The Daily: Uphold explores IPO after Circle success, Guggenheim taps XRP Ledger in RWA push, and more

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

Happy Tuesday! Released today, Coinbase’s 2025 State of Crypto report, developed in collaboration with The Block Research, presents a comprehensive analysis of blockchain adoption across American corporations.

In today’s newsletter, Uphold joins the list of crypto firms exploring an IPO, Guggenheim taps XRP Ledger to offer its tokenized commercial paper, the Trump family-backed mining firm American Bitcoin acquires its first $23 million worth of BTC, and more.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin Core developers have merged a controversial pull request to remove the long-standing 83-byte default limit for OP_RETURN data, with the mempool policy change set to take effect in the implementation’s v30 release, scheduled for October.

Let’s get started.

Uphold explores IPO while courting US XRP fans

Crypto trading platform Uphold has appointed FT Partners to explore strategic options, including a potential U.S. IPO or sale to a payments firm, CEO Simon McLoughlin told The Block.

• McLoughlin’s mention of a potential IPO comes in the wake of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle’s recent successful public offering, with its shares gaining more than 300% since their debut last week.
• While the CEO wouldn’t comment on valuation, according to a person familiar with the matter, the company is targeting somewhere north of $1.5 billion.
• Although cautious, McLoughlin suggested that a potential Nasdaq listing could fuel the acquisition of other companies amid a rising wave of mergers in the crypto industry and Uphold’s rapid growth.
• Uphold expects to more than triple its 2022 revenue, growing from $80 million to over $300 million this year, he said.
• Uphold also drew attention during a recent event in Las Vegas with plans to unlock XRP yield through the Flare Network and launch a U.S. debit card offering XRP rewards.

Guggenheim taps XRP Ledger in RWA push

Guggenheim Treasury Services, a subsidiary of Guggenheim Capital, has launched its tokenized fixed-income asset on the XRP Ledger, offering institutional investors exposure to short-term debt instruments through decentralized finance networks, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

• The Digital Commercial Paper product, backed by U.S. Treasuries, is issued by fintech startup Zeconomy and offered through Great Bridge Capital, a special-purpose vehicle designed to provide bankruptcy-remote services.
• XRPL developer Ripple is backing the launch with a $10 million investment in Guggenheim’s DCP program, which carries a Prime-1 rating from Moody’s, the highest for money market instruments.
• The move expands Guggenheim’s tokenized debt offering beyond Ethereum, where DCP first debuted in September, with roughly $20.5 million issued on the network to date.

Trump-backed American Bitcoin mining firm acquires first $23 million worth of BTC

American Bitcoin, a mining firm backed by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., quietly purchased its first 215 BTC worth nearly $24 million as of May 31, according to an SEC filing.

• The firm plans to go public later this year via a SPAC merger with Gryphon Digital Mining, trading under the ticker ABTC on Nasdaq.
• Inspired by Michael Saylor and Strategy’s playbook, American Bitcoin aims to fund its BTC treasury acquisitions by mining bitcoin below market cost.
• Operating through a services agreement with bitcoin miner Hut 8, the company runs three mining facilities in Niagara Falls, NY, Medicine Hat, AB, and Orla, TX.

US Senate set for GENIUS stablecoin bill vote this Wednesday

Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the GENIUS Act on Monday, setting up a Wednesday vote on the landmark stablecoin legislation, according to Bloomberg.

• The bill, which already cleared a 66-32 vote last month to invoke cloture, must now secure 60 votes to advance toward passage.
• If enacted, the GENIUS Act will require stablecoins to be fully backed by U.S. dollars or similar highly liquid assets, with annual audits for issuers with market caps exceeding $50 billion.
• The bill also includes compliance rules for foreign issuers, mandating tech capacity to freeze or seize criminal funds when ordered.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs set to hit $1 trillion cumulative trading volume milestone

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs are on track to surpass $1 trillion in cumulative trading volume less than 18 months after their January 2024 debut, sitting at $995.2 billion as of June 9, according to The Block’s data dashboard.

• Given the rate of $2.3 billion to $4.4 billion in daily trading volume registered over the past week, the $1 trillion milestone is likely to be hit within the next couple of days.
• BlackRock’s IBIT fund dominates spot Bitcoin ETFs by trading volume, with a current 79% market share.

In the next 24 hours

• U.S. CPI inflation data are released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Est. MoM 0.2%; Core 0.3%. Est. YoY 2.5%; Core 2.9%.
• IOTA, Render, and Axie Infinity are set for token unlocks.

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.