Peter Thiel’s Stablecoin Bank, North Korea’s Latest Crypto Malware & More

Welcome back!

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

• Stablecoin Bank: Thiel-backed Erebor secures preliminary banking charter.

• Blockchain Hacking: North Korean state-linked actor employs “EtherHiding”.

• MrBeast Financial: MrBeast takes aim at the trillion dollar crypto industry.

The CME Group just dropped the receipts: Solana (SOL) futures ripped to record highs in Q3—proof that institutions and retail want more than just Bitcoin.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Money Durability

Nothing in crypto is hotter than stablecoins.

Yet, beneath the fanfare lies a fundamental problem: the market has fractured into dozens of issuers and networks, leaving behind a patchwork of inefficiency and risk. Instead of converging on a seamless monetary unit, the industry is drifting towards a proliferation of digital monies, each with its own quirks and limitations.

In traditional finance, a dollar is a dollar. Whether deposited in Bank A or Bank B, it clears through shared infrastructure, with settlement rails ensuring universal fungibility. Stablecoins, by contrast, lack this universality. A USDC on Ethereum is not the same as a USDC on Solana. Each sits within a different blockchain environment, with distinct costs, liquidity profiles, and bridging risks. What purports to be one asset becomes, in practice, several.

This fragmentation undermines the core principle that one dollar should equal one dollar, regardless of where it resides. The unchecked diversity of issuers and blockchains risks eroding confidence, hampering adoption at precisely the moment stablecoins are being positioned as the backbone of digital payments and settlement. A system that multiplies frictions rather than removing them cannot deliver the scale that mainstream finance demands.

The solution lies not in minting ever more stablecoins, but in building a credibly neutral layer of orchestration—a coordination protocol capable of stitching together the disparate rails of digital money. Such a system would resemble a SWIFT for stablecoins: an infrastructure that allows users to move value seamlessly across blockchains and issuers, while enabling efficient allocation into yield-bearing opportunities. For end users, the complexity of networks and issuers would disappear behind the scenes and a dollar onchain would once again mean a dollar everywhere.

Money’s durability has never depended on the proliferation of issuers but on the strength of coordination. The dollar, the pound, the euro—their utility rests not on the diversity of versions available but on the universal trust that they can be exchanged anywhere, anytime, at par. Stablecoins will only fulfil their potential if the same standard is restored in the digital realm.

At the end, it all comes down to this: get stablecoin orchestration right, and you don’t join the system, you become the system.

Number Of The Week

News Bites

Blockchain Hacking: Google’s Threat Intelligence Group has identified a North Korean state-linked actor employing “EtherHiding” to distribute malware and facilitate cryptocurrency theft. It is the first time Google has observed a nation-state adopting this method, underscoring the evolving weaponisation of blockchain infrastructure.

Prediction Markets: The launch of Worm has intensified competition in the prediction market sector. The platform allows users to create bespoke markets while collecting a 2.5% fee on every transaction. Simultaneously, Kraken has joined the fray with a $100mn acquisition of the CFTC-licensed Small Exchange, granting the exchange entry into the regulated event-contracts business.

MrBeast Financial: Celebrity entrepreneur MrBeast has filed a trademark application that points to an impending financial services play. The move could involve a neobank launch or a licensing arrangement, potentially targeting younger, digitally native consumers. Given MrBeast’s past involvement in crypto and the wording of the filing, it would not be surprising if stablecoins and crypto services sit at the core of the project.

Stablecoin Bank: Erebor, backed by Peter Thiel, has secured a preliminary banking charter. Having said that, the bank still faces regulatory and security hurdles before it can formally open. Interestingly, Erebor aims to leverage stablecoins for transactions, signalling a desire to blend financial innovation with regulatory legitimacy.

Narrow Banking: Stripe’s Bridge has applied for a national bank trust charter, aiming to expand its stablecoin operations. It follows Circle, Paxos, Coinbase, and Fidelity Digital Assets in creating federally regulated vehicles that are designed to anchor the financial system while remaining entirely removed from credit creation.

Pig Butchering: US prosecutors have seized $15 billion worth of Bitcoin linked to a vast fraud network operating from Cambodia. The confiscation marks the largest asset forfeiture in the history of the Department of Justice.

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.}