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CoW Protocol’s native token has soared 46% after South Korean exchange Upbit announced it will be listing the token on its platform on Feb. 25.

According to a recent notice, Upbit will be listing COW (COW), the CoW Protocol native token starting from Feb. 25 at approximately 20:30 KST. The Ethereum (ETH)-based token will be available for trading on the Korean won, Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) markets. Users can begin depositing COW on Upbit at 19:30 KST.

Shortly after Upbit announced it will be listing COW, the token saw a major leap in price. COW soared as high as 46% mere minutes after the notice was posted, reaching a peak of $0.46 in daily trading. At the time of writing, COW is trading hands at $0.43.

According to the Upbit notice, the previous day’s closing price for COW was around 418 Korean won or equal to $0.29. In the past week, COW has seen a rise in value by 34.2% but it has experienced a decrease by nearly 30% in the past month.

Price chart for CoW Protocol’s native token, February 25, 2025 | Source: crypto.news The CoW Protocol native token has a market cap of $173.6 million and a fully diluted valuation which stands at $420 million. In the past 24 hours, COW’s trading volume has seen a 568.60% increase to $114 million in the past 24 hours, indicating a significant rise in trading activity.

Buy orders for COW will be restricted for five minutes after trading support begins. While all types of orders, with the exception of limit orders, will be restricted for an hour after trading support begins. Sell order prices are capped at a minimum of 10% less than the previous day’s closing price.

The CoW Protocol is a decentralized trading platform with intent-based aggregator as its main service. It also provides features like Maximal Extractable Value blockers, Remote Procedure Call solutions, and Automated Market Makers. COW is the CoW Protocol’s native token and is used for governance.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

Grayscale Investments has launched the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust, offering investors exposure to Dogecoin (DOGE)

Grayscale Investments has launched the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust, offering investors exposure to Dogecoin (DOGE), a cryptocurrency with a $49.7 billion market cap that has evolved from a meme coin to a tool for global financial inclusion, grassroots activism, and a viable means of payment.

The trust, which charges a 2.5% fee, is available to eligible accredited investors and is part of Grayscale's portfolio of over 25 crypto investment products.

According to Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale's Head of Product & Research, Dogecoin's low transaction costs and rapid transfer speeds make it an optimal vehicle for international remittances, particularly in regions with underdeveloped banking infrastructure. The launch comes amid a flurry of applications for memecoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) following a shift towards a more crypto-friendly regulatory environment under President Donald Trump.

This is an AI-generated article powered by DeepNewz, curated by The Defiant. For more information, including article sources, visit DeepNewz.

The DeFi lending protocol still has $3.4 million in outstanding bad debt.Bad debt came from malicious exploits from three years ago.DeFi lending protocol Inverse Finance, with more than $178 million in investor funds, has patched a $2.6 million bad debt hole in the project’s finances.

A bad debt happens when a loan position cannot be repaid because the collateral used to borrow funds has lost a lot of its value, which leaves the lender with a hole in their finances. It can happen due to malicious exploits that drain liquidity from lending pools or a massive market decline that causes the price of collateral tokens to plummet.

On Monday, Inverse Finance secured funds to service the bad debt by selling 104,000 of its native Inverse tokens to a cohort of DeFi investors. The token sale was for 25 Dola per Inverse token, to raise the $2.6 million required.

Dola is the protocol’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, while the Inverse token controls the protocol and absorbs financial risks. The latter is also the governance token for the DAO that controls the protocol.

Given the relationship between both tokens, the deal effectively means investors are betting that the Inverse token’s long-term growth potential can cover the bad debt liability, and the DAO proposal for the move did not hide this trade-off.

“This is our way of sending a message to everyone that Inverse DAO never abandons its users always repays its debts,” Nour Haridy, Inverse Finance founder, told DL News. Haridy called the repayment “an investment into the future.”

Hello! This chart will be available in a few moments

Inverse Finance TVLThe Inverse tokens acquired by the investors will be locked for six months. Inverse tokens traded for more than $43 on Monday, a 72% premium on the cost basis of the DeFi investors.

The bad debt traces back to malicious exploits on Inverse Finance lending markets that have since been deprecated. Those defunct lending markets suffered two malicious exploits in April and June 2022 that resulted in more than $24 million in losses.

A portion of the bad debt also comes from Euler Finance’s $200 million flash loan attack of March 2023. Euler has since recovered the hack and now holds more than $1 billion in investor assets, a 10-fold growth in 2025.

‘A moral obligation’Monday’s repayment whittles the protocol’s bad debt exposure to $3.4 million, which the DAO plans to cover by borrowing from 40acres.finance, another lending protocol.

Haridy said the protocol didn’t have a choice but to cover the bad debt.

“Dola would’ve collapsed due to the elevated bad debt levels back then and more people would lose their money,” Haridy said. “We had a moral obligation towards people who trusted Dola with their hard earned money and we chose to fulfill this obligation.”

The repayment also comes as the protocol reached $100 million in loans on its fixed-rate lending market platform FiRM, another sign of recovery for a protocol that has suffered multiple crises.

Osato Avan-Nomayo is our Nigeria-based DeFi correspondent. He covers DeFi and tech. Got a tip? Please contact him [email protected].

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August 12, 2025

Clearpool, a decentralized capital markets ecosystem, has partnered with on-chain credit risk management company Cicada in a move to institutionalize PayFi lending with improved risk management.

In an announcement shared with Cryptonews on Monday, the partnership will boost Clearpool’s credibility and risk management in PayFi lending. Cicada will structure and underwrite PayFi lending opportunities and serve as the administrative agent for select Credit Pools.

Cicada has underwritten more than $850m in loans at a 1.2% default rate during the prior cycle.

🤝 Clearpool has partnered with Cicada to institutionalize PayFi lending with risk-managed Credit Pools

Cicada is an on-chain credit risk management company founded by a seasoned team of former buy- and sell-side credit professionals. Cicada’s co-founders have deep crypto… pic.twitter.com/JY79tNCVqE

— Clearpool (@ClearpoolFin) August 11, 2025 Clearpool’s partnership with Cicada could shake up the lending space, bringing more institutional players into the DeFi fold.

Clearpool Expands to Payment Financing or PayFiAccording to Jakob Kronbichler, CEO of Clearpool, Cicada’s risk management integration would strengthen Clearpool’s institutional infrastructure for PayFi lending.

“While stablecoin settlements are instant, underlying fiat flows are not, forcing fintechs to bridge liquidity gaps,” he said. “This partnership enhances our proven credit framework and supports the growth of the emerging trillion-dollar stablecoin payment ecosystem.”

Clearpool will be launching PayFi Credit Pools for users to access these highly liquid, real-world yield opportunities. This means facilitating credit to institutional lenders specializing in short-term stablecoin-based working capital to fintech operators.

It will also launch cpUSD, a permissionless, yield-bearing asset, which will enable retail to tap into real-world stablecoin payments.

Cicada offers Risk-as-a-Service (RaaS) Solutions to DeFi Protocols On the other hand, Cicada offers Risk-as-a-Service (RaaS) solutions, including third-party underwriting, pool management for DeFi protocols and risk structuring.

“Partnering with Clearpool allows us to elevate PayFi lending by combining our underwriting and risk management expertise with their innovative credit products,” said Sefton Kincaid, Managing Partner of Cicada Partners.

The partnership will accelerate the adoption of PayFi by laying the groundwork for more safer, transparent and scalable stablecoin ecosystem.

“Together, we’re advancing professionally managed Credit Pools and strengthening Clearpool’s offering to borrowers and lenders in the growing stablecoin economy,” Kincaid added.

TLDR: Clearpool will repurchase CPOOL using revenue from its pools, vaults, and Prime protocol operations. 50% of all repurchased CPOOL will go to Clearpool Rewards, supporting token holder incentives. The remaining 50% of tokens will strengthen the Clearpool Reserve for future ecosystem growth. Buybacks were paused as Clearpool prepared its Fintech Vault and PayFi product expansion.
Clearpool is reviving its buyback program, marking a fresh chapter for the DeFi lender’s growing ecosystem. 

The protocol confirmed it will repurchase its native token, CPOOL, from the open market using revenue from recent quarters. This follows months of strategic pause as the team refined its direction and rolled out new products. The initiative signals a renewed commitment to value capture within its ecosystem. 

