Cobie Joins Paradigm, Boost Echo-VC Ties

Metaplanet Adds $104M in BTC | BlackRock’s sBUIDL Goes DeFi on AVAX

Marco Manoppo & Karon Pangestu
May 19, 2025

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Good Morning.

The market is relatively flat. Altcoin appetite isn’t really there as believe-ecosystem tokens seem to have only thrived for 48 hours, but hey, perhaps I’m speaking too soon. There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes, but mostly on the yield aspect and tokenization of offchain assets/strategies.

Check out our latest pod episode with Pet3rpan from 1kx Network VC fund!

In Today's Email:

What Matters: Cobie Advises Paradigm, Boost Echo-VC Ties 🤝
Product of the Week: BlackRock’s sBUIDL Goes DeFi on Avalanche 🚀
Charts: Metaplanet & Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Wealth Fund ❤️ BTC

You read and share. We listen and improve. Send us feedback at marco@launchy.app.

Narratives: Believe tokens.

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TOGETHER WITH

The Nillion Standard

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The Nillion Standard introduces blind compute, a new primitive that lets data be processed without ever being seen. It's fast, scalable, composable, and designed for public, decentralized networks.

This isn’t theory. It’s running.

Developers are already building with Nillion to unlock once impossible use cases. As AI becomes the new engine of the internet, Nillion ensures it runs on a foundation that protects intent, not exploits it.

AI is expected to add $15.7T to global GDP by 2030. That future depends on a secure data infrastructure. Nillion enables safe, private AI adoption across industries by closing the privacy gap at the foundation.

The intelligent internet needs privacy as its base layer. That’s the Nillion Standard.

WHAT MATTERS

Cobie Joins Paradigm, Boost Echo-VC Ties

Welcome @cobie to Paradigm as an advisor
He’s always been one of my favorite people in crypto to chat with, so excited to make it official
Someday we can convince him to restart UpOnly
— Matt Huang (@matthuang)
5:25 PM • May 16, 2025

State of play: Crypto figure Cobie (Jordan Fish) has joined Paradigm as an advisor, focusing on public market strategy. Cobie's appointment signals deeper collaboration between Echo and leading VCs.

Initially met with resistance, Echo is now gaining traction with support from top funds.
Echo is drawing backing from major firms like Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, Hack VC, and 1kx.
These firms are actively helping portfolio projects raise on Echo, boosting both deal credibility and retail participation.

Why it matters: Echo’s evolution shows that community crowdfunding and VC backing can coexist as complementary forces in crypto funding.

Our take: Crowdfunding platforms will continue to evolve in crypto because a token is still the best innovation in capital formation in the last 100 years.

For builders and investors: Make sure you have a strategy to incorporate the community/masses, for both fundraising and investing, to stay relevant.

PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

BlackRock’s sBUIDL Goes DeFi on Avalanche

1/ A historic first in DeFi.
BlackRock-backed sBUIDL, issued by @Securitize, is now live on Euler.
It's sBUIDL's first ever direct DeFi integration.
Curated by @Re7Labs on @avax.
— Euler Labs (@eulerfinance)
1:08 PM • May 15, 2025

BlackRock’s $3B tokenized Treasury fund BUIDL has launched its first DeFi integration via sBUIDL on Euler, using Avalanche.

The integration is built by Re7 Labs and leverages Securitize’s sToken framework.
This allows sBUIDL to be used as collateral while earning AVAX rewards and underlying yield.
This marks a step toward onchain utility for tokenized real-world assets without sacrificing redeemability.

Other cool products:

bemo, a liquid staking platform on TON.
Zeroway, a multifunctional interchain platform.
Moola Market, a borrowing and lending protocol.
Matter DeFi, a sustainable yield farming on Tezos.
Cliza AI, an agentic token launchpad platform on Base.

Take a peek at our referral reward at the bottom of this issue. Share this newsletter and receive our list of 500 crypto VC individuals 👇

CHARTS OF THE WEEK

Metaplanet Adds $104M in BTC Holdings

Source: Bitbo

State of play: Metaplanet has purchased 1,004 BTC for $104.3M, raising its total holdings to 7,800 BTC worth approximately $806M.

The firm began accumulating BTC in April 2024 as part of a long-term treasury strategy and aims to reach 10,000 BTC by the end of 2025.
It has financed purchases through 15 bond issuances, including a recent $15M round.
Metaplanet is now the largest public Bitcoin holder in Asia and ranks 11th globally.

Our take: Nothing new to see, but further proof that the equity wrapper strategy is working well.

Mubadala Ups Bitcoin ETF Stake to 8.7M Shares

Source: The Block

State of play: Mubadala Investment Company, a sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, raised its holdings in BlackRock’s IBIT Bitcoin ETF to 8.7M shares during Q1 2025, adding 491,439 shares worth $28.8M.

Despite a drop in market value during the quarter, the position is now valued at approximately $512M.
Citadel and Avenir are also boosting their IBIT positions.
Meanwhile, firms like Wisconsin’s investment board exited IBIT, though they remain exposed to BTC via stocks like MicroStrategy and Coinbase.

Our take: Bitcoin adoption amongst institution is only starting.

QUICK BITES

Bitcoin transaction fees hit 2025 highs.
Cobie joins Paradigm, boosting Echo-VC ties.
Bitcoin ETFs have seen over $5B inflow since April.
Blum co-founder arrested in Moscow on fraud charges.
El Salvador's BTC stash sees $357M in unrealized profit.
Binance & Kraken thwarted social engineer attacks similar to Coinbase.
Vitalik suggests implementing ‘partially stateless nodes’ to scale Ethereum.
Metaplanet buys 1,004 BTC for $104M, pushing total holdings to 7,800 BTC.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

Santisa’s read on pricing risk.
Vitalik’s read on scaling Ethereum L1.
Teng Yan’s read on crypto AI mental frameworks.

after ftx blew up all the vcs wrote thinkpieces about how everything needs to move on-chain to be auditable and unruggable. now all the same people are foaming at the mouth for a blockchain that is unauditable and ruggable
— venture anthropologist (@0xBalloonLover)
10:09 PM • May 17, 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.