Morning Minute: The Institutions Aren’t Coming—They’re Here

Morning Minute is a daily newsletter written by Tyler Warner. The analysis and opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Decrypt. Subscribe to the Morning Minute on Substack.

GM!

Today’s top news:

• Crypto majors fell 2-3% on the day; BTC falls below $90k

• ZEC fell 19% after news that the developer team resigned, plan to start new co

• Polymarket announced an exclusive partnership with WSJ and DowJones

• World Liberty Fi filed for a US national trust bank charter

• MoonPay partnered with Rumble to launch Rumble Wallet, creators to start accepting Bitcoin

Four announcements from yesterday made it crystal clear—TradFi is accelerating into crypto.

Four major headlines came on Wednesday featuring 3 major TradFi banks and a U.S. state that each highlight crypto adoption in different ways.

• JPMorgan announced that JPM Coin will launch on the Canton Network, expanding its blockchain-based settlement system into a broader, interoperable financial network.

• Barclays invested in Ubyx, a startup focused on enabling banks and payment firms to settle transactions using stablecoins across existing financial rails.

• Morgan Stanley filed with the SEC for an Ethereum Trust (ETH ETF) adding ETH exposure alongside its recent Bitcoin and Solana filings.

• The state of Wyoming confirmed the launch of its state-backed stablecoin, FRNT, on Solana, marking one of the most concrete examples yet of a U.S. government entity deploying crypto infrastructure.

It was a busy day.

Each announcement would warrant its own featured write up.

But the bigger story is seen when zoomed out.

This is what mainstream adoption looks like.

We are moving past the “banks are bullish on blockchain” and “crypto could disrupt finance someday” phase.

It’s happening live as we speak, and there are more headlines every day.

A few important takeaways:

• First, stablecoins are the focus right now.

  • Every story today revolves around tokenized dollars and settlement, not speculative use cases.

• Second, Ethereum and Solana are becoming institutional infrastructure, not just retail trading venues.

  • These 2 blockchains are the likely candidates to be the home of the “tokenize everything” craze that is just beginning.

• Third, these moves show that TradFi players aren’t looking to be replace, they’re looking for upgrades to their existing systems.

  • Canton Network exists to let regulated institutions interact onchain without blowing up compliance. Ubyx plugs stablecoins into existing banking systems. These are enhancements.