Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

A new form of digital gold inches closer to debut as NatGold Digital announced on June 2 that its NATG token is ready for European market availability across all 30 European Economic Area member states — following the filing of its MiCA White Paper with the Central Bank of Ireland in April and its subsequent publication under Article 9 of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation on May 7, 2026, per the company’s official press release.

The announcement marks the most significant milestone yet for NatGold Digital, a Miami-based company pursuing what it calls “digital gold mining” — a patent-pending process that tokenizes the intrinsic value of verified, in-ground gold resources rather than physical gold held in a vault.

The distinction is fundamental. Where conventional gold-backed tokens like PAX Gold represent title to stored bullion, NATG represents certified ownership of gold that has not yet been extracted — a structure NatGold positions with its own tagline: “Not Gold. Not Bitcoin. The Natural Evolution of Both.”

BTC's price trends to the downside on the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview Digital Gold On The Blockchain: The MiCA Filing And What It Means The NATG MiCA White Paper was notified to the Central Bank of Ireland on April 3, 2026 — NatGold’s chosen EU regulatory anchor — and published in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on May 7. Per the press release, acceptance of the filing does not constitute approval or endorsement of NATG by any competent authority, nor should it be interpreted as a recommendation or assessment of the token’s merits — standard MiCA disclosure language that applies to all asset-referenced token issuers operating under the regulation’s notification framework.

The specific date of NATG’s European market availability will be announced separately, per the announcement. Under MiCA’s asset-referenced token framework, NATG would be accessible to eligible market participants across all EEA member states under the passporting provisions that allow a single national filing to unlock EU-wide distribution.

Andrés Fernández, CEO of NatGold Digital Ltd., said in the press release that NATG was designed from the beginning as a globally relevant digital asset, and that the international response to the company’s pre-market reservation program reinforced that the NatGold model speaks to audiences well beyond any single country or market.

The Demand Already Documented The pre-market figures provide context for the European ambition. NatGold’s reservation program, which closed to new participants on February 25, 2026, attracted 17,466 individuals across 162 countries reserving a combined 133,518 NATG tokens — representing more than $469 million in gross demand at the prevailing Baseline Intrinsic Value of $3,518 per token at time of closing, per NatGold’s official website.

The institutional infrastructure supporting the launch was completed on May 22, when NatGold announced the engagement of High Ridge Trust as independent custodian — the final component of the NATG tokenization ecosystem ahead of market launch, per an earlier PR Newswire announcement. Karen J. Wendel, President of High Ridge Trust, described the custody structure as designed to support operational integrity and institutional confidence across the ecosystem, per the May 22 release.

This development marks a pivotal moment for the nascent sector’s approach to commodity-backed digital assets in Europe, such as Gold. A MiCA-compliant gold token backed by certified in-ground resources — rather than vaulted bullion — entering 30 markets simultaneously represents a genuinely novel financial product test within the EU’s new regulatory framework, one that could expand how institutional and retail investors access gold exposure in the digital economy.

Cover image from Grok, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

Today, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) released a document addressing the regulatory, supervisory, and oversight challenges raised by global stablecoins. The document, although only consultative in nature, reveals disturbing plans for a globally coordinated move against stablecoins of all varieties.

The FSB makes ten high-level recommendations addressed to central banks and G20 authorities at the jurisdictional level. More specifically, they recommend a unified global approach to the supervision and regulation of the fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies.

Furthermore, the FSB suggests to authorities that, if they can’t control and regulate fully decentralized stablecoins, they should consider banning them.

FSB Raises Regulatory Alarms Against Global Stablecoins The FSB’s primary focus is on the potential risks that stablecoins could pose to global financial stability, especially those targeted at retail investors. These fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies represent a risk to the financial stability of emerging markets and developing economies, read the document.

Moreover, the FSB argues that global stablecoins could pose significant governance challenges to central banks. The Board seems especially concerned with the macro-financial problems that could arise if, over time, citizens in both advanced and emerging market economies begin favoring stablecoins over existing fiat currencies. 

The guidance is aimed at both advanced and emerging economies. Authorities in advanced economies are primarily concerned with stablecoins designed in a decentralized nature, seeing risks in their reliability as a store of value.

Jurisdictions in emerging market economies, meanwhile, express greater concern about foreign-currency-linked stablecoins substituting national currencies, retail deposits, or safe assets. They’re afraid that this could exacerbate bank runs and disintermediate the traditional financial institutions.

According to the FSB, another potential issue is that under distressed macroeconomic conditions⁠—much like the current coronavirus pandemic⁠—global stablecoins could essentially become a sort of a hybrid retail repo market for U.S. Dollars.

If left unchecked, global stablecoins could have a destabilizing effect on capital flows and local fiat exchange rates⁠—especially so in emerging market economies, argued the international regulator.

Source: Financial Stability Board Who Is the Financial Stability Board? It is important to note here that, even though the FSB lacks formal legal power, its recommendations are still influential. One of its primary mandates is to monitor the systemic implications of financial technology innovations and the systemic risks arising from disruptions to central bank operations.

The Board is hosted and funded by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Its members are representatives of ministries of finance and central banks from all G20 member states, plus ten international organizations, including the IMF, BIS, ECB, the World Bank, and the European Commission.

In practice, the regulator holds a tremendous amount of clout.

The objective of the FSB’s recommendations is to help authorities determine how to mitigate the potential financial risks caused by “global stablecoins,” or GSCs.

More alarming, it includes “other crypto assets that could pose risks similar to some of those posed by GSCs because of comparable international reach, scale, and use,” perhaps alluding to Bitcoin.

This isn’t the first reference to drastic action from the FSB. The regulator was asked to come up with specific recommendations on stablecoins back in February.

Recommendations on Stablecoins to Governments and Central Banks The Board makes ten recommendations concerning the regulation of stablecoins, in the aforementioned document. Among them are a couple that may cause alarm in the cryptocurrency community.

“Authorities should have the ability to mitigate risks associated with or prohibit the use of certain or specific stablecoins in their jurisdictions where these do not meet the applicable regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements.”

The FSB recommends that relevant authorities should utilize necessary powers to regulate, control and even prohibit any and all activities related to operating, issuing, managing, providing custody, and the trade or exchange related to global stablecoins. 

This could be dire for the likes of Tether and other international stablecoin operators. To make things clear, the FSB defines a global stablecoin as having “ potential reach and adoption across multiple jurisdictions and the potential to achieve substantial volume.” 

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“Authorities should apply regulatory requirements to GSC arrangements on a functional basis and proportionate to their risks.”

Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank (ECB) refers to this principle as “the golden rule of supervision,” otherwise known as the “same business, same risk, same rules” approach.

This means that cryptocurrency issuers can no longer operate in a gray zone. Stablecoins will now have to play on a leveled playing field, adhere to the same rules as banks, e-money issuers, and large payment processors. 

If central banks determine that particular GSC arrangements fit the definition of a “systemically important payment system,” then they’ll also fall under the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures or PFMI. 

“Authorities should ensure that there is comprehensive regulation, supervision and oversight of the GSC arrangement across borders and sectors. Authorities should cooperate and coordinate with each other, both domestically and internationally…”

The FSB is stressing the need for global unison in their approach to regulating and supervising stablecoins. The reason why this discussion is taking place at the highest levels of global economic governance is to mitigate possible risks of “regulatory arbitrage.”

In other words, this is the international banking cartel’s way of saying: If someone wants to operate a stablecoin arrangement out of Panama—sure, go ahead. But, they can only sell these stablecoins to Panamanian citizens.

“Authorities should ensure that GSC arrangements have in place a comprehensive governance framework with a clear allocation of accountability for the functions and activities within the GSC arrangement.”

Decentralized and Centralized Stablecoins Both Affected The FSB goes on to explain that the degree of decentralization in GSC arrangements shouldn’t really matter in terms of the demand for regulation, supervision, and oversight.

At the same time, they imply that only permission-based stablecoins should be permitted to operate: 

“Fully permissionless ledgers or similar mechanisms could pose particular challenges to accountability and governance and may not be suitable if regulators cannot be assured that appropriate regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements are satisfied.”

If the G20 adopts FSB’s views on this, it could also mean the end of Ethereum-based permissionless stablecoins. The entire DeFi sector shouldn’t be expected to fare much better, either.

“Authorities should ensure that GSC arrangements have in place robust systems for safeguarding, collecting, storing and managing data.”

This is simply the FSB saying that GSC businesses should give the G20 authorities “timely and unobstructed access to relevant data and information” on all stablecoin transactions and users. This it the same way traditional banks operate.

The critical question here is whether stablecoins running on permissionless blockchains are even able to do that.

Do wallet addresses and blockchain transactions count as relevant data and information?

Along the same lines, the FSB proposes that authorities should have the “ability to require a GSC arrangement to be governed in a manner that facilitates effective regulation and supervision, including by prohibiting fully decentralized systems.” 

“Authorities should not permit the operation of a GSC arrangement in their jurisdiction unless the GSC arrangement meets all of their jurisdiction’s regulatory, supervisory, and oversight requirements, including affirmative approval (e.g. licenses or registrations) where such a mechanism is in place.”

In the broader context of the document, “operation of a GSC arrangement” can mean anything from registering a GSC legal entity to the sale of stablecoins to retail investors.

In that regard, if Tether, for example, wants to continue issuing USDT to citizens of G20 member states (or most of the world), they would need to obtain licenses and register with the relevant authorities in each and every G20 country. Given Tether’s current approach towards compliance, this may not prove practical.

The CTO of Tether, Paolo Ardoino, told Crypto Briefing:

“We welcome the Financial Stability Board’s recognition of the role of stablecoins in the global economy, and its consideration of financial technology innovation in the digital asset space.”

For stablecoin businesses like Tether, Circle, Paxos, Binance, and others this could prove dire because the costs of compliance with the above provisions are enormous. This could, more or less, leave banks as the only source of fiat-backed digital currency.

Potential Market Impact on Cryptocurrency In terms of tangible legislation, the FSB’s recommendations, and its consequent impact on Bitcoin, will likely play out over the course of a few years.

In the meantime, it can be expected that central banks will increase cross-border cooperation to achieve greater supervision over stablecoin issuers and dealers.

Through this, the G20 aims to eliminate all feasibility of regulatory arbitrage and diminish what’s left of the regulatory wiggle room still remaining for stablecoin businesses.

As said by Richy Qiao, Chief Business Officer of decentralized stablecoin Ampleforth:

“This is something we’ve expected for a while. Large stablecoins that are centralized or tied to the financial system only work, until they matter. The FSB’s recommendations are inevitable and could result in the future of the entire crypto ecosystem coming under the control of those who control these types of regulated fiat-backed assets.”

Long-term Implications for Bitcoin and DeFi Stablecoins play a leading role in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The five largest stablecoins account for two-thirds of all trading volume, despite representing less than 4% of the market capitalization for public ledger tokens.

Rather than moving from crypto to fiat in a bank account, which is regulated and cumbersome by the industry’s standards, it’s instead possible to move into a fiat token that runs on a public blockchain. With USD stablecoins dominating the industry, this creates an extra level of efficiency for those in emerging and frontier markets. 

With over 75,000 daily active addresses on USDT alone, the genesis stablecoin only lags behind Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of adoption. In sum, the most important effect that stablecoins have had on the cryptocurrency markets is improved liquidity. 

USDT on-chain volume by Santiment If the G20 heeds the recommendation put forth by the FSB, the stablecoin ecosystem, as people know it, will face immeasurable peril. 

The first-order effect of this would be a dramatic reduction in liquidity for cryptoassets. The friction between a globally inefficient banking system and cryptocurrency exchanges will introduce hurdles in the timely deployment of capital. 

