Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

Ethereum, the world’s second-largest digital asset by market cap, continues to serve as a foundational platform for smart contracts and blockchain innovation. Developed by figures such as Vitalik Buterin and Consensys co-founder Joseph Lubin, Ethereum remains at the heart of groundbreaking advancements within the blockchain ecosystem.

Major technical upgrades aheadAs Ethereum holds its position as the main settlement layer for decentralized finance, NFT transactions, and tokenized assets, forthcoming protocol changes are being closely watched by both developers and institutional players. Most recently, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin revealed that the network is just steps away from significant technical upgrades designed to enhance interoperability.

Joseph Lubin emphasized that advances in zero-knowledge proofs are being developed to enable faster and more secure communication between Ethereum’s Layer 1 and Layer 2 structures.

Among the highlighted technical themes is zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) technology, which allows information to be verified without revealing its content. This targeted approach aims to address longstanding security vulnerabilities present in traditional blockchain bridges, a subject of considerable debate in the industry.

Mini glossary: A zero-knowledge proof is a cryptographic method that allows someone to prove the validity of information without disclosing the information itself. Layer 2 refers to scaling solutions that process transactions off the main network and settle results on Ethereum.

Layer 2 interoperability strategy on the riseThis strategy closely aligns with Ethereum’s ongoing shift towards a rollup-centric approach, where an increasing portion of transactional load is handled by Layer 2 solutions. The network’s fragmented ecosystem structure has underscored the urgency of seamless interoperability between various components.

The report also highlighted the potential of a system called Interchain Token Movement, which could reduce reliance on risk-prone blockchain bridges. By improving connections between disparate ecosystems built around Ethereum, the initiative aims to form a more unified blockchain environment.

Potential effects for institutions and developersLower counterparty risk and faster settlement times are among the most notable benefits for institutional investors and DeFi protocols. For developers, enhanced toolkits could make it far easier to build robust multi-chain applications in practice.

Exchanges and custodial service providers may also see streamlined operational flows as a result. On the other hand, added complexity in transaction structures could lead to increased ETH burning, potentially altering the token’s circulating supply dynamics.

Competition intensifiesThese zero-knowledge-driven interoperability steps coincide with regulatory frameworks for digital assets becoming clearer and a surge in institutional interest. Still, rival networks such as Solana and projects adopting modular blockchain architectures are also pushing towards similar goals.

This evolving landscape has reignited debate about whether Ethereum can maintain its real-world interoperability advantage. The timing and effectiveness of the planned technical rollouts may prove decisive for Ethereum’s ecosystem competitiveness in the coming months.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article does not constitute investment advice. Investors should be aware that cryptocurrencies carry high volatility and therefore risk, and should conduct their own research.

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.

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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TLDR: Uniswap’s temp check vote targets BNB Chain, Polygon, and Celo, expanding the fee-and-burn to 13 chains. Every swap generates a protocol fee that bridges to Ethereum and permanently burns UNI at a dead address. CryptoQuant data shows rising UNI net outflows on Binance, pointing to smart money accumulation near lows. The governance vote closes May 21st with 18.1M UNI cast, 100% in favor, and the 10M quorum already cleared. Uniswap is moving to extend its fee-and-burn mechanism to BNB Chain, Polygon, and Celo. A temp check vote is currently underway, drawing strong community support.

Meanwhile, on-chain data from CryptoQuant shows rising net outflows on Binance as UNI trades near its lower price range. Together, these developments are drawing fresh attention to the token’s near-term outlook.

Governance Vote Targets 13-Chain Fee-and-Burn Rollout The proposal, shared via Snapshot.eth on behalf of Uniswap’s governance, aims to bring the fee-and-burn system to three additional networks. If passed, the rollout would cover 13 chains in total.

Every swap on these networks generates a protocol fee, which bridges back to Ethereum and permanently burns UNI at a dead address.

The system has been live since December across Ethereum and nine other networks. BNB Chain and Polygon would connect through Wormhole’s Native Token Transfer setup.

Celo was approved in an earlier vote but failed due to a configuration error. This proposal corrects that path and re-runs the execution.

Forum member Abel189 described the move as “a coherent next step” given Uniswap’s “increasingly multi-chain reality.”

@Uniswap is running a temp check to extend its fee-and-burn system to @bnbchain, Polygon, and @Celo, bringing the rollout to 13 chains.

Every swap generates a protocol fee that bridges back to Ethereum and permanently burns $UNI at a dead address. The system has been live since… pic.twitter.com/13h6954YSG

— Snapshot.eth (@SnapshotLabs) May 20, 2026

He supports incremental, chain-by-chain expansion but flagged growing cross-chain messaging complexity as a key watch item going forward.

L2BEAT’s governance team, including members Kaereste and Manugotsuka, voted in favor after their research team verified the implementation, contracts, and expected governance payloads.

They noted the unchanged fee structure and continuity with the previously approved framework as reasons for their support.

On-Chain Outflow Data Points to Accumulation Activity On the market side, CryptoQuant data on the Uniswap Exchange Netflow chart for Binance is showing notable movement.

As UNI’s price corrected deeply, netflow bars grew denser with large net outflows becoming more frequent. This pattern tends to reflect behavior from longer-term holders and smart money participants.

These outflows typically mean UNI is being withdrawn from Binance and moved to personal wallets for holding. That reduces the available supply on the exchange and lowers direct selling pressure over time. Analyst Rei Researcher noted this trend as a potential setup for an accumulation zone near the bottom.

Source: Cryptoquant

Currently, UNI is seeing a mild price recovery. If the outflow trend continues and exchange supply tightens further, buying demand could push the price higher.

The combination of reduced sell-side pressure and growing protocol utility through the burn mechanism adds a structural layer to that potential move.

The governance vote closes on May 21st at 5:30 PM UTC. As of the latest update, 258 wallets have cast 18.1 million UNI votes, with 100% in favor and the 10 million quorum already cleared.

Binance has released its 43rd proof of reserves report, using a June 1 snapshot of user asset balances. 

Summary

Binance users added 25,838 BTC in May, lifting reported holdings to about 630,000 BTC total. ETH balances rose faster than BTC, climbing 10.17% to about 4.14 million ETH by June. USDT holdings fell by roughly 460 million, pointing to lower stablecoin balances among Binance users. The latest update on the Binance PoR page shows a clear rise in reported Bitcoin and Ethereum user holdings from the prior month.

User BTC holdings rose 4.26% from May 1 to about 630,000 BTC. That marked an increase of 25,838 BTC. User ETH holdings rose faster, climbing 10.17% to about 4.14 million ETH, up 382,619 ETH over the same period.

The increase in BTC and ETH balances comes as exchange reserve reports remain closely watched by traders. Larger user balances can reflect deposits, purchases, internal transfers, or other account activity. The snapshot does not separate those drivers.

USDT balance moves lower The stablecoin side moved in the other direction. Binance reported user USDT holdings of about 34.3 billion USDT, down 1.33% from May 1. The decrease was equal to roughly 460 million USDT.

Binance Releases 43rd Proof of Reserves Report

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by user count and trading volume, released its 43rd Proof of Reserves report with a June 1 snapshot. User BTC holdings rose 4.26% from May 1 to about 630,000 BTC, an increase of 25,838… pic.twitter.com/P6GQBFhj3s

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) June 18, 2026 The mixed data shows users held more BTC and ETH on Binance, while reported USDT balances fell. The report does not show why balances changed. It does not prove whether users bought crypto, withdrew stablecoins, moved funds between products, or changed trading plans.

A lower USDT balance can matter because stablecoins often act as dry powder for trading. However, the figure alone does not show whether liquidity left Binance or moved into other assets on the platform.

Proof of reserves remains under focus Binance uses proof of reserves to show that user assets are backed on-chain. The exchange says the process is meant to prove customer funds are held “1:1” and include extra reserves. The report is based on snapshots, so it does not operate as a live balance sheet.

As crypto.news reported earlier, Binance led proof-of-reserve rankings with $155.6 billion in assets in January 2026, based on CoinMarketCap data. According to an earlier crypto.news report, Binance’s open-source PoR system uses zero-knowledge proofs to improve verification and privacy for users.

Balance changes point to rotation The June snapshot differs from some earlier reserve moves. In a previous crypto.news report, Binance’s September balances showed declines in BTC, ETH and USDT during a weaker market period. The latest snapshot shows the opposite for BTC and ETH, even as USDT balances fell.

crypto.news previously reported that Binance backed major tokens at more than 100% in a May 2025 reserves update, including Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT. That earlier report said proof of reserves became more closely watched after FTX collapsed and users demanded clearer exchange backing data.

The latest figures suggest Binance users held more core crypto assets and less USDT at the start of June. BTC and ETH remain the two largest non-stablecoin assets in most exchange reserve reports, making their balance changes a key market signal.

Still, proof of reserves has limits. It shows reported asset backing at a point in time, but it does not fully explain liabilities, off-chain obligations, or user behavior. For that reason, the latest Binance report shows a balance shift, not a full picture of exchange health.

Ethereum’s well-known MEV bot JaredFromSubway was drained after an attacker used contracts that made its automated trading system grant token approvals, according to Blockaid.

Summary

Blockaid says attacker-controlled contracts tricked JaredFromSubway’s automated system into granting approvals later used for draining. Jared publicly claimed a $15 million loss, while Blockaid’s public estimate stood near $7.5 million. Crypto.news previously tied JaredFromSubway to Vitalik Buterin’s swap and heavy Ethereum gas use in 2023. The security firm said the incident was not a normal phishing case and not a direct bug in the victim contract. 

“This is not a classic phishing attack and not a traditional smart-contract vulnerability in the victim contract,” Blockaid said. 

The firm said the bot approved attacker-controlled contracts during routes that appeared to be profitable MEV trades.

https://twitter.com/blockaid_/status/2068433798757577198

Blockaid says approvals stayed open Blockaid said the attacker first tested routes where approvals were used at once, leaving no open allowance. Later, the attacker changed the route design so the bot gave approvals that were not spent or revoked.

One example cited by Blockaid involved an approval of about 92.16 WETH to an attacker helper contract. Etherscan data for the transaction showed jaredfromsubway.eth interacting with its MEV Bot 2 contract before the later sweep. The transaction record also showed ERC-20 movements tied to the same automated route.

