Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

The recent acquisitions are part of Synthetix’s plans to become a category leader among derivative exchanges.

Ethereum-based derivatives trading protocol Synthetix announced its acquisition of leveraged token platform TLX in a token-for-token transaction, Synthetix said in a Dec. 10 blog post.

The platform is completing a thorough review and audit of all TLX products. After that, it will implement parameter improvements and redeploy all contracts, the statement said. It also plans to kick off a leveraged token incentive program in 2025.

“The acquisition of TLX will mark the first end-customer, revenue-generating product built on top of Synthetix that will be owned and operated by Synthetix. This marks a significant milestone in Synthetix’s commitment to expand its product offering and generate additional value for SNX tokenholders,” the Synthetix team wrote in the blog post.

Synthetic’s TLX acquisition came just a month after it acquired the perpetuals trading platform Kwenta in a similar deal. Synthetix and Kwenta were once one platform until 2020, when they separated to allow Kwenta to focus solely on providing industry-standard trading experiences for Sythetix’s derivatives markets.

The acquisitions are part of Synthetix’s strategy to design a decentralized liquidity layer and become a primary product issuer on top of it.

Synthetix is the sixth largest derivatives exchange by total value locked (TVL), according to DeFiLlama data. The TVL of its v3 has increased by over 1,000% in the last month, likely due to Ethereum liquidity providers migrating from V2, as Messari reported.

Synthetix Leveraged TokensLeveraged tokens are crypto derivative products that offer exposure to the price movements of an underlying asset with leverage. They are designed to amplify a user’s gains or losses and offer a more convenient means to access leverage without dealing with margin trading or holding a collateral asset.

Synthetix’s TLX acquisition allows it to go to market with a leveraged token with six months of history and performance. It is also the first in a line of structured products that Synthetix plans to launch in the coming months as it positions itself as a category leader among derivative exchanges.

Veritaseum isn’t backing down from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as the number of enforcement actions related to the 2017 ICO craze continue to pile up. 

The SEC filed an emergency lawsuit last week against Veritaseum in a New York federal court and obtained a temporary restraining order to freeze $8 million in remaining ICO funds held by Veritaseum and CEO Reginald Middleton.

Yesterday, Middleton made public his company’s response to the SEC’s lawsuit—a 423-page document that attempts to answer the Commission’s allegations that Veritaseum conducted an unregistered securities offering and subsequently moved $2 million in an attempt to dissipate funds after being served with a Wells notice on August 12.

Much like the few other crypto startups, such as Kik, that are challenging the SEC’s allegations in court rather than settling their charges, Veritaseum’s response insists that the company’s VERI tokens do not represent securities. Further, the company claims that the movement of 10,000 Ether (worth $2 million at the time) in ICO funds after being notified of the enforcement action "was merely the funding of Veritaseum’s ongoing business operations."

In its filing, Veritaseum is asking the court to unfreeze its assets and lif the TRO. "The temporary freeze in this case has already caused significant harm to the holders of Veritaseum’s utility tokens, the very people the SEC is purportedly seeking to protect," Veritaseum said in its response. Potential harm to token holders is the very same line of reasoning that Kik, perhaps not coincidentally, used in its initial response to the SEC’s Well notice.

A token misunderstandingThe SEC’s investigation of Veritaseum began in the summer of 2017, during which Veritaseum raised $14.8 million in a crowdsale lasting from 2017 into early 2018. The lawsuit alleges that funds were raised on the premise that VERI was a utility token providing access to "products ready to go to market that would replace brokers, banks, and hedge funds."

According to the SEC, the company mischaracterized VERI tokens as utility tokens, manipulated the market for VERI Tokens, and attempted to dissipate ICO funds after receiving the Wells notice.

Veritaseum describes itself as enabling "software-driven P2P capital markets without brokerages, banks or traditional exchanges." Products include VeADIR: Veritaseum Autonomous Dynamic Interactive Research, which pays Veritaseum for "real world research," a vehicle for renting VERI tokens, subtoken creation, and access to the Financial Machine portfolio.

Named for Veritas, the Roman goddess of truth, Veritaseum and its executives appear to think their version of the truth will outweigh the SEC's in court.

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Cryptocurrency exchange Binance today made an announcement regarding an altcoin to inform its users. The cryptocurrency mentioned in the announcement is IRISnet (IRIS). Let’s look at the details of the announcement made by Binance.

In the statement made by Binance, it was mentioned that starting from 07:30 Turkey time on May 20, 2024, deposits and withdrawals of the IRISnet (IRIS) tokens will be suspended to support the network upgrade for the best user experience.

The network upgrade is expected to occur at block height 25,006,118 on May 20, 2024, around 08:30 Turkey time.

Informing its users about other details, Binance stated that the trading of tokens on the mentioned network will not be affected.

Binance also emphasized that it will meet all relevant technical requirements for all users. Deposits and withdrawals for the tokens on the mentioned network will be reopened once the upgraded network is considered stable. Additionally, no further announcement will be made.

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.

March 26, 2024 – Tallinn, Estonia

This first MarketingFi utility token will launch within the Cookie3 ecosystem – COOKIE represents digital marketing value passed on to users who drive projects forward instead of on advertising giants like Google or Facebook. Cookie3, a MarketingFi protocol and AI data layer, has just announced that COOKIE – the Cookie DAO-powered token – will launch on ChainGPT Pad and Polkastarter in Q2 2024.

Using the Cookie3 technological stack, COOKIE aims to move $366 billion digital marketing value from advertising giants onto users who bring quality to projects and help them grow.

The project is backed by industry’s top names, including lead investor Spartan Group, GSR, Big Brain Holdings, CMT Digital, Hartmann Capital, Jsquare and Orange DAO, as well as two top launchpads –Polkastarter and ChainGPT – second of which is also the project’s accelerator.

Ilan Rakhmanov, the CEO and founder of ChainGPT, COOKIE launchpad and Cookie3 accelerator, said,

“Cookie3 and its ecosystem token COOKIE are something the market has not seen yet but has needed for long.

“This revolutionary approach, which combines AI, DeFi and marketing with Cookie3’s amazing data processing technology, gives COOKIE an amazing utility within the Web 3.0 and Web 2.0 digital marketing economy.

“We were lucky to find this project and be closely involved in Cookie3’s development. We see Cookie3 use cases across all corners of Web 3.0 and its entire user base – from degens through KOLs and businesses.

“Cookie3 finds ways to unlock marketing value and put it exactly where it needs to be, using COOKIE as a medium.

“We are honored to support Cookie3’s journey and awaiting to see COOKIE in action within the Cookie3 multi-platform ecosystem.”

João Leite, managing partner of Polkastarter and COOKIE launchpad, said,

“We are delighted that COOKIE will launch on Polkastarter. We have been following Cookie3 for the past two years and are excited that COOKIE will find its home and multiple utilities across Cookie3 platforms.

“Today is the day when MarketingFi [becomes] an even stronger term. I look forward to seeing the Cookie3 vision unfold even further with COOKIE as the medium and carrier of MarketingFi value.”

Unlocking $366 billion value with MarketingFi protocol and AI data layer Cookie3 is able to push marketing value into its ecosystem and users with the COOKIE token, thanks to its unique technological stack based on propriety off- and on-chain analytics engine and an AI data layer.

This value exchange is possible due to the unique synergies between the Cookie DAO community with its COOKIE token impacting the Cookie3 multi-plaform ecosystem.

The Cookie3 tech enables understanding of the user journey from off-chain activities to on-chain conversions and further activity.

This way, Cookie3 can determine which users bring value to projects and should be rewarded.

At the same time, having used AI to analyze over 15 unique behavioral characteristics, Cookie3 can distinguish between quality users, bots or Sybil attackers to ensure that rewards go to truly engaged audiences rather than malicious actors trying to take advantage of the Web 3.0 economy.

This technology is prevalent across the Cookie3 three-platform ecosystem, where analytics and AI are integrated to do the following.

Help marketers understand their users better, tailor marketing campaigns and ensure their marketing budgets are passed on to quality users through Cookie3 analytics. Reward creators with airdrops, allocations and tokens for bringing quality audiences to projects through the Cookie3 affiliate. Allow individual users to explore their MarketingFi score based on their off- and on-chain activity. Users can market themselves to projects worth investing in with rewards such as airdrops, exclusive campaigns or tailored offerings through Cookie3 score (the platform is set to launch in Q3 2024). In short, Cookie3 helps businesses find ways to connect with valuable audiences, while at the same time helping users to market themselves as worth rewarding for further ecosystem growth.

Cookie3 technology has already been trusted by top names in the industry, such as Kyber Swap, Mantle, Polkastarter, Linea, GameSwift, Eesee, Insomnia Labs and over 170 more, who integrated into the Cookie3 MarketingFi protocol.

Filip Wielanier, CEO and co-founder of Cookie3, said,

“Our team has been building the Cookie3 technology for over two years, and our current business traction proves that we are the industry’s most advanced user analytics platform.

“We have over 600 million unique wallets and nine billion transactions processed on 16 chains, with over 170 businesses integrated into our proprietary data infrastructure.

“Today marks a historic breakthrough in the Cookie3 history. The solutions we’ve been developing find utility across three different platforms, designed not only for analytics but also for user acquisition and engagement.

“We believe that MarketingFi can and will change the value distribution game. We are excited to contribute to this ecosystem with the Cookie3 multi-platform ecosystem, fueled by the COOKIE token – the future carrier of the MarketingFi value.”

COOKIE utility – one token, many platforms The COOKIE token will find utility in all parts and corners of the Cookie3 ecosystem – Cookie3 analytics, Cookie3 affiliate and Cookie3 score – generating rewards for its holders and stakers.

Moreover, it will grant governance rights within the Cookie DAO with voting rights on matters relating to its treasury, comprising eight-percent of the COOKIE supply.

The Cookie3 core team also shared that COOKIE token holders will often get to decide the future of Cookie3 products, platforms and the token’s role within the ecosystem, alongside benefiting from exclusive access to token-gated features.

The Cookie3 team has also teased a gamified COOKIE airdrop, with more information to be released soon on the Cookie community platform, which will launch on March 28, 2024.

About Cookie3 Cookie3 pioneers MarketingFi with an AI data layer – a transparent marketing economy unlocking value for Web 3.0 users, creators and businesses, with over 170 DApps such as Kyber Swap, Mantle, Polkastarter, Linea, GameSwift, Eesee and Insomnia Labs already using Cookie3 technology.

To realize its mission, Cookie3 is building a set of MarketingFi platforms and Web 3.0 AI marketing solutions that connect projects with the right audiences, creating profitable opportunities for both.

Cookie3 uses off- and on-chain analytics alongside a Web 3.0 AI data layer to ensure only valuable user and project interactions benefit from the MarketingFi ecosystem.

In an economy where lines between business owners, investors and consumers are blurred, effective marketing becomes collaborative, and value flows freely between all stakeholders.

