Apollo $1.3B Private Credit Expands to Solana

Unicoin $100M Fraud | OKX US Expansion

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Good Morning.

Believe tokens are all the rage as the KOLs try to coin the term “Internet Capital Markets”. Are these just tokens associated with bootstrap projects but without any clear pathways to some sort of revenue share or buyback-and-burn? Maybe. Will I still ape? Trust your instinct.

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In Today's Email:

  • What Matters: Unicoin $100M Fraud 🥷 

  • Case Study: Solana’s Alpenglow Upgrade ⚙️ 

  • Governance & Features: Apollo Tokenized Credit on Solana 🚀 

You read and share. We listen and improve. Send us feedback at [email protected].

Narratives: Bitcoiiiiiiin.

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WHAT MATTERS

SEC Charges Unicoin with $100M Fraud

State of play: The SEC has filed charges against New York-based crypto firm Unicoin and its executives for allegedly misleading investors through the sale of rights certificates tied to its token and stock.

  • According to the SEC, Unicoin falsely claimed to have sold over $3B in certificates backed by real estate and pre-IPO equity. When in fact it raised no more than $110M.

  • The SEC says most asset claims were exaggerated or untrue, and promotional campaigns across airports, taxis, and media misled more than 5,000 investors.

  • Charges were filed in federal court, with one executive settling for $37,500.

Why it matters: The SEC is gradually showing openness to crypto, but cases like Unicoin show it still draws a hard line on fraud. This signals a more nuanced approach, supporting innovation while cracking down on bad actors.

Our take: Grifters be grifting.

For builders and investors: Remember there’s no free lunch, folks.

CASE STUDY

Solana’s Alpenglow Upgrade

Source: Anza

Once a researcher at Ethereum, Max Resnick has pivoted to Solana with a bold ambition: to turn it into a decentralized equivalent of Nasdaq. Now part of Anza, a Solana Labs spinout, Resnick unveiled a major protocol redesign named Alpenglow.

  • Unlike Ethereum’s "world computer" vision, Solana aims to rival centralized trading venues like NYSE and CME in speed and volume.

Alpenglow is set to be the largest upgrade to Solana’s core protocol to date, featuring a reimagined consensus system built for sub-second finality and real-time responsiveness.

  • The approach includes pipelined consensus and a novel multi-leader mechanism that could enable block production every 20 milliseconds.

  • The team is targeting a 150-millisecond round-trip confirmation time, numbers on par with the performance needs of institutional-grade trading infras.

  • A full white paper is expected soon as Anza continues its push to bring traditional finance speed to decentralized rails.

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INSIGHTS

OKX US Expansion

OKX is ramping up its US expansion with former Barclays and Hidden Road executive Roshan Robert at the helm. After resolving a $500M DOJ settlement, the exchange is rebuilding its brand in the US, starting with spot trading and a Web3 wallet.

  • The firm already has licenses in 47 states and has grown to 500 employees across three cities.

  • Robert's long-term vision is to bring OKX’s global products, including payments, derivatives, and real-world asset offerings, to the US.

  • OKX aims to become a category-defining super app in the evolving US crypto landscape.

FEATURES & GOVERNANCE UPDATE

ACRED Brings Tokenized Credit to Solana

Source: Token Terminal

Securitize's ACRED, a tokenized version of Apollo’s private credit fund, is set to launch on Solana through a partnership with Kamino Finance and Steakhouse Financial.

  • This marks the first use of Securitize’s sToken standard on Solana and introduces real-world assets into the network's DeFi ecosystem.

  • Kamino will offer leveraged yield strategies using ACRED, aiming to attract institutional interest and expand Solana's RWA footprint.

  • The move signals growing momentum for tokenized traditional finance products on public blockchains.

Other notable feature updates:

QUICK BITES

  • Ethereum DEX activity surges 73% this month.

  • Max Resnick specs out a plan to transform Solana.

  • Ramaswamy’s Strive eyes 75,000 BTC in Mt. Gox claims.

  • Binance asks court to toss FTX’s $1.76B clawback lawsuit.

  • Senate votes to move forward on landmark stablecoin legislation.

  • Argentina's Milei shuts down task force investigating LIBRA scandal.

  • South Korea mandates stricter crypto AML, KYC for institutional ban lift.

  • SEC delays decision on Ether staking and XRP ETFs, as analysts expected.

  • SEC charges crypto project Unicoin, executives with $100M fraud offering.

  • Bancor sues Uniswap for patent infringement over DEX smart contract tech.

  • SEC Chair pressed on $TRUMP, Justin Sun ties during congressional hearing.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

  • Paul Frambot’s read on the price of trust.

  • Spartan x Modular’s read on the Pendle liquid opportunity thesis.

  • Rain&Coffee’s read on the case for and against multiple concurrent proposers.

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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.