A soon-to-be $2 trillion stablecoin market? Everyone wants in

A Soon-to-Be $2 Trillion Stablecoin Market? Stripe, Shopify and Banks Want In

Circle’s IPO, Stripe’s crypto push, Shopify accepting USDC, the hot Plasma ICO … the stablecoin market is in a near frenzy. 

Stablecoins are having a moment.

From Stripe’s acquisition of crypto wallet startup Privy, to Shopify integrating USDC, to Plasma raising $500 million for its stablecoin-optimized side chain, stablecoins are having a moment. And at the center of it all is Circle, which had one of the most successful IPOs in decades.

But what’s really happening under the surface? And who’s best positioned as stablecoins go mainstream?

Vicky Fu, co-founder at Yala and former engineering director at Circle, joins Unchained to explain:

• How she saw Circle as deeply undervalued before the IPO buzz

• What Stripe’s crypto moves signal for the broader market

• Why retail payments could become stablecoins’ breakout use case

• How network effects give Circle a serious edge, even as banks circle the space

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pods, Fountain, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Now, let’s get into this week’s news! In today’s edition:

• 📈 SEC signals Solana ETF approvals as issuers revise filings for staking and redemption features

• 💳 Coinbase rolls out DEX access, bitcoin cashback card, and U.S. futures in sweeping product push

• 📊 Gemini and Bullish file for IPOs amid strong market momentum and Circle’s blockbuster debut

• 🔧 SEC proposes DeFi ‘innovation exemption’ to ease rules for developers and unlock new use cases

• 📜 CLARITY Act advances in Congress with bipartisan votes from both House committees

• 🏋️ Interactive Strength pivots to crypto with a $500M FET token bet despite financial losses

• 🧠 Ethereum’s Péter Szilágyi allegedly rejects $5M offer to spin out Geth and alleges internal power moves

• 🧾 Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN limit raised to 4MB in Version 30 update, sparking debate over bloat

• 🏦 BlackRock’s IBIT becomes fastest ETF to hit $70B, outpacing gold and closing in on Satoshi

• 📊 Polymarket teams up with Elon Musk’s X to launch live prediction market tools powered by Grok

• 🔐 Cetus relaunches after $162M exploit, with 85–99% liquidity recovery and a yearlong token plan

• ⚖️ BiT Global drops Coinbase lawsuit over wBTC delisting, ending $1B legal clash with no payout

• 🎭 Paraguay’s president hacked on X, falsely announcing bitcoin as legal tender in spoofed post.

SEC Signals Openness to Solana ETFs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked several asset managers seeking to launch Solana exchange-traded funds to revise their S-1 filings, a move seen as a potential step toward approval. According to sources cited by Blockworks and Bloomberg, the SEC is focused on two critical issues: whether the ETFs will permit in-kind redemptions using SOL tokens, and how they will handle staking, a feature that allows token holders to earn rewards by validating blockchain transactions.

At least seven firms, including Grayscale, Fidelity, VanEck, and 21Shares, are in the running to bring Solana ETFs to market. A spokesperson for 21Shares confirmed to Blockworks it had received feedback and plans to submit an amended filing shortly.

Bloomberg analysts estimate a 90% chance of approval this year, possibly as early as July. The regulator’s engagement is widely seen as a sign that a new wave of crypto ETFs may be nearing launch.

Coinbase Unveils Onchain DEX Access, Bitcoin Rewards Card, and U.S. Futures Push

Coinbase announced a sweeping set of product expansions at its State of Crypto Summit, signaling a deeper move into both decentralized finance and traditional financial services.

The most immediate change is the integration of decentralized exchanges built on Coinbase’s Base network directly into its main app. Users will now be able to access and trade thousands of onchain assets without leaving Coinbase’s interface.

Coinbase also revealed the upcoming launch of perpetual futures contracts in the U.S., a feature previously limited to non-U.S. users. The exchange said it is working with regulators, including the CFTC, to bring these derivatives to American customers.

Additionally, the company introduced the Coinbase One Card in partnership with American Express. The credit card offers up to 4% cashback in bitcoin and will be available exclusively to Coinbase One subscribers beginning this fall.