Backed by top institutional investors such as lead investor Spartan Group, GSR, Big Brain Holdings, CMT Digital, Hartmann Capital, Jsquare, Orange DAO, Polkastarter and Chain GPT, Cookie3 fills the gap where Web 2.0 marketing comes short.

Users can learn more at the website.

About Cookie DAO The Cookie DAO is a collective of MarketingFi enthusiasts aiming to bolster decentralization through innovative blockchain solutions.

It created the COOKIE token and injected it into the Cookie3 ecosystem to drive the MarketingFi ethos forward through governance and tokenized support.

Anyone can become a member of the Cookie DAO. The sole requirement is to believe in MarketingFi and want to drive the MarketingFi economy forward.

Cookie DAO members are encouraged to hold and stake COOKIE for access to additional rewards and voting rights on matters relating to the Cookie DAO’s treasury and future.

Users can learn more here.

About ChainGPT ChainGPT is an advanced AI infrastructure dedicated to developing AI-powered technologies for the Web 3.0, blockchain and crypto spaces.

Their mission is to improve the Web 3.0 space for retail users and startups by developing AI-powered solutions.

Users can learn more at the website.

About Polkastarter Polkastarter is the leading early-stage fundraising protocol enabling Web 3.0’s most innovative projects to kickstart their journey and grow their communities.

Polkastarter allows its users to make research-based decisions to participate in high-potential public sales.

Users can learn more at the website.

Contact Krystyna Kozak-Kornacka, chief marketing officer at Cookie3

 

Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced fresh stablecoin legislation Wednesday, renewing lawmakers’ years-long attempt at enacting a comprehensive framework for the class of crypto assets in the United States.

The 117-page bill includes a raft of definitions pertaining to the sector, outlining rules on the state and federal levels for firms to issue so-called payment stablecoins. The bill also requires that firms conduct any stablecoin activities through subsidiaries. Stablecoins are crypto assets that are pegged to (and backed by) fiat currencies, and maintain a stable price point.

The new requirement differs from how some companies have handled stablecoins in the past. For example, Binance, which is not a bank, once offered its Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin through Paxos Trust, which is not a subsidiary of the crypto exchange. The companies’ support of BUSD, however, drew to a close after Paxos was warned of a potential enforcement action by the SEC last year.

Different regulations would apply to companies depending on the outstanding value of stablecoins issued. Under the bill, dubbed the Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act, a $10 billion cap is placed on state regulators’ ability to authorize and supervise non-depository trust companies involved in the stablecoin space.

🚨@gillibrandny and I are introducing the most comprehensive stablecoin bill to date.

Crypto assets are revolutionizing the world and as the undisputed leader in financial innovation, the U.S. must embrace crypto assets, but it cannot be done without clear rules for stablecoins. pic.twitter.com/vwRUEBUdsl

— Senator Cynthia Lummis (@SenLummis) April 17, 2024

“The legislation maintains the dual banking system that is critical to preserving the parity enjoyed by the state and federal financial institutions,” Lummis said on Twitter (aka X) on Wednesday.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) met with key legislators from the House Financial Service Committee to discuss stablecoin legislation, per Punchbowl News. During the meeting, lawmakers reportedly discussed folding bipartisan legislation into a bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“I think there’s momentum,” Gillibrand said in an interview on CNBC’s "Squawk Box" Wednesday. “As part of the FAA reauthorization, it can be done quite quickly.”

Often referred to as the "Bitcoin Senator," Lummis' advocacy for crypto on Capitol Hill dates back to her election win in 2020. However, Lummis says she bought her first Bitcoin back in 2013, believing in its potential to address issues in today's financial system.

Under the new bill, it would be unlawful for stablecoin issuers in the U.S. to issue algorithmic stablecoins. Instead of using assets to back a stablecoin’s value, algorithmic coins keep their price pegged to the dollar (or other asset) with trading incentives.

Additionally, the bill requires that stablecoin issuers maintain one-to-one reserves for stablecoins. Often, fiat-backed stablecoins are pegged to the dollar through a mix of liquid assets like U.S. Treasuries and cash.

Algorithmic stablecoins caught attention on Capitol Hill following the collapse of TerraUSD in 2022, which shredded more than $40 billion worth of investors’ wealth. In February, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it should still be a priority for Congress to pass legislation regulating the stablecoin market.

The senators’ bill introduced Wednesday follows the introduction of other crypto-related bills, such as the Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act in 2022. 

Outlining boundaries between the regulatory authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the bill was reintroduced in 2023.

So far, efforts to regulate crypto on Capitol Hill have died on the legislative grapevine. But Lummis is hopeful that the senators’ efforts could bear fruit before election season becomes too strong a force.

“We're going to keep pushing for weeks, rather than months,” Lummis said on "Squawk Box" Wednesday, adding that Congress is quickly approaching a period where “politics takes over policy.”

Edited by Stacy Elliott and Andrew Hayward

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PANews, June 22 — Ranveer Arora, CEO of the on-chain yield platform Altura, posted on X stating that the platform has received an unprecedented number of withdrawal requests over the past 24 hours and has successfully processed over 8.5 million USDT in instant redemptions. Given the sustained withdrawal demand and current market sentiment, the team has decided to begin an orderly wind-down of the Altura vaults, prioritizing the protection of user capital and ensuring all redemptions are completed in a fair, transparent, and efficient manner. The team has notified all counterparties and partners and has begun closing positions in the investment portfolio. Arora stated that some positions can be redeemed immediately, while others require standard settlement and redemption periods, and the team is working with all counterparties to accelerate the process.

One day before this post was published, Altura issued a statement regarding the Mainstreet (MSY) depegging incident, clarifying that it has never had any exposure to Mainstreet or any of its underlying investment strategies, and that its HyperEVM lending vaults, related markets, and Ethereum vaults remain unaffected.

On May 5, Jito Labs—the Solana ecosystem’s staking protocol—announced plans to launch JTX, a consumer-focused crypto trading app, in July this year. This marks its official shift from the infrastructure layer to front-end transaction services. Early versions of JTX will support Solana-based spot trading, with plans to later integrate perpetual contracts and prediction market functionality. Access to the perpetual products may be facilitated via Phoenix, a trading platform within the Solana ecosystem. Founded in 2021, Jito currently has approximately 39 employees and holds over $1 billion in cash. The company delivered strong performance in 2025, once generating nearly $6 million in revenue in a single week amid popular on-chain transactions on Solana (such as the meme coin craze). Last year, it secured a $50 million investment from Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto fund. Jito CEO Lucas Bruder stated the firm is no longer content with merely providing underlying infrastructure. Instead, it aims to directly reach users through in-house developed apps to enhance the on-chain transaction experience.

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Vice President of Strive: Strategy's STRC Has Essential Differences from the Luna/UST Model

Strive Vice President Joe Burnett wrote in an article that prior to the TerraUSD collapse, roughly $18.7 billion in UST was in circulation, backed by just $3.1 billion in Bitcoin reserves, and UST allowed immediate redemptions. Currently, Strategy holds around $51.5 billion in Bitcoin, corresponding to a circulating STRC supply of approximately $10.5 billion, while STRC is not an immediately redeemable asset. He stressed that the two differ significantly in collateral structure, asset coverage ratio, and redemption mechanism, noting "they are clearly completely different models."

13 minutes ago

trade.xyz launches contract trading for Japanese storage stock Kioxia (KOXIA)

According to official announcements, trade.xyz has launched contract trading for Japanese storage stock Kioxia (KOXIA), supporting up to 10x leverage. The Kioxia (KIOXIA) product tracks the value of each common share of Kioxia Holdings Corporation, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (stock code: 285A). Its price conversion mechanism converts the underlying Japanese stock price from yen to U.S. dollars based on the current USD/JPY exchange rate. Kioxia manufactures NAND flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs) for use in data centers, consumer electronics, mobile devices, and enterprise storage.

13 minutes ago

Japanese storage chip manufacturer Kioxia's share price rose more than 12%

According to Bitget market data, the share price of Japanese storage chip manufacturer Kioxia Holdings (铠侠) surged by 12%.

13 minutes ago

Coinbase secures Luxembourg’s MiCA license, to base its EU operations in Luxembourg.

According to an official announcement, Luxembourg has officially become Coinbase’s registered MiCA Home under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Moving forward, Coinbase will use Luxembourg as its EU business hub to provide compliant crypto asset services for users across EU member states.

13 minutes ago

The KyberSwap attacker has transferred another 2000 ETH to Tornado Cash, with over 80% of the stolen funds now laundered.

According to PeckShield’s monitoring, an address identified as the KyberSwap attacker has once again transferred 2,000 ETH to Tornado Cash. Over the past two years, this attacker has cumulatively transferred and mixed 16,100 ETH via Tornado Cash, equivalent to roughly $40 million at current prices, accounting for over 80% of the $48.8 million lost in the KyberSwap attack in November 2023. Some of the stolen funds have not yet been fully transferred.

13 minutes ago

James Wynn closed out his 40x Bitcoin short position, netting $30,000 in profits, and shifted to opening a 50x S&P 500 short position.

According to monitoring by OnchainLens, James Wynn has liquidated his 40x leveraged Bitcoin (BTC) short position, pocketing roughly $30,000 in profit. He subsequently opened a new 50x leveraged S&P 500 (SP500) short position at a price of 334.42, betting on a future decline in the US stock market.

13 minutes ago

**December 2 Update** South Korean crypto exchanges Bithumb and Upbit announced the same day they will list Grostlcoin (GRS) as a "Trade Caution" project and suspend deposits simultaneously. DAXA, the self-regulatory body for Korean exchanges, noted in its review that the GRS project team failed to disclose sufficient key information impacting the token’s value. The project’s actual progress also showed multiple non-compliant issues, posing a potential risk of harm to investors.

Relevant content

Vice President of Strive: Strategy's STRC Has Essential Differences from the Luna/UST Model

Strive Vice President Joe Burnett wrote in an article that prior to the TerraUSD collapse, roughly $18.7 billion in UST was in circulation, backed by just $3.1 billion in Bitcoin reserves, and UST allowed immediate redemptions. Currently, Strategy holds around $51.5 billion in Bitcoin, corresponding to a circulating STRC supply of approximately $10.5 billion, while STRC is not an immediately redeemable asset. He stressed that the two differ significantly in collateral structure, asset coverage ratio, and redemption mechanism, noting "they are clearly completely different models."

12 minutes ago

trade.xyz launches contract trading for Japanese storage stock Kioxia (KOXIA)

According to official announcements, trade.xyz has launched contract trading for Japanese storage stock Kioxia (KOXIA), supporting up to 10x leverage. The Kioxia (KIOXIA) product tracks the value of each common share of Kioxia Holdings Corporation, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (stock code: 285A). Its price conversion mechanism converts the underlying Japanese stock price from yen to U.S. dollars based on the current USD/JPY exchange rate. Kioxia manufactures NAND flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs) for use in data centers, consumer electronics, mobile devices, and enterprise storage.

