that higher oil prices could lead to prolonged elevated inflation. While Treasury prices typically rally on geopolitical uncertainty (remember, prices and yields move inversely), inflationary pressures could impact the Fed’s rate-cutting timeline.&nbsp;



Speaking of the FOMC, this week’s data (more on that below) makes a solid case that while committee members will probably not touch interest rates next week, a cut — or two — before year end may be in the cards. At least that’s what markets were thinking, but geopolitical tensions have given investors reason to pause.&nbsp;



Odds of the first 25 basis point cut coming in September were at 59% on Thursday but dipped to 56% Friday morning, per <a href="https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html?redirect=/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html">data</a> from CME Group.&nbsp;



The shift, slight as it is, supports the narrative that traders are selling US Treasurys on fears the Fed may keep interest rates higher should oil prices stay higher.&nbsp;



Early reports suggest that the situation in the Middle East will not be resolved quickly; Iran has vowed “severe” retaliation and has <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/5348689-iran-nuclear-deal-talks-suspended/">pulled out</a> of a planned nuclear talk with the US.&nbsp;



President Trump on Friday confirmed to reporters that he knew Israel was planning on attacking Iran, but the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-iran-strike-conflict/card/trump-told-netanyahu-on-monday-not-to-attack-iran-WfVmW9ddIPeZZYlpOafE?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email">reported</a> that earlier in the week, he’d asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down.&nbsp;



This paints an uncertain picture, and investors appreciate certainty. So does the Fed. We’ll be back on Monday with a preview of what to expect from next week’s rate-setting meeting.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<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>

Stocks, cryptos lower following Israel strike on Iran

Kate Irwin

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



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Coinbase announced a stablecoin payment option on Shopify, as well as an American Express credit card, during yesterday’s State of Crypto Summit.&nbsp;



Buyers making online purchases from an estimated two million businesses using Shopify may soon see <a href="https://www.shopify.com/news/stablecoins-on-shopify">USDC on Base</a> as a payment option when checking out, and will have to approve those payments via a third-party crypto wallet.



Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said during one talk that what a user sees when buying items through the ecommerce site isn’t the whole story. Clicking the “Pay” button initiates many steps on the backend, and adding a price-volatile crypto token can make that even more complicated.



“Stablecoins are obviously key here,” Lutke said.



That said, Shopify has added different types of crypto payment options before — and even tried out offering bitcoin payments <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2013/11/09/shopify-officially-integrates-bitcoin-as-a-payment-option-for-its-70000-merchants">way back in 2013</a> when it had about 70,000 online stores using its platform.&nbsp;



Shopify’s <a href="https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/additional-payment-methods/cryptocurrency">site</a> already lists Solana Pay, Crypto.com, Strike, and half a dozen other crypto payment integrations as options for businesses to choose to opt into. It’s just not clear how many Shopify merchants are actually going for these options.



<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">Platforms using <a href="https://twitter.com/stripe?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Stripe</a> Connect can now offer stablecoin payments to their users! This means businesses can: 🌎 reach more markets 💰 at lower cost First out of the gate is <a href="https://twitter.com/Shopify?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@shopify</a>, enabling millions of their merchants to accept payments in USDC! <a href="https://t.co/SDoABDz5uI">pic.twitter.com/SDoABDz5uI</a>&mdash; Jen (@BackseatVC) <a href="https://twitter.com/BackseatVC/status/1933231262585475143?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 12, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



The USDC on Base payment option is first rolling out in early access, with plans to expand that rollout this year. Lutke <a href="https://x.com/tobi/status/1933237327633265064">said</a> Shopify is also exploring adding 1% cashback, too, as an extra perk.&nbsp;



Stripe’s tech helped make this happen. Merchants can decide whether they want to keep their earnings in USDC or convert it into their native fiat currency.



Both during the livestream and afterwards across different X <a href="https://x.com/ilikesymmetry/status/1933232617991856415">threads</a>, Coinbase execs and staff pointed out that high credit card fees cutting into merchants’ profits are a point of frustration that crypto could solve. They also emphasized that crypto can go across borders to be a truly global payments option.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Going premium</h3>



Somewhat ironically, though, Coinbase unveiled its American Express card yesterday.&nbsp;



The Coinbase One Card <a href="https://x.com/coinbase/status/1933237429193806033">uses</a> Amex’s network and isn’t free — but they’re promising 2-4% bitcoin back per purchase. The card will only be available in the US, and will launch sometime this fall. It requires an active Coinbase One Basic ($5 a month or $50 annually) or Coinbase One ($30 a month) subscription in order to apply for the card and keep it valid.



Amex is known for being a premium credit card company with some of the <a href="https://www.fool.com/money/research/average-credit-card-processing-fees-costs-america/">highest fees</a> for merchants.&nbsp;



It’s also known among Amex holders that it can be difficult to find businesses who accept the card outside of the US. (For example, my fiancé and I absolutely struggled earlier this year to find anyone who took Amex during a trip to South Africa. But all shops and restaurants we visited accepted Visa.)&nbsp;



It’s partly in the name: American Express.&nbsp;&nbsp;



American Express sees its brand as increasingly catering to a younger audience <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-11/american-express-s-gen-z-customer-spending-grew-by-40-from-2024?srnd=undefined">willing to spend</a> on something that feels like the luxury option. Coinbase also sees itself as a “premium” brand among crypto companies, Coinbase Ventures exec Shan Aggarwal mentioned during the livestream.



I don’t necessarily disagree. Coinbase has long had some of the best user experience product flows and product designs in crypto — though the fallout from a recently-revealed <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-breach-fallout-data-exposed">data breach</a> may have eroded some trust in the brand.



For credit card nerds: the Coinbase One card is expected to weigh 17 grams, which is reportedly the same weight as the invite-only Amex Centurion card that costs thousands a year.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The audience</h3>



The Coinbase One <a href="https://www.coinbase.com/one">subscription</a> is most ideal for frequent traders who want no-fee Coinbase trades, more staking rewards, and prioritized customer service.



“Amex plays extremely well to Millennials, GenZ, the younger generations,” said Amex SVP of Global Network Services Will Stredwick, who sees crypto as “so obviously becoming mainstream.”&nbsp;



A 2024 PolicyGenius survey <a href="https://www.policygenius.com/life-insurance/2024-financial-planning-survey-millennials-gen-z-money/">found</a> that 22% of Millennials surveyed (now between roughly ages 28 to 43) owned crypto, followed by 20% of GenZ (now between ages 19 and 27).&nbsp;



But just 10% of Gen X and 5% of Boomers said they owned crypto.



The Coinbase One Amex is expected to release this fall. It joins a lineup of other crypto payment cards, including crypto debit cards, credit cards, and others that fall somewhere in-between. This year, we’ve seen a slew of crypto card announcements.&nbsp;



There’s a MetaMask Mastercard, a Gemini bitcoin rewards Mastercard, an <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/avalanche-visa-card-payments">Avalanche Visa</a>, a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/solayer-launches-crypto-rewards-card">Solayer Visa</a>, and others.



All of these cards beg the question: Was crypto ever trying to get away from the traditional financial system? Or has the industry decided, collectively, that the best way to beat the Visas and Amexes of the world was to join them?



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<ul class="wp-block-list">
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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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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supplyshock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
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American Express

Coinbase unveils Amex card, Shopify integration

Donovan Choy

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



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FIFA, Maplestory, Off the Grid, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/inversion-chain-avalanche">Inversion</a>.



These are among the few high-profile names to have launched (or plan to launch) chains on Avalanche’s tech stack lately.



Why Avalanche and not Ethereum?



The answer starts with Avalanche9000, the network’s largest upgrade that went into effect last December. It was Avalanche’s own version of “<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum-merge">The Merge</a>,” which radically overhauled validator economics.



As part of ACP-77, Avalanche validator’s high fixed stake cost requirements (2000 AVAX) were replaced with a low-cost, pay-as-you-go model.



