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3 Altcoins Decline as Binance Flags Delisting Risk

New York, NY, United States, July 23rd, 2026, Chainwire

Q2 Ecosystem Report highlights institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth, and infrastructure milestones ahead of Bitcoin Staking’s Q3 launch.

Stacks (STX) today published its Q2 2026 Ecosystem Report, outlining progress toward launching Bitcoin Staking and expanding the infrastructure needed to make Bitcoin a productive capital asset. Cumulative Stacks users surpassed 1.6 million during the quarter, an 8.0% increase quarter over quarter, while new wallet creation rose nearly 53%, from 72,000 in Q1 to 110,000 in Q2.

The report highlights a quarter of steady execution. Stacks built and deployed PoX-5, the on-chain mechanism powering Bitcoin Staking, first to a private testnet for institutional partners and later to public testnet, where it is now undergoing audit ahead of mainnet launch. The quarter also marked two major institutional partnerships. Fireblocks, which facilitates the transfer and storage of more than $10 trillion in digital assets globally, joined as the institutional custody infrastructure partner, while UTXO Management – the Bitcoin-native asset management subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA) – became the inaugural Bitcoin Staking launch partner. Alongside this, the Bitcoin-native finance ecosystem continued to grow, and the Endowment expanded its grant and Foundry programs to support new builders.

“Bitcoin has spent years establishing itself as an asset. The next chapter is making that asset productive, and Stacks made strong progress on that front in Q2 2026,” said Alex Miller, CEO of Stacks Labs. “Our thesis is clear: Stacks is the place where Bitcoin becomes productive capital. The quarter ahead is an important one for the broader Stacks ecosystem, and we are determined to capture a larger share of the Bitcoin sitting idle today.” 

Among the report’s highlights:

Bitcoin Staking advanced toward launch, with PoX-5 built, deployed to private and public testnet, and now in audit ahead of mainnet in Q3. Fireblocks and UTXO Management joined as institutional partners, expanding the custody and asset-management infrastructure required for institutional participation. Zest Protocol had its biggest quarter to date: the ZEST token launched via Binance Alpha on May 19, reaching a $200 million fully diluted valuation (FDV) within hours while ranking No. 1 trending on CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap. Zest remains the top DeFi protocol on Stacks, with $70M in TVL and over 800 sBTC deposited. Stacking DAO reached an all-time high of 110M STX in TVL and announced stBTC, the first Bitcoin liquid staking token on Stacks, now in audit and targeting an August launch. BitFlow surpassed $5 billion in cumulative transaction volume and $575M in swap volume, grew to 29,677 cumulative users, and delivered an estimated average 17.9% Bitcoin APY across its two primary sBTC pools over the past 30 days. Hermetica saw continued allocator demand for BTC yield, with hBTC reaching 75 BTC in TVL and its latest capped allocation filling within 24 hours, while USDh averaged 8% APY over the quarter as Hermetica advanced its STRC integration. Network and protocol development continued, with three stable mainnet node releases and ongoing security hardening through the Immunefi bug bounty program. The Stacks Endowment expanded strategic ecosystem investment through grants and the Foundry program, completing its first Validate cohort (60 participating teams, 25 advancing toward grant applications) and preparing the next program, Onboard. The report also outlines Stacks’ priorities for Q3, including the launch of Bitcoin Staking, expansion of the liquid staking ecosystem through stBTC, onboarding additional institutional participants, and continued investment in founders building Bitcoin-native financial applications.

Read the full Q2 2026 Stacks Ecosystem Report.

About Stacks

Stacks is growing Bitcoin by turning idle Bitcoin into productive capital. The network enables self-custodial Bitcoin yield and a growing ecosystem of Bitcoin-native financial applications that settle on Bitcoin. Learn more at stacks.co.

WSJ: How Airline Performance Stacks Up So Far This Year

The anticipation. The chase. The powdery, sugar-coated board of gum! For generations of baseball card fans, there was nothing like scrounging up some change and sprinting to the store to buy a wax pack.

Some tore the slightly tacky paper wrapper open and flipped through the cards in an insatiable instant (hence the popular phrase “ripping wax” for opening card packs even today, about 35 years since use of actual wax wrappers ceased). Others did the slow reveal: one card at a time, peeking out of a corner of the pack, or maybe upside down and reversed. However you did it, it was the right way.

“There is something inherently magic about peeling away the paper of the wax pack. There’s something visceral about it, taking the pack to your face and smelling it,” says Brian Pirrip, owner of collectible business M1NT. “It’s something about the mix of all these scents — the wax, the gum, the cardboard — that transports you back to a different time.”

Collecting and trading cards has been part of the baseball ecosystem since the 1860s. But the wax pack emerged as the delivery method in 1951 by Topps.

Collecting and trading cards has been part of the baseball ecosystem since the 1860s (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)Opening a pack was thrilling. Who were you going to pull? Whether it was Hall-of-Famer-to-be Brooks Robinson or Sixto Lezcano, a “common” card, the feeling was the same: “an innocent joy,” Pirrip says. You’d then scale them or flip ’em, turn that pack of 15 cards into 20 through some clever trades. The cards went with you everywhere.

Fueled by history, statistics and mythmaking, baseball card collecting rode the nostalgia craze of the 1980s into big business and overproduction of cards. While saturation of the market brought down prices, the abundance of fan favorites has driven a resurgence of interest in opening wax packs.

Sure, you can open modern foil wrappers and chase high-value autos, refractors or other gimmicky cards, But there's nothing like tearing open a wax pack and chomping on the thin pink rectangle.

Pirrip has taken his love of collecting to 47 states. He has seen countless faces light up when a favorite card surfaces.

On a recent night at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, Pirrip pulled out a box of 1987 Topps cards and had guests rip some wax. Nolan Ryan, Don Mattingly, Roger Clemens and Kirby Puckett drew gasps. But it was all smiles, even for names not uttered in years.

“It instantly transports people to a happier time,” he says. “You can’t get that with anything else.”

Stacks, the Bitcoin Layer 2 network, is proposing a significant upgrade to its consensus mechanism that would let Bitcoin holders earn yield on their BTC without ever moving it off the main chain. The kicker: 15% of all excess revenue gets funneled into a reserve fund designed to keep the whole system solvent even during lean times.

The upgrade, dubbed PoX-5 (Proof-of-Transfer version 5), introduces a waterfall distribution model. Protocol bond holders sit at the top of the payment queue, with an initial target yield of roughly 3% APY. These bonds require a six-month lockup period. Only after those obligations are met does the remaining revenue flow downhill.

Whatever is left after paying bond holders, the excess miner revenue, gets split two ways. STX-only stakers receive 85% of the surplus. The protocol reserve fund absorbs the remaining 15%.

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To participate, Bitcoin holders lock their BTC on the Bitcoin Layer 1 network using a timelock mechanism and pair it with STX, the native token of the Stacks network. No bridging required. No custodial transfers.

Building a 1.2-year safety buffer The 15% reserve allocation isn’t arbitrary. Simulations run across 210 two-week cycles, roughly eight years of modeled data, project that the reserve fund would accumulate enough to cover 1.2 years of yield commitments.

The system also includes capacity constraints and real-time coverage ratio monitoring. There’s no slashing mechanism for participants, meaning stakers don’t risk losing their principal if something goes sideways with the network.

The whitepaper laying all of this out was published on May 13, 2026. Since then, the Stacks community has been reviewing the associated SIP (Stacks Improvement Proposal) documents related to the bootstrap phase. No formal votes or launches have been finalized yet.

Stacks’ track record with Proof-of-Transfer The original PoX mechanism has been operational since January 2021, and over that period, the protocol has distributed more than 4,200 BTC to participants under prior consensus versions. PoX-5 is an evolution of that infrastructure, adding structured yield products and reserve mechanics on top of existing plumbing.

The upgrade also serves a dual purpose beyond yield generation. By requiring participants to pair BTC with STX, it creates organic demand for the Stacks native token. More staking activity means more STX gets locked up, which theoretically supports the token’s value while simultaneously enhancing network security through increased participation.

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

In brief OpenAI has released GPT-5.6 Sol, alongside the cheaper Terra and Luna, ending a two-week preview the U.S. Department of Commerce kept boxed in. Sol in ultra mode tops Terminal-Bench 2.1 at 91.9% and matches Anthropic's restricted Mythos Preview on ExploitBench while burning roughly a third of the tokens. The launch lands one day after Grok 4.5 and hours after Meta's Muse Spark 1.1, leaving Google's November 2025 Gemini 3 as the oldest frontier flagship still standing. OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol is now public. The company released its new flagship model to general users today, launching alongside two smaller siblings, Terra and Luna, after the U.S. Department of Commerce kept a preview restricted to about 20 trusted partners for two weeks.

