Weekly Roundup 08/15/25 (DAT fine print, stablecoin L1s, banks vs stables) (EP.656)

Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) companies are increasingly operating as closed-end funds with opaque, long-term advisory fee structures that threaten to extract significant value from retail investors. These entities often trade at premiums despite questionable management efforts and potential capital leakage. Meanwhile, the crypto industry remains fractured over market structure legislation, with competing factions stalling progress toward unified regulatory clarity. To address persistent user experience friction, firms like Stripe and Circle are launching stablecoin-native Layer 1 blockchains, aiming to streamline payments and bypass traditional banking limitations. While the Bank Policy Institute warns of massive deposit flight to stablecoins, this pressure highlights the growing demand for superior financial products that offer better yields and interoperability than legacy banking systems, which continue to struggle with high operational costs and regulatory burdens.