12 minutes ago

Japanese storage chip manufacturer Kioxia's share price rose more than 12%

According to Bitget market data, the share price of Japanese storage chip manufacturer Kioxia Holdings (铠侠) surged by 12%.

12 minutes ago

Coinbase secures Luxembourg’s MiCA license, to base its EU operations in Luxembourg.

According to an official announcement, Luxembourg has officially become Coinbase’s registered MiCA Home under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Moving forward, Coinbase will use Luxembourg as its EU business hub to provide compliant crypto asset services for users across EU member states.

12 minutes ago

The KyberSwap attacker has transferred another 2000 ETH to Tornado Cash, with over 80% of the stolen funds now laundered.

According to PeckShield’s monitoring, an address identified as the KyberSwap attacker has once again transferred 2,000 ETH to Tornado Cash. Over the past two years, this attacker has cumulatively transferred and mixed 16,100 ETH via Tornado Cash, equivalent to roughly $40 million at current prices, accounting for over 80% of the $48.8 million lost in the KyberSwap attack in November 2023. Some of the stolen funds have not yet been fully transferred.

12 minutes ago

James Wynn closed out his 40x Bitcoin short position, netting $30,000 in profits, and shifted to opening a 50x S&P 500 short position.

According to monitoring by OnchainLens, James Wynn has liquidated his 40x leveraged Bitcoin (BTC) short position, pocketing roughly $30,000 in profit. He subsequently opened a new 50x leveraged S&P 500 (SP500) short position at a price of 334.42, betting on a future decline in the US stock market.

12 minutes ago

The Stacks (STX) protocol has initiated the Nakamoto Upgrade, which introduces Bitcoin (BTC) finality to its network. Over the next 21 days, the ecosystem is set to experience a range of activities linked to this significant upgrade.

Stacks is one of the largest Bitcoin Layer-2 (L2) networks by market capitalization. Earlier this year, the STX community approved the Nakamoto upgrade, aiming to make the network faster and enhance block times.

Bitcoin L2 Stacks Initiates Nakamoto UpgradeThe Nakamoto Upgrade marks a new era of scalability for decentralized finance (DeFi) within the Bitcoin ecosystem and is one of the most significant changes to the Stacks network. Activated on Wednesday, this upgrade enhances transaction speeds and reduces settlement times.

Bitcoin’s standard settlement times previously ranged from 10 to 30 minutes or more. The Nakamoto Upgrade has slashed this to around five seconds—a 10X improvement that significantly boosts the Stacks network’s usability.

The upgrade received strong community support earlier this year and sets the stage for several key developments in the Stacks ecosystem. One of the major upcoming events is the introduction of sBTC, a decentralized asset backed 1:1 by Bitcoin.

Stacks is specifically designed to enable smart contracts and dApps to use Bitcoin as a secure base layer. By extending Bitcoin’s capabilities without altering it, Stacks unlocks billions in latent capital, allowing for a more dynamic and functional ecosystem.

Read more: A Beginner’s Guide to Layer-2 Scaling Solutions

The Nakamoto Upgrade comes as projects built atop the Stacks blockchain endured less-than-desirable speeds. These slow transaction times negatively impacted the user experience, making it challenging to support high-volume use cases and limiting developers from delivering complex DeFi products.

Despite the positive changes brought by the upgrade, which began on Wednesday, the total value locked (TVL) on the Stacks network has decreased by over $7 million, dropping from $98.10 million to $90.62 million. This decline in TVL suggests that the upgrade’s immediate impact on market confidence was mixed, even as the network undergoes notable improvements.

Stacks TVL. Source: DefiLlamaBeInCrypto data shows STX, the native token of the Stacks network, is trading for $1.59 at press time, down 8.5% since Thursday session openned.

Bitcoin L2s Could Initiate New WaveBitcoin L2 solutions are progressively gaining popularity, and have attracted significant investment. As BeInCrypto previously reported, VC funding towards Bitcoin L2s continues to grow, collectively raising an impressive $94.6 million in the second quarter of 2024.

This represents a substantial 174% increase quarter-over-quarter. Experts also revealed that at least 65 projects identified themselves as Bitcoin Layer-2.

“The crypto industry is catching on to the fact that much of what is done on alternative blockchains can be built on top of Bitcoin. Fortune 500 companies like MicroStrategy are tailoring their entire business towards Bitcoin’s Layer-2. Layer-2 faces no more regulations than other crypto platforms. The only challenges are technical, and the brightest minds are being pulled towards Bitcoin along with nation-states, etc,” Manuel Ferrari, Money On Chain Co-Founder, told BeInCrypto.

Read more: Beginner’s Tutorial to Start Using the Lightning Network

There is also speculation that L2s could spark a new bullish wave for Bitcoin, especially as the focus on scaling increases. This rising demand might lead to capital rotation, with overflow potentially moving into Layer-2 tokens like STX, Elastos (ELA), SatoshiVM (SVM), and BVM (BVM).

Majuro, Marshall Islands, January 30th, 2025, Chainwire

Funding accelerates the development of Elastos’ ELA token, Native Bitcoin DeFi protocol, and Web3 data economy – positioning Elastos as the utility layer for Bitcoin.

Elastos, a decentralized web infrastructure pioneer, today announced a $20 million strategic investment from Rollman Management to scale its Bitcoin-aligned ecosystem. Rollman Management, recognized for its high-profile investments in blockchain projects like Ripple, Ethereum, Solana, and Planck, now ranks Elastos among its top five holdings. The partnership will fuel the launch of Elastos’ Native Bitcoin DeFi protocol, BeL2, expand its merge-mined ELA token as a Bitcoin reserve asset, and accelerate Elacity—a Web3 data marketplace that enables creators to monetize content without intermediaries on top.

With Bitcoin’s market cap surpassing $2 trillion, Elastos solves critical gaps in Bitcoin’s ecosystem: 

ELA as Bitcoin’s Merge-Mined Reserve Asset: ELA tokens have been secured by Bitcoin’s hash power through merge-mining since 2018, aligning with Satoshi Nakamoto’s 2010 vision for decentralized networks. With a total of 28,220,000 by 2105 and around 50% of Bitcoin’s hashrate, ELA gains security and decentralization, provides additional revenue for BTC miners at no extra cost, and creates a crypto economically sound reserve asset for Elastos’ Bitcoin-native DeFi system. BeL2: Bitcoin’s DeFi Breakthrough: Launching in Q2 2024, BeL2 allows Bitcoin holders to collateralize BTC in personal wallets and access Ethereum smart contract services. These include minting stablecoins, performing swaps, and borrowing assets peer-to-peer, unlocking its value all whilst eliminating reliance on synthetic BTC (e.g., WBTC) and centralized custodians. BeL2 combines locking scripts, zero-knowledge proofs, oracles, and an arbiter network where ELA stakeholders can stake ELA and earn BTC fees as decentralized nodes to support the protocol. Elacity: Web3’s Creator Revolution: Already proven in early tests, where one creator earned $5,600 in 24 hours through tokenized podcast access, Elacity v2 will launch in April with channels and subscription models. It enables influencers to encrypt, tokenize, and sell content/royalties on Elastos for audio and video markets, with plans to extend its technology to support the tokenization of AI markets. “Leveraging Bitcoin’s trillion-dollar consensus to empower Web3 users with scalable utilities—that’s where Elastos comes in,” said Rong Chen, Elastos Founder. “Merge-mining ties ELA’s security to Bitcoin’s, and BeL2, Elastos’ decentralized finance protocol, unlocks BTC-backed DeFi without compromises, whilst Elacity creates a decentralized digital goods economy on top. Rollman’s investment supports our role as Bitcoin’s utility layer”. 

The $20M investment from Rollman will drive the advancement of Elastos technologies and also help Elastos reorient its branding, mature its technological stance, and go to market. This includes enhancing marketing efforts, which will further position Elastos as a leader in the growing Bitcoin-native DeFi space.

Elastos as a Pioneer in Bitcoin-secured Governance

Beyond its technological advancements, Elastos stands out for its Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC) governance model, formalized as a DAO LLC in the Marshall Islands, which signed this agreement with Rollman. This delegate-based system allows community members to stake Bitcoin merge-mined ELA, earn APY, and annually elect—or run as—one of 12 council members who vote on proposals, drive innovation, sign contracts, and validate Elastos’ Smart (EVM) and Identity (DID) sidechains. This ensures governance decisions reflect the community’s interests and demonstrates Elastos’ commitment to a truly decentralized and transparent ecosystem rooted in Bitcoin.

As Elastos enters its next phase of growth, participants can join the ecosystems CRC DAO by acquiring merge-mined ELA, which has a market cap of $48,542,586 and is secured by nearly 50% of Bitcoin’s hashrate (366.01 EH/s, equivalent to 244.008 Frontier Supercomputers). ELA offers 6+ years of proven security, a fixed cap of 28.22M tokens to be fully mined by 2105, and 3.29% emissions via its Essentials Wallet, ensuring scarcity and predictability for holders. Available on Centralized Exchanges (Coinbase, KuCoin, Gate.io, Huobi, Bitget, Crypto.com) and Decentralized Exchanges (Uniswap, Chainge Finance, Glide Finance), ELA empowers holders to shape Elastos’ future through CRC governance—driving innovation, reinforcing Bitcoin-level security, and building the next generation of decentralized applications.

Additional Information

ELA Merge Mining BeL2  Elacity Cyber Republic Consensus (CRC) Users can contact [email protected] for partnership inquiries or media requests. About Elastos

Elastos is a SmartWeb ecosystem builder focused on enabling decentralized application creation and cross-chain connectivity. Built on top of Bitcoin merge-mining, Elastos relies on the security of the world’s largest public blockchain and extends it with additional layers. The introduction of BeL2 and its Arbiter Network marks Elastos’ latest effort to advance a more open, clear, and trustless global financial system.

Website: Elastos.info 

X/Twitter: @ElastosInfo  

About Rollman Management Digital

Rollman Management Digital is a private investment and management consulting boutique that is incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. The firm seeks to invest in talented teams and their blockchain protocols to further develop their technology and business while adding significant value to the future of the modern economy.

RMD is led by Victor R. Ch. Rollman, the founder of Rollman Capital, Rollman Mining, and Rollman Management. The Group offers a wide range of investment opportunities, financial services, and management consultancy to UHNWIs, entrepreneurs, developing governments, commodity trading firms, banks, family offices, and pension funds.

Website: https://rollmanmanagement.com/

Contact Ahmed IJ
Elastos
[email protected]

Stader price climbed sharply after its listing on Bithumb’s Korean Won market, posting a surge of more than 40% in a single day.

