Circle’s 2025 Year in Review is live.For years we have been building toward an internet financial system where value moves as easily as information. In 2025 that vision came into sharper focus.→ Global frameworks in the US and beyond advanced, signaling a clear path for fully reserved digital currencies and onchain settlement to move into mainstream use.→ Circle’s IPO and conditional national trust charter approval reinforced our commitment to transparency, strong governance, and rigorous risk management.→ ...

Key Takeaways Visa trades at 25.14X earnings, below its five-year median as shares slip 3.1% over the past month.Analysts see upside with a $402.27 average target and forecasts showing double-digit EPS growth.Visa's processed transactions, cross-border volumes and fast-growing VAS segment continue to expand.Visa Inc. (V) has always been treated as a stock priced on belief rather than strict fundamentals. Investors paid a premium for the company’s long-term promise, trusting its ability to shape the digital ...

Core Viewpoint - Hyperliquid Strategies, a digital asset platform, went public through a reverse merger with Sonnet the Biootherrapeutics, reaching a high of $465 before declining to $352, representing a 17% drop [1][2]. Company Overview - Hyperliquid Strategies focuses on accumulating the Hype token, the native coin for its decentralized exchange, which allows trading of perpetual futures [2][8]. - The company was founded three years ago, operates with 11 employees, and has never raised outside capital [8][9]. - Hyperliquid's current run rate is over $1 billion in free cash flow, highlighting its financial strength despite its small team [9][13]. Market Position - The Hype token is currently valued at approximately $3455, making it the 12th largest cryptocurrency, and potentially within the top 10 when excluding stablecoins [8][9]. - The platform is positioned as a layer 1 blockchain, facilitating significant trading volumes, including traditional equities like Nvidia and Tesla [4][14]. Future Outlook - The integration of traditional finance and digital currencies is gaining traction, with notable figures in finance discussing the tokenization of assets worth trillions [6]. - Hyperliquid aims to be at the forefront of this evolution, with a blockchain capable of processing 200,000 transactions per second [7]. - The company plans to use 99% of its cash flow to buy back Hype tokens, creating a proxy for equity in the company [10][11]. Trading Performance - The initial trading day saw a 15% decline in the stock price, which is not uncommon for new listings, and the focus remains on long-term performance [15].

Digital currencies were hit by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's comments that investors shouldn't count on an interest-rate cut in December. ...

Market Performance - Major U.S. stock indices, including the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones, closed at record highs for the second consecutive day, reflecting robust market performance [2][9] - The Dow Jones surged 324 points, or 0.69%, closing at 47,531.10, while the Nasdaq climbed 439 points, or 1.89%, reaching 23,644.20, and the S&P 500 advanced 83.72 points, or 1.23%, closing at 6,875.41 [2][9] Corporate Earnings - Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) reported strong Q3 results with adjusted earnings per share of $1.93, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.79, and revenue of $1.34 billion, surpassing expectations of $1.32 billion [3][9] - NXP Semiconductors (NXP) presented a mixed Q3 earnings report, with reported EPS of $2.48 lower than last year's $2.79, while revenue of $3.17 billion slightly exceeded the estimated $3.16 billion [4][9] - Welltower (WELL) announced solid Q3 results, with rental income reaching $499.48 million and declared a dividend of $0.74 per share, reaffirming its full-year adjusted FFO per share guidance between $5.24 and $5.30 [5][9] Strategic Developments - IBM (IBM) launched a new platform aimed at supporting financial institutions in navigating the evolving digital asset economy, positioning itself to capitalize on the growing interest in blockchain and digital currencies [6][9]

Core Insights - Visa Inc. is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 results on October 28, 2025, with earnings estimated at $2.96 per share and revenues of $10.61 billion [1][5] - The earnings estimate reflects a year-over-year increase of 9.2%, while revenue is projected to grow by 10.3% compared to the previous year [2][5] Financial Performance - For fiscal 2025, Visa's revenue consensus estimate stands at $39.85 billion, indicating a year-over-year rise of 10.9, and EPS is projected at $11.43, suggesting a 13.7% increase [3] - Visa has a history of exceeding earnings estimates, having beaten projections in the last four quarters by an average of 3.9% [3][4] - The company has an Earnings ESP of +3.70% and a Zacks Rank of 3, indicating a favorable outlook for the upcoming earnings report [4] Growth Drivers - The Zacks Consensus Estimate indicates a 6.2% increase in total Gross Dollar Volume year-over-year, with a model prediction of 5.5% growth [5] - Total processed transactions are expected to grow by 10% year-over-year, with Visa's model predicting a 9.5% increase [6] - Payment volumes are projected to rise by 8.6% year-over-year, with U.S. operations expected to increase by 7.3% [7] - Data processing revenues are estimated to grow by 13.3% year-over-year, while service revenues are expected to rise by 10.2% [8] Expense Considerations - Adjusted total operating expenses are anticipated to increase by 10.6% year-over-year due to higher personnel, professional fees, and processing expenses [11] - Client incentives are expected to exceed $4 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter, which may offset some positive impacts from higher volumes [11][10] Stock Performance and Valuation - Visa's stock has increased by 9.3% year-to-date, outperforming the industry decline of 5% but underperforming the S&P 500's rise of 15.5% [12] - Visa is currently trading at 26.68X forward 12-month earnings, above the industry average of 21.48X, indicating a somewhat stretched valuation [16] - In comparison, Mastercard is trading at 30.88X and American Express at 20.70X, with the latter offering better value [18] Strategic Initiatives - Visa's stablecoin initiatives are seen as a significant shift in global payments, enhancing its infrastructure for digital currencies and improving capital efficiency for cross-border transactions [19] - Regulatory clarity under the GENIUS Act is expected to bolster Visa's long-term growth prospects [19] - Despite competition and antitrust scrutiny, Visa's strong network effects and innovation provide resilience [19] Investment Outlook - Current valuation suggests limited near-term upside, with shares outperforming Mastercard but lagging behind the S&P 500 [20] - The upcoming earnings report will be critical for assessing momentum in Visa's stablecoin rollout and international expansion [20]

