This week’s Web3 Thoughts of the Week tackles DoorDash and stablecoins, spot Bitcoin ETFs, and DeFi’s tattered image.
DoorDash stablecoin use
“It hasn’t ever been about DoorDash adopting crypto. It’s about the fact that money is finally starting to behave like the Internet.
“Stablecoins are just a better version of dollars. They move instantly, globally, and without all the friction we’ve just gotten used to over time. When companies like DoorDash start using them, it’s less a big announcement and more a signal that the underlying system is already changing.
“Stripe and others are basically turning payments into software. Once that happens, everything gets cheaper and faster by default.
“What’s underappreciated is that stablecoin reserves don’t just sit there. They can be put to work in short-term treasuries or other low-risk strategies, which means companies can earn yield passively on what used to be idle cash. Payments stop being a pure cost center and start looking more like a balance sheet asset.
“The bigger picture is that financial infrastructure is opening up again. Historically, when that happens, the incumbents lose their grip and users get a better deal.”
– Sid Sridhar, founder and CEO of BIMA Labs
“DoorDash’s move to integrate stablecoin payouts through Stripe-backed Tempo represents a notable shift in how global marketplaces handle payments. By replacing fragmented regional rails with blockchain-based settlement, DoorDash is effectively bypassing legacy banking infrastructure that has long introduced delays, fees, and currency friction.
“This development also demonstrates how stablecoins are rapidly evolving from niche crypto tools into practical financial infrastructure. For gig workers and cross-border participants, faster and more consistent payouts could materially improve liquidity and earnings visibility. More broadly, it underscores a growing trend: large-scale platforms are beginning to treat blockchain not as an experiment, but as a more efficient alternative to traditional financial systems.”
– Joshua Kim, CEO and founder of DonaFi
“DoorDash moving to integrate stablecoin payouts feels like a practical inflection point around real infrastructure replacing inefficient payment rails. For the broader market, this kind of adoption validates stablecoins as a utility layer, not just a trading instrument. When platforms at this scale normalize blockchain-based payouts, it quietly accelerates mainstream adoption without needing a major narrative shift.”
– Nathaniel Szerezla, chief growth officer of Naoris Protocol
Spot Bitcoin ETFs
“For us, the headline is not that last week’s inflows were big, it’s what they happened against. Close to $1B into spot BTC ETFs in a week where the US seized an Iranian vessel, oil ripped 6%, and the ceasefire is set to expire Wednesday.
“In prior cycles those events would put BTC down 10-15%; instead it held $75K and closed the week higher. Two things explain why institutions kept buying through that tape.
“The tail bounds are now known. After eight weeks of ceasefire declarations, violations, and naval blockades, the extremes are legible rather than unbounded. Allocators can size against a known distribution, which is different from optimism and more durable, and it has freed up allocation back into risk assets.
“The calendar sets up favorably. Midterm year, fiscal still warm, the Fed under visible pressure on its inflation framework. Risk assets are positioned for performance into year-end, and bitcoin as a reserve-adjacent trade fits cleanly into that setup.
“We, alike most, are monitoring what happens Wednesday as the ceasefire was slated to expire.”
– Jonathan Yark, head of Quant Trading at Acheron Trading
DeFi is running out of time to fix its image
“After a cluster of hacks and $9 billion of outflows, DeFi is facing another existential crisis. But this time, it’s competing directly with major institutions entering this space and it has little to offer in return for the risk. With rates available on stablecoins barely above 5%, there are other ways for investors to eke out such returns without the risk of losing all of their funds.
“The problem is that operators in the DeFi space are still acting as if this is a tech experiment, but it’s not. The technology works and offers genuine benefits. What’s still broken is the security culture.
“Bridges have been notorious for hacks for years, yet they’re still being used as an exploit vector. At this point, it’s less about innovation and more about failure to prioritize basic safeguards.
“Any serious institution looking at DeFi right now sees an amateur operation. This is a major problem for an industry that wants to be taken seriously. The window to fix DeFi’s image is closing quickly, and taking security seriously is where it starts. We’re no longer in testnet, and the traditional financial world doesn’t have the patience for incompetence.”
– Nic Puckrin, macro analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau
National Institute of Standards and Technology and post-quantum security
“The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s draft SP 800-230 indicates that the world of post-quantum security will be dynamic well into the future. It makes clear that the future of cryptography isn’t about selecting a single ‘quantum-safe’ algorithm, but about applying different levels of security based on risk, context, and time horizon.
“More specifically, the NIST SP 800-230 draft proposes six new variants to the FIPS-205 (SPHINCS+) post-quantum algorithm standard; this adds to the 15 variants already standardized as DILITHIUM and SPHINCS+, making a total of 18 algo variants.
“If you add the current FALCON digital signature PQC algo they are reviewing, by next year, we may be looking at 20 digital signature variants in about 24 months’ time. And, that’s just the US PQC standards.
“Much of the blockchain industry is still approaching the post quantum transition as a one-time upgrade. But quantum security isn’t a one-and-done fix—it’s a logistical challenge that requires flexibility at the transaction level, rather than rigidity at the protocol layer.
“At BOLTS Technologies, we built QFlex as a cryptographic logistics layer—an architecture designed to bring NIST’s multi-level framework into blockchain environments without requiring protocol-level changes. With QFlex, control over security is placed in the hands of asset holders, allowing them to select the level of security appropriate for each transaction.
“A low-risk transfer can use lightweight cryptography, while a high-value institutional settlement can invoke stronger post-quantum protections. In our model, security aligns with risk in real time. Importantly, this approach allows security to evolve independently of the underlying blockchain infrastructure—without relying on coordinated network upgrades.”
– Yoon Auh, founder of BOLTS Technologies