Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

SBI announced it will acquire cryptocurrency trading platform Bitbank for 46.7 billion yen.

According to Nikkei News, Japanese financial group SBI Holdings announced on the 25th that it will acquire cryptocurrency exchange platform bitbank for 46.7 billion yen (approximately $288 million). Upon completion of the transaction, SBI Group’s crypto asset custody scale is expected to exceed 1 trillion yen, making it one of the largest operators in Japan’s crypto industry. Per the plan, a subsidiary under SBI Holdings will acquire Bitbank shares from individual shareholders including its founders as early as August this year. Bitbank will then repurchase shares held by existing shareholders MIXI and Ceres by the end of October. If combining data from SBI’s own crypto exchange SBI VC Trade and Bitbank, as of April this year, the two firms had a total of around 2.92 million accounts and total custody assets of approximately 1.1 trillion yen. While different crypto exchanges disclose custody assets at varying time points, among Japan’s major industry competitors, bitFlyer held about 960 billion yen in custody assets as of the end of December 2025, and Coincheck had around 800 billion yen as of the end of March 2025.

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Bithumb was fined for sharing user data overseas without consent.

South Korean regulatory authorities have ordered cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb to pay a 210 million won (approximately $136,000) fine for sharing user personal information with overseas platforms without user consent. According to an announcement released Thursday by South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), the relevant user data exposure occurred between September and November 2025. At that time, Bithumb transferred user information to overseas platforms while sharing its USDT market order book data. The PIPC also noted that when assisting users with asset transfers to 13 overseas exchanges, Bithumb failed to obtain full and sufficient user consent before sharing personal details including names, wallet addresses, and dates of birth. For the two violations, the PIPC not only imposed the fine but also ordered Bithumb to rectify its processes and management systems related to cross-border transmission of user information.

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Analyst: SK Hynix’s US listing and fund-raising could trigger a valuation re-rating.

According to Bloomberg, SK Hynix is set to issue American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on the Nasdaq on July 10. The listing aims to raise nearly $30 billion, making it one of the largest ADR issuances in history. Market participants widely believe the move will significantly expand its global investor base and may drive a valuation re-rating. Multiple asset management firms project that if its valuation converges with Micron Technology’s, its share price could rise by 30% over the next year. One fund manager noted that SK Hynix should trade at a valuation at least on par with Micron, as demand for memory chips is likely to outpace supply for years to come. The listing comes amid an unusually strong boom in the memory chip sector. Shares of Micron, SK Hynix, and Samsung Electronics have all surged over 200% this year, marking their best annual performance in decades. Demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) from AI servers is widely seen as the driver of a structural "memory supercycle".

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Jefferies: Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix’s example to list in the US via ADRs.

Jeff Kim, Head of Research at Jefferies, said Samsung is likely to follow SK Hynix in listing on the U.S. market via American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), which will boost the share price of the South Korean chipmaker whose valuation lags behind Micron. "Chip stocks are at a turning point. ADRs will serve as an important catalyst to drive their valuations," he added.

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Top Crypto Bankruptcies: What You Need To Know

Reserve Rights token RSR is on a short price drop from $0.0197 to $0.017.  The token price rose 100% this week after Trump picked Paul Atkins as the US SEC chair.  In line with Bitcoin’s price rally, several altcoins are recording new highs on the crypto market. With new all-time high prices of overall crypto market capitalization and the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, the crypto community is fully awake to grab next tokens with growth potential. On the other hand, political announcements from the US are also influencing crypto to a large extent. 

Reserve Protocol’s Reserve Rights (RSR) token recorded 160% monthly and around 100% weekly gains. The token price dropped slightly from $0.197 to almost $0.176 when a whale transferred 680 million RSR tokens to Binance Deposit. As a result, investors are suspecting that it is a planned price dump.

The RSR token price was trading near the $0.009 price range at the beginning of the week. When rumors of Donald Trump nominating Paul Atkins as the US SEC chair started circulating on Dec 3, the RSR token price witnessed a significant price surge to as high as $0.0266. 

Since then, the token price is on an uptrend with slight price declines in between. The RSR Market cap is $972.49 million with a 7% rise and the trading volume $366M witnessed a 12% surge in the last 24 hours. 

Is the RSR Token Going to be Dumped? As per the latest data from on-chain tracking platform, Arkham Intelligence, a whale deposited a whopping 680 million RSR tokens to Binance. Right when this transaction took place, the RSR token price went on a downtrend until the price hit $0.017. As a result, investors are suspecting that there might be a price dump of the RSR token. 

However, as we witness with any crypto market price, when there is a significant price surge because of market news and big announcements, there is going to be a price correction. That could also be a possibility with the current slight price decline of the RSR token. 

Nonetheless, the RSR token is trading at around $0.018 at press time, with 7% daily gains despite the price decline. Its more than 12% rise in trading volume indicates a further price surge of the RSR token. With the ongoing bull run, there is a high possibility of price surges in multiple altcoins, including memecoins and low-cap cryptocurrencies. 

