Weekly Market Highlights Review [6.9 - 6.13]: After a general rise in the crypto market, a black swan event occurred, and the narrative around stablecoins and Sol ETF is heating up.

At the beginning of this week, the crypto market generally rose, with Bitcoin and Ethereum driving the market stronger. The DeFi sector quickly surged in the short term after the regulatory authorities released positive signals, and macro data also generally leaned towards interest rate cuts. However, on Friday, the geopolitical situation in the Middle East suddenly escalated, impacting the crypto market, causing most altcoins to drop by about 10%. In addition, a certain company submitted a prospectus to the SEC to allow the resale of a large number of stocks, triggering market panic and leading to a 70% drop in its stock price, which affected Ethereum's performance to some extent.

This week's report will focus on hot topics such as the rise in stablecoin popularity, the Aster project, and regulatory trends.

1. The popularity of stablecoins continues to rise

On June 12, the U.S. Senate passed the procedural vote for the "GENIUS Stablecoin Act" by a vote of 68 to 30, which will initiate debate and a final vote in the full chamber. If both parties can shorten the debate time, the legislative process could be completed as early as June 17. If the Senate ultimately votes in favor, the bill will be submitted to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

If the bill is ultimately passed, it will become the first comprehensive federal legislation in the United States targeting encryption assets. Senior government advisors recently expressed their support for the bill, hoping to sign stablecoin legislation before August. With the GENIUS stablecoin bill about to pass, and the supportive attitude demonstrated by U.S. government agencies, other countries and regions, as well as banking enterprises, have also rapidly positioned themselves in the stablecoin sector this week, and the related topics continue to heat up.

1. South Korea's Trend

The new president has an open attitude towards the encryption industry, appointing industry insiders to key positions and planning to establish a digital asset committee directly controlled by the president to promote industry policies. Recently, the ruling party in South Korea proposed the "Basic Law on Digital Assets," aimed at allowing local companies to issue stablecoins to enhance transparency and competitiveness.

Issuance requirements include:

• The company must have a capital of at least 500 million KRW.
• Guaranteed refund through reserves
• Obtained approval from the Financial Services Commission

South Korea stablecoin market basics:

• By the end of 2024, about 30% of the South Korean population will participate in digital asset trading.
• In the first quarter of 2025, the trading volume of US dollar-pegged stablecoins reached 57 trillion won.
• Approximately 100,000 new investors join the market each month.
• Nearly 60% of respondents plan to increase their cryptocurrency holdings.

The Governor of the Bank of Korea will meet with executives from major commercial banks on June 23 to discuss the development of a won-backed stablecoin. The central bank is working with relevant institutions to formulate a regulatory framework for stablecoins to ensure their stability and usability. However, due to the possibility that a won stablecoin may bypass capital control measures, South Korea's attitude towards introducing a won stablecoin into the domestic economy is somewhat cautious.

Focus on the target:

A certain payment platform is the fintech division of a leading technology company in South Korea. Due to its digital wallet infrastructure and QR code payment system, the platform is widely regarded as a potential beneficiary of domestic stablecoins. After the announcement of the "Basic Law on Digital Assets", its stock price rose by 29% in a single day, marking the highest increase in nearly a year.

A high-performance public chain has been formed by the merger of two major tech giants' blockchain projects, backed by 250 million users. Recently, it announced plans to issue a stablecoin pegged to the Korean won. The core contributors of this public chain stated that following the launch of the native USDT, the team will fully promote the deployment of the Korean won stablecoin. The predecessor of this public chain participated in the Korean central bank's CBDC project, laying the technological foundation for the stablecoin issuance. Its token has risen over 50% this week, confirming the market's high recognition of its stablecoin layout.

The parent company of this public chain is expected to have a market value of approximately $11.979 billion by the end of 2024, meeting the conditions for issuing stablecoins. The issuance of stablecoins will enhance its on-chain transaction volume and ecological activity. Combined with the integration with another tech giant and the experience from the South Korean central bank's CBDC project, this public chain is likely to become a core player in the South Korean and Asian stablecoin markets, further attracting developers and partners.

2. Traditional Institutions

In 2024, the total transaction volume of stablecoins reached $27.6 trillion, surpassing the combined transaction volume of the two major payment giants in 2024. The low costs and streamlined payment processes brought by stablecoins quickly attracted the attention of numerous enterprises, exploring the integration of stablecoins into their payment systems.

2. Aster Project

On June 13, a decentralized exchange project Aster incubated by a trading platform completed the airdrop snapshot of Au points. This project is considered an important project in the ecosystem of a certain public chain, benchmarking a high-performance DEX. The Aster project is integrated from the DeFi protocol incubated by a certain incubator's seventh phase and a project brand invested by a certain investment institution. It has been confirmed that AST will replace APX, but the specific conversion ratio has not been clearly stated. There are rumors that the project's contract testing is for a 1:1 exchange, but half of it needs to be locked for six months. Considering the support from certain executives and the needs of ecological development, there is a possibility for APX to rise in the future.

A similar coin exchange strategy occurred at the beginning of 2024 when RBN was exchanged for AEVO. At that time, the price of RBN was 0.7U, and AEVO was around 2.3U. RBN could be staked on the official website for two months before being exchanged 1:1 for AEVO, which presented significant arbitrage opportunities. RBN also experienced a certain rise in a short period, with the increase from the lowest to the highest point being about 3 times.

3. Regulatory Policies

1. Key Points from the Speech of the Chairman of a Regulatory Agency at the "DeFi and the American Spirit" Roundtable

• The design philosophy of DeFi aligns with the American spirit, emphasizing economic freedom, private property rights, and innovation.
• Clearly participating in PoW or PoS network activities is not under the jurisdiction of federal securities laws.
• Emphasizing that self-custody is a core feature of DeFi and a fundamental value in the United States.
• Instruct staff to explore the "innovation exemption" framework, allowing eligible on-chain projects to operate legally.
• Acknowledge the innovation of DeFi technology and indicate the need to update the existing regulatory framework to accommodate on-chain activities.

2. A regulatory agency requires the issuer of the proposed spot SOL ETF to submit a revised S-1 form within the next week

This may indicate that the ETF will be approved within 3 to 5 weeks. The news also stated that regulators seem willing to accept proposals that include staking mechanisms.

The market has now entered the ETF speculation cycle related to relevant tokens. The earliest deadline for the SOL ETF application is around October 11, 2025, and the likelihood of approval is relatively high. It is advisable to strategically position for SOL coin and certain quality assets at the appropriate time.