Reduced upfront costs have made it attractive to launch a sovereign Avalanche L1 chain — it’s possibly even cheaper than <a href="https://blockworks.co/analytics/celestia">a Celestia rollup</a> or Cosmos Appchain, based on <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/avalanche-an-economic-analysis-of-acp-77">estimates</a> by Blockworks Research’s EffortCapital.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcC5wh5L55_81NokAGe0kLQZiJoTaonqTZlT0DBBRCD4eclbMmnbUOpFEJBQCHnNocOK-DcMBDG18ydkowqKmg5vM4i0UH9z4KAO9c6FAFAM1zziZeVccJUla2zQLkBomrdC_UBZQ?key=G9G16ZCPgEDragXxF7V1VQ" alt=""/></figure>



The cost savings go further.&nbsp;



Teams bootstrapping an Avalanche L1 can leverage what the C-Chain — Avalanche’s liquidity hub — has already built out.



For instance, Avalanche L1s can offer users the convenience of a CEX ramp via the C-Chain without having to pay a hefty percentage of their token supply to integrate directly.



“That&#8217;s one of the core value propositions at Avalanche,” Ava Labs chief strategy officer Luigi D&#8217;Onorio DeMeo told me. “From a go-to-market perspective, it saves teams a lot of time and millions of dollars in integration fees.”



This goes for most standard chain infrastructure that the C-Chain already has, such as oracles, RPCs, indexers, explorers, NFT marketplaces, etc. — all of which can cost up to an <a href="https://x.com/AndreCronjeTech/status/1848795057014399440">estimated</a> $13 million for an independent L1 to bootstrap themselves.



It all hinges on Avalanche’s “Interchain Messaging” (ICM) protocol, which Avalanche L1s use to easily move assets to and from the C-Chain to take advantage of the aforementioned features.



C-Chain to Henesys (Maplestory’s chain) is today the most active back-and-forth route on ICM, facilitating thousands of messages daily.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfXdQOnyE9Bq_JpC81F-g4D_tfRiFu6vfOhdZKJsiSYPI8MzrwFAHFbkjTU9IN15cJyAy8jz7t8zfPvB9MAYM4gTeN8a9J6IloX1P5Sh2Z7nXy_2H5aevaz2LnoyqJhkPJDEwxuwA?key=G9G16ZCPgEDragXxF7V1VQ" alt=""/></figure>



Source: <a href="http://l1beat.io">L1beat.io</a>



Value accrual is another major reason to launch an Avalanche L1.



Avalanche L1s can devise clear value accrual streams to their native tokens by bootstrapping their own validator sets and issuing block rewards (or using their own native token as gas).&nbsp;



Ethereum L2s cannot leverage the same levers and therefore have limited or no value accrual streams to their tokens, outside of governance (there are <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/arbitrum-timeboost-live-dao-revenue">exceptions</a>).



Finally, AvaCloud&#8217;s HyperSDK also grants a high degree of L1 <a href="https://x.com/santiagoroel/status/1913308769875882221">customization</a>, a stark advantage over the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/commonware-optimized-blockchain-development">constraints</a> L2s face building on today’s rollup tech stacks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">AVAX value accrual</h2>



Given the problems of value accrual that have plagued ETH and ATOM, it’s worth looking at how AVAX accrues value.



First, 100% of all C-Chain fees are burned, compared to partial burns for Solana or Ethereum. AVAX burn had a monthly average of about $453k in 2025.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf3tf2Q8EPgPO4DtP3g_ORJvsPgVV5PmRv79JZiDmtp7LqKf2R-bTy_FpoKNWo6j7TEbviCtxCahSJCLyP2dFolHqsYKHM8JkRe3Kb4dN3iQqeVZftw_Uyg9kcNbDkjQTAEKSZE?key=G9G16ZCPgEDragXxF7V1VQ" alt=""/></figure>



Secondly, validators continue to stake AVAX to validate the primary networks — about $8b (360.2m AVAX) is staked today.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfkKBYCiuWhKCulotFp-zbtuePpvl0CTBeP8us7Ys1ZdOub9wemiGCxAe4xuY6PcK8v6aRZZYDA4TwItwayYtqpQybgi2sV572OclENDDl1K_H1uyjjw5KD-UO_c2mho968EdGN6w?key=G9G16ZCPgEDragXxF7V1VQ" alt=""/></figure>



Third, every Avalanche L1 validator pays a small monthly continuous fee in AVAX, as part of ACP-77. Depending on how many validators there are, these fees range from the hundreds to thousands. Blockworks Research’s <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/team/boccaccio">Boccaccio</a> has drawn up some nice <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/research/avax-s-value-capture-problem-and-off-the-grid">estimates</a> here for the Gunzilla chain:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdfgGzV-KgpVbFP6Qh-dLEC5jH73AjuA3_wFOZjt2-jOh8H5CC4BpIEFmtmS4G9-oVzdUuN_8qyOuRpWdKx6q3h17rBjVzuYDcO6q6m2sG1ejA6CvynOfKS-s3ElHi1ckk_cAuh-w?key=G9G16ZCPgEDragXxF7V1VQ" alt=""/></figure>



Finally, there is a minimal, indirect fee on ICM that is burned whenever transactions interact with the C-Chain.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Avalanche’s path forward</h2>



When all is said and done, Avalanche’s business strategy rings familiar: Reduce upfront costs to subsidize long-term growth.



Ethereum is doing the same by forfeiting short-term execution fees to L2s in hopes of attracting data availability fees in the long run. <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/celestia">Celestia</a> is also practically giving DA away for <a href="https://x.com/musalbas/status/1893975544636563736">free</a> now in pursuit of long-term growth.



A popular misconception of Avalanche is that it does not want to be a fast chain, DeMeo told me — which he claims is untrue.



Both ACP-125 and ACP-176 (Octane) introduced reductions in the C-Chain’s minimum base fees and a dynamic fee mechanism to optimize gas fees — both of which have contributed to a 96% fee reduction since the start of 2025.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeZHG5MBymPSlAwrfyEkqoP0AX7YDht_lVeffAo6La9bnZvSXjS4V3eqTePe4q6_o9S5HxbkKQK9a61HuO8bJ_hPQu404R2eGC48oi_QtLFXUITgDNIdTgJ3bUaOn_h_qdjf113?key=G9G16ZCPgEDragXxF7V1VQ" alt=""/></figure>



Fees will continue to go down as part of the network’s plans later this year to implement “asynchronous execution (<a href="https://github.com/avalanche-foundation/ACPs/discussions/196">ACP‑194</a>),” he said.Value accrual to AVAX has not yet occurred on a substantial level, but a clear path lies ahead. With <a href="https://snowpeer.io/">66</a> active L1s in the Avalanche ecosystem and even more onboarding, Avalanche is well positioned to grow a network effect of its own.



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0xResearch Newsletter

Why are big games building on Avalanche instead of Ethereum?

David Canellis

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



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Bitcoin is hard money, in more ways than one.



The never-ending task of keeping BTC safe might be one of the hardest. There are plenty of options — hardware wallets, software solutions and even multi-sigs can do the trick, depending on how they&#8217;re implemented.



But if you’re legendary Bitcoiner Peter Todd, you might opt for the trusty brain wallet. And luckily for us, he’s told us exactly how he would do it.



(P.S. Catch Peter Todd on stage at <a href="https://blockworks.co/event/permissionless-iv">Permissionless IV</a> in Brooklyn later this month, as he sits down with Pete Rizzo for an intimate chat to kick off Day 1.)



First, a disclaimer: Todd shared his brain wallet process a long time ago, in August 2012, over a year before <a href="https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BIP_0039">BIP-39</a> was introduced.&nbsp;



BIP-39 brought mnemonic phrases to Bitcoin and made room for a 25th word to be layered on top, which significantly boosted the level of <a href="https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/6683/password-entropy-in-laymans-terms">entropy</a>, keeping private keys safe from brute force attacks. All that only makes Todd’s process more impressive, even if he might use a different method today. He effectively did what BIP-39 does with his mind (and some help from Bitcoin itself).