The naming strategy is new for OpenAI. This is the first time the company gives names to its models instead of simply using numbers. Sol, Terra, and Luna mark capability tiers that can move on their own cadence. Sol is the flagship, Terra the everyday model OpenAI says matches GPT-5.5 at half the price, and Luna the cheaper option.

Pricing runs $5 and $30 per million input and output tokens for Sol, dropping to $1 and $6 for Luna. (Tokens, for those not in the know, are the smallest unit of information a model can handle. And companies typically price their models on a per token basis for API services) Two new knobs ship with it: a max reasoning effort that lets Sol think longer, and an ultra mode that farms work out to subagents.

For context, Anthropic charges $10/$50 for Claude Fable 5, Google charges $2/$12 for Gemini 3.1 Pro, xAI charges $15/$75 for Grok 4.5.

On the Chinese side: DeepSeek charges $1.74/$3.48 for V4 Pro, and Xiaomi charges just $1/$5 for MiMo v2.5 Pro—placing Sol between the premium U.S. frontier models and China's low-cost challengers.

What the benchmarks show

On Terminal-Bench 2.1—a test of command-line workflows that reward planning, tool use, and iteration, scored as the share of tasks a model completes—Sol in its ultra configuration hit 91.9%, with standard Sol at 88.8%.

That puts both ahead of Anthropic's Claude Mythos 5 at 88.0%, Claude Fable 5 at 84.3%, and Claude Opus 4.8 at 78.9%. Google's Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview trailed the chart at 70.7%.

OpenAI leaned hardest on cyber. On ExploitBench, which measures how well a model finds and weaponizes software vulnerabilities, Sol matched the restricted Mythos Preview while spending roughly a third of the tokens. OpenAI says Sol still doesn't cross the "Cyber Critical" line in its own risk framework.

The testers already have opinionsEarly access was loud. Theo, a well-known developer, AI youtuber and CEO of the AI platform T3 Chat, called Sol "world leading in computer use" and said it fixed the complaints he had with GPT-5.5.

Apparently I'm allowed to talk about GPT-5.6 now?

It's a damn good model. Not quite as "smart" as Fable, but it is incredibly capable. Fixed all the problems I had with GPT-5.5.

It is incredibly determined. Will run for a day without even using a /goal. It understands subagents…

— Theo - t3.gg (@theo) July 8, 2026

Dan Shipper, whose team at Every tested it for a month, offered the cleaner line: "GPT-5.6 is like a Porsche, Fable is like a warp drive." His read is that Sol is the daily driver and Fable the thing you reach for to cross the galaxy.

GPT-5.6 is like a Porsche, Fable is like a warp drive.

We've been testing internally @every for about a month. And GPT-5.6 is the best combination of power, speed, and performance for your day to day knowledge work and coding.

Fable is a different beast. If you need to get…

— Dan Shipper 📧 (@danshipper) July 8, 2026

Researcher Daichi Konno, who got in early, said Sol clearly beats GPT-5.5 and lands near Fable 5, with Anthropic still ahead in writing tasks. His sharper note: Sol's safeguards didn't trip on life-science questions, which he thinks could make it a default for biology work.

GPT-5.6-Solを一通り触りましたが、GPT-5.5より明らかに性能が高く、Claude Fable 5と優劣つけがたい印象です！

1. 文章執筆はFableに軍配が上がる
2. 生命科学系の話題に対してもセーフガードが発動しない

2点目が極めて重要で、今後バイオ系研究者はGPT-5.6-Solが1st choiceになるかもしれません！ https://t.co/pQmciCQH3q

— Daichi Konno / 紺野 大地 (@_daichikonno) July 9, 2026

Leaks already point past it. One roadmap-tracking account, "Synthwave" on X, claims GPT-5.6 is the last of the 5.x line, with GPT-6 built on a larger base arriving within about a month. The same thread pegs Anthropic's Fable 5.1 as close and DeepSeek's V4 general release as imminent.

The timing is pointed. Sol arrives the same week Anthropic's Fable 5 drops out of subscription plans—after it returned globally on July 1, the model moved to usage credits only once its 50% weekly allowance expired on July 7.

It's crowded at the top. SpaceXAI shipped Grok 4.5 yesterday at a fraction of the price, which Elon Musk called "roughly comparable to Opus 4.7, but much faster." Meta released Muse Spark 1.1 this morning, its first paid model. Neither leads the pack, but both are frontier-class.

That leaves Google as the one big U.S. lab that hasn't refreshed its flagship in this run. Its top model, Gemini 3, has been out since November 2025—the oldest frontier release still standing while OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Meta all moved in the same seven days.

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New York, NY, United States, July 8th, 2026, Chainwire

Stacking DAO today announced stBTC, a liquid staked version of Bitcoin built for Stacks’ upcoming Bitcoin Staking release. stBTC will let Bitcoin holders earn yield through staking while keeping their capital liquid and ready to move across the rest of the Stacks ecosystem.

Bitcoin is the largest pool of capital in the digital economy, and most of it sits idle. Only a small fraction of Bitcoin’s supply is deployed in on-chain finance today, while the rest stays parked in custody, exchange-traded funds, and treasuries. Stacking DAO built stBTC to close that gap and give Bitcoin holders a native path to put their capital to work.

stBTC is the missing bridge between earning Bitcoin yield and putting Bitcoin capital to work. A holder will be able to stake Bitcoin and participate in Bitcoin-native finance at the same time, rather than choosing between the two.

“Bitcoin has never had a true staking economy of its own, and stBTC for Bitcoin staking on Stacks is our answer to that gap,” said Tycho Onnasch, Core Contributor, Stacking DAO. “Holders can earn Bitcoin yield while keeping their capital liquid, and they get an asset they can keep using across Stacks for additional returns.”

stBTC represents BTC bonded to Stacks’ Bitcoin Staking system, where it earns a base yield expected to launch around 3% under the protocol’s initial parameters. The underlying Bitcoin remains locked in the bond, secured entirely by Bitcoin, while stBTC itself stays liquid and transferable.

That liquidity is the point. A holder can stake and stop there, earning the base yield on Bitcoin they still hold. From that floor, stBTC can flow into the financial applications already live on Stacks, including lending platforms like Zest Protocol and trading pools like BitFlow, with the base yield continuing to accrue underneath. Capital already actively deployed across Stacks protocols sits at $121 million, led by Zest Protocol, Granite, and Stacking DAO, according to DeFiLlama. stBTC gives that stack a new entry point for fresh Bitcoin capital.

stBTC is also Bitcoin-native by design. The Stacks network settles activity on Bitcoin through Proof of Transfer, backed by 100% of Bitcoin’s hashpower, and reads Bitcoin’s state directly with no oracle or trusted relay. This stands apart from past attempts to bring Bitcoin into DeFi by wrapping it onto other chains and routing it through centralized custodians. stBTC keeps the decentralization, settlement, and the security of Bitcoin itself.

The yield model is designed to outlast its own bootstrap phase. Economic activity across Stacks, powered by STX, generates fees that fund miner rewards. Miners spend Bitcoin to win those fees and secure the network, and that Bitcoin flows back into the staker pool, where the base yield originates. As more capital moves through the ecosystem, the yield shifts from relying on emissions to running on real economic activity.

Stacking DAO is well positioned to bring stBTC to market. The team has run STX Stacking infrastructure for over 2 years, managing over $150m of peak staked capital for 40,000+ stakers without a security incident. That track record is what makes Stacking DAO the team building the liquid staking layer for Bitcoin on Stacks now.

stBTC is expected to launch just before Stacks’ Bitcoin Staking release. Bitcoin holders will be able to stake BTC, receive stBTC, and begin earning yield directly through Stacking DAO at stackingdao.com.

About Stacking DAO

Stacking DAO is the STX Stacking infrastructure powerhouse for the most prominent Bitcoin L2. Users can learn more at stackingdao.com

About Stacks

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

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JUNE 22: Kylian Mbappe #10 of France celebrates his goal with Ousmane Dembele #7 (left) during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I football match between France and Iraq at Philadelphia Stadium on June 22, 2026 in Philadelphia, PA, United States. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

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After so many dramatic and 11th-hour wins in the Round of 32, the World Cup's Round of 16 has much to live up to.

This phase of the cup brings us several intriguing confrontations that are expected to produce more nail-biting moments for fans and players, and 11th-hour heroics

That includes Spain vs. Portugal in an Iberian derby, Mexico and England at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, Canada and Morocco in Houston, and the United States and Belgium in Seattle.

If these eight matches follow suit of the previous round, there should be late heroics and plenty of drama in the Round of 32.

In case you are wondering, this writer predicted 13 of the 16 winners correctly in the previous round in a story on this website.

The tournament has slowed down from its frenetic pace of four or six matches a day in the group stage, to essentially three in the Round of 16, to a pair a day in the Round of 32.

The Round of 16 begins on Saturday, July 4, with Canada taking on Morocco in Houston, and France meeting Paraguay in Philadelphia.