Bullish and Gemini Quietly Advance IPO Plans

Crypto exchanges Bullish and Gemini have each filed confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, signaling plans to go public as investor interest in digital assets intensifies.

Bullish, the Gibraltar-based trading platform backed by Peter Thiel and led by former NYSE president Tom Farley, is preparing for a potential U.S. listing with Jefferies as lead underwriter, according to the Financial Times. The filing follows a previously failed SPAC attempt in 2021 and comes amid renewed optimism as bitcoin trades near $110,000 and pro-crypto signals emerge from the Trump administration.

Gemini, run by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, submitted its draft S-1 just one day after stablecoin issuer Circle’s stock surged 168% on its first day of trading. The timing suggests that Circle’s success may have influenced the decision. “I suspect we’ll be seeing several crypto companies accelerating their IPO plans,” said Carlos Guzman of GSR to Blockworks, noting the clear market appetite for digital asset firms.

SEC Floats DeFi ‘Innovation Exemption’

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins instructed staff to explore a new “innovation exemption” aimed at easing regulatory burdens for decentralized finance platforms. Speaking at the “DeFi and the American Spirit” roundtable, Atkins outlined a vision to allow developers and intermediaries to launch onchain services more freely while ensuring compliance with key safeguards.

The exemption would not eliminate oversight but could streamline the path to market for DeFi projects that meet certain conditions. Atkins emphasized that publishing open-source code should not be treated as a regulated financial activity, citing First Amendment protections. “The right to have self-custody of one’s private property is a foundational American value,” he said.

Following the remarks, DeFi tokens including AAVE, UNI, and SKY surged more than 20%, reflecting a wave of optimism.

CLARITY Act Clears House Committees

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, advanced through two key U.S. House committees this week, marking a step toward establishing a regulatory framework for digital assets. The House Financial Services Committee approved the bill in a 32 to 19 vote, while the House Agriculture Committee passed it with an even stronger 47 to 6 margin.

The legislation aims to define the oversight roles of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, resolving long-standing questions around jurisdiction in the crypto space.

“Congress has a historic opportunity to provide the clear regulatory framework needed to unlock this innovation,” said Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill in a statement. Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson added, “The timing is ripe to advance common sense legislation.”

With both committees now aligned, the bill moves to the full House for debate, bringing lawmakers closer to a comprehensive approach to digital asset regulation.

Struggling Fitness Firm Bets on AI Crypto Token

Interactive Strength Inc., a fitness equipment company facing steep financial losses, is pivoting to crypto with a headline-grabbing move: a $500 million plan to acquire Fetch.ai’s FET tokens. The deal, backed by ATW Partners and market maker DWF Labs, aims to build a token treasury centered on artificial intelligence.

The company, which reported a $34.9 million net loss in 2024 and has seen its stock plummet over 99% in a year, says the tokens will support future AI-powered fitness services, including personalized workout recommendations and incentive-based health tracking.

However, only $55 million of the deal is confirmed upfront. The remaining $444 million is structured as an optional note issuance, dependent on performance. CEO Trent Ward framed the partnership as a strategic step toward long-term growth.

TRNR stock dropped 21% following the announcement.

Ethereum Veteran Says He Declined $5 Million Offer

Péter Szilágyi, former lead developer of Ethereum’s main client software Geth, says he turned down a $5 million proposal to separate the project from the Ethereum Foundation and turn it into a private company. In a string of posts on X, Szilágyi claimed the offer came with pressure to leave the foundation, which he said was also quietly supporting a parallel Geth team housed within the Nethermind client group.

“Did you all know [the Ethereum Foundation] started (and funded) a second Geth team inside Nethermind?” he posted, citing foundation co-chair Josh Stark.

Szilágyi added that he was fired from the foundation just a day after raising concerns about the second team while on sabbatical. Geth, short for Go Ethereum, remains the dominant Ethereum client, currently running on over 60% of network nodes.

Bitcoin Update to Expand Data Storage Sparks Debate

Bitcoin developers are moving ahead with a major protocol change that would expand the amount of data users can embed in transactions. The upcoming Version 30 update, expected in October, will raise the OP_RETURN limit from 80 bytes to nearly 4 megabytes — aligning with Bitcoin’s block size and enabling much larger data entries.