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



Here’s how, in Todd’s own <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=98639.msg1081052#msg1081052">words</a>:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>&#8220;Generate a password that you can remember individually. Personally I use the program pwgen which produces ‘pronounceable passwords.’ I use it in eight-character upper/numerals/symbols mode.</li>



<li>Write that password down. Yes this is heresy; you&#8217;ll securely destroy it later. </li>



<li>Memorize that password. This is a lot easier than you think. I find if I spend five minutes a day memorizing a password I can recall it easily in a week or so, and have probably memorized it pretty much permanently after a month or two. Remember studying in university? Use those techniques. Flashcards are very effective; an important part of memorization is being forced to recall what you are trying to memorize. </li>



<li>Repeat until you have five different passwords memorized. During this process it helps to do something like encrypting different files with the sub-passwords, and practice decrypting them to ensure you don&#8217;t forget the individual parts. This also allows you to avoid having copies of the parts of the password if you&#8217;re paranoid. </li>



<li>Take all five passwords and concatenate them into one big super password: eiS9ui@R + vi4Ug~ee + Aet\ito0 + ohB$oh9w + Roh&#8221;k2ie = eiS9ui@Rvi4Ug~eeAet\ito0ohB$oh9wRoh&#8221;k2ie </li>



<li>Use this password! Eventually you will forget it, although the time it takes to forget it will go down exponentially the longer you use it. For me, I make a point of using my passwords every month or so. Even just recalling it mentally is enough.&#8221;</li>
</ol>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="601" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-103870" style="width:681px;height:auto" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png?w=740 740w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png?w=316 316w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png?w=321 321w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png?w=270 270w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/image-2.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As always, <a href="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/password_strength.png">a relevant xkcd.</a></figcaption></figure>



Follow those steps and your password would be 49 characters long. Ideally, Todd would like at least 128 bits of entropy to eliminate any risk of brute force. By his own analysis, his optimal configuration for <a href="https://linux.die.net/man/1/pwgen">pwgen</a> would generate 221 bits of entropy — “almost the gold-standard 256-bits level that modern encryption provides.”



In practice, this works by feeding the memorized password to the Bitcoin client’s <a href="https://developer.bitcoin.org/reference/rpc/encryptwallet.html">encryptwallet</a> function. The client would re-encrypt the wallet.dat file using that password as the key.



Any potential thieves — in meatspace or cyberspace — would need to somehow syphon the password from your brain before they could ever get to your bitcoin. Just whatever you do, do not forget the password. “You just gotta trust that you really can learn,” Todd wrote.



“The key is that you don&#8217;t try to memorize the whole thing at once. Split the task up into a few subtasks, IE, sub-passwords, and memorize them one after another. People used to have dozens of phone numbers in their head, memorized one at a time.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcvAGF5QOxdkiNCf22QIDPRr1BmtHj7eH9Dua6ljvC0LFa-7Xsr1m01opmV9LgeK-PTUKOUQMJDpyD22qcXYVE4BdrE-3_sWElf8jyJ21_ROtul8Oe7qQKlgF08fD9wK7KcQsOJHg?key=9401tKbxrv6jjpTeDAWkeQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">All hail the safe deposit box!</figcaption></figure>



Todd was right to point out that the average Joe isn’t going to do any of this.



And that’s exactly why Peter Todd will forever be a Bitcoin Legend.



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Bitcoin

How Peter Todd stored bitcoin in his brain wallet

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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As regulation becomes clearer and the number of national banks rumored to have stablecoin plans grow, it seems like much of America’s financial sector is <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/what-does-stablecoin-summer-look-like">coming to grips</a> with a future involving stables. But compared to these well-heeled and technically-savvy TradFi institutions, local banks and credit unions —&nbsp;where a <a href="https://www.depositaccounts.com/blog/bank-sizes-study-survey.html#:~:text=Generally%20speaking%2C%20consumers%20prefer%20large%20financial%20institutions.,and%2021%%20mostly%20use%20a%20credit%20union.">sizable</a> percentage of Americans do their banking — are almost certain to lag behind in this trend.



To help narrow this gap, Beam and Braid are partnering to offer stablecoin infrastructure to community banks and credit unions in the US, Lightspeed has learned exclusively.



The program will open with seven partner banks across the American northeast and midwest, Beam founder and CEO Dan Mottice told me. At a basic level, Braid offers a set of APIs that allow smaller banks to modernize their product lines — like adding real time payments or new card network capabilities, for instance — and Beam is providing the stablecoin-specific infrastructure.



In exchange for these capabilities, the banks will pay a licensing fee plus transaction fees on the stablecoin flows, a Beam representative said.



Mottice, who was previously product lead for <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/visa-crypto-team">Visa’s crypto arm</a>, founded Beam in 2022. Under the prior SEC regime, the stablecoin company primarily conducted business outside of the United States, in regions where dollar access <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/latin-america-growing-crypto-hotbed">was desirable</a> (like Latin America and Africa).



When the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/trump-wallet-magic-eden">crypto-friendly</a> Trump administration came to office, Mottice and Co. began trying to pre-empt new US-based market opportunities that might emerge, Mottice told me. One segment that came to mind was community banks, many of which feel like they missed out on the fintech wave of the 2010s and may be keen on becoming early adopters of a newer financial innovation in stablecoins. This is especially important as these banks’ depositor bases age, and as sthey face the task of courting younger, more-online customers.&nbsp;



Banks with under $500 million in assets under management will be given access to a Braid innovation sandbox that unlocks access to faster payouts, cross-border transactions and modern wallet experiences, according to a blog post from Beam that was viewed by Lightspeed.



For banks with more than half a billion in AUM, Beam and Braid can offer more direct integration and the capacity for enterprise-scale stablecoin products. Mottice added that Beam has begun to have conversations about white-label stablecoin issuance on behalf of banks, although those talks are still in their early stages.



The product will primarily run on Solana, Mottice said, which he cast as more of a “backend network choice” than as a pitch to the banks themselves, who primarily care about speed and cost but may not be as in-the-weeds about the benefits of one blockchain over another.&nbsp;



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Banks

Beam and Braid to offer stablecoins to smaller banks

Katherine Ross

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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Yesterday, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/coinbase">Coinbase</a> hosted its annual State of Crypto summit. There were lots of announcements to unpack, especially if we’re talking about consumers.



I want to focus on remarks from a chat between Coinbase’s Brett Tejpaul and BlackRock COO Rob Goldstein, who gave some insight into how the world’s largest asset manager is thinking about crypto. 



While he didn’t give a timeline (other than stating that BlackRock has been studying crypto since roughly 2017), he did say that BlackRock saw “incredible utility with regards to stablecoins.”



“And…we saw a real requirement for the underlying assets to be managed, not sort of like a money market fund, but in a money market fund,” he added.&nbsp;



The other leg of its strategy was all about access, Goldstein said, something that came with <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/blackrock-ibit-etf-net-inflows">IBIT</a>. He noted that IBIT, even before its success, was geared at being a “bridge strategy” designed to allow folks to gain exposure to bitcoin without ever buying bitcoin itself.



“An interesting fact about IBIT that I think is quite remarkable is that of the 25 largest ETFs in the world, the youngest one — aside from IBIT — is 12 years old. IBIT is 18 months old,” he said.



Then you have BUIDL…and, well, it seems like BlackRock’s played their hands right so far when it comes to success as a bridge.&nbsp;



However, Goldstein noted that parts of the financial system are ripe for innovation — a fact I think we can all agree on.



“The frictions that still exist are much more oriented towards funds. There is a legacy ecosystem that&#8217;s been built over the past several decades that just has a lot of cost in it, it&#8217;s slow, it doesn&#8217;t scale that well, and I think that&#8217;s a natural place for innovation and disruption, just through technology and tokenization,” he said.&nbsp;



But it really was Goldstein’s last point that made me realize just how bullish BlackRock is on the space.&nbsp;



“This game is extremely early innings. It is extremely, extremely, extremely early innings. There&#8217;s so much more opportunity here. It&#8217;s barely started,” he said.&nbsp;



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BlackRock

‘There’s so much opportunity’ in crypto: BlackRock COO

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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Next week is <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/federal-reserve">the Fed&#8217;s</a> FOMC Day, and it feels like it’s going to be a highly contentious one.



