PayPal Adds Solana Trading, Sphere Disrupts Western Union & More

Welcome back!

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

• Solana Expansion: PayPal adds SOL to its crypto offering.

• Crypto Speed: Sphere enables the fastest cross-border transfers.

• Retirement Recalibration: Fidelity introduces crypto retirement plans.

The markets are choppy. Not much to say—it's peak “get on with it” season.

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

Click on any underlined heading/hyperlink to learn more.

Spotlight

Retirement Recalibration

Fidelity is rolling out retirement plans with crypto exposure—a bold pivot from an institution more known for pressed slacks than cyberpunk rebellion.

At its core, the Fidelity Crypto® IRA enables eligible investors to allocate a portion of their retirement savings directly into Bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies. 

While other niche platforms have offered crypto-linked IRAs before, Fidelity’s entrance brings a level of institutional legitimacy that smaller players have not been able to confer. The offering, launched with zero account fees, is being positioned not as a fringe experiment, but as a mainstream option—sitting alongside equities, bonds, and mutual funds on Fidelity’s retail platform.

The implications are subtle but profound. 

For decades, the American IRA has served as a fortress of conservative investment. Enshrined in tax-advantaged vehicles, its primary objective has been preservation of capital and modest appreciation—strategies built for the long term. The inclusion of crypto challenges that orthodoxy. For example, Bitcoin’s annualised volatility remains higher than that of the S&P 500. To include such an asset in a retirement wrapper is not just a matter of choice—it is a redefinition of acceptable risk in personal finance.

Fidelity is aware of this contradiction and is careful not to overstate the product’s role. Its T&Cs advise investors to treat crypto exposure as one component of a diversified portfolio, and highlights the need for due diligence. Yet, the very availability of the product on a household platform such as Fidelity’s elevates crypto from niche curiosity to a viable part of financial planning—that matters.

It also matters who Fidelity is. As one of the largest retirement account providers in the United States, Fidelity has $15 trillion in assets under administration. Its actions do not merely follow investor sentiment; they help shape it. Fidelity’s decision to offer crypto IRAs is thus not just a response to existing demand—it is a bet that the market will evolve to support such products in the long term, and that a new cohort of retirement investors will seek exposure to onchain assets alongside traditional ones.

From a strategic perspective, this is also a play to future-proof its offerings. Younger investors—particularly those in their 20s and 30s—are more likely than older generations to own cryptocurrency. Many of them began investing in digital assets before opening a brokerage account. By offering crypto within retirement products, Fidelity is positioning itself to capture wallet share early, creating stickiness that may carry over into traditional asset management as these investors age.

The move should not be overstated—but neither should it be ignored. 

Fidelity’s crypto IRA is unlikely to trigger a sudden flood of retirement capital into crypto. But it marks a symbolic threshold: one of America’s most entrenched financial institutions now treats crypto not as a novelty, but as a component—however minor—of long-term wealth planning. 

That shift in perception, more than any near-term flow of funds, is what makes this launch historically significant.

Numbers Of The Week

News Bites

Crypto Speed: In a recent podcast, Sphere co-founder Arnold Lee stated that Sphere Pay has become the fastest solution for on- and off-ramping stablecoins. Put differently: Sphere Pay is now the fastest cross-border transfer platform where no party assumes credit risk—disrupting the remittance old guard of Western Union, MoneyGram, Remitly, Wise & Co.

Solana Expansion: PayPal is extending its crypto offering to include Solana (SOL). U.S. users can now buy, sell, hold, and transfer SOL directly through both PayPal and Venmo wallets. This move increases PayPal's supported digital assets to seven, reflecting the company's ongoing commitment to integrating cryptocurrencies into its payment ecosystem.

Stablecoin Revenue: While the rise of stablecoins may be no surprise to crypto-native audiences, it remains a blind spot for many banks. However, if you're advising, selling to, or working at a bank, here are 8 ways banks can drive revenue through stablecoin adoption that don't involve issuance.

Stablecoin Clarity: The SEC has clarified that fully reserved, liquid, dollar-backed stablecoins do not qualify as securities. As a result, transactions to mint or redeem these stablecoins are not subject to the Securities Act.

Efficient ETFs: BlackRock recently met with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force to discuss in-kind creation and redemption for crypto spot ETFs. The meeting signals potential regulatory acceptance of a structure considered key to making crypto spot ETFs function more efficiently.

Data Offloading: XNET has recently partnered with AT&T. Businesses and public spaces deploy XNET Wi-Fi hotspots and earn token rewards, creating a decentralised wireless network. AT&T pays XNET to offload mobile data onto these hotspots, reducing congestion and improving coverage.

Caught In 4K

Weekly Take

Keks & Giggles

And that's a wrap!

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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.}