🍨Banks Said It Couldn’t Happen. Then They Did It.

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Welcome back to The Geral, where the block never stops and neither do the headlines. This week, banks are minting stablecoins like it’s DeFi summer, Google is validating your favorite chain (literally), and anime just got itself a wallet. Oh, and Scout Game? Still gearing up for launch on April 21st, and let’s just say… things are about to get beautifully chaotic. You’ve still got time to stack points before the floodgates open.

TradFi Just Got Tokenized.. And There’s No Going Back

The first-ever bank-issued, regulator-approved stablecoin just hit Ethereum. Yes, Ethereum. Yes, an actual U.S. bank. No, this is not a testnet.

Custodia Bank and Vantage Bank pulled off what legacy finance has been sweating over for years: the successful issuance, transfer, and redemption of tokenized U.S. dollar deposits, on a permissionless blockchain, using the ERC-20 standard.

The stablecoin is called Avit, which sounds like a vitamin but works like a dollar. Except now it’s programmable, auditable, self-custody friendly, and legally wrapped in enough compliance red tape to make a Fed auditor tear up with joy. Minted on Ethereum. Managed by Custodia. Fiat held by Vantage. Everything blessed by the regulatory overlords.

And this isn’t a “sandbox” experiment or a shadowy test. A real business moved real money, outside the banking system, then redeemed it like nothing happened. Fedwire and ACH were involved. OFAC and BSA boxes were checked. Somewhere, a JPMorgan exec is probably refreshing his dashboard with mixed feelings. This isn’t just a one-off token launch. This is the first stone thrown through the stained-glass window of traditional banking infrastructure. The dollar just went programmable.. and the permissionless blockchain just got a handshake from the institutions who said it could never happen.

We’re watching the great merger of two worlds. And if you blink, you’ll miss TradFi getting flipped inside out, one stablecoin at a time.

Hong Kong Says “Yes” to Staking. But Only If You Read the Fine Print

Hong Kong’s SFC just gave the green light to staking but not without bringing a clipboard and a whistle to the party. In a move that says “We support web3, but we’re still watching you,” the Securities and Futures Commission announced new guidelines that let crypto exchanges and authorized funds offer staking services… as long as they follow the rules. All of them. In triplicate.

Here’s the vibe: staking is no longer a grey-zone side hustle. It’s a regulated offering now, complete with custody requirements, risk disclosures, minimum lock-ups, and SFC reporting duties. If you thought DeFi was going to sneak in the backdoor, surprise! There’s a bouncer. And he brought a filing cabinet.

But this isn’t just a compliance flex. It’s a signal. Hong Kong isn’t trying to copy-paste Web3 chaos, it wants to build a sustainable ecosystem, one regulation at a time. Meanwhile, SFC’s Christina Choi is out here giving keynote speeches about NFTs as cautionary tales, pragmatic regulation as the new alpha, and how Hong Kong’s not chasing hype, it’s building long-term infrastructure. The message is clear: “You can innovate, but don’t get weird.”

So while the U.S. fumbles around with lawsuits and Europe drafts 300-page PDFs, Hong Kong is just… launching actual policy. With a roadmap. And timelines. And functioning communication.

The Weebs Are Going Onchain (And There’s No Escape)

Sony’s new blockchain, Soneium, just teamed up with Animoca Brands to bring anime into Web3. It all starts with something called Anime ID, a fancy way of saying “one onchain identity to show the world how deep your fandom goes.” No more juggling wallets, logins, and secret alt accounts. Just one anime-flavored passport for the entire decentralized internet.

The first big event? An Anime Art Festival, kicking off with Solo Leveling and hosted by something called San FranTokyo, which sounds like a startup and an anime convention had a baby. Expect digital collectibles, community flexing, and probably a leaderboard for who cries hardest at Studio Ghibli films.

Behind the scenes, Moca Network’s AIR SDK is doing the magic, letting devs bake in reputation, identity, and other nerdy stuff into apps on the Soneium chain.

But not everything’s sunshine and petals. When Soneium launched its mainnet, some memecoins got yeeted into oblivion and crypto Twitter had a small meltdown. Still, that hasn’t stopped the anime x crypto mashup from going full speed, especially with Ghibli-style tokens popping up like it’s mint season in 2017.

Let’s be real: anime and crypto might not boost your dating life (they ranked #2 and #3 on the “most undateable hobbies” list, seriously), but they just got married onchain. Forever. No divorce button.

🧑‍💻 What’s new for developers?

Two big drops this week. And we’re not talking memecoins or broken promises.

First up: Scout Game now has a secondary market. That’s right, you can now list Developer Cards directly from your profile, slap a USDC price on them, and let the open market do its thing. And the best is that buyers don’t even need to think. The game automatically gives them the cheapest card available, whether it’s from your resale listing or the dev’s original drop. Capitalism, but convenient.

There’s no flashy marketplace tab. No OpenSea clones. The listings are baked straight into the core gameplay. You’re trading while collecting. Buying while scouting. Flipping while pretending you’re in it for the community.

Second: New game mode just dropped.
We call it the Weekly Matchup, but you can call it your new addiction. It’s live, it’s competitive, and it’s how you prove your dev picks weren’t just vibes.

So yeah.. Scout Game’s growing up fast. Get in, stack points, sell smart, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll retire off someone else’s GitHub activity.

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