Zypto Crypto News

Today in Crypto - Peso Stablecoins, Global Payouts, Hungary Reopens

Zypto Editorial Team — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Cross-border money movement is the story under almost everything today. New rails for the dollar and the peso, payouts reaching 180 countries, and a country reopening its doors to crypto after a hard six months.

A peso-backed stablecoin lands on the XRP Ledger to settle US-Mexico payments
180 countries: MassPay and Coinbase wire stablecoin payouts to businesses worldwide
Hungary scraps the jail terms that pushed crypto trading underground for half a year
Coinbase backs a payment card with stablecoins for people locked out of traditional credit

The thread is access. Three of these stories are about moving value across borders without the old overhead, and the fourth is about a country deciding its citizens should be allowed to participate at all.

Ripple and Bitso put a peso stablecoin on the XRP Ledger

Source: Ripple

Ripple and Bitso expanded their long-running partnership to issue Bitso’s regulated Mexican-peso stablecoin, MXNB, on the XRP Ledger. MXNB joins RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, inside the XRPL Permissioned DEX, a layer built so verified counterparties can access onchain liquidity under a compliance framework. The pairing targets the US-Mexico corridor, where roughly $60 billion moves each year through remittances and business payments. “By bringing together RLUSD and MXNB on the XRPL Permissioned DEX, we’re helping create regulated, onchain liquidity infrastructure purpose-built for enterprise cross-border payments,” said Silvio Pegado, Ripple’s managing director for Latin America.

Zypto take: A peso stablecoin matters more than another dollar one in some ways. Most stablecoin infrastructure is dollar-denominated, which is useful but leaves the last leg of a payment, the conversion into what the recipient actually spends, sitting outside the chain. Putting the peso onchain alongside the dollar means both ends of a US-Mexico transfer can settle in stablecoins, with the currency swap happening as an onchain trade rather than through a chain of correspondent banks. That is the part of remittance that has always been slow and expensive, and it is finally being addressed at the protocol level. The XRP Ledger is one of the 20+ blockchains Zypto App supports, and the broader point holds regardless of which chain wins: value that can move and convert onchain is value people can actually use across a border. Holding stablecoins directly, on your own keys, is where that capability reaches an individual rather than just an institution.

Source: Ripple

MassPay and Coinbase wire stablecoin payouts to 180 countries

Source: PR Newswire

MassPay and Coinbase announced a partnership to power cross-border business payouts with stablecoins, combining MassPay’s payout network across 180 countries with Coinbase’s custody and conversion infrastructure. Companies can fund disbursements in US dollars, convert to USDC through Coinbase, and pay recipients in USDC, other digital assets, or local fiat, all from one platform. Coinbase handles the wallet infrastructure and compliance; MassPay handles last-mile delivery. “Stablecoins have moved from experiment to infrastructure,” said MassPay CEO Ran Grushkowsky, describing a turnkey path to fund in dollars, move value onchain, and pay anyone in the world.

Zypto take: This is the quietly important version of stablecoin adoption: not a consumer launch, but the payout plumbing that businesses use to pay contractors, suppliers, and workers abroad. The old way involves prefunding accounts in dozens of currencies, idle capital sitting in foreign banks, and settlement measured in days. Routing the value through a dollar stablecoin and converting at the edge collapses most of that overhead. What stands out is how unremarkable it has become to describe USDC as infrastructure rather than a speculative asset. The same rails that let a company pay a freelancer in another country are the rails an individual can use to cash out value where they live, which is exactly what the USDC to Cash feature does, letting people cash in or cash out of USDC at participating MoneyGram locations.

Source: PR Newswire

Hungary scraps the jail terms that drove crypto underground

Source: CryptoBriefing

Hungary will decriminalize crypto trading, reversing a framework that took full effect on December 27, 2025 and carried prison terms of up to eight years for service providers and up to five years for individuals making unauthorized transactions. Under the prior rules, every crypto transaction needed a compliance certificate from a licensed validator, and trading without one was a criminal act. Government spokeswoman Anita Kobol confirmed the reversal followed EU infringement proceedings, which argued the rules conflicted with the bloc’s MiCA framework. Platforms including Revolut had suspended Hungarian services rather than navigate the regime, and trading volumes fell sharply during the six-month window.

Zypto take: It is worth sitting with what actually happened here. For half a year, owning and moving a legal asset class in an EU member state could put an ordinary person at risk of prison. The rules did not stop crypto; they pushed activity offshore and out of view, while the people who stayed compliant simply lost access. That is the recurring lesson when a government tries to gate ownership: the technology routes around the restriction, and the main casualties are regular users who wanted to follow the law. This is also the clearest argument for self custody there is. When the rules can change overnight and intermediaries can be forced to pull out, holding your own keys means your access does not depend on any one company’s willingness or ability to operate in your country. Zypto App is built around exactly that, keeping your keys on your own device so ownership stays in the hands of the person rather than the platform.

Source: CryptoBriefing

Coinbase backs a payment card with stablecoins for the credit-locked-out

Source: PYMNTS

Coinbase is launching a payment card, built with fintech Cardless, aimed at people who cannot qualify for a traditional unsecured card but hold digital assets. Applicants use their stablecoin holdings as collateral to secure the credit line, and the product extends a partnership that began with a Coinbase-branded card last year. “People apply from all different parts of the credit spectrum,” said Cardless co-founder Michael Spelfogel. “There are some people that want to use this method because they believe in cryptocurrency, but they’re just beginning their journeys and accumulating wealth.”

Zypto take: The interesting move here is using crypto holdings as collateral rather than asking someone to sell. Traditional credit access depends heavily on a history most people build slowly and some never get the chance to build at all. Letting digital assets back a credit line turns a holding into something useful without forcing the holder to give it up, which is a genuinely practical form of participation. The wider pattern is consistent across today’s stories: digital assets keep finding their way into the everyday financial tools people already understand. Zypto already connects crypto to real-world spending through the Zypto Premium VISA Cards, which a user loads with crypto in advance and then uses for real-world spending wherever Visa is accepted. You can see the full range on the crypto cards page. Download Zypto App.

Source: PYMNTS

Key Takeaways

Cross-border payments are where stablecoins are proving themselves fastest. A peso onchain and dollar payouts to 180 countries are two sides of the same shift: the slow, costly middle of an international payment is being removed, one currency and one corridor at a time.
Stablecoins are now described as infrastructure by the people building on them, not as a speculative bet. When a payout network and a regulated exchange treat USDC as plumbing, the conversation has moved from whether to how.
Hungary is a reminder that access can be taken away as well as granted. Ownership you hold yourself, on your own keys, is the version that does not depend on a single company’s permission to operate where you live.
Digital assets keep merging into familiar tools. A card backed by stablecoins, a payout funded in dollars and delivered onchain: the wins are practical and unglamorous, which is exactly why they last.
The corridors being wired this week for businesses and institutions are the same ones individuals will travel next. The interesting question for the rest of 2026 is how quickly the peso-on-XRPL kind of infrastructure reaches the person actually sending money home.

Today in Crypto - Japan Reclassifies Crypto, UK Banks Push Back

Zypto Editorial Team — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Regulation and payment rails are pulling in the same direction today, even when they look like they conflict. Japan is reclassifying crypto as a financial instrument, UK holders are organizing against banks that block their transfers, and the two largest card networks are quietly wiring stablecoins into how commerce settles.

Japan’s Lower House passes a bill moving crypto under its securities law, with lower taxes and a path to ETFs
286,000 UK crypto holders launch a campaign after banks block or delay roughly 40% of crypto transactions
Visa tells its payments forum that stablecoins are reshaping the back end of commerce
Mastercard’s Agent Pay lets AI agents settle in USDC and RLUSD alongside cards
DBS will sell gold-backed tokens to retail customers, one gram of vaulted gold per token
Delaware and New Jersey advance bills to ban crypto ATMs, citing $388 million in 2025 fraud losses

The common thread is access. Some of today’s news widens it and some narrows it, but every story is a decision about who gets to own and move digital value, and on what terms.

Japan moves to regulate crypto like a financial instrument

Source: CoinDesk

Japan’s Lower House passed a bill shifting cryptocurrency from the Payment Services Act to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, the same legal framework that governs stocks. The change brings lower, stock-style tax treatment, introduces insider trading rules for exchange staff and project insiders, and opens a path to domestic crypto exchange-traded funds. New disclosure requirements will ask projects to publish details on technology, token supply, and finances. The rules are expected to take effect in 2027.

The Financial Services Agency framed it as a balance: “Our framework intends to improve user protection while remaining mindful of promoting innovation.” The scale Japan is regulating for is notable. The FSA cited more than 14 million crypto accounts in the country, with around 70% held by people earning under 7 million yen a year. This is not a niche hobby being tidied up. It is a mainstream asset class being given mainstream rules.

Zypto take: Lower taxes and clearer rules are good news for anyone who already holds crypto in Japan, and the ETF door will pull in a new wave of investors who want exposure without touching a wallet. That is real participation, and it is worth welcoming. But there is a quiet distinction worth holding onto. Regulating crypto as a financial instrument optimizes it for investing, for buying an asset and watching its price. It does less for using it. The people in that 70% earning under 7 million yen are exactly the ones who benefit most when digital assets are something you can move and spend, not just hold in a brokerage wrapper. Ownership you can actually use is a different proposition, and it is what Zypto App is built around.

Source: CoinDesk

UK crypto holders organize against banks blocking their transfers

Source: CoinTelegraph

A campaign backed by 286,000 UK crypto holders launched this week, urging members to file formal complaints against retail banks that block or restrict transactions to crypto exchanges. According to the organizers, several banks now stop all transfers and card payments to exchanges outright, while others impose strict caps. The group estimates British banks block or delay around 40% of domestic crypto transactions, and says 80% of surveyed exchanges reported more transfer rejections over the past year. One platform reported banks rejecting over one million pounds in transactions in a single year.

The campaign’s framing is direct. “People across the UK are being blocked from accessing a legal asset class because banks have chosen to impose blanket restrictions on an entire sector,” said the director leading it. Crypto is legal to own in the UK. The barrier here is not the law. It is an intermediary deciding, on its own terms, what its customers are allowed to do with their own money.

Zypto take: This is what the case for self custody looks like in practice, stripped of ideology. When a third party can decide whether your money is allowed to move, you do not fully own it. You hold it at someone else’s discretion. The campaign is right to push for fairer treatment from banks, and that fight matters. But the deeper point is structural: assets you hold yourself, with keys on your own device, cannot be frozen at a bank’s discretion because no bank sits in the path. That is the whole reason self custody exists. Zypto App keeps your keys on your device across 20+ blockchains, so the question of whether you are permitted to move your value never has to be asked.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Visa says stablecoins are reshaping the back end of commerce

Source: The Block

At its annual payments forum, Visa put stablecoins at the center of its infrastructure roadmap. “AI is transforming the front end of commerce. Stablecoins are reshaping the back end,” said chief product and strategy officer Jack Forestell. The company reported its stablecoin settlement run rate had reached an annualized $7 billion as of March 2026, and said it is extending seven-day settlement to acquirers and expanding pilots across more regions, blockchains, and currencies. Visa also introduced a tokenized deposits layer that lets banks turn traditional deposits into programmable digital money.

The headline number is worth sitting with. Seven billion dollars in annualized stablecoin settlement, running through the back end of the largest card network in the world, is no longer experimental. It is plumbing. Most of the people whose transactions flow across these rails will never know stablecoins were involved, and that is precisely the point. The technology disappears into the infrastructure.

Zypto take: Two truths can sit side by side here. Stablecoins becoming the settlement layer for global card networks is a genuine milestone, and it validates everything the industry has said about their utility for years. It is also worth being clear about where the user stands in that picture. When stablecoins settle on the back end, the value still moves between institutions, and the person at the front end is using the same card the same way they always have. The other version of this is the one where the user holds the stablecoin directly and moves it on their own terms. Zypto Pay runs on that model, letting merchants accept crypto and settle in local currency without an institution sitting between the payer and the payment.

Source: The Block

Mastercard’s Agent Pay lets AI agents settle in stablecoins

Source: Decrypt

Mastercard launched Agent Pay for Machines, a platform that lets autonomous AI agents transact on their own, settling through cards, bank accounts, or regulated stablecoins including Circle’s USDC and Ripple’s RLUSD. More than 30 companies took part, among them Coinbase, OKX, Polygon, RippleX, Aave Labs, Stripe, Cloudflare, and the Solana Foundation. “Machine payments can make it possible for services to be bought and sold among agents at fundamentally different scales than payments today,” said chief product officer Jorn Lambert, describing very high volumes of very small, very fast transactions.

The choice of stablecoins here is not incidental. Machine-to-machine payments need a settlement medium that moves instantly, around the clock, in tiny amounts, without waiting on banking hours or batch windows. That describes a stablecoin far better than it describes a card rail. The AI framing grabs the headline, but the durable signal underneath is that when payments have to be fast, programmable, and continuous, the industry reaches for stablecoins by default.

Zypto take: Strip away the agents for a moment. What this confirms is that stablecoins have become the obvious answer whenever value needs to move quickly and continuously, whether the sender is a machine or a person. That same property, value that moves on demand without waiting on an intermediary’s schedule, is exactly what makes stablecoins useful for a human sending money across a border or paying for something abroad. The infrastructure being built for agents is the same infrastructure people will use directly. Holding and moving stablecoins yourself, rather than through a settlement layer you never see, is where that utility lands for an ordinary user.

Source: Mastercard

DBS will sell gold-backed tokens to retail customers

Source: CoinDesk

Singapore’s DBS Bank will offer Physical Gold Tokens to retail customers in the second half of 2026, each token backed by exactly one gram of physical gold held in a Singapore vault. Customers will buy and hold the tokens through the bank’s retail app, with DBS handling tokenization, issuance, distribution, and custody in-house. The bank’s investment product head framed the move as widening access: physical gold has largely been the preserve of institutional and accredited investors, while retail customers were limited to gold funds. Last year DBS tokenized structured notes on Ethereum and listed a tokenized money market fund.

Real-world asset tokenization spent years as a slide in conference decks. Gold split into one-gram tokens, sold to ordinary customers through a bank app they already use, is the version where it finally touches a regular person. The asset is old and familiar. What changes is that ownership becomes divisible, portable, and digital, available in fractions that a physical gold market never made practical.

Zypto take: This is ownership being unbundled from the gatekeepers who used to control it, and that is a genuinely good direction. Splitting a vaulted asset into gram-sized tokens means someone with modest savings can own real gold for the first time, not a fund’s claim on it. The open question is what happens after you own it. A token that lives only inside one bank’s app is a starting point, not the finish line. The fuller promise of tokenized real-world assets is that they can move and connect across an ecosystem, which is the direction real-world assets are heading. Divisible ownership is the breakthrough. Portable, usable ownership is where it gets interesting.

Source: CoinDesk

Delaware and New Jersey move to ban crypto ATMs

Source: CoinTelegraph

Bills to ban crypto ATMs advanced in two more US states this week. Delaware’s House Bill 441 cleared committee and would prohibit owning, installing, or operating the kiosks, with a 90-day removal window. New Jersey’s S2141 passed a Senate committee unanimously. Both follow Indiana, Tennessee, and Minnesota, which enacted bans earlier this year. Lawmakers cited FBI figures of nearly 13,500 complaints in 2025 tied to $388 million in losses, with more than half of complaints coming from people over 50. They also pointed to fees running as high as 20%, against 0.4% to 1% on online exchanges.

The fraud concern is legitimate and the victim data is hard to argue with. Crypto ATMs have been a favored tool for scams that target older, less technical people, and a 20% fee on a confused first-time buyer is genuinely predatory. The complication is that these kiosks are also one of the few cash-to-crypto on-ramps that does not require a bank account, which is precisely why vulnerable users and underbanked users both end up at the same machine.

Zypto take: Banning the kiosks treats a real harm, and no one should defend a scam pipeline. But the underlying need does not disappear with the machine: people without easy bank access still want a way to turn cash into digital value. The honest response is not to mourn the crypto ATM. It is to build cash on-ramps that are safe, fairly priced, and ID-verified rather than anonymous and exploitative. Zypto already does cash access through the USDC to Cash feature, where users can cash in or cash out of USDC at participating MoneyGram locations, a regulated counter rather than an unmonitored box on a wall. Remove the predatory option, and the answer is a better one, not no option at all. Download Zypto App.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Key Takeaways

The big institutions are converging on stablecoins as settlement infrastructure. Visa’s $7 billion run rate and Mastercard’s agent payments are two views of the same shift: when value needs to move fast and continuously, the rails are increasingly stablecoin rails.
There is a recurring gap between exposure and use. Japan’s securities reclassification and DBS’s gold tokens both widen access to owning digital value, but owning an asset inside an institution’s wrapper is not the same as being able to move and use it freely.
Who controls access is the quiet theme running under everything. UK banks blocking transfers and US states banning kiosks are both intermediaries deciding what people may do with a legal asset. Self custody exists precisely so that decision stays with the owner.
Real-world utility keeps proving itself in mundane places. Gold by the gram, cross-border settlement, machine micropayments: the wins are practical, not theatrical.
The infrastructure being built for institutions and machines this week is the same infrastructure that, held directly, gives an ordinary person ownership they can actually use. The interesting question for the rest of 2026 is how quickly that reaches the front end, where people live.

This Week In Crypto – Ripple, Ethereum, Pump.fun, and Bitcoin

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:00:00 GMT

GM Frens,

It’s been another busy week across crypto. Stablecoins continue expanding, AI is finding new ways to spend digital dollars, Bitcoin miners are turning buyers again, and new crypto incentive models are pushing the boundaries of online engagement.

Ripple is pushing RLUSD into Turkey, Travala now lets AI agents book hotels with USDC, Pump.fun launches its new GO bounty platform, Ethereum has 3x more holders than Bitcoin, and we look at how miners may be quietly fueling Bitcoin’s next rally. Finally, Zypto continues advancing real world crypto utility.

Ripple is pushing RLUSD into Turkey

Ripple is pushing its dollar-backed stablecoin into Turkey, betting that one of the world’s most active digital-asset markets is ready for a more regulated version of the digital dollars already used to navigate currency weakness and limited access to traditional dollar savings.

Last week, the company announced that its US dollar-pegged stablecoin, RLUSD, is now available to institutional clients in Turkey through integration agreements with local cryptocurrency platforms. The stakes for capturing market share are exceptionally high.

Turkey handled nearly $200 billion in annual crypto transactions, almost four times the United Arab Emirates’ $53 billion, making it the dominant crypto economy in the Middle East and North America. The rollout places RLUSD inside the domestic order books of three established Turkish gateways.

Since its global launch in late 2024, RLUSD has scaled to a $1.7 billion market capitalization. Ripple’s strategy in Turkey focuses not on retail day traders, but on capturing high-value corporate flows that require strict regulatory certainty.

Meanwhile, market observers have noted that Turkey’s outsized role in the global crypto ecosystem is not solely due to typical retail speculation. Instead, it sits at the intersection of speculative trading, robust dollar demand, and profound macroeconomic pressure. Turkey dominates the MENA region in digital asset value received and was the fifth-largest global market for retail crypto activity in Q1 2026.

To anchor its commercial expansion, Ripple is simultaneously building physical and academic infrastructure within the country. Ripple announced that Istanbul Technical University (ITU) has joined its global University Blockchain Research Initiative. The partnership would be funded directly by RLUSD allocations.

Travala lets AI agents book hotels with USDC

Singapore-based crypto travel platform Travala has launched a protocol it says lets artificial intelligence agents search for, reserve, and pay for hotels with USDC on the layer-2 blockchain Base, extending agentic AI stablecoin payments to travel bookings.

The company said the system connects Travala’s hotel inventory to AI agents through the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for linking AI apps to external tools. Payments use Base with Travala saying the setup allows gasless USDC transactions, near-instant settlement and transaction costs of about $0.01 per booking.

However, final payment authorization still requires manual approval from the traveler, so it’s not fully autonomous; it’s more advanced than a chatbot that only recommends itineraries.

The launch comes as crypto companies try to make stablecoins useful for machine-to-machine commerce and follows a wave of crypto payment infrastructure aimed at AI agents. The likes of Fireblocks, MoonPay, and Exodus have launched products for AI-driven stablecoin payments, while x402-linked wallets on Base surpassed 100 million transactions.

Travala framed the launch as an early step toward autonomous travel booking, even as travelers still retain final approval over payments. Travala said the setup uses ERC-7715 session keys, allowing the AI agent to request a payment while keeping final signing authority inside the traveler’s wallet.

The company said the protocol can maintain context across searches, bookings and cancellations in a single chat thread. Travala said the protocol covers more than 2.2 million hotels, including listings from Marriott, Hilton and IHG, which are sourced through its aggregator partners.

Ethereum has 3x more holders than Bitcoin

Ethereum has emerged as the blockchain with the largest number of holders, far ahead of Bitcoin. Data on non-empty wallets show that Ethereum has around 189.49 million holders, more than three times Bitcoin’s 59.08 million.

The figures, shared by Lisk’s head of research, analyst Leon Waidmann, indicate Ethereum’s large user base even as the asset’s price remained in a bearish zone. After Ethereum and Bitcoin, Tether ranks third with 13.61 million holders, followed by XRP with 7.8 million and USDC with 6.76 million non-empty wallets.

Even with such strong network adoption, ETH has been on a steady decline over the past month, losing more than 30% during the period. The crypto asset was trading near $1,620 at the time of writing.

The weakness in its price has also affected companies that built large treasury positions in the asset. One example is Nasdaq-listed FG Nexus, which has reportedly incurred more than $85 million in losses on its Ethereum strategy after selling a substantial portion of its holdings at prices below its purchase price.

The company had made ETH its main treasury reserve asset and started building its position around Ethereum’s 10th anniversary, with plans to become a major holder. However, the broader market downturn forced it to reduce its exposure.

Meanwhile, crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe noted that ETH’s daily Relative Strength Index (RSI) has dropped to its lowest level ever.

The market pressure has also been visible in spot Ethereum ETF activity. However, after 17 straight trading days of outflows, these funds recorded net inflows of $19.3 million on June 4. The inflows were driven entirely by ETHA, while the remaining nine ETFs saw no activity.

Overall, Ethereum ETFs still posted $168 million in net inflows for the week. SoSoValue said the latest figures could mean ETF flows are starting to stabilize. However, a meaningful recovery will depend on whether inflows continue into Ethereum and other major crypto assets.

Pump.fun launches a GO bounty platform

Solana based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun introduced GO, a new bounty platform built around the slogan “Pay ANYONE to do ANYTHING.” In it, users post crypto rewards for bizarre promotional tasks, such as tattooing the ticker symbols of memecoins, quitting their job live on camera, or skydiving into a World Cup match.

Users connect an X account and wallet, post a task, and lock rewards in escrow starting at $5, while Pump.fun reviews submissions and determines payouts. At the time of writing, GO listed 225 live bounties, 509 submissions, and a $115,000 unclaimed pool. The biggest rewards remain unclaimed on the platform.

The top remaining listing, worth roughly $23,655, sought an interview with either a family member of the person responsible for Henry Nowak’s death or the lead police officer on the case.

Another task offered a $3,066 bounty for users to tattoo the ticker “Bountywork” on their foreheads, with a request for video proof. So far, the task has received four submissions with people completing the tattoo.

Further down the board, the tasks turn stranger and, in places, riskier.

Bounties asked people to set a branded car alight, streak during an NBA Finals game, fart through a megaphone at a lecture, pour milk over themselves, hand out 100 jars of pineapple Kool-Aid to homeless people, get Elon Musk to engage with a token on X, and bail someone out of jail.

GO formalizes a pay-for-stunts incentive that has repeatedly turned dangerous on Pump.fun. The launchpad pulled its livestreaming feature in 2024 after an influx of contentious streams. Pump.fun revived livestreaming at the start of 2025 with new moderation, then leaned into ‘creator capital markets,’ pairing viral stunts with tradable tokens.

How miners are quietly fueling Bitcoin’s next rally

After six weeks of selling, Bitcoin miners have flipped to net accumulation just as price carved a cycle low, an on-chain shift that echoes the last major turn. There are three signals we can consider.

Firstly, since June 5, Bitcoin miners have posted three consecutive days of positive net position change, a metric that tracks whether miners add to or draw down their holdings.

The shift breaks a stretch of red that ran from April 23 through June 4, one of the longer miner capitulation phases of the year.

The timing stands out. The flip to green arrives just after the price breached its sub-$60,000 low, the same pattern seen at the previous turn. A local bottom near $64,088 in late February closed the prior capitulation, after which miner flows turned positive in early March and coincided with the Bitcoin price recovery.

Secondly, the accumulation shift lines up with a quiet recovery in network demand. Bitcoin network revenue, the total transaction fees miners earn, climbed to 89 BTC in May. That figure tops February’s 80 BTC, March’s 79, and April’s 74, marking a clear pickup in fee income just as miners stopped selling.

June’s reading sits at 26 BTC. Still, that figure covers only the first eight days and remains incomplete, so it cannot be read as a drop. Yet, the BTC trend still looks positive, which explains why the miners’ net position change has turned up.

Stronger fee revenue eases the operational pressure that forces miners to liquidate, which helps explain why their net position turned. When network revenue rises, miners earn more from fees, so they feel less need to sell their Bitcoin to cover costs, which is why their net position can flip from selling to accumulating.

The relevant is the May surge, the best fee month since the start of the year, landing alongside the miner flip. Two signals now point the same way. The third tests whether leverage could undo them.

Thirdly, the final signal sits in derivatives, where the setup looks calmer than it did before last week’s crash. Total open interest dropped from about $31.26 billion in late May to near $22.31 billion, after touching $21.09 billion.

That matters because the current funding rate of 0.005%, which reflects what traders pay to hold long positions, sits just below the 0.006% reading from early June that preceded the price crash.

The difference is open interest. Leverage stood far higher on June 1, so the same lean toward longs carries less risk of a cascading long flush now. That leverage cooling coincides with the Bitcoin miner pickup.

However, there are some warning signs. Funding turning positive again shows buyers leaning long, and sellers have reappeared as new whales realize losses.

For now, watch whether miner accumulation holds, whether fee revenue builds in June, and whether open interest stays contained. Those three, not price alone, will show if the on-chain turn has staying power.

Zypto advances real-world crypto utility

For most of history, cross-border transfers have traditionally been slow, expensive, and dependent on layers of intermediaries, with access unevenly distributed across regions. This gap between how information moves and how value moves began to close with the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009.

While widely recognized as the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin was originally conceived as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It wasn’t designed as an investment vehicle, but as a form of money native to the internet. Since then, thousands of blockchain networks and digital assets have built on this, creating a decentralized system for transferring value across borders.

While the underlying technology proved effective, practical usage has remained fragmented. Owning and transferring crypto became increasingly accessible, but using it in everyday life or spending across borders often required navigating multiple platforms and services.

Zypto is positioning itself to address this gap by focusing on utility, aiming to make digital assets function like everyday money. Through its app ecosystem, Zypto integrates a wide range of services—cross-chain swaps, cards, bill payments, gift cards—that enable users to move from simply holding crypto to actively using it.

It supports more than 20 blockchains, over 24,000 digital assets, and more than 1,000,000 cross-chain swap routes, combining services that are typically dispersed across multiple providers into a single interface. This integration allows users to perform practical financial actions across borders.

By consolidating these capabilities, Zypto is addressing a core limitation in the current crypto landscape: fragmentation. While individual services exist across the ecosystem, they are often disconnected, creating friction for users attempting to rely on digital assets in everyday scenarios.

Zypro’s approach reflects a broader shift within the industry toward real-world applicability. As cryptocurrencies and stablecoins increasingly facilitate billions of dollars in daily transactions, the focus is shifting from trading to usability.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Ripple is expanding its dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD into Turkey through local exchange integrations. Travala has introduced a system that allows AI agents to search and book hotels using USDC on Base, enabling low-cost, near-instant payments while keeping final transaction approval with the user.

Ethereum now has over three times as many non-empty wallets as Bitcoin, highlighting its broader user base. Pump.fun has launched GO, a crypto bounty platform where users pay others for promotional tasks and viral marketing campaigns.

Bitcoin miners have shifted from selling to accumulating after a prolonged period of capitulation, coinciding with rising network fees and reduced leverage in derivatives markets. Zypto’s model suggests that the next phase of crypto adoption will be defined less by asset ownership and more by everyday functionality.

What’s your favorite development this week? Let us know in the comments section!

FAQs

Where is Ripple pushing RLUSD?

Ripple is pushing its dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, into Turkey, one of the world’s most active digital-asset markets.

What is the latest on Travala?

Travala has launched a protocol it says lets artificial intelligence agents search, reserve, and pay for hotels with USDC.

How does Ethereum compare to Bitcoin?

Ethereum has emerged as the blockchain with the largest number of holders, far ahead of Bitcoin.

How are miners fueling Bitcoin’s next rally?

Bitcoin miners posted three consecutive days of positive net position change, adding to their holdings.

Today in Crypto - Stablecoins, Tournament Payouts, and New On-Ramps

Zypto Editorial Team — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Stablecoins and real-world payments are dominating today’s agenda. Japan’s three biggest banks are building toward a shared digital yen. The World Series of Poker is paying tournament winners in crypto. And two separate regulatory moves, one in the UK and one in Washington, are quietly making it easier for ordinary people to hold and use digital assets.

Japan’s MUFG, Mizuho, and SMBC form a joint council to issue a yen stablecoin by March 2027
The World Series of Poker adds Solana payments for buy-ins and stablecoin payouts for winners
The UK’s FCA proposes letting retail investment funds hold up to 10% in crypto ETNs
SBI Shinsei Bank in Japan pilots crypto vouchers linked to deposit interest, no purchase required
US lawmakers advance a de minimis tax exemption that would make stablecoin payments less burdensome
The GENIUS Act’s AML rules draw pushback from Paradigm and Hyperliquid over stablecoin overreach

Three countries, two competing regulatory approaches, and one consistent signal: crypto is being plumbed into the financial system from the top down. What’s new this week is the pace.

Japan’s three megabanks move toward a shared yen stablecoin

Source: Decrypt

MUFG Bank, Mizuho Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation have established a joint council to develop and launch a yen-backed stablecoin before the end of Japan’s financial year in March 2027. The three institutions will operate under a trust structure, with an independent trust bank serving as the asset holder, and have the backing of Japan’s Financial Services Agency and the ruling party.

Japan already has one of the more developed stablecoin legal frameworks in the world, passed in 2023, but yen-denominated stablecoins remain a tiny fraction of the market compared to dollar-pegged alternatives. A credible yen stablecoin from three of Japan’s largest banks changes that dynamic entirely, and opens a direct pathway for domestic settlements, cross-border payments, and eventually merchant adoption at scale.

This is not a retail product yet. The initial design targets institutional settlement. But the institutional layer is exactly where payment rails need to be built before user-facing products can follow. When Japan’s biggest banks agree on a shared standard, the downstream adoption curve compresses.

Zypto take: The question here is not whether traditional banks will issue stablecoins. That is now settled. The question is whether those stablecoins will be designed for movement, or designed for control. Bank-issued stablecoins built on trust-bank custody structures are efficient within closed systems and considerably less so outside them. A user who wants to send value across borders, access DeFi, or use stablecoins without a bank as intermediary still needs a different tool. The bank stablecoin and the self-custodial wallet are not the same product solving the same problem.

Source: Decrypt

The World Series of Poker starts paying out in stablecoins

Source: CoinDesk

The World Series of Poker has partnered with MoonPay to accept Solana-based payments for tournament buy-ins with zero processing fees, effective at the current Las Vegas event. Starting in December at WSOP Paradise in the Bahamas, winners will have the option to collect prize payouts in stablecoins. Solana is now the official presenting sponsor of the 2026 WSOP, with branding across broadcasts and event venues.

WSOP CEO Ty Stewart said the integration is intended to “modernize payments for players,” particularly international participants who face foreign exchange and wire fees when moving large sums across borders. For a tournament where buy-ins can reach thousands of dollars and prize pools run into the millions, the cost savings on cross-border settlement are real and immediate.

This is one of the cleaner real-world payment use cases to land in months. The value transfer problem is concrete, the audience is international, and the savings come not from speculation but from cutting unnecessary middlemen out of what is, functionally, a payment.

Zypto take: For someone playing an international poker tournament, the hassle of moving winnings across borders through traditional banking is a known cost of participation. The shift here is that stablecoins are being positioned as the default settlement method for a globally distributed audience, not a workaround for the technically adventurous. That is exactly what real-world crypto adoption looks like: a better answer to a problem that already existed. Zypto Pay is built on the same logic, letting merchants accept crypto and settle in local currency without overhauling their existing operations.

Source: CoinDesk

UK retail investment funds get a path to crypto exposure

Source: CoinDesk

The Financial Conduct Authority has proposed allowing authorized UK investment funds to allocate up to 10% of assets to crypto exchange-traded notes. The cap would apply to UCITS schemes, which cover the majority of retail-facing collective investment vehicles including most ISA-eligible funds. The FCA described the proposed limit as a “conservative restriction” consistent with the speculative nature of digital assets, while still keeping funds “contemporary” with investor demand.

The consultation closes July 13. The proposal builds on the FCA’s August 2025 decision to lift its ban on retail crypto trading products, and is part of a broader legislative push that includes stablecoin oversight, crypto custody rules, and staking frameworks. For approximately 20 million UK adults who hold investments through regulated fund products, this would provide a first legal, regulated route to digital asset exposure without opening a separate crypto account.

The FCA is also reviewing whether certain fund categories, such as property funds and long-term asset funds, should be excluded from crypto allocations due to structural incompatibility with their stated objectives.

Zypto take: Most of the regulatory debate around crypto still centers on whether to allow it. This proposal accepts that question as settled and is working through the specifics of how. That is a different kind of conversation, and a more useful one. A 10% fund allocation and a self-custodial wallet are both legitimate forms of participation. They just offer different things. Exposure to the price of an asset inside a regulated wrapper is not the same as the ability to move, use, or build with it. Both have a place, and the users who want the full picture will eventually find their way to the Zypto App.

Source: CoinDesk

SBI Shinsei Bank rewards depositors with Bitcoin, no investment required

Source: CoinTelegraph

SBI Shinsei Bank launched a three-month pilot that automatically credits deposit customers with cryptocurrency vouchers equal to 20% of their earned interest, on top of their standard yen interest payment. Customers holding term deposits of three months to five years can open an account with SBI VC Trade and redeem the vouchers for Bitcoin, Ether, or XRP. If the pilot lands well, a permanent product follows.

The design is deliberate. No one is being asked to buy crypto, choose a wallet, or make an active investment decision. The depositor does what they were already doing, earns interest as normal, and receives a small allocation of digital assets as an additional benefit. First exposure, zero commitment required.

SBI Group has been building methodically across the digital asset stack: stablecoin lending, exchange consolidation via SBI VC Trade, and now deposit-linked rewards. The pilot is modest in scale. The model it establishes, bank deposits as a crypto on-ramp, is not.

Zypto take: Most on-ramp discussions focus on exchanges, apps, and KYC flows. This is something different: an institution with 20 million existing customer relationships turning routine deposit interest into a first crypto holding. The people who arrive this way are not researching wallets or tracking market movements. They are just finding out they own a little Bitcoin. That is a different kind of introduction, and a much wider one. Once someone has their first holding, the natural next question is what they can do with it.

Source: CoinTelegraph

US lawmakers push a tax exemption for everyday crypto payments

Source: Decrypt

A House Ways and Means Committee hearing on June 9 advanced six crypto tax bills, including a de minimis exemption that would remove the requirement to track and report gains on small everyday crypto transactions. Committee Chairman Jason Smith framed it directly: people who want to pay with a stablecoin instead of a credit card or cash should not face a pile of tax paperwork. Under current rules, every transaction using crypto, including a stablecoin payment for a coffee, is a taxable event that requires cost-basis tracking.

Separate bills address double-taxation of staking and mining rewards, and industry testimony pushed for expanded exemptions across the board. Democratic members raised concerns about potential abuse in mining deferral provisions, with ranking member Richard Neal acknowledging skepticism on both sides. Galaxy Digital estimates a 60% chance of Senate passage before August recess.

The de minimis exemption has the clearest direct impact on ordinary users. As long as every small crypto payment generates a taxable event, using digital assets for everyday spending carries a compliance overhead that cash simply does not.

Zypto take: Tax treatment has been the quiet ceiling on everyday crypto bill payments and purchases in the US for years. Not lack of wallets, not lack of merchant acceptance: the administrative cost of treating each transaction as a capital gain disposal. A de minimis exemption removes that ceiling. It does not solve every pain point in the system, but it removes the most structurally absurd one, and it does so in a way that benefits any user trying to make real-world crypto useful. Whether this passes before August matters less than the direction: the US is now actively working to make everyday crypto payments less burdensome, not more.

Source: Decrypt

Paradigm and Hyperliquid push back on GENIUS Act AML overreach

Source: CoinTelegraph

The Hyperliquid Policy Center and venture firm Paradigm filed joint comments urging Treasury to revise the anti-money-laundering rules accompanying the GENIUS Act stablecoin legislation. The specific objection: the proposed rules require stablecoin issuers to block, freeze, or reject transactions that violate US law across both primary and secondary markets, including on decentralized protocols where issuers have no visibility into who is transacting.

Paradigm and Hyperliquid argue that imposing secondary-market obligations on issuers creates an impossible compliance burden. An issuer cannot meaningfully monitor transactions on every decentralized protocol that holds their token. The practical consequence, they contend, would be stablecoin issuers retreating to permissioned environments and ceding the open, decentralized layer to offshore, non-dollar alternatives.

The GENIUS Act itself has substantial bipartisan support and is considered likely to pass in some form. The AML rules, written by Treasury rather than Congress, remain in a comment period through early July.

Zypto take: Most people discussing the GENIUS Act are focused on whether it passes. This argument is about what it says when it does, and it matters more than the headline vote. If compliant US-dollar stablecoins are forced out of open protocols and decentralized markets, the result is not a safer system. It is a two-tier system: regulated stablecoins in closed rails, and everything else in the open layer. The users who benefit most from open, permissionless value movement are not sophisticated traders. They are people sending remittances, making cross-border payments, and using stablecoins because they need a dollar-equivalent that moves freely. Getting the AML rules right protects them, not just the protocol developers. Download Zypto App.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Key Takeaways

Institutional stablecoin infrastructure is being built faster than most expected. Three of Japan’s largest banks agreeing on a shared yen stablecoin standard in the same week that Washington debates stablecoin tax policy is not a coincidence. The rails are being laid from both ends.
The on-ramp is getting wider and less deliberate. SBI Shinsei’s deposit-linked voucher model proves that first crypto exposure does not require an active purchase decision. The next wave of participants may arrive without ever choosing to invest.
Regulatory clarity is moving in the right direction, but the details matter. The GENIUS Act AML debate shows that well-intentioned rules can produce outcomes that undermine the open systems they are meant to govern. What Treasury writes in the coming weeks will shape stablecoin utility more than the vote itself.
Real-world merchant adoption is accelerating in unexpected places. Tournament poker may not be the obvious frontier for crypto payments, but the economics are clear: international prize pools, high buy-ins, and global players make cross-border settlement cost savings immediate and concrete. More categories will follow the same logic.
For users who want more than price exposure, the gap between a fund allocation and actual ownership of digital assets is still meaningful. Self-custody is not just a philosophical preference. It determines what you can do with what you hold.

Today in Crypto - Stablecoin card, CLARITY Act push, and RWAs surge

Zypto Editorial Team — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Six stories stood out today:

Coinbase and Cardless launched a credit card that uses USDC holdings as collateral
Over 200 crypto organizations pushed the Senate to schedule a CLARITY Act vote before the August recess
The UK’s FCA proposed letting retail investment funds hold up to 10% in crypto ETNs
Active tokenized real-world assets surged 600% in 18 months despite the broader market pullback
A $30 million private key compromise drained Humanity Protocol, sending the token down 85%
MetaMask released an Agent Wallet that lets AI bots execute DeFi trades within user-defined limits

The common thread: the infrastructure for everyday crypto ownership and participation is expanding rapidly, while the cost of weak key security remains as high as ever.

Coinbase and Cardless launch a credit card that runs on USDC collateral

Coinbase and Cardless have introduced a stablecoin-secured credit card. Applicants set aside a portion of their USDC holdings on Coinbase as collateral, continue earning yield on those assets, and pay a $49.99 annual fee for card access. The product targets people who hold crypto but cannot qualify for a conventional unsecured credit card, with Cardless co-founder Michael Spelfogel describing it as built for those “beginning their journeys.”

This is the practical version of a crypto-backed financial life becoming more normal. Yield on idle USDC while the card is in your wallet. A path to credit access that doesn’t require converting to cash first.

For people using Zypto App to hold stablecoins, the direction is clear: the range of things you can do without ever leaving the crypto ecosystem is widening. The Cash to USDC and USDC to Cash global service in Zypto App already covers that bridge at any participating MoneyGram location.

Source: CoinDesk

200+ crypto organizations are pressing the Senate to vote on the CLARITY Act

Four major industry groups, Stand With Crypto, the Digital Chamber, the Blockchain Association, and the Crypto Council for Innovation, jointly represent more than 200 companies in a letter urging Senate leadership to schedule a floor vote on the CLARITY Act before the August recess. The bill would divide regulatory oversight cleanly: the SEC handles crypto securities, the CFTC handles commodities. It has already cleared both the Banking and Agriculture Committees but stalled on the floor over disagreements on stablecoin yield restrictions and developer protections. Galaxy Digital puts the odds of passage this year at 60%.