Here is a quick look at the eight matchups (FOX, Telemundo):

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 13: Ismael Saibari #11 of Morocco celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group C match between Brazil and Morocco at New York New Jersey Stadium on June 13, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

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July 4Canada vs Morocco, NRG Stadium, Houston, 1 p.m. ETCanada just might meet its match against a strong North Africans side that has been growing in recent years. Remember, the Moroccans finished fourth at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Canadians could pay for finishing second in its group and not being able to play in the more friendly confines of B.C. Place in Vancouver.

Prediction: Morocco 2, Canada 1ForbesHere’s How The Round Of 32 In The FIFA World Cup Stacks UpBy Michael LewisParaguay vs. France, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, 5 p.m.FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 26: Ousmane Dembele of France celebrates scoring their first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match between Norway and France at Boston Stadium on June 26, 2026 in Foxborough, United States. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

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It's difficult to overcome a team that features the likes of Kylian Mbappe (six goals) and Ousmane Dembele (four goals, hat-trick) and a fabulous supporting cast. If the French score early, it could become a rout. The longer the game goes without France scoring, the better off the South Americans will be.

Prediction: France 3, Paraguay 0ForbesWhy The World Cup Has Been So Successful And So Much FunBy Michael LewisARLINGTON, TEXAS - JUNE 30: Erling Haaland #9 of Norway celebrates after the 2-1 win during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round Of 32 match between Cote d'Ivoire and Norway at Dallas Stadium on June 30, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Julian Finney - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

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Sunday, July 5Brazil vs Norway – MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J., 4 p.m. ETThe big question is whether the Brazilians can stop the great Erling Haaland (five goals). He has scored in every match he has played, sitting out the 4-1 loss to France in the group stage. Vinicius Junior (four goals) needs to be at the top of his game. At the 1998 World Cup, Norway defeated Brazil on a late penalty kick, in the final group stage match. Both teams went to the knockout round. This time, one team will go home.

Prediction: Norway 3, Brazil 2ForbesWhy The USMNT Can't Appeal Folarin Balogun's Red CardBy Michael LewisMexico vs England – Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, 8 p.m. ETThe Mexicans thrive in the cauldron in which they play all their qualifiers and important matches in their favorite venue. As well as Harry Kane (five goals) and his English teammates have played, it could be difficult to overcome the overwhelming partisan atmosphere there. On paper, this should be one of the top Round of 16 clashes.

Prediction: Mexico 2, England 1INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JULY 02: Mikel Oyarzabal #21 of Spain celebrates after scoring his team’s third goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Spain and Austria at Los Angeles Stadium on July 02, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

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Monday, July 6Portugal vs Spain – AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, 3 p.m. ETLike Mexico-England, this should be one of the leading matches of the round. The contest pits neighboring countries who will be among the co-hosts of the 2030 World Cup. But both are thinking of now. This also will be a battle between Spain’s 19-year-old wonderkid Lamine Yamal and 41-year-old superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who has scored in six World Cups. If Portugal loses, the game will be Ronaldo's cup swan song. Mikel Oyarzabal (four goals) has been key to La Roja's success.

Prediction: Spain 2, Portugal 1INGLEWOOD, CA - JUNE 12, 2026: United States of America forward Christian Pulisic (10) reacts after United States of America midfielder Weston McKennie (8), back center, scored during the first half of a World Cup group stage match between United States and Paraguay at the SoFi Stadium on Friday, June 12, 2026 in Inglewood, CA. (Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

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United States vs. Belgium – Lumen Field, Seattle, 8 p.m. ETThe Belgians rolled over the Americans, 5-2, scoring four unanswered goals in the second half, in a friendly in Atlanta on March 28. Don't expect that score to be duplicated this time. Even without the suspended Folarin Balogun, this is a different U.S. side with much more energy and focus. The big question is who will start in Balo's place - Ricardo Pepi or Haji Wright?

Prediction: U.S. 2, Belgium 2 (U.S. wins on penalties)ForbesCape Verde Has Become World Cup Darlings Without Winning A GameBy Michael LewisMIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - JULY 03: Lionel Messi #10 of Argentina celebrates after the team's second goal by Lisandro Martinez #6 during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 32 match between Argentina and Cabo Verde at Miami Stadium on July 03, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

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Tuesday, July 7Argentina vs. Egypt – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, noon ETAs long as Lionel Messi is at the top of his game, the Argentines will be difficult to beat. Cape Verde gave the defending champions a major scare on Friday, forcing extra time before Argentina got by via a late own goal in an epic Round of 32 confrontation. Liverpool legend Mo Salah will try to lead The Pharaohs to an upset.

Prediction: Argentina 2, Egypt 0ForbesMessi's Amazing World Cup Start Proves He Still Has It And MoreBy Michael LewisVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 24: Johan Manzambi #9 of Switzerland celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group B match between Switzerland and Canada at BC Place Vancouver on June 24, 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

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Switzerland vs. Colombia – BC Place, Vancouver, 4 p.m.Colombia, which became the last team to qualify for the Round of 16 with its 1-0 win over Ghana on Friday night, traditionally has been known for its attacking flair. In this World Cup, the South American side has been difficult to solve, with three consecutive clean sheets. Switzerland, one of the tournament's underrated teams, finished atop Group B, ahead of co-host Canada. Johan Manzambi's three goals lead the Swiss, who will have an extra day of rest.

Prediction: Colombia 1, Switzerland 0Michael Lewis, the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award in 2025, can be followed on Bluesky at @Soccerwriter. His 10th soccer book, Around the World Cup in 40 Years: An American sportswriter’s perspective, has been published.

Circle just published the official USDC method specification for the Machine Payments Protocol, and Stacks’ USDCx is the first stablecoin built under that framework. The move positions Bitcoin’s leading layer 2 as a hub for standardized machine-to-machine payments, the kind of infrastructure that makes AI agents capable of settling transactions on their own.

What USDCx actually is and how it works USDCx is a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to USDC, fully backed by reserves held in Circle’s xReserve infrastructure. It launched on Stacks mainnet on December 17-18, 2025, with a specific contract ID (SP120SBRBQJ00MCWS7TM5R8WJNTTKD5K0HFRC2CNE.usdcx) that anyone can verify on-chain.

USDCx doesn’t rely on third-party bridges to function. It connects directly with Circle Gateway and CCTP (Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol), which means moving value between chains doesn’t require trusting some random bridge operator with your funds.

The stablecoin maintains its peg near $1 and is actively traded on platforms tracked by CoinGecko. Ethereum bridging was already supported at launch, with plans to expand CCTP network support that kicked off in Q1 2026.

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The machine payments angle The MPP spec is where things get genuinely interesting. The Machine Payments Protocol establishes a standardized way for machines, think AI agents, automated services, and IoT devices, to send and receive payments without human intervention. The MPP spec was published by Circle on June 23, 2026.

USDCx being the first USDC-backed stablecoin under this spec means Stacks is effectively positioning itself as the settlement layer for AI commerce on Bitcoin. Cross-chain machine-to-machine payments on Bitcoin through Stacks are now technically possible.

Ecosystem adoption and DeFi implications Major wallets including Asigna, Fordefi, Leather, and Xverse all adopted USDCx shortly after launch. On the DeFi side, protocols like Zest and Granite integrated the stablecoin, enabling lending, borrowing, and trading with dollar liquidity on Stacks.

For Bitcoin holders specifically, USDCx creates an option that didn’t cleanly exist before: accessing stablecoin functionality without leaving the Bitcoin economy entirely. You can collateralize Bitcoin-backed assets, borrow against them in a dollar-denominated stablecoin, and do it all within an ecosystem that settles on Bitcoin through Stacks’ Proof of Transfer consensus mechanism.

Stacks uses PoX to anchor its security to Bitcoin’s blockchain, and runs Clarity smart contracts, a language designed to be decidable, meaning you can mathematically verify what a contract will do before executing it.

What this means for investors Institutional players care about two things above all else: compliance and security in cross-chain interactions. Circle’s direct involvement through xReserve and CCTP addresses both concerns in ways that third-party wrapped tokens simply cannot. The 1:1 USDC backing, verified through Circle’s own infrastructure rather than an independent bridge, reduces counterparty risk substantially.

Trading volumes and user growth across Stacks DeFi protocols will be the metrics to watch. If USDCx drives meaningful increases in total value locked and daily active users on platforms like Zest and Granite, it validates the thesis that Bitcoin users want native stablecoin liquidity.

The risk worth monitoring is concentration. USDCx’s entire value proposition depends on Circle’s continued support and the stability of the xReserve infrastructure. Any disruption to Circle’s operations, whether regulatory or technical, would cascade directly into USDCx’s functionality.

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

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JUNE 16: Lionel Messi #10 of Argentina celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group J match between Argentina and Algeria at Kansas City Stadium on June 16, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images)

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Many soccer aficionados claim that the real World Cup doesn't really start until the knockout round.

That's when every team faces elimination, and upsets can happen.

