Loved this recap. The common thread is the unsexy part winning: plumbing. Visa + BVNK is basically “stablecoin sandwich” settlement hiding the crypto UX, which is exactly how new rails go mainstream. Coinbase buying the clearing layer is the same move in markets: own the settlement and compliance stack, not just the front-end app. And the Balderton-Revolut story is a reminder that Europe’s edge has been FinTech when it commits to a thesis and holds through cycles.
Curious how you see the next bottleneck: regulatory clarity (MiCA, CFTC), liquidity and on/off-ramps, or distribution (incumbents embedding vs crypto-native scaling)?
Good point. I use “bottleneck” as “what determines the slope of adoption,” not “what blocks it.” Settlement is solved enough, but the constraint shifts to compliance clarity, deep on/off-ramp liquidity, and integration risk. Whoever compresses those frictions wins I guess.
Loved this recap. The common thread is the unsexy part winning: plumbing. Visa + BVNK is basically “stablecoin sandwich” settlement hiding the crypto UX, which is exactly how new rails go mainstream. Coinbase buying the clearing layer is the same move in markets: own the settlement and compliance stack, not just the front-end app. And the Balderton-Revolut story is a reminder that Europe’s edge has been FinTech when it commits to a thesis and holds through cycles.
Curious how you see the next bottleneck: regulatory clarity (MiCA, CFTC), liquidity and on/off-ramps, or distribution (incumbents embedding vs crypto-native scaling)?
Is it really a bottleneck though?
Good point. I use “bottleneck” as “what determines the slope of adoption,” not “what blocks it.” Settlement is solved enough, but the constraint shifts to compliance clarity, deep on/off-ramp liquidity, and integration risk. Whoever compresses those frictions wins I guess.
This is free?! Epic stuff - thx.
Glad you found it valuable. :)
Good read - thank you for putting this together.
My pleasure!