Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain network, successfully returned from Blue Origin’s NS-34 mission on Saturday.
Five other crew members joined the crypto entrepreneur on the commercial spaceflight. Sun had won his seat through a $28 million bid placed in 2021.
Earth Perspective Inspires Reflection on Planetary Protection
The ten-minute journey took the crew beyond the Kármán line at 100 kilometers altitude. Meanwhile, during the suborbital flight, passengers experienced approximately four minutes of weightlessness. The mission marked the realization of the dream of space travel for Sun, now the youngest Chinese astronaut in history.
“Earth is so small, and it’s our home,” Sun said after landing safely. Furthermore, he emphasized the responsibility of humankind to protect the planet following his aerial perspective. Sun described being surprised by Earth’s apparent small size when viewed from space.
The Tron founder’s reaction exemplifies the “Overview Effect,” a cognitive shift astronauts experience. This phenomenon highlights Earth’s interconnectedness and humanity’s universal place. Over 70 people have now traveled to space through Blue Origin’s program.
Sun’s space achievement adds to his entrepreneurial portfolio in blockchain technology. Tron currently serves over 320 million global users with daily active addresses exceeding three million. The platform processes $82.6 billion in USDT on-chain issuance.
The space journey reinforces Sun’s commitment to inspiring young people in STEM education. He donated his $28 million bid to Blue Origin’s Club for the Future foundation. Sun hopes his interstellar experience will encourage more youth to pursue technology and innovation.
Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain network, successfully returned from Blue Origin’s NS-34 mission. Source: X.com
While Chun Wang, co-founder of a major Bitcoin mining pool, became the first crypto entrepreneur to fly to space on a SpaceX orbital mission earlier this year, Sun became the first crypto industry leader to do so aboard Blue Origin.
The growing trend of public crypto treasuries has sparked a race among altcoins. Each one vies to be the top choice for companies and institutions looking to establish strategic reserves.
In this race, the XRP community offers several arguments highlighting XRP’s superiority. What are those arguments? This article dives in and explains.
More Companies are Listing XRP as a Treasury Asset
Recently, Webus International, a China-based company, filed Form 6-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The filing confirmed a plan to build a $300 million strategic reserve focused on XRP.
Webus is not alone. VivoPower International also announced a $121 million XRP reserve plan. Meanwhile, Wellgistics has invested $50 million in XRP.
According to a recent report from BeInCrypto, VivoPower also plans to acquire $100 million worth of XRP through BitGo’s over-the-counter (OTC) desk.
This company just filed for a $300 million dollar XRP reserve.
What’s going on here? Why are companies doing this?
Most people will see this and think its primarily about price speculation but that’s not really the key thing that is happening here — the real strategy here is… pic.twitter.com/6plq0W8Tmm
These actions suggest that large companies worldwide increasingly view XRP as a strategic financial reserve asset.
What Drives Businesses to Choose XRP for Strategic Reserves?
Companies choose Bitcoin as a strategic reserve because they believe in its value-storing capability during inflation. But what motivates them to select altcoins instead?
Altcoins are more volatile and often depend heavily on the transparency and actions of their development teams.
Each altcoin offers a unique value proposition. XRP’s supporters believe they have solid reasons to trust it.
Austin King, co-founder of OmniFDN, suggests that companies might want to integrate XRP into their international payment systems.
They believe XRP’s fast transaction speed and low cost make it ideal for cross-border payments. This could help businesses improve financial efficiency and enhance transparency in global services, like Webus’s ride-hailing platform.
“Most people will see this and think it’s primarily about price speculation, but that’s not really the key thing that is happening here — the real strategy here is to latch onto these rapidly growing crypto networks to share in their growth,” said Austin King.
Analyst Pumpius offers another perspective. He believes this is not just speculation but a strategy to practically leverage the XRP ecosystem. One key development is the integration of RLUSD—Ripple’s stablecoin—into Ripple’s payment solutions.
“XRP isn’t being treated as a crypto — but as an asset for settlement architecture. Webus isn’t betting on price. They’re betting on utility,” Pumpius said.
These arguments are gaining traction, especially as experts predict the GENIUS Act will likely pass. If approved, it could pave the way for RLUSD’s growth.
As of June 2025, RLUSD has a market cap of $369 million. It is designed to support fast, low-cost cross-border transactions, complementing XRP and helping build a more robust financial ecosystem.
Every transaction using RLUSD on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) requires XRP as a transaction fee. This gradually reduces the supply of XRP, which could drive its long-term value.
What are the Risks of Holding XRP as a Strategic Reserve?
Still, XRP remains a highly volatile digital asset. Its price history reveals it dropped over 80% in two major downturns: 2018 and 2021. This raises serious concerns for companies using XRP as part of a strategic reserve.
XRP Price Volatility Over the Past Three Months. Source: BeInCrypto
Tether announced the upcoming launch of QVAC (QuantumVerse Automatic Computer), a decentralized development platform for locally operating AI agents.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, claimed that the company is aiming for a full launch in Q3 2025. Before this happens, it will also release a few QVAC-based AI apps for general use.
Earlier this month, crypto AI agents staged a massive comeback, and the firm is now revealing its project. Tether’s QVAC is intended to keep the AI space decentralized, empowering individuals to use sophisticated protocols:
A little over a week ago, Tether teased its upcoming peer-to-peer AI platform, which now seems like a reference to QVAC. Ardoino claimed that the company aims for a Q3 2025 release, which may take longer.
Because Tether won’t be fully releasing QVAC for several months at the earliest, there aren’t many details available. However, the company’s statements describe some very ambitious goals.
QVAC will center around AI agents, specifically on developing them for local use. It will use modular architecture to create functional tools that run on personal devices.
Tether was very clear that QVAC’s agents won’t require users to remotely connect with external servers. Even where it employs collaboration, QVAC will focus on peer-to-peer contact with other small-scale developers.
The firm will also launch the first QVAC-based apps “soon,” but it has provided no further details.
This Chinese AI model boasts dramatically lower hardware requirements than its competitors, enabling users to host it locally. DeepSeek can do this for an entire LLM, so Tether hopes to employ QVAC for more niche AI agents.
Hopefully, Tether will continue releasing technical details about QVAC during Q2 before a full launch in Q3. If the company can meet this imposing challenge, it would significantly contribute to global AI development.