Highlighted Crypto News Today: 

MARA Grows Bitcoin Portfolio with Latest 1,300 BTC Purchase

Manisha is a proficient content writer with a keen eye for blockchain, NFTs, and fintech trends. With a passion for breaking down complex topics, she delivers insightful and engaging content for the Web3 community. Her expertise spans emerging market trends, latest news, and industry developments.

3 Real World Assets (RWA) Altcoins to Watch in May 2025

Most of the market sliding into the red, Bitcoin struggles to hold $3600

Market Wrap Crypto consolidation continues; Litecoin still inching up, NEO making progress, everything else is flat. Crypto markets are looking a little erratic as we enter the weekend but in the grand scheme of things nothing has changed over the past seven days. Total market cap has crept up marginally but most tokens are still consolidating within their slim boundaries.

Bitcoin has bounced of intraday resistance levels of $3,640 twice but is still holding above major support at $3,600. Lower highs have been made all week indicating that BTC is likely to turn bearish soon, especially if it falls below the key $3,600 level.

Ethereum is stable at $123 still, it has not moved a bit over the past 24 hours and remains where it has been since mid-week. XRP is slowly weakening and the gap between the two has now widened to $450 million.

There has been so little action for the majority of the top ten that they are showing tenths of a percent change over the past day. Litecoin is the biggest mover with 2% as it pulls away from EOS and increases the market cap gap between them. Very little else is going on in this section.

NEO is today’s top coin in the big twenty as it adds 3% on the day. Tezos is creeping back towards a top twenty place adding 2% but it is still a way off Zcash. Maker and NEM are dumping 4-5 percent following a couple of days of reasonable gains.

There are only two altcoins in double digits at the time of writing. Ontology and Aelf have added 16% a piece during the Asian trading session. The Parity Games partnership appears to be driving momentum for ONT. There are no big dumps going on at the messy end of the top one hundred but the day’s worst performers are Aurora and Revain.

Total market capitalization has not moved over the past 24 hours and remains a fraction higher at just over $121 billion. Markets are still range bound in a very tight channel where they have been all week. There are no signs of momentum in either direction and the tedium continues in crypto land.

Market Wrap is a section that takes a daily look at the top 20 cryptocurrencies during the current trading session and analyses the best-performing ones, looking for trends and possible fundamentals

Crypto market is still dominated by green, with only few exceptions

Revain Price Hits a new 30-Day Low Four Days After the Previous One

Crypto.com up over 132%, Zcoin 104%, what's going on?

Bitcoin and altcoins make 'nasty move': 'New lows incoming'

Crypto markets pulling back sharply; Litecoin, EOS, Bitcoin Cash and SV getting smashed, Crypto.com gets fomo. Market Wrap As expected crypto markets are finally dumping as we end the week. Over $16 billion has been lost as markets fall from their 2019 high back to $170 billion or so. Bitcoin initiated the dump but so far has remained above key support levels. It is the altcoins that are bleeding today.

Bitcoin fell below $5,000 for the first time in a week and settled at $4,950 before recovering slightly. The failure to break resistance at $5,400 has sent BTC back down as it drops around 4% on the day. Many had predicted this pullback and foretell further losses back to major support at $4,600 where the 200 day moving average is.

Ethereum has fallen harder as expected with a drop of 5% back below $165 again. There was no push to $200 for ETH which is still rising and falling along with its big brother. The gap between it and XRP in third is now much larger though at almost $4 billion market cap.

The top ten is a sea of red during today’s Asian trading session. The altcoins are getting hammered, some by double digits. Litecoin is losing 9% today as it falls back to $77, EOS and Bitcoin Cash are not doing a great deal better with 24 hours loses of 6 – 7 percent. Stellar and Cardano have both dumped 5% as Tether moves back up the chart.

The top twenty is awash with equal pain as Bitcoin SV, Ontology and Maker dump ten percent a piece. Close behind is Tron, NEO and Ethereum Classic with losses of over 6% on the day.

FOMO: Crypto.com Crushing It Despite the massive market correction Crypto.com’s Chain is flying today with a 25% fomo pump to $0.093 (1860 satoshis). There does not appear to be much driving the fomo, the only recent news is that the company donated $500k to Binance charity. South Korean markets are dominating trade in CRO with Upbit taking 40% of the total volume.

TrueChain is also getting fomo today with a 20% pump and Lambda is the third altcoin in double digits at 17%. KuCoin Shares are still getting dumped with a further 11% lost today. ABBC Coin and Revain, the usual suspects, are also dumping 10% each following recent pumps.

Total market capitalization 24 hours. Coinmarketcap.com Total crypto market capitalization has lost 5.5% in 24 hours falling from around $180 to just below $170 billion. Markets reached a new 2019 high on Thursday with a brief surge to $186 billion but since then $16 billion has been wiped out. This could be a short term pullback or the beginning of a final capitulation that so many analysts have been talking about.

