Weighing Figure’s growth potential after Nasdaq debut

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

Figure went public yesterday, and Gemini was set to follow suit today. Somewhat related (you’ll see), we were reminded of how the biggest asset managers could help fuel a tokenization boom. 

Let’s hone in on Figure, which just debuted on the Nasdaq. Shares of FIGR opened at $36 on Thursday — 44% above its $25 IPO price. The stock was trading around $33.20 at 1:30 p.m. ET. 

Making another appearance in this newsletter (after I cited his COIN vs. HOOD report) is Blockworks Research’s Marc Arjoon. His latest write-up points out a regulatory edge Figure has over certain…

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Ethereum’s paradox: Usage at all-time highs as fees plummet

Ethereum is scaling into its role as the neutral settlement layer. Value accrues across L2s and applications — not from squeezing L1 fees. The paradox is, on a usage versus revenue basis, Ethereum appears to be both winning and losing.

Consider this:

Throughput up: monthly transactions and unique active addresses are at, or near, highs.

Cost down: median and average tx fees sit near cycle lows; base-fee gwei is low and steady.

Mix shift: rollups are stuffing blobs at record levels; users trade more, especially stables, without pushing L1 fees up.

Revenue craters: base-fee burn + tips are far below 2021–22; net issuance is low but generally positive.

The…

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Parabolic Bitcoin Rally Is Coming—Here’s What To Watch

One of the dominant narratives this cycle has been that “this time is different.” With institutional adoption reshaping Bitcoin’s supply and demand dynamics, many argue that we won’t see the kind of euphoric blowoff top that defined past cycles. Instead, the idea is that smart money and ETFs will smooth out volatility, replacing mania with maturity. But is that really the case?

Sentiment Drives Markets, Even for Institutions

Skeptics often dismiss tools like the Fear and Greed Index as too simplistic, arguing that they can’t capture the nuance of institutional flows. But writing off sentiment ignores a fundamental truth that institutions are still run by people, and people…

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Thursday links: Overpriced debt, community-approved stables and Justin Sun

This is a segment from The Breakdown newsletter. To read more editions, subscribe

Strategy as financing franchise

Bond investors are generally considered more sophisticated than stock market investors (there’s more math involved, for one thing) — and no one has ever accused professional bond investors of being less sophisticated retail stock market investors.

But a recent paper that does the math on Strategy’s valuation suggests they might be.

Equity investors, it finds, are paying the right price for Strategy’s equity — but only because bond investors are paying the wrong price for Strategy’s bonds.

This makes Strategy a “financing franchise” that…

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The End Of Paper Bitcoin Summer

As summer now turns to fall in the northern hemisphere, the stonkcoiner dream of bitcoinizing finance is rapidly becoming a nightmare. The bitcoin paper summer of issuing shares to clueless financial markets at (extreme) overvaluations to thereby buy bitcoin on the cheap is ending, not with a bang of success but with a pretty unimpressive whimper.

The bitcoin treasury dream was nice; I even openly admit that it made some sense. 

For a few months, Wall Street merrily entertained the froth and fuelled the fires. But at last, financial gravity is reasserting itself: We’re all waking up from our summer fling with financial delusion, where things traded for more than what…

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What’s next for crypto markets as Fed rate cut expectation holds?

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

No one is really arguing whether the Federal Reserve will cut rates next week. The conversation has become: by how much? And how will that impact crypto markets?

It’s perfect timing for such a question, as more data dropped today.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.4% in August (on a seasonally adjusted basis) — up from a 0.2% rise in July. It rose 2.9% for the 12 months ending August, slightly up from the 2.7% annualized figure last month. Core CPI (excludes food and energy) rose 0.3% in August, as it did in July.

21Shares crypto investment specialist David Hernandez…

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Nepalese Protestors Should Permanently Embrace Bitchat As Well As Bitcoin And Other Freedom Tech

On Monday, September 8, 2025, Nepalese youth began protesting on the streets of Kathmandu in response to the Nepali government’s banning 26 major social media platforms on Thursday, September 4, 2025.

At the height of the protests, the Nepalese protestors began downloading Bitchat, a new app created and developed by Twitter/X and Block founder Jack Dorsey and open-source developer Calle.

The app, a censorship-resistant messaging app that harnesses Bluetooth mesh technology as well as the Nostr protocol and that doesn’t even require an internet connection to use, was downloaded almost 49,000 times on September 8 in Nepal, according to data shared by Calle on X.

Last…

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LATEST: South Korea Moves To Recognize Crypto Firms As Venture Entities

South Korea has officially lifted its nearly decade-long restriction that prevented cryptocurrency businesses from being recognized as venture companies. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups approved a revision to the Venture Business Act, which will allow digital asset firms to apply for venture certification starting September 16. This marks the end of a ban imposed in 2018, which excluded crypto companies from tax benefits and government support available to other startups.

The decision reflects a shift in South Korea’s stance toward crypto, fueled by the election of pro-crypto President Lee Jae-myung in June. His administration has prioritized digital finance reforms and sees digital assets as key to boosting innovation, attracting global investment, and enhancing competitiveness in next-generation technologies. Officials say the policy aims to align the country with global crypto trends while fostering blockchain infrastructure, smart contracts, and cybersecurity.

Authorities emphasized that investor protection remains a priority. Recent measures tightened oversight of crypto lending, banning risky leveraged loans and capping annual interest rates. By balancing growth and regulation, South Korea hopes to position itself as a leading hub for digital asset innovation.

Report

Africa’s Chipper Cash Adopts Lightning at Scale: 50% of Bitcoin Transactions Now Instant and Low-Cost

Bitcoin Magazine

Africa’s Chipper Cash Adopts Lightning at Scale: 50% of Bitcoin Transactions Now Instant and Low-Cost

Chipper Cash, one of Africa’s leading fintech companies, announced today that more than 50% of all Bitcoin transactions on its platform now run over the Lightning Network, marking one of the most significant real-world deployments of Lightning to date.

The company, which serves millions of consumers and businesses across Africa, has been using Lightning through infrastructure provider Voltage to deliver faster, cheaper, and more reliable payments. This achievement well showcases the growing importance of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network as a viable everyday payment…

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Respect the PUMP: Crypto’s emerging meme season

This is a segment from the 0xResearch newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.

With risk assets back in rally mode, crypto is leaning hard into the easing narrative. Softer inflation data has lifted expectations for Fed cuts, sending majors higher and reigniting speculative flows. In this environment, protocols are reaching for every tool available to capture attention and support valuations, from pump.fun buying ecosystem memes to Lido potentially experimenting with buybacks as a way to bolster token performance.

It’s a field of green today with BTC, ETH and SOL up 2.3%, 1.7% and 2.7%, respectively in the last 24 hours. This follows the PPI surprising to the…

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