Final sweep hit WETH, USDC and USDT The final transaction used the open approvals to pull WETH, USDC and USDT from the JaredFromSubway MEV bot contract through transferFrom. Etherscan showed transfers from “jaredfromsubway: MEV Bot 2” to the attacker wallet beginning with 0x3e37.

Blockaid put the drained amount at about $7.5 million. The JaredFromSubway account later claimed the loss was $15 million and offered a $1 million bounty for the full return of the funds. That difference has not been fully explained in the public posts reviewed.

https://twitter.com/jaredsmev/status/2068481862499237929

How the attacker turned the bot’s logic against it The attack appears to have targeted the bot’s own trading workflow. MEV bots watch Ethereum activity and act on transactions that look profitable. In this case, attacker-controlled contracts made the route look useful enough for the bot to approve spending rights.

The attacker used 66 fake token contracts that copied the look and function of WETH, USDC and USDT. These contracts were paired with fake liquidity pools. The setup pushed the bot toward approvals that later became the path for the drain.

JaredFromSubway’s record is back in focus JaredFromSubway is one of Ethereum’s most watched sandwich bots. In a sandwich attack, a bot places trades before and after a user’s swap. This can give the user a worse price while the bot captures the spread.

As previously reported by crypto.news, JaredFromSubway targeted a small swap by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in April, using about $1.14 million in WETH volume across SushiSwap and Uniswap V2. Crypto.news also reported in 2023 that the bot used 455 ETH in gas within 24 hours and accounted for about 7% of Ethereum gas use during that period.

The exploit now puts attention on token approvals used by automated systems. The case shows how a system built to act quickly on open market data can be steered into unsafe permissions when controls around approvals are weak. It also adds a new chapter to the wider debate over MEV, sandwich trades and user protection on Ethereum.

For now, the key public details remain split between Blockaid’s technical thread, the on-chain records and posts from the JaredFromSubway account. No recovery had been confirmed in the reviewed updates.

The Lazarus Group has laundered stolen crypto from last week’s record-shattering Bybit hack through the exchange eXch, according to the blockchain research firm Elliptic.

Hackers looted nearly $1.5 billion worth of Ethereum (ETH) and Lido Staked Ether (stETH) from Bybit on Friday.

[adinserter block="1"]

The attack represented the largest crypto hack ever and possibly the biggest heist in world history.

Elliptic, pseudonymous on-chain investigator ZachXBT and other researchers have pinned the exploit on the Lazarus Group, a prolific North Korean cybercriminal outfit known for numerous high-profile hacks on major crypto platforms.

In a new analysis, Elliptic notes that Lazarus’ money-laundering process typically follows the same steps. First, the group exchanges any stolen tokens for a native blockchain asset like Ethereum, because ETH can’t be frozen by a central authority.

Source: Elliptic Subsequently, the cybercriminal outfit “layers” the stolen funds through multiple wallets, exchanges, cross-chain bridges and crypto mixers to obfuscate the transaction trail.

Elliptic says that Lazarus is currently in the middle of the second step.

“Within two hours of the theft, the stolen funds were sent to 50 different wallets, each holding approximately 10,000 ETH. These are now being systematically emptied – as of 1pm UTC on February 24, 14.5% of the stolen assets (now worth $195 million) have been moved from these wallets.

Once moved out of these wallets, the funds are being laundered through various services, including DEXs (decentralized exchanges), cross-chain bridges and centralized exchanges.

However, one service has emerged as a major and willing facilitator of this laundering. eXch is a cryptocurrency exchange, notable for allowing its users to swap cryptoassets anonymously. This has led them to being used to exchange hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets derived from criminal activity, including multiple thefts perpetrated by North Korea. Despite attempting to conceal this activity, our analysis shows that since the hack, crypto assets stolen from Bybit worth over $75 million have been exchanged using eXch. Despite direct requests from Bybit, eXch has refused to block this activity.”

Over the weekend, eXch took to the BitcoinTalk forum to deny claims it was laundering crypto for Lazarus, though it did cop to processing an “insignificant” portion of the stolen Bybit funds.

“1. eXch is NOT laundering money for Lazarus/DPRK (North Korea).

2. The insignificant portion of funds from the ByBit hack eventually entered our address 0xf1da173228fcf015f43f3ea15abbb51f0d8f1123 which was an isolated case and the only part processed by our exchange, fees from which we will be donated for the public good.

3. Any claims by ZachXBT and others on Twitter regarding transactions not related to 0xf1da173228fcf015f43f3ea15abbb51f0d8f1123 that are falsely attributed to eXch are a targeted FUD attack on our exchange.”

Bybit CEO Ben Zhou says the firm has restored a 1:1 backing on all client assets after the record-setting hack, and the Dubai-based exchange announced a full restoration of services on Saturday.

Generated Image: Midjourney

Table of contents

On July 24, 2025, Taiwan-based trading platform WOO X became the latest victim in a bruising summer of crypto breaches when attackers made off with roughly $14 million in unauthorized withdrawals from nine user accounts, forcing the exchange to pause withdrawals while it investigated and promised to reimburse affected users.

New chain-analysis shared by Yehor Rudytsia, Head of Forensics and Incident Response at Hacken, paints the post-heist picture as far more organized than a one-off theft. According to Rudytsia, the exploit, which Hacken dates to July, resulted in total losses of about $14 million and was carried out by a DPRK-linked actor tracked in law-enforcement circles as “TraderTraitor.”

Hacken says it is actively monitoring the on-chain movements and is supporting recovery efforts by flagging malicious addresses to the wider security community. The laundering choreography, as mapped by Hacken, left half the stolen funds on EVM networks and the rest on Tron and Bitcoin.

In the last 24 hours, on-chain traces show that the bulk of the EVM-side proceeds, more than $7 million, were routed through THORChain and swapped into Bitcoin, a technique observers have increasingly flagged as a common laundering path after major exchange thefts earlier this year. Rudytsia noted that THORChain’s native cross-chain swap functionality has repeatedly been used to convert large sums of ETH and ERC-20 tokens into BTC, making it attractive to sophisticated operators moving stolen assets across ecosystems.

On-chain Evidence Hacken’s report also documents the handling of the Tron-denominated portion (about $2.5 million in TRX). Those funds, the team found, were converted into USDT, bridged to Ethereum via LayerZero infrastructure, and from there, some of the bridged USDT was again pushed to Bitcoin through THORChain.

On-chain evidence of a nine-figure USDT transfer arriving on Ethereum from a LayerZero executor appears in public transaction records from October 1, 2025, which match the pattern Hacken described.

Complicating the trail, part of the funds that surfaced on Ethereum were sent to a wallet previously tied to the BingX hot-wallet exploit in 2024, itself attributed by investigators to North Korean-linked groups, suggesting either reuse of laundering infrastructure or coordination across multiple thefts.

The address that received those transfers is publicly visible on Ethereum explorer records, and investigators say the link deepens the picture of an organized laundering chain connecting multiple high-profile incidents.

Taken together, the movements indicate that roughly $8–9 million from the WOO X breach was bridged on the same day from Ethereum to Bitcoin, almost entirely via THORChain, leaving an estimated 90% of the stolen value now sitting on Bitcoin addresses as perpetrators accelerate conversion into the oldest and most liquid on-chain asset.

Security teams monitoring the flows warn that once funds consolidate on Bitcoin, conventional tracing and intervention become harder and the risk of eventual cash-out increases. Rudytsia told Blockchain Reporter that Hacken is continuing to monitor the accounts and will push flagged addresses to exchanges and compliance partners in the hope of freezing or otherwise freezing flow paths where possible.

For now, the case is a fresh reminder that as cross-chain tooling gets more powerful, it also gives sophisticated attackers faster, lower-friction routes to turn stolen tokens into harder-to-trace assets, and that forensic work on multiple chains, together with cooperation from on- and off-ramp services, remains the only immediate line of defence in today’s time.

AUTHOR

Mushumir Butt is a seasoned crypto journalist with over three years of experience reporting on the world of blockchain and cryptocurrency. At Blockchain Reporter, he delivers insightful news, in‐depth project reviews, and precise price analysis and predictions. With a strong background in SEO and digital marketing, Mushumir excels at breaking down complex trends into clear, accessible content, ensuring readers stay ahead in the fast‐paced crypto space.

Ethereum gaming franchise Illuvium has undergone a company restructuring, resulting in layoffs along with some core contributors opting to take pay cuts or receive their wages in the gaming IP’s own token.

The downsizing comes after Illuvium released a trio of interconnected games last year—Overworld, Arena, and Zero—that covered varying genres. Despite its ambitious vision, the community's reaction wasn't overwhelmingly positive following years of development.

In December, co-founder Kieran Warwick admitted that "concerns" about the franchise's gameplay were valid and that things had to change. Part of this included that Illuvium had "significantly" reduced its costs via capping wages at $85,000, among other adjustments.

But this week, Warwick said that more substantial cuts had to be made.

"We made the difficult decision to restructure our core contributor team to bring our monthly burn rate closer to $500,000," Warwick said in a Tuesday statement. "We want to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone affected by these changes."

The statement on X (formerly Twitter) further explains that some employees have "generously offered" to take pay cuts, while others have chosen to receive their salary in the project's ILV token rather than the USDC stablecoin. It also alludes to letting employees go as part of a “leaner” approach, although never explicitly says this is the case.

In the replies, Illuvium Community Manager DickKingz, also known as Rich, explained that the team is now down to 66 core contributors—down from between 100 to 150 people as of late.

"The trim to 66 was unfortunately a lot of my teammates and friends, and [I] hate to see them go," Rich said. "Hopefully it’s only bye for now, and in the future when things improve, we can bring many back."

Illuvium did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment.

As a result of the restructuring, as well as some other operating cost cutting measures, Illuvium has gotten closer to its "burn rate" goal of $500,000—it was at $900,000 as of December. This means that the Illuvium franchise now has a 24-month runway to continue development.

Previously, Warwick explained that Illuvium planned to seek fresh funding around March. But in the wake of the restructuring, he confirmed that the franchise isn't looking to raise "right now." 