While the Round of 32, the first such at a World Cup since the tournament was expanded to 48 teams, doesn't have many "sexy" matchups, a few surprises can emerge as a dozen group winners put their records on the line.

On Sunday, Canada started the Round of 32 with a dramatic, extra-time 1-0 win over South Africa in Inglewood, Calif.

In chronological order, here is a look at the rest of the field:

Monday, June 29Brazil (2-0-1; Group C winner) vs. Japan (1-0-2; Group F second), NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas, 1 p.m.After a slow start in Group C, the Brazilians went on to capture the title. They had their problems with Morocco in a disappointing 1-1 opening draw, and Japan could pose similar challenges with its patient game. If Vinícius Jr. continues to score (four goals), this team could wind up going deep in the tournament.

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Prediction: Brazil, 2, Japan 1Germany (2-1-0; Group E winner) vs. Paraguay (1-1-1; Group D third), Foxborough, Mass. 4:30 p.m. ETFor the first time since winning the 2014 World Cup, the Germans reached the knockout round. After rolling to a 7-1 romp over Curacao in its group opener, Germany has struggled to find itself. The Europeans should find a way to get past the squad that lost to the United States in the group stage, 4-1.

Prediction: Germany 1, Paraguay 0Netherlands (2-0-1; Group F winner) vs. Morocco (2-0-1; Group C second), Estadio BBVA, Monterrey, 9 p.m. ETThis should be a fun one and could very well be one of the top matches of the round. The Dutch have scored 10 goals (tied with France and Germany for the most), but they haven't been able to shut out their foes. Morocco, which finished third at the 2022 World Cup, will make the Netherlands work hard on both ends of the pitch.

Prediction: Netherlands 2, Morocco 2 (Netherlands wins on penalty kicks)ForbesHow To Watch The FIFA World Cup, In English And SpanishBy Michael LewisEAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY - JUNE 22: Erling Haaland #9 of Norway celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's third goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match between Norway and Senegal at New York New Jersey Stadium on June 22, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

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Tuesday, June 30Ivory Coast (2-1-0; Group E second) vs. Norway (2-1-0; Group I second), AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, 1 p.m.In what could be the most physical match-up of this phase, Norway will be rewarded for resting the fabulous Erling Haaland in the 4-1 defeat to France in the group finale. He should be fresh enough to score one goal and perhaps his third brace of the competition. After playing three matches in the heat in outdoor stadiums, the Norwegians should thrive at this indoor venue.

Prediction: Norway 3, Ivory Coast 1FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 26: Ousmane Dembele of France celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group I match between Norway and France at Boston Stadium on June 26, 2026 in Foxborough, United States. (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Offside via Getty Images

France (3-0-0; Group I winner) vs. Sweden (1-1-1; Group F third), MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J., 5 p.m. ETMost teams will thank the soccer gods for having one lethal finisher. The French have been blessed with two. After Kylian Mbappe recorded a pair of braces in the first two matches, Ousmane Dembele took center stage with a hat-trick against Norway. Add a talented supporting cast, and France should be able to make it to the Sweet 16. If the French have a weakness, it is their defense.

Prediction: France 4, Sweden 1Mexico (3-0-0; Group D winners) vs. Ecuador (1-1-1; Group E third), Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, 9 p.m. ETThe three previous times North America hosted the World Cup (1970 and 1986 in Mexico, 1994 in the USA), El Tri reached the quarterfinals. The Mexicans have greater aspirations as co-hosts. It certainly doesn't hurt that they will continue their stay on home soil while playing their third match at their favorite venue. It should be noted that Mexico has not allowed a goal.

ForbesA Brief History Of USMNT Wins At The FIFA World CupBy Michael LewisARLINGTON, TEXAS - JUNE 17: Harry Kane #9 of England celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group L match between England and Croatia at Dallas Stadium on June 17, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

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Wednesday, July 1England (2-0-1; Group L winner) vs. Democratic Republic of the Congo (1-1-1; Group K third), Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Ga., noon ETBuoyed by striker Harry Kane (four goals in this competition, 11 career World Cup goals, and an English record 82 international tallies) and midfielder Jude Bellingham, England continues to chase the glory of six decades ago when it won its lone World Cup crown on home soil in 1966. DR Congo already made history by qualifying for the knockout for the first time in its second appearance. It played as Zaire in the 1974 cup.

Prediction: England 2, DR Congo 0Belgium (1-0-2; Group G winner) vs. Senegal (1-1-1; Group I third), Lumen Field, Seattle, Wash., 4 p.m. ETThis contest could be a toss-up. The Belgians started off slowly with a pair of draws with Egypt and Iran before breaking out against New Zealand, 5-1, as the Oceania-based squad (0-2-1) completed the group in the cellar with one of the lowest point totals in the competition. Senegal had a tough time, losing to favored France and Norway.

Prediction: Belgium 1, Senegal 1 (Belgium wins on penalty kicks)INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on June 12, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

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U.S. (2-1-0; Group D winner) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1-1; Group B third), Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, Calif., 8 p.m. ETThe Americans will have their full complement after defenders Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson, midfielder Tyler Adams, and forward Folarin Balogun did not play due to yellow cards. Those have been erased, and the co-hosts are primed to move on. Bosnia winger Esmir Bajraktarevic, who was born in Appleton, Wis. and performs for PSV Eindhoven. He made one appearance for the U.S. in a friendly in 2024 before changing his allegiance, thanks to his Bosnian roots.

Prediction: U.S. 2, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1ForbesHow USMNT Can Take Advantage Of Finishing 1st In Its World Cup GroupBy Michael LewisATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 21: Lamine Yamal #19 of Spain celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group H match between Spain and Saudi Arabia at Atlanta Stadium on June 21, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Patrick Smith - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

FIFA via Getty Images

Thursday, July 2Spain (2-0-1; Group H winner) vs. Austria (1-1-1; Group J second), SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif., 3 p.m.As long as 19-year-old star midfielder Lamine Yamal stays healthy and performs his magic, the Spaniards should prevail. Spain did not concede a goal in its group. Austria, which registered a 3-1 win over Jordan and a 3-3 draw with Algeria, should be hard-pressed to fill the net.

Prediction: Spain 3, Austria 0HOUSTON, TEXAS - JUNE 17: Cristiano Ronaldo #7 of Portugal reacts during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group K match between Portugal and Congo DR at Houston Stadium on June 17, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)

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Portugal (1-0-2; Group K second) vs. Croatia (2-1-0; Group L second), BMO Field, Toronto, 7 p.m.This game is perfectly suited for the Canadian city. Outside of Italy, those are the two largest ethnic groups in Toronto. Considered by many pundits as a contender, haven't exactly set the World Cup on fire. It also will be a battle of fortysomething legends. Cristian Ronaldo, 41, contributed a brace in the 5-0 triumph over Uzbekistan, but fired blanks in his other two appearances. Luka Modric, 40 became the oldest player to register an assist in a World Cup in Croatia's 2-1 win over Ghana on Saturday, June 27. Croatia is the little engine that could, finishing second in the 2018 cup and fourth in 2022.

Prediction: Portugal 2, Croatia 1 (extra time)Switzerland (2-0-1; Group B winners) vs. Algeria (1-1-1; Group J third), BC Place, Vancouver, 11 p.m. ETGive the Swiss a ton of credit. They managed to defeat the Canadians, 2-1, on its home soil, sending the team to the U.S. for the knockout round instead of staying in Canada. Johan Manzambi, a 20-year-old midfielder, leads Switzerland with three goals, all scored in the second half. Riyad Mahrez had a brace in Algeria's 3-3 tie with Austria.

Prediction: Switzerland 3, Algeria 1ForbesCape Verde Has Become World Cup Darlings Without Winning A GameBy Michael LewisVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA - JUNE 21: Mohamed Salah #10 of Egypt celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between New Zealand and Egypt at BC Place Vancouver on June 21, 2026 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

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Friday, July 3Australia (1-1-1; Group D second) vs. Egypt (1-0-2; Group G second), AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, 2 p.m. ETThe great Mohammed Salah could have one last hurrah at the international stage as the northern African side is in position to pull off a Texas-sized surprise against the taller and physical Socceroos. Salah scored in the 3-1 win over New Zealand. Australia has been shut out twice and only scored two goals.

Prediction: Egypt 1, Australia 0Argentina (3-0-0; Group J winner) vs. Cape Verde (0-0-3; Group H second), Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla., 6 p.m. ETThis encounter pits the defending champions and the incomparable Lionel Messi against the tiny West African country, which has become the darlings of the tournament. Messi, who has put away goals in a record seven consecutive cup games, has tallied six of Argentina's eight goals and is the cup leader with six goals. The Blue Sharks' (only two goals conceded) incredible run should stop here. If they somehow produce a win, it will be considered one of the greatest World Cup upsets ever.

