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Bybit is trying to turn a single stablecoin into a liquidity magnet. The exchange, the world’s second-largest by trading volume, launched a limited-time RLUSD Hold & Earn program that combines boosted annual percentage rates with zero maker fees on spot trading pairs that include the Ripple-issued stablecoin, the announcement confirmed. The move targets users who want yield on idle stablecoin balances without moving funds to DeFi protocols.

RLUSD is Ripple’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, which has been steadily integrated into trading infrastructure since its launch. Bybit already lists it, and the new Hold & Earn product lets users lock RLUSD for a period to earn a boosted yield, while the simultaneous zero maker fee applies to RLUSD spot pairs—a clear bid to attract market makers and tighten order books. The program is explicitly time-limited, though the duration was not disclosed.

Competing for Stablecoin Liquidity Centralized exchanges are in a quiet but fierce race to attract stablecoin deposits. Binance, Coinbase, and Bybit each run yield programs tied to different dollar-pegged tokens. RLUSD gives Bybit an asset that is still building liquidity, and pairing a deposit incentive with zero maker fees creates a short-term boost that can reshuffle market share. The logic is simple: liquidity draws more liquidity, and flow on one stablecoin can spill into other trading pairs. This strategy arrives as the broader tokenization trend that has pushed on-chain real-world assets past $20 billion reshapes how exchanges think about collateral and settlement.

Zero Fees and Market Maker Appeal The zero maker fee sits at the center of the offer. For market makers, removing the fee on RLUSD pairs changes the spread calculation. Even small improvements in net profitability can redirect algorithmic flow, and the exchange clearly hopes that the combination of reduced cost and yield will pull in fresh order flow from institutional desks. That pitch lines up with growing institutional demand for on-chain yield opportunities that is already visible in other corners of the market.

The Yield Race and Regulatory Shadows Yield-bearing stablecoin products now straddle centralized platforms and DeFi. The Bybit offer essentially repackages DeFi-style rewards inside a custodial wrapper, simplifying access at the cost of giving up self-custody. How high the “boosted” APR is remains unknown, and such promotions often rely on subsidy rather than organic earnings, which means they can fade quickly. Meanwhile, the stablecoin yield market itself sits inside a regulatory debate that could reshape what exchanges can legally offer. The stablecoin regulation debate in the US Senate is still fluid, and any legislation redefining what counts as a security or a deposit could directly alter programs like this one.

For now, Bybit is betting that RLUSD can be a wedge to pull in sticky liquidity. The product will be judged by two numbers: how much RLUSD flows in during the promotional window, and whether the order books retain any of that depth once the incentives end. Other exchanges will be watching both figures closely.

AUTHOR

Farhan Karim is a technology writer and content strategist with 15+ years of experience writing thousands of articles, blogs, whitepapers, and ebooks on Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and other tech niches. His expertise in content strategy, SEO, and a keen eye on the ever-evolving tech space have led him to work with companies like Pepsi, Huawei, Arab News, and now Blockchain Reporter.

Cryptocurrency bettors sharply increased the odds that Lucid Group Inc. (NASDAQ:LCID) might file for bankruptcy this year, despite the company denying such rumors.

Prediction Markets Bet On Firm FailuresPolygon (CRYPTO: POL)-based Polymarket currently prices at 46% odds, up 9 percentage points in a day, and 12 percentage points from last week.

The jump in possibility followed a report that the California-headquartered company is considering going private or filing for Chapter 11. Lucid dismissed the report as “false,” adding that it hasn’t formed any special Board committee to explore such scenarios.

Beyond Meat Also At Risk?Beyond Meat Inc. (NASDAQ:BYND) is estimated to have a 35% chance of filing for bankruptcy before the year ends.

The plant-based meat company reported a sharp drop in revenue in the first quarter, as it faced falling U.S. demand and supply chain problems.

The stock price has fallen below $1, triggering a deficiency warning from the Nasdaq regarding the minimum bid price rule.

Price Action: Lucid shares traded down 3.92 in pre-market trading after closing 16.15% lower at $4.62 during Tuesday’s regular trading session. Year-to-date, the stock has collapsed 56%.

Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings show LCID stock maintaining weaker price trends over the short, medium, and long term, with a poor value score

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Key Highlights Syntiant Corporation submitted documentation for a public offering on the Nasdaq exchange with ticker symbol “SYTN” The firm specializes in energy-efficient artificial intelligence processors for on-device machine learning applications Major investors include Intel Capital, Microsoft Global Finance, and Knowles Corporation First quarter 2026 financials show $64.5M in revenue against a $20.9M net loss The offering contributes to an expanding wave of artificial intelligence companies entering public markets Syntiant, a developer of artificial intelligence chips and software solutions, has submitted its initial public offering documents to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange, capitalizing on sustained investor enthusiasm for AI technologies.

Syntiant, an Intel and Microsoft-backed edge-AI chip/software maker, filed for IPO.

The company makes ultra-low-power AI chips and software for on-device AI in earbuds, wearables, and industrial systems.

Q1 results:
Revenue: $64.5M vs $66.6M YoY
Net loss: $26.2M vs $16.8M YoY… pic.twitter.com/9VlB4iBCK0

— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 6, 2026

Headquartered in Irvine, California, the enterprise intends to begin trading with the ticker “SYTN” on the Nasdaq Global Market. Financial terms regarding the offering size remain undisclosed at this time.

Established in 2017 by a quartet of tech entrepreneurs, Syntiant engineers energy-efficient AI processing units specifically architected to execute machine-learning algorithms directly within devices, eliminating dependence on cloud infrastructure.

The organization characterizes its technological approach as “physical AI” — terminology referring to localized sensing and neural computation that empowers devices to detect and react to environmental stimuli without external connectivity.

Applications for its processor technology span wireless earbuds, wearable technology, industrial machinery, and automotive systems.

Investment Partners and Funding Sources Syntiant counts Intel Capital, the corporate venture division of Intel, among its principal financial supporters. Additional stakeholders include Microsoft Global Finance and Knowles Corporation, as detailed in the company’s securities filing.

In a strategic acquisition completed in December 2024, Syntiant purchased Knowles Corporation’s consumer MEMS microphone division. This business unit manufactures microphones utilized in mobile phones, wireless earbuds, and various consumer electronics.

The enterprise delivers what it characterizes as an integrated, ultra-low-power ecosystem. This architecture merges neural decision processing units, sensor products, and artificial intelligence models enabling clients to implement functionality locally while strategically leveraging cloud resources.

Financial Performance During the opening quarter of 2026, Syntiant recorded a net loss totaling $20.9 million against revenues of $64.5 million.

This performance contrasts with the corresponding period one year prior, when the company posted a $14.1 million net loss on $66.6 million in revenue. The data reflects a modest revenue decline accompanied by expanding losses on an annual comparison basis.

The underwriting syndicate for the public offering includes Citigroup, BofA Securities, UBS Investment Bank, and Needham & Company as lead managers. Additional participating firms comprise Stifel, Cantor, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Craig-Hallum, Rosenblatt, Roth Capital Partners, and Wolfe | Nomura Alliance.

