Plus: Circle will launch its own L1 blockchain

GM. Someone spiked the crypto punch with hopium because everything’s juicy af rn.

Here's what you're sipping today:

🍍 Ethereum's pumping.

🚀 Circle introduces its own L1 blockchain.

🍋 Do Kwon pleads guilty, banks fear the GENIUS Act + more

🍍 Market flavor today

Crypto Market Cap: $4.14T 3.05% (24H)
Name		Price	24H	7D
	Bitcoin BTC	$120,787.09	1.77%	5.58%
	Ethereum ETH	$4,658.24	6.10%	28.82%
	XRP XRP	$3.25	1.92%	9.55%
	BNB BNB	$846.43	4.55%	10.73%
	Solana SOL	$197.54	10.71%	18.50%

… You hear that? Wait, what the helly? 🤨

What is that??.. 🤨

Ohhh. I think I know.

It's the sound of 2021 Ethereum investors coming back to life, because ETH is getting suuuper close to its all-time high!

Mind you, since setting that record in 2021, Ethereum has never gotten this close to matching it.

I'm not crying, you are 🥹

So, what’s pushing it up?

1/ ETFs

Ethereum ETFs have been kiiiilling it lately - in just the past six days, they've attracted over $2.3B in inflows.

For comparison, Bitcoin ETFs only had $820M in net inflows during the same period - meaning ETH’s inflows were nearly triple!

2/ Corporate shopping sprees

Ethereum treasury companies keep buying:

👉 BitMine Immersion Technology plans to raise a crazy $24.5B to buy more ETH;

👉 SharpLink raised $389M, most of which they plan to use to buy ETH.

Right now, ETH is trading near $4,750, which CryptoQuant contributor CryptoOnchain says is a critical level.

👉 If ETH breaks above that and trading volume stays strong, the price could move into uncharted territory for the first time ever.

👉 But if it fails to push past, it could drop back toward $3,950 support.

Basically, what happens in the next few days will decide if it finally tops the all-time high or gets knocked back down.

Stay tuned 😉

🚓 From catching bad guys… to catching bad code

After eight years in law enforcement - three of them as a sergeant - Stephon Treadwell decided it was time for a change.

He left policing to start a new career in tech.

Which sounds like a normal switch… until you realize he had zero tech background. No degree. No IT experience.

But just months after starting Yellow Tail Tech’s training, he was hired as a Linux System Administrator for a government contractor supporting the FAA in New Jersey.

Now he’s making more money, working regular hours, and building a career that keeps moving up.

🥝 Memecoin harvest

Your uncle’s serious investment is down 12%. A dog coin? See for yourself 👇

Data as of 04:30 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

🚀 Circle's L1

What a year it’s been for Circle, the issuer of USDC:

👉 They went public with a wildly successful IPO;

👉 Their revenue and reserve income increased 53% YoY to hit $658M;

👉 And USDC got a clearer legal framework in the US when the GENIUS Act was signed into law.

The latest? Circle is launching Arc, an open Layer-1 blockchain made specifically for stablecoin finance.

It’ll run on USDC as its native gas token, include a built-in FX engine for direct currency swaps, confirm transactions in under a second, offer optional privacy tools, and connect with Circle’s existing platform.

Sounds pretty sick, amirite?

But if you scroll through the top comments under the announcement post, you’ll notice that almost everyone is saying the same thing.

(And, spoiler alert: it's not very positive).

So, what’s up? 🤨 Why are people side-eyeing Circle for building a new Layer-1 instead of launching an Ethereum Layer-2?

Quick breakdown:

Layer-1 = the main blockchain that processes and records transactions itself (like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana).

Layer-2 = a blockchain built on top of a Layer-1 to process transactions faster and cheaper, then send the receipts back to the main chain for security.

And the L2 suggestion keeps coming up because in recent years, most new blockchains have been Ethereum L2s. That's 'cuz they:

👉 Get to plug straight into Ethereum’s user base, liquidity, and developer tools;

👉 Inherit Ethereum’s proven safety;

👉 Can easily connect to the most active DeFi and NFT markets in the world.

For Circle specifically, an L2 might’ve seemed like the obvious choice - USDC already moves heavily on Ethereum, and an L2 launch would integrate with the wallets, exchanges, and dApps that already support both.

But they went like:

Because by launching Arc as an L1, Circle gets what those L2s don't: full control (over fees, upgrades, governance, and features - no need to wait for Ethereum's approval).

The trade-off? Adoption.

Even with EVM compatibility - meaning Ethereum apps and tools can run on Arc with minimal changes - Circle still has to convince developers, exchanges, and users to actually use it, instead of sticking with the dozens of chains that already host USDC.

So, in short:

😃 It’s a smart decision if Circle wants long-term independence, more control, and a tailor-made home for stablecoin finance.

😬 But it’s risky if they can’t attract enough real usage quickly, because then Arc risks ending up as “yet another chain” in an already crowded market.

🍋 News drops you can't miss

👀 Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud. He agreed to pay $19M in penalties, and while those charges could add up to 25 years in prison, prosecutors said they won’t push for more than 12 years.

🧊 TRON, Tether, and TRM Labs have frozen $250M+ in crypto tied to illegal activity. They’re now expanding the operation with a new program called T3+, and Binance is the first partner on board.

⛓️ The founders of HashFlare are out after 16 months in custody. They scammed people into buying fake crypto mining contracts.

🏦 A group of US banking associations is asking Congress to fix a gap in the new GENIUS Act. They say it could let stablecoin companies team up with partners to offer interest, which might pull deposits away from traditional banks.

🍌 Juicy memes