From Blocklabs, Block Labs, 7block, 7 Block, 7 Blocks, and 7th Block: What Web3 Studios Really Do

A candid, expert playbook on what a Web3 product studio actually delivers in 2025—from rollups and real‑world asset tokenization to wallets, payments, security, and compliance—using concrete examples, current data, and implementation checklists decision‑makers can act on.

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Executive summary (for search and social)

Web3 studios ship regulated, production‑grade blockchain systems—not hype. In 2025 that means building on modular L2 stacks, tokenizing cash/yield instruments, enabling stablecoin payments with account‑abstracted wallets, and integrating bank‑grade compliance and observability. This guide explains each pillar with the latest data, architectures, and 90‑day rollout plans. (optimism.io)

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1) Strategy first: how studios scope “blockchain fit” in 2025

The best studios don’t start with chain choices; they start with constraints:

• Regulatory perimeter: MiCA applies to stablecoins from June 30, 2024 and full CASP licensing across the EU from December 30, 2024, with a member‑state transition window running as late as July 1, 2026. That timing shapes whether you can issue, hold, or simply integrate custody/payments in Europe. (esma.europa.eu)
• Throughput/cost targets post‑Dencun: Ethereum’s March 13, 2024 Dencun upgrade (EIP‑4844) added “blobs,” cutting rollup data costs and enabling sub‑cent L2 transactions in many cases; pick stacks that exploit blobs from day one. (blog.ethereum.org)
• Interop/settlement: If you’ll need to move value across chains or into banking rails, you should plan for CCIP/CCTP and custodial hooks up front. (dtcc.com)

A typical discovery sprint should end with a decision tree across four execution patterns:

• Use an existing L2 (Base, OP Mainnet, Arbitrum One, Polygon PoS) if you need immediate liquidity and least ops burden.
• Launch an app‑specific rollup (OP Stack, Arbitrum Orbit, zkSync ZK Stack, Polygon CDK) when you need custom fees/MEV policy or compliance gates.
• Mix DA layers (Ethereum blobs, EigenDA, Celestia/Avail) to tune cost vs. security.
• Keep a mainnet settlement anchor for on‑chain proofs and interoperability.

Key market signals you should reflect in that decision:

• OP Stack’s Superchain shipped permissionless fault proofs (Stage 1), is rolling interop features, and (per Messari and Optimism’s own reports) handles a large share of L2 activity, with named brands (Base, Sony’s Soneium, Uniswap’s Unichain, Kraken’s Ink, Worldcoin’s World Chain). (coindesk.com)
• Polygon’s AggLayer (“feels like a single chain”) is now live and expanding; Polygon is actively incentivizing chains to connect via the AggLayer Breakout Program. (coindesk.com)
• ZK‑forward stacks (zkSync’s ZK Stack / Hyperchains) are targeting 10k TPS and ~$0.0001 fees per their 2025 roadmap—a fit for ultra‑low‑latency apps. (cointelegraph.com)
• Alternative data availability is standard: Orbit and OP Stack rollups can plug Celestia; EigenDA is live on mainnet and has offered free/whitelisted throughput tiers. (blog.celestia.org)

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2) Build on L2s the 2025 way: rollups, DA, and sequencing

What “studios really do” on infra now looks like this:

• Select a stack:
  • OP Stack (Superchain): Interop‑ready contracts (Upgrade 16), fault proofs live, shared roadmap, and performance work with Flashbots for ~200ms confirmations on some OP‑based chains. (docs.optimism.io)
  • Arbitrum Orbit: Allows permissioned validators (for enterprise chains) or BoLD permissionless validation, plus Stylus for high‑performance WASM. (docs.arbitrum.io)
  • Polygon CDK + AggLayer: ZK‑proofed aggregation for unified liquidity and policy control. (coindesk.com)
  • zkSync ZK Stack/Hyperchains: Sovereign L3s with recursive proofs for extreme scale; new research like ChonkyBFT underpins consensus. (arxiv.org)
• Choose DA:
  • Start with Ethereum blobs (EIP‑4844) for simplicity/cost; switch or mix to EigenDA or Celestia when you need price predictability or very high throughput. (ethereum.org)
• Plan sequencing:
  • Centralized sequencers are fastest to launch; shared/decentralized sequencers (Espresso, Astria) improve censorship resistance and cross‑rollup composability. Espresso has tested integrations across OP Stack, Polygon zkEVM, and Arbitrum; shared sequencing is moving from testnets to production pilots. (coindesk.com)
• Operationalize with RaaS:
  • Caldera, AltLayer, and others offer OP/Orbit/CDK/ZK Stack rollups with plug‑in DA options (e.g., Celestia), restaked rollup AVSs (fast finality, decentralized sequencing), and no‑code dashboards. (caldera.xyz)

