Liz Coyne

In the latest episode of Blockworks’ podcast “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKhD0hKZoW8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Empire</a>,” Jason Yanowitz , co-founder of Blockworks, sits down with US Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) to talk about the proposed infrastructure bill and the negative effects the bill could have for bitcoin, digital assets and innovation. 



This is a shorter episode than usual as Senator Lummis had less than 30 minutes to record between votes.



Senator Lummis and Jason talk about:



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Impact of inflation</li><li>Increasing national debt</li><li>Fiscal policy</li><li><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/senators-propose-infrastructure-bill-amendment-to-lighten-crypto-reporting-requirements/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The infrastructure bill </a></li><li>Knowledge of BTC in the Senate </li><li>Regulation vs innovation</li></ul>



Check out what they had to say in the video below. 👇



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Bitcoin in the Senate: The Infrastructure Bill | Cynthia Lummis" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lKhD0hKZoW8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>



On &#8220;Empire,&#8221; once a week, Jason interviews individuals that have built the crypto industry to talk about their struggles, bold moves and tough decisions. For any NPR or Guy Raz fans out there, you can think of &#8220;Empire&#8221; like a “How I Built This” for the bitcoin and crypto industry.



Episodes are released every Thursday morning.&nbsp;



Subscribe to Empire today on&nbsp;<a href="https://apple.co/389JSpL" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apple</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://spoti.fi/3uVnxpC" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spotify</a>. Watch episodes on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvER9nHSRN3wPkrDGTT5_8VC4Hjcq0f9U" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a>.

Podcast: Senator Lummis on Why the Infrastructure Bill Kills Innovation

David Canellis

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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Like all good things, it turns out that killer apps come in threes.



Polymarket, Hyperliquid, pump.fun. These are the voyages of modern-day crypto enterprise.



And before you tell me that stablecoins are crypto’s fourth killer app, thereby ruining this airtight metaphor: No.&nbsp;



Stablecoins are a tool. Wallets are apps (but only barely). I will die on this hill.



For the sake of being pedantic, let’s separate Circle, with its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/circle-ipo-price-execution-stablecoins">wildly successful IPO</a>, into a separate category: “fintech on the blockchain.”



There’s suddenly no question that Polymarket, Hyperliquid and pump.fun are the sole victors of this cycle.&nbsp;



Hyperliquid won perps, pump.fun won memecoins (although Bonk.fun <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/launchpads">made it close</a>), and Polymarket won the concept of betting on random stuff. Polymarket had its <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/polymarket-performs-smoothly-on-election-day">breakthrough moment</a> during the US election, so it tracks that Donald Trump Jr’s 1789 Capital recent investment has cemented its status.&nbsp;



CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/26/polymarket-secures-investment-from-trump-jr-backed-1789-capital.html">reports</a> the deal ranged in the double-digit millions, with Don Jr. also joining the firm’s advisory board.



<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">Pleased to announce that my fund <a href="https://twitter.com/1789Capital?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@1789capital</a> has invested in <a href="https://twitter.com/Polymarket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Polymarket</a> and that I will be joining the team as a Strategic Advisor. Prediction markets have completely changed the way people follow the news. I&#39;m proud to support the industry and look forward to helping… <a href="https://t.co/C3QlMEKQFe">https://t.co/C3QlMEKQFe</a>&mdash; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1960367380724351416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



A longstanding criticism of the crypto space is that it’s too insular. That it’s all decentralized infrastructure for degenerate gambling apps, in one form or another. Crypto’s endless servicing of speculation largely overshadows the utility of peer-to-peer payments and freely accessible tokenized dollars.



Now, I don’t agree with that summation, but it exists, persistently so. And the fact that the current breakthrough apps express different degrees of degeneracy won’t do much to change that perception — Hyperliquid with its leverage of up to 40x; pump.fun with its gamified memecoin launches; Polymarket with its pop-culture wagering.



I have a theory that crypto is, for the most part, years ahead of the mainstream. Crypto knew that blockchain-powered prediction markets were interesting seven years ago, when Augur launched on Ethereum in 2018, causing <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/welcome-augur-cryptocurrency-death-market-where-you-can-bet-donald-trump-1043571">moral panic</a> over the potential for assassination markets and so on.



<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">Not a very consequential thing, but kinda funny: a Polymarket user named &quot;romanticpaul&quot; (yes, his real username) started aggressively buying Taylor Swift to be engaged starting yesterday afternoon around 3pm. He nearly doubled the price from a 25% chance (this year) to 45%. You… <a href="https://t.co/IXVRqj0eB6">pic.twitter.com/IXVRqj0eB6</a>&mdash; Domer❤️‍🔥 (@Domahhhh) <a href="https://twitter.com/Domahhhh/status/1960394729176105077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Do we need to bet on celebrity romance? No. Is it fun? Yes.



Bookies have obviously been taking bets on obscure stuff like the next James Bond or celebrity deaths long before crypto. But Augur, Polymarket and all the others have added immediacy to the mix — letting the public open the markets rather than the bookies themselves.&nbsp;



Anyone paying attention to sports betting would know that gambling on anything and everything would be the next evolution. And perhaps Bored Apes re-primed the normie-sphere for its next big arbitrary collectible in <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/labubus-succeeded-nfts-failed">Labubus</a>, some three decades after Tomagotchis and Beanie Babies ran wild.



With this in mind, 1789 Capital’s bet is clearly a solid one, even if Polymarket is what Russ Hanneman would call “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzAdXyPYKQo">pre-revenue</a>,” in that it doesn’t collect any fees (yet), apparently subsisting only on venture capital money like the cash just raised from Don Jr, now amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.



And for all of its pesky <a href="https://www.dlnews.com/articles/people-culture/bettors-say-some-polymarket-prediction-outcomes-are-gamed/">problems</a> with market resolutions, it’s certainly fitting that a crypto-native outfit in Polymarket could be a primary venue for mainstream degeneracy moving forward.&nbsp;



It all begs the question: Is there more money to be made by looking outward from crypto rather than inward, like Hyperliquid and pump.fun?&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXexJwFpr4mDV_hj8_jhEL05r_khSbMNJg33Ox-udU4moa1kZo3dmECJs1wqMy0m11gEwlc8fLQRmd0mcbCDTzN1va-qmcrjoLUq5b6WFeBX2hoqmFUFstbVjOxe4C1s5bzw3O7Szw?key=cfCdTcmo1Yyyag1GX4K42Q" alt=""/></figure>



Hyperliquid has averaged more than $55 million onchain monthly revenue over the past six months and pump.fun nearly $33 million, per <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/application-comparison">Blockworks Research</a> data.&nbsp;



That’s far below a mainstream app like <a href="https://ir.roblox.com/news/news-details/2025/Roblox-Reports-Second-Quarter-2025-Financial-Results/default.aspx">Roblox</a> (currently about $360 million per month), but about in line with <a href="https://www.businessofapps.com/data/discord-statistics/">Discord</a> (around $50 million per month in 2023). Polymarket has otherwise seen over $1 billion in monthly trading volume for three months running, and is on track for a fourth in August. A hypothetical 5% fee would give it $50 million in monthly revenue right away, although perhaps a withdrawal fee might be easier to stomach.



In any case, it’s easy to make the argument that crypto and blockchain are worthwhile regardless of whether they only ever amount to reconstructing the traditional financial system to be more transparent and trustless, outside of the penchant for gambling.&nbsp;



But Polymarket is getting close to crossing the culture chasm in a way that Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana never have. Those may be household names, but they’re still “crypto.”&nbsp;



Polymarket might just be “Polymarket.”



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



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </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/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Polymarket is close to crossing the culture chasm

Byron Gilliam

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read more editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/brand/the-breakdown">subscribe</a>



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



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
&#8220;What&#8217;s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.&#8221; — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
</blockquote>



The thing about pancakes is that they’re really just cake: flour, eggs, sugar, and butter, topped with more sugar.&nbsp;



But because they’re flat and branded as breakfast, it’s socially acceptable to eat them in the morning.



This is kind of weird: Even your anything-goes dad wouldn’t serve you leftover birthday cake for breakfast, but he wouldn’t think twice about making you pancakes.



Lawyers and accountants recognize this as a question of substance vs. form: The form of pancakes is breakfast food, but the substance is dessert.



In the Roman Storm trial, for example, the prosecution asked jurors to ignore the form of Tornado Cash — non-custodial, immutable smart contract code — and instead focus on the substance of what it enabled: money laundering.



The economic reality and true intent of an arrangement, they essentially argued, matter more than the technical form it takes.



In short, prosecutors accused Storm of using a technical innovation to cleverly sidestep the law.



This is what the rest of crypto is often accused of, too.



In substance, skeptics say, tokens are stocks, protocols are companies, labs entities are c-suites, staking yields are dividends, token burns are buybacks, airdrops are sometimes IPOs, DAOs are general partnerships, and stablecoins are bank accounts.



It’s often hard to argue with.



Crypto people commonly talk about their tokens as if they’re shares in for-profit companies, for example, and expect those profits to be returned to them in staking yields or token burns.&nbsp;



But they don’t want their tokens regulated like stocks…because they’re tokens.



Lab entities first get their tokens onto exchanges via an airdrop, but don’t want to file an S-1 with the SEC.



Many DAOs choose not to incorporate, but they all want the corporate benefit of limited liability.



Stablecoins are celebrated as a means for anyone, anywhere to have a US bank account, but we don’t want them subject to KYC checks.



This begs the questions: Is the form of crypto just a way to do the same, old finance things but without the rules?



Or is crypto something substantively new?



There’s no one answer, of course.



BTC, ETH, SOL, DOGE, AAVE and UNI, for example, are genuinely something new: tokens that accrue value from networks that are not controlled by anyone.



The VC firm a16z crypto helpfully <a href="https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/defining-tokens/#section--4">categorizes</a> these as “network tokens,” and contrasts them with “company-backed tokens,” which “derive value from an offchain application, product, or service operated by a company.”



These, it notes, “have historically mostly been used in the US to unlawfully circumvent securities laws.”



In other words, some tokens really are unregistered securities.



a16z’s distinction supports the substance-over-form view: Just because something takes the form of a token doesn’t make it exempt from securities or banking laws.



A further crypto category they list — “security tokens” — makes this point even more distinct: A tokenized security is still a security, even when it takes the form of a token.



By that logic, tokens that are substantively stocks should be regulated as such, stablecoins should be regulated like bank deposits, some airdrops should register with the SEC, and — most importantly — pancakes should only be served for dessert.



Pancakes remain cake, whatever name you call them by and whatever form you serve them in.&nbsp;



But when it comes to the law, sometimes form is substance.



Roman Storm’s many defenders argue that Tornado Cash’s form is what really matters: Because the code was autonomous and permissionless, Storm wasn’t “transmitting” anything and had no practical ability to stop or redirect transactions.



His attorneys would likely say the government mischaracterized the substance of Tornado Cash by shoehorning a peer-to-peer protocol into the legal definition of a financial middleman.



The defense might even have argued that the government implicitly conceded this point when it chose to prosecute Storm not for writing code, but for operating the Tornado Cash protocol.



Storm said the jury’s partial verdict was “a big win” for him, and that he expects his conviction of operating a money transmitter to be overturned.



But the guilty verdict might serve as a warning that crypto will ultimately be judged by the substance, and not just the form, of what it creates.



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



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </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/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Will crypto be judged on substance or form?

Ben Strack

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



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



Those who got into the crypto space via bitcoin are likely having trouble ignoring all the other crypto token names they come across.&nbsp;



Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative has resonated with retail investors and institutions alike. Though BTC’s price has dropped of late (trading below $110,000 on Tuesday, down nearly 7% over the past month), it’s up ~70% from a year ago.



Altcoin rallies typically follow strong bitcoin performance as investors assess the potential of other projects, notes zondacrypto CEO Przemyslaw Kral. That’s one reason why he’s expecting an “altcoin autumn.”



“Diverse opportunities emerge alongside macroeconomic tailwinds,” Kral added. “However, they must acknowledge that the days of broad altcoin rallies, driven purely by hype or vibes, may be behind us.&#8221;



Speaking of macro tailwinds, perhaps you saw my <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-markets-post-jackson-hole">post-Jackson Hole market check-in</a>. Globe 3 Capital CIO Matt Lason told me yesterday that expected rate cuts spurred the firm to hold more smaller cap altcoins “as we are seeing early signs of the long-awaited altcoin season.”



