Let's start differentiating where stables trade in the secondary market vs what they can be redeemed for in the primary. Temporary depegs that can be arbed are normal. But it's unclear what this means for tokenized deposits where the secondary market could trigger a run.

That ONDO is a scam is something almost universally known in crypto. But few dare speak up about it, particularly prominent VCs who otherwise hold themselves out as important thought leaders. Step up and be a real leader. This project is a liability for all.

It’s amazing to think that the discounted cash flows of Ethereum have doubled in like a week. But they must have, because markets move on math only. Things like narratives and sentiment don’t matter, as many said when ETH was down. BTW the DCF of XRP had spiked even more.

The most important thing to remember about fiat going on chain (via stables or tokenized deposits) is that unless the solution changes the current architecture of payments, it doesn't achieve anything. It's a step backwards. This is not some anti-bank ideology. It's a practical recognition that the tech, cryptographic, and incentive soup that forms a blockchain is only beneficial if it enables a more P2P settlement layer. If it doesn't then it's pointless complexity and cost. A bank doesn't need a blockchain to offer real-time 24/7 payments to its clients. Banks have been offering that service for decades. Also, a bank consortium (or government) doesn't need a blockchain to allow real-time 24/7 payments across banks. Many countries have had RTP/Fast Payment systems for decades. All the defenses of why permissioned blockchain solutions make sense only see that there's a problem. "Bank systems are too slow" or "wire transfers take too long." But you can solve both to a great extent with faster databases and newer shared infrastructure. The blockchain is only beneficial if it's used to get rid of someone - a bank or a correspondent or or clearinghouse. And that only happens if the system is permissionless. There's a reason why after a decade of attempts and likely over a billion dollars invested, not a single permissioned solution has ever achieved anything other than questionable headlines If you still don't believe me, maybe you can be convinced by my (likely) late friend S.N. Most people think of him as the inventor of a new currency, but he was also a keen observer of the fundamental flaw of intermediated & permissioned systems:

Recycling the previous cycle's FUD is the ultimate sign of a lesser mind. At least have the creativity and audacity to come up with new FUD!

Banks make money from inefficiencies in payments. Stablecoins make payments more efficient. It's going to be fun watching them slowly, and painfully, discover the incongruence.

The Pump ICO is a watershed moment in crypto, but not in a good way. The blessing, and curse, of memecoins is that they are “an asset class about nothing.” This was the breakthrough I had. after years of thinking about them (sigh), when I wrote my blog post relating them to Seinfeld. Being about nothing lets investors do whatever they want with them, unconstrained by questions of value or fundamentals or success. But being about nothing also allows scammers, grifters, pump and dumpers and sandwichers to run wild. If a coin has a purpose then extractors can only go so far. If it doesn’t they will eventually crowd everyone else out. Thus, a pump and dump operation that is certain bad for, and likely a crime, for almost any other asset is just “a fun week” for a memecoin. Similarly, the kind of market manipulation that is frowned upon elsewhere, including for Bitcoin, is celebrated in memes. So why am I writing about this today? Because the Pump ICO is an attempt to bestow legitimacy on an asset class that doesn’t want it. It’s like breaking the 4th wall, or violating the mafia’s rule of never talking about it being organized crime. I’m still not sure how it shakes out, but about the only mistake the writers of Seinfeld made was trying to impose meaning on a show that thrived on not having any in the final episode.

My favorite thing about crypto is how it shines a mirror on the status quo. Great report on the IMF by the incomparable BitMEXResearch

Can't tell if it's deeply ironic or perfectly appropriate these coins haven't performed better

If we are going to celebrate the @pumpdotfun token drop, we should also celebrate how the most common activity on there is definitely not "tokenizing attention" or "monetizing content." It's extraction. Proof: the fact that lone wallets launch tens of thousands of memes. h/t @Blockworks_