Shopify Supports USDC Payments
Merchants on Shopify can now accept USDC on Base in their online stores.
Shopify adds USDC payments on Base.
SharpLink Gaming acquires 176k ETH.
EF donates $500k to Roman Storm’s defense.
Etherealize outlines the bull case for ETH.
Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, added support for USDC on Base as a payment option through Shopify Payments. Merchants on Shopify can now accept USDC on Base in their online stores, enabling fast, low-cost, onchain transactions. The integration uses a new open-source, escrow-style smart contract protocol on Base developed jointly by Shopify and Coinbase. Users can pay with USDC using any connected crypto wallet. Coinbase also plans to launch a 1% cash back reward for USDC payments in the U.S. later this year. The implementation includes new Payment APIs and supports standard commerce functions like order capture, tax calculation, and refunds. Developers can integrate Coinbase Payments on any platform.
SharpLink Gaming acquired 176,271 ETH for approximately $463 million at an average price of $2,626 per ETH, making it the largest publicly traded holder of ETH. Over 95% of the acquired ETH is now staked on Ethereum, generating yield for the company. SharpLink continues to operate its iGaming network. The company previously filed a Form S-3 with the SEC to register the right to sell up to $1 billion worth of securities under an at-the-market (ATM) equity program, with proceeds used primarily to purchase ETH as its primary treasury reserve asset, making SharpLink the first Nasdaq-listed firm to adopt the strategy.
The Ethereum Foundation donated $500,000 to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, a developer who contributed to the open-source code for Tornado Cash. The foundation is also matching up to $750,000 in community donations. Storm is currently preparing for trial, scheduled to begin on July 14, 2025. Storm was indicted in August 2023 on charges of money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in connection with Tornado Cash. Prosecutors are continuing with the case despite the Texas Court of Appeals overturning sanctions on Tornado Cash smart contracts. OFAC also removed the contract addresses from its SDN list.
Etherealize released a new report outlining its bull case for ETH, framing it as “digital oil”: a yield-bearing, productive commodity that powers the Ethereum economy, including stablecoins, DeFi, Layer-2 infrastructure, and asset tokenization. The report argues that ETH is significantly undervalued due to the complexity of Ethereum’s broader functionality, regulatory overhangs now fading, and outdated valuation models. The report sets a short-term price target of $8,000 and a mid-term potential of $80,000, positioning ETH as a new institutional-grade reserve asset. With Ethereum securing over 80% of tokenized assets and more than $767B in total value, the report makes the case that ETH is not just a tech token but the foundational money of the next-generation financial system.
Disclaimer: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.
Morpho V2 Fixed-Rate Lending
An upgrade introducing an intents-based design enabling scalable fixed-rate, fixed-term loans.
Morpho Labs introduces Morpho V2.
Gelato introduces the Smart Wallet SDK.
Spark announces its Ignition Airdrop.
Optimism Season 8 governance updates.
Morpho Labs unveiled Morpho V2, the latest iteration of its lending platform, featuring an intent-based design enabling scalable fixed-rate, fixed-term loans. The upgrade introduces two core components: Morpho Markets V2, a peer-to-peer system for customizable loans, and Morpho Vaults V2, yield-generating vaults offering instant liquidity and allocation across any protocol. Morpho V2 aims to address current limitations in DeFi, such as the lack of custom loan terms, predictable rates, and unified liquidity. It’s also complementary to Morpho V1, which currently holds over $6 billion in TVL. The platform also aims to attract institutional capital to onchain lending. Morpho Labs will first launch Vaults V2, followed by Markets V2 once audits are complete.
Smart contract automation platform Gelato Network introduced the Smart Wallet SDK, a modular toolkit designed for building wallet applications. The toolkit includes support for EIP-7702, gasless UX, and embedded wallet integrations. EIP-7702 enables externally owned accounts to be upgraded into programmable smart accounts. Gelato’s Multichain Gas Abstraction supports gas sponsorship and ERC-20 payments across 50 supported chains. The toolkit leverages Wallet-as-a-Service provider Dynamic to enable embedded wallets with social, email, or passkey login. Each module in the toolkit is vendor-agnostic and can be used independently.
Spark Protocol launched an Ignition airdrop, distributing 300 million SPK tokens to DeFi users involved with USDS-centric activities. Users will have six weeks to claim once the airdrop goes live, with unclaimed tokens moved to the Overdrive allocation phase. Eligible tokens include USDS, sUSDS, sUSDC, sDAI, xDAI, or SAI. Eligibility criteria include lending activities on SparkLend and other DeFi platforms, each earning "Ignition units" to determine the airdrop share. Snapshots were taken on April 15 of 2023, 2024, and 2025 across Ethereum Mainnet, Base, Arbitrum, and Gnosis. Spark Protocol currently holds over $6 billion in TVL. The SPK token is the governance token of the Spark Protocol ecosystem
Optimism announced updates to its Season 8 governance, which will prioritize stakeholder accountability, not just tokenholder power. Season 8 governance introduces a formal, onchain-verifiable model of Citizenship. The Citizens’ House, which uses a 1-member, 1-vote system, is now subdivided into end-users, apps, and chains. Optimism will implement governance-minimized decision-making by applying Optimistic Approvals to certain decisions. Optimism Season 8 governance will go live on July 24, 2025.
Etherealize’s bull case for ETH
Ethereum internship applications
Stripe Connect stablecoin payments
Coinbase introduces One Card
Shopify to support USDC payments
Disclaimer: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.
Stripe Acquires Privy Wallet Provider
Privy announced that it is being acquired by global payments processor Stripe, aiming to merge crypto and traditional finance into a unified experience for users.
Stripe to acquire Privy.
CCTP V2 goes live on World Chain.
Pistachio launches Ethereum wallet.
Privy, a wallet infrastructure provider for integrating embedded wallets, announced that it is being acquired by global payments processor Stripe. The acquisition aims to merge crypto and traditional finance into a unified, seamless experience for users. Privy will continue to operate independently. Privy allows applications to integrate embedded wallets featuring Web2 login methods such as SMS, email, Google, Twitter, Lens, and Farcaster. It supports cross-app wallet functionality, allowing users to access their existing embedded wallet across multiple applications. Once connected, users can verify ownership, sign messages, and execute transactions from their wallet.
Circle CCTP V2 and native USDC are now live on World Chain, an identity-focused Layer 2 network built on the OP Stack. CCTP V2 is the latest version of the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol that reduces transfer times to seconds and introduces support for Hooks, allowing developers to automate post-transfer smart contract actions. Support for native USDC eliminates the need for locked liquidity and bridged tokens, providing fully-backed, dollar-pegged stablecoins issued directly by Circle. World Chain powers the World Network, a globally distributed identity and financial network with over 10 million Orb-verified individuals.
Pistachio launched its non-custodial wallet and DeFi app to public beta, now available for download on iOS. It supports onchain finance across Ethereum, Base, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Scroll, and Mantle. The app aims to simplify user access to DeFi. Pistachio features gasless key actions and built-in tax categorization tools. Pistachio will integrate RWA yield vaults backed by partners like BlackRock and Pimco, onchain debit cards, and virtual bank accounts. Pistachio uses Multi-Party Computation (MPC) and Threshold Signature Scheme (TSS) to enable secure, seedless key recovery.
Disclaimer: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.