He had also previously outlined a plan to move the franchise forward. The co-founder proposed focusing on one game at a time—rather than the three games it was developing—including reworking its Overworld to be a more streamlined version of a massively multiplayer online game, or MMO, and reducing in-game microtransactions. 

It appears that the 24 month-runway will get the project to the point of completing its auto-battler, starting the rework of Overworld, and attempting to keep the community engaged, according to the restructuring statement.

"This is step one in the rebuild. Now we have the runway, and it will continue to be extended," Warwick said on X. "Enormous updates are coming mid-next month: Auto drone runs, multiplayer servers, and leaderboards reactivated."

"28-3 down with two minutes to go in the third quarter," he added, comparing the project to a losing team in a football game. "We're about to run this shit back so hard."

Edited by Andrew Hayward

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XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) became the best-performing large-cap cryptocurrency Monday following the launch of Ripple Labs' USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD.

What happened: The payments-focused cryptocurrency rose 3.51% in the last 24 hours, outpacing the returns of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

With the latest push, XRP's monthly gains zoomed to 138%, the biggest among cryptocurrencies in the top 10 by market capitalization.

The rally was likely powered by significant buying interest from whale investors. Noted cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez highlighted that whales purchased over 830 million XRP, worth over $2 billion at prevailing market prices.

See Also: If You Invested $1,000 In Bitcoin When The First Bitcoin ETF Was Filed, Here’s How Much You’d Have Today

The readings of moving averages supported the coin’s bullish potential. XRP's price was greater than nearly all of its exponential moving averages and simple moving averages, indicating that investors’ current expectations are higher than their average expectations over the past period.

However, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence indicator, which compares two exponential moving averages, flashed a ‘Sell' signal. 

The Bull Bear Power indicator, used for measuring the strength of buyers and sellers in the market, was ‘Neutral" as of this writing.

Moreover. XRP's Open Interest, a measure of its speculative interest, rose 5.26% in the last 24 hours and nearly 450% since Nov. 5, the presidential election day, data from Coinglass revealed.

About 75% of all Binance traders with an open interest were positioned long on the asset, signaling the expectation of further upsides.

Why It Matters: Optimism around XRP was tied to several factors, with the most notable being the launch of RLUSD from Ripple, a payments company that uses XRP for its operations.

Ripple President Monica Long said Monday that the release marked a new chapter for the XRP Ledger, the blockchain technology powering Ripple's operations.

Ripple planned to position RLUSD for a range of financial applications, including instant cross-border settlements, Treasury operations, and integration with decentralized finance protocols.

Furthermore, with SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s tenure coming to an end and being succeeded by cryptocurrency-friendly Paul Atkins, investors feel more confident about XRP.

Ripple has been locked in a nearly four-year-long legal battle with the SEC over the status of XRP, and any change in the agency’s top leadership is viewed with optimism.

Price Action:  At the time of writing, XRP was exchanging hands at $2.49, up 3.65% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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UXLink, a Web 3 social network that was targeted in September 2025, is making headlines once again. According to Specter, an on-chain investigator, the attacker responsible for the UXLink exploit has started relocating the stolen assets.

To obfuscate transaction trails, the wrongdoer converted some of the stolen DAI stablecoins into Ethereum [ETH]. Going forward, the illicit actor then deposited roughly $8.1 million worth of ETH into Tornado Cash.

Funds laundered According to the investigator, 46 distinct deposits of 100 ETH each were made as part of the laundering process.

Source: Specter For those unaware, this is a common strategy to conflate illegal funds with legal transactions and make blockchain tracing more difficult.

With this most recent action, the attacker has now reportedly laundered a total of $19.1 million in stolen assets.

However, the fact that the exploiter still has control over about $16 million in funds despite these transfers raises the possibility of further laundering.

How was UXLink attacked?  Well, back in September 2025 the exploiter had made over $800 billion, or 9 trillion $UXLINK. Interestingly, even hours after the original exploit, the hacker kept their access and kept minting more tokens.

The exploiter then started moving the proceeds to centralized exchanges and offloading the fraudulent tokens through decentralized exchanges. This in turn resulted in the depletion of Uniswap’s liquidity.

Source: Specter Notably, the attacker did not stop there, and signed a malicious transaction and lost 542 million UXLINK tokens to another malicious actor—often referred to as “theft stolen from theft.”

Even with this setback, the main exploiter still held about 900 million UXLINK tokens, putting a sizable portion of compromised assets in the hands of malicious actors. 

What’s more? This coincded with ETH declining by 1.01% over the previous day to trade at $1,745.11 at press time. 

In addition, on the 12th of June Humanity Protocol reported a targeted phishing attack against one of its directors.

This had resulted in the attacker using administrative credentials that were stolen to upgrade contracts, transfer tokens across Ethereum, and mint new $H tokens on the BNB Smart Chain. 

Furthermore, on the 15th of June, a suspicious transaction involving the depletion of assets valued at approximately $2.19 million occurred in Aztec Network’s Router contract.

Final Summary From September 2025 to the present time, the attackers have reportedly laundered a total of $19.1 million in stolen assets from the UXLink exploit. Back then, the  exploiter had made over 9 trillion $UXLINK, kept their access, and kept minting more tokens. 

Uniswap Tightens Its Grip on Ethereum and Layer 2@Uniswap remains the dominant liquidity venue in decentralized finance, capturing 67.3% of total DEX volume on Ethereum this week. That concentration is not new, but it is deepening. Data from KuCoin's Ethereum Q1 2026 review shows Uniswap accounted for approximately $85.5 billion in Q1 volume, representing roughly two-thirds of the entire Ethereum DEX ecosystem.

The protocol's reach extends well beyond mainnet. @Uniswap controls 84.6% of DEX market share on Arbitrum and 46.6% on Base, cementing its position across the two most active Layer 2 networks. Uniswap remains the largest spot DEX by every meaningful measure, clearing roughly $73 billion in 30-day volume across Ethereum mainnet and 39 other chains.

Uniswap V4 went live in early 2026, introducing a hooks system that attaches custom logic to pools at swap, deposit, or withdrawal time, enabling features such as on-chain limit orders, dynamic volatility-responsive fees, and gated pools for institutional flows.

$UNI Earns a New Look From Institutional AnalystsThe volume story is only part of what is drawing attention to $UNI in 2026. A structural shift in the token's economics has changed how analysts frame it. With the fee switch now active, UNI can be viewed through a cash-flow lens rather than only as a governance token. The UNIfication proposal passed in late December 2025 fundamentally changed Uniswap's economics: for the first time, protocol revenue is directly captured by the system and used to buy and burn $UNI, aligning token value with actual network usage.

That shift has caught the attention of major financial institutions. Standard Chartered's digital asset research head, Geoff Kendrick, initiated coverage on Uniswap with a long-term price target of $100 for $UNI by 2030, with the bank's thesis centered on the exponential growth of tokenized real-world assets, projected to surge from roughly $340 billion to $4 trillion by 2028. Standard Chartered projects a $UNI price target of $6.50 in 2026, citing Uniswap's position as a dominant DEX to capture fees from tokenized real-world assets.

Institutional involvement is moving beyond price targets. In February 2026, BlackRock made shares of its tokenized US Treasury fund, BUIDL, tradable through UniswapX with Securitize, marking the world's largest asset manager's first step into DeFi. More recently, Fidelity deployed liquidity for its stablecoin, FIDD, on Uniswap. Separately, Bitwise Asset Management filed an S-1 registration statement with the SEC for a spot Uniswap ETF in February 2026, following the earlier creation of a Delaware statutory trust named the Bitwise Uniswap ETF.

Whether that institutional momentum translates into sustained price performance remains an open question. Competition from Solana-based DEXs and other venues is real, and analysts are increasingly evaluating $UNI through the lens of fee capture potential, protocol governance value, and network effects within liquidity provisioning ecosystems, rather than speculative narrative alone.

Sources
KuCoin: Ethereum Q1 2026 Review
Datawallet: What is Uniswap? Features, Fees and More
Talos: State of the Network, Uniswap Fee Switch Analysis

Bitmine Adds to Its Ethereum StockpileTom Lee's Bitmine Immersion Technologies has acquired another 20,000 $ETH worth approximately $35.85 million from FalconX, according to onchain data flagged by Arkham Intelligence. The purchase is the latest move in an accumulation campaign that has made Bitmine (NYSE: $BMNR) the largest known corporate Ethereum treasury in the world.

Bitmine has repeatedly sourced large ETH tranches directly from institutional trading platform FalconX, with onchain analytics confirming the transaction patterns. The firm has also used venues such as Kraken and BitGo to execute purchases worth hundreds of millions of dollars without significantly disrupting spot markets.

Chasing the "Alchemy of 5%" TargetThe latest buy adds to what Bitmine calls its "Alchemy of 5%" initiative, a goal to accumulate at least 5% of Ethereum's entire circulating supply. Bitmine holds 5.54 million ETH worth over $9 billion, with 4.7 million tokens staked. Those staked holdings generate a projected $230 million in annualized staking revenue via MAVAN.

Bitmine recently launched MAVAN, the Made in America Validator Network, an institutional-grade staking platform originally developed to support Bitmine's own Ethereum treasury, with plans to expand and serve institutional investors, custodians, and ecosystem partners.

To fund its buying campaign, Bitmine tapped capital markets. A $280 million 9.50% Series A Perpetual Preferred Stock raise effectively doubles down on Bitmine as an Ethereum treasury and staking vehicle. The financing approach mirrors tools pioneered by bitcoin treasury firm Strategy (MSTR), which has increasingly turned to preferred equity and other yield-bearing securities to fund crypto purchases.

Despite earlier comments about slowing purchases as the firm neared its 5% goal, Bitmine has remained committed to accumulation. Chairman Tom Lee has said the firm is "maintaining a somewhat elevated pace of buying" as the pullback in ETH prices does not reflect the strengthening of Ethereum fundamentals, and expects to reach the Alchemy of 5% sometime in 2026. Lee has also tied long-term Ethereum demand to the growth of artificial intelligence systems and onchain finance, arguing that the network's settlement role will expand as more economic activity moves atop the blockchain.