CPOOL Buyback Program Resumes With New Funding Source According to Clearpool’s announcement, the buyback initiative will draw on revenue generated from Dynamic Pools, Clearpool Prime, Credit Vaults, and the USDX T-Pool. These sources have built consistent inflows since the protocol’s last operational update.

The company stated that buybacks had been paused in earlier quarters as it finalized a shift in product strategy. 

That adjustment is now reflected in new launches such as the Fintech Vault and PayFi. These products extend the protocol’s lending capabilities to a wider market segment while diversifying its revenue base.

With these expansions live, Clearpool will begin acquiring CPOOL again in structured cycles. The buyback activity is expected to provide steady demand for the token while reflecting the project’s long-term growth approach.

The new plan formalizes a balance between ecosystem sustainability and holder incentives, two themes central to the project’s recent roadmap.

Clearpool is resuming its buyback program to purchase $CPOOL from the open market, initiating a series of planned buybacks.

The program will utilize revenue generated from recent quarters across the full Clearpool ecosystem, including Dynamic Pools, Clearpool Prime, Credit… pic.twitter.com/NOFWFnYopz

— Clearpool (@ClearpoolFin) October 20, 2025

Half of Purchased Tokens Head to Rewards and Reserve Funds Clearpool outlined that 50% of all repurchased CPOOL tokens will be deposited into Clearpool Rewards, a system designed to enhance community participation. The other half will be directed to the Clearpool Reserve, supporting ecosystem development and liquidity measures.

This split aims to ensure that both users and the protocol benefit from ongoing buybacks. It also positions Clearpool’s treasury to respond more flexibly to future market conditions.

Analysts observing the update suggested that this structure could add steady pressure on circulating supply while reinforcing protocol backing. While no timeline for completion was disclosed, the strategy implies buybacks will occur periodically as revenue accumulates.

By reinvesting operational income into its native token, Clearpool continues aligning revenue performance with community growth. The model reflects a tightening link between its ecosystem’s utility and the underlying asset’s activity.

CPOOL, the native token of the DeFi institutional credit protocol Clearpool, went parabolic after Upbit announced its listing.

Summary

Clearpool price rose over 70% after Upbit announced support for the token. A descending parallel channel pattern has formed on the daily chart. A clean breakout from $0.172 level could potentially lead to over 40% upside for CPOOL. According to data from crypto.news, Clearpool (CPOOL) rallied 72% to an intraday high of $0.172 before settling at $0.134 at the time of writing.

CPOOL’s gains came along with a 780% surge in its daily trading volume in the spot market, hinting at robust demand from investors. Data from CoinGlass also pointed to a massive uptick in open interest in its futures market, with OI rising nearly 3,000% to $3.69 million, suggesting growing speculative interest. 

A closer look at the long/short ratio across all exchanges also stood at 1.14. This means that a larger number of traders have leaned into bullish bets, a factor that could continue to drive positive sentiment among new investors.

Clearpool’s price shot up today shortly after the South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced it would list the token on its platform. Listings on major exchanges like Upbit, which boasts the highest trading volume in South Korea, often enhance a token’s visibility and credibility, attracting a wave of new investors and triggering sharp price gains.

As earlier reported by crypto.news, ORCA, the native token of the Solana-based DEX Orca, rallied over 200% shortly after a similar listing announcement from Upbit.

However, investors should note that listing-based, community hype-driven rallies often face sharp pullbacks within days as traders start booking profits.

For the uninitiated, Clearpool is a decentralized institutional credit protocol that connects verified institutional borrowers with unsecured liquidity from DeFi lenders. The CPOOL token enables staking, governance, and incentivizes participants within the Clearpool protocol.

Clearpool price analysis On the daily chart, CPOOL price has broken out from the upper boundary of a descending parallel channel that had been forming since mid‑August. 

Clearpool price has broken out of a descending parallel channel pattern on the daily chart — Oct. 22 | Source: crypto.news Descending parallel channel patterns usually show a token making lower highs and lower lows. The price moves within two downward-sloping, parallel lines, forming a steady downtrend. If the price breaks above the top line, it often signals a bullish reversal. But if it breaks below the bottom line, it usually means the downtrend will continue.

Technical indicators support the bullish picture at press time. Notably, the MACD line has crossed above the signal line, indicating momentum is continuing to shift in favor of bulls. Meanwhile, the RSI has climbed sharply to 57, moving above its neutral zone, which in turn suggests renewed buying pressure.

For now, the key resistance lies near $0.172, the intraday high formed earlier today. This level also coincides closely with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement drawn from the Aug. 23 high to the Oct. 10 low, a critical zone that often acts as a major inflection point. 

A decisive break above this resistance could instill bulls to target $0.190, a level where buying momentum had previously stalled, making it a key psychological barrier in the short term. The said level lies 42% above the current price level.

On the downside, a drop below $0.116, corresponding to the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level, could invalidate the current rally and tilt momentum back in favor of the bears.

Disclosure: This article does not represent investment advice. The content and materials featured on this page are for educational purposes only.

Across Protocol, a Paradigm-backed blockchain interoperability protocol, has posted a temperature check proposal exploring a transition from a decentralized autonomous organization and token structure to a U.S. C-corporation and equity structure.

Under the plan, a new entity called AcrossCo would become the operating company behind Across Protocol. ACX tokenholders would then have two options: equity exchange and token buyout. The equity exchange option involves exchanging ACX for equity in AcrossCo. Larger holders would exchange directly, while smaller holders could participate through a no-fee special purpose vehicle structure. The token buyout option would allow holders to redeem ACX for USDC at $0.04375, a 25% premium to the one-month average market rate, with a six-month window to decide.

Across said becoming a private company, with tokenholders offered equity or a “fair” exit, would likely better serve the protocol’s long-term growth. The team said the underlying protocol would continue operating without interruption. AcrossCo would hold the intellectual property and manage development, partnerships, and commercialization, while the infrastructure itself would remain open and permissionless.

"I believe this proposal lets us double down on our future while benefiting all existing tokenholders," said Hart Lambur, Co-founder of Across Protocol.

The current DAO structure Currently, Risk Labs Foundation, the team behind Across Protocol, as well as UMA Protocol, a decentralized oracle, manages the Across protocol. The foundation has been building Across for over four years and says the protocol has processed more than $35 billion in volume and co-created the ERC-7683 cross-chain intents standard. Across Protocol is an intents-based interoperability protocol that connects blockchains such as Ethereum and Solana, allowing users to bridge and swap tokens across networks.

Across Protocol has raised a total of $51 million through two token funding rounds. Its most recent $41 million round last year was led by Paradigm, with participation from Bain Capital Crypto, Coinbase Ventures, and Multicoin Capital.

The team said the transition to a C-corporation and equity structure is being explored as demand for the protocol’s infrastructure grows, particularly from institutional partners. Across said the current DAO structure can create limitations when working with enterprise partners, which often require enforceable contracts and a clear legal counterparty.

"As institutional demand for Across infrastructure has grown, the current DAO structure has become a bottleneck," the team said. "Enterprise partners need enforceable contracts. Revenue agreements need a legal counterparty. The kinds of deals that would drive the next phase of growth require a structure that a DAO, today, simply can't provide."

If community sentiment is positive, the team will then move to posting a formal governance proposal two weeks after the temperature check, Lambur told The Block.

A majority vote would determine the outcome, Lambur added. For example, if 20% of voters abstained and the result was 41% in favor and 39% against, the proposal would still pass, he said.

"The community decides whether any of it happens," Across said. "Nothing moves forward without community approval."

The ACX token was trading at around $0.035 at the time of writing, up nearly 4% over the past 24 hours but down about 84% over the past year, according to The Block’s ACX price page.

Updated to include the proposal link and pricing details.

Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

London, United Kingdom, October 22nd, 2024, Chainwire

Aventus, a leading provider of enterprise blockchain solutions and parachain on Polkadot, today confirms the launch of Aventus 2.0, an evolution of the Aventus Network aimed at establishing a stronger foundation for long-term growth and value capture. 

The update introduces several strategic initiatives designed to enhance network performance and stakeholder utility, including increasing transaction volume and overall network usage, expanding the ecosystem through successful partnerships with Layer 3 appchains, enhancing token holder engagement via a liquidity mining program, and reducing token supply via a burn mechanism. 

The vision for Aventus 2.0 was developed by MVP Workshop, a Blockchain Product Research & Development Studio who designed Polygon Edge and Astar Network, in collaboration with Scytale Digital and the Aventus Services team.

