The Dypto Times - Banks Vs. Stablecoins: FIGHT

Banks have come up with an interesting battle plan against stablecoins, Binance.us is now offering 0% trading fees, and SharpLink is buying its own stock

Author

Matthew Ruley
September 17, 2025

Crypto treasury companies have more conviction in their game plan than anything we’ve ever seen before. Not only are they standing by their decisions, but most of them are doubling down and buying more.

Strategy, MARA, BitMine, Upexi, BIT Mining, and SharpLink all made huge plays of some sort last week. But that’s not all that happened in the crypto world. Let’s get after it.

From the Dypto Crypto Newsroom

MARA Holdings Is Staying on the BTC Grind

TLDR

  • MARA Holdings is a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company. They are the second-largest holder of BTC, with Strategy being the only company with more.

  • August showed promising mining figures, and the company now holds over 50k BTC in its treasury.

  • The company is getting into renewable energy sources and expanding to Europe.

MARA Holdings, Inc. (ticker: MARA) is demonstrating how running a legit Bitcoin mining operation is done. While other companies are dumping Bitcoin and creating Ethereum treasuries, MARA is holding strong.

We aren’t trying to throw shade at ETH treasuries, but we do respect MARA’s hustle and their conviction.

Know your crypto businesses before investing.

So, why should you, a budding crypto enthusiast, care about what MARA is doing?

  1. Mining is a Real Business: Companies like MARA show that Bitcoin mining is a serious, large-scale industry. It involves massive infrastructure, strategic energy partnerships, and savvy financial management.

  2. Long-Term Vision is Key: MARA’s decision not to sell any BTC in August, despite a price dip, serves as a powerful lesson in maintaining a long-term perspective. They believe in the fundamental value of Bitcoin, and they’re willing to weather short-term storms.

  3. The Industry is Evolving: The focus on sustainable energy and AI integration signals where the industry is heading. The most successful players will be those who innovate and find smarter, more efficient ways to operate.

Trade More, Pay Less: Binance.us Goes 0% Fee

TLDR

  • Traders don’t get much love in crypto. Those fees are how exchanges make money. But man, do they eat into profits.

  • Binance.us announced it’s dropping fees on many of its most popular pairs.

  • This is great news for high-frequency traders. But new users will also see benefits.

Fees can feel like a pesky mosquito at a summer barbecue — annoying, persistent, and always taking a little bite out of your fun. Binance.us has given fees the treatment those mosquitoes deserve by giving them the smackdown. The exchange is dropping trading fees to 0% on select pairs. That’s right. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

We don’t get to do this often enough. This article is for all you traders out there getting your grind on day in and day out.

Why lower fees matter.

Lower fees mean more of your money stays in your pocket, or rather, in your port. Here’s how the new fee structure benefits users:

  • Keep More of Your Gains: Every dollar saved on fees is a dollar that can be reinvested. Over time, these savings can significantly impact your portfolio’s growth.

  • Trade More Frequently: If you’re a day trader or someone who likes to make frequent trades, high fees can be a major roadblock. With 0% fees, you can execute your strategies without worrying about costs piling up.

  • Experiment Without the Cost: New to crypto? Lower fees enable you to experiment with various trading strategies without the financial burden. It’s a great way to learn the ropes.

TLDR

  • SharpLink is the second-largest corporate holder of ETH, with most of its tokens staked in various protocols to earn rewards.

  • Upon realizing the stock price was trading below NAV, the company started a buyback program to initiate the purchase of its own stock.

  • The business can use the rewards earned from staking to buy its own stock while it is undervalued. Brilliant strategy or dangerous game?

Sharplink is one of the biggest corporate holders of Ethereum (ETH), and recently announced it has started buying back its own shares. The company believes its stock is a total steal at its current price (at the time of the original writing) and sees this as a savvy investment. With a war chest of about $3.6 billion in ETH and zero debt, they’re flexing their financial muscles.

SharpLink is bridging the TradFi and crypto gap.

SharpLink’s ETH isn’t just sitting there. It’s actively generating income, which can then be used for things like — you guessed it — stock buybacks. The financial flywheel is a term that is often used in DeFi for projects that try to create as much value as they can from one source.

As an example, you can yield farm with a DEX. Receive that DEX’s token, lock it up, and vote for which liquidity pools you want to get the highest rewards the following week. Add those rewards from voting to your farming position, and all positions continuously grow over time. That’s the common DeFi flywheel.

This company is doing something similar, but they’re playing all sides of the game. Utilizing DeFi profits to fund TradFi initiatives, specifically by reinvesting in its own company, helps increase the company’s value over time. It’s the first time we’ve seen something like this, and it’s a super interesting strategy that we’ll be continuously watching.

Question of the Week

A TikTok user - “What are your thoughts on Trust Wallet?”

Meme of the Week

Deep Dive - Can Banks Compete in the Era of Stablecoins?

Banks are suddenly facing real competition from stablecoins. Their response so far? Lobbying for regulations to shut down the competition instead of improving their own services. 

Traditional banking and the emerging stablecoin ecosystem are at odds with each other. On one side, you have banks trying to maintain their monopoly on deposits. On the other hand, you have stablecoins offering better yields and more transparent operations. 

Banks have been running the same playbook for decades: customers deposit money, banks lend that money out at higher rates, and pocket the difference. The average bank pays nothing on checking accounts while charging high interest (12% on average, even higher if you have bad credit, sometimes as high as 36%) on loans and credit cards. That spread is pure profit extracted from customers who have had no better alternatives.

But they do now…

Banks also generate massive fee income from overdrafts, wire transfers, ATM usage, and account maintenance. These fees disproportionately hurt lower-income customers who can least afford them.

The whole system depends on customers not having better options. Stablecoins change that equation completely. Smart contracts are not concerned with your credit score. A decentralized exchange doesn’t care about your income.

Question of the Week Answer

Trust Wallet is solid, secure, and has some user-friendly features. However, Rabby Wallet, created by the same team that's behind DeBank, is generally preferred by long-time DeFi users and developers. 

It's very user-friendly and reliable. No one (that we’ve spoken to) has regretted switching to it. We see fewer technical issues with Rabby than we do with Trust.

Closing Shenanigans

Thanks for reading. Dypto Crypto is a safe place where crypto newbies can learn and ask questions to help them make informed decisions in this exciting and volatile world. We’re having a lot of fun with YouTube shorts and TikTok. 

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