• Shopify adds USDC payments on Base.

• SharpLink Gaming acquires 176k ETH.

• EF donates $500k to Roman Storm’s defense.

• Etherealize outlines the bull case for ETH.

Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, added support for USDC on Base as a payment option through Shopify Payments. Merchants on Shopify can now accept USDC on Base in their online stores, enabling fast, low-cost, onchain transactions. The integration uses a new open-source, escrow-style smart contract protocol on Base developed jointly by Shopify and Coinbase. Users can pay with USDC using any connected crypto wallet. Coinbase also plans to launch a 1% cash back reward for USDC payments in the U.S. later this year. The implementation includes new Payment APIs and supports standard commerce functions like order capture, tax calculation, and refunds. Developers can integrate Coinbase Payments on any platform.

SharpLink Gaming acquired 176,271 ETH for approximately $463 million at an average price of $2,626 per ETH, making it the largest publicly traded holder of ETH. Over 95% of the acquired ETH is now staked on Ethereum, generating yield for the company. SharpLink continues to operate its iGaming network. The company previously filed a Form S-3 with the SEC to register the right to sell up to $1 billion worth of securities under an at-the-market (ATM) equity program, with proceeds used primarily to purchase ETH as its primary treasury reserve asset, making SharpLink the first Nasdaq-listed firm to adopt the strategy.

The Ethereum Foundation donated $500,000 to support the legal defense of Roman Storm, a developer who contributed to the open-source code for Tornado Cash. The foundation is also matching up to $750,000 in community donations. Storm is currently preparing for trial, scheduled to begin on July 14, 2025. Storm was indicted in August 2023 on charges of money laundering, sanctions violations, and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business in connection with Tornado Cash. Prosecutors are continuing with the case despite the Texas Court of Appeals overturning sanctions on Tornado Cash smart contracts. OFAC also removed the contract addresses from its SDN list.

Etherealize released a new report outlining its bull case for ETH, framing it as “digital oil”: a yield-bearing, productive commodity that powers the Ethereum economy, including stablecoins, DeFi, Layer-2 infrastructure, and asset tokenization. The report argues that ETH is significantly undervalued due to the complexity of Ethereum’s broader functionality, regulatory overhangs now fading, and outdated valuation models. The report sets a short-term price target of $8,000 and a mid-term potential of $80,000, positioning ETH as a new institutional-grade reserve asset. With Ethereum securing over 80% of tokenized assets and more than $767B in total value, the report makes the case that ETH is not just a tech token but the foundational money of the next-generation financial system.

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