Payments & stablecoins

Token thesis

The rollup-and-capacity strategy lets Ethereum scale while weakening the activity → congestion → burn → scarcity loop. ETH can benefit through security capital and monetary/reserve preference; the missing guarantee is that financial-system growth causes proportionate persistent ETH ownership.

Primary bypass

Ethereum succeeds as capital and settlement infrastructure while L2s retain execution economics, data capacity stays cheap, paymasters hide ETH and stablecoins remain user-facing money. High-value low-frequency funds can add enormous principal with little gas. If collateral/security balances and external ownership do not keep pace, network importance outruns token demand.

Token thesis

SOL is mandatory for backend fees and stake-weighted security. Its stronger balance channels are staking and voluntary fund/treasury ownership, reinforced by liquid network-proxy demand. Current burn is weak relative to positive issuance; fee-light sponsored finance can scale without proportional end-user SOL holdings.

Primary bypass

Useful low-cost Solana finance can grow while direct burn remains small, sponsors recycle fee balances, and issuance offsets scarcity. Institutional activity may choose competing or multichain rails; app/operator economics are not token-holder rights.

Token thesis

XLM fees, rent and account/subentry reserves are mandatory but small and linked to ledger complexity rather than asset dollars. Sponsorship shifts the reserve bearer. There is no proof-of-stake sink; large voluntary XLM supply in lending mostly demonstrates holder inventory, not borrower-driven scarcity. Important catalysts can still reach XLM through a separate, conditionally supported market-proxy path.

Primary bypass

Regulated assets and payments can grow with small recycled/sponsored XLM costs while principal stays in issued assets. Major counterparties including MoneyGram and DTCC are multichain; important network selection is not exclusive token capture. RWA reuse remains emerging and not proportional to asset issuance.

Token thesis

Ripple has assembled an unusually complete institutional-finance capability stack, and XRPL is being developed as a settlement, tokenization, liquidity and collateral rail. XRP’s strongest established transmission is market-proxy demand and independent inventory channels; proportional utility-driven acquisition remains poorly quantified. Ripple and XRPL can grow while XRP remains optional for much of the principal economic flow.

Primary bypass

Token thesis

SUI has real gas, stake and storage roles plus unusually strong regulated/treasury access and market-proxy transmission. Supported gasless transfers and app-layer tokens weaken required user-held balances. Staking can use existing/noncirculating inventory and rewards remain subsidy-supported.

Primary bypass

Daya explicitly allows settlement without buying or holding SUI. Gas sponsorship, stablecoin principal and DEEP/app-token economics can deliver valuable Sui usage while required external SUI acquisition stays weak. Foundation inventory can satisfy strategic demand without equivalent open-market buying.

Token thesis

Current policy directs 22% of original Net Revenue into outside-market SKY purchases: 18% for staking rewards and 4% for purchase-and-burn. Actual market acquisition and permanent destruction are verified. This is a current capture system, but most purchased SKY can later be distributed and sold; holders have no fixed profit claim.

Primary bypass

The financial system can remain operating while lower yields, mobile funding, credit losses and reserve rebuilding divert surplus from SKY acquisition. Agents can retain some economics and governance can redirect the waterfall. Protocol survival therefore does not guarantee strong token economics.