On one hand, you have President Trump pressing Chair Jerome Powell to cut rates by 100bps as soon as possible:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd8eB1ZvxWomBnQCAcNNd6lpxKx5t1qlFqdGlrB0xea0I__ocsww8scEmB9rNOR7jdLHaxoafbfwUWRthCK2vlIq-qQ0qU01mMayMjCBDlQoX3cnLzQEQaugMXvQXfTGeEXZw7y3g?key=4lX2oWRGbtmvLg_xeGNjyQ" alt=""/></figure>



On the other hand, you have the FOMC toeing the line; they’re in a “wait-and-see” mode. This is because they don’t want to react in either a dovish or hawkish direction until they have a better idea of where the tariff policy will net out.



However, doing nothing is also a policy decision.&nbsp;



Currently, there’s a 97% implied probability for the Fed to pause, so there’s almost no expectation for it to cut next week:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfhHOTkWJNBFLnLCKzjJ2lV6rEQ8mf-nOaDSfatdzqhK1OuQgFne7fMM9-XCIl2mq_kDAdBQFsoADa2a-FOhDcrZpUke6f2UV7oVRoPIj_CVwmqj2_SzVpsNpp2fCt5DZEIcOfwfQ?key=4lX2oWRGbtmvLg_xeGNjyQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: CME</figcaption></figure>



However, next week will also have a dot plot meeting wherein we’ll receive an update on the Fed’s summary of economic projections (SEP). If the Fed wanted to signal a dovish tilt, the SEP is what will be used to signal that.&nbsp;



To gauge whether that will be the case, let’s take a look at some of the most recent economic data that will drive the FOMC’s thinking next week.



The Fed has insisted on being data-dependent while trying to navigate an inflation rate above its 2% target for multiple years now. Looking at the Taylor Rule — a historically accurate model for gauging how tight or loose monetary policy is based on the Fed’s dual-mandate of maximum employment and stable prices — the Fed should be cutting right now, but isn’t:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeC6z191-A7TVGXyilzYgWeRqShZcz6PiXOD2dQNVC4-t6qGlAMKwo0NtW-VkEMmypQvgH3bCO_v0q0ybzfP0LnKLaVyR2WoQPdQcFyQL61W3rptkcCZmkm8WUwFnrHT0zhKFa2LQ?key=4lX2oWRGbtmvLg_xeGNjyQ" alt=""/></figure>



Labor



This week we saw a huge uptick in continuing jobless claims, emphasizing just how hard it is to get a job when you lose one.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe4fu7mwoxHGK_3tGV-Fk_7up40uPX8oEZ7Jr5nQ_MVi9DlF_7JI5yLu2EGYVSRGosmw6JFDHgxJtUYRR0G7Ej0XGaXagnLCBzYxuv0ARc_srkk3AOs90pV_dRp0EaWlc_kA02asQ?key=4lX2oWRGbtmvLg_xeGNjyQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Augur Infinity</figcaption></figure>



Although we have not seen the same surge in the unemployment rate nor for initial jobless claims, this uptick further validates how little companies are hiring right now. But they’re not at the point of layoffs, either. We are in a regime of attrition right now.



This is a precarious place to be. By the time the labor market deteriorates to the point where we see a surge in the unemployment rate and negative payroll numbers, the Fed will be very behind with respect to a Taylor Rule-like model, as shown earlier.



Inflation



The reason the Fed isn’t pre-emptively cutting rates from the perspective of the labor market is due to a concern about tariffs passing through into higher inflation — thus questioning the Fed’s mandate of stable prices.



This week’s <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/cpi-print-softer-than-expected">CPI data</a>, however, calls into question how large the impact of tariffs will be on inflation.&nbsp;



Core CPI came in at 0.1% month over month, a huge downside miss that not one economist out of the 73 surveyed anticipated:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXemqTnTDHfah9NtUkpsXDC_Tvy8LXInuyJ_3_-yKtppGXZqF7NfmCIm0ge2fs5iTg3monBVyzLUr6c_NvX_BSaz5_6ChnTfRY7Rzz_d15nW5Y5SXFvxmMRGJwFrAbTlRBAQTOaQ?key=4lX2oWRGbtmvLg_xeGNjyQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Bloomberg.</figcaption></figure>



On its own, this would be enough for the Fed to sigh in relief that inflation is on its way to the 2% target.&nbsp;



The issue, however, is inflation expectation in light of surging tariffs:&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd1kP8wtYYGPOy4ODKUIWXTHemr_ckOnTOpoeCoXdh8FUkmLCdh0tSMz-WlIUD6tPMtRvbJr-Dk36KXoYm7inAnVRj9we3AKN9n_y2LxlbMsb0yC9jJSgPjt5drccDLLba2446T4w?key=4lX2oWRGbtmvLg_xeGNjyQ" alt=""/></figure>



After being burned too many times in cutting before it became clear that inflation was on its path to 2%, the Fed does not want to make the same mistake.



Putting it all together, we have a unique situation with a significant risk of a potential policy error.&nbsp;



By sitting on their hands and speculating on future data as opposed to reacting to the data that we are getting today, FOMC members are effectively making an intentional decision to be as late as possible in their reaction function.&nbsp;



That’s not a great place to be in.



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Economy

Is the Fed risking a policy mistake by sitting on their hands?

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Eight months after its early access public launch, Off The Grid is preparing to release on Steam.



The game is currently available as a free-to-play title via the Epic Games Store on PC and on latest-gen Xbox and PlayStation consoles’ respective game shops.&nbsp;



We don’t have the exact <a href="https://gunzillagames.com/en/news/64-Off-The-Grid-Is-Coming-To-Steam">Steam launch</a> date yet, but Delphi Ventures Founding Partner Piers Kicks, whose firm <a href="https://delphiventures.io/blog/delphi-ventures-gunzilla-games">invested</a> in Gunzilla Games, <a href="https://x.com/pierskicks/status/1932899404530196732">said</a> yesterday that the shooter is coming to Steam in a “few weeks” (so likely in the last week of June).&nbsp;



The game remains on Epic’s <a href="https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/collection/most-played">list</a> of “Most Played” games, suggesting it’s doing well, and holds a player rating on Epic of 3.9 out of a possible 5.



Gunzilla CEO Vlad Korolev <a href="https://x.com/VladK133/status/1923861721107624374">said</a> last month that Off The Grid has consistently had over 10,000 new players daily since launch.



Off The Grid falls behind its non-crypto shooter peers when it comes to attention on Twitch, however. In the past month, OTG saw <a href="https://sullygnome.com/game/off_The_Grid/30/summary">less than a million</a> total hours watched, with an average of 28 Twitch streamers broadcasting the game at any given time. The game sees a total average of about 1,400 concurrent viewers on Twitch.



Those numbers don’t compare to games like Counter-Strike 2 (over 75 million hours watched, with 105,000 average total viewers in that same period) or Apex Legends (17.3 million hours, with 24,000 average total viewers), though.



That makes OTG the 157th most-watched game on Twitch by total watch hours in the past month.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Wallets don’t equal players</h2>



First things first: We don’t have exact Off The Grid player count numbers yet, and it’s not accurate to interpret a wallet count as a player count. This is in part because OTG’s crypto elements are optional, but also because we live in a world where bots and AI agents can control wallets (and users can have more than one wallet).



