Blockchain
NetCents Technology’s CEO Issues Letter to Shareholders
Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – January 27, 2021) – NetCents Technology Inc. (CSE: NC) (FSE: 26N) (OTCQB: NTTCF) (“NetCents” or the “Company“), a cryptocurrency payments company, is pleased to issue a letter to shareholders from CEO, Clayton Moore.
Dear Fellow Shareholders,
As I write you this letter – a letter from lockdown – 2020 was an exceptional year in exceptional times. It was an incredibly difficult year with extraordinary upheaval globally, new restrictions that none of us have ever had to live with before, and great uncertainty. We’re enormously grateful that in these uniquely challenging times, we’ve been able to not only survive, but enter 2021 thriving and have the Company in a stronger position for growth than at any point in our history.
OUR OPPORTUNITY
Fundamentally, digital is transforming society and the past year has hastened this transformation. As a Company, we have been building the knowhow and talent to capitalize on this transformation. We’re proud of the work our team is doing to help our merchants, users, and partners to realize growth and increase their revenue. Our developments over the past year have brought us ever closer to realizing our mission of bringing cryptocurrency mainstream and becoming the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrency transactions.
As we moved into 2021, we witnessed the cryptocurrency market thrive in a way that we haven’t seen in years. In fact, the cryptocurrency market cap hit $1 trillion for the first time earlier this month1. The world has watched as coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum hit their new all-time highs in the same month. The world has watched as coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum hit their new all-time highs in the same month. Due to this rapid growth, it’s forecasted that the cryptocurrency market cap will hit $3 trillion by just 20252.
Cryptocurrency continues to go mainstream, as more users open eWallets for the first time. Today, there are over 50 million cryptocurrency wallets globally3 and this is projected to grow to 100 in the next five years if current growth remains constant, which is, in our opinion, a conservative estimate.
The number of daily transactions has also experienced unprecedented growth. Just one year ago, this number was hovering at around 1 million transactions per day. We now see nearly 2 million transactions per day, and this only includes the top 7 major cryptocurrencies4. If this trend continues, there will easily be 3.5 million transactions per day by 2022.
The amount of growth the cryptocurrency industry has experienced in just a few months is unprecedented. As more users become familiar with cryptocurrency, it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a prominent method of payment.
OUR GROWTH
2020 was a year of growth for all aspects of the Company. We have greatly increased our processing volume, partners, merchants, and users. The growth that we achieved in 2020 has set the stage for us in 2021 as we continue to build and expand in the key areas that brought us success in 2020.
We continue to deepen our reach into traditional payments. In 2020, we entered into partnerships with several of the world’s largest payment companies and have integrated into over 7% of the payment industry providing us direct access to over 15-million merchants. Through this entrenchment into traditional payments we are poised to seamlessly capture the transition to innovative payment methods as merchants seek to grow their consumer and revenue base.
The Company experienced a rapid geographic diversification of its merchant base in 2020 when compared to 2019. In 2019, 27% of the Company’s merchants were located outside of the United States compared to 63% in 2020.
In order to service our growing international merchant base, NetCents established European operations in 2020. We set up a German subsidiary and European banking in order to provide the same level of service to our European merchants as we do our North American. We were in the process of setting up a permanent Munich office and building out a dedicated team based in Munich, unfortunately, with the global lockdown, those plans were put on hold until COVID restrictions are lifted. The moment this happens, we will resume this project.
Along with the international expansion, as a result of COVID-19 and shifting merchant and consumer demand, the Company has greatly diversified its target merchant industries. Before March 2020, the Company’s merchant base was heavily concentrated in Travel, Tourism, and Retail. Over the past year, the Company has successfully focused its business development efforts on growing its market share in the B2B, Services, and high-ticket value industries increasing our average overall average transaction size for all merchants to $1,854 and our average B2B transaction size to over $85,000 in January 2021.
