Crypto Assets are rewriting the rules: from IPO to stablecoin

Author: PAUL VERADITTAKIT, Partner at Pantera Capital; Translated by: AIMan@Golden Finance

Last week was truly an exciting week in the cryptocurrency space! We saw Coinbase join the S&P 500 index, Galaxy Digital move to Nasdaq, and eToro also completed its IPO. The market cap of stablecoins has reached 230 billion USD, and the price of Bitcoin has once again surpassed 100,000 USD.

In addition, JPMorgan completed its first transaction on the public chain using Pantera portfolio company Ondo Finance and Chainlink. I also want to share some highlights from the conferences I attended: Milken, Token2049, Medici, and Consensus 2025.

We are at a turning point, and we are optimistic about the future—let's work hard together.

Cryptocurrency IPO: A New Era is Unfolding

As I wrote before, cryptocurrency IPOs are leading the market into a new era of maturity. This week, eToro went public on Nasdaq on May 14, 2025, with an offering price of $52, resulting in a market capitalization soaring to approximately $5.6 billion. Previously, Circle, FOLD, and Amber Premium all submitted IPO applications in the past two months.

Another growing trend is publicly traded digital asset reserve companies. Pantera has been at the forefront, making significant investments in two leading firms in the space. One of them is our investment in the first publicly traded Solana financial company, DeFi Development Corp (DFDV, formerly known as JNVR), where we are closely involved in guiding their strategy. Since we announced our investment in April 2025, the stock price of DFDV has increased by over 22 times. The other is our investment in Twenty One Capital (dba Cantor Equity Partners or CEP), a Bitcoin reserve company founded by Tether, SoftBank, and Cantor. CEP is now the second largest digital asset reserve company, following MSTR. CEP is one of our company's largest investments, and its stock price has increased by over 3 times since we announced our investment.

During the conference session, the focus of discussion was on how these IPOs indicate that cryptocurrencies are integrating into mainstream finance. The IPO channels are heating up, which not only provides liquidity but also enhances consumer protection and attracts institutional capital.

Stablecoins: The Next Trillion Dollar Opportunity

Stablecoins are currently the vanguard force in the cryptocurrency field. Their market capitalization is approximately $230 billion, primarily backed 1:1 by U.S. Treasury bonds. They represent the best way for blockchain technology to empower global financial tracks, delivering dollars to the 5 billion smartphone users worldwide.

At the end of last year, we published a comprehensive article on stablecoins (see the previous report by Jinse Finance "The Trillion Dollar Stablecoin Market - Stacks and Future Opportunities"), highlighting the use cases, opportunities, and payment stacks that we are investing in and tracking.

Bitcoin breaks through 100,000 USD again

Bitcoin has once again broken through the $100,000 mark. Digital gold remains strong as a store of value and is expected to surpass gold. At Token2049, Dan Morehead shared his views on Bitcoin's development over the decades and other opportunities in the market.

He believes that digital gold is replacing traditional gold for several reasons: 1. The inflow of funds into Bitcoin ETFs has surpassed that of gold ETFs since their launch; 2. Gold production can increase to meet demand, whereas the new supply of Bitcoin is fixed; 3. Bitcoin is widely discussed as an alternative to gold. The United States now has a strategic reserve of Bitcoin.