Lason declined to share which specific tokens the firm is moving into. But he noted that it targets “boring, deep-stack infrastructure plays that represent the future railroads and toll roads of Web3.” And protocols set to help usher in the next wave of users.



Regulatory developments also highlight the opportunity that exists beyond BTC. Enter SEC Chair Paul Atkins, who last month unveiled what he called “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sec-chair-atkins-project-crypto">Project Crypto</a>” — the agency’s plan to enable US financial markets to move onchain.&nbsp;



Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan <a href="https://experts.bitwiseinvestments.com/cio-memos/project-crypto-three-investments-poised-to-benefit-from-the-secs-vision">addressed</a> Atkins’ comments earlier this month. “It doesn’t take a genius to see it: If substantially all assets are going to move onto public blockchains, you want exposure to those blockchains.”



For one, ether has turned heads by surging 95% over the past six months. The ETH/BTC ratio is up ~60% so far this quarter, Compass Point analysts note — its highest level in a year.&nbsp;



Hougan also mentioned solana, cardano, avalanche, XRP, aptos, SUI and NEAR. He recommends exposure to these via an index fund, like the ones his firm and Grayscale are looking to convert into ETFs.&nbsp;&nbsp;



But Bitwise and others have flooded the SEC’s desk with single-asset ETF proposals too.&nbsp;



Though the agency again recently delayed its decision on spot solana ETFs, many expect those and others to launch in the coming months as the SEC finalizes general listing standards for crypto ETPs.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Bunch of XRP ETF filings being updated by issuers today. Almost certainly due to feedback from SEC. Good sign, but also mostly expected <a href="https://t.co/GiSL1kc6lt">pic.twitter.com/GiSL1kc6lt</a>&mdash; James Seyffart (@JSeyff) <a href="https://twitter.com/JSeyff/status/1959004033596743695?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



And every day, it seems, we see more product proposals to give investors exposure to other tokens.&nbsp;



Just this morning, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitwise-files-for-first-chainlink-etf-with-sec">Bitwise proposed</a> a Chainlink ETF. The decentralized blockchain oracle network’s native token, LINK, is on Ethereum. Also today, Canary revealed plans to launch an ETF that would hold the Trump memecoin.&nbsp;



Bitfinex analysts don’t expect a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats scenario for crypto until later this year. Meaning they think only when we get new investment vehicles for altcoins will we see capital meaningfully migrate there.



“These products are likely to generate sustained, price-agnostic demand, creating the conditions for a broader re-rating across the digital asset complex,” the analysts explained.



Then there’re all the public companies implementing different <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-treasury-companies-alt-season">crypto treasury strategies</a> (aka DATs). You already know about Strategy with bitcoin and <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eth-treasury-companies-growth">BitMine Immersion with ETH</a>.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeS5CTFt18ASNd8Bp_3n0kmxasphrBQysytlwRCdcVjI1LqvT5OaayM_BQTMXuwr0xUICIU_wMDdruHQPHUPgrI6F29gkNPC9OG7iqAJo0GpV-J3ww43LKXEc9pujX5Jtpre3BD?key=h0VXlvra3z54CFCBiWYW5Q" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://blockworks.co/analytics/treasury-companies/crypto-treasury-companies-overview/crypto-treasury-companies-overview-2/">Source</a></figcaption></figure>



<a href=""></a>My colleague Donovan today <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/sol-digital-asset-treasuries-are-coming-in-size">wrote</a> about solana DATs. And Mill City Ventures just rebranded to SUI Group after closing its $450 million private placement to initiate SUI token purchases.



We also have Trump Media &amp; Technology Group set to establish a treasury company focused on buying CRO, the native token of the Cronos ecosystem. Majority-owned by Trump Media, Yorkville Acquisition Corp. and Crypto.com, the company expects to raise $1 billion for the treasury.



“It’s a large sandbox to sift through, but over time, the future winners of this amazing technology begin to reveal themselves,” Lason said of altcoin opportunities. “The key is to stay patient.”



I’ve indeed heard patience is a virtue. Until an AI bot takes over this newsletter, I’m not going anywhere.&nbsp;&nbsp;



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a>: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Conditions are setting up a possible ‘altcoin autumn’

This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="https://blockworks.co/author/jeffrey-albus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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



Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced during a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 26 that the Department of Commerce will begin issuing its statistical data — including Gross Domestic Product (GDP) — on the blockchain, describing President Trump as “the crypto president.”



Lutnick <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1960408149778653543">framed</a> the initiative as a move to enhance data distribution by leveraging the inherent transparency, accessibility and immutability of the blockchain.



He said the plan will begin with GDP data but is intended to expand to additional government agencies.



“The Department of Commerce is going to start issuing its statistics on the blockchain because you are the crypto president,” Lutnick said.&nbsp;



The plan focuses on releasing GDP figures onchain to enable people to “use the blockchain for data distribution,” Lutnick said. “We’re going to make that available to the entire government so all of you can do it.”



He noted that officials are “just ironing out all the details” to implement the program.



If carried out, the program would represent one of the first major implementations of blockchain technology for US government economic reporting.



By publishing GDP figures onchain, the Commerce Department aims to make official statistics more accessible, verifiable and resistant to manipulation.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a>: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Commerce Secretary Lutnick says US will publish GDP data on blockchain

Kate Irwin

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



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



Zora cofounder Jacob Horne <a href="https://x.com/js_horne/status/1959987899346153716">said</a> yesterday that “process changes” are happening internally as a result of a public <a href="https://x.com/crystaltaixyz/status/1959628118810890509">controversy</a> around a supposed “@TysonFury” Zora account being created to represent the British heavyweight boxer on the crypto social app.&nbsp;



Horne seemingly promoted the celebrity’s account in an X post (which, like all Zora accounts, has a coin tied to it). But both Horne’s post and the Zora account in question have since been deleted.



Artemis engineer Crystal Tai flagged the issue after reportedly seeing her Fury creator coin tokens and trade history disappear from her Zora wallet after the celebrity account was taken down.



Blockchain analyst ZachXBT said that the short-lived @TysonFury Zora account was a “celeb coin rug” brought forward by a trader known as “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYJAbrpwHVw">Sahil</a>.”



The analyst shared a screenshot showing a thread of emails from Sahil’s inbox around scheduling a meeting between Sahil and the Zora team, which Base’s Jesse Pollak <a href="https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1960002545172254770">said</a> was ultimately cancelled.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">i’m usually a big fan of <a href="https://twitter.com/zora?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@zora</a>, but this is not ok. &#8211; a “verified” <a href="https://twitter.com/Tyson_Fury?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Tyson_Fury</a> account launched on zora &#8211; tweeted by <a href="https://twitter.com/js_horne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@js_horne</a> &#8211; then the zora account was deleted &#8211; jacob’s tweet deleted &#8211; the token + trade history wiped from my zora wallet there’s now no way to sell. sure, i… <a href="https://t.co/3BeWSjwMMm">pic.twitter.com/3BeWSjwMMm</a>&mdash; Crystal Tai (@crystaltaixyz) <a href="https://twitter.com/crystaltaixyz/status/1959628118810890509?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Sahil has been previously tied to celebrity coins and openly <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_oLziAyN_o">advises</a> traders to “just rug and rug again.”&nbsp;



“Keep extracting and keep rugging,” Sahil said in a video clip shared by Coffeezilla as part of an exposé published in June called “I got this celebrity scammer to confess.”



Despite Sahil’s reputation, Pollak said he was “willing to hear him out.”



“Sahil reached out and said he was interested in onboarding people to Zora,” Pollak <a href="https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1960002545172254770">wrote</a>. “I told him he had a bad rap, bad actors aren’t tolerated on Base, and he’d need to demonstrate positive impact.”



But that didn’t last long.



“Less than an hour later Sahil revealed that he was in fact lying and a bad actor and Zora removed the profile,” Pollak <a href="https://x.com/jessepollak/status/1960002545172254770">continued</a>.



Horne appears to have jumped the gun on posting about the Fury account. It’s unclear to what extent Fury himself is aware of the account’s brief existence, and neither his Instagram nor X account have posted about the issue.



I’ve reached out to Fury’s reps for comment, but have not yet heard a response.



Horne noted that Zora has been facing “an increased rate of accounts connecting legitimate socials and then removing them quickly,” and <a href="https://x.com/js_horne/status/1959983968389869632">said</a> the team is “working on mitigating this issue generally” to prevent future incidents.



“Zora needs to better distinguish between verified and unverified accounts,” Delphi Digital research analyst Jordan Yeakley <a href="https://x.com/yeak__/status/1960033867395686736">observed</a> in a post about the incident.



Last night, Zora announced that it’s updating its app to hide coins that break rules, and is making it easier for holders to sell or transfer hidden coins.



<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">Update: + Coins that break community guidelines are hidden on Zora + Hidden coins are now only visible in your wallet holdings with a warning + You can trade, sell, or transfer your hidden coins We are committed to making Zora the most trusted place to launch and trade creator… <a href="https://t.co/Ds0TDU1G8U">pic.twitter.com/Ds0TDU1G8U</a>&mdash; $zora (@zora) <a href="https://twitter.com/zora/status/1960172958389076131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



More broadly, “creator coins” and “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/zora-latest-content-coin-fad">content coins</a>” might sound like a fun purchase — until the account you bought from gets banned and your bags go to zero.



As an obvious reminder: Buying any micro-cap token like those on Zora is a big risk if your goal is to make a profit.&nbsp;



Zora’s content coin approach has led some artists to criticize it for offering little more than “<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/zora-app-accounts-debate">memetic speculation</a>,” while fans of the platform see it as a new creative outlet and a natural next step for the future of social crypto tools.



For what it’s worth, Fury himself posted a video on Instagram of himself jogging outdoors on Monday, encouraging his 6.7 million followers to, as they say in crypto, go out and touch grass.



“You’ll feel much better,” the boxer said.



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Zora updates app after ‘Tyson Fury’ account sparks rugpull concerns

Donovan Choy

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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I wrote <a href="https://lightspeed-4bed7b.beehiiv.com/p/solana-in-6-charts">two weeks back</a> that SOL does not enjoy the same institutional buy pressure that BTC and ETH do from digital asset treasuries (DATs).



That state of affairs is changing.



The healthcare device company Sharps Technology (STSS) <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sharps-technology-inc-announces-over-400-million-private-placement-seeking-to-establish-the-largest-solana-digital-asset-treasury-strategy-302537587.html">announced</a> on Sunday that it secured a $400 million private investment structured as a public equity transaction (PIPE) offering to establish a SOL treasury.



That makes Sharps Technology officially the largest Solana DAT to date by announced raise size.



Alice Zhang, co-founder of the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jambo-onchain-mobile-network">Jambo</a> Web3 phone, is Sharp’s newly appointed chief investment officer. Her co-founder James Zhang will serve as a strategic advisor.



Then, news broke yesterday that Pantera Capital is planning a $1.25 billion raise for a Solana DAT. It’ll be called “Solana Co.”, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/crypto-fund-pantera-seeks-raise-1-25-billion-solana-deal">per</a> The Information. The fundraising strategy comprises an initial $500 million equity raise, followed by $750 million in warrants.&nbsp;



Pantera is also an investor in Sharps Technology, and has <a href="https://panteracapital.com/blockchain-letter/dat-value-creation/">deployed</a> more than $300 million on DATs spanning across eight tokens: BTC, ETH, SOL, BNB, TON, HYPE, SUI and ENA.



Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-08-25/galaxy-jump-multicoin-seek-1-billion-for-buying-solana-token?embedded-checkout=true">reported</a> yesterday that the trio of Galaxy Digital, Multicoin Capital and Jump Crypto are also planning to raise approximately $1 billion for a SOL DAT, with Cantor Fitzgerald LP serving as the lead banker for the transaction.



Put together, that’s $2.65 billion in total SOL, or 14,095,744 SOL at today’s price of $188.



Before you get too excited, note that this does not necessarily translate to equivalent spot demand for SOL on open markets. That all depends on how DATs are accumulating SOL.



Are DATs buying SOL off the market, are they purchasing locked SOL in-kind with equity, or are they buying it at a discount? The Sharps <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sharps-technology-inc-announces-over-400-million-private-placement-seeking-to-establish-the-largest-solana-digital-asset-treasury-strategy-302537587.html">press release</a>, for instance, indicates an arrangement with the Solana Foundation to buy “$50 million of SOL at a 15% discount to a 30-day time-weighted average price.”



On the other hand, purchasing SOL in-kind effectively converts locked SOL holdings into tradable liquidity, and can even potentially contribute to future sell pressure when the resulting equity overhang is sold or redeemed.



