BlackRock And Memecoins, Trade SOL With PayPal & More

Welcome back!

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

• BlackRock & Memecoins: What do Securitize and pump.fun have in common?

• SOL For Everyone: PayPal now allows you to trade SOL, DOGE & more. 

• Newly Minted: Explore the top 5 projects from the Renaissance Hackathon. 

𝕏 timelines are still stacked with the Drake vs. Kendrick beef. Not on CT, though — we focus on what really matters  😅⬇️

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

BlackRock & Memecoins

Let’s talk about BlackRock.

But before we do, let's take a quick excursion and explore pump.fun and memecoins.

The premise of pump.fun is simple: the platform allows anyone to launch a token on Solana for under $2 and in one click. The trick? The token is instantly tradeable without the need for seed liquidity. 

Some of the latest success stories coming out of pump.fun are SHARK CAT (FDMC: $190M; $12M 24h volume), MICHI (FDMC: $145M; $13M 24h volume), and PEANIE (FDMC: $20M; $25M 24h volume).

As demonstrated by the chart above, on-chain trading and memecoins have allowed pump.fun to rake in eye-watering fees and revenue. 

So, what does all this have to do with BlackRock?

Well, BlackRock recently announced that it led a $47M funding round for Securitize — which went a bit under the radar if you ask me.

Why is this raise so significant?

That’s because Securitize is to traditional financial assets, what pump.fun is to memecoins: an on-chain launchpad.

Similar to pump.fun, Securitize's business model is easily explained: tokenising traditional financial assets, thus bringing them on chain and making them accessible to a broader set of investors. 

Additionally, tokenisation brings with it an enhanced market-wide liquidity, immediate settlement, and greater transparency — all while reducing costs. 

The most recent product Securitize has helped bring on chain is the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund. 

The fund is backed by U.S. Treasury bills, repurchase agreements, and cash, and is represented by the BUIDL token on Ethereum. BUIDL seeks to offer a stable value of $1 per token and pays daily accrued dividends directly to investors' wallets.

Also, investors can transfer their BUIDL tokens to other pre-approved investors or cash them out for USDC via Circle — 24/7.

Although the fund only launched recently, it already outpaced Franklin Templeton’s on-chain treasury product, which has been the incumbent until now.

When looking at the setup of BlackRock’s BUIDL fund, it becomes clear why Paxos and Circle have participated in Securitize's funding round. 

Having said that, Aptos also participated, which begs the question: will we soon see the RWA ecosystem flourish on Mo's blockchain? And if that’s the case, will other platforms capitalise on Securitize’s strategic focus on Aptos to build out a RWA ecosystem on Solana? Or will Securitize sooner, rather than later, integrate Solana so that RWAs can benefit from battle-tested transaction speeds and low fees?

Only time will tell. 

But what I can say is that RWAs have reached escape velocity, exciting times are ahead!

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Institutional Memecoins: Franklin Templeton has released a report that predicts an accelerated adoption of Solana. Apart from mentioning the impending arrival of Firedancer, the report also explores the Solana memecoins WIF and BONK.

On/Off-Ramps: Sphere now offers fast, inexpensive, and simple crypto on/off-ramps for authorised users. Currently, the main focus is on U.S. customers, but Sphere also supports EUR/SEPA, and SWIFT if the transfer is >=$100K. 

Cryptofying PayPal: MoonPay users in the U.S. can now seamlessly buy crypto using their PayPal account. SOL, DOGE, and SHIB are among the tokens that can be bought.

The Fastest DOGE: Jupiter has integrated the Clone protocol, allowing users to spot trade non-Solana assets such as DOGE, ARB, and OP — all without the need to bridge.

Blockchain Gaming: GameShift is now available on Google Cloud, enabling game studios to integrate branded marketplaces, seamless payments, and interoperable game assets (incl. NFT royalties for creators) — all powered by Solana and without the need for blockchain coding.

Hackathon Winners: The winners of the Solana Renaissance Hackathon have been announced. Here’re some of the most interesting projects:

• Ore, a new digital currency that enables anyone to mine using a novel proof-of-work algorithm.

• Cambrian, a restaking platform building a new economic coordination layer on Solana.

• Urani, an intent-based swap aggregator bringing protection against toxic MEV. 

• Ripe, a QR-code enabled app to pay merchants with USDC in Southeast Asia.

• DeStreet, a dApp for Solana Mobile that enables communities to trade together.

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.}