Dear Investor, this week, we're on the ground at Korea Blockchain Week, one of Asia’s largest crypto conferences. The DACM team has been meeting with current portfolio companies, emerging projects, and investor peers. A key theme throughout the week has been stablecoins, which Tom Threlfall explores in more detail below.
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Crypto Current #94

This week, we're on the ground at Korea Blockchain Week, one of Asia’s largest crypto conferences. The DACM team has been meeting with current portfolio companies, emerging projects, and investor peers. A key theme throughout the week has been stablecoins, which Tom Threlfall explores in more detail below.

    What's happening in crypto?

    • Tether targets $500B valuation with private placement
    • Plasma mainnet beta goes live with XPL token FDV reaching $10b
    • Nine European banks join forces to issue MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin
    • Korean internet giant Naver to acquire Upbit, eyes stablecoins
    • SEC paves way for crypto spot ETFs with new listing rules
    • DATs have raised $20 billion, but have they peaked? What's next?

    Crypto markets continued their decline following over $1.7 billion in liquidations earlier in the week, with most top‑100 tokens ending negative. The battle for dominance in the DeFi perpetual exchange market saw Binance‑affiliated $ASTER surge over 220% over the week, while market leader $HYPE dropped 30%. Meanwhile, the stablecoin-focused Layer 1 Plasma launched its mainnet beta, with its native $XPL token rising more than 50% following the launch, as stablecoin adoption continues to expand across DeFi and TradFi.

    Crypto prices

    DACM at Token2049

    DACM will be attending Token2049 next week in Singapore. Our Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer, Richard Galvin, will be speaking on the “Global Markets and Crypto: Where’s the Upside Now?” panel on Wednesday.

     

    If you’d like to connect with the team during the event, please reach out via investorrelations@dacm.io.

    TOKEN2049 Singapore - Richard Galvin (1)

    Korea Blockchain Week: Ground-level observations

    Tom Threlfall, Portfolio Manager - DACM Market Neutral Fund

     

    From Seoul this week, several conversations have reshaped my thinking on crypto's institutional trajectory. At yesterday's Ethena ($ENA) event—alongside numerous stablecoin-focused gatherings—Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX and a prominent crypto investor, reiterated his preference for owning Ethereum ($ETH) at a $500B market cap over Tether (reflecting the reported valuation of Tether's latest private funding round), citing unsustainable regulatory risk. With USDT's backing assets experiencing over 30% annual turnover, Hayes argues that while stablecoins appear here to stay, any regime change could fundamentally alter the landscape.

     

    The stablecoin conversations proved particularly revealing: the pipeline of high-quality bootstrapping projects has notably slowed, reinforcing Hayes' point that without competitive advantages and walled gardens to launch into, incumbents maintain significant structural moats.

     

    Perhaps the most striking takeaway for me has been my revised understanding of "retail" investors here in Korea. Where I'd previously held a relatively homogeneous view—largely influenced by the "WallStreetBets crowd" archetype—the reality is that Korea's retail investor base skews significantly older, with many participants in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. This presents a markedly different reality, challenging assumptions about risk appetite and investment behavior that have long influenced institutional crypto strategies.

     

    These observations reinforce our thesis that smaller stablecoins offer minimal network effects compared to incumbents, though niche applications remain viable (see Crypto Current #73). With major institutions issuing stablecoins and Tether's rumoured $500 billion funding round drawing fresh attention, the competitive landscape is intensifying. Long-term sustainability hinges on yield-bearing tokens delivering reliable, benchmark-ready returns, while specialized players can differentiate through additional functionality.

     

    As we've written previously, only a handful will survive and thrive—with distribution remaining the primary moat. Growing to scale proves exceptionally difficult, but distributing into captive audiences can work. Recent developments also highlight how shifts in the U.S. political landscape are influencing market dynamics, particularly around regulatory tone and project momentum.

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    Established in 2017, DACM is an institutional investor focused on the digital asset sector. Our team invest across the digital asset sector, from early-stage venture partnerships to listed and derivative markets. DACM has developed a fundamental investment philosophy designed for family office and institutional investors, tested across multiple market cycles.

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