The devil’s in the details.



Regardless, $2.65 billion in SOL is fairly significant; that’s about 4.1x more than the SOL holdings (3,431,861) of existing DATs like Upexi (UPXI), DeFi Development Corp (DFDV) and SOL Strategies (CYFRD).



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXceRXw0_phBcCpFYn7Y5zgJK3Dv724mYOPtsKoDbW_d8DLP_mEWVhl8HPLCk_dW-Jm6-xJlWokXRe4-6LcWqlZE35eJHvMkBIxeHp7GR00AcUXaq4cOWFGyTk7NE0CZUrjbAP7pbw?key=NhPrKRh6neYrBS2yjJD26A" alt=""/></figure>



“Solana dats are going to be monstrous and first principles tuned to what makes solana great,” Solana co-founder Raj Gokal <a href="https://x.com/rajgokal/status/1960158597490302998?s=19">tweeted</a>.



Contextualizing the news further, $2.65 billion in SOL is still relatively small compared to the $14.3 billion in ETH that has been stacked by ETH DATs.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdtNLEoDZtDVelTdIZjJnPg4cAViij3tiK4cXU1U70RSzqM9Q8hGhHBjDPcD0HVUJobGw9S6iGL8uuvf9aGDBlshUt69nqikLu24yufEEw4pXXf9VupM_UGMesq86htY7NZOZt5gA?key=NhPrKRh6neYrBS2yjJD26A" alt=""/></figure>



And even smaller compared to the accumulated $80 billion in BTC by BTC DATs:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe-nRbPBg0v6-K7EacRFdWhdNz4WHKuHolm7enKYUrGt1qh60sKR-0rwQZLULrvlokLz-G6RqMTxikTItkBXiyB4ukVsrOBR7JlivuqN4tj3gGG2LRL0sqI8yAe5CI3wYgdmGH76Q?key=NhPrKRh6neYrBS2yjJD26A" alt=""/></figure>



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SOL digital asset treasuries are coming in size

Macauley Peterson

Offchain Labs is making a zero-knowledge play for Arbitrum.&nbsp;



Its venture studio Tandem has entered a one-year exclusive partnership with Succinct to build a zkVM tailored to the <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/arbitrum">Arbitrum</a> ecosystem.



The agreement, announced Tuesday, binds both companies to collaborate solely with each other on this effort. “For one year, Tandem by Offchain Labs has an exclusive commercial agreement with Succinct to create zkVM for Arbitrum chains,” an <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/offchain-labs">Offchain Labs</a> spokesperson told Blockworks.&nbsp;



The team declined to comment on whether the partnership represents an all-cash deal, or includes token swaps. The Succinct Foundation, <a href="https://x.com/SuccinctFND/status/1952762687466975570">launched</a> its PROVE token earlier this month.



This partnership accelerates Offchain Labs&#8217; broader strategy around zero-knowledge proving. CEO Steven Goldfeder <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/zk-proofs-escape-velocity-eth">previously described</a> ZK technology as not yet competitive with optimistic proving “in terms of speed cost and maturity.”



But this is starting to change, Goldfeder said in an <a href="https://x.com/BanklessHQ/status/1960331536403759241">interview</a> with Bankless. “It&#8217;s not available quite yet, but particularly for those building on the Orbit stack, they should be aware that they will soon be able to choose to add ZK proofs to their chain.”



Succinct brings to the table its Rust‑based SP1 zkVM and the Succinct Prover Network — now live on mainnet — designed to make zero-knowledge proofs both accessible and performant for developers. Its technology already underpins dozens of deployments across the industry, including <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/celestia">Celestia</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/uniswap-across-cross-chain-swaps">Across</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/avail">Avail</a>, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eigenlayer-restaking-mantle-zksync">Mantle</a> and <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/polygon">Polygon</a>.&nbsp;



“We’re convinced that every rollup will use ZK,” said Succinct CEO Uma Roy. “Serving Arbitrum chains is a top priority.”



Rather than converting Arbitrum One into a zk-rollup outright, the partnership is focused on giving the Arbitrum DAO — as well as Orbit chains — a credible ZK upgrade path. “We’re building the scaffolding,” Goldfeder said. “It’s up to deployers or the DAO to adopt it.”



Tandem’s Head, Ira Auerbach, emphasized how modular ZK proving can dramatically shrink settlement times — from days to minutes — enhancing capital efficiency, UX, and operational complexity.&nbsp;



“[Succinct’s] approach is directly aligned with our vision of how Arbitrum and the broader blockchain ecosystem can evolve,” Auerbach said.



This integration is only one piece of Offchain Labs’ modular stack push, having already signaled interest in hybrid proving models combining ZK fast paths with optimistic fallback as well as native ZK settlement.&nbsp;



Together with the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/arbitrums-zerodev-bet">recent the ZeroDev acquisition</a>, the Succinct pact reflect Offchain Labs&#8217; expanding quest to unify developer tooling and cryptographic infrastructure across its stack. For Succinct, the deal grants direct access to the largest <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/rollups">rollup</a> ecosystem on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/ethereum">Ethereum</a> and an opportunity to standardize its modular ZK infrastructure across Orbit chains.



Tandem previously backed infrastructure teams like Espresso Systems, Fhenix and Xai. The partnership focuses on both engineering and distribution: Succinct will lead development of high-performance proving infrastructure and a decentralized prover network, while Tandem provides ecosystem alignment, funding, and go-to-market support.



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Succinct ties up with Tandem

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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It’s certainly possible to be in crypto for the tech.&nbsp;



In fact, being in it for the tech — I mean, really in it for the tech; digital nation states on blockchain rails, smart cities, and the tokenization of all things — is the most effective path to alpha bull status.



John McAfee: big tech guy. Michael Saylor: huge on the tech. Same with Tim Draper, Marc Andreessen, Brian Armstrong and Balaji Srinivasan. And who’s been more bullish than them?



Fundstrat’s Tom Lee. That’s who.



<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">Mark ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/MarkNewtonCMT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MarkNewtonCMT</a>⁩ again at it. ➡️Calling ETH bottom to happen in next few hours ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/fs_insight?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fs_insight</a>⁩ ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/FundstratCap?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FundstratCap</a>⁩ Tickers: <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24BMNR&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$BMNR</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24GRNY&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$GRNY</a> <a href="https://t.co/038efU7cZH">pic.twitter.com/038efU7cZH</a>&mdash; Thomas (Tom) Lee (not drummer) FSInsight.com (@fundstrat) <a href="https://twitter.com/fundstrat/status/1960147287491154132?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Lee has, as of 9:08 p.m. yesterday, called the ETH bottom — to happen right about now.</figcaption></figure>



Lee has actually been bullish longer than almost anyone still active today.



As far as I can tell, his first public predictions for crypto came in mid-2017. Bitcoin’s price had more than doubled in the first six months of the year, to $2,500, leading Lee to call bitcoin’s future price on at least 10 different occasions in the 10 months ending May 2018.&nbsp;



His first prediction actually came true. “Cryptocurrencies are cannibalizing demand for gold,” Lee <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-price-ethereum-cannibalizing-gold-2017-7">wrote</a> to Fundstrat clients eight years ago, in 2017, when bitcoin was at $2,607. &#8220;Bitcoin is arguably becoming a scarcer store of value. Investors need to identify strategies to leverage this potential rise in cryptocurrencies.&#8221;



Base case: bitcoin would reach $20,000 by 2022. Nearly 10x.&nbsp;



Bull case: $55,000 by 2022. A 22x in five years.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd7vSXENdtL86bYIniWmAwc11OjQBVCy7UqTTWf_b8-5h_ZGkjfm8QHAtdVrKs2xdZ8TUYaW_vMMxziQX3y8tnwCSFHczpA80kYvHo_u8za6_IbXOyerUJWCOtKnnxUHlPsvmcb?key=En_UORTZOH0v8ML2nnDsbg" alt=""/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This handy graphic of bitcoin scarcity was included in Lee’s note.</figcaption></figure>



Lee was exactly right. Bitcoin crossed $55,000 for the first time in February 2021, a little earlier than expected, and topped out nine months later beyond $69,000.



What makes things complicated is that Lee kept making predictions after that first banger.&nbsp;



Some were ultimately correct, but too low or too early; others didn’t eventuate in the way he envisioned (like the rally around CoinDesk’s Consensus 2018 conference that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-18/crypto-bull-tom-lee-owns-up-after-bitcoin-prediction-goes-awry">never came</a>, or that bitcoin never reached $25,000 in 2018, as <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tom-lee-holds-to-25000-bitcoin-price-prediction-cites-three-supporting-factors">predicted</a> multiple times in the first half of the year).



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcT1NkrAQrhcpn7xR5W0gM7s8dUG0cwdMLst9FkWGUmg1aSl7Zxq4VqqDGHCXzcNaWXnxyxoFWvjYwDyDwLc-iImsWcaPdV8vTZ-G_23BivqOvL_uy4SaOmQ0Oio4w3QXSBwIQy?key=En_UORTZOH0v8ML2nnDsbg" alt="" style="width:642px;height:auto"/></figure>



Still, there were a few other gems. In January 2018, he <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-18/bitcoin-bull-tom-lee-goes-hyperbolic-on-latest-price-forecast">said</a> that bitcoin could reach $125,000 by 2022 (which it did, only three years after the fact).



At the end of 2020, he <a href="https://x.com/CNBCFastMoney/status/1344407640873562119">foretold</a> bitcoin trading between $100,000 and $150,000 by the start of 2025, which, all things considered, wasn&#8217;t too far off.



But if the worst criticism of Lee’s calls are that they’re too early, then you’ll dig his most recent ones: $200,000 to $250,000 <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-prediction-250k-still-possible-fundstrat-tom-lee">possible</a> in 2025 (from three weeks ago) and more than $1 million in the next few years.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Absolutely unprecedented. Tom Lee has acquired almost $10 billion ETH over the past 50 days. Over 1.7m ETH. 1.4% of all ETH supply. If Tom gets to his 5% target and ETH goes above $12k Bitmine would be larger than Microstrategy. <a href="https://t.co/DpIZv55DBC">pic.twitter.com/DpIZv55DBC</a>&mdash; RYAN SΞAN ADAMS &#8211; rsa.eth 🦄 (@RyanSAdams) <a href="https://twitter.com/RyanSAdams/status/1960030779267760133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Not bullish enough? You might recall that Lee recently made his first publicly-reported ETH prediction, apparently ever, only about a month after he was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/eth-treasury-companies-growth">appointed</a> chairman of BitMine, which has its own Ethereum-focused treasury acquisition plan.&nbsp;



Lee’s call: Between $15,000 and $16,000 per ETH is possible by the end of the year, which would be a 3x from here.



So, maybe add on a few more years from that, just to be safe.



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The worst and best part of Tom Lee’s predictions: they’re too early

This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor <a href="https://blockworks.co/author/jeffrey-albus" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a> before publication.



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



MetaMask, the self-custodial crypto wallet developed by Consensys, introduced a new “social login” feature that allows users to create, back up and restore wallets using Google or Apple accounts. The service is powered by Web3Auth, a third-party authentication provider. MetaMask said support for additional login options will follow.



The <a href="https://metamask.io/news/introducing-metamask-social-login">update</a> eliminates the need to manually manage a 12-word secret recovery phrase, long considered a major barrier for new users entering crypto. Instead, users can authenticate with a familiar login and password to access their assets across devices.



MetaMask emphasized that users can set up both methods, retaining the option of a recovery phrase alongside social login.



According to MetaMask, the feature is already <a href="https://x.com/MetaMask/status/1960355478833094794">available</a> on the browser extension (version 13.0.0 and above), with mobile support expected soon. MetaMask said the move aims to “remove friction for onboarding” and give users “a safer, simpler way to start their Web3 journey.”



Wallets linked to Google or Apple accounts automatically sync networks, tokens and accounts across devices, reducing friction for onboarding. Still, the system introduces trade-offs.



While social logins may feel easier, they create dependencies on third-party providers and raise new questions about privacy, security and centralization. If users lose access to their connected social accounts, wallet recovery could be difficult — though retaining a recovery phrase as backup mitigates the risk.



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<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/empire">Empire</a>: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

MetaMask adds Google and Apple logins to streamline wallet setup

This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Bitwise Asset Management filed an S-1 registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Aug. 26, 2025, seeking approval to launch the first US spot Chainlink (LINK) exchange-traded fund.



