Token Chronicle - Week 2 June 2025

Top cryptos

Meme of the week

Market Sentiment:

Market update: Quite a bit of movement this week, with BTC surpassing $110K amid warming U.S.–China relations in London, then dropping to $103K–$104K before the weekend due to Israeli strikes on Iran (raising the potential for a new conflict and impact on maritime trade around the Strait of Hormuz, along with concerns about oil prices). However, the dip was quickly corrected, with BTC climbing back to $107K today. We're increasingly seeing an asset that resists macro tensions and is decoupling from the traditional stock market.

Main points this week:

International:

1. Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in Paraguay? President's X account posts a fake announcement:
   On Tuesday, the X account of Paraguay’s president posted an announcement claiming that the country had adopted Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. However, this was a false statement resulting from a hack.

2. The international unit of Alipay owner Ant Group plans to seek stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong and Singapore, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Ant International will apply for a stablecoin issuer's license once the regulatory regime comes into effect in August, according to the report, citing people familiar with the matter. The firm is also planning to apply for a similar license in its native Singapore, as well as Luxembourg.

3. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a congressional hearing that he expects the U.S. dollar stablecoin market to exceed $2 trillion by 2028 — provided there is legislative support. The Senate earlier advanced the GENIUS Act on Wednesday, a bill that mandates full backing of stablecoins with U.S. dollars or similarly liquid assets and annual audits for issuers with market caps over $50 billion. Bessent framed stablecoins as a new mechanism to reinforce the U.S. dollar's global reserve status, with support from President Trump, who previously stated that he wants to sign the bill into law before August. U.S. dollar-linked stablecoins already dominate more than 96% ($247 billion) of the global market, with major institutions like Bank of America and Circle racing to expand their presence.

Compliance / Regulation / Justice:

1. U.S. Senate votes to advance the GENIUS Act, a decisive step for stablecoins:
   On the night of June 11, the United States Senate voted overwhelmingly to end debate on the GENIUS Act, the first federal bill entirely focused on stablecoins. With a decisive vote of 68 to 30, the bill is moving forward quickly, although the political battle isn’t over. This vote triggers the “cloture” procedure, which ends debate and opens the door to a final vote, expected as soon as next Monday, unless party leaders agree to bring it forward.

2. Connecticut has enacted a new law banning state and local governments from holding, investing in, or accepting crypto assets. The law also specifically prohibits the creation of a strategic crypto reserve and mandates risk disclosures from crypto businesses that engage in money transmission. The H.B. 7082 legislation, now Public Act No. 25-66, passed unanimously in both chambers of the Connecticut General Assembly without dissent. Connecticut's move sharply contrasts with states like New Hampshire and Arizona, which passed crypto reserve bills earlier this year, as well as President Trump's U.S. bitcoin reserve.

3. The SEC, under Chairman Paul Atkins, is developing a policy to create regulatory exemptions for DeFi platforms, which Atkins termed an "innovation exemption." During a crypto roundtable, Atkins and other SEC Republicans argued that DeFi developers shouldn't be held liable for how their tools are used, and he has directed staff to explore rule changes allowing faster deployment of on-chain financial systems. This initiative, part of a series of crypto discussions since the Trump-era leadership change, aims to reduce barriers for issuers and intermediaries operating in decentralized finance.

4. The Philippines SEC has finalized its licensing rules for crypto asset service providers (CASPs), including exchanges, custodians, and ICO issuers, following a April 2025 public consultation. Under the new framework, CASPs must obtain SEC approval to operate, maintain a PHP 100M (~$1.8M) minimum capital, and establish a local physical office. Key compliance requirements include AML/CFT adherence, customer asset segregation, cybersecurity protocols, and marketing transparency. The rules aim to strengthen oversight while legitimizing crypto services in the Philippines.

5. The U.S. DOJ filed to seize $7.7M+ in crypto from a North Korean laundering scheme that placed IT workers—using stolen identities and VPNs—in U.S. blockchain firms. Paid in stablecoins (USDC/USDT), these operatives laundered funds through self-custody wallets, nested exchanges, and privacy tools like chain-hopping and NFTs, ultimately funneling proceeds to sanctioned DPRK entities, including its Foreign Trade Bank and Ministry of Defense. Central to the operation were OFAC-sanctioned operatives Sim Hyon Sop (who received $24M+) and Kim Sang Man (a defense-linked CEO using forged Russian docs). U.S. employers, including a DeFi company, unknowingly hired these workers, whose wages were systematically routed to North Korea. The case highlights Pyongyang’s exploitation of crypto and remote work to bypass sanctions.

6. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to hold a final vote on the GENIUS Act next Tuesday to decide the federal framework for stablecoins and their issuers. The bill would require stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similarly liquid assets, mandating annual audits for issuers with more than $50 billion in market capitalization. If passed, the GENIUS Act will head to the House of Representatives for further voting, which is also advancing its own stablecoin legislation, the STABLE Act. Both the Senate and House must reach a consensus on their respective bills, which currently differ on issues such as state and federal regulation of stablecoin issuers, as well as the oversight of foreign issuers like Tether.

Traditional Finance:

1. Société Générale becomes the first bank in the world to issue a dollar-backed stablecoin on a public blockchain:
   In a world first, Société Générale–Forge has become the first bank globally to issue a USD-backed stablecoin on a public blockchain. Named USDCV, it is intended to meet the needs of both traders and retail users. Regarding collateralization, USDCV will hold its reserves at BNY Mellon, and the reserve data will be made public daily.

2. Spot Solana (SOL) ETF: A launch as early as next month?
   The launch date of several spot Solana ETFs may be approaching. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested additional details from applicants, signaling a potential approval. According to one source, the launch of spot SOL ETFs could happen within 3 to 5 weeks.

Tech News:

1. Ripple: Ethereum-compatible XRP Ledger network coming very soon:
   This quarter, Ripple’s XRP Ledger blockchain is expected to launch a sidechain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Currently in testnet, the sidechain was announced last year. As Q2 2025 ends this month, it seems that the XRPL EVM mainnet launch is now just days away. Developed by Peersyst Technology, the sidechain integrates the Cosmos SDK and uses Axelar (AXL) technology.

2. Cardinal: Cardano’s solution to integrate Bitcoin into its ecosystem:
   Despite the abundance of available cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin remains by far the most popular. Cardano (ADA) has acknowledged this by launching the Cardinal protocol, which can generate wrapped BTC using Ordinals. These Ordinal-style wrapped Bitcoin become cNFTs on the Cardano blockchain, with a reportedly enhanced security system. A collective of operators will handle secure and transparent asset transfers between the two networks.

3. Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal has officially assumed the role of CEO of the Polygon Foundation, marking a pivot in the organization’s leadership makeup and a sweeping overhaul of the network's longterm roadmap. Nailwal, who launched the project in 2017 when it was still called Matic Network, will consolidate control and reorient the team toward AggLayer — Polygon’s new cross-chain liquidity protocol that promises seamless interoperability across networks. The foundation will also retire zkEVM, Polygon's rollup network. "This renewed control marks the beginning of a strategic push for Polygon to reclaim its position at the forefront of Web3," the team wrote in a press release shared with CoinDesk.

4. The Ethereum Foundation (EF) unveiled an updated treasury policy aimed at ensuring long-term sustainability and transparency, outlining plans for token sales, fiat purchases, and financial disclosures. The Swiss non-profit, a key player in Ethereum’s ecosystem, holds a significant ETH reserve from Ethereum’s genesis, which it uses to fund operations and ecosystem projects. Under the new policy, the EF will allocate 15% of its treasury annually to operational expenses (opex), maintaining a 2.5-year buffer in reserves. It also plans to gradually reduce opex spending over five years, stabilizing at 5% to focus on critical deliverables during what it calls a pivotal period for Ethereum (2025-26). The move underscores the foundation’s push for disciplined financial management amid Ethereum’s evolving roadmap.

5. The developers of Bitcoin Core, the primary open-source software for connecting the blockchain behind the world's largest cryptocurrency, said October's version 30 release will increase the default limit for OP_RETURN data transactions from the current 80 bytes to nearly 4MB, a limit imposed by Bitcoin's block size. The proposal for the change, which was confirmed in an update on GitHub, had sparked debate within the Bitcoin community. Critics argued that removing the limit could encourage increased embedding of arbitrary data, potentially leading to network spam and a shift from bitcoin's primary function as a financial tool.

6. Plume, a blockchain network focused on real-world assets, announced the launch of its hotly anticipated Genesis mainnet. The launch, according to a statement shared by the Plume team, marks the "next generation" of asset-backed DeFi — tokenizing traditional financial instruments, or real-world assets (RWA), so they can interact with blockchain-based financial tools. RWAs have taken over the world of blockchain, as they are viewed as a market that could be worth trillions of dollars with traditional financial institutions steadily dipping into crypto.