Still, the number of crypto wallets engaging with Off The Grid has grown (roughly doubled) since the game opened up to the public in October.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXc5nPzhCY9TNW_0hjux3YDPhc_QVb0p10yVB-fak4k08FyrVGleuyEKxtzi1Fyt9g8AdSCHhUotkwdScFA-w3KWDuYrVIyUnR4c-e0sst35tycSnbfNQCe7zteSt-c2wq2G6k_jgw?key=bQLVH2apuyKfhys2Z-X9dA" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: OTG wallet <a href="https://flipsidecrypto.xyz/Ali3N/avalanche-otg-l1-gunz-dashboard-6j5GNj">data</a> showing initial surge in new addresses at launch.</figcaption></figure>



DappRadar data suggests Off The Grid saw between roughly <a href="https://naavik.co/digest/off-the-grid-takes-on-the-shooter-market/">40,000 and 170,000</a> daily UAWs engaging with its crypto elements in its first month of launch. Today, eight months later, it’s seeing around <a href="https://dappradar.com/dapp/off-the-grid/?range-ds=24h&amp;chains-ds=gunz%2Cgunz-testnet%2Cavalanche">200,000 daily UAWs</a>.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdWg4VVAtrTwwOVgF5AfYWWswh_kgLh6dYx3NZPcRkwx4EExa17YWsMBhGpW3nM8_lGy8LHI8O36XBLzoi0A1sHSqqPngx0Ik7DsMLWLImiMqIoV3I680HWDfTSmVF166W11P8BPg?key=bQLVH2apuyKfhys2Z-X9dA" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Off The Grid UAWs (white) and txns (cyan) over time, from DappRadar, including Gunz testnet, mainnet, and Avalanche C-chain.</figcaption></figure>



The vast majority of OTG-related blockchain activity remains on Off The Grid’s testnet, not its mainnet, indicating the ecosystem hasn’t fully switched over just yet.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">One player’s story</h2>



Aside from the crypto gaming die-hards, how well is Off The Grid retaining new players? A snapshot <a href="https://x.com/TheodoreAgranat/status/1932856053395566833">lauded</a> by Gunzilla’s Web3 director Theodore Agranat paints one person’s perspective. A pseudonymous Off The Grid fan <a href="https://x.com/meatportmusic/status/1932718595437482366">did a test</a> with a new account to get a slice of how many new players are still playing the shooter game — and shared findings in a thread with roughly 12,000 views so far.&nbsp;



He tracked other new OTG accounts to see how many were still playing the game three weeks later.



He found that across 152 accounts and four matches, 40% of those player accounts were “inactive” just three weeks later. A little over 48% were still active after that period, while the rest were “semi-active.”&nbsp;



The conclusion: OTG has “significant” player retention.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcvluNEXbYyb_kDxNvoVi5ZqxQ6HmfIRIidyqhLwQo9VDw7xvONG7R0TKO2lBCa-JnYkG4XL12CpU5XCrL0P7QPM2thtuSrOM5uWCmSOyzWf9Ftnixbp0ixwBjsXn-UxqFvxKs9?key=bQLVH2apuyKfhys2Z-X9dA" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: @meatportmusic on X.</figcaption></figure>



To me, this isn’t enough data to draw firm conclusions about the whole game. We also don’t know how many of these are alt accounts, for instance, which could impact those numbers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Retention expectations</h2>



Player dropoff is, of course, normal for all video games — even the most successful ones. And what one game considers a “successful” retention rate could be considered abysmal to another.&nbsp;



There isn’t a lot of public data on what’s widely considered a good retention rate for PC games. Spanish software firm Barbary <a href="https://featureupvote.com/blog/game-retention/#:~:text=Day%201%20retention%3A%2035%2D40%25%20is%20considered%20good,%3A%205%2D10%25%20is%20strong">suggests</a> a 20% retention rate is good for games a week after launch, while anywhere from a 5-10% retention rate is “strong” for PC games after the game has been out for a month.



Data software firm Solsten, however, has <a href="https://solsten.io/blog/d1-d7-d30-retention-in-gaming">found</a> that retention rates higher than this are becoming “the new standard,” because it’s costing developers more money to acquire users now than it did a few years ago. Overall, this makes the gaming industry more competitive.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfQDxJW8zNWqDN2exMxCJd4l902YeDgfrcB9tM2OLjwyCazIXezoV-CzeS7Kj5Y0DYJSGzCjfrDNDInlHm3nV2BgBmr3P0E3zt3olbHi22Ntrki5AKfVNqhbBJWYfFtfXAEoMVLrA?key=bQLVH2apuyKfhys2Z-X9dA" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Kevuru Games.</figcaption></figure>



Ambitious, higher-budget live-ops games do need more retention than other types of games, however — especially if they’re free-to-play titles where gamers don’t fork out cash upfront.



I think that over time, Gunzilla will have to either keep spending to add substantial updates that bring gamers back from Fortnite and CoD — or focus more on its pro-crypto core base.



Gunzilla didn’t respond to my request for player count data.



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Gaming

Off The Grid active wallets hold steady ahead of Steam launch

Macauley Peterson

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Spark, the DeFi protocol behind SparkLend and Spark Savings, has <a href="https://x.com/sparkdotfi/status/1933150985645654507">launched</a> Ignition. This long-awaited airdrop campaign is designed to reward early ecosystem contributors and kick off decentralized governance via the SPK token.



The campaign will reach approximately 50,000 participants, spanning users of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/aave">Aave</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/pendle-2025-outlook">Pendle</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/centrifuge-fundraise-real-world-assets">Centrifuge</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/analytics/morpho">Morpho</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/analytics/unichain/unichain-onchain-activity/unichain-stablecoin-transfers">Unichain</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/lido">Lido</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/optimism">OP Mainnet</a>, according to the Spark team. Eligibility is determined based on prior engagement with SparkLend or by holding <a href="https://blockworks.co/analytics/makerdao/mkr-dai">select stablecoins</a>, including USDS, sUSDS, DAI, sDAI and xDAI (the gas token of <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/gnosis">Gnosis Chain</a>). Token recipients can check eligibility and claim their SPK at token launch via Ignition’s <a href="https://app.spark.fi/spk/airdrop">official portal</a>.



The token itself is not yet live, and no launch date has been announced — so watch out for phishing attempts!



The scope of eligibility is strikingly broad: Users who held stablecoins or interacted with platforms like Aave, Morpho, Pendle or Fluid as far back as 2023 — when <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/makers-spark-protocol-dai">Spark launched</a> — may qualify. Users qualify from holding tokens and DeFi positions on Ethereum mainnet, L2s like Base, Arbitrum and Optimism, and even Gnosis and Polygon.



SPK tokens, however, will be claimable only on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> Mainnet, regardless of the network where eligibility was earned. The claim window is expected to run for six weeks following token launch, after which unclaimed SPK will be redirected to the “Overdrive” phase.



Overdrive is the second planned campaign phase following Ignition, and establishes a staking-based rewards program allowing recipients to stake their SPK for additional yield. Participants from Spark Savings may receive boosted allocations during Overdrive, depending on their prior activity. That’s one way in which Spark aims to reward long-term alignment and meaningful participation across its financial stack.



“This airdrop campaign marks a key milestone in Spark’s roadmap and is a foundational step toward a more interoperable and composable decentralized financial system,” said Sam MacPherson, CEO and co-founder of Spark’s core development team, Phoenix Labs.



Spark has expanded its role in the DeFi landscape through vertical integration, as Alea Research noted in a <a href="https://alearesearch.io/perspectives/spark/">recent report</a>.



“Spark offers high‑yield savings (SSR), low‑cost USDS borrowing (SparkLend), and deep cross‑chain liquidity (SLL) in a single stack.” This combination enables Spark to deliver capital efficiency at scale — without fragmentation. Together, SparkLend and SLL manage over $5.5 billion in liquidity, making Spark one of DeFi’s most heavily capitalized systems.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfAD4f9kSY-IBo5Wx-ba11NBkV9hj2bBxPkesxVoiTS06O7y8q_3QTjg-dblTSn-CEy35JkklwAYwWe55unMfWiANRFiwRxIrKRjsdTHiBKf3xnC9TvSCBPaU5tlXGVzkbNoOzt_w?key=_MLqvrCqCUYlnWp7irkkHg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/makerdao?dashboard=110">Blockworks Research</a>.</figcaption></figure>



The SPK token will serve as the governance core of this ecosystem, shaping protocol upgrades, integration priorities and capital allocation via onchain voting. It&#8217;s part of a massive 10-year emission roadmap outlined in the <a href="https://sky-atlas.powerhouse.io/A.AG1_Spark/1c1f2ff0-8d73-8157-a4b8-f568e2f09fe3%7C7896ed332638">Spark Artifact</a> from the Sky (formerly <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/makerdao">MakerDAO</a>) Atlas.