Market Wrap is a section that takes a daily look at the top cryptocurrencies during the current trading session and analyses the best-performing ones, looking for trends and possible fundamentals.

BTC above $7K, BCH surges over 20%, market cap grows by $10B in less than 24h

BTC falls even lower, altcoins sink, top 100 is dominated by red

Top-5 Crypto Performers: XTZ, LINK, BTC, BCH, XMR

Victoria, Seychelles, June 24th, 2026, Chainwire

Following new Base58 Labs market-structure research, BASIS says widening cross-venue dispersion is expanding the pool of screened market-neutral opportunities and strengthening dynamic staking reward conditions across BTC, ETH, SOL and PAXG.

Bitcoin remained near the $62,000 region after a sharp May–June drawdown, with realized volatility elevated and venue-level liquidity conditions increasingly fragmented. A new Base58 Labs research report, “Bitcoin Market Structure: Risk-Off Repair and the Execution Gap,” describes the market as a risk-off repair regime rather than a confirmed floor and concludes that stress can widen observable price gaps without making every gap economically tradable.

Against this backdrop, BASIS reports that the recent volatility regime has expanded the number of price-dislocation events entering its screening pipeline. Where those events survive fees, depth, slippage, latency, hedge, settlement and exit filters, they can support stronger Dynamic Reward Rate conditions across supported staking pools. BASIS emphasizes that displayed reward rates are dynamic reference metrics, not fixed or guaranteed returns.

Volatility Is Expanding the Opportunity Set but Execution Still Decides the Outcome

The Base58 Labs report found that Bitcoin entered 23 June near $62.2K after an approximately 21.5% decline within the cited May June event window. The same session covered an intraday range of roughly 5.6%, while one-month realized volatility remained elevated even as options-market stress premiums partially normalized.

In fragmented digital-asset markets, faster repricing can create temporary disagreement between centralized exchanges, decentralized venues, spot markets, derivatives, liquidity pools and settlement states. These differences may appear as larger spreads, but a visible spread is not yet a completed trade.

Base58 Labs defines the difference between an observed gap and a completed, net-positive cycle as the “execution gap.” An opportunity qualifies only after explicit costs and constraints including fees, available depth, slippage, latency drift, hedge cost, settlement reserves and exit certainty have been incorporated.

Base58 Labs execution-gap framework: volatility may widen visible dispersion, while infrastructure determines what remains executable.

BASIS Reports Stronger Dynamic Reward Conditions During the Volatility Regime

BASIS says recent market conditions have produced a broader flow of cross-venue and funding-related dislocations for its execution stack to evaluate. The platform does not treat every price gap as an opportunity. Each candidate path must pass net-executability and risk controls before it can contribute to the reward-generation process.

As a greater number of eligible opportunities clears those filters, BASIS says displayed Dynamic Reward Rate conditions can strengthen relative to quieter periods. The relationship is not mechanical: volatile markets can also reduce usable depth, increase slippage, delay settlement and make safe exits harder. The platform therefore separates opportunity detection from execution eligibility.

This distinction is central to the platform’s positioning. BASIS is not presenting volatility itself as a yield product. It is presenting execution infrastructure as the layer that determines whether market fragmentation can be converted into a bounded, completed outcome.

“Volatility does not create yield on its own. It creates state gaps. Our task is to reject unsafe paths and complete only the cycles that remain net-positive after real execution costs. The recent market has increased the number of opportunities we can evaluate, but discipline not the size of the headline spread remains the core of the system.” Pierre Duval, BASIS spokesperson

Why BASIS Is Drawing Attention in the Crypto Staking Market

The current market has renewed investor interest in yield sources that do not rely exclusively on predicting the next move in Bitcoin or altcoin prices. BASIS supports BTC, ETH, SOL and PAXG through a unified staking environment designed around market-neutral execution, reward accrual, claim, withdrawal and restaking flows.

Users are not required to monitor multiple venues manually, calculate cross-market routes or manage the operational complexity of arbitrage execution. BASIS connects supported assets to an execution-led staking interface while the underlying system evaluates venue-local prices, liquidity, funding conditions and settlement constraints.

As a result, BASIS is gaining attention among users looking beyond conventional validator staking and token-emission incentives. Its proposition is not simply a headline APY, but the infrastructure behind the reward: how opportunities are identified, which paths are rejected, how risk is constrained, and how completed execution is reflected in user-facing reward flows.

Execution Infrastructure, Risk Controls and Operational Reliability

The BASIS execution architecture is built around research and technology developed with Base58 Labs, including the Base58 Hyper-Latency Engine (BHLE). Official documentation describes sub-50-microsecond internal processing targets and capacity above 100,000 operations per second. These figures refer to internal processing targets and do not include venue network round-trip time, exchange matching latency or blockchain finality.

Execution speed is combined with deterministic routing, mathematical exposure limits and state-based risk controls. The BASIS Sentinel Circuit Breaker is designed to restrict or stop new risk-increasing activity when conditions such as venue API failure, abnormal slippage, margin deterioration, settlement deviation or reconciliation failure are detected.

