GameStop Eyes $2.25B Convertible Note

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Good Morning.

Every single time ETH is somewhat outperforming the market, there seems to be some geopolitical macro risk that brings it back down. Be strict with your portfolio risk management during uncertain times like this.

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: GameStop Eyes $2.25B Convertible Note 👀 

• Founders Highlight: Henri of Privy 👨 

• Deal Flow: SOON $5M Strategic Round 💰️ 

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WHAT MATTERS

GameStop Eyes $2.25B Convertible Note

State of play: GameStop has announced a $1.75B offering of 0.0% convertible senior notes, with an additional $250M option, as part of its shift toward a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

As I’m editing this, GameStop upsizes its private offering to $2.25B.

• The struggling video game retailer, known for its memestock status, disclosed it now holds 4,710 BTC after amending its investment policy in March 2025.

• Proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes and potential bitcoin-related acquisitions.

• This follows weak Q1 earnings, with revenue down 17% year-over-year. GameStop stock fell over 15% on the news, continuing recent declines.

What’s next: With declining sales, GameStop faces pressure to prove that its crypto strategy can support or revive its core business.

For builders and investors: We’re already seeing SharpLink’s stock dumping. The equity wrapper game looks a bit toppish, be cautious.

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Henri Stern of Privy

Intro: Henri Stern is the Founder and CEO of Privy, a developer tool that helps apps easily integrate crypto features like wallet creation, transaction signing, and on-chain access, without needing users to deal with complex blockchain interfaces.

Previous background: Before founding Privy, Henri built a diverse background across cryptography, engineering, and startups. He spent over two years as a research scientist at Protocol Labs, working on decentralized technologies.

• Before that, he held engineering roles at Palantir and Mark43, where he focused on data infrastructure and public safety systems.

• Earlier in his career, he co-founded Shout Inc., gaining hands-on startup experience.

• Henri holds a Master’s in Computer Science from Stanford and a B.A. from Columbia.

The big idea: Henri through Privy is aiming to make user ownership and privacy the default on the internet, without sacrificing product experience or developer ease.

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INSIGHTS

$2T US Stablecoin Market by 2028

State of play: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the US stablecoin market could exceed $2T by 2028, citing strong legislative backing like the GENIUS Act, which moved closer to a final Senate vote.

• The bill mandates full backing of stablecoins with dollars or T-bills and introduces audit requirements.

• With support from President Trump and rising institutional interest, Bessent believes stablecoins will help cement the US dollar's global dominance.

• The current USD stablecoin market is valued at nearly $250B.

DEAL FLOWS

SOON $5M Strategic Round

Deal flows remained steady this week - we saw $160M in deals 💼 

SOON, an Ethereum L2 powered by the SVM, received a $5m strategic investment from Jump Crypto, Amber Group, and other angel investors.

• SOON has previously raised $22M through an NFT sale.

• Angel investors participating in the round include Nana Murugesan of zkSync, Switchboard co-founder Chris Hermida, Mark Hull of Kamino, and Tori Cohen of Wormhole.

• The additional funds will be utilized to deliver trading tools, expand into the RWA space, and scale its copy-trading product.

Deal flows in the past week:

• Silhouette, $3M Pre-Seed Round

• Polycule, $0.56M Seed Round

• Noah, $22M Seed Round

• TYB — Try Your Best, $11M Series A

• Turnkey, $30M Series B

• Hypernative, $40M Series B

• Towns, $3.3M Strategic Round

• Rise Labs, $8M Strategic Round

• SOON - Solana Optimistic Network, $5M Strategic Round

• OpenTrade, $7M Strategic Round

• OneBalance, $20M Strategic Round

• IOST, $21M Strategic Round

QUICK BITES

• DTCC considers stablecoin integration.

• Tether acquires 32% stake in gold-focused firm.

• GameStop eyes BTC with $1.75B Convertible Note.

• SEC & Ripple ask for ruling tied to $125M fine in latest filing.

• SEC delays next steps for Dogecoin, Hedera, and Avalanche ETF.

• Meta questioned by senators on its renewed stablecoin ambitions.

• US Senate schedules final GENIUS stablecoin bill vote for June 17.

• Shopify teams up with Coinbase and Stripe for stablecoin payment.

• SEC scraps Gary Gensler-era DeFi exchange, custody rule proposals.

• SharpLink tumbles 70% after $425M raise for ETH treasury strategy.

• Plasma doubles its deposit cap, eyes $50M public sale at $500M FDV.

• Galaxy Novogratz suggests BTC hits $1M if the adoption trend persists.

• Spot Ethereum ETFs pull in $240M, beating Bitcoin ETFs’ $164M inflows.

• Scott Bessent thinks the US stablecoin market can hit $2T by the end of 2028.

• Anthony Pompliano in talks to lead a public firm seeking $750M to purchase BTC.

NOTEWORTHY READS

• a16z crypto’s read on AI x crypto crossovers.

• Chilla’s read on managing a $1.5M grant program on Arbitrum.

• Diogo’s read on Kraken: the only good American exchange thesis.

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