Crypto stocks are caught in a brutal free fall, mirroring the market-wide slump in Bitcoin and altcoins. Coinbase, the biggest crypto exchange in the U.S., has crashed from nearly $350 per share in November to $190. This decline has brought…

Crypto stocks erase billions as Bitcoin, altcoins move into bear market

Stripe has introduced stablecoin accounts, enabling businesses in 101 
countries to hold and transact using stablecoins like USDC and USDB. This move 
aims to provide entrepreneurs, especially in regions with volatile currencies, 
a tool to hedge against inflation and access the global economy more easily. 
Global Businesses Gain Access to Stablecoin Financial Accounts via Stripe […]

Stripe Launches Stablecoin Accounts, Available to Businesses in 101 Countries

Solana does not yet have &#8220;convincing signs&#8221; that it could overtake Ethereum as 
the blockchain of choice for institutions, as its revenue is seen as unstable 
due to its memecoin concentration, according to crypto bank group Sygnum.
In a May 8 blog post, Sygnum said that the current sentiment around Ethereum 
&#8220;remains poor,&#8221; with the market focused on Solana&#8217;s &#8220;transaction volumes and 
its recent dominance in fee generation.&#8221;
However, Sygnum said &#8220;the medium-term outlook will primarily be shaped by 
traditional financial institutions&#8217; platform choices to bring their product 
offerings,&#8221; not by sentiment.
&#8220;We do not yet see convincing signs that Solana would be the preferred choice 
as Ethereum&#8217;s security, stability and longevity are highly prized,&#8221; it added.
Sygnum argued that institutions could choose Ethereum over Solana as the 
market has viewed the latter&#8217;s revenue generation as &#8220;less stable&#8221; due to 
being &#8220;highly concentrated in the memecoin sector.&#8221;
&#8220;This will limit outperformance as it could be argued that the differential in 
valuation is accounted for by this difference in revenue sources,&#8221; the company 
said. 
_Transactions on Solana (purple) far exceed those on Ethereum and its layer 
2s, but the latter has more value locked onchain. Source:__Dune Analytics_
Another factor is Solana&#8217;s tokenomics, which Sygnum said was &#8220;a comparable 
issue&#8221; to the criticism levelled at Ethereum over its mainnet&#8217;s stagnant 
transaction volumes due to it lowering the cost for its layer 2 networks.
The company said Solana is leading Ethereum in market share for layer-1 fee 
generation, but &#8220;most of the fees are paid to validators and do not grow the 
value of the Solana token.&#8221;
&#8220;In fact, when it comes to revenues, Ethereum still exceeds Solana 2- 2.5x,&#8221; 
Sygnum said.
It argued that Solana&#8217;s tokenomics are &#8220;easier to modify&#8221; than Ethereum&#8217;s 
scaling strategy. Still, it said that Solana &#8220;does not appear inclined to 
drive more value to the token,&#8221; as its community shot down a proposal to cut 
the SOL&#8217;s inflation rate in March.
## Solana could gain with stable revenue focus
Sygnum noted that Solana, which some have hailed as an &#8220;Ethereum killer&#8221; that 
could challenge the network&#8217;s market share, could make some gains on the No. 2 
blockchain.
The company said Ethereum has the dominant market share in &#8220;use cases that are 
showing traction&#8221; with support from governments, regulators, and traditional 
finance &#8212; such as tokenization, stablecoins, and decentralized finance.
However, it added that Solana had made progress in the amount of value locked 
on its decentralized finance protocols, and if it gains in &#8220;more stable 
revenue sources&#8221; such as tokenization and stablecoins, it could gain on 
Ethereum.
Sygnum added that Solana still has a strong backing, even with the Ethereum 
Foundation reshuffling its priorities to the layer 1 and recognising &#8220;the need 
to adjust its go-to-market strategy.&#8221;
However, that could give a sentiment tailwind to Ethereum as the blockchain&#8217;s 
&#8220;2-year-long underperformance vs Solana has been temporarily arrested&#8221; since 
the foundation&#8217;s pivot.
_**Magazine:**__**Ethereum is destroying the competition in the $16.1T TradFi 
tokenization race**_

