[███░░░░]: Honoring Nathan Allman

Welcome to the TAC's Progress Bar, where we combed through 643 relevant tokenization news stories from the week, analyzed the key stories on our weekly podcast, then distilled what you need to know into a few hundred words in this newsletter. Delivered to your inbox in time for Friday happy hour in NYC (usually).

The week opened with devastating news. Nathan Allman, founder and CEO of Ondo Finance, passed away unexpectedly over the weekend at just 32.

It's hard to overstate what he built in such a short time. By the time of his passing, Ondo had ~$3.8B of assets circulating onchain across 250+ assets and over 100,000 holders globally. They were the first tokenized stocks platform to cross $1B TVL (Ondo Global Markets hit it in under eight months). USDY opened up the USD risk-free rate to non-US investors anywhere in the world. Flux pioneered onchain lending against tokenized Treasuries back when DeFi rates were stuck at 0.5% and the gap to Treasuries was screaming for someone to bridge it.

But the metrics don't really capture it. If Nathan had been running a traditional hedge fund and crossed $4B AUM at 32, he'd already be a generational outlier in an established industry. He did it while inventing the industry. Trailblazing a path that even the sharpest minds in finance can't walk without one already laid. He and a handful of others willed tokenized RWAs into being, and the giants now circling the category are building on rails he helped lay.

Ian De Bode, longtime president, has stepped in as CEO. Given the depth of TradFi DNA on that team (BlackRock, Goldman, McKinsey) I have no doubt Ondo was structured for exactly this kind of continuity. The locomotive will keep moving. But Nathan's absence leaves a real void in this industry's leadership, and we're all feeling it this week.

RIP Nathan. 🕯️

Market KPIs (brought to you by RWA.xyz):

📈 RWA market cap was down 1.7% WoW to $33.7 billion
🏆 Biggest RWA winner: iBenji added $110M to $1.6 billion
🏆 Biggest network winner: BNB added $72M to $2.7 billion

📈 Stablecoin market cap was down 0.7% WoW to $303 billion
🏆 Biggest stablecoin winner: USDS added $300M to $8.1 billion
🏆 Biggest network winner: Solana added $300M to $15.5 billion

📈 Onchain risk free rates:
Short term treasuries (1m): Up 12 bps
Aave / DeFi: 3.7% (flat)

Stories we're tracking this week

A week of profound loss balanced by historic regulatory breakthroughs and unexpected partnerships.

• Nathan Allman, founder and CEO of Ondo Finance, passed away unexpectedly, sending shockwaves through the tokenization industry. At 32, Nathan had built Ondo into a $3.8 billion powerhouse with over 100,000 global holders, pioneering tokenized treasuries and opening USD risk-free rates to non-US investors worldwide. Ian DeBode, who served as president, has stepped up as CEO to continue Nathan's extraordinary legacy.
• Paxos announced their subsidiary received SEC registration as a clearing agency, making them the first blockchain-native entity approved to settle securities using distributed ledger technology. After seven years of regulatory work, PSSC joins giants like DTC and NSCC as an officially recognized clearing agency, creating a real-time settlement layer on top of traditional T+1 infrastructure for up to ten initial participants.
• DTC selected Stellar as the first public blockchain for their tokenization platform, planning to launch Russell 1000 constituents, major index ETFs, and US Treasuries by H1 2027. The partnership sent XLM up over 30% as Jed McCaleb's journey from trading Magic cards to Mt. Gox to partnering with the backbone of global capital markets reached another milestone.
• Tether launched GELT, a stablecoin representing the Georgian lari, expanding their global currency offerings to a somewhat surprising jurisdiction. While Georgia recently passed favorable stablecoin legislation and has a significant crypto mining presence, the strategic rationale for this particular currency remains unclear compared to their previous USD, EUR, and gold-backed tokens.
• Falcon Finance launched FUSD, a regulated USD stablecoin backed by short-duration treasuries and issued by Anchorage Digital, complementing their existing synthetic USDF product. The brilliantly named FUSD deserves applause for pure memeable genius, potentially gaining adoption simply because influencers will enjoy paying in "FU money."
• The SEC signaled delays to their innovation exemption for tokenized securities after industry speculation about wrapped equities without issuer consent caused significant controversy. Commissioner Peirce tweeted reassurances that regulated intermediaries would be required, with the commission taking additional time to ensure proper guardrails for market integrity.

Tweet of the week

"It is with profound sadness that we announce the unexpected passing of Nathan Allman, Ondo's founder. Our hearts are with his family and loved ones. Nate's brilliance, humility, and drive shaped every part of what Ondo is today. His belief in the power of technology to create a"
-- @OndoFinance (Ondo Finance)

Honoring a Pioneer: Nathan Allman's Legacy and the Week That Moved Markets

This week's episode was both heartbreaking and inspiring as Johnny and Charlie processed the unexpected loss of Nathan Allman while covering massive regulatory breakthroughs from Paxos and surprising partnerships like DTC selecting Stellar. They also discussed new stablecoin launches, including Tether's puzzling Georgian lari token and Falcon Finance's brilliantly named FUSD.

The episode is available below and we've summarized it for you here.

Stay ahead of the curve

Be sure to follow us on X, LinkedIn, and Spotify for real-time updates, behind-the-scenes insights, and the occasional hot take that didn't make it into the Progress Bar or the First Trillion podcast episode or summary.

Until next week,

The TAC Team