Market Environment for Public Offerings Syntiant’s public market debut forms part of an accelerating trend of artificial intelligence companies accessing public equity markets throughout the current year.

J.P. Morgan analysts project that equity issuance exceeding $260 billion will materialize in 2026, as corporations seek to capitalize on strengthening investor sentiment.

The filing arrives amid continued public market investor interest in semiconductor and artificial intelligence enterprises.

Syntiant has yet to announce a preliminary price range or trading commencement date for its shares.

In brief Google DeepMind and Fenris Creations (formerly CCP Games) are teaming up to study AI behavior in complex, player-driven game environments. The initial research will run on offline, controlled Eve Online builds not connected to Tranquility, the game's live server. DeepMind has taken a minority stake in Fenris after it spun out from Pearl Abyss and became an independent studio once more. Google DeepMind said Wednesday that it is teaming up with CCP Games, acquiring a minority stake in the Icelandic studio behind long-running massively multiplayer space game Eve Online, with plans to study how artificial intelligence behaves inside complex, player-driven virtual environments.

The investment, which DeepMind told Bloomberg is valued in the millions of dollars, comes as CCP announced that it has become an independent studio, spinning out from publisher Pearl Abyss and rebranding to Fenris Creations. According to founder and CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, the new structure and partners enable the company to continuously evolve “a living universe and actively [explore] what it can become, with forever in mind.”

“We’re grateful to Pearl Abyss for their partnership and for the consistent support they’ve shown us over the past seven-and-a-half years,” Pétursson said in a statement. “Eve Online exists today because of pioneering thinking, patience, and trust between developers and players.”

Fenris Creations announced the team-up with Google on Wednesday, adding that the two companies plan to share further details at the annual Eve Fanfest in Reykjavik next week.

“I’ve known Hilmar for many years and long admired his work, and I’m thrilled to partner with him and the fantastic team at Fenris Creations to explore new gaming experiences and advance AI research safely inside a player-driven universe as amazingly complex as Eve Online,” Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said in a statement.

According to Fenris, the research tests will run on offline, controlled versions of the Eve Online world that are not connected to Tranquility, the live server.

Today is a day of many milestones, 7.5 years ago we joined up with Pearl Abyss as CCP Games and today we part ways as friends and with deep respect, as we become @FenrisCreations.

We’ve learned a great deal from Pearl Abyss, an extraordinary game maker, as amply evidenced by… pic.twitter.com/cxcSHHvp1x

— FC Hellmar (@HilmarVeigar) May 6, 2026

“It is a one-of-a-kind simulation for testing general-purpose artificial intelligence in a safe sandbox environment,” Alexandre Moufarek, director of inception at Google DeepMind, said in a statement. “I'm excited to partner with the team at Fenris Creations to push the frontier of artificial intelligence and explore new player experiences."

Eve Online launched in 2003 and runs a fully emergent player universe that includes markets, political alliances, and large-scale wars generated by player behavior. In 2024, the studio revealed Eve Frontier, a separate on-chain space survival MMO originally running on Redstone, an Ethereum layer-2 network, in 2024.

The game has since migrated to layer-1 network Sui for its mainnet launch. It's unclear whether the DeepMind research will extend to Eve Frontier's on-chain environment or remain focused on AI interactions.

Fenris says it closed 2025 with some of its strongest financial results in the game's history, including a record November and one of its best quarters on record.

“New Eden is alive because you keep making it alive. We were able to make this transition in large part because of you,” the company said. “Because you continue to believe in Eve. Because you continue to support us. Because you continue to challenge us. Because, after all these years, you are still building the most impressive virtual world in gaming right alongside us.”

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Analyst: Micron’s financial report indicates short-term fluctuations can be ignored as long as earnings prospects underpin its high valuation.

Senior Market Analyst Daniela Hathorn stated, "As Micron Technology's earnings report once again confirms that the AI investment cycle remains solid, the U.S. stock market has recouped some of its losses. This has boosted market sentiment across the entire semiconductor sector—after high-growth individual stocks underperformed earlier—indicating that as long as profit prospects continue to support high valuations, investors are still willing to overlook short-term fluctuations."

8 minutes ago

Circle partners with Nomura Securities to enter the Japanese yen foreign exchange settlement service market.

Stablecoin issuer Circle plans to collaborate with Nomura Securities to launch instant foreign currency settlement for Japanese corporate clients as early as 2027. The initiative will enable large cross-border transactions to be completed immediately, aiming to boost cross-border investment and trade. This will mark the first entry of a major stablecoin issuer into Japan’s corporate transaction market, allowing companies to convert yen into US dollar-denominated stablecoins for investment and instant transfers.

8 minutes ago

Institutions' Preview: Overview of US May Core PCE Price Index Monthly Rate

The US May core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index monthly rate will be released tonight at 20:30 (UTC+8). Below are the forecasts from multiple institutions: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation: 0.2%; Royal Bank of Canada: 0.2%; JPMorgan Chase: 0.3%; Goldman Sachs Group: 0.3%; Bank of Montreal: 0.3%; Moody's Corporation: 0.3%; Standard Chartered: 0.3%; UniCredit: 0.3%; ING Group: 0.3%; HSBC Holdings: 0.3%; BNP Paribas: 0.4%; Wells Fargo: 0.4%; Capital Economics: 0.4%; Citigroup: 0.4%; Deutsche Bank: 0.4%; Nomura Securities: 0.4%; Pantheon Macroeconomics: 0.4%; Société Générale: 0.4%; Scotiabank: 0.4%; Morgan Stanley: 0.4%

8 minutes ago

DA Davidson Raises Micron’s Price Target to $2,000, Retains Buy Rating

U.S. investment bank DA Davidson released a research note stating that Micron Technology has entered a new phase with one of the best performance visibility in the semiconductor industry, a stark contrast to its past standing in the sector. Driven by another quarter of results that handily exceeded expectations and positive forward guidance, Micron’s stock price surged sharply. These signals indicate that the current memory chip boom cycle is far from over. While the company is ramping up capacity investments (with capital expenditure (CAPEX) projected to hit $10 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which will bring additional supply), management expects the memory market to remain tight on supply and demand at least through 2027. Against this backdrop, DA Davidson reiterated its "Buy" rating on Micron and raised its price target from $1,500 to $2,000, equivalent to a 20x price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio based on the company’s 2026 calendar year expected earnings per share (EPS).

8 minutes ago

Morgan Stanley raises Micron's price target to $1,200, maintains 'Overweight' rating.

Morgan Stanley released a report raising Micron Technology (MU.O)’s price target from $1,050 to $1,200, while maintaining an "Overweight" rating. The investment bank lifted its fiscal 2027 earnings per share (EPS) forecast for the chipmaker by roughly 40% to $168, and upgraded its free cash flow (FCF) projection from $104 billion to $140 billion. Aligning with Micron’s management, the bank holds that AI will push DRAM demand to consistently outpace supply significantly after 2027. Micron’s last fiscal quarter results matched this trend, with both its quarterly performance and outlook showing notable upside potential.

