Capital Markets

Stack and Story dominated last week's Capital Markets coverage with a heavy focus on crypto-linked ETFs and market structure. Several posts tracked bitcoin ETF flows and losses, including pieces on ETFs bleeding while altcoin funds did not, a streak that hides fading demand, ETFs cutting 2026 losses in half, ETFs clawing back only 47% of losses, ETFs snapping back but staying underwater, and a note that ETF inflows are mostly price, not cash. Solana ETFs were also covered in the context of a five-day inflow streak. Beyond ETF flows, Stack and Story addressed regulatory and enforcement topics such as a CFTC fine against an ex-White House staffer, the SEC's custody rule skipping public comment, Thailand drafting rules for local crypto ETFs, and BlackRock cutting its bitcoin ETF swap floor. The newsletter also covered stablecoin and lobbying issues, including the crypto lobby fighting stablecoin KYC scope, a lobby group backing the GENIUS Act's KYC scope, and Circle's bull case skipping the Clarity Act.

Stack and Story additionally covered security and corporate developments in crypto, including Polygon patching bugs before disclosure, Cosmos Labs botching a fix before a hack, Circle sponsoring Chelsea after an FCA warning, Revolut's euro stablecoin issued by Stripe, Strategy's risk profile beyond bitcoin's price, and Fasset reaching $1 billion tied to emerging-market plumbing.

Sifted Fintech Newsletter covered Revolut and Starling in the context of artificial intelligence, with posts on Starling's AI gamble sparking staff concerns and Revolut launching an AI research unit to build models in-house.

Net Interest published a post on Guggenheim, described as untangling the firm, without further elaboration. Forte Fintech Field Notes covered a topic titled "The Economics of Curiosity," without elaboration. Andrew's Angles covered what job specifications indicate about communications priorities at large fintech firms.