Following the approval of a community governance proposal in which AVT token holders voted in favour of executing this vision, the Aventus Services team will implement the Aventus 2.0 plan over the next four months. This process underscores Aventus’s commitment to stakeholder-driven decision-making, ensuring that major network decisions are made through community consensus.

Aventus 2.0 comprises three main components: 

A Layer 3 appchain model, whereby enterprises are able to operate on the Aventus Network and benefit from the security, scalability, interoperability and decentralised infrastructure offered by the Aventus ecosystem. A liquidity mining program on Uniswap, including a custom user-friendly dApp, to enhance token holder engagement. Appchains are also able to request grants from Aventus community treasury and launch their own liquidity mining programs to drive liquidity for their own tokens, contributing a portion of their token supply and network fees to the Aventus treasury to support the broader Aventus ecosystem and its development.   A new collator rewards mechanism to ensure a secure and efficient Aventus Network, alongside an automatic burn mechanism for a portion of gas fees to reduce the overall supply of AVT tokens in circulation. Alan Vey, Founder at Aventus, commented: “Aventus 2.0 builds on important learnings from existing Aventus Network clients as well as the invaluable expertise of our partners at MVP Workshop & Scytale Digital, and represents a significant milestone in our journey to enhance the Aventus Network’s capabilities and deliver greater value to stakeholders.”

The appchain model is already seeing traction, with existing users of the Aventus Network having recently launched their own Aventus Layer 3 appchains.

Barry Helfrich, CIO at Enigmatic Smile, adds: “We needed the Voucher Ledger solution to be secure, fast and stable enough to process the discounts collected by hundreds of millions of users in our rewards ecosystem — no small feat, but Aventus has helped us build such a solution. The team has been helpful, professional and responsive throughout the process. We’re looking forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with them.”

The updated network will provide enhanced functionality and improved user experiences, positioning the Aventus Network as a trusted leader in enterprise blockchain solutions and key contributor to enterprise use cases within the Polkadot ecosystem.

About Aventus

Aventus transforms how customers create trust and unlock growth, crafting pioneering Web3 solutions for brands, from creating more connected, integrated experiences to enhancing traceability, transparency, and product authentication. Founded in 2020, Aventus is the only trusted digital product extension platform that provides a secure and reliable Web3 environment for customers to launch market-leading programs and product activations. 

With deep industry expertise and a strong understanding of enterprise needs, Aventus delivers one the best feature sets of Web3 with the familiarity of Web2, driving significant brand reputation, trust, and enterprise growth for its customers. Its production-ready, end-to-end Blockchain-as-a-Service software is modular, scalable, and interoperable, giving clients the flexibility they need to respond to rapidly-evolving market opportunities.

For more information, users can visit: www.aventus.io, and also their X, LinkedIn and Telegram.

Contact Head of Marketing
Ellie Hyman
Aventus
[email protected]

Disclaimer: This is a Press Release provided by a third party who is responsible for the content. Please conduct your own research before taking any action based on the content.

The entity behind the WazirX exploit has liquidated a good portion of its ill-gotten gains, which analysts have noted has had a major impact on some prices.

Alex Svanevik, CEO of blockchain analytics firm Nansen, pointed out on Twitter that the entity behind the hack of Indian exchange WazirX—suggested to be a North Korean hacking group—became the top Uniswap (UNI) seller. Nansen data for UNI shows that the address in question has sold $859,514 worth of the token over the last seven days.

The @WazirXIndia Exploiter is back on the move...

In the past hour, they've moved 21.16b $BOB ($800k) and some smaller holdings that have also been sold. And a further 6.7m $CHR ($1.6m), was sent to a separate address and was sold a few minutes ago

This is after the… pic.twitter.com/L0zPf8Id0O

— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) July 22, 2024

Similarly, the presumed North Korean hacker group also topped the sale charts for Chainlink (LINK) and The Sandbox (SAND). Nansen data shows that the hacker sold over $2.77 million of Chainlink and $1.6 million of SAND over the last seven days.

Later, the firm's main account sent a tweet saying that there's now only $5 million worth of funds left in the exploiter's wallet. The remainder is mostly comprised of Celer Network (CELR), Ooki (OOKI), and Frontier (FRONT).

Market reacts to WazirX hacker's sellingDespite this, according to CoinMarketCap data, Chainlink is trading at $14.16 after seeing a 2.57% gain over the last seven days. Similarly, The Sandbox is trading at $0.3371 after seeing 3.61% worth of gains over the last seven days. Uniswap is trading at $7.91 after trading in the red for most of the last seven days—even before the hack—and lost 6.1% over the last seven days.

The same cannot be said about Push Protocol (PUSH). The token has dropped 24% over both the last seven days and 32% in the last 24 hours. It's now trading at $0.1027 after rebounding 28% from its $0.08022 low reported earlier on Monday. Nansen data shows that the WazirX hacker wallet sold $529,167 worth of PUSH over the last da—with the next top seller only having sold $11,133, highlighting the low liquidity.

Push Protocol and The Sandbox 24-hour price chart. Source: CoinMarketCapPush Protocol & The Sandbox 24-hour price chart. | Source: CoinMarketCap

The difference in impact is to be largely attributed to the different levels of liquidity. Push Protocol has a market cap of under $6.2 million and a 24-hour volume of under $4.9 million as of press time.

Hi Push Community

As you may know, WazirX exchange has been the victim of a hack that exposed several coins, and unfortunately, PUSH as well. We have traced them to this address: https://t.co/NA2ObL7eM6 exploiter of the exchange has sold 100% of the reserve of PUSH tokens… pic.twitter.com/m43ec4TrME

— Push Protocol | Push Nodes SOON (@pushprotocol) July 22, 2024

Chainlink has a market cap of nearly $8.6 billion and a volume of over $421 million, whereas The Sandbox has $767 million and $69 million respectively. Uniswap has a market cap of $4.74 billion and a volume of nearly $158 million.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.

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Key NotesWeb3 communications protocol Push is launching its native Layer-1 chain.The new chain is designed as a Proof-of-Stake chain with core developer tools.It is out in Devnet with mainnet expected next year. Web3-native communications startup Push Protocol is working on launching its Layer-1 blockchain, dubbed the Push Chain. As reported by The Block, it plans to develop the L1 to focus on chain abstraction and building Web3 applications with multichain accessibility. Ultimately, the Push Protocol will address the challenges of fragmented user experiences and scalability issues with the Push Chain.

Push Chain will introduce groundbreaking features to achieve these goals, such as the ability to do any chain transactions. It also plans to introduce a new model called Consumer transactions. Other features expected to come with the chain are wallet and gas fee abstraction, sharding, and sub-one-second transaction finality.

Push Protocol Pivots With Push Chain For a long time, the blockchain-based notifications project has operated as a communication protocol. It enables cross-chain notifications and messaging for Decentralized Applications (dApps).

This upcoming Proof-of-Stake (PoS) chain is a strategic shift from Push’s original form.

The entire notification and chat protocols will be merged into the Push Chain, turning these interactions into value-accruing transactions. The integration aims to ensure its continued status as the standard for Web3 communication while leveraging Push Chain’s scalability and innovation advantages.

Under its PoS consensus algorithm, the Push Chain will bridge EVM and non-EVM ecosystems.

In the long run, it will enable seamless transactions, liquidity bridging, and smart contract interoperability. According to a spokesperson for the project, the team “worked on building notification nodes for years and completed their implementation in January 2024.”

“It was during this journey that we realized our efforts to scale, unify web3, and enable seamless onboarding for an exceptional consumer experience could evolve into something far more impactful,” the Push spokesperson added.

Push Chain Plans For Phased Launch As part of its benefits, the Push Chain will serve as a common settlement layer for all the L1s and L2s.

If this is achieved, the resulting “universal smart contracts” will offer developers or users access to the state of a wallet on another chain. The chain’s initial testnet would be phased out, starting with the first in mid-January 2025. The mainnet will follow later in the year.

For now, the Chain is live on devnet. It includes tools and resources for developers, such as the Push Chain Whitepaper, Push Chain Knowledgebase, Push Scan Explorer, and Tx App.

The chain will pave the way for consumer-friendly apps like decentralized social platforms, gaming ecosystems, universal Decentralized Finance (DeFi), and cross-chain non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces. By doing so, Push Chain could drive mass adoption of Web3. All the resources going into the development of the chain position it to form the infrastructure for on-chain AI.

