The Drop #51
Coinbase builds empire via M&A, DeFi won’t escape regulation says Jérôme de Tychey, JPMorgan launches tokenized money market fund, Visa opens U.S. network to stablecoins, and Macron pushes digital euro & euro stablecoins.
🟦 M&A: How Coinbase is building its empire through acquisitions
✍ Jérôme de Tychey (Cometh): "DeFi won't escape regulation"
🏦 JPMorgan launches its first tokenized money market fund
💳 Visa opens its U.S. network to stablecoin payments
🇪🇺 Emmanuel Macron pushes for the digital euro and euro stablecoins
🟦 M&A: How Coinbase is building its empire through acquisitions
In 2025, Coinbase has established itself as the driving force behind crypto M&A with $3.3 billion committed, representing nearly 20% of the global market. The American exchange is no longer content with traditional intermediation and is pivoting toward an integrated conglomerate model, combining derivatives, seed financing, and prediction markets. The flagship acquisition of Deribit ($2.9 billion) gives it a near-monopoly on BTC and ETH options, a segment far more profitable than spot trading. Meanwhile, the acquisition of Echo and the stake in Kalshi position the group across the entire value chain, from project financing to betting on current events. Read the analysis.
✍ Jérôme de Tychey (Cometh): "DeFi won't escape regulation"
With the obtaining of MiCA approval, French startup Cometh is bringing decentralized finance (DeFi) out of its gray zone to turn it into an institutional financial product. Jérôme de Tychey, CEO of the company, asserts that compliance is now the only gateway for fintechs and banks looking to exploit DeFi yields. By relying on its own custody infrastructure and "smart accounts," Cometh aims to transform on-chain protocols into regulated savings rails, capable of competing with traditional bank savings accounts. Read the interview.
🏦 JPMorgan launches its first tokenized money market fund
JPMorgan is accelerating its on-chain finance strategy by launching its first tokenized money market fund on the Ethereum blockchain. This private fund, named "My OnChain Net Yield Fund" (MONY), is intended for qualified investors and requires a minimum investment of one million dollars. The vehicle is supported by the bank's internal tokenization platform, Kinexys Digital Assets. JPMorgan plans to first inject $100 million of its own capital before opening the fund to external investors. JPMorgan joins a growing list of financial giants experimenting in the sector. BlackRock currently dominates this segment with its BUIDL tokenized fund (reaching $2.9 billion in assets), while Amundi recently announced its own in Europe.
💳 Visa opens its U.S. network to stablecoin payments
Global payments giant Visa announced on Tuesday the opening of its U.S. network to stablecoin settlement, now allowing American banks to settle transactions in Circle's USDC, via the Solana blockchain. This is the first large-scale production deployment in the United States, following several international tests. For Visa, the stakes are strategic: stablecoins could capture more than $50 trillion in annual payment flows by 2030. On-chain settlement would enable near-instant payments, 24/7, compared to up to three business days via traditional rails. The group recently launched a global stablecoin advisory offering and is actively promoting its tokenization platform, while stablecoin settlement volumes on its network already exceed $3.5 billion annualized, still modest compared to the $17 trillion processed annually by Visa, but growing strongly.
🇪🇺 Emmanuel Macron pushes for the digital euro and euro stablecoins
In an op-ed published Tuesday evening in the Financial Times, Emmanuel Macron placed the digital euro and euro stablecoins at the heart of his thinking on European economic competitiveness and sovereignty. The French president believes that strengthening the international role of the euro requires the creation of monetary instruments adapted to digital finance, explicitly citing the development of euro stablecoins, the introduction of a digital euro, and the establishment of safe and liquid assets capable of financing European strategic priorities, particularly defense and technology. For him, these tools are essential to prevent European competitiveness from being weakened by dollar dominance, the rise of the renminbi, and the accelerated transformation of global financial flows.
SPHERE – The Swiss Financial Arena and The Big Whale are joining forces to shed light on the integration of digital assets in Swiss wealth management.
We invite you to Geneva for an exclusive breakfast, the first meeting of this new series of gatherings, focused on an operational approach:
Entering the Digital Assets market: an institutional roadmap
- Key themes: Selection of asset classes (BTC, ETH, ETP, Swiss/EU regulated products), choice of providers (custody, data, compliance), and construction of an initial portfolio.
- Issues addressed: Swiss and European regulatory obligations.
This event is strictly reserved for professional investors. We will have the pleasure of welcoming you on Thursday, January 29, 2026.