Exchanges, market makers, and institutional lenders will bear the brunt of the crackdown. Binance’s top five trading pairs use USDT and represent 57% of the exchange’s volume, at the time of writing. 

Given the expected erosion of liquidity, market makers may face diminishing workloads and more risk.

Trading pairs, for instance, would have to take place between two speculative tokens, rather than just one speculative token and one stablecoin pair.

Institutional lenders could see demand for funds dry up. Genesis Capital, an institutional lender, revealed that demand for stablecoins shot up from 9.6% in Q1 2019 to a whopping 37.2% in Q4 2019. 

Loans disbursed by asset by Genesis Capital Of all the niches in crypto, DeFi⁠—which has undue reliance on stablecoins⁠—will be hit the hardest. 

MakerDAO may have its entire business model come under heavy regulation, Compound could be eviscerated, and many of the other value-add services that leverage stablecoins could lose hard-earned traction generated over the last year.

Nine out of the top ten DeFi protocols, by value-locked, rely heavily on stablecoins in their operations. Moreover, exchanges that take advantage of regulatory arbitrage, like Binance, would be nowhere near their current size without stablecoins. 

The other global stablecoins that are likely to fall under intense scrutiny if these recommendations are accepted include Facebook’s Libra, Bitfinex-associated Tether, and Circle’s USD Coin.

However, given the circumstances, this may prove favorable for exchanges, like Coinbase, who have gone great lengths to operate under the grace of U.S. regulators. It may also have the effect of pushing altcoin trading further into the sights of regulators, with more strenuous “anti-money laundering” and “know your customer” requirements, added Qiao.

The impact on the cryptocurrency ecosystem should not be understated. The entire crypto industry would be impacted if stablecoins were outlawed, Bitcoin included.

Pushing private stablecoins out of the game would make the implementation and adoption of central bank digital currencies much easier. As a result, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to think the G20 will favor this proposal.

In some ways, the industry is getting what it asked for—regulatory clarity. Central banks are finally shining a light on the regulatory gray zones that exist in the cryptocurrency markets. Though, this light may be a bit brighter than many would have asked for.

Reporting aided by analysis from Ashwath Balakrishnan. Interviews and supplemental quotes by Liam Kelly and Mitchell Moos. 

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

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin Issues Rare Warning About Blockchain Validators

TLDR: Polkadot cut annual DOT issuance by 53.6% in March 2026, introducing a hard supply cap of 2.1 billion DOT. Cosmos IBC is live across 115+ networks in 2026, leading Polkadot in real-world cross-chain transaction volume. IBC Eureka launched in April 2025, enabling direct Ethereum-to-Cosmos connections without wrapping assets. Polkadot ranked first in developer commits in 2026, yet its DeFi TVL remains below $300 million ecosystem-wide. Polkadot and Cosmos both solve blockchain interoperability, but through contrasting engineering models. Polkadot ties connected chains to a central Relay Chain for shared security.

Cosmos lets each chain operate independently through IBC, an open messaging protocol. The choice between them depends on whether a project needs built-in security from launch or full operational control over every layer.

Polkadot Moves Toward Defined Scarcity With Tokenomics Overhaul Polkadot’s architecture relies on a hub-and-spoke model centered on its Relay Chain. Connected application chains, called parachains, inherit validation directly from the Relay Chain. This removes the need to build an independent validator network from scratch.

In March 2026, Polkadot cut annual DOT issuance by 53.6% through OpenGov referendums. Issuance dropped from roughly 120 million to 55 million DOT per year.

A hard supply cap of 2.1 billion DOT was introduced for the first time, with circulating supply already at 1.68 billion DOT.

DOT currently trades between $1.1 and $1.3, with a market cap near $2 billion. Polkadot ranked first in developer commits in 2026.

However, DeFi TVL across its ecosystem remains below $300 million, a gap that persists compared to Ethereum and Solana.

Cross-chain messaging through XCMP is still rolling out in phases as of May 2026. Many chains still rely on the older HRMP protocol in the meantime.

Polkadot also replaced competitive parachain slot auctions in 2025 with a governance-based Agile Coretime system.

Cosmos Expands IBC Beyond Its Own Ecosystem in 2025 Cosmos takes a different path by giving each chain full sovereignty. Every zone runs its own validator set through CometBFT and connects to others via IBC. IBC uses light client connections and avoids token wrapping, bridge contracts, and trusted custodians.

IBC Eureka, launched in April 2025, introduced direct connections between Ethereum and Cosmos chains. No asset wrapping is required.

Expansion to Solana and major EVM Layer 2 networks is planned through 2026, positioning IBC as a cross-ecosystem standard.

As of 2026, IBC is live across 115 or more networks. Active examples include Osmosis, dYdX, and Celestia. Each operates as a fully independent chain built on the Cosmos SDK.

ATOM currently trades between $2.06 and $2.11. Projects like dYdX migrated from Ethereum specifically for the execution control that Cosmos provides.

That control comes with a real cost, though — each chain must attract and maintain its own validator set. Cosmos leads in live cross-chain volume today, while Polkadot continues building toward a more tightly integrated long-term structure.

2026.06.14 10:47:19

On June 14, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings show the regulator has formally approved a rule change proposed by NYSE Arca that enables the listing and trading of the T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF. An actively managed cryptocurrency ETF, the fund will invest in a basket of digital assets meeting SEC-defined "eligible asset" criteria. While it uses a cryptocurrency index as its benchmark, it will not track that index passively. The filing notes the fund is projected to hold roughly 5 to 15 distinct cryptocurrencies, including major tokens like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), Polkadot (DOT), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Chainlink (LINK). The SEC filing also reveals the fund may hold stablecoins—primarily USDC—as "tokenized cash" during normal operations to cover expenses and rebalance assets, though these will not count toward its core investment portfolio. The approval notice stresses the product must adhere to NYSE Arca’s rules around anti-manipulation, disclosure, liquidity, and risk management. It also requires the fund to have information barriers (often called "firewalls") and position transparency mechanisms in place to uphold market fairness and prevent insider trading. Analysts say this ETF’s approval further expands cryptocurrency’s footprint within the traditional financial sector, marking the arrival of actively managed multi-crypto ETFs as tradable products under mainstream regulatory oversight.

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One altcoin that helps holders earn yields is seeing its own value soar even as the broader crypto markets try to shake off a recent slump.

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Yearn.Finance (YFI) offers lending and trading services so users can optimize their crypto asset earnings.

[adinserter block="1"]

The YFI token’s price jumped by 50% virtually overnight after word spread that Yearn had gone on a major shopping spree buying back its own token.

Yearn says in a tweet to its 159,200 followers,

“Yearn has purchased $7,526,343 worth of YFI from the open market. We got 282.4 YFI (0.77% of total supply) at an average price of $26,651.

More YFI has been bought back in the past month than in the prior year.”

Yearn reports that its treasury now holds over $45 million and intends to do more buybacks in the future.

In the investing world, companies often do buybacks when they believe their shares are undervalued or to reward existing holders by reducing the total available supply.

The move is paying off in a big way for the Ethereum-based protocol. YFI’s price has surged from a weekly low of $18,877 on Wednesday all the way to $28,802 at time of writing, including a nearly 20% rise on the day.

When Yearn first launched in July of 2020, the YFI token was worth around $30, then skyrocketed to a staggering valuation above $90,000 back in May before crashing down to $33,000 within days.

Like most of the crypto markets, YFI has experienced choppy price action in recent months.

Mon 01 Dec 2025 ▪ 6 min read ▪ by Mikaia A.

Summarize this article with:

They always come back, more inventive, more technical. Hackers have just struck a new blow in the crypto sphere. This time, Yearn Finance is the victim. Outcome: 9 million dollars vanished. Behind the exploit, a bug of rare complexity in the yETH contract. On the surface, a simple swap. In depth, mathematical chaos. And worst of all, this is not an isolated case.

In brief Yearn Finance loses 9 million due to a flaw in a custom swap contract. The technical bug: a division omitted in the calculation of the virtual balance product. The attacker uses temporary contracts to drain assets and obfuscate the trail. A single transaction is enough to pocket 100% of the affected yETH pool liquidity. When arithmetic explodes: a bug worth millions On November 30, a user was able to create 2.35 × 10³⁸ yETH thanks to a subtle flaw in the swap() function of the smart contract. This contract was supposed to maintain a balance rule between tokens. Except a critical division was omitted in the formula. Result: the variable vb_prod ran away. Like a speedometer stuck in overdrive, it deceived the protocol about its own health.

The exploit was confirmed by PeckShield, who alerted in a tweet that nearly 9 million dollars had been lost. Part of the funds — about 3 million in ETH — was sent via Tornado Cash, a famous crypto mixer used to obscure trails. The rest still sleeps in the hacker’s address.

The severity of the bug is not a simple oversight. As Ilia.eth explained on X:

Today’s exploitation of the $yETH pool was not a flash loan type price attack, but indeed a structural collapse of the AMM’s internal accounting. Here is a technical analysis showing how a simple omitted division led to complete protocol drainage.

This flaw painfully recalls the precedent of Balancer, where poor rounding management caused similar chaos. Same cause, same effect: uncontrolled monetary creation followed by a legitimate but destructive withdrawal.

Helper contracts to raze Yearn Finance’s architecture It’s not just the bug that impresses. It’s the attack engineering. In a single transaction, the hacker orchestrated everything: deployment of “helper contracts,” token minting, conversion to ETH, fund transfer, and self-destruction of contracts to erase traces.

According to Blockscout, each helper contract executed a targeted call to the vulnerable function, then sent the ETH to a master wallet before disappearing. A strategy worthy of a heist movie, where the robber erases his digital footprints in the same second he acts.

The key address identified by several analysts is: 0xa80d…c822, currently still holding about 6 million in stETH, rETH, and other Ethereum derivatives.

On X, William Li offers further reading:

The hacker actually did not withdraw all the yETH he created, he only sold part of it in the yETH-ETH pool for 1,000 ETH (about 3 million dollars) — which is far less than the real gain he made (P2).

More than a theft, it is therefore a controlled disintegration of the yETH protocol. And behind the attack, a deep mathematical knowledge, coupled with cold and precise programming talent.

Crypto and trust: when code becomes Achilles’ heel Yearn Finance is far from an amateur project. Yet, the flaw was detected neither by users nor by audits. This is where the matter becomes worrying for the entire crypto market. Because this type of error — a multiplication instead of a division — could exist elsewhere, lurking in other protocols.

The yETH contract structure is a hybrid between Curve and Balancer. Except that instead of recalculating each transaction, it stores an intermediate state (vb_prod) supposed to be updated after each swap. A dangerous practice, according to Ilia.eth:

Storing complex product results (vb_prod) to update them incrementally is extremely risky. Errors accumulate, and the slightest logical bug can remain active indefinitely. It would be better to recalculate invariants from current balances.

The hack revives the debate: should gas economy or rigor be prioritized? One thing is certain: the consequences of a botched trade-off now amount to millions. At Yearn, the time is for remobilization: SEAL911, ChainSecurity, and a post-mortem investigation are already on the front line.

5 key facts about the Yearn Finance exploit  November 30, 2025: date of the hack; $9 million: estimated total losses; 2.35 × 10³⁸ yETH: artificially created tokens; Single transaction: the entire attack happened in one block; Helper contracts: deployed, used, then self-destructed. Calculation errors in crypto do not forgive. And for good reason: it’s not another audit that would have avoided the carnage. Balancer, despite 11 security audits, was also emptied by an almost twin bug. A simple multiplication factor can become a weapon of mass destruction when finance becomes programmable. Protocols have short memory, but blockchains never forget.

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Mikaia A.

La révolution blockchain et crypto est en marche ! Et le jour où les impacts se feront ressentir sur l’économie la plus vulnérable de ce Monde, contre toute espérance, je dirai que j’y étais pour quelque chose

DISCLAIMER

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this article belong solely to the author, and should not be taken as investment advice. Do your own research before taking any investment decisions.