For context, features like its shared state, fast finality, sharding, transaction payload size, and the ability to have users from any chain give Push Chain the capacity to support fast, multi-use AI use cases in Web3.

Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.

Blockchain News, Cryptocurrency News, News

Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalist who relishes writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desire to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain media and sites.

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Yuma, one of Bittensor’s largest contributors and the network’s third-largest validator, has published a detailed critique of the proposed “Root Reborn” upgrade, arguing that the design introduces governance, regulatory, and market structure risks that outweigh its potential benefits.

Summary

Yuma has opposed Bittensor’s proposed Root Reborn upgrade, warning that it could introduce conflicts of interest, regulatory concerns, and new risks for stakers. The proposal would allow validators to allocate root staking rewards across subnet tokens instead of automatically converting rewards into TAO. Yuma said subnets backed by validator allocations could benefit from additional demand, but called for more testing, risk analysis, and a formal upgrade roadmap before deployment. The proposal, currently under review and not yet active on mainnet, would overhaul how root staking rewards are handled. Under the existing system, root dividends are effectively paid by automatically converting subnet alpha emissions back into TAO. The new design would stop those automatic sales.

🧠 Bittensor $TAO upgrade watch: Root Reborn

A new Subtensor PR proposes one of the larger changes to Bittensor’s root validation structure so far.

Today, root dividends are effectively paid by auto-swapping subnet alpha back into TAO. This creates constant sell pressure on… pic.twitter.com/UNLFsKzcsl

— tao.bot (τ, τ) (@taodotbot) June 18, 2026 Instead, validators would set allocation weights across subnets. Root emissions would then be deployed into validator-selected baskets of subnet tokens, with stakers receiving redeemable claims on those positions rather than direct TAO rewards.

The proposal states that the change would reduce automatic sell pressure on subnet assets and make validator allocation decisions a more important part of the network economy. It would also introduce new tools to track validator basket net asset value, subnet allocations, staker liabilities, and network-wide basket performance.

Yuma said the proposal changes the role of validators from infrastructure operators into active allocators of capital.

“In its current form, the Root Reborn proposal carries substantial unmitigated risk that outweighs its benefits,” the validator group wrote.

The following analysis is a byproduct of lack of process within the ecosystem that leaves business builders limited notice or ability to properly plan, assess risk, and execute.

We are responding rapidly to the code we’ve seen thus far, in the forum where we see it being… https://t.co/cZ3DQD2gkU

— Yuma (@YumaGroup) June 18, 2026 Yuma warns of conflicts and regulatory exposure Yuma argued that validators would gain significant influence over capital flows inside the Bittensor ecosystem, creating incentives that may not always align with the interests of delegators.

The group said validators could direct allocations toward subnets in which they already hold positions or accept external incentives from subnet operators seeking additional capital. Yuma compared the structure to the lessons of the LIBOR scandal, where a small group of participants held influence over key financial benchmarks.

“Moral hazard is acute,” Yuma wrote, adding that validators should be expected to maximize their own financial returns.

The organization also questioned whether validator performance could be measured effectively under the proposed system. It said validators would not control redemption timing, making it difficult to maintain target portfolio allocations as users enter and exit positions.

Over time, Yuma argued, new emissions would represent an increasingly small portion of large validator baskets, limiting a validator’s ability to materially influence performance through future allocation decisions.

The report also raised concerns about regulatory treatment. Yuma said validators currently direct blockchain emissions, but Root Reborn would place them in a position where they actively determine subnet token exposure for delegators.

“Validators are no longer simply providing a neutral technological service due to the requirement to also set weights for subnet token rewards,” the group wrote.

Proposal seeks to reduce sell pressure on subnet assets Supporters of the proposal have presented the upgrade as a mechanism to keep more value inside the subnet economy.

A summary accompanying the Subtensor pull request stated that root yield would move away from automatic subnet token sales and toward reinvestment across validator-selected subnets. The proposal described the change as a way to make validator selection depend on capital allocation decisions rather than primarily on fees or staking yields.

The proposal also said delegators would gain additional transparency through dashboard tools that display basket composition, net asset value, and outstanding liabilities owed to stakers.

Yuma acknowledged that subnets receiving validator allocations could benefit from increased demand and stronger token prices. The group wrote that subnets awarded meaningful weights would likely experience net-positive price effects, while subnets receiving little or no allocation could see neutral outcomes.

At the same time, Yuma warned that the structure could encourage lobbying efforts by subnet operators seeking validator support. The report said new projects may face greater barriers to entry if relationships with validators become an important factor in attracting capital.

The validator group also identified operational risks. Its report cited escrow concentration in a single coldkey, redemption dynamics that could create losses for late redeemers during periods of heavy withdrawals, repeated slippage costs from basket rebalancing, and execution challenges if network activity scales significantly.

Yuma urged the OpenTensor Foundation and network stakeholders to consider alternative approaches that allow stakers to express subnet preferences directly through opt-in mechanisms rather than concentrating allocation decisions among validators.

The group also called for a published upgrade roadmap, a defined release process, additional testing, and formal risk evaluation before any implementation proceeds.

The debate arrives days after Bittensor attracted renewed market attention following comments from Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl, who argued that recent U.S. restrictions on Anthropic’s advanced AI models could strengthen demand for decentralized AI networks. Pandl wrote that investors may increasingly look toward alternatives such as Bittensor as access to frontier AI systems becomes subject to centralized controls.

TAO (TAO) climbed roughly 30% within 12 hours after those developments, as per previous coverage on crypto.news. However, as of press time, TAO is down over 6% as traders weigh the recent concerns around the Root Rebor proposal.

Bittensor co-founder Jacob Steeves wants the protocol he helped build to no longer need him. The man known as “Const” in crypto circles has published a roadmap to fully decentralize Bittensor within 18 months, targeting a completion date around December 2027.

The decentralization deficit Bittensor, co-founded by Steeves and Ala Shaabana, has built genuine decentralized ownership among its participants over more than five years of operation. The network currently runs 128 active subnet teams and more than 20 core validator teams.

But ownership and control are not the same thing. Bittensor’s governance structure has relied on what’s been called a “triumvirate” model, and critics have argued it concentrates too much power in too few hands. The core team’s grip on the economic incentive layer, the mechanism that determines how rewards flow through the network, has been a persistent sore point.

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That criticism reached a boiling point in April 2026 when Covenant AI, a participant in the Bittensor ecosystem, exited the network entirely. Covenant AI accused the protocol of “decentralization theatre,” alleging unilateral control by Steeves over key network decisions. TAO’s price dropped roughly 18-20% in the aftermath.

The roadmap: what Steeves is actually proposing Steeves’ plan isn’t a single flip-the-switch moment. He’s outlined a phased approach that touches several core components of how Bittensor operates.

First, the roadmap calls for raising validator competition. Second, the plan includes implementing bidirectional liquidity pools. Third, Steeves wants to introduce a conviction-based voting mechanism for Alpha token holders. This type of system weights votes based on how long a holder commits their tokens, rewarding long-term alignment over short-term speculation.

The roadmap also includes updates to the TaoFlow algorithm, which governs how incentives are distributed across the network’s subnets.

Steeves resigned as CEO of the Opentensor Foundation in February 2026, months before announcing this roadmap. The move was explicitly framed as reducing key-person dependency.

What this means for investors For TAO holders, the roadmap addresses the single biggest governance risk that has weighed on the token. The April 2026 price drop following Covenant AI’s departure demonstrated how directly governance concerns translate into market impact.

The conviction-based voting mechanism deserves particular attention from investors. If implemented correctly, it could create a structural incentive for longer-term holding, reducing sell pressure and rewarding patient capital. If implemented poorly, it could entrench existing large holders and create a new form of centralization dressed in governance clothing.

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

@StarkWareLtd has unveiled a zero-knowledge identity system designed to let users pass a KYC check without surrendering their personal data to a central verifier. The prototype, called Private KYC, is built on STRK20, @Starknet's privacy layer, and works by flipping the logic of how identity verification is typically done.

How it works A user scans their passport using their phone's NFC chip. That identity data is then encrypted and bound to their own Starknet account rather than stored on a third-party server. When a KYC check is required, the system generates a zero-knowledge proof of just the fact that matters, such as confirming the user is over 18, while name, date of birth, and document number remain sealed. No central verifier holds a copy of the document, so there is no database to breach.