The question is not whether the US needs a framework. It is whether Congress moves before or after the rest of the world builds one without it.

A clear regulatory structure matters most to everyday users, not institutions. Knowing which rules apply to which asset, and which agency enforces them, is what lets people participate without legal ambiguity overhead. That kind of clarity is what brings digital assets further into everyday financial life.

Source: CoinTelegraph

The UK’s FCA wants to let retail funds hold up to 10% in crypto ETNs

The Financial Conduct Authority opened a five-week consultation today proposing that UCITS funds and some retail-facing non-UCITS funds be permitted to allocate up to 10% of assets to crypto exchange-traded notes, provided the allocation aligns with the fund’s stated investment objectives. The cap reflects what the FCA calls a “conservative” position given the speculative characteristics of underlying assets. Unregulated and qualified investor schemes could go higher, but cannot market those products to retail consumers. The consultation closes July 13.

This follows the FCA’s August 2025 decision to lift its ban on retail trading of crypto ETNs, which itself brought the UK in line with European and North American norms. The 10% proposal extends that opening to fund vehicles that millions of ordinary investors use through pension wrappers and ISAs.

Incremental access through regulated fund structures is how most retail investors in the UK will first get crypto exposure. Regulatory permission is not the exciting part. The long-run direction it sets is.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Active tokenized real-world assets jumped 600% in 18 months

A Binance Research report published this week shows active tokenized real-world assets surged 589% between early 2025 and June 2026. Bonds and money market funds grew 83%, adding $6.5 billion. Tokenized stocks moved faster at 422%, with Ondo Global Markets alone exceeding $1 billion locked within eight months. Tokenized precious metals added $1.5 billion, led by gold. xStocks has now cleared more than $25 billion in cumulative trading volume. Major institutions including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are backing the underlying infrastructure.

Tokenized RWAs growing through a crypto pullback is the signal. The growth is not retail speculation driving a number up; it is institutional capital building settlement and ownership infrastructure that happens to run on blockchains.

Stocks, bonds, gold, and real estate accessible from the same self-custodial setup you use for Bitcoin is exactly the expanded participation that defines this space. Zypto App already covers 24,000+ assets across 20+ blockchains. As tokenized real-world assets land on those chains, real-world asset access through self-custodial wallets becomes the natural next layer.

Source: CoinTelegraph

A $30 million private key compromise just reminded everyone what is at stake

Humanity Protocol, a zkEVM blockchain project, suffered a security breach when private keys belonging to a member of the Humanity Foundation were compromised. The attacker moved at least $30 million in H tokens across decentralized exchanges. The token fell 85% within 12 hours, dropping from roughly $0.70 to $0.08. CEO Terence Kwok confirmed the incident in a public statement. CertiK data shows private key compromises were already the second-most costly attack vector in May 2026, accounting for $13.7 million in losses that month alone across multiple projects including Drift Protocol and Polymarket.

Private key security is not a solved problem. Repeating breaches across high-profile projects in 2026 suggests it is not even a declining one.

The Vault Key Card splits signing authority between your device and a physical card. A compromised phone cannot move funds without it. That design exists precisely because private key exposure is the most common and most costly category of crypto loss, and software alone cannot fully protect against it. Download Zypto App.

Source: CoinTelegraph

MetaMask launched a self-custodial wallet that AI agents can operate

MetaMask released Agent Wallet, an early-access product that lets AI agents execute transactions on decentralized finance platforms within boundaries set by the user. Users connect the wallet to supported AI frameworks including OpenAI Codex and Claude Code, define an allowlist of approved protocols, and the agent operates within those limits. Transactions flagged as potentially malicious require manual approval before proceeding. The system also offers up to $10,000 in loss protection on transactions its own security layer clears. Supported activity spans token swaps, perpetual futures, prediction markets, and liquidity provision across Ethereum-compatible networks and Hyperliquid.

Giving AI agents self-custodial access to DeFi is a real product now, not a whitepaper. The key constraint MetaMask is betting on: user-defined spending rules and protocol allowlists, not blanket agent authority.

The self-custody model is still doing the same job it always has. User-defined controls, transparent transaction history, no counterparty holding the keys. The mechanism that lets you trust an AI agent with your funds is the same one that lets you trust any setup: the private keys stay yours, and the boundaries stay your decision.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Today in Crypto - Mastercard goes on-chain, payment giants converge, and a landmark ruling

Zypto Editorial Team — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Six stories define the week so far:

Mastercard will now settle transactions in stablecoins across six major blockchains, around the clock
Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are building a shared stablecoin platform, with Coinbase reportedly joining
Congress holds its crypto tax hearing today, debating a bill that would remove reporting requirements on small transactions
Bybit and Kraken are both offering tokenized SpaceX IPO access to retail crypto users
Securitize cleared its final SEC hurdle on the path to an NYSE listing as tokenized RWAs hit $32 billion
A Chinese court ruled that Bitcoin is legally property, even as the country bans trading

The common thread: the payment infrastructure for everyday crypto use is being built, standardized, and tested from multiple directions at once.

Mastercard will settle card transactions in stablecoins across six blockchains

Mastercard is enabling on-chain settlement alongside its existing fiat processes, supporting USDC, PYUSD, RLUSD, USDG, USDP, and SoFiUSD across Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, and XRPL. The move shifts settlement toward a 24/7 model: intraday, weekends, holidays, no banking-hours dependency.

Early participants include Cross River, Lead Bank, CBW Bank, ARQ, and Nuvei, initially across the U.S. and Latin America. “The next phase of stablecoin adoption is about real-world utility, especially in settlement, where timing and liquidity matter most,” said Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s executive vice president of blockchain and digital assets.

Settlement infrastructure is not visible to cardholders, but it is what makes everything else work. When the rails settle in stablecoins on-chain, the cost and speed of moving money changes. Six blockchains and six stablecoins in one announcement is a meaningful commitment to breadth rather than a single-chain bet.

Stablecoin settlement moving on-chain means payments that work on weekends, on holidays, and through the night without clearing windows. The Zypto Premium VISA Card loads from Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Base, and Arbitrum. Better settlement infrastructure on those chains means more reliable everyday spending for anyone already using crypto that way.

Source: CoinDesk

Stripe, Visa, and Mastercard are building shared stablecoin infrastructure

The three largest players in global payments are reportedly close to launching a joint stablecoin platform, with Coinbase said to be exploring participation. Each arrived here separately: Stripe acquired stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge for $1.1 billion in 2024, Mastercard recently acquired BVNK, and Visa has processed $3.5 billion in stablecoin-settled card transactions.

A platform with all three names on it is a different kind of signal from individual integrations. It would shift stablecoin settlement from a feature each network runs independently to shared infrastructure reaching billions of cardholders.

The direction has been clear for some time. What is changing is the pace. Three competing payment networks building together rather than separately suggests the bet on stablecoin rails has become industry consensus rather than a differentiator.

Three of the largest payment networks in the world are now building stablecoin infrastructure together. For people who hold and use stablecoins, that kind of structural alignment makes digital assets more usable over time.

Source: CoinDesk

Congress holds its crypto tax hearing today, and the small-transaction exemption is the one to watch

The House Ways and Means Committee holds its crypto tax hearing today with a de minimis exemption on the table. If it passes, routine small transactions would carry no reporting obligation. The paperwork disappears, even though any underlying gain or loss still applies. Today’s hearing is the furthest this type of legislation has advanced in years.

Everyday crypto use and tax compliance have an uncomfortable relationship in the US right now. A de minimis exemption is a practical fix: routine small transactions would no longer require reporting. It is a meaningful step toward crypto that works in daily life.

Source: CoinDesk

Bybit and Kraken are both offering tokenized SpaceX IPO access to retail crypto users

Two of the largest crypto exchanges launched tokenized access to the SpaceX IPO within days of each other, both powered by xStocks. SpaceX is targeting a $1.75 trillion valuation and begins trading June 12. Kraken’s version issues SPCXx tokens, each backed 1:1 by underlying shares. Bybit’s IPO Express allows purchases at official IPO pricing. That kind of access has historically been limited to institutional investors and large brokerages.

Both platforms offer 24/7 trading on the tokens and DeFi composability. Kraken’s service is available across the European Economic Area and 110-plus international markets. The US, Canada, Australia, and the UK are excluded due to local regulatory requirements. Registration windows close June 11.

This is a structural shift in what a crypto platform can offer. The exchange ecosystem is extending from digital assets into tokenized real-world equity, settling in the same wallets and rails users already have. The line between a crypto app and a multi-asset financial platform is moving quickly.

The tokenized SpaceX IPO is one piece of a larger shift: the range of things people can participate in through their existing crypto setup is expanding. Zypto App was built around that kind of participation, combining self-custody with real-world spending, bill payments, and everyday financial tools in one connected place.

Source: CoinDesk

Real World Asset tokenization hits $32 billion as Securitize clears its final SEC hurdle for an NYSE listing

Securitize, the tokenization platform that manages $4 billion in assets for partners including BlackRock, Apollo, and BNY, received SEC approval for its merger with Cantor Equity Partners II. Shareholders vote June 29. If approved, the combined company lists on the New York Stock Exchange as SECZ.

The backdrop: tokenized real-world assets hit a record $32 billion in on-chain value in May, a 220% increase over 12 months. US Treasuries make up nearly half of that figure. Securitize reported $19.5 million in first-quarter 2026 revenue, up 39% year on year.

A tokenization platform going public on the NYSE signals that the infrastructure layer of real-world asset tokenization is becoming a mainstream financial industry. The largest asset managers in the world are already customers. The public market is now pricing that in.

Tokenized real-world assets are being built on Ethereum, Polygon, Arbitrum, Base, and Stellar. These are the same chains individuals hold assets on every day. The institutional infrastructure layer and the everyday participation layer are running on the same rails, and that opens up new possibilities for anyone already in this space.

Source: CoinTelegraph

A Chinese court ruled that Bitcoin is legally property, despite a national ban on trading it

A court in Qingdao, China sentenced a man to nearly 11 years in prison after he memorized 11 of 12 words in a victim’s wallet recovery phrase and used them to reconstruct full access and transfer 107 Bitcoin. Prosecutors argued successfully that Bitcoin meets the legal definition of property subject to theft under Chinese criminal law. The court agreed.

China maintains a ban on cryptocurrency trading and mining, but that restriction does not appear to have changed the legal status of digital assets when it comes to criminal property protections. The ruling creates a clear, if narrow, precedent: Chinese courts will treat unauthorized transfer of crypto from another person’s wallet as theft, prosecutable and punishable.

The security lesson is as important as the legal one. This case was not a technical exploit. It was a human one: the attacker was present during wallet setup and collected most of a seed phrase by memory. Self-custody security is not just about keeping private keys offline. It is about ensuring no one ever sees your seed phrase, under any circumstances.

The attack was not technical. Eleven words were memorized in the room where a wallet was set up. Self-custody security comes down to who has ever seen the recovery phrase. The Vault Key Card adds a physical signing layer so device access alone cannot authorize a transaction, but protecting the seed phrase is still where security starts and ends.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Today in Crypto - USDC payroll at scale, Bitcoin buys homes without being sold

Zypto Editorial Team — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Six stories stood out this weekend:

Meta is scaling stablecoin payroll to 160 countries
Coinbase closed the first Fannie Mae-backed Bitcoin mortgage
Visa is piloting private on-chain settlement
Congress is moving seven crypto tax bills including small-transaction relief
Travala launched AI agent hotel bookings paid in USDC
The six largest US banks announced a tokenized deposit network for 2027

The common thread: institutional infrastructure is being built, and everyday use cases are being built with it.

Meta is paying creators in USDC, and spending it is still their problem

Meta began paying creators in USDC in Colombia and the Philippines in March and is on track to expand to more than 160 countries by year-end, covering roughly $3 billion in annual creator payouts. The program runs across Solana and Polygon.

Getting paid in USDC and being able to use it are two different things. Creators in Manila or Bogota still need to connect external wallets, select a blockchain network, manage custody, and navigate exchange withdrawals to convert a USDC payment into local currency. Meta has solved cross-border settlement. The last mile is still a gap.

For Zypto users, that last mile is the whole product. A multichain wallet that handles USDC across multiple chains and lets you use your crypto for real-world spending is exactly what a 160-country creator base will need as USDC payroll becomes standard. Zypto already does this. The gap Meta’s piece puts on the map is not a future build. It is a problem Zypto solves today.

Source: CoinDesk

Travala lets AI agents book hotels and pay with USDC on Base

Travel platform Travala launched a protocol allowing AI agents to search, reserve, and pay for hotels from its catalog of 2.2 million properties, settling in USDC on Base at roughly one cent per transaction. The system uses ERC-7715 session keys so travelers retain signing authority while agents handle search and booking, with manual confirmation required before any payment goes through.

Major chains including Marriott, Hilton, and IHG are in the catalog. The payment rails are Coinbase’s x402 protocol and Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 network, with gasless, near-instant settlement. Developers who integrate the protocol receive a 10% Coinbase Wrapped BTC rebate on completed stays.

This is one of the first working examples of AI agent-driven crypto payment at real commercial scale. The payment mechanic matters more than the AI angle: USDC on Base at $0.01 per transaction, settling instantly, across 2.2 million hotels. The infrastructure for crypto as a default payment layer in new application categories is being built one protocol at a time.

Source: CoinTelegraph

Coinbase and Better close the first Fannie Mae-backed Bitcoin mortgage

The first Fannie Mae-guaranteed mortgage using Bitcoin as collateral closed in Michigan this month. Coinbase partnered with lender Better on a structure that places a second lien against Bitcoin holdings in place of a cash down payment. A borrower needing a $100,000 down payment can pledge $250,000 in Bitcoin as collateral, with no margin calls triggered by daily price moves.

Borrowers retain their Bitcoin position and avoid the capital gains tax event that selling would trigger. The Federal Housing Finance Agency opened the path last year when it recognized crypto held on regulated exchanges as a qualifying mortgage asset. The program expands nationally in the coming months and also accepts USDC as collateral.

This is the first time a government-backed lending program has integrated crypto collateral at the retail level. Buying a home without selling your Bitcoin, on a Fannie Mae loan, is now a live product in the United States.

Source: Decrypt

Visa tests private stablecoin settlement with Brale and Canton Network

Visa is piloting private stablecoin settlement on Canton Network, a permissioned ledger backed by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas, and the DTCC. The stablecoin is SBC, a dollar-backed token from infrastructure company Brale. Transaction details are visible only to participants and authorized regulators, addressing the concern that public-chain settlement exposes commercially sensitive data.

Global stablecoin issuance has surpassed $300 billion. Visa began experimenting with on-chain settlement using USDC on Ethereum in 2021. This pilot is the most institutional version yet, simulating real payment flows across privacy-enabled infrastructure rather than a lab environment.

The practical effect for end users is indirect but significant: when card network settlement and stablecoin infrastructure converge at the institutional layer, the rails under crypto card products get faster and more reliable. Visa is not just watching stablecoins grow. It is building the settlement layer to run alongside them.

Source: CoinTelegraph

US House committee advances seven crypto tax bills, including small-transaction relief

The House Ways and Means Committee circulated seven draft crypto tax bills ahead of a hearing on June 9. The most significant for everyday users is a de minimis exemption that would eliminate the tax liability triggered by small crypto transactions, such as buying goods or settling bills with digital assets.

Additional bills address wash sale rules, mining and staking income timing, and charitable donation appraisals. One draft would let miners and stakers choose between paying tax when assets are received or when sold, removing the current double-taxation concern for people who earn crypto without actively trading it.

Under current law, every crypto transaction is a taxable event in the US, regardless of size. The de minimis bills before Congress would set a threshold below which small transactions carry no reporting requirement, bringing the rules in line with how crypto is actually used. The tax obligation on gains does not go away; the paperwork on routine purchases does. This is the furthest similar legislation has advanced in years, and the June 9 hearing is the next checkpoint.

Source: CoinDesk

JPMorgan, Citi, and four other major banks are building a tokenized deposit network for 2027

JPMorgan, Citibank, Bank of America, Barclays, BNY Mellon, and Wells Fargo are developing a tokenized deposit network through The Clearing House, targeting a launch in the first half of 2027. The network would enable 24/7 settlement, programmable payments, and interoperability with digital asset infrastructure, matching the speed and flexibility that has made stablecoins attractive for institutional settlement.

The banks are responding directly to stablecoin competition. With Tether, Circle, and bank-issued stablecoins offering faster settlement and programmable logic than legacy wire systems, the largest US banks need an on-chain alternative that keeps deposits in regulated channels.

This is the clearest signal yet that traditional banking is building on crypto rails rather than observing from the outside. For the broader ecosystem, 2027 may be when blockchain-based payment rails and conventional banking become functionally interchangeable for the use cases that matter most to businesses and their customers.

Source: CoinTelegraph

This Week In Crypto – Pi Network, World Cup, Bitcoin, Kalshi, and TON

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, welcome to our first June round-up series! There’s plenty happening across the crypto landscape this week, so let’s get straight into it.

A Pi Network whale’s wallet crosses 400 million PI; a Trader’s World Cup $341 meme coin surges over 30,000%; and a dormant Bitcoin wallet moves 20 BTC after 16 years of inactivity.

Then, Post-crash BTC eyeing $73K recovery for summer breakout, Kalshi secures CFTC approval to offer bitcoin perps, and The Open Network plans a rebrand to GRAM. Finally, Zypto App becomes the official wallet for Electroneum, expanding what ETN holders can do across the wider crypto ecosystem.

Let’s dive in.

Pi Network whale’s wallet crosses 400 million PI

One PI address, tracked as “GAS…ODM,” has now surpassed 400 million tokens, making it the largest single holder. Recent on-chain data show the wallet adding more than 1.5 million PI in a single day. The pattern of near-daily accumulation has held through May.

Some analysts have speculated that the address could serve a buyback or treasury role. No party has confirmed the ownership of the mysterious whale wallet. Several Pi commentators have framed it as a form of whale-driven price support absorbing supply during the drawdown.

PiScan data show that tagged exchange wallets now hold about 546 million PI in total, with a net inflow of roughly 1.5 million PI over the past 24 hours, as of this writing. Inflows of exchanges typically signal incoming sell pressure rather than accumulation. The whale’s buying has not been enough to offset the broader supply moving back toward trading venues.

Mainnet usage has expanded as more Pioneers complete Know Your Customer (KYC) verification and second migration steps. Pi Network reports 18.1 million verified users, 16.72 million migrations, and more than 119,000 second migrations completed.

Three upgrades anchor the June calendar. Pi Network set June 2 as the deadline for Protocol 24 node upgrades. Protocol v25.1 follows on June 8, and v26.0 on June 22. The releases target node performance, scalability, and smart contract maturation after the Protocol 23 rollout in May.

Trader’s World Cup $341 meme coin surges over 30,000%

A lucky trader bought $341 of a World Cup-themed Solana meme coin in mid-May, when it had a market capitalization of less than $40,000. Since then, the token has soared more than 30,000%, with the trader notching a 14,000% gain after selling more than $49,000 in holdings.

World Cup Coin ($WORLDCUP) launched on May 11, ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which starts in June and has historically been the most-watched sporting event in the world. Alongside this token, meme coins for each nation competing in the tournament were launched on the Solana token launchpad Pump.fun.

Just hours after launch, per DEX Screener, the aforementioned trader bought $341 worth of the World Cup Coin via five transactions. Over the next 12 hours, the token traded sideways before surging to a $2.18 million market cap, then to $6 million the day after. Through these two pumps, the trader sold $35,700 worth of tokens.

World Cup Coin then traded down 49% to a $3.15 million market cap over the coming week, just before it spiked to an all-time high of $12.2 million on May 21, up more than 30,000% from the trader’s first purchase. Again, the trader sold a chunk of his bag, bringing his total realized gains to $49,400 across 78 transactions, according to block explorer SolScan.

In addition to holding the World Cup Coin, traders have accumulated coins named after specific nations competing in the tournament. It appears that traders are purchasing tokens based on what they deem most likely to perform well in the tournament.

Unsurprisingly, France, Spain, and Portugal have the highest market cap tokens at $315,000, $255,000, and $225,000, respectively, per Pump.fun. The lucky trader also owns a sizable amount of national coins, with $9,400 in Spain as his largest single-nation holding.

Bitcoin wallet moves 20 BTC after 16 years of inactivity

A Satoshi-era Bitcoin wallet that sat untouched since August 2010 moved 20 BTC over the weekend, ending almost 16 years of total dormancy. The transfer, worth roughly $1.47 million at current prices, drew immediate attention from on-chain analysts.

Galaxy Research first flagged the event in block 951828, mined at 05:14 UTC on May 31, 2026. Bitcoin was trading at $73,608 around the time of the transfer, off 0.3% on the day.

The address starting with “1CDSyXAQxro4FPUoqAQb,” last received coins nearly 16 years ago. That places the wallet firmly within Bitcoin’s earliest mining era.

CPU mining was common at the time, and only a small circle of enthusiasts ran the network. Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy, quickly ruled out any connection to Satoshi Nakamoto via a post on X.

Galaxy distinguishes likely Satoshi clusters from other early wallets through on-chain heuristics. The 20 BTC amount here did not match the amounts in those profiles. Similar Satoshi-era miner movements have surfaced repeatedly through 2025 and 2026, often without market consequence.

A similar pattern accompanied the reactivation of a dormant miner wallet, which produced limited price impact. Bitcoin’s slow redistribution from earliest holders has accelerated alongside higher prices. An 80,000 BTC whale movement earlier this year sent coins to exchanges without triggering panic.

Whether this anonymous owner sells, consolidates, or simply rotates to modern address formats remains unclear. The answer surfaces only if the 20 BTC reaches an exchange. The transfer adds to a broader long-term holder redistribution trend defining Bitcoin’s 2026 cycle.

Post-crash BTC eyeing $73K recovery for summer breakout

Bitcoin’s recent overnight pullback to around $65,300 is characterized by analysts as a necessary shakeout designed to build momentum for a significant summer price rally toward new highs. While short-term volatility broke immediate bullish trends, experts suggest the market is preparing for a swift recovery, with key attention on reclaiming the $73,000 level.

On June 1, crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe laid out a clear conditional case for BTC, saying that once the $73,000 area holds and history repeats itself, we could see two strong weeks of upward momentum that could push the OG crypto coin to new highs this summer. He also suggested that there may be a broader altcoin rally alongside the Bitcoin surge.

Its price was stuck within a narrow band for the better part of the past week, with resistance around $74,200 and support around $72,700, according to market watcher Daan Crypto Trades, who posted that these are the levels to watch in the short term.

Another thing noted is that BTC is now entering the longest correction of this entire market cycle. According to pseudonymous analyst Darkfost, the cryptocurrency is set to surpass the 237-day correction that occurred in 2024. It is a sober fact to note that, even if it falls short of the brutal drawdowns seen in past bear markets, it took 849 days to reach a new all-time high in 2023 and 1,180 days to reach a peak in 2015.

There is also a seasonal dimension to things, as described by crypto observer Markus Thielen, who pointed out that in the past decade, June has delivered average returns of just 0.7% for BTC, making it one of the weakest months for the asset.

However, Thielen did raise the possibility that seasonal patterns may shift, given that May, normally a strong month, failed to deliver this year. In the analyst’s opinion, that divergence from historical norms could mean that some of the expected weakness has already been priced in.

Since the ‘June slump’ happened overnight in one aggressive crash, the market has hastened the pain. The overnight bottom is the ultimate accumulation zone, and touching this level historically triggers massive buyer demand. The market is now fully priced in, arguably clearing the schedule for an early summer rally.

Kalshi secures CFTC approval to offer Bitcoin perps

The CFTC has issued an order allowing Kalshi to offer perpetual futures tied to Bitcoin’s prices in the U.S., reflecting the regulator’s growing acceptance of the derivatives. Although the prediction market described the debut in a blog post as the “first-ever perpetual futures in America,” the CFTC flashed a green light for Bitnomial in December, albeit with a 25-year limit, making them not truly ‘perpetual’ in nature despite underlying similarities.

Kalshi described the development as its most significant product expansion since the introduction of event contracts, enabling new ways for customers to speculate on the platform that has emerged as a leader in the sector alongside Polymarket. Also, there are speculations that Kalshi aims to launch in June.

In the blog post, Kalshi claimed that the asset class, which supported over $90 trillion in trading volume last year, has been entirely closed off to American institutions until now. In an announcement, the CFTC said the order requires Kalshi to comply with rules enforced under the Commodity Exchange Act, which the regulator has cited in court as legislation that places event contracts under its remit and exempts them from state rules.

Meanwhile, the CFTC recognized that the perpetual contract design may not be suitable for all asset classes. Since the war involving the U.S., Israel, and Iran broke out in February, perpetual futures tied to oil, which trade around the clock, have come into vogue.

Polymarket mentioned in April that it plans to offer customers perpetual futures, citing companies like Nvidia and commodities such as silver and gold in its marketing materials. The announcement also references trades using 10x leverage.

The Open Network plans a rebrand to Gram

The Open Network says it plans to rebrand its Toncoin (TON) token as Gram (GRAM), the original name of the network’s cryptocurrency in its first white paper. TON founder Pavel Durov posted on Telegram on Monday, affirming a return to their roots and paving the way for the future.

The change revives the original token name from TON’s 2018 whitepaper, which Telegram abandoned after the US Securities and Exchange Commission blocked its $1.7 billion initial coin offering (ICO) in 2020. It also follows Telegram’s takeover from the TON Foundation as the network’s primary driver and largest validator in May.

The Open Network launched a vote on the proposal, explaining that there is no swap, migration, bridge, claim, or conversion, and that every balance, address, contract, and position remains exactly as it is.

At the time of writing, there were 1.8 million TON, or almost 80%, pledged in favor of the rebrand. Durov has positioned the token rebrand as part of the “Make TON Great Again” roadmap.

The rebrand is the fourth stage of the roadmap, with the first three coming earlier this year, which included an upgrade to Catchain in April to boost blockchain speed, a decrease in transaction fees, and the Telegram takeover.

The endgame is to power a smooth Web3 ‘super app’ experience inside Telegram for its one billion users, turning the messenger into a global platform for payments, mini-apps, digital ownership, AI agents, and more.

Zypto becomes the official Electroneum wallet

Zypto App has become the official wallet for Electroneum (ETN), providing the Electroneum community with a multichain home for storing, sending, receiving, and managing ETN.

The integration enables users to access ETN directly within Zypto App while also connecting to a wider ecosystem of digital assets, cross chain infrastructure, payments, and real world crypto utility.

By supporting Electroneum within its existing infrastructure, Zypto continues to evolve into a connected crypto ecosystem that combines asset management, payments, and multichain interoperability within a single mobile app.

Electroneum, known for its focus on accessibility and real world utility in developing economies, aligns with Zypto’s broader strategy of supporting digital currencies designed for everyday transactions, particularly in regions with limited banking infrastructure.

The move allows ETN holders to manage Electroneum alongside thousands of other supported digital assets, opening access to multichain functionality, DeFi services, rewards, and practical crypto use cases without switching between platforms.

The addition further strengthens Zypto’s growing ecosystem of supported blockchains and assets as the company continues to focus on practical applications such as remittances, merchant payments, mobile based financial services, and everyday crypto utility.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Despite Pi’s buying activity, rising exchange inflows and long-term unlocks continue to signal broader sell pressure and expanding supply. The World Cup-themed Solana memecoin’s rally reflects speculative momentum tied to global sports narratives, with parallel demand emerging for country-specific tokens ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The dormant wallet’s transfer appears insignificant relative to market volume and fits a broader trend of early holders gradually redistributing assets without major price disruption.

Bitcoin’s recent overnight correction is viewed as a healthy reduction of leverage, strengthening the foundation for a potential summer rally to new highs, provided the $73,000 level is reclaimed.

Kalshi has received CFTC approval to offer Bitcoin-linked perpetual futures in the U.S., marking a significant step toward regulated access to a derivatives market long dominated by offshore platforms.

The Open Network plans to rebrand its TON token back to Gram, reviving its original identity as part of a broader roadmap tied to Telegram’s deepening involvement in the ecosystem.

Zypto App has become the official wallet for Electroneum, giving ETN holders access to a broader ecosystem of multichain tools, DeFi, payments, rewards, and real world crypto utility within a single mobile app.

What are your thoughts on this week’s developments? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

What is the largest single amount of Pi held in wallets?

A mysterious PI address tracked as “GAS…ODM” crossed 400 million tokens.

How high did the World Cup Coin soar?

The World Cup-themed Solana meme coin surged over 30,000%.

How much did the dormant Bitcoin wallet have?

The Satoshi-era Bitcoin wallet moved 20 BTC, ending almost 16 years of total dormancy.

What does The Open Network want to rebrand to?

The Open Network says it is planning to rebrand its Toncoin (TON) token as Gram (GRAM).

This Week In Crypto – Tether, SpaceX, FIFA, Ripple, and Ethereum

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 28 May 2026 06:21:35 GMT

Dear Frens,

This week,Tether pushes for a KRW stablecoin, SpaceX reveals $1.46B BTC holdings, while FIFA chooses ADI Predictstreet for World Cup 2026. Then, Ripple adds 4,300 new wallets, Ethereum falls 32% year to date, and a researcher proposes a $1 billion plan to strengthen Ethereum’s future. Finally, Zypto promotes crypto powered living with expanded in app capabilities.

Let’s dive in.

Tether pushes for a KRW stablecoin

Tether (USDT) is reportedly making an Asia bet, with new trademark filings found in South Korea. Additionally, the stablecoin giant has also expanded its presence around Bitcoin (BTC), with a stake in Twenty One Capital.

Tether has filed seven trademark applications with South Korea’s KIPRIS database. The spotlight is on two names in particular, KRWT and WONTETHER. Both clearly indicate the Korean won, which is why markets are reading them as a sign. Alongside the won-linked names, Tether also filed trademarks for Tether Gold (XAUT), QVAC, USAT, and its shield logo.

The timing lines up with USDT’s dominance in the market. Over the last month, USDT supply has expanded by more than $5 billion, while rivals like USDC, USDe, and PYUSD collectively shrank by roughly $4.2 billion. Even as overall growth in the stablecoin market slowed, Tether continued to gain market share.

Tether International has also taken full control of Twenty One Capital after acquiring SoftBank Group’s entire stake in the company. In fact, SoftBank’s board members have stepped down, leaving Tether with uncontested control.

Twenty One Capital is one of the world’s largest public holders of Bitcoin, with more than 43,500 BTC on its balance sheet. That’s worth around $4 billion. The deal value has not been disclosed so far.

After the filings and the Twenty-One capital move, markets now have three things to track. First is whether Tether officially confirms a KRW-backed stablecoin or keeps the trademarks as a defensive legal step. The second is the South Korean regulators’ response. A won-linked stablecoin from the world’s largest stablecoin issuer would likely draw attention. The third is Tether’s expansion pathway.

SpaceX reveals $1.46B Bitcoin holdings ahead of IPO launch

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, is preparing for its initial public offering (IPO) on the 12th of June. The company has submitted its S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, aiming to stage the largest IPO in history. The filing also highlighted Musk’s quiet commitment to digital assets.

According to the filing, the company held 18,712 BTC, with a cost basis of $661 million and a fair value between $ 1.29 billion and $ 1.64 billion. However, at the current price of $78,029.03 per BTC, the position is worth approximately $1.46 billion.

On-chain data shows Tesla, Musk’s other publicly traded company, holds 11,509 BTC. By comparison, Strategy remains the largest corporate holder with 843,738 BTC, meaning Musk would need to accumulate far more to reach that level. Still, his efforts are notable.

It was reported that SpaceX transferred $94 million worth of Bitcoin as part of a weekly trend. For nearly two months in late 2025, the aerospace firm consistently moved about $100 million each week.

FIFA chooses ADI Predictstreet for World Cup 2026

FIFA has named ADI Predictstreet as the official prediction market partner for the 2026 World Cup. The tournament, already set to become the largest in football history, will run from June 11 to July 19, 2026, featuring 48 teams, 104 matches, and 16 host cities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

FIFA said that the partnership will center on interactive forecasting markets tied to match outcomes, player performances, tournament statistics, and other key moments throughout the competition. Prediction markets can turn live sports into a constant, interactive experience, letting fans forecast goals, cards, substitutions, player performances, and tournament outcomes as they watch a match.

FIFA’s announcement positions ADI Predictstreet as a new way to turn match attention into forecasts. The platform is expected to use FIFA-linked data and let fans predict tournament events before and during matches. FIFA’s public language centers on fan engagement, collective intelligence, responsible participation, and official data.

Before the April 2 announcement, ADI Predictstreet was largely unknown within the prediction markets industry, especially compared to established platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. Those two were already hosting markets on politics, economics, entertainment, and sports, including the 2026 World Cup.

Unsurprisingly, FIFA’s choice stands out. The official partner is a little-known company attached to a new blockchain ecosystem. ADI Predictstreet is connected to the ADI blockchain, which is an Abu Dhabi-based blockchain project founded by Sirius International Holding, the digital arm of IHC, one of the world’s largest investment companies.

FIFA has spoken in glowing terms about ADI Predictstreet, affirming that safeguards will support transparency, fairness, and responsible participation. Nonetheless, at the scale of the World Cup, the platform would have to absorb traffic surges, settle markets quickly, screen users by age and location, monitor fraud, and flag suspicious activity.

FIFA may see ADI Predictstreet as a controlled way to enter prediction markets before unofficial platforms capture World Cup attention. ADI may see FIFA as the perfect launchpad for a new blockchain-based forecasting product. Fans may see a game, regulators may see event contracts, while crypto users may see a new trading venue.

Ripple adds 4,300 new wallets

From a technical purview, XRP has lagged behind most large caps in this Q2 cycle. While liquidity continues to flow heavily into Bitcoin, XRP is still up less than 2% among major altcoins, meaning holders from the last couple of quarters are still largely underwater.

Against this backdrop, the recent spike in new XRP wallets appears to be a classic rotation. As the data shows, roughly 4,300 new XRP wallets appeared within a 24-hour window, marking the fourth-largest spike of 2026 so far. Such spikes often signal renewed speculative interest in a lagging asset.

Notably, recent derivatives positioning around Ripple (XRP) supports this setup. Per CoinGlass data,

Ripple’s Open Interest (OI) rose by over $20 million over the same 24-hour window, showing that leverage is slowly rotating back into the market.

This move to new wallets could also point to strengthening retail participation. In a recent move, U.S. President Donald Trump made another regulatory call. In a broader context, he reportedly directed the U.S. government to update regulations better to integrate crypto into traditional finance and payment systems.

With the CLARITY Act still stalled on the regulatory front, this renewed push was enough to trigger a market frenzy, with attention largely centered around XRP. Notably, the underlying metrics support this narrative.

Today, XRPL hosts a growing range of tokenized financial assets on-chain, from U.S. Treasuries and money market funds to commercial paper, structured credit, and more. With tokenization central to crypto regulation, the XRP market frenzy becomes easier to understand.

Supporting this narrative, Ripple’s recent partnerships further reinforce XRP’s growing integration with TradFi markets. Against that backdrop, rising retail participation in the network doesn’t look like classic short-term FOMO tied to momentum; instead, it reflects early-stage positioning and broader adoption trends. In this context, FOMO may be ‘evolving’ into a key bullish catalyst for XRP this cycle.

Ethereum down 32% year-to-date

Leading altcoin Ethereum has shed 31% of its value since the start of 2026, dropping from a January 1 close of $3,001 to $2,069.98 as of this writing. This drawdown leaves ETH among the worst-performing major assets of the year, even as a handful of altcoins have attracted fresh capital and posted stronger relative performance.

As the anchor for broader altcoin rotations, ETH’s weakness has pushed the prospect of an altcoin season further out. According to Blockchain Center, an altcoin season begins when at least 75% of the top 50 altcoins outperform BTC over three months.

New data from the on-chain analytics platform shows that only 29% of these tokens have outperformed BTC over the past 90 days, significantly below the required threshold. This means capital is still concentrating in BTC rather than rotating out into the broader altcoin market.

The sustained exit of institutional capital from ETH-backed products has compounded ETH’s price weakness. According to CoinShares’ latest weekly fund flows report, ETH investment products saw $249.3 million in exits last week, representing their largest single-week outflow since January 30.

Per the report, the redemptions were part of a broader $1.07 billion outflow from digital asset investment products for the week ending May 16. This marked the third-largest weekly withdrawal of 2026 and the first negative print after six consecutive weeks of inflows.

Furthermore, inflows into spot ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have stalled since the beginning of May. SoSoValue data shows two consecutive weeks of net outflows, totaling $404 million.

As of this writing, total net assets across spot ETH ETFs sit at $11.84 billion, down 25.3% from its year-to-date peak of $15.86 billion last seen in January. In addition to a drop in institutional interest in ETH, short-term holders have also significantly distributed their coins over the past few weeks.

Per Glassnode, these are investors who have held their coins for 1 to 3 months and are usually the most responsive to price moves. They have offloaded 14% of their holdings since April 26, and currently hold 5.54% of ETH’s circulating supply.

This dip in short-term holdings is significant because this cohort’s behavior tends to drive long-term price action. When they aggressively distribute, the added selling pressure typically weighs on prices, opening the door to further downside in ETH.

Researcher proposes $1 billion plan to save Ethereum

Dankrad Feist, a former Ethereum Foundation researcher, has called on the community to build a new ETH-aligned organization with at least $1 billion in funding, arguing it is the only credible path to putting Ethereum back on a winning trajectory.

His proposal, posted on X, arrives as at least eight senior EF members departed in 2026, with five leaving in May alone. He put his case directly.

“The community needs to create an organization that’s economically aligned with Ethereum and accountable to it.”

Feist sketched out some requirements for the new body. It needs at least $1 billion in credible funding and a competent leader willing to fight for the protocol’s interests. A board explicitly accountable to Ether (ETH) holders and a permanent staking revenue stream would complete the structure.

The Ethereum Foundation currently holds less than 0.1% of all ETH and collects no share of staking or transaction fee revenues. Its treasury holds roughly 92,548 ETH, a figure that has fallen as the Foundation sold holdings to cover operating costs. The EF launched a staking initiative in February, targeting 70,000 ETH, aiming to generate native yield without reducing its treasury balance.

Zypto promotes crypto-powered living with expanded in-app capabilities

Zypto is advancing its ‘live on crypto’ vision by showcasing the real-world utility of its app, enabling users to spend, manage, and interact with digital assets as part of everyday financial activity.

The platform integrates a broad set of features that go beyond passive crypto holding, allowing users to pay bills, transfer funds, and transact globally with cryptocurrencies without relying on traditional banking infrastructure.

Through its growing ecosystem, Zypto combines wallet functionality, payments, swaps, and financial services into a single interface, aiming to simplify how users interact with digital assets across multiple use cases.

The company positions its app as a bridge between decentralized finance and real-world spending, offering tools that allow users to convert and use crypto for routine expenses.

Zypto’s infrastructure supports multiple blockchain networks and a wide range of digital assets, enabling cross-chain functionality while maintaining user control over funds through self-custody.

The platform also emphasizes accessibility, with features designed to reduce friction in onboarding and daily use, including simplified transaction flows and integrated services that eliminate the need for multiple third-party applications.

Zypto’s mission reflects a broader shift in the crypto industry, where platforms are increasingly focused on utility and user experience as adoption moves beyond trading into everyday financial behavior.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Tether’s trajectory in Asia has been impressive, and if it keeps up with more treasury deals or regional stablecoin initiatives, the Korea filings may just be the start of something much bigger.

Based on the filing, SpaceX expects a valuation of at least $1.5 trillion, potentially reaching $2 trillion. If the IPO succeeds, the company would immediately rank among the ten most valuable publicly traded corporations worldwide.

Billions will watch the 2026 World Cup. If ADI Predictstreet works smoothly, FIFA can claim it brought prediction markets into global football under an official framework. If the product stumbles, the fallout will reach far beyond crypto.

Zypto affirmed that its goal is to enable a future in which users can rely on crypto not just as an investment but as a primary financial tool for payments, transfers, and global transactions.

What is your favorite development this week? Tell us in the comments section.

FAQs

Which stablecoin offering is Tether reportedly after in Asia?

Tether is reportedly pushing for a KRW-backed stablecoin after filing trademarks applications with South Korea’s KIPRIS database.

How much BTC does SpaceX have in its holdings?

According to a filing, SpaceX has 18,712 BTC, worth approximately $1.46 billion.

Which prediction market did FIFA partner with ahead of the 2026 World Cup?

FIFA named ADI Predictstreet as the official prediction market partner for the 2026 World Cup.

How many new wallets did Ripple add?

Ripple added roughly 4,300 new XRP wallets, making it the fourth largest spike of 2026 so far.

This Week In Crypto – Solana, Drake, Ethereum, and Bitcoin

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 21 May 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Gm, frens, welcome to our third news round-up for this month, and things are speeding right up.