Prediction: Argentina, 3-0.ForbesMessi's Amazing World Cup Start Proves He Still Has It And MoreBy Michael LewisColombia (2-0-1; Group K winner) vs. Ghana (1-1-1; Group L third), Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo., 9:30 p.m. ETWere the Colombians the most underrated group winners? Many observers thought Portugal would take the title. Daniel Munoz has scored twice, including the lone goal in the 1-0 victory over the DR Congo. Directed by veteran international head coach Carlos Queiroz, the Ghanaians have been difficult to break down. They have surrendered only two goals.

Prediction: Colombia 2, Ghana 1Michael Lewis, the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award in 2025, can be followed on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at @Soccerwriter. His 10th soccer book, Around the World Cup in 40 Years: An American sportswriter’s perspective, has been published.

IBC Media is all set to organize the largest Blockchain Developer conference in India – Genesis Devcon 2019. The event is set to happen at NSCC at IISC Campus, Bengaluru on November 24th and 25th. The event has an excellent line of speakers from various sectors of Blockchain such as public chains, private chains, enterprises, startups, academia, etc.

Raghu Mohan is the CEO of IBC Media, he is a seasoned marketing professional with over 9 years of experience in helping startups scale from the ground up. He has worked in various marketing managerial roles at some remarkable companies like YourStory, HackerEarth and Udacity.

We at Blockmanity had a chance to catch up with Raghu in an exclusive interview.

Blockmanity: What is your take on the Blockchain developer ecosystem in India?

Raghu: It is a mixed bag if you look at it in terms of absolute numbers, India has the second-largest Blockchain developer base in the world. As with most other developer segments, we will be the first in one or two years. On the enterprise side of things, I am seeing a very good Blockchain community there is a lot of system integrator level Blockchain work that is happening for overseas clients. The exposure to private Blockchains seems to be more than public Blockchains. The hobbyist/enthusiast community in India is not as big as it is for other technologies like machine learning or mobility for example.

I think it has been a mix of lack of awareness or general associative connotations of the government’s stance on Cryptocurrencies that probably have deterred developers away from this tech who would have usually taken this up. Thirdly, there is also a general lack of awareness in this space because avenues to make money as a developer is not established yet. I foresee in a year or two before this ecosystem picks up a critical mass and can be compared to other tech areas. It is growing and is vibrant with some exceptional people working on it but in terms of absolute numbers nowhere close to AI, IoT or other tech.

Blockmanity: What was the intent behind this event and how is it different from other Blockchain events?

Raghu: The main objective is that developers are the precurses to users and adoption. When the developers and the builders pick up a technology the users automatically follow, decentralization has really strong use cases in many areas and in order for it to be adopted in masses, you need enough builders around it. This was one of the main learnings we had from IBC one where the majority of the audience was mostly non-tech and non-builders. A majority of the Blockchain movement in India is driven by product and business folks and I think for real adoption to happen in India you need developers and builders at a grass-roots level.

So we started a developer program called Genesis and this event marks the end of the first cycle of Genesis wherein we have built a good developer community, conducted a hackathon and it all kinda concludes at the developer event that we are doing. So, as a whole, it is to get people who are building to attend and to speak. It captures the mind of the Indian developer and we hope more people start talking about this amazing technology.

Blockmanity: Who is your target audience for the event?

Raghu: Our core target audience is someone with some capability of writing software and has some knowledge of computer science with an interest in distributed computing and Blockchains. I would say if you are in business or marketing it is important for you to know the technology that you are building your product around and the capabilities of it. This conference will also be good from an understanding standpoint but it is primarily aimed at developers.

Blockmanity: Could you tell us more about the speakers attending the event?

Raghu: You can break the editorial in 4 parts: Startups who are building innovative products, Enterprise side working on large scale system integration, Academics and the Public chain side. On the public chain side, you are looking at guys from Aeternity, Tezos, and NEO who I am sure need no introduction.

On the enterprise side, Dilip Krishnaswamy from Reliance Jio is someone exciting to talk to. He is building a nationwide Blockchain network and he is specifically speaking on Blockchain microservices which may give you an insight on what Reliance itself is probably thinking about with respect to Blockchain in India. There is also Raghavendra Deshmukh from SAP, he is the director of computer science there and is involved in production level deployment of Blockchain which is quite rare as most Blockchain projects are at POC level.

We have got a good Indian contingent as well which includes Matic, Nucleus Vision, Elevon 01 among others. There are some very interesting updates coming from there as well. We also have people from Kotak Mahindra Bank. The founder of Curl Analytics, who is a speaker at the event was also the former CIO at Societe Generale and has a lot of insights into Fintech.

On the academic side, we found out that there are only 3 people in India who are doing cutting edge research on Distributed Computing – Dr. Narendra Kumar, Head of Computer Science wing and is building the Blockchain offering for the RBI. Kannan Srinathan, IIIT Hyderabad who has done a lot of work in Cryptography and is doing interesting work in Blockchain. And of course, there is Sathya Peri from IIT Hyderabad who is one of the three people that we could get to speak at the event. There is also a great contingent of researchers from NUS Singapore who will be speaking on sharding, Zero-knowledge proofs, and other interesting topics.

There are a total of 35 speakers who have been carefully picked based on what value and content they will be sharing.

Blockmanity: Apart from the speaker sessions you also have workshops for developers, could you expand on that?

Raghu: Sure. We want the workshops to be hands-on at the moment, but it is not restricted to tech. There is a workshop by Rohas Nagpal from Primechain on how to build a Blockchain startup from India, this is something that we think is essential for developers who are trying to start their ventures.

There is a workshop by Tezos on who will go into the details of building Blockchain products on a Proof of Stake based Blockchain (Proof of Bake as they call it). There is also the folks at Matic who are building scaling solutions on Ethereum, this workshop would be super interesting to developers who are looking to build scalable Dapps on Ethereum. Blockstack will also be conducting a workshop, given their approach developers can use Javascript to build on their network which is great from an adoption standpoint as there are a lot of Javascript developers based in India.

There are also some other really good workshops that we will be announcing in the coming days.

Blockmanity: Who is sponsoring the event and what are the fees you are charging for the attendees?

Raghu: With respect to sponsors, I think we have a good spread of public chains, Dapps and Entreprises. Tech Mahindra has been a supporter of IBC from early 2018 and we continue to work with them. The Tezos Foundation launched in India recently, they have an aggressive developer agenda here. I see a lot of exciting work coming from them.

Microsoft and we have been working together behind the scenes on a very large project and it is kind of come into fruition at the developer conference where we will be announcing something really big as to what we will be doing with Microsoft in the coming days.

Aeternity is running their first edition of Starfleet accelerator in India and IBC is running that as well so the conference is an opportunity for them to launch the conversations around it. Elevon 01 and Nucleus Vision have been supporting us in our ventures through IBC one, Genesis to where we are right now. I am quite excited about what they are launching at the event too, a real-world Blockchain implementation that they build at a production level so stay tuned for that.

These are forward-thinking companies that have invested in a very foundational layer of this ecosystem which are the developers and I can’t thank them enough.

As far as the attendees are concerned, we wanted to keep the entry barrier as low as possible. A full ticket is at Rs. 1500 but you can get a 50% discount by using the coupon code BLOCKMANITY. The only reason why we are taking a fee is to commit to attending, our aim for enough people to have the least barrier to entry in learning more about Technology.

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Disclaimer: Blockmanity is a news portal and does not provide any financial advice. Blockmanity's role is to inform the cryptocurrency and blockchain community about what's going on in this space. Please do your own due diligence before making any investment. Blockmanity won't be responsible for any loss of funds.

Strive, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASST) has acquired an additional 382 bitcoin for approximately $30.3 million, paying an average cost of roughly $79,348 per coin, according to an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The purchase, executed between May 13 and May 18, lifts the Dallas-based Bitcoin treasury and asset management firm’s total holdings to 15,391 BTC — cementing its status as one of the largest public corporate holders of the digital asset.

The latest accumulation adds to a relentless buying streak that has seen Strive grow its treasury by more than 2,200 BTC since January 2026, when the company held 12,798 BTC following its acquisition of Semler Scientific. 

The pace has accelerated markedly: in late April, Strive purchased 789 BTC for roughly $61.4 million at an average price of $77,890 per coin, and just weeks later added 444 BTC for $33.9 million at $76,307 per coin, crossing the 15,000 BTC threshold for the first time.

Strive’s bitcoin strategy Alongside the latest purchase, Strive disclosed updated performance figures that underscore its unique approach to capital allocation. The company reported a quarter-to-date BTC Yield of 6.6% and a year-to-date BTC Yield of 18.4% — a proprietary metric that measures the percentage growth of Bitcoin exposure per common share over time, rather than simply the appreciation of BTC’s price. 

The firm’s amplification ratio, a measure of how leveraged its Bitcoin exposure is relative to market value of holdings, stands at 44.3%.