Fueling this growth was our investment in sales and marketing initiatives. In mid-November, the Company launched its omni channel marketing strategy. We changed the focus from a purely tactical marketing team to a ‘customer engagement team,’ encompassing digital advertising, CRM, content marketing, social media marketing, support, and PR functions. Information Technology (IT) is also part of the team. This allows the technical team to understand better and support marketing efforts and eliminates technical barriers.
We continue to work with our Partners to develop and launch programs that encourage downstream merchants to begin accepting cryptocurrency as a method of payment. To meet increasing and varied demand from its partners on these promotional programs, NetCents has now automated most features of the promotion system so it can manage numerous campaigns simultaneously. Most importantly, Partners now have a toolkit to create customized promotion campaigns that fit their merchant base’s needs and requirements.
Through our Merchant Acquisition Program (MAP) the Company launched in 2019, it has successfully targeted enterprise merchants that targeted B2B, Luxury Retail, and high-ticket item merchant verticals that generated significant transactional growth for the Company.
OUR PLATFORM
In order to remain best in class and to service our continued growth, we invested heavily in 2020 on continual improvements and enhancements to our suite of products.
We greatly improved our merchant payout process and introduced daily settlements for enterprise and US-based merchants and Automated Clearing House (ACH) integration for all US-based merchants, streamlining the process and eliminating all of the costs associated with US merchant payouts and costs to merchants to receive their payouts.
We entered into an institutional credit facility totalling 1.4 billion dollars to power merchant settlements, allowing us to front-load merchant settlements and removing all limitations when providing merchant payouts. This facility allows us to use our merchant order flow as a supply for a short-term cryptocurrency portfolio, allowing NetCents to profit from arbitrage opportunities.
We brought significant improvements to our invoicing system to better service our growing base of B2B merchants, bringing subscription-type billing to cryptocurrency payments. The enhancements include API integration, integration with accounting and CRM systems, setting invoicing frequency and due dates, customer and client management, full invoice tracking, invoice payable insights, accounts receivable reporting, and adding transaction fee to invoices.
We integrated the lightning network into our payment infrastructure. The Lightning Network is a “Layer 2” payment protocol that operates on top of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies, enabling near instant transactions with extremely low or non-existent blockchain fees for users regardless of network congestion. Lightning Network will enable the Company to complete payments off the blockchain and allow the Company to process over 1 million transactions per second. The decrease in blockchain transaction fees and the increase transactions scalability will allow the Company to target a wider selection of merchants and fully removes the limitations of cryptocurrency as a method of payment for microtransactions and quick service locations like stadiums and coffee shops, meeting the growing demand for cryptocurrency payments grew to 2 million transactions daily in 2020.
OUR TEAM
We realized that in order to achieve our goals and to capitalize on the opportunities in front of us, we needed to be surrounded and advised by industry leaders, globally. In 2020, we added five key members to our Board of Advisors.
- Dr. Claude Schmidt joined us at the head of our Advisory Board. Dr. Schmidt is currently a member of the investment committee of Delfin Investment AG, in Zug Switzerland. Previously, Dr. Schmidt was a member of the Private Wealth Management team within Goldman Sachs Bank AG.
- Mr. Daniel-Carl Eigenmann is a founder and the President of the Board of Directors for Iko Capital AG, a leading Wealth Management firm based in Zug, Switzerland. In his role at Iko Capital AG, Mr. Eigenmann is responsible for compliance with FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, as well as regular review of their portfolio for money laundering and compliance within the investment guidelines of managed accounts for ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI).
- Mr. Wang Qin has 30-years of venture capital and private equity investment, executive management, and consulting experience in the broader information and technology industry as well as resource, energy, and cleantech industries, in China, Canada, and Japan.
- Mr. Nicolas Genko has been heavily involved in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space since 2013. During this time, he has served as the CTO and technology advisor for multiple firms developing smart contracts, multi-currency debit cards, government regulation, exchange platforms, cryptocurrency investment funds, and PCI certification and compliance.
