What's Driving Token Prices? August 5, 2026

KMNO (+0.3%) - Kamino, the largest lend/borrow protocol on Solana, announced this week that it is wading into a new yield category that will generate returns through real-world yield. The product, called Kamino Institutional Yield, will begin by offering yield generated by commodity trade financing with an estimated target range of 7-8%. As digital and traditional assets converge, projects are trying to bring “real-world” yield or assets on-chain. Yield that is not tied to crypto activities is particularly valuable as it is immune to market cycles. Kamino has led in Solana-based RWA products with RWAs representing over 70% of its current $347M loans. Kamino also launched AUTO, an RWA backed by near-prime U.S. auto loans, further cementing itself as “the” RWA venue on Solana.
SOL (+0.8%) - Two governance proposals this week on Layer-1 Solana are tackling the SOL inflation and burn issue. The first proposal, SIMD-0553, would introduce “resource-based fees” that charge on-chain transactions based on the resources they use. According to data, this would increase daily SOL burns from 650 SOL to 7,500-9,000 SOL. SIMD-0550, a separate proposal, would decrease Solana’s inflation rate at a faster rate. Currently, Solana inflation is set to decrease according to a set schedule each year, and SIMD-0550 would bring SOL inflation to 1.5% by 2029. In the last year, Solana’s inflation rate has been blamed for SOL’s underperformance relative to the market. Proposals to address SOL’s economic viability were previously discussed at length, but SIMD-0550 and SIMD-0553 are currently up for a vote among validators, with voting ending on August 18. Currently, only 5.8% of the 15% quorum has voted on the proposal.
CRCL/COIN (+3.8%/-5.5%) - Coinbase and Circle have had a turbulent week of trading following Q2 earnings reports and a partnership renewal. Last Thursday, Coinbase reported Q2 earnings, which missed estimates for revenue and EPS. COIN traded down in the after-hours markets as a result. CRCL reported this morning with mixed results missing on revenue but beating EPS estimates. The supply of its USDC stablecoin also grew 19% YoY. Circle also announced the launch of its upcoming stablecoin layer-1, Arc, on September 16 along with a slew of initial validator partners. But what took the market by surprise was news of the renewal of an agreement between Coinbase and Circle by which Coinbase shares revenue with Circle on its USDC stablecoin. The agreement, which dates back to September 2018, was restructured in August 2023 and is set to automatically renew this August. Coinbase’s CFO confirmed the agreement was renewed and that Coinbase will continue to earn 100% of income from USDC deposits on the Coinbase exchange. The agreement is particularly important as it drives a large part of Coinbase’s recurring revenue at the cost of Circle’s bottom line - stablecoin revenue at Coinbase is $292M, a meaningful chunk of its “Subscription and Service Revenue” not related to trading.

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