🏎️ Aston Martin's F1 Team Goes All-In on Crypto

Sunday is here.

Welcome back to another newsletter from us at The Merge.

Tokenisation News

🏎️ Formula 1’s First Crypto Deal: Aston Martin x Coinbase

🪶 Plume partners up with Backed Finance to leverage tokenised equities

🇺🇸 Trump Jr says Crypto is the ‘Future of American Hegemony’

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Global Market Overview

Real World Assets on-chain (excl stablecoins) are worth $17.06 billion (↓0.25% from last month)

There are 83,913 Total Asset Holders (↑2.78% from last month).

• $221.3b is in Stablecoins

• $11.8b is within Private Credit

• $3.6b is in US Treasury Debt

• $1.19b is in Commodities

• $123.3m is in Global Bonds

• $15.9m is in Stocks

The top 3 networks are 🥇Ethereum ($133b in Total Value Locked) 🥈Tron ($62.5b in TVL) & 🥉Solana ($10.7b in TVL).

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So, what’s being tokenised this week?

Private Credit

Currently, there are $11.9 billion in active-value loans and $21.5 billion in total loan value across all protocols.

As of today, the top 3 current protocols with outstanding loans are 🥇Figure ($9.3b)🥈Tradable ($1.7b) &🥉Maple ($276m).

Stablecoins

Currently, the market cap of stablecoins is $221.3 billion (↑7.84% from last month).

As of today, it makes up 1.06% of all M2 Money Supply (↑7.84% from last month) with Monthly Transfer Volume totalling $2.52 trillion (↓48.02% from last month)

The top 3 current entities are 🥇Tether ($141.1b)🥈Circle ($55.1b) &🥉Sky ($7.8b).

Top stories this week?

🏎️ Formula 1’s First Crypto Deal: Aston Martin x Coinbase

Aston Martin F1 and Coinbase have inked a pioneering partnership that's turning heads both on and off the track.

The deal marks F1's first-ever sponsorship paid entirely in cryptocurrency (USDC), showcasing crypto's evolution from concept to real-world application in elite sports.

Beyond the Coinbase branding on Alonso and Stroll's cars and suits, this partnership promises blockchain-based fan engagement innovations – signalling F1's bold step into digital finance's fast lane.

This isn't just another sponsorship – it's a glimpse into the future of sports business, with Aston Martin leading the grid in financial innovation.

Commodities

Currently, the market cap of commodities is $1.2b (↑11.02% from last month).

As of today, the Monthly Transfer Volume totals $548.8m (↑51.24% from last month) with 60.3k addresses that are current holders.

The top 3 current entities are 🥇Paxos ($607m)🥈Tether ($571m) & 🥉Comtech Gold ($13m).

Bonds

Currently, the total value of bonds is $123.2m (↑0.84% from last week)

As of today, the Average Yield to Maturity is 0%. There are 663 Holders (↓0.75% from last week) and 7 Total Assets.

The top 3 current entities are 🥇Spiko ($96.6m)🥈 Backed Finance ($20.3m)🥉 OpenTrade ($6.3m).

Stocks

Currently, the total value of stocks is $16.1m (↑13.7% from last month)

As of today, the Monthly Transfer Volume totals $36.7m (↓34.2% from last month) with 269 Active Addresses and 1,108 Current Holders.

The top 3 current entities are 🥇iShares Core S&P 500 ($7.4m)🥈Coinbase Global ($5.8m) &🥉Nvidia ($1.4m).

Top stories this week?

🪶 Plume partners up with Backed Finance to leverage tokenised equities

Plume Network and Backed are launching fully-backed security tokens tracking major equities like Tesla and S&P 500, available 24/7 on the blockchain. Unlike synthetic assets, these bTokens carry real legal claims to the underlying stocks.

Why It's Game-Changing:

• Democratizes access to traditional markets through blockchain technology

• Tokens can be used as collateral or in DeFi protocols for yield generation

• Full legal backing, not just synthetic exposure

• Enables global users to access U.S. markets beyond trading hours

These aren't just tracking tokens - they're legitimate securities in digital form, usable across DeFi protocols.

Imagine using Tesla shares as loan collateral or earning yield on S&P 500 holdings through liquidity pools - tools previously reserved for institutions now available to everyone.

Weekly Resource List

👻 Phantom Wallet: Beginner-Friendly Wallet

Multiple chains, one wallet. No need for switching. Seamlessly access the largest NFT marketplaces. A multi-chain wallet that helps you explore web3, use apps, and buy, store, and trade crypto and NFTs across Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon. (link) 

💳 Coinbase Wallet: The Crypto Wallet of Choice

You’ve more than likely heard and probably used Coinbase, so no introduction is needed. This is by far one of the easiest and non-crypto native wallets to be picked up and used by anyone. They even have a ‘Simple Mode’ for beginners. (link) 

🌐 RWA.xyz: On-Chain RWA Analytics

Explore tokenised real-world assets and the investors, issuers and service providers participating in public blockchains. View protocol statistics, industry aggregate metrics, and the issuers all in one place (link)

🔎 Santiment: Crypto Intelligence Tool

A behaviour analytics platform for crypto, sourcing on-chain, social and development information on thousands of coins, including market signals. For RWA’s insights check out this (link) 

As always, thanks for reading.

Vote below and let us know your thoughts this week —we’d love to hear from you.

See you next Sunday,

Merge