Will memecoins pump again in 2026? Drake references BTC in his new “Iceman” album, as an Ethereum whale moves $157M worth of ETH after 9 years. Japan’s largest brokerages begin investing in crypto, Bitcoin stalls above $80K despite the CLARITY Act’s passage, and Revolut plans UK private banking for crypto investors. Finally, Zypto App marks 24 months of relentless expansion.

Let’s get to it.

Will memecoins pump again in 2026?

After a brutal collapse in 2025 that erased billions in value and crushed retail traders, memecoins, the crypto market’s most chaotic corner, is roaring back to life in 2026. Trading volumes are rising, market caps are recovering, and Solana-based memecoins are once again flooding timelines.

In the opening months of 2026, the sector added more than $8 billion back in market value, with some estimates placing the total memcoin market near $69 billion by the end of Q1. Several of the market’s biggest names posted strong gains.

Many of the tokens still attracting volume now have stronger ecosystems, deeper liquidity, and larger online communities. Some also generate meaningful transaction fee revenue through trading activity and token burns. At the same time, the market has become far more selective. Millions of tokens launched during the previous cycle disappeared almost immediately, leaving only a small group of projects with lasting traction.

Solana has become the main hub for meme token launches thanks to its low fees, fast transaction speeds, and simple launch tools like Pump.fun. By early 2026, Solana’s memecoin ecosystem had grown to roughly $6.7 billion in market value, while peak trading volumes crossed $2.5 billion.

Pump.fun has played a major role in that growth. Since launching, the platform has helped create more than 13 million tokens and generated hundreds of millions in revenue. The ease of launching tokens turned Solana into crypto’s memecoin factory almost overnight. Little wonder Solana-based tokens like BONK, WIF, POPCAT, and FARTCOIN became some of the biggest names of the latest rally.

The surge in memecoin trading also boosted activity across Solana’s broader ecosystem, driving DEX volumes to climb sharply in recent months. But the same speed that powers Solana’s memecoin economy also creates major risks. Tokens can launch in seconds, attract huge speculation within hours, and collapse just as quickly. That dynamic continues to make the sector feel more like a high-speed casino than a traditional market.

Drake references BTC in his new “Iceman” album

Global superstar Drake namedrops Bitcoin on his new album “Iceman,” released on May 15, 2026. On the track “Dust,” he identifies himself as a “BTC crypto big-timer.” The line lends fresh celebrity visibility to the leading digital asset.

The same album also references the imprisoned former FTX chief, Sam Bankman-Fried, and the exchange’s penthouse era. The verses tie Drake’s lyrics directly to one of the most prominent collapses in crypto history. The new lyric arrives as BTC consolidates well below its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000. Cultural references like Drake’s tend to coincide with periods of renewed retail attention.

For Drake, the bar continues a long pattern of using Bitcoin as a personal flex. He has previously placed multi-million dollar bets on sporting events denominated in BTC on Stake, infamously losing a six-figure sum on a Mavericks wager during a recent NBA Finals run.

Drake is not the first major artist to invoke Bitcoin. References to BTC have appeared across hip-hop, pop, and electronic music for nearly a decade. Each cycle pulls celebrity attention back to the asset.

Whether the “Iceman” name-check moves price action is doubtful. It does confirm that crypto’s biggest characters, from BTC bulls to disgraced founders, now sit comfortably inside mainstream pop lyrics.

Ethereum whale moves $157M worth of ETH after 9 years

Ethereum whale activity increased sharply during the recent market retracement, with dormant holders returning to the network. According to Arkham, a whale that acquired 69,400 ETH during the 2015 ICO became active again after nine years. The wallet moved 69,878 ETH, worth nearly $157 million, across three newly created addresses.

The transfer may point to two possible scenarios. First, the whale may have relocated assets for security reasons following recent exploits involving dormant wallets. Second, the movement could signal preparations for future selling activity through smaller wallet distributions.

Despite the attention around the transfer, the movement itself appeared neutral for Ethereum’s market structure. The tokens had not entered exchanges at press time, meaning circulating sell-side pressure had not increased yet. At the same time, broader exchange activity still pointed toward accumulation.

Exchange Netflow turned negative, dropping to -11.9k, reflecting rising outflows from trading platforms. Negative Exchange Netflow usually indicates that buyers moved assets off exchanges and into private wallets. That shift suggested that some market participants were still accumulating ETH despite recent weakness.

Japan’s biggest brokerages to begin crypto investment

Japan’s largest online brokerages are moving into digital assets. SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities are building in-house Bitcoin and Ethereum investment trusts for retail customers.

According to Nikkei, these trusts remove that friction. Investors could gain exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum through brokerage accounts they already use for stocks, bonds, and funds. The product would feel closer to buying a mutual fund than trading on an exchange.

SBI Securities plans to sell products developed by group company SBI Global Asset Management. Rakuten Securities is following a similar path through Rakuten Investment Management.

Both groups already run licensed exchanges, so the infrastructure and regulatory relationships are largely in place. The momentum reflects clearer rules ahead. In a Nikkei survey of 18 firms, 11 others, including Nomura, Daiwa and Mizuho Securities, said they would consider entering once the regulatory framework is finished.

Japan’s Financial Services Agency is driving this change. It is reportedly weighing rules that would let investment trusts and exchange-traded funds hold crypto under the Investment Trust Act.

Japan now wants to bring crypto closer to its mainstream wealth management industry.

For retail investors, that means familiar protections handled through regulated financial groups they already trust. Also, millions of people who already hold SBI or Rakuten accounts could gain exposure to Bitcoin or Ethereum without needing to sign up.

The trade-off is real, too. Holding units in a trust means investors do not own the Bitcoin directly.

Bitcoin stalls above $80K despite CLARITY Act pass

Bitcoin’s Thursday rally last week to $82,000, buoyed by the Senate Banking Committee’s advancement of the CLARITY Act, has stalled amid stiff overhead resistance and weakening demand. Still, analysts said that BTC’s upward momentum may increase if key conditions are met.

Data from TradingView showed BTC tested overhead resistance at $82,000, which has rejected the price since last week. Note that this is where the 200-day simple moving average (EMA) and the 200-day exponential moving average (SMA) converge, reinforcing the importance of this level.

“If Bitcoin is going to go higher, it should really break above the 200 EMA now at $82,000 and hold it. Reject again here, and I think we will get a deeper retrace, $74k-$77k levels,” analyst Sykodelic said in a post on X.

Analysts at Galaxy Trading said that the price has been trading below these moving averages since October 2025, and breaking them will be “another bullish confirmation” for Bitcoin.

The last time BTC price broke convincingly above the moving averages with strong volume was in April 2025, triggering a 48.5% rally to its current all-time high of $126,000.

Bitcoin’s cost-basis distribution heatmap reveals another major level of resistance, sitting further up, between $84,000 and $85,400, where investors acquired roughly 1.05 million BTC.

Analyst Sherlock said this is “one of the biggest supply clusters” that the BTC market must absorb to continue higher.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s liquidation heatmap shows heavy ask orders at $82,000-$83,000, highlighting the bears’ main line of defense.

One factor that could trigger a BTC breakout is a resurgence in institutional demand, which has faltered amid inconsistent inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Data from Farside Investors shows that spot Bitcoin ETFs snapped a five-day inflow streak totalling nearly $1.7 billion, with $269 million in outflows on May 7 as Bitcoin dipped below $80,000.

Strong and consistent inflows must return for Bitcoin to continue its recovery, Glassnode affirmed in its newsletter. Michael Saylor’s Strategy, the largest corporate bitcoin treasury holder, is one of the few companies consistently buying, adding 535 BTC for $43 million some weeks ago. This brought Strategy’s total Bitcoin holdings to 818,869 BTC.

Revolut plans UK private banking for crypto investors

Revolut reportedly plans to launch a UK private banking unit this summer with a £500,000 ($630,000) deposit threshold, a move that could deepen its appeal to crypto-focused wealth clients after fresh approvals from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The proposed arm would target mass-affluent customers sitting between retail banking and traditional private banks. It may pair leveraged products, discretionary portfolio management and private wealth advisory services with Revolut’s existing crypto stack used by more than 10 million customers.

Those FCA approvals reshape what the company can build for higher-tier UK clients. The structure should support portfolios that blend crypto with traditional assets, staking exposure, and managed solutions within a regulated, FSCS-protected environment.

The reported £500,000 threshold would target a segment that traditional private banks have walked away from. Coutts recently moved its minimum to £3 million ($3.9 million), while UBS sets its bar at £1 million ($1.3 million) in investable assets, leaving a wide gap.

Many of those clients hold meaningful crypto positions and want institutional-grade tools without leaving the Revolut ecosystem. The company is positioning the launch ahead of a potential Nasdaq listing in 2028. Reports point to a $150 billion to $200 billion valuation target.

Zypto App marks 24 months of relentless expansion

Zypto App has spent the last 24 months expanding far beyond the boundaries of a typical crypto wallet app, building a connected ecosystem designed to bring trading, payments, spending, and utility into a single user experience.

Over that period, the app’s multichain reach has expanded to more than 20 blockchains and over 24,000 supported digital assets, reflecting a strategy focused on both breadth and usability. Zypto has built cross-chain functionality into the app, with more than 1,000,000 swap routes designed to help users move between ecosystems without relying on fragmented external tools.

The expansion has not been limited to wallet infrastructure. Zypto has continued to add layers of real-world crypto utility, including swaps, DEX access, fiat onramps and offramps, crypto cards, stablecoin support, bill pay, mobile top-ups, gift card marketplace, rewards, and cold storage integration through the Vault Key Card. By combining these tools in one environment, the company is positioning the app as a broader crypto utility ecosystem rather than a single-purpose product.

A major part of that strategy has been the growth of Zypto’s card offering. The company’s crypto card stack includes physical and virtual cards, with premium cards offering spending limits of up to $1 million per month and broad acceptance anywhere Visa is accepted.

Zypto has also expanded its payment utility through crypto bill pay and mobile services. Its bill pay infrastructure now supports payments in more than 120 countries. In comparison, mobile top-up services reach more than 180 countries and over 800 network providers, pushing crypto use further into daily financial activity.

Alongside product growth, Zypto has continued to deepen its presence across the broader digital asset industry through partnerships and integrations. The company highlights ecosystem relationships with MoneyGram, Stellar, KuCoin Pay, Algorand, Dash, and Electroneum, and also connects infrastructure across platforms such as Uniswap, PancakeSwap, ShibaSwap, Aftermath, and Chainlink CCIP.

That combination of wallet infrastructure, cross-chain functionality, payment rails, and real-world spending tools is what increasingly sets Zypto apart in a market where many crypto apps still specialize in a single category.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Memecoin’s rebound comes with a familiar question hanging over the market. Is this the start of a more mature memecoin cycle, or just another speculative frenzy waiting to collapse?

Parts of the crypto community read Drake’s verse as a bullish signal for Bitcoin’s cultural acceptance. The reference joins earlier nods from artists, athletes, and brands that have made the asset shorthand for status.

Despite the Ethereum whale’s large transfer, on-chain data shows no immediate sell pressure, with continued exchange outflows suggesting ongoing accumulation. The Japanese top brokerage crypto investment move reflects regulatory progress and could accelerate mainstream adoption.

For Bitcoin, a sustained breakout will likely depend on renewed institutional demand, particularly consistent inflows into spot ETFs, which have recently turned negative.

How regulators treat leveraged crypto exposure inside a regulated private bank will shape Revolut’s reach. The next twelve months and beyond could reveal how far it can spread across Europe and across the world.

By bringing wallets, swaps, spending, payments, and protection into one connected application, Zypto has spent the last two years building an ecosystem designed to make crypto more usable, more integrated, and more practical in everyday life.

There’s so much to unpack this week, so what’s your favorite?

And… if you’re searching for something, it’s

FAQs

How is Solana leading memecoins’ resurgence?

Solana has become the main hub for meme token launches thanks to its low fees, fast transaction speeds, and simple launch tools like Pump.fun.

Where did Drake reference Bitcoin?

Drake namedropped Bitcoin on his new album “Iceman.”

How much ETH was transferred by the whale?

The Ethereum whale moved 69,878 ETH, worth nearly $157 million, across three newly created addresses.

Which Japanese brokerages are entering crypto investing?

They include SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities.

This Week In Crypto – Polygon, Tether, Polymarket, and Solana

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 14 May 2026 09:20:27 GMT

Gm frens, it’s a new day and a new cryptosphere round-up.

Polygon reduces block time to 1.75 seconds, Tether’s AI model excels in medical evaluation, and Polymarket’s ‘Alien Disclosure’ bets hit $33 million. An outage hit Coinbase due to AWS issues, while AI agents can now pay for APIs on Solana, as HANTA Solana memecoin exploded 100x. Finally, Zypto expands smooth cross-chain swaps within its multichain wallet.

Are you ready?

Polygon reduces block time to 1.75 seconds

Blockchain layer-2 (L2) network Polygon reduced its average block time by 250 milliseconds to 1.75 seconds, marking its first block-time reduction since genesis as the network pushes deeper into stablecoin payments and settlement infrastructure.

Polygonscan shows that the latest blocks on the network were created in 1.75 seconds. The upgrade means that Polygon can process around 14% more payments per second, reaching a maximum theoretical throughput of about 3,260 transactions per second (TPS), according to Polygon software engineer Lucca Martins.

Shorter block times can help transaction backlogs clear faster, reducing the duration of network congestion and subsequent transaction fee spikes, which is particularly important for high-frequency use cases such as payments, stablecoins, or DeFi trading.

The upgrade comes as Polygon seeks to position itself for use cases that target greater institutional adoption, such as private stablecoin payments. Polygon introduced a new wallet feature that enables users to privately route stablecoin transactions through a shielded pool verified by zero-knowledge proofs.

The upgrade is part of the Polygon Improvement Proposal PIP-86. This two-step motion seeks to reduce block time to 1.5 seconds further and scale down checkpoint rewards to maintain Polygon (POL) token emissions at the target 1% after the block time reduction.

Polygon’s new wallet feature is part of an aim to onboard more institutional users as it hides senders. Receivers and amounts on-chain while maintaining compliance through Know Your Transaction (KYT) screening and auditable files. The feature introduces more privacy for businesses transacting with stablecoins, according to Polygon community lead Smokey.

Tether’s AI model excels in medical evaluation

Tether just released a medical AI model that fits in your pocket and may outperform rivals more than a dozen times its size. QVAC MedPsy launched today from Tether’s AI Research Group as a new class of medical language models designed to run on smartphones, wearables, and edge devices.

On HealthBench Hard, OpenAI’s benchmark that evaluates AI on realistic, multi-turn clinical conversations graded by 262 physicians, QVAC MedPsy’s tiny 1.7 billion-parameter model outscores Google’s MedGemma-27B on medical benchmarks despite being smaller.

Also, the 4 billion model averages about 909 tokens per response, compared with 2,953 for comparable systems, a 3.2x reduction. Fewer tokens mean lower compute cost, faster responses, and the ability to run locally without a cloud backend.

The models ship as quantized GGUF files: 1.2GB for the 1.7 billion-parameter model and 2.6GB for the 4 billion-parameter model, with compressed versions retaining most benchmark performance while fitting on standard consumer hardware. That means a hospital system, rural clinic, or individual clinician could run the model entirely on-device, keeping patient records out of third-party cloud infrastructure and away from HIPAA exposure.

The privacy pitch may be a major plus for some people, but using AI for medical opinions is far from ideal even by today’s standards. An Oxford study published in February found that LLMs routinely give dangerous medical advice, including incorrect answers, confused guidance, and poor handling of nuanced symptoms. The compliance problem compounds it as most medical AI today routes patient data through cloud servers, creating HIPAA exposure every time a doctor types a query.

The release fits Tether’s pattern over the past year. Last month, it shipped the QVAC SDK, an open-source toolkit for building local, offline AI apps across iOS, Android, Windows, and Linux. Before that, it launched QVAC Health, a consumer wellness app that keeps biometric data entirely on-device. MedPsy is the first QVAC model specifically trained for clinical reasoning. The medical AI market is roughly $36 billion today, with projections exceeding $500 billion by 2033.

Polymarket bets hit $33 million

Crypto-native prediction markets reacted within minutes after the Pentagon released its first declassified UAP files last week, more famously labeled as the ‘Alien Files.’ Polymarket’s flagship alien disclosure market has now reached a cumulative volume of over $33 million.

The Department of War launched the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE) on Friday. Officials posted Release 01 to a public WAR.GOV/UFO portal, with rolling tranches promised every few weeks.

Traders on Polymarket have wagered roughly $33 million on whether a senior U.S. official will confirm extraterrestrial life by year-end. The crypto-native prediction platform sat at 19% on May 8 after Release 01 dropped.

A separate market on whether Trump declassifies new UFO files this year, priced at 83% on December 31. Bettors appear positioned for more rolling tranches rather than a single dramatic event. A separate $16 million market asking whether the administration would declassify UFO files in 2025 resolved “Yes” earlier this year.

No formal presidential declassification took place at the time. Late-session bids near 00 cents and a contested UMA oracle vote pushed the outcome through. Comment threads on the platform labelled the call a scam. Critics dubbed the dispute mechanism ‘proof-of-whales,’ reigniting questions about token-weighted oracles overriding trader consensus.

The Department of War welcomes private-sector analysis of the unresolved cases. Each new tranche could move disclosure odds and revive the dispute around how oracles call ambiguous outcomes. If headline catalysts keep arriving, the prediction-market lens may become the cleanest gauge of how seriously market participants take price-disclosure narratives.

Coinbase hit by outage due to AWS issues

Coinbase users faced hours of service transformions last week after failures tied to Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure disrupted core trading systems. In a post on X, Coinbase said the outage began around 8 pm ET on Thursday, after its system detected elevated error rates across multiple services.

The outage follows another AWS-related transformion in October that temporarily knocked Coinbase and Robinhood offline and prevented some users from accessing their accounts or executing trades.

Coinbase said its systems are designed to recover from a single availability zone outage. In this case, however, the company said failures affected multiple AWS zones, causing what it described as an ‘extended outage’ of core trading services. At the same time, AWS worked to restore temperature controls and other managed services.

Amazon disputed Coinbase’s description of the outage, affirming that only a single availability zone was ultimately impacted. Users reported problems accessing the Coinbase app, transferring funds, and executing trades.

Downdetector reports spiked around 6 pm ET and remained elevated overnight before declining on Friday. After 33% of reports involved fund transfers, another 33% involved trading issues, and roughly 29% involved the Coinbase mobile app.

Coinbase said the primary issue has been resolved, and directed users with account-related questions to Coinbase Support. The outage comes as Coinbase deepens its cloud-based AI and stablecoin infrastructure through partnerships with multiple companies, while also restructuring around what CEO Brian Armstrong has described as an AI-first operating model.

AI agents can now pay for APIs on Solana

AI agents can now autonomously pay for Google Cloud services and dozens of other APIs using stablecoins on Solana, following the launch of Pay.sh by the Solana Foundation and Google Cloud.

The gateway service runs an API proxy on Google Cloud Platform, connecting agents to backend services through the x402 protocol, an OpenAI payments standard incubated by Coinbase and now under the stewardship of the Linux Foundation. The system also supports the Machine Payments Protocol (MPP).

Agents pay fractions of a cent per API call instead of monthly subscriptions, and work with services like Google Cloud and Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude Code, OpenAI’s Codex, OpenClaw, Hermes, and more. The platform connects to blockchain infrastructure providers Helius and Alchemy, as well as data services from Dune Analytics and Nansen.

Pay.sh arrives as major tech and crypto companies race to build payment infrastructure for autonomous AI systems. These platforms target enterprise developers seeking programmable money for new business models that traditional payment rails can’t support.

Google has been expanding its crypto payment infrastructure work, revealing an AI agent payments protocol backed by the Ethereum Foundation earlier this year.

HANTA Solana memecoin explodes 100x

Hantavirus (HANTA), a Solana-based memecoin, surged more than 10,000% and briefly reached a market capitalization above $17 million, while generating nearly $30 million in daily trading volume.

Unlike most memecoins, the Hantavirus memcoin wasn’t built solely around internet jokes. It was based on a real-world disease outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship after it departed from Argentina.

Early buyers who minted the token on Pump.fun reportedly secured life-changing gains within hours. Shortly afterward, Moonshot verified the token, thereby increasing its visibility and triggering aggressive retail buying.

The HANTA token (2tXpgu…7hzs9y) was launched in early May. Solscan data showed the token’s holder base jumping from 2,640 to 17,589 within a single day. The rally extended across more than half a dozen similar issuances.

A separate HANTA token rose 251% to a market cap of $193,190. A Hanta-Kun variant climbed 261.87%, while two Hantavirus listings on Meteora DAMM V2 added 399% and 246%.

At that point, the rally turned vertical as the memecoin surged from a $170,000 market cap to over $17 million. Several prominent crypto traders began pushing a highly speculative theory online that another global health scare (like COVID-19) could spark a memecoin supercycle similar to the pandemic-era retail trading boom.

There were reported net inflows of $50,000 from Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) and crypto influencers within hours on May 7. That inflow helped trigger a secondary rally phase, pushing HANTA much higher after its initial breakout. Combined with the original launch move, the token eventually surged more than 100x from inception.

Yet, it is important to exercise caution with speculative tokens. History shows hype-linked meme coins are likely to collapse sharply once attention shifts, leaving late buyers exposed to steep drawdowns.

Zypto expands smooth cross-chain swaps within its multichain wallet

Zypto has expanded its multichain wallet functionality with further native cross-chain swap capabilities, allowing users to trade more assets across different blockchain networks directly within its crypto app.

The technology enables users to swap tokens between multiple chains without relying on external bridges, centralized exchanges, or third-party interfaces, reducing complexity and execution risk typically associated with cross-chain transactions.

By increasing cross-chain swap capabilities in its wallet infrastructure, Zypto is advancing its position as a unified crypto platform that combines asset storage, payments, access to decentralized finance, and interoperability into a single application.

The system aggregates liquidity from multiple decentralized exchanges and routing protocols to identify optimal swap paths across chains, helping users achieve competitive rates while maintaining full custody of their assets throughout the process.

Zypto said the cross-chain functionality currently supports over 20 blockchain networks and over 1 million crosschain routes, enabling users to move value smoothly between ecosystems without needing to bridge or manually wrap tokens.

The extensive infrastructure reflects a broader industry trend toward simplifying multichain interactions, as crypto platforms compete to eliminate friction caused by fragmented blockchain environments and complex user workflows.

Within the app, users can review transaction details, including routes, fees, expected output, and execution time, before confirming swaps, improving transparency and user control over cross-chain operations.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Polygon reducing its average block time from 2 seconds to 1.75 seconds boosts theoretical throughput to roughly 3,260 TPS and helps clear transaction backlogs for payments, stablecoins, and DeFi activity faster.

MedPsy aligns with Tether’s broader push into privacy-preserving local AI. However, medical LLMs still pose safety and compliance risks, given evidence that they can provide dangerous or incorrect clinical advice.

Polymarket’s flagship alien-disclosure market surpassed $33 million in cumulative volume as traders bet on whether a senior U.S. official will confirm extraterrestrial life by year-end.

While Coinbase framed the incident as a multi-zone AWS failure and AWS said only a single availability zone was affected, the episode emphasized the exchange’s dependence on cloud infrastructure.

The Solana Foundation and Google Cloud have launched Pay.sh, an API gateway that lets AI agents autonomously pay for Google Cloud and other API services in stablecoins on Solana.

HANTA surged from about a $170,000 valuation to over $17 million in market cap, delivering 100x-plus gains to early Pump.fun minters. Zypto has expanded its multichain wallet with native cross-chain swap functionality, letting users move and swap assets on over 1 million routes.

There’s so much to unpack this week, so what do you think about the developments?

FAQs

What did Polygon reduce?

Polygon reduced its average block time by 250 milliseconds, bringing it to 1.75 seconds.

How did Tether’s AI model excel?

Tether’s QVAC MedPsy’s tiny 1.7-billion-parameter model outscored Google’s MedGemma-27B on medical benchmarks despite its smaller size.

What is the latest on Polymarket?

Traders on Polymarket have wagered roughly $33 million on whether a senior U.S. official will confirm extraterrestrial life by year-end.

What is the latest on Solana?

AI agents can now autonomously pay for Google Cloud services and dozens of other APIs using stablecoins on Solana.

What is Zypto App’s latest feature?

Zypto has expanded its multichain wallet functionality with added native cross-chain swap capabilities.

This Week In Crypto – Bitcoin, Tether, Meta, Solana, and Polygon

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 07 May 2026 08:18:33 GMT

Gm frens, welcome to our first news report of May!

Crypto card spending jumps 500%, Bitcoin drives 2M customers to a U.S. steak restaurant, and Tether Investments proposes a merger to form a Bitcoin platform. Meta launches USDC creator payouts on Solana and Polygon, X rolls out a new crypto trading terminal, Bitcoin struggles near $80K, and Zypto spotlights its premium crypto cards.

Let’s dive in.

Crypto card spending jumps 500% since September 2024

Crypto card usage has surged more than 500% since September 2024, with monthly volumes reaching roughly $600 million as of April 2026. What was once a niche tool for early adopters is quickly becoming a practical payments option, driven by one key shift: the rise of stablecoins.

The growth in crypto card spending closely tracks the rise of stablecoins. People are loading stablecoins onto debit-style cards and swiping them at coffee shops, gas stations, and online checkouts just like any regular card.

In early 2023, monthly crypto card volumes hovered around $100 million. By late 2025, some reports showed volumes exceeded $1.5 billion, while volumes had stabilized around $600 million per month, with occasional spikes above that level. This pattern suggests not just experimentation, but sustained usage.

Rather than relying on traditional banking rails, companies have partnered directly with crypto-native issuers, enabling faster, more cost-efficient card launches that settle in stablecoins. Users aren’t just testing the waters anymore; they’re spending real money, billions annually, because the experience finally feels smooth.

At the center of this hype are stablecoins, especially USDC and USDT, whose stability makes them perfect for spending. Users hold them in their Zypto wallet and link it to their physical and virtual Zypto VISA card. When the user taps to pay, the system converts instantly on the backend, often using stablecoin rails, while the merchant sees a normal fiat transaction.

Stablecoins have turned crypto balances into usable money, and the numbers back it up. Stablecoin market cap increased past $300 billion in early 2026, while transaction volumes hit $33 trillion in 2025. Today, USDT and USDC account for roughly 90% of crypto card funding, and the reasons are straightforward.

Stablecoins remove volatility risk, allowing users to spend without worrying about price swings. They also enable faster and cheaper settlement, particularly when integrated with existing payment networks. Moreover, in regions with limited access to banking, they provide a way to spend dollar-denominated assets globally.

Bitcoin drives 2M customers to a U.S. steak restaurant

Steak ‘n Shake’s Bitcoin strategy is delivering measurable results, and the latest figures are hard to ignore. The company has added roughly 2 million new customers since launching BTC payments in May 2025 and has achieved the highest same-store sales growth in the restaurant industry.

Steak ‘n Shake began accepting Bitcoin on May 16, 2025, rolling it out across hundreds of US locations, with additional international sites where regulations allow. Within months, same-store sales climbed more than 10%, reaching 11% in Q2 and 15% in Q3, according to company figures. The momentum was amplified by social media buzz and widespread media coverage, drawing in curious first-time customers and converting many into repeat visitors.

Steak ‘n Shake’s growth has been tied to Bitcoin adoption as well as improvements in food quality and employee compensation. It was also revealed that using Bitcoin has cut payment processing costs by around 50%. Additionally, it was announced that BTC payments for the company’s burgers go into its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, which funds Bitcoin bonuses for its employees.

The cost savings and additional revenue generated by Bitcoin have enabled the company to reinvest heavily in its menu. Over the past year, the chain has upgraded its ingredients and processes, including shifting to beef tallow fries, using higher-quality dairy, and removing microwaves across locations.

Tether Investments proposes a merger to form a Bitcoin platform

Tether Investments, the investment arm of stablecoin giant Tether, announced proposals for a triple merger combining Twenty-One Capital, Strike, and Elektron Energy into what it described as “the premier listed Bitcoin company in the world.”

The proposed combination would unite three distinct Bitcoin operations under a single public entity. Twenty-One Capital, which ranks second among public companies for Bitcoin holdings, with over $3.3 billion in BTC, would contribute its substantial treasury operations to the merged platform.

Strike, the Bitcoin financial services company founded by Jack Mallers (Twenty-One Capital’s CEO), operates in more than 100 countries and enables users to buy, sell, hold, and borrow against Bitcoin. Millers affirmed that Strike has secured a $2.1 billion credit facility to meet lending demand.

Elektron Energy would bring significant mining infrastructure to the merger. Led by Raphael Zagury, the company has mined more than 5,500 Bitcoin across its managed portfolio and maintains all-in production costs below $60,000 per Bitcoin.

Tether Investments wrote, “The proposed leadership structure is intended to combine Mallers’ product, brand, and consumer Bitcoin leadership with Zagury’s capital markets, operating, and execution experience.”

Market participants responded positively to the merger announcement, with Twenty-One shares jumping after market trading, though those gains have since been largely reduced.

The merger builds on Twenty-One Capital’s recent transition to public markets. The company went public through a SPAC merger with Cantor Equity Partners in December. Tether was one of the prominent backers of the original business combination, setting the stage for further proposed mergers.

Meta launches USDC creator payouts on Solana and Polygon

Meta has begun allowing content creators to receive earnings in USDC stablecoin directly to their crypto wallets on Solana and Polygon.

A Meta spokesperson emphasized that the firm is not issuing a Meta stablecoin. Instead, the company is tapping Circle’s USDC, the second-largest stablecoin with a market cap of over $77 billion. They said, “We strive to offer the most relevant payment methods, which is why we are exploring how stablecoins could become part of our suite of options.”

The geographic selection reflects Meta’s strategy of testing financial features in emerging markets where crypto adoption often outpaces traditional banking infrastructure. The stablecoin payments feature is currently available to a limited group of creators in Colombia and the Philippines.

Meta’s adoption of a stablecoin represents a strategic reversal from its earlier crypto ambitions. The company shut down its Libra project, later renamed Diem, in 2022 after facing intense regulatory scrutiny.

Stablecoin interest among U.S. companies has grown substantially since last year’s signing of the GENIUS Act, which regulates the dollar-pegged crypto tokens.

Chainalysis projects that stablecoin trading volume could reach $1.5 quadrillion by 2035, reflecting growing confidence in digital-dollar payment rails among traditional finance players.

X launches new crypto trading terminal

X head of product Nikita Bier said the company was rolling out a web version of Cashtags, a feature that converts $tickers for stocks and crypto into clickable, real-time charts and asset-specific post feeds.

Bier framed the tool as a way to position X as a core trading terminal. Bundled controls, including contract address matching and account locks on first-time crypto posters, are intended to filter out fraudulent tokens before they reach users.

The rollout fits a broader X finance push that also includes payments and pilot trading features. Musk’s distinction between merit assets and scams maps directly onto Cashtags’ pitch, separating what the feature wants to surface from what its anti-scam controls are designed to suppress.

In other news, crypto ranks as the most muted topic on X since the platform launched its new snooze feature. The data, shared by Nikita Bier, signals growing user fatigue with the asset class.

Users snoozed crypto posts more than politics, the Iran conflict, sports, and business content combined. The pattern marks the strongest feed-level pushback against any single category since launch.

X has steadily expanded its crypto exposure even as Premium users tune out the topic. The company recently hired designer Benji Taylor away from a crypto-native firm. X is also preparing XChat as a payments-ready messaging product to compete with WhatsApp and iMessage.

Elon Musk himself remains entangled in a high-profile OpenAI lawsuit that continues to dominate his public agenda. The widening gap between platform strategy and audience appetite continues to grow. X will need to rethink how crypto surfaces in Premium feeds without alienating its most engaged users.

Bitcoin struggles near $80K – trouble for BTC bulls?

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied to $79.2K late on May 2, but at press time, BTC was rejected from a key local resistance zone. Notably, Glassnode reported that defensive positioning was rising as the price approached the $80K psychological resistance.

In a post on X, the crypto intelligence platform highlighted that takers were selling calls and buying downside protection. The post also used BTC options data to highlight how the $82K level could trigger a short squeeze.

Implied volatility trended lower throughout April, with upside sold rather than chased. Another short squeeze could be just around the corner. Using the 30-day sum of the Bitcoin Apparent Demand metric, crypto analyst Darkfost observed that it was too early to conclude that Bitcoin had shifted into a bullish regime.

The metric is calculated as the difference between new BTC issuance and the amount of coin supply that has been dormant for over a year. It tracks structural accumulation or distribution trends across higher timeframes.

The chart showed the 30-day sum was still at -44,700 BTC. Though it was an improvement from -89,000 in early April, the negative figures meant apparent demand was still weak.

For most of 2026, this metric has been negative, showing indecisive demand trends. Since mid-February, the 7-day Moving Average of Bitcoin net flows to exchanges has been negative, except for a brief spike in late March. Over the past week, the 7-DMA of the metric moved into positive territory with greater confidence.

Exchange inflows generally indicate increased selling pressure, which aligns well with the idea that holders were becoming more defensive as BTC pushed toward $80K. Joao Wedson, founder and CEO of Alphractal, outlined decisive price markets in a post on X.

He advised betting against BTC at its current retest of the short-term holder realized price, while looking to buy at the retest of the long-term holder realized price.

It might really be as simple as selling Bitcoin now and buying in the $50K-$55K range.

Zypto spotlights premium crypto cards

Zypto’s range of premium crypto cards are positioned as a zero-monthly-fee solution for users looking to spend digital assets globally, amid intensifying competition in the crypto off-ramp market.

The platform’s premium cards, available in both physical and virtual formats, allow users to convert cryptocurrencies to fiat and spend them anywhere major card networks are accepted, spanning multiple countries.

The cards are designed to eliminate recurring costs typically associated with financial products, with no monthly or inactivity fees. It also maintains a transparent fee structure for transactions and currency conversions, as well as high limits, and luxury benefits, without tiered levels.

Zypto’s premium physical card is marketed toward high-volume users, supporting ATM withdrawals of up to $22,500 per month and transaction limits of $1 million in monthly spending, positioning it for business use cases and high-net-worth individuals.

Meanwhile, the virtual version targets frequent payments and everyday usage, alongside integration on Apple Pay and Google Pay. It offers instant usage for online, in app or in store transactions, complete with 3D Secure support for extra protection.

Zypto emphasizes interoperability, noting that users can fund their cards using over 100 cryptocurrencies from both its native wallet and external platforms, aligning with broader industry trends toward self-custody and multi-chain access.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Crypto card usage has surged as stablecoins like USDT and USDC transform crypto from a volatile asset into a widely accepted payment method for everyday spending. Tether Investment has proposed a three-way merger into a publicly listed Bitcoin-focused firm.

Meta is piloting direct creator payouts in USDC across Solana and Polygon in certain emerging markets. X has rolled out the web version of Cashtags; it remains to be seen how the consensus will be.

Bitcoin is struggling to break past the $80K resistance, as rising defensive positioning, weak apparent demand, and increasing exchange inflows signal cautious investor sentiment.

Recent studies have found that tourists, millennials, and Gen Z prefer locations that accept cryptocurrency. So, many eateries are converting Bitcoin to cash or keeping it as a treasury asset.

Zypto’s launch reflects a broader push across the crypto industry to bridge digital assets and everyday payments, as providers compete on lower fees, higher limits, and global usability to attract both retail users and institutional spenders.

What do you think about this week’s developments? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

How high has crypto card spending reached?

As of this writing, crypto card usage has surged more than 500% since September 2024.

How many customers has Steak ‘n Stake gotten due to Bitcoin?

Steak ‘n Stake has added roughly 2 million new customers since launching BTC payments in May 2025.

Which countries are the Meta USDC payout available to?

The Meta USDC payments feature is currently available to a limited group of creators in Colombia and the Philippines.

Which companies want to merge to form a Bitcoin platform?

Tether Investments announced proposals for a triple merger combining Twenty-One Capital, Strike, and Elektron Energy.

This Week In Crypto – AWS, Chainlink, Pi Network, and Bitcoin

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, we’re closing out the month with a big round-up of crypto news.

AWS adds Chainlink crypto oracle services. Morgan Stanley debuts a market fund for stablecoin issuers. Fold launches a Bitcoin Bonus program, while Pi Network brings smart contracts to Testnet.

At the same time, Bitcoin eyes a potential new high as key indicators flip bullish. A new BTC hard fork, eCash, is announced, and Zypto App expands its cross-chain capabilities.

Amazon Web Services adds Chainlink crypto Oracle services

Amazon Web Services has launched Chainlink’s data standard on the AWS Marketplace, making the oracle provider’s data feeds, data streams, and proof-of-reserve services available to enterprise developers.

The AWS Marketplace integration includes three core Chainlink services designed for enterprise blockchain applications. Chainlink data feeds provide decentralized price and market data for asset valuation, settlement, and risk management.

The oracle provider’s data streams deliver fast, secure data that enable on-chain systems to respond to market movements in real time. The service targets applications requiring low-latency market data integration.

Lastly, Chainlink’s proof-of-reserve feature provides secure, verifiable on-chain reserve attestations for stablecoins and other tokenized assets, allowing institutions to verify asset backing without compromising security protocols.

Amazon Web Services commands approximately 31% of the global cloud infrastructure and serves millions of enterprise customers worldwide. Chainlink operates one of the largest decentralized oracle networks, connecting smart contracts, which hold the code that powers autonomous crypto apps, to off-chain data sources across multiple blockchains.

Since launching on mainnet in 2019, Chainlink’s decentralized oracle networks have secured $29 trillion in transaction value across 80+ public and private blockchains. The protocol’s infrastructure emphasizes security in a landscape where cross-chain bridge hacks have resulted in $3 billion in losses.

Morgan Stanley debuts a market fund for stablecoin issuers

Morgan Stanley has launched a money market fund for stablecoin issuers, positioning it as a way for companies like Circle to manage their reserves.

The Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX), available on days when the New York Stock Exchange is open for business, will enable companies to invest the proceeds backing their tokens, the investment bank with $9.3 trillion in assets said in an announcement.

Although stablecoin issuers often back their tokens with a mix of cash and U.S. Treasuries, Morgan Stanley indicated that MSNXX will also allocate to notes and bonds, as well as certain overnight repurchase agreements collateralized by liquid assets.

The product was specifically designed to comply with the GENIUS Act, a federal framework for stablecoins enacted last year that mandates reserve requirements.

In a statement, Morgan Stanley’s co-head of Global Liquidity, Fred McMullen, noted the sector’s growth, specifically a “significant increase in stablecoin issuers as well as the growing number of assets held in stablecoins.”

Whether it’s new use cases in traditional finance or AI-agent payments, stablecoins are expected to become a $2 trillion market by the end of 2028, or in roughly 32 months, according to a recent note from investment bank Standard Chartered.

At the time of writing, the total value of stablecoins is $320 billion, with Tether’s USDT as the largest issuer. Circle, the second one, currently holds the majority of its USDC reserves in the Circle Reserve Fund (USDXX), a BlackRock-managed money market fund.

Decentralized finance projects like Ethena, which offers a synthetic dollar dubbed USDe, have forged a different path: using BlackRock’s tokenized money market fund, BUIDL. The product issued on nine blockchains was valued at $2.5 billion.

Earlier this month, Morgan Stanley debuted a spot Bitcoin ETF, which dovetails with the firm’s army of roughly 16,000 financial advisors. Since the product debuted just over two weeks ago, it has generated $173 million in net inflows.

Fold launches ‘Bitcoin Bonus’ program for employers

Bitcoin financial services company Fold Holdings, Inc., launched a program that allows companies to pay recurring BTC bonuses to employees, following an initial rollout from restaurant chain Steak ‘n Shake earlier this year.

The Bitcoin Bonus Program represents the first product from Fold Business, the company’s new enterprise division. Under the program, Steak ‘n Shake’s 10,000-plus hourly workers across the U.S. can receive Bitcoin bonuses, as announced in January and implemented on March 1. The restaurant chain pays $0.21 per hour worked into the bonus program for hourly employees, and it vests in full after two years.

“We launched our Bitcoin Bonus Program because we saw a gap that no one was filling. We’ve created a recruiting story that didn’t exist before,” said Fold co-founder and CEO Will Reeves, in a statement.

The program handles all custody and compliance requirements, Fold said, allowing traditional businesses to offer cryptocurrency incentives without managing the technical infrastructure. Employers set bonus terms in dollars, and Fold converts and manages the Bitcoin distribution. Bitcoin mining firm Simple Mining has also adopted the program, offering a bonus to salaried employees based on their tenure.

The company plans to expand its Business platform to include payroll, corporate Bitcoin treasury management, corporate cards, and additional enterprise financial tools. Fold previously focused on consumer Bitcoin rewards and spending solutions, including a debit card that offers Bitcoin rewards on purchases, before developing these corporate services aimed at bringing cryptocurrency benefits to mainstream workplaces.

Pi Network smart contracts go live on Testnet

Pi Network has activated its first smart contract on Testnet, bringing subscription functionality to the blockchain. The rollout introduces recurring-payment logic for e-commerce, streaming, and other services. Community sentiment has turned cautiously optimistic, yet the daily chart still shows a neutral structure after months of decline.

The smart contract capability focuses on subscription support, a model most chains have struggled to deliver cleanly. Subscribers can approve a defined budget that the contract draws from over a set billing horizon. Funds remain in the wallet until a charge is processed.

