SS #49 - Alibaba and JPMorgan Tokenize Global Payments

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Good morning.

The convergence of global commerce and digital assets accelerated this week, highlighted by two major announcements: Alibaba's global B2B platform is partnering with JPMorgan to integrate tokenized deposits (like JPMD) for cross-border payments, aiming to streamline transactions, reduce costs, and bypass multiple banking intermediaries. This institutional adoption of regulated digital assets is paralleled on the retail front as Cash App, the payments app created by Block Inc., will begin allowing customers to execute payments using both stablecoins and Bitcoin (BTC), further cementing digital assets as core functional layers in both global trade and everyday consumer finance.

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In Today's Edition:

• Headline: Alibaba and JPMorgan Tokenize Global Payments

• Quick Bites: Jack Dorsey’s Cash App Enables Bitcoin Lightning and Stablecoin Payments

• Yield of the Week: 26.50% APY on Midas

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HEADLINE

Alibaba and JPMorgan Tokenize Global Payments

State of play: Alibaba's global B2B platform is partnering with JPMorgan to integrate tokenized deposits (like JPMD) for cross-border payments, aiming to streamline transactions, reduce costs, and bypass multiple banking intermediaries.

• Alibaba is prioritizing bank-issued, regulated "tokenized deposits" that sit on a bank's balance sheet over non-bank stablecoins for regulatory clarity and operational safety.

• The blockchain-based system bypasses the slow, costly correspondent banking network, allowing funds to move near-instantly and around the clock.

• This is one of the largest real-world applications of bank-backed tokenization, applying blockchain speed to Alibaba.com's enormous global trade volume.

What’s Next: Competitors must tokenize to match Alibaba’s efficiency. This regulated model will increase compliance pressure on private stablecoins. JPMorgan’s JPMD rails will rapidly expand as a core institutional settlement layer.

Why it Matters: This approach offers regulators a safe blueprint for blockchain adoption. It legitimizes the technology by moving it into mainstream global commerce. The bank-token/private-stablecoin split will fundamentally shape future financial law.

Our Take: This is a strategic, regulated 'stablecoin experience' that validates TradFi innovation. Invest in the infrastructure and protocols supporting this new institutional volume. This regulated token is a powerful centralized competitor and a blockchain "Trojan horse" in finance.

QUICK BITES

• Mizuho bearish on Circle's shares.

• Ark Invest buys $15.6M in Circle shares.

• USD.AI announces investment from Coinbase Ventures.

• Tether may lead $1.2B round in German Robotics startup.

• R25 launches yield-bearing RWA stablecoin protocol on Polygon.

• Jack Dorsey's Cash App enables Bitcoin Lightning and stablecoin payments.

• BlackRock, Binance partner on BUIDL integration and launch on BNB Chain.

• Africa embraces stablecoins via IOTA to unlock $70B pan-continent trade tech.

• FDT welcomes Dubai’s $456M freeze as Techteryx seeks to recover TrueUSD reserves from Aria.

YIELD OF THE WEEK

Strata jrUSDe: 15.04% APY

• Strata is a risk-tranching protocol that provides structured yield products on Ethena’s USDe, allowing investors to tailor their risk-return exposure using Senior and Junior tranches.

• The Junior tranche (jrUSDe) acts as a high-risk, high-reward investment that absorbs volatility and any potential yield shortfall to guarantee a minimum return for the Senior tranche.

• The value of jrUSDe is volatile; while it offers leveraged upside in high-yield periods, its net asset value (NAV) can fall below one and generate a negative yield if the underlying USDe returns drop significantly.

Nest WisdomTree CRDYX: 24.2% APY

• Nest WisdomTree CRDYX by WisdomTree is an on-chain private credit product that gives investors diversified exposure to direct lending, asset-backed, and opportunistic credit strategies, with all current capital allocated to private credit.

• The vault's total return consists of an 11% real yield from the underlying private credit assets and an additional, variable yield component in Plume Nest Points (PNP).

• PNP rewards are earned based on token holding time and utilization, carry a minimum guaranteed floor value in the PLUME token supply, and can be converted into potential boosted allocations for future ecosystem tokens.

Midas mEDGE: 26.50% APY

• mEdge is a structured protocol designed to mirror the returns of market-neutral stablecoin yield strategies deployed across various on-chain ecosystems.

• The strategy's overall risk is actively supervised by Edge Capital, which has been formally designated as the Risk Manager for the protocol.

• The product is available on multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Plume, TAC, and 0G, with the required deposit asset varying depending on the specific network used.

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