The Daily: Tom Lee says Ethereum is Wall St. and White House’s blockchain of choice, Flare launches a wrapped XRP for DeFi, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Wednesday! Wondering what’s next after one of the largest long liquidation events of the year this week? We’ve got you covered.

In today’s newsletter, Tom Lee says Wall Street’s blockchain of choice is Ethereum, Flare launches a wrapped version of XRP for DeFi, Tether seeks to raise at a $500 billion valuation, and more.

Meanwhile, Hyperliquid’s home-grown stablecoin USDH goes live after Native Markets’ winning bid.

Let’s get started!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It’s a great read — and just like The Daily, it’s free to subscribe!

BitMine’s Tom Lee says Ethereum is Wall Street’s blockchain of choice

Fundstrat co-founder and BitMine Chairman Tom Lee called Ethereum a “truly neutral chain” and said Wall Street and the White House are coalescing around it as their blockchain of choice.

• During Korea Blockchain Week 2025’s Impact conference on Wednesday, Lee tied Ethereum’s neutrality to institutional trust, arguing that Wall Street only wants to operate on chains without perceived insider advantage.
• Lee further explained that he observed the White House and Congress, which had become more pro-crypto under the Trump administration, are primarily turning to Ethereum.
• “So when I look at that, combined with agentic AI and robots that are really going to create the need for a token economy for robots, a lot of that will happen on Ethereum,” he said.
• BitMine has grown from a Bitcoin miner into the world’s largest Ethereum treasury company, holding over 2.4 million ETH worth around $10 billion, second only to Strategy among crypto treasuries.
• Still bullish on BTC, Lee forecasts bitcoin will reach $200,000–$250,000 by year-end, with ETH hitting a $10,000–$12,000 range extending up to $15,000.

Flare Network launches FXRP to let XRP be used in DeFi apps

Flare Network has launched FXRP, a non-custodial, overcollateralized wrapped version of XRP that can be minted and used across DeFi protocols.

• The rollout starts with a 5 million FXRP cap, with minting supported by wallets like Luminite and Oxen Flow and trading available on SparkDEX, BlazeSwap, and Enosys.
• Liquidity pools for FXRP are offering up to 50% APR in rFLR incentives, while collateralized borrowing options expand its DeFi utility.
• Earlier this week, Midas and Axelar introduced mXRP, a tokenized XRP product currently targeting yields of up to 10%.

Tether seeks to raise at a $500 billion valuation

Tether is reportedly in talks with investors to raise as much as $20 billion at a $500 billion valuation — which would place it among the world’s most valuable private companies, ranking alongside Sam Altman’s OpenAI and Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

• Cantor Fitzgerald, a Tether shareholder with ties to President Trump’s Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, is advising the potential deal, Bloomberg reported, citing two anonymous sources.
• A $500 billion valuation would lift Cantor Fitzgerald’s reported 5% stake in Tether to around $25 billion, underscoring the scale of the potential raise.
• Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer with $172 billion in USDT supply, posted $4.9 billion in Q2 profit and is pushing deeper into the U.S. market with a new dollar-pegged token, USAT.

FTX Trust sues Genesis Digital, seeks $1.15 billion over ‘reckless’ SBF investment

The FTX Recovery Trust sued Genesis Digital Assets, calling Sam Bankman-Fried’s investment from sister firm Alameda in the bitcoin miner one of his most reckless uses of commingled funds.

• The lawsuit alleges Bankman-Fried pushed through the deal despite political unrest, energy caps, and new taxes that crippled bitcoin mining in Kazakhstan, where Genesis Digital is based.
• The trust said Genesis Digital provided no audited financials and its unaudited statements “bore no relation to reality.”
• Ultimately, Bankman-Fried invested $1.15 billion in Genesis Digital, with $550 million to its co-founders Rashit Makhat and Marco Krohn, the trust added, asking the court to get that money back.

CFTC launches initiative allowing derivatives traders to post stablecoins as collateral

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission unveiled a new initiative to let derivatives traders post tokenized assets like stablecoins as collateral, Acting Chair Caroline Pham announced Tuesday.

• The move follows the agency’s earlier pilot program with Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Moonpay, and Ripple to test non-cash collateral in derivatives markets.
• Officials said tokenized collateral could boost efficiency and transparency while aligning with the GENIUS Act’s new stablecoin framework, inviting public comments on the plan by Oct. 20.

In the next 24 hours

• U.S. jobless claims and GDP data are out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.
• U.S. FOMC members John Williams, Michelle Bowman, and Mary Daly will speak at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., and 3:30 p.m., respectively.
• Korea Blockchain Week continues in Seoul. Wyoming Blockchain Stampede continues in Laramie.

Never miss a beat with The Block’s daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.

© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.