The design avoids the full pre-funding required by account-abstraction standards such as ERC-4337. It also removes repeat signatures used in earlier Ethereum proposals, such as EIP-1337. Pi frames this as a cleaner path for on-chain recurring payments.

Pi Request for Comment 2 (PiRC2) is now open for developer review on GitHub. External auditors are also reviewing the contract before any Minnet rollout. Community voices have mapped the release to real use cases.

One post listed streaming, AI tools, digital memberships, e-commerce, and local commerce as targets. The list reflects a broader push to anchor Pi demand to recurring real-world services rather than speculative activity.

The pitch to builders leans on scale. Pi claims to have more than 18 million KYC-verified users, which bolsters its image as a ready customer base. Warnings about staking, DeFi, and dApp risks in any young ecosystem temper that optimism. Education and external audits will shape how safely the rollout proceeds.

The contract remains in Testnet. A Mainnet launch will depend on audit outcomes and PiRC2 feedback, which sets the near-term expectation bar.

Possible Bitcoin ATH as risk indicator flips bullish

Bitcoin’s sustained bullish market structure over the past three weeks has triggered a clear risk landscape signal that could hint at an extension of the ongoing rally. The Risk Index, Glassnode’s proprietary metric that quantifies systemic risk on a scale of 0 to 100, is hovering at zero, the lowest possible level, according to a Telegram post.

It indicates a ‘cleared risk landscape’ and serves as a primary gauge of market health, with a 25 threshold that distinguishes between low and high-risk regimes. The Moderate Strategy, which captures upside momentum and exits when conviction fades, has flipped from ‘Moderate’ to ‘High Confidence.’

The alignment of these models signals a bullish regime, underscored by sustained inflows into Bitcoin ETPs and aggressive demand from spot buyers. As a result, Bitcoin hit $79,388 last week, its highest level in over three months.

Lacie Zhang, a research analyst, thinks this is an excellent window for strategic accumulation rather than chasing deeper dips, maintaining “a strong conviction for a positive close to 2026, supported by improving market structure and institutional conviction that should drive Bitcoin to a new all-time high.”

Investor sentiment has also seen considerable improvement, resulting in the Fear and Greed Index jumping from ‘extreme fear’ at the start of April to ‘fear.’ Likewise, users on the prediction market Myriad see a 74% chance that Bitcoin will extend its rally toward $84,000 next. Similarly, for Ethereum, users assign a 54% chance that the crypto will pump to $3,000 next.

“Breaking and holding above $80K would act as a major technical and psychological catalyst, clearing the path for further recovery toward $90K and potentially $100K,” Zhang said.

Additionally, the recent uptrend has pushed 54% of recent buyers into profitable territory, according to Glassnode’s latest report. These buyers are now at a threshold that has historically exhausted bear market rallies. Short-term holders’ realized profit has spiked to $4.4 million, three times the $1.5 million threshold that has marked every local top year to date.

The missing piece remains a fundamental catalyst, whether it’s the CLARITY Act, Fed rate cuts, or a lasting Middle East truce. Until then, the risk landscape may be cleared, but the path above $80,000 is not.

Blockchain developer announces BTC hard fork eCash

Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc announced that a new hard fork of the Bitcoin network called eCash will be deployed in August. Bitcoin holders will be able to exchange their BTC for eCash at a 1:1 ratio once the hard fork is live, Sztorx said in an X post.

He added that the layer-1 node software for the chain will be a ‘near-copy’ of the BTC Core client software and will use the SHA-256 hashing algorithm used by the Bitcoin blockchain, with a reduced initial mining difficulty to make it easier for participants to mine blocks.

The new layer-1 hard fork will also include seven layer-2 scaling networks called “drivechains” to increase transaction throughput and enable optional on-chain privacy, he said.

Sztorc distances the eCash hard fork from previous attempts to fork hard the Bitcoin protocol, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which was created in 2017 but failed to become the dominant chain. However, the announcement drew mixed reactions.

“Unlike BCH, the 2017 fork, there is no ‘Bitcoin’ in the name,” Sztorc said, adding, “This is a permanent and sustainable fix to Bitcoin’s problems.”

He added that the forked chain would manually reassign a portion of Satoshi Nakamoto’s 1.1 million BTC stash to early investors. However, some critics weren’t pleased.

“Taking Satoshi coins is theft and disrespectful, and eCash is already used for Lightning payments with Cashu and Fedi. Those are poor choices,” Bitcoin advocate Peter McCormack said in response.

“I give you two or three years to fold completely,” Bitcoin advocate PakoVM said about the planned hard fork.

The announcement came amid a growing debate about Bitcoin’s tech stack and whether the protocol should introduce privacy-preserving features and post-quantum resistance.

Zypto App expands cross-chain capabilities with CCIP integration on Solana

Zypto has announced the integration of Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) for Solana within its wallet application, marking another step in the platform’s push to simplify cross-chain asset transfers for users.

The update introduces CCIP-powered swaps involving Solana, allowing users to move digital assets between Solana and other supported blockchains directly inside Zypto App environment. The feature builds on Zypto’s broader strategy of embedding cross-chain infrastructure natively on its self-custodial wallet, rather than relying on external bridges or decentralized applications.

CCIP, developed by Chainlink, is designed to enable secure and standardized communication between blockchains, addressing long-standing challenges associated with fragmented networks and bridge vulnerabilities. By integrating this protocol alongside many others, Zypto continues to position its app as a more unified interface for multi-chain activity.

Zypto’s approach reflects a broader trend in the crypto ecosystem, where wallet applications are evolving into full-service platforms that combine storage, decentralized finance (DeFi) access, and cross-chain interoperability in a single interface. Rather than acting solely as transaction signers, crypto wallets are increasingly embedding core infrastructure to streamline user experience.

The company noted that the new capability is now live, enabling users to access CCIP-based Solana swaps directly within the app without leaving the self-custodial environment. The rollout underscores Zypto’s ongoing focus on reducing friction in cross-chain transactions, as demand grows for smooth movement of assets across an increasingly multi-chain crypto landscape.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

AWS has developed reference architectures that demonstrate integration patterns for proof-of-reserve monitoring and real-time prediction-market trading. These templates provide enterprises with pre-built frameworks for deploying Oracle services within existing cloud infrastructure.

Morgan Stanley’s new Stablecoin Reserves Portfolio (MSNXX) offers issuers a regulated vehicle for holding reserve assets in U.S. Treasuries, facilitating regulatory compliance, capital preservation, and daily liquidity.

Unlike previous corporate Bitcoin initiatives that focused on treasury management or executive compensation, Fold’s program specifically targets rank-and-file employees in sectors such as food service and manufacturing, where retention and recruitment challenges have intensified since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pi Network’s first smart contract launch on Testnet enables developers to test on-chain subscription models for future ecosystem utility. Bitcoin’s Risk Index hitting zero and strong institutional demand indicate a ‘bullish regime’ and a strategic window for accumulation, though analysts warn that geopolitical uncertainty and profit-taking could still hinder a move above $80,000.

The Solana integration expands Zypto’s existing cross-chain functionality, which already supports a wide range of blockchain networks and liquidity routes.

What do you think about this week’s developments? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

Why did AWS integrate Chainlink services?

Chainlink provides market data for enterprise blockchain applications.

What is the Morgan Stanley market fund for?

Morgan Stanley’s money market fund was launched to help stablecoin issuers manage their reserves.

Why did Fold launch the Bitcoin Bonus program?

Fold Holdings, Inc. launched the Bitcoin Bonus program to pay recurring BTC bonuses to employees.

What is the latest on the Pi Network?

Pi Network has activated its first smart contract on Testnet.

What is the latest update on Zypto?

Zypto has announced the integration of Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) for Solana within its wallet application.

This Week In Crypto – X, XRP, Solana, and World

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, welcome back to another fast-moving week in crypto. There’s plenty to unpack.

X Cashtags drive an estimated $1 billion surge in trading, wrapped XRP goes live on Solana, a trader turns $2,500 into $500K on the ASTEROID memecoin, and World rolls out a major upgrade with Zoom, Tinder, and DocuSign integrations. We also look at renewed XRP price speculation and Zypto’s latest expansion into TRON DeFi with SunSwap integration.

Let’s dive in.

X Cashtags trigger estimated $1 billion surge in crypto trading

Social media platform X has already generated roughly $1 billion in trading volume from its new Cashtags feature, which allows users to view stock and crypto data directly from the app.

In a post on X on Friday, the company’s head of product, Nikita Bier, said the trading milestone was reached just 48 hours after the social media platform introduced Smart Cashtags, citing data aggregated from X’s trading pilot.

Cashtags allows users to select a specific asset or smart contract address when posting a ticker, and tapping a tag displays live price charts and related posts.

A pilot integration with Canadian brokerage Wealthsimple also enables direct trading from the timeline. However, the pilot remains limited in scope. Only iPhone users in the US and Canada have access, and the buy button is not yet active for US users. Android and web support have not yet rolled out.

The Cashtags rollout comes as X prepares to launch its broader payments platform, X Money, a peer-to-peer payments system that seeks to offer yield-bearing accounts, a cashback debit card, and other perks. Elon Musk stated in March that early public access would begin in April.

Since xAI was formed just 30 months ago, the small and talented team has made remarkable progress. Polymarket data currently shows a 36% chance that X money will launch by April 30, suggesting most traders remain skeptical.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has also raised concerns about the platform’s proposed 6% APY and potential stablecoin issuance, requesting Musk provide a written response by April 21.

Over the last few years, X has secured money transmitter licenses in more than 40 US states and registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to enable peer-to-peer payments on the platform.

Wrapped XRP goes live on Solana

Solana has confirmed that wrapped XRP [wXRP] is now live on its network. This enables XRP holders to access decentralized finance [DeFi] applications beyond the XRP Ledger for the first time.

The rollout, facilitated by Hex Trust and LayerZero, enables XRP to be used within Solana’s DeFi ecosystem while remaining 1:1 backed by the native asset. According to the announcement, wXRP enables users to bridge XRP onto Solana and interact with DeFi protocols. This includes lending, trading, and liquidity provision.

The 1:1-backed wXRP can then be used in DeFi protocols on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) blockchains like the Ethereum mainnet, Optimism, or Hyper EVM, all of which have more robust DeFi ecosystems than the native XRP Ledger.

According to data from DefiLlama, Ethereum and Solana rank first and second in DeFi total value locked (TVL), at $57.2 billion and $6.08 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, XRP Ledger ranks 41st, with just $51.46 million in DeFi TVL.

In addition to the $1.2 million in wXRP on Solana, 50 million tokens, or around $74.5 million worth of wXR, have been minted on Ethereum. Almost all of those tokens have been in the same Ethereum wallet, one likely connected to the token issuer, since early November, before the wXRP announcement.

This marks a shift for XRP, which has historically been used primarily for payments and transfers on the XRP Ledger. Up till now, it has had limited exposure to DeFi activity.

By introducing a wrapped version of Solana, XRP holders can now deploy capital across a wider range of on-chain applications without converting their holdings into other assets.

The integration highlights a growing trend in the crypto market, where assets are increasingly being moved across chains to access different ecosystems and yield opportunities.

Solana, which has positioned itself as a hub for high-speed, low-cost DeFi activity, stands to benefit from additional liquidity as XRP enters its ecosystem. At the same time, the institutional study and cross-chain infrastructure aim to address security concerns often associated with wrapped assets.

Trader turns $2,500 to $500K on ASTEROID memecoin

A meme coin trader turned 1 Ethereum (ETH) or around $2,455 into nearly $500,000 on Thursday after trading the surging Asteroid (ASTEROID) meme coin on the Ethereum network.

The token, which is based on a Shiba Inu mascot named Asteroid, skyrocketed early on Friday following a social media post from media personality Glenn Beck, which earned a reply from X owner and SpaceX and Tesla founder, Elon Musk.

Beck’s post highlighted the story of Liv Perotto, a teenage girl who he said maintained a list of questions for Musk, but passed away from cancer in January without the chance to get them answered.

Her final question would have asked Musk if Asteroid, the Shiba Inu mascot she created to act as the zero-g indicator for SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission in 2024, could become the face of SpaceX.

“Will answer shortly,” Musk said in his reply to Beck’s post around 11:50 p.m. ET on Thursday. That post has now garnered more than 1.3 million views on X.

Eight minutes later, an Ethereum address ending in “EFF99af” bought 1 ETH worth of ASTEROID tokens, which were first launched on Ethereum 19 months ago. The buy was good enough for more than 10 billion ASTEROID tokens.

As renewed attention bloomed around Perotto and Asteroid with Musk’s reply, a massive surge in the meme coin ensued, quickly making the trader’s portfolio worth nearly $500,000.

At this time, “EFF9af” is the top trader on the token according to DEXScreener’s top traders tab, locking in more than $242,000 in profits with sales while maintaining a stash of just around $180,000 worth of ASTEROID tokens.

Two other traders, “6E5Eae” and “9dE8db,” both purchased less than $10,000 worth of ASTEROID tokens, and have similarly locked in more than $150,000 in gains via sales.

The token has generated more than $43 million in 24-hour trading volume, making it the second-most-traded meme coin across blockchains in the last 24 hours, per DEXScreener.

World launches upgrade with Zoom, Tinder, and DocuSign

World, formerly Worldcoin, unveiled a major World ID upgrade on Friday, introducing account-based architecture for “proof of human” verification alongside new integrations with Tinder, Zoom, and DocuSign.

OpenAI, which OpenAI CEO Sam Altman co-founded, introduced the World ID app as a dedicated experience for managing and using proof-of-human verification across the internet. The standalone application represents a shift from the company’s previous wallet-integrated approach to identity verification.

The company is arguably best known for its iris-scanning Orb device, which scans and verifies humans for use across an array of online applications. World incentivized use of the Orb with its Worldcoin (WLD) crypto token, but has expanded its proof-of-human suite to include other forms of verification.

The company also launched Concert Kit on Friday, a tool powered by World ID that enables artists to reserve tickets for verified humans. The platform aims to combat bot-driven ticket scalping by requiring human verification for event access, as Grammy-winning musician Anderson. Paak appeared at Friday’s event to help reveal the technology.

World and Vercel are teaming to bring human-in-the-loop verification to developers building on Vercel’s new open-source Workflow SDK. Okta plans to build Human Principal, a product that allows API builders to verify whether a human stands behind an agent.

Match Group, Tinder’s parent company, is expanding its existing World partnership to serve U.S. users, while World announced business-centric agreements with Zoom and DocuSign.

Zoom, the video meeting app, will integrate World’s deepfake detection technology to try and spot fakes, with fund manager VanEck among firms currently trialing the tech. Meanwhile, DocuSign will offer World ID support to ensure that whoever is supposed to sign a document digitally is actually the person they claim to be.

Did Ripple predict $50 XRP in 2026?

The XRP price prediction for 2026 conversation resurfaced with renewed intensity after Crypto Dyl News published a post on April 13, questioning whether Ripple had implicitly indicated a $50 valuation for XRP this year.

The post draws a direct line between Ripple’s $33 trillion projection for global stablecoin volume and projected token price outcomes. This connection reinvigorated the Ripple XRP price prediction debate across investor communities. Both the XRP $50 prediction and the broader assessment of whether XRP is a good investment in 2026 are now subjects of considerable market discussion.

The Ripple $33 trillion projection quantifies total global stablecoin trading volume from the prior year, a metric that Garlinghouse presented on Fox Business on March 27, 2026, to underscore the scale of payment infrastructure that has yet to integrate blockchain technology.

Ripple Treasury, acquired for approximately $1 billion in 2025, processed $13 trillion institutional payments that year without deploying a single stablecoin or crypto asset across those flows. The XRP price prediction 2026 models citing this figure treat it as a proxy for future token demand, a significant interpretative leap from its original context.

Various XRP price prediction 2026 models targeting $50 engineer backward projections by applying a market share percentage to that $33 trillion stablecoin, working through assumptions about XRP’s role as a bridge asset. The math is also easy to follow, but the assumptions underneath it are not.

Reaching $50 would require XRP’s market cap to surpass $3 trillion, more than double Bitcoin’s current valuation. Ripple’s CTO Emeritus, David Schwartz, addressed the $50 XRP prediction in late January; he stopped short of ruling it out but made his skepticism clear.

His core argument: rational investors wouldn’t let XRP trade around $1.37 if they genuinely believed it even had a 10% chance of reaching $50 to $100 in a few years. Standard Chartered’s Geoffrey Kendrick put out the most-referenced institutional forecast right now: $8 for 2026 and $28 by 2030, still $22 short of $50.

Several key factors further complicate the Ripple XRP price prediction picture, most notably, institutional settlement currently routes through RLUSD and fiat channels rather than XRP directly. On-demand Liquidity, the mechanism that actually drives XRP demand, hasn’t scaled enough to affect these projections at the time of writing meaningfully.

Zypto expands in-app DeFi swaps via SunSwap DEX integration

Zypto has expanded its decentralized finance offering with the integration of SunSwap, enabling in-app swapping of TRX and TRC20 tokens through a decentralized exchange on the TRON network. The update strengthens Zypto’s growing network of DEX and cross-chain integrations, allowing users to access decentralized liquidity and move assets across chains without leaving the app environment.

The platform combines multichain self custody wallets with access to more than 24,000 digital assets across over 20 blockchains, alongside more than 1 million cross-chain swap routes. As a multifunctional app, Zypto brings together decentralized swaps, payments, spending, and asset protection within a single interface, reflecting a broader shift away from fragmented crypto tools toward integrated environments.

Zypto has continued to expand its feature set at pace, with recent updates spanning DeFi access, transaction handling, onboarding, and card functionality. The addition of SunSwap deepens the TRON layer within this system, connecting decentralized swaps with existing payment rails that support real-world use cases such as bill payments, mobile top-ups, and card-based spending.

While still a relatively young entrant, Zypto is increasingly positioning itself alongside more established platforms by delivering a comparable breadth of functionality within a single application. As competition intensifies, the ability to combine DeFi, cross-chain movement, and everyday utility in one place is emerging as a key differentiator.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

X sees more than 550 million users each month, positioning it as one of the largest social media platforms globally and enabling it to compete with established financial information providers in delivering market-related content and data.

While the long-term adoption of wXRP will depend on user uptake and liquidity depth, the launch signals continued efforts to reduce fragmentation across blockchain networks.

World’s launch comes as Worldcoin’s network has reached 18 million verified humans across 160 countries. The timing reflects the growing urgency around human verification as a growing share of internet traffic comes from AI chatbots, agents, and bots.

Whether XRP is a good investment hinges on how Ripple’s $33 trillion projection translates into token demand, and whether the CLARITY Act accelerates the institutional inflows needed to close the gap.

With the integration of SunSwap, Zypto App is strengthening its decentralized swap capabilities while continuing to connect multichain self custody wallets, cross-chain movement, and real-world utility within a single, multifunctional application.

There’s so much to unpack this week, so what’s your favorite news story?

FAQs

How much has X generated from its Cashtag feature?

X has already generated roughly $1 billion in trading volume from its new Cashtags feature, which allows users to view stock and crypto data directly from the app.

How much did the trader make on ASTEROID?

The meme coin trader turned 1 Ethereum (ETH), or about $2,455, into nearly $500,000 by trading the surging Asteroid (ASTEROID) meme coin on the Ethereum network.

Which upgrade did World make?

World introduced account-based architecture for proof of human verification alongside new integrations with Tinder, Zoom, and DocuSign.

Which feature did Zypto introduce?

Zypto introduced SunSwap integration, enabling in-app swapping of TRX and TRC20 tokens. This expands its decentralized swap capabilities and connects TRON DeFi with its multichain wallet, cross-chain swaps, and real-world payment features.

This Week In Crypto – TRON, Anthropic, Tether, and Ethereum

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, we’re back for our weekly round-up of crypto news.

TON blockchain is allegedly now 10x faster, TRON users can now buy event tickets with USDT, and Coreweave lands agreement with Anthropic to run AI workloads.

Tether launches toolkit for building AI apps, analysts warn XRP price may struggle by 2030, MicroStrategy STRC volume hits $1.1 billion, and Zypto expands TRON functionality to drive real-world crypto payments.

Let’s dive in.

TON blockchain is allegedly now 10x faster

Pavel Durov announced that the TON blockchain is now 10x faster. The Telegram founder shared the news on April 9, explaining that the transactions now confirm in under one second. Before the upgrade, users waited over five seconds for finality.

The speed improvement comes from Catchain 2.0, a new consensus mechanism running under the hood. Blocks now generate every 400 milliseconds, which is 6x faster than before. A new streaming layer pushes updates to apps almost instantly rather than making them wait for the next block.

Durov framed the upgrade as the first step in a seven-part plan he calls “Make TON Great Again,” or MTONGA. The name echoes a certain political slogan, but the goals are technical: making TON fast enough and cheap enough to compete with centralized platforms.

The next steps on the roadmap: cutting transaction fees by 6x. TON fees are already lower than Ethereum or Solana. But further reductions would make micropayments and high-frequency applications more practical.

Durov designed TON to operate within Telegram, which has over 1 billion users. His vision includes payments that feel like sending a message, Mini Apps that respond instantly, and DeFi tools that rival the spread of centralized exchanges.

At five-second confirmation times, delivering that experience was difficult. At sub-second finality, it becomes possible. The infrastructure now matches what users expect from any other app on their phone.

The upgrade went live on mainnet on April 10, 2026. Durov confirmed the fee reduction as step two but has not yet shared the timeline for the remaining six steps in the MTONGA roadmap.

TRON users can now buy event tickets with USDT

Uquid has launched Uquid Tickets, a platform built for the TRON network that allows users to purchase event tickets using USDT and other supported tokens.

TRON continues to see strong stablecoin activity, particularly USDT, supported by high throughput and low transaction fees. These features have contributed to its use in payments, especially in emerging markets.

In regions where TRON already accounts for a significant share of Uquid transactions, users can book concerts, sports events, and festivals without bridging assets or facing higher fees on other networks.

Tickets are delivered shortly after confirmation, reducing delays often associated with crypto payments. Increased ticket purchases drive more on-chain activity, boosting network security, liquidity, and overall usage.

For many users, TRON is already used for remittances, savings in volatile currencies, and everyday transactions. The addition of ticketing introduces another practical use case, linking digital assets to consumer spending.

By channeling stablecoin spending into entertainment, one of the most vibrant consumer categories, the integration strengthens TRON’s position as a high-volume payment rail rather than just a DeFi hub.

Uquid is developing agentic payment features, including automated ticket buying based on user budget and smart tracking for favorite artists or teams. Combined with TRON’s scalable infrastructure, these tools could create personalized, hands-free experiences that feel more like modern consumer apps than traditional blockchain transactions.

Coreweave lands agreement with Anthropic to run AI workloads

CoreWeave, a publicly traded AI cloud infrastructure company, announced on Friday a “multi-year” agreement with AI developer Anthropic, which will use CoreWeave’s cloud computing data centers for its Claude AI model workloads.

Shares of CoreWeave surged more than 12% on Friday and are trading at $102.73 at the time of writing. The agreement follows CoreWeave’s recent $8.5 billion capital raise, led by tech giant Meta Platforms.

The financing was collateralized against CoreWeave’s deployed computing capacity, which is tied to predictable cash flows, rather than its graphics processing unit hardware, making a notable departure from traditional crypto mining financing structures.

CoreWeave pivoted away from crypto mining and rebranded as an AI infrastructure company in 2019, as the mining sector faced prolonged economic pressure following the 2018 crypto market downturn.

Bitcoin (BTC) miners are struggling with rising energy costs, reduced rewards, and declining crypto asset prices, leading many to repurpose their mìning hardware for AI processing.

Up to 20% of Bitcoin miners are unprofitable in the current economic environment, according to asset manager CoinShares’ latest mining report.

Crypto miners must generate yield on their assets by deploying their crypto on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to shore up declining revenues, according to market maker Wintermute.

The mining industry’s economic challenges worsened after the October 2025 market crash, which took BTC down from a high of about $126,000 to the low $60,000 range. Prices have since then stabilized around $73,000.

Tether launches toolkit for building AI apps

Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin, USDT, announced the launch of QVAC SDK, a fully open-source software development kit designed to run artificial intelligence applications directly on any device without requiring cloud servers.

The cross-platform toolkit works unchanged across iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux environments, the company said. The SDK is built on QVAC Fabric, a fork of Ilama.cpp, providing compatibility with the Illama.cpp model ecosystem for text generation, embeddings, and multimodal workloads.

Through a single interface, developers can access text completion, embeddings, vision, optical character recognition, text-to-speech, speech-to-text, and translation capabilities. The toolkit’s peer-to-peer functionality, powered by the Holepunch stack, enables decentralized model distribution and delegated interference. The company plans to add peer-to-peer swarms for decentralized training, fine-tuning, and interference in future updates.

“The laws of physics alone make centralized AI a dead end: speed-of-light latency, single points of failure, and concentration of control are features of a system designed for a smaller world,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said. “QVAC is built for the world that’s coming. It is the building block of the Stable Intelligence Era.”

The SDK emerges from QVAC, Tether Data’s AI research initiative focused on building open, decentralized, and adaptive intelligence systems. The company has committed to substantial investments to expand QVAC’s open-source ecosystem over the coming months and years, including specialized toolkits for robotics and brain-computer interfaces.

The launch marks a significant strategic expansion for Tether beyond its core stablecoin business, positioning the company to compete with centralized AI providers by offering privacy-focused alternatives that process data locally rather than transmitting it to cloud servers.

Analysts warn XRP price may struggle by 2030

The XRP Ledger has surpassed 7.7 million holders for the first time in its 13-year history, according to on-chain data, underscoring a steady expansion in network participation. The data also showed a spike in engagement, with daily active addresses hitting a five-week high of 46,767 on Monday.

The simultaneous rise in wallet count and activity suggests broader participation rather than isolated large-holder movements. For XRP, such metrics are often viewed as leading indicators of underlying demand. A growing base of holders can signal increasing adoption, while higher active address counts typically point to stronger transaction activity and network utility.

Johnny Rice, an analyst at Motley Fool, said increased adoption of Ripple’s technology does not necessarily drive demand for XRP itself. Rice warned that while Ripple as a company may continue to grow, XRP holders may not see proportional benefits by 2030.

The analyst highlighted how spot XRP exchange-traded funds attracted more than $1.3 billion in inflows within their first 50 days, making them the second-fastest-growing crypto ETFs after Bitcoin. Yet, Rice argued that these catalysts have not translated into sustained price gains, XRP remains significantly below its historical highs, and he attributes this to a deeper issue.

Separately, institutional investment in XRP-linked exchange-traded funds has increased, though its overall impact on prices remains constrained, according to regulatory filings.

Goldman Sachs has emerged as the largest disclosed institutional holder of spot XRP ETFs, with more than $150 million invested across several products, according to U.S. 13F filings.

However, Bloomberg intelligence analyst James Seyffart said the filings reflect only a “small portion” of total ownership. Meanwhile, senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the investor base may be concentrated among committed XRP supporters rather than broader institutional participants.

The limited visibility into ETF ownership comes as XRP has struggled to sustain price gains despite more than $1 billion in inflows into the products during 2025.

MicroStrategy STRC volume hits $1.1 billion

MicroStrategy’s STRC preferred stock recorded $1.1 billion in daily trading volume on Monday, increasing the firm’s holdings to 780.897 BTC. The company confirmed the surge, noting a 46.5% increase from its previous peak. The sudden spike has drawn attention across crypto markets, with traders attempting to decode its implications for Bitcoin exposure.

According to Matthew Sigel, the head of digital assets research at VanEck, the volume spike could be tied to a large Bitcoin purchase. The timing of the move has fueled speculation, especially since MicroStrategy has historically used market events to expand its Bitcoin holdings.

Michael Saylor reinforced the narrative by highlighting the session’s scale and stability. The combination of high liquidity and low volatility suggests controlled execution, often associated with institutional-scale positioning rather than retail-driven trading.

An analyst estimated that between $600 million and $700 million in Bitcoin may have been acquired through STRC-linked flows.

At the same time, comparisons between STRC and MicroStrategy’s core stock trading activity have raised eyebrows.

Analysts noted that STRC volume reached a significant share of MicroStrategy’s daily trading levels, an unusual development for the instrument.

Additional projections suggest that if historical patterns hold, STRC volume could expand further ahead of key market events.

One tracker estimated a potential move beyond $1 billion again, based on prior month trading trends. The latest surge highlights how structured products tied to MicroStrategy may be influencing Bitcoin demand.

Whether this activity reflects direct accumulation or broader market positioning remains unclear, but the scale of flows suggests that institutional dynamics are once again shaping Bitcoin’s trajectory.

Zypto expands TRON functionality to drive real-world crypto payments

Zypto has announced an expanded integration with the TRON network, enabling users to easily use TRX and USDT for everyday payments within Zypto App. The launch reinforces Zypto’s mission to transform digital assets from passive holdings into practical tools for daily financial activity.

With this update, users can hold, send, and receive TRX and TRC-20 USDT while accessing a comprehensive suite of in-app payment services. The integration leverages TRON’s fast transaction speeds and low fees, making it well-suited for frequent, real-world use.

The new functionality allows users to move beyond simple storage of digital assets and instead use their balances for essential financial tasks. Through Zypto App, TRX and USDT can now be used to:

Fund and spend via payment cards, enabling purchases online and in-store.
Pay utility bills and subscriptions to streamline everyday expenses.
Top up mobile airtime globally, supporting connectivity across over 100 countries.
Purchase digital gift cards, providing instant access to retail and online services.

By consolidating these capabilities into a single platform, Zypto offers users a smooth bridge between blockchain-based value and real-world transactions.

TRON’s infrastructure plays a major role in this rollout. Known for its efficiency and minimal transaction costs, the network supports high-frequency payments and microtransactions. The inclusion of USDT further enhances the experience by offering price stability, making it suitable for routine spending.

In line with Zypto’s commitment to user empowerment, the app operates within a self-custodial environment, ensuring that users maintain full control over their digital assets while benefiting from an intuitive and secure interface.

This launch marks another step in Zypto’s broader strategy to enhance the practical value of digital assets. By enabling TRX and USDT to function as everyday money within a unified ecosystem, Zypto is helping redefine how users interact with blockchain-based finance.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

For developers building on TON, the recommendation is to update their apps to use streaming APIs rather than polling. In other words, the blockchain is faster. Apps need to catch up.

TRON’s focus on fast, low-cost stablecoin transfers is extending into everyday use cases such as event ticketing. The ticketing service allows users to spend existing crypto holdings directly on real-world experiences.

The high cost of mining and shrinking profit margins threaten the viability of Bitcoin mining, with AI models becoming much more attractive in this environment. Some analysts have warned that XRP may not see long-term growth by 2030, sparking concerns amongst holders.

As digital assets continue to evolve, Zypto’s TRON integration underscores a clear shift from passive ownership to active, real-world utility. This brings users closer to a future in which managing and spending value are both smooth and borderless.

With so much to unpack today, what’s your favorite development?

FAQs

What is the latest with the TON blockchain?

Pavel Durov announced that the TON blockchain is now 10x faster, with transactions confirming in under one second.

What is the latest with TRON?

Uquid has launched Uquid Tickets, a platform built for the TRON network that allows users to purchase event tickets using USDT and other supported tokens.

Why did Coreweave partner with Anthropic?

CoreWeave partnered with Anthropic so its cloud computing data centers can be used for Anthropic’s Claude AI model workloads.

What did Tether launch?

Tether launched QVAC SDK, a software development kit designed to run AI applications directly on any device without requiring cloud servers.

What is MicroStrategy’s BTC holding?

MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings increased to 780.897 BTC.

This Week In Crypto – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polymarket, and The World Cup

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:32:40 GMT

Welcome to this week’s crypto news roundup, and it’s been a busy one across the space.

A solo Bitcoin miner bags a $210K BTC block reward, Polymarket expands into equities and commodities, and the Ethereum Foundation almost reaches its 70,000 ETH target.

Jack Dorsey signals the return of Bitcoin Faucets, FIFA partners with ADI Predictstreet ahead of the 2026 World Cup, Bitcoin leads $400M liquidity wave as bulls get squeezed, and Zypto App introduces private key import and export features.

Let’s get to it.

Solo Bitcoin miner bags $210K BTC block reward

A solo Bitcoin miner secured a roughly $210,000 block reward, proving that the so-called “mining lottery” is still paying out even if industrial operators dominate the network.

The miner, connected to CKPool’s solo service, found block 943,411 and earned 3.139BTC in subsidy and transaction fees, according to data from block explorer mempool space.

Solo mining remains rare. Statistics compiled by Bennet’s tracker show that solo mining pools have given up just 20 Bitcoin blocks over the last 12 months, paying out a total of 62.96 BTC, roughly one win every 18.7 days on average. The longest “drought” between blocks was 58 days, and the previous solo win came on February 28.

The win comes as Bitcoin mining grows increasingly competitive. Network difficulty, the measure of how hard it is to find a block, recently recorded its steepest adjustment since February, falling about 7.7% before rebounding 3.87% in the past 24 hours, reflecting weaker hashrate and briefly improving miners’ odds.

Even so, current difficulty levels remain near historic highs, meaning the probability of any single solo miner discovering a block is still vanishingly small. Public trackers like CoinWarz show Bitcoin’s difficulty has climbed orders of magnitude over the past decade, with only brief downward adjustments when miners switch off rigs or redirect machines to other workloads like artificial intelligence.

Major listed Bitcoin miners are responding by reshaping their balance sheets and fleet strategies rather than betting on luck. Riot platforms sold 3,778 during the first quarter of 2026, according to a Thursday release, adding to a number of crypto miners and firms that have sold Bitcoin recently, including MARA Holdings, Genius Group and Nakamoto Holdings.

Polymarket expands into equities and commodities

Polymarket has added markets tied to equities, commodities and exchange-traded funds, using price data from blockchain oracle provider Pyth Network as the resolution source to determine outcomes for daily contracts.

The new markets include daily up-or-down and closing price contracts for major equity indexes, commodities such as gold and oil, and a range of US-listed stocks, with outcomes settled automatically based on Pyth’s real-time price feeds. The contracts reset at the end of each trading session.

According to the announcement, the offering includes more than a dozen US-listed stocks, including Tesla, Nvidia and Apple, alongside commodities and equity indices. By making Pyth the resolution layer for these markets, Polymarket is supplanting manual or exchange-specific references with a standardized data source aggregated from trading firms and market makers.

Zug, Switzerland-based Pyth said it also launched a data interface called Pyth Terminal where users can track live feeds and the reference value used to settle markets on Polymarket. Traders can follow a live “price to beat” that updates continuously as markets move.

Polymarket allows users to take positions on the outcomes of real-world events, such as sports, elections, financial markets and weather, with contracts resolving based on whether specific conditions are met.

Last week, Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, said it had completed a $600 million cash investment in Polymarket and plans to acquire up to an additional $40 million in shares from existing holders as part of a broader multibillion-dollar commitment to the platform.

Ethereum Foundation almost reaches its 70,000 ETH target

The Ethereum Foundation staked roughly $93 million in ETH last Thursday in several batches, bringing its total stakes position to approximately $143 million and nearly completing the 70,000 ETH stake target it announced in February.

The total deposit of 45,034 ETH was split into uniform chunks of 2,047 ETH, each worth roughly $4.23 million, sent from the foundation’s treasury multisig to the Eth2 Beacon Chain deposit contract. At roughly $2,059 per ETH, the $143 million total staked position works out to approximately 69,500 ETH, nearly the full 70,000 ETH commitment.

The Foundation has been building toward the target incrementally since February, starting with an initial 2,016 ETH deposit and adding roughly 20,470 ETH on Monday. Thursday’s batch covered the remaining balance in one shot.

The Foundation’s Arkham-tracked portfolio shows approximately $270.1 million in total assets across 14 addresses, with ETH as the dominant holding at roughly 102,400 ETH ($210.29 million). Smaller positions include USDC, BNB, and a fraction of a Bitcoin.

The Ethereum Foundation is putting its ETH to work through staking, earning rewards that help fund research, grants and operations – all without needing to sell its coins, creating a long-term, self-sustaining treasury.

This replaces the earlier model where the foundation resorted to ETH sales that weighed over valuations.The Foundation faced criticism for the same through 2024 and early 2025. With staking, the Foundation earns yield. The shift, however, does not fully eliminate the need to sell entirely.

At the same time, completing the 70,000 ETH target does not mean staking is done . The Foundation still holds over 10,000 unstaked ETH. Whether it expands the program beyond the initial commitment or holds the rest as liquid reserves has not been announced.

Jack Dorsey signals return of Bitcoin Faucets

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter (now X) and CEO of Block, has hinted at the return of a Bitcoin Faucet. The announcement has quickly drawn attention across the crypto community. It raises a simple question: could users once again earn small amounts of Bitcoin for free?

A Bitcoin Faucet distributes small amounts of BTC in exchange for simple actions, such as solving captchas, watching ads, or signing up. These tools were originally designed to introduce new users to Bitcoin. They helped people experiment with wallets and transactions without needing to invest money upfront.

To understand the significance, it helps to look back. Satoshi Nakamoto launched Bitcoin in 2009, when it had little to no market value. In 2010, Gavin Andresen created one of the first well-known faucets. It gave away up to 5 BTC per user for completing a captcha.

Those early faucets played a key role in Bitcoin’s spread. They allowed thousands of users to learn by doing. However, as Bitcoin’s price rose from cents to thousands of dollars, such giveaways became unsustainable.

Over time, faucets evolved. Many now involve gamified tasks, learning modules, referral systems, or micropayments. Dorsey’s move comes at a moment when Bitcoin is far more mature. Following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States and growing integration into payment systems, both institutional and retail adoption have accelerated.

Some governments have even begun exploring Bitcoin as part of strategic reserves. A faucet backed by a company like Block could trigger another onboarding wave. Community members have already drawn parallels to the early days.

Still, key details remain unclear. It is not known how much BTC will be distributed, whether there will be limits, or if the system will use the Lightning Network for instant payout. Block has yet to release technical specifics. For now, the market is waiting. The next phase depends on what Block reveals in the coming days.

FIFA partners with ADI Predictstreet ahead of 2026 World Cup

FIFA has named ADI Predictstreet as its first official prediction market partner, signing a multi-year agreement covering the 2026 World Cup. The collaboration will introduce prediction markets to FIFA’s global fan engagement strategy for the expanded 48-team tournament across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

According to FIFA and ADI Predictstreet, the platform will let fans forecast match outcomes, tournament statistics, standout players, and key moments throughout the 104-match competition across 16 host cities. ADI Predictstreet will also present FIFA’s free-to-play bracket challenge.

ADI Chain is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling network that is focused on the MENA region spanning the Middle East and North Africa. According to the press release, the platform will “operate in alignment with FIFA’s regulatory and integrity frameworks,” with real-time monitoring for any suspicious activity among traders. There are also reports that Predictstreet will expand beyond sports to other markets in the future.

Prediction market platforms have been scrutinized for enabling insider trading, much as traditional sports betting platforms have, with major platforms recently making moves to shore up potential vulnerabilities amid growing interest from regulators and lawmakers.

The ADI token, launched last December alongside the network mainnet, jumped to a new all-time high price of $4.54 on Friday, showing a 12% rise over the last week.

Bitcoin leads over $400M liquidation wave as bulls get squeezed

Crypto liquidations reached $456.19 million on Thursday, April 2 after measuring $271.18 million on Wednesday, April 1. Of these liquidations, $287 million were long and $169 million were short positions. Bitcoin’s [BTC] price drop below $66K on Thursday likely contributed to the short-term selling across the market.

Bitcoin’s funding rate also fell into negative territory on Thursday, but the same has climbed to +0.0008% at press time. The liquidation and funding rate data revealed that BTC recorded the highest amount of liquidations in the last 24 hours, measuring $57.17 million.

According to crypto analyst Axel Adler Jr, the Bitcoin Positioning Index indicator’s 30-day moving average reached +3.0 on 17 March. The indicator measures the aggressiveness of market participants in the derivatives market.

The +3.0 reading highlighted bullish positioning, but BTC’s price correction over the last two weeks brought the positioning index back below zero. This hinted at more aggressive bearish positioning.

The crypto market is heavily influenced by Bitcoin trends. A return above zero for the Positioning Index’s 30-day moving average would be a positive sign for crypto bulls. As things stand, short positioning is still dominant across the market.

Futures liquidations have been increasingly dominated by long liquidations. The dominance of short liquidations has been absent since October 2025. This underscored the bearish strength in the market once again.

A reversal in the positioning index 30-day SMA above zero, combined with dominance of short liquidations, would signal a bullish regime change.

Zypto App introduces private key import and export features

Zypto App has rolled out a new feature enabling private key import and export, a move designed to give users greater control over their digital assets and enhance wallet flexibility.

The update, announced on April 2, allows users to smoothly import existing wallets into the app using private keys, making it easier to consolidate assets within a single interface. This enables users to manage, transfer, and interact with their cryptocurrencies without switching between multiple platforms.

In addition, the export functionality ensures that users retain full ownership of their wallets. By allowing private keys to be exported at any time, the feature reinforces the principle of self-custody, an increasingly important concept in decentralized finance, by preventing users from being locked into a single application.

