J.P. Morgan Goes Crypto-Native, Mastercard Bets Big On Stablecoins & More

Welcome back!

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

• Crypto Pilled: J.P. Morgan settles first transaction on a public blockchain.

• Stablecoin Boost: Mastercard and MoonPay enter strategic partnership.

• Mapping Data: Lyft leverages Hivemapper to enhance its mapping system.

The GENIUS Act is gaining momentum, positioning the United States to become the first major economy to establish a comprehensive legal framework for stablecoins.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Frictionless Finance

You may not have noticed, but Solana stablecoin payments are quickly gaining traction.

According to the Solana Stablecoin Report, monthly stablecoin transaction volume on Solana has grown from less than $15B in September 2019 to more than $675B in 2025. But that’s not the only bullish signal. The number of monthly unique stablecoin wallet addresses has also increased to nearly five million in 2025.

Furthermore, over the last 24 months, stablecoins issued on Solana have grown from $2B to a record-high $13.2B—with only Ethereum (the OG) and Tron (the original low-cost chain for stablecoins in emerging markets) ahead.

So, why are payments on Solana taking off?

• Low cost: Transactions cost a fraction of a cent rather than $20 in wire fees.

• Instant settlement: Payments process in seconds, not days.

• Programmability: Financial operations can be automated.

Thanks to these advantages, Solana has enabled us at KAST to offer banking-like functionality—further accelerating stablecoin adoption. With just a smartphone and virtual card, you can now save, send, and spend stablecoins online and in person almost everywhere in the world.

For us, this has proven to be a sticky use case. In less than 10 months since launch, we’ve crossed over 100 million dollars in card payments.

But there’s still room to improve. To reach the scale of a Visa or J.P. Morgan, we’ll need to remove complexity and simplify the user experience.

Right now, the growing issue with stablecoins is that there are too many types on too many chains. But users don’t care. For them, a dollar is a dollar. For example, you wouldn’t want to use a J.P. Morgan dollar, a Citibank dollar, or an HSBC dollar, right?

That’s why we’re building a protocol, an app, and our own stablecoin on Solana, so it doesn’t matter what you bring or take away, at its heart, it’ll all be USD.

And soon, this will be a reality. No matter who you are or where you are in the world, you’ll be able to access, save, send, and spend dollars from the palm of your hand—all from your KAST account.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Crypto Pilled: In a landmark step for institutional crypto adoption, J.P. Morgan has completed its first transaction on a public blockchain. The bank settled a transaction involving tokenised U.S. Treasuries on Ondo Chain, leveraging Chainlink to bridge from its internal systems. This marks the first time a global bank has directly linked core infrastructure to a public blockchain—signalling a material shift in how traditional finance is beginning to engage with decentralised networks.

Stablecoin Boost: Mastercard has entered into a strategic partnership with MoonPay to facilitate stablecoin-powered payments. The partnership will also enable businesses and fintechs to issue Mastercard-branded cards linked to stablecoin balances, effectively turning crypto wallets into globally usable payment accounts.

Crypto Acceleration: Coinbase has become the first crypto-native firm to be included in the S&P 500 Index, marking a significant milestone for the digital asset sector. The inclusion reflects growing institutional recognition of crypto and underscores the sector’s increasing integration with mainstream financial markets.

Tokenised Equities: Solana just released a 26-page report detailing how the network can support tokenised equities. The paper outlines native compliance tooling, cost efficiencies in issuing and settlement, and scalability advantages. The move follows a broader push by Solana to position itself as a viable platform for regulated financial instruments.

Tokenised Fund: Asset manager VanEck has launched VBILL, its first tokenised fund backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries. Issued via Securitize and deployed across multiple blockchains—including Solana—the fund enables qualified investors to gain exposure to U.S. Treasuries with a minimum of $100,000 and a management fee of 0.20%.

Mapping Data: Rideshare platform Lyft has begun utilising street-level mapping data from Bee Maps, which is powered by Hivemapper, a long-standing Solana-based DePIN project. The partnership enables Lyft to enhance its mapping systems with crowdsourced geographic data, part of a broader strategy to support operational scaling and autonomous vehicle development.

Servus Deutschland! German fintech Trade Republic has obtained a full MiCA licence from BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator. The licence enables the firm to operate its entire crypto suite across all 30 EEA states.

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.}