Why this matters to you: after Dencun (Mar 13, 2024), L2 costs dropped sharply thanks to blobs; the market now rewards apps that pass those savings to users. If you still see >$0.20 per action, revisit your DA/stack. (blog.ethereum.org)

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3) Tokenization that actually clears compliance and liquidity

Studios aren’t “minting coins”; they’re turning treasury operations and funds into programmable collateral:

• Money‑market/treasury funds
  • BlackRock’s BUIDL (tokenized fund with Securitize) launched March 2024, surpassed $1B by March 2025, expanded beyond Ethereum to multiple chains (Solana and later others), and is even used as collateral by major venues. (coindesk.com)
  • Franklin Templeton’s BENJI (OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund) enables P2P share transfers and USDC on‑/off‑ramps; a Luxembourg vehicle now brings a European path. (franklintempleton.com)
  • Market size: tokenized Treasuries hit a record ~$4.2B in March 2025 and continue to grow; RWA trackers show multi‑billion, multi‑issuer depth. (coindesk.com)
• Fund operations & data standards
  • DTCC’s Smart NAV pilot with Chainlink (CCIP) demonstrated standardized NAV distribution on‑chain across institutions (JPMorgan, Franklin, BNY Mellon, State Street, etc.). Building tokenized funds means integrating these data rails from day one. (dtcc.com)
• Regional signals
  • ADGM (Abu Dhabi) and others now host tokenized T‑bill vehicles with regulatory approval, broadening non‑US issuance options. (reuters.com)

Implementation pattern (90 days):

1. Select transfer agent/issuer (Securitize, Franklin platform, or equivalent) and the investor whitelist model (KYC/AML, sanctions). 2) Map wallet policy (self‑custody with MPC custodian like Fireblocks, or regulated broker custody). 3) Expose NAV/holdings via CCIP‑secured feeds; 4) Use the asset on‑chain as collateral (with clear redemption SLAs). (dtcc.com)

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4) Payments that settle now: stablecoins, wallets, and UX

2025 is when “crypto payments” stopped being a meme and became boring plumbing:

• Acceptance rails
  • Stripe re‑enabled crypto payments via USDC on Solana/Ethereum/Polygon, with merchant UX close to cards and competitive fees. If your checkout doesn’t offer it in high‑fee regions, you’re paying a tax. (coindesk.com)
  • Visa expanded USDC settlement to Solana (and partners like Worldpay/Nuvei) and later piloted stablecoin‑linked cards in LATAM—stablecoins are now embedded in familiar rails. (theblock.co)
  • PayPal’s PYUSD rolled out on Solana in 2024 and expanded multi‑chain in 2025; supply traction on Solana has at times surpassed Ethereum—evidence of users chasing speed/fees. (pymnts.com)
• Wallet UX (Account Abstraction)
  • Coinbase Smart Wallet launched with passkeys, gas sponsorship (paymasters), and multi‑chain support (Base, Ethereum, OP, Arbitrum, etc.), making seedless, “gasless” flows mainstream. If you want “one‑click” onboarding, integrate an AA wallet SDK and a paymaster. (cointelegraph.com)
  • Base’s reference paymaster service and Coinbase’s ERC‑20‑gas paymaster make USDC‑gas and sponsored UX straightforward. (docs.base.org)

Implementation pattern (60–90 days):

• Add AA wallet providers (Coinbase Smart Wallet plus a fallback like Safe/Passkeys) and implement a paymaster to sponsor first‑session gas. - Offer stablecoin pay‑ins (USDC, PYUSD where compliant) and settle to fiat via existing PSPs or custodian treasuries. - Pre‑integrate refund/chargeback logic in terms users understand (e.g., off‑chain dispute, on‑chain refund). (cointelegraph.com)