8 minutes ago

Bitget Introduces Market Integrity and Token Accountability Framework

Key Takeaways XPeng releases Q1 2026 financial results Thursday prior to the opening bell Wall Street consensus calls for $1.93 billion in revenue, representing an approximately 11.76% decline year-over-year Earnings per share expected to show a loss of $0.11 for the three-month period Twenty-seven analysts maintain Buy ratings on XPEV with an average price target of $24.44 Implied volatility suggests options market anticipates roughly 8.16% price movement following the announcement XPeng is set to release its first-quarter 2026 earnings Thursday before the market opens, and investor attention is squarely focused on one question: can the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer maintain the momentum from its strongest profitability performance to date?

XPeng Inc., XPEV

Shares of XPEV are changing hands near $16.55, reflecting a year-to-date decline of approximately 22%. The current price sits significantly closer to the 52-week floor of $14.72 than the ceiling of $28.24.

The Street is modeling first-quarter revenue of 13.95 billion yuan (equivalent to $1.93 billion), marking an 11.76% contraction compared to the same period last year. This figure also represents a substantial 37% sequential decline from the fourth quarter’s 22.25 billion yuan.

On the bottom line, the consensus forecast points to a per-share loss of $0.11. Notably, EPS projections have deteriorated by 41% during the last two months, though estimates have stabilized over the most recent week.

Profitability Metrics Take Center Stage The company’s fourth-quarter gross margin of 21.3% marked an all-time high for XPeng. Maintaining profitability anywhere in proximity to that benchmark during the first quarter would provide substantial evidence that operational improvements are sustainable rather than transitory.

Conversely, a material deterioration from that profitability level could trigger concerns that the prior quarter represented an anomaly rather than a fundamental inflection point.

Delivery performance will also command significant attention. Management issued guidance calling for between 61,000 and 66,000 vehicle deliveries in Q1. While April saw the company deliver 31,011 units — representing its strongest single-month performance since the beginning of 2026 — that data point falls outside the reporting period.

China’s electric vehicle sector has experienced a deceleration to levels comparable with 2024. Reduced government incentives, compressed margins, and softer consumer spending have created headwinds across the entire industry, affecting XPeng along with competitors.

Forward Outlook Carries Significant Weight Management’s forward-looking commentary may prove equally important as the actual quarterly results. The investment community is eager to understand how executives view the trajectory for the remainder of 2026 and whether the softer first quarter represents a brief pause or a more sustained challenge.

Product pipeline developments could serve as catalysts in the latter portion of the year. The company has multiple launches scheduled, including the G9L, Mona L05, and Mona L03 SUV models, all slated for introduction during the second half of 2026.

Deutsche Bank projects the G9L could achieve monthly sales volumes approaching 4,000 units following its anticipated third-quarter debut.

In a strategic expansion of its technology capabilities, XPeng recently introduced its inaugural mass-production Robotaxi service in Guangzhou during mid-May, underscoring the company’s commitment to autonomous vehicle technology.

Despite near-term headwinds, analyst sentiment remains predominantly constructive. Twenty-seven analysts maintain Buy recommendations on the shares, with a mean price objective of $24.44 — suggesting potential upside of roughly 48% from present levels.

BNP Paribas Exane stands as the notable exception, having cut its rating to Sell from Hold in late April.

The options market is currently pricing in an approximate 8.16% price movement in either direction following Thursday’s earnings release.

Analyst: Micron’s financial report indicates short-term fluctuations can be ignored as long as earnings prospects underpin its high valuation.

Senior Market Analyst Daniela Hathorn stated, "As Micron Technology's earnings report once again confirms that the AI investment cycle remains solid, the U.S. stock market has recouped some of its losses. This has boosted market sentiment across the entire semiconductor sector—after high-growth individual stocks underperformed earlier—indicating that as long as profit prospects continue to support high valuations, investors are still willing to overlook short-term fluctuations."

8 minutes ago

Circle partners with Nomura Securities to enter the Japanese yen foreign exchange settlement service market.

Stablecoin issuer Circle plans to collaborate with Nomura Securities to launch instant foreign currency settlement for Japanese corporate clients as early as 2027. The initiative will enable large cross-border transactions to be completed immediately, aiming to boost cross-border investment and trade. This will mark the first entry of a major stablecoin issuer into Japan’s corporate transaction market, allowing companies to convert yen into US dollar-denominated stablecoins for investment and instant transfers.

8 minutes ago

Institutions' Preview: Overview of US May Core PCE Price Index Monthly Rate

The US May core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index monthly rate will be released tonight at 20:30 (UTC+8). Below are the forecasts from multiple institutions: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation: 0.2%; Royal Bank of Canada: 0.2%; JPMorgan Chase: 0.3%; Goldman Sachs Group: 0.3%; Bank of Montreal: 0.3%; Moody's Corporation: 0.3%; Standard Chartered: 0.3%; UniCredit: 0.3%; ING Group: 0.3%; HSBC Holdings: 0.3%; BNP Paribas: 0.4%; Wells Fargo: 0.4%; Capital Economics: 0.4%; Citigroup: 0.4%; Deutsche Bank: 0.4%; Nomura Securities: 0.4%; Pantheon Macroeconomics: 0.4%; Société Générale: 0.4%; Scotiabank: 0.4%; Morgan Stanley: 0.4%

8 minutes ago

DA Davidson Raises Micron’s Price Target to $2,000, Retains Buy Rating

U.S. investment bank DA Davidson released a research note stating that Micron Technology has entered a new phase with one of the best performance visibility in the semiconductor industry, a stark contrast to its past standing in the sector. Driven by another quarter of results that handily exceeded expectations and positive forward guidance, Micron’s stock price surged sharply. These signals indicate that the current memory chip boom cycle is far from over. While the company is ramping up capacity investments (with capital expenditure (CAPEX) projected to hit $10 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which will bring additional supply), management expects the memory market to remain tight on supply and demand at least through 2027. Against this backdrop, DA Davidson reiterated its "Buy" rating on Micron and raised its price target from $1,500 to $2,000, equivalent to a 20x price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio based on the company’s 2026 calendar year expected earnings per share (EPS).

8 minutes ago

Morgan Stanley raises Micron's price target to $1,200, maintains 'Overweight' rating.

Morgan Stanley released a report raising Micron Technology (MU.O)’s price target from $1,050 to $1,200, while maintaining an "Overweight" rating. The investment bank lifted its fiscal 2027 earnings per share (EPS) forecast for the chipmaker by roughly 40% to $168, and upgraded its free cash flow (FCF) projection from $104 billion to $140 billion. Aligning with Micron’s management, the bank holds that AI will push DRAM demand to consistently outpace supply significantly after 2027. Micron’s last fiscal quarter results matched this trend, with both its quarterly performance and outlook showing notable upside potential.

8 minutes ago

PANews reported on June 6 that, according to Onchain Lens monitoring, Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin has replenished the Maker vault with another 30,000 ETH, worth approximately $47.12 million at current prices, to reduce the risk of liquidation.

Currently, Lubin has pledged a total of 110,000 ETH, worth approximately $171 million, in three different Maker vaults, and has used these ETH as collateral to borrow 259.05 million DAI. His continued replenishment of collateral has attracted market attention as ETH market volatility intensifies.