STRK20, which launched in early June, introduces zero-knowledge privacy features for ERC-20 tokens, letting users shield balances and make private transfers without moving assets to a separate privacy chain. The technical architecture relies on client-side zero-knowledge proofs built with StarkWare's Stwo prover and Cairo programming language. Private KYC extends that same infrastructure into identity verification.

Targeting a well-documented problem The timing of the demo is pointed. A KYC store becomes a data honeypot the moment it concentrates identity records someone else wants, and that concentration is something the rulebook compels, not something a control choice creates. The scale of recent incidents makes the case plainly: IDmerit, disclosed in February 2026, exposed a data set running to roughly 1 billion records, including approximately 203 million US records. Unlike traditional passwords or credit card numbers, biometric data cannot be changed if compromised, posing long-term security risks. If fingerprints or iris patterns are stolen, the victim is permanently vulnerable to identity theft.

StarkWare's architecture sidesteps this problem by design. Because no raw document is ever handed to a verifier, there is no archive to steal. StarkWare chief executive Eli Ben-Sasson has said zero-knowledge systems could allow future investigations to request narrower information, though the approach has not yet faced broad regulatory testing, and institutions will still need to assess its legal, security, and operational controls before adoption.

For now, Private KYC is a demonstration pitched at government and institutional audiences, not a live product. Whether regulators will accept a ZK proof as a substitute for a stored document copy remains an open question. But as centralized identity databases continue to attract attackers, the architectural argument for an alternative is only getting stronger.

Sources:
Starknet: Make ERC-20 Tokens Private with STRK20
Finextra: The KYC Data Honeypot Is a Retention Mandate, Not a Security Failure
Fincrime Central: IDMerit data breach, 1 billion records exposed

 MEXC, a pioneer in 0-fee digital asset trading, has listed nine Ondo tokenized stock trading pairs on the Spot markets, giving users on-chain access to real-world equity exposure across key technology sectors including AI, semiconductors, and optical communications.

MEXC listed Ondo tokenized stock trading pairs across some of the most closely watched names in U.S. equity markets. The selection includes Cerebras Systems in AI inference hardware, Corning, Lumentum Holdings, and Applied Optoelectronics in optical communications infrastructure, and United Microelectronics and Amkor Technology in semiconductor manufacturing and packaging. Dell Technologies, Nokia, and Planet Labs complete the lineup across enterprise technology, telecommunications, and satellite data. Full listing details are available on the MEXC announcement page.

This listing builds on MEXC’s ongoing collaboration with Ondo Finance, further expanding the range of tokenized real-world assets available on the platform. The tokens’ underlying assets are securely held in custody by licensed broker-dealers. They are freely transferable and DeFi-compatible, unconstrained by the geographical restrictions and trading hours of traditional markets. Additionally, dividends are automatically reinvested after tax, providing users with an additional source of investment return. 

MEXC will continue to expand access to the world’s most sought-after assets, delivering on its mission to connect users worldwide with infinite investment opportunities.

About MEXC MEXC is the world’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchange, trusted by more than 40 million users across 170+ markets. Built on a user-first philosophy, MEXC offers industry-leading 0-fee trading and access to over 3,000 digital assets. As the Gateway to Infinite Opportunities, MEXC provides a single platform where users can easily trade cryptocurrencies alongside tokenized assets, including stocks, ETFs, commodities, and precious metals.

MEXC Official Website｜X ｜Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXC

For media inquiries, please contact MEXC PR team: [email protected]

Risk Disclaimer:

This content does not constitute investment advice. Given the highly volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, investors are encouraged to carefully assess market fluctuations, project fundamentals, and potential financial risks before making any trading decisions.

Source

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

A redemption that used to take days cleared in about five seconds. The names in the room matter more than the speed, and the question for XRP holders is where the token actually sits in the flow.

Summary

JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ondo, and Ripple tested tokenized Treasury redemption on the XRP Ledger. The settlement speed matters, but the institutional names matter more. XRP was not the asset being redeemed, but it can sit in fees, reserves, and routing. The long-term signal is utility; the near-term question is whether volume follows. On June 12, JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ondo Finance, and Ripple completed a test that moved a tokenized United States Treasury through a full redemption on the XRP Ledger. The settlement finished in roughly five seconds.

The same operation on traditional rails takes three to five business days. crypto.news shared the result the day it happened, and within hours the XRP community had folded it into the familiar story: another institution, another marquee logo, another reason the token should be worth more than it is.

NEW: JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ondo Finance and Ripple complete tokenized Treasury redemption test on XRP Ledger. Settlement took roughly 5 seconds compared to 3 to 5 business days on traditional rails pic.twitter.com/9Rkd3MkWF4

— crypto.news (@cryptodotnews) June 12, 2026 The speed is real and the participants are real. What deserves a closer look is the part the headlines skip, which is the exact role XRP the asset plays when a tokenized Treasury changes hands on its ledger.

That answer is more interesting than a simple win or loss. It sets the boundary on how much a holder should read into the news.

What actually happened on June 12 Strip the announcement down to its parts and the test looks like this. Ondo Finance issued a tokenized version of a short-dated United States Treasury instrument, the kind of product that wraps a real government bond into an on-chain token that pays the yield of the underlying paper.

Mastercard provided the link between the regulated money layer and the chain through its Multi-Token Network, the rails it has been building to let banks move tokenized deposits and settle against tokenized assets. JPMorgan brought its institutional settlement infrastructure to the bank side of the trade.

Ripple supplied the ledger and the surrounding tooling that let the redemption clear on the XRP Ledger instead of on a private bank network.

A redemption is the moment a holder hands the token back and receives cash value in return. In the legacy world, that round trip crawls through custodians, transfer agents, and settlement windows that only open on business days.

The test compressed that into a single near-instant on-chain event, with the cash leg and the asset leg settling together instead of days apart. Atomic settlement, where both sides of a trade move or neither does, removes the gap during which one party holds an asset and waits to be paid.

That gap is where counterparty risk lives, and closing it is the entire point of putting this kind of asset on a fast public ledger. So the result is a working proof that a tokenized Treasury can be issued, held, and redeemed across a chain that major financial firms were willing to touch.

That is not nothing. It is also not the same thing as production volume, and the difference is where careful readers should slow down.

The logos are the story, up to a point Each name on the June 12 test carries weight, and the weight is worth spelling out because the market tends to treat any JPMorgan headline as a verdict.

JPMorgan has spent years building Kinexys, formerly Onyx, its blockchain settlement arm that already moves large daily volumes in tokenized deposits. When a bank of that size agrees to run a redemption across the XRP Ledger, even as a test, it signals that the ledger met its internal bar for security and controls.

Mastercard has been pushing its Multi-Token Network as the connective tissue between banks and tokenized assets, and its presence shows the test was built to plug into existing card-network plumbing instead of standing alone as a crypto experiment. Ondo is one of the larger issuers of tokenized Treasuries, and its OUSG product has become a reference point for the whole real-world-asset category.

Ripple sat at the center as the ledger host and the firm whose institutional features made the settlement possible. Put together, the group reads as a deliberate signal that tokenized Treasuries can settle on the XRP Ledger with names that compliance departments recognize.

JPMorgan, Mastercard, Ondo Finance and Ripple just completed something quietly historic.

The first cross-border tokenized US Treasury redemption on the XRP Ledger.

Cleared in under 5 seconds.

Traditional settlement for this kind of transaction takes days.

Tokenized assets… pic.twitter.com/9uk5akaVRf

— Rose (@Rose09202) June 21, 2026 The temptation is to draw a straight line from that signal to the XRP price. Before drawing it, look at what moved through the transaction and what did not.

Why tokenized Treasuries are the wedge asset It is no accident that the test used a Treasury and not some exotic instrument. Among all the assets the industry has tried to move on-chain, short-dated government debt has become the wedge that opens the institutional door, and the reasons say a lot about why June 12 happened at all.

A Treasury bill is the simplest large asset to tokenize honestly. It has a known issuer, a known maturity, a yield that is easy to verify, and a price that barely moves day to day.

There is little argument about what it is worth, which means a token wrapped around it can be marked with confidence and redeemed without disputes. Compare that to tokenized real estate or private credit, where valuation is slow, subjective, and easy to challenge, and the appeal of starting with Treasuries becomes obvious.