Ethereum Volatility Hits Multi-Month Low: Rally Next or Further Downside?

According to historical data, the price of Bitcoin has never posted three consecutive months of positive performance in a bear-market year. This trend is about to continue in 2026, with May looking likely to end in the red for BTC after optimistic performances in March and April, and at the start of this month. Recent on-chain data suggests that short-term investors may also be capitulating amid Bitcoin’s disappointing price action over the past few weeks.

Are BTC’s Short-Term Investors Losing Conviction? In a Quicktake post on the CryptoQuant platform, market analyst RugaResearch revealed that a specific cohort of Bitcoin investors moved a significant amount of BTC in the past day. This set of investors is known as the short-term holders, who are famous (or infamous) for being the most reactive in the market.

Specifically, RugaResearch reported that 107,760 BTC within the 1-month to 3-month Spent Output Age Band moved in a single day, the largest value on-chain movement (within this age band) in more than seven months. For context, the Spent Output Age Bands is an on-chain indicator that segments spent transaction outputs into age brackets, showing the proportion of total coins moved and how long they were inactive.

Source: CryptoQuant The 1- to 3-month Spent Output Age Band tracks Bitcoin purchased between late February and late April (from the beginning of BTC’s recovery to around $80,000 last month). RugaResearch said that when this age band witnesses an aggressive move, like the one recently seen, it means that the most recent investors are reacting rather than accumulating.

The crypto pundit spotlighted that the movement of these 107,760 BTC while the Bitcoin price is sub-$74,000 means that a significant portion of the 1-month to 3-month Spent Output Age Band is out of the money — or near breakeven, at best. While it remains to be seen why this move occurred, this shake-up does not suggest conviction among the most reactive set of investors.

RugaResearch wrote:

Exchange inflows tell you if these coins are heading to sell. If they land on exchanges, this flush has legs. If they’re moving to cold storage or OTC desks, it’s redistribution under pressure.

Hence, centralized exchanges’ data is one of the signals to watch in the coming days to decipher the purpose of this move.

Bitcoin Price Momentum Stays Negative For Eight Days At the same time, RugaResearch revealed a worrying trend with the Bitcoin Price Momentum indicator, which has stayed negative since May 22nd. After rising to a nearly one-year high of +20.5% on May 5th, the on-chain metric dropped by 12.9 percentage points about ten days later.

Source: CryptoQuant After flipping to negative a little over a week ago, the Bitcoin Price Momentum currently sits at 4.07%. “When 1m-3m spent output spikes 6.7x overnight while momentum bleeds for 8 straight days, the positioning game shifts,” the market analyst concluded.

As of this writing, the price of BTC stands at around $73,410, reflecting a mere 0.4% dip in the past 24 hours.

The price of BTC on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView

Vitalik Buterin says rollups must prove security before decentralizing

If you’re a crypto enthusiast and are looking for an easy way to generate passive income, staking your USDT could be your answer with Loopring. You could enjoy steady, passive income, without the worry of price fluctuations. In this article, I will explain everything you need to know about USDT staking, why Loopring’s AI-powered staking platform is a game-changer, and how you can start earning with it.

Staking your USDT is a low-risk way to increase your crypto with limited concern of a price drop (and craziness). Staking is a great way to quickly earn passive income and is an excellent tool for crypto enthusiasts looking for a capped growth strategy. In addition, staking stablecoins like USDT requires no specification on your institutional risk tolerance. However, it is still important to choose a staking platform that will provide good rates. Always do your research on these platforms to verify their safety and security before instead.

Staking USDT with Loopring 2025: With crypto maturing faster than anyone thought possible, 2025 will be a pivotal year in crypto, particularly in the DeFi (decentralized finance) space. Staking stablecoins like USDT

Low Risk with High Returns: Since USDT is pegged to the dollar, you don’t have to worry as much regarding price crashes for the sake of proportionate returns. Loopring offers fixed returns; for example, 5-12% APY (depending on the platform’s terms) is a consistent way to create passive income. AI Driven Performance: Loopring employs artificial intelligence to track the market for you, to ensure you are maximizing your staking opportunity, so your USDT is always working as hard as possible for you. User Friendly for All Types of Users: Unlike other platforms that require cryptocurrency knowledge or a degree in tech, Loopring has a straightforward user interface that is easy for all users to stake. Additionally, with the crypto sector buzzing in 2025, players like Loopring are bringing DeFi truly into the ecosystem with their technology and customer orientated focus.

Staking USDT using Loopring: A Step-by-Step Guide  So you want to get started? Staking USDT using Loopring is as easy as ordering your favorite coffee! Here’s how you can do it:

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Get Some USDT: If you don’t have USDT already, you can purchase some on a reputable exchange like Binance, Kraken, or Coinbase. You can choose fiat (USD) via bank transfer, credit card, or some platforms even let you use Apple Pay. Set Up a Web3 wallet: You will need a wallet like MetaMask or Trust Wallet to interact with the Loopring’s smart contract. Download either wallet, set it up, and send USDT to it. Make sure you keep your private keys safe; think of them as the keys to your crypto house! Connect to Loopring: Visit the Loopring website (make sure it is the correct website so that no one scams you). Connect your wallet by pressing the “Connect Wallet” button. It’s just like logging into your favorite app, just in the crypto world! Choose Your Staking Plan: Loopring offers flexible or fixed staking options. Flexible lets you withdraw anytime, while fixed plans (e.g., 30 or 90 days) often give higher returns. Pick what suits your goals. Stake Your USDT: Enter the amount of USDT you want to stake, confirm the transaction, and pay a small gas fee (Loopring operates on Ethereum or compatible chains, so fees are low thanks to Layer 2 tech). The AI will handle the rest, allocating your funds to the best pools. Watch Your Earnings Grow: Sit back and relax! You’ll see your rewards roll in, either weekly or monthly, depending on the plan. You can track everything on Loopring’s dashboard. That’s it! You’re now earning passive income like a crypto pro.

Plans and Pricing Loopring’s AI-powered automated staking platform offers six USDT staking plans tailored to different investment levels. Whether you’re just starting out or ready to go big, there’s something for everyone. Below, you can explore the plans and pricing of Loopring’s USDT staking platform:

Caption 12.50% Daily Profit: Invest 15 to 100 USDT—great for beginners testing the waters.

13.50% Daily Profit: Stake 100 to 800 USDT to step up your earnings.

14.50% Daily Profit: For 800 to 3,000 USDT, enjoy a solid return.

16.00% Daily Profit: Invest 3,000 to 10,000 USDT for even higher rewards.

17.50% Daily Profit: Stake 10,000 to 30,000 USDT and watch your income grow.

20.00% Daily Profit: Go big with 30,000+ USDT and maximize your returns.

Risks to Consider No investment is ever 100% risk-free, and staking USDT is no different. But don’t worry; Loopring was designed to limit those risks to the greatest extent possible. Keep in mind the following:

Smart Contract Risks: The best smart contracts can still have bugs in them. Loopring staking platform utilizes an automated smart contract for staking, which is innovative, but it is still risky. Even audited contracts can have bugs or exploits, and if a hacker finds a bug and exploits that, they can drain the funds, including potentially any USDT you contributed. Platform Reliability: As a DeFi platform, Loopring has no central authority to lean on if anything goes wrong while you’re staking. You should only ever use platforms that have robust reviews and stay away from anything that feels “too good to be true.” Regulatory Changes: Stablecoins such as USDT have always come under regulatory scrutiny. Loopring operates decentralized (which is why you’re staking through Loopring), but just be mindful of news regarding the reserves that Tether is holding, or local news on regulations of cryptocurrencies in your area. If you stake with a trusted platform such as Loopring, and you utilize basic security (like a secure wallet), you can keep the main risks to a minimum.

That’s it! You’re now earning passive income like a crypto pro. Click here to enter the platform

Disclosure: This is sponsored content. It does not represent Crypto Briefing's editorial views. For more information, see our Editorial Policy.

According to Circle, the asset’s primary goal is to provide institutions with a neutral, highly secure alternative to wrapped Bitcoin. The most popular wrapped Bitcoin token, wBTC, is offered by BitGo and has 119,157 tokens in circulation. Its market cap is at $8 billion. Circle, a stablecoin issuer, has announced its intention to offer a wrapped Bitcoin, positioning itself to compete with BitGo and Coinbase among institutional customers. On Thursday, the asset cirBTC was revealed. It will debut on Ethereum and will be backed 1:1 by bitcoin. It is designed for OTC desks, market makers, and lending protocols.

According to Circle, the asset’s primary goal is to provide institutions with a neutral, highly secure alternative to wrapped Bitcoin. Many banks and other financial organizations have started to invest heavily in Bitcoin and are looking at decentralized finance. Wrapped Bitcoins would make DeFi available on other chains like Ethereum by making the asset usable on other chains.

Tough Competition Ahead The new asset will debut on Ethereum, Circle Mint, and their layer-1 blockchain Arc, according to Circle. The new wrapped Bitcoin from Circle follows in the footsteps of BitGo’s Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and Coinbase’s Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC), which are the market leaders at the moment. With an initial quantity of 88,800 tokens and a market cap of $5.9 billion, Coinbase’s cbBTC debuted in September 2024.

The most popular wrapped Bitcoin token, wBTC, is offered by BitGo and has 119,157 tokens in circulation. Its market cap is at $8 billion. But that’s just half of what it was in November 2021, when Bitcoin reached its all-time high for the cycle.

Wrapped Bitcoin variants have been introduced by a number of cryptocurrency exchanges, including as Kraken (KBTC), Gate (GTBTC), Binance (BBTC), Huobi (HBTC), and OKX (XBTC), but their market capitalization pale in comparison to those of the two front-runners. Based on data provided by CoinGecko, the combined supply of wBTC and cbBTC is around 208,000 BTC.

Highlighted Crypto News Today:

IMF Flags Financial Stability Risks Amid Growing Tokenization Boom

A trader himself, Rossi has 7 years of experience trading in the forex market and the passion for writing has brought him to Newscrypto. He is the perfect combination of market knowledge and writing skills, making him one of the most sought-after writers on cryptocurrency.

Whales Buy the Dip as Ethereum Exchange Reserves Keep Falling

In This Article cirBTC Explained: What 'Wrapped Bitcoin' Actually MeansCircle's Institutional Play: Why cirBTC Is Different From WBTCRotation, Not Revolution: How cirBTC Fits Into the Wrapped Bitcoin Market Circle, the regulated financial infrastructure company behind USDC, launched cirBTC on Ethereum on June 8, 2026, adding a new 1:1 BTC-backed wrapped Bitcoin token to a market already anchored by WBTC at roughly $8Bn in market capitalization and Coinbase’s cbBTC at approximately $5.9Bn.

Each cirBTC token is backed by native Bitcoin held in segregated, regulated custody and verified in real time through Chainlink Proof of Reserve. That is a meaningful structural claim in a category where custody transparency has not always been the default.

Here is the central tension this article unpacks: wrapped Bitcoin has existed since 2019, yet most crypto holders have never had to think about it. So why does Circle’s entry into this market matter, and does its regulated approach actually change anything for the people who would use it?

cirBTC is live on @ethereum.

Circle helped establish the institutional standard for dollar collateral with USDC.

Now cirBTC brings that same approach to Bitcoin, bringing 1:1 BTC-backed collateral to institutional DeFi markets with neutrality, transparency, and Circle…

— Circle (@circle) June 8, 2026

cirBTC Explained: What ‘Wrapped Bitcoin’ Actually Means Think of wrapped Bitcoin like a coat-check counter at an exclusive club. You hand over your actual coat – your real Bitcoin – and the attendant gives you a numbered ticket.