PANews reported on June 7th that, according to on-chain analyst Ai Yi, three addresses suspected to belong to Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin have collectively staked approximately 412,430 ETH on Maker, worth about $653 million, and borrowed approximately 259 million DAI. The health index of these addresses briefly fell below 1.2 yesterday, but after adding approximately 110,000 ETH as collateral during the ETH price drop, the health index has recovered to above 1.48.

PANews reported on June 11 that Binance will launch five bStocks trading pairs from 01:00 to 02:00 Beijing time on June 12, 2026, including Circle (CRCLB), Micron (MUB), NVIDIA (NVDAB), Sandisk (SNDKB), and Tesla (TSLAB), and will simultaneously launch its spot algorithmic trading bot service. Maker (order placement) fees for the aforementioned bStocks trading pairs will be waived until 07:59 Beijing time on September 1, 2026. Meanwhile, users can now tokenize their directly held eligible US stock assets into corresponding bStocks for on-chain trading.

Analyst: Micron’s financial report indicates short-term fluctuations can be ignored as long as earnings prospects underpin its high valuation.

Senior Market Analyst Daniela Hathorn stated, "As Micron Technology's earnings report once again confirms that the AI investment cycle remains solid, the U.S. stock market has recouped some of its losses. This has boosted market sentiment across the entire semiconductor sector—after high-growth individual stocks underperformed earlier—indicating that as long as profit prospects continue to support high valuations, investors are still willing to overlook short-term fluctuations."

8 minutes ago

Circle partners with Nomura Securities to enter the Japanese yen foreign exchange settlement service market.

Stablecoin issuer Circle plans to collaborate with Nomura Securities to launch instant foreign currency settlement for Japanese corporate clients as early as 2027. The initiative will enable large cross-border transactions to be completed immediately, aiming to boost cross-border investment and trade. This will mark the first entry of a major stablecoin issuer into Japan’s corporate transaction market, allowing companies to convert yen into US dollar-denominated stablecoins for investment and instant transfers.

8 minutes ago

Institutions' Preview: Overview of US May Core PCE Price Index Monthly Rate

The US May core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index monthly rate will be released tonight at 20:30 (UTC+8). Below are the forecasts from multiple institutions: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation: 0.2%; Royal Bank of Canada: 0.2%; JPMorgan Chase: 0.3%; Goldman Sachs Group: 0.3%; Bank of Montreal: 0.3%; Moody's Corporation: 0.3%; Standard Chartered: 0.3%; UniCredit: 0.3%; ING Group: 0.3%; HSBC Holdings: 0.3%; BNP Paribas: 0.4%; Wells Fargo: 0.4%; Capital Economics: 0.4%; Citigroup: 0.4%; Deutsche Bank: 0.4%; Nomura Securities: 0.4%; Pantheon Macroeconomics: 0.4%; Société Générale: 0.4%; Scotiabank: 0.4%; Morgan Stanley: 0.4%

8 minutes ago

DA Davidson Raises Micron’s Price Target to $2,000, Retains Buy Rating

U.S. investment bank DA Davidson released a research note stating that Micron Technology has entered a new phase with one of the best performance visibility in the semiconductor industry, a stark contrast to its past standing in the sector. Driven by another quarter of results that handily exceeded expectations and positive forward guidance, Micron’s stock price surged sharply. These signals indicate that the current memory chip boom cycle is far from over. While the company is ramping up capacity investments (with capital expenditure (CAPEX) projected to hit $10 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, which will bring additional supply), management expects the memory market to remain tight on supply and demand at least through 2027. Against this backdrop, DA Davidson reiterated its "Buy" rating on Micron and raised its price target from $1,500 to $2,000, equivalent to a 20x price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio based on the company’s 2026 calendar year expected earnings per share (EPS).

8 minutes ago

Morgan Stanley raises Micron's price target to $1,200, maintains 'Overweight' rating.

Morgan Stanley released a report raising Micron Technology (MU.O)’s price target from $1,050 to $1,200, while maintaining an "Overweight" rating. The investment bank lifted its fiscal 2027 earnings per share (EPS) forecast for the chipmaker by roughly 40% to $168, and upgraded its free cash flow (FCF) projection from $104 billion to $140 billion. Aligning with Micron’s management, the bank holds that AI will push DRAM demand to consistently outpace supply significantly after 2027. Micron’s last fiscal quarter results matched this trend, with both its quarterly performance and outlook showing notable upside potential.

8 minutes ago

Source: Binance EN

This is a general announcement. Products and services referred to here may not be available in your region. Fellow Binancians, To expand the list of trading choices offered on Binance Spot and enhance users’ trading experience, Binance will open trading for the new trading JPY pairs according to the following schedule: At 2026-06-26 08:00 (UTC): GIGGLE/JPY, MEME/JPY, TRB/JPY Furthermore, users will enjoy zero maker fees for the aforementioned new JPY spot trading pairs according to the following schedule: GIGGLE/JPY, MEME/JPY, TRB/JPYPromotion Period: 2026-06-26 08:00 (UTC) to 2026-07-26 07:59 (UTC) Notes: JPY is a fiat currency and does not represent any other digital currencies. Please note that JPY can be deposited or withdrawn by Binance Japan users only. Binance.com users may not deposit or withdraw JPY from their Binance accounts.Standard trading fees apply after the Promotion Period ends. Please refer to the trading fee structure for more details. Trade with JPY on Binance Spot! Terms & Conditions: Binance reserves the right to disqualify trades that are deemed to be wash trades or illegally bulk account registrations, as well as trades that display attributes of self-dealing or market manipulation.All trading volume and metrics related to the Promotion are measured by Binance at its sole and absolute discretion.Calculation of maker fee and/or taker fee rebates for all spot trading pairs under the Promotion will resume when the Promotion Period ends, subject to further updates.Binance reserves the right to cancel or amend the Promotion or Promotion rules at its sole discretion.Binance reserves the right to disqualify any participants who tamper with Binance program code, or interfere with the operation of Binance program code with other software.There may be discrepancies between this original content in English and any translated versions. Please refer to the original English version for the most accurate information, in case any discrepancies arise. Thank you for your support! Binance Team 2026-06-23

Altcoins are back in style. As the price for one bitcoin has increased to trade around the $8,450 level, several top altcoins are posting double-digit gains against a generally-green backdrop, while Ethereum is on a roll – gaining almost 6% over the last 24 hours.

BNB, Maker, Holo and Chainlink are benefiting the most, posting gains of 8%, 9%, 11% and 14% respectively. But privacy and not-so-much privacy coins are seeing moderate losses, with Monero, Dash and Zcash performing at -0.6%, -1.8% and -1.1%.

While today’s woes may derive from coincidental market fluctuations, pressure from the FATF Travel Rule may cause investors to hold off from privacy coins for now.

What’s behind these impressive gains? BNB

… the sudden surge appears to be caused by a rumor that was later confirmed by CZ: Binance will start offering a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp in China through an integration with Alipay and WeChat. The news was falsely reported by numerous media outlets this morning as being a direct partnership.

