Hi. Ed here.

DeFi’s quiet time is over. 

For a while now, Bitcoin ETFs and memecoins and Donald Trump have been grabbing the limelight on the crypto stage.

This week, DeFi developments suddenly broke out all over the place. 

First and foremost, Ethereum shifted its rally into another gear by surging even as other cryptocurrencies faltered. 

Ether, which pretty much missed the party after Trump’s election victory last November, has soared 34% in the last 30 days, which is around five times better than Bitcoin’s run and blows away Solana’s 2.7% uptick. (And that includes the selloff on Friday.)

Digging into the forces at work, Oscar Avan-Nomayo reports that blockchain infrastructure — and rewiring finance — are suddenly hot again. Moreover, Ethereum’s recent Pectra upgrade is a “narrative shift” that investors can get behind. 

And it didn’t hurt that Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, the CEO of Consensys, cut the ribbon on a $435 million Ether treasury deal last month. 

Shares in SharpLink Gaming, the online casino outfit with a mountain of fresh Ether, soared a whopping 2,700% following the deal, Pedro Solimano reported.

Meanwhile, Solana is shifting gears itself as the memecoin craze fizzles out. The blockchain network became the go-to venue for all manner of crazy tokens. While that was good business, it didn’t last — the number of memecoins on Solana halved between January and May.

As Liam Kelly reported, Solana has long been a nimble DeFi player and it’s rapidly turning the page on memecoins and making a big push to do deals and win business on Wall Street. 

DeFi also took centre stage in Washington this week. House Republicans dropped a new 236-page bill that will define “decentralisation” to determine varying degrees of regulatory oversight for crypto ventures. 

No surprise, there was a lot of debate around what that means, and potential loopholes, Aleks Gilbert reported.

There was more. In connection with the bill, which has been dubbed the Clarity Act for short, Uniswap Labs Chief Legal Officer Katharine Minarik testified before a House committee. 

There a lot of back and forth around governance practices in Uniswap’s DAO, Aleks Gilbert reported. 

This is a preview of the debate to come as the Clarity Act sets out to define decentralisation and make determinations around what constitutes management of DeFi projects.

It’s going to get thorny.

Yet it’s also a breakthrough. At long last, the tenets of DeFi are getting a fulsome hearing on Capitol Hill. 

‘The doors have blown open’ — how Solana is courting Wall Street as memecoins flame out

As memecoins fizzle, Solana, the top venue for the jokey coins is tiggling to a surprising new business opportunity — Wall Street, Liam Kelly reports.

Circle shares soar 168% in ‘watershed moment’ for crypto as stablecoins shine

Circle’s IPO beat expectations and demonstrated the strength of the stablecoin sector, Liam Kelly reports.

Uniswap’s DAO drama sparks debate on decentralisation in Congress

At a House hearing, members of Congress quizzed Uniswap Labs Chief Legal Officer Katharine Minarik on the governance practices of the community’s DAO, and other connected entites, Aleks Gilbert reported.

Post of the Week

Jeremy Allaire, the co-founder and CEO of Circle, will probably remember where he was on June 5, 2025 — the stablecoin issuer’s IPO.

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