Funky Crypto Briefing | October 19 Morning Edition

Funky Crypto Briefing | October 19 Morning Edition

① Circle spends 59 cents of every dollar in USDC revenue on distribution and transaction costs
- Circle said in materials published on October 16 that it spent $819 million of its approximately $1.4 billion in first-half 2026 revenue on payments to distribution partners and transaction costs.
- The same materials put other costs, including regulatory compliance, liquidity and product development, at $473 million. Net income was approximately 7 cents per dollar of revenue. The entire $819 million did not go to partners as revenue.
- Circle identified Coinbase as its largest distribution partner and said standard USDC redemptions are free and typically processed within two business days.
www.circle.comthe-economics-…

② Polygon looks to Coinme acquisition for payments customers and conversion fees
- Polygon Labs said it completed its acquisition of Coinme, a regulated U.S. cryptocurrency payments company, on October 14. In an October 17 interview, executives said they expected the payments business to turn a profit in 2027.
- The strategy is to collect fees from conversions between cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and fiat currencies, in addition to blockchain transaction fees, and to manage customer relationships directly rather than leave them to outside payment providers.
- The integrated payments platform is currently in a technical preview for a limited group of early customers. It has not been announced as a fully commercialized service.
www.coindesk.compolygon-sees-c…

③ Wall Street banks identify different potential revenue streams from tokenization
- In an October 17 analysis of major banks' third-quarter earnings reports, CoinDesk said Goldman Sachs focused on expanding its trading business, Wells Fargo on money transfers and Morgan Stanley on wealth management advice.
- Wells Fargo said it was processing international payments through its tokenized deposit system in under two minutes.
- None of the three banks provided a specific estimate of new revenue from tokenization. Current applications of the technology should be distinguished from anticipated revenue opportunities.
www.coindesk.comgoldman-wells-…

④ White House digital asset advisory chief resigns, no successor named
- According to an October 18 CoinDesk report, Patrick Witt, the executive director of the White House digital asset advisory council, said he had left the government the previous week to return to the private sector.
- No successor had been publicly named at the time of the report. The resignation announcement and the October 18 article were published on different dates.
- The U.S. administration's work on digital asset rulemaking continues, while the position responsible for coordinating policy remains vacant pending a successor's appointment.
www.coindesk.comthe-white-hous…

⑤ Raydium TVL falls from $1.342 billion at the end of September to $1.17 billion on October 18
- DeFiLlama's public daily records put Raydium's TVL at approximately $1.342 billion on September 30 and $1.17 billion on October 18, a decline of about 12.8% in dollar terms.
- Over the past 30 days, user transaction fees were approximately $31.1 million, protocol revenue was approximately $5.15 million and revenue attributable to token holders was approximately $3.06 million. These are separate measures.
- A decline in the dollar value of TVL cannot be assumed to represent an equivalent amount of net withdrawals. Total fees also do not represent net income for the company behind Raydium.
defillama.comraydium