Together these are the largest digital wallet providers in China, with adoption comparable to that of credit cards in the U.S. The news will have a profound effect on markets, in light of the ban of all native Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges in 2017, which left mainland traders scrambling to find ways of buying crypto.

Maker

…rise can be attributed to the announcement of a release date for Multi Collateral DAI. Due to Maker’s governance structure, the community will still need to vote for the proposal on November 15, with the CEO of Maker Foundation Rune Christensen urging all participants to do so. The first tokens to be evaluated for additional collateral will be ETH and BAT, with a full risk assessment provided to the Maker community for consideration.

Chainlink

…shows no signs of slowing down. After a variety of announcements that fueled its growth recently, the project delivered the final stroke: the Trusted Computation Framework, a collaboration with Intel, Hyperledger and Ethereum Enterprise Alliance.

The framework is designed to solve scalability issues affecting blockchains by moving computational and private data processing off-chain. Chainlink’s oracles will be providing the bridge between the two worlds, allowing the offloading of very resource-intensive operations without compromising on security. While the news was released two days ago, the daily sentiment for LINK remains ‘very high’ at 83%, according to data from thetie.io

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Holochain

… the rise may be due to a preview of HoloPort, although it is largely an interface update. Sentiment is also neutral.

VanEck publishes investment case for Bitcoin VanEck, one of the two companies that submitted an ETF proposal due for deliberation this month, before subsequently withdrawing it from consideration, has published a comprehensive investment case for Bitcoin.

The report is prefaced with a definition of Bitcoin’s value. The company distinguishes between two different types of value for traded assets, categorizing stocks, real estate and commodities as ‘Intrinsic Value’ assets.

On the other hand gold, art, precious stones and bitcoin are categorized as having ‘Monetary Value,’ which arises from “Behavioral economics, heard behavior, etc.”

Based on these descriptions and other aspects of monetary theory, the report goes on to make a case that Bitcoin is a store of value and can be considered as digital gold.

Curiously, the report highlights some of the same concerns that the SEC has about Bitcoin ETFs; namely the lack of custodians, prime brokers, settlement entities and others, which are preventing significant institutional exposure.

Nevertheless, VanEck argues that increasing adoption figures, the upcoming halving, and increasing development momentum all make for a convincing reason to allocate a part of investor portfolios to Bitcoin.

Nathan Batchelor On Bitcoin Bitcoin has consolidated in a narrow range over the last twenty-four hours, with bulls maintaining the BTC/USD pair above the $8,000 support level. It is worth reiterating that the SEC is deciding on the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF this week, so trading volumes could remain light up until the decision.

TradingView.com In the near-term, the Choppiness Indicator and the Balance of Power Indicator show that short-term BTC/USD buyers are still in control of the cryptocurrency.

The four-hour time frame shows that Choppiness Index is still pointing to further upside. Interestingly, the Choppiness Index has also reached its most overbought reading since October 2018 on the daily time frame.

A higher reading indicates that the medium-term bearish trend is very weak, and suggests that the next directional move in the BTC/USD pair could be explosive.

In my opinion, I believe that the current bearish trend is weakening, and the chances of a rebound back towards the $9,000 level are very strong if the $8,500 level is broken.

The Balance of Power Indicator is also showing that BTC/USD buyers are gaining back control over the short-term. The Balance of Power Indicator is a simple indicator to use, as it shows the strength of buyers against sellers.

A reading higher than zero shows that buyers are in control, while a reading below zero shows that sellers are in control. The four-hour and daily time frames are currently providing positive Balance of Power readings.

* ‘The bullish short-term case is strengthening while the BTC/USD pair holds steady above the $8,100 support level’. *

SENTIMENT

Intraday bullish sentiment for Bitcoin has remained steady, at 65.50%, according to the latest data from TheTIE.io. Long-term sentiment for the cryptocurrency has stabilized, at 61.50%.

UPSIDE POTENTIAL

The early week advance has helped to form a potential double-bottom formation across the lower time frames. According to the upside projection of the double-bottom pattern, the BTC/USD pair could rise towards the $9,200 level if the $8,500 level is breached.

Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average is rising, which should be taken as a positive sign as it indicates growing upside momentum. The BTC/USD pair’s 200-day moving average is currently located around the $8,580 level.

DOWNSIDE POTENTIAL

The BTC/USD pair’s weekly pivot point is the strongest form of near-term technical support, around the $8,100 level. If sellers breach the $8,100 level we should expect a drop towards at least the $8,000 level.

Bitcoin will have to recover fast if price dips under the $8,000 level or the cryptocurrency will likely face a raft of short-term technical selling back towards the September monthly trading low.

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

Another week, another round of Crypto Tidbits. Bitcoin has effectively been flat on the week, recently returning to around where it started the week after briefly interacting with the ever-important $7,400 resistance. Altcoins, interestingly, came into their own this week, with Ethereum, Link, Tezos, EOS, among other top altcoins posting double-digit percentage gains in the past seven days.

Bitcoin’s stagnation over the past week comes as the stock market has mounted a strong comeback, with the S&P 500 rallying 12% from last Friday’s close to Thursday’s close despite 6.6 million new unemployment claims in the U.S. and the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

Despite the non-action, analysts are still bullish on BTC and the rest of the cryptocurrency market. In fact, as reported by NewsBTC previously, BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes said that while he could see Bitcoin revisiting $3,000, his year-end price target “remains $20,000,” which is 180% above the current price.

As to why he thinks this is the case, he cited that the monetary and fiscal solutions that governments and central banks are enlisting to stave off precision:

“Everyone knows the shift is upon us, that is why central bankers and politicians will throw all of their tools at this problem. And I will reiterate, that is inflationary because more fiat money will chase a flat to declining supply of real goods and labour. There are only two things to own during the transition to whatever the new system is and that is gold and bitcoin.”

