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 moved to Nasdaq, and eToro also completed its IPO. The market capitalization of stablecoins has reached $230 billion, and the price of Bitcoin has once again surpassed $100,000.
Moreover, JPMorgan completed its first transaction on a public chain using Pantera portfolio company Ondo Finance and Chainlink. I also want to share some highlights from the conferences I attended, including Milken, Token2049, Medici, and Consensus 2025.
We are at a turning point, and we are optimistic about the future—let's work together.
Cryptocurrency IPOs: 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 issue price of $52, thus skyrocketing its market capitalization to about $5.6 billion. Previously, Circle, FOLD, and Amber Premium all filed for IPOs within the last two months.
Another growing trend is publicly traded digital asset reserve companies. Pantera has been at the forefront, making significant investments in two leading companies in this field. One is our investment in the first Solana financial company listed in the U.S., DeFi Development Corp (DFDV, formerly JNVR), and we are closely involved in guiding their strategy. Since we announced our investment in April 2025, DFDV's stock price has risen more than 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 after MSTR. CEP is one of our company's largest investments, and its stock price has more than tripled since we announced our investment.
During the conference session, the focus of discussion was on how these IPOs signal that cryptocurrencies are integrating into mainstream finance. The IPO channel is 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 pioneering force in the cryptocurrency space. 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 the global financial system, delivering dollars to 5 billion smartphone users worldwide.
At the end of last year, we published a comprehensive article on stablecoins (see Golden Finance's previous report 'Trillion-Dollar Stablecoin Market - Stacks and Future Opportunities'), highlighting the use cases, opportunities, and payment stacks that we are investing in and tracking.
Bitcoin has once again surpassed $100,000.
Bitcoin has once again broken the $100,000 mark. Digital gold remains strong as a store of value and is expected to surpass gold. At Token2049, Dan Morehead shared insights 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 be increased to meet demand, while Bitcoin's new production schedule is fixed; 3. Bitcoin is widely discussed as a substitute for gold. The U.S. now has strategic Bitcoin reserves.