7. Morpho, a permissionless cryptocurrency lending protocol, unveiled an update that seeks to further align decentralized finance (DeFi) with traditional lending by bringing more in the way of bespoke, predictable loan terms. Morpho V2 delivers market-driven fixed-rate, fixed-term loans with customizable terms, features previously unseen in DeFi, which are required to meet the demands of institutions and enterprises looking to build or migrate financial products on-chain, Morpho said in a press release on Thursday.

Adoption:

1. €300 million: The Blockchain Group continues raising funds to accumulate as much Bitcoin as possible:
   The Blockchain Group has announced a €300 million funding line. Listed on Euronext Growth, the company plans to use the funds to support its Bitcoin-focused strategy. The financing uses an “At The Market” (ATM) mechanism—still rare in France but well known among U.S. tech companies. TOBAM has committed to weekly subscriptions to new shares issued by The Blockchain Group at market price, up to €300 million.

2. $800 million Bitcoin (BTC) treasury? This publicly listed company reveals its ambitions:
   Mercurity Fintech, a NASDAQ-listed company, has announced plans to raise $800 million to build a Bitcoin (BTC) treasury. For now, it's just a statement, and it remains to be seen whether the company can raise the full amount—and whether it will all go toward BTC purchases. If so, this would equate to 7,600–7,700 BTC, placing the company as the 12th largest BTC treasury among publicly traded firms, even though its current market cap is only $261 million.

3. Amazon is working on its own stablecoin, according to the Wall Street Journal:
   The stablecoin regulatory framework sought by Donald Trump for August could trigger a massive wave. Amazon and Walmart—the world’s largest retailer—are reportedly looking to launch their own stablecoins as proof of this trend.

4. Shopify partners with Stripe to enable USDC payments in 34 countries:
   Payment giant Stripe is partnering with Shopify to allow millions of merchants to accept USDC payments, without needing to configure their accounts or install plugins. This marks a major step forward for crypto adoption in e-commerce, using the Base network. Shopify merchants will be able to accept USDC payments on Base, Coinbase’s Layer 2. By default, payouts will be made to the seller’s bank account in their local currency, but merchants can choose to receive USDC directly into an external wallet.

5. Coinbase launches crypto payment card with Bitcoin cashback:
   Crypto payment card offerings are multiplying through partnerships with major exchanges. Gemini set the trend in 2021 by offering Bitcoin cashback. Now, Coinbase is unveiling its own One Card, offering 4% rewards in BTC.

6. Michael Saylor's Strategy Adds Over 1K Bitcoin to its Stack. Strategy now holds 582,000 BTC tokens. The company's average purchase price for its holdings rose above $70,000.

7. Blockchain Initiatives Have Been Adopted by 60% of Fortune 500 Companies. The news comes from a Coinbase survey, which noted that a third of small and medium sized firms in the U.S. are now using crypto, double the number seen in 2024. More than 80% of institutional investors plan to increase their exposure to crypto this year, the report said.

8. Payments giant Stripe has agreed to acquire crypto wallet infrastructure firm Privy for an undisclosed sum as part of its broader push into the digital asset space. The deal follows Stripe's recent $1.1 billion acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge and its launch of a stablecoin-based money management tool. Privy, which claims to power over 75 million accounts, helps developers embed secure, user-friendly, and multi-chain crypto wallets into their apps while abstracting away some of the complexities, including seed phrases and gas accounting. Privy will remain an independent product under Stripe, aiming to scale faster while continuing to serve platforms like OpenSea, Farcaster, and Hyperliquid.

9. GameStop filed to raise $1.75 billion (with a potential $250M increase) through zero-coupon convertible notes, possibly to expand its Bitcoin treasury holdings after recently acquiring 4,710 BTC. The struggling retailer, which saw Q1 revenue drop 17% to $732.4M, plans to use proceeds for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions under its updated investment policy (now including Bitcoin). The news triggered a 25% stock plunge Thursday, reflecting investor skepticism. This follows GameStop’s $1.5B convertible note offering in April and its resurgence as a meme stock, fueled in the past by Keith "Roaring Kitty" Gill and WallStreetBets.

