The return of ICOs, now fully onchain

If you blinked, you might’ve missed it. In just 12 minutes last weekend, token launchpad Pump.fun raised over $500mln from more than 10,000 wallets in what’s shaping up to be the first mega-ICO of this cycle. In total Pump.fun raised over $1.2bln, and retail investors participated at the same price-point as institutional buyers. The raise valued the platform at $4bln.

Most of us remember the ICO craze of 2017, but this wasn’t a repeat of those days. First of all, this time round, real revenues were involved. In fact, reportedly Pump.fun is the most profitable company in history over such a short time span, hitting over $750mln in revenue in under a year. Also different from last time, the entire thing happened onchain: from fundraising and distribution, to price discovery and trading. Solana’s onchain infrastructure handled everything seamlessly. There were no broken APIs, overloaded websites, or clogged transaction queues. In contrast, many centralized exchanges like Kraken stumbled with delays and API glitches during the sale, with onchain natives getting the better execution and earlier access.

Even before the token was live, Hyperliquid’s pre-launch perps market (see last week’s weekly ) had already kicked off the price discovery process. Traders hedged, speculated, and established the first real market consensus. By the time Pump.fun was officially live, Hyperliquid had become the go-to venue not just for perps, but also for spot trading. It outpaced nearly all centralized exchanges in both volume and liquidity. This scale is starting to rival TradFi. $500mln raised over the weekend. $600mln of prelaunch perps traded before the token existed. $786mln in yearly revenue already generated by the product. These are not child’s play numbers.

The key takeaway: we just witnessed a full-stack token launch unfold entirely onchain. The Pump ICO checks every box of a serious capital markets moment: massive raise, broad participation, prelaunch price discovery, instant liquidity, and secondary trading across perps and spot. Everything worked as intended with more transparency, better access, and global composability.

Just as equity markets helped define the financial infrastructure of the 20th century, what we’re seeing now is the emergence of a new market infrastructure, but built entirely on open, programmable rails. With each launch like this, the case grows stronger: blockchains aren’t just theoretical alternatives, they’re becoming real infrastructure for global markets. They’re delivering transparency, composability, and access that the legacy stack can’t match.

Please note that the TBV Weekly Satellite will be enjoying a brief holiday. The Weekly Satellite will return in the second half of August.

Also this week

• House clears key crypto bills for final vote
• Grayscale confidentially files draft IPO paperwork with US SEC
• Federal Reserve, FDIC and OCC clarify rules for banks holding crypto for customers in joint statement
• Citigroup weighs issuing stablecoin to expand digital payment capabilities
• Bitcoin sceptic Vanguard becomes largest shareholder in Michael Saylor's Strategy
• Coinbase unveils its ‘Everything App,’ merging wallet, social, and AI tools

Relevant financial updates

• Pump.fun*, a platform that facilitates the creation and trading of custom digital tokens on Solana, had its TGE and is currently trading at a $5.3bln FDV after raising $600mln in 12 minutes in a public token sale
• TON Applications Chain (TAC)*, a Layer 1 blockchain designed to enable Ethereum-compatible decentralized applications to connect with the TON and Telegram ecosystems, had its TGE and is currently trading at a $145mln FDV
• Eclipse*, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution utilizing the Solana Virtual Machine for optimized parallel execution, had its TGE and is currently trading at a $332mln FDV.
• CoinMetrics, a financial intelligence project that provides network and market data feeds, along with network risk solutions, was acquired by Citi-backed crypto infrastructure firm Talos* in a deal worth over $100mln
• Strangelove, a validator focused on designing, deploying, and maintaining open-source infrastructure across multiple blockchain ecosystems, was acquired by Ondo* as part of its RWA expansion strategy for an undisclosed amount
• Spiko, a financial services company offering tokenized money market funds, has raised $22mln in a Series A funding round with investments from White Star Capital, Blockwall, Index Ventures, Bpifrance, Frst and 6 others
• W3.io*, a protocol that provides offchain computation services through a distributed validator network, has raised $7mln in a Seed funding round with investments from Framework Ventures, Blockchange Ventures and Arrington Capital
• Function ƒBTC, a decentralized finance platform that facilitates Bitcoin staking, lending, and liquidity provision to generate yields for users, has raised $10mln in a Seed funding round with investments from Galaxy Ventures, Mantle Network and Antalpha
• Dakota*, a crypto-native banking platform enabling secure USD transfers and crypto transactions without a traditional bank, has raised $12.50mln in a Series A funding round with investments from Digital Currency Group, CoinFund, 6th Man Ventures and Triton Capital
• KUN, a digital payment service provider specializing in cross-border transactions for businesses in industries such as B2B trade, entertainment, advertising, and Web3, has raised $50mln in a Series A funding round with investments from GSR Ventures, BAI Capital and Eternium Global
• Polytrade*, a blockchain-based marketplace that offers real-world asset discovery, tokenization, and liquidity, has raised $6mln in a strategic funding round
• Two Prime, a registered investment adviser that provides Bitcoin-focused strategies for institutional and professional clients, has raised $20mln in a funding round with investments from Susquehanna International Group and Marathon Digital (MARA)

*Underlying TBV portfolio position | Prices as per 18/07

Interesting things to read

• From Wall Street to Web3: Senate Testimony by Paradigm’s Dan Robinson
• An insightful conversation on the a16z crypto podcast about AI and crypto: how will they collide, and what happens when they do?

Upcoming events

• Legends4Legends 2025, Amsterdam