BASIS DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE LTD also states that it maintains active ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 certifications for information-security and IT-service-management systems. These certifications relate to operational management controls and do not constitute a guarantee of investment performance or principal protection.

Research and Platform Observation Are Deliberately Separated

The Base58 Labs report is a secondary-data market-structure brief. It does not use proprietary BASIS execution records, backtests, product-performance data or dashboard DRR/APY readings, and it does not claim that every observed spread was executable. Its role is to define the market regime and the constraints that determine whether execution is economically usable.

BASIS’s statements regarding opportunity flow and dynamic reward conditions are platform-level observations made separately from the research report. This separation is intended to prevent market analysis from being presented as product-performance validation and to keep the distinction between observable dispersion and completed execution explicit.

The Yield Race Is Moving from APY to Infrastructure

The next phase of digital-asset yield is unlikely to be defined by the highest displayed rate alone. Lending, validator staking, liquidity incentives and arbitrage execution generate rewards through different mechanisms and carry different operational risks.

For users and allocators, the more durable questions are becoming structural: What activity produces the return? Which infrastructure executes it? What costs and risks are applied before a path becomes eligible? Can rewards be claimed? Can assets be withdrawn? Can the process continue through restaking?

BASIS argues that the competitive advantage will belong not to systems that display the largest gross spread, but to systems that can reject unsafe paths and complete eligible cycles under adverse conditions.

More information:

• Base58 Labs report

• Explore BASIS

• BASIS documentation

• Base58 Labs Research

About BASIS

BASIS is a market-neutral arbitrage and yield infrastructure platform operated by BASIS DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE LTD, an International Business Company registered in Seychelles. Built on Base58 Labs research and execution technology, BASIS supports BTC, ETH, SOL and PAXG through an execution-focused staking environment designed to connect market-structure opportunities with reward accrual, claim, withdrawal and restaking flows.

About Base58 Labs Research

Base58 Labs Research studies market structure, execution systems, digital-asset infrastructure and the operational constraints that determine whether financial outcomes can be completed under real-world conditions. Base58 Labs is the research and technology entity associated with BHLE development and a research partner to BASIS. Its research is affiliated research and should not be interpreted as independent third-party validation of BASIS product performance.

Risk Disclosure

Market-neutral does not mean risk-free. Digital assets and staking involve market, liquidity, execution, counterparty, technology and regulatory risks. Dynamic Reward Rate and APY displays are reference metrics that may change and are not guaranteed returns.

Source Notes

• Base58 Labs Research Bitcoin Market Structure: Risk-Off Repair and the Execution Gap, 23 June 2026

• BASIS Documentation Execution Model: Technical Detail

• BASIS Documentation Corporate Structure & LEI

• BASIS Documentation Trust Framework

• BASIS Documentation Terms of Use

Experts Suggest No Altcoin Season Until Money Printing Returns

Horizen Launches Mainnet on Base

Grayscale Adds BONK, Hypeliquid, and 30 Other Tokens To Its New Q3 Assets List

In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, Sam Bankman-Fried appeared to implement a documented media playbook from prison, former SafeMoon CEO Braden Karony received a 100-month sentence, and Strategy introduced perpetual preferred shares to fund Bitcoin purchases.