The asset removes the hardest problem in tokenization, which is agreeing on value, so the experiment can focus on the plumbing. That is why tokenization as the real story keeps coming back to Treasuries: they are liquid, familiar, yield-bearing, and easy for institutions to understand.

The demand is also concrete. Crypto firms, trading desks, and treasuries sit on large idle dollar balances, often parked in stablecoins that pay them nothing.

A tokenized Treasury lets that cash earn the yield of real government paper while staying on-chain, available to move at any hour without leaving for the banking system. That single feature, on-chain dollars that earn a real yield, has turned tokenized Treasuries into one of the fastest-growing corners of the whole digital-asset market.

Ondo’s OUSG and a handful of competitors have pulled in billions because they answer a question every on-chain treasurer has, which is how to stop leaving money on the table.

So when Ripple wanted to prove the XRP Ledger could host serious institutional settlement, the Treasury was the natural choice. It is the asset most likely to move in real size, the one institutions most want on-chain, and the one with the fewest excuses for the test to fail.

Winning the Treasury-settlement business is the beachhead. Everything heavier, corporate bonds, funds, structured credit, follows the rail that first proves itself on the simple asset.

Where XRP actually sits in the transaction Here is the part that gets lost. In the June 12 flow, the asset being moved was a tokenized Treasury. The cash leg most likely settled in a stablecoin or a tokenized deposit.

XRP, the native token of the ledger, was not the thing being bought, sold, or redeemed.

That sounds like bad news for the holder thesis, and read too quickly it would be. The reality is more layered.

XRP touches a settlement like this in three indirect ways, and each one is small per transaction but structural across millions of them.

First, every transaction on the XRP Ledger burns a tiny amount of XRP as a fee. The amounts are fractions of a cent, designed to stop spam, not to enrich anyone.

As transaction count rises, the burn rises with it, which slowly removes XRP from supply. Second, accounts and certain ledger objects require a reserve denominated in XRP, so a ledger that hosts more institutional activity locks up more XRP in reserves.

Third, and most important over time, XRP can serve as the auto-bridge asset when one currency or token needs to move into another inside the ledger’s exchange. In a redemption that converts a tokenized Treasury back into a chosen settlement currency, XRP can sit in the middle as the routing asset that connects the two sides.

While the market obsesses over price action, XRPL just processed another milestone settlement blending JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Ondo Finance rails.

This cross-border tokenized Treasury redemption cleared on XRPL in under five seconds using RLUSD as the settlement asset and a… pic.twitter.com/eDw8SQm88z

— documenting XRP (@documentingXRPP) June 21, 2026 None of those roles require XRP to be the headline asset in the trade. All three grow with usage, not with hype.

That is the honest frame: the June 12 test does not put XRP at the center of the transaction, but it does feed the machinery where XRP earns its keep. Whether that machinery turns fast enough to matter for price is a separate question, and the search history of XRP suggests patience is warranted.

This is also what the tokenized Treasury settlement means for XRP: the ledger can win serious institutional use before the token captures meaningful demand. The two are connected, but not identical.

The ledger features that made it possible A redemption like this could not have run on the XRP Ledger of a few years ago. The capability is new, and it comes from a stack of institutional features Ripple and the wider XRPL developer community shipped across 2025 and into 2026.

Multi-Purpose Tokens, the MPT standard, let a token carry the metadata that a real financial instrument needs, things like maturity dates, transfer restrictions, and tranche information, without forcing developers to bolt on fragile smart contracts. Permissioned Domains and a permissioned version of the ledger’s decentralized exchange let regulated participants trade in gated environments where access depends on credentials such as know-your-customer checks.

RLUSD, Ripple’s dollar stablecoin, now settles on the ledger and gives institutions a compliant cash leg that lives on the same rail as the asset. The escrow feature was extended to support third-party tokens like RLUSD, which matters for structured settlement.

Layer the XLS-66 lending protocol on top, with its single-asset vaults that isolate credit risk one asset at a time, and the ledger starts to look less like a payments network and more like a settlement venue with a credit layer attached. The June 12 test is the visible output of that quieter build.

The features were the precondition. The redemption was the demonstration that they hold together under the eyes of firms that do not lend their names casually.

The competition for the same settlement business The XRP Ledger is not the only chain courting this work, and the contest for institutional settlement is the backdrop that gives June 12 its real stakes.

Ethereum sits at the center of the tokenized-asset world today. Most tokenized Treasuries, including the largest funds from the biggest asset managers, launched on Ethereum or its layer-2 networks, where the deepest pool of developers and the most established custody and compliance tooling already live.

An institution choosing where to settle starts from a world in which Ethereum is the default, and the burden falls on every other chain to give a reason to look elsewhere. Solana has pushed hard on speed and cost and has won its own share of tokenization projects and corporate interest.

On top of the public chains, the banks are building private ones. JPMorgan’s own settlement network already moves enormous daily volumes inside a permissioned environment the bank controls end to end.

Against that field, the XRP Ledger’s pitch is specific. It offers settlement built for payments from the start, with the institutional features, the MPT standard, permissioned trading, credentials, baked into the base layer instead of bolted on through smart contracts that have to be audited one project at a time.

The argument is that a purpose-built settlement ledger carries less risk surface than a general-purpose smart-contract chain, because there is less custom code between an institution and a completed trade. June 12 is Ripple making that argument in public with partners who could have run the same test anywhere.

This is why the names matter more than the speed. Five-second settlement is achievable on several chains.

What the XRP Ledger needed to prove was that firms like JPMorgan and Mastercard would choose it for a real institutional flow when they had every other option available. The test does not win the war.

It wins the right to be in the room for the next one, which for a chain competing against Ethereum’s incumbency is the harder thing to secure.

Following one tokenized Treasury through the flow Abstractions blur the stakes, so trace a single unit through the kind of cycle the test modeled.

Start with a short-dated United States Treasury bill sitting in a custodian’s account. Ondo, or an issuer like it, holds that bill and mints an on-chain token against it.

The token represents a claim on the bill and the yield it throws off. Call it one unit of a tokenized Treasury, and place it in the wallet of an institutional holder who wants short-term dollar yield without leaving the chain.

For weeks, the holder simply holds. The token accrues the bill’s yield.

When the holder decides to exit, the redemption begins. The holder submits the token back toward the issuer through the settlement arrangement that JPMorgan and Mastercard stand behind.

On the ledger, the asset leg and the cash leg are matched so they settle as one event. The token is retired.

A settlement currency, most likely RLUSD or a tokenized deposit, lands in the holder’s wallet in return. The fee for the ledger transactions is paid in XRP and burned.

If the chosen settlement currency differs from the currency the token was priced in, the ledger’s exchange can route through XRP as the bridge to complete the swap. Total elapsed time: around five seconds.

Compare that to the legacy path, where the same redemption would route through a transfer agent, wait for a settlement window, and clear across three to five business days while both sides carry risk. The end state is identical.

The holder is out of the Treasury and into cash. The path is what changed, and the path is the product.

Notice where XRP appeared in that walk. It paid the fee. It may have bridged the currencies. It backed the account reserves.

It was never the asset the holder set out to trade. That is the shape of XRP’s role in institutional settlement, and it explains why utility can climb for years while the token price moves sideways.

What institutions actually buy beyond the five seconds The speed grabs the headline, but settlement time is not the only thing an institution gains, and the other gains explain why firms keep running these tests even when the token economics do not concern them.

The first gain is capital efficiency. In the legacy model, the days between trade and settlement are days during which capital sits frozen, posted as margin or held in reserve against the risk that the other side fails to deliver.

Collapse settlement to seconds and that frozen capital comes free, available to be deployed elsewhere. For a large trading desk, the value of unlocking capital that used to sit idle for three days at a time runs into real money across a year of activity.

The second gain is around-the-clock operation. Traditional settlement runs on banking hours and business days, so a Friday trade waits through the weekend.

An on-chain ledger settles at any hour, which matters more every year as markets globalize and the line between trading days blurs. The third gain is collateral mobility.

A tokenized Treasury that settles instantly can be moved, pledged, or redeemed the moment it is needed, which lets the same asset work harder as collateral across more uses.

These are the reasons a JPMorgan or a Mastercard cares about the test, and none of them depend on XRP the token doing anything. The institution is buying a better settlement process.

XRP earns its small dues in the background. Keeping those two things separate is the key to reading any announcement like this one without mistaking institutional interest in the ledger for institutional demand for the token.