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5) Interop that banks will actually use

• Chainlink CCIP and bank rails
  • SWIFT’s experiments showed that its existing messaging plus CCIP can bridge bank systems with public/private chains; DTCC’s Smart NAV built directly on this model. Studios wire these in for fund ops and multi‑chain post‑trade. (swift.com)
• Circle CCTP V2 (USDC)
  • CCTP V2 (launched Mar 11, 2025) cuts cross‑chain USDC settlement from ~13–19 minutes to seconds via fast transfers and programmable hooks; it’s already rolling out across many chains and is Circle’s canonical path forward. If your treasury or bridge logic uses V1, plan migration. (circle.com)

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6) Security, monitoring, and incident response: the unsexy moat

• The risk baseline
  • 2024 losses stayed in the $1.4–$2.2B range (depending on methodology), with DeFi still the primary target; big CeFi incidents distort some quarters. Design like you will be probed on day one. (theblock.co)
• Modern SDLC for smart contracts
  • Static analysis (Slither) in CI; property‑based fuzzing (Foundry, Echidna, Medusa) with reproducible failures; and auditable upgrade plans. (github.com)
• Ops and observability
  • Tenderly simulations/forks for pre‑trade and operator runbooks; Web3 Actions for serverless “if‑this‑then‑that” responses on on‑chain events (e.g., auto‑pause, circuit breakers). (docs.tenderly.co)
  • Note: OpenZeppelin is sunsetting Defender by July 1, 2026 in favor of open‑source Relayer/Monitor. Plan your migration and keep automation, alerting, and emergency controls as code. (blog.openzeppelin.com)

Security playbook (what we implement by default):

• Multi‑sig + timelocks for admin; split keys across humans/HSM/MPC.
• “Kill‑switch” pause with pre‑authorized signers; tested on forks.
• CI gates: unit tests, Slither, invariant fuzz suites; gas snapshots.
• Pre‑deployment simulations of upgrades on a fork with production state; transaction simulation on every privileged action. (github.com)

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7) Digital identity and gated access, without data leakage

• Zero‑knowledge identity moved beyond POCs
  • Polygon ID spun out and rebranded to Privado ID (protocol‑agnostic), with system integrators (e.g., Telefónica Tech) and pilots for bank‑grade attestations. For RWA, that means KYC’d addresses with privacy‑preserving proofs—no bulk PII on‑chain. (theblock.co)

Practical pattern:

• Use verifiable credentials (KYC/AML status, jurisdiction, accreditation) issued to a wallet; verify proofs on access or transfer (e.g., only EU‑eligible buyers under MiCA). (esma.europa.eu)

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8) What a Web3 studio actually ships (scope you can hold us to)

• Product & compliance architecture
  • Requirements doc mapping MiCA/SEC exposure, data residency, sanctions, travel‑rule, and consumer redress.
• Chain selection memo
  • Stack shortlist with fee/latency SLOs post‑4844; DA tradeoffs; interop plan; vendor and custodian matrix. (blog.ethereum.org)
• Wallets & onboarding
  • AA wallet SDKs with passkeys; paymaster config for gasless first session; recovery design.
• Payments & treasury
  • Stablecoin acceptance (USDC/PYUSD regions), fiat off‑ramps, and CCTP/CCIP hooks; treasury policy for tokenized T‑bills as on‑chain “cash”. (circle.com)
• Smart contracts
  • Audited, fuzzed, upgradeable components with operator runbooks and forked‑state rehearsals. (github.com)
• Observability & IR
  • Dashboards, alerts, simulation gatekeeping, and a 48‑hour incident response playbook.

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9) Two “90‑day from kickoff” examples (with current‑gen components)

1. Stablecoin checkout + smart wallet onboarding

• Week 1–2: Threat model; add Coinbase Smart Wallet + passkeys; integrate paymaster for sponsored UX on Base. (cointelegraph.com)
• Week 3–5: Add Stripe‑style USDC checkout + merchant settlement; optional PYUSD where allowed; add fiat off‑ramp. (coindesk.com)
• Week 6–8: Integrate Tenderly simulations and Web3 Actions for pre‑trade checks and auto‑responses; set KPIs (<$0.02/user action median). (docs.tenderly.co)
• Week 9–12: Soft launch, SLO review, go‑live.

