Goldman Sachs Enters New Crypto Venture, PayPal Launches Crypto Payments & More

Welcome back!

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

• Trial Run: Goldman Sachs & BNY are piloting tokenised money-market funds. 

• Crypto Payments: PayPal to enable crypto payments with SOL and more.

• Covert Operation: JPMorgan to impose steep data access fees on fintechs.

The year’s biggest IPO is from a company that does nothing but hold crypto. And yet people are still fading the asset class. At a certain point, ignoring the trend isn’t caution—it’s misreading the moment.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Tipping Odds

The majority of people still think crypto feels like gambling. 

And sure, at first glance, the volatility looks intimidating, maybe even reckless. It’s easy to understand why most people might pause at something that swings harder than a rookie boxer. But zoom out, and you'll see the real gamble is happening elsewhere, hidden in plain sight.

Dollars, euros, pounds—they're all engineered to lose purchasing power year after year. Inflation quietly gnaws away at your wealth, turning the act of holding on to cash from prudent to positively misguided. Yet, somehow, cash is viewed as the responsible choice, even though it's guaranteed erosion dressed up as cautious conservatism.

Then, there’s the stock market. Equities used to offer a path to wealth for disciplined, thoughtful investors. But today, equities markets have become hyperefficient, dominated by powerful algorithms, institutional giants, and armies of analysts poring over every financial statement. The space is crowded, the alpha wafer-thin, and genuine opportunities for substantial outperformance are vanishingly rare.

And while private markets flourish by funding disruptive innovations and companies poised for exponential growth, everyday investors are confined to mature public markets, where significant upside is rare and incremental. Thus, the substantial returns generated by the boldest and most transformative investments stay concentrated among those already possessing access, capital, and connections, leaving ordinary investors sidelined.

Crypto, by contrast, is a bet on fundamental structural change, a wager on the rewiring of money, finance, and the broader digital economy. But let’s not sugarcoat it: crypto isn’t exactly easy or predictable. The ups and downs can be gut-wrenching. However, crypto is fundamentally different from gambling because investors who put in the work, grasp the mechanics, and understand the macro tailwinds, frankly, continue to crush it.

We’ve become so accustomed to rigged games and incremental bets that when a fairer game arrives, we’re naturally suspicious. 

The fundamental choice is simple and stark. You can continue losing money, year after year, playing by outdated rules designed to erode your wealth and upside. Or you can step into the crypto arena and start tipping the odds back in your favour.

Numbers Of The Week

News Bites

Crypto Payments: PayPal is set to expand its digital payments infrastructure with the launch of a “Pay with Crypto” feature for merchants worldwide. The initiative will enable businesses to accept over 100 cryptocurrencies at checkout, including Bitcoin, Solana (SOL), USDC, and USDT. Consumers will simply need to connect a compatible crypto wallet, such as Phantom, at the point of sale to complete their purchase.

Trial Run: Goldman Sachs and BNY are piloting tokenised money-market funds on a private blockchain. The initiative promises to reduce settlement times from days to minutes, cutting costs and improving operational efficiency. Also, money-market fund tokens earn interest, unlike stablecoins. However, while private blockchains offer controlled environments, public networks such as Solana provide superior transparency, auditability, and liquidity—essential qualities for scalable financial products.

Covert Operation: JPMorgan has paused its banking relationship with crypto exchange Gemini amid a growing stand-off over data access and open banking compliance. At the centre of the dispute is Plaid, a third-party aggregator that enables consumers to link their bank accounts to crypto platforms. The decision comes as JPMorgan moves to impose steep data access fees on fintechs such as Gemini, a move that could test the boundaries of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s embattled Open Banking Rule.

Tokenised Equities: xStocks, onchain derivatives of U.S. equities, have surpassed $300 million in cumulative trading volume. This growth underscores the rising investor appetite for tokenised securities, particularly those that offer 24/7 access and programmable settlement. 

Liquidity Wave: Firms have raised nearly $86 billion this year to purchase Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, more than twice the capital raised via U.S. IPOs in 2025. The trend highlights crypto’s growing role as both a macro hedge and a primary capital formation channel.

Deal Flow

When the Solana ecosystem moves, it moves fast.

We give capital allocators an unfair advantage: high-signal research, due diligence, and warm intros.  

Drop us a line and we’ll help take your Solana deal flow to the next level.

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.}