Supporters say the change could open doors for new applications. But critics warn it risks overloading the network. Developer Luke Dashjr sharply criticized the move, saying it enables “denial-of-service attacks,” referring to data-heavy transactions like inscriptions.

In a separate development, Bitcoin Core reaffirmed its position on neutrality in a public statement. The team wrote, “This is not endorsing or condoning non-financial data usage, but accepting that as a censorship-resistant system, Bitcoin can and will be used for use cases not everyone agrees on.”

BlackRock’s IBIT Becomes Fastest ETF to Reach $70 Billion

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, known as IBIT, has set a new benchmark in the ETF world, surpassing $70 billion in assets under management just 341 trading days after its U.S. launch in January 2024. This makes it the fastest ETF in history to cross that threshold, outpacing the SPDR Gold Shares fund, which took more than 1,600 days to reach the same level.

With 661,457 bitcoin under custody, IBIT now ranks as the largest institutional holder of the cryptocurrency, ahead of Binance and MicroStrategy. The fund’s rapid ascent follows a 31-day streak of positive inflows and growing mainstream adoption, placing it on pace to exceed the estimated holdings of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, by next summer.

X Partners With Polymarket

Elon Musk’s X has announced a new partnership with crypto prediction platform Polymarket, naming it the platform’s official prediction market partner. The collaboration introduces a live analytics product that integrates Polymarket event contracts, user posts from X, and Grok, the chatbot developed by Musk’s xAI, to explain market shifts as they happen.

“This will provide contextualized, data-driven insights to millions of Polymarket users around the world,” said Shayne Coplan, CEO of Polymarket.

The partnership follows a record period for Polymarket, which saw an all-time high in market creation this spring and peaked with $463 million in open interest on Election Day.

Future integrations between the two companies are planned, as both aim to deliver more interactive and real-time financial forecasting tools across crypto and traditional markets.

Sui-Based DEX Relaunches After Hack

Cetus, a decentralized exchange operating on the Sui and Aptos blockchains, has relaunched its protocol just over two weeks after a major exploit drained its liquidity pools. The May 22 attack, caused by a flaw in a shared math library, allowed an attacker to inflate token deposits and siphon off funds, ultimately compromising over $220 million.

In a controversial step aimed at recovering the lost funds, Cetus managed to freeze $162 million of the stolen assets with the help of Sui validators. The protocol also secured a $30 million USDC loan from the Sui Foundation and tapped into $7 million in reserves to help restore affected pools.

Liquidity providers are now seeing reimbursement rates between 85% and 99%, with full recovery expected through a token-based compensation plan. Fifteen percent of the CETUS token supply has been allocated, with 5% immediately claimable and the rest unlocking over a year.

Cetus says it is strengthening its security and pursuing the attacker through legal channels.

BiT Global Ends Legal Battle With Coinbase Over wBTC Delisting

BiT Global has officially dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase, closing the chapter on a high-profile dispute tied to the delisting of Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC). Filed in December 2024, the lawsuit alleged that Coinbase’s removal of $13.8 billion wBTC unfairly harmed the token’s market position in favor of its own product, cbBTC. The suit sought over $1 billion in damages.

The case was dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning BiT Global cannot revive the same claims in the future. Both parties agreed to cover their own legal expenses.

Coinbase had cited security concerns over BiT Global’s ties to TRON founder Justin Sun, stating the decision was based on “unacceptable risk” to customers. A judge previously denied BiT Global’s request to halt the delisting, and transcripts show the court had been leaning toward dismissing the case altogether.

Fun Bits: Hacker Turns Paraguay’s President into Bitcoin Maximalist

In a plot twist straight out of crypto fan fiction, the X account of Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña was hijacked and briefly transformed him into Bitcoin’s biggest cheerleader. The hacked post claimed Paraguay was adopting bitcoin as legal tender, launching BTC bonds, and even accepting “donations” to a wallet address. Bonus red flag: the whole thing was written in English… a bit odd for a Spanish-speaking president who always posts in Spanish.

The real presidency quickly clarified it was all bogus. No bitcoin bonds, no legal tender law, and definitely no presidential fundraising wallet. Nice try, hacker!

Watch the weekly recap on YouTube!