Bankman-Fried executes documented media approach Court records and recent prison communications indicate the convicted FTX founder is implementing a media strategy outlined in a January 15, 2023 Google document created shortly after his arrest. The document detailed 12 tactics Bankman-Fried considered to generate favorable media coverage following his indictment, arrest, extradition, and arraignment. Recent communications show Bankman-Fried shifting politically rightward and praising Trump’s cryptocurrency policies. SafeMoon executive sentenced to prison Former CEO Braden Karony received a 100-month sentence Monday in Brooklyn federal court for stealing millions in customer funds and using them for personal enrichment. A federal jury convicted Karony in May of last year on charges including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Strategy introduces variable dividend preferred stock The Bitcoin (BTC) treasury company is expanding its use of preferred stock to fund cryptocurrency purchases while reducing exposure to market volatility. CEO Phong Le told Bloomberg in a February 12 interview that the company is offering perpetual preferred shares branded “Stretch” to attract investors seeking digital asset exposure without extreme price fluctuations. The product pays a variable dividend adjusted monthly, providing an alternative financing mechanism for the company’s ongoing Bitcoin accumulation strategy. Grayscale files AAVE ETF application The investment firm reportedly submitted an S-1 application to the Securities and Exchange Commission for an AAVE spot exchange-traded fund according to regulatory filings. The filing follows increased attention to AAVE, a decentralized finance protocol, after a governance vote on decentralizing its operational structure received community support. Kalshi partners with sports insurance broker The prediction market platform announced collaboration with sports insurance broker Game Point Capital and made an entry into the sports insurance market according to CEO Tarek Mansour. The partnership targets the fast-growing sports insurance and reinsurance industry, currently valued at approximately $9 billion annually and projected to double by 2030. Binance launches prepaid card in CIS markets The exchange introduced its prepaid Mastercard crypto card in several Commonwealth of Independent States countries. The card offers instant crypto-to-fiat payments and cashback rewards according to marketing lead Anka Tsintsadze’s Friday confirmation. South Korean police lose custody Bitcoin Gangnam Police Station confirmed Friday that 22 Bitcoin worth approximately ₩2.1 billion (roughly $1.6 million) were lost from police custody. The Bitcoin was voluntarily surrendered by suspects during a 2021 investigation and held in custody since then. Robinhood debuts layer-2 testnet The trading platform launched a public testnet version of its proprietary layer-2 network developed using Arbitrum’s technology stack. Robinhood Chain is currently accessible to a closed group of partners and developers who can experiment with integration, access points, and documentation. Hoskinson clarifies Midnight privacy strategy Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson stated Thursday at Consensus Hong Kong that privacy-focused blockchain Midnight doesn’t plan to recruit Monero and ZCash users, calling them a “different demographic” already caring deeply about privacy. Midnight will instead target “billions of people that don’t know they need privacy” with default privacy protection rather than optional features. BitMine continues Ethereum accumulation The company added 40,613 Ethereum (ETH) valued at approximately $83.2 million to its industry-leading Ethereum holdings last week despite unrealized losses currently sitting near $7.5 billion. Total holdings reached 4,325,738 Ethereum worth over $8.8 billion, representing about 3.58% of circulating ETH supply. Chairman Tom Lee stated “BitMine has been steadily buying Ethereum, as we view this pullback as attractive, given the strengthening fundamentals.” Strategy maintains Bitcoin purchases despite losses Strategy announced Monday it acquired an additional 1,142 Bitcoin last week even as its nearly $50 billion holdings remain underwater following last week’s cryptocurrency market plunge. The firm purchased coins for approximately $90 million total, with a cost basis of $78,815 per Bitcoin.

In 2020, Shiba Inu showed the world what a community-driven meme coin could do. Starting as a Dogecoin alternative, SHIB surged 48,000,000% from launch to its October 2021 all-time high. That rally changed how investors think about memecoins forever.

In 2026, a new shift is underway. Artificial intelligence is becoming the new engine for meme culture. Projects combining AI automation with meme infrastructure are attracting early capital. MemeToro ($MT) is one of the most discussed names inside that trend. It is building a full memecoin economy powered by an autonomous AI agent on BNB Chain.

How SHIB Changed the Memecoin Playbook Shiba Inu was launched anonymously in August 2020 as a community experiment. It had no venture capital backing and no formal roadmap. Its growth came from viral momentum and the passionate “SHIB Army.”

SHIB has evolved significantly since then. It sits roughly 94% below its all-time high of $0.000086 from 2021. The ecosystem has grown, but price recovery has remained elusive. That gap between ecosystem development and price performance is a familiar challenge in crypto.

What SHIB built with community momentum, a new wave of projects is building with AI. The logic is simple. Memecoin narratives move faster than any human team can track manually.

By the time most traders spot a trend, the early gains are already gone. AI agents can compress that reaction gap significantly. They scan social media, news, and on-chain activity in real time. They identify viral potential before it reaches the mainstream market.

This is exactly the problem MemeToro is engineered to solve. Its AI Agent monitors live cultural moments and converts them into tradeable, fair-launched tokens. Bonded memecoins auto-list on PancakeSwap, delivering instant liquidity at launch.

MemeToro: Building What Comes After SHIB MemeToro is not just another presale token. It is a structured memecoin ecosystem on BNB Chain. The platform combines four core products.

These include

An AI Agent for memecoin creation Prediction markets layer Staking Web3 news portal The $MT token powers all of them. Users can stake $MT and earn up to 35% APR. Prediction markets add an additional engagement layer for active traders. The news portal helps new users learn how to navigate Web3 safely. This combination of tools gives $MT utility across multiple user types. Speculators, stakers, creators, and learners all have a reason to participate.

Why BNB Chain Is the Right Ecosystem for This Moment BNB Chain is one of the most active environments for memecoin launches in 2026. Sub-cent transaction fees and fast confirmation speeds make it ideal for high-volume trading. Over 150,000 AI agents have deployed across BNB Chain this cycle. The network commanded over 45% of memecoin DEX volume at its 2025 peak. MemeToro benefits directly from this infrastructure.

Presale Structure and Tokenomics The $MT presale is currently open at $0.00139 per token. A total of 857 million tokens are allocated to the public sale. That represents 71% of total supply. Presale participants face no vesting period. Tokens are fully claimable at the official launch date.

Marketing and team allocations are subject to a 24-month vesting schedule. This protects early buyers from post-launch sell pressure. Smart contracts have been independently audited by approved third-party security firms. The open-source design of the AI Agent also allows the community to verify its logic directly.

Final Words SHIB proved that memecoins can build real ecosystems and loyal communities. MemeToro is applying that same principle to a new era. The tools have changed. AI replaces pure viral luck as the growth engine. The playbook is still community-first but now automation amplifies it.

