9th May 2025 > > Adam Back, GENIUS, & Stripe.

tl;dr

Crypto OG Adam Back reminds us why BTC is so important to the world. Stablecoin regulation in the US is about to happen. Stripe shows us why that is also so important to the world.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

BTC is always so disappointing. A mere 33% rally in a couple of weeks. Surely, we can do better than that? Of course, those smart investors who DCA with a fixed, regular, and immutable schedule are the ones with the biggest smiles on their faces.

The ones who are not smiling are the previously over-excited and over-leveraged shorts whose turn it is now to have had their pants taken down.

ETH is also on a tear, up 20% in a day following the release of Pectra, the latest update to the code. ETH has its detractors. Certainly it has not had a good 2025. I suspect we will see a lot of investors taking the opportunity to reduce positions into this show of strength.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Crypto OG Adam Back

Adam created an early version of digital money, an element of which became a part of Satoshi Nakamoto’s code for BTC. Adam cannot be described as an impartial observer of BTC. But still, he is right about this:

Nothing else comes even close.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Genius

A few days ago it seemed that a key piece of the legislative framework for cryptos specifically addressing stablecoins, the Genius Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins), was to be ambushed at the last minute by some Senators who are members of the Senate Banking Committee and who had previously agreed to its key parameters:

https://www.curiouscryptos.com/post/2nd-may-2025-arizona-genius-a-bet

Perhaps the moment of danger has passed, for it is being reported that an unpublished amendment has been agreed with the hold-outs which will allow for an early vote, perhaps even today, but more likely next week.

Stablecoin regulation that works for both investors’ benefit and encourages innovation and development will be a huge boon to the crypto industry. Getting this bill passed both houses, and with no threat of a Presidential veto, will set the tone for the embrace and adoption of cryptos by the US.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Stripe

Stripe processed $1.4 TRILLION worth of payments in 2024, a 38% increase on 2023. Its client base is very focussed on growth companies especially in the tech sector. Following the acquisition of stablecoin platform Bridge, Stripe is now rolling out stablecoin functionality to its clients:

https://stripe.com/en-hk/newsroom/news/sessions-2025

“Because stablecoins make it dramatically faster and cheaper to move money internationally, many of the world’s largest companies are turning to Stripe to help assemble their stablecoin strategies.”

Instantaneous settlement anywhere in the world including a fiat on/off ramp, for virtually no fees, using distributed ledger technology though the users won’t even know that to be the case, is a huge improvement on the legacy financial systems still prevalent today. Every time productivity increases, every time money moves faster, every time fees are reduced, we are all made wealthier.

What’s not to like?