The fund is <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2082889/000121390025080461/ea0254517-s1_bitwise.htm">designed</a> to track the CME CF Chainlink–Dollar Reference Rate, a benchmark price for LINK, and would give investors regulated access to the token without requiring direct custody.



Coinbase Custody Trust Company is named as the proposed custodian for the ETF, according to the SEC filing.



The filing comes as asset managers expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which won approval in 2024 following years of legal disputes and regulatory hesitation. Bitwise has previously submitted applications for funds tied to Solana, NEAR Protocol, and other tokens, reflecting a broader push to bring alternative crypto assets into the ETF market.



According to Blockworks Research, Bitcoin ETFs have <a href="https://app.blockworksresearch.com/analytics/crypto-etfs">amassed</a> roughly $77.9 billion in cumulative flows, compared to about $23.2 billion for Ethereum ETFs and just $162 million for Solana ETFs. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="734" height="642" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png" alt="" class="wp-image-106619" style="width:629px;height:auto" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png?w=734 734w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png?w=300 300w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png?w=294 294w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png?w=298 298w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png?w=250 250w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/image-5.png?w=80 80w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 734px) 100vw, 734px" /></figure>



The scale of these products has emboldened asset managers to expand into alternative tokens like Chainlink.



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Bitwise files for first Chainlink ETF with SEC

Carlos

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



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Hyperliquid&#8217;s spot volumes have seen a significant rise, particularly when compared to CEXs. Over the weekend, an unknown entity deposited and sold ~22.1k BTC to rotate into ~555k ETH, valued at over $2.4 billion. This surge in spot volumes positioned Hyperliquid as the second-highest exchange by BTC spot trading volume on Aug. 24, with a 12% market share, behind only Binance (38%). This is a substantial increase from Hyperliquid’s 30-day average daily market share of ~1%.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdsk-ZAc7HsJHIz0pRska_YD8_kAqICQPFfzrt6uCcVUx0ITaim5198QmbwzN7R6yux7Jcw4L7_QwrDHMMg4sOBdJ8mHDcGEVPnFPSXd2Go8ZKIJbwVMGKwUSXPnWkaAQElQj18NQ?key=jez8q95NO0rdPaI3OWQE3w" alt=""/></figure>



Stepping back, we can compare Hyperliquid&#8217;s monthly spot trading volumes against various CEXs (including all assets, not just BTC). We observe a consistent rise in Hyperliquid&#8217;s share of spot volumes year to date. This month, Hyperliquid accounted for 38% of Kraken&#8217;s spot volumes, 16% of Coinbase, 15% of OKX, 14% of Bybit, and 2.4% of Binance. Although all figures represent a significant rise from the beginning of the year, they also show that Hyperliquid still has a long way to go to flip some of the largest CEXs.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd7r0MBZfnxDz2VWXbc-c_nu1VPzA70bS92X2gho4a6CUsBPU_cJJ682VNOhqoQGQWOLXECy3IZtgcsASZDPcre0N4aRgox-WLJGC0xHrMrXHXlG4q0MwZZzmqIJNFn4p1mrG2WJw?key=jez8q95NO0rdPaI3OWQE3w" alt=""/></figure>



Regarding perpetual futures volumes, Hyperliquid has been growing significantly faster than its centralized counterparts. The chart below shows that the ratio between Hyperliquid&#8217;s perp volumes and that of the three largest CEXs has increased by more than 6x over the past year. Hyperliquid&#8217;s monthly perps volumes now represent almost 14% of Binance&#8217;s futures volumes, up from just 2.2% a year ago.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeZiT1Nv8S8UYoU8_qrbrTazNkavr7Swv46wKiHM97KurI3sFHvmc9zeeqbvESHTU4Q3fj7PeX5RL3wVjTq-S9NUMk6cg7TekS6IOOpCwDphZkCHNU1GaahPXjz9UqfEwX1CWddtA?key=jez8q95NO0rdPaI3OWQE3w" alt=""/></figure>



Growth in volumes is impressive. But what about revenue, especially as it compares to other chains? Hyperliquid (HyperCore + HyperEVM) has registered about $28 million in weekly revenue for two consecutive weeks, and $98 million in the past 30 days. These figures translate to an annualized revenue run rate of $1.2-$1.4 billion. Below, we see that Hyperliquid has been the top chain by weekly revenue in the last two weeks, achieving a new all-time high market share of 36%.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXfS0M5yEQO62_WT60qckG5hoBoM1n9bJxYyz3zFaI3V8ZncYIyk_kAIDsE1epjilv6gPJ9SmnylYwqbhvAs_hSUstcFql-DOset2WGVmLD1LMMjNlBc-A9qsstPgsgPy-Xe2Ax5Ag?key=jez8q95NO0rdPaI3OWQE3w" alt=""/></figure>



The chart below shows that HYPE is the cheapest asset among the leading chains on a price-to-sales basis, with its P/S of 12 representing a 90% discount to the cohort. Even on an FDV/sales basis, HYPE is also the cheapest L1. While we can do mental gymnastics all day long about whether L1s merit a premium or not, or if they should be valued based on revenue or not, the fact remains that HYPE today looks more attractively priced than all other L1s, based purely on this metric.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXcgHvLcDocsd9-sYVCCgDyEODO98Dbfv_t_QZUntUXTNBBbT476HFz7rxLXOTr7yJ12xSWKuJT0KWLB4NjUKnE3QPL0z5oFcYKgjHVc2-rjKxzGze4zaFMtMf6HCb2-mbf9ax7E4g?key=jez8q95NO0rdPaI3OWQE3w" alt=""/></figure>



Ask yourself, what happens if the so-called &#8220;L1 premiums&#8221; wear off? What happens when buying pressure from DATCOs subsides? Is it the case that HYPE is undervalued, or simply that other L1s have incredibly elevated valuations that are becoming increasingly harder to justify? We can&#8217;t know for sure, but these are certainly questions worth thinking about.



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Either HYPE is still cheap or most L1s are overvalued

This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm, 1789 Capital, has made a significant investment &#8220;in the tens of millions of dollars&#8221; into Polymarket, according to initial reporting by Axios.



The investment <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/26/trump-jr-vc-fund-polymarket">aligns</a> with both growing regulatory clarity and expectations that the market for event-based trading may legally reopen to US users. Trump Jr., who joined 1789 Capital as a partner in late 2024, is also set to join Polymarket’s advisory board — even while maintaining a strategic advising role at its rival, Kalshi.



Trump Jr. is not an investment committee member at 1789 Capital, limiting his direct role in allocation decisions.



Polymarket, founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, is a cryptocurrency-based prediction market platform that allows users to trade on outcomes of real-world events using USDC on the Polygon blockchain. The company barred US users in 2022 following enforcement actions and a settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).



The July 2025 closure of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and CFTC investigations into Polymarket without new charges cleared a major hurdle for its US return. Soon after, the firm acquired QCEX, a CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange, for $112 million. The acquisition, Polymarket <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/polymarket-receives-strategic-investment-from-1789-capital-and-welcomes-donald-trump-jr-to-advisory-board-302538997.html">said</a> in a separate statement, paves the way for a regulated re-entry into the US market.



In announcing the deal, Coplan said 1789 Capital’s stake would help reinforce Polymarket’s position as a “trusted source of free, transparent and accurate market information.” Trump Jr. added that prediction markets “cut through media spin and so-called ‘expert’ opinion” by letting people bet on their actual expectations of world events. Omeed Malik, 1789 Capital’s founder, described Polymarket as standing “at the intersection of free expression and financial innovation.”



Alongside the investment, Polymarket highlighted a recent partnership with X (formerly Twitter) as its official prediction market partner, as well as significant platform growth. The company said users made roughly $6 billion in predictions during the first half of 2025 alone.



Trump Jr.’s position on both Polymarket and Kalshi further underscores his growing influence in the prediction‑market space, especially as pro sports leagues such as the NFL have <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/25/nfl-sports-betting-prediction-markets">raised</a> concerns about the implications of betting platforms.



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Donald Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital invests millions in Polymarket

This article was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by editor&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jeffrey@blockworks.co" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jeffrey Albus</a>&nbsp;before publication.



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Trump Media &amp; Technology Group (TMTG) announced on August 26, 2025, that it entered into a strategic partnership with Crypto.com through parallel cooperation and purchase agreements.



As part of the deal, Trump Media will <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/08/26/3139282/0/en/Trump-Media-Crypto-com-Announce-Strategic-Partnership.html">adopt</a> Crypto.com’s wallet system to power an updated in-app rewards program. Users will be able to exchange earned “gems” for Cronos (CRO), the token tied to Crypto.com, and apply CRO balances toward subscription fees. Opening a Crypto.com account will also grant access to free or discounted Truth+ subscriptions.



The transaction also includes cross-holdings between the companies.



Trump Media purchased approximately $105 million in CRO, equivalent to about 685 million tokens, which it will custody and stake through Crypto.com. In return, Crypto.com invested $50 million in Trump Media common stock. Both positions are subject to lock-up periods.



A new entity, Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, Inc., will also be formed to manage token treasury operations and pursue a planned business combination with Yorkville Acquisition Corp., a special-purpose acquisition company.



The partnership follows Trump Media’s recent ETF filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that named Crypto.com as custodian, including for a proposed Truth Social Bitcoin ETF. Some analysts have noted that the company’s overlapping business arrangements could draw scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest.



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Trump Media and Crypto.com sign $155M strategic deal

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read more editions, <a href="https://blockworks.co/brand/the-breakdown">subscribe</a>



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<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“If you want to know the real secret of Walt’s success, it’s that he never tried to make money.”



— Ward Kimball, Disney animator
</blockquote>



Andrew Keys is an Ethereum OG whose credentials include attending the first-ever Ethereum meetup in 2014 and making ETH worth more than a dollar.



“The first time Ethereum crossed $1 was because I put a permissioned version of the Java client of Ethereum on top of Azure,” he said on the <a href="https://youtu.be/KHGEZf0TnzY?si=gAPhDSRdZcyTTx6u&amp;t=3326">Empire</a> podcast, “and we put out a 100-word press release in the Wall Street Journal with Paul Vigna creating a concept of blockchain-as-a-service.”



Reading Vigna’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-MBB-42980">write-up</a> from 2015 is a reminder of how little has changed in the 10 years since.



The narrative justifying $1 ETH was that Microsoft’s Azure would use Ethereum to “improve operations from accounting to logistics to cross-border payments and settlement.”



It never really happened, but we’re now racing toward $5,000 ETH largely on the same idea that Ethereum will be the corporate blockchain of choice.&nbsp;&nbsp;



This remains speculative.



Ethereum generated $1.4 million of REV yesterday — more than it did in 2015, of course, but not a lot relative to its $4,400 token price and $531 billion market capitalization.



Keys, however, thinks that valuation is low because Ethereum is underpricing its services.



“At the expense of near-term profitability, the Ethereum Foundation decided to make L1 blob space dirt cheap,” he explained. “I think in time, the Ethereum community is going to say, ‘Well, this is too cheap,’ and you can raise that pricing.”



Consider this the Uber theory of Ethereum’s value: “Once Uber became ubiquitous, they tripled prices,” Keys notes.



He expects Ethereum to do the same: “As blockspace becomes more competitive, you can raise prices.”



Uber is an extreme example of a standard playbook for profit-maximizing corporations, so I see why he cites it.&nbsp;



But layer-one blockchains are not corporations — and I’m not sure they’re meant to be profit-maximizing.



Instead, I thought the idea was to make blockspace as cheap as possible (without sacrificing decentralization), so we can get as much stuff onchain as possible.&nbsp;



If token holders make money in the process because the blocks fill up and transactions get expensive, that’s great.



But making transactions expensive just so token holders make a profit seems…not very crypto?



Layer-one crypto tokens do have to have value, mostly to deter spam and provide security.&nbsp;



But, ideally, any additional value would come from higher usage, not higher prices.&nbsp;



And even if profitability were the primary goal, higher prices might not be the way to achieve it.



As a future source of profits, Keys cites “blobspace” — a cheap, dedicated lane on Ethereum for temporarily making large amounts of data available for anyone to validate.



But does blobspace have a moat?



“Making data available” doesn’t sound like the kind of differentiated service that would have pricing power — how hard can it be to store some data? I’m guessing Keys would argue that Ethereum will have pricing power because of its security guarantees, brand and market capitalization.&nbsp;



But that remains speculative at this point and I’d counter that it’s easier to start a new blockchain than it is a new riding-sharing service.



