Crypto

• The introduction of Binance Alpha has been the most significant development in the exchange listing landscape in 1H 2025. Within 7 months, it evolved from trading in Binance wallet only to a 2.0 version that funnels Binance exchange liquidity directly to DEX trading, which was then followed by the introduction of a trading incentive program Alpha points.
• Binance Alpha listings placed a greater emphasis on tokens with an FDV under $100 million, a segment traditionally overlooked by Binance. With the launch of 2.0 and Alpha points, tokens listed through this program have been outperforming listing events on other exchanges, including Binance’s own, in both price and trading volumes.
• The growth of Alpha created competition for other exchanges. Mid-size exchanges have seen fewer listing events, and Alpha listings might be filling this void. Binance’s own listings have also been affected: the first 30-day trading volume for large FDV tokens shrunk by 20% on Binance, while this metric grew on Upbit, OKX, and Bybit. Additionally, Binance-listed tokens showed a below-average price performance compared to other exchanges.

• Recent legislations in major economies have propelled the mainstream adoption of stablecoin. While offshore use of stablecoin has been centered around crypto trading and informal economies, we believe the regulated stablecoins present two key opportunities: “open-source digital wallets” for payments and “open clearing houses” for settlements.
• Digital wallet payment solutions built around stablecoin have a much lower bar than building a web2 digital wallet company, in both technology and commercial terms.
• In developed economies dominated by credit cards, stablecoins could drive a new wave of digital wallet adoption, potentially capturing significant market share.

• Zach Townsend is the co-founder and CEO of Meanwhile, a company reinventing life insurance by holding reserves in Bitcoin.
• Life insurance is about protection and risk sharing, with term life providing coverage for a specific term and whole life lasting a lifetime.
• Term life is more focused on protection for a specific period, while whole life is an investment product for intergenerational wealth transfer.

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• Pudgy Penguins, initially a successful PFP NFT launch featuring adorable penguin figures, gained early traction but lost momentum following unmet community expectations. 

• In 2022, current CEO Luca Netz acquired the project and transformed it into a successful IP business through omnichannel meme viral marketing, online experience building, and in-store toy sales.

• OverpassIP, an NFT licensing platform built by the same team, enables NFT holders to earn royalties, converting Pudgy NFTs with purely speculative value into assets with fundamentals tied to the IP’s commercial success.

• ZKsync Prividium delivers a turnkey, production-ready blockchain solution tailored for institutional adoption.
• By fusing private execution, robust access controls, and Ethereum’s security guarantees, Prividium eliminates the complexity of custom chain development.
• Pioneered by Deutsche Bank and Memento, its compliant, permissioned architecture unlocks new design space for tokenization, cross-border payments, and confidential finance.

• Sidekick is a Web3-native livestreaming platform that blends TikTok-style content flow, Huya-style monetization, and on-chain execution into a single experience. Within livestreams, users can tip, and participate in airdrops directly, effectively transforming content creators into real-time asset distributors.
• As crypto attention markets grow increasingly saturated, promotional methods like shill tweets and leaderboard campaigns are showing diminishing impact. Livestreaming presents a more trusted, higher-conversion format that aligns with how both meme tokens and VC backed projects now build visibility and credibility.
• The platform has gained strong early traction in Asia, onboarding over 1000 livestream focused KOLs. Sidekick now aims to broaden its content verticals and encourage deeper community engagement. 

• Singapore has emerged as one of the earliest jurisdictions to establish a comprehensive regulatory regime for fiat-referenced stablecoins.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has adopted the Single-Currency Stablecoin (SCS) Framework.
• The adoption is mainly in institutional trials and crypto-native payment flows, but the potential is immense.

• Evolving Treasury Landscape: Corporate treasuries face challenges from macroeconomic shifts, including high interest rate volatility, significant monetary expansion leading to inflation, and increasing geopolitical risks impacting cash flows and profitability.
• Bitcoin as a Strategic Asset: Bitcoin has emerged as an alternative asset for these challenges, offering a scarce and increasingly institutionally viable asset for potential long-term value preservation and portfolio diversification, as demonstrated by MicroStrategy’s pioneering strategy.
• The “Financial Engineering” Playbook: MicroStrategy’s approach goes beyond simple asset allocation, employing sophisticated financial engineering (e.g., convertible notes, equity issuances) to create value for shareholders by continuously acquiring more Bitcoin per share. 

• Euler’s differentiated design, which combines isolated vaults with pooled asset markets, enables bespoke collateral positioning and niche-token lending
• Picks-And-Shovels strategy to exploit the current stable coin market growth
• Team Quality & Innovation: Dr Michael Bentley’s lead team explores opportunities and ships fast

• In August 2024, Klaytn (backed by South Korea’s Kakao) and Finschia (developed by Japan’s LINE Tech Plus) merged to form the Kaia chain, a Layer 1 blockchain aimed at becoming Asia’s leading Web3 ecosystem.
• LINE, the leading messaging app in Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan, boasts approximately 200 million high-value monthly active users, with over 80% penetration in key markets, and is partnering with Kaia to deliver a rich Web3 experience on its platform.
• The key initiative of the Kaia-LINE NEXT partnership to onboard users from Web2 to Web3 is the Mini Dapp ecosystem, which mirrors the Telegram-TON partnership’s Game-Token-DeFi strategy, with the Kaia foundation driving developer engagement.

• Gunzilla Games, a game studio with over $100M in investment funding, is spearheaded by leading talents in gaming and art. Their premier title, Off The Grid (OTG), is a AAA cyberpunk battle royale game featuring web3 integration.
• OTG’s business model focuses on revenue generation through the value appreciation of in-game assets and a thriving in-game economy. This structure ensures that gamers, in-game validators, and the studio collectively benefit from the game’s success through a shared network effect.
• The game runs on its dedicated blockchain, GUNZ. Its testnet has rapidly gained traction, boasting 17 million created wallets, 500,000 daily active addresses, and 2.5 million daily transactions. These metrics are on par with those of leading battle royale games like Apex and Fortnite.
• The GUNZ mainnet is currently live for early access. Plans for in-game asset withdrawals and full migration are scheduled to commence in July 2025, with due consideration for digital asset regulations