Of the 10 billion total SPK tokens, 6.5 billion will be distributed via Genesis farming by Sky, and 3.5 billion will be allocated to the Spark Foundation. Emissions begin at 1.625 billion per year and taper down gradually to a long-term rate of 203 million SPK annually by year seven.



This measured schedule is designed to balance utility with decentralization. As Alea puts it, “Spark’s value proposition creates a feedback loop that strengthens other protocols while cementing its liquidity moat.” SPK’s long-term design invites holders to become stewards of DeFi infrastructure, not just passive recipients.



Spark’s Ignition arrives amid growth in other DeFi primitives. Morpho today <a href="https://morpho.org/blog/morpho-v2-liberating-the-potential-of-onchain-loans/">announced</a> v2, with a focus on fixed-rate, fixed-term loans via an intent-based lending platform. Its onchain lending infrastructure already powers third-party services such as <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbases-btc-backed-loans">Coinbase BTC‑backed loans</a>.



SPK governance could influence capital allocation — not just in savings and stable borrowing, but across multi‑chain lending markets. Its ambition: to align governance, liquidity and yield under one roof.



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Spark airdrop lights the fuse on decentralized governance

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Today’s retrospective will be a trauma-bonding experience for anyone who was too busy playing Plants vs. Zombies or StarCraft 2 to stack sats in 2010.



At this point 15 years ago, the premier Bitcoin faucet was in full swing.



Gavin Andresen, one of Satoshi&#8217;s first collaborators, had only been a member of Bitcointalk for two weeks when he <a href="https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=183.0">announced</a> he would give away free bitcoin.



“For my first Bitcoin coding project, I decided to do something that sounds really dumb: I created a web site that gives away Bitcoins,” he wrote.



Anyone who entered a Bitcoin address and solved a captcha would soon soon receive 5 BTC, worth about five cents apiece at the time. Today, 5 BTC would trade for more than half a million dollars.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXenNA-6Q7-Dvyk0fVrdPPR5egVEp1wgprTqGb_Tvklvb0AvSD_vEh4TcDp1oBpN65CmjZh4J9iin8DKfXdH1J3a_KfeUzEmhibTZKAWQcb2e1ulWRQ-cepxdsRfHG6RWcWfbtaruQ?key=UOy3Jz74SGgMbJKgrO5IMQ" alt=""/></figure>



Gavin filled the faucet with 1,100 of his own bitcoin to start, or about $55 in US dollar terms, and said he would add more once he was sure the system worked as intended. Those same coins would fetch nearly $118 million at current prices.



“Why? Because I want the Bitcoin project to succeed, and I think it is more likely to be a success if people can get a handful of coins to try it out. It can be frustrating to wait until your node generates some coins (and that will get more frustrating in the future), and buying Bitcoins is still a little bit clunky.”



At first, the faucet was restricted to dishing out 5 BTC per IP address, leading one user to pull out 50 BTC in minutes using Tor, which can quickly generate new IP addresses within the browser itself. In good faith, that user sent the coins back to the faucet.&nbsp;



“He&#8217;s giving it away, it&#8217;s an honor system, so don&#8217;t take more than you need,” wrote Laszlo Hanycez.&nbsp;



Gavin then made it so each bitcoin address could only ever receive one faucet donation “to make it a teeny-tiny bit harder to cheat. I don&#8217;t want to blacklist anybody coming from Tor, though — I think a lot of people using Tor will also be interested in Bitcoin.” He also tipped one user 50 BTC ($2.50 then, $5.4 million now) for submitting a bug report for a security flaw.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcy7vU92BCZJJJMVEp-Eh3LAT87C8cTsxr-wmERoOBgmycBS4xV1izzJA0lMo4wloQ2BB-Py4N7B5hQDwpLTTCK0eq--VDdp1Rr7FRnfQLlGIb5694HoB_mq3jXbyvy67tKBiq2_A?key=UOy3Jz74SGgMbJKgrO5IMQ" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Within a week, Gavin’s project received approval from the big S himself.</figcaption></figure>



The faucet was active for a little under two years, right up until March 2012. Bitcoin’s price had exploded up to 500x all the while, to nearly $30 at most, leading Gavin to scale payouts down over time.&nbsp;



When the faucet had run dry (<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/thousands-of-bitcoins-stolen-in-a-hack-on-linode">accelerated by a hack</a> on the Linode cloud server that was <a href="https://gavintech.blogspot.com/2012/03/bitcoin-faucet-hacked.html">underpinning</a> the faucet and a number of other Bitcoin services), bitcoin’s US dollar exchange rate had settled at about $5, and each user was receiving 0.0015 BTC, or less than a penny.



It’s difficult to say exactly how much bitcoin the faucet distributed overall. Part of the intended appeal was that anyone could donate coins for the benefit of the community, and often recipients would simply return the coins they received back to the faucet’s address. Giving and receiving coins had clearly become a ceremony for some. The total volume of the faucet’s <a href="https://bitinfocharts.com/bitcoin/address/15VjRaDX9zpbA8LVnbrCAFzrVzN7ixHNsC-full">address</a> amounted to nearly 19,716 BTC ($2.1 billion at current prices).&nbsp;



Realistically, actual distributions likely amounted to a few thousand coins at best, at least by my very surface-level count.



Is there a moral here? Something hokey might do, like “giving is good” or “pay it forward.” I’m just not sure any of that eases the pain of being 15 years too late for a free bitcoin fortune. 



In that case, there’s always Charlie Shrem’s faucet <a href="https://x.com/CharlieShrem/status/1919161109300281350">revival</a>, if it ever attracts any coins.



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We’re all still early — but not early enough for the free bitcoin faucet

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">subscribe</a>.



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30% of bitcoin is now held by centralized entities.&nbsp;



Pretty wild, especially if you rewind to the past couple of years and remember how much of a <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/empire-newsletter-strategic-bitcoin-reserve">dream</a> it was to even think that we’d get something like a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.



But it also might be a good thing, from a volatility perspective, <a href="https://www.gemini.com/strategic-bitcoin-reserve">a report from Gemini and Glassnode noted.</a>&nbsp;



“With 30.9% of bitcoin’s circulating supply now held in centralized treasuries — including governments, ETFs, public companies, and centralized exchanges — the market has undergone a structural transformation toward institutional maturity,” the report said.



“As adoption has broadened, particularly across sovereign and regulated financial entities, annualized realized volatility across all time frames — from 1-week to 1-year — has declined consistently since 2018.”



We’re now more likely to see “more sustained and orderly rallies” versus the spikes we used to see.&nbsp;



That 30% figure means that there are 216 entities holding BTC, the report noted.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeW8GI86BlcGwAIi2oYl-P84cNue-A-LKTldnBxQnpovGda7LK0MLUfB04ls-aai15YDXCxSA_Mb1CNkYycu8932fbtVQ66qvBCJB4pIt0EBGUB_71YZNOOuM18zd2WE4r72-UQrg?key=Jau5HJhq1dVRKHo87fbBIg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: Gemini and Glassnode</figcaption></figure>



While no one holds a candle to the amount of bitcoin held by exchanges, it’s surprising (and yet also not surprising, if you know what I mean?) that public companies are the most numerous.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdV6mpFDjklRwWNGR8IrFm4ec3mtzBh9B2L0WdqT11_QbySwzlpZpt9QQBzLZ7xiSEoTuI8M8AaD1ckz7yRFce1eS5yTyp-vttdLF2St_ymArwF9Pch_fdkhWG7zrENWxcSP5NNrA?key=Jau5HJhq1dVRKHo87fbBIg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I believe the pale yellow is a typo and should say ETF/Funds. </figcaption></figure>



Yep, you read that right, 101 companies.&nbsp;



Those firms hold a total of 765,300 bitcoins, which is a hefty amount, but they are still only third behind ETF/Funds, which hold 1.3 million bitcoins. Exchanges easily take the lead with over 3 million bitcoin.&nbsp;



“Across nearly all institutional categories — excluding private companies — the top three entities control between 65% to 90% of total holdings, underscoring the dominance of early adopters in the Bitcoin treasury space,” the report said.&nbsp;



“This pattern is particularly stark in the DeFi, public company, and ETF/fund categories, where pioneers have shaped the early trajectory of adoption.”