So I’m not sure Uber’s is the best business model for Ethereum to emulate.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The Walt Disney way</h2>



Ward Kimball attributed Walt Disney’s riches to never trying to become rich: “If you want to know the real secret of Walt’s success, it’s that he never tried to make money. He was always trying to make something he could be proud of.”&nbsp;



Disney told his staff never to mention costs to him — if something made a film or his parks better, he wanted it in, whatever the price.



He built a zoo on the studio lot so animators could study animals while making Bambi. He insisted that the gargoyles on Disney World castles, too high up for anyone to see, be sculpted in full detail.



For Disney, animation and theme parks were passion projects that he pursued against all financial advice, often to the brink of bankruptcy.



It worked out in the end, of course — which proves that sometimes, the most profit-maximizing thing is to not maximize profits.



In other cases, the most profit-maximizing thing is to not make profits at all.



Linus Torvalds, for example, made his fortune by offering the Linux operating system for free. Forever.



It’s easy to imagine Torvalds would now be even wealthier if he charged even a few cents for the use of Linux — billions of devices run on the software he invented, from which he collects exactly $0.



But Linux became a global phenomenon precisely because it was free to use and free to build on — a freedom that turned users into contributors.



Torvalds developed Linux with the help of thousands of enthusiasts eager to contribute to the open-source project simply because they believed in it.



With access to the source code, users didn’t just report bugs to Torvalds — they often sent him the fix, too.



In the early days of its development, this allowed Torvalds to release updated Linux kernels as often as every day.&nbsp;



It’s impossible to imagine Microsoft releasing new versions of Windows every day.&nbsp;



It’s equally impossible to imagine that Linux could have been built any other way.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Today, Torvalds is variously estimated to be worth between $50 and $150 million — a big number, for sure. But also a tiny slice of the unmeasurable value Linux has created for the world.&nbsp;



Still, a tiny slice of a giant number is generally better than a giant slice of a small one.&nbsp;



If Torvalds had charged for Linux, his slice might have been 100% of nothing.



Unlike Linux, Ethereum can’t be free — the chain won’t work unless there’s a cost to using it.



But it doesn’t have to maximize profits, either.&nbsp;



And perhaps it shouldn’t?



By pricing their products and services as commodities, companies like Walmart, Costco, Southwest Airlines and Vanguard became giants by prioritizing growth and revenue over profit margins.



If blockspace is similarly a commodity product, the best way to maximize profits may be not to.



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Should Ethereum maximize profits?

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A couple days after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s widely watched Jackson Hole speech feels like a great time for a high-level update — particularly as macro’s effect on crypto markets has increased over time.



We still don’t know what the Fed will do at its Sept. 17 meeting. But to many, Powell’s comments<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/powell-jackson-hole-speech"> had a dovish tilt</a>, leaving the door open for an interest rate cut next month.&nbsp;



If we look at CME Group’s FedWatch tool — based on 30-Day fed funds futures prices, as of midday Monday — many think a 25-basis point cut is in the cards. The bottom section shows that expectation much higher than a month ago:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXe5msJkgjwcgQzk35Zy54JcJpip_H08kmBGj0YVLnbuJa9JXHS6pm_iBF-5J3vvZoPtxflo7yL18ahyB7rq9avlATiGlJAUBUKNadGIi70_PQ5-RlTN-dMFmiT4o_GDUP0oCwYWtw?key=kC-qTijup8gbsaLTwUIxQQ" alt=""/></figure>



While an interest rate cut is generally good for risk assets like bitcoin, it’s a bit more nuanced than that. BTC surged above $117,000 on Friday before reversing course to below $111,000. The asset was trading for around $112,600 at 1:30 pm ET.



The broader trajectory of where crypto markets are headed will still depend on the macro backdrop, argued YouHodler markets chief Ruslan Lienkha.



“If inflationary pressures persist, the Fed may be forced into another prolonged pause, limiting the sustained impact of a single cut,” he told me. “Moreover, if a rate reduction is perceived as an emergency response to a recession, it could weigh on crypto alongside other risk assets.”



The best scenario? A cut that is part of a successful Fed effort to engineer a soft landing. “In that environment, bitcoin is likely to capture the bulk of institutional inflows, given its position as the most established digital asset,” Lienkha said. “Select altcoins could outperform in percentage terms due to their higher volatility and lower liquidity, amplifying upside moves when capital flows broaden beyond bitcoin.”



Speaking of institutional flows, crypto investment products saw more than $1.4 billion leave their coffers last week, <a href="https://coinshares.com/us/insights/research-data/fund-flows-25-08-25/">according</a> to CoinShares — the highest weekly outflow total since March. Within that data, we saw early-week pessimism around the Fed’s stance appearing to drive the outflows, before a recovery later on (mostly with ether products) around Powell’s remarks.



While $625 million flowed into US ETH ETFs on Thursday and Friday combined, $217 million exited BTC funds on those two days. Month-to-date net inflows for ETH and BTC ETFs are at +$2.5 billion and -$1 billion, respectively, “marking a notable change in investor sentiment toward the two assets,” noted CoinShares’ James Butterfill.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXczLfoFS0xWkjQ0VJyMSKiq57KR0UvHhJAvfpTjHbo3KLwkcEkm0Tys9Vf6ZXrZed91pdNPCm9Ni0jPESDVk3BHH6C758XDuCITCGy2P9SMuD-yJ_CbEYX8ixca2T2ewtiHdTg-?key=kC-qTijup8gbsaLTwUIxQQ" alt=""/></figure>



What did asset allocators take away from Friday?&nbsp;



CK Zheng, co-founder of crypto hedge fund ZX Squared Capital, called Powell’s pivot to possibly start cutting rates “significant” for risky asset classes.



His year-end target for bitcoin is between $125,000 and $150,000. He expects ETH to finish the year between $6,000 and $7,000. (It hovered around $4,600 Monday afternoon).



Globe 3 Capital CIO Matt Lason said that any rate cut signal confirms the hedge fund’s bullish positioning given how important more liquidity is in crypto. He expects the intensity of the ongoing crypto bull market to be strongest in Q4.&nbsp;&nbsp;



The expected rate cuts spurred Globe 3 Capital to rotate more of its holdings into smaller cap tokens “as we are seeing early signs of the long-awaited alt coin season,” Lason added.



What should we expect beyond Q4? 50T Funds founder Dan Tapiero weighed in this weekend on X, citing Morgan Stanley research:



<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">This bull mkt does not end with 82% of those surveyed by Morgan Stanley saying they do not own cryptocurrency. Tiny long exposure in btc and eth vs &#39;22. All of these metrics will make new highs in price and ownership during this cycle. 2026 will be a boom year. <a href="https://t.co/P5QaGFfd5E">pic.twitter.com/P5QaGFfd5E</a>&mdash; Dan Tapiero (@DTAPCAP) <a href="https://twitter.com/DTAPCAP/status/1959477135011094716?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Zheng said he foresees bitcoin dominance continuing to drop after the <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/genius-act-passes-house">GENIUS Act signing</a>, estimating the stablecoin market to 10x (from ~$270 billion) in the next few years. Coinbase’s latest simulations suggest the stablecoin market cap could reach $1.2 trillion by the end of 2028.&nbsp;



We know crypto markets move fast, but I think these “where-we-stand” snapshots are worth it. Even if it all changes in a few weeks, days or hours.



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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/the-breakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </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/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Checking in on crypto markets as the Jackson Hole dust settles

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



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



Crypto gaming has seen plenty of multimillion-dollar raises, but in many cases, that funding and hype hasn’t amounted to much. It’s not a guarantee of future success, by any means.&nbsp;



Funding in the crypto gaming sector is also <a href="https://dappradar.com/blog/state-of-blockchain-gaming-in-q2-2025">down 93%</a> year-over-year, meaning there isn’t as much of an appetite for funding large dev teams or splashy marketing budgets right now.



But builders are still finding ways to ship projects with lean teams, turning visions from the GameFi trenches into reality.



Jakpot Games, which is building out its Solana-based site with just three people in its core team, is one of those projects. Their arcade-like platform launched last week, letting players spend the platform’s JAKPOT token to try their hand at getting a high score in one of a few different browser-based games.&nbsp;



Rex Runner and Speed Racer, which both involve speeding through pixelated environments, are the two titles currently on offer.&nbsp;



Currently, each Jakpot tournament has a countdown — meaning players have anywhere from 12-24 hours to try to reach the top of a game’s leaderboard in order to win some tokens.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">To cap off the weekend, we extended our tournament over 440,000 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24JAKPOT&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">$JAKPOT</a> on the line pure skill, pure competition less than $1 to enter <a href="https://t.co/TKc0bvNImK">pic.twitter.com/TKc0bvNImK</a>&mdash; Jakpot Games (@JakpotGames) <a href="https://twitter.com/JakpotGames/status/1959766461842612605?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 24, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



Users connect to the site via crypto wallet tool Privy, and buy the platform’s token using SOL.



85% of every pot is split among the top scorers. 10% goes to the team’s vault for marketing and development, and 5% rolls over into the next round’s pot, Jakpot cofounder Gannon Breslin, who previously authored The Drop, explained to me in an interview.&nbsp;



Like many gaming upstarts, Jakpot has already had to fend off an onslaught of cheaters who sought to unfairly exploit the platform for financial gain.



“They cheated in ways we didn’t even imagine possible,” Breslin said, adding that continuously monitoring and expanding upon their existing anticheat is a top priority.&nbsp;



Since its launch last week, Jakpot has seen 7,316 games played, 16.1 million game credits transferred, and 26.7 million JAKPOT paid out in total.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">footballdotfun is awesome, and i&#39;m glad its leading the charge for gamefi seaon however, the game is still speculation which is more betting then not outright skill<a href="https://twitter.com/JakpotGames?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JakpotGames</a> is pure skill with $ on the line 19 hours left with 255,000 in the pot <a href="https://t.co/n9TOZHRnAd">pic.twitter.com/n9TOZHRnAd</a>&mdash; Gannon Breslin (@gannonbreslin) <a href="https://twitter.com/gannonbreslin/status/1959909285292593307?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



As often happens with low-cap tokens, JAKPOT’s <a href="https://dexscreener.com/solana/bpehdmdgf92pd4h6bqscaagrzdfpat8tpbas9s2bmti8">price</a> has fallen significantly from its all-time high. 26.7 million JAKPOT was worth over $53,000 just a few days ago, but would now be worth about $15,000.



“We’re 10,000 times more focused on people playing the game than the market cap,” Breslin said of the token.&nbsp;



The team is planning to add a “Degen” mode soon with higher token buy-ins per play to raise the stakes for those who want it.



They’re also building out custom game lobbies and are actively exploring which games they might add to their platform next (I suggested DOOM).&nbsp;



As the Jakpot team continues to build, they’ll have to compete for Crypto Twitter’s attention with the likes of the latest trend-of-the-moment Football.Fun, plus the Abstract gaming ecosystem and existing gaming platforms like Remix.



It’s never easy in the trenches.&nbsp;



Disclosure: Gannon Breslin is the prior owner and writer of The Drop newsletter, which was acquired by Blockworks.



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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/the-breakdown">The Breakdown</a>: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/0xresearch">0xResearch</a>: Alpha in your inbox. Think like an analyst. </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/forward-guidance">Forward Guidance</a>: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.</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/lightspeed">Lightspeed</a>: All things Solana.</li>



<li><a href="https://blockworks.co/newsletter/supply-shock">Supply Shock</a>: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.</li>
</ul>

Solana-based Jakpot Games launches pay-to-play arcade

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Speakers

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion. His core policy focus is on digital technology for the public good with a particular interest in technologies such as AI and blockchain.



In Parliament, he specializes in legislation that deals with technology. He is a member of the House of Lord’s Digital and Communications Select Committee and was appointed to the Special Bill Committee considering Digital Asset legislation. He introduced a private members’ bill that proposed the regulation of artificial intelligence and was integral to the passing of the ground-breaking Electronic Trade Documents Bill.



On technology, he has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies [2020], Artificial Intelligence [2018], and Digital Skills [2015] and under his own auspices published an influential report encouraging government testing of blockchain solutions for policy delivery, DLT for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation [2017] He is also adviser to several tech and fintech companies.



On inclusion, and again under his own auspices, he has published influential reports on accessibility in the public realm and support for disabled students as well as Lords reports on Financial Exclusion [2017], Social Mobility [2016] and, for the Cabinet Office, The Lord Holmes Review on opening up public appointments to disabled people. He continues to advise the government on diversity and inclusion.