- Mr. Jannis Flachsmann is a Senior Attorney at GHM Partners AG focusing on Legal, Tax, and Fiduciary Matters. Previously he was an attorney at the firms of Weidmann Rudolf & Partner and Lichtsteiner Rechtsanwaelte.
In addition to our Advisory Board, we have built an in-house roster of leading industry veterans.
- Mr. Nilang Vyas, Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Mr. Vyas drives a hybrid approach to innovation, deploying technologies that enhance the capabilities of the Company’s current product offering and technologies that will improve business efficiencies. Before joining NetCents, Mr. Vyas was the Chief Technology Officer of Decentral, an innovation hub for disruptive and decentralized technologies, notably spawning Ethereum and Jaxx Liberty. As CTO, Nilang created a multi-asset and multi-platform application Jaxx Liberty, a blockchain wallet, exchange, portfolio, market, and news app, as well as creating and maintaining the scalable infrastructure to support millions of users for Jaxx Classic.
- Mr. Patrick Albright, Senior Vice President, Strategic Development
Mr. Albright’s responsibilities at NetCents will focus on extending the success of the current growth initiatives. Mr. Albright previously served as Marketing and Business Senior Vice President at Moneris Solutions – the largest payment processor in Canada – processing 3 billion transactions annually. Mr. Albright also served as Managing Director and Executive Vice President at Nelnet Transaction Solutions a NYSE listed, US based, payment services company.
- Mr. Marcus Laun, Vice President Corporate Finance
Mr. Laun’s duties include developing and managing a global network of financial services partners and working closely with the Board of Advisors in managing the global nature of NetCents’ opportunities. His experience includes advising and investing in an organic food brand company that sold for $250mm. Mr. Laun has also advised and raised capital for companies in the Solar, Wind, Oil and Gas, and Alternative Fuel industries. Prior to his corporate and entrepreneurial endeavours, Mr. Laun worked as an Investment Banker rising to the position of Managing Director for Knight Capital Group, where he managed syndicates for over $500 million in financing.
OUR FUTURE: ONGOING CORPORATE INITIATIVES
In addition to the product enhancements we completed in 2020, we continue to work on integrating new functionality into the system. We are currently working on the following enhancements and new additions to our product suite.
- M&A
We are working with our internal team and outside consultants to evaluate potential acquisitions that would add to our technology portfolio, increase revenues, or complement our current business lines. In the current environment it is difficult to accelerate these opportunities, but we expect that our efforts will become more fruitful in 2021.
- Interest Bearing Accounts
NetCents management believes that interest-bearing accounts is a natural extension of the products that should be available to individuals participating in the crypto economy. NetCents believes that it is uniquely positioned within the Cryptocurrency industry to begin offering a wider selection of financial products to its user base. NetCents has been a leader in providing Cryptocurrency technologies for payments and intends to maintain its leadership by being at the forefront of the industry as market participants move to replicate the products of the legacy financial services industry. NetCents’ hallmark is embracing new ideas and combining best-in-breed technologies with a user interface that is easily understood.
- Non-Fungible Tokens
We are developing a smart contract-based non-fungible token1 (NFT) platform for use by its merchants, and ultimately its user base to allow authenticity and provenance tracking of products using Ethereum smart contract technology. This product opens up a whole new use case for the development of the blockchain universe. With this innovation, NetCents is focusing on the sports authentication/memorabilia market.
- Adding Credit Card to the NC Exchange
There are a limited number of platforms that are approved by the card companies for purchasing Crypto, that NetCents is now approved and working on integration, is a testament to the safety that is inherent in the NetCents platform.
- NetCents Card Program
In our most anticipated project to date, we are in the home stretch of completing the project. The project includes the integration of Google and Apple Pay that will allow users to add the card to their Google and Apple pay wallets which will allow them to use the card virtually. This will be one of the largest achievements in NetCents’ history.