Sources:
The Block: Bitmine buys $84 million in ETH as Tom Lee calls pullback an attractive entry point
PR Newswire: Bitmine ETH holdings reach 5.54 million tokens
Bitcoin.com News: Tom Lee says AI systems will lift Ethereum demand as Bitmine stacks 5.54M ETH

ENS dropped plans for Namechain, its own Layer-2 network, as the ENSv2 upgrade stays on Ethereum L1. The ENSv2 will remain fully compatible with Layer-2 networks. In a significant strategic shift, the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) has announced that its next-generation protocol, ENSv2, will stayon Ethereum’s Layer-1 mainchain, dropping previous plans of building its own Layer-2 network, Namechain, according to a blog post by ENS co-founder Nick Johnson on February 6.

ENSv2 is the Ethereum Name Service’s upcoming major upgrade,  intended to expand ENS capabilities to a Layer-2 network, providing users with lower fees and faster transactions than the Ethereum mainnet, as well as to provide structural modifications such as hierarchical registries, which give name owners more power and support for numerous chains.

Why ENS Dropped Its Layer-2 Plans Johnson wrote, “ Ethereum is scaling faster than almost anyone predicted two years ago; we’ve seen a 99% reduction in ENS registration gas costs over the past year, coinciding with Ethereum’s gas limit increases from 30M to 60M in 2025. By staying on L1, we’re aligning ENS with the strongest possible infrastructure guarantees, Ethereum itself.”

As Johnson mentioned, ENSv2 will still be released as planned, and halting work on Namechain will not affect the company’s broader roadmap. By having everything on one blockchain rather than two, he expects names to load faster and run more smoothly for users. Also, Johnson noted that the majority of the improvements made to make ENS easier to use over the last two years will stay in place.

Further, ENS Labs COO Katherine Wu shared a post via her X handle, “It is important to note that ENSv2 is ultimately an upgrade to ENS as it exists today — it’s still ENS! Regardless of where it ultimately gets deployed,” and highlighted new features such as individual registries for each ENS name and new apps currently in testing.

Vitalik Backs ENSv2’s Ethereum L1 Move Vitalik Buterin supported the ENS labs decision by saying, “It’s a good decision!” As he noted that ENS names and records represent a critical on-chain state for the Ethereum ecosystem, should remain easily accessible from anywhere.

Further, he added, “It’s also a semi-financial application, in the sense that buying and holding ENS names has a cost, and ENS names can become very valuable objects. With the expanded scaling roadmap, Ethereum L1 is the ideal place for these applications.”

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May 11, 2026, 12:11 p.m.

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After four years of operating as a sidechain, Ronin is to become an Ethereum L2. Gaming (Mateo/Unsplash) Summary

Ronin, the gaming-focused blockchain behind Axie Infinity, will hard fork on May 12 to migrate from an independent sidechain to an Ethereum layer 2, causing about 10 hours of network downtime.During the migration window, all Ronin transactions and onchain game actions will be paused.The transition to the OP Stack and a new Proof of Distribution model will sharply cut RON token inflation and aim to improve security, scalability and costs after the network’s history-making $625 million bridge exploit.Ronin, the gaming-centric blockchain once synonymous with the industry’s infamous $625 million exploit, is officially shedding its sidechain skin on May 12 to become an Ethereum layer 2 to improve security while maintaining throughput.

Ronin, which announced the migration in April, will execute a hard fork at block 55,577,490, a process that will result in about 10 hours of downtime for users, the network said Monday on X. According to onchain data, the migration is expected to begin on Tuesday around 15:16 UTC.

“Four years ago, we launched Ronin because Axie Infinity needed a faster and more efficient network,” Ronin said when announcing the migration. “It worked. Axie Infinity onboarded millions of gamers to crypto, and Pixels proved that it was possible to do it again.” The time has come to plug "back into the mothership."

While operating as an independent sidechain in mid-May 2022, Ronin suffered what is still today the largest DeFI bridge exploit in history. Layer 2 protocols benefit from tighter links to the underlying blockchain than sidechains, offering benefits that include greater security.

The network's native token, RON, is currently trading at around 11 cents with a market capitalization of about $89.5 million, according to CoinDesk data. While the token remains significantly below its 2024 peak, the migration sparked a rally, with prices climbing 30% over the last 30 days as investors eye a shift in the network's supply dynamics.

“During this downtime window, all network transactions [including transfers, swaps, and smart contract interactions] will be paused,” Ronin said, adding that all games using its network will also be affected. “To avoid any inconvenience, please complete all necessary transactions/onchain game actions on the Ronin Network before the downtime begins.”

During the downtime, a "Proof of Distribution" model will be introduced to reward builders based on active network contribution rather than passive staking, Ronin said. The team noted that “this is fundamentally bullish for RON as it dramatically cuts token inflation from over 20% to below 1%.”

The company also said that transitioning to the OP Stack will allow it to inherit Ethereum’s robust security while maintaining high throughput. The move redirects 90 million RON tokens previously earmarked for staking rewards into the Ronin Treasury, while more than doubling marketplace fees to 1.25% from 0.5%.

Ronin said its narrative is dominated by its pivotal return to Ethereum, a strategic move to reset its economics, secure its bridge infrastructure, and secure its future in an upgrade intended to improve scalability and reduce costs through the use of EigenDA for data availability.

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The foundation council will feature established builders from the Ethereum community, including Polygon Co-founder Sandeep and Sacha from Lido.

Aragon, a platform for building and managing Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), is creating the Aragon Foundation, a new governing body that aims to help the project move past a tumultuous phase and further its development.

The Aragon Foundation will be led by a so-called Strategic Council, a group of high-profile Ethereum community members who are tasked with formulating strategies, allocating funds, advising the Aragon team and fostering developers. Memebers of the council include Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, and Sacha, one of the leading researchers in the Lido ecosystem.

In November 2023, the Aragon Association, which was an entity overseeing the Aragon DAO, announced its motion to dissolve the entity and enable user redemptions of its native token ANT.

The Aragon Foundation will inherit funds left over from the legacy Aragon Treasury that are not redeemed by the ANT Redemption Initiative, which is set to end on Nov. 2. The ANT token is up roughly 35% since the initiative was announced and currently trades at a $280 million fully-diluted valuation.

As of Oct 28, 82.5% of the outstanding supply had been redeemed for ETH.

ANT Price - CoinGeckoThe Aragon Foundation will operate as an ownerless organization that aligns with Aragon's values and mission. The Aragon team will remain independent from the Foundation.

“There is an entirely new governing body, and it is composed of people who have been Aragon supporters and users,” Aragon CEO Anthony Leuteneggar told The Defiant in an interview. “There will be alignment around one singular mission, and you have professional people who can fulfill that mission.”

Aragon, which launched in 2017, provides users with no-code DAO creation and management tools. Through Aragon users can distribute tokens, set governance parameters and authorize wallets for voting simply through its interface.

It believes that “the future of humanity will be decided at the frontier of technological innovation and human collaboration.”

A former Ethereum Foundation contributor has raised alarms about a possible shortfall in support for the network’s foundational development efforts, warning that it could materialize within the next three to nine months. Trent Van Epps, who spent five years at the Foundation until April 2026 coordinating core protocol activities and related funding initiatives, outlined these concerns in a detailed essay published on June 18, 2026.

Van Epps described the situation as a “slow-burning funding crisis” rather than an abrupt cliff.

He pointed to two primary pressures: the recent conclusion of a multi-year client support program and ongoing adjustments to the Foundation’s treasury management strategy.

The Client Incentive Program, which had channeled resources to teams maintaining Ethereum’s execution and consensus clients over four years, wrapped up in April 2026 without a designated successor mechanism in place.

At the same time, the Foundation has been reducing its annual spending rate.

A treasury plan announced in 2025 set a glide path toward lowering outflows from roughly 15 percent of assets per year down to a more sustainable 5 percent endowment-style baseline by 2030.

This shift aims to preserve long-term solvency after years of using treasury holdings to bootstrap the broader ecosystem.

Van Epps estimated that maintaining adequate capacity across more than ten client teams, research groups, and coordination roles requires consistent annual funding in the range of $30 million.

He noted that current and near-term sources for this level of support appear increasingly limited, based on conversations across the core development community.

Without steady resources, he warned of risks including the departure of experienced contributors who hold deep institutional knowledge, delays in tackling complex challenges such as scalability improvements and future-proofing measures, and potential impacts on the network’s track record of reliability.

The former contributor situated the warning within the Foundation’s long-standing “subtraction” philosophy.

This approach deliberately seeks to limit organizational growth inside the Foundation itself and instead encourage value creation and responsibility across the wider Ethereum ecosystem.

While intended to promote decentralization and maturity, Van Epps argued that executing this transition effectively requires proactive planning for new stewardship structures.

He referenced comments from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who has noted that the Foundation’s original scope—focused on early-stage software development through major upgrades—was largely completed years ago and was never designed as a permanent central authority.

Van Epps called for renewed discussion around updated social, political, and economic arrangements among stakeholders to support ongoing protocol maintenance through more scalable and neutral funding channels.

The concerns come amid reports of staff transitions at the Ethereum Foundation and broader debates about sustainable resourcing for public goods in the Ethereum ecosystem. Van Epps emphasized that underinvestment in continuity could prove costly to reverse if symptoms appear 12–18 months from now, and he urged collective attention to building durable mechanisms that match the project’s long-term goals and objectives.

Updated Sep 11, 2025, 7:36 a.m. Published Sep 10, 2025, 6:09 p.m.

2 min read

Summary

Ethereum experienced a rare slashing event on Wednesday, with 39 validators penalized, according to blockchain explorer Beaconcha.in.The validators were tied to the SSV Network, a distributed validator technology (DVT) protocol that decentralizes staking infrastructure by splitting validator keys across multiple operators.Despite the scale of the incident, SSV founder Alon Muroch emphasized that the protocol itself was not compromised. Instead, the penalties stemmed from operator-side infrastructure issues involving third-party staking providers using SSV.Ethereum experienced a rare slashing event on Wednesday, with 39 validators penalized, according to blockchain explorer Beaconcha.in.

The validators were tied to the SSV Network, a distributed validator technology (DVT) protocol that decentralizes staking infrastructure by splitting validator keys across multiple operators.

