Stripe’s new payments-focused blockchain, Tempo, secured $500 million in Series A funding led by Thrive Capital and Greenoaks, valuing the Layer-1 network at $5 billion, according to Fortune. The raise comes less than two months after Stripe unveiled Tempo in partnership with Paradigm, positioning it as a “payments-oriented L1” optimized for high-scale, real-world financial applications like stablecoin payments and cross-border settlements.

Russia has overtaken all European markets in crypto adoption, recording $376.3 billion in received transactions from July 2024 to June 2025, per the Chainalysis 2025 Geography of Crypto Report. The surge is driven by institutional-scale flows, rapid DeFi expansion, and heavy use of stablecoins for cross-border settlement.

The U.S. SEC approved 21Shares’ Form 8‑A (12B) for its Solana Spot ETF, officially registering it on the Cboe BZX Exchange and signaling trading could begin soon. This SEC approval has fueled bullish market sentiment, with investors debating whether Solana (SOL) can rally to $300 and set new all‑time highs.