That amplification ratio has grown steadily. When Strive held 13,132 BTC in January, its amplification ratio stood at 37.2%, predominantly driven by preferred equity rather than traditional debt. The expansion to 44.3% reflects continued SATA preferred stock issuances, which the company has used to fund Bitcoin purchases without diluting common shareholders in the conventional sense.

Strive also disclosed approximately $87.3 million in cash and cash equivalents, alongside a $49.8 million position in Strategy Inc.’s Variable Rate Series A Perpetual Stretch Preferred Stock (STRC). The company, led by Chairman and CEO Matt Cole, describes Bitcoin as its “hurdle rate” for all capital deployment decisions — framing every acquisition not merely as a treasury move but as a benchmark for long-term shareholder value.

At current market prices, Strive’s 15,391 BTC treasury carries a value approaching $1.2 billion, ranking the firm among the top corporate holders of Bitcoin globally. 

Earlier this week, Strive Inc. announced that its SATA preferred stock will become the first U.S.-listed security to pay cash dividends every business day starting June 16, with daily compounding lifting its effective yield to about 13.88%.

The firm also reported a $265.9 million Q1 net loss driven largely by Bitcoin valuation declines, while expanding its holdings to 15,009 BTC and maintaining a debt-free balance sheet, as CEO Matthew Cole positioned the move as a “zero-to-one innovation.”

Micah Zimmerman

Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.

The rocket, satellite and AI company’s plan for a blockbuster Nasdaq listing is unprecedented in modern history. By Demetrios PogkasJennah HaqueKiel Porter Published: May 27, 2026 | Updated: May 28, 2026 Fittingly for a company whose ultimate goal is to send humans to the stars, Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s initial public offering this summer is set to produce stratospheric returns for its founder, Elon Musk, and its early backers. It’s seeking to raise as much as $75 billion at a valuation of more than $2 trillion, Bloomberg News reported in April.

The rocket, satellite and AI company’s plan for a blockbuster listing on Nasdaq in June is unprecedented in modern history, with its potential impact on capital markets matched only by the antitrust efforts that saw the breakup of oil monopoly Standard Oil Company in 1911.

SpaceX’s journey from founding to public markets has been far longer than the average IPO candidate; the company has been around for nearly a quarter century. Even its closest peer, Microsoft Corp., went public in less than half the time.

Indeed, for much of SpaceX’s life, management told staff that the company had no immediate plans to go public. It would simply raise money privately and let employees cash out via periodic tender offers. The company hasn’t had any issues shoring up fresh capital and landing ever-higher valuations in the private market.

Read More: Meet the Musk Allies Set to Be Billionaires After SpaceX IPO

SpaceX’s Long Run as a Private Firm Gives IPO a Boost Pre- and post-IPO value for SpaceX and the Magnificent Seven

Sources: PitchBook, Bloomberg

Note: Public market capitalizations are the values at year-end. Data for 2026 are values as of May 20. Figures account for inflation using the seasonally adjusted urban consumer price index for April 2026 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Valuation figures include estimates.

SpaceX’s stunning growth over the years is partly thanks to the rise of private fundraising and its ecosystem of venture capital firms and family offices. Even traditional mutual funds have become so-called crossover investors, participating in funding rounds ahead of IPOs and taking stakes in public companies as well. Coming to market with mature, yet growing, business lines like Starlink will help reassure public market investors. However, with a cash-burning AI unit that spent $7.72 billion in the first three months of 2026 alone and showed a $2.47 billion loss from operations in the same period, this certainly won’t be the last time SpaceX shakes the tin can for funding.

WATCH Why the SpaceX IPO Is Unlike Any Other

SpaceX isn’t alone in its ambition to raise a whopping sum to help it win the AI race. OpenAI is preparing to file confidentially for an IPO in the coming weeks, people familiar with the matter have said. Bloomberg News reported that Anthropic PBC was considering its own public debut as soon as October of this year. And while they continue to scale up in the private sector, most of these AI-forward companies are landing eye-watering appraisals. OpenAI raised funds at an $852 billion valuation back in March. After Anthropic achieved a $380 billion mark earlier this year, it’s now in talks for a round at a more than $900 billion valuation. Both would likely exceed their private valuations in an IPO.

Biggest Private Companies on the Rise Valuations for a selection of large private companies

Sources: PitchBook, Bloomberg

Note: Figures account for inflation using the seasonally adjusted urban consumer price index for April 2026 provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In cases where multiple valuations were reported in a year, the most recent valuation is shown. Valuation figures include estimates.

Compared to space and satellite rivals, SpaceX could end up being a bargain by some metrics. The company would have a price-to-sales ratio at a $2 trillion market value of 104 in the 12 months ended March 31, according to Bloomberg News calculations — far above the average S&P 500 constituent, yet cheap compared to satellite firms AST SpaceMobile Inc and Rocket Lab Corp.’s 409 times and 123 times, respectively.

SpaceX also pulls in far more revenue than either firm, with $19.3 billion in the past four quarters. Rocket Lab by contrast saw just $680 million in the same period. Defense primes with space exposure like Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp., which generate more revenue than all of them, have price-to-sales ratios much closer to the 4.7 times average across S&P 500 companies.

SpaceX Hype Is Huge, But More Grounded Than Space Peers Price-to-sales ratio against revenue for a selection of companies

Source: Bloomberg

Note: The price-to-sales ratio was calculated as the ratio of market capitalization on May 20 over revenue in the four most recent fiscal quarters. For SpaceX, a valuation of more than $2 trillion, as reported by Bloomberg News, was used. Bloomberg News also calculated SpaceX’s trailing revenue using figures reported in its S-1 filling released on May 20. The S&P 500 average price-to-sales ratio is as of May 20.

Looking ahead, AI accounts for most of what SpaceX describes in its filing as a $28.5 trillion total addressable market, and is expected to make up a sizable share of revenue once an agreement to supply computing power to Anthropic for $1.25 billion a month starts showing up in its financial reports. For SpaceX to really hit its goals, it’ll need to supplement its data centers on earth with facilities in space, a technology that hasn’t yet been proven to work. Can SpaceX justify the lofty projections and turn dreams of orbital data centers, bases on the moon and a colony on Mars into a bonanza for IPO buyers? Its future is in the stars.

Bitcoin-native asset management company UTXO Management has become one of the first institutional participants in Bitcoin Staking on the Stacks network, marking a notable shift in how corporate Bitcoin holdings may be used.

The initiative introduces a structure that allows institutions to earn bitcoin-denominated yield without transferring custody or moving assets off the Bitcoin base layer. 

For treasury managers holding large BTC reserves, the model presents a new option that preserves core Bitcoin properties while addressing rising pressure to generate returns.

Bitcoin Staking on Stacks requires participants to lock BTC in a Bitcoin timelock alongside a smaller allocation of STX, the Stacks network’s native token, in what the protocol defines as a “protocol bond.” 

The BTC remains under the participant’s control throughout the process, while the STX component determines the scale of participation in the system. The initial bonding period is set at six months.

The yield target for the protocol is near 3% annual percentage yield, paid in bitcoin. Unlike lending-based models, the return does not rely on counterparty borrowing. Instead, it is derived from Stacks’ Proof-of-Transfer consensus mechanism. 

Under this model, miners bid BTC to secure the right to produce blocks on the Stacks network, and that BTC is distributed to eligible participants, including those engaged in Bitcoin Staking.

Proof-of-Transfer has operated for several years and has distributed more than 4,200 BTC since 2021. Bitcoin Staking builds on this framework, extending its reward structure to a broader class of participants.

The protocol is expected to reach mainnet later this summer, opening with an initial bootstrapping phase managed by the Stacks Endowment.

Staking tradeoffs as bitcoin gains traction The model introduces trade-offs that institutions must evaluate. Participants must hold STX equal to about 5% of the BTC position, which creates exposure to a second asset. The bonded BTC remains illiquid during the lockup period, though an early exit option exists for the BTC portion. Yield levels depend on network dynamics, including miner demand and STX market conditions, which introduces variability.

Despite these factors, UTXO’s participation signals growing institutional interest in productive Bitcoin strategies that maintain self-custody. 

The structure avoids lending desks and synthetic wrappers, both of which require relinquishing some control or altering the nature of the underlying asset.

Corporate Bitcoin treasuries have expanded in recent years. The top 100 companies now hold more than 1.2 million BTC, representing about 5% of total supply. 

Executives see Bitcoin Staking as a response to that scrutiny. Tyler Evans, Chief Investment Officer of Nakamoto and UTXO, described the model as a way to generate yield while preserving Bitcoin’s settlement and custody features. 

Stacks founder Muneeb Ali framed the development as a step toward transforming idle Bitcoin into productive capital within a secure framework.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin Magazine is published by BTC Inc, a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. UTXO Management is also a subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA)

Micah Zimmerman

Micah first discovered Bitcoin in 2018 but remained a skeptic on the sidelines for too long. Since 2021, he has covered crypto and business and now works as a news reporter for Bitcoin Magazine, based in North Carolina.

Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, May 28th, 2026, Chainwire

Institutional Bitcoin holders can now earn BTC-denominated yield without leaving Bitcoin.

Stacks Labs and UTXO Management, the Bitcoin-native asset management subsidiary of Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA), today announced that UTXO will be an inaugural participant for Bitcoin Staking on Stacks, deploying a portion of its existing BTC holdings into the protocol. This makes UTXO among the first institutional Bitcoin managers to pursue Bitcoin-denominated yield while retaining full custody of its Bitcoin on the base layer.

In Bitcoin Staking, participants form “protocol bonds” by pairing a BTC timelock on Bitcoin with a corresponding STX lock on Stacks for a 6-month bonding period, earning a target BTC yield while their Bitcoin remains on the base layer under participant-controlled keys. Yield is generated through Stacks’ Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism, in which miners bid BTC to compete for Stacks block rewards; that miner-paid BTC is then distributed to eligible staking participants. STX locks determine each participant’s staking capacity. 

PoX has operated in production since January 2021 and has distributed more than 4,200 BTC to participants to date. The initial rollout of Bitcoin Staking is a bootstrapping period stewarded by the Stacks Endowment, expected to go live later this year.

“Bitcoin Staking on Stacks provides something that hasn’t existed before: a way to earn BTC-denominated yield while Bitcoin never leaves the base layer,” said Tyler Evans, Chief Investment Officer of Nakamoto and UTXO. “Companies can decide to put their balance sheet to work without compromising the properties that make Bitcoin valuable in the first place, and we are excited to try out the product at UTXO.”

UTXO’s participation opens a new market for Stacks – institutional Bitcoin capital seeking self-custodial BTC yield – and lays the foundation for the next wave of Bitcoin-native financial primitives, including liquid staking tokens, lending markets, and structured yield products built around productive BTC.

“Bitcoin Staking turns the largest pool of dormant capital in crypto into productive capital — without compromising on self-custody or settlement,” said Muneeb Ali, Stacks Founder. “UTXO, the asset management arm of one of the largest Bitcoin-native enterprises, signals something important: institutional Bitcoin is ready to move, and Stacks is where it goes.”

The top 100 Bitcoin treasury companies hold over 1.2 million BTC, roughly 5% of total supply, valued at at approximately $87.6 billion. As these companies face growing investor pressure to make their balance sheets productive, Bitcoin Staking on Stacks offers a path to turn the largest pool of dormant capital in crypto into yield-bearing positions. To learn more, users can visit stacks.co/bitcoin-staking.

About UTXO Management 

UTXO Management is a Bitcoin-focused asset management firm led by co-founder and CIO Tyler Evans. In February 2026, UTXO was acquired by Bitcoin-focused holding company Nakamoto Inc. (NASDAQ: NAKA), led by CEO David Bailey, a UTXO co-founder. 

About Stacks

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

Attendees look at the new Rivian R2 electric vehicle at the Rivian South Coast Theater in Laguna Beach, California, on March 7, 2024. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

AFP via Getty Images

The Rivian R2 is one of the most highly anticipated electric vehicles in recent years, with a launch set for June 9. The trail-ready electric SUV is loaded with cutting-edge hardware and AI to compete with Tesla.

The R2 Is Bound To Be Judged Against The Model YAs a more affordable, more compact version of Rivian’s flagship R1 SUV, the R2 begs comparison with the Model Y. “The R2 that’ll hit the streets this summer will be the nearly-$60,000 Performance model with 656 horsepower. The price lines up with the 510-hp Model Y Performance,” said Car and Driver editor-in-chief Tony Quiroga in an email. The most inexpensive version of the R2, around $45,000, won’t be available until late 2027, according to Rivian’s website.

But the initial high price may not necessarily impact sales. “The customers probably aren’t that price sensitive. Both are considered luxury brands, so there’s less price sensitivity,” said Quiroga.

Rivian Faithful Vs. TeslaRivian already has a core of passionate, loyal owners, but Tesla has a 14-year head start. “While Rivian has generated its own core group of fans, it hasn’t engendered the same kind of cult-like interest that Musk’s Tesla did,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. Another challenge it faces is the post-tax-credit EV market. “After the market for electric vehicles in the U.S. peaked in 2025, it has been difficult for any electric vehicle manufacturer, even Tesla, to regain its footing,” he added—though prospects have improved with the spike in gas prices.

Initial high price may not faze R2 buyers.

Credit: Brooke Crothers / Claude AI

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Where The R2 Breaks With The Model Y: Off-RoadRivian makes copious use of “adventure” on its website and in promotional materials. To potential car buyers, that boils down to off-road. “The R2 has the ground clearance to venture off road, something Model Y owners don’t do,” Quiroga said.

“Powerful, efficient…Built to go anywhere, on-road and off — with up to 9 drive modes that optimize for the terrain at the touch of a button,” Rivian says on its website.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 12: Rivian R2 trucks drive on an off-road course at the SXSW Rivian Electric Joyride on Congress Avenue the first day of South by Southwest in Austin, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)

Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images

Where The R2 Breaks With The Model Y: Sensors Rivian is not skimping on vehicle AI, also known as ADAS or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems that can automate, for example, highway driving. The R2 will come with cameras, radar and Rivian’s Autonomy+ AI software. (LiDAR will come later.) You might call it the "belt and suspenders" approach to sensing the world. Also known as redundancy.

Rivian believes that a redundant suite of cameras, radar, and (later) LiDAR will allow the R2 to cross-verify physical reality. This triple-layer redundancy should ultimately allow the R2 to handle point-to-point (door-to-door) driving without constant human supervision. (See my road test of Rivian’s updated autonomy platform.)

This is in stark contrast with Tesla’s camera-only approach. "Tesla’s full-self-driving system relies solely on cameras and lacks radar and lidar sensors, but works remarkably well,” said Quiroga. Rivian’s approach can be compared to Waymo, which also uses a diverse suite of sensors. Waymo is considered, in some respects, the gold standard because it is a truly driverless robotaxi service. (I’ve taken Waymo driverless taxis many times in Los Angeles. It feels like you have a human driver. I’ve never experienced a mishap, even in congested Los Angeles traffic.)

The Rivian Gen 3 autonomy platform integrates 11 cameras, 5 radars and a high-mount LiDAR sensor (included on later R2 trims) and an in-house RAP1 processor (capable of 1,600 trillion operations per second). While the cameras provide semantic context (reading signs and lights), the imaging radars can, for example, track velocity through poor weather. The LiDAR is like a high-speed digital ruler. It uses lasers to instantly measure the distance to every object around it, creating a precise 3D picture that doesn’t rely on visual guesswork.

Will The R2 Be Enough To Dent Tesla’s Dominance?“The design is a big differentiator as the R2 takes on the angularity and uprightness of traditional SUVs, while the Model Y looks like a teardrop,” said Quiroga, underscoring Rivian’s emphasis on rugged adventure capability and interior space. AutoForecast Solutions’ Fiorani has a more circumspect outlook. “There will be substantial interest in the R2 initially, but nothing like the once-in-a-generation madness that followed the roll-out of the Model Y,” he said. “Rivian is capacity constrained [even] if they could gather enough momentum for the R2,” Fiorani added.

Rivian is aiming for 'multi-modal' redundancy.

Credit: Brooke Crothers / Claude AI

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Jun 3rd, 2026

How Broadcom Stacks Up Against Its Peers

Gil Luria, DA Davidson Head of Technology Research, discusses the outlook for Broadcom as the Nvidia alternative releases its latest quarterly data.

Crypto public token sales are on track for their weakest quarter in five years, with just $58 million raised across Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs) in Q2 2026.

The figure marks an 85% drop from the prior quarter, highlighting a sharp decline in capital flowing through public token fundraising channels.

A Public Fundraising Market in RetreatThe number of public sales fell to 37 in Q2, down 65% from 105 in Q1, according to CryptoRank data. May proved especially quiet.

Only 13 token sales closed during the month. That was the lowest monthly figure since late 2020, when just 4 sales occurred. The $58 million raised marks the smallest quarterly haul in CryptoRank’s dataset.

“After peaking in Q1’25 with nearly $849M raised across 429 sales, the public fundraising market has been steadily losing momentum,” the post read.

Crypto IEO, ICO, and IDO Fundraising Falling in Q2 2026. Source: X/CryptoRankFollow us on X to get the latest news as it happens

How Q2 Stacks Up Against Prior YearsThe trend becomes even clearer when compared with previous years. Q2 2025 raised $135 million, and Q2 2024 drew $375 million.

Against those marks, Q2 2026 is down 57% from a year earlier and 85% from two years earlier. Sales counts fell even faster, dropping from 576 in Q2 2024 and 255 in Q2 2025 to just 37 this quarter.

The recent slide runs across quarters, too. Raises dropped from $482 million in Q4 2025 to $390 million in Q1 2026 and $58 million in Q2.