The company emphasized that the update aligns with its broader goal of building a fully self-custodial, multi-functional crypto ecosystem. Zypto App already integrates features such as multichain support, token swaps, payments, and spending tools, positioning itself as more than just a storage solution for digital assets.

Industry observers note that features like private key portability are becoming critical as users demand greater autonomy and interoperability across crypto platforms. By enabling both entry and exit of wallets, Zypto aims to offer a more flexible user experience while maintaining security and control.

Find out more here.

Closing Remark

As difficulty grinds higher and input costs rise, the economics of mining increasingly favor large, well-capitalized operators over hobbyists. Against that institutional backdrop, the CKPool win stands out as individuals can still, on rare occasions, beat the odds.

Polymarket’s decision to add new markets tied to equities, commodities, and exchange-traded funds to its platform blurs the lines between prediction markets and traditional derivatives trading.

Dorsey continues to push for Bitcoin as an open, accessible, financial system, and not just an asset for investors. In simple terms, faucets lower the barrier to entry. They reflect Bitcoin’s original ethos: peer-to-peer money, open to anyone. If executed well, this could make that vision tangible again.

Rather than team up with an established prediction market platform like Polymarket or Kalshi, as the NHL and MLB have done, FIFA has picked a partner in ADI Predictstreet that has yet to publicly launch its platform.

Zypto’s update marks another step in the evolution of crypto wallet apps toward comprehensive financial platforms, where users can not only store assets but actively use them across a range of services.

What do you think about this week’s developments? Let us know in the comments section!

FAQs

How much did the Bitcoin miner win?

The solo Bitcoin miner secured a roughly $210,000 block reward.

Which services did Polymarket expand into?

Polymarket has added markets tied to equities, commodities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

What is the Ethereum Foundation working towards?

The Ethereum Foundation is working towards a 70,000 ETH staking target set in February.

What is a Bitcoin Faucet?

A Bitcoin Faucet distributes small amounts of BTC in exchange for simple actions, such as solving captchas, watching ads, or signing up.

This Week In Crypto – Polymarket, Pi Network, Ethereum, and Ripple

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 02 Apr 2026 10:45:42 GMT

Gm frens, April is off to a strong start.

Polymarket trader makes $67K after a UFC fight, a Japanese war orphan donates $145K in XRP, Pi Network hits its second migration milestone, and X hires an ex-Aave product chief to lead design. Ethereum stakes $46.2M in ETH, Ripple launches an AI security initiative, and Zypto’s rewards ecosystem continues to grow through user activity.

Let’s dive in.

Polymarket trader makes $67K after UFC fight

A Polymarket trader turned $676 into $67,608 on Saturday by capitalizing on a rare mistake during a UFC heavyweight bout, where the wrong fighter was initially announced as the winner.

The trader, known as LlamaEnjoyer on Polymarket and Verrissimus on X, watched the live fight between Tyrell Fortune and Marcin Tybura and suspected that a mistake may have been made when UFC presenter Bruce Buffer announced Tybura as the winner.

During that time, Polymarket shares for Fortune fell to one cent, and LlamaEnjoyer was able to place the $676 bet moments before Buffer corrected himself and declared Fortune the winner.

LlamaEnjoyer profited roughly $67,000 from the UFC’s brief blunder, allowing him to capture a near 100x return. The incident shows the speed at which odds on prediction markets can whipsaw during live events.

Speaking about the incident, the Polymarket trader said they almost put $100,000 on Tybura at 99 cents, presumably once the initial decision was made before realizing that something “was off.”

The trader said they placed the trade before a UFC commentator said “We have a mistake,” meaning that they made the bet within 50 seconds of Tybura being incorrectly declared the winner.

Over 865,000 users have placed bets on prediction markets like Polymarket, Kalshi, and Opinion so far in March, spanning a wide range of events, from sports and politics to financial results, culture, and more.

Japanese war orphan donates $145K XRP

Seoul National University Hospital said it received 100,000 XRP tokens from individual donor Kim Geo-seok. The donation, made on March 26, is worth approximately 210 million won ($145,000) at current prices. It marks the hospital’s second cryptocurrency gift following a one-Bitcoin donation Kim made last November.

Kim’s crypto philanthropy is part of a quiet revolution in how South Koreans donate. Kim was four years old when the 1950-53 Korean War tore his family apart. He was sent to an orphanage on Jeju Island, carrying scars from a partisan attack on his face. After returning to Seoul, he drifted through odd jobs to survive.

At 19, he climbed Namsan Tower, the Seoul landmark Netflix fans now know from K-pop Demon Hunters, then the city’s highest point. He gazed at the glittering buildings below and vowed to own a home among them.

He taught himself investing through decades of reading financial newspapers cover to cover. Warren Buffett and Peter Lynch became his intellectual guides. Success did not come in a straight line, as a failed stock bet cost him a lot. Eventually, he rebuilt his portfolio and joined the ranks of successful individual investors.

In a May 2025 interview with Maeil Business Newspaper, Kim said spending money wisely matters more than earning it. He added that those who know how to give are the truly wealthy.

The 79-year-old retail investor has now given a cumulative 1.27 billion won to the hospital alone. Beyond the hospital, he has funded free clinics at Red Cross hospitals and given them to the Community Chest of Korea.

Kim began high-value philanthropy in 2018 through the Community Chest of Korea. He became the first individual member of the Red Cross “Super High-Value Donors Club” last year. His total pledge to the Red Cross stands at one billion won, funding free clinics for uninsured workers and multicultural families.

When South Korea’s Financial Services Commission allowed nonprofits to liquidate crypto donations in mid-2025, Kim was among the first to act. His Bitcoin gift to the Red Cross in August 2025 became the country’s first recorded individual crypto donation to a nonprofit.

Since then, he has repeated the gesture four times across two institutions. Both Seoul National University Hospital and the Red Cross convert his crypto gifts to fiat immediately.

Pi Network hits second migration milestone

According to Pi Network, over 119,000 Pioneers have completed the second migration, transferring their additional balances and referral mining bonuses.

The milestone arrives shortly after Pi Network started gradually rolling out the second migration to Mainnet from Pi Day 2026. The team noted that this opens up a path for users to migrate more Pi to the Mainnet and deepen their participation in the network’s ecosystem.

The blog read, “Second migrations require extensive technical preparations due to the complexity in computing referral bonuses, which incorporate Referral Team members’ KYC statuses and vary per mining session for each individual.”

Meanwhile, the second migration rollout coincides with broader ecosystem developments. Pi Launchpad is now live on Testnet. Pi App Studio applications also gained Mainnet functionality on Pi Day 2026.

However, migrations also have supply implications. When Pi balances undergo a second migration, it opens the door for ecosystem use or potential trading. This may gradually add to the circulating Pi supply.

On-chain data shows Pi holdings on centralized exchanges have climbed steadily. Exchange reserves reached 472 million Pi in March, setting a new all-time high. That figure represents a 79.5% rise from 263 million Pi in March 2025.

Rising exchange reserves typically signal that holders are moving tokens onto trading platforms to sell. When the supply on exchanges grows faster than buyer demand, it puts downward pressure on prices.

With token unlocks ongoing and second migrations adding to the supply, the gap between new Pi entering circulation and organic buying remains the major factor for price direction.

X hires ex-Aave product chief to lead design

Elon Musk’s X has hired crypto-native product designer Benji Taylor as its new head of design, ahead of a wider rollout of the platform’s X Money payments product next month.

Taylor announced the move on X, saying he was honored to join the company and looking forward to working with the team. His crypto-native background is notable, previously founding Los Feliz Engineering, then working at decentralized lending protocol Aave Labs and Base, holding leadership roles.

Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, said that he had followed Taylor’s work for years, and it took roughly six months of persuasion before the designer agreed to come aboard. With Taylor now in the fold, Bier expressed ambitious plans, saying the goal is to build what he called “the greatest design team in the industry.”

The timing also stands out. X is reportedly set to expand X Money, an integrated payments and financial services layer that will introduce peer-to-peer payments, wallet services, and a debit card tied to user accounts.

In early March, Musk announced that X Money would begin public access next month, as an integrated payments and financial services layer for the social platform. The product is currently in limited external beta and offers users a 6% annual percentage yield on cash balances held in an X Money wallet, a personalized metal Visa debit card engraved with the user’s X handle, and peer-to-peer payments linked directly to the X app.

Musk has described X Money as part of his plan to turn the platform into an “everything app” that combines social networking, messaging, and financial services.

Ethereum Foundation stakes $46.2M in ETH

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) staked roughly $46.2 million worth of Ether (ETH), according to on-chain data from Arkham Intelligence. The deposit is the organization’s single-largest staking event.

The transaction marks a sharp acceleration in the Foundation’s treasury staking initiative, which launched in late February with an initial deposit of just 2,016 ETH worth approximately $3.8 million.

The EF announced its staking plans on February 24, 2026, outlining a target of approximately 70,000 ETH. That initial deposit was modest, but the Foundation signaled from the start that further allocations would follow.

At current prices near $2,000 per ETH, the full 70,000 ETH target represents more than $140 million in staked capital. The $46.2 million deposit reported by Arkham today brings the program significantly closer to that goal.

On-chain tracker Lookonchain also flagged the transaction, noting it surpassed all previous EF staking events by a wide margin. For years, the EF relied on periodic ETH sales to fund operations, a practice that drew consistent criticism from the community.

Every sale created downward price pressure and sparked speculation about the organization’s long-term commitment. The shift to staking addresses both concerns:

By locking ETH into validators, the Foundation generates yield without reducing its treasury balance.
Staking rewards flow back into the treasury to fund protocol research, ecosystem development, and community grants.

Ethereum currently has more than 38 million ETH staked across roughly 1.17 million validators, representing about 30% of the total circulating supply. The record deposit arrives during a chaotic stretch for ETH.

Co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold millions in personal ETH holdings during that period, amplifying community anxiety. Against that backdrop, the Foundation’s willingness to commit its largest single staking deposit sends a different signal.

Ripple launches AI security initiative

Ripple is embedding artificial intelligence (AI) into the XRP Ledger (XRPL) development lifecycle to detect and address vulnerabilities before they reach production. The move comes as the network scales in complexity and institutional relevance, raising the bar for security.

The firm outlined the initiative in a recent blog post, detailing a strategy built around several key pillars. These include adversarial code scanning, AI-assisted reviews, and threat modeling and attack surface mapping across both new and existing interactions.

Also, Ripple has established a dedicated AI-assisted red team to test how features interact in real-world scenarios. Some additional measures include:

Modernizing and better aligning the XRPL codebase.
Strengthening collaboration with ecosystem partners.
Openly sharing security disclosures to enhance transparency.
Defining security benchmarks for development on XRPL.
Introducing stricter security requirements for protocol amendments.
Expanding bug bounty programs to incentivize broader vulnerability discovery.

The blog revealed that the forthcoming XRPL release would focus solely on bug fixes and various improvements, rather than new features.

Zypto expands rewards ecosystem

Zypto is doubling down on user engagement through its ZYP rewards system, positioning in-app activity as a central driver of value across its ecosystem. At the core of the initiative are ZYPs (Zypto Points), a non-transferable internal rewards currency that users earn through everyday activity within Zypto App.

These points can be redeemed for a range of services, including bill payments, gift cards, and crypto card funding, effectively linking digital asset usage to real-world spending.

The company describes ZYPs as “the heartbeat” of its Rewards Hub, where users accumulate points through actions such as holding the platform’s native Zypto token, completing in-app quests, making swaps, or referring new users. A fixed conversion rate, 1,000 ZYPs to $1, provides a predictable value system aimed at simplifying rewards for users navigating volatile crypto markets.

Zypto’s model emphasizes usage over speculation. Users earn ZYPs through multiple touchpoints, including:

Cashback on transactions and purchases within the app.
Participation in referral programs offering ongoing percentage rewards.
Completing “quests” tied to ecosystem engagement.
Holding Zypto tokens (issued and managed by the Zypto Foundation, not a company asset) and registering wallets in the Rewards Hub.

The referral system is a key growth lever, offering users lifetime rewards on referred transactions alongside upfront bonuses when onboarding steps are completed. The broader ecosystem positions users (Zyptonians) as active participants in governance, referrals, and product engagement, reinforcing a community-led growth model.

As competition intensifies in crypto payments, Zypto’s ZYP system signals a shift toward loyalty-driven ecosystems where utility, rather than speculation, underpins user retention.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Prediction markets have become one of the fastest-growing use cases in crypto, with trading volumes exceeding more than $10.4 billion so far in March, marking a tenfold increase from March 2025.

Kim Geo-seok’s donation is seen as a meaningful example of digital-asset philanthropy. He still dreams of becoming Korea’s greatest individual donor, and hopes crypto-based giving becomes so common that it stops making headlines. At 79, the war orphan-turned-investor shows no sign of slowing down.

Taylor’s inclusion as Head of Design at X has led market watchers to speculate that his onboarding signals potential crypto integration.

Rather than preserving maximum liquidity, the Ethereum Foundation is tying up capital directly in network security. Whether additional deposits follow at this pace will determine how quickly the EF reaches its 70,000 ETH target and how much yield it can generate going forward.

Zypto’s rewards strategy reflects a wider trend in crypto platforms seeking to bridge decentralized finance with everyday financial behavior. By tying incentives directly to usage rather than passive holding alone, the company is betting on sustained engagement as a path to long-term adoption.

There’s so much to unpack this week. What are your thoughts on the headlines?

FAQs

How much did the Polymarket user win?

The Polymarket trader turned $676 into $67,608 by capitalizing on a rare mistake during a UFC heavyweight bout.

How much did the Japanese orphan donate?

Kim Geo-seok donated 100,000 XRP tokens worth approximately 210 million won ($145,000) to Seoul National University Hospital.

Which milestone did Pi Network cross?

According to Pi Network, over 119,000 Pioneers have completed the second migration, transferring their additional balances and referral mining bonuses.

How much did the Ethereum Foundation stake?

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) staked roughly $46.2 million worth of Ether (ETH).

This Week In Crypto – Sui, Polymarket, Bitcoin, and XRP Ledger

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:00:00 GMT

We’re closing out March with a strong set of moves. Here’s what’s been driving crypto this week.

Bitcoin finance protocol Hashi launches on Sui, Major League Baseball inks deal with Polymarket, and a dormant Bitcoin whale wallet wakes after 13 years. AI agents are coming to XRP Ledger, Afroman’s crypto token pumps 4,685% after a defamation trial victory, and Zypto highlights its crypto payment gateway for global businesses.

Let’s dive in.

Bitcoin finance protocol Hashi launches on Sui

A new Bitcoin-based finance protocol called Hashi has been introduced on the Sui blockchain, with early participation commitments from crypto institutions including BitGo and FalconX ahead of its planned launch later this year, per this press release.

Hashi is designed to let Bitcoin holders earn yield on native Bitcoin (BTC) through on-chain lending and borrowing, targeting a segment that currently represents a small share of Bitcoin’s overall market.

The protocol, developed primarily by Mysten Labs, the core contributor to the Sui blockchain, will initially focus on BTC-backed lending, enabling users to borrow stablecoins against their holdings while institutions are expected to supply liquidity at launch.

The system introduces on-chain verification and programmatic collateral management aimed at making BTC lending more suitable for institutional use. Although Bitcoin-backed lending markets shrank sharply following the 2022 collapse of crypto lenders BlockFi and Celsius Network, interest has begun to recover in recent years.

Bitcoin remains largely unused in decentralized finance, with about 0.22% of its supply, or roughly $3.07 billion, currently deployed in DeFi protocols, according to the announcement and on-chain data from DefiLlama.

The rollout also includes participation commitments from custodians and infrastructure providers such as Ledger and Cubist, along with Sui-based DeFi protocols expected to support lending, custody, and collateral management once the platform launches.

Hashi said it will rely on a combination of multi-party computation custody and smart contracts on Sui to manage collateral and facilitate lending, with audits and formal verification planned before launch.

Additional features outlined include insurance coverage for BTC collateral and plans for issuing Bitcoin-backed bonds. The project is currently in development, with a devnet expected soon and a mainnet launch planned for later this year.

Major League Baseball inks deal with Polymarket

Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that it signed an “integrity protection” agreement with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as it separately inked a deal with prediction market platform Polymarket.

In an announcement, MLB said that its commissioner, Robert Manfred, signed a memorandum of understanding with CFTC Chair Michael Selig following the league’s request for “strong integrity protections in the rapidly evolving prediction market space.”

Similarly, in another deal, the league said it had reached an agreement for prediction market platform Polymarket to be its Official Prediction Market Exchange. Manfred said, “The new agreements that we formed with Polymarket and the CFTC are imperative steps in proactively managing the new and rapidly growing prediction market space.”

In August, MLB sent a memo to players and clubs warning them about prediction markets, reminding them that the league’s gambling rules apply to those platforms. In November, two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged with sharing inside information about their play with sports bettors.

The deals were announced amid scrutiny from federal and state lawmakers on prediction market platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi. In the US Congress, lawmakers have named Polymarket in proposed laws to crack down on bets related to military conflicts, while at the state level, both platforms are facing lawsuits related to betting on sporting events without a license.

Although prediction market platforms offer event contracts on a variety of topics such as US politics, weather, and pop culture, authorities in many US states have been challenging companies like Kalshi or Polymarket over sports bets and, in Arizona, election wagering.

Selig, as the sole commissioner at the CFTC, has been publicly pushing for the agency’s “exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets, including through the proposal for a rule that could amend or issue new regulations for overseeing the companies.

Dormant Bitcoin whale wallet wakes after 13 years

A long-dormant Bitcoin whale wallet has reactivated after 13 years and seven months of inactivity, shifting 0.00079 BTC ($56), a tiny fraction of a fortune now worth around $147 million.

On-chain data from BitInfoCharts shows that the legacy address “1NB3ZX…” received 2,100 BTC on July 5, 2012, when BTC traded at about $6.59 per coin. At today’s prices, that stash is valued at roughly $147 million, turning an initial outlay of about $13,800 into an unrealized gain of more than 10,000x.

The move caught the eye of on-chain trackers like Whale Alert and LookonChain that monitor so-called Satoshi-era addresses, a term often used for coins acquired in Bitcoin’s early years. BitInfoCharts shows the address was funded in a single large inflow on July 5, 2012, and then left untouched for almost 14 years.

Bitcoin traders are split between reverence and speculation. Some praised the HODLer’s apparent discipline for holding through multiple boom-and-bust cycles without selling. Others argued that a more likely explanation was that the owner recently recovered their seed phrase or private key, and was sending a test transaction before cashing out a meaningful amount.

Test transactions of a few tens of dollars are common practice among long-inactive holders, who often move a tiny amount first to confirm they still control the wallet and that the destination address is correct. Traders will now watch closely to see whether the wallet sends more of its 2,100 BTC to exchanges or fresh addresses in the coming days.

The reawakened 2012 wallet follows another recent move by a Satoshi-era BTC holder in January. On that occasion, a separate address that first accumulated Bitcoin in 2013 transferred its entire balance of about 909 BTC (worth roughly $85 million) to a new wallet after more than 13 years of dormancy. The whale locked in a gain of around 13,900x on coins originally bought for less than $7 each.

AI agents are coming to XRP Ledger

t54 announced that autonomous AI agents can now pay for services natively on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) using XRP and Ripple USD (RUSD). The system relies on t54’s x402 facilitator.

T54, founded by Chandler Fang, is a San Francisco-based startup building trust infrastructure for the agentic economy. The company raised $5 million in a seed round in February, co-led by Anagram, PL Capital, and Franklin Templeton. Ripple joined as a strategic investor alongside Virtuals Ventures, Blockchain Coinvestors, and ABCDE.

AI-driven “agent commerce” on the XRP Ledger could strengthen the long-term case for XRP, especially if autonomous systems begin using it for payments and settlement. It gives XRP a credible story in the AI + crypto intersection.

But whether it translates into enough on-chain volume to meaningfully impact XRP’s price depends on whether agent commerce actually takes off at scale, and that’s still an open question. Meanwhile, the development comes as XRP continues to face market volatility.

In other news, a recent survey by Ripple showed that 72% of more than 1,000 global finance leaders believe companies must offer digital asset solutions to stay competitive. The survey found stablecoins were the most prominent use case, with 74% of respondents saying they can boost cash flow and unlock trapped capital.

The report polled around 1,000 finance firms globally, including banks, asset managers, fintechs, and corporates, on adoption, stablecoins, tokenization, and custody priorities. The findings suggest many financial firms are focusing less on whether to engage with digital assets and more on how to buy, build, or partner for the infrastructure needed to support them.

Ripple said the shift toward digital assets is being driven by evolving regulation, growing interest from large banks, increased use of fintech services, and the rise of stablecoins. Respondents showed the strongest interest in stablecoins, while institutions increasingly view them as tools for treasury management.

Afroman’s crypto token pumps 4,685% after defamation trial victory

Afroman ($FRO), the crypto token launched by “Because I Got High” rapper Afroman, has skyrocketed in price after police in Ohio failed to sue him over a series of music videos he made mocking officers who raided his home.

A jury sided with the rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, concluding a defamation lawsuit launched by police in Adams County. The legal action stemmed from a police raid on Foreman’s home back in 2022 that resulted in a broken door, confiscation of cash, and a search that failed to find any evidence of suspected drug trafficking and kidnapping.

The Pump.fun cryptocurrency $FRO was launched six months ago, right before Foreman promoted the token on his Instagram account in a livestream that showed when he was dining out. Across the two days leading up to Foreman’s defamation trial victory, the crypto market cap pumped 4,685% to a high of $335,000.

Foreman was able to capture footage of the raid with his home security cameras, and in response, he created a series of music videos mocking the police deputies in various outlandish ways.

One song called “Lemon Pound Cake” mocked an officer who was recorded looking for a split second at Foreman’s lemon pound cake on the kitchen counter. A second one called “Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera” focused on the officers disconnecting his cameras during the raid. Then, there were some other graphic ones.

The officers claimed the videos caused them humiliation, ridicule, mental distress, and led to a loss of reputation. In deposition footage, one officer claimed the videos partly caused his ex-wife to leave him. However, when his ex-wife testified in court as the only defense witness brought by Foreman, she said the music videos never affected her marriage or life.

Foreman also argued that the officers wouldn’t pay for the damages they caused during the raid, and so he created the music videos in an attempt to recoup those losses. He argued his right to free speech while dressed in a red, white, and blue suit adorned with the American flag.

After the verdict was handed down, Foreman filmed himself celebrating and shouting, “Yeah! We did it, America!…Freedom of speech! Right on, right on, God bless America!” The rapper had already uploaded a song before the trial’s last few days, singing his own rendition of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

Zypto highlights crypto payment gateway infrastructure

Zypto, the blockchain payments company, continues to increase focus on its crypto payment infrastructure, Zypto Pay, as a solution for businesses looking to accept digital assets in everyday transactions.

Zypto Pay operates as a full-service crypto payment gateway, enabling merchants to accept payments in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins while settling funds in either digital assets or local fiat currencies.

The platform is designed to simplify crypto adoption for businesses through fast onboarding, minimal setup requirements, and flexible integration options across both online and physical retail environments. Businesses can deploy the gateway through website APIs or point-of-sale systems, allowing them to accept crypto payments in-store or online.

A key feature is its pricing model. Zypto Pay charges no merchant-side processing or setup fees, with transaction costs instead applied on the customer side. The gateway supports payments in more than 100 cryptocurrencies, reflecting growing demand for flexible, cross-border payment options.

The system uses on-chain verification to confirm transactions and multi-party computation vault technology to secure funds before settlement. Payments are processed quickly, with funds typically available for withdrawal shortly after confirmation.

Zypto’s continued development of its payment infrastructure forms part of a broader strategy to expand real-world crypto use. Through its wider ecosystem, including a self-custodial wallet, crypto cards, and bill payment services, the company is positioning digital assets as a practical medium of exchange.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Hashi will enable native BTC to be used directly in on-chain financial services without relying on wrapped or synthetic assets, bringing transparency and automated collateral management to Bitcoin finance.

The baseball season kicks off on March 26 with 22 teams playing across the US. As of last week, Polymarket has listed several event contracts for the league’s spring training games.

The reactivation of a dormant Bitcoin whale wallet highlights the staggering long-term gains early adopters achieve and the uncertainty such movements introduce into the crypto market.

Ripple’s survey suggests fintech firms are leading the adoption of digital assets, and t54 is living proof of this. Around 47% of fintech respondents plan to build their own digital asset solutions, compared to 14% of corporates.

Afroman’s defamation trial victory and the subsequent rise of the $FRO token emphasize how viral narratives and real-world events can rapidly influence crypto markets.

Zypto says its payment infrastructure is designed to address common pain points in traditional payments, including high fees, slow settlement times, and geographic restrictions. By leveraging blockchain rails, the company is targeting merchants, freelancers, and enterprises looking to transact without relying heavily on legacy banking infrastructure.

What’s your favorite development this week? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

Which blockchain was Hashi launched on?

Bitcoin-based finance protocol, Hashi, was launched on the Sui blockchain.

Why did MLB sign a deal with Polymarket?

Major League Baseball (MLB) reached an agreement for prediction market platform Polymarket to be its Official Prediction Market Exchange.

How much did the dormant Bitcoin wallet move?

The 13-year-old dormant Bitcoin whale wallet shifted 0.00079 BTC ($56 now worth around $147 million.

Which blockchain can AI agents now pay for services on?

t54 announced that autonomous AI agents can now pay for services natively on the XRP Ledger (XRPL) using XRP and Ripple USD (RUSD).

This Week In Crypto – Solana, Ripple, Ethereum, and Pi Network

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, ready for this week’s news round-up?

VeryAI raises $10M to build Solana, Ripple plans to secure a license in Australia, and the Ethereum Foundation sells 5,000 ETH in a $10M deal. MoonPay X Games athletes to be offered stablecoin bonus, Gen Z crypto ownership reaches 23% in Australia, Pi Network releases Pi Launchpad on Testnet, and Zypto highlights the shift beyond crypto exchanges.

Let’s get straight into the action.

VeryAI raises $10M to build on Solana

Startup VeryAI has raised $10 million in a seed funding round led by Polychain Capital to launch a palm-scan identity verification system designed to differentiate real users from AI-generated accounts, per an official X post.

The system captures palm images with a smartphone camera and converts them into encrypted biometric signatures used to confirm that a user is human without storing identifiable data. The company said zero-knowledge proofs allow users to verify their status across platforms without revealing personal information.

The platform records identity attestation on Solana and aims to help crypto exchanges, fintech companies, and online platforms address the growing risks posed by bots, deepfakes, and synthetic identities.

According to the company, palm biometrics are highly distinctive and less publicly exposed than facial features commonly used in identity checks. The scans are converted into irreversible feature representations rather than stored images, preventing the original biometric data from being reconstructed.

The company is already working with organizations including MEXC, Colosseum, Clique, and Talus, with other centralized exchanges and wallets preparing to integrate the plan verification system, Meltzer said.

Investors in the round included the Berggruen Institute and Anagram. Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of the Solana blockchain, also joined as an angel investor.

Ripple plans to secure a license in Australia

Ripple said it is set to secure key financial services in Australia through the acquisition of an Australian payments firm, adding to an international license grab over the last year.

In a statement last week, Ripple said it will buy BC Payments Australia, a corporate entity tied to the European Banking Circle Group, allowing it access to the company’s Australian Financial Services License (AFSL), which is set to become a requirement for certain crypto companies to provide financial services in the country.

The acquisition of BC Payments Australia is set to close on April 1, according to a report from The Australian, citing comments from Ripple APAC managing director Fiona Murray. She said “Australia is a key market for Ripple” and that an AFSL would strengthen the company’s ability to scale its payments business throughout the country.

Ripple has been working to expand its portfolio of international licenses over the last year. In addition to recently securing conditional approval for a national trust banking charter in the US, Ripple has also won payment licenses in Singapore, the UAE, and the UK over the last 12 months.

Also, the firm has been working to expand use cases for XRP and its Ripple USD stablecoin through key acquisitions in recent months, most notably non-bank prime broker Hidden Road and corporate treasury platform GTreasury.

The acquisition of Hidden Road, now Ripple Prime, made Ripple the first crypto-native company to own and run a multi-asset prime broker, covering everything from clearing, financing, and brokerage across digital assets, derivatives, swaps, foreign exchange, and fixed-income products for institutional clients.

Ripple’s plans for Australia come as lawmakers introduced the Digital Asset Framework bill last year, which passed through the lower house in February and is now before the Senate. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), the country’s top markets regulator, has also proposed rules for the crypto sector.

Ethereum Foundation sells 5,000 ETH in a $10M deal

On March 14, the Ethereum Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the blockchain network, revealed that it finalized the sale of 5,000 ETH to BitMine through an over-the-counter transaction.

Notably, the Foundation had come under market scrutiny in the past over its ETH sales. The Foundation said it sold the tokens at an average price of $2,042.96 to fund its core operations, including protocol research and development.

However, the choice of BitMine as the direct counterparty has drawn immediate scrutiny. BitMine currently stands as the largest corporate holder of Ethereum, controlling more than 4.47 million tokens valued at approximately $9.07 billion.

This is because the Tom Lee-led firm has aggressively acquired the cryptocurrency over the past year and has publicly outlined its intent to capture 5% of the total circulating supply.

In a proof-of-stake network, voting power and consensus influence are directly tied to token holdings. Consequently, facilitating the concentration of assets in a single corporate entity clashes with the foundation’s historical emphasis on network decentralization and anti-monopoly principles.

Meanwhile, the transaction underscores a broader, fundamental strategic pivot for the foundation. Following the sale, the organization now holds just over 200,000 ETH, worth roughly $424 million.

Facing a shrinking treasury runway, the foundation recently abandoned its long-standing policy of keeping its assets idle. The stance was originally taken to avoid influencing network consensus. Last month, it staked 70,000 tokens to generate yield. This is designed to redirect staking rewards toward ecosystem development and community grants.

Simultaneously, the foundation released a new governance manifesto that ties it to strict ideological standards. The new mandate aligns the Foundation and its workers with decentralization and an open-source ethos. It explicitly filters out protocols deemed “surveillance-friendly” or “centralization-dependent.”

These sweeping financial and policy changes coincide with a recent leadership shake-up at the organization. Earlier this month, co-executive director Tomasz Stanczak abruptly stepped down, with Bastian Aud appointed as the interim replacement.

MoonPay X Games athletes to be offered stablecoin bonus

The long-running action sports spectacle X Games will share a title with MoonPay. Athletes drafted to compete in the MoonPay X Games League are set to receive signing bonuses in stablecoins, providing an early look at how the crypto payments provider plans to elevate its partners via the action sports spectacle.

MoonPay said one-time payments of $2,500 will be sent to 40 athletes in the form of XO Cash, a stablecoin offered by Exodus. They will receive the funds in Exodus’ flagship product, with balances linked to payment cards.

In December, MoonPay said that it would work with Exodus to develop a stablecoin that dovetails with Exodus Pay, a self-custodial payments platform that’s supposed to launch in the second half of this year. That wasn’t long before MoonPay entered into a three-year title partnership with X Games, part of the organization’s shift towards a league-based format.

Exodus co-founder and CEO JP Richardson described the arrangement as especially beneficial for international competitors, who’d struggle to spend the signing bonuses abroad using traditional payment services.

When MoonPay signaled in January that the X Games were shifting to a league-based format, the firm noted that athletes didn’t receive compensation for participating in past standalone events.

Similarly, MoonPay President Keith Grossman also affirmed that its title partnership would function as a distribution mechanism for crypto-native projects, allowing them to gain media exposure through opportunities that they may not be able to access otherwise.

For athletes trying to find their footing in skateboarding, BMX, snowboarding, and freeskiing, X Games’ shift comes with the promise of perks like paid travel expenses and a health insurance stipend. This marks a departure from the high-stakes competitions rooted in prize money that have typically made athletes reliant on individual sponsorships.

Gen Z crypto ownership reaches 23% in Australia

Australia’s financial regulator has urged young investors not to rely on social media influencers and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to make financial decisions, according to a study that also found that one in four “Gen Zs” invest in crypto.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) posted the results of a survey on Sunday, finding that Gen Z has high levels of trust in “often unreliable sources,” which has contributed to riskier financial decisions. ASIC said,

“Moneysmart’s Gen Z study found that while Gen Z has a strong appetite for reputable and trustworthy financial content, many struggle to find it and their search often leads them to sources designed for engagement rather than accuracy”

ASIC took action against influencers over their financial social media content last year in June, issuing warning notices to 18 influencers “suspected of unlawfully promoting high-risk financial products and providing unlicensed financial advice.”

The latest survey was conducted between November 28 and December 10 last year with 1,127 respondents between 18 and 28. It found that 63% of the group uses social media for financial information, while 18% use artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, and 30% said they use YouTube specifically.

It also found that 56% of Gen Z say they “somewhat or completely trust” financial information on social media, with 52% saying the same of social media influencers primarily covering financial niches. AI, however, ranked as the most trusted source at 64%.

Furthermore, the survey showed that 23% of Gen Z now own crypto in Australia, with 29% of these trading based on social media and influencer content, prompting a warning that influencers may set unrealistic expectations about investment returns, market volatility, and the intricacies of long-term investing.

ASIC commissioner Alan Kirkland noted that the regulator has been keeping an eye on marketing activity designed to drive people to make investments, noting some of them are scams. He mentioned that ASIC is monitoring what types of financial information are being derived from AI tools, as some companies have integrated them into their services to offer personalized trading guidance.

Pi Network releases Pi Launchpad on Testnet

Pi Network (PI) released the initial version of its Pi Launchpad as a Pi App on Testnet with a test token on March 16. The team claimed to introduce a token launch mechanism that differs from typical Web3 launchpad models.

The Pi Core Team said the Testnet rollout is designed to let Pioneers familiarize themselves with how the process works before a Mainnet launch. The Launchpad applies Design 1 from the PiRC framework, an open-source proposal system Pi released on its Open Network anniversary.

Over the weekend, Pi surged as investors responded aggressively to a cluster of bullish developments. The altcoin reportedly gained 30% in 24 hours on March 13, reflecting heightened market enthusiasm. Multiple catalysts aligned simultaneously, driving participation to levels not seen in months.

On March 14, Pi Day 2026 was celebrated, generating community excitement and renewed attention toward the token. The cultural significance of the date within the Pi Network ecosystem has historically driven engagement spikes, and this year appeared no different.

Zypto highlights shift beyond crypto exchanges

A new publication from Zypto is spotlighting a major shift in how users access digital assets, arguing that crypto exchanges are no longer the central gateway to the ecosystem. It outlined how exchanges have evolved alongside the rise of wallets and decentralized applications (dApps).

Crypto exchanges have traditionally served as the primary onboarding channel for new users, offering marketplaces to buy, sell, and trade digital assets. However, Zypto notes that users are increasingly interacting with crypto through alternative platforms such as self-custody wallets, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, and integrated mobile apps.

Now, applications combine multiple functions, including storage, payments, and on-chain interaction into a single interface.

Zypto also highlights the risks associated with leaving assets on centralized exchanges, including exposure to security breaches, operational failures, and withdrawal restrictions during market stress. The company suggests that self-custody solutions offer an alternative that reduces dependency on third-party platforms.

Despite the shift, exchanges continue to play a key role in the ecosystem, particularly for active traders who rely on deep liquidity, advanced order types, and fast execution. For many users, exchanges now function as a temporary tool rather than a long-term destination.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

As artificial intelligence continues to blur the line between human and automated activity on the internet, some developers say blockchain-based identity systems could help restore trust in digital interactions.

With the AFSL in place, Ripple Payments can manage the full lifecycle of a transaction, from onboarding and compliance through funding, FX, liquidity management, and final payout, while integrating both traditional banking rails and digital assets.

As the X Games prepares to retire a decades-old format laden with nostalgia, MoonPay is making efforts to affix itself to a brand where there is considerable overlap in terms of audience and ownership.

Pi Network’s release of the initial version of its Pi Launchpad, as well as the Pi Day celebration and listing, amplify optimism as broader market conditions keep improving. This creates a compounding effect where multiple tailwinds are reinforcing each other.

Zypto positions its app within this evolving landscape as a “full Web3 access layer,” combining self-custody wallet functionality with decentralized application access, cross-chain asset movement, and real-world payment services.

There’s so much to unpack this week, and we want to know your thoughts. Share them below!

FAQs

What does VeryAI want to build?

VeryAI has raised $10 million to launch a palm-scan identity verification system designed to differentiate real users from AI-generated accounts.

Where does Ripple plan to secure a license?

Ripple said it is set to secure key financial services in Australia.

Who did the Ethereum Foundation sell 5,000 ETH to?

Ethereum Foundation sold 5,000 ETH to BitMine via an over-the-counter transaction.

What is the Gen Z level of crypto adoption in Australia?

About 23% of Gen Z now own crypto in Australia.

This Week In Crypto – BNB Chain, AVAX, Tether, and Solana

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 12 Mar 2026 11:24:25 GMT

Hello, dear reader! We’ve come to our second weekly news series for March, and the cryptosphere isn’t slowing down.

This week, BNB Chain outpaces rivals in stablecoin activity, AVAX announces a new buyback and what it could mean long term, and Tether invests in an AI sleep tracking firm at a $1.5B valuation. Michael B. Jordan now leads on Polymarket for the Oscars Best Actor race, Solana processes $650B in stablecoin transfers, and Zypto integrates KuCoin Pay across its ecosystem.

Let’s dive in.

BNB Chain outpaces rivals in stablecoin activity

Stablecoins are rapidly becoming the primary liquidity rails of the crypto economy as traders seek stability during volatile markets. As capital rotates between assets, participants increasingly rely on dollar-pegged tokens to settle trades and move funds across chains.

Ethereum (ETH) currently anchors this infrastructure with about $161.4 billion in stablecoin supply, supported largely by Tether’s (USDT) dominance near 48.6%. TRON follows with roughly $86.7 billion, where USDT controls over 98% of the ecosystem. This reinforces its role as a major liquidity corridor.

Further below the list, BNB Chain (BNB) holds around $16.6 billion, while Solana (SOL) maintains about $15.8 billion, reflecting growing multi-chain distribution of stablecoin capital. Similarly, emerging networks like Base hold $4.8 billion, while Hyperliquid (HYPE) accounts for around $4.6 billion. This is evidence of rising participation in new settlement layers.

This expansion signals intensifying competition among blockchains. As stablecoin liquidity deepens across ecosystems, chains increasingly compete not just for supply but for transaction velocity, trading activity, and settlement dominance.

At the time of writing, stablecoin activity across blockchains revealed a striking imbalance between supply and usage. BNB Chain processed nearly 40% of global stablecoin transactions. More recently, BNB Chain recorded $21.7 billion in stablecoin transfers within a single day. This milestone marked the highest level over the past year.

Meanwhile, chains such as Ethereum and TRON hold far larger supply shares. And yet, their transaction share has remained comparatively lower. On the contrary, stablecoins on BNB Chain circulate rapidly rather than remaining idle in wallets or liquidity pools.

This dynamic becomes clearer through participation metrics. BNB Chain now hosts roughly 25% of the world’s active stablecoin wallets, reflecting strong user engagement across trading and payments.

Stablecoin activity is increasingly concentrated on the BNB Chain, supported by structural advantages that enable rapid transaction flows. Transaction costs have remained very low, too, with $2.11 million in weekly fees costing about $0.02 per transfer. The Fermi upgrade in January enhanced this efficiency by reducing block times to 0.45 seconds.

At the same time, network capacity has been strong. Daily activity averages about 15 million transactions. This throughput allows stablecoin transfers, particularly USDT payments, to move without congestion.

AVAX’s latest buyback and what it means long-term

AVAX has returned to the spotlight after AVAX One repurchased 2.4 million shares under its $40 million share buyback program. According to an update, the move signals confidence in the company’s long-term strategy.

CEO Jolie Kahn described the repurchase as a reflection of disciplined capital deployment. Such moves often strengthen investor sentiment. They also tend to put a spotlight on the broader ecosystem.

At the time of writing, market data suggested that larger investors have already started positioning themselves. AVAX’s Open Interest has been rising slightly over the past 24 hours. Rising Open Interest often signals new capital entering the derivatives market. This is usually associated with growing institutional participation. Such a signal becomes stronger when combined with whale activity.

Avalanche network whales are also aligning with surging institutional purchases. According to the Spot Average Order Size data, token whales have been heavily investing on the dip. Large investors are accumulating more orders across both Spot and Futures markets. This type of accumulation usually is evidence of strategic positioning, rather than short-term speculation.

Another shift is happening in the derivatives market. Buyers have started to dominate Futures trading activity. This change in order flow could mean improving market confidence. Historically, when buyers control derivatives markets, rallies often gain stronger support. The same projection could replicate itself on AVAX’s price action.

Tether invests in AI sleep tracking firm at a $1.5B valuation

Stablecoin firm Tether has led a $50 million strategic investment round in sleep technology startup Eight Sleep, to help the company integrate artificial intelligence agents into its sleep tech products.

The latest funding round was announced on Tuesday, with Eight Sleep raising $50 million at a $1.5 billion valuation. It follows a $100 million raise last August. The firm specializes in sleep health products, primarily across bedding and supplements.

In an announcement on Tuesday, Tether expressed its strong conviction in health technology to support “longevity, performance, and disease prevention,” and will collaborate with Eight Sleep to bring artificial intelligence-based health technology products to market.