Summary

Stader rose 42% on Aug. 26 following its listing on Bithumb’s Korean Won market. Governance updates, including July’s revenue buyback plan, continue to support token fundamentals. Technical signals point to a breakout, with potential targets at $1.12 and $1.40. At the time of writing, Stader (SD) was trading around $0.91, nearly 39% higher over the past 24 hours. The token’s rally has also lifted its seven-day performance by 26%, with momentum stretching beyond the past month.

Bithumb listing drives demand The announcement by Bithumb on Aug. 26 confirmed that SD would now be available in the KRW market through the Ethereum (ETH) network. The development instantly triggered the token’s price surge, briefly rising above $1.12 before declining slightly.

Additionally, trading volumes increased significantly, rising by more than 300% from to $25.5 million over the last day. With the listing, Korean traders will have direct access to SD via a major fiat exchange, bringing with it a new level of market visibility and liquidity.

Expanding ecosystem supports price action The surge’s timing aligns with the Stader ecosystem’s continued expansion. The group introduced Cabbage earlier this year, an AI-driven trading platform that makes trading memecoins easier with features like Crowd Pulse and Whale Watch.

According to Stader’s projections, even a small portion of monthly memecoin activity could generate substantial yearly revenue. Updates to governance have also added more utility to the token.

An recent vote by the DAO allocated 20% of protocol revenue toward buybacks of SD, which could be burned, redistributed to stakers, or used to reward traders. These developments have helped strengthen confidence in the project, providing a foundation for speculative interest even before the Bithumb listing.

Stader technical analysis On the daily chart, price action is currently moving along the upper Bollinger Band in the $0.90 to $1.00 range after SD broke out of its consolidation range around $0.60. The volume increase confirms that there is strong support for this breakout.

Stader daily chart. Credit: crypto.news There may still be space for the rally before overbought levels are reached, according to the relative strength index, which is currently at 64.

If the token sustains support at $0.74, attention may return to $1.12, the level that capped gains earlier in the session. A clear move above that level could pave the way for a move toward $1.40, a resistance level that was tested earlier this year.

However, if recent support is broken, there is a chance that the price will drop back to $0.60, where the previous base of accumulation was formed.

Introducing DIA Value: Intrinsic Valuation Oracle for Institutional DeFiWhen markets don’t exist, market oracles fail. DIA launches fully onchain fair-value pricing for assets from tokenized treasuries to yield-bearing tokens.

In 2020, decentralized finance experienced its Cambrian explosion. Uniswap enabled permissionless trading. Aave enabled permissionless lending. Within three years, DeFi grew to $100 billion in total value locked, all built on a core pricing assumption: assets trade continuously on liquid markets.

Then in 2024, Wall Street arrived.

BlackRock tokenized U.S. treasuries, crossing $500 million in the BUIDL fund within months.[1] Firms like Ondo Finance brought tokenized treasuries to Ethereum. By early 2025, over $50 billion in institutional capital had migrated onchain,[2] with projections from McKinsey, BCG, and others estimating the tokenized asset market could reach $2–16 trillion by 2030.[3]

But these assets share a characteristic: they don’t trade.

Tokenized treasuries don’t have order books. Fund NAV tokens don’t establish price through supply and demand. Yield-bearing tokens have redemption mechanisms encoded in smart contracts — their value isn’t what traders think, it’s what the protocol guarantees you can redeem.

And DeFi’s pricing infrastructure wasn’t designed to handle them.

The oracle space converged on a single architecture: market observation. Aggregate prices across exchanges, decentralize the aggregation through node networks, publish the result onchain. For Bitcoin, Ethereum, and liquid tokens, this works well.

But you cannot aggregate exchange prices when markets don’t exist. You cannot decentralize market data when liquidity is thin or fragmented. And you cannot discover price through trading when trading doesn’t happen.

The infrastructure that unlocked DeFi’s first $100 billion fundamentally cannot price its next trillion.

Market-based oracles solved a real problem: bringing external price data onchain. For assets that trade continuously with deep liquidity, the approach is sound. Implementations vary in how they source data, what transparency they offer, and how they handle edge cases, but the core model works when its assumptions hold.

Those assumptions are: continuous trading activity, deep enough liquidity to resist manipulation, and price discovery through supply and demand. For the new institutional asset classes entering DeFi, they collapse:

Asset Type Continuous Trading? Deep Liquidity? Market Price Discovery? Tokenized T-Bills ❌ ❌ ❌ Fund NAV Tokens ❌ ❌ ❌ Yield-Bearing Derivatives ⚠️ Sporadic ❌ ❌ Synthetic Stablecoins ⚠️ Sporadic ❌ ❌ Cross-Chain LP Tokens ❌ ❌ ❌ When these conditions are absent, market-based oracles face three choices, none of them good:

Aggregate thin, manipulable market data. If a tokenized asset has minimal secondary trading, aggregating those sparse data points creates vulnerability. Thin order books can be manipulated. Single-venue distortions propagate as truth. Stale prices from infrequent trades become risk management inputs.

This isn’t theoretical. On October 10, 2025, $19 billion in leveraged DeFi positions were liquidated in 24 hours.[4] Bitcoin flash-crashed from $126,000 to $103,000, and the cascade was amplified by oracle infrastructure propagating distorted price data from stressed markets into automated liquidation triggers.[5]

Fall back to proprietary data providers. When market data doesn’t exist, some oracle architectures allow protocols to pull from centralized APIs, effectively reintroducing the trust assumptions that decentralized infrastructure was supposed to eliminate.

Paul Frambot, Co-Founder and CEO at Morpho, analyzing RWA pricing challenges, concluded that since tokenized assets “don’t have secondary markets,” DeFi must rely on “trusted price providers.” He’s right that this is where market-based architecture logically ends up when markets disappear.

Simply don’t support the asset. The most common outcome. If an asset doesn’t fit the market-aggregation model, it doesn’t get priced. Over $100 billion in tokenized treasuries, yield-bearing tokens, stablecoins, and other institutional-grade digital assets currently lack sufficient liquidity for reliable market-based pricing.[6]

This isn’t a flaw in any particular implementation. It’s a structural limitation: no market-based oracle, regardless of how sophisticated, can produce manipulation-resistant pricing from markets that are thin, stressed, or nonexistent. The architecture works for liquid assets. For assets whose value is defined by contracts, reserves, or portfolios rather than by trading, it’s a mismatch.

Traditional finance solved illiquid asset pricing decades ago through intrinsic valuation.

When a mutual fund holds private equity or illiquid bonds, it calculates Net Asset Value: sum of all holdings marked at fair value, divided by shares outstanding. When banks value loan portfolios, they use mark-to-model: discounted cash flows and credit risk adjustments. When Circle proves USDC is worth $1.00, they provide reserve verification: auditable proof that $1 of reserves backs each token.

These methods work because they compute value from verifiable inputs rather than observing market trades.

Bringing this approach onchain was previously impractical. Traditional fair value methodologies relied on trusted intermediaries: fund administrators calculating NAV, auditors verifying reserves, risk models run by centralized entities. Blockchain changes this: smart contract states, reserve balances, exchange rates, redemption formulas, and yield accruals can now serve as direct inputs for fair value computation with a degree of transparency that traditional finance never had.

DIA Value is the infrastructure we built for this. It delivers intrinsic fair-value pricing for assets where market data is absent, unreliable, or exploitable. Rather than reporting trades that can be manipulated, Value computes fundamental value from the most direct, verifiable data sources available, applying the same valuation logic that traditional finance has relied on for decades.

Value already powers fair value pricing across lending, stablecoins, and tokenized securities, including integrations with Euler, Morpho, Silo, Hydration, and others.

DIA Value implements five fundamental valuation methodologies:

Net Asset Value (NAV): For tokenized funds holding portfolios of assets. Aggregates fair value of all underlying holdings, applies fees and liabilities, divides by token supply. Proof of Reserves (PoR): For stablecoins and wrapped assets. Verifies reserves equal or exceed circulating supply. Value proven by backing, not trading. Contract Exchange Rate (CER): For yield-bearing tokens (stETH, aTokens). Reads redemption rate directly from protocol smart contracts. Value is what the contract guarantees you can redeem. Reserve-Backing Ratio (RBR): For algorithmic stablecoins and synthetic assets. Computes value based on ratio of collateral reserves to outstanding supply. Redemption Value (RV): For assets with programmatic redemption mechanisms. Calculates the value you would receive by executing the redemption function. Each methodology is designed to maximize pricing independence by deriving value from the most direct source available, whether that’s onchain smart contract state, reserve balances, or authoritative reference data for off-chain backing assets such as tokenized fund NAVs. In some cases, particularly for assets backed by off-chain reserves, Value integrates these inputs transparently, so protocols and users can see exactly how each price is computed and what data sources it relies on.

When a protocol queries Value for a tokenized treasury fund price, the system:

Reads the fund’s smart contract to enumerate holdings Prices each holding using the appropriate methodology Applies fees and liabilities encoded in the contract Returns per-share NAV with full calculation transparency A market-based oracle can’t do this because it’s looking for trades that don’t exist. Value computes intrinsic value from verifiable facts.

To be clear: this does not replace market oracles for liquid assets. DIA’s own market-based oracle, Market, handles pricing for assets with observable trading activity, sourcing data directly from exchanges. Value complements that foundation for assets whose value is defined by contracts, reserves, or portfolios rather than by trading.

Market-based oracles answer: “What did the last trade say?” Fair value oracles answer: “What is this asset fundamentally worth?”

Use Case Market Oracle Approach Intrinsic Value Approach Tokenized T-Bills Aggregate thin secondary trades (stale, manipulable) Compute redemption value from treasury contract + yield accrual Fund NAV Tokens Report last trade price (may be days old) Calculate real-time NAV from portfolio holdings Yield-Bearing Tokens Observe stETH/ETH pair (deviates from redemption) Read exchange rate directly from Lido contract Stablecoins Assume $1.00 or use thin DEX prices Verify reserves and compute backing ratio This shift unlocks capabilities that market-based oracles structurally cannot provide:

Institutional-grade collateral acceptance. Lending protocols can accept tokenized treasuries and fund shares as collateral based on auditable intrinsic value rather than manipulable secondary market prices. Euler’s recent integration demonstrates this in practice.

Regulatory-compliant fair value accounting. Fair value measurement standards (IFRS 13, ASC 820) explicitly require intrinsic valuation methods when markets are inactive. Value’s methodologies align with these frameworks.

Manipulation resistance through architecture. October 10th demonstrated that market-based oracles remain vulnerable when underlying markets are stressed. Fair value computation sidesteps this: you cannot game NAV calculation by moving thin order books.

Cross-chain pricing without fragmented liquidity. When an asset exists on multiple chains, market-based oracles face fragmented liquidity. Fair value oracles compute redemption value once from the canonical contract and publish everywhere. The value is the same because it’s derived from fundamental backing, not chain-specific trading.

