Lighter’s Token Launch, Erebor Raises $350M & Walmart's Crypto Strategy

Lighter’s Token Launch, Erebor Raises $350M & Walmart's Crypto Strategy – Empire

Market views

Bullish

STABLES— 2026 will be a massive year for stablecoin adoption both domestically and internationally, with everyday consumer use cases expanding significantly.
WMT— Walmart's One Pay app is already the #12 finance app, ahead of major banks and fintechs, positioning them to disrupt traditional banking with crypto integration.
DEFI— DeFi continues to perform well with PerpDEXs like Leiter showing strong growth, and Dragonfly is more constructive than most on DeFi funding.
EMERGINGMARKETS— Emerging markets are historically cheap relative to the US, with expectations of outperformance over the next decade as US valuations reach extreme levels.

Bearish

COMMUNITYBANKS— Community banks face existential threat from stablecoins and digitization, with only 500 of 5,000 US banks likely needed long-term.
EARLYSTAGE— Early stage crypto investing expected to go sideways while late stage growth equity sees more interest, indicating a shift in capital allocation.

Not investment advice.