That ticket represents your coat inside the venue. You can trade the ticket, use it to get a drink tab, or hand it to someone else. But the coat itself stays safely in the back room, and you can always redeem the ticket to get it back.

That is exactly how tokenized Bitcoin works. Real BTC goes into custody with a regulated entity, in cirBTC’s case, a Circle group company with assets kept explicitly separate from Circle’s corporate holdings. In exchange, an ERC-20 token is issued on Ethereum that represents the BTC at a 1:1 ratio.

The token can then move freely through Ethereum DeFi apps, smart contracts, and lending protocols. When you want your BTC back, you burn the token, and the custodian releases the underlying Bitcoin.

Why does any of this matter? Bitcoin cannot natively run smart contracts or act as collateral inside Ethereum-based lending protocols. Wrapping solves that. It is the bridge that allows Bitcoin’s roughly $1.7 trillion in value to participate in decentralized finance without the underlying asset ever leaving the Bitcoin blockchain.

Chainlink Proof of Reserve is the accountability layer; it continuously verifies on-chain that the number of circulating cirBTC tokens matches the BTC held in custody, so anyone can check the math without relying on a periodic third-party audit.

DISCOVER: Best Meme Coin ICOs to Invest in 2026

Circle’s Institutional Play: Why cirBTC Is Different From WBTC

(SOURCE: CoinGecko)

Circle is not just a crypto startup; it has established USDC as a key player in institutional digital finance and is now applying that compliance to Bitcoin collateral with cirBTC. This new offering aims to set an institutional standard for Bitcoin similar to what USDC achieved for dollar liquidity, emphasizing transparency and regulated custody.

While BitGo’s WBTC, the market leader, has around $8Bn in wrapped Bitcoin, its custodial model has faced scrutiny. Coinbase’s cbBTC, launched in September 2024, reached $5.9Bn in market cap but benefits significantly from Coinbase’s distribution.

cirBTC, however, positions itself with a compliance-focused approach while avoiding competition, appealing to institutions like OTC desks and corporate treasuries that want to leverage Bitcoin as collateral.

Despite its strengths, cirBTC faces challenges, including WBTC’s established liquidity and integrations, as well as cbBTC’s distribution advantages. While Circle’s compliance reputation is strong, it may not be enough to drive DeFi liquidity on its own.

EXCLUSIVE: Earn $10 USDC Via Binance Sign-Up

Rotation, Not Revolution: How cirBTC Fits Into the Wrapped Bitcoin Market $BTC short-term momentum is still bearish.

If we want a potential trend reversal, the first step is to have a clean break of $64k and $66k.

If $BTC doesn't manage to do that within a few days, the bearish momentum is probably going to continue.

I think in that case we… pic.twitter.com/qRIGnNPRLf

— Quinten | 048.eth (@QuintenFrancois) June 9, 2026

The wrapped Bitcoin market is poised for growth rather than disruption. The rise of corporate Bitcoin treasuries has created demand for efficient collateral deployment in institutional DeFi, a need cirBTC aims to meet.

Bull case: Circle’s compliance and USDC distribution position cirBTC well for institutional adoption, especially with integrations into major lending platforms like Aave and Morpho, creating significant liquidity and a unique cross-collateral workflow. This could lead to a substantial market share within 12 to 18 months.

Base case: cirBTC becomes the go-to wrapped Bitcoin product for compliance-focused institutions, while WBTC maintains dominance due to liquidity; cirBTC may serve as a solid third option as overall institutional demand for Bitcoin collateral rises.

Bear case: Slow integration with DeFi protocols and regulatory challenges could hamper cirBTC’s expansion, leaving it a niche product without the network effects needed to compete with established providers.

The competition is heating up as traditional finance explores tokenized products alongside crypto options, making Circle’s reputation as a regulated issuer increasingly important.

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The US stock market's optical communication sector rises across the board in pre-market trading, with Corning up 9.28%.

According to Bitget market data, the U.S. stock market's optical communication sector saw broad pre-market gains, with MRVL rising 4.99%, LITE up 3.24%, Nokia up 3.11%, Corning up 9.28%, and AXTI up 6.69%.

1 seconds ago

US-listed AI chip stocks saw mixed pre-market performance, with Qualcomm surging 13%.

According to Bitget market data, U.S. AI chip stocks posted mixed pre-market performance: Qualcomm (QCOM.O) surged 13%, Intel (INTC.O) rose nearly 6%, AMD (AMD.O) gained nearly 4%, and Google (GOOG.O) declined 1.4%.

1 seconds ago

Micron Technology surges 18% in pre-market trading on US stocks

According to Bitget market data, the US stock storage sector is seeing broad pre-market gains. Micron Technology (MU.O) jumps 18% in pre-market trading, as its strong earnings significantly exceeded expectations, with multiple major banks raising the stock’s target price. SanDisk (SNDK) rises 12.25%, Western Digital (WDC) gains 12.05%, and Seagate Technology (STX) climbs 8.63%.

1 seconds ago

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.

1 seconds ago

The week opens with crypto markets focused on the macro backdrop: while several protocol-level events are scheduled, developments around the Iran conflict and Fed signaling are likely to remain the dominant drivers.

Reuters reported Sunday that the Pentagon is preparing for possible weeks of ground operations in Iran, though Trump has not approved those plans, and by Monday AP reported he was floating the idea of seizing Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal even as diplomacy was still being discussed. Brent settled last Friday at $112.57, up 4.2% on the day.

BREAKING: President Trump says the US is in “serious discussions with a new and more reasonable regime to end our military operations in Iran.”

Trump also says that if a deal is not made, the US will “blow up and completely obliterate all of their electric generating plants, oil… pic.twitter.com/UAsFbQuWWF

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 30, 2026

Powell is due to speak later Monday, March 30, at Harvard, where markets will look for any signal on how the Fed is assessing the current oil-driven shock. With the Iran conflict pushing energy prices higher, policymakers are facing a familiar trade-off between inflation risks and slowing growth.

As in recent weeks, macro developments are likely to remain the dominant driver for crypto. Any escalation in Iran or a shift in Powell’s forward guidance could quickly feed through into broader risk markets, including crypto assets.

Crypto Events To Watch This Week In crypto land, the AAVE gets the spotlight this week. The project is set to activate Aave V4 on Ethereum mainnet. Aave V4 is already beyond the rumor stage and through the ARFC process, with the forum proposal laying out a “security-first” rollout, conservative risk parameters, and a narrower initial hub-and-spoke setup.

For ETH, the calendar matters less as a one-day catalyst than as a sentiment and narrative checkpoint. EthCC[9] begins March 30 in Cannes and bills itself as the largest and longest-running annual European Ethereum event, running through April 2. The adjacent EthCC Week schedule also includes “The Agora” on March 31, an institutional forum focused on market infrastructure, operational efficiency, and capital deployment.

JUP’s watchpoint is product expansion. Jupiter’s Offerbook is already in private beta, with registration open, and the pitch is unusually direct: “Onchain finance needs onchain credit. Time-based P2P loans, without price-based liquidations.” The product lets borrowers and lenders create fixed-term orders with customizable collateral, APR, loan size, and duration.

SUSHI is lining up a derivatives push. The official Sushi account has set April 2 for perps, while Sushi’s own site already shows a dedicated perps page telling users “Perps on Sushi Coming Soon” and collecting waitlist signups. That matters because perps remain one of the deepest and stickiest revenue arenas in crypto, and Sushi has been framing derivatives as a strategic priority since Sushi Labs outlined its roadmap.

FTX is also back on the radar because cash is about to move. FTX Recovery Trust said it will begin its fourth distribution on March 31, totaling about $2.2 billion for eligible creditors in the convenience and non-convenience classes who completed the required steps, with funds expected via BitGo, Kraken, or Payoneer within one to three business days. The market question is straightforward: how much of that recovered capital, if any, makes its way back into crypto trading once claims are paid.

Based, a Hyperliquid-powered DEX, will launch its token on March 30. The project confirmed its March 30 TGE on X, and KuCoin has already scheduled BASED/USDT trading for 10:00 UTC on Monday, with withdrawals opening a day later. KuCoin describes Based as a non-custodial DeFi “SuperApp” spanning crypto, equities, commodities, and spending rails.

At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $2.32 trillion.

Total crypto market cap, 1-month chart | Source: ETHUSDT on TradingView.com Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com

Volo Protocol Loses $3.5 Million in Sui Vault Exploit Amid DeFi Hack Streak

PANews reported on April 24 that, according to Ember, the hacker who stole approximately $98 million from Balancer last November has recently begun exchanging some of his ETH for BTC via the cross-chain protocol THORChain. Today, the hacker exchanged 7,000 ETH for 204.7 BTC (approximately $15.88 million), and the transaction is still ongoing. Currently, the hacker still holds 15,000 ETH (approximately $34.65 million) on the Ethereum blockchain and 204.7 BTC (approximately $15.88 million) on the Bitcoin blockchain.

A Balancer attacker has converted 21k ETH (about $48.7M) to 617 BTC over three days, leaving only 1k ETH in the hacker’s address. The probability of another $100 million crypto hack by December 31 is at 100% YES on Polymarket.

This conversion is part of the attacker’s ongoing liquidation of stolen funds. The crypto hack market sits at 100% YES with 251 days left until resolution. The certainty reflects how frequently hacks exceeding $100M have occurred, making another one before year-end a near-foregone conclusion.

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The liquidation of this much ETH into BTC has added selling pressure on Ethereum. The probability of Ethereum being above $2,600 on April 26 is at 0.2% YES across multiple sub-markets. That market has minimal daily trading activity at $3 actual USDC, meaning traders are not expecting a price rebound within the next two days.

The hack prediction market has zero volume, so the 100% YES price reflects the near-certainty of resolution rather than active trading. Buying YES at 100¢ offers no return since the market is already priced to certainty.

Watch on-chain investigators like ZachXBT and firms like Chainalysis for further details on the Balancer attacker’s movements. Ethereum’s short-term price will depend partly on whether the remaining 1k ETH gets liquidated and on any additional large ETH outflows tied to this or similar exploits.

Get prediction market intelligence as a structured API feed. Early access waitlist.

Another Crypto Hack Over 100m December 31

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 100% 0.0¢ — View market → Ethereum Above On April 26

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h April 26 0.2% — — View market → What Price Will Ethereum Hit Before 2027

Contract Odds Δ since publish Volume 24h December 31 1.9% -2.1¢ $13K View market → Updated 4min ago

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Ethereum price on april 26 bearish

0% FLAT

Posted: March 3, 2020

Behind the rollercoaster-like price fluctuations of cryptocurrencies, there exists another class of coins that promises to offer price stability. Stablecoins attempt to bring in the best of both fiat, as well crypto, and over the past few years, they have gained massive traction, primarily because it is a major source of liquidity in the cryptocurrency market.

Unlike cryptocurrencies, the value of a stablecoin is pegged to a stable real-world asset that can range from commodities to fiat, held in reserve by the stablecoin issuer, bringing in centralization factor to the game. Meaning, there has to be a central authority holding and monitoring the backing of such crypto-assets.

This goes against the very ethos of cryptocurrencies. Along the same lines, Wiess Crypto Ratings’ latest tweet read,

“There’s a big problem with the 1st generation of #stablecoins: Users have to trust a central authority to hold sufficient dollar balances to back the coins they issued.”

Tether is unarguably the biggest stablecoin in the realm. Tether, with a market cap of $4.46 billion, holds a dominance of 11.7% over the entire cryptocurrency market. But in less than four years of its inception, USDT has garnered significant bad press. with numerous scandals and issues under its name.

Speculations alleging Tether manipulated Bitcoin’s price were the most damaging for the space. To top that, last years’ Bitfinex-Tether fiasco has only added to the woes.