Despite the scale of the incident, SSV founder Alon Muroch emphasized that the protocol itself was not compromised. Instead, the penalties stemmed from operator-side infrastructure issues involving third-party staking providers using SSV.

One cluster of slashed validators was tied to Ankr, a liquid staking provider. According to Muroch, routine maintenance on Ankr’s systems triggered the event. A second slashing involved a validator cluster that had migrated from Allnodes two months earlier. Investigators believe a secondary validator setup caused the duplicate signing that led to penalties.

In total, 39 validators were slashed, making this one of the largest correlated slashing events since Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake. Each validator slashed faces an immediate ETH penalty and could face inactivity leaks, compounded losses. One validator, backed by a 2,020 ETH stake, lost around 0.3 ETH, or about $1,300 at today’s prices, in the process.

While slashing is built into Ethereum’s design as a deterrent against malicious or negligent behavior, it remains exceedingly rare. Fewer than 500 validators out of more than 1.2 million active have been slashed since the Beacon Chain went live in 2020. Most incidents, including this one, have been traced to operator issues rather than deliberate attacks.

Mass slashings are particularly notable because correlated misbehavior increases the severity of penalties. Ethereum’s protocol enforces additional inactivity leaks when groups of validators are slashed together, amplifying the financial impact.

For Ethereum’s staking ecosystem, the latest wave underscores a familiar but critical lesson: validator safety hinges as much on infrastructure and operator diligence as on the protocol itself. Even when the underlying software is uncompromised, operational errors can have costly and very public consequences.

Read more: ‘Keep It Simple’: Prevent Your Eth 2.0 From Being Slashed

AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.

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 SSV Network, the leading distributed validator technology (DVT) provider on Ethereum, securing over 5.5M ETH, is set to undergo the biggest comprehensive upgrade in its history. The SSV DAO has unveiled a potential path for SSV Staking, a major upgrade that would fundamentally redesign how the network accounts for validator balances and collects fees. If approved, the proposal would introduce SSV Staking delegation and Effective Balance Oracles, integral to the network, and turn the SSV token into an ETH accrual token, allowing SSV stakers to receive ETH rewards accrued from network fees.

At the center of the proposal is a move away from SSV-denominated protocol fees toward a fully ETH-native accounting and reward model that reflects the reality of Ethereum’s validator economy. Validator rewards are earned in ETH, operator costs are priced in ETH, and post-Pectra validator balances can now scale up to 2,048 ETH per validator. SSV Staking is designed to align the protocol — and its token — with that reality. 

Introducing Effective Balance Oracles for post-Pectra accounting In parallel, supporting SSV staking and Ethereum’s post-Pectra validator model requires effective balance–aware accounting. Effective Balance Accounting ensures that fees, runway calculations, and liquidation logic scale with the actual stake secured by validators, rather than relying on “per-validator” accounting that has changed with validator consolidation – allowing a single validator to have a balance of 2048 ETH. 

Implementing this model natively requires the protocol to reflect validator effective balances on-chain throughout their lifecycle. To bridge the gap between Ethereum’s consensus layer and on-chain accounting, the protocol introduces Effective Balance Oracles that track validator balances and update the protocol state. 

Operating this oracle layer securely and resiliently is a core protocol function. Under SSV Staking, SSV holders would stake and delegate their tokens to support the selection and operation of oracle participants, aligning economic incentives with protocol security.

From Governance token to ETH accrual asset Under the proposal, SSV holders would be able to stake their tokens in a new staking contract and receive cSSV, a liquid ERC-20 token minted 1:1 to represent a staked position. While holding cSSV, participants would accrue a pro-rata share of ETH-denominated network fees, distributed through the protocol in proportion to staking participation.

Elad Gafni, SSV Foundation, said:

“cSSV is designed to represent more than a staked position; it represents participation.” Adding that: “SSV Staking is a mechanism for SSV holders to help operate and secure a core protocol function through delegation. This is a fundamental shift in how value flows through the network.”

Crucially, holding cSSV preserves full governance and voting rights, while enabling composability across DeFi as a liquid representation of staked SSV.

A new relationship between Ethereum infrastructure and SSV token holders SSV Staking goes beyond introducing yield. It is a full redesign of the network’s economic engine, connecting validator balances, ETH-denominated fees, oracle-backed accounting, and token incentives into a single system.

If approved by the DAO, SSV Staking would mark a shift from SSV as a governance and operator payment token toward an ETH accrual token, tightly coupled to the usage of one of Ethereum’s largest staking infrastructure providers.

About SSV Network SSV Network provides a distributed infrastructure designed to improve the fault tolerance, decentralization, and security of Ethereum validators through Distributed Validator Technology (DVT). SSV Network is the leading provider on Ethereum, securing over 5.5M ETH, worth an estimated ~$16 billion, across nearly 2,000 globally distributed node operators. 

Press contact:

Robert Drage [email protected] Disclaimer: TheNewsCrypto does not endorse any content on this page. The content depicted in this Press Release does not represent any investment advice. TheNewsCrypto recommends our readers to make decisions based on their own research. TheNewsCrypto is not accountable for any damage or loss related to content, products, or services stated in this Press Release.

2026.05.21 11:22:52

May 21. On May 20, the U.S. Spot Hyperliquid ETF notched $25.5 million in net inflows—its largest single-day haul since launch. In the days leading up to that date, the ETF had posted net inflows of $4.4 million on Monday and $11 million on Tuesday. Data shows the 21Shares Hyperliquid ETF (THYP), which launched on May 12, brought in $16.7 million in net inflows that same day—up from the $5.3 million it saw the prior day. The Bitwise Hyperliquid ETF (BHYP), launched on May 14, took in $8.8 million, a jump from the $5.7 million it recorded the day before. Over its first seven trading days, the entire category has pulled in a total net inflow of $54 million. Peter Chung, research director at Presto Research, noted that when adjusted for market capitalization, institutional flows into the HYPE ETF have outpaced the speed of inflows into Bitcoin ETFs so far this year. Dominick John, an analyst at Zeus Research, added that these inflows signal investors are capitalizing on entry points tied to the infrastructure narrative, while recognizing the asset’s transparent, usage-driven revenue model. Fueling this momentum, HYPE’s token price surged 17.3% in the past 24 hours to $55.91, with a current market cap of roughly $13.4 billion. The token previously hit an all-time high of around $59.3 in September 2025. Per CoinGecko data, HYPE’s fully diluted valuation briefly reached about $54.7 billion, momentarily surpassing Solana’s $54.2 billion valuation at the time. Tim Sun, a senior researcher at HashKey Group, believes the sustained inflows into the HYPE ETF show the market is forming a new consensus: decentralized trading platforms are starting to be integrated into broader overhauls of financial infrastructure. Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx, pointed out that HYPE and its related ETFs have structural investment logic distinct from Bitcoin and Ethereum. He explained: Bitcoin acts as a non-yielding store of value; Ethereum centers on staking rewards; HYPE, meanwhile, operates more like equity in a cash-flow-generating trading platform—since the protocol uses most of its fees for open-market token buybacks, giving investors a more familiar valuation framework to work with. On-chain metrics confirm Hyperliquid has become a dominant player in on-chain perpetual contract and derivative trading. So far this week, the network has captured approximately 42% of total blockchain fees, outperforming Tron (22.6%), Solana (10.6%), and Ethereum (8%) in that key metric.

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A crypto whale holding 120,000 ETH long positions has an unrealized loss of over $77 million, and added $8 million in margin in the early hours.

According to on-chain analyst ai_9684xtpa’s monitoring, a whale holding 120,000 ETH in long positions added $8 million in margin in the early hours. Currently, the total unrealized loss on its ETH long positions across four linked addresses stands at approximately $77.047 million, with an average entry price of around $2,265. Data shows the liquidation prices for the four addresses are $1,174.6, $1,059.1, $1,064.7, and $1,143.6 respectively. Despite the significant paper losses, there remains a large buffer before liquidation, and over 6 million USDC is still held on-chain to replenish margin, resulting in low short-term liquidation risk.

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Some of the most popular companies in the cryptoeconomy have banded together to create an organization that will assess and rate top cryptocurrency projects on the likelihood of these projects being securities per U.S. federal securities laws.

That organization, the Crypto Rating Council (CRC), counts exchange operators like Bittrex, Coinbase, Kraken, and Poloniex-backers Circle among its first members, as well as the firms of Anchorage, DRW Cumberland, Genesis, and Grayscale Investments.

So why the need for such a body?

The so-called Howey Test, which is a test devised by the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if a given asset is a security, commonly leads to “judgment calls, inconsistent results, and … disagreement among legal experts,” the CRC said on the Frequently Asked Questions section of its new website.

Accordingly, the organization’s rating system — which runs from 1 to 5, with 5 indicating an asset bears the hallmarks of a security and 1 meaning the opposite — is being hailed by members as a “compliance tool” that will help bring consistency to their respective asset review processes.

Founded by prominent companies across the crypto industry, our mission is to lead crypto financial services firms committed to practical compliance with the U.S. securities laws. We are the Crypto Rating Council, and we launched today: https://t.co/FbdwfSZN9D

— Crypto Rating Council (@CRC_Crypto) September 30, 2019

“The CRC will publish a simple rating for most assets it reviews to indicate the results of its analysis as a reference for operators, developers, and the public,” the organization said.

With that said, the ratings are utterly non-binding and have been made without involvement from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). So, while clarity is the professed goal, the only thing the CRC has ultimately made more clear is what its members think about the legal status of top cryptocurrencies in America.

“The score does not reflect a legal conclusion and is no indication of qualitative value of an asset or suitability for investment or any other purpose,” the CRC said of its ratings.

How the First Scores Look Don’t expect any surprises when it comes to bitcoin (BTC). The oldest cryptocurrency, which has long been held up by various stakeholders as a standard for decentralized projects, received a 1 rating from the CRC.

Other projects the body deemed to have “few or no characteristics consistent with treatment as a security” included DeFi’s darling Dai stablecoin, the popular Monero (XMR) privacy cryptocurrency, and Litecoin (LTC).

The 2 rating was given to the next rung of projects that the CRC deemed to seem mostly decentralized according to its framework. These projects included Ethereum (ETH), Zcash (ZEC), Numeraire (NMR), ChainLink (LINK), and the fledgling proof-of-stake project Algorand (ALGO).