Related Reading: Crypto Tidbits: Bitcoin At $7,000, FATF Regulation, Coinbase Backs Ethereum DeFi Bitcoin & Crypto Tidbits Crypto Industry Sees Layoffs: The Bitcoin community and broader crypto space have not been spared in the recent economic carnage. According to a “100% user-generated” list of companies on recruiting/job site Candor, Bitcoin.com, crypto mining firm Bitfarms, and mining hardware manufacturer Bitfury are among the firms in this industry that have begun to lay off staff over the past few weeks. Outside of this, one of the original crypto companies, Factom, has purportedly gone into liquidation, despite securing millions of dollars worth of funding over the past five years and garnering a grant from the U.S. Energy Department. Ethereum DeFi Has Seen Stellar Growth: In a report published April 9th, blockchain analytics site DappReview revealed that transaction volume across Ethereum-based DeFi projects has increased by nearly 800% when comparing Q1 2020’s metrics to that of Q1 2019. Much of this growth was attributed to projects like Maker and Compound — which offer decentralized loans and stablecoin solutions — and derivatives providers like Synthetix and Augur. This growth comes as crypto upstart Thesis and other partners are soon to release tBTC — a project that will act as a decentralized representation of Bitcoin on the Ethereum blockchain. Analysts expect for the launch of this project to boost DeFi adoption, with both ETH  and BTC holders Bitcoin Cash & Bitcoin SV See Block Reward Halvings: Both Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV have seen their block reward halvings pass in the past 72 hours. As a result, both networks saw their hash rates and difficulty drop. The halving resulted in an instant 50% reduction in mining revenues for those operating on the BCH and BSV chain, forcing operators running on tight margins to turn off their machines or mine on other networks. Fewer machines mean fewer computers processing blocks, resulting in slower transactions. South Korea Launches Digital Currency Project: On Monday, South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, revealed that it has launched a pilot program for testing a digital won, which is slated to run to December 2021.  A release outlining this move said the program will determine if there are a legal case and ample technical capability to launch a digital currency in South Korea. This comes just six weeks after the South Korean National Assembly passed legislation that will provide a comprehensive framework for the regulation and legalization of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin exchanges. Twitter CEO & Bitcoin Bull Jack Dorsey Pledges $1 Billion to COVID-19 Relief: Jack Dorsey announced in a Twitter thread this week that Yesterday, Dorsey announced in a Twitter thread — it’s quite fitting, I must say — that he will be “moving $1 billion of my Square equity,” which purportedly corresponds with around 28% of his total wealth, to a LLC called “Start Small” to “fund global COVID-19 relief.” Start Small existed prior to this outbreak, but this is the first time it has seen mainstream attention. The Bitcoin bull intends to allocate the rest of the donation to the promotion of Universal Basic Income and girl’s health and education, calling both issues critical. Fidelity Sees Growth In Crypto Demand: Fidelity Digital Assets — the crypto services division of Wall Street giant Fidelity Investments, a firm with trillions under management — has confirmed it has seen an uptick in interest. Speaking to Frank Chaparro of The Block, a spokeswoman for the firm said that:
“From a trading perspective, we continue to onboard new clients every month and are seeing significant pipeline growth. […] And in recent weeks, we’ve seen more momentum across our business.”

Photo by Sandro Katalina on Unsplash

Market gains $13 billion, Bitcoin still struggling to hold above $8,000.

In brief Tim Draper gains 40% on his Aragon investment in just one month. Draper's top picks include Tezos, Bancor, Maker, ANT, Spacecash, Grin, AXE. He hopes Aragon's judicial system will be a game-changer in the legal sector. Last month, venture capitalist and Bitcoin evangelist Tim Draper bought one million Aragon (ANT) for $1 million. This was at a price of $1 per coin—even though the coin was worth $0.70 at the time.

Now the coin’s price has shot up to $1.40, netting him a 40% return in just weeks—at least on paper. He would be hard pressed to sell so many coins given the token’s low trading volume. But, either way, Draper isn’t planning on selling.

“I bought for a reason. I want to drive more usage of decentralized government services. I have no interest in selling,” he told Decrypt.

Draper wants to take partThe Aragon platform provides the tools to create decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). At present, the project has facilitated the creation of over 1,000 DAOs since launching in 2018.

Draper now controls a hefty sum of ANT’s total supply—2.5% to be precise. As a result, the crypto entrepreneur not only sits on Aragon’s advisory board but can also participate in its forthcoming judicial system.

“I like their model of creating a totally decentralized judicial system. Draper told Decrypt. “This is much needed. Eventually, this will be a big time saver and money saver from the runaway lawyer system we currently have.”

At present, the project team is focused on its newly devised Aragon court—a digital judicial system for DAOs within the project’s governance.

ANT—Aragon’s native cryptocurrency—is utilized within Aragon’s network governance. Holders of ANT will use their tokens to participate in forthcoming court proceedings. The first of which, came into session back on February 10, involving the mock trial of Ethereum classic developer Yaz Khoury.

Tim Draper is no stranger to significant crypto investments. He’s cited as one of the earliest investors in Bitcoin, snapping up nearly 30,000 BTC at a U.S marshalls auction back in 2014. The auctioneered BTC was worth $632 apiece at the time—a fortune presently valued at over $262 million.

“Of course you know I am a big Bitcoin supporter. I like all the coins that still have a team working hard to make them succeed. Tezos, Bancor, Maker, ANT, Spacecash, Grin, AXE, all have teams dedicated to them making them grow and succeed,” he explained.

Let’s hope none of them get the AXE.

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

Maker, the largest DeFi project to date, just celebrated its biggest milestone yet with the successful activation of its Multi-Collateral Dai (MCD) upgrade.

Launched on November 18th, the MCD system will allow Maker users to draw out automated Dai stablecoin loans using collateral beyond just ether (ETH), a structural limitation of the Single-Collateral Dai (SCD) system that the MCD has replaced.

As such, SCD Dai that have yet to migrate to MCD are now known as “Sai” and can be upgraded to MCD Dai using Maker’s migration portal. Per the redesign, users can draw out collateralized debt positions — now known as “Maker Vaults” — using ether and Basic Attention Token (BAT) to start, as these were the first two cryptocurrencies vetted into MCD through Maker community governance votes.

In the future, more cryptocurrencies may follow pending similar votes. A key thread to watch going forward will be how conservative or aggressive MKR voters prove when it comes to adding new assets in. Notably, these voters were fairly conservative out of the gate, as they only voted ETH and BAT in out of seven initial contenders, with the other inaugural candidates having been 0x (ZRX), Augur (REP), DigixDAO (DGD), Golem (GNT), and OmiseGo (OMG). As for what comes next, REP is again on the slate to be considered by MKR holders.

For the Maker team, the activation day was the culmination of years of work and thus cause for celebration. As Maker Foundation chief executive officer Rune Christensen commented once MCD was live:

“I’ve been imagining this moment for five years. It’s incredible. MCD can improve the lives of so many people, from the unbanked individuals living in regions like Nigeria to the underbanked in the United States.”

Meet Oasis and the Dai Savings Rate Another major element of the MCD activation is the upgrade’s launch of the Dai Savings Rate (DSR). Akin to a decentralized checking account, the DSR will allow Dai holders to lock their holdings in a smart contract to earn an annual savings rate on those funds.

Some benefits to call out:
???? DSR is simple, free, & powerful
???? Available to any Dai holder
???? Exchanges are integrating DSR allowing traders & savers to benefit on idle Dai held
????‍???? Businesses can earn additional Dai on their capital float
????Stimulates DeFi growth opportunities

— Maker (@MakerDAO) November 16, 2019

At launch, the DSR was two percent, so if that rate were to hypothetically remain constant then 100 Dai locked in the underlying smart contract would generate two extra Dai after one year’s time, for example.

To streamline user access to the DSR and the new Maker Vaults system, the Maker Foundation has expanded its Oasis “all-in-one decentralized finance (DeFi) hub” to include Oasis Save and Oasis Borrow, which join the platform’s already launched Oasis Trade exchange.

Looking to the horizon the platform could be further expanded around other Dai related projects, the Maker team said:

“In the future, additional steps toward creating an ultimate all-in-one DeFi hub will be taken. Oasis might one day include features developed outside of Maker but that use Dai, for example. This will allow for deeper integrations with other DeFi projects.”

