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If you’ve been wondering where the builders, the allocators, and the architects of the future have been this week—they’ve been with us.

From intimate dinners to industry-shaping gatherings, we’ve been hosting rooms alongside the heaviest hitters in the space: JP Morgan, Silicon Valley Bank, Aptos, TON, Bitpanda, and more…

We curate the environments where the next generation of technology is shaped.

And we aren't slowing down.

Next week, we raise the bar again.

We are taking over the Ritz-Carlton in partnership with the TON Foundation for our most exclusive evening yet.

This is where the real work gets done.

Meet the few, who shape the many.

Access to this dinner—and our entire global calendar—is strictly for members.

Meet Chris McLaughlin (@cmclaughlin213), a standout professional in the Introduction.com network who is at the forefront of bridging the gap between traditional finance and the future of on-chain capital markets.

With crypto maturing and billions in real-world assets moving to the blockchain, Chris understands that the industry needs infrastructure actually built to handle institutional requirements.

Huge Congratulation!!

Chris has officially started a new position as Technical Product Manager at Injective Labs! 🚀

Chris is now helping drive the frontier of DeFi at Injective, a chain designed for this exact moment with:

Chris is "in the room" building the tools that will bring global capital markets on-chain at such a pivotal time for the industry.

Drop a comment to congratulate him on the new role! 👇

TRM Labs:

Secured a $70M Series C extension led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from GGV Capital and Tiger Global.

The capital will scale their blockchain intelligence and risk management platform, providing critical infrastructure for financial institutions and regulators as they navigate onchain compliance.

Congrats to Vlad Fedyna and the Goldman Sachs team for their continued conviction in the TRM mission. Essential work being done here!

Bluff:

Raised $21M in a round led by SevenX Ventures, with participation from a heavy hitting roster including Mirana Ventures, OKX Ventures, and Castle Island.

Bluff is building a decentralized betting ecosystem that focuses on high performance execution and transparency, aiming to disrupt the traditional sportsbook model.

A special shout out to a newmember, Tristan Thompson, for his participation in the round! Welcome to the fold. Big things ahead for the betting space.

Ruvo:

Announced their rebrand and a $4.6M strategic round led by 1confirmation, with participation from Coinbase Ventures and MGM Resorts International.

Formerly known as Cacao, Ruvo is moving full steam ahead into blockchain native hospitality, using digital ownership to redefine high end loyalty programs and luxury experiences.

Jonathan King at Coinbase Ventures back at it again with another heater! Shout out to Alec Howard and the team. Rebranding while bagging a strategic titan like MGM is an absolute masterclass in pivoting.

Kairos:

Raised a $2.5M Seed round led by a16z crypto, with participation from Geneva Trading and Robot Ventures.

Co-founded by former Cboe employees, the protocol is building a unified trading terminal for prediction markets, bringing institutional grade speed and performance to the space.

Another high conviction bet from the a16z crypto team. LFG!

Vyper: I

n a major ecosystem consolidation, pump.fun has acquired the Vyper team and their institutional grade derivatives infrastructure.

This merger signals a massive expansion for pump.fun as it moves beyond the memecoin trenches to integrate sophisticated onchain trading and clearing capabilities directly into its stack.

JTether: Completed a $100M strategic equity investment in Anchorage Digital. This move deepens the integration between the largest stablecoin issuer and the premier US regulated digital asset bank.

Opinion: Raised $20M to scale its decentralized prediction market platform. Investors are pivoting toward "truth markets" as a hedge against broader crypto market weakness.

Relay: Secured $11.7M in a round led by Standard Crypto. The protocol is focused on cross chain intent execution, simplifying the UX for moving liquidity between fragmented L2 ecosystems.

T-0 Network: Received a strategic investment from Tether to accelerate the development of a USDT powered global payments system designed for instant settlement.

OpenMind: Raised $6M to build a decentralized AI layer. The project aims to provide verifiable and private model training onchain.

Cap Labs: Closed a $4M seed round to develop modular liquidity solutions for the next generation of decentralized exchanges.

Bitwise: In a major push for institutional yield, Bitwise Asset Management is acquiring staking provider Chorus One. The deal integrates institutional grade staking directly into the Bitwise product suite.

Tokens.com: Acquired a significant portfolio of Bed Bath & Beyond real estate assets to be tokenized. This marks a major step in the convergence of distressed physical retail and onchain RWA infrastructure.