Investors who missed early SHIB may find MemeToro’s AI-memecoin angle worth watching. It offers an early-stage entry point within a growing 2026 narrative. The presale is live. Ground-floor pricing is still available at $0.00138.

More Information on MemeToro ($MT) Presale Here:

Website: https://memetoro.com/

X: https://x.com/memetoro_mt

Telegram: https://t.me/memetoro_mt

Follow our Telegram and Twitter account now for exclusive news, analytics and on-chain data!

New York, New York, May 13th, 2026, Chainwire

Proposed protocol upgrade extends Stacks' live Proof-of-Transfer mechanism to let BTC holders earn native Bitcoin yield without bridging, wrapping, or surrendering custody.

Stacks Labs today published a whitepaper outlining the first self-custodial Bitcoin Staking mechanism generating Bitcoin-native yield. The whitepaper details a proposed upgrade to Stacks’ existing Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism that enables BTC holders to earn Bitcoin-denominated yield while their Bitcoin remains locked on the L1 under their own keys.

The whitepaper addresses a fundamental gap in the market: Bitcoin represents over $1.3 trillion in idle capital, yet BTC holders have had no path to earn Bitcoin yield on that capital without bridging to another chain, wrapping their BTC, or handing custody to a centralized lender. Existing approaches, including restaking protocols that require moving BTC off L1 or rely on intermediary trust assumptions, leave holders exposed to risks Bitcoin was designed to eliminate. Stacks’ Bitcoin Staking mechanism is the first mechanism where BTC stays on Bitcoin, under the holder's own keys, while generating native Bitcoin yield. The publication follows last week’s launch of the Stacks 2026 roadmap (stacks.co/roadmap), which laid out a three-phase plan for building Bitcoin-native finance. Bitcoin Staking is Phase 1 of that plan: the mechanism that anchors long-term BTC capital on-chain and establishes the economic foundation for the phases that follow, including a 100x throughput increase and a full suite of Bitcoin-native lending, borrowing, and programmable capital products.

The mechanism builds directly on PoX, which has operated in production since January 2021 and distributed more than 4,200 BTC in stacking rewards to date. Bitcoin Staking extends this existing infrastructure.

How It Works

Under Bitcoin Staking, participants form “protocol bonds” where participants pair a BTC timelock on Bitcoin with a corresponding STX lock on Stacks for a 6-month bonding period, targeting a fixed yield subject to the risks inherent to the protocol. The BTC remains on the Bitcoin blockchain, secured by Bitcoin consensus, under participant-controlled keys for the full bonding period.

BTC yield is generated the same way it is today under PoX: Stacks miners bid BTC to compete for STX block rewards and transaction fees. That miner-paid BTC is distributed to eligible participants. Bitcoin Staking changes who is eligible and how rewards are prioritized, not how they are generated.

Bitcoin Staking distributes PoX rewards according to a waterfall structure. Paired BTC-plus-STX positions form the primary tranche and receive the target yield rate for their respective bonds. After protocol bond obligations are met, excess miner revenue is split between STX-only stakers and a reserve fund that buffers payouts when miner revenue falls short. 

Phased Rollout

The whitepaper proposes Bitcoin Staking launches in two phases. The first, PoX-5, is a managed bootstrap period expected to run approximately 12 months. During this phase, Stacks Endowment sets capacity and yield parameters and intends to work with a set of institutional partners who have been onboarded ahead of launch. Initial program conditions target 3,000 BTC in capacity at a 3% BTC APY with a 5% minimum STX pairing ratio. Partner onboarding for the bootstrap phase is underway; interested institutions can contact Stacks Endowment directly.

During the bootstrap phase, Bitcoin Staking will progressively decentralize, eventually transitioning to PoX-6, a permissionless consensus-encoded operation. In this phase, a permissionless sealed-bid clearing auction determines capacity allocation while yield rates, and ratio requirements are determined on-chain from miner economics, reserve fund status, and prior-period participation data. This phase is the fully decentralized end state described in the whitepaper.

Both phases require community governance approval through the Stacks Improvement Proposal (SIP) process. 

Participation Paths

BTC holders can pair native Bitcoin, timelocked on L1, with STX for full protocol bond participation. sBTC holders, the Bitcoin-backed asset on Stacks, can pair sBTC with STX through L2 smart contracts, enabling pooled participation and DeFi integrations. STX holders can stake without any Bitcoin commitment and receive residual yield as the third tranche of the waterfall. Pooled participation options exist across all paths for smaller holders. 

"Bitcoin is the world's most trusted asset precisely because of its design and safety principles on the L1. Bitcoin Staking changes the calculus; holders can now earn yield denominated in BTC, trustlessly, while their Bitcoin stays exactly where it belongs. This whitepaper is the culmination of years of protocol-level work to make Bitcoin programmable without compromising what makes it Bitcoin." — Muneeb Ali, Founder, Stacks.