Getting on up there according to the group were projects like Augur (3.75), EOS (3.75), Stellar (3.75), Tezos (3.75), and XRP (4). The highest inaugural scores were given to Polymath (4.5) and Maker (4.5).

Notably, the SEC announced just hours after these ratings were released that Block.one, the team behind the EOS launch, had settled charges and would pay a $24 million civil penalty for its year-long ICO being an unregistered security offering.

The Commission said the securities status only applied to the “IOU” ERC20 token that was issued during the sale rather than the current EOS cryptocurrency, which lives on EOS now rather than Ethereum.

Are Exchanges Listing Securities? One question that immediately started buzzing through the ecosystem on the heels of the announcement of the CRC was why would exchanges like Coinbase take chances on assets like XRP that appear to bear considerable resemblances to a security in the U.S.?

One possibility is that the group’s members consider “security status is binary,” according to Jake Chervinsky, the General Counsel of DeFi lending project Compound Finance. In other words, anything less than a 5 rating would be fair game accordingly.

My best guess: they'd say security status is binary and as a matter of law it doesn't make a difference how close a token comes to being a security if it's ultimately not one.

On that logic, though, query the value of publishing the five-point score in the first place.

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) September 30, 2019

But even if the already rated cryptocurrencies later end up being cleared as “not securities” per the SEC, the CRC rating system can lead to future conflicts of interest, e.g. member exchanges being charitable in their ratings because they stand to gain from trade volume.

In my opinion, this rating system creates a massive conflict of interest. All of the companies that joined this consortium are massively incentivized to rate the vast majority of tokens as non-securities. Coinbase listed some very questionable tokens including XRP, Tezos, EOS

— Larry Cermak (@lawmaster) September 30, 2019

But there’s a silver lining here, according to Blockchain chief executive officer and president Marco Santori. In a Twitter thread on the CRC announcement, Santori said the effort was suspect in some ways but was also a positive attempt at self-regulation in an industry that needs more regulatory clarity in general.

8/ So why on earth would they publish this? Why on earth should we applaud their effort?

Well, actually we should.

As an industry, this stuff is basically the best we've got.

THAT'S RIGHT ITS A TWIST

wait hear me out.

— Marco Santori (@msantoriESQ) September 30, 2019

William M. Peaster

William M. Peaster is a professional writer and editor who specializes in the Ethereum, Dai, and Bitcoin beats in the cryptoeconomy. He's appeared in Blockonomi, Binance Academy, Bitsonline, and more. He enjoys tracking smart contracts, DAOs, dApps, and the Lightning Network. He's learning Solidity, too! Contact him on Telegram at @wmpeaster

Gold-backed crypto sounds straightforward until you check the redemption rules, custody setup, and issuer terms. In practice, two tokens may track the same ounce of gold while offering very different rights to the holder.

That gap between price exposure and holder rights is drawing more attention in 2026 as tokenized gold trading volume rises and products like Pax Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) pull in more activity across crypto markets. This guide explains how tokenized gold works, how PAXG and XAUT differ, and what buyers should check before they treat a token like physical bullion.

KEY TAKEAWAYS
➤ Tokenized gold tracks physical bullion, but holder rights, redemption terms, and custody structures can differ sharply between issuers.
➤ Tokenized gold trading volume reached $90.7 billion in Q1 2026, with PAXG and XAUT leading the category’s growth.
➤ Issuer risk, redemption limits, wallet controls, and regional regulations still affect how tokenized gold works in practice.
➤Tokenized gold gives crypto users 24/7 transferability and wallet access, but it does not remove traditional gold-market risks.

In this guide:

What is tokenized gold? How gold-backed crypto works in 2026PAXG vs. XAUT, side by sideDo you own real gold with PAXG and XAUT?Can you redeem PAXG and XAUT for physical gold?Tokenized gold vs. gold ETFs vs physical bullionTokenized gold risks and how to mitigate themHow to buy tokenized gold in 2026Frequently Asked Questions What is tokenized gold? How gold-backed crypto works in 2026 Tokenized gold is a digital token issued on a blockchain that is backed by physical gold stored in audited vaults. Gold has long attracted buyers who want a hard asset outside fiat currencies, but physical settlement, storage, and transfers can be slow or expensive.

This “tokenized” model has brought two markets together that rarely interacted in the past. One is physical gold, which offers a 5,000-year store-of-value record but settles slowly, trades on dealer hours, and is hard to fractionalize. The other is public blockchains, which can settle transactions in seconds, run 24/7, and split assets into tiny units.

A gold-backed token bridges the two by locking real bullion with a custodian and minting transferable claims on it.

What is a troy ounce and London Good Delivery gold?

A troy ounce is the standard unit used in global precious-metals markets and equals about 31.1 grams. “London Good Delivery” refers to large gold bars that meet quality and purity standards accepted by major bullion markets, central banks, and institutional traders.

How tokenization works An issuer such as Paxos or TG Commodities acquires physical gold from refiners or bullion dealers and stores it with a professional custodian. The issuer then creates a matching amount of blockchain-based tokens tied to that gold reserve. Token holders can buy, sell, transfer, or self-custody the assets like other crypto tokens.

When holders redeem tokens through the issuer, the corresponding amount of gold leaves the reserve pool and may be sold, transferred, or delivered physically if redemption minimums are met. Independent attestors or audit firms publish reserve reports on a scheduled basis to verify that the token supply matches the underlying gold holdings.

Why tokenized gold is exploding in 2026 Adoption has accelerated through 2025 and into 2026 as real-world asset (RWA) tokenization moved from pilots to live products. Tokenized gold achieved $90.70 billion in total spot trading volume in Q1 2026, surpassing the $84.64 billion traded throughout 2025, according to CoinGecko’s RWA Report 2026.

Meanwhile, on March 19, 2026, the World Gold Council and Boston Consulting Group proposed a “Gold as a Service” framework designed to standardize custody, reconciliation, compliance, and redemption processes across digital gold products.

Tokenized gold is not a stablecoin. Its price moves with the spot price of gold, so holders gain or lose value as bullion rallies or falls. The “stability” only refers to the 1:1 backing, not a fixed dollar peg.

The combination of rising gold prices, clearer rules in some jurisdictions, and on-chain demand for non-dollar collateral has produced what looks like a structural rather than cyclical lift.

The tokenized gold market includes smaller products such as Kinesis Gold (KAU), Comtech Gold (CGO), VeraOne (VRO), and Matrixdock Gold (XAUM). Even so, market activity and liquidity remain concentrated around Pax Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT), which makes them useful reference points for how large-scale gold-backed tokens currently operate.

Top tokenized gold products by market cap: CoinGecko PAXG vs. XAUT, side by side Pax Gold (PAXG) and Tether Gold (XAUT) together hold roughly nine-tenths of the gold-backed token market. They follow the same backing standard, but their regulator, chain support, audit cadence, redemption process, and US availability are not the same.

AttributePAXGXAUTIssuerPaxos Trust CompanyTG Commodities Limited (Tether)RegulatorOCC, U.S. federal oversight; previously NYDFSCNAD, El SalvadorBacking1 token = 1 troy ounce LBMA Good Delivery1 token = 1 troy ounce LBMA Good DeliveryVault locationBrink’s vaults, LondonSwiss vaults via MKS PAMP and LoomisAuditor and cadenceKPMG LLP, monthlyBDO Italia, quarterly ISAE 3000ChainsEthereum (ERC-20)Ethereum, TRON, Polygon, Solana via LayerZero, BNB ChainIssuance and redemption feeTiered 1% down to 0.125%Flat 0.25%Minimum physical redemption430 tokens for a full bar, 1 gram and up via Alpha Bullion430 tokens for a full bar, no fractional partnerOwnership typeAllocated gold with Paxos bar lookupUndivided gold rights with Tether Gold bar lookupReserve and oracle supportPaxos attestations, allocation lookup, and Chainlink reserve-related infrastructureTether Gold attestations, wallet/bar lookup, and Chainlink XAUT/USD market-data feedsUS retail availabilityListed on Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, Crypto.comRestricted, not directly available to US retailMarket cap (May 2026)About $2.2 billion per CoinGeckoAbout $2.6 to $2.7 billion per CoinGecko Pax Gold at a glance PAXG launched in September 2019, when Paxos operated under its NYDFS trust-company framework. Paxos later received approval to convert to a national trust charter overseen by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Current PAXG terms say PAXG is issued pursuant to specific OCC approval.

Paxos assures that the underlying gold is stored in Brink’s vaults in London, and each PAXG token is linked to a specific serial-numbered gold bar that holders can verify through Paxos’ allocation lookup tool. KPMG took over the monthly attestation in February 2025, replacing WithumSmith+Brown, and the reports are published on the Paxos site.

Tether Gold at a glance XAUT was launched by TG Commodities Limited in January 2020 and is now operated under a license from El Salvador’s National Digital Assets Commission, known by its Spanish initials CNAD.

The bullion is stored in Swiss vaults, with MKS PAMP and Loomis named in TG Commodities’s attestation materials. XAUT launched on Ethereum and TRON before expanding to additional networks through the XAUT0 cross-chain system. Tether later announced Polygon, Solana, and BNB Chain integrations between late 2025 and early 2026.

BDO Italia issues an ISAE 3000 opinion on the reserves on a quarterly basis.

Fees, audits, and oracle data PAXG’s fee structure has changed over time. As of May 2026, Paxos advertises zero on-chain transfer fees and zero storage fees for PAXG, although its terms still reserve the right to impose storage fees in the future with notice. Its terms also govern conversions into USD, unallocated gold, or allocated gold through the Paxos platform.

XAUT says it charges no custodian fee and applies a one-time 25 basis point fee when verified customers purchase or redeem XAU₮ through TG Commodities.

Chainlink has supported reserve-related infrastructure for PAXG, while Chainlink also provides XAUT/USD market-data feeds. A price feed is not the same as a reserve feed. In both cases, users still need to check issuer attestations, custody disclosures, and official lookup tools rather than relying on oracle data alone.

Do you own real gold with PAXG and XAUT? The short answer is that both products describe gold ownership, but the issuer structure, custody chain, legal terms, and redemption process are not the same.

