Apple Opens Door For Crypto Apps, Google Leverages Blockchain Technology & More

Welcome back!

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

• Zero Knowledge: Google adds ZKP technology to its wallet service.

• Crypto Apps: A ruling may unlock crypto apps on Apple’s U.S. App Store.

• Digital Money: Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee discusses stablecoins.

If you’ve been following Solana for a while, you’ve likely noticed Circle consistently minting USDC in $250 million increments over the last couple of months. While the total stablecoin market cap on Solana still stands at just 10% of Ethereum’s, the gap is steadily narrowing.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Trading Rewired

Generally speaking, buying a stock kicks off a relay race involving brokers, exchanges, clearinghouses, and custodians—all to move pixels on a screen.

As a result, this legacy infrastructure is facing growing scrutiny, with a rising number of voices asking why we are still settling trades like it’s 1975?

Enter onchain equities—the idea that maybe, just maybe, stock markets should function like the rest of the internet:

• Instant Settlement: Public blockchains such as Solana can clear transactions within seconds, eliminating the multi-day lag that exists today. 

• Streamlined Processes: Smart contracts can automate compliance, dividends, and stock splits—streamlining processes traditionally handled by transfer agents.

• Cost Reductions: With fewer middlemen and reconciliations, trading infrastructure could become leaner—cutting fees and operational expenses. This efficiency could ultimately be passed on to both issuers and investors.

• Transparency & Trust: Every trade and ownership change recorded on a public ledger is auditable in real time. This visibility could boost transparency and potentially reduce fraud and error.

• Global Accessibility: By leveraging blockchain technology, the stock market could start to resemble the always-on, global nature of cryptocurrency markets, but for regulated equities.

Public blockchains aren’t a panacea, but these benefits have spurred serious interest in an industry where shaving milliseconds and basis points has long been the obsession. 

For all its promise, however, putting equities on public blockchains faces significant challenges. Sceptics point out that incumbent market infrastructure exists for good reasons: it has decades of legal frameworks and investor protections built around it. Consequently, any shift to blockchain technology must ensure those same protections, in a new form. 

Despite the challenges, blockchain-based equity markets are showing real potential. Recently, the Solana Policy Institute and its partners submitted a proposal to the SEC—known as Project Open—seeking approval for a pilot programme that would allow the issuance and trading of equities on public blockchain networks such as Solana.

Across the pond, regulators might be a step ahead. The European Union’s new DLT Pilot Regime, launched in 2023, created a sandbox for market infrastructure using distributed ledgers. Under this framework, a German startup called 21X just obtained the first licence to operate a fully blockchain-based exchange and settlement system for securities.

The UK, similarly, has opened a Digital Securities Sandbox to let banks and market operators trial DLT-based trading with temporary regulatory relief. Even entrenched institutions are participating; Euroclear, one of the world’s largest settlement houses, has signalled interest in the UK pilot.

No one expects capital markets to flip overnight. 

But for an industry often criticised for clinging to outdated infrastructure, the lure of a faster, cost effective, transparent, more accessible system is proving hard to ignore.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Zero Knowledge: Google is adding privacy muscle to Google Wallet with zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs)—a technology incubated by the crypto industry—for age verification. Bumble will be one of the first to adopt it, using digital IDs issued through Google Wallet for user verification, while ZKPs handle age confirmation.

Born Global: Visa and Stripe just rolled out a new programme enabling developers to easily launch global, stablecoin-powered Visa cards. On the flip side, users can now spend their stablecoin balances anywhere Visa is accepted.

Crypto Apps: A federal judge ruled in Epic Games' favour, forcing Apple to allow links to external payment methods—potentially opening the floodgates for crypto-powered apps in the U.S. App Store. 

Digital Money: For the first time, the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC) has formally discussed stablecoins as both a payment system and a major source of demand for U.S. Treasury Bills.

Tokenised Liquidity: BlackRock is planning to launch tokenised shares of its $150B BLF Treasury Trust Fund (TTTXX). While not yet live, the SEC filing outlines a blockchain-based record-keeping system, with shares to be distributed through BNY Mellon.

Real-World Assets: Ondo expands bridging to Solana, enabling seamless movement of tokenised assets between EVM chains and Solana.

Onchain Gold: ORO is building a gold trading platform on Solana—fast, transparent, and fully onchain. Institutional beta access is now open, with retail access coming soon.

Liquidity Wars: The liquidity wars are officially heating up. 1inch, the second-largest DEX aggregator after Jupiter, is now live on Solana—offering secure, MEV-protected swaps for over 1 million Solana tokens.

Strategic Reserve: A growing number of public companies—including Sol Strategies, Upexi, and DeFi Development Corp—are adopting SOL as a treasury reserve asset. From staking to strategic positioning, here’s why they're betting on Solana.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

You can reach me anytime over 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.}