Michael Burry is sounding the alarm on a collateral "death spiral", arguing that the recent collapse in gold and silver was a direct result of falling crypto prices. He contends that institutional investors and corporate treasurers, facing heavy losses as Bitcoin wiped out its post-election gains, were forced to liquidate an estimated $1 billion in profitable "paper" precious metals to cover margin calls. Burry notes that tokenized silver futures on platforms like Hyperliquid saw liquidations exceeding those of Bitcoin, exposing a "contaminated" liquidity link that has turned traditional safe havens into high-beta victims of the crypto deleveraging cycle.

According to Burry, this price action effectively debunks the "digital gold" narrative, as Bitcoin failed to react to the same geopolitical and dollar-debasement drivers that sent physical metals to record highs. He warns that if Bitcoin continues its descent toward $50,000, the lack of an "organic use case" could lead to a total collapse of the tokenized metals market, pushing miners toward bankruptcy and leaving these digital-physical hybrids in a "black hole" with no buyers. For Burry, the current regime reveals that corporate treasury assets are far from permanent, as risk managers are now being forced to dump their most liquid winners to survive the broader speculative reset.

The "Eastern Floor" that has supported metal prices for months is the result of a deliberate, three-stage decoupling of Chinese markets. It began on January 1st with Beijing reclassifying silver as a strategic material and a "dual-use" asset. This introduced a strict licensing regime that effectively nationalized silver exports, securing supply for China's dominant solar and EV industries and causing Shanghai prices to detach from global spot rates.

This state-led scarcity triggered a "YOLO" frenzy among Chinese retail investors seeking a hedge against a weakening Yuan. By mid-January, coordination across social media pushed Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) volumes to historic extremes—tin contracts alone reached double the world’s annual physical usage in a single day. This domestic momentum drove gold and silver premiums as high as $20 over London, creating a massive, isolated liquidity silo.

The mania has now hit a violent regulatory ceiling as authorities intervened over 38 times to cool the market. This week's emergency margin hikes to 22% have begun forcibly flushing out "hot money" just as the Lunar New Year liquidity drain begins. This transition marks the end of the speculative rocket ship, leaving the market to find a new fundamental floor based on industrial demand rather than retail leverage.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing a sharp rise in exit odds on Polymarket following the controversial appointment of Peter Mandelson as US Ambassador.

The move has reignited scrutiny over historical ties to the recently released Jeffrey Epstein files, creating a localized confidence crisis for UK markets.

Coinbase pivoted from its iconic QR code to a high energy karaoke themed commercial set to a reworked version of the Backstreet Boys' "Everybody."

While the ad polarized viewers, leadership described it as a vibe based play to normalize crypto for the 52 million Americans who have used digital assets.

The Fed’s "Skinny" Master Account Pivot:

Federal Reserve Governor Waller confirmed the rollout of these specialized accounts for 2026. This is a structural milestone that allows eligible fintechs to settle directly on Fed rails like FedNow, effectively removing the "middleman" bank risk that has historically stifled crypto-native firms.

The Prediction Market "Do Over":

Federal regulators have officially discarded Biden-era restrictions on event-based contracts, clearing the path for domestic scaling of platforms like Kalshi. The battle has already shifted to the state level, however, with Nevada regulators moving to bar Coinbase from utilizing its gaming license for these markets.

FDIC Drops the "Crypto Pause":

In a major administrative pivot, the FDIC has ceased issuing the "pause" letters that previously prevented banks from engaging with digital assets. By dropping these associated fees, the agency is signaling a formal end to the Chokepoint 2.0 era, inviting regional banks back into the custody and settlement space.

China’s Stablecoin & Tokenization Ban:

Beijing is broadening its enforcement to target "underground" USDT flows and RWA tokenization. This is a strategic move to seal the primary escape valve for Chinese capital, further insulating the domestic financial system from external digital liquidity.

Brazil Bans Algorithmic Stablecoins:

Brazilian regulators have moved to outlaw synthetic and delta-neutral designs like Ethena’s USDe. New mandates require 100% backing by cash or government bonds, prioritizing consumer protection over the more experimental "yield-bearing" dollar models in one of the world's most active crypto markets.

Russia’s BTC-Backed Lending Launch:

Sovcombank has become the first Russian bank to offer Bitcoin-backed loans to the public. This reflects a state-led effort to integrate digital assets into the formal banking stack, allowing citizens to access fiat liquidity without selling assets while the country continues to bypass international sanctions.