There is a bit of a shift happening behind the scenes as well, where exchanges and also DeFi protocols are seeing their balances decline overall. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, however, because the report notes that the shift is moving the bitcoin over to ETFs and funds as they gain popularity.&nbsp;



“The total bitcoin held by this spot trading sector has remained relatively stable, ranging between 3.9M-4.2M BTC since June 2021. This stable range suggests that the drop in exchange balances does not imply shrinking supply, but rather a structural reshuffling of custody,” it said.



Times have changed, but I’m not mad about this development. Though we could, perhaps, do with fewer bitcoin treasury companies if you ask me.



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30% of bitcoin’s supply is held by centralized entities: Gemini 

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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The Solana-based golfing loyalty app GolfN has gone live on the App Store, Lightspeed has learned exclusively.



The mobile app combines collectibles with digital caddie features and a native GOLF token for an experience that CEO Jared Phillips described to me as “Chase rewards meets Strava meets Pokémon Go.” The app’s self-reported waitlist of over 47,000 golfers will now gain access to the latest shot at crypto consumer rewards.&nbsp;



Upon downloading GolfN, I was directed to create a free account. I then received three digital golf clubs, which enable rewards, but most rounds with my free account will only earn me non-financialized “tickets.” However, non-members earn points for their first round, and there are other free in-app ways to gain points.



To gain better access to points, which will soon become convertible to Solana-based GOLF tokens, users have to get a paid GolfN membership that runs between $15 to $1,000 per month. These memberships come with a slew of perks and will also let users accrue points that can become GOLF, which can be redeemed for things like golf gear or traded on the open market. GolfN will also circulate partly via “rentals” of virtual golf club collectibles.



When I asked Phillips how the economics of such a scheme can work, he said he expects golfers to be willing to shell out a monthly fee to be rewarded for the money they put into golf, similarly to how membership-based credit cards work. For GolfN’s golf industry partners, the app can offer more finely-tuned customer data, Phillips said.



As for the users themselves, Phillips estimated GolfN will have a 10:1 ratio of non-crypto to crypto people since the app is built for golfers more than for crypto-natives. Nevertheless, Phillips argued that “not everyone in crypto golfs, but everyone in crypto is golf-adjacent.”



“The average person in crypto is more highly educated than not — usually bachelor’s degree —&nbsp; generally makes more money, and has more disposable income,” Phillips said, noting that a number of crypto people have “come out of the woodwork” as golfers while he’s been building the app.



Golf and crypto’s demographic overlap has made the sport a target for crypto experimentation in the past, particularly with LinksDAO — a group that <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/01/03/linksdao-nft-sale-books-first-10m-toward-buying-an-actual-golf-course">raised</a> $10 million in a 2022 NFT sale with the promise of buying a golf course. It actually went on to do so, <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/web3/2023/08/03/linksdao-the-online-community-that-bought-a-golf-course-is-accepting-new-members">acquiring</a> Spey Bay Golf Club in Scotland in 2023 and gating club membership with the NFTs. LinksDAO has <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2025/02/12/linksdao-plans-to-launch-a-community-token-on-base">become</a> part owner of a second course in Kansas City.



GolfN boasts a lot of potential demand. But if the app has an Achilles’ heel, it may be its complexity. Even as someone who writes about crypto full-time, my head spun for a few minutes trying to grok the distinctions between GOLF, points, tickets, digital clubs and digital golf balls. We’ll see if the golfers fare better.



Updated 6/12/25 at 9:05 a.m.: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that GolfN memberships start at $50 per month, rather than $15. Article has also been updated to note that non-members can earn GolfN points.



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crypto apps

Solana-based golf rewards app GolfN hits App Store

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



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US stocks and bitcoin moved a bit higher Wednesday morning before paring gains after May’s CPI came in cooler than expected, suggesting that tariff-related price hikes are so far not a reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;



After a slight rally at the beginning of the session, the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes were down 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively, at 2 p.m. ET. Bitcoin, meanwhile, had lost 1.1% to trade around $108,800.&nbsp;



Headline CPI rose 0.1% over the month and 2.4% annually. Economists had projected the figures to come in at 0.2% and 2.4%, respectively.&nbsp;



Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, also rose 0.1% over the month and 2.8% year over year, compared with expectations of 0.3% and 2.9%, respectively.&nbsp;



Economists had largely expected tariffs to start impacting consumer prices in May, but today’s figures suggest otherwise. There’s a few theories as to why:&nbsp;



First, businesses could be eating costs for now, as opposed to passing them off to consumers. The fact that many of the higher tariff rates have been paused and the policies are still in limbo make this theory more likely, in my opinion.&nbsp;



We also know that companies bulked up their inventories at the start of the year to get ahead of tariffs, so if they are using stocked-up supply, it makes sense that prices aren’t moving higher.&nbsp;



Second, data shows that Chinese manufacturers have increased exports to Southeast Asia, likely in an effort to avoid US tariffs. Exports to this region increased 15% year over year in May, according to government data released earlier this week. Meanwhile, shipments to the US fell 34.5%. This could be helping delay tariff-related price increases.&nbsp;



June’s data will more accurately reflect how the United States’ latest deal with China is impacting exports, assuming this new truce is inked and lasts. More on that later.&nbsp;



Third, consumer caution is high. We’ll get updated consumer sentiment numbers on Friday, but May’s figure came in at 52.2, unchanged from April. The CPI report showed new vehicle prices declined 0.3% over the month, suggesting that dealerships are offering reduced prices due to lower demand.&nbsp;



Speaking of that latest trade truce, the US and China have reached a new (old?) preliminary trade deal, President Trump said Wednesday.&nbsp;



Late last night, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that the London meeting concluded with officials agreeing to a “framework” to “implement” the plan they hatched three weeks ago in Geneva.&nbsp;



This morning, Trump clarified that the latest deal includes China rolling back its rare earth material export limitations. The US agreed to rescind recent visa restrictions for Chinese students and relax export controls on AI chips. He and Xi Jinping still need to officially sign off, Trump added.&nbsp;



We’ll be keeping an eye on that, so you keep an eye on your inbox.



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China

CPI print comes in softer than expected

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Not all OpenSea users are happy about its plans to kill some features, as the company sets a date for its newly-launched OS2 to fully replace its predecessor.



OS2, which primarily splits users into “Collectors” and “Pros,” was first <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/opensea-nfts-overhaul-comeback">teased</a> back in November but saw its full <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/opensea-sea-token-os2-launch">public launch</a> late last month.&nbsp;



In a <a href="https://opensea.io/blog/articles/saying-goodbye-to-os1-whats-changing-and-what-comes-next">post</a>, OpenSea revealed yesterday that it won’t rollover all OS1 features to the latest marketplace version and will sunset OS1 come June 16, giving traders no choice but to use OS2.&nbsp;



Deals, English auctions, testnet support, and the Shopping Cart feature are all going away in less than a week from now. OpenSea said in its post that Deals and English auctions simply weren’t being used by enough traders to justify making those features part of OS2.



“While there are no immediate plans to bring this functionality into the new OpenSea, we plan to listen to feedback and could decide to include it in a future product roadmap,” the crypto firm said of Deals.



On Crypto Twitter, I tracked over a dozen users specifically taking issue with OpenSea ditching the Deals feature. Deals was first <a href="https://x.com/opensea/status/1682077991029932032">launched</a> back in July 2023 and was <a href="https://x.com/opensea/status/1682077994502815745">advertised</a> as a way to do custom, make-your-own deals like three NFTs for one NFT plus some ETH, for example, without having to risk it in the DMs.



“Without a ‘Deals’ feature (which isn’t available in V2) it poses major scam risks for collectors,” <a href="https://x.com/randomcdog/status/1932335368508149988">wrote</a> one trader.