On the Dai Rebrand The Dai logo has undergone a calculated re-envisioning as part of the MCD transition, as the stablecoin’s original diamond-shaped logo (which now represents Sai) has given way to a new, more familiar “D” shaped logo that has clearly been designed to make it aesthetically nearer to the logos of the world’s top currencies.

And that’s precisely what the project’s builders are going for, as explained in a recent blog post:

“The Maker Foundation and the larger MakerDAO community are confident that Dai can sit alongside the other major currencies of the world, from inside Bloomberg Terminal platforms to beside cash registers in coffee shops. The new Dai logo is memorable, powerful in its simplicity, and, unlike the old one, easy to draw and digitally replicate. These attributes are very likely to attract new users, increase adoption, and expand brand awareness.”

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

Total Ethereum Value Put into DeFi Apps Breaks Previous Record by 12.5% Per DeFi Pulse Analytics

Vitalik Buterin is one of the most influential people in crypto. He has amassed substantial wealth thanks to his role in creating Ethereum. We calculated his net worth.

Buterin wasn’t rich prior to creating Ethereum. His first major windfall was in 2014. That year he dropped out, at 20 years old, after receiving $100,000 through a Thiel Fellowship. From there his wealth only grew.

The crowdsale for Ethereum began in July of 2014 and raised Bitcoin worth, at the time, $18.3 million. From there, he was able to secure a six-figure salary from the Ethereum Foundation, the non-profit born out of the raise.

However, his main source of wealth is the hundreds of thousands of Ethereum tokens he was able to hold on to from the cryptocurrency’s pre-mine. This gave the foundation and its founders a little under 12 million ETH, which now represents about 11% of the circulating supply.

Though Buterin hasn’t publicly revealed his financial position, his wallet addresses and public statements are enough to get a decent estimate.

Vitalik Buterin’s Cryptocurrency Holdings Looking at his primary wallet addresses, Buterin owns about 352,000 ETH at a current value of $46 million. Between his three main wallets, he also holds ERC-20 tokens worth over $900,000.

These ERC-20s include Augur (REP), Maker (MKR), Kyber Network (KNC), and OmiseGO (OMG).

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However, he also said in February of last year that he held Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Zcash, and Dogecoin worth over “10% the value of my ETH.”

Crypto Briefing calculated his Ethereum holdings on the day of his statement. Though he did not specify the precise investment in each of these coins, we gave each coin an equal allocation of 15% of the value of his ETH, adjusted by historic prices, for simplicity.

Adjusting his Ethereum holdings back to February 2019 levels, his holdings would amount to roughly 2,000 BTC, 58,000 BCH, 140,000 ZEC, and 3.6 million DOGE.

Assuming he held everything, these coins would make up 37% of his portfolio at current prices, or about $35 million.

Since then, the prices for these coins have fluctuated substantially, in line with the massive amounts of volatility in the market. At its peak in early 2018, Vitalik Buterin’s cryptocurrency portfolio was worth well over half a billion dollars.

Today, Vitalik Buterin’s cryptocurrency portfolio amounts to roughly $82 million, composed mostly of Ethereum, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Doge, and Zcash.

What is Vitalik Buterin’s Salary? Outside of his cryptocurrency holdings, Vitalik Buterin has also disclosed that he earns a six-figure salary from the Ethereum Foundation. The last time he commented about his salary he revealed he was making roughly $144,000 per year.

Though this may seem high to some, Buterin claims he was offered an even higher salary and didn’t take it. “Others in the foundation (ie. the ones who actually decided these salary numbers) offered me $185k at one point; I declined,” he said. For the executive of a multi-billion dollar enterprise this salary seems relatively modest.

Vitalik Buterin’s current salary is estimated at somewhere between $140,000 and $250,000.

Cash and Equity Holdings There’s more to the picture. Buterin also has a substantial portion of his wealth in cash. In March of 2019, in a now-deleted tweet, Buterin said that his “fiat holdings are well under $30m,” attributed to $8 million in charitable contributions he disclosed.

Looking at the rest of his finances, Crypto Briefing estimated his fiat holdings at $12 million, bringing his net worth up to $94 million.

But that isn’t all, Buterin also owns “significant corporate shareholdings” in two companies: Clearmatics and Starkware. Clearmatics is a London-based company designing protocols for DeFi while StarkWare is building privacy software using zero-knowledge proofs.

Buterin did not disclose the exact amount invested nor his equity holdings in each of the startups. To date, Clearmatics has raised $13 million and StarkWare has raised $36 million, according to Crunchbase.

Between his cryptocurrency holdings, cash, and equity, it’s possible to calculate the Ethereum co-founder’s wealth. Vitalik Buterin’s net worth is $100 million.

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

Bitcoin Ranked As One Of The Worst Performers In Coingecko's Q1 2020 Performance Report

MakerDAO, the “decentralized” bank, went through a mass liquidity crisis. But Maker’s problems extend beyond a single shock⁠—centralization left them doomed from the start.

The 2008 DeFinancial Crisis Have you heard this story before:

Bank finances its investments with an asset, provided by customers. Bank uses those assets to back something else, based on people’s confidence in the collateral. Major turmoil grips the market and the underlying asset becomes unstable. Suddenly, people want their money back. Bank offers some other unbacked guarantee instead to fill the gap, allowing them to profit. Everyone loses, except the bank. The end. Does this sound like something from 2008?

Well, in fact, this story happened just last week. MakerDAO went through its own liquidity crisis. Simply swap ETH for mortgages, DAI for mortgage-backed securities, and USDC for credit default swaps.

Don’t believe me? Maker’s own advertising compares the platform to mortgage-backed loans:

Source: MakerDAO Financialization is a virulent mindset, and MakerDAO is sick with it. Take, for example, the growing evidence of the Maker Foundation’s participation in their own debt auctions. Even if they’re “priming the pump,” such behavior reeks of the same sort of share inflation seen on Wall Street.

The 1% Stands to Benefit from Maker It’s important to ask who benefits from Maker’s success to see where the incentives are. In reality, only a few lucky wallets will benefit from an increase in MKR’s value.

This is evident based on the major tokenholders. Between the MKR Development Fund and primary voting contracts, the top 25 wallet addresses own over 99% of all existing tokens. To make matters worse, the anonymous nature of blockchains makes it difficult to hold these parties accountable. 

Though, it is possible to piece together who holds the bags: Dragonfly Capital Partners and Paradigm have acquired a total $27.5 million in MKR⁠—5.5% of global supply. Polychain Capital, a16z and 1confirmation are a few of the other funds who funded MakerDAO.

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These funds would like to say they’re helping to build the future of DeFi, but their presence makes the decentralization of the platform questionable. Most crypto enthusiasts don’t have millions to throw around. And, for context, Bitcoin didn’t need venture capital.

Major investors, of course, want their millions protected. So, to stabilize DAI, Maker opened their vaults to USDC. Why is this problematic? USD Coin is a permissioned and censurable asset, which puts the platform at the mercy of governments. May as well back DAI with fiat.

Dai Only works, Until It Matters Maker’s promises are meaningless when USDC can be frozen at the discretion of Circle’s global blacklist. 

