Weekly Update #3: Hong Kong Flexes Crypto Muscle + AI Goes Grok-3!
SEC approves yield-bearing stablecoins. SEC drops case against Coinbase. Animoca Brands launches a stablecoin. Tether invests in Juventus. Coinbase sponsors Aston Martin. xAI unveils Grok-3.
👋 Hey there, it's Akash!
Exciting week!
Hong Kong's laying down the crypto law (in a good way!), and AI just leveled up BIG time.
Plus, Solana's having a moment (not the good kind 😬).
In contrast, Ethereum and Arbitrum continue to thrive.
The SEC has approved the first yield-bearing stablecoin, marking a significant step forward in U.S. digital asset adoption.
Meanwhile, corporations are loading up on Bitcoin, and Michael Saylor thinks the U.S. will do the same. Metaplanet Inc., the Japanese BTC treasury company, just upped its 2,100 BTC to its reserves, gunning for 10,000 BTC by 2025.
Memecoins falter, while Bitcoin stands firm.
Our Top Reads This Week
Everything that happened in AI agents this week. Link
The Bitcoin Ecosystem. Epoch Management. Link
From Bees to Bytes. Maja Vujinovic. Link
State of Brands in Gaming & Virtual Worlds. GEEIQ. Link
RWA is the Gold Rush. Paul Veradittakit. Link
Beyond Digital Gold: Bitcoin's Evolution into a Full-Service Blockchain Platform. SBR. Link
AI-led token launches are the new fundraising hack. Marc Baumann. Link
Real World Assets. Our Network. Link
👉Work with us: Scale your corporate adoption. Reach corporate decision-makers, build investor confidence, elevate your brand, and capture market & mindshare.
This Week’s Spotlight
Animoca Brands Launches HKD-Backed Stablecoin
Standard Chartered, Animoca Brands, and HKT are going to launch the one of the first HKD-backed stablecoin under Hong Kong’s regulatory framework.
The Breakdown:
Standard Chartered:
Role: Brings bank-grade governance, robust infrastructure, and a global reach.
Why it matters: Their involvement sets a high standard for regulatory compliance in digital finance.
Animoca Brands:
Role: Pioneers crypto-native opportunities and innovative asset use cases.
Why it matters: Their creative drive could redefine how stablecoins are used in everyday transactions.
HKT:
Role: Leverages its mobile wallet expertise to boost stablecoin payment applications.
Why it matters: Enhances the ease-of-use and adoption of digital money in the consumer market.
Context:
By December 2024, Hong Kong’s SFC had already licensed seven crypto exchanges, and the HKMA approved three stablecoin issuers.
New tax exemptions on alternative assets are set to benefit a range of players, from private equity funds to crypto investors.
Why It’s Big:
This collaboration not only strengthens Hong Kong’s position as a global Web3 hub but also establishes a replicable model for compliant, bank-issued digital currencies.
👉Work with us: Scale your corporate adoption. Reach corporate decision-makers, build investor confidence, elevate your brand, and capture market & mindshare.
Tech Corner: xAI Unveils Grok-3
Release Highlights:
Grok-3: xAI, Elon Musk’s brainchild, has launched its latest AI model—Grok-3. It’s built to analyze images, tackle complex queries, and deliver deep research integrated directly into X.
Performance:
Trained using 10x the computing power of Grok-2 at a Memphis data center with 200,000 GPUs.
Outperforms OpenAI’s GPT-4o on benchmarks like AIME 2025, GPQA, and Chatbot Arena.
New Features:
Grok 3 Mini: A streamlined version offering faster responses with slightly lower accuracy.
Innovative Modes: Access “Think” and “Big Brain” modes for enhanced reasoning and fact-checking.
Pricing:
X Premium+ offers early access at $50/month.
A SuperGrok plan at $30/month (or $300/year) unlocks deeper search and unlimited AI-generated images.
Coming Soon: Voice Mode is set to launch within a week, and an enterprise API is on the horizon.
Our Top Reads This Week
Kaiko’s strategy on token launch, airdrop and fundraising. Link
Animoca Brands is bringing Japan’s martial arts event to Web3. Link
Coinbase sponsors Aston Martin’s F1 team, with the entire deal paid in USDC. Link
Coinbase says the US SEC agreed “in principle” to drop its 2023 case against the company. Link
Tether’s investment in Juventus FC. Link
Yuga Labs has sold Meebits—the 3D avatar NFT collection. Link
Investments
Blockaid: Web3 security tool raised $50M Series B led by Ribbit Capital. Link
Hashkey Group: Web3 infrastructure company raised $30M led by Gaorong Capital. Link
Mango Network: Layer 1 public blockchain raised $13.5M led by Ainfra Ventures. Link
Mansa Finance: RWA fixed income protocol raised $10M led by Tether. Link
That’s all for now, folks.
If you have any questions or want to dive deeper into any of these topics, just hit reply.
Talk soon,
– Akash