An ex-Paralympic swimmer, Chris won nine gold, five silvers and one bronze medal across four Games, including a record haul of six golds at Barcelona 1992.

Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE

Robbie Mitchnick serves as the Head of Digital Assets for BlackRock. He is a member of the Corp Exec-COO Executive team. Robbie is responsible for driving BlackRock's digital assets strategy, including working with internal business units to develop and execute on strategic initiatives around digital assets.



Prior to joining BlackRock, Robbie spent time at CPP Investment Board in Public Markets and Private Investments, and at Ripple. During his time at Ripple, Robbie co-authored 'A Fundamental Valuation Framework for Cryptoassets' along with John Bates Clark medal winner Susan Athey.



Robbie has BA &amp; BCOM degrees from Queen's University and an MBA from Stanford, where he graduated as an Arjay Miller Scholar and the Robichek Award winner in Finance. He holds a Blockchain Technologies Certification from MIT Sloan and is a CFA Charterholder.

Robbie Mitchnick

Joseph Lubin is a co-founder of Ethereum, the founder and CEO of <a href="https://consensys.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Consensys</a> and Chairman of SharpLink. Since 2014, Consensys has played a foundational role in Ethereum’s growth, from pioneering products like MetaMask and Infura to shaping protocol development and staking infrastructure.



Born and raised in Toronto, Lubin graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He worked in the Princeton Robotics Lab, at tomandandy music developing an autonomous music composition tool, and at private research firm Vision Applications Inc. building autonomous mobile robots.



As a software and AI consultant, Lubin worked with eMagine on the Identrus project and was involved in the founding and operation of a hedge fund with a partner. He held positions as Director of the New York office of Blacksmith Software Consulting, and VP of Technology in Private Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. Through these posts, Joe focused on the intersection of cryptography, engineering, and finance.



In 2014 he met Vitalik Buterin, a Canadian programmer, writer and Founder of Ethereum and joined the Ethereum Project as a co-founder. After the Project was launched, Joe established Consensys. Since 2014 Joe and the Consensys team have been working on the foundational software for web3, the next wave of the internet for a decentralized future.

Joseph Lubin

Mathew has more than 25 years of industry and leadership experience, having previously held several leadership positions at Goldman Sachs globally and across different functions. As Global Head of Digital Assets at Goldman Sachs, Mathew is responsible for leading the firm’s cross-divisional digital assets strategy, which includes a wide range of client-led tokenization activities, crypto-linked product offerings and blockchain investments.

Mathew McDermott

Daniel is the Chairman, Founder and largest shareholder in CoinShares International Limited, Europe’s largest digital asset manager with $6 Billion USD under management. He serves on the Board of the Tezos Foundation, StableMint, GTSA, Satohshi pay, and a number of CoinShares' affiliates. Since engaging initially in 2012 in crypto he has made numerous investments across the infrastructure powering crypto from data to blockchains to wallets, defi, mining, custody and crypto banks. He was formerly the global head of energy trading at JP Morgan and ran two successful commodity hedge funds. He holds three degrees: Physics, Management Science, and Applied Statistics.

Danny Masters

Ray Hindi is the co-founded L1D and currently acts as the CEO/CIO. Ray has an investment background in venture, hedge funds and interest rate trading. Ray holds a BEng from UCL and an MSc in Finance from Imperial College. He previously acted as the CIO of Bellegarde Capital AG an independent investment group with activities focused in fintech, blockchain and other alternative investments. Also previously at Swiss Capital (StepStone Group) responsible for the firm’s macro outlook, macro hedge funds and event driven coverage. From 2005 to 2011 Ray was part of Harcourt Investment Consulting AG, a USD 6 bn fund of hedge funds firm in Zurich, and responsible for USD 2 bn of investments (rates, macro and distressed). He started his career at Bloomberg LP in London and subsequently left the firm to trade interest rates for a London based proprietary group. Ray holds a BEng from University College London (UCL) and an MSc in Finance from Imperial College.

Ray Hindi

Mike Higgins is an early Partner and acting, International CEO and Global Head of Corporate Development at Hidden Road. An experienced Director with two decades of active engagement within financial markets, Mike possesses expertise in market structure across the full spectrum of Global Financial Markets, including Digital Assets, FICC and Synthetic Swaps. A strong emphasis on electronic trading technologies, methodologies and workflows. His specific skills in E-Commerce, APIs, GUI, price generation algorithms, risk management and hedging strategies to a diverse group of market participants prove invaluable as Hidden Road network continues to expand. Prior to joining Hidden Road, Mike successfully built, managed and commercialised a number of businesses within financial markets which included solutions in technology, trading and brokerage. Having started his career in New York on Wall Street, Mike moved with his family to London in 2009. Mike earned a bachelors degree in economics and statistics from Fordham University in New York.

Michael Higgins

Ben founded ParaFi in 2018 as one of the earliest investment firms focused on the blockchain and digital asset ecosystem. Prior to founding ParaFi, Ben spent the first 10 years of his career in institutional investing roles at leading asset managers including KKR and TPG. While at KKR, Ben served as a Director in the credit business, investing across a wide array of industry sectors and parts of the capital structure, including distressed special situations, private credit, and opportunistic and liquid credit. Ben also led KKR's blockchain research as part of the firm's Innovation and Disruption Council beginning in 2016. Prior to KKR, Ben served as a Vice President with TPG’s former credit business, Sixth Street Partners. As one of the first investment professionals to join the platform, Ben helped scale its private credit vehicle, TPG Specialty Lending, which went public in 2014. Earlier in his career, Ben was a member of the private equity team at Littlejohn &amp; Company and investment banking team at Rothschild &amp; Co. Ben has a passion for capital markets, behavioral economics and game theory, all of which drew him to the blockchain space. He grew up playing chess competitively and continues to play actively to this day (peak ELO 1871). He graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ben Forman

Sandy Kaul is senior vice president, Franklin Templeton, providing advisory consulting for the firm and thought leadership as part of the Franklin Templeton Institute. She delivers actionable intelligence and insights on the future of the investment and wealth management industry for the firm and its clients. Ms. Kaul has cultivated deeply informed insights and has an extensive background in driving market leading research, thought leadership and predictive models centered on the evolution of the investment and wealth management industry. She identifies and champions opportunities to address industry advancements and drive transformation, with a focus on innovative distribution trends and digital disruption. She delivers strategic insights to inform the firm's decision-making on partnerships and investments, including within Franklin Templeton's growing digital asset business. Ms. Kaul has over 25 years of well-rounded industry experience and is a frequent speaker at industry events and a widely published author. She combines her unique blend of sell-side, buy-side and consulting insights to drive her research and thought leadership around what constitutes best practices and where innovation is occurring. Ms. Kaul joined Franklin Templeton in 2022 from Citi, where she served as Managing Director and Global Head of Business Advisory Services, and launched and built out the Citi's Business Advisory Services practice, a market leading provider of industry thought leadership spanning Citi's Markets and Global Wealth organizations. Ms. Kaul rejoined Citi in 2009, after originally starting her career there in 1985 as a Futures Research Analyst covering the soft commodities markets with Citi's predecessor firm, Shearson Lehman Brothers. She joined Commodities Corporation/Goldman Sachs Asset Management in 1995 as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA) and Portfolio Manager. After managing money for nearly six years, Ms. Kaul shifted her attention to consulting where she led the strategy practice within the Financial Services division of the renowned dot.com firm, Scient, and then went on to become a Partner at the capital markets niche management consulting firm m.a.partners/Detica. Ms. Kaul holds a bachelor's degree in history and political science from Colgate University.

Sandy Kaul

Jeff Park is the CIO of ProCap. He also serves as an advisor to Bitwise Investments.

Jeff Park

Nikita is a Managing Partner and Head of Fasanara Digital, the crypto division of Fasanara Capital, a $5 billion hedge fund based in London. He oversees the investment strategies and strategic direction of Fasanara Digital. He originally started The Quant Group from his dorm room, building quant strategies for digital assets. In 2018, the team joined Fasanara Capital and became Fasanara Digital, which has since grown into one of the leading and best-performing digital asset funds in the space.



Additionally, Nikita is the founder of The Digital Asset Conference, an annual event aimed at advancing industry adoption, and hosts the Speaking to Legends podcast. He’s a regular speaker at major crypto conferences and has been recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30 and Financial News’ Rising Stars in Finance. Nikita is also a Young Leader Circle (YLC) at the Milken Institute, and holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of St Andrews.

Nikita Fadeev

Meltem Demirors is Founder and General Partner at Crucible, an early-stage fund investing in the foundations of our digital future. Before launching Crucible in 2024, she served as Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares, Europe’s largest and longest standing digital asset investment firm which oversees $7B in AUM. Meltem started her crypto career on the founding team at Digital Currency Group, which grew from 40 to 200 portfolio companies and 2 to 4 subsidiaries during her tenure. Beyond her corporate positions, Meltem has lectured at MIT and Oxford and is an active angel investor in over 100 startups. She leverages her vast network – ranging from major institutions to builders at the fringe – to find and fund unique opportunities for Crucible. Before joining the crypto industry in 2015, Meltem began her career trading and working in the oil and gas industry. She studied math and econ at Rice University and has an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. When she isn’t talking about data centers, the energy grid, or forward curves she can be found reading, wandering in the woods, or scheming with her magical internet money friends.

Meltem Demirors

Melvin Deng is the Chief Executive Officer of QCP, one of the first digital asset trading firms in Singapore and global market maker in digital asset derivatives. As the CEO, Melvin leads the company’s rapid growth and expansion towards its vision to partner the next generation of investors to unlock institutional opportunities in digital assets. Under his leadership, he has built the company’s institutional-grade experience, research and infrastructure into a compelling proposition for clients, in addition to overseeing all operations and risk management. He is a believer in the immense growth potential of digital asset derivatives, to unlock future adoption by traditional and institutional players. Inspired by the opportunity to disrupt financial services through digital assets and blockchain technology, he left a more than 15 year career in banking to join QCP in 2021. He was previously the Head of Treasury for a global bank, where he was a member of the Singapore management team, responsible for business and balance sheet strategy. In addition to oversight of all the bank’s Treasury-related activities, he also led balance sheet optimisation initiatives, and launched the first SORA bond in Singapore, deepening the local financial market. Melvin holds a Bachelor of Engineering with honours from the National University of Singapore, and speaks four languages.

Melvin Deng

Amy is the head of emerging markets equity, a member of the Morgan Stanley Investment Management Operating Committee, the Morgan Stanley Investment Management Equity Technology Council, the Morgan Stanley Innovation Council and the Morgan Stanley Arts and Culture Committee. She manages digital asset initiatives at MSIM and has held roles in equity and FX trading, portfolio management support, product development and strategy. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2001, Amy managed business development at Arc Worldwide. She has over 25 years of financial services experience.

Amy Oldenburg

Tony Ashraf, Managing Director, is globally responsible for Digital Asset Transformation at BlackRock. In this role, he partners both internally and across the industry to leverage blockchain to disrupt traditional operating models, with a focus on partnerships, scale creation and product innovation. His work includes the firms efforts around DLT to redefine market infrastructure, tokenisation and our efforts to develop institutional grade cryptoassets solutions.



Tony’s experience spans across both the buy &amp; sell side, having worked in various Operational, Technology, Project Management, Business Management &amp; Client Service roles in the UK, Japan, China, Singapore &amp; Hungary.

Tony Ashraf

Michael Howell is CEO of CrossBorder Capital, a London-based FCA registered, independent research and investment company that he founded in 1996. The firm provides asset allocation and capital markets advice to institutional investors, and manages US$1 billion of assets. Michael is involved with educational charities and currently advises a major educational foundation on its investment strategy. He brings 40 years finance experience and is a regular international conference speaker, and a media and social media commentator. He has also advised the World Bank on capital flows, co-authoring their publication Opportunities in Emerging Markets (World Bank, 1995), served as board director of a listed Japanese investment trust and recently authored the book Capital Wars (Macmillan, 2020). Previously he was Head of Research for Baring Securities and board member, where he focussed on Emerging Markets, and Research Director of Salomon Brothers Inc, the US investment bank. Before entering finance, Michael worked as Group Economist for Blue Circle Industries plc. He holds a Phd. in financial economics from London University, specialising in Fixed Income, and is a SEC-qualified US Supervisory Analyst. Michael lives in Oxford, England, and is married with four children.

