Weekly Recap: Trump’s CFTC Pick Withdrawn, Swift Partners With Consensys

How Hyperliquid Came to ‘Threaten the Very Existence’ of CEXs Like Binance

While everyone talks about Aster vs. Hyperliquid, these two VCs think people are looking at it all wrong.

Perp DEXs are on fire, with volumes topping $1 trillion a month for the first time. 

Aster, backed by YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs), has suddenly vaulted to the top of volume charts, but is its rise organic, or manufactured? 

But while everyone frames the battle as Aster vs. Hyperliquid, Syncracy’s Ryan Watkins and Sunny Shi argue the real fight is much bigger: decentralized exchanges versus centralized giants like Binance. 

Plus: what role Solana will play in the next chapter in the perps DEX wars? And won’t Ethereum even compete? 

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:

• 🏛️ Trump pulls CFTC pick after Winklevoss pressure on Brian Quintenz

• 🌐 Swift teams with Consensys to build 24/7 blockchain settlement rails

• 📊 SEC moves on tokenized stocks with Coinbase and Robinhood in the mix

• 🏦 Stripe unveils Open Issuance to let any business launch its own stablecoin

• 💰 ZeroStack’s $401M raise reveals just $13.7M in real cash

• 🎯 Robinhood eyes Europe as it expands prediction markets abroad

• 🚄 DoubleZero launches private internet for faster blockchain transactions

• 🌸 Cronje’s Flying Tulip raises $200M with new investor protection model

• 🧱 Jump Crypto pushes Solana to scrap block size limits post-Alpenglow

​​Trump Administration Pulls Quintenz Nomination for CFTC Chair

The Trump administration has withdrawn its nomination of Brian Quintenz to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, leaving the agency to continue operating under Acting Chair Caroline Pham. Quintenz, a former commissioner and head of crypto policy at Andreessen Horowitz, confirmed to Cointelegraph the decision and said he plans to return to the private sector.

His withdrawal follows opposition from Gemini co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who publicly lobbied against the nomination. Quintenz released text messages suggesting the brothers sought commitments on how the CFTC would handle Gemini’s regulatory disputes, requests he said he declined. “I believe these texts make it clear what they were after from me, and what I refused to promise,” he said. 

The CFTC remains without a permanent chair as Congress debates new crypto legislation.

Swift Partners With Consensys on Blockchain Settlement System

Global payments network Swift has announced a partnership with Consensys and more than 30 major financial institutions, including JPMorgan, HSBC, Bank of America, and Deutsche Bank, to build a blockchain-based settlement platform. The initiative aims to support “real-time 24/7 cross-border payments” and facilitate transactions involving stablecoins and other tokenized assets.

Consensys, led by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, will develop the first prototype. “In conversation with these institutions, you clearly feel that the moment is now to bring the collaboration together,” said Thierry Chilosi, Swift’s chief business officer. Swift CEO Javier Pérez-Tasso added the project is part of its mission to “create the infrastructure stack of the future.”

Also, there’s been a ton of positive news this week in the intersection of TradFi and crypto. Here’s a recap: 

• Visa began testing stablecoins for business payments across borders, letting firms use USDC and EURC to pre-fund transfers via Visa Direct in a bid to speed up settlements and lower costs.

• Deutsche Börse teamed up with Circle to integrate euro- and dollar-backed stablecoins into its trading, settlement and custody platforms under new EU crypto rules, marking the first tie-up between a major European exchange and a global stablecoin issuer.

• Chainlink and UBS ran a pilot that let banks use the Swift messaging system to subscribe to and redeem tokenized investment funds, a move aimed at bringing blockchain infrastructure to the $100 trillion fund industry without replacing existing tools.

• Lastly, Societe Generale’s crypto arm SG-FORGE deployed its euro and dollar stablecoins on Ethereum-based DeFi platforms Morpho and Uniswap, enabling clients to borrow, lend and trade them around the clock using crypto and tokenized fund collateral.

SEC Advances Plan to Put U.S. Stocks on Blockchain

The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving forward with a proposal to let American investors trade tokenized stocks on blockchain platforms. According to The Information, the plan would provide exemptions from certain trading rules, potentially allowing companies like Coinbase and Robinhood to let customers buy shares of firms such as Apple or Netflix directly through their crypto wallets.

Tokenized stocks mirror traditional equities in offering ownership and dividends, but are issued as blockchain tokens that represent a claim on the underlying shares. Supporters argue the approach would speed up settlement times, which currently take at least a day.

Industry giants such as Citadel Securities have warned of risks to market stability and compliance, and legal challenges from Wall Street firms could delay the rollout. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has described tokenization as an “innovation” the agency should foster.

