Now even PSG is adopting a bitcoin treasury strategy. Yesterday, the French football club revealed they had quietly added BTC to their balance sheet last year.

They’re in good company: this week alone, the state of Pakistan, Trump Media, GameStop, and a string of VC-backed ventures announced multi-million-dollar bitcoin purchases. The Strategy copycat cycle is in full swing.

Hopefully, three years from now, we won’t see Netflix announce a new series chronicling the rise and fall of these bitcoin acquisition vehicles. For now, they’ve got their hands full with The Altruists, their upcoming FTX drama, for which they just revealed the main cast yesterday (why does the guy playing SBF look like Sam Altman?).

Here’s what else we’re covering today:

• SEC drops case against Binance

• Polygon introduces DeFi-focused Layer-2

• Worldpay brings stablecoin payouts to merchants

Just when markets thought the trade chaos might ease, the rollercoaster accelerated again.

The week started positively, with Trump stepping back from his threat to impose 50% tariffs on EU imports — a move that initially sent markets cheering. Then came a twist: a U.S. trade court unexpectedly struck down much of Trump’s existing tariff framework, ruling it legally overreaching. Stocks surged on hopes of lower trade barriers and improved corporate earnings. But the optimism was short-lived. Less than 24 hours later, an appeals court hit pause on the decision, keeping the tariffs in place for now.

The legal back-and-forth leaves investors wondering: Are we back to square one, or will we ultimately end up with lower, more predictable tariffs and a brighter global growth outlook?

Katana: Polygon Labs Introduces DeFi-focused Layer-2

Announcement: On Wednesday, Polygon Labs and leading global crypto market maker GSR announced the launch of Katana, a DeFi-focused layer-2 network, which is already set to go live next month.

• Why it matters: Katana is one of the first blockchains in the so-called Agglayer — Polygon’s own ecosystem of tightly connected layer-2s. With its unique architecture, Katana is designed to become the ecosystem’s liquidity hub. Or, in the words of Polygon Labs CEO Marc Boiron, “a chain with very deep liquidity that every other chain can tap into”.

Sequencer revenue share: A key pillar of Katana’s architecture is its G2 sequencer, developed by the Rollup-as-a-Service (RaaS) provider Conduit. Unlike most networks, Katana doesn’t direct sequencer fees to the core team. Instead, the revenues flow back into the network’s liquidity pools — designed to give users deeper liquidity and better pricing.

• Native app integrations: This liquidity is concentrated in a small set of integrated protocols: Morpho for lending, SushiSwap for spot trading, and Vertex for perpetuals trading. By concentrating liquidity into a few key protocols, Katana tries to avoid the fragmentation seen on many general-purpose chains. For users, this shall translate into fewer choices competing for capital and deeper pools to trade in.

App revenue share: The value flows both ways. A portion of the fees generated by Katana’s core apps is redirected back into the ecosystem — either to grow liquidity or to fund user incentives.

Native yield: Katana’s VaultBridge offers another layer of capital efficiency, as assets like ETH, USDC, and WBTC deposited into the bridge earn yield via Morpho vaults. This yield also flows back into Katana, further strengthening the ecosystem.

What’s next: Starting now, users can pre-deposit funds into the VaultBridge and earn rewards in the form of KAT tokens. After Katana’s mainnet launch on June 23rd, funds can be withdrawn, while rewards will become transferable after up to nine months.

Worldpay Taps BVNK to Bring Stablecoin Payouts to Merchants

Stablecoin payouts: Worldpay has partnered with stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK to enable merchants to make payouts in stablecoins. The partnership enables businesses to fund their accounts with USD, EUR, or GBP and distribute payments instantly, globally, and around the clock.

• Why it matters: With approximately $2.2 trillion in annual payments, Worldpay is one of the world’s largest payment processors, operating in over 100 markets globally and serving more than one million merchants.

What’s happening under the hood:

• API Integration: Worldpay is integrating BVNK’s APIs directly into its Global Payouts platform, adding stablecoin payouts as a new option alongside traditional methods like bank transfers and card payments.

• How it works: Merchants fund their Worldpay accounts in fiat (USD, EUR, GBP). BVNK’s infrastructure converts the funds into stablecoins and delivers them to recipients globally.

• Wallets abstracted: Merchants don’t need to hold or manage stablecoins directly. BVNK’s embedded wallet system handles the custody and distribution of stablecoins, ensuring a seamless experience for merchants and their recipients.

• Compliance built-in: BVNK combines its tech stack with regulatory compliance, ensuring KYC, AML, and transaction monitoring are integrated into the solution — critical for a regulated global payments provider like Worldpay.

Use cases: The demand for Worldpay’s stablecoin payouts spans a wide range of industries.

• “It’s broad-based”, said Nabil Manji, Worldpay’s SVP of Fintech Growth and Partnerships. “We’ve got marketplaces looking to pay sellers, enterprises needing to pay vendors in complex payment corridors, and media companies paying out customers who want to withdraw balances. It’s really about speed, access, and efficiency across industries”.

Three years of stablecoins: Worldpay’s engagement with stablecoins dates back to 2022 when it first utilized USDC for backend settlements with Visa. While earlier efforts primarily benefited crypto-native firms, the BVNK collaboration represents a significant evolution, directly embedding stablecoin advantages into everyday merchant workflows.

Next steps: The service is expected to launch in the second half of 2025.