“I loved using the &#8216;Deals&#8217; feature—it was fun, engaging, and led to plenty of interesting trades,” <a href="https://x.com/feurez/status/1932352658146271515">explained</a> another.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcuaiJp7DxEPHsfN0YmF8zrZLLsfPMdm3kzmV3PCT6Qa2Sk9lmpQVsE4csDVQ5c4qDUKfaqe52Y4hvVDAGl8KgPw2__Rh0cgatVhN4ybfF5RpeSIhqtz7H9ajhXyIVCMGIphH1r?key=Wc42brSCVTcdemJA-338vA" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Deals on OpenSea.</figcaption></figure>



“We need [the] deals feature to keep us safe please,” <a href="https://x.com/justinaversano/status/1932465620911812865">added</a> NFT artist Justin Aversano.



A response from OpenSea CMO Adam Hollander added another layer to the reasons behind the feature’s shutdown.



“The functionality simply doesn&#8217;t work with ERC 721-C contracts where royalties are enforced,” he <a href="https://x.com/HollanderAdam/status/1932519970824462513">said</a> of Deals. “As more and more of these contracts have been deployed, the product felt increasingly broken and inconsistently useful.”



Hollander emphasized, however, that OpenSea will continue to encourage — and listen to — user feedback as they update the marketplace.



OpenSea’s Deals feature is still unique among NFT marketplaces and caters to traders looking to swap more than just one NFT for some crypto.&nbsp;



Deals has also been home to some strange blockchain incidents, like when one collector apparently <a href="https://thedrop.beehiiv.com/p/tokenize-it">lost</a> his Bored Ape in an $80,000 whoopsie.



But not everyone’s against OpenSea killing Deals. Yuga Labs Director of Art Eli Scheinman <a href="https://x.com/eli_schein/status/1932523387823202376">argued</a> that the decision actually “makes a lot of sense.”



“It is a relatively niche product feature used mostly for high-end art. This will be a continued trend — marketplaces will have to get more verticalized and focus on specific user audiences,” Scheinman said.



Originally launched on Ethereum, OpenSea has been expanding its scope in other areas lately, with an increased focus on adding support for more and more blockchains, plus Solana memecoins and crypto gaming assets.&nbsp;



Ethereum NFT trading volumes have largely stagnated so far this year following a short-lived surge in February. This month so far, OpenSea has seen anywhere from roughly <a href="https://dune.com/sealaunch/NFT">$1.4 million</a> to $2.4 million in daily ETH NFT volume traded.



The NFT industry more broadly is facing pressure to shake up strategies as <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/nftglobal?timeFrame=year">total annual sales</a> last year were down 62% from 2022 all-time highs.



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NFTs

OpenSea sunsets ‘Deals,’ other features in OS2 shakeup

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



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In the wake of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-hits-75-nyse-trading">Circle’s IPO</a> and Plasma’s token sale, stablecoins are undisputedly in vogue.



Meanwhile, the US Senate is going into a final vote on the landmark stablecoin bill, dubbed the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/senate-advances-genius-act">GENIUS Act</a>, this week.



What does the stablecoin landscape look like today?



First, total stablecoin supply remains up and to the right — $249 billion in the last week. USDT and USDC represent the lion’s share of stablecoins, about 88% ($218 billion) of the entire stablecoin market put together.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcwOcBAI_1ARWa4GWK9q7hORy4CfolwJ45QA9kdi4a4tWP6cQNMNqfKD3KjkD8TeDtASgakuQaXFPgK81uM1oaF5XWuUl_t-NgxVZCTfRvHtaQyEMQ8XmJQvfbKtuoGbYNgBaFGtw?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/l1?dashboard=225">Blockworks Research</a></figcaption></figure>



Okay, stablecoin supply is growing, but how are they being used?



B2B use cases drive the largest share of stablecoin usage today.



B2B cross-border payments tracked at nearly $3 billion in February 2025 alone, compared to $1.1 billion for card-based spending, $1.5 billion in peer-to-peer payments, or $275 million in B2C payments across the same time period.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeMXE7gk2EeffMZD7wbBCo1uOq_XW6EFA4mzjZTB8EYdS4F1R0Ury-IIOU_2exUgm--Zg_wkDbpYz-dgk3Wh60u_5UPsfjvkCTJne0XhcXjTldCTyP2MKw0fyi6mEHSYTd4fr9m?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://www.stablecoin.fyi/use-case#b2b-stablecoin-volumes">Stablecoin.fyi</a></figcaption></figure>



18% of small and medium US businesses “[that] are aware of cryptocurrency” use stablecoins for their business needs in 2025 — up from 8% in 2024, according to Coinbase’s State of Crypto 2025 <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/sygt3q11s4a9/6oinXHvVekdIUw2Ch7yIQw/22d0185eba3c49322ce7cf0d287ea872/SOCQ2Report_final.pdf">report</a>.



The chains facilitating the most stablecoin transfers? Ethereum, Base and Tron.&nbsp;



In May, Ethereum saw $1.2 trillion in volumes (29%), while Base had $1 trillion (26%) and Tron $687 billion (17%). Total stablecoin volumes in May came up to $4 trillion.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdMht8oQftaPSSSvZmqb1ELTZHuK87BgVNg2dqZyZo28efugDVzXJUumx2D8JaCBNeIeXjXaPWk2LRRCdOqHv6iGpzSeBgAU2HdEYfJoxOKC2a46vh-w1N46HM5dhh0kxazQo9_?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://app.artemisanalytics.com/stablecoins?tab=chains">Artemis</a></figcaption></figure>



Should the GENIUS Act come to pass, which players stand to gain the most?



If the GENIUS Act requires stablecoins to be backed by US dollars or Treasury bills, the answer is probably: TradFi regulated issuers such as Circle, traditional Fintech companies like PayPal, and banks and money market funds, Blockworks Research analyst Luke Leasure told me.



Decentralized stablecoins like Ethena’s USDe or Sky’s (previously Maker) USDS are not entirely backed by cash equivalents, so would not be compliant with GENIUS (unless registered in the US).



Yet, there are still downstream positive effects for DeFi from a burst in stablecoin growth.



In particular, money markets like Aave and Pendle stand to gain.



On Aave v3 alone (across all chains), stablecoins make up about $10.2 billion in TVL.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfta1DbYCfqjWBYsWOCcjBCPHFUcCn24uc-Lrx2I6qU-qeYvm6iVvZCjMSxd4rQ0PgiymNXKItoUtRpiK8_TQWgAnXxHqXC1T_-1xDgoVkMe0tMQlUrJWqw-VgBfL1x1hgTu7p6CA?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/tvl/aave-v3">DefiLlama</a></figcaption></figure>



What about Pendle?



Though Pendle is technically a “yield trading” app, it has cemented itself as a de facto go-to-market platform for all yield-bearing assets, particularly stablecoins.



High risk appetite users onchain don’t just want to stake and earn an underlying T-bill yield, they want to speculate on points.



A snapshot of Pendle’s $5.3 billion in TVL today demonstrates the business’s effectiveness in capturing the downstream growth of new yield-bearing stablecoin launches. About ~61% of it comprises Ethena’s USDe and eUSDe (a restaking token), Sky’s USDS and OpenEden’s USDO.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeMAW-x1DpEbtyttgYSbMOGeSquG7_iNAY9SGmkRPPK4MNB0irqYXh-WMUjmPFkjX6jUHYczCYVRzJjtJ3uLxYWIDevFeNFQYk8q4Ei8t2xFUrB2UcjxFf6Ify6du9hx_QmUxMTQw?key=uZGaWtDD5o70irUY8op54A" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Source: <a href="https://defillama.com/protocol/tvl/pendle">DefiLlama</a></figcaption></figure>



A recent <a href="https://www.modularcapital.xyz/writing/pendle">report</a> from Spartan Group and Modular Capital found that Pendle has captured approximately 30% of the whole $11 billion yield-bearing stablecoin market — about 1.3% of total stablecoin supply.



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