The Briefing Memo from The Department of XYZ

June 2024

June 18, 2024

The Briefing Memo

June 2024 - If you’re new here, welcome to The Briefing Memo from The Department of XYZ, which features our latest insights and updates. You can manage your subscription preferences at the bottom of this message.

Mountain Protocol

Department of XYZ portfolio company Mountain Protocol recently announced their Series A fundraise. Led by Multicoin Capital, we were proud to participate. Read more more about our investment thesis below.

Why we invested in Mountain Protocol — DEPARTMENT OF XYZ

Mountain Protocol today announced an $8M Series A funding round led by Multicoin Capital. We are thrilled to participate alongside them and other notable investors including Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Bankless Ventures. Mountain Protocol offers the first prudentially-supervised s

www.departmentofxyz.com/blog/mountainprotocol

3 Questions for Department of XYZ Advisor Ji Kim

We caught up with Department of XYZ Advisor Ji Kim to get his thoughts on the latest legislative and regulatory developments. Ji is the Chief Legal & Policy Officer at the Crypto Council for Innovation.

3 Questions for Department of XYZ Advisor Ji Kim — DEPARTMENT OF XYZ

Ji Kim is the Chief Legal & Policy Officer at the Crypto Council for Innovation. You can find him on X at @_jikim.

www.departmentofxyz.com/blog/jikim

Portfolio News

Etherfuse announced Real MXN (MXNe), a new fiat stablecoin redeemable on a 1:1 basis for Mexican Pesos. MXNe is live on Solana, Base, and Stellar.
RWA.xyz sent a letter to the US Financial Services Committee alongside other members of the Tokenized Assets Coalition describing the benefits of tokenization.
Mountain Protocol announced their $8M Series A funding round.

Team Updates

Thanks to everyone who came out to our launch party in Austin. And special thanks to Department of XYZ Advisor Andrew Chang for co-hosting.

We also hosted a dinner for portfolio companies, advisors, and LPs. It was great see everyone (and meet some for the first time) and cross pollinate ideas.

What we’re reading and listening to

Etherfuse: The Future of Real World Assets on Solana — Etherfuse Co-Founder David Taylor shares his vision for tokenized real world assets and explains Etherfuse’s approach.
Nic Carter: Five perspectives on stablecoins — An excellent overview of academic and other literature on the emerging stablecoin marketplace.
Maximum Truth: Government to Ban All US Election Betting — A critique of the CFTC’s election markets proposal and a defense of prediction markets generally.
Axios: Donald Trump goes from foe to friend on cryptocurrency — Overview of former President Trump’s evolution on crypto, from skeptic during his administration to now saying he will be a “crypto president.”
New York Magazine: Are Democrats Pivoting on Crypto? — An examination of recent legislative and and regulatory developments and political implications.
On The Brink: Martin Carrica (Mountain) and Philippe Bekhazi (XBTO) on Digital Assets in Bermuda — A discussion on stablecoins and doing business in Bermuda.
Crypto Hipster: Why Smart Contracts and Data Capture Methods Must Continue to Evolve — Aethos Co-Founder Nikhil Raghuveera speaks about the Aethos policy layer and evolution of onchain actions.