THE CONVERGENCE NEWSLETTER ISSUE #2: Oct 20th-27th IBM Fidelity enables SOL purchases, Zelle and Western Union piloting stablecoin initiatives, Aave + Maple teaming up to bring more RWAs on-chain, and much more. Institutional and retail crypto are converging – let’s dive in 📰⬇️ Institutional Adoption 🏦→ 👥 > @IBM introduces unified blockchain service for banks, governments, and enterprises > Japan's JPYC launches country's first yen-denominated stablecoin > $2.6 trillion @Citi partners with @coinbase to improve "stablecoin utility & digital asset adoption for its clients." > President Trump picks pro-crypto Michael Selig to chair the CFTC > Canada advances stablecoin framework ahead of next week's federal budget update > Cryptocurrency to be recognised as 'property' under Indian law: Madras High Court > @WesternUnion to pilot stablecoin-powered transfers for its customers across 200+ countries > Payments processor Zelle to allow crypto stablecoins for international transactions > The Federal Reserve is studying a new “payment account” model that would give fintech and crypto firms limited access to Fed payment rails without full banking privileges > @Fidelity, the asset manager with $5.8 Trillion in AUM, makes $SOL accessible for all US brokerage customers > UK's ClearBank joins Circle to allow European users access to stablecoin payments like $USDC and $EURC Crypto-Native Expansion 👥→ 🏦 > @pendle_fi ( $PENDLE ) Settles $69.8 Billion in Yield Bridging the $140T Fixed Income Market to Crypto > @aave ( $AAVE ) and @maplefinance ( $SYRUP ) are establishing a strategic partnership that brings institutional assets to the largest onchain lending market > Equity perps went live on the @HyperliquidX ($HYPE) front end > @Aster_DEX announces an $ASTER buyback of 70-80% of S3 fees > Aave Labs acqui-hires Stable Finance team to build consumer-friendly DeFi apps