Even policymakers are not a big fan of stablecoins, with numerous papers published on how this sector can threaten the monetary systems. Grant Baker, Chief Innovation Officer at STAE and author of the 2019 Blockchain Compliance Paper, was quoted as saying,

“While stablecoins provide shelter for cryptocurrency investors during times of turbulence, they haven’t seen much usage elsewhere. We anticipate this will change when Singapore begins issuing licenses and regulating stablecoin issuers this year. Decentralized stablecoins will likely be a very practical application of blockchain and that’s what we’re focusing on.”

However, even as the crypto-space continues to evolve, dethroning the largest stablecoin by market cap is be a tough job. Nevertheless, there is a growing breed of stablecoins that has made its presence known over the last couple of months.

The rise of crypto-collateralized stablecoins

The most appealing factor is the decentralized notion of this breed. While most popular stablecoins like USDT, USDC, PAX, Gemini Dollar are all fiat collateralized stablecoins, ie., backed by legal tender, crypto-collateralized stablecoins are trustless in nature. They are linked to the reserves of other cryptocurrencies.

Without a central authority, the most prominent decentralized stablecoin is DAI. This stablecoin uses smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to manage the collateral and maintain order. Another token that has gained traction is Synthetix [$sUSD] and it allows the creation of on-chain synthetic assets on the Ethereum blockchain.

Its advantages include transparency, accountability, and efficiency [in using due to the quick process of liquidation into other cryptos],

But, everything has its own pros and cons. A recent blog by DeFi Rate explained the drawback of this emerging class of stablecoins,

“Where fiat-backed stablecoins only need to hold 1:1 reserves in legal tender, this subset of stablecoins often require over-collateralization to account for price volatility. Most commonly, this ratio is set at 150%, meaning that in order to issue $100 worth of $DAI, you will need to post AT LEAST $150 worth of $ETH as collateral.”

There is also a high volatility factor. Additionally, there also may be chances of instant liquidation, meaning, the underlying crypto can be instantaneously liquidated if its price falls below a certain threshold, which is a risky affair for investors.

That being said, the growing trend depicts a more mature crypto-space, despite mounting regulatory threats from agencies across the world.

Bitcoin and ETH Deposits to Yield Higher Interests on BlockFi

Bhutan moved $22.4 million in Bitcoin out of sovereign wallets this week, including a direct transaction to institutional market maker QCP Capital. The Himalayan nation’s crypto portfolio has dropped from a $1.4 billion peak to about $412 million.

The outflows continue a pattern of periodic liquidations by the Royal Government of Bhutan, which began mining and holding Bitcoin in 2019. These recent transactions highlight questions facing sovereign crypto strategies amid ongoing market pressures.

Recent Bitcoin Sales and Transaction PatternsBlockchain analytics platform Arkham confirmed the Bitcoin sales. Two major outflows came from Druk Holding Investments (DHI), Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm. The transactions included 184.03 BTC, worth $14.09 million, and 100.82 BTC, valued at $8.31 million, five days earlier. The latter went directly to labeled addresses tied to QCP Capital, a Singapore-based institutional market maker active in derivatives and spot markets.

According to Arkham’s analysis, Bhutan usually sells Bitcoin in roughly $50 million tranches. Historical data shows especially heavy sales between mid and late September 2025, with multiple transactions surpassing $50 million each. The current $22.4 million in weekly outflows is smaller than past sales, suggesting either more measured liquidation or reduced holdings.

Recent Bitcoin transactions from Bhutan’s sovereign wallets show outflows totaling $22.4 million (Arkham)The QCP Capital transaction signals a strategic liquidation rather than distressed selling. Market makers such as QCP enable large block trades without major market disruption. This allows sovereigns to exit positions while minimizing price impact, unlike direct exchange deposits that may trigger sharper reactions.

Bhutan’s Bitcoin Mining Operation and ProfitabilityBhutan’s Bitcoin strategy began in 2019, with DHI launching a mining operation powered by the country’s abundant hydroelectric resources. Arkham estimates that Bhutan has generated over $765 million in Bitcoin profits since its inception, while total energy costs were about $120 million. Hydropower has kept costs low compared with competitors that rely on fossil fuels.

The 2024 Bitcoin halving fundamentally changed mining economics. This event, which occurs about every four years, halves block rewards. The halving essentially doubled the cost to mine one Bitcoin, making operations less efficient. Data indicate that Bhutan mined most of its holdings before April 2024 and then sharply cut back production.

Pre-halving profit margins enabled Bhutan to amass substantial holdings at favorable costs. However, reduced efficiency after halving likely pushed the nation to monetize its reserves rather than continue energy-intensive mining at lower returns. This strategic shift from accumulation to selective selling mirrors a wider industry trend as sector profitability compresses.

Portfolio Decline and Current HoldingsBhutan’s cryptocurrency portfolio has experienced a dramatic contraction. Arkham Intelligence data show DHI’s on-chain assets currently total about $412 million, down over 70% from the $1.4 billion peak. The portfolio consists mostly of 5,700 BTC, with negligible holdings in Ethereum and other tokens.

The portfolio decline is due to ongoing sales and depreciation in the Bitcoin price. Some value erosion came from strategic liquidations for profit or fiscal needs, but broader market conditions during 2025 and early 2026 also contributed. Bhutan’s peak holdings aligned with Bitcoin’s price highs, amplifying the percentage drop as prices corrected.

Transaction history shows DHI’s main exchange partners are Binance—which has $261 million in transferred value, or 68% of activity—and Celsius Network, with $118 million (31%). Smaller amounts moved through Kraken. These exchange interactions, combined with direct transactions with market makers, show a sophisticated approach to treasury management by Bhutan.

The Druk Holding and Investments entity manages these digital assets along with traditional investments as part of Bhutan’s broader diversification strategy. The integration of cryptocurrency into the sovereign treasury positions Bhutan among a select group of nations involved directly in digital asset markets. Whether Bhutan’s continued liquidations indicate a full exit or just portfolio rebalancing remains an open question as observers track sovereign crypto adoption trends.

Theta Token is taking the blockchain to video streaming, seeking to decentralize video streaming and video on demand.

Their vision is to provide high quality video streams without the buffering issues often seen today. In addition, they plan on utilizing bandwidth and storage from users to reduce the cost of video streaming while also improving the quality.

However, with such strong competition, does it have what it takes?

In this Theta Token review, we will take an in-depth look at the project including the team, technology, unique selling points and prospects for the THETA token.

We already know that internet users have a huge appetite for video and video streaming services. That’s been proven by the popularity of YouTube, Twitch, Live.ly and the video streaming additions to Facebook and Twitter, as well as the increasingly popular Tik Tok.

In fact, networking hardware company Cisco estimates that over two-thirds of today’s internet bandwidth is taken up by video streaming. That amount is expected to increase to 82% over the next 18-24 months.

While that’s all well and good, today’s video streaming is not perfect. Many video streams suffer from what is known as “last-mile” delivery problems. The Content Delivery Networks have created an infrastructure where large datacenters provide streaming services for specific geographic areas.

However, streams are only as good as the infrastructure that feeds into the actual users homes, and this can sometimes be slow and cause frequent lag, rebuffering and choppy streams.

Traditional CDN Network vs. Theta Token "Hybrid" solution. Source: White Paper

Theta Token’s team has come up with a solution to the “last-mile” problem using decentralized blockchain technology. That has led to the world’s very first Decentralized Streaming Network (DSN). Not only that, but in September 2020 Theta Labs received the first ever decentralized streaming patent covering “Methods and Systems for a Decentralized Data Streaming and Delivery Network.”

In this blockchain network users are incentivized to share their unused memory and bandwidth to improve the overall network. This leads to better overall performance for everyone, all across the globe. According to the Theta labs founder, Mitch Liu

At its core, Theta is enabling users to share their idle bandwidth and computing resources to mine Theta tokens and in turn cache and relay video streams to others in the network

Technology behind Theta TokenThe Theta blockchain network is secured by a Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, which is far less demanding computationally, and has a higher transaction throughput when compared with Proof-of-Work protocols. By using PoS as the consensus mechanism it’s possible to have many different devices acting as viewers and caching nodes.

You might wonder how Theta Token is handling the issues of scalability in blockchain and video streaming. They have developed a Resource Oriented Micropayment Pool to solve scalability issues. In addition, they are implementing something called Proof-of-Engagement to track the delivery of video segments.

The distribution and collection of rewards on the platform is handled by Smart Streaming Contracts, which are a specific type of smart contracts on the Theta Token blockchain.

Here are more detailed explanations of these new concepts:

Resource-Oriented Micropayment PoolThe Resource Oriented Micropayment Pool was created by Theta Token specifically to create off-chain payment pools that users can for off-chain withdrawals. They have been designed to be resistant to double spending and also offer more flexibility than other off-chain solutions.

Resource Oriented ​Micropayment Pool ​overview. Source: Whitepaper

If a double spend is attempted it is detected by the validators on the Theta Network. One use case for the Resource Oriented Micropayment Pool is to allow for payments to multiple caching nodes without using on-chain transactions.

The major benefit of using this solution is that it allows for much greater scalability by keeping many micro-transactions off the blockchain.

Proof-of-EngagementAs you might guess from the name, this is a protocol that proves viewers have actually watched a live video. It’s a means of providing transparency for advertisers, as well as being a means for users to earn Theta tokens in return for their engagement.

The Proof-of-Engagement protocol is necessary to create a reliable measure of video stream engagement and a trustworthy way for viewers and advertisers to measure their video stream engagement.

Smart Streaming ContractsSmart Streaming Contracts are type of smart contract or incentive contract used to help facilitate reward distribution and collection.

Examples of Incentive Contracts on Theta Network. Source: Whitepaper

There are a number of use cases for Smart Streaming Contracts, including:

Advertisers rewarding streamers and viewers;Viewers gifting rewards to streamers;Gift contracts for multiple streamers;Premium or paid video content;Subscriptions to streamers content or to Decentralized Content Networks;Cachers can share rewards with viewers and content streamers.The Smart Streaming Contracts were designed to be executed by validators, which means the original person or entity who funds the contract doesn’t need to be involved with distributions or validations.

Currently these Smart Streaming contracts are being tested on the Testnet, but is expected that they will deploy on the mainnet in early 2021 with the release of the THETA mainnet 3.0. Once Smart Streaming Contracts go live on the mainnet Theta will also implement TFUEL staking and burning.

Theta Token NetworkThe THETA tokens were launched in December of 2017 and were issued as ERC-20 tokens. Once the blockchain launches (est. late 2018) these ERC-20 tokens were exchanged for native tokens at a 1:1 ratio.

These tokens were also an early part of the SLIVER.tv platform and are used to reward viewers, streamers and those who share their resources (memory/bandwidth) with the Theta Network.

In fact the mainnet did not launch until March 12, 2019, which was a few months late, but the launch went well, with no issues. In addition to swapping the ERC-20 THETA tokens, users also received an airdrop of the Theta Fuel (TFUEL) tokens.

Following that intial launch, v 2.0 of the mainnet went live in May 2020. At that time Theta introduced Guardian nodes, a revolutionary, two layer consensus mechanism to complement Enterprise validators run by a premiere set of global partners including Google, Samsung, Binance, Blockchain.com, and Gumi.

The Theta Network Value Proposition and the TFuel Token Flow

Theta Fuel was created to be similar to the “gas” used in the Ethereum network. With the launch of the mainet the Theta Fuel tokens are being used as the reward token of the Theta network.

One of the most important aspects of the Theta mainnet launch was the introduction of Theta Fuel (TFUEL), the “gas” or payment token of the Theta Network. TFUEL powers on-chain operations like payments to relayers for sharing a video stream, or deploying or interacting with smart contracts.