What Value doesn’t solve:

It’s worth being clear about the boundaries. Value solves fair value for assets with verifiable data sources. Remaining challenges are governance and trust boundary questions, not architecture failures:

Off-chain reserves (e.g., Circle’s bank accounts) still require attestation. Value makes attestation auditable, but trust in the attester remains. Cross-chain verification depends on bridge security. Disputed valuation formulas for complex derivatives may have competing fair value models. Value executes formulas transparently, but choosing the right formula requires governance. Smart contract risk: if the contract is wrong, the valuation is wrong. Value surfaces this transparently rather than obscuring it, but the risk exists. When pricing infrastructure no longer depends on market liquidity, new capabilities open up across DeFi.

Lending protocols accept tokenized treasuries without oracle risk. Vault platforms can offer rates against tokenized fund shares based on auditable NAV, not whether someone traded yesterday.

Stablecoins verify reserves across complex, multi-chain structures. Next-generation stablecoins hold diversified portfolios of yield-bearing tokens and cross-chain assets. Value makes real-time reserve verification possible even when components are illiquid or fragmented.

Asset managers tokenize funds with real-time NAV onchain. Traditional funds calculate NAV once daily. Onchain funds can compute real-time NAV continuously, but only if the pricing infrastructure handles illiquid holdings and cross-chain positions.

Institutions meet regulatory fair value requirements without centralized intermediaries. The shift from centralized API providers to verifiable intrinsic computation is the difference between traditional finance with a blockchain wrapper and genuinely decentralized institutional infrastructure.

Risk curators build sophisticated credit models without market dependency. Professional risk managers, from established firms to emerging specialists, need to model scenarios, stress-test collateral, and assess fundamental value independent of market panic. Fair value infrastructure gives them the primitives to do this properly.

Bitcoin sitting idle is a trillion-dollar opportunity cost. hemiBTC lets holders deploy BTC productively into DeFi, but that only works if the pricing layer can verify the actual Bitcoin backing each token onchain. DIA Value does exactly that, no secondary market dependency, no centralized attestations. It's the kind of infrastructure that makes Bitcoin-native DeFi viable: fully trustless and verifiable.

Jeff Garzik

Co-Founder, Hemi Network

When you operate a stablecoin across four chains, pricing fragmentation becomes a real engineering problem. DIA Value solved this for us by computing USDp's fair value directly from onchain redemption data, reading collateral composition and redemption curves from our smart contracts. One verifiable fundamental price, consistent everywhere. That's what lets integrators treat USDp as reliable collateral without building custom pricing logic per chain.

Noah Boisserie

CEO, Cooper Labs

satUSD+ is a yield-bearing stablecoin, and its value is defined by what the protocol's staking contract actually pays out, not by what someone last traded it for on a DEX. DIA Value computes that fair value directly from onchain data, which means lending markets and vault strategies integrating satUSD+ can verify the price they're seeing. For an omnichain stablecoin system like ours, that reliability is non-negotiable.

River Team

River

Fundamental pricing methodologies will drive the next wave of institutional capital being deployed onchain. It is a prerequisite that has been missing from DeFi’s infrastructure stack, and its arrival expands the addressable market for oracle infrastructure significantly beyond price feeds.

Market-based oracles gave DeFi the rails to price liquid markets. Value gives DeFi the foundation to price everything else.

The shift from market observation to intrinsic computation expands what oracle infrastructure can do, specifically into the asset classes that institutional DeFi needs priced to grow.

Sources: [1] BlackRock BUIDL fund AUM — source needed. [2] Tokenized asset market size — source needed. [3] Tokenization market projections — source needed. [4] October 10, 2025 liquidation data — source needed. [5] Oracle amplification analysis — source needed. [6] Estimated illiquid institutional asset exposure — source needed.

DIA delivers market price feeds for satUSD across five chains and fundamental valuation for satUSD+, giving lending markets and vault strategies verifiable pricing for River’s stablecoin ecosystem.

River operates a chain-abstraction stablecoin system built around satUSD, an over-collateralized stablecoin backed by BTC, ETH, BNB, and liquid staking tokens. Users who stake satUSD receive satUSD+, a yield-bearing token that compounds automatically while remaining composable across DeFi.

This creates a pricing challenge that a single oracle approach cannot solve.

satUSD trades on secondary markets across multiple chains. For this asset, market-based pricing works: aggregate trades, filter outliers, publish the result. But satUSD+ is different. Its value is defined by what the staking contract pays out, not by what someone last traded it for on a DEX. Thin secondary markets for yield-bearing tokens are vulnerable to manipulation, and stale trade data misinforms the risk models that lending protocols and vault curators depend on.

River needed both: reliable market pricing for satUSD and intrinsic valuation for satUSD+.

DIA provides market price feeds for satUSD on Ethereum, BNB Chain, BOB, Arbitrum, and Base, matching River’s omni-CDP architecture, where users deposit collateral on one chain and mint satUSD on another via LayerZero. Pricing infrastructure has to follow the asset wherever it goes.

Each feed is powered by DIA’s Decentralized Feeder Network, where independent feeders scrape real-time trade data directly from the exchanges where satUSD trades, aggregate it through a verifiable two-step process on DIA’s own blockchain, and deliver the result onchain. No intermediary data vendors, no opaque pipelines. Protocols consuming the feed can trace every price back to its source trades.

For satUSD+, DIA deploys a fundamental feed using the Contract Exchange Rate (CER) methodology from DIA Value. Rather than observing secondary market trades, the feed reads the satUSD+/satUSD exchange rate directly from the vault contract on BNB Chain, computing fair value from what the protocol actually guarantees you can redeem.

This means lending markets and vault strategies integrating satUSD+ can price the asset based on verifiable onchain data rather than sparse DEX activity. The distinction matters most precisely when it matters most: during periods of market stress, when thin order books deviate furthest from fundamental value.

satUSD+ is a yield-bearing stablecoin, and its value is defined by what the protocol's staking contract actually pays out, not by what someone last traded it for on a DEX. DIA Value computes that fair value directly from onchain data, which means lending markets and vault strategies integrating satUSD+ can verify the price they're seeing. For an omnichain stablecoin system like ours, that reliability is non-negotiable.

River Core Team

Full contract addresses and integration guides are available in River’s documentation.

River’s TVL and cross-chain architecture make it a clear example of why oracle infrastructure needs to go beyond market observation.

As professional risk curators and capital allocators evaluate yield-bearing stablecoins for vault strategies, they need pricing they can model against. A last-trade price from a low-liquidity DEX pair is not that. A verifiable exchange rate read from the issuing contract is.

DIA Value’s fundamental valuation methodologies exist precisely for this category of asset: tokens whose value is defined by contracts, reserves, or portfolios rather than by trading. River’s satUSD+ is a textbook case of the Contract Exchange Rate methodology in action, and the integration demonstrates how market feeds and fundamental feeds work as complements within a single protocol’s oracle stack.

Litecoin launched in 2011 as a payments network. For 14 years it has operated without native smart contracts, DeFi, or programmable assets. LitVM changes that.

LitVM is Litecoin’s first trustless EVM rollup, officially endorsed by the Litecoin Foundation. It is built on Arbitrum Nitro with Succinct’s SP1 zkVM for validity proofs and BitcoinOS’s Grail Bridge for trustless LTC transfers. Its LiteForge testnet is live, opening Litecoin to DeFi protocols, yield markets, and tokenized assets for the first time.

Every protocol that deploys on LiteForge needs pricing infrastructure. Lending markets mark collateral against oracle prices. DEXs quote reference rates. Without reliable feeds, nothing that touches price data ships.

DIA is now the oracle layer for LitVM.

Price feeds for BTC, LTC, ETH, USDC and other major assets are deployed on LiteForge (chain ID 4441). Both push and pull delivery are available. Each dApp on LitVM configures its own data sources, update frequency, and deviation or time-based triggers. Lending protocols and perp DEXs have different requirements from the same infrastructure.

DIA sources data directly from exchanges and onchain venues rather than relying on third-party aggregators. Every feed is transparent at the source level. Long-tail assets native to LitVM’s ecosystem can be supported on request.

DIA's transparent, source-level data feeds align with what we're building: a DeFi ecosystem where nothing is hidden and nothing is trusted blindly. We're proud to have DIA as LitVM's oracle infrastructure provider.

Aztec Amaya

Co-Founder, LitVM

LitVM’s roadmap extends into tokenized commodities, institutional yield, and AI applications. DIA’s product stack covers all three: RWA price feeds, proof of reserves and fundamental feeds, and verifiable randomness. These are available to LitVM builders as use cases emerge on the rollup.

The integration guide is available at diadata.org/docs/guides/chain-specific-guide/litvm. LitVM builders can request custom feed configurations or additional asset support by reaching out to the DIA team.

Users may now take advantage of zero-fee transactions when booking travel by using the Solana network integration. Additionally, user account wallets now support SOL, according to Travala.com. Crypto-native travel platform Travala.com, has said that it has extensively integrated the Solana network across the platform and will provide SOL travel rewards to users of its loyalty program. Following an AVA community vote, the integration will also see the deployment of AVA—the token used to access the travel reward program on Travala.com in conjunction with the AVA Foundation—deployed on Solana, making it the third network after Ethereum and BNB Chain where the AVA token may be accessible.

Travel bookings utilizing assets on the Solana network, such as SOL itself and USDT, USDC, and more, are now possible for Solana users thanks to Travala.com’s decision to offer support for the fourth-largest blockchain in the world by market capitalization.

Travelers will soon be able to use the AVA Smart Program, the travel loyalty program accessible on Travala.com, to get up to 10% of every booking back in SOL rewards as part of the extensive integration. As of right now, loyalty members may choose from a variety of travel reward alternatives based on their tier, including Bitcoin, AVA, and Travala.com Travel Credits. SOL will only be the third reward token available inside the loyalty program.

Additionally, user account wallets now support SOL, according to Travala.com. Less than ten cryptocurrencies are supported natively by the account wallet, despite the fact that Travala.com supports over 100 cryptocurrencies. Users may now take advantage of zero-fee transactions when booking travel by using the Solana network integration to make deposits and withdrawals of SOL, USDT, and USDC into their Travala.com account.

Juan Otero, CEO of Travala.com stated:

“The Solana network has become one of the most-used blockchains due to its cost effectiveness and scalability. Not only is the amount of activity within the Solana ecosystem incredible, so is the creativity. As innovators at Travala.com, the technologies that can be harnessed on the Solana network open significant avenues to build the next phase of travel.”

Beyond extending support for the Solana network and the soon-to-be SOL travel rewards, the connection goes beyond that. Travala.com has pledged to embrace the Solana ecosystem and will develop products on the high throughput network to capitalize on Solana’s cheap transaction costs and scalability. Going forward, Travala.com’s development strategy will be centered on Solana, with the aim of developing products that increase the practical applications of the Solana ecosystem.