I would like to thank our employees for their commitment to NetCents. It is their hard work, dedication, alignment behind our strategy, and dedication that enable us to continue on our trajectory. I would also like to thank you, our shareholders, for your continuing support and confidence. Rest assured our passion and commitment will continue to generate the growth that you rightfully expect from us. We continue to work on delivering on our commitments to our merchants, our users, our partners, our people, and our shareholders.
While many of our shareholders are on our communications list, some may not be. For those of you who are not, I encourage you to subscribe and in the interim if you haven’t been following the news as we release it, this will link you to stories which speak to our success: https://news.net-cents.com/.
Thank You,
Clayton Moore
Founder and CEO
About NetCents
NetCents Technology Inc, the transactional hub for all cryptocurrency payments, equips forward-thinking businesses with the technology to seamlessly integrate cryptocurrency processing into their payment model without taking on the risk or volatility of the crypto market. NetCents Technology is registered as a Money Services Business (MSB) with FINTRAC.
For more information, please visit the corporate website at www.net-cents.com or contact Investor Relations: [email protected].
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
NetCents Technology Inc.
“Clayton Moore”
Clayton Moore, CEO, Founder and Director
NetCents Technology Inc.
1000 – 1021 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC, V6E 0C3
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
1 CoinMarketCap – https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/
2 https://research.ark-invest.com/hubfs/1_Download_Files_ARK-Invest/White_Papers/ARKinvest_091729_Whitepaper_Bitcoin_II_An%20Investment.pdf
3 https://blog.apptopia.com/crypto-apps-see-highest-growth-on-record-in-july
4 Statista – https://www.statista.com/statistics/730838/number-of-daily-cryptocurrency-transactions-by-type
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/72951
Blockchain
Blocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 9, 2025 | Robinhood, Solana, Tether, China, Women in Web3
Today’s blockchain landscape pulses with innovation, expansion and strategic jockeying. From established trading platforms laying the groundwork for international tokenized US asset markets to fresh efforts empowering women in Web3, the industry is evolving at frantic pace. Solana-based tokenization pathways, China’s state-driven blockchain masterplan and Tether’s push onto new Layer-1 rails further underscore diversification. In this daily op-ed, we unpack five major developments—examining what they mean for DeFi growth, NFT marketplaces, regulatory contours and the ongoing quest for greater inclusivity in crypto.
1. Robinhood’s European Blockchain Trading Ambitions
News Summary
Robinhood Markets Inc. is reportedly constructing its own blockchain infrastructure to facilitate trading of U.S. equities and other assets in European markets. Insiders suggest the project seeks to leverage distributed-ledger technology for settlement efficiency, near-real-time clearing and reduced reliance on legacy central counterparties. The move signals Robinhood’s ambition to transcend its domestic brokerage roots and capture European retail and institutional order flow.
Key Details
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Infrastructure Build: A private, permissioned ledger governed by Robinhood and selected counterparties.
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Asset Scope: U.S. equities, ETFs and potentially tokenized debt instruments.
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Regulatory Interface: Engagements with the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to align on custody and market-making rules.
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Timeline: Internal pilots slated for Q4 2025, with public rollout in mid-2026.
Analysis & Opinion
Robinhood’s pivot underscores a broader industry trend: exchanges and brokerages striving to “own the rails” rather than simply interface with existing clearinghouses. By internalizing settlement on a bespoke blockchain, Robinhood hopes to slash settlement times from T+2 to near-instant, a boon for liquidity providers and high-frequency traders. However, risks include the complexity of cross-border regulatory compliance and the operational challenge of maintaining robust on-chain and off-chain reconciliations.
From a DeFi convergence standpoint, Robinhood’s ledger could bridge traditional and decentralized finance, enabling tokenized margin lending and programmable corporate actions directly on-chain. Should Robinhood open permission to DeFi protocols, we may witness new hybrid liquidity pools that blend CEX order books with AMM liquidity. This would mark a milestone in mainstream DeFi adoption—and potentially pressure incumbents like Nasdaq to innovate their own on-chain settlement layers.
