129: $2.3T just moved to stablecoin rails
Hey, it’s Marc.
Circle filed for a $6B IPO with BlackRock backing it, while Worldpay, yes, the $2.3T payments behemoth, just plugged stablecoins into 180+ countries. And now, Stripe is in talks with banks to build stablecoins into global payments.
This week’s top enterprise signals:
ETH gets its own Microstrategy, led by Ethereum co-founder
HSBC launches blockchain settlement for instant transfers
Solana launches universal identity layer for Web3
We also released our Stablecoin x AI report. 🔥 Access here
Let’s unpack it.
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Top Boardroom Reads This Week
AI
AI or Die (RKG)
Top 51 AI x blockchain companies in 2025 (Fiftyone)
State of AI Q1 2025 (Artificial Analysis)
The Age of the AI Shopper (Maja Vujinovic)
PwC’s AI Agent Survey (PwC)
Google kills the checkout (AI Operator)
AI Eats the World (Benedict Evans)
Orchestrating Agentic AI for Intelligent Business Operations (IBM)
The Alluring Global 'Sovereign AI' Market (Michael Parekh)
Digital Assets
Stablecoins x AI: The next supercycle? (Fiftyone)
Finance is ready for a blockchain reset (Financial Times)
Stablecoin Payments- Crypto Finds its Killer App? (FT Partners)
Stablecoins 2025: From Tokens to Financial Infrastructure (Steakhouse Financials)
Stablecoins – Five Killer Tests to Gauge Their Potential! (BCG)
$2.3T payments giant Worldpay embraces stablecoins
The $2.3T payments giant is rolling out stablecoin payouts to 180+ countries, powered by BVNK. Clients across marketplaces, travel, and gaming can now pay sellers, creators, and contractors in stablecoins — without crypto wallets, without custody, and with near-instant global settlement. This isn’t a press release partnership. It’s infrastructure. Stablecoins processed $27.6T in volume in 2024, more than Visa + Mastercard combined. BVNK alone is moving $10B/year with 200% YoY growth.
The signal: Stablecoins are no longer a crypto side bet. They’re a fundamental shift in B2B money movement. Circle, Stripe, Visa, JPMorgan are all going stable. Worldpay just brought 180 more markets with it. NEWS, ANALYSIS
Circle Files for IPO, Targeting $6B+ Valuation
Circle, the issuer of USDC, has filed for a $624M IPO, valuing the company at nearly $6B. It plans to offer 24M Class A shares at $24–$26 each, listing on the NYSE under the ticker CRCL. Backers like BlackRock (10% stake) and Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest ($150M planned buy) are a signal: institutional trust in stablecoins is growing.
So what? Circle isn’t your typical fintech. Circle is positioned to challenge legacy systems like SWIFT and card networks. Its IPO puts stablecoin infrastructure on Wall Street’s map and accelerates the shift toward real-time, cross-border, B2B payments. With 75% of shares from selling holders, the structure echoes Facebook’s IPO—early exits, but long-term infrastructure play. RELEASE
ETH just got its own MicroStrategy
In the past week, over $3.675B in public market vehicles have been raised to buy crypto: Trump Media ($2.5B in BTC), Strive ($750M for BTC + Mt. Gox claims), and now SharpLink ($425M in ETH) — backed by Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin, who’s now Chairman. This isn’t just marketing. It’s the first time a NASDAQ-listed company is putting ETH on its balance sheet. The strategy mirrors Saylor’s MicroStrategy play: raise equity, buy native tokens, capture ecosystem upside. MicroStrategy is up 3,313% since 2020. Expect Solana, Avalanche, and others to follow. ANALYSIS
Why it matters: this is the new capital formation model for blockchains. It gives public investors exposure, VCs exits, and ecosystems a demand driver. But as more of these go live, premiums will compress, and only the first-movers will win the narrative. But what happens when companies can't service their debt anymore?
HSBC tokenises deposits for 24/7 B2B payments
HSBC launched Hong Kong’s first blockchain-based settlement service, letting corporate clients instantly transfer HKD and USD via tokenised deposits. The live pilot with Ant International on HSBC’s Whale platform, backed by the HKMA, settled its first HKD/USD transaction in under a second versus days on legacy rails.
So what? This isn’t crypto theatre—it’s institutions like HSBC, JPMorgan and Citi operationalising programmable cash for enterprise treasury, or risk ceding speed, cutting FX costs and liquidity control to nimbler rivals. With Hong Kong’s new stablecoin law and a $30T tokenisation market by 2030, tokenised deposits are a new baseline for enterprise cash management. NEWS
Solana launches its universal on-chain identity layer
The new Solana Attestation Service (SAS) lets apps verify KYC, region, accreditation, or sybil-resistance using wallet-linked credentials — no data exposure, no repeated onboarding. Think of it as OAuth for crypto identity. It’s already live on mainnet, with early adopters like Civic, Trusta, Sumsub, and Solid using it to issue reusable attestations for compliance, access control, and reputation. Why it matters: as Web3 matures, every serious app will need portable, verifiable identity.
So what? This makes Solana the first chain with a composable identity layer that works across DeFi, gaming, DePIN, and tokenized assets. RELEASE, PRODUCT
We help companies like Avalanche, Near, or MoonPay with industry-leading thought leadership campaigns to attract institutional clients. Interested?
News Flash
SEC dismisses Binance lawsuit with prejudice. Link
Hong Kong passes Stablecoins Bill to license issuers. Link
Perplexity launches Perplexity Labs for Pro users. Link
Superblocks has raised $60M and launched an AI agent called Clark. Link
xAI is paying Telegram $300M to integrate its Grok chatbot. Link
BNP Paribas issues MMF shares on-chain. Link
Top Vendors This Week
Enterprise:
Clark: AI agent that builds secure, production-ready internal enterprise apps
Catena Labs: AI-native financial infrastructure and service provider
Productivity:
Grammarly: AI-driven productivity platform, combining Coda’s workflow (raised $1B)
Agent Builder:
watsonx Orchestrate: Build, integrate and customise custom agents
n8n: Open-source workflow automation platform with the visual editor
Coding:
CODEX: A cloud-based software engineering agent
AlphaEvolve: Gemini-powered coding agent for designing advanced algorithms
Replit: Rapid prototyping of applications
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That’s all for now, folks. Let us know below how you like this.
Talk soon,
– Marc & Team