Appold Market Watch - Week ending 4 July 2025
Market Update & Industry News - Week ending 4 July 2025
🔷 Circle (USDC) and Ripple (RLUSD) have applied for U.S. national trust bank charters and Federal Reserve master accounts, highlighting a potential industry push to bring their stablecoins under federal oversight and into the regulated financial system.
Appold view: Circle reportedly aims to internalise control of a $62bn stablecoin, where Ripple’s move adds a federal layer atop an already state-regulated asset. Different starting points but a shared endgame. Competitors and market participants should monitor this as part of a broader trend of crypto-native firms embedding within traditional financial architecture.
🔷 Robinhood launches tokenised U.S. stocks and ETFs for EU users with over 200 available 24/5 via the Arbitrum layer-2 blockchain, with dividends but no voting rights. Private‑company tokens for OpenAI and SpaceX are also planned. The company is reportedly building its own Layer‑2 blockchain, with plans to add perpetual futures in Europe and staking in the U.S.
Appold view: Robinhood’s tokenised stocks provide synthetic exposure with dividend passthrough but no ownership rights. They are regulated under MiCA via Lithuania’s central bank. This strategic move positions the firm at the intersection of brokerage and blockchain infrastructure. We will be very interested to understand the demand and traded volume in the coming months.
🔷 The first U.S. listed Solana ETF (ticker: SSK) launched this week, combining spot SOL exposure with on-chain staking rewards. The ETF product was launched on CBOE BZX exchange in Chicago and is the third crypto ETF asset to launch in the U.S. after Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Appold view: The modest $12 million of first-day inflows suggests limited immediate appetite and highlights the challenge of scaling altcoin products beyond crypto-native circles. Still, the ETF expands investor choice by introducing staking yield within a regulated wrapper. However, its ~1.4% fee makes it significantly more expensive than typical BTC and ETH ETFs, which average 0.2–0.3%.
🔷 Asset manager Schroders has launched its Global Digital Assets Centre of Excellence in Singapore. The centre plans to develop tokenisation and scalable digital investment solutions. It aims to accelerate innovation across Schroders’ global asset management operations.
Appold view: This announcement certainly adds to the growing institutional interest in tokenisation, with Asia being a strong potential market for product distribution. Singapore has already hosted multiple pilots under Project Guardian, and while the intent is clear, the market is now looking for tangible product launches rather than more frameworks and announcements.
#Marketwatch #Blockchain #Investments
