Hey, it’s Marc.
J.P. Morgan just did what no major bank had dared: it will now lend against Bitcoin and Ethereum. That single decision pulls crypto into the global credit system. This is a small step for JPM, but a big step for crypto, particularly Ethereum (more below).
In the same week, Aave launched Horizon, letting institutions borrow stablecoins against tokenized Treasuries and funds on-chain.
Read that together: banks are accepting crypto as collateral while DeFi starts accepting bank-grade collateral.
The signal is clear: rails are converging. And again, everything except Bitcoin will be priced as infrastructure. The alpha isn’t any longer “up only”. It’s who owns issuance, distribution, collateral flows, and the spread as these rails sync.
Also this week:
Coinbase goes full-stack with $357M Echo acquisition
Trump pardons CZ, the Binance founder
Polymarket confirms U.S. return & token airdrop
We’ll unpack all of these highlights below 👇
🚨 We just opened new sponsorship slots for our newsletters & podcast. Want to reach 35k+ digital asset leaders? Contact us here.
Top Boardroom Reads
Enterprise-grade private, permissioned L2s on Ethereum (zksync)
State of crypto 2025 (a16z)
Gold’s reign, Bitcoin’s rise. (Deutsche Bank)
FGNexus Alpha Brief October (FGNX & 51)
🙌 Work with us: We create pioneering thought leadership that helps digital asset and technology companies lead the conversation, earn trust and win business.
Top Signals This Week
J.P. Morgan Makes Bitcoin and Ethereum Bankable Collateral
JPM will let institutional clients pledge Bitcoin and Ethereum as loan collateral by year-end. Assets sit with third-party custodians (think Fidelity/BNY). It extends JPM’s existing acceptance of crypto ETFs as collateral into native tokens. [NEWS]
The goal? To bring crypto into traditional credit workflows.
So what? This makes BTC and ETH officially “bankable.” It places digital assets beside gold and Treasuries as recognized collateral. For Ethereum especially, this is validation of its role as financial infrastructure, a yield-bearing, settlement-ready asset inside the world’s biggest bank. This move formally integrates crypto into core banking workflows: balance sheet lending, repo, and margin facilities.
Aave’s launches DeFi’s first institutional credit market
Aave Labs unveiled Horizon, a permissioned on-chain lending market for institutions to borrow stablecoins against tokenized real-world assets (RWAs). Horizon launches with a consortium of top-tier partners: Circle, Superstate, Centrifuge, Chainlink, Ethena, OpenEden, Ripple, Securitize, VanEck, WisdomTree, KAIO, and Ant Digital Technologies. [RELEASE]
So what? Horizon is the missing bridge between tokenization and credit markets. RWAs are no longer passive, illiquid assets, they now serve as programmable collateral that can generate liquidity in real time. For investors, it means two things: new yield opportunities from institutional borrowers and DeFi’s transformation into a full-fledged wholesale funding market. This is the first DeFi-native credit desk built for Wall Street scale.
Coinbase goes full-stack
Coinbase acquired Echo for $375M , a fast-growing onchain capital formation platform enabling public and private token sales. Echo’s product Sonar allows compliant, self-hosted token launches with full onchain transparency. Since inception, Echo has facilitated 300+ deals, raising over $200M directly from communities. [RELEASE]
The big picture: This builds on Coinbase’s acquisition of Liquifi earlier this year, giving it end-to-end coverage of tokenized markets: creation (Liquifi), issuance (Echo), and trading (Base), all integrated with custody, compliance, and stablecoin rails.
So what? Coinbase now owns the full capital stack of crypto finance. It’s no longer just an exchange, it’s becoming the infrastructure provider for compliant tokenized fundraising. As soon as U.S. regulation will allow public token sales, Coinbase will be the default platform for issuers and investors alike. Think of it as building the NASDAQ, NYSE, and AngelList of the onchain era.
Polymarket token incoming
Polymarket’s CMO confirmed a POLY token and airdrop are coming, but only after the platform completes its CFTC-approved reentry into the U.S. market. The company is currently testing an invite-only U.S. app with event contracts tied to macro, politics, and culture. [NEWS]
So what? Backed by ICE’s $2B investment, Polymarket is evolving into the institutional layer for event-driven data, turning sentiment, probabilities, and information into tradeable assets. For investors, it’s an emerging market for alpha, a new data class that bridges prediction, liquidity, and macro hedging.
🚨Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals.
News Flash
Sony Bank has filed for a crypto banking charter to issue stablecoins. Link
Stripe-backed Tempo blockchain raises $500 million Series A at a $5 billion valuation. Link
Coinbase, Ripple & Gemini listed as donors for Trump’s $300 M White House ballroom. Link
Hyperliquid Strategies Inc. files S-1 to raise $1 B and buy HYPE tokens. Link
Revolut secures MiCA license, preps for EU crypto launch. Link
Aave launches V4: liquidity hubs + spokes for capital efficiency. Link
Google announces 13,000× quantum speed breakthrough. Link
Fed Governor Waller: “Crypto is woven into the financial system.” Link
Ripple-backed Evernorth files SPAC to create public XRP treasury. Link
That’s all for now, folks.
Take care
– Marc & Team
PS: Upgrade to Pro for our daily CEO Notes & market signals.
Check out our AI newsletter, AI Operator, here.
Check out our Crypto Treasury Alpha newsletter here.