Solana lacks ‘convincing signs’ of besting Ethereum: Sygnum

American fast food outlet Steak &#8216;n Shake has announced it will begin accepting 
Bitcoin as payment at all locations starting on May 16.
The firm said on X on May 9 that it was making the cryptocurrency available to 
more than 100 million customers, adding that &#8220;the movement is just beginning,&#8221; 
before signing off as &#8220;Steaktoshi.&#8221;
The fast food chain initially hinted at accepting Bitcoin (BTC) in March when 
it posted &#8220;Should Steak &#8216;n Shake accept Bitcoin?&#8221; on social media.
The tweet drew the attention of the crypto community and Bitcoin proponents 
such as Jack Dorsey, who rapidly replied with a &#8220;yes.&#8221;
The firm has built momentum since then with Bitcoin-themed marketing, Tesla 
promotions, and visual hints on its social media feeds.
_&#8221; The future is bright,&#8221; said the firm in April. Source: __Stake n &#8216; Shake_
 _**Related:**__**How to buy food with Bitcoin?**_
The acceptance of Bitcoin represents a significant development in mainstream 
crypto adoption, as few restaurant chains have moved beyond limited pilot 
programs to full-scale payments.
Cointelegraph reached out to Stake &#8216;n Shake for more details but did not get 
an immediate response.
## Crypto for fast food
Stake &#8216;n Shake will join a growing number of fast food chains that accept 
crypto payments.
Since 2022, Chipotle has accepted almost 100 different cryptocurrencies via 
Flexa, including Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).
One of the earliest adopters of crypto payments is Subway, which has piloted 
Bitcoin payments as far back as 2013 at select franchises.
KFC offered a &#8220;Bitcoin Bucket&#8221; promotion in Canada in 2018, allowing purchases 
with BTC, while McDonald&#8217;s accepts Bitcoin in Lugano, Switzerland, as part of 
a local crypto initiative.
Burger King accepted crypto gift cards and direct crypto payments in select 
countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Venezuela. In September, Donald 
Trump used Bitcoin to buy burgers at a New York City bar.
Pizza Hut became one of the first mainstream outlets to accept BTC in El 
Salvador, where it was made legal tender in 2021.
The first-ever Bitcoin transaction was made to buy fast food by Laszlo Hanyecz 
on May 22, 2010, which later became the famous Bitcoin Pizza Day. He paid 
10,000 BTC for two pizzas, worth $40 at the time. Today, those pizzas would be 
more than a billion dollars.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin to $1M &#8216;by 2029,&#8217; CIA tips its hat to Bitcoin: 
Hodler&#8217;s Digest**_

Bitcoin accepted at fast-food chain Steak ’n Shake from May 16

Fresh off its most recent Bitcoin purchase, Japanese investment firm 
Metaplanet is raising more funds through another bond issue to expand its 
growing crypto treasury.
Through a $21.25 million issue of &#8220;0% Ordinary Bonds,&#8221; the firm said in a May 
9 statement that the &#8220;funds raised will be allocated to the purchase of 
Bitcoin.&#8221;
Zero-coupon bonds don&#8217;t offer any interest to the holder. Most of the time, 
they are issued at a steep discount from their normal value, and when they 
mature, the holder receives the full value.
Following a board of directors meeting, the firm said it will issue a 14th 
Stock Acquisition Rights to EVO Fund, an investment management firm in the 
Cayman Islands, with a redemption date of Nov. 7.
_Source:__Metaplanet_
At current prices, Metaplanet could buy 206 Bitcoin (BTC) if it raises the 
full $21.25 million, according to CoinGecko. The firm first flagged plans to 
buy Bitcoin last April.
BitcoinTreasuries.NET shows Metaplanet is Asia&#8217;s largest public corporate 
holder of Bitcoin and ranks 11th globally at the moment.
Metaplanet&#8217;s stock (3350T) has shot up over 1,600% in the last year and is 
trading for 511 Japanese yen ($3.50), according to Google Finance.
_Metaplanet shares have shot up significantly in the last year. 
Source:__Google Finance_
## Metaplanet just keeps buying Bitcoin
On May 7, the Tokyo-listed firm disclosed that it spent $53.4 million 
acquiring 555 Bitcoin at an average price of $96,134. The company now holds 
5,555 BTC, purchased for $481.5 million at an average price of $86,672.
Metaplanet also announced on May 7 the issuance of another $25 million in 
zero-coupon ordinary bonds to fund more Bitcoin buys
On May 1, Metaplanet said it would launch a wholly owned US subsidiary, 
Metaplanet Treasury, based in Florida. It plans to raise $250 million to 
further its Bitcoin strategy and tap the US capital markets.
_**Related:**__**How much Bitcoin can Berkshire Hathaway buy?**_
Meanwhile, a growing number of companies have decided to add Bitcoin to their 
balance sheets, following in the steps of Michael Saylor&#8217;s company, Strategy, 
formerly MicroStrategy. 
Strive Asset Management announced on May 7 that it will transition into a 
Bitcoin treasury company. Meanwhile, video game retailer GameStop Corporation 
(GME) finished a convertible debt offering on April 1 that raised $1.5 
billion, with some proceeds earmarked for buying Bitcoin.
_**Magazine:**__**Rise of MicroStrategy clones, Asia dominates crypto 
adoption: Asia Express 2024 review**_

Metaplanet is raising another $21M through bonds to buy more Bitcoin

Meta could be looking to re-enter the cryptocurrency space by integrating 
stablecoin payments across its platforms. On May 8, five sources familiar with 
the development told Fortune that the tech giant is in early talks with crypto 
infrastructure firms to…