“Bitcoin holders have been waiting for a way to put their capital to work without giving it up. What we’ve built on Stacks has already distributed over 4,200 BTC in real yield since 2021. Bitcoin Staking takes that proven infrastructure and makes BTC itself the yield-bearing asset, under the holder’s own keys, on Bitcoin. The whitepaper is the technical specification for Phase 1 of what we laid out in the roadmap last week — and the institutional partners we’ve been working with are ready to move.” — Alex Miller, CEO, Stacks Labs.

Availability

The full Bitcoin Staking whitepaper is available today here. The Stacks 2026 roadmap, which provides the broader context for Bitcoin Staking as Phase 1 of the network’s development plan, is available at stacks.co/roadmap. Community discussion and the SIP governance process will follow publication. Technical specifications, implementation documentation, and partner onboarding details will be published in subsequent releases. Institutions interested in participating in the PoX-5 bootstrap program should contact Stacks Endowment at [email protected].

About Stacks

Stacks is the leading Bitcoin layer by BTC deployed, providing infrastructure for a growing range of Bitcoin-native applications. The network enables Bitcoin-native financial applications, from lending and borrowing to autonomous AI agents, all settled with Bitcoin finality. Users can learn more at stacks.co.

ContactPR & Events
Shannon Voight
Stacks Labs
[email protected]

Disclaimer: Press release sponsored by our commercial partners.

Daily Debrief NewsletterStart every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.

Stacks, the Bitcoin Layer 2 ecosystem, has published a whitepaper describing a new Bitcoin Staking model that lets users stake BTC and earn yield paid in BTC.

From STX stacking to BTC staking Stacks uses a consensus mechanism called Proof of Transfer, or PoX. In the previous model, users who wanted to earn BTC yield had to acquire and “stack” STX, the native token of the Stacks network. Miners would send BTC to these STX stackers as part of the consensus process, creating a flow of Bitcoin rewards back to participants.

The old STX stacking model offered yields that historically ranged from roughly 7% to 20% in BTC, though more recent rates have been variable and generally lower.

The new Bitcoin Staking model eliminates the STX requirement entirely. Users can stake BTC directly and earn BTC yield.

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How the new model works The whitepaper introduces the concept of BTC yield vaults as a central component of the new staking architecture. These vaults are designed to let Bitcoin holders deposit BTC and receive yield without needing to interact with the STX token economy at all.

The underlying mechanics still leverage Stacks’ existing Proof of Transfer infrastructure. Stacks doesn’t modify Bitcoin’s foundational code or require any changes to the Bitcoin protocol itself. Instead, it operates as a smart contract and Layer 2 ecosystem built on top of Bitcoin.

The specific yield rates for the new model haven’t been detailed in the whitepaper announcement, but the framework is designed to offer what the team describes as competitive Bitcoin-native returns.

Institutional providers that already facilitate BTC yield through STX stacking are expected to be among the first to distribute the new Bitcoin Staking product.

Why Bitcoin yield is the holy grail Institutional allocators, in particular, often face mandate restrictions that prevent them from holding smaller-cap altcoins. A pure BTC-in, BTC-out model fits much more cleanly into traditional portfolio frameworks.

Babylon Protocol has been building Bitcoin staking infrastructure. EigenLayer has explored restaking models that could eventually extend to BTC. And wrapped Bitcoin on Ethereum continues to attract billions in deposits for DeFi lending and yield strategies.

What differentiates Stacks’ approach is the direct relationship with Bitcoin’s base layer through Proof of Transfer, which avoids the trust assumptions inherent in wrapping BTC on another chain.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

For years, Bitcoin has been the world’s most valuable digital asset that mostly just sits there. Unlike Ethereum, where staking and lending have become a cottage industry, BTC holders have had limited options for generating yield without surrendering custody of their coins. UTXO Management wants to change that calculus.

The investment firm has become the first institutional participant in Bitcoin staking on the Stacks protocol, putting real capital behind the idea that Bitcoin’s Layer-2 ecosystem is ready for serious money.

What Stacks and sBTC actually do Stacks is a Layer-2 protocol that sits on top of Bitcoin. It uses a mechanism called Proof-of-Transfer, or PoX, where miners on Stacks commit actual BTC to participate in block production, while holders of STX (the native Stacks token) can lock their tokens and earn BTC rewards in return.

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sBTC is a decentralized asset backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, functioning as a bridge that lets BTC holders access decentralized finance activities like lending and staking without selling their Bitcoin.

During the initial scaling of sBTC, capacity surged from zero to 3,000 BTC within 24 hours. Jump Crypto and SNZ were also among the early participants in the rollout.

Why institutions care about Bitcoin yield UTXO Management’s entire thesis revolves around the Bitcoin ecosystem and its Layer-2 infrastructure, signaling conviction rather than opportunism.

Hex Trust added another data point in April 2025 when it expanded its institutional custody and support services to include both STX and sBTC.