The recent decision by Skyscanner to integrate Travala.com, which makes its inventory of more than 2,200,000 hotels completely discoverable on Skyscanner’s platforms, is followed by Travala.com’s integration with Solana. With this integration, Travala.com became the first crypto-native travel platform to be included to Skyscanner, a website that receives 110 million monthly visitors and users complete 80 billion searches daily.

Travala.com, which was established in 2017, is the top crypto-native travel booking platform, including over 2,200,000+ properties across 230 countries, over 400,000 activities, and over 600 airlines worldwide. As an advocate for the use of cryptocurrencies, Travala.com accepts more than 100 popular cryptocurrencies in addition to conventional payment options. For qualifying reservations booked on Travala.com, Smart members may take advantage of extra savings and loyalty benefits in addition to the website’s amazing pricing via its Best Price Guarantee. Go to www.travala.com to learn more about Travala.com.

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

With crypto exchange giant Binance extending support to the League of Kingdoms Arena (LOKA) P2E crypto project, market sentiments surrounding the token turned highly bullish on Tuesday. LOKA price shot up nearly 20% as the exchange announced futures listing for the token on its platform. Meanwhile, traders appear to have reacted positively to the listing announcement, as even the coin’s intraday trading volume rocketed nearly 155%.

Binance Debuts League of Kingdoms Arena (LOKA) Futures Trading In an official Binance announcement dated September 24, the leading crypto exchange revealed that it is launching the LOKAUSDT perpetual contract today at 11:30 UTC. This decision by the exchange comes as a mover to expand the list of trading choices offered on the platform.

Binance notified that users could enjoy up to 75x leverage when trading the asset. The capped funding rate was set at +2.00% / -2.00%, per the announcement. Further, the tick size was set at 0.0001 by one of the top crypto exchange. However, the listing announcement also notified users that the perpetual contract may be subject to potential changes ahead, primarily due to market risk conditions. These potential changes could encompass adjustments in funding fee, tick size, maximum leverage, initial margin, and maintenance margin requirements.

It’s also worth noting that League of Kingdoms (LOKA) is a blockchain-based Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) strategy game. For context, it is also a play-to-earn ecosystem that allows players to earn real income through in-game participation.

P2E Token Price Blows Up 20% At press time, LOKA price shot up slightly over 20% from its 24-hour low to trade at $0.2723. The coin’s intraday low and high were $0.2236 and $0.2959, respectively. LOKA’s 24-hour trading volume experienced a 155% surge to $22.74 million in light of Binance’s listing announcement. Intriguingly, today’s price upswing primarily aligns with the futures trading announcement, as also seen in other tokens’ price action post-listing.

Notably, Aavegotchi (GHST) price soared nearly 37% on Binance futures listing, CoinGape Media reported yesterday. Simultaneously, another report revealed that Telegram-based P2E crypto project Catizen (CATI) price skyrocketed remarkably on its debut on the exchange. Overall, these chronicles validate LOKA’s price upswing witnessed today.

Backed by AGE Crypto and Alphabit, crypto wealth management platform Yield App has announced its shutdown following losses linked to the collapse of FTX.

Yield App appears to be the latest crypto firm to fall victim to the fallout from the FTX collapse, announcing in a Jun. 28 post on X the closure of “all activity” as it “prepares to enter liquidation proceedings.”

Suspension of platform activity ahead of liquidation proceedings

28 JUNE 2024, 04:15 UTC: Yield App Ltd, a Seychelles-incorporated limited liability company, is today, Friday 28 June 2024, announcing the suspension of all activity on the digital wealth platform…

— Yield App (@YieldApp) June 28, 2024 Founded in 2020 by Tim Frost, Justin Wright, Jan Strandberg, and Jason Corbett, Yield App marketed itself as a “one-stop crypto wealth platform where you can earn interest, buy, and swap between your cryptocurrency assets.” Now, the firm is trying to get its funds stuck on the FTX crypto exchange.

“Yield App asks for the patience of its valued customers as it works with its advisors, with whom it jointly commits to releasing further information, including detailed FAQs, at the earliest possible date.”

Yield App

In the X post, Yield App attributed the decision to “portfolio losses incurred through third-party hedge fund managers that held Yield App assets in custody on the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, and who are subject to ongoing litigation.”

Although the firm didn’t disclose the name of the hedge fund, earlier reports suggested that Yield App’s funds might be trapped on FTX due to “criminal” mismanagement by Swiss hedge fund Tyr Capital Partners.

Tyr allegedly ignored internal risk limits and investor warnings regarding its exposure to FTX. While Yield App wasn’t a direct client of Tyr, it was a client of TGT, a fund whose directors included Yield App co-founders Wright and Corbett, which had invested with Tyr on Yield App’s behalf.

FTX collapsed in November 2022 amid allegations of embezzlement and misappropriation of billions of dollars in customer funds involving its owners and affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the exchange, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to reimburse $11 billion.

World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform backed by President Donald Trump and his family, is poised to launch its WLFI token, which could hold significant profits for early investors. 

WLFI Token Launch Approaches The company announced on July 4 that it has initiated steps to have its flagship token listed on cryptocurrency exchanges, marking a crucial milestone after months of anticipation. 

The WLFI token, which was introduced last year as a non-transferable governance token, is designed to facilitate community voting on the project’s future direction. 

Secondary market trading has already commenced on platforms like Whales.market and MEXC, where WLFI has recently traded between $0.13 to $0.18, a notable increase from its initial sale prices of $1.5 and $0.5. 

According to the project’s white paper, entities affiliated with the Trump family may collectively hold about one-third of WLFI’s total supply of 100 billion tokens. At current prices, these holdings could represent billions of dollars on paper.

Bruno Ver, market expert and investor in the WLFI token, expressed optimism about its potential value, predicting it could reach between $2 and $5 in the near future. 

If the token were to climb to $2, the stake held by the founding entities could theoretically be worth around $60 billion, making it one of the most lucrative Trump-related crypto ventures to date. 

Recent estimates suggest that crypto businesses have already added approximately $620 million to Donald Trump’s personal net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Experts Warn Of Risks Despite the enthusiasm surrounding WLFI, the White House has emphasized that President Trump is distanced from his business interests, having placed his assets in a family-controlled trust. 

The current proposal for token release, dated July 4, aims to unlock a portion of tokens held by “early supporters,” although the term lacks a specific definition within the documentation. 

Remaining tokens, including those held by founders and team members, would be subject to future votes and longer lock-up periods to signal a commitment to the project. The proposal is expected to undergo discussion and voting on the Snapshot platform, with a potential timeline extending into August. 

However, experts caution that the path to a successful launch might come with risks for early holders. Lex Sokolin, managing partner at Generative Ventures, pointed out that tokens with substantial founder and investor allocations often experience significant price declines over time. 

World Liberty Financial’s token launch and the Trump family’s increased interest in digital assets comes on the heels of notable regulatory changes in the US as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted a more lenient stance toward crypto. 

This may signal a sense of confidence from WLFI regarding regulatory scrutiny. Hilary Allen, a law professor at American University, noted that this shift suggests WLFI no longer perceives a threat from the SEC.

The 1D chart shows Trump’s official memecoin struggling to break free from its current downtrend. Source: TRUMPUSDT on TradingView.com Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

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and Charles Rollet You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Bloomberg/Getty Images Meta is walking back its stance on forcing engineers to join a task force focused on AI training, according to an internal memo obtained by Business Insider and four people familiar with the matter.

Last month, Meta reassigned 7,000 employees to units such as an Applied AI task force to help train Meta's coming AI models.

On Wednesday, Meta sent a memo about this task force, saying the company will now "defer to each individual's choice." The company sent the email to employees who had been "drafted," as some described its Applied AI task force.

"As I emphasized before, personal agency will remain at the heart of all opportunities at Meta: we will support employees in whatever decisions they make," the memo said.

"Of course, we'd prefer everyone to stay and push to SOTA together, but we defer to each individual's choice," it read, referring to state-of-the-art.

The memo went on to say that people in the unit would have preferential placement in other parts of the company due to staffing shortages.

Meta declined to comment for this story.

Some employees on Blind called the memo an "undraft."

The task force faced significant backlash last month from employees who compared the job to data labeling.

The reversal comes after chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth addressed a broader morale crisis at the company. During an internal "Tuesdays with Boz" session on June 2, Bosworth told employees that morale was "probably one of the worst it's ever been" in Meta's 20-year history, Business Insider previously reported.

In May, Meta laid off 10% of its staff, or 8,000 people.

Have a tip? Contact Charles via email at [email protected] or on Signal and WhatsApp at 628-282-2811. Contact Pranav via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1-408-905-9124, or email him at [email protected] or [email protected]. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here's our guide to sharing information securely.

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Pranav Dixit You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Pranav Dixit is the Meta Correspondent at Business Insider based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He writes about Meta’s products, policies, and internal workings while examining how the company’s decisions shape how billions of people connect and communicate.Previously, Pranav was the India-based technology correspondent for BuzzFeed News, covering the impact of Silicon Valley’s largest companies on the culture, society, and politics of more than a billion people in South Asia. He has also been a senior news editor at Engadget and ran technology coverage at the Hindustan Times, one of India’s largest national newspapers.Pranav’s reporting has shed light on the human consequences of Big Tech’s quest for growth in emerging markets, and sparked widespread conversations about the impact of American technology companies on the Global South. In 2019, he won Syracuse University’s Mirror Award for a boots-on-the-ground feature about how WhatsApp misinformation sparked gruesome lynchings in rural India. He has also reported from Kashmir, a volatile geopolitical hotspot, documenting the world’s longest-running internet shutdown.His work has been widely cited by major national and international publications, and he has been featured on the BBC, Al Jazeera, and podcasts such as Vox Media’s Land of the Giants to discuss his work. He has also spoken in journalism classes including at UC Berkeley’s graduate journalism program. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Vox, Time, The Information, and Al Jazeera.Pranav moved to the United States in 2021 from New Delhi, India, to be a fellow at Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism, where he studied the evolution of the American tech press and ways newsrooms around the world can cover technology and society more effectively.Got a tip about Meta or anything else in Silicon Valley? Contact Pranav via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1408-905-9124), or email him at [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also reach him on WhatsApp at +857-753-3949 or DM him on X (@PranavDixit) or BlueSky (@pranavdixit.bsky.social).Pranav keeps sources anonymous. Please use a non-work device to reach out.Expertise: Meta, Facebook, WhatsApp, Llama, AI, Threads, Instagram, Mark Zuckerberg, social media, platforms, immigration

Charles Rollet You're currently following this author! Want to unfollow? Unsubscribe via the link in your email.

Charles Rollet is BI's tech correspondent in San Francisco. Prior to joining BI, Charles worked at TechCrunch covering startups and VC. Charles is based in the Bay Area, where he enjoys hiking with his dogs. You can contact Charles securely on Signal at charlesrollet.12 or +1-628-282-2811.