Relayers earn TFUEL for every video stream they relay to other users on the network. You can think of Theta Fuel as the “gas” of the protocol. In conjunction with THETA, the staking and governance token of the protocol, these two tokens make up the economic system of Theta Network.

Once the network moves to version 3.0 in the spring of 2021 Theta will add a new mechanism for staking and burning TFUEL.

Network ParticipantsThere are numerous stakeholder and nodes that help prop up the Theta Token ecosystem. The network was created with 5 major groups of stakeholders:

Streamers/Influencers – These are the content producers of the network who produce live content and videos for later consumption. They are rewarded with Theta tokens for their contributions.Viewers – The users who come to THETA.tv to consume video content. They provide viewer engagement, which is arguably the most important part of the entire video streaming network. Viewers are rewarded for viewing and engaging with videos and can also choose to be rewarded for viewing advertisements.Advertisers – They use the platform to promote services and products to the viewers. They spend Theta tokens to buy advertising time in the network, and to sponsor influencers.Caching Nodes – These are the computers and servers that provide the network with caching services to improve the quality and delivery of the video stream. They are also rewarded with Theta tokens.Ingest Nodes – These are nodes which assist in providing various bitrates, stream resolutions, etc. They provide their services to the caching nodes for live streams and are rewarded for doing so.Most recently Theta introduced their new Guardian Nodes with the May 2020 launch of version 2.0 of the mainnet. Guardian nodes are designed to finalize blocks in the Theta multi-BFT consensus protocol. These Guardian Nodes are meant to be run by members of the Theta community, and are rewarded with TFUEL. Those wishing to run a Guardian Node must have a computer or server with minimum technical specifications, and must stake 1,000 THETA tokens.

Image via Theta Token Twitter

The hardware requirements to run a Guardian Node are:

Internet speed: 5Mbps+ up and down;CPU: 8 cores or more;Memory: 32 GBytes or more;Disk size: 1TB or more, SSD hard drive preferred.The on-boarding on pre-Guardian nodes began in March 2019, and as of November 2019 Theta announced the first 100 Guardian nodes have been selected to run on the Theta testnet.

By May 2020 the Guardian nodes were transitioned to mainnet and began helping validator nodes in securing the network, producing blocks, and earning TFUEL for their contributions. The addition of the Guardian nodes helps to ensure that no single entity or group can easily control the Theta staked in the ecosystem, significantly improving the decentralization of the network.

The Guardian nodes provide additional decentralization for Theta. Image via Publish0x.com

Guardian Nodes earn a share of all the new Theta Fuel (TFUEL) generated on Theta blockchain, which is 250m annually. The proportion of TFUEL you earn as a GN depends on how much THETA you have staked relative to the total number of THETA. 

As an example, if you stake 100,000 THETA and the total network has 300m THETA stake, you are staking 0.033% of the THETA total staked to the network. That would translate into your node earning about 0.264 TFUEL per 100 block period, or 6,944 TFUEL monthly.

THETA EdgeCastThe core thesis for THETA has always been to build a fully decentralized video infrastructure that could benefit all the involved stakeholders from the platforms to the content creators and down the very end-users.

One of the ways to bring this to market includes the ability for end-users and content creators to choose which platform will be the most benefit to them. This doesn’t only include new, decentralized platforms. It also includes the existing advertiser sponsored platforms such as YouTube and Twitch, along with existing subscription based services like Netflix and Amazon Prime.

In order to make this a reality the Theta team released the beta of Theta EdgeCast in November 2020. This is the very first totally decentralized video streaming dApp built completely on the native Theta blockchain, including smart contracts. Theta EdgeCast has the ability to do video capture, the transcode it in real-time, and to cache and relay it to users all around the globe. This is a fully decentralized solution with no central servers or services. It is all accomplished through the more than 2,000 Theta edge nodes operating globally.

EdgeCast adds fully decentralized video streaming, distribution, and compute . Image via Theta.tv

EdgeCast comes as part of the Edge Node application, and users can now broadcast streams on EdgeCast or view other users EdgeCast streams, as well as earn TFUEL via the Edge Caching and Edge Compute features. The Edge Node now encompasses all aspects of decentralized video streaming, distribution, and compute in one streamlined app.

The Theta team sees EdgeCast as a preview of the future, when Theta.tv evolves from its current hybrid platform status to a fully decentralized platform. In the long term they see decentralization as a key feature for all media and entertainment. They are positioning Theta to be a part of this future, and upgrades like EdgeCast bring the project closer to this future.

With Theta as the infrastructure users of 5G, smart TVs, mobile devices, and future connected devices will have a means to efficiently transfer video and data without the need for a centralized entity controlling the ecosystem. With Theta every user and device on the network will be able to benefit from the storage, transmission, and delivery of video and other data streams.

THETA Mainnet 3.0The Spring of 2021 is set for the projected launch of Theta Mainnet 3.0 which will introduce TFUEL staking and burning, among other changes. That’s just two years after Theta initially introduced its peer-to-peer decentralized video delivery infrastructure. One year ago Theta introduced Guardian nodes to that infrastructure, as well as adding Enterprise validator nodes run by premier global partners such as Google, Samsung, Binance, Blockchain.com, and Gumi.

After Mainnet 2.0 was released in May 2020 the EdgeCast technology was introduced, adding significant enhancements to the Theta network and the video streaming capabilities of the decentralized edge network that’s been developed by Theta.

In December 2020 Theta added support for Turing-complete smart contracts, opening up a whole new realm of potential use cases and dApp feature sets. For example, the smart contract support has made it possible for Theta to launch ThetaSwap v1, the very first decentralized exchange (DEX) for the Theta network. Future upgrades could see fully digitized item ownership, innovative payment-consumption models, transparent royalty distributions, trustless crowdfunding mechanisms, and much more.

With these improvements as the foundation, Theta is now working on releasing Theta Mainnet 3.0 with two primary protocol innovations.

The first of these is the addition of Elite Edge Nodes. These are Edge Nodes that have had TFUEL staked to them, making them Elite Edge Nodes. This will enable Uptime Mining and will allow Elite Edge Nodes to earn TFUEL through the staked TFUEL, while also earnings additional TFUEL by providing higher performance for video platforms.

The overarching goal of the Theta crypto economics design is to properly incentivize and reward all Theta ecosystem stakeholders, and thus ensure the security and utility value of the Theta network. This includes a new 2-4% TFUEL inflation mechanism through Uptime Mining.

TFUEL staking and burning. Image via Theta blog

Basically Elite Edge Nodes will earn rewards based on the amount of TFUEL staked and the total uptime of the node. Additionally, there will be a lower and an upper limit on the amount of TFuel that can be staked to an Elite node. The lower limit is necessary to prevent sybil attacks, will be explained later. The upper limit is to ensure the most optimal level of decentralization. If users want to stake more TFuel than the upper limit, they can launch multiple edge nodes and split their TFuel across those nodes.

In addition to TFUEL staking, there will also be a TFUEL burning mechanism added as a cost for using the Theta edge network. This burning mechanism is being added as a balancing force against the additional supply that will come from the TFUEL inflation mechanism.

When Theta Mainnet 3.0 is launched there will be a minimum of 25% of each TFUEL payment to the network burned, effectively making it a cost for using the network. The Theta team believes that in the long-run, as Theta’s edge network becomes more widely adopted, this could meaningfully reduce the supply of TFuel.

These changes and more can be studied in greater detail in the Theta Mainnet 3.0 whitepaper.

ThetaSwap DEXWith the addition of Turing-complete smart contracts to the Theta network many potential new use cases have been added to Theta, and one of these has been realized with the launch of the ThetaSwap DEX, the first decentralized exchange on the Theta blockchain. It is based on the Automated Market Maker logic similar to that of UniSwap. It allows users to exchange their newly-created TNT20 tokens built on Theta blockchain in a trustless, non-custodial way. Just hours after the release of the DEX on February 4, 2021 there were already a number of Theta streamers and community leaders creating their own TNT20 tokens. It is expected that this activity will only increase as the community and ecosystem grows.

The creation of a decentralized exchange was seen as necessary for Theta, given the new tokens being created on the blockchain. The Theta DEX gives users an easy way to trade the new tokens, and gives markets an efficient way to price the tokens. Now that ThetaSwap has been created there is a way for TNT20 tokens to function completely.

ThetaSwap is the first fully decentralized exchange on the Theta blockchain. Image via Twitter.com

Streamers will now be able to issue loyalty tokens that will have real value to their fans, while pools or DAOs can fund media ventures more easily. There are many exciting new ways to monetize content on Theta now that ThetaSwap is active.

Version 1 of ThetaSwap allows trading of TFUEL and TNT20 tokens, but future versions will add functionality for THETA trading via a version of the THETA token in a TNT20 wrapper (similar to wETH or wBTC which you may have used in other DeFi protocols, you would use wTHETA in ThetaSwap).

Several stablecoins issuers have also expressed interest in bringing their assets to Theta blockchain in TNT20 form, making it even easier to trade on ThetaSwap. There are continued upgrades planned for ThetaSwap throughout 2021.

Theta Token Team & PartnersThe Theta Token team is led by CEO and co-founder Mitch Liu, who was also co-founder of the video streaming site SLIVER.tv as well as Gameview Studios and Tapjoy.

A second co-founder is Jieyi Long, who was also a co-founder at SLIVER.tv as well as holding a PhD in computer engineering from Northwestern University. SLIVER.tv is a video game streaming service similar to Twitch, and is one of the backbones in the Theta Token infrastructure.

Adding to the knowledge and growth of Theta is an experienced group of Media Advisors, which includes YouTube co-founder Steve Chen, and Twitch co-founder Justin Kan.

From Left: Mitch Liu (CEO), Jieyi Long (CTO), Ryan Nichols (Chief Product Officer), Riz Virk (Head of Corp Development)

The Theta Token team has forged several crucial partnerships, including one with Twitch that will allow viewers to earn Theta Fuel Tokens (TFUELHETA) by sharing their bandwidth to broadcast streams.

It also has partnerships with Steam, a video game provider, and with the decentralized cloud computing blockchain Aelf. One other key partnership is with the startup accelerator Play Labs. More recently it has formed partnerships with SamsungVR and with Littlstar, a media platform that gives Theta access to 100+ million Playstaion platforms.

The community behind any blockchain project is certainly an important factor to consider as it helps with both spreading the news about the platform, and ultimately with adoption.

The largest community following Theta is on Twitter, which you might expect as Twitter followings seem to be highest for blockchain projects. Theta Network has nearly 83,000 Twitter followers.

What is surprising is the number of Facebook followers the project has. Typically blockchain projects don’t see much activity from Facebook, but the Theta Network’s Facebook page has over 62,000 followers.

Telegram has become increasingly important for blockchain projects, and they often use Telegram as their first place to share news, and as a place to carry on discussions about changes within the platform and community. Theta has almost 11,000 Telegram members, which isn’t a bad showing on that platform.

Another surprise for the project comes from Reddit, which is usually a popular hangout for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, but in the case of Theta there are just 3,300 followers for the Theta subreddit. There are also over 5,000 followers on a defunct Theta subreddit that moved almost a year ago.

Token Price PerformanceRather than holding a public ICO, the Theta Token team held a private sale in which $12 million was raised. The pre-sale token price was $0.15 and by the following month the price had more than doubled to an all-time high of $0.314425 on January 27, 2018. Price wouldn’t return to that level until May 2020. And from May 2020 until February 2021 the price continued climbing, reaching a new all-time high of $2.56 on February 5, 2021.

THETA Price Performance. Image via CMC

Of course the initial all-time high was during the huge rally in blockchain markets in January 2018. And the new all-time high is occurring during another huge rally in cryptocurrencies that’s been lifting many of the most popular and successful projects to new all-time highs.

