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Live from DAS New York — and the energy’s wild.

• Big financial institutions are gearing up to enter the space and 83% of institutions intend to boost their crypto investments in 2025, says Coinbase & EY.
• Builders are shipping. Everyone’s racing to lay the rails for on-chain finance.
• Companies are rushing back to the US.

And then this dropped:

?? Coinbase is buying Deribit. The #1 BTC & ETH options exchange ($1.2T in 2023 volume).

It’s a monster move. If it goes through, Coinbase won’t just be leading in spot — they’ll be king of crypto derivatives too. Expect consolidation.

Meanwhile, CME Group, the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, has officially launched Solana (SOL) futures. And, a16z proposes a "control-based decentralization framework" to SEC before Crypto Task Force Roundtables.

This week’s question:

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?? Our Top Reads This Week

• ARK Investment Opportunity report. Link
• 2025 Institutional Digital Asset Survey. Coinbase & EY. Link
• A16Z Crypto’s Letter to SEC. Link
• The Future of Ticketing. 51 Insights. Link
• ElizaOS’s Rebranding. 51x. Link
• Crypto Task Force Roundtables [Live- March 21]. SEC. Link
• The Death of Crypto and the Beginning of Onchain Finance. Simon Taylor. Link
• ...

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We just published our big flagship report on The Future of Ticketing.

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Blockchain for Institutional-Grade DeFi

Ethena Labs and Securitize have announced Converge, a new blockchain designed for DeFi and tokenized assets. [Announcement]

What you should know: Converge is optimized for both retail and institutional DeFi, providing compliant access to on-chain financial markets.

• Ethena: It plans to migrate its existing DeFi ecosystem, which currently holds nearly $6B in assets, to Converge.
• Securitize: It has minted nearly $2B in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), and it will issue future tokenized assets on Converge.
• Key partners: Pendle, Aave Labs’ Horizon project, Ethereal, Morpho, and Maple Finance.
• Institutional-grade custodians: Anchorage, Copper, Fireblocks, Komainu, and Zodia will support RWAs deployed on Converge.
• Interoperability & oracles: Via LayerZero and Wormhole, with oracle support from RedStone and Pyth.
• Governance & security: ENA, Ethena’s governance token, will serve as a stakeable asset (via sENA), with a permissioned validator set.
• Stablecoin utility: Both USDe and USDtb, developed by Ethena and Securitize, will serve as gas tokens for the network.

Converge is expected to launch in Q2 2025.

Why it matters: Converge aims to be the backbone for tokenized assets, making it easier for institutions to access DeFi while ensuring compliance. By using a vetted whitelist for DeFi applications and a permissioned validator set, it creates a controlled environment that could attract institutional capital. While some argue this goes against decentralization, it also removes key barriers that have kept institutions on the sidelines.

The real question: Will this bridge TradFi and DeFi, or just create another walled garden?

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FIFA Coin

FIFA is exploring the development of its cryptocurrency, called FIFA Coin.

Why it matters: FIFA is launching a new coin to connect its 5B global fans with the digital economy—enabling ticketing, merch, and exclusive access. The potential scale is unmatched in sports.

Big picture: With the 2026 World Cup in the U.S., this could also be a strategic move to build goodwill in U.S. political circles—especially with Trump back in the spotlight.

Be smart: FIFA COIN, a cryptocurrency unaffiliated with FIFA, surged 142,000%, reaching a $3M market cap—adding to the confusion.

Our take: We’ve studied hundreds of brand tokens. The idea is sound—but success hinges entirely on execution. And execution is hard: stable utility, clear tokenomics, and real-world use are non-negotiable. Most fail here.

What they said:

“Fifa is very interested in developing a FIFA Coin, here in America and to conquer the 5B soccer fans in the world."

“That coin may be worth more than fifa in the end, it could be quite a coin actually."

51: We help companies like Avalanche, Near, or MoonPay with industry-leading thought leadership campaigns. Interested? Start dominating your vertical.

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Soneium’s Mini-Apps Plan

Sony Block Solutions Labs has partnered with LINE to integrate four mini-apps into its Layer 2 blockchain, Soneium. [Announcement]

The goal? Leverage LINE’s 200M active users to onboard new users.

What you should know: The first four mini-apps coming to Soneium include:

• Sleepagotchi LITE – A gamified experience where users earn points daily without sleep tracking. It gained 1M Telegram users in a month.
• Farm Frens – A farming game by Amihan Entertainment, backed by $10M in funding, targeting Web2 players on LINE.
• Moonveil – Puffy Match – A zero-knowledge L2-based puzzle game.
• Pocket Mob – A Mafia-style role-playing game with battles and family formations within LINE.

Soneium will provide support for LINE mini-app developers, including community building, marketing, and IP partnerships.

Our take: Soneium’s mainnet launch in January 2025 struggled with traction due to weak positioning. Now, with existing partners like Circle, it’s doubling down on bridging Web2 and Web3—taking a page from TON’s mini-app strategy with Telegram. The goal is to drive adoption by integrating blockchain into familiar platforms, making crypto seamless for mainstream users.

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?? News Flash

• Xapo Bank launches $1.25B in Bitcoin-backed loans. Link
• Kraken will acquire NinjaTrader , a CFTC-regulated futures trading platform, for $1.5B. Link
• NVIDIA announced GR00T N1, the first open-source humanoid robot foundation model. Link
• TRX (Tron) will soon be available on Solana. Link
• Canary Capital files for PENGU ETF. Link

?? Keep up with all our signals for Web3 execs on our Telegram channel.

?? Money Moves

• TON: Blockchain raised $400M led by Sequoia and Ribbit Capital. Link
• Walrus: Decentralized protocol raised $140M led by Standard Crypto. Link
• RedotPay: Payment company raised $40M Series A led by Lightspeed. Link
• Via Science: Web3 startup raised $28M Series B led by Bosch Ventures. Link
• Crossmint: Web3 API startup raised $23.6M led by Ribbit Capital. Link
• Utila: Wallet platform raised $18M Series A led by Nyca Partners. Link
• SlingShot DAO: Gaming platform raised $16M led by Dragonfly Capital. Link
• Privy: Blockchain infrastructure company raised $15M led by Ribbit Capital. Link
• Ephyra: AI-powered Web3 gaming platform raised $10.5M led by BECKER Ventures. Link
• ...

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That’s all for now, folks.

Talk soon,

– Marc & Team

PS: We help companies like Avalanche, Near, or MoonPay with industry-leading thought leadership campaigns. Interested? Start dominating your vertical.