What this means for investors The competitive landscape is worth watching closely. Stacks isn’t the only Layer-2 trying to unlock Bitcoin DeFi. Projects like Babylon, which focuses on Bitcoin staking for proof-of-stake security, and various rollup proposals are all chasing the same institutional dollar.

The risk side of the ledger deserves attention. Layer-2 protocols are still relatively young infrastructure. Smart contract risk, bridge risk, and the general complexity of PoX economics all represent variables that institutions need to underwrite carefully. sBTC’s 1:1 peg to Bitcoin sounds simple, but maintaining that peg under stress is a different story.

For investors tracking this space, the metrics to watch are sBTC’s total capacity growth, the number of institutional custodians supporting the asset, and whether yield rates prove attractive enough to pull capital away from competing products. Early institutional participation from firms like UTXO Management, Jump Crypto, and SNZ represents a meaningful endorsement of the Stacks ecosystem.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

Fireblocks, the institutional crypto infrastructure platform that processes more than $5 trillion in digital asset transfers annually, has integrated the Stacks Bitcoin Layer 2 network. The move opens Bitcoin DeFi services to more than 2,400 institutional clients who previously had no streamlined way to access them.

The Fireblocks-Stacks integration covers several key capabilities. Institutional clients get custody support for STX tokens, plus the ability to mint and bridge sBTC, the synthetic Bitcoin asset that operates on the Stacks network.

From there, clients can access DeFi protocols built on Stacks, including Hermetica, Zest/Granite, and Bitflow. These protocols span lending, token swaps, and yield generation.

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One of Stacks’ selling points for institutional users is speed. The network processes transactions with roughly 5-second block times, compared to Bitcoin’s average of about 10 minutes. For institutions executing complex DeFi strategies, that difference matters.

The integration was announced in early February 2026, with full functionality expected by the end of Q1 2026.

Why institutions care about Bitcoin DeFi now Bitcoin’s base layer wasn’t designed for smart contracts. Layer 2 solutions like Stacks exist specifically to bridge that gap, adding programmability on top of Bitcoin’s security model. But even with Layer 2 solutions available, institutions faced a second barrier: custody and compliance. A hedge fund or asset manager can’t just connect a MetaMask wallet to a DeFi protocol and start yield farming. They need enterprise-grade custody, audit trails, regulatory compliance frameworks, and counterparty risk management. That’s exactly what Fireblocks provides.

Broader context and competitive positioning Stacks has also established partnerships with BitGo and Circle, two other heavyweight names in institutional crypto infrastructure. BitGo provides custody and liquidity services to institutional investors. Circle is the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market cap. Together with Fireblocks, these partnerships form a triangle of institutional credibility that few Bitcoin Layer 2 competitors can match.

For investors watching this space, the key metric to track isn’t the integration announcement itself but what happens to total value locked on Stacks-based DeFi protocols over the coming quarters. If institutional capital actually flows through Fireblocks into protocols like Hermetica, Zest/Granite, and Bitflow, it would validate the thesis that Bitcoin DeFi can attract serious money, not just crypto-native capital.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.

A whale has transferred nearly $20 million worth of Bitcoin to Binance as the flagship crypto continues to struggle.

Summary

A Bitcoin whale moved around 300 BTC to Binance, with roughly $20 million in value, while still holding about 200 BTC. The wallet built its position earlier in 2025 at an average price of $97,541, leaving it at a loss if the holder sells. Data from Arkham Intelligence shows that an address labeled “bc1q…kp4n” sent around 300 BTC, valued at over $20 million, to a Binance deposit address on Tuesday. As of press time, the wallet still retains roughly 200 BTC, which is worth about $13.75 million based on prices at the time of writing.

The wallet appears relatively recent compared to others seen in recent months, where decade-old holdings have suddenly become active to execute similar transfers.

On-chain data indicates that the address accumulated around 513 BTC between January and March 2025. At the time, the stash was worth close to $50 million, pointing to an average acquisition price of roughly $97,541 per coin.

So far, it remains unclear whether the transfer was made with the intent to sell, but movements to exchanges are often linked to potential selling activity. Given that the wallet is currently sitting at a loss, with Bitcoin trading near $69,000, the move could be aimed at limiting further downside.

On the contrary, the transfer could simply be portfolio restructuring or internal fund management rather than an immediate sale.

However, if we look at recent whale activity, it would not come as a surprise if the holder is preparing to sell. Bitcoin is down more than 45% from its all-time high and has faced intense volatility in recent sessions.

Last month a dormant wallet moved 2,100 BTC, worth around $147.7 million, after more than 13 years of inactivity. In another case, roughly $33 million in Bitcoin was sent to Binance by a separate whale.

This is happening as Bitcoin price has remained under pressure due to bearish macro catalysts, particularly rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The conflict has pushed oil prices higher and aggravated inflation concerns in the U.S. and across global markets. As long as these tensions persist, large holders may be inclined to remain on the sidelines.

On the other hand, institutions and treasury firms like Strategy have continued buying the flagship crypto.