TFUEL Price HistoryTFUEL appeared on exchanges on March 28, 2019 at an opening price of $0.017001 and it closed nearly unchanged that day at $0.017193. Price fell over the next several weeks, but a spike higher in late May allowed TFUEL to print an all-time high of $0.025061 on May 25, 2019.

Price fell off that high and in March 2020 TFUEL printed its lowest price ever of $0.0008894. That low was followed by a rally that would culminate with TFUEL hitting its highest level ever at $0.04020 on December 27, 2020.

Buying & Storing THETA & TFUELThe two largest exchange services for THETA are being provided by Binance Exchange and BkEx. There’s also decent volumes being exchanged at Huobi Global, UpBit, and DigiFinex. There’s a handful of other exchanges selling THETA, but with smaller volumes.

Register at Binance and Buy THETA Tokens

The majority of trading volume in TFUEL is at Binance, although there is a decent amount being exchanged at Upbit. There are only a few other exchanges listing TFUEL and the volumes being exchanged are negligible.

The Theta native wallet was released just days before the mainnet was launched. On March 9, 2019 Theta announced the release of the native web wallet, which can be used for both THETA and TFUEL tokens. This who prefer more security in their cryptocurrency storage can opt for the Trezor or Ledger hardware wallets.

There are also several third-party wallets that support storage of THETA and TFUEL and these include the Trustwallet and the Atomic wallet. Theta Labs has also released mobile versions of the Theta wallet for both Android and iOS

Development & RoadmapThis all sounds well and good but how much development output have the team been pushing recently?

One of the best ways to get a sense of this is to look into a project's GitHub. By observing the total commits to their open source repositories, we can get a sense of the raw output.

So, I decided to dive into the Theta Token GitHub. Below are the total commits to the top two most active repos over the past 12 months.

Commits to Select Repos over past year

As you can see, the developers have still been busy working on the core protocol. This is a bit less than we would expect from a project in this stage of development but its still progress.

In fact, if we were to look at sites such as CoinCodeCap, it is clear that the Theta Labs code output falls quite far behind. There are a further 8 code repositories but none of these had any reasonable development in them recently.

In terms of the Roadmap,

they have done very well and have an impressive amount of work planned for 2021, some of which has already been completed and implemented.

The 2021 roadmap for Theta. Image via ThetaToken.org

If you wanted to keep up to date with the latest business developments, then you are best suited to follow their Twitter account as well as their official blog.

ConclusionSince the launch of the Theta live streaming platform back in 2016 the project has come a very long way. With THETA now live on the SLIVER.tv platform and the mainnet working well and nearly ready for version 3.0, the team has been working to expand the partnerships and reach of the Theta Network.

Video streaming has a huge and increasing demand in the 21st century, and the Theta Token team is looking to make their platform the go-to blockchain for video streaming. It remains to be seen if they can succeed, but they have a very talented and experienced team and a solid vision. Plus they have a very good start compared with some other similar projects.

There are more interesting things being planned now the network is launched, including shared mining rewards to distribute rewards among several users; anti-piracy measures to dis-incentivize piracy.

They are also planning for the inclusion of a general service platform that goes beyond streaming videos, but provides such services as smart streaming contracts. The team has also been looking into ways to integrate the Theta platform into smart TVs, which would theoretically give Theta hundreds of millions of new users.

Despite some recent downward pressure the THETA token is the 24th largest coin on Coinmarketcap.com, while TFUEL is the 116th largest. Both tokens are at or near their all-time highs, and with the launch of version 3.0 of the mainnet, which will add staking of TFUEL, it’s quite possible the rally in these tokens has only begun.

Disclaimer: These are the writer’s opinions and should not be considered investment advice. Readers should do their own research.

June 14 — The Humanity Project team issued a statement in the early hours of yesterday regarding a cross-chain attack targeting its H token that took place on June 8. The attacker used a phishing email to gain access to a board member’s device, stealing their private key to execute on-chain transactions. The report noted the attack displayed technical tactics and tooling similar to those linked to a North Korean hacker group. The breach occurred across both Ethereum and BNB Chain. Using the stolen key, the attacker upgraded the Ethereum contract and transferred roughly 141.18 million H tokens. Simultaneously, they seized control of the BSC-side ProxyAdmin contract and minted additional tokens. Over an approximately 8-hour window, the attacker gradually sold these assets on Uniswap and PancakeSwap, disrupting liquidity and harming token holders. The project team confirmed the attack vector was a targeted social engineering phishing email disguised as an update notification from crypto trading platform Bithumb. The victim was tricked into opening a malicious attachment, which installed a remote access trojan that granted full device control, enabling theft of wallet data and private keys. As of the latest update, the Ethereum-side H contract has been frozen via an unaffected multi-signature (multi-sig) mechanism. However, the BSC-side deployment remains under the attacker’s control, leaving open the potential for additional minting. The team is collaborating with exchanges and stakeholders to develop fixes and remedies, and advised users to stay on alert for phishing links and scam messages.

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While there are plenty of blockchain projects focused on dApps and the conversion of tokens, one that stands out is the Bancor Network and its BNT token.

Indeed, this project is one of the most well known in the cryptocurrency space. It has also had its fair share of ups and downs. From a blockbuster ICO to legal challenges. From widespread partnerships to a widely publicized hack.

However, is it something you should consider?

In this Bancor Network Token review, I will give you everything that you need to know. I will also take a look at the long term prospects and adoption potential of BNT.

The Bancor Network has created an elegant solution in its decentralized network which allows traders to swap a wide selection of tokens seamlessly across nearly 10,000 token pairs, and all with a single click.

Image via Bancor Website

Bancor allows users to instantly convert between two tokens without needing a counterparty to the trade. This is all done right within the Bancor wallet, and this model has allowed Bancor to provide traders with automatic liquidity for trades.

More importantly, it allows the network to remain completely decentralized, and much of the functionality of the network is thanks to the innovative use of the BNT token to facilitate trades.

So, this all sounds really intriguing but in order to understand the real heft behind Bancor, we have to go over its relatively eventful history.

Bancor Network BackgroundThe Bancor Network is overseen by the Bancor Foundation, which is based in Zug, Switzerland. The company also operates a Research & Development center in Tel Aviv, Israel, which gives the company a foothold in the rising blockchain hub in Zug as well as the rising Middle Eastern technology center of Tel Aviv.

The company was founded in 2016 by a group is Israelis with a background in Silicon Valley start-ups, as well as experience in scaling startups and blockchain technologies. It was named after the international trade balancing currency initially envisioned by John Maynard Keynes.

Token Sale Page for the Bancor Network Token

The Bancor Network is perhaps most well-known for holding one of the most successful ICOs ever. In 2017 it set a world record by raising over $153 million in Ethereum tokens in less than 3 hours. The world-record has since been topped by several projects (including SIRIN Labs and Tezos), but remains an impressive beginning for the project.

Since the ICO the Bancor Network has seen over $1.5 billion in token conversions take place on its platform, all facilitated by the BNT token. In addition, there are over 100 liquidity providers serving as Bancor nodes, and these nodes provide over $13 million in liquidity by staking BNT tokens to power token conversions.

More recently, on January 1, 2020 Bancor has added dramatically to its liquidity pool by airdropping all of its Ethereum Reserve, which totaled 10% of the BNT marketcap at the time, in the form of ETHBNT Bancor Pool Tokens.

In effect this added 60,000 liquidity providers, although it’s understood that many of the airdrop recipients simply turned around and sold the tokens. Still, the Bancor network has gone from liquidity of just under $4 million on January 1, 2020 to over $17 million as of mid-June 2020.

Cross-chain ConversionBancor has made the user experience of exchanging tokens quite easily. The intuitive wallet app is slick and allows for the quick and easy conversion of tokens similar to what users get when using Coinbase or other custodial wallets.

While the user interface makes it look simple, behind the scenes the Bancor wallet is transacting directly with BNT smart contracts on the blockchain, all while allowing users to retain full control of their private keys and funds at all times.

Cross Chain Token Swap on Bancor

The obvious advantage of Bancor’s wallet is that it not only allows for the exchange of tokens, but it does so without the need for a counterparty. This makes it the first network to allow cross-chain conversions without requiring users to give up their private keys in the process of the exchange.

Bancor began their cross-chain integration efforts with EOS and Ethereum, however, they have plans to add other bridges over time, eventually enabling them to function as a multi-chain liquidity solution that can provide instant token conversions for many of the popular blockchains such as Bitcoin, Tron, and Ripple.

Range of ConversionsAlready Bancor gives traders and investors an amazing range of conversion options, with fee-less, instant trades available for tokens across more than 8,700 token pairs right through the Bancor wallet.

To make a comparison, one of the most popular exchanges Binance has roughly 196 tokens available, but just 586 trading pairs.

Automatic LiquidityOne of the greatest benefits of Bancor and the BNT token is that they bring liquidity to cryptocurrency markets, and without liquidity, currencies are apt to wither and die. After all, who wants to own a currency that can’t be easily bought and sold.

Of course, the top cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and others in the top 20 have enough trading volume on their own, but the Bancor Protocol brings a unique solution that delivers automatic decentralized liquidity to any token.

Instant & Affordable Liquidity on Bancor. Image via Bancor Blog

Through the Bancor Protocol any token at all, even those privately created, can get instant liquidity, no matter what size trade volume the token enjoys. This is incredibly important functionality when it comes to facilitating the adoption of decentralized applications.

Since many dApps have their own tokens, and now those tokens are able to be converted with other cryptocurrencies instantly and with a single click right within a user’s wallet.

How Bancor Protocol WorksAt this point, you might be wondering if it’s really necessary to have another decentralized exchange. After all, the centralized exchanges seem far more popular at this point, and there are dozens of active exchanges already providing a trading platform and liquidity for cryptocurrencies.

In short, yes the world does need another exchange, or at least it needs an exchange like Bancor. That’s because the Bancor platform provides a much-needed service of increasing liquidity for any token, and of creating a platform where any token can be exchanged without the need for a counterparty.

This is something that can’t be accomplished with any other asset. Take fiat currencies as an example. If you want to exchange U.S. dollars for Yen you need to find someone willing to sell Yen to complete the transaction. Every asset is like this. There must be a buyer and a seller for a transaction to work.

Overview of the Bancor Protocol for external developers

Bancor only requires one person to complete a trade, with the liquidity provided by the native BNT token and its smart contracts. The BNT token’s smart contracts ensure that there is a balance between tokens at all times. Once any trade is concluded there will also be a total remaining that represents the BNT balance coded into the smart contract.

This structure removes the need for the exchange to act as a third-party to transactions. With Bancor and its BNT token, you are able to continually perform exchanges for Ethereum and EOS compatible tokens right through the Bancor wallet.

You can think of the system as an hourglass. It’s a closed system and it doesn’t matter how you turn the hourglass, it always holds the same quantity of sand. In this analogy, the hourglass represents the BNT smart contract, and the grains of sand are the tokens being traded.

And next up from the team will be a development marketplace for dApps that will also make use of the cross-chain compatibility and balanced smart contracts. Also in the pipeline for the future is staking rewards to incentivize liquidity, and a BancorDAO to add self-governance to the blockchain and fully decentralize.

Bancor Staking RewardsBNT staking rewards are a future enhancement that is planned to incentivize users to provide liquidity for the network. The basis for adding staking is that Bancor needs liquidity to lower fees for traders, while also increasing trading volume and overall network fees. By providing users with an incentive to add liquidity to the network Bancor is expecting to see its network grow and flourish.

Simulated Staking APRs. Image via Bancor Blog

While plans for adding staking rewards are in the early stages the basics are that users will receive rewards of BNT for holding their BNT in an existing liquidity pool such as MKR/BNT or ETH/BNT. The amount of new BNT that will be created as staking rewards and the distribution of staking rewards to different pools on the network will be decided by users voting in the BancorDAO.

