Mark Zuckerberg's Push Into Solana Stablecoins, Pre-IPO Cerebras Trading & More

Welcome back!

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

• Cerebras IPO: TradeXYZ rolls out pre-IPO perps, kicking off with Cerebras. 

• Stablecoin Payouts: Meta has begun offering USDC payouts on Solana. 

• Crypto Ubiquity: Visa's new partnership taps USDC on Solana. 

Crypto's price action this year has been less "to the moon" and more "to the DMV": slow, painful, and full of unexplained delays. But the category keeps expanding anyway, and expansion in the face of mediocre returns is the most bullish signal.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Manila Calling

The most valuable asset class of the past two decades has been early-stage venture capital. 

Yet, almost everyone on the planet has been locked out as the party rages on in a handful of conference rooms along Sand Hill Road, Mayfair, and Shenzhen's Nanshan district, behind a velvet rope manned by a guy named Chad, Hugo, or Jia-Hao who went to Stanford. 

Tokenisation of private markets, however, could be a game changer.

To be clear, tokenisation here means issuing blockchain-based shares that carry the same legal rights as traditional equity, tradable globally, around the clock, in fractions anyone can afford. And since they sit on the most valuable distribution rails in private markets, Y Combinator, Techstars, 500 Global, Antler, and South Park Commons should be leading the charge to bring tokenisation to the asset class.

The case is not philanthropic, it is structural.

Tokenisation transforms a portfolio of illiquid ten-year bets into one of tradable assets, collapsing a distribution timeline that LPs have quietly been enduring. It also enables accelerators to raise larger, evergreen funds against portfolios that finally carry a price. Additionally, it opens the LP base to anyone with a crypto wallet, unbounded by geography.

Sovereign wealth funds want in. Family offices want in. A schoolteacher in Manila wants in.

Most critically, however, it sharpens the pitch to founders. They can offer their early employees a liquidity path that does not depend on a tender offer half a decade away, addressing the single greatest pain point in modern startup compensation. Plus, tokenisation cultivates a global base of investors and brand evangelists long before a Super Bowl ad ever airs.

Y Combinator did not ask permission to ship the SAFE. They shipped it, the industry followed, and the SEC eventually wrote rules around the practice rather than against it. The next standard is tokenisation. The accelerator that writes it into its term sheet first will define the decade. The ones that wait will become the Blockbuster of venture capital, still technically open, just no longer relevant.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Cerebras IPO: TradeXYZ introduced pre-IPO perpetuals, a contract designed to provide continuous price discovery for companies in the run-up to a public listing. The inaugural market covers Cerebras, the chipmaker widely considered a rival to Nvidia.

Stablecoin Payouts: Meta has begun offering payouts in USDC to selected creators in Colombia and the Philippines. The payments are settled on the Solana blockchain and can be received through Phantom and other supported crypto platforms.

Crypto Ubiquity: Lightspark has struck a partnership with Visa. Banks, fintechs, and corporates are now able to issue cards funded by USDC on Solana, Bitcoin held via Spark or the Lightning Network, and fiat balances including dollars and euros. The cards will be accepted at more than 175m Visa merchants worldwide.

Tokenised Securities: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation said it will begin limited trading of tokenised securities via DTC in July, with a broader rollout targeted for October. More than 50 firms, including BlackRock, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Nasdaq are participating in the initiative, which seeks to integrate tokenised equities, ETFs, and Treasuries into existing market infrastructure. In parallel, the New York Stock Exchange has filed a proposed rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to permit the trading of tokenised versions of eligible securities under DTC’s three-year pilot programme.

Issuer-Sponsored Tokens: Computershare, the world's largest stock transfer agent, is entering the tokenisation market through a partnership with Securitize. The arrangement will allow its US-listed clients to issue blockchain-based versions of their shares, known as Issuer-Sponsored Tokens, which carry the same rights as conventional equity. Additionally, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has approved Securitize to act as an underwriter and custodian for tokenised initial public offerings.

CLARITY Act: Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks have agreed a bipartisan compromise on the CLARITY Act that curbs yield and rewards on stablecoins. The accord prohibits interest payments comparable to those on bank deposits, while permitting certain activity-based incentives, in an effort to prevent stablecoins from functioning as deposit substitutes. In the latest twist, however, banking groups argue the compromise falls short of protecting their interests. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to mark up the bill in May.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

You can reach me anytime over on 𝕏 or drop me a line. 

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.}