Source: Bloomberg
2. Women in Web3: Cultivating Greater Gender Diversity
News Summary
A recent deep-dive from Cointelegraph spotlights the persistent gender gap in blockchain and crypto. Despite Web3’s ethos of decentralization, women represent less than 20 percent of crypto investors and under 10 percent of core development teams. The article outlines initiatives—from targeted grants and incubation programs to mentorship networks—aimed at lowering barriers and attracting more female talent.
Key Details
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Current Statistics: Women account for approximately 17 percent of crypto traders globally; in development, the share dips below 8 percent.
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Notable Initiatives:
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Women in Blockchain Fund: USD 50 million allocated for early-stage female founders.
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Global Web3 Sisters Network: Mentorship platform pairing novices with veteran executives.
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University Partnerships: Scholarships for women studying blockchain engineering and cryptography.
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Analysis & Opinion
Web3’s promise of equal-opportunity innovation rings hollow if half the population remains sidelined. Heightened grant funding and mentorship can help, but systemic change requires cultural shifts within DAOs, core teams and investor circles. Projects and protocols must adopt policies—like blind code reviews, diversity hiring quotas and inclusive governance frameworks—to ensure sustainable participation.
Moreover, as the industry grapples with regulatory scrutiny, diverse leadership can foster better risk management and community trust. Women leaders have often been at the forefront of compliance, ethics and consumer protection—even in traditional finance—qualities sorely needed in crypto’s maturing phase. Token projects that embed gender-diverse advisory boards may see stronger reputational profiles and wider community buy-in.
Source: Cointelegraph
3. SOL Strategies: Tokenizing Shares on Solana
News Summary
SOL Strategies, a financial-services startup, is exploring a pathway to tokenize private and publicly traded shares on the Solana blockchain. Their recently filed whitepaper proposes a framework where equity is represented as SPL tokens, enabling fractional ownership, 24/7 trading and programmable dividend distributions.
Key Details
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Token Standard: Extension of Solana Program Library (SPL) with “Equity Token” schema.
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Custody Model: Licensed custodian holds underlying shares; token holders have legal claim via smart-contract link.
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Compliance Layer: On-chain KYC/AML middleware to restrict token transfers to approved wallets.
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Pilot Partners: Early engagements with two mid-cap European tech firms eyeing capital-raising via tokenization.
Analysis & Opinion
Tokenized equity stands to revolutionize capital markets by lowering minimum investment thresholds and unlocking global liquidity. On Solana, with its sub-second finality and low fees, fractional shares could trade seamlessly—outpacing Ethereum’s scalability challenges. Yet the critical hurdle lies in regulatory acceptance: will securities regulators view these tokens as bona fide equity or as unregistered securities?
SOL Strategies’ integrated custody approach could mollify regulators, replicating existing T+2 standards while enabling T+0 settlement on-chain. Should they secure regulatory sandbox approvals in the U.K. or Singapore, other blockchains—like Stellar and Polkadot—may race to develop similar tokenization toolkits. For DeFi protocols, tokenized equities could become collateral in lending pools, further intertwining traditional and decentralized finance.
Source: Newsfile Corp.
4. China’s Blockchain Playbook: Infrastructure, Influence & New Frontiers
News Summary
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published an extensive analysis of China’s state-driven blockchain strategy. Beyond its digital yuan rollout, Beijing is investing in cross-border infrastructure, influencing global standards bodies and forging Belt and Road blockchain corridors across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Key Details
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Key Initiatives:
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BSN 2.0: Blueprint for national and international consortium chains.
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International Standards: Active lobbying in ISO/TC 307 for governance models favoring state-actors.
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Tech Diplomacy: Blockchain MOUs with Pakistan, Indonesia and several African union members.
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Strategic Goals: Extend digital yuan acceptance, export Chinese ledger tech, shape global governance.
