Bridges, Tokenized Stocks, and Gen Z Gifts

Welcome to our Crypto news in 10, a daily podcast bringing you the latest news about crypto in under 10 minutes.

It’s Saturday, December 6th, and the crypto headlines are stacked. We’ve got Binance shifting its leadership with a new co-CEO, Coinbase’s Base network and Solana linking up through a Chainlink-secured bridge, Kraken buying a tokenization firm to push stock tokens, Poland’s parliament blocking a key crypto oversight bill, and a fresh Visa survey that says Gen Z actually wants crypto in their stockings. Let’s get into it...

[BEGINNING_SPONSORS]

First up, Binance made a notable leadership move this week: co-founder Yi He is now co-CEO, sharing the top job with Richard Teng.

The announcement came during Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai. Yi He has been a core operator since day one — previously leading marketing and customer operations — while Teng, a former regulator, took over after Changpeng C Z Zhao stepped down in 2023. Reports frame this as a dual-leadership setup — Teng continues to steer compliance and global policy, and Yi He focuses on product and the user experience. That signals Binance wants to scale while keeping a tight grip on its regulatory posture, according to Reuters.

Story two: tokenized stocks are getting a push. Kraken agreed to acquire Backed Finance, the issuer behind X Stocks — tokens that represent traditional equities and ETFs — already live on Solana and Ethereum. Kraken says X Stocks have cleared about ten billion dollars in combined exchange and on-chain volume since launching earlier this year, and more than sixty tokenized products are available. The plan is to vertically integrate issuance, trading, and settlement, then expand to more chains and markets. If you’ve been watching the real-world assets theme, this is a clear example of a major exchange trying to make twenty four seven, programmable capital markets feel normal — according to Business Wire.

Third, a big interoperability milestone. Base — Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 — has launched a mainnet bridge to Solana using Chainlink’s C C I P for security. Practically, that means developers can support native Solana assets like S O L and S P L tokens inside Base apps, and users can move assets between the two ecosystems without the usual patchwork of wrappers. Early integrations include Zora, Aerodrome, Virtuals, Flaunch, and Relay. For scale, Solana is around nine billion dollars in total value locked — or T V L — and Base about four and a half billion. Connecting these pools could make liquidity more fluid across both sides. It’s a notable step toward a cross-chain user experience that just works... according to Cointelegraph.

[MIDPOINT_SPONSORS]

Number four: politics meets policy in Poland. Lawmakers failed to override President Karol Nawrocki’s veto of a bill that would have implemented the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, MiCA, domestically — adding supervisory teeth and criminal accountability for certain crypto offenses. Prime Minister Donald Tusk pitched the measure partly as a national security matter, warning about misuse by foreign intelligence and organized crime — but the government fell short of the three-fifths majority needed. The upshot: Poland’s MiCA rollout stalls, and the EU’s flagship crypto rulebook continues to see uneven implementation state by state, according to Reuters.

And rounding out the five, a seasonal data point with real adoption vibes. A Visa and Morning Consult survey found that more than one in four U.S. adults — and nearly half of Gen Z — would be happy to receive crypto as a holiday gift. Even with Bitcoin’s recent volatility — down about twenty percent after the survey window, then partly rebounding this week — the enthusiasm stands out. Think of it as another sign that, like gift cards used to be, digital assets are creeping into mainstream gifting behavior. Just remember — if you’re gifting crypto — include basic security guidance, so it’s a present, not a problem. Reuters reports it.

Quick recap before we wrap... Binance adds a second chief with co-founder Yi He stepping in. Base and Solana connect via Chainlink to make assets more portable. Kraken buys Backed Finance to bring tokenized equities in-house. Poland’s parliament keeps MiCA-style rules on ice after a failed veto override. And Visa’s survey says Gen Z is more than crypto-curious — they’re crypto-gift ready.

That’s your Saturday rundown... see you tomorrow for more — in ten.

Thanks for listening and see you tommorow!