Stripe Opens Door for Companies to Issue Their Own Stablecoins

Stripe has unveiled Open Issuance, a new platform designed to let businesses create and manage their own stablecoins “with just a few lines of code.” The service, powered by Bridge, the crypto infrastructure firm Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion last year, allows companies to mint and burn tokens, customize reserve ratios between cash and treasuries, and select partners like BlackRock and Fidelity to manage those reserves.

To comply with U.S. rules, Stripe will apply for a federal banking charter and a New York trust license, according to The Information.

Zach Abrams, co-founder and CEO of Bridge, joined Unchained to explain the vision: “If money movement is core to your business, you should build with stablecoins. But don’t build on top of someone else’s coin.” He added, “We think this is going to become a core part of stablecoin money movement that people are just going to want the money to be their own.”

​​ZeroStack’s $401 Million Raise Masks Just $13.7 Million in Cash

ZeroStack, the newly rebranded Flora Growth Corp., announced a $401 million raise to back the AI-focused Zero Gravity blockchain. But reporting by Unchained shows that only $13.7 million came in as fresh cash, with the rest made up of recycled tokens, warrants, and in-kind contributions.

SEC filings detail that Zero Gravity Labs supplied $150 million in 0G tokens and $215 million in warrants valued at $3 per token, while DeFi Development Corporation added $22.9 million in Solana. The actual cash portion came from investors including Dao5 and Abstract Ventures.

Analysts warned the structure created an early liquidity opportunity for insiders, bypassing typical vesting schedules. One industry investor described the deal as “the ultimate grift.”

Robinhood Eyes Global Expansion of Prediction Markets

Robinhood is exploring ways to take its fast-growing prediction markets business outside the United States, beginning with talks with regulators such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. JB Mackenzie, vice president of futures and international at Robinhood, explained the challenge: “It’s a swap here in the United States. So the question would be where is swap oversight, let’s say in the UK? That’s a question that we’ve been asking the FCA.”

The company, which already operates equities and crypto trading in the UK and EU, says demand for prediction markets is especially strong in Europe. CEO Vlad Tenev noted in an X post that Robinhood has already facilitated more than 4 billion event contracts this year, calling the product a major growth driver.

DoubleZero Launches Fiber Network to Speed Up Blockchain Transactions

Blockchain infrastructure startup DoubleZero has launched its mainnet-beta, introducing a private fiber network built to move blockchain data faster and more reliably than the public internet. At launch, 386 Solana validators — representing over 20% of the network’s stake — have agreed to route traffic through DoubleZero’s backbone, which spans more than 70 fiber connections across 30 cities and five continents.

“We are building a parallel internet for high performance distributed systems like blockchains,” said co-founder Austin Federa on Unchained. He explained that public internet routing creates delays and inconsistent speeds, limiting blockchains’ true capacity.

The network is operated by independent contributors, who are compensated in DoubleZero’s native 2Z token. Jump, an early investor and contributor, received 28% of tokens, sparking debate about its influence.

Cronje’s Flying Tulip Debuts With $200 Million Raise and Investor Protections

Andre Cronje’s new venture, Flying Tulip, has raised $200 million at a $1 billion token valuation, but the spotlight is on its novel fundraising model. The project introduces an “onchain redemption right,” giving investors the ability to burn FT tokens and redeem their original principal at any time. Cronje described the design as a way to provide a financial “floor” that eases pressure on teams to make short-term decisions.

Unlike many crypto launches, the Flying Tulip team has no initial token allocation, with compensation instead tied to protocol revenue and token buybacks. Investor Dan Elitzer of Nascent said the structure “forces teams to deliver, aligns incentives, and gives investors real protection,” a shift some see as a new template for DeFi capital raising.

In related news, Kraken secured $500 million from investors, including its co-CEO Arjun Sethi, valuing the crypto exchange at $15 billion and setting it up for a long-anticipated public listing next year after a year of major acquisitions.

Jump Crypto Pushes Solana Toward Bigger Blocks After Alpenglow Upgrade

Jump Crypto’s Firedancer team has put forward a proposal, SIMD-0370, to remove Solana’s block compute unit limit following the network’s upcoming Alpenglow upgrade. The change would eliminate the current 60 million compute-unit cap, allowing block size to scale dynamically with validator performance.

Supporters argue this flexibility could boost throughput during periods of high demand, such as token launches or spikes in decentralized finance activity. Validators unable to process larger blocks could skip them, incentivizing higher-performance operators to expand hardware and software capacity.

Still, concerns over centralization have emerged. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko questioned whether validators would “increase hardware to support some crazy leaders big block,” warning instead they might “fail it and steal all the MEV.” The proposal remains under community discussion.

Watch the weekly recap on YouTube!