This type of reward system is expected to pull new users into the ecosystem thanks to the APR generated by fees and staking rewards. Bancor is carefully designing their staking rewards system to avoid concentrating the rewards in a small number of pools, choosing instead to provide an even distribution across dozens of network pools.

Bancor VortexVortex is the solution implemented in February 2021 which allows users to provide liquidity in BNT to borrow funds while continuing to obtain yield from swap fees.

Vortex reworked the existing vBNT mechanism, which gave the token more uitility aside from providing governance. As you’ll see later this turned out to be very good when Bancor moved to gasless voting, otherwise the vBNT token would have lost all utility.

vBNT is received when staking BNT into a liquidity pool making it the pool token for the Bancor network. Vortex adds additional functionality to vBNT such that user are able to sell vBNT for actual BNT tokens. That means once vBNT is converted the resulting BNT can be exchanged for any other token.

The addition of this functionality makes Vortex a no-liquidation lending platform, which is pretty cool since it allows a liquidity provider the ability to receive future rewards immediately. And because the principal will continue accruing swap fees the loan eventually repays itself.

The no-liquidation aspect of Vortex arises because vBNT and BNT are essentially the same token. Thus any change in the price of BNT is closely mirrored by vBNT. And while vBNT is created in a 1:1 ratio when staking, the price relationship between the two is not that simple.

vBNT Burner ContractOriginally Bancor Vortex was envisioned with a token supply management solution that would capture a portion of trade revenue and use it to buy and burn vBNT. That original model was dynamic and complex, however in March 2021 the DAO voted to replace the dynamic model with a flat-fee model.

Under that flat-fee model 5% of the total protocol swap revenue is shifted to the vBNT Burner Smart Contract, and the addition of this will turn vBNT into a scarcer asset. That is long-term deflationary and positive for the Bancor ecosystem.

The flat burn rate will be incrementally adjusted over the course of 18 months, with the final target being 15%. The theory is that as trade volumes increase the burning of vBNT will also accelerate. In the coming years this vBNT burn mechanism is expected to be a critical part of the flexible monetary policy employed by the DAO.

In the vBNT burn mechanism the burning of tokens is not automatic. Tokens are moved to the burned smart contract and users are then offered the chance to interact with that contract, also paying the necessary gas fees associated with the burn.

Each vBNT token burned represents a BNT token that is locked into the network forever. That increases the scarcity of BNT and supports the growth in total locked value over time.

The Bancor team also envisions new gamified DeFi strategies coming from this model. In addition to direct incentives to activate the burn mechanism, a new type of transparent and equal-opportunity game becomes available for vBNT.

Speculators will have ample capacity to observe each other’s activities on-chain, and may choose to simultaneously create and seize arbitrage opportunities on the vBNT pool at their leisure.

Bancor TeamThe Bancor Network was founded in 2016 by Israeli siblings Guy and Galia Benartzi. Both remain active with the project, with Guy on the Foundation Council, while Galia is in charge of business development. She is also a strong proponent of women in blockchain and crypto.

Other board members include Olivier Nathan Cohen, who is also the founder and COO of Altcoinomy, a crypto KYC operator- facilitating cash out in Swiss private banks, AML screening of ICO investors, and institutional crypto/fiat transactions.

The CTO of Bancor is Yudi Levi, and he’s held that position since the start of Bancor in 2016. Prior to that, he was co-founder and CTO of AppCoin. He also spent over a decade as a chief architect of several mobile projects, including Real Dice, Mytopia, and Particle Code.

The team also has an impressive list of advisors, including Brock Pierce, the Chairman of the Board at the Bitcoin Foundation, and venture capitalist Tim Draper.

The BNT TokenAs was mentioned earlier, Bancor held an ICO on June 12, 2017 that raised $153 million in just three hours. That ICO sold roughly 40 million BNT tokens at an average price of $3.92 each. Currently, there’s a circulating supply of BNT of nearly 70 million tokens.

The BNT token hit its all-time high of $10.00 on January 10, 2018 and its all-time low of $0.117415 on March 13, 2020. As of mid-June 2020 it recovered remarkably from its March all-time low and traded at $1.17 just three months after for an amazing gain of 1,500%! That gain was primarily powered by news of the July 2020 release of Bancor V2.

Bancor’s BNT did not experience quite the same rally as many other altcoins in 2021, although it did see some upside as it reached $9.15 on March 7, 2021. Since then it has cooled significantly and as of May 22, 2021 it is trading at $4.36.

BNT price movements over time. Image via Coinmarketcap.com

The circulating supply can change however since BNT is created as needed to initiate exchanges. The Bancor protocol will create as much BNT as needed to match the value of currencies held within the smart contract. Once staking rewards are added the circulating supply will necessarily increase more rapidly and regularly.

Trading & Storing BNTYou’ll find that most of the trading volume in the BNT token is at Bancor, naturally. It is also offered at a number of other platforms, including Binance and Coinbase, although trade volumes are pretty low.

Moreover, if we were to take a look at the order books on an individual exchange such as Binance it is clear that there is a lack of liquidity there. You will need to be very careful when placing an order there as if reasonable sized orders are likely to lead to slippage.

Once you have your BNT tokens you are going to want to store them in a secure offline wallet. Given that these are ERC20 tokens it means that you can store it any Ethereum compatible wallet.

If you’re trading or staking then storing BNT in the native Bancor Wallet will make sense.

Bancor V2Late in April 2020, with the BNT token languishing around the $0.20 level the team announced that they would soon be releasing Bancor V2. The token didn’t immediately respond, but by mid-May it had began a serious rally, and a month later is trading at $1.17. That’s especially amazing given that the token was at its all-time low just a short time before in mid-March 2020.

Bancor V2 Announcement. Image via Bancor Blog

The Bancor Protocol V2 is expected to add several important features that will put Bancor at the front of the pack of decentralized finance projects. The changes are meant to address four key issues commonly cited as obstacles to the widespread adoption of Automated Market Makers (AMMs):

Exposure to “impermanent loss”Exposure to multiple assetsCapital inefficiency (i.e., high slippage)Opportunity cost of providing liquidityIt’s interesting to see that the new features were created as opt-in and users are able to create and fund new AMMs with some, all, or none of the new features.

Bancor V2 features:

A new automated market maker (AMM) liquidity pool integrated with Chainlink price oracles that mitigates the risk of impermanent loss for both stable and volatile tokens.Provide liquidity with 100% exposure to a single tokenA more efficient bonding curve that reduces slippageSupport for lending protocolsBancor V2.1Even before Bancor V2 was fully launched the Bancor team was already discussing the necessary changes for Bancor V2.1. This next level update was designed to take the AMM model to the next level and it differs from Bancor V2 by finally offering solutions to two problems that have plagued AMMs ever since they were created. Those problems are:

Involuntary Token ExposureImpermanent LossUnlike other AMM protocols, Bancor uses its native BNT protocol token as the counterpart asset in every Bancor pool. Through the use of an elastic BNT supply, the v2.1 protocol co-invests in pools alongside LPs to support single-sided AMM exposure and to cover the cost of impermanent loss with swap fees earned from its co-investments.

Single-Sided ExposureIn the majority of 1st generation AMMs it’s necessary for liquidity providers to contribute equal amounts of each asset represented in the pool.

Obviously this is not only inconvenient, but it can also be a liability when an LP is only interested in providing liquidity for one asset, or possibly even holds just one asset. Bancor v2.1 breaks this by allowing LPs to provide a single token rather than and even or determinate pair.

Using Bancor v2.1 LPs are able to provide single-sided liquidity exposure using either ERC-20 tokens, or the Bancor BNT token.

Impermanent Loss InsuranceIt’s well known that AMMs which are subject to arbitrage opportunities also suffer impermanent loss as a side effect. Any time there are two assets paired in a constant product AMM the product of those two assets must remain constant.

That means any price variations in either asset leads to changes in the amount of each asset held. So, assets that rise in value are liquidated, while assets that fall in value are purchased to maintain the constant product.

In some cases swap fees are used to offset impermanent losses, however these losses can easily exceed any swap fees earned by the LPs. In this case the LP experiences a negative return when they eventually withdraw their assets.

Bancor v2.1 was designed to avoid this situation and ensure that every LP gets back the same value deposited plus trading fees. This is accomplished through a unique concept called Impermanent Loss Insurance.

Impermanent Loss Insurance isn’t automatic, however. It accrues by 1% each day over time, and after 100% it achieves 100% protection on funds in the pool.

There is also a 30-day cliff used, which means any LP who withdraws their capital before it’s been in the pool for 30 days will incur the same impermanent loss as if there was no insurance protection. Once 100 days has passed the insurance protection is full and the LP can receive 100% compensation for any loss incurred within the first 100 days or any time thereafter.

When the pool does not contain enough tokens to cover the losses fully with the staked tokens the insurance can be paid out in an equivalent value of BNT tokens.

LimitationsBancor v2.1 has some very special features, but to allow for the positive features there are also three notable limitations in the platform:‌

Bancor v2.1 will only work with two-asset pools. For pools with more than two assets and custom weights. Developers need to deploy legacy v1 pools.Bancor v2.1 does not support dynamically adjusting supply tokens ("rebase" tokens) that can control and adjust token balances in users' wallets.When withdrawn from the system, BNTs are locked for a pre-set time (default 24 hr) to prevent panic liquidation.RoadmapBancor does not have a formal roadmap, but they do have a focus and continue improving the platform and adding new features. As of May 2021 Bancor has announced three pillars of development that they are working on:

Token Onboarding: Open Bancor’s doors to as many assets as possible by lowering the barrier to whitelisting, and making bootstrapping and incentivizing liquidity easier and cheaper for token projects.Financial Access & Control: Design powerful financial tools for LPs to earn high yield on their idle assets and manage returns in a stress-free, user-friendly environment.World-Class Trading Venue: Capture a growing share of total crypto trading volume by offering the best prices on a broad range of assets, a world-class trading experience including advanced charting & analytics, and novel tools for professional and retail traders.Gasless VotingGasless voting via the Snapshot governance platform was added in April 2021. The popularity of the proposal to move to Snapshot was apparent as the Bancor community not only passed the proposal with a 98.4% majority, it was also the largest voter turnout for any DAO decision thus far, with 84 unique address participating.

The implementation of Snapshot makes it far easier for community members to participate in governance, and this has been borne out in the real world, with over two dozen proposals added to Snapshot in the month following the addition of gasless voting.

If there is ever a problem found with Snapshot there is a quick-release mechanism that will revert governance back to the Ethereum blockchain. This will serve to protect the DAO in the case of emergency.

ConclusionOne of the major roadblocks in mass adoption is the lack of liquidity, and difficulty in exchanging various tokens for each other. The Bancor Protocol has done away with this problem through the automation of liquidity.

It’s true that complete beginners will face a small learning curve, but the UI of the wallet is as simple as they come. Anyone new to cryptocurrencies should have no problem learning how to make exchanges using the Bancor wallet.

And the newest update to the online platform is making things even easier for users as the team is now focusing its efforts more on creating a powerful and easy to use platform rather than building liquidity.

Moreover, the Bancor Protocol is making it easier for developers to build a seamless exchange application between a plethora of tokens. There are also a host of updates that have been planned for the next 6 to 12 months. This is part of the ongoing upgrades to the protocol and applications involved in the Bancor ecosystem.

Of course, there are still questions linger around the project including the issues of regulations in the U.S. and beyond. Potential centralisation of control in the three year transition period may deter some who fear the potential for arbitrary frozen accounts.

You also have the really paltry token performance of BNT especially over the past year. While the majority of tokens were soaring 500% or more in early 2021 the gains for BNT were relatively tame. It was one of the few tokens that did not reach a new all-time high in 2021.

Either way, Bancor does have some great technology, use cases and a strong team powering it forward.