AI Agents On Solana, Largest Crypto Acquisition In History & More

Welcome back!

This is J264G and this week I’ve got these titbits for you:

• AI Agents: Crossmint continues to innovate with AI agents on Solana.

• African Behemoth: Yellow Card just pushed its total equity funding to $85M.

• Crypto Conduit: Stripe acquires Bridge for $1.1B, crypto's largest acquisition.

If Bridge’s acquisition proves anything, it’s that stablecoins have caught lightning in a bottle — and this is just the beginning. Their rapid rise signals the onset of a financial revolution that will continue to reshape global finance for years to come.

Now, let’s jump right into this week’s newsletter!

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Storytelling

Crypto startups often emphasise technical features.

While this appeals to developers, it overlooks a broader, more diverse audience. 

For most people, technology is only relevant if it solves a real problem in their lives. For the onchain economy to achieve mass adoption and allow more people to benefit from censorship resistance, permissionlessness, and self custody, crypto startups must shift their focus to storytelling — demonstrating how their products and services address pain points of the wider population.

A key element of effective storytelling in any business is explaining why a product or service exists, rather than just how it works — making it easier to convert a wider audience into users and advocates, including those who might not fully understand the technology itself.

Two companies that exemplify the power of storytelling are Tesla and Palantir. Neither focuses solely on the technical features of their products. Instead, they use storytelling to engage a broader audience, and their success is proof of how effective this strategy can be.

Tesla doesn't just sell electric vehicles — it sells a vision of a sustainable future. By focusing on the why, the need to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change, Tesla connects emotionally with stakeholders who care about the environment. This approach has made Tesla more than just a car company; it is seen as a leader in sustainability and innovation, which has helped its user base grow and stock achieve outsized price appreciation.

Palantir takes a similar approach. Instead of focusing on the complexity of its software portfolio, the company highlights how it helps governments, defence agencies, and large corporations solve critical problems in national security, healthcare, and financial risk management, to name but a few. By framing its product suite in terms of impact and societal benefit, Palantir appeals to a broader audience, including investors who are attracted to the company's long-term vision rather than just its technical prowess.

Crypto startups can learn from Tesla and Palantir’s success by leveraging a similar storytelling approach to emphasise how they enable censorship resistance, permissionlessness, and self custody to improve peoples' lives — creating emotional connections, fostering trust, and accelerating adoption.

Let's start breaking down barriers for people unfamiliar with crypto and positioning ourselves as solution providers rather than just tech innovators.

We have a unique opportunity to transform the way people engage with money, privacy, and governance — the keys to drive a new era of financial and digital empowerment are in our hands.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Onboarding Rails: Venmo's 60 million U.S. users now have the option to buy cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), and various memecoins through the integration of MoonPay. This new feature expands Venmo's offerings, making it easier for users to engage with crypto directly within the app for the very first time.

AI Agents: Crossmint continues to innovate with AI agents on Solana, and their latest initiative is the "Hacking Agentic Finance" event happening on November 1st and 2nd in San Francisco. AI agents are autonomous software programs that perform tasks, make decisions, and interact with their environment, often without human intervention.

Crypto Conduit: Fees, slippage, and delays make moving money costly and time-consuming in today's financial system. To address this, Stripe acquired Bridge, a platform that acts as a conduit between stablecoins and fiat currencies in order to reduce costs and speed up transactions. Price tag: $1.1 billion, making this crypto's largest acquisition to date.

African Behemoth: Yellow Card, a leading crypto trading and stablecoin on- and off-ramp platform in Africa, just raised a $33M Series C round, pushing its total equity funding to $85M. The platform also leverages Solana to facilitate faster and more affordable USDC transactions, enhancing financial services across Africa.

Memecoin Plays: Liquid funds are more involved in memecoins than most realise, though managers are keeping quiet about it for now. However, this could shift if memecoin positions start generating significant positive returns.

Sentiment Tracking: Elfa is rolling out smart sentiment tracking, enabling users to trade with enhanced precision by capitalising on real-time market opportunities. The platform also gives users the opportunity to purchase insights from individuals or share alpha with their existing community.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

If you'd like to reach me, respond to this newsletter or reach out to me on 𝕏.

Talk soon!

J264G

_{DISCLAIMER
None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research. Lastly, please be advised that we discuss products and services from our partners from which our team members may hold tokens/equity.}