Llewellyn Morkel

Why’s Kulipa the only issuer doing 100% self-custodial cards? Because we've mastered one core issue: 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. When you swipe a debit card, the transaction is authorized in seconds. But the actual settlement (when money moves) can take up to 72 hours. So if a crypto card pulls directly from a self-custodial wallet, how do you stop the user from sending those same funds elsewhere before settlement? ✅ Prepaid cards solve this by pre-funding a custodial balance. Easy. Safe. But less “crypto-native.” 🔒 True crypto debit cards require much more: - Smart wallet infra (Account Abstraction) - Session keys and cosigners to freeze funds temporarily - Escrow mechanisms for wallets that don’t support programmability That’s why debit cards are just now emerging, and why prepaid remains the default for most. We’re excited to help change that.

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Stablecoins are the new gold. Adoption is booming in Africa and globally. Had a productive conversation with Klaus Okunowski, Managing Director at C. Woermann Nigeria, about how stablecoins are solving big problems in the global market. Yellow Card - is not only tackling cross-border payment hurdles with their payment infrastructure but leading the charge in this space. #Stablecoins #Fintech #CrossBorderPayments #YellowCard

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𝗔 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗿: 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗴𝗲 🪙 Every week there’s another major stablecoin headline: 🌎 BVNK now live across all 50 US states in addition to the 129 countries it's already supporting 🔗 Circle launching Arc, its own Layer-1 chain 🚀 Stripe announcing Tempo, its blockchain project The stablecoin train has left the station and unlike the speculative crypto boom of a few years ago, this time it’s about real adoption with traditional cards as the bridge. Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and even JPMorgan are now putting stablecoins at the core of their strategies. Although some will consider it overdue, now felt like the right time to do a primer and give it the full Fintech: Under the Hood treatment, with a signature diagram, handy analogies, and a some very relevant movie references (Star Wars fans, rejoice). 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗽𝘁𝘀 👉🏽 The history of money (from pelt trading to credit cards) and why stablecoins are the logical next upgrade 👉🏽 What stablecoins actually are (and how they differ from Bitcoin) 👉🏽 The “Stablecoin Layer Cake” explained (Layer 0 → 3) 👉🏽 Key players: Circle, Tether, Paxos, BVNK, Stripe, PayPal (and their TradFi counterparts) 👉🏽 Use cases beyond remittances: B2B trade settlement and payroll for the global gig economy 👉🏽 Why “credits” in science fiction may not be that far from where we’re headed 🗣 “Stablecoins are the biggest upgrade to money since the invention of the credit card.” Stablecoins are not without challenges. Fraud, transparency, regulation, and interoperability are still hurdles and I touch on them too. If you’re deep in the space, consider this a refresh with some new angles. If you’re new to stablecoins, by the end you’ll know exactly what they are, who the big players are, and why they matter. 🔗 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ede8eewQ As always, I'd love to hear what you think, whether I missed any key stablecoin enablers, what you thought of the sci-fi stablecoin reference and anything else you found interesting. Philip Benton Emma Mayer Sandra M. Dharmesh Mistry Leda Glyptis PhD Marcel van Oost Efi Pylarinou Panagiotis Kriaris Sanjeev Kumar Alistair Cotton Monica Jasuja Nik Milanović #Fintech #Payments #Stablecoin

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Particula has upgraded the rating* of the Delta Wellington Ultra Short Treasury On-Chain Fund ($ULTRA) token from AA+ to AAA as of September 14, 2025. 📊 The $ULTRA token represents interests in the Delta Wellington Ultra Short Treasury On-Chain Fund, a sub-fund established under Singapore law and structured to be bankruptcy‑remote within the Delta Master Trust. The upgrade reflects scaled institutional adoption and improved secondary-market access, enhanced distribution and execution infrastructure, as well as governance measures that collectively strengthen liquidity, transparency, and operational resilience. In parallel, the recent multi-chain deployment enhances the token’s accessibility and interoperability across the broader Decentralized Finance (DeFi) ecosystem. -- Personally said, it is interesting to observe how different product structures as well as the distribution channels are evolving and opening up in the digital asset market. If you want to read the whole rating action then follow the link in the comment section. 🔎 _______________________ *𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴 (“𝘋𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘈𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘴“) 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢 𝘎𝘮𝘣𝘏 (“𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢“) 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 § 14 𝘉𝘎𝘉 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘵. 3 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢. 1 𝘭𝘪𝘵. 𝘢) 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘌𝘎/1060/2009 (“𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯“). 𝘈 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘵. 3 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢. 1 𝘭𝘪𝘵. 𝘢) 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴.

