Stablecoin founders cluster in the West, but the volume tells a different story

Today in crypto, Coinbase and Circle continued to lag the broader market, with crypto stocks underperforming Big Tech amid a prolonged digital asset downturn. Meanwhile, European Union lawmakers urged the European Commission to assess whether DeFi, staking, NFTs and crypto lending require additional regulation, while tokenization firm Securitize said it expects to raise $400 million through its upcoming public listing.Crypto stocks lag broader market as digital assets slideShares of Coinbase and Circle have fallen significantly further than their Big Tech peers, underscoring a widening divergence between crypto equities and the broader US stock market.Coinbase (COIN) and Circle (CRCL) are down 69% and 72%, respectively, from their all-time highs. By comparison, Oracle, Salesforce, Netflix and Palantir have declined between 48% and 57% from their peaks, while the S&P 500 Index has retreated just 3.5% from its recent high.The underperformance reflects mounting pressure on the crypto sector, with Bitcoin falling below $60,000 this week, extending its decline to more than 54% from its October peak. Ether has also slumped to around $1,500, roughly 69% below last year’s high. Weak digital asset prices have also weighed on corporate earnings, with Coinbase reporting first-quarter revenue that missed Wall Street expectations.Source: The Kobeissi LetterEU lawmakers urge assessing DeFi, staking, NFT regulationThe European Parliament’s economic affairs committee has urged the European Commission to assess whether crypto lending and borrowing, staking, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) should be regulated.The recommendations were part of a report tabled Friday for plenary vote. It also called for promoting tokenization across financial services, encouraging euro-denominated stablecoins and assessing whether additional crypto activities should be regulated under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).Drafted by Belgian Member of the European Parliament Johan Van Overtveldt, the report is an own-initiative resolution by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) that outlines recommendations for the Commission on digital asset regulation. It will next go before the European Parliament for a vote, expected July 7. If adopted, the resolution would become Parliament’s official position on digital assets policy but would not amend MiCA or create new legal obligations.The legislative timeline shows the committee’s approval of the report and its referral for a plenary vote. Source: European ParliamentSecuritize expects to raise $400M ahead of public debutTokenization platform Securitize said on Friday it expects to raise $400 million in its upcoming public debut through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT), a special purpose acquisition company backed by Cantor Fitzgerald.Securitize said its final redemption results showed less than 30% of CEPT shareholders elected to redeem, and the company expects to receive approximately $400 million in gross proceeds from the merger, including related private investment in public equity, or PIPE, financings and excluding transaction-related expenses.CEPT shares climbed on Friday as Securitize announced fewer shareholder redemptions than expected. Source: Google FinanceThe merger between Securitize and CEPT is expected to close on Wednesday, July 1, subject to shareholder approval on Monday and other closing conditions, and the company will then trade under the ticker SECZ on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, July 2.