Exclusive Meta AI More Layoffs Careers Big Tech

By Reuters

June 24, 202611:28 PM UTCUpdated 55 mins ago

The GM logo is displayed at the General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Rebecca Cook/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

CompaniesSAO PAULO, June 24 (Reuters) - General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab announced on Wednesday it would invest ​an extra 3.5 billion reais ($674.88 ‌million) in Brazil, expanding its commitment to the country's auto industry by ​50% and supporting production ​of hybrid vehicles and factory modernization.

The ⁠new amount adds to 7 ​billion reais announced in 2024, ​bringing GM's total planned investment to 10.5 billion reais until 2028, it said ​in a statement.

The investment will ​go mainly to the company's operations in ‌Sao ⁠Paulo state, the most populated and wealthiest in the country.

It will support Chevrolet portfolio renewal, incorporation ​of new ​technologies including ⁠hybrid models, factory modernization and expansion of engineering ​and manufacturing capabilities.

The initiative ​will ⁠also contribute to generating qualified jobs and strengthening the competitiveness of ⁠Brazil's ​auto industry, the company ​said.

($1 = 5.1861 reais)

Stay up to date with the latest news, trends and innovations that are driving the global automotive industry with the Reuters Auto File newsletter. Sign up here.

Reporting by Paula Laier and ​Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Sonali Paul

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Binance, the world’s leading crypto exchange, has announced the delisting of four digital currencies, including Monero (XMR), Multichain (MULTI), Vai (VAI), and Aragon (ANT). The decision to remove these tokens from the platform comes as part of Binance’s periodic review process.

According to the latest announcement, the delisting process is scheduled to take effect on February 20, 2024, at 03:00 a.m. UTC. Following this, all trading pairs associated with these tokens, including ANT/BTC, ANT/USDT, MULTI/USDT, USDT/VAI, XMR/BNB, XMR/BTC, XMR/ETH, and XMR/USDT, will cease to be available for trading. Additionally, deposits of these tokens will not be credited to user accounts after February 21, 2024. Moreover, withdrawals for these tokens will be not supported after May 20, 2024.

Why Did Binance Decide To Delist Monero, Multichain, Vai & Aragon? Binance’s decision to delist these tokens is guided by a comprehensive assessment of various factors. These include the commitment of the project teams, development activity, trading volume, network stability, public communication, responsiveness to due diligence requests, and contribution to a healthy crypto ecosystem. Any evidence of unethical conduct or negligence also weighs into the decision-making process.

Monero, known for its privacy features, has faced scrutiny from regulatory bodies due to its potential use in illicit activities. While it offers anonymity to users, this very feature has raised concerns among authorities regarding its susceptibility to use in money laundering and other illegal transactions.

Multichain, Vai, and Aragon, while not as widely recognized as Monero, have also failed to meet Binance’s standards in terms of development activity, trading volume, and network stability. The delisting of these tokens underscores the crypto exchange’s commitment to maintaining a trustworthy trading environment for its users.

Also Read: Binance Tops CME In Bitcoin Futures, Is Bitcoin ETF Demand Over?

Implications Of Delisting In addition to the delisting of Monero, Multichain, Vai, and Aragon trading pairs from the spot market, Binance will also remove these pairs from its margin trading platform, futures trading, and various other services. This includes Binance Margin, Binance Futures, Binance Simple Earn, Binance Auto-Invest, Binance Loans, Binance Convert, Binance Gift Card, Binance Pay, and Trading Bots.

Despite the delisting, the CEX ensures that users’ funds are safeguarded. Any remaining balances in delisted tokens will be automatically converted into stablecoins on behalf of users. However, it’s important to note that the conversion is not guaranteed, and users will be notified before the process begins. The stablecoins will then be credited to user accounts after the conversion.

In response to the delisting announcement, users are advised to close any open positions and withdraw their assets in the above-mentioned trading pairs. In addition, they are advised to manage any associated products such as Simple Earn, Auto-Invest, Loans, Margin, Futures, Convert, Gift Cards, Pay, and Trading Bots before the stipulated deadlines to avoid any potential losses.

Also Read: Binance Co-founder Announces $5 Million Reward for Reporting Insider Trading

New York, United States, November 11th, 2025, Chainwire

Threshold Network has rolled out protocol upgrades and a refreshed website to reinforce tBTC’s position in Bitcoin onchain markets. This enhances tBTC’s role as the trusted tokenized Bitcoin, bridging Bitcoin’s onchain capital concentration to decentralized financial markets.

Recent analysis shows that 1M addresses hold over $100k; 157,000 hold over $1 million, and 19,142 addresses hold more than $10 million in Bitcoin. Together, these addresses represent an estimated $500 billion in value, a figure that has accelerated since U.S. spot ETF approvals in 2024. Although individuals control about 65.9% of the total Bitcoin supply, the majority are affluent investors rather than small retail holders.

Since the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, institutional participation has grown rapidly. Institutional holdings reached $414 billion in August 2025, driven by ETF inflows and corporate treasury strategies. Corporate reserves increased 40% in Q3 to $117 billion, while 172 listed companies now hold Bitcoin, collectively owning over 1 million BTC. MicroStrategy remains the largest corporate holder with 640,000 BTC, and as of October 2025, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs manage $169.48 billion in assets, representing 6.79% of Bitcoin’s market cap. Threshold sees this shift as an opportunity to shift to institutional positioning.

Renewed Focus: Institutional Access with Bitcoin’s Integrity

The redesigned Threshold Network website features a clean, minimal layout designed for clarity and accessibility. It represents Threshold’s transition from a single protocol to a comprehensive ecosystem that enables Bitcoin to move freely across financial markets.

The accompanying tBTC app has been upgraded to simplify the Bitcoin-to-DeFi experience. Users can now mint tBTC directly to supported chains with a single BTC transaction, without secondary approvals or unnecessary steps. Redemptions back to Bitcoin mainnet are equally straightforward, mirroring Bitcoin’s simplicity while maintaining full decentralization.

The upgrade also introduces several new features:

Use tBTC: A new section built to help users discover where they can deploy tBTC or put their Bitcoin to work. It provides a comprehensive overview of tBTC integrations across multiple DeFi protocols. Vaults: a new dashboard that consolidates integrated tBTC vault strategies into a single interface. It allows users to access curated, externally managed vault strategies built for ease of use.  My Activity: This section offers a unified record of all user actions across minting, redeeming, and vault participation. Every transaction is logged onchain, allowing users to easily track their history and monitor performance over time. 

The New tBTC App: Simplicity and Precision for Large Scale Adoption

The new tBTC app introduces a simplified interface focused on efficiency, transparency, and security. It allows users to move between Bitcoin and DeFi markets seamlessly while maintaining complete self-custody of their assets.

Streamlined Minting and Redemption

Users can now move effortlessly between Bitcoin and a range of supported networks, including Ethereum, Layer 2s, and non-EVM chains, through a single, seamless process.

This new functionality removes the friction traditionally involved in bringing Bitcoin into DeFi. Users can now mint and redeem tBTC quickly, securely, and without unnecessary costs or approvals.

Direct minting to supported chains enables capital to flow efficiently into DeFi markets, allowing institutions to deploy Bitcoin liquidity across multiple ecosystems without relying on centralized intermediaries. Direct redemption to Bitcoin mainnet gives users confidence that they can always return to native Bitcoin, maintaining trust and liquidity across all use cases. No Layer 2 signing required means that even complex transactions can be completed with a single Bitcoin transfer, reducing operational overhead for institutional treasuries and simplifying onboarding for individual users. Together, these upgrades position tBTC as the most efficient and permissionless access for Bitcoin in DeFi markets.

Gasless Minting on Supported Networks

Gasless minting is now possible on supported networks. Users only need to deposit Bitcoin; no wallet signatures or additional gas fees are required. They simply connect their wallet, send Bitcoin to a single-use address, and receive tBTC on their chosen chain. This feature allows users to utilize Bitcoin capital efficiently without compromising custody or cost.

“This is a major protocol upgrade that represents Threshold’s maturity as a network,” said Callan Sarre, Co-Founder and CPO of Threshold Labs.

“We’ve rebuilt the app to give users a unified experience. Mint, redeem, and deploy Bitcoin faster, with confidence and transparency. The new interface delivers what users, both institutional and individual, have consistently asked for: clarity and control without compromise.”

Building the Future of Bitcoin

Threshold Network, a cross-chain Bitcoin infrastructure protocol that enables BTC to move securely across multiple blockchains, has upgraded its app to support direct minting to supported networks with zero gas fees. The upgrade allows Bitcoin holders to access yield strategies, lending markets, and liquidity provision without first routing transactions through Ethereum Layer 1.

This release enables users to mint tBTC directly from the Bitcoin network into supported onchain ecosystems, removing the need for L1 bridging and significantly simplifying user onboarding.

“The scale of institutional adoption since ETF approvals has been extraordinary,” said MacLane Wilkison, Co-Founder and CEO of Threshold Labs.

“Our focus is on building the infrastructure that allows institutions, funds, and corporates to interact with Bitcoin onchain securely. As traditional finance integrates Bitcoin into its portfolios, tBTC stands as the bridge that ensures this participation remains decentralized and transparent.”

With tBTC available across major ecosystems, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, Sui, Starknet, BOB, and Optimism, Threshold continues to expand its integrations to increase liquidity and, soon, enable access to institutional capital.

Users can explore the new app and website at https://threshold.network

About Threshold Network

Threshold Network is the decentralized protocol behind tBTC, a permissionless 1:1 Bitcoin-backed asset secured by a 51-of-100 threshold signer model. tBTC enables native BTC to move across chains like Ethereum, Base, Sui, Arbitrum, and Starknet without requiring custodians or compromising security. With over 5 years of proven security and about $4.8B in bridge volume, Threshold offers the most battle-tested, trust-minimized Bitcoin infrastructure onchain.

Contact Head of Marketing
RC Ramos
Threshold Network
[email protected]

Bitcoin markets have stabilized, shifting participants' focus from short-term price action to disciplined, capital-efficient structures and advanced risk management. As adoption matures, demand rises for BTC-denominated frameworks that let holders maintain exposure while engaging with onchain financial infrastructure.

Noon is extending its vault framework to Bitcoin, launching the tBTC Vault on Starknet via Vesu. This vault lets Bitcoin holders keep BTC exposure while using onchain financial tools with clear risk controls.

This launch brings together three complementary systems in a first-of-its-kind integration:

tBTC’s trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge for native BTCNoon’s multi-venue strategy framework that delivers diversified exposureVesu’s institutional-grade lending infrastructure on Starknet.Demand for structured, reliable BTC frameworks is growing among institutions and sophisticated participants, with interest rising in tBTC-based strategies as DeFi infrastructure matures. (Source: Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2025/12/01/bitcoins-november-selloff-was-a-stress-testand-defi-quietly-passed/)

Using tBTC as CollateralNoon’s tBTC vault lets users access stablecoin strategies while keeping BTC as the core asset. Borrowing starts at a conservative 50% loan-to-value, and automated controls reduce risk if thresholds are reached, protecting users during volatility.