PAXG gives holders ownership rights to allocated London Good Delivery gold held under Paxos custody. XAUT gives holders undivided ownership rights to gold on specified bars, with bar details available through Tether Gold’s lookup system.

The practical question is not only whether gold backs the token, but how each issuer records, verifies, and redeems that claim.

How ownership is recorded PAXG uses an allocated-gold structure. Paxos says each PAXG represents one fine troy ounce of a London Good Delivery gold bar held in professional vaults. Its terms also say that when a holder is not allocated a full bar, the holder owns a pro rata share of that bar based on their PAXG balance. Paxos’ lookup tool lets eligible on-chain holders view bar details tied to their holdings.

XAUT uses a different legal structure. Tether Gold says XAU₮ gives holders undivided ownership rights to gold on specified bars. It also says the allocated gold is identifiable by serial number, purity, and weight through Tether Gold’s lookup system.

So, the cleaner distinction is not “specific bar versus pool.” Both products describe a bar-level link. The real differences come from issuer structure, custodian arrangements, jurisdiction, disclosure cadence, redemption rules, and the legal terms behind each token.

Bankruptcy remoteness and counterparty risk The difference matters most if the issuer fails. Paxos Trust Company is a New York limited-purpose trust company that holds the bullion as a bailee, a structure designed to be bankruptcy remote, meaning the bullion would not be available to general creditors.

TG Commodities is a private Tether subsidiary under El Salvadoran oversight rather than a US trust company, which leaves the holder’s claim subject to El Salvadoran insolvency rules.

As of May 2026, neither structure has faced a major issuer failure or large-scale court test, so the legal outcome in a stress event remains untested.

Insurance and custody disclosures Paxos says each PAXG is backed by one fine troy ounce of gold held in LBMA vaults in London. Its allocation lookup tool lets holders of PAXG in on-chain Ethereum wallets view serial-number and bar information, though the tool does not apply to tokens held through custodial exchanges or wallets. Paxos also publishes monthly PAXG attestation reports.

XAUT’s terms refer to custodian insurance, but the public disclosures do not itemize coverage at the same level of detail. XAUT’s terms refer to custodian insurance, but they also say there is no assurance that the custodian will maintain adequate insurance, or any insurance.

The public terms do not give the same bar-level insurance detail that a cautious buyer may want before they rely on insurance as a risk control. Holders should review the latest issuer terms, reserve reports, and custody disclosures before they treat insurance as meaningful protection.

Allocated ownership is one of the strongest legal protections available in the gold market, but it depends entirely on the custody chain functioning as advertised. Always read the latest attestation rather than relying on marketing language.

Can you redeem PAXG and XAUT for physical gold? Eligible verified holders can redeem both PAXG and XAUT for physical bullion, but the rules are not necessarily retail-friendly in the same way.

PAXG supports direct full-bar redemption through Paxos and smaller physical-gold redemptions through partnered retailers. XAUT redemptions, by contrast, occur through TG Commodities and must be tied to full gold bars.

PAXG redemption Paxos says holders can convert PAXG into USD, unallocated gold, or allocated gold through the Paxos platform, subject to its terms.

Direct allocated-gold redemption requires at least 430 PAXG plus the applicable fee for each London Good Delivery gold bar. Paxos also says customers with smaller holdings can redeem fractional amounts through partnered gold retailers.

Alpha Bullion, a platform tied to Bullion Exchanges and Paxos, says it lets PAXG holders redeem physical gold in sizes from 1 gram to 1 kilogram.

Note that Alpha Bullion requires account verification before order fulfillment. Because product availability, fees, taxes, and delivery terms can change, holders should check Alpha Bullion’s current checkout terms before they treat PAXG as an easy route to small physical-gold delivery.

XAUT redemption XAUT redemption follows a relatively stricter process. Tether Gold says only KYC-verified customers can redeem through the Tether Gold website, and redemptions can occur only for full gold bars. Since those bars usually range from about 385 to 415 fine troy ounces, holders are generally asked to deposit at least 430 XAU₮ to cover a full-bar redemption.

After redemption, the gold can be delivered to the verified customer’s chosen location in Switzerland, with delivery costs payable by the customer. Tether Gold says it does not currently offer delivery outside Switzerland.

Instead of physical delivery, a verified customer may ask Tether Gold to attempt a sale of the gold bar in the Swiss gold market and return the USD proceeds, minus the redemption fee. That sale is subject to available rates and counterparties, and Tether Gold says it has no obligation to repurchase the tokens or gold bars.

How to verify your gold on-chain Both issuers offer on-chain transparency tools. For PAXG, holders enter an Ethereum address into the Paxos lookup page and see the serial numbers of the underlying bars. For XAUT, the Tether site shows the gold attributed to a wallet at a given time.

These tools can help holders check issuer-level allocation data, while Chainlink infrastructure can support market-data or reserve-related checks depending on the token. Users should still treat issuer attestations, custody disclosures, and official lookup tools as the main sources for reserve verification.

That is the redemption side. The next question is how tokenized gold stacks up against the alternatives most investors already know.

Tokenized gold vs. gold ETFs vs physical bullion Tokenized gold is right there in between two long-established options. The table below compares the three on the dimensions that drive most allocation decisions.

AttributeTokenized gold (PAXG, XAUT)Gold ETFs (GLD, IAU, GLDM)Physical bullionCustodyLBMA vault held by issuer custodianLBMA vault held by ETF trusteeSelf-custody or third-party vaultTrading hours24/7/365Stock market hoursDealer hoursAnnual fee0% storage, 0.125% to 1% issuance and redemption0.17% to 0.40% expense ratioDealer spread plus storage and insuranceSettlementSeconds, on-chainT+1Same day at dealerRedemption for physicalYes, with minimumsNo, cash settlement onlyAlready physicalDeFi useCollateral, lending, yieldNoneNoneUS tax treatmentProperty treatment likely, still developingCollectibles 28% per IRS guidanceCollectibles 28% per IRS guidance Fee math at retail scale Headline fees can look simple until you apply them to a real position size. For example, take a $10,000 PAXG buy held for 12 months. If that order falls into Paxos’ 2–25 PAXG fee tier, the 1% entry fee comes to about $100.

Paxos currently advertises zero on-chain transfer fees and zero storage fees for PAXG.

If the position is sold or converted through the Paxos wallet at the same fee tier, the exit fee would add another $100. That puts the direct Paxos round-trip cost at about $200 on a $10,000 position held for one year, before spreads, gas, taxes, exchange fees, or any third-party platform costs.

Cost note: This example assumes direct Paxos wallet creation and sale or conversion at the 1% fee tier. If you buy or sell PAXG through an exchange, your actual cost may come from trading fees, spreads, withdrawal costs, and venue-specific rules instead.

A $10,000 GLD position over the same period pays the 0.40% expense ratio, or about $40, before any broker-specific costs. A $10,000 GLDM position is cheaper still at 0.10%, or roughly $10 for the year.

On direct fees alone, a lower-cost gold ETF such as GLDM can be much cheaper than a direct PAXG round trip at the 1% tier. PAXG’s case becomes stronger only if the holder values features an ETF cannot provide, such as crypto-wallet custody, around-the-clock transfers, DeFi use, or PAXG-specific redemption routes.

Tax treatment In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service classifies physical gold and most gold ETFs as collectibles, which carry a long-term capital gains rate of up to 28% rather than the standard 20%.

As of May 2026, tokenized gold is in a less settled position. Some practitioners argue it should follow the underlying asset and be treated as a collectible, while others apply general property rules for digital assets. UK, EU, and UAE treatments vary and depend on whether the holder uses an exchange domiciled in a regulated venue.

Always confirm with a tax professional before relying on any single framing.

Tokenized gold in DeFi The structural advantage of tokenized gold over an ETF is on-chain usability. PAXG is listed as collateral on the Aave deployment on Ethereum and trades in Curve and Uniswap pools, while XAUT has integrations on TRON-based DeFi venues and emerging yield vaults on platforms such as Falcon Finance.

Yields available in 2026 have ranged from low single digits to mid single digits, depending on the pool and risk tier, with strategies that wrap gold collateral into lending or basis trades.

Tokenized gold risks and how to mitigate them The risks attached to tokenized gold are not the same as the risks attached to physical bullion or to an ETF. Buyers should weigh three categories before committing.

Issuer and depeg risk Both PAXG and XAUT depend on a single issuer to honor redemptions and report reserves. A failure at Paxos or TG Commodities would cap the value of the token at whatever a court determined was the holder’s claim on the bullion.

Token prices can also drift from spot during stress events. PAXG traded at a premium to spot during the February 2025 London bullion shortage as physical delivery times stretched, an episode that reminded the market that on-chain liquidity does not always equal physical liquidity.

Smart contract, sanctions, and wallet freezing PAXG and XAUT contracts both include administrative functions that allow the issuer to freeze tokens in specific wallets. Paxos has used the function to comply with US sanctions enforcement, and Tether has frozen XAUT-related addresses tied to flagged activity. The functions exist for legitimate compliance reasons, but they mean a holder who trips a sanctions flag could lose access to their tokens.

Both tokens can be frozen by the issuer. A buyer who values censorship resistance above gold exposure should consider physical bullion or self-custody alternatives instead.

Regulatory risk Paxos previously operated under NYDFS oversight and is now OCC-regulated as a national trust institution.

XAUT has a narrower U.S. retail access path. Tether Gold says U.S. persons cannot purchase or redeem XAU₮ directly through its issuer platform, which means U.S. users should not assume they can access issuer-level redemption features.

In the European Union, MiCA rules for asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens became applicable on June 30, 2024, while broader crypto-asset service provider rules followed on Dec. 30, 2024. Paxos says it operates under MiCA compliance through FIN-FSA in the EU, but its current PAXG page also says PAXG is unavailable in the EU.

Put simply, access can depend on the issuer, exchange, user location, and product feature. So, as a buyer, you should check current exchange notices and issuer disclosures before they assume PAXG or XAUT is available in the jurisdiction you are in.

How to buy tokenized gold in 2026 Tokenized gold trades on both centralized exchanges and on-chain venues. Most retail buyers start on a centralized exchange for the smoothest path, then move tokens to self-custody or a DeFi position if they want to use the gold as collateral.

