Eterna's Insights - April 2025

Stablecoins Surge in Supply and Real-World Utility

Stablecoins are gaining unprecedented traction—both in supply and real-world usage. In April, the total supply of dollar-pegged stablecoins surged to an all-time high of $232 billion, highlighting their growing role in global liquidity and signaling the increasing influence of crypto-native institutions in traditional financial markets, including U.S. Treasuries. At the same time, Visa and Bridge (a Stripe company) launched a new API enabling stablecoin-linked Visa cards across Latin America, allowing users to spend USDC at any Visa-accepting merchant. Together, these milestones mark a clear shift: stablecoins are no longer just a crypto-native tool—they’re becoming embedded in the global financial fabric.

Stablecoin Momentum Builds in Policy and Markets

Stablecoins continue to gain traction—not just in usage and supply, but also in regulatory and capital markets. On April 2, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee advanced the bipartisan STABLE Act, setting the stage for a unified federal framework governing dollar-backed digital tokens. With both House and Senate versions in play, reconciliation is expected over the next two months, with key differences around state vs. federal oversight and the handling of foreign issuers like Tether. Meanwhile, on April 1, Circle—the second largest global stablecoin issuer—filed an S-1 to go public at a $4–5 billion valuation, marking its second attempt to list and signaling growing institutional confidence as regulatory clarity improves. Combined with record-high stablecoin supply and real-world integration via new Visa card programs, the stablecoin sector is entering a new phase of legitimacy and scale.

New Leadership at the SEC Signals Regulatory Reset for Digital Assets

Paul Atkins was sworn in by President Trump as the 34th Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ushering in a pivotal shift in the agency’s regulatory tone. A former SEC Commissioner and founder of Potomak Global Partners, Atkins emphasized a return to the SEC’s core mission of investor protection, fair markets, and capital formation. Notably, he stated that a top priority of his chairmanship will be establishing a “rational, coherent, and principled” regulatory foundation for digital assets.

Atkins succeeds Mark Uyeda, who served as acting chair following Gary Gensler’s resignation on January 20. With three Republican commissioners now seated—Atkins, Uyeda, and Hester Peirce—alongside Democrat Caroline Crenshaw, the SEC enters this new chapter with a clear shift in regulatory philosophy. Early signs already point to a more constructive approach to crypto, including halted enforcement actions, increased industry engagement, and new disclosure guidance for token issuers.

Converge: Ethena and Securitize Bridge TradFi and DeFi with New Ethereum Rollup

Ethena Labs and Securitize have unveiled Converge, a high-performance Ethereum rollup purpose-built to unify traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi). Built on Arbitrum tech, Converge is designed to support tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), stablecoins, and institutional-grade applications. Central to the ecosystem are Ethena’s synthetic dollar (USDe) and tokenized treasury product (USDtb), which will serve as native gas tokens. The rollup will offer both permissionless and permissioned environments—enabling traditional players like BlackRock and Apollo to issue financial products on-chain, while also supporting DeFi protocols.

Governance and security will be maintained by the Converge Validator Network (CVN), powered by staked ENA tokens. The CVN will have emergency powers to protect users and uphold network integrity. With a developer testnet launching in the coming weeks and full mainnet rollout expected in Q2 2025, Converge represents a major step toward institutional DeFi adoption. As TradFi increasingly turns to blockchain infrastructure for transparency and efficiency, platforms like Converge are poised to become foundational bridges between two financial worlds.

Canada Launches First Spot Solana ETFs with Staking Yields

On April 16, four spot Solana ETFs debuted on the Toronto Stock Exchange following OSC approval, marking another milestone in crypto’s integration into mainstream financial markets. Launched by 3iQ, Purpose, Evolve, and CI Financial (in partnership with Galaxy), these ETFs not only provide direct exposure to SOL but also offer staking capabilities, delivering an additional 2–3.5% in yield. Up to 50% of assets can be staked, with rewards shared between fund managers and investors. Management fees range from 0.15% to 1%, though some are waived at launch. Just two days in, combined AUM has already reached $73.5 million—signaling strong early demand and growing institutional interest in Solana-based products.

Tether, Bitfinex, SoftBank & Cantor Back “Twenty One” – A Bitcoin-Native Public Company

Tether, Bitfinex, SoftBank, and Cantor Fitzgerald have joined forces to launch Twenty One, a bitcoin-native public company that will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker XXI via a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners. Led by Strike founder Jack Mallers as CEO, Twenty One is positioned to become the third-largest Bitcoin treasury in the world, launching with over 42,000 BTC (worth ~$3.4B), thanks to contributions from its founding partners. The company has also secured $585M in additional capital through PIPE and convertible note financing, which will be used to acquire more bitcoin and fund operations.

With a mission to increase its bitcoin per share (BPS), Twenty One plans to build capital markets infrastructure, lending models, and financial products fully aligned with Bitcoin principles. It will also develop bitcoin-focused media and educational content to promote broader adoption. This marks a bold step toward institutionalizing Bitcoin within public equity markets—backed by some of the biggest players in fintech and finance.

Eterna Portfolio Company Spotlight:

Camp Raises $25M Series A to Build Autonomous IP Layer 1

Camp Network has raised a $25 million Series A led by 1kx and Blockchain Capital, to build the first autonomous, IP-native Layer 1 blockchain. Camp enables users to register and tokenize their intellectual property, train AI agents, and earn royalties through transparent, on-chain attribution. By embedding provenance and permissioning at the protocol layer, Camp aims to become the leading infrastructure for rights-cleared, user-owned training data. Eterna Capital invested in Camp’s seed round early 2024 and continues to support its mission to realign incentives between creators and AI.