10. Walmart and Amazon are reportedly weighing U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin launches to reduce payment friction, speed up settlement, and lower costs tied to traditional financial rails, according to the WSJ. However, their plans hinge on regulatory clarity, with the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill nearing a final Senate vote as part of President Trump's push for crypto legislation by August. The multinational companies join a slew of Big Tech firms, including Apple, X, Airbnb, Google, and Uber, in exploring stablecoin adoption, while Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are at more advanced stages of integrating the technology.

Funding / Partnerships:

1. Another crypto company going public soon? Gemini files for IPO:
   The Gemini exchange, founded by the Winklevoss twins, has filed a confidential draft with the SEC for a potential IPO, just days after Circle’s high-profile debut. Several signs suggest Gemini has long been preparing for this step. The company has been working with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup for months, as Bloomberg reported in March. Earlier in 2025, Gemini settled a $5 million case with the CFTC, and the SEC officially closed its investigation earlier this year.

2. Meta to invest billions of dollars in this AI startup:
   Meta, the parent company of Facebook and WhatsApp, continues to heavily invest in artificial intelligence. According to Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg’s company is reportedly planning to invest billions of dollars into the AI startup Scale AI. Meta is considering a €10 billion investment to help grow the startup and secure a key position alongside it. This mirrors Meta’s earlier strategy with OpenAI and would help the company stay competitive in the fast-moving AI race.

3. This project combining stablecoin and Bitcoin (BTC) raises $500 million in under an hour:
   Plasma has raised $500 million in record time to launch its native token, XPL. The company gained attention for its hybrid model: a blockchain compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) offering stablecoin-related services—while anchoring its blocks to the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain. Plasma aims to eliminate transaction fees for Tether's USDT, the most capitalized stablecoin today. While not part of Tether itself, the project has strong financial backing from Bitfinex, the company behind Tether. Positioned at the intersection of key crypto sectors—including the booming stablecoin space—Plasma is making a bold entrance.

4. OpenLedger Commits $25M to Fund AI Blockchain Startups. Funded via its new launchpad, OpenCircle, the $25M commitment will support AI and Web3 developers building decentralized AI protocols. The protocol aims to democratize AI development, allowing contributors of code, data or computing resources to share in the value they help create.

5. Turnkey, a crypto key management and wallet infrastructure startup co-founded by ex-Coinbase employees, has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto. Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Faction, Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, and Variant also participated in the round, bringing Turnkey's total funding to over $50 million. The startup claims to power more than 50 million embedded wallets and serves clients like Magic Eden, Alchemy, and Bridge across DeFi, payments, and AI tools and applications. Turnkey plans to use the fresh funding to scale its team and expand its modular infrastructure, with a focus on open-source contributions.

6. Crypto platform Uphold has hired FT Partners to evaluate strategic options, including a potential U.S. IPO or sale to a payments firm, CEO Simon McLoughlin revealed. The move follows Circle’s successful public debut, with shares surging 300%+ post-listing. Though McLoughlin declined to specify valuation, sources suggest Uphold is eyeing over $1.5 billion. A Nasdaq listing could accelerate acquisitions amid growing crypto M&A activity, he noted, as the firm projects 2023 revenue to triple from 2022’s $80M to $300M+. Uphold also teased upcoming products, including XRP yield via Flare Network and a U.S. debit card with XRP rewards, announced at a recent Las Vegas event.

7. American Bitcoin, a mining firm backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., quietly purchased its first 215 BTC worth nearly $24 million as of May 31, according to an SEC filing. The firm plans to go public later this year via a SPAC merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, trading under the ticker ABTC on Nasdaq. Inspired by Michael Saylor and Strategy's playbook, American Bitcoin aims to fund its BTC treasury acquisitions by mining bitcoin below market cost. Operating through a services agreement with bitcoin miner Hut 8, the company runs three mining facilities in Niagara Falls, NY, Medicine Hat, AB, and Orla, TX.

8. Bullish, the Peter Thiel-backed crypto exchange, has confidentially filed for a U.S. IPO, according to the Financial Times, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The company submitted paperwork to the SEC in recent weeks, opting for a private filing to keep financials under wraps until it moves closer to going public, with Jefferies expected to serve as the lead underwriter for the offering. The firm, which acquired crypto media outlet CoinDesk from Digital Currency Group in November 2023, previously attempted an IPO through a SPAC in 2021 but did not follow through on the deal.

Disclaimer: The information disclosed here does not constitute an investment advice ; it is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. You should do your own research while investing in crypto and only invest money you are ready to lose.