Analysis & Opinion
China’s multi-pronged approach signals blockchain’s emergence as a theater of geopolitical competition. By undercutting SWIFT dependency and offering turnkey consortium-chain solutions, Beijing enhances its financial influence in Belt and Road countries. Western governments and multinationals must navigate this blockchain bifurcation—between open public rails and permissioned state-backed consortia.
For crypto projects, the CSIS report offers both caution and opportunity. While the digital yuan may corner state-aligned corridors, decentralized networks remain resilient by design. Projects focusing on interoperability—such as Polkadot bridges and Cosmos IBC—can link fragmented chains and preserve open value transfer. Investors should monitor on-chain metrics in emerging markets, as Chinese-backed consortium chains gain traction in cross-border trade finance.
Source: CSIS
5. Tether Expands Stablecoin Reach to 196 Million Users via Kaia
News Summary
Tether has launched USDT on the Kaia blockchain, bringing its flagship stablecoin to Kaia’s user base of approximately 196 million. Kaia, a burgeoning Layer-1 optimized for high-throughput mobile applications, opens new corridors for USDT in gaming, remittances and micro-trading in emerging markets.
Key Details
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Technical Integration: USDT issued as a native Kaia token, supported by Tether’s reserve-backing audit framework.
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User Impact: Near-zero fees for micro-transactions; sub-second confirmation times even on mobile networks.
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Partnership Scope: Integration with Kaia’s wallet SDK and gaming marketplace; joint launch of an educational DApp for fiat-on-ramp literacy.
Analysis & Opinion
By deploying on Kaia, Tether diversifies its blockchain footprint beyond Ethereum, Tron and Solana, underscoring a multi-chain thesis for stablecoin ubiquity. Emerging-market users—often plagued by volatile local currencies—stand to benefit immensely from a mobile-first, low-cost remittance rail. Moreover, Kaia’s developer incentives may spawn DeFi lending dApps collateralized by USDT, fueling localized credit markets.
Yet healthy competition among blockchains for stablecoin volume could concentrate risk: reserve transparency, network stability and regulatory compliance will differentiate winners. Tether’s public attestations and reserve audits are critical, but as US regulators intensify scrutiny on stablecoin giants, projects deploying on smaller chains may face fresh legal complexities around money-transmission licensing.
Source: Bitcoin.com
Conclusion & Key Takeaways
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Institutional On-ramp Acceleration: Robinhood’s European chain signals major brokerages view blockchain as core infrastructure—not mere gadget.
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Inclusivity Imperative: Women’s underrepresentation remains a blindspot; targeted grants and cultural reforms are needed for equal Web3 participation.
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Tokenization Tide: Solana’s high-speed rails may host the next wave of equity tokens, bridging capital markets and DeFi.
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Geopolitical Battlegrounds: China’s consortium chains and digital-yuan corridors illustrate how blockchain is reshaping global influence.
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Stablecoin Multichain Strategy: Tether’s Kaia integration reflects the logic of diversifying rails to reach underserved, mobile-first users.
As blockchain advances, the interplay between technological innovation, regulatory frameworks and social inclusion will define whether the next chapter of crypto fulfills its vision of open, equitable finance—or replicates old hierarchies in digital garb. Today’s headlines underscore that the path forward lies in cross-chain interoperability, proactive policy-shaping, and a relentless focus on broadening the community that stewards and benefits from these transformative networks.
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Blockchain
Blocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 7, 2025 | Coinbase, Riot Games, Curve DAO, Litecoin, AR.IO
Today’s blockchain and cryptocurrency landscape is as dynamic as ever, with marquee partnerships, industry-wide reckonings, and groundbreaking applications reshaping how we think about digital assets. In this op-ed style daily briefing, we explore five major developments from May 6 – 7, 2025:
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Coinbase & Riot Games Forge Esports Alliance
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“Too Many Blockchains?” Industry Introspection
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Blockchain’s Health-Tech Revolution
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Valour Adds Curve DAO & Litecoin ETPs in the Nordics
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AR.IO Enables Credit-Card Onramps for Web3 Identity & Hosting
Through concise yet detailed coverage, we analyze each story’s implications for blockchain, cryptocurrency, Web3, DeFi, and NFTs. Welcome to your Blocks & Headlines daily briefing—where opinion meets analysis.