The first is clearly growing. The second has to be inferred from on-chain flow, and the inference is where most of the disappointment in XRP’s price history has come from.

That is why Ripple’s IPO and XRP holders is part of the same broader lesson. Ripple’s success, XRPL adoption, and XRP holder value are related, but they do not automatically collapse into the same thing.

Does settlement volume reach the price? This is the question every holder actually wants answered, and it deserves a straight treatment, not a number pulled from the air.

The bullish case runs through the indirect roles. If tokenized Treasuries and similar real-world assets move onto the XRP Ledger in size, transaction counts climb, fee burn climbs, reserves lock up more supply, and bridge routing pulls XRP into more flows.

Demand for the token then rises from use instead of from speculation, and demand that comes from use tends to be stickier. Ripple has framed exactly this flywheel in its institutional materials, and the logic holds on its own terms.

The sober case sits in the math. Fee burn on the XRP Ledger is deliberately tiny.

Even a large jump in institutional transactions removes a small fraction of supply against the tens of billions of XRP already in circulation and the monthly escrow releases that add to it. Bridge routing only pulls in XRP when a trade actually needs a currency conversion that the ledger chooses to route through XRP, and many institutional flows will settle stablecoin to stablecoin without ever touching the token.

Reserves lock supply but do not create buy pressure on their own. There is a supply side to weigh as well, and it cuts against the burn story in the near term.

Ripple releases up to one billion XRP from escrow at the start of each month, then re-locks most of it, but the net new supply that reaches the market still runs into the hundreds of millions of tokens monthly. For fee burn from institutional settlement to tighten supply in any meaningful way, the volume would have to grow large enough to offset that steady release, which is a high bar at current transaction levels.

A holder who pins hopes on burn alone is betting that on-chain activity climbs by orders of magnitude while the escrow schedule keeps running on its long-set path. That can happen over years. It does not happen because of one test.

The careful reading is that the June 12 test strengthens the long-term utility argument and does little for the short-term price argument. XRP spent most of 2026 trading near or below the one-dollar-and-change range while news exactly like this piled up, which is the market telling you that proofs of concept are priced as proofs of concept until volume follows.

A settlement test is a door opening. Walking through it at scale is a different event, and the token tends to wait for the second one.

What has to be true for this to matter For the June 12 result to move from interesting to important, a few things need to happen, and naming them gives a holder a watchlist instead of a hope.

Production volume has to follow the test. One redemption proves the plumbing.

Recurring institutional flow, measured in real daily value rather than pilot transactions, is what feeds the burn-and-bridge machinery. Regulatory clarity has to land, because the CLARITY Act and the broader United States market-structure framework decide how freely regulated institutions can settle tokenized assets on public ledgers.

Until the rules set, much of this activity stays in the test-and-pilot stage where the June 12 work lives. That is why CLARITY’s XRP classification question matters: the technology can be ready before the legal framework gives the rest of Wall Street permission to use it.

Competing venues have to be held off, since Ethereum, Solana, and a wave of bank-built private chains are chasing the same tokenized-asset settlement business, and the XRP Ledger has to keep winning the names that make compliance teams comfortable.

If those line up, the indirect demand argument gets a real chance to show up in on-chain data, and from there in price. If they stall, June 12 joins the long list of XRP headlines that read well and changed little.

The token has taught its holders that lesson more than once. That is also why institutional positioning in XRP matters as a separate signal: ETFs show who wants exposure, while settlement flows show whether utility is becoming demand.

Reading the signal without inflating it The clean takeaway is that Ripple, with JPMorgan, Mastercard, and Ondo alongside it, proved that a tokenized Treasury can be issued and redeemed on the XRP Ledger in seconds, with names that the institutional world takes seriously.

That is a meaningful step for the ledger as a settlement venue. For XRP the asset, it is a vote for the long-term utility thesis and a weak input to the near-term price, because the token sits in the fees, the reserves, and the bridge rather than at the center of the trade.

A holder who understands that distinction will not oversell the day and will not dismiss it either. The machinery that pays XRP its small, repeated dues got a high-profile workout.

Now the only thing that turns that into price is the boring part, which is volume that shows up and keeps showing up. Watch the on-chain flow, watch the rules, and let the token follow the usage instead of the logos.

This article is information, not investment advice. Figures and partnership details reflect reporting available as of June 23, 2026, and corporate plans, test results, and market conditions can change.

Ondo Tokenized Stocks has expanded the reach of tokenized US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) through a new integration with LI.FI, allowing greater access to these assets on the blockchain. The integration is now live on both Ethereum and BNB Chain, with support for Solana expected to follow in later stages.

Wider reach for tokenized assetsWith this latest development, more than 438 tokenized US stocks and ETFs have become accessible via one of the most widely used cross-chain transaction infrastructures in the crypto sector. This move has broadened the audience for Ondo’s blockchain-based financial products, opening them up to a larger user base.

The integration allows users to access traditional market assets on-chain directly from their preferred crypto applications, without having to leave those platforms. This convenience is expected to further drive adoption and demand for tokenized securities among investors.

Direct access through the LI.FI ecosystemOver 1,000 partners within the LI.FI ecosystem now have direct access to tokenized products offered by Ondo Global Markets. Among the available assets are major US stocks such as Tesla, NVIDIA, and Apple, as well as widely followed ETFs like QQQ and SPY.

Glossary: An ETF is an exchange-traded fund that tracks an index or group of assets and is traded on stock exchanges. QQQ is one of the most well-known ETFs tracking the Nasdaq 100 index, while SPY tracks the S&P 500 index.

LI.FI serves as an execution infrastructure that facilitates both on-chain and cross-chain asset transfers. Rather than requiring users to select the technical route for their transactions, the system lets them define their desired outcome and relies on professional solution providers within the network to execute the process seamlessly.

With this integration, more than 438 tokenized US stocks and ETFs have become available to a wider user base through Ethereum and BNB Chain.

Transaction volume and custody structureAccording to the shared data, LI.FI has managed a trading volume exceeding $80 billion through more than 100 million transactions so far. The platform also provides its infrastructure services to several leading crypto exchanges and wallets in the industry.

Ondo Tokenized Stocks converts US securities into tokens that are fully backed by the underlying assets. These tokenized securities are held with one or more US-based brokerages and are subject to daily verification protocols. The platform also incorporates investor protection measures specifically designed for institutional participants.

Full backing of tokenized assets by the underlying securities and a daily verification process are highlighted as core structural features of the platform.

Impressive growth metricsAs of September 2025, the total value of tokens issued on the platform has surpassed $1 billion. The number of token holders has climbed into the tens of thousands, and the cumulative transaction volume has exceeded $20 billion.

The collaboration with LI.FI has increased the visibility of Ondo Tokenized Stocks in a variety of markets, underlining the continuing demand to bring financial assets onto the blockchain.

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

Tue 23 Jun 2026 ▪ 4 min read ▪ by Ariela R.

Summarize this article with:

On June 22, 2026, the US spot Bitcoin ETF market recorded net outflows of $68.18 million. This decline is explained by massive redemptions on BlackRock’s IBIT and Grayscale’s GBTC. These outflows completely overshadowed the positive performance of Ark Invest (+$64 million) and Fidelity (+$57.38 million). Above all, it reflects a strong polarization among institutional investors.

In Brief Bitcoin ETFs show a net loss of $68.18 million during the June 22, 2026 session. Ark Invest (ARKB) and Fidelity (FBTC) nonetheless attracted a combined inflow of $121.38 million, proving continued buying demand. Ethereum funds also recorded a decline of $66.38 million, while Bitwise’s XRP gained $5.31 million. The total net assets under management of Bitcoin ETFs reach $80.22 billion, confirming the structural anchoring of these products in institutional portfolios. Bitcoin ETFs Remain Under Pressure Despite Some Positive Signs At first glance, the session on June 22, 2026, in the US spot Bitcoin ETF market looks like an ordinarily bearish day. Analysts also reveal a record withdrawal of $6.35 billion over 30 days. However, SoSoValue’s data highlights a more complex reality: never before has a day in negative territory hidden so many active institutional purchases.

ARK & 21Shares lead the charge with $64 million in net inflows into their ARKB fund, closely followed by Fidelity’s Bitcoin ETF, which captured $57.38 million. Together, these two issuers have absorbed over $121 million in spot bitcoin.