Michael Howell

Jess is the CEO of WalletConnect, the connectivity layer for the financial internet. 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 Houlgrave

Dan Tapiero is a renowned macro-focused investor with over 25 years of investing and entrepreneurial experience. He is the Founder, CEO and CIO of 1Roundtable Partners (1RT) and 10T Holdings (10T), which collectively manage over $1.4 billion of investments in 24 active companies across the Digital Asset Ecosystem (DAE). 1RT is a growth equity fund focused on mid-to-late stage companies in the DAE. Dan serves on several boards including Ledger, LEDN, Futureverse, and Quicknode. Before founding 1RT and 10T, Dan was Managing Partner of DTAP Capital Advisors, a global macro investment fund that he founded in 2003. He is Co-Founder of Gold Bullion International (GBI), a physical precious metals platform for the wealth management industry. GBI expanded into the cryptocurrency business through its integration with Uphold (fka Bitreserve) in 2014. Prior to GBI, he was formerly Co-Founder of the Agricultural Company of America (AGCoA), one of the largest farmland REITs in the U.S. at the time of its sale to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in 2013. Previously, from 1992-2012, Dan was a macro-focused portfolio manager and analyst at Duquesne Capital Management, SAC Capital Advisors, Tiger Management and Steinhardt Management Co. Dan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University, where he earned his B.A.'90 and M.A.'91 in European History. Dan has been on the Board of Trustees of the Lawrenceville School for the past 15 years and currently leads the Investment Committee for its endowment.

Dan Tapiero

Santiago Roel Santos (CryptoPunk #9159) is an investor focusing at the intersection of DeFi and the Web3 metaverse (NFTs/gaming). Most recently was a Partner at ParaFi Capital, one of the largest crypto funds specializing in DeFi. Prior to that, he was at Sageview Capital investing in Internet and software and, before that, at JP Morgan investment banking. Santiago began investing in crypto in 2012.

Santiago Roel Santos

Nicolas is a Founding Partner of Numeus, a global digital asset investment and trading firm founded by a team of finance, blockchain and technology professionals. Nicolas leads the firm's asset management division, Forteus, that is backed by Schroders and offers institutional funds for investors seeking exposure to the digital asset ecosystem. Nicolas brings over twenty years of professional experience in a career spanning crypto, traditional finance and consulting industries. Before co-founding Numeus, Nicolas was a founding partner of Argentière Capital, a volatility-focused multi-strategy hedge fund where he was a Senior Portfolio Manager focusing on volatility strategies across equities and FX. He was a member of the firm’s Risk Management Committee and was instrumental in building many of the tools and processes employed by the firm across investment and risk management functions.



Prior to launching Argentière, Nicolas was a Portfolio Manager in JPMorgan Chase’s Equity Proprietary Trading Group in London. He previously spent nine years at Bain &amp; Company, where he was a Manager running consulting projects in the areas of corporate strategy, M&amp;A, private equity and operational improvements for clients in Europe, US and Japan.



Nicolas obtained his BA / MA in Mathematics from the Ecole Polytechnique of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Nicolas Vanhoutteghem 

Eric Chen is the CEO of Injective Foundation. Eric has worked within the crypto industry for over six years with his latest project, Injective, garnering interest from leading professionals across hedge funds, venture capitals and blockchain projects, including but not limited to Pantera Capital, Mark Cuban, Hashed and Binance.



Eric was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2024 for his work on Injective.

Eric Chen

Rebecca Rettig is the Chief Legal Officer at Jito Labs, where she leads legal, compliance, and policy strategy. She previously held the same role at the Aave Companies, a DeFi software developer, and Polygon Labs, a blockchain technology company; at both, she built the policy function and managed all legal and compliance matters. Ms. Rettig is a pioneer in shaping legal and regulatory frameworks for blockchain systems and applications, advising on matters including decentralization, token launches, and mechanisms. DeFi, structuring, and decentralized governance. She has liaised with policymakers and regulators globally on how DeFi systems operate and the appropriate intersection of law with this novel technology. Ms. Rettig began her legal career at Cravath, Swaine &amp; Moore LLP, litigating complex financial disputes, as well as a landmark peer-to-peer file-sharing case and one of the largest airline mergersin history. She was a partner at Manatt, Phelps &amp; Phillips and currently is Of Counsel at Arktouros pllc, a boutique law firm specializing in cutting-edge technology companies. She has been recognized as one of Crain’s Top Women Lawyers in New York City.

Rebecca Rettig

Hadley is the Chief Commercial Officer at Marinade Labs, the web3 software development team behind Solana liquid and native staking protocol Marinade. He previously founded and led Fidelity’s digital assets division, after serving as SVP of Fidelity Labs where he led several divisions to research and pilot several emerging technologies, including wearable computing, VR/AR, mobile applications (including the company’s first-ever app and app brokerage), AI, and others. He also led global digital asset custody for the Bank of New York Mellon, where he launched the industry’s first bank-grade platform for digital asset custody on bitcoin and Ethereum. He also served as COO at blockchain infrastructure company Bloq, and previously led Amazon Web Services’ AWS Innovation Lab.

Hadley Stern

Jakob is the President of GSR, he previously served as the Global CEO of GSR for over 2.5 years. Prior to joining GSR, he was Head of EMEA business at Two Sigma Investments and a board director of Two Sigma International. He has 18 years of experience developing business and investment solutions in systematic investment management, including roles at Winton Capital Management and Barclays Global Investors (BGI). Jakob earned a BSc in Economics from Lund University where he also completed the MSc coursework in Economics (without dissertation). He also holds a Ships Officers Degree, Class VIII from Chalmers University of Technology.

Jakob Palmstierna

Prior to joining the Board of the Algorand Foundation, Staci ran the Global Market Development practice at the Milken Institute, where she led its work on capital market development, crypto/blockchain solutions, and innovative finance to promote the sustainable development goals. Prior to Milken, Staci ran JPMorgan’s EMEA public sector practice out of London. Before JPMorgan, she led the Nasdaq’s two markets for microcap companies, and in the public and non-profit sectors had senior roles at the U.S. Treasury Department, the Center for Global Development, and the Harvard Institute for International Development. Staci has done business in more than 50 countries and has advised and spoken widely on the potential for cryptocurrencies and blockchain to solve real-world problems, and for financial innovation to improve inclusion and reduce global poverty. In addition to the Algorand Foundation, she sits on the Boards of the Global Blockchain Business Council, the Rwandan Capital Market Authority, and the Energy for Growth Hub. She also serves on the advisory committees of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Committee (STOA), the U.S. Financial Technology Association, and Evolution Environmental Asset Management.

Staci Warden

Matt Hougan is one of the world’s leading experts on crypto, ETFs, and financial technology. He is Chief Investment Officer for Bitwise Asset Management, a pioneer in cryptoasset index funds with more than $1.2 billion in assets under management. He was previously CEO of ETF.com, where he helped build the world’s first ETF data and analytics system, the leading ETF media site, and the world’s largest ETF conference, Inside ETFs. Hougan is co-author of both "A Comprehensive Guide to Exchange-Traded Funds" and "Cryptoassets: The Guide to Bitcoin, Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies for Professional Investors" from the CFA Institute’s Research Foundation. He is a crypto columnist for Forbes, and a three-time member of the Barron’s ETF Roundtable.

Matt Hougan

Xiao-Xiao J. Zhu currently serves as Digital Operating Partner at KKR where he leads technology-driven value creation, innovation and digital transformation at the board and top management level of European private equity portfolio companies such as Axel Springer, GfK and Roompot Landal. He also leads KKR’s global Digital Assets &amp; Blockchain strategy, driving investments in foremost Crypto VCs such as Dragonfly Capital and Ethereal Ventures as well as Digital Assets companies such as Anchorage Digital. He is a regular speaker at key Digital Assets &amp; AI conferences, and is an angel investor in fast growing early stage technology companies such as Fuse Energy or Anagram. Prior to joining KKR, he was General Manager at BCG Digital Ventures in London and Beijing where he founded, launched and scaled new digital companies such as Heycar.com (backed by Volkswagen &amp; Daimler) or Tracr.com (backed by DeBeers). He began his career in management consulting advising Fortune 500 companies at the Boston Consulting Group in London. Notably, in an earlier life, he performed as a professional concert pianist on some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, and played for global leaders such as George H.W. Bush, Helmut Kohl or Mikhail Gorbachev. He holds a MSc in Managerial Economics &amp; Strategy from the London School of Economics, a BA in Philosophy &amp; Economics from the Humboldt University Berlin, and a Masters in Concert Piano from the Berlin University of Arts.

Xiao-Xiao Zhu

Konstantin Richter is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He has been active in the blockchain ecosystem as an advisor and contributor since 2015, with the likes of Gem, <a href="http://po.et/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Po.et</a>, and MadHive. In 2017, he created Blockdaemon in order to bring institutional-grade infrastructure to blockchain protocols, crypto native and traditional financial institutions. Subsequently, Konstantin has helmed Blockdaemon through three major funding rounds raising $400M to date. The most recent being a Series C raising $207M at a $3.25B valuation led by Sapphire and Tiger Global with previous backers SoftBank, Goldman Sachs, and Citi Ventures. Blockdaemon is the world’s largest blockchain infrastructure company for node management, MPC tech, and staking.

Konstantin Richter

Ryan is based in London and heads up Digital Assets globally and Strategic Investments across Europe and Asia at Barclays. The DA team is responsible for digital asset strategy, governance and the establishment of new asset, money and tokenisation initiatives across the bank. The SI team is responsible for originating, executing and portfolio managing all strategic principal equity investments made by Barclays in external companies.  Ryan joined Barclays in 2011 as an M&amp;amp;A advisor in the investment bank and moved to the Strategy and Corporate Development team in 2013, where he acted as a principal in originating and executing M&amp;amp;A transactions.Prior to Barclays, Ryan was at Nevsky Capital, a $7bn long/short equity asset manager, where he covered a range of sectors including oil &amp;amp; gas, chemicals and agriculture and before that worked at Deutsche Bank as a corporate finance advisor in the Industrials practice across Europe. Ryan holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Oxford and also holds an MA (Oxon) from the University of Oxford.

Ryan Hayward

Leading Strategy and Partnerships for Digital Assets in Citi's Treasury and Trade Solutions Business. Working with a truly dynamic global team serving 140 countries, 160 currencies while regulated in 95 countries.

David Cunningham

Jonathan Cheesman

David Mercer is the Chief Executive Officer of LMAX Group, a global, high-growth financial technology company based in London. A former City banking executive and currency specialist, he joined LMAX Group in 2011 and after a successful management buyout, rapidly built LMAX Group into the leading operator of institutional FX and cryptocurrency exchanges with offices in 11 countries and global client base. An outspoken industry commentator, David is a long term champion of the UK’s fintech sector and passionate about supporting entrepreneurship in the UK.

David Mercer

With 7 years of experience across investment banking, hedge funds, and private equity, Guy has built a strong foundation in the financial sector. Prior to founding Ethena, he spent 6 years at Cerberus Management, a firm with $60 billion in assets under management, where he focused on investing in financial services businesses across the capital structure.

Guy Young

Sid Powell is the CEO &amp; Co-Founder of Maple Finance and with his Co-Founder Joe Flanagan founded Maple in 2019. Sid comes from a background in debt capital markets and institutional banking. During his career in traditional finance, he participated in $3BN+ of corporate bond issuance,and served as Treasurer for a commercial lending company in Australia. Maple has originated more than $5b in institutional lending since inception and currently holds over $550m in assets on the platform. We aim to be the global leader in tokenized private credit and first choice for institutional borrowers.

Sid Powell

Vivek Raman

Michael Bucella is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Neoclassic Capital, a digital asset investment firm with a strong focus on Asia. Prior to Neoclassic, Michael served as General Partner with BlockTower Capital from 2017 to 2022, growing the firm near inception to managing in excess of $1B in AUM across hedge fund, venture, and credit strategies. Previous to BlockTower, Michael spent nearly a decade with Goldman Sachs in New York across both the Asset Management (GSAM) and Securities Division.

Michael Bucella

Lekker Capital is a global macro hedge fund with a particular focus on the emerging digital asset industry. Prior to founding Lekker, Quinn served as the Head of Capital Markets for two institutional lending businesses in the digital asset ecosystem, most recently at Maple Finance. Quinn spent five years in fixed income and capital markets at Guggenheim Partners in New York before his full-time foray into crypto.