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🚨 Breaking: Citi Ventures takes stake in London-based stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK 👇 Citi has taken a stake in BVNK, a London-based stablecoin payments and infrastructure company, the firm confirmed to CNBC. This expands BVNK's investor list that includes: Visa and Tiger Global. The investment amount was not disclosed but the signal is clear: major U.S. banks are deepening their exposure to digital assets. Source: https://lnkd.in/gXTqVJuV ➡️ Why this matters While banks have strategic interest and priority in tokenized deposits, they also understand that stablecoin offers multiple revenue opportunities. So why not do both? BVNK stands out from a myriad of stablecoin startups with its early-to-market position and relatively large market share with cumulative payment volume surpassing $20B. The next big unlock for stablecoin comes when corporate treasurers make the switch to stablecoin via their EPR provider. And stablecoin orchestration platforms like BVNK is positioned to benefit. While many corporate treasurers may not be comfortable yet, it only takes one or two to start a trend. "This investment reinforces our mission to accelerate the global movement of money,” said Jesse Hemson-Struthers, Co-Founder and CEO of BVNK. "Stablecoins are seeing increased interest in use for settlement of on-chain and crypto asset transactions," said Arvind Purushotham, Head of Citi Ventures. "We were impressed by BVNK’s enterprise-grade infrastructure, and their proven track record." ✅ Want more business insights on digital assets and tokenization? Join 20,000+ readers at Tokenization Insight to get the latest market insights 👉 https://lnkd.in/eCZyphum

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Samara Alpha Management, an institutional-grade digital asset manager, today released an update on the BTC+ Fund, a bitcoin-denominated diversified fund-of-funds that has been operating since July 2023. The Fund follows a market-neutral mandate, aiming to generate incremental returns in BTC terms while seeking to limit exposure to broad market direction. The BTC+ Fund invests across a range of arbitrage and relative value strategies, including global market making, statistical arbitrage, DeFi/CeFi yield opportunities, and multi-strategy overlays. As of June 30, 2025, the Fund reported a Sortino ratio above 4.0, with monthly drawdowns since inception contained to approximately 50 basis points. These results are consistent with the fund’s diversified and risk-managed framework. For BitcoinTreasuries.net companies, the Fund illustrates one potential approach to treasury management. Instead of holding bitcoin purely as a reserve, treasuries may consider strategies designed to generate additional BTC yield. Such outcomes depend on market conditions and risks, but they highlight how capital efficiency is becoming an important consideration for balance sheet deployment. “Corporate treasuries are beginning to recognize that holding digital assets is only the first step,” said Wilfred Daye, CEO of Samara Alpha Management. “The next phase is about capital efficiency — how holdings are deployed, and whether they can generate incremental yield without adding undue risk. The BTC+ Fund was designed with that objective in mind.” Samara Alpha has received third-party recognition, including Digital Asset Manager of the Year by FDI Insider and a shortlisting for Hedgeweek’s 2025 Global Digital Asset Manager of the Year Awards. While such recognition is not indicative of future results, it reflects growing industry awareness of Samara Alpha’s work in the digital asset space. Important Disclosures: The BTC+ Fund is offered under a 3(c)(7) exemption and is available only to qualified purchasers with a minimum investment of 1 BTC. Investments involve significant risks, including volatility, liquidity constraints, regulatory uncertainty, and potential loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Any investment decision should be made only after reviewing the Fund’s private placement memorandum. #bitcoin Sylvanus Technologies Blockstone Capital #digitalassets

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Stablecoins deliver near instant settlement and offer obvious utility across three verticals: payments, trading and collateral. The collateral use case is under discussed--especially for derivatives. Variation margin (VM) is "cash" collateral that moves throughout the system daily to reflect mark to market and balance risk. Losers pay the winners. The size of these cashflows can be humungous--depending on market conditions. But, traditional collateral calls and batches are slow and clunky--exposing intermediaries to unsecured risk. Sometimes, it takes days to settle VM. Weekend stresses are particularly scary--as crypto markets rebalance, traditional markets wait. If not immediately addressed, this basis will likely cause the next systemic stress. So today, more collateral must be locked up as initial margin. This reduces capital efficiency. Now that we have regulated stablecoins coming into the system, it's time for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission to start thinking about allowing fully backed stablecoins to serve as variation margin. This is an important step in closing the gap. Done right, swifter VM settlement/risk rebalancing will reduce systemic risk and enhance capital efficiency. Critics will worry about "depeg" risk. GENIUS should mitigate some of this risk. But as long as we have fractional banking, and uninsured deposits sit at banks-- this risk remains. So, what's the solution? Create a special class of stablecoins that are not exposed to bank counterparty risk? Further regulate banks to mitigate bank counterparty risk for stablecoin reserves? I'm eager for thoughts here.

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Stablecoins have rapidly moved from the sidelines into the centre of discussion for public cross-border payments companies. In Q2 2025, 72% of the 25 major players we analysed mentioned stablecoins in their earnings calls – a dramatic rise from just 16% the quarter before with virtually no talk of them before 2025. This represents one of the fastest upticks in attention we’ve seen, even compared with previous hype cycles such as AI. Notably, discussion is not just speculative. Many companies are linking stablecoins to real products and near-term launches, including Remitly, Visa, Payoneer, Western Union, dLocal, Citi, Corpay and Standard Chartered. PayPal and Visa also stand out for consistent mentions over the past two and a half years. The breadth and maturity of the discussion show that stablecoin adoption is advancing at pace in cross-border payments, with clear signs of practical integration already underway. Read our full report here to understand how each company is approaching stablecoins: https://lnkd.in/esaKsCz5 #Payments #Stablecoins #CrossBorder #Fintech #DigitalAssets

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