Inside Peter Thiel’s Latest Crypto Bet, Fidelity’s New Crypto Offering & More

Welcome back!

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

• Stablecoin Insights: BofA Global Research releases new stablecoin analysis. 

• Crypto Bank: Peter Thiel & Co. to launch a new U.S. bank named Erebor.

• Onchain Transfers: Fidelity Investments now supports crypto transfers. 

Visa’s Chief Product & Strategy Officer is sounding increasingly bullish on crypto and stablecoins. This is what real-world adoption starting to take shape looks like. The momentum’s building fast—either get in, or get left behind.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Velvet Ropes

Last week, both Robinhood and Republic launched tokenised private equity products that provide fractionalised stakes in companies such as SpaceX and OpenAI. In parallel, Backed unleashed over fifty tokenised U.S. equities on Solana, bringing household names such as Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Tesla onchain. 

Yet behind the excitement lies the kind of complexity that would give compliance officers sleepless nights. None of the offerings grant straightforward ownership rights. Instead, investors receive indirect exposure via structures layered in regulatory disclaimers and technical caveats. Consequently, critics were quick to scoff, dismissing these tokenised offerings as financial theatre—far more spectacle than substance. 

But dismissing these products as mere theatre misses the point. These instruments, however imperfect, represent a seismic shift in access. They allow broader audiences entry to a stage historically reserved exclusively for the well-heeled. Now, a barista in Asunción, a developer in Nairobi, a shop owner in Bangalore, or a gig worker in Jakarta can access assets with significant upside—without navigating the arcane protections of accredited investor rules or gatekeeper shenanigans. 

Undoubtedly, regulatory clarity is yet to be fully achieved. Technology risks, too, persist—from smart contract vulnerabilities to concerns about whether these tokenised offerings will reliably mirror their underlying assets. Financial purists might see this as reason enough to pause, preferring to debate semantics. 

Innovation, however, rarely rewards excessive caution. From mutual funds to ETFs, every major financial innovation began under a cloud of scepticism before transforming mainstream markets. Tokenisation appears poised for the same arc. As legal frameworks solidify and technological infrastructure improves, current tokenisation offerings will evolve from synthetic stand‑ins into native onchain assets—issued, traded, and settled with full transparency and legal fidelity.

Yes, tokenisation today is messy, risky, and complicated, but that’s precisely how meaningful change arrives.

Will there be bumps? Absolutely. 

Having said that, tokenisation isn’t just financial engineering; it’s capitalism’s overdue software upgrade. And capitalism at its finest isn't about protecting the past—it’s about expanding possibility and turning sidelined spectators, who've long stood outside the velvet ropes of prosperity, into empowered participants.

Chart Of The Week

News Bites

Crypto Bank: A Silicon Valley consortium, including Peter Thiel and Palmer Luckey, has filed an application to launch a new U.S. bank named Erebor. The proposed institution aims to serve sectors spanning crypto, AI, defence, and advanced manufacturing—areas often deemed too risky by conventional banks. Notably, the group aims to leverage stablecoins for transactions, signalling a desire to blend financial innovation with regulatory legitimacy.

Banking Licences: Erebor is not alone in seeking formal entry into the U.S. banking system. In recent weeks, both Circle and Ripple have also submitted applications for banking charters, underscoring a renewed push by crypto-native firms to integrate with the traditional financial system.

Efficiency Gains: In 2023, U.S. businesses and consumers paid $224 billion in card swipe fees, with banks collecting roughly $78 billion of that. Stablecoins, by contrast, offer the potential for near-instant settlement at a fraction of the cost—often less than a cent per transaction. 

USD Accounts: Copperx has launched on Solana, offering businesses access to stablecoin-native financial services with global reach. The platform enables users to create virtual USD accounts, send USDC payouts, issue corporate cards, and off-ramp stablecoins to fiat—all within a single interface.

Onchain Finance: Pyra went live on both iOS and Android following a successful private beta, giving users a streamlined way to hold crypto, earn yield, and spend without triggering capital gains events—get started here.

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.}