Inner Chain: Issue 25

🚀 Editor's Note

Welcome to the 24th edition of Inner Chain Crypto your weekly no-hype, straight-talking guide to what’s really happening in Crypto and Web 3, from a passionate squad of crypto enthusiasts from Brooklyn to Accra.

In the aftermath of last week’s chaos, crypto markets are still digesting the largest liquidation event in history - over $19 billion in leveraged positions wiped out after global tariff shocks and heavy-handed market manipulation.

Meanwhile, ETF approvals remain on pause amid the government shutdown, yet with more than 90 crypto-asset ETF and ETP applications pending at the SEC.

In a landmark moment, the Federal Reserve held a Payment Innovation Conference, placing cryptocurrency and digital assets at the center of its policy discussions for the first time ever. Representatives from Chainlink, Paxos, Circle, and Coinbase joined central bankers to discuss the future of payments.

Natwest bank in the UK, is keeping tabs of your Carbon footprint potentially opening doors to behavior profiling and social scoring.

And in Washington, Trump Pardons Binance founder CZ, and VP JD Vance declares: crypto and digital assets, especially Bitcoin - are now part of the mainstream economy and here to stay.

The Future is On-Chain.

Don’t get sidelined. Lock In 🔒️ 

🚀 Market Watch - Trending Coins

💡 SPOTLIGHT

🧩 Ethena: The Synthetic Dollar Experiment

One of the most talked-about projects this cycle is Ethena (ENA) the protocol behind USDe, a new breed of “synthetic dollar” aiming to create a crypto-native alternative to stablecoins. Unlike USDC or USDT, Ethena doesn’t rely on banks or fiat reserves. Instead, it uses ETH or staked ETH (like stETH) as collateral and opens short perpetual futures positions to hedge price volatility.

The result is a delta-neutral position designed to maintain stability while generating yield from derivatives funding rates and staking rewards. USDe can also be staked to earn sUSDe, a yield-bearing version currently offering one of the most competitive on-chain returns.

Still, for DeFi natives seeking returns and decentralization without touching banks, Ethena represents one of the boldest experiments in crypto finance, and a reminder that stablecoins are evolving into something far more sophisticated than “digital cash.”

🔥 Inner Watchlist

• $AAVE

• $BABYBNB (meme)

• $WLD

• $LINK

• $SYRUP

• $FLOKI (meme)

• $RNDR

• $PROPY

• $4 (meme)

🧠 Your Privacy Matters

If you have a UK bank account, you may have heard that Natwest bank is assigning a carbon value to each item on your bank statement. Below is an example:

With the introduction of digital ID’s, will this lead to inevitably lead to more government control?

The move by banks like NatWest to track the carbon footprint of your spending, combined with the rise of Digital IDs, creates a powerful infrastructure for potential government overreach. This system could evolve from nudging behavior to enforcing it via carbon taxes, social scoring, or spending limits, fundamentally eroding financial privacy.

To protect yourself, focus on two key areas: Financial and Digital Privacy. Use cash for personal purchases and consider prepaid cards or diversifying your banks to compartmentalize your data. Digitally, resist using a single Digital ID for all services and practice basic hygiene like using a VPN and privacy-focused browsers to avoid creating a unified, trackable profile.

Crypto wise, use DEX’s where you can like Hyperliquid over centralized exchanges. We all now know that bitcoin is not private and transactions are recorded on a public ledger. We will expand on everyday privacy more in future issues.

🗞️ News

• Bank of Japan promotes Stablecoins for future payments

• Chainlink declared top project for Real World Assets development

• Whales accumulating Link

• If Bitcoin isn’t ‘Crypto’ what makes it different

• Trump pardons Binance founder CZ

  

🧑‍💻 Who We Are

We’re a small squad of crypto natives - traders, builders, and research freaks who are deep in the trenches with a wealth of knowledge of the crypto market. We use AI tools, real-time data and community intel to stay ahead.

_Disclaimer

^{_{The information provided in this newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The content, including any trading ideas, charts, or strategies, is not intended to be, and should not be interpreted as, an offer to buy, sell, or hold any financial product. The information shared does not account for the investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any individual recipient.}}

Till next time,

INNER CHAIN

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