Happy weekend Defiers!

Crypto markets continued to struggle this week. Bitcoin lost over 2% in the past 7 days, starting the week around $90,000 and ending it just below, near $88,000, dipping as low as $84,600 on Thursday. ETH is faring worse, down 4% on the week, failing to break back above $3,000.

Despite better-than-expected inflation data for November, traders faced uncertainty and market sentiment remained in the extreme fear zone all week.

Meanwhile, the TradFi-crypto convergence marches on, as Visa added stablecoin settlement in the United States, and the The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) tapped Canton for its tokenized securities pilot. SoFi Bank also announced the launch of its own stablecoin on a permissionless network, though details remain unclear.

In DeFi, Aave was the focus of an ongoing governance dispute between its DAO and Aave Labs, the core development company behind the protocol — and how aligned the two entities are. Tokenized stocks became more composable in decentralized finance, as Kamino added Forward Industries shares — tokenized via Superstate’s Opening Bell — as collateral for non-U.S. traders.

Finally, top U.S. CEX Coinbase made waves when it announced it’s filing lawsuits in three U.S. states over prediction market regulations. In addition to prediction market integration, Coinbase revealed its new RWA tokenization platform and confirmed its Solana DEX plans.

Enjoy!

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Top stories this week

Visa Unveils Stablecoin Settlement in the United States

Payments giant Visa Inc. launched USDC settlement in the United States, allowing U.S. issuer and acquirer partners to settle transactions via Circle’s stablecoin using Visa’s payments rails. The move begins with two initial banking participants, using USDC on the Solana blockchain, with partner expansion expected in 2026.

In other stablecoin news this week, online bank SoFi announced its own stablecoin, SoFiUSD, making it the first U.S. national bank to release an “open access” stablecoin.

DTCC Taps Canton Network to Test Tokenized Treasuries

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation announced that it has selected Layer 1 Canton Network to tokenize a subset of the U.S. Treasury securities it holds, highlighting the platform’s privacy features amid a rising debate over financial confidentiality in digital assets.

In other tokenization news, Robert Leshner’s Superstate announced that tokenized public equities issued through its Opening Bell platform are now available to non-U.S. traders as collateral on Kamino, the largest lending protocol on Solana.

Aave DAO Controversy Rekindles Debate on Tokenholder Rights

Aave is at the center of a governance dispute after its DAO and Aave Labs clashed across forums and social media, initially over fee distribution. But the debate has turned into a full-blown indictment of how many major crypto organizations are structured.

At the core of the disagreement is the question of what role should DAOs and companies play, and the difference between token holders and equity holders.

Coinbase Sues Three States Over Prediction Market Restrictions

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase filed lawsuits in Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan this week to stop the states from applying local gambling laws to prediction markets, while Kalshi faces lawsuits in multiple states over its sports markets, as the federal vs. state regulation debate wages on in court. Earlier in the week, Coinbase confirmed previously announced plans to integrate Kalshi’s predictions markets within its main app.

In other news from the CEX, Coinbase also revealed Coinbase Tokenize to bring traditional assets on-chain. The move is also part of the firm’s broader push beyond crypto trading.