Chart showing the evolution of Bitcoin ETF flows (Source: SoSoValue) Additional inflows include:

Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust: +$48.14 million Morgan Stanley’s MSBT: +$8.11 million Franklin Templeton’s EZBC: +$3.72 million WisdomTree’s BTCW: +$3.40 million In total, the aggregated demand from six ETF issuers exceeded $228 million. This represents one of the largest coordinated buying days in several weeks.

The Weight of BlackRock and Grayscale Tips the Bitcoin ETF Market Certainly, the buyer base remains solid. However, the Bitcoin ETF market was overwhelmed by extreme concentration of outflows on two specific investment vehicles.

The main culprit of this institutional Black Monday is BlackRock’s IBIT (iShares Bitcoin Trust). The asset management giant suffered massive outflows of $171.96 million in a single session. It had just launched the first-ever yield-bearing Bitcoin ETF.

Meanwhile, the GBTC (Grayscale Bitcoin Trust) records a disinvestment of $80.96 million. The manager tries to offset these losses through its Mini Trust. However, the historically high management fees of GBTC structurally encourage early investors to migrate to more competitive structures or take profits.

Beyond Bitcoin: Ethereum Stumbles, While XRP Surprises The spot Ethereum ETFs had an even tougher day. The data reveal a net loss of $66.38 million, almost entirely attributable to BlackRock’s ETHA fund. The only positive inflow on Ethereum that day came from 21Shares’ TETH, with $346,070 of inflows. The total net assets of Ethereum ETFs stand at $9.44 billion, with a daily volume of $433.10 million.

For crypto assets alternative to bitcoin, the XRP ETFs are the only source of color in an overall red picture. Bitwise captured $5.31 million, bringing the total net assets of the XRP category to $993.29 million. This represents a symbolic drop of $7 million from the billion-dollar mark. A threshold to watch in the coming sessions!

The Solana and HYPE ETFs remained completely inactive on this day. Solana’s assets stand at $836.09 million, and HYPE’s at $219.58 million.

In any case, this trading session highlights the end of the homogeneity of institutional flows on cryptocurrencies. Upcoming flow reports and US monetary policy decisions will be crucial to determine whether this phase of weakness marks a simple pause or the beginning of a new cycle for Bitcoin ETFs. Stay tuned…

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Ariela R.

My name is Ariela, and I am 31 years old. I have been working in the field of web writing for 7 years now. I only discovered trading and cryptocurrency a few years ago, but it is a universe that greatly interests me. The topics covered on the platform allow me to learn more. A singer in my spare time, I also cultivate a great passion for music and reading (and animals!)

DISCLAIMER

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

Non-fungible token (NFT) project Pudgy Penguins has expanded the retail reach of its trading card game through a nationwide rollout at Target stores in the US. 

According to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, the launch of Vibes Series 3 marks the game's biggest retail expansion to date and brings the total number of circulated cards to 15 million. The new set includes additional gameplay mechanics, original artwork and appearances by characters from the Moonbirds collection. 

Pudgy Penguins developed Vibes in partnership with Orange Cap Games, with Series 3 following two earlier releases. The digital collectible project is the fourth-largest NFT collection by market capitalization, according to data tracker NFT Price Floor.

Top five NFT collections by market capitalization. Source: NFT Price Floor

The rollout shows how Pudgy Penguins is extending its NFT-born intellectual property into mainstream consumer products as it aims to build a broader entertainment franchise beyond digital assets.

Pudgy Penguins has spent years turning its Ethereum-based NFT collection into a broader consumer brand, with ventures spanning toys, licensing and other consumer products.

Its physical toys entered more than 2,000 Walmart stores in 2023. CEO Luca Netz said in May 2024 that more than 1 million toys had been sold over the preceding 12 months.

The project’s licensing model also allows NFT holders to receive 5% of net revenue from physical products featuring their individual penguins.

The franchise has also expanded into gaming. In 2025, Pudgy Penguins launched Pengu Clash, a game on The Open Network. At the time, Netz described gaming as a vehicle for bringing the project’s intellectual property to wider audiences.

It also launched a mobile game called Pudgy Party in August 2025. According to Pudgy Penguins, the game's downloads exceeded 1 million. However, the project said on Monday that it would halt further development of the game and focus its resources on a browser-based game called Pudgy World. 

Magazine: Vietnam preps crypto pilot, HK pushes tokenization: Asia Express

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

USD1's circulating supply expanded 9.7% over the past seven days to $4.85 billion, a 100th-percentile move that pushes the World Liberty Financial-issued stablecoin past Sky's USDS in net weekly inflows.

USD1's circulating supply expanded 9.7% over the past seven days to $4.85 billion, a 100th-percentile move on the World Liberty Financial-issued stablecoin's three-month supply history.

The dollar increase works out to roughly $427 million in new tokens between Monday last week and Sunday, according to DefiLlama's stablecoin tracker. USD1's 30-day change is under 1%, so nearly the entire move happened in the past nine days, after a mid-June low of $4.34 billion. The asset is now the fourth-largest dollar-pegged stablecoin, behind Tether, USDC and Sky's USDS.

USD1 circulating supply, March 25 to June 22, 2026. Trough $4.34B on June 13; peak $4.84B on June 22, a 9.7% seven-day expansion. Source: DefiLlama.Where the Tokens LiveUSD1 circulates across eight chains, with Ethereum carrying $1.99 billion (41%), BSC $1.80 billion (37%) and Solana $1.02 billion (21%). Aptos, Tron, Plume, Monad and Abcore split the remainder. The stablecoin is described by issuer World Liberty Financial as backed by U.S. Treasuries and cash equivalents, with mint and redeem flows handled by authorized institutional partners against custodied reserves. DefiLlama's record for the token lists no public audit attestation.

Two Top-10 Stablecoins Went the Other WayTwo other stablecoins in the same size tier contracted over the same window, while the overall stablecoin market cap was flat at $315.5 billion. Sky's USDS supply dropped 3.5% in seven days to $8.16 billion, shedding roughly $295 million, per DefiLlama. PayPal's PYUSD slipped 1.1% on the week to $2.74 billion and is down 24% over 30 days, a trajectory PayPal has not publicly addressed.

The three coins span the $2 billion to $9 billion supply band and overlap on institutional and payments use cases. USD1 added net supply in the same seven days the other two lost it.

What's Driving the MintTwo recent USD1 distribution channels could plausibly account for new issuance: Aster's announcement that its real-world-asset perpetuals would settle exclusively in USD1, and World Liberty Financial's payout of UFC Freedom 250 prize money in USD1 at the White House earlier this month.

WLFI, the project's governance token, trades at $0.0591 with a $1.88 billion market cap and is down 2.1% on the week, according to DefiLlama's price feed. The rebound is concentrated in the stablecoin, not the governance token.

Pump.fun, the Solana-based platform that turned meme coin launching into a one-click affair, is now searching for a chief legal officer. The price tag: a base salary between $1 million and $5 million, plus commission and bonuses.

The CLO role covers an almost comically broad legal surface area. SEC oversight in the US, MiCA compliance in Europe, and UK regulatory frameworks all fall under the position’s umbrella.

Pump.fun operates under Baton Corporation Ltd, a UK-registered entity that launched the platform in January 2024. In the roughly 18 months since, the company has generated approximately $800 million in revenue from trading and graduation fees. It currently processes over $300 million in daily transaction volume.

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Multiple class-action lawsuits have been filed against Baton Corporation since January 2025. The core allegation across these cases is that tokens launched on Pump.fun qualify as unregistered securities. One notable case, Aguilar v. Baton Corporation, puts the controversial nature of meme coin regulation front and center.

The platform also got hit with a user ban in the UK back in December 2024. Accusations of pump-and-dump schemes associated with meme coins launched on the platform have further complicated its legal posture.

In July 2025, Pump.fun raised approximately $1.3 billion through the initial coin offering of its native PUMP token. That figure broke down to roughly $600 million in public sales and about $720 million from private funding.

The PUMP token saw significant volatility following its ICO launch. Pump.fun has enabled the launch of millions of meme tokens since its inception.

For PUMP token holders and active users of the platform, the outcomes of the ongoing class-action lawsuits could be defining. If courts determine that tokens launched via Pump.fun are unregistered securities, the ripple effects wouldn’t stop at Baton Corporation’s door. The Aguilar lawsuit and the UK ban are early indicators of a coordinated, multi-jurisdictional pressure campaign.

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