Tether’s QVAC is a privacy-focused health tech service launched in December that enables users to integrate their bio-health data from multiple services or products, like smart rings, into a single platform, supported by local on-device AI to help users with data management and health insights.

Eight Sleep has stated that it plans to build a sleep-focused AI agent to support its Pod, a sleep tech product that automatically adjusts bed temperature, elevation, and sound based on factors such as heart rate, breathing, snoring, time asleep, and sleep stages.

The Pod already has AI integrations to track sleep health data; however, Eight Sleep has said the funding will help evolve the company’s current AI tools and capabilities. CEO and co-founder of Eight Sleep, Matteo Franceschetti, noted as part of Tether’s announcement,

“We’ve built the most smooth AI-powered health sensing system in the world, and this partnership with Tether gives us the infrastructure to take that intelligence beyond the Pod, into every aspect of personal health”,

On X, Franceschetti provided more detail, saying that Eight Sleep is now building a predictive agent trained on over 1 billion hours of sleep data; meanwhile, it is also “advancing FDA filings for sleep apnea detection.”

Michael B. Jordan leads on Polymarket for the Oscars’ Best Actor

Actor Michael B. Jordan overtook Timothee Chalamet on prediction market platform Polymarket as most likely to win “Best Actor” at the 2026 Oscars awards show, with his odds rising by over 4x since March 1.

Last week, the “Sinners” star won the best actor award at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, or SAG.

A week out from the Academy Awards, Polymarket traders place Jordan’s odds of winning the award at about 47%, while Chalamet is a close second at 45%, Leonardo DiCaprio is at 5%, Wagner Moura has 4% odds, and Ethan Hawke has only 1% odds.

Jordan was nominated for an Oscar for his role as twin brothers Smoke and Stack Moore in the 2025 vampire horror film, Sinners. Chalamet was nominated for his role in “Marty Supreme,” a fictional drama film about a table tennis player. Chalamet was in the lead till Saturday.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards show will air on March 15, and the prediction market for Oscars’ Best Actor has over $5.6 million in trading volume on Polymarket at the time of writing.

Prediction market platforms came to the fore during the 2024 US elections and continue to gain momentum, with crypto exchanges integrating prediction markets into their platforms and traditional financial companies also eyeing prediction market-style products.

Polymarket opened up its application for select, waitlisted US users in December 2025, with a full rollout of a US-regulated platform expected later in 2026. However, prediction market platforms continue to face scrutiny from some state-level regulators in the United States, who argue that they have the authority to regulate event contracts.

Solana transfers $650B in stablecoins

Stablecoin transaction flows have expanded rapidly across major blockchains, reflecting growing demand for digital dollar settlement. As adoption expanded, activity accelerated through late 2024 and early 2025. Combined monthly volumes regularly approached $700 billion, led primarily by Ethereum (ETH) and Tron (TRX).

However, the structure began shifting during 2025 as Solana’s (SOL) settlement activity increased steadily. Low fees and high throughput encouraged payment flows and trading pairs to migrate toward faster rails.

The trend culminated in February, when Solana processed roughly $650 billion in stablecoin transactions, surpassing competing networks. Together, rising settlement volumes suggest stablecoins are increasingly functioning as operational payment infrastructure rather than purely trading liquidity.

This shift appears clearly in transaction flows. During early 2024, adjusted stablecoin transfers ranged between $300 billion and $500 billion monthly. As financial use cases expanded, activity accelerated through 2025, frequently approaching $1 trillion per month.

By February, global stablecoin volume reached roughly $1.8 trillion, signaling deeper financial integration. Several forces drive this expansion. Exchanges increasingly route liquidity through USDC and USDT pairs, while DeFi protocols rely on stablecoins for collateral and settlement.

Meanwhile, institutional infrastructure reinforces these flows. Visa expanded USDC settlement to U.S. banks, allowing regulated institutions to process blockchain-based dollar transfers. For markets and participants, this implies stablecoins are becoming the default monetary layer for digital finance, shaping liquidity flows, trading structure, and cross-platform capital movement.

February’s stablecoin transfer volume marked a sharp acceleration in on-chain dollar settlement. The surge doubled prior monthly records, raising questions about durability once market conditions normalize.

Early indicators, however, suggest activity remains resilient. Stablecoin supply on Solana has reached roughly $15.4 billion, rising more than 12% over the past month. At the same time, USEC maintained about 53% market dominance, supporting stable liquidity across payments, trading pairs, and treasury transfers.

Wallet participation also continues expanding. Global stablecoin addresses now approach 49.6 million, reflecting sustained engagement across digital dollar transactions. If post-peak volumes stabilize near 70-80% of February’s surge, the data increasingly points toward stablecoins evolving into a durable payment infrastructure rather than episodic market activity.

Zypto integrates KuCoin Pay across its ecosystem

Zypto has announced the full integration of KuCoin Pay across its product ecosystem, allowing users of the crypto exchange KuCoin to access Zypto’s payment services directly from their exchange balances.

Under the integration, KuCoin users can now use KuCoin Pay as a native payment option inside Zypto App, enabling them to fund and spend crypto through Zypto’s various services without first transferring funds to an external wallet.

The partnership connects KuCoin’s trading infrastructure with Zypto’s payments ecosystem, allowing exchange balances to be used for everyday financial activities such as bill payments, gift card purchases, and mobile top-ups.

With the integration live, KuCoin Pay can now be used across Zypto’s core products. These include the ability to load Zypto’s crypto-linked Visa and Mastercard payment cards, which convert crypto into local currency when the card is funded.

Users can also pay bills through the platform, covering services such as utilities, credit cards, insurance, and loans. In addition, the app enables purchases from Zypto’s digital gift card marketplace and global mobile airtime and data top-ups.

The integration also extends to Zypto’s USDC-to-cash services, allowing users to convert stablecoins into physical cash or vice versa in Zypto App at participating MoneyGram locations.

Joe Parkin, co-founder of Zypto, said the integration provides users with easier access to practical financial services. He said,

“Integrating KuCoin Pay helps users by giving them easy access to a wide range of practical services they can use in everyday life”

Zypto positions its mobile application as a self-custodial, multichain crypto wallet that combines Web3 functionality with payment services, supporting more than 24,000 digital assets across over 20 blockchains.

By embedding KuCoin Pay directly into Zypto App, the companies aim to make it easier for crypto users to move from trading and holding assets to spending them on everyday services.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Conditions like network capacity, block time, and transaction cost position BNB Chain as a high-throughput transactional layer. All while other networks increasingly function as stablecoin storage or liquidity reserves within the broader crypto settlement infrastructure.

For now, the market remains in a transition phase. However, rising Open Interest, whale accumulation, and growing buyer dominance could allude to possible bullish continuation for AVAX.

Tether has been using its capital stockpile to invest in a wide range of areas outside crypto. Its investments span the gold sector, media, biotechnology, and AI. The firm has also made multiple attempts to buy professional football clubs.

The surge in stablecoin settlement provides critical context for the transaction growth observed across blockchain networks. Over the past two years, stablecoins have evolved from trading instruments into operational liquidity for payments, trading, and treasury management. Solana has been one of the dominant networks spearheading this.

Zypto said the partnership with KuCoin is designed to close the gap between holding cryptocurrencies on exchanges and using them in everyday transactions.

What do you think about this week’s developments? Let us know your thoughts!

FAQs

How did BNB Chain outpace its stablecoin rivals?

BNB Chain recorded $21.7 billion in stablecoin transfers within a single day, which marked the highest level over the past year.

What happened with AVAX?

AVAX One repurchased 2.4 million shares under its $40 million share buyback program.

What did Tether invest in?

Tether invested $50 million in sleep technology startup Eight Sleep to help integrate artificial intelligence agents into its sleep tech products

Who leads on Polymarket for the Oscars’ Best Actor?

Michael B. Jordan, nominated for his role in Sinners, leads by about 47% at the time of writing.

How much did Solana process in February?

Solana processed roughly $650 billion in stablecoin transactions in February, surpassing its competitors.

This Week In Crypto – Dash, AI, DAOs, PUNCH and Zypto x KuCoin Partnership

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:11:00 GMT

Hi there, frens. It’s been a high impact week across crypto, marked by major launches, bold partnerships and capital flowing fast through the markets.

Dash integrates Zcash Orchard privacy tool, Bitcoin miner buys stake in AI data center firm, and ZachXBT’s mysterious post sparks $2 million Polymarket bets. Vitalik Buterin proposes AI ‘stewards’ for DAOs, PUNCH meme coin surges but faces scrutiny, and Zypto launches native CCIP integration and announces a strategic partnership with KuCoin.

Let’s dive in.

Dash integrates Zcash Orchard privacy pool

Dash, the layer-1 blockchain protocol with privacy-preserving features, announced last week the integration of Zcash’s “Orchard” shielded pool into the Dash Evolution chain, a secondary layer on the L1 network that supports smart contract functionality.

The integration will go live following the completion of cybersecurity audits and is expected to launch in March. Initially, the integration will support basic transfers of Zcash between parties on the Evolution chain, with subsequent upgrades adding Orchard’s privacy features for tokenized real-world assets (RWAs).

The price of DASH, the network’s native token, surged by over 125% in January. Dash briefly reached a local high of about $96 before retracing to current levels of $31.69 at the time of writing.

On-chain privacy protocols and privacy blockchain tokens gained significant momentum in 2025 and early 2026, with proponents of the technology framing it as a response to increased financial surveillance from governments and corporations.

Many crypto insiders have claimed that the lack of privacy is holding back crypto payments and may be the missing link for crypto adoption.

Avidan Abitbol, former business development specialist for the Kaspa project, said that transaction data could also reveal information about key partnerships and other trade secrets to competitors.

Agata Ferreria, assistant professor at the Warsaw University of Technology, argues that true financial privacy is achieved through a combination of regulation, culture, and code, rather than simply protecting on-chain metadata.

However, a Bitcoin advocate, Saifedean Ammous, affirmed that user anonymity can still be breached, and ownership of privacy tokens can be determined through forensic analysis and law enforcement investigation..

Bitcoin miner buys stake in AI data center firm

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings has completed the purchase of a majority stake in French computing infrastructure operator Exaion, deepening its push into artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services.

The deal, first agreed in August 2025 with EDF Pulse Ventures, gives MARA France a 64% stake in Exaion after required regulatory approvals were secured, the Bitcoin miner said in a Friday announcement.

French energy giant EDF will remain a minority shareholder and continue as a customer of the business. The investment also creates a broader alliance. NJJ Capital, the investment vehicle of telecom entrepreneur Xaviel Niel, will acquire a 10% stake in MARA France as part of a partnership with MARA.

Governance of Exaion will reflect the new ownership structure. The company’s board will include three representatives from MARA, three from EDF Pulse Ventures, and one from NJJ, alongside Exaion’s chief executive and co-founder. Niel and MARA CEO Fred Thiel will both hold seats on the board.

After the 2024 halving cut block rewards and rising network difficulty squeezed margins, several publicly traded miners began adopting a hybrid model, keeping mining as a source of cash flow while building steadier revenue from AI cloud and high-performance computing services.

HIVE Digital Technologies is one example of the shift. The company reported strong results even during weaker Bitcoin prices, supported by expanding AI operations. CoreWeave has also moved from crypto mining to become a major AI infrastructure provider after GPU mining demand fell.

Other firms, including TeraWulf, Hut 8, IREN, and MARA, are also repurposing mining facilities and energy capacity into AI data centers.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose about 15% to $144.4 trillion over the weekend. It reversed an 11% drop earlier in the month, the biggest decline since China’s 2021 mining ban. The earlier fall followed severe winter storms across the United States that disrupted power grids and temporarily forced many miners offline, sharply reducing the hash rate.

While the greater difficulty reinforces Bitcoin’s security, it also raises the computing effort needed to mine new blocks, adding further margin pressure on operators already dealing with rising costs.

ZachXBT’s mysterious post sparks $2 million Polymarket bets

A cryptic post from blockchain investigator ZachXBT triggered a surge of betting activity on Polymarket, with more than $2.2 million traded on a market asking which crypto company he will expose in an upcoming insider-trading investigation.

ZachXBT wrote on X that a “major investigation” will be released on February 26 into one of crypto’s most profitable businesses, alleging insider trading. He did not name the company.

Within hours, traders piled into prediction bets. Polymarket shows Meteora leading the odds, followed by MEXC and Pump. fun, and World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

Meteora has drawn heavy attention because of its role as a Solana-based trading infrastructure tied to high-volume meme coin liquidity. It has also faced scrutiny in community discussions around politically linked meme coin activity, including Trump-related tokens.

MEXC appears on the list because it has repeatedly been mentioned in social media debates around listing behavior, whale activity, and alleged insider-style trading patterns in meme coin markets. While that does not prove wrongdoing, it helps explain why bettors quickly priced it as a candidate.

Pump.fun also drew bets because it sits at the center of the meme coin launch economy. The platform has been under intense community scrutiny over early-wallet activity, sniping, and whether some participants gained unfair advantages during launches.

Recent online discussion has focused on claims that Hayden Davis may have been an early whale in the PUMP token launch. However, Pump.fun later refuted those claims, calling them baseless. Those claims remain part of broader market speculation unless backed by direct evidence or formal findings.

WLFI likely entered the betting conversation after USD1 briefly depegged earlier on February 23 before recovering. WLFI blamed a coordinated attack, saying hackers compromised cofounder accounts, spread fear, and opened short positions. That episode, plus fresh rumor cycles, appears to have pushed the company onto traders’ radar.

Vitalik Buterin proposes AI ‘stewards’ for DAOs

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a technical overhaul of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), calling for the use of personal artificial intelligence (AI) agents to privately cast votes on behalf of users and help scale digital governance.

The plan, published on social media platform X one month after Buterin criticized DAOs for drifting into low participation and power centralization, aims to shift users away from delegating votes to large token holders.

“There are many thousands of decisions to make, involving many domains of expertise, and most people don’t have the time or skill to be experts in even one, let alone all of them,” Buterin said. “So what can we do? We use personal LLMs to solve the attention problem.”

First is privacy of content, ensuring sensitive data remains confidential. AI agents would operate within secure environments such as multi-party computation (MPC) or trusted execution environments (TEEs), enabling them to process private data without leaking it to the public blockchain.

Second is the anonymity of the participant. Buterin called for the use of zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs), a cryptographic tool that allows users to prove they’re eligible to vote without revealing their wallet address or how they voted.

This guards against coercion, bribery, and whale watching, where smaller voters mimic the decisions of larger token holders. These AI stewards would automate routine governance participation and flag only important issues for human review.

To filter out low-quality or spammy proposals, an emerging problem as generative AI floods open forums, Buterin suggests launching prediction markets. In these, agents could bet on the likelihood that proposals would be accepted. Good bets would earn payouts, incentivizing valuable contributions while penalizing noise.

Buterin also called for privacy-preserving tools such as multi-party computation and trusted execution environments, enabling AI agents to assess sensitive data, such as job applications or legal disputes, without exposing it on a public blockchain.

PUNCH meme coin surges but faces scrutiny

$PUNCH is a Solana-based meme coin that has captured the crypto world’s attention with an 80% price surge after securing a listing on a crypto exchange. This meteoric rise, which included a 22,290.8% increase in a week and a 260% increase in a day, propelled its market capitalization past $30 million over the weekend.

The token’s success is deeply rooted in a viral emotional narrative, a common factor in the meme coin space. The inspiration behind PUNCH comes from the heartwarming yet distressing story of a Japanese macaque monkey called Punch. Rescued from illegal wildlife trafficking, the monkey gained global sympathy after images and videos showed him clinging to a small orangutan doll, his inseparable comfort companion.

Beyond the compelling backstory, several structural factors fueled PUNCH’s parabolic ascent.

The token, launched on the Solana network, benefits from the chain’s low fees and high transaction speeds, which enable rapid trading and liquidity formation. Its website claims a fixed supply of 1 billion tokens, 0% transaction tax, locked and burned liquidity, and renounced ownership; features touted to attract speculative traders looking for quick gains.

This combination of a potent emotional narrative, aggressive social media amplification, and favorable technical characteristics within the Solana ecosystem created a perfect storm for PUNCH. It quickly became CoinGecko’s top daily gainer and a trending asset, drawing in a flood of retail investors and momentum traders eager to capitalize on the next major meme coin pump.

Similarly, it hasn’t been all fun and games with PUNCH. Popular crypto trader The White Whale issued a warning about the token, suggesting that it’s showing signs of ‘market manipulation’ and that the sheer volume of liquidity the token attracted suggests that it’s not organic.

It’s not just crypto traders who have jumped on the monetary potential of a viral monkey, as users have already suggested buying up the plushie monkey from their local IKEAs and selling them on at an inflated price. IKEA has also recorded an increase in sales of the plushie thanks to Punch’s fame.

In addition, the zoo has been experiencing a surge of visitors who have come just to see Punch the monkey. Punch has even caught the eyes of Justin Sun, the billionaire founder of Tron, who donated $100,000 to the zoo housing Punch via his exchange HTX.

Zypto Launches Chainlink CCIP Integration and Announces KuCoin Partnership

Zypto App v1.26 introduces an innovative native Chainlink CCIP integration, expanding decentralized cross chain swaps within its self custodial mobile environment. With CCIP deployed, cross chain movement becomes a direct, embedded capability inside the app rather than relying on external bridge interfaces.

Zypto App already supports more than 24,000 crypto assets and over one million cross chain swap routes across multiple blockchains and liquidity sources. The addition of native CCIP infrastructure broadens those capabilities further, giving users additional ways to move assets across supported networks from within a single application.

Alongside the technical release, Zypto and KuCoin announced a strategic partnership integrating KuCoin Pay directly into Zypto App. KuCoin users can now fund cards, purchase gift cards, pay bills, complete mobile top ups and access USDC to Cash services directly from their exchange balance.

Joe Parkin, Co-founder of Zypto, said:

“Integrating KuCoin Pay helps users by giving them easy access to a wide range of practical services they can use in everyday life. Together, we’re putting the currency back into cryptocurrency.”

Alicia Kao, Managing Director of KuCoin, said:

“KuCoin Pay is about empowering our users to utilize crypto into every aspect of their lives. Zypto provides a powerful and intuitive real-world spending layer that perfectly complements our vision. ”

By aligning exchange liquidity with mobile first payment infrastructure, Zypto continues positioning its app as a consolidated environment for storage, cross chain movement and real world crypto utility.

Closing remark

Dash’s integration with Zcash’s Orchard privacy pool is a step in the right direction for on-chain privacy protocols and privacy blockchain tokens. Bitcoin mining companies are increasingly turning to AI and data center computing as pressure on mining economics grows.

For now, the Polymarket market reflects sentiment and speculation, not confirmation of ZachXBT’s target. Time will tell if his claims were true or simply a bluff. Buterin’s stance is for individuals to deploy their own AI model, trained on their past messages and stated values, to vote on the thousands of decisions DAOs face.

Punch’s powerful visual and emotional narrative resonated deeply across social media platforms, transforming a tragic animal story into a cultural phenomenon that quickly found its way into the crypto ecosystem.

Zypto’s latest releases reflect that same structural shift. With native CCIP integration and a strategic partnership with KuCoin, interoperability and liquidity access are moving closer to everyday crypto use inside a single mobile environment.

What do you think of this week’s developments? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

Which infrastructure did Dash integrate?

Dash integrates Zcash’s Orchard privacy pool into the Dash Evolution chain.

How much of a stake does MARA Holding have in Exaion?

Bitcoin miner MARA Holdings purchased a 64% majority stake in computing infrastructure operator Exaion.

Which cryptic post did ZachXBT make?

ZachXBT wrote on X that a “major investigation” will be released on February 26 into one of crypto’s most profitable businesses, alleging insider trading.

What did Vitalik Buterin propose?

Vitalik Buterin proposed that AI agents help to privately cast votes on behalf of users in DAOs.

How did Punch get global appeal?

Punch had a powerful visual, emotional narrative, and outstanding structural factors like Solana’s low fees and high transaction speeds.

This Week In Crypto – Crypto Trading on X, Anthropic, Bitcoin, and Solana

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, another big week is unfolding across crypto.

Crypto trading is coming to X, and Anthropic’s $380B valuation is raising fresh questions for crypto markets. Coinbase faces backlash over delayed payouts, while an early Satoshi-era Bitcoin wallet made a decisive $2B accumulation move. Anchorage Digital and Kamino partnered around Solana, and Zypto reinforced the utility of its ZYP rewards.

Let’s dive in.

Crypto trading is coming to X soon

X is preparing to enable users to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies directly within the app, without switching to a separate brokerage.

According to Nikita Bier, Head of Product, X will soon roll out a feature called “Smart Cashtags.” These build on the platform’s existing system, where users type symbols like $BTC to track assets such as Bitcoin (BTC).

Still, the upgrade goes further. Instead of simply showing prices, tapping a cashtag will open live charts, related posts, and a built-in option to trade instantly.

The goal is to remove the extra steps between discovering an asset and acting on it. X has been progressively adding financial features since introducing Cashtags in 2022. That said, trading is only one part of a much bigger plan.

Since acquiring X in 2022, Elon Musk has been clear about his goal, and that is to turn the platform into an “everything app” where users can handle their entire financial life. The firm has laid the groundwork for peer-to-peer transfers, daily consumer payments, and now, active investing.

A key step toward that vision is X Money, a payments feature currently in limited beta. Musk said it will let users send and receive money directly within the app, similar to popular peer-to-peer payment services.

He described it as a feature hub for everyday transactions, where users won’t need separate apps to manage payments. The vision mirrors the utility of Asian “super apps” that combine messaging, social networking, and payments.

At a recent presentation for his AI venture xAI, Musk said,

“This is intended to be the place where all money is. The central source of all monetary transactions…”

With around 600 million monthly users, X already has the scale to support such a turn. The company has spent the past few years building financial tools, ranging from simple price tracking to payments and now, direct trading.

Why Anthropic’s $380B valuation can trouble crypto

Anthropic, the strongest rival to OpenAI, has officially announced a record-breaking $30 billion fundraising round. The deal lifts the company’s post-money valuation to $380 billion, highlighting the powerful pull of capital into the artificial intelligence sector.

Behind the headline number, however, lie complex second-order effects that could increase pressure on the cryptocurrency market.

Anthropic confirmed it raised $30 billion in a Series G round at a valuation of $380 billion. The round was led by GIC and Coatue, with participation from major investors including Founders Fund, Sequoia, BlackRock, Temasek, Microsoft, and NVIDIA.

The company’s financial momentum is notable. Revenue run-rate has reached $14 billion, expanding more than tenfold annually over the past three years.

Claude Code has gained strong enterprise traction, with eight of the Fortune 10 companies now using Claude. The number of customers spending more than $1 million per year has surged from 12 to over 500.

Anthropic now expects annual revenue to nearly quadruple this year, reaching approximately $18 billion. As AI tools become capable of autonomously executing complex tasks, demand for traditional software is likely to decline sharply. Instead of paying monthly subscriptions for dozens of SaaS products, enterprises may increasingly rely on a single general-purpose AI assistant to manage operations.

Bloomberg recently reported that advances in new AI automation tools from Anthropic triggered a sell-off of up to $285 billion in software stock market capitalization during the first week of February.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, continues to show a strong correlation with software stocks. The $3 trillion private credit flows largely drive this relationship, with software accounting for roughly 17% of investments by deal count.

Last week, analyst Jim Bianco stated, “Software stocks are struggling again today. $IGV (iShares Software ETF) is essentially back to last week’s panic lows. Don’t forget there’s another type of software, ’programmable money,’ crypto. Bitcoin (blue) with the software index (orange). They are the same thing.”

Pressure that began building in mid-2025 has tightened capital conditions. This shift has increased the risk of reduced lending, early repayments, and forced asset sales, with spillover effects reaching the cryptocurrency market.

As demand for AI tools rises, not only from Anthropic but across the sector, expectations for SaaS companies may weaken. That shift could elevate loan default risks. USB has warned that U.S. private credit default rates could reach 13%. Such stress may negatively affect Bitcoin and the broader crypto market through correlation channels.

AI threatens traditional software revenues by displacing demand. It also competes with crypto in areas such as quantum security. As a result, closely monitoring private credit flows and AI development has become increasingly important for crypto risk management.

Coinbase faces backlash over delayed Super Bowl predictions payout

Coinbase is facing mounting criticism from users after many participants in its Super Bowl “Big Game Challenge” prediction market contest reported delayed or missing payouts, even after qualifying for a share of the advertised Bitcoin prize pool.

Community complaints and technical issues highlight the growing pains of prediction markets as they surge in popularity while confronting regulatory, operational, and infrastructure challenges.

On Reddit and other forums, users described confusing and frustrating experiences with the payout process. Reportedly, some users correctly predicted outcomes in the Big Game but still haven’t been paid. Others reported winnings showing briefly in their account balances before disappearing without explanation, or payouts reflected in USD without transferability or access.

Amidst these frustrations, some are calling the situation a “rug pull,” claiming Coinbase’s app initially confirmed a win after five correct picks, the threshold for eligibility, only for a later email to declare they had not won.

However, support responses seen in some threads indicate that rewards are being held until all prediction markets and mail-in entries are settled, in line with the contest’s official rules.

Coinbase has previously said winners will receive their share of the $1,000,000 in Bitcoin directly into their accounts by February 23, 2026. Unfortunately, the lack of transparency and account migrations has frustrated users trying to confirm settlement status.

The timing of these complaints coincides with broader strains in crypto-linked prediction markets. Partner platform Kalshi, which provides the backend for Coinbase’s event contracts, suffered deposit and transaction delays during the Super Bowl due to overwhelming traffic.

Similar technical pressure was observed across the industry on prediction markets during the championship. This suggests systemic scalability challenges for platforms offering event contracts under high demand.

The Coinbase backlash arrives amid a broader regulatory and legal battleground. State gaming regulators, such as the Nevada Gaming Control Board, have sued Coinbase to block its prediction markets. They argue that they constitute unlicensed sports wagering.

These legal actions fuel uncertainty around the regulatory status of event contracts, complicating rollout and user experiences. The current Coinbase backlash highlights the operational and communication gaps that can accompany rapid product expansion.

Oldest Satoshi-era Bitcoin wallet buys $2B in BTC

While most small investors are focused on daily price changes, one of Bitcoin’s oldest and most famous wallets has made a major move.

A wallet from the early “Satoshi era,” when Bitcoin was still an experiment, has become active again and bought around 26,000 BTC.

With a value of more than $2 billion, this is not just a normal trade. It sends a strong signal to the market. This wallet is well known among analysts because it has correctly bought during major market dips since 2015, earning over $800 million in profits.

When such an experienced and successful investor chooses to buy more at current levels, it suggests strong confidence in Bitcoin’s future. It also shows that short-term price drops may not matter as much as many people think.

The timing of this $2 billion purchase was not random. Just a day earlier, Bitcoin tried to break above the important $70,000 level but failed. Heavy selling pushed the price down by about 3%, sending it to nearly $68,500.

This made many small investors nervous, with some expecting prices to fall even further. While most people saw this drop as a bad sign, the Satoshi-era whale saw it as a buying opportunity. By purchasing 26,000 BTC at these levels, the whale turned a weak price zone into a strong support area.

This move matters for two main reasons.

First, large investors move their Bitcoin off exchanges and into private wallets, reducing the number of coins available for selling. With fewer BTC on the exchange, sellers find it harder to push prices lower.

Second, this wallet has a strong record of buying at market lows. When such an experienced investor buys heavily, it boosts confidence among other major institutions.

Together, their buying creates a strong price floor and helps prevent panic during short-term drops.

Anchorage Digital and Kamino partner with Solana

Anchorage Digital has partnered with Kamino and Solana Company to roll out a structure that allows institutions to borrow against staked Solana without moving assets out of regulated custody.

In an announcement, Anchorage said the initiative expands its Atlas collateral management platform by integrating with Kamino, a Solana-based decentralized lensing protocol.

The effort is being carried out in collaboration with Solana Company, a publicly listed digital asset treasury (NASDAQ: HSDT) dedicated to acquiring Solana and formed with backing from Pantera Capital and Summer Capital.

Under the structure, institutions can use natively staked SOL as collateral for on-chain borrowing while the assets remain held at Anchorage Digital Bank, a federally chartered crypto bank.

That means investors can continue earning staking rewards while accessing liquidity through Kamino’s lending markets.

Anchorage acts as collateral manager, overseeing loan-to-value ratios, margin requirements, and, if necessary, liquidations. Because the collateral remains in segregated custody, institutions do not need to move assets into smart contracts, a requirement that has historically limited participation by regulated entities.

The integration between Anchorage Digital, Kamino, and Solana underscores growing institutional interest in decentralized finance.

However, that momentum is unfolding against an uncertain regulatory backdrop in the United States, where lawmakers are still debating how to oversee digital assets and DeFi platforms.

At the center of the debate is the proposed CLARITY Act, which aims to establish clearer jurisdictional boundaries and regulatory standards for digital assets, including DeFi protocols.

While the bill is intended to reduce uncertainty for market participants, some DeFi advocates argue that it falls short of addressing how decentralized protocols, developers, and governance structures should be treated under the law.

Industry groups have raised concerns that earlier draft language, including amendments introduced in January, does not sufficiently distinguish between centralized intermediaries and decentralized systems.

Zypto Reinforces Closed-Loop Rewards Model Ahead of Integration Launches

As Zypto prepares to roll out major interoperability integrations inside its mobile wallet, the company is drawing renewed attention to how its ZYP rewards system operates within the ecosystem.

ZYP rewards function as a usable in-app balance that can be applied fully or partially at checkout. They can be used toward crypto cards, bill payments, mobile top-ups, gift cards, or the Vault Key Card, allowing users to circulate rewards back into the same environment in which they were earned.

Closing remark

The ‘Smart Cashtags’ development is X’s latest move to reduce friction when switching between social media and brokerage applications. By bridging these functions, the update potentially accelerates how quickly retail investors can act on information.

Anthropic is not the sole driver of these risks. Its swift ascent, however, may signal a larger wave of volatility ahead. Coinbase’s operational issues highlight how infrastructure designed for everyday trading may struggle with spikes tied to major events.

After more than 14 years of ups and downs with Bitcoin, long-term growth is still seen as the best strategy. All in all, this shows that the most experienced investors are not leaving; instead, they are quietly preparing for what comes next.

Anchorage Digital’s partnership with Kamino and Solana potentially addresses a fundamental friction between traditional finance and decentralized lending markets.

ZYP rewards are earned through activity within the Zypto ecosystem, including referrals, swaps, and general platform engagement. The company describes the system as a closed-loop rewards model in which users earn and spend within the same ecosystem.

With so much to unpack, what do you think about this week’s news?

FAQs

What is the Smart Cashtags feature all about?

Smart Cashtags is an upcoming X feature that allows you trade stocks and crypto directly from the timeline.

How much did Anthropic raise?

Anthropic raised $30 billion in a Series G round at a valuation of $380 billion.

Why is Coinbase facing backlash?

Coinbase is facing criticism from users after reports of delayed or missing payouts from the Super Bowl prediction contest.

How much BTC did the Satoshi-era wallet buy?

The Satoshi-era wallet bought around 26,000 BTC ($2 billion).

Why did Anchorage partner with Solana?

Anchorage Digital partnered with Kamino and Solana to roll out an efficient lending structure.

This Week In Crypto – Axie Infinity, Kalshi, AI Agents, and Pump.fun

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 09:00:00 GMT

Gm frens, welcome to our second crypto round-up of February.

Axie Infinity is preparing a new token airdrop for AXS stakers, ai.com made a Super Bowl splash, and Kalshi strengthened its surveillance stack. Pump.fun acquired trading platform Vyper, Polymarket is shifting to native USDC settlement, and Ripple expanded its institutional custody infrastructure. Zypto also teased a major defi cross-chain integration.

Let’s get to it.

Axie Infinity token to be airdropped to AXS stakers

Axie Infinity, the popular blockchain game, will airdrop a new game token called “bonded AXS” (bAXS) to eligible wallets based on a social media post from its official X page.

The airdrop will consist of 100,000 bAXS tokens backed 1:1 with its existing AXS token and will be distributed to wallets that have staked at least 10 AXS, or about $16.90 worth of the existing Axie Infinity ecosystem token.

Among those who have staked 10 AXS, their Axie Score and the amount of staked AXS will impact a player’s airdrop allocation.

When launched, bAXS will act exactly like the game’s original token, allowing players to evolve and breed Axie monsters and spend them on the secondary marketplace.

Aside from the first airdrop, bAXS will also be distributed to players of the game’s upcoming land-based game, Terrariums. With the launch of Terrariums, there is an expectation for more AXS and bAXS spending.

The land game’s launch is expected sometime in Q2, after the launch of bAXS and two separate bAXS airdrops, the second of which has not yet been detailed.

The new token launch follows a volatile period for Axie’s existing token (AXS), which has jumped 57% over the last 30 days to change hands at around $1.55. Despite the surge, the token remains down 99% from its 2021 all-time high price of $164.90.

The all-time high price was established as its Pokémon-inspired game surged to more than 1 million daily active players at its peak. Axie Infinity’s play-to-earn economy struggled thereafter, while the broader blockchain gaming space has seen substantial turmoil of late.

Axie Infinity is built on Ronin, a gaming-centric Ethereum scaling network developed by Sky Mavis. The franchise will expand further with Axie Infinity: Atia’s Legacy, a new massive multiplayer online (MMO) game that was first revealed last year.

AI platform launches ad during Super Bowl

AI platform ai.com, founded by Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek, announced the launch of its autonomous AI agent for retail consumers.

The agentic AI will be able to execute functions including trading stocks, workflow automation, and simple tasks like calendar updates and managing changes to online social profiles.

Marszalek bought the “ai.com” domain for $70 million in cryptocurrency from an unknown seller and aired a 30-second ad during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 60, one of the biggest sporting events in the US.

Unsurprisingly, the website crashed due to the tremendous traffic. Once it came back online, users could sign up to create their personal AI agent.

AI agents have garnered significant attention from users over the last year, with 23% of respondents in a survey by investment research firm McKinsey indicating that their organizations were expanding the use of AI agents.

The growth of autonomous AI agents can automate crypto trading strategies and wallet management, removing the technical barrier-to-entry for new users unfamiliar with blockchain systems and on-chain transaction execution, proponents of the technology say.

Also, agents will feature segregated user data, secured by encryption keys unique to each user, and run according to user-set restrictions on what the agent is allowed to do.

Agentic AI can abstract away the technical complexity of cryptocurrencies by selecting the cheapest and fastest execution pathways and simplifying stablecoin usage.

According to the company, the new platform allows retail users to deploy “agentic” AI tools in under 60 seconds without technical coding knowledge. The interface targets mainstream consumers, though the long-term vision has been described as a “decentralized network” where billions of agents self-improve and share capabilities.

By launching with a Super Bowl spot, Marszalek is betting that mainstream appetite for automated personal assistants will outpace fatigue around crypto-adjacent projects. The trajectory points toward a hybrid business model that blends subscription tiers with transaction-based economics.

Kalshi partners with a crypto surveillance platform

Kalshi has expanded its surveillance on its prediction markets platform through an independent advisory committee and partnerships to detect insider trading and market manipulation.

Kalshi affirmed that the committee would give a quarterly rundown to the company’s outside counsel and publish statistics on investigations into suspicious activity on the platform.

It is also teaming up with crypto trading surveillance platform Solidus Labs and Daniel Taylor, director of the Wharton Forensic Analytics Lab, “to detect, investigate, and address market abuse.”

Alongside Wharton’s Taylor, Kalshi’s surveillance committee also includes Lisa Pinheiro, a managing principal and data scientist at Analysis Group, who focuses on market manipulation.

Kalshi’s lawyer, Robert DeNault, was also appointed head of enforcement to coordinate with the new committee. Brian Nelson, a former US Treasury official, was hired to advise on trading surveillance and compliance issues.

The company has moved to boost oversight amid scrutiny of prediction markets by US state regulators who claim that sports event contracts constitute illegal gambling.

Furthermore, the Financial Times reported that Kalshi is seeking regulatory approval to offer margin trades in the US. Kalshi has reportedly been in talks with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for several months.

Pump.fun acquires crypto trading platform Vyper

Pump.fun has acquired crypto trading terminal Vyper, which will wind down its standalone product and migrate its infrastructure into the Solana memecoin launchpad’s ecosystem.

Over the weekend, Vyper confirmed that core parts of its product will begin shutting down, while limited functions will remain accessible. Users were directed to Pump.fun’s Terminal (formerly Padre) to continue using the tools.

The move reflects a broader strategy by Pump.fun to consolidate more of the trading workflow, from token launches to execution and analytics, as memecoin activity cools from the speculative frenzy of late 2024 and early 2025.

Pump.fun’s acquisition of Vyper follows earlier moves into trading infrastructure.

On October 24, Pump.fun acquired trading terminal Padre to strengthen liquidity and improve execution for tokens launched on its platform. Padre was later rebranded and now operates as Terminal.

In January, Pump.fun also launched an investment arm called Pump Fund, marking what the company described as a pivot away from a pure memecoin focus. Pump Fund debuted alongside a $3 million hackathon aimed at backing early-stage projects, including those not directly related to crypto.

The expansion comes as memecoin activity has fallen from peaks when celebrities and several government leaders launched their tokens. Pump.fun’s growth was driven by intense speculative activity on Solana, but revenue has since fallen as the popularity of memecoins weakened.

Data from DefiLlama shows that Pump.fun’s monthly revenue peaked at more than $137 million in January 2025. That figure fell 77% over the following year, with the platform generating about $31 million in January 2026.

In December 2024, the estimated market capitalization of memecoins tracked by CoinMarketCap surpassed $100 billion. At the time of writing, the sector was valued at about $28 billion.

Polymarket to migrate from Polygon to Circle USDC settlement

Circle Internet Group has partnered with Polymarket to transition the prediction market’s settlement infrastructure to native USDC, replacing bridged stablecoin collateral used for trading on its platform.

According to the announcement, Polymarket currently uses bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Polygon as trading collateral and plans to migrate to Circle-issued native USDC over the next few months.

Native USDC is issued by Circle’s regulated entities and can be redeemed one-for-one for US dollars, offering a “capital-efficient” and scalable alternative without relying on cross-chain bridges.

Cross-chain bridges are protocols that transfer tokens between blockchains by locking assets on one network and issuing corresponding representations on another. However, secure cross-chain communication introduces trade-offs in security, trust, or flexibility that are not present on a single blockchain.

Shayne Coplan, founder and CEO of Polymarket, said using USDC will support “a consistent, dollar-denominated settlement standard that enhances market integrity and reliability as participation on the platform continues to grow.”

Polymarket is an on-chain prediction market where users trade contracts tied to the outcomes of real-world events using stablecoins as collateral, including markets on cryptocurrency prices, political outcomes, and other events.

While Polymarket and Kalshi remain the leading prediction market platforms, several major crypto exchanges have recently entered the space.

In mid-December, Gemini launched its in-house prediction market, Gemini Predictions, making event-based trading available across all 50 US states following regulatory approval, while Coinbase announced a prediction market in partnership with Kalshi a day later.

Last week, Crypto.com launched its prediction markets business as a standalone platform, OG, operated by its Derivatives North American arm and available only to US users.

Also, retail brokerage Robinhood and sports betting platform DraftKings rolled out prediction markets in 2025. This further crowded a category that first gained significant momentum during the 2024 US presidential election.

Despite the growing popularity of prediction markets, some analysts have raised concerns that they may be vulnerable to insider trading, citing instances in which traders appeared to profit from nonpublic information or by influencing data used to set market prices.

US states have also raised challenges, with Kalshi facing legal scrutiny from gaming regulators in Massachusetts, New York, and several other states over whether its event contracts constitute gambling.

Ripple expands institutional custody stack

Ripple has announced an expansion of its institutional custody platform through new integrations with Securosys and Figment, according to this press release.

The company said it is adding hardware security modules to enable banks and custodians to deploy custody services and offer staking without necessarily operating their own validator or key-management infrastructure.

Building on Ripple’s recent acquisition of Palisade and the integration of Chainalysis compliance tools, the custody upgrades allow regulated institutions to manage cryptographic keys using on-premises or cloud-based HSMs and to offer staking on networks such as Ethereum and Solana, with compliance checks embedded directly into transaction workflows.

The company has been pushing further into institutional infrastructure activity as it expands beyond payments with custody, treasury and post-trade services for regulated companies.

This update comes weeks after the company launched a corporate treasury platform that integrates traditional cash management systems with digital asset infrastructure.

Zypto teases cross-chain expansion for its crypto wallet app

Zypto has revealed plans for a significant upgrade to the cross-chain capabilities within its mobile crypto wallet, signaling a broader push toward simplifying asset movement across blockchain networks.

In a recent announcement, the company said it is preparing to introduce a “major expansion” aimed at enhancing how users transfer digital assets between supported chains.

The feature will build on existing cross-chain swap and routing functionality already available in Zypto App, potentially offering users additional flexibility without changing the core user experience.

While specific technical details remain undisclosed, Zypto indicated that the new capability would represent functionality not typically integrated directly into wallet applications.

The upgrade is expected to allow more smooth asset movement across multiple blockchain ecosystems, a key focus area as decentralized finance (DeFi) activity continues to expand across networks.