1. Coinbase & Riot Games Forge Esports Alliance
Source: Coinbase Blog
Date: May 6, 2025
In a landmark partnership that bridges digital finance with digital competition, Coinbase has been named the exclusive cryptocurrency exchange and official blockchain technology partner of Riot Games’ global League of Legends and VALORANT esports events. Starting with the VCT Masters tournament in Toronto on June 7, Coinbase will integrate “live Econ Reports” and “Gold Grind” segments into broadcasts, offering running analyses of in-game currency flows, alongside exclusive digital drops like emotes and icons redeemable by viewers.
Opinion: This move is a masterstroke for mainstream crypto adoption. Esports’ digitally native fanbase aligns perfectly with blockchain’s ethos of transparency and community governance. Coinbase’s embrace of in-game analytics not only educates viewers on micro-economies but also paves the way for future on-chain game mechanics—potentially unlocking true digital ownership of skins and items as NFTs. Expect other exchanges to follow suit or risk missing out on Gen Z’s next frontier of fandom.
2. “Too Many Blockchains?” Industry Introspection
Source: Blockworks
Date: May 6, 2025
As venture capital floods yet another dozen Layer-1 protocols each quarter, seasoned observers are questioning sustainability. Donovan Choy of Blockworks highlights that new chains like Camp Network, Unto, and Miden collectively raised north of $70 million in the past week alone—despite Sui’s market-cap spike lacking any commensurate fee revenue. While some attribute this proliferation to speculative greed chasing the elusive L1 premium, others credit genuine technical divergence—differing visions on execution environments, MEV capture, and data-availability layers.
Opinion: The free market appears to be self-correcting: L1 valuations are compressing, and public markets are already signaling fatigue. Yet, technical fragmentation has its merits—competition drives innovation in consensus, sharding, and gas-fee economics. The looming challenge is application-chain misalignment: developers face choice paralysis and liquidity fragmentation. A pivot toward cross-chain composability—and perhaps the rise of federated execution environments—will determine which chains survive the next cycle. Investors should look for interoperability roadmaps rather than mere tokenomics hype.
3. Blockchain’s Health-Tech Revolution
Source: DataHorizzon Research via OpenPR
Date: May 7, 2025
Blockchain in healthcare is projected to surge from a $4.57 billion market in 2023 to $34.7 billion by 2033 (CAGR 22.9%). Key drivers include:
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Data Integrity & Security: Immutable ledgers ensure tamper-proof electronic health records, bolstering HIPAA and GDPR compliance.
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Interoperability: Permissioned smart contracts automate cross-institutional data access, alleviating EHR fragmentation.
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Supply-Chain Traceability: Real-time drug tracking combats counterfeits and streamlines recalls.
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Claims Automation: Shared ledgers reduce fraud and billing lags via automated smart-contract adjudication.
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Research Collaboration: Timestamped trial data and consent forms create verifiable audit trails.
Leading players—IBM Watson Health, Guardtime, Longenesis, Chronicled, BurstIQ, and more—are moving beyond pilots in Estonia and Merck’s vaccine cold-chain projects toward enterprise-scale rollouts.
Opinion: Healthcare’s conservative nature makes blockchain’s strides here particularly noteworthy. The confluence of AI analytics with secure datasets promises predictive diagnostics powered by immutable provenance. Yet, regulatory uncertainty and integration with legacy EHR platforms remain significant hurdles. The winners will be those who offer turnkey compliance frameworks and hybrid on-chain/off-chain models that respect “right to be forgotten” laws while preserving auditability.
