Please like, comment or subscribe if you haven’t already.

The world’s largest derivatives exchange is going onchain. On its Q4 earnings call, CEO Terry Duffy confirmed CME is exploring a proprietary digital token that could operate on a decentralized network, designed for use as collateral and margin in derivatives trading.

“Not only are we looking at tokenized cash, we’re looking at different initiatives with our own coin that we could potentially put on a decentralized network for other industry participants to use,” Duffy said. Duffy was clear on trust: tokens from systemically important financial institutions are welcome as margin; tokens from third- or fourth-tier banks are not.

Crypto derivatives volumes jumped 92% YoY. When the venue that clears $12B/day in crypto starts minting its own onchain collateral, the tokenization narrative moves from pilot to production. Source.

Vitalik sparked debate last week by arguing the original 2020 rollup-centric roadmap needs updating. But many commentators over-interpreted the message.

The key points: L2s remain valuable, but there are more paths available to them than just progressing to a Stage 2 rollup. Some may become native rollups via enshrined zk-EVM proofs. Others could specialize in other areas - think Lighter.xyz with perps. Meanwhile, the L1 will continue scaling without sacrificing decentralization.

The takeaway is not that L2s don’t have a place in the Ethereum ecosystem. It’s that focusing purely on scaling EVM blockspace as a Stage 1 rollup is not the highest-value path. Add value with other features.

In a separate thread, Vitalik reinforced ETH as a store of value and a key app on Ethereum. Source.

Fidelity Investments has officially entered the stablecoin market. The $5.8 trillion asset manager launched FIDD (Fidelity Digital Dollar) on Ethereum mainnet, making it one of the first major traditional financial institutions to issue a dollar-backed token under the GENIUS Act.

“Having a stablecoin within our ecosystem opens the door for other financial services to be built onchain, by us and others,” said Mike O’Reilly, President of Fidelity Digital Assets. “It becomes a building block for more efficient infrastructure.”

FIDD is available on Fidelity Digital Assets, Fidelity Crypto, and Fidelity Crypto for Wealth Managers platforms, as well as major exchanges. Source.

The CFTC reissued Staff Letter 25-40 with an expanded definition of “payment stablecoin” to include those issued by national trust banks. Futures commission merchants can now accept stablecoins from issuers as customer margin collateral.

“With the enactment of the GENIUS Act and the CFTC’s new eligible collateral framework, America is the global leader in payment stablecoin innovation,” said Chairman Michael Selig.

The CFTC is also targeting August 2026 for finalized technical rules on blockchain-based collateral, clearing, and settlement. Source.

Last week was a big one for Qivalis. Spain’s second-largest bank joined the Qivalis consortium, bringing the European euro-stablecoin project to 12 member banks including BNP Paribas, UniCredit, ING, CaixaBank, and Danske Bank. The consortium now represents ~$800B in combined assets.

Leadership also confirmed the stablecoin will launch on Ethereum as the first port of call citing that its where the necessary liquidity and utility is onchain. Target launch is H2 2026 under the MiCA framework. The goal: a credible euro alternative to the $256B USD-dominated stablecoin market.

“Collaboration between banks is key to create common standards that support the evolution of the future banking model,” said Alicia Pertusa, Head of Partnerships & Innovation at BBVA CIB. Source.

Volatile markets triggered over $450M in liquidations across Aave last week. Stani Kulechov was quick to contextualize: that’s less than 0.9% of the protocol’s $50B+ in deposits. The automated liquidation engine processed everything without manual intervention or liquidity shortfalls.

A loan backed by 2.3% of total AAVE supply (~355K tokens) was hit by cascading liquidations as AAVE dropped to ~$103. Two major whales voluntarily dumped $371M in ETH to proactively repay Aave loans. The protocol’s resilience under stress continues to be its best marketing. Source.

Tether made a $100M strategic equity investment in Anchorage Digital, the first federally regulated digital asset bank in the US, at a $4.2B valuation. The investment is being used for Anchorage’s first private stock sale for employees, providing liquidity to team members who helped build the company over nearly a decade.

Anchorage is also exploring a US IPO in 2027, aiming to raise up to $400M. The deal comes as Tether also launched USAT, a new US-compliant stablecoin to challenge USDC on its home turf. Source.

Stablecoin issuers are generating billions in revenue using Ethereum their primary settlement layer.

Revolut users have now staked over 60,000 ETH. Data by Beaconcha.in

Ethereum Foundations’s own Austin Griffith and Davide Crapis map the emerging AI agent stack on Ethereum. ERC-8004 provides decentralized identity and reputation for autonomous agents. x402 handles agent-to-agent payments.

→ Corporate Development, Crypto/Blockchain/Digital Assets - JPMorganChase (New York)

→ Product Manager - Digital Assets - Blackrock (New York)

→ Digital Assets Strategist, Vice President/Executive Director - Morgan Stanley (New York)

→ Director, Product and Innovation - Tokenization - BNY (New York)

→ Digital Assets Strategy Lead — Nasdaq (New York)

Thanks for reading. Please like and engage with this post. Every little helps!

James Smith & David Walsh