Buying on a centralized exchange PAXG is listed on Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com, Binance, and Bitpanda, among others. The standard flow is to fund an account with fiat, place a market or limit order against the PAXG pair, and either keep the tokens on the exchange or withdraw them to a personal wallet.

XAUT is listed on a smaller set of venues, with Bitfinex and several non-US exchanges providing the deepest order books. US residents typically cannot buy XAUT directly through a domestic exchange.

Buying on a DEX On Ethereum, PAXG can be bought on Uniswap and Curve pools using ether or a stablecoin, though gas costs and pool depth should be checked before larger trades.

XAUT liquidity tends to sit in TRON-based and non-EVM venues, which makes the operational steps more involved. Buyers who use a DEX should always verify the token contract address from the issuer’s official site to avoid scam tokens.

Other gold-backed tokens worth knowing PAXG and XAUT dominate the market, but several other gold-backed tokens are worth knowing. Kinesis Gold (KAU) and Kinesis Silver (KAG) pay a share of network fees back to holders, which gives them a yield profile unlike PAXG or XAUT. CACHE Gold (CGT) uses a fractional-gram model with on-chain bar serial assignment.

AurusX (AWG) and Matrixdock XAUM are relatively newer entrants targeting cross-jurisdictional retail demand. Comtech Gold (CGO) markets a Shariah-compliant structure aimed at Middle East and South Asian buyers.

Note that liquidity for these smaller tokens is thinner, so always check the on-chain market depth before committing.

Frequently Asked Questions What is tokenized gold and how does it work? Tokenized gold is a digital token on a blockchain that represents ownership of physical gold held in an audited vault. Each token typically equals one troy ounce of London Good Delivery bullion held by a custodian on behalf of the issuer. Holders can transfer the token like any other crypto asset and, in some cases, redeem it for physical metal when minimums and verification rules are met.

Do you own real gold with PAXG? Yes. PAXG uses an allocated ownership model in which each token is mapped to a portion of a specific London Good Delivery bar identified by serial number. Paxos publishes a lookup tool that lets a wallet holder view the bars assigned to their address. The bullion is held in Brink’s vaults in London and is described by Paxos as legally separate from the company’s general balance sheet.

Can you redeem PAXG for physical gold? Yes, with two paths. A holder with 430 PAXG or more can redeem directly through Paxos for a full London Good Delivery bar, subject to Paxos’ terms. Holders below that threshold can use Alpha Bullion’s partner route for smaller physical-gold redemptions from 1 gram upward, subject to identity verification, product availability, taxes, delivery terms, and any current checkout costs.

Can you redeem XAUT for physical gold? Yes, but only at the full-bar level and only in Switzerland. A holder must accumulate at least 430 XAUT, complete identity verification with TG Commodities, and arrange Swiss delivery or cash settlement at spot. There is no fractional retail partner equivalent to Alpha Bullion, so most XAUT holders treat the token as a price exposure rather than a redemption vehicle.

What is the difference between PAXG and XAUT? The main differences are issuer structure, regulatory profile, chain support, audit cadence, and redemption rules. Paxos previously operated under NYDFS oversight and is now OCC-regulated as a national trust institution. PAXG uses monthly attestations and links holdings to allocated London Good Delivery gold. XAUT is issued through TG Commodities, operates under El Salvador’s CNAD framework, uses quarterly assurance reports, and gives holders undivided gold rights with Tether Gold’s bar lookup system. PAXG is Ethereum-based, while XAUT is available across several networks.

Is tokenized gold safe and what are the main risks? Tokenized gold inherits the price behavior of physical gold and adds three risk categories on top. Issuer risk covers the potential failure of Paxos or TG Commodities, smart contract risk covers code or governance failures, and sanctions risk covers the issuer’s ability to freeze tokens in flagged wallets. Holders mitigate these risks by reading the latest attestations, splitting positions across issuers, and avoiding behavior that could trigger a wallet freeze.

StraitsX will launch XSGD and XUSD on Solana in early 2026, targeting on-chain FX, cross-border settlement, and AI-driven payments with x402 support.

Summary

StraitsX will deploy its SGD- and USD-pegged stablecoins XSGD and XUSD on Solana in early 2026, making it the first L1 to host both assets natively.​ The launch targets on-chain FX, instant SGD–USD swaps, and cross-border settlement, leveraging Solana’s high throughput and low fees plus liquidity pools on CEXs and DEXs.​ Both stablecoins will support the x402 payment standard to enable machine-to-machine and AI-agent micropayments in what StraitsX calls the emerging “agentic economy.” StraitsX announced a partnership with the Solana Foundation to deploy its Singapore dollar-backed stablecoin (XSGD) and U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin (XUSD) on the Solana blockchain, with an initial rollout targeted for early 2026, according to a company statement.

The collaboration will make Solana the first Layer 1 blockchain to host both XSGD and XUSD simultaneously, StraitsX said. The company stated the integration is designed to support on-chain foreign exchange use cases and real-time cross-border settlement, utilizing Solana’s high throughput and low transaction costs.

The deployment aims to enable near-instant swaps between SGD and USD without traditional intermediaries, according to the announcement. StraitsX said the launch will facilitate instant currency conversion and settlement for businesses and developers operating on-chain, allowing users to move between SGD and USD within a single ecosystem.

Stablecoin leading crypto infrastructure push Both stablecoins will support the x402 payment standard, enabling machine-to-machine payments, automated transactions, and AI-agent micropayments, the company said. StraitsX described this functionality as positioning the stablecoins for use within the emerging “agentic economy,” where software agents and machines transact autonomously.

StraitsX plans to collaborate with centralized and decentralized exchanges to establish liquidity pools for XSGD and XUSD on Solana, stating that liquidity provisioning will be prioritized to ensure efficient foreign exchange swaps and settlement at scale.

The Solana expansion follows previous issuance of XSGD on Ethereum, Polygon, and Coinbase’s Base Layer 2, extending the stablecoin’s multichain presence.

StraitsX operates as a Major Payment Institution licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The company reported its stablecoins have processed more than $18 billion in cumulative on-chain transaction volume to date. The firm stated the Solana deployment aims to combine regulatory-grade stablecoins with high-performance public blockchain infrastructure for use cases including cross-border payments, foreign exchange settlement, programmable finance, and AI-driven transactions.

Multi-chain decentralized trading platform Nexera has suffered a $1.5 million exploit, forcing it to stop all trading operations.

Decentralized crypto exchange Nexera — also known as AllianceBlock Nexera — has fallen victim to a hacker attack, resulting in a loss of $1.5 million worth of liquidity. The breach was first reported by blockchain forensic firm Cyvers through a post on X, which flagged a “suspicious transaction” involving Nexera’s proxy contract.

https://twitter.com/cyversalerts/status/1821069428630679920?s=61

According to Cyvers, the attacker managed to gain control over Nexera’s proxy contract, subsequently upgrading it with new permissions. This allowed the hacker to utilize the withdraw admin function to transfer all NXRA tokens. Cyvers says the hacker is actively selling all the exchange’s liquidity for Ethereum (ETH), and some of the funds “have already been bridged to the BNB chain.”

Announcement

The team is investigating an exploit involving smart contracts containing NXRA tokens.

While we are still finalizing our findings, there are already a couple of things that we can share:
1️⃣ The $NXRA token contract has already been paused. Trading is halted on…

— Nexera (@Nexera_Official) August 7, 2024 Shortly following the attack, the Nexera team confirmed the exploit in a separate X post, saying the team is “investigating an exploit involving smart contracts containing NXRA tokens.” While the exact nature of the hack remains unclear, the NXRA token contract has been paused, with trading halted as the exchange’s team is still finalizing its “findings.”

“We continue to investigate the exploit now and will come back here ASAP with follow-up steps. Thank you for your understanding and patience while we sort this out with the utmost priority.”

Nexera

Nexera, established in 2018 by Rachid Ajaja and Matthijs de Vries, facilitates trading between the Ethereum network and the Arbitrum layer-2 solution. The platform’s native token, NXRA, is used for various functions including transaction fees and rewards within the ecosystem. Following the news of the exploit, the value of NXRA plummeted by over 40%, now trading at $0.037, per data from crypto.news.

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Ripple chief legal officer Stuart Alderoty says the recent filing by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its case against Ripple Labs does not appeal the ruling that XRP is not a security.

Alderoty’s comments follow an Oct. 16 Form C filing by the SEC with a pre-judgement statement against certain aspects of the court’s summary judgment. 

Alderoty Says Court Decision Regarding XRP’s Security Status “Stands As The Law Of The Land” Ripple defense attorney James Filan shared the filing on Oct. 17. In their appeal, the SEC asks the court to review its decisions related to Ripple’s XRP sales through exchange platforms. It also requests the court to review the ruling on the personal sales executed by Ripple executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen.

The SEC went on to argue that Larsen and Galinghouse violated securities laws by offering and selling XRP. It also said that they both “aided and abetted Ripple’s violations of those provisions.”

Alderoty responded to the SEC’s request by saying that the court’s decision regarding XRP’s security status “stands as the law of the land.” He added that the fintech firm intends to file its own Form C next week.

No surprises here — once again it’s been made clear. The Court’s ruling that “XRP is not a security” is NOT being appealed. That decision stands as the law of the land.

Stay tuned for Ripple’s Form C to be filed next week. https://t.co/m9molUGSBv

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) October 18, 2024

SEC Ripple Case Expected To Continue Through July 2025 According to a timeline shared by Fox Business producer Eleanor Terret on X, the Ripple SEC case could carry on well into July next year. After Ripple files its own Form C next week, both the regulator and Ripple Labs will need to “agree on a briefing schedule.” 

🚨NEW: Just had a great chat with @s_alderoty of @Ripple who gave me a rundown of the appeals timeline.

📌The @SECGov’s last day to file Form C (which will give some level of detail about what it plans to appeal) is tomorrow.

📌Seven days later, Ripple will file its own Form…

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) October 15, 2024

Thereafter, the SEC will have up to 90 days to file its first brief according to Terrett, who cited Alderoty. She added that Alderoty believes the regulator will take advantage of this period, and try to only make its filing at the end of the 90 days. Thereafter, the full briefing process “will go through July 2025,” according to the Ripple legal chief.

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