Bank Of America & Co. Stablecoin Launch, Apollo's Private Credit On Solana & More

Welcome back!

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

• Tokenised Equities: Kraken and Ondo move U.S. equities onchain with Solana.

• Getting Spicy: JPMorgan, BofA & Co. explore launching joint stablecoin.

• Onchain Credit: Apollo’s Diversified Credit Fund comes to Solana.

Solana is increasingly gaining traction with major institutions. Watch ARK’s Cathie Wood and Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas explain why.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Dollar Disconnect

We often tout dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USDT and USDC as a financial lifeline for people in volatile economies. 

In theory, a farmer in Argentina or a shopkeeper in Nigeria can hold their savings in digital dollars, shielded from local inflation, and tap global markets at the click of a button. Cue: stablecoins can empower the disenfranchised and bank the unbanked.

It’s an admirable vision, a compelling narrative.

Stablecoins may technologically be capable of bringing stable currency to the masses, but practical barriers mean they’re seldom used to buy a loaf of bread at the corner store.

For stablecoins to truly deliver on their promise, we must venture far beyond our comfort zones. We need to get boots on the ground in Bogotá, Lagos, Warsaw, Bengaluru, and Manila—and engage with local banks, companies, regulators, and communities on their own terms. 

This is decidedly unglamorous, unscalable work. 

But we have to acknowledge an important truth: people won’t use what they don’t understand or trust. The way to build understanding and trust is to embed stablecoins into the services and networks people already rely on.

Getting there means stepping outside our echo chambers. That’s because the real test will not be how elegantly stablecoin applications are presented or how evangelists sing their praises, but how well these innovations can be grafted onto everyday life. 

Only by bridging the gap between the tech and the town square will stablecoins shed their current insider-only status. 

Until then, the dream of a global stablecoin adoption will remain exactly that—a dream deferred by the weight of real-world constraints, waiting for those bold enough to build the roads it needs to travel on.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Consumer Finance: Crypto has the potential to serve as the backbone of global consumer finance, but to achieve mass adoption, substantial hurdles must be overcome. Brandon Millman, CEO of Phantom, outlines several strategic measures to drive this transition forward.

Stablecoin Rails: Stablecoins offer clear benefits to fintechs, notably enabling rapid global expansion with significantly lower capital expenditures and overheads. Yet, the technical complexity involved in leveraging stablecoin infrastructure remains high. Addressing this, Squads recently introduced Grid, a suite of developer-friendly APIs designed to simplify stablecoin integration on Solana.

Tokenised Equities: Solana is emerging as the premier hub for tokenised assets. Kraken is set to offer tokenised versions of select U.S.-listed equities on Solana, initially targeting eligible clients outside the United States. Concurrently, Ondo will soon facilitate the onchain trading of public securities via native DeFi integrations on Solana.

Onchain Credit: In a notable convergence of traditional finance and decentralised platforms, Securitize has partnered with several DeFi protocols on Solana to bring Apollo’s Diversified Credit Fund onchain.

U.S. Treasuries: Speaking of tokenised assets, Centrifuge is launching tokenised short-term U.S. Treasuries that integrate directly into Solana's DeFi ecosystem, collaborating with leading protocols such as Raydium from day one.

Getting Spicy: JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and other major U.S. banks are exploring the creation of a jointly issued stablecoin—underscoring their growing concern about competition from crypto-native players such as Tether and Circle.

Regulatory Advances: U.S. Congressman Tom Emmer has reintroduced the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA), aiming to provide legal clarity by establishing that digital asset developers and service providers who do not custody client assets will not be classified as money transmitters.

Mobile Innovation: Solana Mobile will start shipping its second mobile device, Seekers, on August 4. The firm also shared extensive details on its broader mobile platform and ecosystem strategy.

Prediction Markets: Kalshi, the first federally regulated prediction market in the U.S., has expanded to include native support for Solana. Users can now directly fund their Kalshi accounts via Solana wallets.

Decentralisation Boost: Solana has unveiled significant protocol updates aimed at bolstering decentralisation. Notably, validator costs might be cut by 80% through the elimination of vote fees.

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.}