In the event that DeFi becomes a disruptive force, and financial statutes are enacted to outlaw it, would Maker⁠—and anyone else relying on them⁠—survive collapse? Or, maybe MakerDAO would get sucked into the vortex of traditional finance, making it no better than old institutions it originally sought to replace.

In short, MakerDAO’s “decentralized autonomous organization” is not decentralized, nor autonomous, nor organized. In their desperation to save their platform, its administrators have entirely abandoned the promises that originally drew crypto enthusiasts to their model.

The admins and their supporters would, of course, argue that what they’re doing works⁠. Of course it does. Traditional finance is already proven, and it works⁠—in the short term. 

However, in the long run, it’s only a matter of time before abuse takes over the system and brings things crashing down, just like in 2008.

MakerDAO Is Centralized Finance If it isn’t stopped, the same collusion and rampant abuse on Wall Street will pervade DeFi. 

By stabilizing their coin with fiat, MakerDAO has signified that they’ve given up. If people in DeFi wanted dollars they would have purchased Treasury Bonds.

Now, MakerDAO’s only innovation has been creating a “bank-on-the-blockchain.” And, as other traditional financial firms consider building their own networks, it stands to reason that Maker’s current path won’t lead to much success. 

In the end, people shouldn’t waste their time bailing out MakerDAO when more promising paths to decentralization still exist.

There Is Another Way to DeFi There are several examples of projects doing it right. Kava is a DeFi platform with similar lending facilities to MakerDAO, but it offers loans on a wide range of collateral, including Bitcoin, Binance Coin, and XRP. Notably, the Kava platform is a purpose-built blockchain designed to handle hyper-volatility and intense liquidity events, the same issues that are currently causing problems for MakerDAO.

Other self-stabilizing tokens are being built without the obfuscated centralization of DAI. AMPL, for example, with its internal inflation protocol, allows for an internally regulated economy with less risk of meddling from executives.

This kind of creativity is exactly what DeFi needs. The field will live and die by its tools, and shoddy imitations of current finance won’t do.

Banking, by definition, requires a certain level of administration. Banking is flawed because human discretion is flawed. The boom and bust cycle won’t end until the human component is mitigated.

DeFi allows for this kind of future. More creative, self-governing code can change the face of finance. Players from Facebook to Goldman Sachs understand this. Unfortunately, they’re attempting to pollute the space with “x-on-the-blockchain” projects instead of tapping into the transformative promise of blockchain technology.

In all, MakerDAO’s thinly veiled attempt to make a “bank-on-the-blockchain” is just another vacuum of the imagination. There is another way. Instead of letting this define DeFi, people should make one simple demand: No banks and no gatekeepers.

This time, we don’t have to wait for another collapse and another bail out. It’s possible to use technology to create something entirely new, the world is simply waiting for the right people to make it happen.

This sponsored guest post was brought to you by Ampleforth, Crypto Briefing’s preferred DeFi partner. Recognition due to co-author Andrew Prensky, with contributions from Richy Qiao.

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

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SponsoredUpdated Jun 15, 2023, 8:24 p.m. Published Jun 15, 2023, 8:17 p.m.

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MakerDAO founder Rune Christensen (Original image by Trevor Jones)Decentralized finance (DeFi) platform and stablecoin issuer MakerDAO has approved a hike in the reward to investors for holding its $4.5 billion DAI stablecoin and to reshuffle DAI’s reserve assets.

In an executive vote concluded Thursday, the MakerDAO community ratified a proposal to increase the DAI Savings Rate (DSR) to 3.49% from 1%, providing additional incentive for investors to hold and lend DAI instead of rivals like popular stablecoins such as USDC and USDT.

The decision happened as Maker – led by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) where MKR token owners can vote on proposals – is undergoing a major transformation, including rearranging the backing assets of the DAI stablecoin. The platform increasingly invests in real-world assets such as short-term U.S. government bonds to boost revenues, redistributing a part of it to users through the DSR.

Read more: Lending Platform MakerDAO Approves ‘Constitution,’ Moves Forward With ‘Endgame’ Plan

Hiking the reward is significant because it resets the baseline interest rate across the DeFi ecosystem, spurring higher yields from lending stablecoins while making leverage more expensive, according to Karpatkey, a treasury management provider to decentralized organizations.

It also underscores Maker’s strategic shift, Karpatkey said, because the proposal includes hiking fees on crypto assets to take out a DAI loan. “Originally a platform for leveraged long traders, Maker now positions itself as a bridge to real-world assets (RWA) yield,” said Karpatkey.

The decision will take effect on June 19.

Paxos Dollar out, Gemini Dollar cutThe executive vote also included a slew of other proposals that influence the composition of DAI’s backing reserve assets.

The community effectively ditched Paxos Dollar (USDP) from the reserve by approving a decrease in its debt ceiling to zero. The move has a substantial impact on fintech firm Paxos’ stablecoin, as Maker currently holds roughly half of USDP’s $1 billion supply.

The vote also ratified onboarding the BlockTower Andromeda RWA vault that would allow the additional purchase of up to $1.28 billion in U.S. Treasuries for the reserve, doubling down on giving traditional financial assets a bigger role in DAI’s reserve.

In a separate poll concluded Thursday, MakerDAO voters also favored curbing Gemini Dollar (GUSD) in the reserve to $110 million from $500 million. As CoinDesk reported, the result could jeopardize GUSD’s future as Maker holds 88% of the token’s supply.

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Market Wrap Crypto markets are still sluggish; Tron, Litecoin and Maker moving, Stellar slides and the rest are immobile. Crypto markets are still inactive today as volatility and volumes shrink and red dominates the majority of cryptocurrencies. There has been very little movement in either direction and total market capitalization is still weakened below $115 billion.

Bitcoin hit resistance twice at $3,470 during the past 24 hours, pulling back both times. It is currently trading at $3,460, the same as yesterday with further declines looking likely. On the week BTC has hardly moved at all as it consolidates below $3,500.

Ethereum is still weak at around $107, again with very little activity over the past 24 hours. XRP has fallen back over a percent on the day to below $0.30 as the gap to third place shrinks back to $1 billion.

Most of the top ten is in the red at the time of writing but a couple are bucking the trend and making gains. Tron is the top performer in this section during Asian trading today with a gain of 6%. The momentum is likely to be coming from the BTT token what has increased 600% in price since the ICO last week. Tron has been the top performing altcoin in the top thirty this year and daily volume has doubled to $380 million.

Litecoin has also had a good week with slow but steady gains as it takes and holds sixth spot above Tether. Stellar continues to slide with another 5% lost on the day.

The top twenty is mixed with Maker getting a 6% spike at the moment as it moves up the chart. Binance Coin is also posting a gain of 2.5% but the rest are immobile or falling back slightly.

A very obscure fomo pump has occurred with Bitcoiin (yes, that is the correct spelling), as it surges 350% at the moment. Pundi X and Theta are both having a good day with 15% gains at the moment. Getting dumped is Revain, Nexo and Aurora with 12% losses at the time of writing.

Total market capitalization is pretty much where it was this time yesterday, $113 billion. Daily volume is still the same at $16 billion and things are very quiet in crypto land. There has been very little activity over the past seven days indicating that the next major movement will probably be down again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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