Core Insights - Swift, a Belgium-based network, is collaborating with over 30 major banks to develop a blockchain-based infrastructure aimed at making international payments instantaneous and integrating traditional banking with digital currencies [1][2]. Group 1: Initiative Overview - The initiative focuses on creating a shared digital ledger for real-time, 24/7 cross-border payments, enhancing compatibility with stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits, and central bank digital currencies [2]. - The current international money transfer process is slow and costly, with wire transfers taking days and incurring multiple fees [3]. Group 2: Technological Advancements - The blockchain overhaul aims to enable instant cross-border payments, which is expected to reduce costs associated with the current multi-day settlement process [4]. - The consortium includes major banks such as JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, and others from the Middle East and Africa [5]. Group 3: Market Context - The announcement coincides with the rising significance of stablecoins, which are projected to reach up to $4 trillion in circulation by 2030, facilitating $100 trillion in trade annually [5].

Group 1 - The focus is on future-oriented and undervalued stocks and digital assets that are strategically positioned to benefit from long-term technological, societal, and monetary shifts [1] - The approach combines speculative foresight with disciplined fundamental analysis to uncover asymmetric opportunities across both emerging and established names [1] - Key themes covered include AI, digital currencies, space infrastructure, and longevity, utilizing valuation models like DCF, relative metrics, and macro context [1] Group 2 - The work is designed for long-term investors seeking early positioning with strong narrative and financial grounding [1]

Market Trends & Regulatory Landscape - Digital currencies are rising, with Bitcoin climbing 35% to under $114,000, and Ether and Solana's SOL token climbing by about the same [2] - Swift is working to add a blockchain-based settlement solution, partnering with over 30 financial institutions to create a ledger for cross-border payments [4] - The Blockchain Association cautions against rolling back the Clarity Act, reaffirming support for the Genius Act, which establishes one-to-one reserves, federal supervision, and strict transparency for dollar-denominated stablecoins [6] - Security experts are asking lawmakers to re-examine parts of the Clarity Act over national security concerns, particularly regarding money laundering and sanctions evasion [9] - Regulatory acceptance of crypto in the US is a significant advancement, with the US aiming to position itself to foster crypto development [27][28] Company Specific News (E Toro & Orange BTC) - E Toro shares rose nearly 2% after announcing the launch of staking for US customers, allowing users to earn monthly rewards on ETH, ADA, and SOL holdings [2] - E Toro plans to expand its staking program to include more crypto assets in the future [3] - Orange BTC, a Bitcoin treasury company based in Latin America, purchased around $400 million in Bitcoin [11][16] - Orange BTC views Bitcoin as a hedging asset for Latin American investors to maintain purchasing power and savings growth, given the region's history of inflation and volatile capital markets [18] - Orange BTC believes the treasury model is a better model and can provide education to help people understand the asset and decide how to use it within their portfolios [21][22]

Market Overview - Bitcoin rose, crossing the $112,000 level, while Ether moved higher to $4,480 [1][2] - Solana token rose to $211, outperforming Bitcoin and ETH due to institutional interest [2] - American Bitcoin stock was up around 30% by noon on its NASDAQ debut [5] Regulatory Landscape - SEC and CFTC released joint guidance clarifying that registered exchanges are not prohibited from facilitating the trading of certain spot crypto commodity products [3] - SEC chair stated the guidance is a significant step forward in bringing innovation in the crypto asset markets back to America [4] - CFTC acting chair indicated the end of mixed signals about crypto regulation [4] American Bitcoin (ABTC) - American Bitcoin, co-founded by Eric Trump and in partnership with Hut 8, listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker ABTC after merging with Griffin Digital Mining [5] - American Bitcoin aims to build America's Bitcoin infrastructure backbone, focusing on Bitcoin mining and strategic Bitcoin reserve development [11] - The company's strategy is to accumulate the most Bitcoin, believing in its long-term appreciation [14][15] - American Bitcoin can mine Bitcoin at almost 50 cents to current market prices [17] World Liberty Token & Trump Family Crypto Ventures - World Liberty token USD1 started trading at one penny and reached approximately 25, representing a 25x increase in a couple of months [20] - President Trump and certain family members own about 38% of the equity interests in World's Liberty and receive up to 75% of the token sale proceeds [31] - Eric Trump stated his father has nothing to do with the business, emphasizing a separation of business and government [33]