Quinn Thompson

Diogo is the co-founder of Anchorage Digital, where he served as President prior to joining Haun Ventures and where he currently serves as Executive Chairman. Anchorage Digital is the first federally chartered crypto-native bank in the US. Prior to founding Anchorage Digital, Diogo served as Platform Security Lead at Square (now known as Block). At Square, Diogo worked on the infrastructure security platform (including identity, access management, and responses systems) that is now used to move over $200B in annualized gross payments volume. Diogo also served as Security Lead at Docker, where he and his team wrote code that helps secure one of the core underpinnings of modern computing infrastructure: containers. Diogo serves as the Chairman of the NEAR Foundation. He previously served as an advisor to Airtable and StackRox.

Diogo Monica

David Karney

Anatoly is an investment professional with 30 years of experience in investment management and hedge fund industry. Nickel Digital is a regulated multi-PM quant hedge fund specialising in market-neutral strategies in digital assets, providing institutional-grade access to this nascent market. In co-founding Nickel Digital in 2019, Anatoly leveraged his prior experience with investment management divisions of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan in London, where he was dealing with asset allocation and portfolio construction. Anatoly earned an MA degree in International Business from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia and an Executive MBA degree from the University of Oxford in 2009. He returned to Oxford in 2018, to become part of the pioneering cohort of global investment professionals to graduate from the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme, which played a pivotal role in the decision to transit from traditional finance into digital assets. Anatoly is an avid sailor who has crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, on a single-hull racing sailboat and a catamaran, respectively.

Anatoly Crachilov

Marc Vanlerberghe is the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Algorand Foundation. Marc brings more than 20 years of experience in executive marketing positions, with a strong background in entrepreneurial, hyper-growth business environments. Prior to Algorand Foundation, he was the CEO of Rulai, a startup in the nascent conversational AI space. Before that, he was CMO at Medallia, the leading SaaS platform that enables companies to capture actionable customer data in real time. At Google, Marc was Vice President of Marketing for Access and Energy and anadvisor to CapitalG. Marc is known for launching Android and developing the brand into the most popular mobile operating system. In addition, he led marketing for Google Play and Google’s hardware and retail organizations. Marc lives in Sunnyvale, California. He sits on several boards and enjoys advising startup entrepreneurs. Marc received his MBA from Stanford University and his MS degree in engineering from the University of Ghent, Belgium.

Marc Vanlerberghe

Omar is a digital asset expert, investor, and consultant active in the space since 2016. As Chief Business Development Officer at SecondLane (Web3 native investment bank and asset manager with $100 M+ AUM) Omar leads strategic partnerships and oversees complex deal execution with a focus on legal and operational integrity.



In addition to his role at SecondLane, Omar is a LP in several leading crypto venture funds, including Multicoin Capital, Alliance DAO, and Topology Ventures, backing the next generation of protocols and infrastructure across Web3. His investment focus also spans the convergence of blockchain and artificial intelligence, with recent backing of frontier tech companies such as Figure AI and Apptronik.



With deep involvement at both the operational and capital levels, Omar operates at the intersection of institutional adoption, capital formation, and regulatory evolution in digital assets. He is driven by his deep belief in blockchain’s potential to drive long-term, meaningful social impact on a global scale.

Omar Shakeeb

Rob Hadick is a General Partner at Dragonfly, a ~$4bn crypto focused investment firm. Previously, he helped lead multi-stage investments into crypto companies and protocols at GoldenTree Asset Management ("GTAM"), a ~$50bn multi-strategy hedge fund. Prior to GTAM, Rob invested in and advised fintech, technology, and crypto companies while at Heritage Partners, Goldman Sachs, and PJT Partners. He holds a MBA from Columbia Business School, and a Bachelors in Economics and Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis.

Rob Hadick

Chris is the CIO of Digital Assets at Amitis Capital. In his early career, Chris worked at several major institutions including CIBC World Markets, Société Générale Barr Devlin, Antarctica Asset Management and ING Investment Management. In 2010, he joined SAIL Advisors (the family office of the founder of Duty-Free Shoppers) as Head of Research for Tactical Trading and Relative Value Strategies. He later joined Cliffwater LLC as Managing Director covering global macro and relative value strategies on the hedge fund research team. Most recently, Chris was the CIO of Digital Assets at Forest Road, where he oversaw a digital assets-focused venture capital fund of funds. Chris has a BA in Economics and Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MComm in Finance from the University of New South Wales, where he was a Federation Scholar. Chris holds the CFA, CPA, and CAIA designations. Chris has broken 9 Guinness World Records and has run marathons on all 7 continents and in all 50 US states.

Chris Solarz

Seth Ginns is a Managing Partner and Head of Liquid Investments at CoinFund, and a key member of the Venture Investment Committee. He has 20 years of Wall Street experience and has been deeply involved in the crypto community since his angel investment in Coinbase in 2012. He is also an angel in Starkware, Chainalysis, participated in the Ethereum ICO in 2014, and loves traveling globally to developer events as a way to keep a finger on the pulse of the market. His angel portfolio also includes Instacart, BillionToOne and DoorDash, and many earlier stage, high growth startups.



Prior to CoinFund, Seth invested in public growth equities over 18 years at Jennison Associates. He holds a BA in Mathematics and South Asia Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, where he serves on the International Advisory Board of the Center for the Advanced Study of India at the School of Arts and Sciences and served as an Overseer at the School of Nursing and Co-Chair of the Innovation Committee.

Seth Ginns

Ryan Rasmussen is the Head of Research at Bitwise Asset Management. Prior to Bitwise, he held a variety of corporate finance roles at Cetera Financial Group, a network of independent broker-dealers with over 8,000 financial advisors and $300 billion in assets under administration. Before Cetera, Ryan was a business analyst at Oakley and spent time as a research associate at UK Trade &amp; Investment in Sydney, Australia. He is a graduate of the Argyros School of Business &amp; Economics at Chapman University, with a B.S. in finance and a secondary focus in graphic and web design.

Ryan Rasmussen

Paul Faecks is the Founder and CEO of Plasma, a high-performance, scalable, and secure blockchain built for stablecoin payments. At Plasma, Paul is leading the team building a blockchain tailored for stablecoin transactions from the ground up. Before founding Plasma, Paul served as the CEO and Co-Founder of Alloy, a platform for institutional digital asset operations, beginning in August 2021.

Paul Faecks

Michael Sonnenshein is an executive with over 15 years experience across financial services. As the current President of Securitize, Michael is bringing compliant digital security solutions to institutional and individual investors, bridging the traditional and decentralized finance worlds.



 Prior to Securitize, Michael Sonnenshein was CEO of Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager. With over a decade in the crypto industry, Michael established Grayscale as the definitive leader in crypto investing, offering a wide range of investments including single-asset and diversified products. Under Michael’s leadership, Grayscale paved the way for the approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the US market. Michael is regularly featured on CNBC and Bloomberg and was honored in 2021 as one of 100 People Transforming Business by Business Insider and in 2018 as one of the publication’s Rising Stars of Wall Street. Prior to joining Grayscale, Michael was a financial advisor at JP Morgan Securities, covering HNW individuals and institutions, and an analyst at Barclays Wealth, providing coverage to middle‐market hedge funds and institutions. Michael earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and his Master of Business Administration from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University.ork University.

Michael Sonnenshein

Richard Green

Alwyn Clarke is a Director on Galaxy Digital’s investment banking team. Prior to joining the firm, Alwyn worked at Fenchurch Advisory Partners and Barclays Capital in London and New York, advising businesses on M&amp;A, capital raising and other strategic initiatives. He has worked with businesses across the full financial services landscape, with a core focus on financial technology and asset management. Alwyn holds a B.A. in Jurisprudence (Law with French Law) from the University of Oxford.

Alwyn Clarke

Ian brings over 20 years of experience in capital markets and fintech and is widely regarded as one of the UK’s foremost experts in blockchain and digital assets. He most recently led KPMG’s UK Crypto &amp; Digital Assets practice, and previously served as Executive Director and Board Advisor to CryptoUK, the UK’s digital asset trade association.

Ian Taylor

Avi Felman is a Principal and Head of Digital Assets Trading at&nbsp;GoldenTree&nbsp;Asset Management. Mr. Felman is also a General Partner of&nbsp;GoldenChain, a wholly owned subsidiary of&nbsp;GoldenTree&nbsp;that manages the Firm’s funds focused on digital assets. Mr. Felman is one of the longest tenured traders in digital assets and has held several prominent positions, including most recently as Co-Portfolio Manager and Head of Trading for&nbsp;BlockTower&nbsp;Capital where he grew the flagship fund portfolio from $40mm at time of joining to over $800mm. Previously, Mr. Felman was Lead Trader at Wave Financial where he co- led the development of the first SEC-regulated Bitcoin fund and he also was responsible for the derivatives strategy and trading execution. Prior to joining Wave Financial, Mr. Felman founded Ledger Capital, a firm focused on cryptocurrency trading and investments. Mr. Felman received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering&nbsp;from&nbsp;Washington University.

Avi Felman

William joined Marshall Wace in May 2022 to oversee Fintech and Digital Assets investments for MW Digital Finance Fund.



Prior to joining Marshall Wace, William worked at Candy Capital, a family office where he was responsible for various investments across the technology sector. Prior to Candy Capital, William worked for HSBC and Greyspark Partners, were he was heading Fintech Investment Advisory. William is also an active seed investor across digital assets and fintech.

William Benattar

James is General Partner – Fund Manager &amp; GP at Republic. Prior to this, James worked in a wide variety of investing, business building and operating roles across the Alan Howard ecosystem. Originally hired into Brevan Howard, his focus was Principal Investing across Crypto, Web3, Fintech &amp; Frontier Technologies. James was also one of the founding team at WebN Group, the well-known incubator for Fintech &amp; Web3 innovation, where over 18 months significant equity value was created. Twinstake, TruFin, Libre, Geometry and Soter are a few of those companies. Due to James’s extensive experience, he additionally spent 6 months restructuring, realigning and putting into place operational policies and scaling procedures at Elwood, a market leading EMS &amp; PMS provider backed by Goldman Sachs, Citi Bank, and Barclays. Having been heavily involved in Web3 &amp; Digital Assets Markets for over 8 years, James started his career with ~15 years of investment banking experience across multi-asset trading, derivative, sales and structuring desks at top tier banks. His deep understanding of the intersection between digital assets, financial technologies and traditional finance has been crucial to creating robust investment thesis’s, venture builds and implementing operational policies, scalable processes and go-to-market strategies in portfolio companies. Outside of work, James is an advisor to various companies, including Saltford FC and has published numerous quantitative, financial and regulatory papers across both traditional and digital markets, most recently for the Digital Economic Initiative. As a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst®, James holds a Masters in Finance (Distinction) &amp; graduated with an Honours Degree in Economics from Durham University.

James Newman

Michael Ippolito is a co-founder at Blockworks in charge of content and finance.&nbsp; Previously to co-founding Blockworks, Michael was a consultant where he advised mid-market manufacturing-focused companies on operational and capital efficiency as well as M&amp;A strategy.

Michael Ippolito

Felix Jauvin

Carolina

Ben Strack is a Denver-based reporter covering macro and crypto-native funds, financial advisors, structured products, and the integration of digital assets and decentralized finance (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.

Macauley was an editor and content creator in the professional chess world for 14 years, prior to joining Blockworks. At Bucerius Law School (Master in Law and Business, 2020) he researched stablecoins, decentralized finance and central bank digital currencies. He also holds an MA in Film Studies; film credits include Associate Producer of the 2016 Netflix feature documentary, "Magnus" about World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. He is based in Germany.

Macauley Peterson

David Rodriguez

Marc-Thomas Arjoon

Dan Smith

Boccaccio

Hear from the world's most sophisticated investors about how liquidity, interest rates and economic drivers are shaping their digital asset portfolios.

Macro Case for Digital Assets

Institutional investment will continue to drive this crypto cycle. At DAS you'll hear from investors on strategy, portfolio allocation, and more.

ETFs & Institutional Investment

Hear allocator's perspectives from the top funds in the world on how they are navigating the expanding public & private digital asset markets.

Allocator's Perspective

This year's programming will explore the evolution of global standards and regulatory frameworks that policy makers are crafting for the maturing digital asset ecosystem.

US & Global Digital Asset Policy

The largest financial institutions like Blackrock & JPMorgan are moving onchain to settle treasuries, collateral, and other securities. At DAS, these partnerships and innovations will be at the forefront of conversations.

Tokenization & Real World Assets

DAS will delve into the evolving landscape of stablecoins and digital asset payments. Consumers and institutions alike will gain from their insight into these payments innovations.