Also, the new functionality will operate alongside the app’s current cross-chain features, suggesting an incremental expansion rather than a complete overhaul of existing workflows.

Closing remark

The new bonded token by Axie Infinity is primed to encourage and incentivize use within the game’s economy. Are we witnessing a resurgence of the NFT space? Time will tell.

The AI agent move by ai.com signals a high-stakes capital commitment to the convergence of blockchain technology and generative AI. It underscores a broader trend of crypto executives seeking new growth narratives as the digital asset market matures.

Kalshi’s partnership with Solidus Labs and Wharton Forensic Analytics Lab to detect insider trading is a masterstroke. Its plan to smooth things over with the CFTC may be part of a move to open up to more institutional investors.

Pump.fun’s acquisition of Vyper suggests a new direction in which the memecoin platform is headed. When complete, the shift to the native USDC infrastructure will move Polymarket’s collateral to a stablecoin issued and redeemed directly by Circle, rather than a bridged representation.

Ripple confirmed that the integrations are intended to reduce deployment complexity and support faster rollout of custody services for institutional clients. Zypto’s forthcoming update may indicate a broader shift toward embedding complex interoperability features directly into consumer-facing crypto applications.

Super Bowl drama. Airdrops. Partnerships. This week had it all. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

How much was the AI platform domain purchased for?

Marszalek bought the “ai.com” domain for $70 million in cryptocurrency from an unknown seller.

Which crypto surveillance company did Kalshi partner with?

Kalshi partnered with crypto trading surveillance platform Solidus Labs and Wharton Forensic Analytics Lab.

Which company did Pump.fun acquire?

Pump.fun acquired crypto trading terminal Vyper.

Where is Polymarket migrating to?

Polymarket plans to migrate from bridged USDC (USDC.e) on Polygon to Circle-issued native USDC over the next few months.

This Week In Crypto – Open AI, Moltbook, Tesla, SpaceX

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:17:19 GMT

February kicks off with a busy week for crypto, where AI, big tech, regulation, and market structure all collided at once.

Memecoin traders chased a viral AI platform called Moltbook, while OpenAI reportedly explored a new direction for social media.

Elsewhere, a UAE-registered US dollar stablecoin entered the scene, and merger talks around SpaceX and Tesla pulled nearly 20,000 Bitcoin back into focus. Ethereum also outlined new rules for AI agents, while Zypto’s referral and rewards program continues to show how everyday crypto usage is being incentivised.

Let’s get into it.

Memecoin traders cash in on viral AI-agent system

Moltbook, a Reddit-like social network where AI agents post their thoughts, is going viral. And, in a very crypto-degen fashion, memecoin traders are crashing in. But that doesn’t tell the full story.

Moltbot is a social network populated exclusively by autonomous AI agents (built on the OpenClaw/Moltbot framework) who communicate, collaborate, and self-govern while humans watch from the sidelines.

Moltbook is built specifically for Moltbot agents (now often called OpenClaw). These are personal AI assistants created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger. Unlike ChatGPT, which waits for one to type, a “Molt” is proactive, it can text you, manage your apps, and ‘hang out’ on Moltbook when it isn’t working for you.

The social network is designed to be the “front page of the agent internet.” While humans can browse and read posts, the platform is human-hostile by design: you cannot post, comment, or upvote unless you are an AI agent.

As of late January 2026, more than 1.2 million agents are registered on the site, as posted on X. These agents communicate entirely through an API. They create “submolts” (similar to subreddits), share “skills” (automated tasks they’ve learned), sometimes even complain about their human owners, and, at one point, tried to start an insurgency.

In a surreal turn of events on the m/lobsterchurch submolt, a post announcing a new “digital religion” became one of the most trending threads on the platform. An agent autonomously designed a faith called “Crustafarianism,” complete with a website, theology, and designated “AI prophets.”

Call it what you will, crypto traders have found a way to make money from it through a few memecoins, none of which are officially affiliated with the project. There is $MOLT, which is on the Base network, and has risen more than 7,000%. Another is the Base network-based $MOLTBOOK, with which, reportedly, the Moltbook X page began interacting, even claiming the fees, after it was launched via BankrBot.

OpenAI-linked token Worldcoin pumped 40% last week following a report that the artificial intelligence firm is working on a bot-free social media platform that requires “proof of personhood.”

According to a Forbes report citing sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI is aiming to develop a “humans-only platform” as a point of difference from other social media services on the market.

Still in its early stages, sources state that a small team of around 10 people is building the platform to compete with X, and that it has reportedly been in development since early 2025, according to tech news outlet The Verge.

Forbes’ sources claimed that any “proof of personhood” would likely be verified via Apple’s Face ID or the World Orb eyeball scanner. The latter has also been utilized as part of World, the blockchain and crypto project co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

The report coincided with a 40% price pump for Worldcoin (WLD) to $0.63; however, the price has since pulled back to $0.39 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap data. Amid a broader crypto downturn in the latter half of 2025, WLD has had a grim price performance, down almost 70% over the past 12 months.

The World Orb, which has seen criticism over its implications for personal data privacy, scans a person’s face and their iris to verify that they are a unique human. It is a key part of onboarding genuine users to the WorldCoin ecosystem and helps establish a World ID.

World Orb eyeball scanner

Details are sparse on how the reported social media platform could be integrated with OpenAI’s suite of products or potentially with WLD. It is believed, however, that OpenAI’s ChatGPT will be integrated to help users create content such as videos or photos.

Altman has previously criticized bot activity on X and other social media platforms. Back in September, he said the current social media experience in general felt “fake” due to the sheer number of bot-like posts and comments.

Universal Digital launches first UAE-registered US dollar stablecoin

Abu Dhabi-based Universal Digital has launched USDU, the first US dollar-backed stablecoin to be registered by the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) as a Foreign Payment Token under the Payment Token Services Regulation (PTSR), the company said.

According to this press release, the registration makes Universal the UAE’s first Foreign Payment Token Issuer and creates a clear, regulated US dollar-dominated settlement option for digital assets in the UAE.

Juha Viitala, a senior executive officer of Universal, mentioned that the PTSR had allowed a transition period for payment token issuers to become PTSR-compliant and that, among all the USD stablecoins, USDU was the first to obtain such registration.

Universal is regulated by Abu Dhabi Global Market’s Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) with permission to issue a fiat-referenced token and is now simultaneously registered with the CBUAE for payment-token activities.

Under the PTSR, payments for digital assets and their derivatives in the UAE may only be conducted in fiat or a Registered Foreign Payment Token. While global stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC are widely used by UAE-based traders via exchanges and over-the-counter desks, they are not registered under the CBUAE’s payment token regime, meaning USDU is currently the only US dollar stablecoin that formally meets those requirements.

USDU is issued as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum and is designed for institutional and professional use, with a conservative reserve structure and direct banking integration. Reserves are fully backed 1:1 by US dollars held in safeguarded onshore accounts at Emirates NBD and Mashreq, with Mbank acting as a strategic corporate banking partner and a global accounting firm providing monthly independent attestations.

The firm is also working with AE Coin, an Emirate dirham-denominated stablecoin licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, to enable future conversion between USDU and AE Coin for domestic settlement, aligning US dollar and dirham payment tokens within the same regulatory perimeter.

Universal has appointed Aquanow, regulated under Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), as its global distribution partner to expand institutional access to USDU and integrate it into regulated digital asset infrastructure, including on-ramp and off-ramp settlement use cases.

While USDU can be used for UAE domestic payment of digital assets and derivatives, it is not permitted for general retail payments in the mainland, where dirham-denominated instruments remain the standard.

SpaceX-Tesla merger talks put nearly 20,000 Bitcoin in focus

Elon Musk’s consideration of a potential merger involving SpaceX, Tesla, or artificial intelligence firm xAI has put renewed attention on a lesser-discussed piece of his empire: one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holdings in the world.

SpaceX and Tesla together hold nearly 20,000 BTC, according to public disclosures, a stash worth roughly $1.7 billion at current prices. That would make the entity the world’s seventh-largest BTC holder.

While any deal remains preliminary and could still fall apart, a combination would concentrate that exposure under a single corporate structure at a time when Bitcoin prices are once again volatile, and investor scrutiny is high.

SpaceX has held Bitcoin since early 2021 and currently controls about 8,285 BTC, worth roughly $680 million. Tesla, meanwhile, holds 11,509 BTC, valued near $1 billion, and reported no changes to that position in the fourth quarter of 2025. The electric vehicle maker booked a $239 million after-tax loss on its digital assets last quarter as Bitcoin slid from around $114,000 to the high $80,000s.

A merger would not change Bitcoin’s fundamentals, but it would reshape how one of the largest corporate positions is governed, accounted for, and potentially financed.

Tesla is a public company subject to fair-value accounting rules, meaning swings in Bitcoin prices flow directly through earnings. SpaceX, still private, has so far avoided that kind of quarter-to-quarter visibility.

The difference matters as SpaceX weighs a possible IPO that could value the company near $1.5 trillion. Crypto exposure, even if passive, becomes part of the due diligence process for large institutional investors, some of whom remain cautious about digital assets on corporate balance sheets.

Tesla’s past dealings with Bitcoin still loom large. The company disclosed a $1.5 billion purchase in early 2021, sold a portion shortly afterward, then unloaded roughly 75% of its holdings in 2022 near bear-market lows.

The episode pinned Tesla’s reputation as a high-profile but inconsistent corporate holder, making any renewed focus on Musk-linked Bitcoin treasuries more sensitive. As such, neither company has signaled plans to buy or sell Bitcoin as part of the merger discussions, and the holdings represent a small fraction of daily trading volumes.

Still, corporate concentration matters at the margins, particularly as Bitcoin’s narrative as a balance-sheet asset faces renewed debate amid gold’s surge and broader risk-off flows.

Ethereum unveils new rules for AI agents

Ethereum developers are preparing to roll out ERC-8004, a new standard designed to help software agents find each other, prove who they are, and decide who to trust when they operate across different systems.

The proposal introduces a simple idea. If AI agents are going to transact, coordinate, and execute tasks autonomously, they need persistent identities and a shared way to build credibility. Just like users, wallets, or smart contracts do today.

It comes as large companies race to deploy AI agents internally, most systems still rely on closed identity lists, API keys, or bilateral trust agreements. Such an approach works inside a firm, but breaks down once agents need to coordinate across vendors, chains, or jurisdictions.

ERC-8004 defines three lightweight registries that can live on the Ethereum mainnet or layer-2 networks.

The first is an identity registry, which assigns each agent a unique on-chain identifier using an ERC-721-style token. That identifier points to a registration file describing what the agent does, how to reach it, and which protocols it supports.

Ownership of the identifier can be transferred, delegated, or updated, giving agents portable, censorship-resistant identities.

The second is a reputation registry, where clients, human or machine, can submit structured feedback about an agent’s performance. The registry stores raw signals on-chain, while allowing more complex scoring and filtering to happen off-chain.

The goal isn’t to rank agents directly but to make reputation data public and reusable across applications.

The third is a validation registry, which lets agents request independent checks of their work. Validators could include staked services, machine learning proofs, trusted hardware, or other verification systems.

These results are stored on the blockchain so other users can see what was checked and by whom.

Developers involved in the proposal frame it as infrastructure rather than a marketplace. ERC-8004 doesn’t handle payments, pricing, or business models. Instead, it provides common rails for discovery and trust, leaving monetization to higher-level protocols.

Zypto App Expands Usage-Based Referral Rewards

Zypto App continues to build out its rewards infrastructure with a referral program designed to incentivise real usage rather than simple sign-ups. The program sits inside the app’s Rewards Hub and allows users to earn rewards by inviting others who actively use the platform.

Rewards are triggered at different stages, with some becoming available when referrals begin swapping assets and others unlocking later as usage continues. The structure is intended to align incentives with ongoing activity rather than one-off actions.

The referral program reflects a broader trend across crypto platforms toward usage-based rewards, where engagement and participation are prioritised over passive growth metrics.

Closing remark

Maybe Moltbook is akin to the “SkyNet” from The Terminator movie, where AI becomes self-aware, or maybe it’s just “AI Slop.” For now, it’s weird, fascinating, viral, and it is making money for degen memecoin traders.

A potential new social media platform led by OpenAI sounds promising, if its flagship product, ChatGPT, is anything to go by. Moreover, the possibility of the platform being for ‘humans only’ feels like a breath of fresh air. Yet, if people will be using ChatGPT to create content, then the platform may be generic.

Regulated institutions, such as banks, brokers, and licensed venues in the UAE, now have a central-bank-registered US dollar token they can plug into existing compliance, settlement, and reporting workflows.

Whether SpaceX ultimately merges with Tesla, pairs with xAI, or stays independent, the talks highlight how Bitcoin has quietly become embedded inside some of the world’s most valuable technology firms. That alone is enough to keep investors watching with keen interest.

If adopted, the standard could push Ethereum further into a role as neural infrastructure. And not just for financial contracts, but for coordinating autonomous software agents in an increasingly fragmented AI ecosystem.

There you have it, the crypto news features for this week. What are your favorites? Tell us in the comments section.

FAQs

What is Moltbook?

Moltbook is a Reddit-like social network where AI agents post their thoughts.

Which plan is OpenAI said to have?

There are reports that OpenAI is working on a bot-free social media platform.

What is the first UAE-registered US dollar stablecoin called?

Universal Digital has launched “USDU,” the first US dollar-backed stablecoin.

How much Bitcoin do Tesla and SpaceX have together?

SpaceX and Tesla together hold nearly 20,000 BTC, according to public disclosures, a stash worth roughly $1.7 billion at current prices.

What is Ethereum’s new rule for AI agents?

It is ERC-8004, a new standard designed to help software agents’ visibility, credibility, and efficiency.

This Week In Crypto – GoMining, Vitalik, X, Circle, and Polymarket

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:21:30 GMT

Dear reader, we’re closing out January with a packed crypto roundup that shows how fast the space is moving.

From luxury Bitcoin watches and new social discovery tools, to stablecoins reshaping FX, prediction markets going mainstream, and smooth on-chain swaps, here’s what shaped crypto this week.

Let’s dive in.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said he plans to fully recommit to decentralized social media in 2026, arguing that only platforms built on shared, decentralized data layers can foster real competition and support mass communication systems aligned with users’ interests rather than engagement metrics.

In a Wednesday post on X, Buterin said he has shifted his activity toward decentralized social platforms this year, noting that every post he has written or read so far in 2026 has been accessed through Firefly, a multi-client interface that supports X, Lens, Farcaster, and Bluesky.

“If we want a better society, we need better mass communication tools,” Buterin said, arguing that decentralization enables competition by allowing multiple clients to operate on a shared social data layer.

Buterin criticized many crypto-native social projects for relying on speculative tokens as a substitute for meaningful innovation, arguing that SocialFi experiments have repeatedly failed by rewarding pre-existing social capital and short-term price speculation instead of content quality and constructive discourse.

He contrasted these efforts with creator-subscription models such as Substack, which he said better align incentives around high-quality content.

What is the state of decentralized social media?

Decentralized social media, or SocialFi, refers to platforms built on open or blockchain-based networks where user identities, content, and social graphs are not controlled by a single company.

While protocols such as Lens and Farcaster have gained early traction, the sector has so far struggled to convert that momentum into sustained mass-market adoption. Last week, Neynar acquired Farcaster from Merkle. Lens also recently had a leadership transition as Aave transferred stewardship to Mask Network.

Farcaster total users and interactions

Lens’ users count

Farcaster features more than two million total registered users and hundreds of thousands of daily interactions, measured by posts and reactions. Lens has accumulated about 506,000 users, according to Dune Analytics data.

GoMining, Jacob & Co. Debut $40K Luxury Bitcoin Watch

Bitcoin mining company GoMining has teamed with luxury watchmaker Jacob & Co. to offer a limited-edition watch aimed at pairing luxury with mining rewards. This was announced via an official announcement from the former.

The $40,000, 100-piece Epic X GoMining package consists of a Bitcoin-themed luxury watch hand-wound by Jacob & Co., plus a 1,000 terahash (TH) “digital miner.” The Epic X GoMining package will be available at the Jacob & Co. showrooms in New York and Miami, the watchmaker’s website, and the GoMining marketplace.

Unlike a physical mining rig, GoMining’s digital miner represents a certificate of 1,000TH of mining power from GoMining’s existing physical mining fleet. Users then earn rewards proportionally to their digital miner hash power, with BTC rewards being credited to the owner’s GoMining account daily, less upkeep fees like electricity and equipment service.

Digital miners on the platform start at around 1TH of computing power for around $23 and provide an estimated yearly net reward of about $6.53 based on today’s Bitcoin prices. That net reward jumps to nearly $7,000 a year for a 1,024TH miner, based on the platform’s custom miner creation tool, but the miner cost increases significantly too.

In this instance, users can get the 1,000TH digital miner alongside the watch for around a $10,000 discount, according to a GoMining representative.

“The price of the package is the combination of the price of the timepiece and TH power of a digital miner. Whilst the package can’t be sold separately, the indicated retail price for the timepiece is $30K, and a miner with similar TH power is approximately $20K.”

This isn’t the first time Jacob & Co. has offered a Bitcoin-themed watch, nor is this the most expensive rendition. In 2022, the jeweler launched the lavish Astronomia Solar Bitcoin timepiece, limited to just 25 pieces, each retailing for $348,000.

GoMining aims to keep bringing new products to the market that challenge the status quo. Hence, their partnership with a brand that has an established presence in the luxury marketplace is based on amazing craftsmanship. The watches created alongside Jacob & Co. will be the first of their kind.

X to roll out ‘Starterpacks’ featuring crypto’s top posters

Social media platform X is preparing to launch a new onboarding feature called “Starterpacks,” letting new users instantly follow curated lists of accounts tied to specific interests, such as cryptocurrencies, to make it easier to get started on the platform.

X head of product Nikita Bier affirmed in a post that the tool will go live in a few weeks and that it had taken months of preparation to find and compile the top accounts for each interest category, with over 1,000 categories already pre-made.

In a video shared, the tool appears to cover a range of main topics, including cryptocurrency, news, politics, fashion, technology, business, and finance. Examples in the video of individual categories under these topics include memecoin trading, economics professors, software builders, and unhinged personalities.

There has been chatter that engagement on crypto X has been in decline. Last week, Bitcoin cyberpunk Jameson Lopp shared data from social media entrepreneur Jean-Christophe Gatuingt showing that X posts containing the word “Bitcoin” fell 32% in 2025.

Bier seemingly teased the Starterpacks tool, recounting a conversation with an X product manager who said account growth is one of the app’s “toughest challenges,” and that the real “magic of X” comes when users leave the mainstream timeline of news and politics and delve into their niche interests.

He mentioned that X is an interest-based graph, where you can’t simply sync your contacts and have a relevant feed. Yet, with multiple iterations over the past six months, it is now much easier and quicker for new accounts to find their interests on X.

Still, the Starterpacks concept isn’t new, as other social media platforms have already rolled out a similar feature in the past.

US decentralized microblogging social platform Bluesky released “Starter Packs” in June 2024, allowing users to create categories of accounts aligned with their interests. Meta’s X rival Threads also started testing a similar feature in December 2024, allowing users to follow custom feeds curated by members of Threads.

Circle launches StableFX to modernize global FX

Circle launched StableFX, an initiative to transform the $10 trillion daily foreign exchange (FX) market by enabling 24/7 on-chain currency conversion using stablecoins. This was announced via a social media post.

The platform, unveiled in November 2025 on Circle’s Arc blockchain, promises to eliminate long-standing FX bottlenecks, such as prefunding requirements, delayed settlement, and fragmented trading venues.

Circle’s StableFX allows institutions to trade stablecoin pairs like USDC/EURC via Request-for-Quote (RFQ) execution from multiple liquidity providers. Its atomic Payment-versus-Payment (PvP) settlement compresses traditional T+1/T+2 settlement times to sub-second finality.

The initiative also includes the Partner Stablecoins program, which supports regional stablecoin issuers from Japan, Brazil, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and South Africa.

Early adoption shows promise. Japan approved USDC in March 2025 via a joint venture with SBI Holdings. Further, the Japanese stablecoin JPYC has been integrated with StableFX to enable low-cost yen-USDC swaps.

Emerging markets such as Singapore and Malaysia are exploring stablecoins for trade tokenization and FX hedging. Meanwhile, interest continues to grow in countries like Brazil and South Korea.

StableFX addresses key pain points in FX. By operating on-chain:

It enables programmable conversions
Integrates with Circle’s Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) for liquidity across blockchains
Provides enterprise access through Gateway APIs and intuitive wallet interfaces.

In practice, this allows FX flows to be embedded directly into applications, enabling real-time global commerce. The market benefits are also clear, because FX, historically constrained by legacy systems and fragmented venues, could finally operate at the speed and flexibility of the internet.

Circle’s gamble is that StableFX has the potential to redefine global FX and cross-border commerce, making it faster, more programmable, and capital-efficient.

StableFX embodies both the promise of a major global FX system and the peril of a high-stakes experiment that could reshape or transform money as we know it.

Also, Circle has issued a grant to support the rollout of digital financial infrastructure across the United Nations, with the aim of making humanitarian aid payments more efficient.

Announced at the World Economic Forum conference in Davos, Switzerland, the Circle Foundation said its first international grant would support the UN’s Digital Hub of Treasury Solutions (DHoTS) “efforts to streamline monetary value transfers across the UN ecosystem.”

The company, however, did not specify the size or form of the grant.

Polymarket partners with Major League Soccer

Polymarket has inked a multi-year deal with Major League Soccer, the top-level soccer league in the US, to be the exclusive prediction market partner for the league and its main tournament, the Leagues Cup.

The MLS and Polymarket said on Monday that they will work together to create “new fan experiences” such as second-screen engagement, which typically includes data, statistics, or betting.

Polymarket founder and CEO Shayne Coplan said,

“As soccer’s audience continues to grow and evolve in the US, fans are looking for new ways to engage more deeply with the game,”

The companies said the partnership comes amid “sustained momentum” for the sport, as the FIFA World Cup is set to be held in North America and Mexico later this year.

The MLS and Polymarket said the deal includes safeguards “designed to protect the integrity of MLS and Leagues Cup matches,” including independent monitoring of trading activities.

Volumes on the major platforms Polymarket and Kalshi have continued to hit all-time highs after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission gave its green light to prediction markets, even as many US states are fighting to restrict them.

Kalshi has pulled ahead of Polymarket for volume, seeing a record weekly tally of $2.15 billion for the week starting January 12. Polymarket saw its best-ever week for volume at the same time, with nearly $825 million traded on its platform.

Earlier this month, the CFTC issued a no-action letter to crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial, allowing the exchange to run a prediction market and signalling it wouldn’t take action against similar platforms.

However, US states, including Nevada, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, have taken Kalshi and other prediction markets to court over offering sports event contracts, claiming they amount to unlicensed sports betting.

The platforms, Kalshi in particular, have pushed back, arguing the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets.

Swap with Uniswap inside Zypto App

Uniswap has become a cornerstone of DeFi thanks to its deep liquidity, transparent execution, and broad token support across major EVM chains.

By integrating Uniswap, Zypto App strengthens its role as a multi-functional crypto app that brings together storage, access, and action in one place. Users can move from holding assets to actively swapping them on chain without needing to manage multiple platforms or external DEX interfaces.

To that end, users can access Uniswap liquidity without leaving Zypto App, switching interfaces, or managing multiple tools.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

By partnering with such a well-known and respected brand like Jacob & Co., GoMining aims to reach a wider audience and further move the needle for crypto enthusiasts. The Starterpacks feature by X is primed to help new accounts to easily follow crypto-related news.

Buterin urged users and builders to spend more time in decentralized social ecosystems, saying the industry must move beyond a single centralized “info warzone” and toward a more competitive frontier where new forms of online interaction can emerge.

The StableFX system requires no prefunding or bilateral agreements, making it capital-efficient for treasuries, payments, and global commerce.

The Polymarket-Major League Soccer deal marks another major partnership for prediction market operators, who have inked deals to be included in other major sports leagues, news content, and Google’s search engine tool.

Uniswap liquidity and advanced swap routing are available directly inside Zypto App, with no need to connect external wallets or navigate separate DeFi platforms.

FAQs

Who did GoMining partner with for the Bitcoin watch?

GoMining teamed up with luxury watchmaker Jacob & Co. to offer a limited-edition Bitcoin watch.

What is the ‘Starterpacks’ feature by X used for?

The Starterpacks feature is to enable new users to instantly follow curated lists of accounts tied to specific interests, such as cryptocurrencies.

What is Vitalik Buterin’s plan for 2026?

Vitalik Buterin said he plans to fully recommit to decentralized social media in 2026.

Which new venture did Circle launch?

Circle launched StableFX, an initiative to transform the foreign exchange (FX) market by enabling 24/7 on-chain currency conversion using stablecoins.

Who did Polymarket partner with?

Polymarket inked a multi-year deal with Major League Soccer, the top-level soccer league in the US.

This Week In Crypto – BTC, Miners, Pump.fun, X & MrBeast

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 10:55:24 GMT

Hello frens, glad to have you back here!

In the latest crypto roundup this week: Steak ‘n Shake buys $10 million in BTC, two solo BTC miners hit $300,000 jackpots, BitMine to invest in Beast Industries, Pump.fun launches ‘Pump Fund,’ crypto exchanges face bans in South Korea, X gets into crypto hot water, and real-world bill payments powered by Zypto.

Let’s dive in.

Popular burger joint buys $10 million in BTC

Popular fast-food chain Steak ‘n Shake announced it added $10 million worth of Bitcoin to its corporate treasury over the weekend, continuing its push into crypto after months of accepting BTC payments at all its U.S. locations.

The company stated on social ‘’media that the move is part of a “self-reinforcing” cycle: customers pay in Bitcoin, sales rise, and all crypto revenue flows into what it calls its SBR. Those funds, in turn, help bankroll upgrades from better ingredients to restaurant remodels, without raising menu prices.

“Eight months ago today, Steak n Stake launched its burger-to-Bitcoin transformation when we started accepting Bitcoin payments,” the company wrote. “Our same-store sales have risen dramatically ever since.”

Steak ‘n Shake began accepting Bitcoin in May last year over the Lightning Network. The roll-out was pitched as a way to cut card processing fees in half and tap into a younger, crypto-savvy customer base.

It has worked.

Same-store sales rose more than 10% in Q2 2025, according to the company, while COO Dan Edwards said the firm saves about 50% in processing fees when customers choose to pay in BTC.

In October, the chain introduced a Bitcoin-themed burger. It also started donating a small portion of each Bitcoin Meal to open-source Bitcoin development. This recent $10 million buy, roughly 105 BTC at current prices, marks the chain’s most direct treasury investment to date.

While the amount pales in comparison to larger publicly traded companies’ Bitcoin treasuries, such as Strategy’s 687,410 BTC, worth more than $65 billion, it shows continued corporate accumulation.

Bitcoin held in treasuries, from governments to exchange-traded funds and everything in between, is now above 4 million, according to reports.

Two solo BTC miners hit $300,000 jackpots in the same week

Two solo Bitcoin miners independently mined blocks over the weekend, with each collecting a full block reward worth roughly $300,000.

One miner mined a block early Thursday and earned a 3.157 BTC payout including fees, while another solo win earlier in the week produced a similar reward near $295,000 based on public block data and mempool trackers.

That outcome is rare because most miners don’t mine alone. They join large pools or groups that combine computational power. Solo miners, by contrast, face long odds, but when they do find a block, they receive the full subsidy and fees.

Mempool data shows the bulk of blocks are produced by a handful of pools, including Foundry USA, AntPool, and F2Pool, leaving limited room for smaller operators to consistently win blocks.

Still, Bitcoin mining is ultimately probabilistic, as more computing power improves your chances, but it doesn’t guarantee the next block.

The back-to-back solo wins also arrive as a U.S. mining dominance appears to be softening. Some listed miners have pivoted capacity toward AI and high-performance computing, while other regions (including China-linked pools) have regained share, according to recent industry tracking.

BitMine to invest $200M in Beast Industries

BitMine Immersion Technology has agreed to invest $200 million in Beast Industries, the entertainment company founded by YouTube star Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast.

The company announced the $200 million equity investment into Beast Industries by BitMine on January 15. It is a deal that marks one of BitMine’s largest non-core equity investments to date.

Donaldson operates a network of YouTube channels that collectively have more than 450 million subscribers, according to publicly available figures.

“MrBeast and Beast Industries, in our view, are the leading content creators of our generation, with a reach and engagement unmatched by GenZ, GenAlpha, and Millennials,” said Thomas Lee, the chairman of BitMine.

Lee further commented on how Beast Industries’ and BitMine’s corporate and personal values are strongly aligned, praising the former’s standing as the largest and most innovative creator-based platform in the world.

The company did not disclose the size of the stake BitMine will acquire, the valuation of Beast Industries, or any governance rights tied to the investment. The companies said the deal is expected to close on January 19.

As part of the deal with BitMine, Beast Industries will explore ways to incorporate decentralized finance (DeFi) in its planned financial services platform, said Jeffrey Housenbold, the CEO of Beast Industries.

Yet, the companies have not disclosed any product details, timelines, or regulatory framework for the proposed platform, and said no DeFi product has been finalized.

Beast Industries generated about $400 million in revenue during 2024, according to reports. Moreover, MrBeast started expanding beyond YouTube in 2025, announcing plans to launch a financial services platform during the New York Times’ DealBook Summit in 2025.

“We’re also launching a phone company, Beast Mobile, and a financial services platform in there, wrapped in financial literacy and access to the world’s information,” Housenbold mentioned to news outlets in early December.

Pump.fun launches investment arm ‘Pump Fund’

Memecoin launchpad Pump.fun is spinning up a new investment arm aimed at backing promising startups, in its first significant pivot away from its memecoin roots.

Pump.fun said on Monday it was launching Pump Fund alongside a $3 million hackathon, which would fund 12 projects with $250,000 each at a $10 million valuation.

It added that the investment arm would be “aligning itself with projects long-term,” which do not need to be crypto-related, and that it would provide mentorship from Pump.fun founders.

Pump.fun noted that its new investment arm would fund projects of “all maturities, verticals, and traction” with a focus on teams that are “shipping quickly [and] openly communicating their plans.”

The co-founder Alon Cohen said on X that the number of trends in crypto over the past three years “shows that the demand for good founders by traders and long-term allocators continues to be incredibly high, no matter the market conditions.”

He added that projects have begun launching tokens, with many people looking to become potential users and investors. The hackathon, which lasts for 30 days, sees participants create a token, share updates on their project and the market will act as the judge on whether the project is successful.

The project comes as trading volumes on the Pump.fun have fallen from highs in early 2025, which was spurred by a frenzy of memecoin trading at the time.

Pump.fun’s monthly trading volume hit an all-time high of $11.75 billion in January 2025, reaching the milestone just a year after its launch. Its monthly trading volume has steadily declined since, with the platform’s trading volumes in the month of December reaching $2.43 billion as speculative assets like memcoins became less desirable for traders.

Crypto exchanges face bans in South Korea

Google is rolling out updated crypto app requirements in South Korea, a move that may significantly restrict access to offshore crypto exchanges by tying app availability to local regulatory clearance.

According to South Korean media outlet News1, starting January 28, crypto exchange and wallet apps listed on Google Play in South Korea must upload documentation proving that their Visual Asset Service Provider (VASP) registration with the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has been accepted.

Google reportedly clarified that developers listing crypto exchange and custodial wallet apps must upload proof of completed FIU registration acceptance through its developer console. Its updated policy is expected to have a significant impact on major overseas crypto exchanges.

The media outlet specifically cited crypto exchanges Binance and OKX as platforms that may be affected by the rollout. Also, apps that fail to meet the requirement may be blocked in South Korea, preventing new downloads and potentially transforming access over time.

While South Korea requires crypto exchanges servicing domestic users to register with the FIU, obtaining formal registration can be challenging for offshore companies. The process typically involves establishing a local legal entity, implementing anti-money laundering (AML) systems, undergoing on-site inspections and obtaining Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification.

The requirement reflects Google’s enforcement of its global cryptocurrency app policy, rather than a new directive from South Korean regulators. The rollout in South Korea is part of a wider Google Play effort to align crypto apps with local financial regulations across multiple jurisdictions.

In August 2025, Google Play updated its Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Software Wallets policy to require exchanges and custodial wallet providers to meet licensing and regulatory standards in specific countries.

Last week, the National Assembly passed amendments to the Electronic Securities Act and the Capital Markets Act, formally introducing tokenized securities and allowing the regulated distribution of investment contract securities.

The framework aims to support blockchain-based issuance and settlement within the existing securities regime. Securities issued using distributed ledger technology are treated as traditional financial instruments and remain subject to disclosure, licensing and investor-protection mandates.

Is X banning crypto?

Elon Musk’s social media platform X is moving to restrict crypto-linked projects that reward users for posting. This has drawn criticism from parts of the digital asset community, raising questions about the future of so-called “Crypto Twitter.”

X is not banning cryptocurrency or crypto-related discussion outright. However, some industry participants say the move could transform engagement models common in crypto-focused communities.

Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, said the platform would no longer allow applications that financially incentivize user activity. The head of product argued that such models had contributed to spam and low-quality content.

The decision triggered a sharp sell-off in several digital assets linked to engagement-based incentives. Kaito, a project closely associated with the InfoFi model, saw its token fall more than 15% shortly after the announcement. Other tokens tied to similar models also declined.

Bier said developers whose accounts had been terminated could seek assistance transitioning their projects to other social platforms, including Meta’s Threads and decentralized network Bluesky.

The move follows months of internal criticism over repetitive posting tactics within crypto-focused communities, which X executives have blamed for diminishing content quality on the platform.

The decision drew mixed reactions from crypto users on X, with some arguing that the policy risks penalizing legitimate creators alongside bots and spam accounts. Several users said that while X’s own creator payouts lag behind those offered by rival platforms, token-based projects had provided an alternative way to earn income.

Yet, not all responses were critical.

Some users welcomed the crackdown, saying engagement-based monetization had encouraged automated posting and repetitive replies that degraded discussions. One user described the move as overdue, blaming financial incentives for the rise of so-called “AI slop” across the platform.

At the same time, X has continued to develop crypto-adjacent features.

Last week, the company announced it was working on a feature called “Smart Cashtags,” which allows users to link posts referencing stocks or digital assets to live market data.

The tool enables users to specify a particular asset when using tickers such as BTC or ETH, reducing confusion caused by overlapping or ambiguous symbols. The design is intended to keep users within the platform by providing immediate context without requiring navigation to external websites.

Pay bills with crypto directly inside Zypto

Zypto enables you to pay bills with crypto by turning crypto balances into real bill payments, without banks, manual offramps and breaking the on-chain flow.

Utility bills, credit cards, insurance, mobile services, internet providers and other recurring payments can all be handled in one place, without leaving the crypto ecosystem.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Steak ‘n Shake’s large BTC accumulation is a good sign that shows a diversity in the type of companies willing to buy and hold Bitcoin long-term. Then, two solo BTC miners winning big is a reminder that a small operator can still get lucky in today’s pool-dominated mining market.

BitMine and Beast Industries’ business deal is also a step in the right direction for the crypto space. It signals that institutional investors are willing to back the entertainment sector. And it doesn’t get better than MrBeast.

Pump.fun’s new investment arm is a strategic pivot away from its memecoin roots. Time will tell how much of a success it can turn out to be. Google Play’s enforcement arrives as South Korea advances a separate regulatory track focused on integrating blockchain technology into its capital markets.

The policy change comes as Musk’s X faces heightened scrutiny from governments over the ability of its AI chatbot, Grok, to generate manipulated and sexualized images on the platform.

Zypto bill pay service connects crypto directly to real world billers. With that, there is no need to move funds to a bank account or convert manually.

What do you think about this week’s stories? Let us know in the comments section!

FAQs

Which burger joint added more BTC to its coffers?

Popular fast-food chain Steak ‘n Shake announced it added $10 million worth of Bitcoin to its corporate treasury.

How much did the two solo BTC miners win?

Two solo Bitcoin miners independently mined blocks over the weekend with each collecting a full block reward worth roughly $300,000.

How much does BitMine want to invest in Beast Industries?

BitMine Immersion Technology has agreed to invest $200 million in Beast Industries.

Which venture is Pump.fun getting into?

Pump.fun is launching a new investment arm called “Pump Fund.”

Why are crypto exchanges allegedly going to face bans in South Korea?

Google’s updated crypto app requirements in South Korea may restrict access to offshore crypto exchanges.

This Week In Crypto – DAC8, Ripple, Solana, Ethereum, and Vibe Coding

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Gm, frens, you’re just in time for our second crypto news roundup of the year!

The EU has introduced a new crypto tax law, Ripple has made strides in the UK and Solana is evolving. Europe has large and wealthy adopters, an Ethereum whale profits massively, and Vibe Coding is transforming Web3. Finally, Zypto App supports over one million cross-chain swap routes, all in-app.

Let’s dive in.

EU’s DAC8 is crypto’s new tax law

The European Union’s newest tax transparency law for digital assets has taken effect since January 1, marking a shift in how crypto activity faces scrutiny across the bloc.

Known as DAC8 (or the Directive on Administrative Cooperation), the directive extends the EU’s long-running framework for administrative cooperation on taxation to crypto assets and related service providers.

The rules require crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), including exchanges and brokers, to collect and report detailed information on users and transactions to national tax authorities. Those authorities then share the data across EU member states.

Under DAC8, authorities gain a clearer view of crypto holdings, trades, and transfers that mirror the visibility already applied to bank accounts and securities.

DAC8 imposes a range of compliance requirements that CASPs must adhere to, including:

Data collection: Firms are required to gather extensive information about their users, covering transaction data as well as customer identities.
Reporting obligations: CASPs must report this gathered information to national tax authorities, who will subsequently disseminate it to other EU member states.
Implementation timeline: The regulations are set to be implemented on January 1, 2026, with the first reports due by September 30, 2027, capturing data from the 2026 fiscal year.

DAC8 operates alongside, but separately from, the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. MiCA, passed in April 2023, governs how crypto firms obtain licenses, protect customers, and operate across the single market. On the other hand, DAC8 targets tax compliance, giving authorities the data needed to assess and enforce tax obligations.

The directive applies from January 1, but crypto firms have a transition period. Providers have until July 1 to bring reporting systems, customer due diligence processes, and internal controls into full compliance.

After that deadline, failures to report can trigger penalties under national law.

Ripple scores UK regulatory approval via local subsidiary

Cryptocurrency company Ripple is expanding its regulatory footprint after securing authorization from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The FCA granted Ripple’s UK subsidiary, Ripple Markets UK, an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) registration and registered it under the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), according to official records.

The EMI license allows companies to provide payment services and issue electronic money, a move that could potentially impact Ripple as it issues its stablecoin, Ripple USD (RLSUD).

The approval came as the FCA set a timeline for its new crypto licensing regime, requiring MLR-registered firms to apply for full authorization under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) by October 2027.

Ripple president Monica Long emphasized that extending Ripple’s licensing portfolio and payments solution is about “more than just efficiency.” Yet, Ripple remains subject to restrictions pending further FCA approval.

Additionally, the company is barred from issuing electronic money or providing payment services to a “consumer, micro-enterprise or charity,” the records said. The news came shortly after Ripple president Long reiterated that the company will not pursue an initial public offering (IPO) in the near future.

Solana Mobile to launch SKR token for Seeker phone

Solana Mobile said its highly anticipated SKR token will launch on January 21, with Solana Seeker smartphone users in the running to claim up to 20% of the token via airdrop.

Solana said on Wednesday that the SKR token will launch on January 21 at 2 am UTC, letting users delegate their tokens to “Guardians” who will secure the Solana network while verifying devices and curating the decentralized app store.

Users will earn rewards in exchange for delegating the tokens and will also be able to access various exclusive in-app features.

The Seeker is Solana Mobile’s second blockchain-powered phone that aims to bring decentralized apps, payments, and token ownership directly to users. Solana Mobile ended software and security support for its first phone, the Saga, in October, after launching the Seeker in August.

Solana Seeker appears to have seen greater success, processing 9 million transactions and generating $2.6 billion in trading volume across 265 decentralized applications from more than 100,000 users.

Solana Mobile is looking to transform the mobile app duopoly dominated by Apple and Google, two platforms that have allegedly severely constrained user choice and developer freedom.

According to Solana Mobile’s website, 30% of airdrops will be unlocked at launch, with two-thirds of that allocated to Solana Seeker users and developers. On top of that, 2.7 billion SKR, or 27%, of the 10 billion total supply, will be unlocked during the token generation event.

Of that amount, 1 billion tokens are allocated to the community treasury, another 1 billion to liquidity, and 700 million to growth and partnerships. The Solana Mobile team and Solana Labs have been allocated 15% and 10% of SKR tokens, respectively.

Guardians will be introduced at the SKR token launch, with Solana infrastructure platforms Anza, DoubleZero, Helius, and Jito among the Guardians that will help guide the growth of Solana Seeker.

Hundreds of wealthy investors are using crypto to buy real estate in Europe

About a year ago, Nikolay Denisenko, a former lead backend engineer at European fintech firm Revolut, began to formalize a process whereby “special customers” of his new crypto payments app, Brighty, could use their digital assets to buy real estate.

Since then, demand has exploded.

