📈 Interest for stablecoins from Fortune 500 companies is surging

Stablecoins are an increasingly hot topic in the global economy. According to the latest State of Crypto report from Coinbase, the interest from Fortune 500 companies for stablecoins has risen from 8% to 29% in just one year.

7% of the companies surveyed said they were already using stablecoins actively, mostly for optimizing payment transactions.

SMEs are particularly convinced: 81% of small business finance managers see stablecoins as helpful for their business model, and 46% plan to use crypto in the next three years.

The most important benefits according to the respondents are:

• faster transactions (72%)
• cross-border payments (50%)
• answering demand from customers (49%)
• more security (46%)

The overall distribution is indeed growing rapidly: 161 million people worldwide now hold stablecoins, more than the inhabitants of the world's 10 largest cities combined.

In 2024 alone, $27.6 trillion worth of stablecoins were transferred, more than what Visa and Mastercard processed together.

To illustrate this trend, Uber is currently testing stablecoins for global payment processing, Russia and Abu Dhabi are developing their own stablecoins, and 90% of financial institutions are currently analyzing stablecoin applications for their infrastructure.

These figures speak for themselves: stablecoins are well on their way to become the backbone of online payments.

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🇫🇷 Société Générale launches US dollar stablecoin

After having launched in 2023 a euro stablecoin (EURCV), the French institution Société Générale-Forge is now expanding its offering with USD CoinVertible (USDCV), a US dollar stablecoin issued on Ethereum and Solana. The Bank of New York Mellon will act as custodian for the deposited reserves.

The USDCV will enable round-the-clock fiat-to-stablecoin conversions and offer real-time settlements in dollars and euros, a service aimed at institutional users. Trading is expected to start in July 2025, but the product is not available in the US.

Both SG stablecoins will be listed on leading exchanges and can be used for a variety of applications, including on-chain settlement, crypto trading, cross-border payments, foreign exchange transactions and cash management.

With this step, Société Générale is once again demonstrating that regulated and multichain stablecoins are a strategic topic for the future.

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💪 Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin in open interests

For the first time in history, Ethereum has overtaken Bitcoin in terms of open interest on the derivatives market, a clear signal of institutional confidence.

While the open positions of ETH increased by around 8% within 24 hours, those of BTC fell by around 2%. The trading volume also speaks in favor of ETH: at $110 billion (+34%), it was well ahead of BTC at $81 billion (-28%).

The upswing was triggered by the recently activated Pectra upgrade, which improves usability, staking and layer 2 compatibility. The result: a record value of over 34.8 million ETH are now staked on the network, or around 28% of all ETH in circulation.

Institutional engagement has also increased, with over $500 million flowing into Ethereum ETFs in ten days alone, while new spot ETF initiatives with integrated staking such as REX Shares further strengthen the momentum.

Ethereum is increasingly moving into the institutional spotlight. Technological progress, growing staking and increasing ETF activity are boosting the market confidence.

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🇺🇸 US crypto regulation at a crossroads

The window to adopt a clear crypto regulation in the USA could be closing soon. That's at least the warning of Marta Belcher, President of the Blockchain Association and the Filecoin Foundation.

According to her, if no legislation is passed by the end of the year before the next midterm elections, the wind could turn and make an agreement around new laws impossible.

Two key legislative initiatives are currently before the US Congress: one on market structure and one on stablecoins. Belcher urges haste to create a viable regulatory environment, as further delays could push some business abroad.

Many American crypto projects are ready to meet regulatory requirements, but there is still a lack of clear guidelines. Belcher is calling for an industry-wide compromise before political dynamics squander the opportunity for a fresh start.

The crypto industry in the USA is therefore facing a historic turning point. Between constructive dialog and regulatory paralysis, the country must choose now the fate of its crypto industry.

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💰 31% of all bitcoins are in institutional hands

BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has accumulated over 662,500 BTC in just one and a half years through its Bitcoin ETF IBIT. This corresponds to more than 3% of the total supply in circulation.

With a current market value of over $72 billion, IBIT not only exceeds the Bitcoin holdings of major crypto exchanges, but also those of all other institutional investors (excluding Satoshi Nakamoto).

The rapid growth makes IBIT the fastest growing ETF in history, faster than even gold ETFs such as GLD. Behind this development is a fundamental change: BlackRock is now positioning Bitcoin as a strategic asset for diversification, inflation hedging and value storage in an increasingly digital world.

At the same time, a new report by Gemini and Glassnode shows that around 31% of all bitcoins in circulation are now held in centralized hands, by companies, funds, governments or exchanges. This corresponds to 6.1 million BTC worth over $660 billion.

While supporters argue that institutional capital increases liquidity and reduces volatility, critics warn against the financialization of Bitcoin that would defeat its original purpose as a decentralized store of value.

BlackRock's ETF offensive marks a turning point: Bitcoin is becoming a mainstream asset, but at the price of growing centralization. What once emerged as a decentralized counter-model is now increasingly ending up in the hands of the world's largest financial players. This harbors opportunities - and risks.

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🛡 Bitcoin as a macroeconomic store of value

Bitcoin is more than just digital gold, says Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. In a much-noticed commentary, he refers to the $30 trillion US government bond segment, which could be challenged by Bitcoin as a store of value in the long term.

BTC is not only suitable as an inflation hedge like gold, but also as a hedge against government debt, geopolitical risks and monetary instability.

Michael Saylor (Strategy) expressed the same sentiment to Bloomberg: the "crypto winter" is over and the Bitcoin price will rise to $1 million in the long term. For him, the key drivers are the growing demand from listed companies and the limited daily supply of around 450 BTC.

Saylor's company now holds over 582,000 bitcoins worth $61 billion. According to him, daily inflows of around $50 million alone are enough to drive the market in the long term.

Geopolitical signs are also increasing: beyond companies like MicroStrategy and BlackRock, countries such as Pakistan are now building up strategic BTC reserves, a trend that is gradually elevating Bitcoin to the role of a macroeconomic store of value.

Economist Mohamed El-Erian underlines this development: US Treasury bonds are losing their role as a safe haven and instead capital is increasingly flowing into gold, silver and Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is gaining a new macroeconomic role: as a geopolitically independent "safe haven", which could not only challenge gold but also US government bonds as a global store of value.

The combination of growing acceptance, structural scarcity and loss of trust in traditional investment vehicles points to a potential paradigm shift in the financial system in favor of a digital, efficient and borderless alternative.

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📰 Short news

🔹 6.5% better swap rates, that's the promise of DEX aggregator 1inch with its new "Pathfinder" algorithm, an upgrade intended to appeal to retail users thanks to consolidated routes, improved capital efficiency and lower gas fees.

🔹 The Ethereum Foundation is donating $500,000 for the legal defense of Roman Storm, one of the developers of the privacy protocol Tornado Cash. In addition, the foundation wants to match community donations up to $750,000. Storm will stand trial in New York from July 14, charged with money laundering and violating US sanctions. The foundation emphasizes: "Privacy is normal - and writing code is not a crime."

🔹 The Crypto Fear & Greed Index remains in the "Greed" range with a value of 60, despite the escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict and a BTC dip to $103,000. Analysts point to Bitcoin's relative strength. However, should BTC fall below the psychologically important $100,000 mark, long positions worth $1.7 billion could be liquidated.