Despite the slowdown, IDOs remained the dominant fundraising format, accounting for 68.6% of public sales in 2026. IEOs accounted for 19.9%, while ICOs accounted for the remaining 11.5%.

Disclosed fundraising has reached $4 billion across 3,017 sales since the start of 2024. With Q2 still quarter-to-date, the final tally could shift, but it sits at a multi-year low for now.

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Elon Musk’s $1 Trillion Fortune Puts America’s Wealth Gap in Focus

The Obama Presidential Center opens to the public on Friday in Chicago, kicking off a Juneteenth weekend of celebrations and marking the latest addition to the uniquely American institution of presidential libraries.

While these presidential museums are best known for preserving historic documents and moments like wars and elections, they are also filled with deeply odd artifacts from certain time periods.

From entire airplanes to spacecraft and deeply personal memorabilia, presidential libraries often double as something like a national attic, revealing quirks and unexpected moments from those who held the highest office in the land.

Why It MattersAt first glance, the quirky artifacts at presidential libraries might seem trivial, but they play a real role in public history.

For one, they often humanize presidents beyond just their policy. But they can also reveal the cultural context of an era.

...

What To KnowPresidential libraries are run under the National Archives system, but they do more than store official records.

They also house millions of personal items and gifts as well as objects tied to a president’s life before office. Some even store diplomatic gifts from foreign leaders.

The Obama center has been designed as a modern, community-focused campus rather than a traditional archive, but Newsweek compiled a list of the most surprising things already hiding in presidential collections.

The Wackiest Things in Presidential Libraries1. An Entire Air Force One PlaneAt the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, visitors can walk through a retired Boeing 707 that served as Air Force One for multiple presidents.

The aircraft carried U.S. presidents from the 1970s through 2001 and is now displayed inside a massive glass pavilion built around it. It’s arguably the most dramatic artifact in any presidential library.

“Here we highlight President Reagan’s face-to-face diplomacy with world leaders on economic relations, strategic relations and arms control as he travels on Air Force One,” the Reagan library writes on its website. “The Secret Service and their role in protecting the President while he travels displays on a gallery wall on this level.”

2. A Space Capsule From the Space RaceThe John F. Kennedy Presidential Library features the Freedom 7 capsule, flown by astronaut Alan Shepard in 1961, carrying the first American into space while also accelerating the U.S. moon landing eight years later.

Few museums can claim to combine Cold War politics and actual spacecraft in the same exhibit hall.

“Freedom 7’s mission was a milestone along the course charted by President Kennedy to make the United States number one in the world in space exploration,” the JFK library said on its website. “Three weeks after this capsule safely splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, President Kennedy announced to the nation the goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth before the end of the decade.”

3. The Crates That Carried Nixon's PandasAfter President Richard Nixon's landmark 1972 trip to China, Beijing gifted the U.S. two giant pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing. The Nixon library preserves the actual transport crates used to bring them across the Pacific.

Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were housed at the Smithsonian National Zoo for 20 years after their arrival the same year, and the pandas were said to have five cubs, though none of them survived to adulthood.

4. Eleanor Roosevelt's Pistol PermitAt the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, one of the more unexpected items is wife Eleanor Roosevelt's pistol permit, complete with photo, signature and thumbprint.

She reportedly carried a handgun at times because she often resisted traveling with Secret Service protection.

5. FDR's Luxury Trash CanAlso at the Roosevelt Library is a wastebasket fashioned from a leather hatbox and lined with old Philadelphia municipal bonds. It was apparently a gift from a family member and became FDR's personal trash can.

According to Ranker, the interior is lined with $100 and $200 bonds from the city of Philadelphia, and there’s a brass lock at the front.

6. A Cold War Atomic Bomb Board GameThe Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum displays "Atomic Bombing Care," a children's game designed to teach families about surviving nuclear attacks.

For many library visitors, it serves as a reminder of just how normalized atomic-war anxiety became during the early Cold War.

What Could Be Unusual at the Obama Center?The Obama Presidential Center is already different from traditional libraries.

It is described as more than a library and instead operates as an immersive digital museum and community campus. It will feature art, cultural programming and public spaces.

Given that presidential libraries often include gifts received while in office, it is highly likely that the collection will include diplomatic gifts from foreign leaders and cultural artifacts from Obama-era events.

However, the full artifact list has not been publicly detailed yet.

Trump’s Future Library: A Different Kind of 'Odd'Plans for Donald Trump’s future presidential library, which are still in development, suggest it may rival existing libraries in unusual exhibits.

Trump released a video detailing the plans, which include a replica Oval Office, a large gold statue of Trump and full-size aircraft displayed inside the building.

"It's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby, which is going to be a trick," Trump told reporters earlier this year.

What Happens NextUnlike traditional museums, presidential libraries continue to grow after opening as materials are processed, cataloged and released.

The Obama center is positioned as a hybrid museum and archival space, so it will bring a digital-first approach to collections.That means some objects, especially gifts and personal items, may not be publicly displayed immediately.

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The Hedera Network, Stacks, Moonriver, and Iron Fish have recently entered a pivotal partnership under the banner of the Interchain Amplifier initiative, hosted on the Axelar network. This union aims to redefine the boundaries of blockchain interoperability, enhancing the functionality and accessibility of these technologies across numerous platforms.

The Interchain Amplifier stands as the first of its kind, a revolutionary service developed by Interop Labs on the Axelar network that promises seamless integration across a vast array of blockchains. Currently in its developmental phase on the Axelar devnet, this tool is designed to simplify the integration of new chains, making the process permissionless and straightforward for developers. This innovation could potentially connect the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 64 other chains, heralding a new era of connectivity within the blockchain realm.

Amplifying Connections Across the Web3 Ecosystem This ambitious project harnesses the Axelar network’s capabilities to automate routing and translation across its expansive network of interconnected blockchains. By operating through smart contracts, the Amplifier ensures robust security and swift establishment of new cross-chain paths, which could significantly broaden the horizons for application development and user engagement across networks.

Each participating entity brings unique strengths and visions to the table, enhancing the collective aim of the partnership. Hedera, known for its high-performance, leaderless proof-of-stake system, integrates seamlessly, leveraging its swift and scalable hashgraph consensus algorithm to enhance tokenization processes. Meanwhile, Stacks extends the utility of Bitcoin through its Layer-2 smart contracts, offering a secure environment for a diverse range of applications.

Moonriver adds another layer of innovation by serving as a canary network for Moonbeam on the Polkadot ecosystem, providing a real-world proving ground for new blockchain technologies. Iron Fish introduces an essential privacy layer, utilizing zero-knowledge proofs to ensure data protection across all integrated chains. The collaboration not only focuses on enhancing technological frameworks but also emphasizes the importance of community involvement and open-source contributions to the broader crypto ecosystem.

This initiative is poised to set a precedent for future developments in blockchain interoperability. By providing a toolkit that simplifies the incorporation of diverse blockchain technologies, the Interchain Amplifier could potentially accelerate the adoption of Web3 technologies, making them more accessible and efficient for a global audience. As these networks interlink more seamlessly, the potential for innovation in decentralized applications (DApps) and beyond is boundless, promising a more interconnected and efficient future for blockchain technology.

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Mysterious crypto writer with expertise in blockchain, offering deep insights that captivate and intrigue readers. With a unique ability to uncover hidden insights and trends, Samuel delivers in-depth analysis and thought-provoking content that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. His writing style is engaging and informative, blending technical knowledge with a sense of intrigue, making complex crypto topics accessible to both newcomers and seasoned industry professionals. Samuel’s work continues to capture the attention of the crypto community, solidifying his reputation as a trusted voice in the space.

Crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital, which has over $5 billion in assets under management, has reportedly seen its Liquid Token Fund appreciate by 66% during Q1 2024.

According to a new report by Bloomberg, Pantera Capital’s $300 million crypto fund ended the first quarter with massive gains due to the rise of digital assets such as smart contract platform Solana (SOL), decentralized derivatives exchange Aevo (AEVO), decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Ribbon Finance (RBN) and open source blockchain Stacks (STX).

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Pantera’s success partially stemmed from having reduced exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) and allocating to smaller market cap altcoins.

In a shareholder letter seen by Bloomberg, it was noted that Pantera cut back on assets linked to Ethereum due to the odds of an Ethereum-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) getting approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) being lowered.

In an interview, Cosmo Jiang, Pantera Capital’s portfolio manager, tells Bloomberg that the fund has been steadily reducing its exposure to Bitcoin since the start of the year.

“We’d been pretty heavy in Bitcoin until the start of the year, and really like each month we’ve decreased that Bitcoin position meaningfully.”

Last month, Pantera engaged in funding efforts to raise $250 million as a means of purchasing Solana from bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

SOL, AEVO, RBN, and STX are trading for $177.29, $2.96, $1.61, and $3.19 at time of writing, respectively.