Ondo & Pantera $250M RWA Push

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Good Morning.

BTC has been teasing us. Seems like everybody is thinking about the same strategy → wait and see if we get the ATH breakout, or buy the dip if we fall back down. As a result, we get the most bipolar price action in months.

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: Ondo & Pantera $250M RWA Push 💰️ 

• Founders Highlight: Sam Battenally of RISE Labs 👨 

• Deal Flow: TOP Raises $28.5M Series A 💰️ 

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WHAT MATTERS

Ondo & Pantera $250M RWA Push

State of play: Ondo Finance and Pantera Capital plan to invest $250M into real-world asset (RWA) projects, combining equity stakes and project tokens.

• This initiative aims to bridge traditional financial markets with digital assets and enable 24/7 trading of tokenized securities.

• Earlier this year, Ondo launched a platform offering on-chain exposure to US stocks, bonds, and ETFs.

• The move comes amid broader industry interest in tokenizing RWAs, with firms like Injective, Plume, Coinbase, and Kraken all exploring tokenized equities.

What’s next: We’re moving from onchain “money market” to actual capital markets (real businesses) being traded onchain.

For builders and investors: Robinhood’s latest move has truly opened Pandora's box. Trading between equities and tokens will be merged eventually.

BUILDER-INVESTOR HIGHLIGHT

Sam Battenally of RISE Labs

Intro: Sam Battenally is the Founder and CEO of RISE Labs, an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain focused on high performance that offers instant transaction confirmation at scale while maintaining Ethereum’s decentralization principles.

Previous background: Before founding RISE Labs, Sam was Co-Founder and CTO of Robo Labs while advising BoF.xyz. Earlier, he was a Senior Software Engineer at Okra Solar and held technical leadership roles at Seeing Machines.

• He also worked as an Electronics Design Engineer at Genesys Electronics Design and as a Configuration Engineer at Electro Optic Systems.

The big idea: By eliminating long-standing barriers to blockchain adoption, Sam, through RISE, offers a radically improved experience for both developers and users and unlocks a new generation of crypto applications.

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INSIGHTS

Franklin Templeton Warns of Crypto Treasury Risks

State of play: Franklin Templeton analysts cautioned that corporate crypto treasury strategies, where firms raise capital to hold assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, face an uncertain future.

• While these models can boost valuations, generate staking income, and create positive feedback loops when crypto prices rise, they also carry serious risks.

• A drop in market-to-NAV ratios can make new equity issuance dilutive, and falling crypto prices may trigger a “dangerous” negative feedback loop.

• Analysts stressed that maintaining a premium to NAV and managing volatility are essential for long-term success.

DEAL FLOWS

TOP Raises $28.5M Series A

Deal flows soared this week - we saw $630M in deals 💼 

The Open Platform (TOP), which builds developer tools for Telegram’s blockchain TON, raised $28.5M in an extended Series A equity round.

• Ribbit Capital led the investment, with Pantera Capital also participating.

• The new funding brings TOP’s total capital raised to $70M and values the company at $1B, making it a unicorn among TON-focused startups.

• TOP plans to use the funds to expand into the US, EU, and other regions, supporting GTM strategies, licensing, compliance, and infrastructure.

Deal flows in the past week:

• XO Market, $0.5M Pre-Seed Round

• Crystalfall, $2M Pre-Seed Round

• inshAllah, $2.1M Pre-Seed Round

• Datagram, $4M Pre-Seed Round

• Backseat, $9.7M Seed Round

• The Open Platform, $28.5M Series B Round

• TWL Miner, $95M Series B Round

• Limitless, $4M Strategic Round

• BitMine, $250M Private Round

• Coinsilium Group, $3.8M Post-IPO Equity Round

• AllScale, $1.5M Unknown Round

• The Blockchain Group, $13M Unknown Round

• Hut 8, $220M Unknown Round

QUICK BITES

• Ripple seeks a US banking license.

• USDC sees 'remarkable' 29-fold YoY growth.

• NY law firm files class action against Strategy.

• JP Morgan forecasts $500B stablecoin market by 2028.

• Ondo and Pantera plan $250M investment in RWA projects.

• JP Morgan, S&P Global exploring tokenized carbon credits.

• 2 BTC wallets move 20,000 BTC after 14 years of dormancy.

• Tom Lee’s Bitmine surges 3,000% since ETH treasury strategy.

• Solana staking ETF notches $33M in volume on first day of trading.

• Franklin Templeton flags uncertain outlook for crypto treasury firms.

• Sen. Cynthia Lummis renews push for crypto tax reform with new bill.

• DeFi Development Corp. adds 17,760 SOL, bringing holdings to $96M.

• Robinhood CEO says OpenAI and SpaceX ‘stock tokens’ are derivatives.

• JD & Ant Group urge central bank to approve offshore yuan stablecoins.

• Major TradFi group calls on SEC to establish open, progressive crypto rules.

• Judge allows Celsius to proceed with claims against Tether in $4.3B dispute.

NOTEWORTHY READS

• Arthur Hayes’ read on quid pro stablecoin.

• Decentralised’s read on the great divergence.

• a16z crypto’s read on how stablecoins become money.

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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.