$2T Stablecoin Supply in 2028

Unichain TVL Hit $200M | Strategy Adds $286M in BTC

Marco Manoppo & Karon Pangestu
April 16, 2025

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Good Morning.

The market is a bit jittery as China faces a 245% Trump tariff, but China has openly said that they’ll only engage with the US if the US addresses Taiwan concerns. Meanwhile, NVIDIA announced that it will start manufacturing supercomputers in the US. Boy oh boy.

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In Today's Email:

What Matters: Strategy Adds $286M in Bitcoin 💰️
Case Study: $2T Stablecoin in 2028 📈
Governance & Features: Everclear Mainnet Launch 🚀

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Narratives: Unichain farming.

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WHAT MATTERS

Strategy Adds $286M in Bitcoin

Source: The Block

State of play: Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) has purchased another 3,459 BTC for $285.8M.

The purchase brings Strategy's total holdings to 531,644 BTC, now valued at over $45B.
The purchase was funded by the sale of nearly 1M MSTR shares.
This marks the third consecutive weekly buy despite the firm disclosing nearly $6B in unrealized losses in Q1.
The buy comes as tech stocks rallied following US tariff exemptions on electronics, helping push Strategy’s stock price back near break-even for 2025.
Executive Chairman Michael Saylor hinted at the buy with a tweet saying, “No tariffs on orange dots.”

Why it matters: Analysts remain divided, while some flag Strategy’s premium to NAV and aggressive BTC buying, others see manageable debt and even predict holdings could double to 1M BTC by 2033.

Our take: Nothing to see here, it’s clear that buying pressure is weakening and it’s all about macro now.

For builders and investors: Time to focus on building.

CASE STUDY

$2T Stablecoin Market in 2028

Source: DefiLlama

Credits to Coindesk for the original article

Standard Chartered projects that the stablecoin market could surge from $230B to $2T by end-2028, driven largely by the expected passage of the GENIUS Act in the US.

The legislation, which cleared the Senate Banking Committee in March, would legitimize the sector and encourage mass issuance of fiat-backed stablecoins.
The bank estimates this growth would require up to $1.6T in new US Treasury purchases, reinforcing dollar hegemony and absorbing planned T-bill issuance.
Analysts expect the industry to move toward models like Circle's USDC, which holds 88% of reserves in short-term Treasuries, compared to Tether’s 66%.

Standard Chartered sees this as a structural shift in global liquidity, with stablecoins becoming a major force in both crypto and traditional finance.

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INSIGHTS

Galaxy: Crypto Lending Rebounds to $36.5B

Source: Galaxy

Galaxy Digital's latest report sheds light on the recovery and evolution of the crypto lending market, which reached $36.5B by Q4 2024, up 157% from its 2023 low. However, it's still well below the $64.4B peak in 2021.

Key insights of the report:

CeFi’s top 3 lenders, Tether, Galaxy, and Ledn, control nearly 90% of the market, with Ledn surpassing Coinbase in Q4 2024.
DeFi lending is surging, now accounting for 63% of total lending activity, fueled by transparency, permissionless access, and resilience during the bear market.
Institutional adoption and the entry of traditional finance (e.g., Cantor Fitzgerald, banks, and prime brokers) are expected to expand CeFi access and lower capital costs.
DeFi's future lies in tokenized private credit, smarter collateral use (e.g., stETH loops), and integrating real-world yield opportunities.
Legacy failures like Celsius and BlockFi collapsed the market in 2022–2023, but surviving platforms adopted tighter risk controls and improved practices.

Galaxy predicts that with improved risk management, regulatory clarity, and institutional participation, crypto lending could become a mature bridge between TradFi and DeFi.

FEATURES & GOVERNANCE UPDATE

Unichain Launches Incentive Program

Source: @agaperste

Unichain has launched its incentive program to bootstrap liquidity in the ecosystem. Prior to the launch, it’s arguable that the activity level was low.

Unichain’s TVL grew by 10x from $20M to the $200M range.
Liquidity rose from $2.5M to $130M+, a 50x growth.
Daily volume went from $386,000 to $38M (100x).

Other notable feature updates:

Aztec rolls out 'StealthNote.'
Ethena pulls out of Germany.
Babylon rolls out Genesis mainnet.
Interchain Labs launches IBC Eureka.
Solayer introduces new non-custodial crypto debit card.
Sky & Spark deploy $25M in Maple Finance lending pool.

QUICK BITES

ZKsync discloses a $5M attack.
Swedish MPs pitch Bitcoin policy.
Anchorage probed by US Homeland Security.
Canada to launch spot Solana ETFs this week.
Strategy purchased another 3,459 BTC for $285M.
Securitize acquires MG Stover's fund services arm.
Treehouse Finance reaches $400M token valuation.
KiloEx tells hacker to return $90% of the $7M stolen.
China’s local govt sell seized crypto to refill public coffers.
OKX to expand in the US following a $500M DOJ settlement.
Noble enables developers to build stablecoin tools on Celestia.
Visa joins Paxos and Robinhood for USDG stablecoin consortium.
Aztec developers roll out ‘StealthNote’ to protect whistleblowers.
South Korea pushes Apple to remove 14 unregistered crypto apps.
Standard Chartered expects stablecoin supply to surge to $2T by 2028.
Semler Scientific files $500M offering to buy more BTC amid DOJ settlement.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

Lauris’ read on tokens aren’t just CAC.
ltrd’s read on the $OM sell-off breakdown.
Donn’s read on singleness of Money and M0.

Saying your volume is revenue is some serious girl math
— Kasper Vandeloock (@kasperloock)
8:33 AM • Apr 16, 2025

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.