Payments giant Stripe unveiled a stablecoin issuance platform and AI commerce tools at its New York showcase on Tuesday, marking a push to tie its payments business to the growing role of digital dollars and artificial intelligence in online transactions. Open Issuance, underpinned by stablecoin infrastructure platform Bridge that Stripe acquired for $1.1 billion last year, enables firms to launch their own stablecoins, minting and redeeming tokens with just a few lines of code. Phantom’s CASH token, an ...

Core Viewpoint - The long-term valuation of Ethereum (ETH) is under scrutiny, with significant criticism directed at bullish claims made by Wall Street figures, particularly regarding stablecoin adoption and institutional demand [2][3]. Group 1: Critique of Bullish ETH Outlook - Andrew Kang challenges Tom Lee's thesis that ETH could achieve a 100x increase, arguing that the macro super cycle and institutional adoption do not substantiate such a valuation [2][3]. - Lee's price targets for ETH range from $4,000 to $15,000 by 2025, with potential long-term upside exceeding $20,000 based on historical ratios and institutional buying [3]. - Kang describes Lee's arguments as financially illiterate, emphasizing that the increase in tokenized asset value and stablecoin transaction volumes has not translated into higher fees for Ethereum [4][3]. Group 2: Disconnect in Revenue Generation - Kang points out that despite the growth in tokenized assets and stablecoin volumes, Ethereum's fees have remained stagnant since 2020, indicating a disconnect between adoption and revenue [4]. - Factors contributing to this disconnect include more efficient Ethereum upgrades, the migration of stablecoin activity to other blockchains, and the tokenization of low-velocity assets that yield minimal fees [5]. Group 3: Competitive Landscape - Kang asserts that faster-moving competitors like Solana, Arbitrum, and Tempo are the primary beneficiaries of tokenization, rather than Ethereum [6]. - Tether's recent decision to expand USDT activity onto new chains is highlighted as evidence of this competitive shift [6]. Group 4: Institutional Demand and Technical Arguments - Lee's assertion that institutions will accumulate and stake ETH as part of their tokenization strategies is questioned, suggesting that this premise does not convincingly support a bullish outlook for Ethereum [8].

你敢信吗？曾被视作野路子的加密货币，正靠着这四样东西，拆解美国金融的老规矩！曾经的双寡头格 局被打破，银行、巨头纷纷下场分蛋糕。连上市公司都把财库变币库，这操作真的稳吗？ 你敢信吗？现在连楼下咖啡店的老板都在念叨稳定币，隔壁工位的同事盯着加密公司的股价狂喜。加密 货币这股浪潮，早已不是极客圈的小打小闹，它正带着雷霆之势，狠狠撞进了美国金融市场的心脏！ 谁能想到，曾经被视作野路子的加密货币，居然能迎来立法的正名时刻！今年7月，特朗普签署的那部 稳定币法案，就像给这个躁动的市场投下了一颗定心丸，这可是加密领域头一回拿到国家层面的通行证 啊！ 要知道，稳定币这东西可不简单，它跟美元一对一挂钩，靠着现金和美债撑场面，说是区块链上的货币 基金也不为过。这下好了，银行、支付巨头们全都闻风而动，毕竟谁不想借着它降低交易成本、提速增 效呢？ 在那些通胀猛如虎的新兴市场，它更是成了老百姓对冲风险的宝贝。可转念一想，这热闹背后藏着多少 门道？银行的存款要是都流去了稳定币，放贷能力不就打了折扣？ 更别提加密平台想给稳定币付息的事儿，银行和加密圈各执一词，这监管的拉锯战，才刚刚开始！ 今年已有130多家美国上市公司筹了1370多亿美 ...

智通财经APP获悉，据一位直接知情人士透露，数字支付公司Stripe Inc.的估值已攀升至1067亿美元，超 过了该公司2021年950亿美元的历史峰值。 作为长期以来最具价值的私有金融科技公司之一，Stripe今年早些时候的估值为915亿美元。与Anthropic PBC、OpenAI等企业类似，尽管估值大幅飙升，Stripe仍选择维持私有状态，这让散户投资者颇感懊 恼，他们只能在场外眼睁睁看着公司实现增长，却无法参与投资。 据Axios报道，Stripe正洽谈以1067亿美元的估值，从风险投资机构手中回购股份。目前，此次股份回购 的具体规模尚未确定，且是否向员工开放认购也不明确。有知情人士透露，相关谈判仍保持"灵活"状 态。 作为Stripe的长期投资方，红杉资本曾在去年以700亿美元估值从其自身有限合伙人手中收购了价值8.61 亿美元的Stripe股份。而从当前动态来看，尚无迹象表明Stripe计划在近期启动首次公开募股(IPO)。 除核心的直接支付业务外，Stripe近期还在稳定币技术领域展开投资布局。支付巨头Stripe与加密投资公 司Paradigm正携手孵化一个专为稳定币支付打造的新区块链项目 ...