4. Valour Adds Curve DAO & Litecoin ETPs in the Nordics
Source: GlobeNewswire (via GlobeNewswire and CoinCentral)
Date: May 7, 2025
DeFi Technologies’ subsidiary Valour has listed single-asset SEK-denominated ETPs for Curve DAO (CRV) and Litecoin (LTC) on Sweden’s Spotlight Stock Market—bringing its Nordic ETP lineup to over 67 products on the path to 100 by year-end. Upcoming listings include Tron (TRX), Stellar (XLM), and leveraged Bitcoin (BTC 2×) and Ethereum (ETH 2×) products.
Opinion: ETPs bridge traditional capital markets with on-chain assets, offering regulated wrappers for institutional and retail investors. Valour’s Nordic expansion underscores Europe’s leadership in crypto security tokenization. However, as ETP count balloons, product fatigue may set in. Success lies not in sheer quantity but in thematic curation and transparent fee structures—particularly for DeFi-native tokens like CRV, where governance risk and protocol upgrades can materially impact value.
5. AR.IO Enables Credit-Card Onramps for Web3 Identity & Hosting
Source: Chainwire (as published by MENAFN)
Date: May 6, 2025
AR.IO—the world’s first permanent cloud network built on Arweave—has launched “Turbo,” an open-source bundler that lets users purchase Arweave credits via credit card for its ArNS domain‐name and web-hosting service. ArNS domains are immutable smart contracts on Arweave, offering permanent websites and on-chain identities without renewal fees, served by 400+ decentralized gateways.
Opinion: Simplifying fiat → crypto onramps remains a critical barrier for mainstream Web3 adoption. By integrating credit-card payments, AR.IO lowers friction for developers and businesses wanting censorship-resistant hosting. The true long-term play is embedding real-world payment rails into decentralized infrastructure—setting a precedent for other ledger-based services (e.g., Filecoin, IPFS pinning). If AR.IO can combine permanency with user-friendly billing, we may witness a tipping point in Web3’s shift from hobbyist experiments to enterprise solutions.
Conclusion
Today’s slate of headlines spans from consumer-facing esports innovations to deep industry self-reflection, from life-saving healthcare applications to sophisticated investment vehicles, and finally, critical infrastructure enabling mainstream onramps. Across every sector—gaming, finance, healthcare, asset management, and infrastructure—the recurring theme is bridging gaps:
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On-chain & off-chain: through fiat onramps and traditional ETP listings
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New chains & legacy systems: via interoperability and hybrid architectures
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Speculation & real-world utility: with tangible ROI in healthcare and esports
For enthusiasts and professionals alike, the imperative is clear: focus on solutions that marry blockchain’s core benefits—transparency, security, decentralization—with seamless user experiences and regulatory alignment. Only then will we see blockchain and crypto transcend niche fervor to become indispensable pillars of tomorrow’s digital economy.
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Blockchain
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Blockchain Press Releases7 days agoInterlace Debuts at Token2049 to Accelerate Web2-Web3 Integration Across MENA
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Blockchain Press Releases7 days agoFrom Exchange to Ecosystem Builder: MEXC Celebrates 7th Anniversary at TOKEN2049 Dubai with $300M Ecosystem Development Fund Launch
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Blockchain Press Releases3 days agoHTX Premieres USD1 Stablecoin Globally, Partnering with World Liberty Financial to Forge a New Era of Decentralized Economy
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Blockchain Press Releases7 days ago
Bybit and St. Paul American Scholars School Furthers Partnership Commitment in Bybit’s HQ Visit
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Blockchain6 days agoUnitedStaking.com Launches Advanced Crypto Staking Platform with Global Reach and Real-World Impact
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Blockchain Press Releases3 days agoJuCoin made a global impact at TOKEN2049 Dubai, advancing its ecosystem with the “Peak Experience” vision and JuChain’s robust tech.
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Blockchain1 day agoBlocks & Headlines: Today in Blockchain – May 7, 2025 | Coinbase, Riot Games, Curve DAO, Litecoin, AR.IO
