Author: PAUL VERADITTAKIT, Partner at Pantera Capital; Translated by: AIMan@Golden Finance
Last week was truly exciting in the cryptocurrency space! We saw Coinbase join the S&P 500 index, Galaxy Digital transition to Nasdaq, and eToro complete its IPO. The market cap of stablecoins has reached $230 billion, and Bitcoin's price has once again surpassed $100,000.
Additionally, JPMorgan utilized Pantera's portfolio company Ondo Finance and Chainlink to complete its first transaction on a public blockchain. 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 earlier, 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, which caused its market cap to soar to approximately $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 firms in this space. One is our investment in the first publicly listed Solana financial company, DeFi Development Corp (DFDV, formerly JNVR), where we are closely involved in guiding their strategy. Since we announced our investment in April 2025, the DFDV stock price has risen 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 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 hot topic was how these IPOs signal that cryptocurrencies are integrating into mainstream finance. The IPO channel is heating up, providing not only liquidity but also enhancing consumer protection and attracting institutional capital.
Stablecoins: The next trillion-dollar opportunity
Stablecoins are currently the vanguard of the cryptocurrency space. Their market cap is around $230 billion, primarily backed 1:1 by U.S. Treasury bonds. They represent the best way for blockchain technology to empower the global financial landscape, delivering dollars to the 5 billion smartphone users worldwide.
At the end of last year, we published a comprehensive article on stablecoins (see previous reports by Golden Finance on 'The Trillion-Dollar Stablecoin Market—Stacks and Future Opportunities'), highlighting the use cases, opportunities, and payment stacks we are investing in and tracking.
Bitcoin has once again surpassed $100,000
Bitcoin has once again surpassed the $100,000 mark. Digital gold remains strong as a store of value and is expected to outperform gold. At Token2049, Dan Morehead shared insights on Bitcoin's developments 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 since inception has exceeded that of gold ETFs during the same period; 2. Gold production can increase to meet demand, while Bitcoin's new supply schedule is fixed; 3. Bitcoin as a gold substitute is widely discussed. The U.S. now holds strategic Bitcoin reserves.
