Blockchain

In August, the crypto market showed strong performance, driven by continued ETF inflows and rising on-chain activity. ETH emerged as the best-performing major token of the month, with a gain of over 18%. In contrast, Bitcoin followed a “rise-then-fall” pattern—briefly surpassing $124,500 mid-month before retreating due to growing macroeconomic uncertainty. Among public blockchains, Solana led with over 29 billion monthly transactions, while Ethereum recorded 51.77 million on-chain transactions, marking a new four-year high for the second consecutive month.

This report highlights that as of August 2025, the global stablecoin market capitalization has reached $280 billion, with annual on-chain settlement volumes surpassing $30 trillion. Stablecoins are evolving from mere crypto trading instruments into global financial infrastructure. This explosive growth is driven by regulatory implementation and the entry of major enterprises. The enactment of the GENIUS Act, the Stablecoin Bill, and the MiCA Regulation mark the beginning of a “compliance grand era” for stablecoins. Their model has advanced into a “Peg + Yield + Application” triad, expanding across payments, yield generation, and real-world applications. At the same time, competition has shifted from “token battles” to “infrastructure battles,” with players such as Tether, Circle, Stripe, and Alchemy Pay building proprietary blockchains to capture dominance in payments and settlements.

This report highlights that PayFi, leveraging stablecoins as its underlying medium, integrates accounts, clearing and settlement, yield management, and compliance into a unified framework—enabling a paradigm shift from “payments” to “finance.” Its innovative BNPN model allows payment flows to automatically generate yield, breaking the long-standing issue of “idle capital.” The report estimates that PayFi’s serviceable market could reach $25–30 trillion, with its obtainable market projected to achieve hundreds of billions in transaction volume and generate billions in revenue within the next 3–5 years. Powered by four core engines—low-fee high-frequency transactions, yield generation from settlement funds, institutional-grade financial services, and modular PaaS offerings—PayFi is poised to become the next-generation payment infrastructure bridging Web2 and Web3, ushering in a yield-driven era of crypto payments.

Gate Research: Over the past decade, the crypto user base has expanded exponentially, with CEX and DEX advancing in parallel to shape a diversified market landscape. CEX platforms have expanded steadily, while DEX ecosystems have risen rapidly, driving the overall market toward greater balance. Meanwhile, hacker incidents and cross-chain money laundering routes continue to evolve, with a noticeable rise in personal wallet thefts. In contrast, CEXs maintain trust and institutional advantages through global compliance frameworks and mature systems. Looking ahead, CEX and DEX are expected to coexist in the long term—CEX will remain the primary gateway and compliance hub for mainstream users, while DEX will continue to drive ecosystem expansion through openness and innovation. The market will keep progressing under this multi-track structure.

In July, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization showed an accelerated upward trend, with the total market cap breaking through $4 trillion in late July. A key factor driving this increase is the growing expectation of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2025. All of the top 8 cryptocurrencies by market cap saw gains this month, with ETH emerging as the best-performing token in July, surging over 50% in a single month. While BTC also achieved a gain of nearly 10%, it underperformed other mainstream cryptocurrencies.

Gate Research Institute recently published "Thoughts on Exodus Issuing Tokenized Stocks On-Chain", providing an in-depth analysis of Exodus' innovative practice of issuing tokenized stocks on-chain. The report explores multiple dimensions including technology, regulation, and market. Exodus utilized the high performance and convenient asset creation mechanism of the Algorand blockchain to successfully tokenize its stocks. In December 2024, Exodus received SEC approval to transfer to the NYSE, significantly improving asset liquidity. The report points out that the explosion of stock tokenization narrative in 2025 benefited from the promotion of crypto-friendly policies in the US. Non-crypto industry listed companies may have the opportunity to attract global capital through tokenized financing. The Exodus case not only verifies the feasibility of technology and regulation but also reveals the huge potential for listed companies to raise funds through on-chain additional issuance, paving

In June 2025, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization fluctuated between $3.2 trillion and $3.6 trillion, with geopolitical tensions in the Middle East temporarily weighing on market sentiment. Solana led with nearly 100 million daily transactions, followed by Base with 9.7 million. SEI surged in popularity, driven by price gains and favorable policy momentum—its daily trading volume exceeded $94 million in mid-June, with a short-term price increase of over 50%. Global crypto regulation showed growing divergence, Singapore tightened oversight of offshore services, the U.S. advanced stablecoin legislation, while South Korea and Vietnam adopted a more supportive stance. Overall, the regulatory climate showed signs of warming.

Gate Research has recently released "Analyzing the Dual Relationship Between Listed Companies and Cryptocurrencies," which examines cryptocurrencies from the perspective of listed companies and listed companies from the viewpoint of cryptocurrency projects. For different listed companies, purchasing cryptocurrencies can be divided into three core motivations: obtaining high staking yields, achieving high asset appreciation, and strategic ecosystem positioning. For cryptocurrency projects, PoW public chains need listed companies with stable cash flows as their coin hoarders; PoS public chains require internet or cloud computing companies as coin hoarders; and Infra-type projects need software security companies as their coin hoarders. Listed companies and project teams need to clearly understand their roles in the ecosystem to establish long-term cooperation and win-win mechanisms.

Last week, BONK surged over 52%, fueled by optimism around its ETF application. Its launchpad, Letsbonk, surpassed Pump.fun in token issuance, and the number of holders exceeded one million. FLOKI gained more than 12% following the launch of its flagship game, VALHALLA, on the opBNB mainnet. Starknet saw renewed momentum thanks to ecosystem expansion and resonance with the BTCFi narrative. Meanwhile, xStocks sparked strong demand for on-chain equities, driving on-chain financial innovation and deeper integration with traditional assets.

This report reviews the explosive logic behind DeFi Summer and systematically analyzes PayFi’s core concepts, protocol ecosystems, application scenarios, and potential catalysts, exploring whether it has the potential to trigger a new wave of on-chain financial enthusiasm—“PayFi Summer.” Unlike DeFi Summer, PayFi focuses more on addressing real-world payment pain points and delivering long-term sustainable value. It is driven by strategic capital, targets a mass user base, and originates within a stricter regulatory environment. Therefore, its “Summer” is more likely to be a moderate, enduring transformation that profoundly reshapes global payment infrastructure, rather than a short-term speculative frenzy.

As the crypto market shifts into a phase of stock-based competition and regulatory refinement, exchanges are transitioning from traffic-driven growth to user value–oriented strategies. Gate has launched a revamped VIP program that spans five key areas—trading, wealth management, fiat services, brand privileges, and customer support—to build a high-retention, multi-tiered user ecosystem. Compared to its peers, Gate offers a more flexible tier structure and comprehensive exclusive benefits, including 100% spot fee discounts, up to 400 sub-accounts, and fiat withdrawal privileges, precisely targeting high-net-worth and institutional users while reinforcing its resilience in market cycles.

This report systematically examines the mechanism design and user yield pathways of yield-bearing stablecoins. By analyzing representative projects such as USDe, USDS, and USDY, the report distills the core logic and strategic framework behind stablecoin Alpha in the current market environment, helping investors identify high-quality opportunities with risk-adjusted return potential. It emphasizes that stablecoin Alpha is not simply about high yields, but rather a structured, sustainable, and incentive-driven return system. Yield sources span on-chain arbitrage, off-chain assets, mechanism innovation, and ecosystem incentives. The report also underscores the importance of managing key risks—such as liquidation, liquidity constraints, and protocol security—while pursuing enhanced returns.