1. Tokenized cash management for a protocol treasury

• Week 1–2: Custody stack (MPC w/ Fireblocks or equivalent); RWA policy doc. (fireblocks.com)
• Week 3–5: Subscribe to BENJI/BUIDL via approved channels; wire NAV data feeds (CCIP/Smart NAV). (franklintempleton.com)
• Week 6–8: Collateralize BUIDL/BENJI where supported; implement redemption/SLAs; set liquidity buffers. (coindesk.com)
• Week 9–12: Reporting automation; board/risk sign‑offs.

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10) 2025‑era “gotchas” we see—and how to avoid them

• Choosing a rollup before defining DA and sequencer strategy. You’ll regret lock‑in when fees spike; insist on DA‑agnostic configs (blobs first, Celestia/EigenDA optional). (caldera.xyz)
• Ignoring interop until the end. If you will ever move USDC cross‑chain, build on CCTP V2 now to avoid rework; align with CCIP where institutions are. (circle.com)
• Shipping wallets without AA. Passkeys + paymasters are table stakes for conversion in 2025. (cointelegraph.com)
• RWA without transfer‑agent grade workflows. Tie your tokenized positions to clear registries (BENJI/BUIDL style) and standardized data (Smart NAV). (franklintempleton.com)
• Relying on legacy operations tooling only. With Defender sunsetting by July 2026, migrate alerting/automation to open‑source relayers/monitors and/or Tenderly Actions now. (blog.openzeppelin.com)

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11) Buyer’s checklist: selecting a Web3 studio

Ask for—and verify—these artifacts before you sign:

• A written chain/DA/interop memo referencing Dencun and current L2 economics (not a generic “we like XYZ chain”). (blog.ethereum.org)
• A security plan with CI toolchain (Slither + fuzzing), incident runbook, and forked‑state rehearsals. (github.com)
• Compliance matrix for your markets (e.g., MiCA timelines, stablecoin issuer status, sanctions). (esma.europa.eu)
• Named vendor list for custody/PSPs/attestations (Fireblocks/Anchorage/BitGo; Stripe/Visa/PayPal; Privado ID). (fireblocks.com)
• A 90‑day delivery plan with explicit SLOs (latency, tx cost, success rate, auth conversion).

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12) Where the puck is going (next 12 months)

• Sequencing: Expect production‑grade shared sequencers and OP‑ecosystem latency improvements to trickle down to more chains. Plan to make sequencer choice configurable. (coindesk.com)
• Interop: CCTP V2 will become the de facto USDC bridge, while CCIP remains the institutional abstraction layer; build for both. (circle.com)
• Aggregation: AggLayer and Superchain interop will make “multi‑chain apps that feel single‑chain” realistic for end users—design UX accordingly. (coindesk.com)
• RWA: Tokenized “cash” is already a multi‑billion category; expect expansion into private credit and bank deposits, but keep a tight compliance loop. (coindesk.com)

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TL;DR for decision‑makers

• Pick an L2 stack with blob‑aware fees and DA optionality; plan for interop (CCTP/CCIP) and shared sequencing. (blog.ethereum.org)
• Treat wallets as product—passkeys and gas sponsorship are non‑negotiable for conversion. (cointelegraph.com)
• Use tokenized cash instruments for on‑chain treasuries with proper transfer agents and standardized NAV data feeds. (franklintempleton.com)
• Bake in a security SDLC and operational automation from day one; rehearse on forks. (github.com)

If you want this translated into a 90‑day plan for your product, this is exactly what studios like 7Block Labs do: define constraints, select modular components, wire the rails users already trust, and ship.

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References used for data points and dates in this article include Ethereum’s Dencun (EIP‑4844) announcements, Optimism/Messari ecosystem reports, Polygon’s AggLayer updates, zkSync research, DTCC/Chainlink Smart NAV, Circle’s CCTP V2, Stripe/Visa/PayPal stablecoin rollouts, Coinbase Smart Wallet, Fireblocks enterprise adoption, Privado ID’s spinout, and Tenderly/Slither/Echidna tooling documentation. See inline citations. (blog.ethereum.org)