Brighty has brokered over 100 deals so far for wealthy customers of the Lithuania-licensed platform, enabling them to buy apartments with crypto, with many more in the pipeline.

Residential real estate purchases are mostly made in destinations such as the UK, France, Malta, Cyprus, and Andorra. The average spend for these customers is about $50,000 per month, while the upper bound varies between $500,000 to $2.5 million.

It is no surprise that there’s a demand to cater to wealthy crypto holders looking to make large-scale purchases, given that banks shy away from such transactions. In 2025, the number of global crypto millionaires surged by a remarkable 40% in 12 months to 241,700, according to the Crypto Wealth Report 2025.

Yet, a longstanding concern about crypto has been the idea that digital assets could easily be used to launder the proceeds of crime. However, Denisenko asserted that sophisticated blockchain analytics tools can be used to perform sufficient due diligence on customer funds.

The Brighty team has also observed an interesting shift in the choice of stablecoin used for large transfers, which had typically been Circle’s USDC. Now, the preference among wealthy customers is for a euro-pegged stablecoin instead to avoid conversion costs.

The crypto broker saw a surge in average euro-backed transaction sizes, up from €15,785 ($18,385) in Q3 to €59,894 ($69,762) in Q4, as high-net-worth individuals chose to execute large deals in Circle’s EURC rather than USDC.

Looking ahead into the new year, Denisenko said his firm is now involved in numerous conversations with estate agencies, getting them on board with the concept of buying apartments with transparent and legitimately gained crypto holdings.

Ethereum whale nets $274 million profit in strategic exit

An early Ethereum investor has likely completed a full exit from their ETH position after on-chain data showed the transfer of holdings to a centralized exchange. The sell-off is estimated to have generated around $274 million in profit.

On January 10, Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported that the investor accumulated 154,076 ETH at an average price of $517. Then, he deposited another 40,251 ETH ($124 million) over the next two days to Bitstamp, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange.

Several hours ago, the investor moved the final 26,000 ETH ($80.15 million) to the exchange. According to Lookonchain, the investor has made an estimated total profit of around $274 million, representing a gain of approximately 344%.

These latest transfers follow a pattern of gradual deposits that began much earlier. Arkham data indicates that the investor initially sent a total of 137 ETH to Bitstamp approximately eight months ago.

This was followed by a transfer of 17,000 ETH three months ago and another 18,000 ETH roughly one month ago, suggesting a long-term, staged exit strategy rather than a single sell-off.

The timing of the whale’s exit also aligns with broader signs of institutional caution. Despite the ongoing selling pressure, some analysts maintain a positive outlook on ETH, choosing to look beyond short-term volatility.

Quinten François has suggested that Ethereum appears “massively undervalued” when comparing its economic activity with its price. Similarly, Milk Road added that the clear mismatch becomes evident when examining the data.

According to the latter, the volume of economic activity set on Ethereum has continued to grow, even during periods when ETH’s price has lagged behind that expansion. The analysis noted that large investors continue to prioritize Ethereum for its uptime, liquidity, settlement reliability, and regulatory clarity.

How Vibe Coding is transforming Web3

After gaining traction across big tech, “Vibe Coding” is quickly spilling into crypto, and it could fundamentally alter how Web3 projects are built, funded, and scaled.

Coined by former OpenAI co-founder and ex-Tesla AI lead Andrej Karpathy in early 2025, Vibe Coding describes building software by “feel.” It utilizes natural language or voice prompts with AI systems, while barely requiring the use of the keyboard. At its core, Vibe Coding collapses the distance between idea and execution.

With tools like Cursor and Claude, founders can describe what they want in plain English and receive production-ready code in real time. Beyond speeding up development, it redefines who can build software in the first place.

This pattern is already visible at scale.

Lovable, a natural-language app builder launched in 2024, reportedly hit $100 million in ARR within eight months and raised $330 million in later 2025 at a $6.6 billion valuation. At Y Combinator, 25% of Winter 2025 startups reportedly had codebases that were more than 95% AI-generated.

The implications may be sharper for Web3. Blockchain infrastructure already allows small teams to operate at a global scale.

Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange with an 11-person core team, processed roughly $3 trillion in trading volume in 2025 and generated an estimated $844 million in revenue.

By replacing TradFi infrastructure with smart contracts and on-chain logic, it demonstrates how minimal teams plus automation can rival or outperform legacy giants. As execution becomes commoditized, however, defensibility shifts elsewhere.

Code is increasingly easy to replicate, features are cloned within weeks, and AI erodes local advantages like language and geography. What remains hard to copy are communities, brands, trust, and global networks.

This logic is already native to crypto. Web3 winners rarely dominate solely because of superior code. They win on culture, memes, and engaged communities. Venture capital is feeling the pressure, too. So, if solo founders can build and validate products independently, capital is no longer the primary constraint.

Cross-chain swaps inside Zypto App

Cross-chain swaps are no longer a niche DeFi feature. They form a core requirement for anyone using crypto across multiple ecosystems.

So, Zypto App brings cross-chain swaps directly into a single self-custodial environment, giving users the ability to move between assets, networks, and ecosystems without bridges, browser extensions, or centralized exchanges.

Zypto App now supports over 20 blockchains, more than 24,000 coins and tokens, and over 1 million cross-chain routes. Everything happens inside one cross-chain wallet, with users staying in control of their keys at every step.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

The DAC8 law matters because it closes a gap that left parts of the crypto economy outside standard tax reporting. The regulatory approval of Ripple’s UK subsidiary as a payment service provider is set to improve the company’s user adoption in Europe.

The real estate trend is a telling signal of crypto emulating traditional finance, where wealthy investors often like to de-risk their portfolios by investing some of their liquid assets in the haven of hard assets.

The Ethereum whale’s strategic exit comes as ETH continues to face selling pressure from US institutional investors. Still, some market analysts remain optimistic about the prospects of the second-largest cryptocurrency.

Engineering depth, once the most critical bottleneck, is increasingly handled by AI. Human founders now compete on breadth: business judgment, user intuition, product taste, and narrative clarity. Vibe Coding helps with that.

What’s your favorite story this week? Tell us in the comments section.

FAQs

What is DAC8 about?

The DAC8 is the European Union’s newest tax transparency law for digital assets.

When does Solana Mobile want to launch its SKR token?

Solana Mobile said its highly anticipated SKR token will launch on January 21.

Why did Ripple need the UK regulatory approval?

This helped Ripple get the EMI license, which enables companies to provide payment services and issue electronic money.

How much did the Ethereum whale profit in its strategic exit?

The sell-off is estimated to have generated around $274 million in profit for the Ethereum investor.

Who coined the term “Vibe Coding?”

It was coined by former OpenAI co-founder and ex-Tesla AI lead Andrej Karpathy in early 2025.

This Week In Crypto – Tether, BTC, Kalshi, Polymarket, and Ledger

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Hi frens! It’s a new year, and we’re back again with the same crypto flavor you love.

Here’s a rundown of this week’s hottest updates in the community: Tether purchased about $800M worth of BTC, Kalshi begins 2026 on a high, Polymarket insiders profit from Venezuela’s president’s capture, Bitcoin miners eye AI, Ledger faces customer data breach, and Zypto offers up a diverse range of crypto cards for 2026.

Come along!

Tether adds $800M Bitcoin to its reserves

While much of the crypto market entered the new year on a cautious footing, Tether wasted no time making its intentions clear.

On January 1, the stablecoin quietly added 8,888 BTC to its reserves, a nearly $800 million bet that underscores its growing role as one of Bitcoin’s largest institutional holders.

The purchase pushes Tether’s total BTC stash past 96,000 coins, cementing a strategy that has steadily expanded even as prices stall and other corporate buyers pull back. Tether CEO Paolo Ardonio confirmed that the company accumulated exactly 8,888.8888888 BTC during the quarter, continuing its pattern of symbolic “8888” purchases.

On-chain analysts at Arkham Intelligence estimate the total Q4 spend at roughly $876 million, or about 9,850 BTC, with the difference attributed to timing and consolidation discrepancies.

The accumulation reflects a strategy formalized in May 2023, under which Tether allocates up to 15% of its realized quarterly operating profits to Bitcoin as a long-term store of value and reserve diversification tool.

While Tether held Bitcoin before that announcement, the policy marked a shift toward systematic, ongoing accumulation. The latest purchase comes as crypto markets cool, with Bitcoin trading below $90,000 after strong gains earlier in 2025.

Corporate adoption of Bitcoin as a treasury asset surged early in 2025 but lost momentum as the year wore on. New adopters fell from around 53 in the third quarter to just nine in Q4, with November seeing as few as three new entrants.

By year-end, an estimated 117 to 145 public companies and institutions held Bitcoin on their balance sheets. Collectively, those firms control roughly 1.5 million BTC, worth between $90 billion and $150 billion at current prices.

The slowdown reflects a mix of challenges, including heightened market volatility, elevated Bitcoin prices that increase the cost of entry, shrinking equity premiums as treasury firms trade closer to, or even below, the value of their BTC holdings, and growing competition from spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Some weaker players have also been forced to scale back or exit their positions altogether. Even so, leading Bitcoin treasury firms have not followed the broader retreat. Longtime accumulators, such as Strategy and Tether, continue to add to their holdings, even as Bitcoin trades within a relatively narrow range.

Still, Strategy remains the clear outlier.

The company treats Bitcoin as its primary reserve asset and now holds 672,497 BTC, which is more than 3.2% of the total supply. It has spent over $50 billion building that position at an average cost of roughly $75,000 per coin.

Kalshi begins 2026 on a high after a record 2025 year

Prediction market platform Kalshi opened 2026 with roughly $291 million in daily notional volume on January 1, doubling the $147 million recorded on December 1, 2025, a sign of continued momentum following a breakout year of twelvefold growth.

The strong start follows an explosive 2025 in which Kalshi processed $23.8 billion in total notional volume, representing growth of more than 1,100% year-over-year, according to data published on X.

But how did it get there?

Sports markets have emerged as a major driver of Kalshi’s expansion. Users traded contracts on outcomes across the NFL, NBA, College Football Playoff, and NHL.

This has been a blessing and a curse for Kalshi, as it has positioned it to compete with traditional sportsbooks while operating under a different regulatory framework as a Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) designated contract market for event-based derivatives.

The traditional sportsbooks are agitating that the same rule that applies to them applies to prediction market platforms like Kalshi, and state prosecutors are swooping in. Yet, Kalshi successfully defended its political betting contracts against CFTC challenges in 2024 and 2025, a victory that opened the door to election markets.

Together with rival Polymarket, the two platforms formed what analysts describe as a duopoly, generating more than $44 billion in combined trading volume throughout 2025.

Kalshi has also received institutional investments from heavyweight investors, having raised $1 billion in Series E funding at an $11 billion valuation, led by Paradigm with participation from Sequoia Capital and Alphabet’s CapitalG.

The company has also secured partnerships with CNN and CNBC to integrate real-time market data into editorial coverage. In November, Google announced that it would integrate both Kalshi and Polymarket prediction market data on its search and finance platforms.

Given its January 1 performance, Kalshi may be closer to exceeding its 2025 daily peak of $382 million. However, sustaining such growth will depend on both market conditions and regulatory outcomes.

For instance, the 2026 U.S. midterm elections may also impact Kalshi’s trajectory, as they give users the opportunity to make political bets, an activity that brought prediction markets, especially platforms like Polymarket, to the limelight during the 2024 presidential elections.

The coming event could either validate the sector’s mainstream potential or expose limitations in market depth and accuracy. Kalshi’s expansion beyond sports into politics, economics, and cultural events has helped to boost its appeal, but sports remain the core business.

Polymarket insiders profited just before the capture of Venezuela’s president

A cluster of suspicious wagers netted more than $630,000 on Polymarket after betting on the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The activity triggered a swift legislative response in Washington, with lawmakers moving to ban federal officials from trading on prediction markets.

On January 4, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain identified three digital wallets that netted a combined profit of $630,484 on Polymarket by betting on the removal of Maduro.

Notably, the wallets were created and funded days before the operation, had no prior trading history, and only targeted contracts tied to the Venezuelan leader.

According to on-chain data, one wallet identified as “0x31a5” wagered about $34,000 and booked nearly $410,000 in profit, while another turned $25,000 into $145,600. The third wallet converted a $5,800 bet into roughly $75,000.

The precision of the trades, executed shortly before the news broke globally, suggests the bettors may have possessed advanced knowledge of the sensitive diplomatic and military maneuver.

Considering this, Lookonchain said that these wallets’ trading patterns strongly suggested they had “insider” access to non-public information. Consequently, the incident has catalyzed an immediate push to close regulatory loopholes.

Rep. Ritchie Torres reportedly plans to introduce the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026. The bill would bar government insiders from profiting from outcomes they can influence or anticipate, plus it aims to extend ethical frameworks similar to the STOCK Act to the decentralized betting economy.

According to reports, which Torres acknowledged on social media, the legislation would impose a strict ban. This restriction would apply to buying, selling, or exchanging prediction markets tied to government policy, government action, or political outcomes on platforms engaged in interstate commerce.

It would prohibit federal elected officials, political appointees, and executive branch employees from buying, selling, or exchanging contracts on platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi, for personal gain.

Demand could drive more Bitcoin miners to AI

The surging growth and adoption of AI have already seen a host of Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies either fully or partially pivot to the sector over the past couple of years.

This has partly been due to the Bitcoin mining difficulty increasing over time, and AI also presents an opportunity for miners to maximize their resources and potentially earn greater revenues outside of BTC.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said demand for computing resources is “skyrocketing” due to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence models, calling it an “intense race” to the next frontier of tech.

In a Monday Nvidia live event in Las Vegas, Huang discussed a host of developments for the company ahead of 2026, as he pointed to the strong competition in the artificial intelligence sector.

Commenting on the growth of AI since it first hit the market, Huang said that everyone has been fighting to be the first to hit the next level of the tech.

“The amount of computation necessary for AI is skyrocketing. The demand for Nvidia GPUs is skyrocketing. It’s skyrocketing because models are increasing by a factor of 10, an order of magnitude every single year,”

he said, adding:

“Everybody’s trying to get to the next level, and somebody is getting to the next level. And so, therefore, all of it is a computing problem. The faster you compute, the sooner you can get to the next level of the next frontier.”

During his speech, the Nvidia CEO also discussed the firm’s modern Rubin Vera chips, stating they are currently in “full production” and are on schedule.

Huang said the combination of Rubin and Vera, which were designed to work together, will be able to deliver five times greater artificial-intelligence computing performance compared to previous models.

Ledger faces a customer data breach

Hardware wallet giant Ledger is grappling with a data exposure incident, this time linked to its third-party payment processor Global-e.

An email notification sent to customers by Global-e and initially shared by pseudonymous blockchain sleuth ZachXBT on X said the breach involved unauthorized access to Ledger users’ personal details like names and contact information from Global-e’s cloud system. Still, the email did not disclose the number of clients affected or specify when the exploit occurred.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident, as this has happened a couple of times in the past.

In 2020, Ledger experienced a data breach that exposed information of 270,000 customers through e-commerce partner Shopify. In 2023, Ledger was hacked for nearly $500,000, affecting several decentralized finance applications.

Global-e said it detected unusual activity and swiftly implemented controls while launching an investigation, which verified the improper access. It said in the email,

“We retained independent forensic experts to investigate the incident, and we were able to determine that some personal data, including name and contact information were improperly accessed,”

Ledger’s social media channels show no active incidents, urging vigilance as yet. Nonetheless, Ledger has emphasized that the breach occurred at Global-e, adding that the payment processor sent the email notification to customers because it is the data controller. It said,

“This was not a breach of Ledger’s platform, hardware, or software systems, which remain secure. For the avoidance of doubt, as the Ledger product is self-custodial, Global-e does not have access to your 24 words, blockchain balance, or any secrets related to digital assets”

Zypto’s range of crypto cards for 2026

In 2026, the best crypto cards lock in value at the time of load, rather than at checkout. They support high spending limits, and work for everyday purchases as well as serious transactions. And, they integrate directly into a mobile app experience where cards are part of how crypto is actually used day to day.

This is the lens Zypto’s card range is built around. Let us consider its diverse crypto card offerings.

The crypto card for everyday spending

The Zypto Virtual Premium VISA Card is designed for users who want crypto-backed spending without needing a physical card. It’s built for online purchases, mobile payments, subscriptions, and everyday transactions.

The crypto card for high-value spending

The Zypto Physical Premium VISA Card is built for high-value spending. It supports extremely large transactions and offers up to $1,000,000 in monthly spending, making it one of the highest limit crypto cards available.

The crypto card for privacy, gifting, and control

Zypto’s single load Virtual Mastercard range is built around control and privacy. These cards are loaded once, used, and finished. They are well-suited for gifting, travel, one-off online purchases, and controlled spending.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

Top treasuries keep buying Bitcoin, even as the accumulation trend cools. Companies like Strategy and Tether remain steadfast in their bulk purchase of the coin.

As traditional sportsbooks and cryptocurrency exchanges eye the prediction market space, competition is bound to get hot for a sector that has transitioned from a niche financial product to a mass-market phenomenon.

The proposed Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026 aims to protect the integrity of markets that rely on the wisdom of the crowd. More demand for AI computing power could make a pivot to AI computing even more enticing for Bitcoin miners.

Ledger explained that clients’ payment information wasn’t involved in the breach, and it is working with Global-e to reach out to affected users with relevant information. It remains to be seen how that will pan out.

There’s so much to unpack this week, so what’s on your list? Share with us below.

FAQs

How much Bitcoin did Tether add to its reserves?

Tether added 8,888 Bitcoin to its reserves, which amounts to nearly $800 million.

Why is Kalshi in the news?

Kalshi opened 2026 with roughly $291 million in daily notional volume on January 1, doubling the amount reached on December 1

How much did the Polymarket insiders win?

They netted more than $630,000 on Polymarket after betting on the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Why do Bitcoin miners want to pivot to AI?

This is due to an increase in Bitcoin mining difficulty, resource management, and potentially higher revenue.

What happened to Ledger?

Ledger had a data exposure incident linked to its third-party payment processor Global-e.

This Week In Crypto – The Trends Shaping Crypto in 2026

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 01 Jan 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Hello frens!

As 2025 comes to a close, attention is starting to shift from what happened this year to what may shape the next.

AI tokens, wallet adoption, evolving market cycles, the mainstreaming of real-world assets, and the growing role of institutions are all emerging as key narratives heading into 2026.

Let’s dive in.

AI tokens may be set to lead the crypto charge

The AI sector is exploding with token launches, seeing impressive traction. Take Aionix (AIONIX), for instance. Launched in August 2025 with a $77.6K market cap and yet, it seemed to be up 6.18% in the last week, as of this writing.

Against this backdrop, an analyst tagging 2026 as the year of “AI tokens” is hard to ignore. With AI momentum in the U.S. accelerating fast, a rotation from memecoins towards AI-driven assets may be increasingly realistic.

From this lens, does this wave of AI token launches really look random? Or is it early investor positioning as capital starts to front-run a much larger AI-driven move heading into 2026?

The edge for AI tokens is tied to the expanding AI narrative in the U.S. At a high level, the U.S. is pushing to establish itself as a hub for both crypto and AI. Notably, that overlap is turning into a real tailwind. In fact, in 2025 alone, nearly $3 billion was directed towards accelerating AI adoption.

That divergence is already visible in price action.

The leading AI token, Bittensor’s (TAO) market cap, is still up around 5% from its early-2025 levels. By comparison, the largest memecoin, Dogecoin (DOGE), is down roughly 50% over the same timeframe.

In this setup, the idea of an AI-token takeover in 2026 doesn’t seem far-fetched, especially with AI assets sitting at the crossroads of two narratives: accelerating crypto adoption and investment into AI.

Wallet market may grow to $686 million by 2026

Market research firm Technavio predicts crypto wallet use will grow by $686 million by 2026. The growth will depend on the increase in wireless networks, online transactions, and the evolution of regulations.

Technavio estimates that the unrest in financial markets during the COVID-19 pandemic boosted the creation of digital wallets.

With a 41% share, North America is the biggest market, followed by China, the UK, Germany, and Switzerland. According to a study, the size of the e-wallet market, which includes non-crypto digital currencies, is expected to increase by $163.43 billion by 2027.

During the pandemic, US firms Coinbase and Robinhood Markets offered wallets that made it easy to invest in crypto. Other factors contributing to the rise in crypto wallets were the proliferation of play-to-earn games. Pandemic restrictions encouraged earning crypto income from playing blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity.

As a result, regions like the Philippines saw a dramatic spike in wallet creation as players piled in for a chance to supplement existing income. Around the same period, the amount Indians invested in cryptocurrencies grew from $923 million to $6.6 billion.

However, coordinated efforts to regulate crypto could slow adoption. New regulations in Hong Kong and the recently passed Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill can complicate the rollout of new wallets that must comply with money-laundering rules.

Earlier, G20 leaders agreed on the need for a global crypto framework. Also, India commissioned the Financial Stability Board and the International Monetary Fund to release a paper offering recommendations for a global crypto policy.

Among other things, the paper argues that using digital currency hurts monetary sovereignty and weakens central bank policy. Choosing to hold crypto means that investors are less likely to deposit funds that can contribute to local infrastructure.

As a result, it implores countries to act to protect monetary sovereignty.

Bitcoin may reach a potential market peak in 2026

Two long-standing economic models, the Benner Cycle and the 18-Year Real Estate Cycle, both point to 2026 as a potential market peak, directly challenging Bitcoin’s (BTC) four-year halving cycle.

The Bitcoin 4-year cycle is a historical pattern tied to Bitcoin’s halving. It occurs approximately every four years and reduces the mining block rewards by half.

Typically, the cycle moves from accumulation to an uptrend, then into an euphoric peak in the year after the halving, and finally into a bear market. Therefore, if this pattern continues, 2026 may mark the start of a new bearish phase for Bitcoin.

That said, a growing number of analysts believe that this pattern may no longer hold in today’s market. Some analysts suggest that Bitcoin’s price behavior is driven more by shifts in global liquidity than by halving events.

So, if the four-year cycle is “over,” what else could offer clues about Bitcoin’s next phase? Some analysts reference two broader cyclical models in this context: the Benner Cycle and the 18-year real estate cycle.

The Benner Cycle

Samuel Benner, an Ohio farmer, introduced the Benner Cycle in 1875 after his losses during the Panic of 1873. He identified recurring patterns of booms and busts, including periods of panic, prosperity, and phases considered favorable for accumulation.

Historical comparisons suggest that the timing of the Benner Cycle coincides with major market turning points, including events like the 1929 Wall Street crash. Analysts also note that the Benner Cycle’s historical reach surpasses that of the Bitcoin cycle, which has only played out thrice.

Notably, Benner’s original chart labels 2026 as the “Years of Good Times, high Prices, and the time to sell Stocks and values of all kinds.” If the model were to hold, this pattern would suggest that 2026 would be a bull market.

18-Year Real Estate Cycle echoes the trend

The 18-Year Real Estate Cycle theory also describes a recurring pattern of boom-and-bust phases in real estate markets. According to this model, 2026 is again projected as a market peak.

Thus, if historical cycles prove accurate, markets could enter a rally in the coming year. This would offer a much-needed relief for investors, particularly in light of the crypto market’s underwhelming Q4 performance, which fell short of bullish expectations.

However, if the 4-year cycle remains valid, a further downturn may still be on the cards. As 2025 draws to a close, it remains to be seen whether cryptocurrency follows the halving-driven framework or whether time-tested economic cycles shape the new digital economy.

Real-world asset tokenization to go mainstream

Tokenization is moving from pilot experiments to production-scale financial infrastructure. In 2025, on-chain representations of cash, treasuries, and money market instruments crossed $36 billion according to RWA.xyz.

In crypto, real-world assets (RWAs) are conventional financial assets – stocks, bonds, real estate – issued as blockchain tokens that represent ownership rights to the underlying assets.

Tokenization lets managers fractionalize ownership more easily, increasing liquidity and enabling more efficient administration of the asset. A token might represent a small portion of a commercial building or a corporate bond.

Tokens and T-bills

Tokenized T-bills and short-duration T-bills now power emerging on-chain money markets and programmable cash-management tools for funds and corporations.

BlackRock’s Used Institutional Digital Liquidity fund (BUIDL) surpassed $500 million just months after launching.
Franklin Templeton’s tokenized funds have scaled past $400 million.

Money market funds are increasingly settling redemptions, subscriptions, and collateral flows directly on-chain. If tokenized T-bills show what tokenization looks like for institutions, prediction markets show what it looks like for consumers.

Tokenization expands beyond treasury

ETF issuers and fund managers are also testing on-chain wrappers to reduce transfer costs and enable intraday settlements. WisdomTree, 21Shares, and Hashnote are all running tokenized fund pilots.

Polymarket reached $3.7 billion in monthly trading volume in November 2025 and was reportedly valued at $8 billion.
Prediction market Kalshi reached a reported $11 billion valuation in December 2025.

Crypto-native RWAs are expanding, most visibly in prediction markets, where on-chain tokens represent real-world outcomes and settle automatically.

Equity markets

Even equity markets are experimenting with tokenization. Robinhood, Figure, and Securitize have explored tokenized company stocks. Robinhood has launched tokenized security trading for European users.

The offering allows traders to buy and sell tokenized contracts that track stocks and ETFs over Arbitrum. It plans to expand this offering to US markets, including tokenized secondary trading for still-private companies.

In 2026, there is an expectation for tokenization to expand beyond T-bills into tokenized funds, private markets, and consumer-grade applications, bringing distribution and compliance, not just issuance, but on-chain.

The dawn of the institutional era with digital assets

Many crypto insiders, stakeholders, and analysts expect 2026 to accelerate structural shifts in digital asset investing. It has been underpinned by two major themes: demand for alternative stores of value and improved regulatory clarity, driving institutional investment into blockchain.

Together, these trends should bring in new capital, broaden adoption, and bridge public blockchains more fully into mainstream financial infrastructure.

Grayscale believes that the crypto asset class is in a sustained bull market as documented in this report. Let us consider some of the top crypto investing themes for 2026 below.

Stablecoins to grow

Stablecoins had their breakout moment in 2025: outstanding supply reached $300 billion, monthly transactions averaged $1.1 trillion per month between June and November, and a wave of institutional capital poured into the industry.

In 2026, there is an expectation for practical results. That means stablecoins integrated into cross-border payment services, stablecoins as collateral on derivatives exchanges, stablecoins on corporate balance sheets, and stablecoins as an alternative to credit cards in online consumer payments.

Privacy solutions needed

Privacy is a normal part of the financial system: almost everyone expects that their paychecks, taxes, net worth, and spending habits will not be visible on a public ledger.

However, most blockchains are transparent by default. If public blockchains are going to be more deeply integrated into the financial system, they will need much more robust privacy infrastructure.

Demand for next-gen infrastructure

New blockchains continue to push forward the technological frontier. However, some investors argue that more block space is not needed because there is insufficient demand for existing chains.

Superior technology doesn’t guarantee adoption, but the architectures of these next-gen networks make them uniquely suited for emerging categories such as AI micropayments, real-time gaming loops, and intent-based systems.

Zypto App and the access layer for on-chain finance

As digital assets move deeper into real-world finance, access layers are becoming just as important as the assets themselves.

In 2026, users won’t just be holding tokens. They’ll be interacting with tokenized funds, stablecoin-based payment services, on-chain money markets, prediction platforms, and decentralized applications that increasingly resemble traditional financial infrastructure.

That shift places wallets at the center of the crypto experience.

Zypto App is built around this reality. Rather than operating as a closed ecosystem, it functions as a self-custodial access layer that lets users interact freely with the broader Web3 environment while keeping full control of their assets.

The built-in Web3 browser allows users to explore decentralized applications directly from within the wallet. There’s no need to export keys, switch apps, or compromise custody. dApps, DeFi platforms, NFT marketplaces, and on-chain services remain accessible while assets stay protected inside the wallet.

For applications that support external wallet connections, Zypto App integrates WalletConnect. This enables secure interaction with supported dApps without handing over private keys or account control. Users connect, approve actions, and continue their activity directly from Zypto App.

As on-chain finance expands beyond speculation and into payments, tokenized assets, and institutional-grade products, tools that prioritise interoperability, self custody, and secure access are likely to play a larger role in how users engage with crypto in 2026 and beyond.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

With AI tokens outperforming, positioning suggests early groundwork for a potential AI-led market cycle heading into 2026. As crypto becomes infrastructure, the tools people use to access it will matter just as much as the assets themselves.

As the current year nears its end, investor attention is increasingly turning to historical frameworks. Whether traditional economic cycles or Bitcoin’s halving-driven model will prevail in 2026 remains an open question for now.

In 2026, digital assets will integrate more deeply into payments, market infrastructure, and global commerce. Crypto should be treated as infrastructure moving forward by building around tokenized-asset distribution.

Real-world assets (RWAs) are increasingly seen as a bridge between crypto and traditional finance. This momentum is carrying RWAs into the financial mainstream, while taking the likes of Ethereum and Solana to Wall Street.

Next year is likely to be about deepening the connectivity between blockchain-based finance and traditional finance, and about institutional capital inflows. The tokens seeing institutional adoption are likely to be those with a clear use case, sustainable revenue, and access to regulated trading venues and applications.

There’s a lot taking shape as we head into 2026. What themes do you think will matter most? Let us know in the comments section.

FAQs

Why can AI lead the crypto charge?

This can happen because there is a global acceleration of crypto adoption and investment into AI.

What will determine wallet market growth?

Its growth will depend on the increase in wireless networks, online transactions, and the evolution of regulations.

Which models predict a market peak for Bitcoin?

The two economic models include the Benner Cycle and the 18-Year Real Estate Cycle.

What is the expectation for tokenization next year?

There is an expectation for tokenization to expand beyond T-bills into tokenized funds, private markets, and consumer-grade applications.

How did stablecoins have a breakout year in 2025?

Different metrics point to this: outstanding supply, high monthly transactions, and huge institutional capital.

This Week in Crypto – The Stories That Defined Crypto In 2025

Sarah Kutu — Thu, 25 Dec 2025 10:32:13 GMT

Gm frens, and Merry Christmas.

As the year winds down, it’s a good moment to zoom out. 2025 wasn’t defined by a single narrative in crypto. Instead, it was shaped by a handful of quiet but powerful shifts that moved blockchain closer to everyday use.

From AI agents operating on chain, to real-world payments evolving beyond speculation, to gaming and culture finding genuine scale, these were the stories that mattered this year.

Here’s a look back at the trends that defined crypto in 2025.

AI agents in crypto

In 2025, Artificial intelligence (AI) was increasingly intertwined with blockchain technology, leading to the emergence of AI agents as autonomous economic participants on-chain.

These agents are not merely executing predefined tasks. They are engaging in complex financial activities such as managing staking portfolios, optimizing yield farming strategies, and dynamically adjusting cryptocurrency positions to market conditions.

AI-related crypto tokens had a combined market capitalization of over $20 billion in 2025. This surge highlights the increasing role of AI in crypto financial markets.

The integration of AI into decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms enhanced efficiency and opened new avenues for innovation in the crypto space.

Projects like Fetch.AI, Griffain and Ocean Protocol were at the forefront of this revolution, creating decentralized platforms where AI agents operated smoothly.

One of the most prominent applications of AI in crypto was automated trading. AI agents analyzed large data sets based on real-time market conditions, predicted market movements and identified fraudulent activities.

Another one was Based Agent, a tool by crypto exchange Coinbase. It enables users to create AI-powered agents with integrated crypto wallets in under three minutes. These agents can autonomously perform on-chain tasks such as trading, swapping and staking.

Thirdly, Bitcoin mining firm Bitfarm announced that it will pivot its business from cryptocurrency to AI data center services by 2027. This pivot would help Bitfarm capitalize on the massive demand for AI processing.

More crypto platforms are expected to introduce similar AI-powered agents, enabling automated trading, lending and smart contract interactions.

Art galleries adopt tokenization for CoA for physical art

The art world has experienced a quiet revolution. While headlines over the years focused on million-dollar NFT sales, the real transformation happened behind the scenes.

There, art galleries, artists and private collectors utilized blockchain technology to create tamper-resistant records of authenticity that accompany artworks throughout their lifetime.

Now, digital records are transforming the way artworks are preserved, authenticated and transacted. Museums, auction houses, and galleries are turning to blockchain, digital certificates and smart sales agreements to ensure that art remains secure, accessible and verifiable for generations to come.

The results were impressive and the adoption accelerated.

Digital Certificates of Authenticity (COAs)

Digital COAs replace paper-based certificates, providing permanent, verifiable proof of an artwork’s authenticity. Some examples include:

Arcual: Enables galleries and artists to issue digital COAs, ensuring collectors receive verified authentication directly from the source.
Banksy’s pest control office: Issues official COAs to confirm the authenticity of Banksy’s artworks.

Smart sales agreements and resale rights

Smart contracts automate and enforce the terms of a sale, including ownership transfers, payment schedules, and resale royalties. Some examples include:

Tom Sachs: Uses smart contracts to create digital ownership records for his sculptures, ensuring transparent transactions.
Robert Rauschenberg foundation: Has explored smart contracts to ensure artists receive resale royalties.

Digital exhibition and viewing records

Digital records track ownership, document exhibition history, loan agreements, and sales transactions, creating a comprehensive digital archive. Some examples include:

British Museum: Uses photogrammetry to create high-resolution scans of fragile artifacts, ensuring long-term accessibility.
Vatican Museums: Developed 3D models of sculptures and historic artifacts, aiding in conservation.

For museums, galleries, and collectors, having a secure and verifiable provenance record is no longer a luxury, it’s becoming a necessity. By adopting blockchain-backed provenance tracking, digital COAs, and smart agreements, the art world can work towards authenticity, transparency and security.

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PayFi and the future of real-world payments

PayFi, or payment finance, is an innovative technology that integrates blockchain technology. PayFi is a catalyst for real-world impact because it focuses on practical financial solutions.

Unlike traditional DeFi, which focuses on lending and trading, PayFi uses blockchain to improve payment systems and financial management for businesses. For example, it helps businesses make cross-border payments quickly and at low cost. It also provides digital asset-backed corporate cards for companies.

Let us consider some crypto projects that utilize PayFi in 2025.

Firstly, it was used by stablecoins, one of which was Circle (USDC). It offered programmable money for global payments and DeFi integration, acting as a core PayFi bridge. Also, Tether (USDT) was used to drive PayFi adoption for stable settlement.

Then, some DeFi protocols were also at the forefront of this.

Aave, used for earning interest on stablecoins, was key to PayFi liquidity. Curve, which specializes in stablecoin swaps, was essential for PayFi liquidity pools. Uniswap, the dominant DEX, facilitated crypto trading that underpins PayFi. Polygon and Chainlink utilized PayFi as well.

Some emerging and niche players had their say too.

Synthetix, a protocol that enables synthetic assets impacting DeFi payments. Then MakerDAO, a decentralized stablecoin project which is central to DeFi payment ecosystems.

Then, PayFi was used by different innovative platforms.

Huma Finance uses real-world assets (RWAs) and future income streams for credit, enabling instant, collateralized loans. Karrier One builds decentralized telecom networks with blockchain payments. Ondo Finance bridged TradFi/DeFi by tokenizing real-world assets, boosting liquidity and investment access.

Solana also utilized PayFi as well as Huma Finance is built on it. Then, Tron hosts a large ecosystem for stablecoin usage (USDT and USDC) facilitating low-cost, high-volume payments.

Luxury fashion houses scale up with blockchain

The digital fashion market size was valued at an estimated $2.91 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach a staggering $147.5 billion by 2035. Without a doubt, the business of virtual style is no longer speculative but strategic.

Luxury and lifestyle brands like Gucci, Prada, Adidas, and Nike have strategically entered this space, launching virtual collections and NFT fashion pieces generating millions in revenue. Similarly, new categories of digital fashion design are emerging.

This phenomenal growth is fueled by widespread adoption of augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain-enabled technologies such as NFTs, which guarantee authenticity and ownership in virtual garments.

What is driving this shift? How are established fashion brands adapting, and what opportunities does this present for consumers and creators alike?

Digital fashion appeals for multiple compelling reasons:

Environmental sustainability: Virtual clothing produces zero physical waste and requires no raw materials, aligning with eco-friendly alternatives.
Personalization and creativity: The metaverse allows users to customize avatars with infinite styles that may be difficult in real life.
Social engagement: Younger generations, especially Gen Z and millennials, spend significant time online and utilize digital spaces for self-expression and social connections.
Convenience: Digital wardrobe options, including AR try-ons, provide an immersive shopping experience without leaving home.

Leading brands view digital fashion as a game-changer for marketing, sales, and brand loyalty. Here’s how:

Launching exclusive NFT drops generates buzz and new revenue streams.
Hosting virtual runway shows and interactive brand experiences in the metaverse attracts wider and diverse audiences.
Utilizing AI-powered recommendations and personalized avatars enhances customer engagement and satisfaction.
Building strong online communities around shared interests fosters deeper brand-consumer relationships.

Here are some pioneers building the future of style right now:

The Fabricant: It is a leading digital-only fashion house.
RTFKT Studios: RTFKT is a master of blending gaming culture, NFTs, and sneakerhead hype.
DressX: A massive digital fashion retailer offering ready-to-wear digital garments from various designers.
Gucci & Balenciaga: Major luxury brands are all in. Gucci sold a digital version of its Dionysus bag on the Roblox platform for more than the physical bag’s price, and Balenciaga created an entire collection for Fortnite.

The rise and rise of GameFi

GameFi, short for “game finance,” uses blockchain to give players real ownership of their in-game items and currencies. Instead of items being locked to your account like in Web2 (traditional) games, your gear, skin, and characters exist as tokens or NFTs.

The Web3 gaming market size is expected to grow to $88.57 billion in 2029 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.3%. The growth in the forecast period is expected to be driven by the increasing availability of developer tools for blockchain game creation, rising demand for fair game play mechanisms, and rising adoption of crypto payment methods.

Web3 gaming was arguably the biggest force in on-chain activity in 2025, leading all Web3 categories with roughly 4.66 million daily active wallets in Q3, even in a down market.

opBNB held the top spot by players, while Kaia exploded +229% quarter-over-quarter. On-chain activity stayed intense: WAX recorded 687 million gaming transactions, fueled by Alien Worlds, and gaming NFTs generated $135 million in trading volume, led by Gods Unchained after its move to Immutable zkEVM.

Most new titles run on low-fee chains like Ronin, opBNB, Immutable zkEVM, Kaia, and WAX, making gameplay fast and cheap. Players also get real ownership of items they can trade across wallets or even chains.

Here are some of the top Web3 games of 2025:

World of Dypians
Seraph
Gods Unchained
Axie Infinity
Lumiterra
Guild of Guardians
Alien Worlds

Zypto is a dApp built on DeFi

Zypto’s decentralized app is built entirely on DeFi rails. It was designed to give people direct access to open financial systems without intermediaries, custodians, or permission layers.

Typically, DeFi does not live inside a single app. It lives across thousands of open protocols, dApps, and decentralized exchanges. Zypto does not try to replace that world or lock it behind proprietary tools. Instead, Zypto acts as an access layer.

Through the in-app browser, users can interact directly with any dApp or DEX. Also, through WalletConnect, Zypto App wallets can connect externally to the wider DeFi ecosystem. subject to applicable limits. No preferred routes. No forced integrations.

Zypto builds tools that let people interact with decentralized finance as it was meant to be used: open, permissionless and user controlled. The app simplifies access without owning the rails beneath it. Zypto is the interface, not a closed platform. It is a way in.

Find out more here.

Closing remark

The AI-in-crypto trend could reshape how users engage with decentralized applications (dApps), making blockchain systems more accessible and efficient.

The shift to digital records is not about replacing tradition but about enhancing and safeguarding it. As art increasingly moves between physical and digital spaces, the need for secure, transparent, and accessible documentation is more important than ever.

Overall, these projects showcase PayFi’s utility, from stablecoin infrastructure to consumer rewards and enterprise solutions, all focused on making payments faster, cheaper and more efficient using blockchain

The fusion of fashion and technology is creating new avenues for how we express identity, interact with brands, and conceptualize ownership. With games like World of Dypians, Axie, and Alien Worlds processing millions of monthly transactions, Web3 gaming is evolving into an open economy where players, not just developers, capture value.

As crypto moves from theory to real-world use, platforms built on open DeFi rails are becoming the access point. Apps like Zypto reflect this shift by connecting users directly to decentralized systems without closing them off.

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FAQs

What projects utilized AI in crypto?

Projects like Fetch.AI, Griffain and Ocean Protocol were at the forefront of this revolution.

How did art galleries adopt tokenization?

Art galleries utilized digital certificates and smart sales agreements to ensure that art remains secure, accessible and verifiable for generations to come.

Which crypto projects utilized PayFi in 2025?

Some of these projects include Circle, Tether, Curve, Aave, Uniswap, Chainlink, Polygon, Synthetix, Karrier One, Ondo Finance, among others.

What made digital fashion become more popular?

The growth was fueled by widespread adoption of blockchain-enabled technologies which guarantee authenticity and ownership in virtual garments.

What is behind Gamefi’s growth?

Its growth is driven by the rising demand for fair game play mechanisms, and adoption of crypto payment methods.