Noon tBTC Yield VaultA Track Record of OutperformanceOver the past several months, Noon has delivered stronger performance than competitors such as Ethena, Resolv, and other-structured yield protocols. This has not been accidental.

Noon’s advantage comes from widening its search for yield beyond a single sector. The team actively evaluates opportunities across DeFi, CeFi, and TradFi, selecting strategies that balance attractive returns with disciplined risk management. Many of these opportunities are typically available only to large-scale investors due to high minimum allocations, but Noon structures them so they are accessible to its users. These strategies ultimately determine the performance of sUSN.

The tBTC-Denominated VaultThe new tBTC vault on Starknet follows the same principles but is tailored to Bitcoin holders' needs. After borrowing stablecoins against tBTC, Noon deploys those stablecoins into lending markets to execute leveraged looping strategies. This involves lending stablecoins, borrowing against them, and repeatedly redepositing. The objective is to amplify yield from interest-bearing positions while keeping leverage and risk levels under control.

The target APY for this vault is approximately 10%, reflecting a balanced approach to performance and stability.

Noon tBTC Yield Vault Performance | Threshold NetworkPositioning for the Next Phase of Bitcoin FinanceIntegrating tBTC into Noon’s vault framework reflects a broader evolution in how Bitcoin is used onchain. The structure enables BTC holders to maintain Bitcoin exposure while engaging with BTC-denominated strategies implemented under defined risk parameters and transparent infrastructure.

By combining tBTC’s trust-minimized design with Noon’s strategy framework and Vesu’s lending architecture on Starknet, the vault provides a clear, disciplined model for structured Bitcoin participation in onchain markets.

Disclosure: Participation in Noon vaults carries market, smart contract, and counterparty risks, as well as the potential loss of capital. Target outcomes and projected metrics are not guaranteed; actual results may vary with market conditions. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, an offer, or a solicitation.

The Noon tBTC Vault is Now Live

January 2026 marked a strong start to the year for Threshold Network, with continued growth in tBTC adoption, a new vault launch, and deeper engagement with Bitcoin’s onchain role. As market conditions shifted, Threshold remained focused on resilience, trust-minimized design, and sustainable Bitcoin utility.

Throughout the month, Threshold Network advanced its core mission of bringing Bitcoin onchain without compromising its security model or economic integrity. Key research, protocol updates, and ecosystem expansions reinforced tBTC’s position as a reliable, production-ready bridge for Bitcoin liquidity.

HighlightstBTC has surpassed 48,000 BTC in cumulative volume to date and is on track to reach the 50,000 BTC milestone in Q2.Jan 27: Threshold released the tBTC Blueprint Report by Alea Research, detailing tBTC’s 800% growth since 2024 and underscoring its security and resilience relative to other tokenized Bitcoin alternatives.Jan 19: Amid market cycles, tBTC continued steady growth with 5,942 BTC in TVL and 97 percent of supply concentrated on Ethereum, signaling sustained Jan 5: The tBTC Noon Vault went live in partnership with Vesu and Starknet, introducing a structured BTC-denominated onchain positioning strategy.Jan 5: tBTC redemption fee waivers for $T stakers are now available on the Threshold App, reducing execution costs while strengthening protocol and governance alignment.MilestonestBTC Continues Steady Growth Amid Market CyclesOn January 19, tBTC continued to demonstrate resilience and sustained adoption amid broader market cycles. Total value locked reached 5,942 BTC, with 97 percent of supply concentrated on Ethereum, signaling consistent onchain demand and real usage.

These metrics reflect tBTC’s role as a production-ready Bitcoin bridge built without leverage, rehypothecation, or opaque yield mechanics. Its trust-minimized design continues to support predictable behavior across varying market conditions while preserving Bitcoin’s core principles.

tBTC Continues Steady Growth | Threshold Network

tBTC Redemption Fee Waivers for $T Stakers tBTC was designed to bring Bitcoin onchain while prioritizing security, transparency, and reliable market behavior. As adoption has increased, onchain performance has remained consistent across a wide range of market conditions.

The introduction of redemption-fee waivers for $T stakers builds on this foundation by reducing execution costs for active participants and reinforcing alignment between protocol usage and governance. This update refines the economics of interacting with the bridge, particularly at scale, without altering tBTC’s underlying mechanics.

Learn more about fee waivers for $T stakers:

tBTC redemption fee waivers are now live for $T stakers

Ecosystem GrowthNoon tBTC Yield Vault Goes Live and Gains Early TractionOn January 10, the Noon-tBTC Yield Vault launched on Threshold Network in partnership with Vesu, Starknet’s largest lending platform. Built around disciplined Bitcoin yield strategies, the vault initially targeted a 10 percent APY. Within two days, it reached $454,060 in TVL with a 7-day APY of 6.79 percent, signaling early interest in structured Bitcoin yield products.

Explore the vault: https://app.threshold.network/vaults/starknet-noon

tBTC Noon Vault Goes Live | Threshold NetworktBTC Blueprint Report by Alea ResearchBitcoin onchain is entering a phase where security, custodianship, and protocol design matter more than ever, and Threshold Network continues to advance this standard through tBTC.

The tBTC Blueprint Report by Alea Research focuses on tBTC and Threshold Network as a reference model for trust-minimized Bitcoin infrastructure. It analyzes how Threshold’s architecture, incentive design, and custody assumptions support scalable Bitcoin liquidity while maintaining predictable market behavior and strong security guarantees.

Read more: https://threshold.network/blog/the-threshold-network-blueprint-by-alea-research/ 

tBTC Blueprint Snapshot via Alea Research | Threshold NetworkMedia HighlightsThreshold featured in Decrypt on stake-based fee waiversOn January 23, Decrypt Media featured Threshold’s introduction of stake-based redemption fee waivers, highlighting how the update reduces execution friction and supports tighter pricing across Bitcoin markets.

Read the Decrypt feature to learn more: https://decrypt.co/355453/threshold-network-introduces-stake-based-fee-waivers-to-strengthen-tbtc 

Bitcoin allocation strategies on The Daily StackOn January 30, Callan Sarre joined Bitcoin News’s The Daily Stack podcast to discuss how Bitcoin can be allocated across different risk profiles, including emerging opportunities powered by tBTC. The conversation explored how using Bitcoin as collateral can contribute to economic security to blockchain networks with relatively low financial risk.

Watch a snippet of the podcast episode: https://x.com/TheTNetwork/status/2017227776865267906

Threshold Labs CPO and Co-Founder Callan Sarre at Bitcoin News | ThresholdBitcoin resilience under stressOn January 27, Callan Sarre, Co-Founder and CPO at Threshold Labs, shared insights with Decrypt Media on how miners respond to grid stress while Bitcoin’s consensus layer continues to operate as designed.

Read more: https://decrypt.co/355836/us-bitcoin-miners-slow-as-winter-storm-hits-power-grids

Team Update

New Threshold Labs Member | Threshold NetworkRecently, we welcomed Vicky to Threshold Labs as a Software Engineer. Vicky brings 14 years of software engineering experience and has been active in crypto since 2017.

Vicky previously worked on NuCypher starting in 2016 and was directly involved in creating the Threshold Network smart contracts, giving her deep historical and technical context across the Threshold stack. Her experience strengthens the team’s ability to maintain and evolve core protocol infrastructure.

Looking AheadAs 2026 unfolds, Threshold Network remains focused on strengthening Bitcoin’s role onchain through trust-minimized infrastructure and aligned economic incentives. Upcoming work will continue to prioritize protocol resilience, measured ecosystem expansion, and deeper integration across Bitcoin-native and emerging environments.

In the months ahead, Threshold will advance research, product development, and partnerships that support sustainable Bitcoin liquidity and long-term network security. The goal remains clear: make Bitcoin more usable without compromising the principles that underpin its value.

Follow Threshold Network for upcoming updates and releases.

Table of contents

MAP Protocol, a well-known Bitcoin L2 to increase cross-chain interoperability, has announced an exclusive development. As per MAP Protocol, the platform is launching comprehensive interoperability between the Bitcoin and Solana networks for seamless asset transfers. The platform disclosed this endeavor on its official social media account on X.

📢 MAP Protocol Officially Announces Interoperability Between Solana and Bitcoin Networks

MAP Protocol has officially announced the successful implementation and launch of interoperability between the Solana and Bitcoin networks. Users can now perform decentralized SOL-BTC… pic.twitter.com/6GjUV8STD0

— MAP Protocol (@MapProtocol) May 9, 2025 MAP Protocol Introduces Interoperability between Solana and Bitcoin Ecosystems MAP Protocol’s announcement of interoperability between the Bitcoin and Solana networks is a groundbreaking development. This endeavor focuses on opening latest possibilities when it comes to cross-chain interactions and advanced DeFi applications. The prominent apps, such as Cross-chain Swap, are already utilizing this breakthrough advancement. This development permits consumers to carry out $SOL-$BTC transfers without depending on intermediaries or centrally controlled exchanges.

The interoperability integration between the Bitcoin and Solana ecosystem leverages cutting-edge zero-knowledge proof technology. In addition to this, it also utilizes light user mechanisms to sustain an increased level of efficiency and security. In this respect, it guarantees a seamless and trustless consumer experience.

The development is specifically noteworthy as Bitcoin, dissimilar to the modern blockchains, does not have local smart contract functionality. Hence, this interoperability layer offers a matchless interaction with the high-performance blockchain of Solana. Solana is renowned for its low fees and rapid speeds. As a result of this initiative, MAP Protocol is reportedly leading toward increased blockchain composability.

Driving Utility, Interoperability, and Efficiency among Solana and Bitcoin Networks According to MAP Protocol, the interoperability solution for the Solana and Bitcoin networks is completely peer-to-peer and decentralized. It reinforces the platform’s endeavors to establish a trustless infrastructure. Specifically, consumers will retain complete control over assets during the entire process. Overall, this interoperability now just improves utility for Solana and Bitcoin consumers but also paves the way for a relatively efficient and interconnected Web3 landscape.

AUTHOR

Umair Younas is a cryptocurrency-related content writer linked with this work since 2019. Here, at Blockchainreporter, he serves as a news and article writer. He is a crypto, blockchain, NFTs, DeFi, and FinTech enthusiast. He has strong command over writing authentic reviews about brokers and exchanges and he has collaborated with our education team to write educational content as well. He has a dream to raise awareness among people about digital currencies. His works are well-researched and brimmed with information hence they provide fresh insights. Stay tuned to his posts if you want to stay up-to-date with the crypto-verse.