<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div><div><p>Author: Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of Bitwise; Translated by: Jinse Finance Claw</p><blockquote><p><em>Emerging blockchain projects are raising funds at valuations of billions of dollars, and there are key signals behind this.</em></p></blockquote><p>Some news comes in clusters, and you must pay attention when this happens—because important changes are taking place.</p><p>Just this Monday, stablecoin issuer Circle announced that its new blockchain project Arc has raised $222 million at a valuation of $3 billion, with investors including BlackRock, Apollo, and the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. The day before, Digital Asset, the developer of another emerging blockchain, Canton Network, was seeking $300 million in funding at a $2 billion valuation, with a16z leading the round. Prior to this, Stripe's Tempo blockchain had also been very active: it completed a $500 million funding round at a $5 billion valuation at the end of last year, and subsequently announced partnerships with DoorDash, Visa, and others. Arc, Canton, and Tempo—these three public chains are all tailored for stablecoins and asset tokenization. This wave of activity has made me see three core truths about the crypto industry again. I. Capital Follows Regulatory Legislation These multi-hundred-million-dollar funding rounds all occurred after the US Congress passed the Genius Act, which focuses on stablecoins, in July 2025. I am convinced that prior to the Genius Act, slow progress in crypto regulatory legislation severely hampered market investment enthusiasm; institutions were unwilling to build businesses and public chains on a foundation of regulatory uncertainty. Recent developments indicate that this situation is changing. Without the Genius Act, it is uncertain whether these funding rounds could have been completed at current valuations, but this regulatory progress has clearly played a positive role. Investors should pay more attention to: What new opportunities will be unlocked if the more comprehensive crypto market structure bill (Clarity Act) is passed by Congress? The Clarity Act covers a much wider range than the Genius Act, and the final text is not yet finalized, making it difficult to address all impacts. However, asset tokenization projects and compliant financial infrastructure are likely to be the biggest winners. I also hope that the final text will be friendly to decentralized finance (DeFi) and innovative token design, but we still need to wait for the final draft. The Clarity Act is worth close monitoring. II. Privacy may become a killer application. The core difference between Arc, Canton, Tempo and Ethereum, Solana is that they natively support privacy transactions. This is logical as the crypto industry moves towards mainstream commercial applications. While the transparency of public blockchains brings trustworthiness, it can also be a weakness. Imagine: a company disclosing all details before a transaction is completed, or an employee's pay stubs being viewable by any block explorer—this transparency is a flaw, not an advantage. Even the most vocal proponents of blockchain transparency acknowledge that the business world needs a degree of confidentiality. These new public blockchains are betting that embedding privacy capabilities natively from the ground up is the real need of institutions in the real world. Recent large-scale funding rounds indicate that this direction is correct. </p><h2>III. Traditional Enterprises Will Enter the Competition</h2><p>A notable feature of Arc, Canton, and Tempo is that they are backed by top-tier companies:</p><ul><li><p><strong>Arc was developed by the publicly listed company Circle</strong>;</p></li><li><p><strong>Canton's backers include Goldman Sachs, Citadel Investments, Depository Trust &amp; Clearing Corporation (DTCC), Nasdaq, Bank of New York Mellon, S&amp;P Global, Virtu, etc.</strong>;</p></li><li><p><strong>Tempo is a collaborative project between Stripe and Paradigm</strong>, and the design scheme also received participation from Anthropic, Deutsche Bank, Revolut, Shopify, Visa, OpenAI, etc. In contrast, Ethereum was initiated by a 19-year-old college dropout who wrote an article on a Bitcoin forum; Solana, on the other hand, originated from a late-night flash of inspiration by a Qualcomm engineer. This doesn't mean traditional companies will necessarily win—in fact, I have more faith in native crypto projects. However, banks and giant corporations will bring a whole new level of capital, execution, and professionalism to the industry. I believe competition will drive the industry to break new boundaries. After all, only the strongest can become stronger.</p></li></ul></div></div></div>

RIOT

COIN

<p>Emerging blockchain projects like Arc, Canton, and Tempo are raising significant funds, indicating key trends in the crypto industry. Arc raised $222 million at a $3 billion valuation, while Canton seeks $300 million at a $2 billion valuation. These developments follow the passage of the Genius Act, which has boosted investor confidence. Key insights include the importance of regulatory clarity, the potential for privacy features in blockchain, and the entry of traditional enterprises into the crypto space, which may enhance competition and innovation.</p>

- Emerging blockchain projects are raising significant funds at high valuations, with notable recent rounds from Circle’s Arc, Digital Asset’s Canton, and Stripe’s Tempo.  
- These investments have surged following the passage of the Genius Act, which has positively impacted market sentiment and regulatory clarity in the crypto space.  
- The entry of traditional enterprises into blockchain development signals increased capital and competitiveness, suggesting that both innovation and established institutions will shape the industry’s future.

Canton, Arc, and Tempo: Three Key Lessons for the Crypto Industry