Reserve Bank
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The TLDR👇
Morgan Stanley Launches Money Market Fund Built for Stablecoin Reserves
Morgan Stanley Investment Management began operating its Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio on April 23, four days after registering the fund with the SEC. The government money market fund targets a $1 NAV, requires a $10M minimum and charges 0.15%, investing only in U.S. Treasury bills and government-backed repo. The structure is built to satisfy the reserve requirements set out in the GENIUS Act, which would force U.S. stablecoin issuers to back tokens with high-quality liquid assets at regulated venues. “We are pleased to deliver a new investment solution to the marketplace that seeks to address the needs of stablecoin issuers,” said Fred McMullen, Co-Head of Global Liquidity at MSIM. Amy Oldenburg, head of Digital Asset Strategy, added that “developing innovative ways to work with stablecoin issuers is another step towards modernizing the financial infrastructure.” The fund had roughly $1M in assets at launch. Source.
JSCC, Mizuho and Nomura Put JGB Collateral Onchain
Japan Securities Clearing Corporation, Mizuho Financial Group and Nomura Holdings launched a proof of concept on April 20 to manage Japanese government bond collateral on the Canton Network, with Digital Asset providing the platform. The trial runs through September 2026 and was selected under the Japan FSA’s Payment Innovation Project in February. Stated objectives include 24/7 real-time collateral transfers, cross-border settlement and full legal compatibility with Japan’s Book-Entry Transfer Act and Financial Instruments and Exchange Act. “We believe that maintaining and strengthening the availability and liquidity of JGBs in the digital space is essential to the development of financial markets and the improvement of investor convenience,” JSCC said in its official statement. The PoC will also assess whether participants’ internal rules require amendment before commercial deployment. Source.
JPMorgan Says Tokenization Will Reshape the Funds Industry, Not Just ETFs
JPMorgan Securities Services published a paper arguing tokenization will drive structural change across the broader fund industry. The bank highlighted two emerging models: synthetic tokenized ETFs that use derivatives to replicate performance, and native ETFs where shares are issued directly on a blockchain, reducing reliance on legacy custodians and clearinghouses. “We believe tokenization will certainly drive how the market changes, not just for ETFs but across the funds industry as a whole,” said Ciarán Fitzpatrick, global head of ETF product at JPMorgan Securities Services, who added the industry is still “a couple of years away from some good use cases.” JPMorgan is testing tokenized ETF workflows on its Kinexys platform. The bank cited industry projections for tokenized assets ranging from roughly $2T to over $10T by 2030. Source.
DeFi United Pledges Reach 132,000 ETH After $292M KelpDAO Exploit
DeFi United, the coordinated relief fund led by Aave service providers, has gathered roughly 132,000 ETH in pledges as of April 27 to restore the backing of rsETH following the April 18 KelpDAO bridge exploit. The attacker compromised KelpDAO’s LayerZero integration to mint 116,500 unbacked rsETH (around 18% of supply), deposited the tokens as collateral on Aave across chains, and borrowed roughly $190M in WETH and other assets. Aave’s protocol guardian froze rsETH and wrsETH reserves within hours, set LTV ratios to zero and adjusted interest rate models.
Confirmed contributions tracked on defiunited.world include the below.
“Aave is my life’s work and we’re working nonstop to find the best possible outcome for users,” Stani Kulechov said. Source.
Coastal Bank Routes Cross-Border Payments Through Tempo
Coastal Community Bank, the Nasdaq-listed BaaS provider with about $4.7B in assets, will run portions of its cross-border payment operations on Tempo, the new Stripe / Paradigm-backed payments blockchain valued at roughly $5B. Tempo announced the partnership on April 21 alongside DoorDash, ARQ and Stripe itself, and launched a Stablecoin Advisory unit the same day. The Coastal arrangement retains existing banking infrastructure for AML, ISO 20022 messaging and bank confirmations, with stablecoin rails handling settlement. “What was particularly interesting about Tempo was here’s a partner focused on a payments-first use case and focused on how we can enable the next generation of money movement,” said Coastal Bank’s Chief Product Officer. Source.
Toss Weighs L1, L2 and a Native Token Amid Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act Delay
South Korean super-app Toss is studying a native cryptocurrency and its own blockchain, per reporting by The Block. The company has not decided whether to launch a Layer 1 or Layer 2 and is awaiting clarity from South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act, the pending crypto rulebook covering token issuance, stablecoins and ETFs. Toss filed 24 trademark applications in June 2025 for Korean won stablecoin names including TOSSKRW, and has been recruiting blockchain engineers across wallet, node and compliance functions since February 2026. At the Seoul Blockchain Meetup in March, Toss corporate development director Seo Chang-whoon presented the company’s “Money 3.0” thesis built around programmable, cross-border, 24/7 digital currency. Source.
China Carbon Neutral Group Issues 500M Tokenized Carbon Credits on Ethereum via DigiFT
China Carbon Neutral Development Group issued 500 million Carbon Coin tokens on Ethereum on April 26, listed on Singapore-regulated DigiFT. Each token represents the beneficial right to one kilogram of certified carbon emission reduction, backed by 500,000 tonnes of Verra Verified Carbon Standard credits in segregated pools. Issuance is via Global Carbon Asset Management, an indirectly wholly owned subsidiary, with China Carbon Neutral Group acting as custodian. Rights and obligations sit under a Deed Poll and Administration and Custody Agreement. The structure is being marketed as the first compliant issuance of carbon-credit-backed tokens using an internationally recognized standard on a regulated blockchain venue. Source.
Fluent Launches Ethereum L2 Mainnet With $50M Day-One Liquidity and BLEND Token
Fluent activated its Ethereum Layer 2 mainnet with $50M in committed day-one liquidity and launched its BLEND token via a public sale on Coinbase’s Sonar platform from April 7 to April 13. The sale offered 10 million tokens (1% of supply) at $0.10, implying a $100M fully diluted valuation. BLEND was added to Coinbase’s listing roadmap. Fluent’s “blended execution” environment allows applications written for different VMs to operate against the same chain state. The mainnet went live with seven applications including Vena, Yumi and Pulse Predictor. Fluent Labs has raised $11.2M to date, including an $8M Polychain-led seed in February 2025. Source.
📊 Insight of the Week
https://x.com/mementoresearch/status/2048659442762408251
🎙️ Podcast of the Week
Cobie - The Future of Crypto, Capitalism & Society with ThreadGuy
https://youtu.be/6U5O6GSAPdU?si=awZqXLTUc43d9nF0
💼 5 Enterprise Job Opportunities in Crypto
- Digital Assets Strategy and Market Solutions Director - DTCC
- Director - DLR Product Management, Digital Innovations - Broadridge
- Americas Product Director, Digital Assets - Invesco
- Digital Assets Product Management Lead, VP - State Street
- Global Head of Digital Assets, Global Transaction Banking - Santander
See you next week.
James Smith & David Walsh
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