Core Insights - A new competitive landscape is emerging in the blockchain space for institutional money and stablecoins, with Alphabet's Google Cloud Universal Ledger (GCUL), Stripe's Tempo, and Circle's Arc targeting similar financial use cases as Ripple's XRP [5][10] - The total market for stablecoins has reached $280.9 billion, growing by 5.3% in the last 30 days, indicating a rapidly expanding sector [6] - XRP's investment thesis is broader than just stablecoin transactions, as it includes features for regulated money movement and tokenized asset management [11][12] Company Summaries - **Alphabet (Google Cloud)**: The GCUL aims to provide a neutral platform for managing tokenized assets and wholesale payments, leveraging Alphabet's financial strength [1][5] - **Stripe**: Tempo is a high-throughput Layer-1 chain designed for stablecoin payments and remittances, compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine, which could attract developers from the DeFi ecosystem [2][5] - **Circle**: Arc is a Layer-1 chain where fees are paid in USDC, targeting transaction settlement and programmable money, benefiting from Circle's established brand in the stablecoin market [3][5] Competitive Analysis - The emergence of GCUL, Tempo, and Arc poses a potential threat to XRP by redirecting capital flows that would have otherwise supported XRP's growth [5][10] - XRP's unique features, such as low transaction fees, fast transaction finality, and built-in decentralized exchange capabilities, may provide a competitive edge over the new entrants [8][9] - The competition could cap XRP's growth potential, but the overall market for stablecoins is large enough to accommodate multiple players [10][11]

Core Insights - John Egan, head of crypto at Stripe, has left the company to become the first chief product officer at Polygon Labs, focusing on enhancing Polygon's stablecoin payments capabilities [1][2] - Egan's departure comes as Stripe prepares to launch its Tempo blockchain, which will compete directly with Polygon in the stablecoin payments sector [2][4] - The crypto industry is experiencing significant momentum, particularly in stablecoin payments, following regulatory support from the Trump administration [3] Company Developments - Egan's role at Polygon Labs will involve increasing adoption, scalability, and interoperability of its blockchain for stablecoin payments [1] - Stripe's Tempo, unveiled on September 4, is designed specifically for stablecoin payments and is incubated by Stripe and Paradigm, operating as a standalone entity [4] - Polygon has seen a resurgence in stablecoin payments, with a nearly 40% increase in monthly peer-to-peer stablecoin transaction volume since the beginning of the year [5] Market Context - The stablecoin market is expanding, with major banks like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo exploring their own stablecoin initiatives [4] - Polygon currently has almost $3 billion in stablecoins, nearing its record high, indicating strong market interest and activity [6] - Egan's previous experience includes significant roles at Stripe, where he was instrumental in blockchain integration and led major acquisitions, including a $1.1 billion purchase of Bridge [7][8]

Group 1 - The article emphasizes the importance of maintaining caution and a sober approach when investing in XRP, despite its improving narrative [2][4] - XRP faces significant competition from well-capitalized alternatives in the financial sector, which could impact its market share [4][6] - Ethereum is highlighted as a major competitor due to its established role in asset tokenization and decentralized finance, attracting traditional financial institutions [5][7] Group 2 - Emerging payment and stablecoin chains, such as Circle Internet Group's Arc and Stripe's Tempo, pose potential long-term threats to XRP [6] - The total addressable market for XRP remains large, but increasing competition from both established and new entrants could hinder its growth [7][8] - XRP's stablecoin segment is particularly lagging, with new challengers rapidly emerging to target its core areas [8]

Group 1 - Binance, the largest crypto exchange, has partnered with Franklin Templeton to enhance capital market efficiency using blockchain technology [2][5] - The merging of traditional finance and crypto markets presents significant market opportunities, as evidenced by recent activities from major players [2][4] - Taoshi launched a decentralized exchange targeting the $7.5 trillion foreign exchange market, indicating the potential for substantial revenue generation [3][6] Group 2 - Major financial institutions like Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo are exploring stablecoin integration, anticipating that stablecoins could represent $1 trillion in cross-border payment volumes by 2030 [4] - Companies such as Kraken and Robinhood are introducing tokenized stock trading, while Nasdaq is working on trading tokenized securities, showcasing the ongoing integration of crypto and traditional finance [5][6] - Stripe is developing its own blockchain, Tempo, which it claims will revolutionize global payments, although skepticism remains regarding its success [6]

Industry Perspective on Consortium Chains - The industry views the emergence of consortium chains as a positive development, indicating growth and opportunity [1] - Institutional players are expected to increasingly seek control over their technology stack, which is not surprising [2] Impact of Tempo - The industry anticipates Tempo's launch and potential traction due to the scale of involved players, expecting positive spillover effects [3] - Tempo is not expected to replace existing decentralized solutions like Ethereum [3][4] Decentralization and Scalability - Maintaining true decentralization while achieving global scale capacity is crucial, particularly by leveraging Ethereum [4] - The industry should accelerate development efforts in response to new developments [4]

RT Patrick Collison (@patrickc)Introducing @Tempo.At Stripe, we care about high-throughput, low-latency payments use cases. As the use of stablecoins (and crypto more broadly) grows across Stripe, Bridge, and Privy, we found that existing blockchains are not optimized for them.For example, it's valuable for real-world financial applications that fees be denominated in a fiat currency that makes sense to the user, but existing blockchains denominate their fees in blockchain-specific tokens. Batch transfers a ...