• Trigger: A 4× leveraged delta-neutral book built on opaque off-chain positions lost US$93 m during the 11 Oct crypto rout.

• After-shock: Within seven days > US$1 bn fled every “yield-bearing stablecoin” tracked by StableWatch—an exodus equal to a mid-size city-bank run.

Mirror of 2008 – Packaging Risk as Safety
Stream marketed xUSD as “USD-pegged, auto-compounding, low-risk”.
Reality check on-chain:

1. Only 30 % of the US$500 m TVL was verifiable; the rest sat in “Schrödinger custody”.

2. Real leverage > 4×: US$170 m equity, US$530 m borrowed across DeFi loops.

3. Strategy: high-frequency perp–spot arbitrage—essentially a hedge-fund share, not cash.

Cyvers CEO Deddy Lavid: “Code was fine; humans were the attack vector.”

Curators – the Domino Couriers
Morpho/Euler “Curators” (on-chain fund managers) chased double-digit yields by stuffing vaults with xUSD:

• TelosC exposure: US$123 m

• K3 Capital lost US$2 m after Elixir (deUSD) secretly rotated US$68 m into Stream; now preparing U.S. litigation.
  When gate-keepers become yield-chasers, the fortress falls from inside.

Same Script, Different Decade

• 2022: 20 % “risk-free” in UST → US$40 b hole.

• 2008: sub-prime CDOs rated AAA → global margin-call.
  Today > 50 yield-stablecoins still sit on > US$8 b TVL, most replicating leveraged basis trades, gamma shorts or repo ladders—dressed as “stable”.

Take-away
A 15 % coupon is not a feature; it’s a disclosure.
If it needs a super-normal yield to seduce you, it was never a stablecoin—just a hedge-fund ticket with a misleading ticker.

Token-buyback spending in 2025 has already topped US $1.4 billion, with the ten largest programmes capturing 92 % of the outlay. The surge signals that “buy-and-burn” has moved from marketing gimmick to core treasury policy—though the crypto community is still arguing about whether it actually creates lasting value.

---

The Heavyweight: Hyperliquid’s $644 M War-chest

Hyperliquid’s insurance-fund wallet leads the pack, pouring $644.6 million into HYPE buybacks—46 % of the entire market-wide total. The protocol has removed 21.36 million tokens (2.1 % of supply) at an average price of ~$30.18, pacing a steady $65.5 million per month. March saw the low ($39.1 M) and August the peak ($110.6 M), but the bid has never disappeared.

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One-off Giants: LayerZero, Pumpfun, Raydium

LayerZero ranks second after a single $150 M sweep that retired 5 % of the ZRO float at $3.00—last seen in May. The team calls it an “opportunistic, non-recurring” move, leaving room for scheduled programmes to overtake it.

Pumpfun sits third at $138.2 M, buying 3 % of supply since July at an average $0.0046. Prices have since dipped below that mark, so the treasury is temporarily underwater.

Raydium rounds out the “big-four” at $100.4 M, but its RAY buy-and-burn has been running continuously since 2022, making it the oldest programme among top spenders.

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Pro-Rata Champions: GMX, Metaplex, Sky

Measured by percentage of supply destroyed, GMX is king: $20.9 M (12.9 % of supply) has been pulled off the market, although part is re-allocated to LP rewards rather than burned.

Metaplex (MPLX) and Sky Protocol (SKY) follow, having retired 6.5 % and 5.4 % respectively. Metaplex earmarks half of protocol fees for buybacks, while Sky’s code automates repurchases whenever surplus revenue appears.

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Long Tail: 28 Projects, Uneven Commitment

In total, 28 well-known teams have disclosed buyback budgets this year. Yet 14 of them have retired less than 1 % of supply, and the average (excluding pure burn programmes) is only 1.9 %. Even high-profile names such as Jito and Chainlink have spent $1 M and $10.5 M respectively but barely dented their floats (0.05 % each).

---

Second-half Acceleration

Monthly spending jumped 85 % in July and has kept climbing. The first half averaged $99.3 M per month; October is already at $88.8 M with two weeks left, set to beat that figure for the fourth consecutive month. September’s eye-catching $318 M included LayerZero’s one-off; strip that out and the baseline trend remains sharply upward.

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Bottom Line

Hyperliquid’s relentless bid turned buybacks into a live macro narrative, yet concentration is extreme: one protocol plus the next nine names control nine-tenths of all spending. Whether the rest of the industry follows—or concludes there are better ways to align users, builders and token holders—is still an open question for 2026.

Price discovery was immediate: XPL listed at $1.20, touched $1.61 and has since hovered near $1.51. Within 24 hours a mystery whale amassed 24.29 million coins—valued at $39.6 million—and bridged them into the Plasma network via Hyperliquid, a move still unread on-chain.

2. Tokenomics & Float

• Genesis supply: 10 billion XPL

• Circulating at TGE: 1.8 billion (18 %)

• Public sale (July): 1 billion—oversubscribed by $300 million

• Team + investors: 4 billion, locked on a multi-year cliff; US purchasers must wait until 28 July 2026 for regulatory clearance

The lock-up means real free-float is < 1.5 billion coins, amplifying supply squeezes in either direction.

3. The Tether Tail-Wind
Plasma is the first Layer-1 custom-built for USDT rails, incubated with Bitfinex capital and public backing from Tether & Paolo Ardoino. With $120 % growth in on-chain transfers during 1H 25—and 66 % of that volume from MENA + Africa—USDT is quietly becoming the euro-dollar of emerging markets. Buying XPL is therefore viewed by many funds as a “back-door IPO” of Tether itself, an entity still privately held and famously profitable.

4. A Crowded Stable-Coin Lane
The thesis is not without rivals:

• Ethereum still custodies > 55 % of all stable-coin value

• Tron and Solana offer cheap USDT rails today

• Circle Arc, Stripe Tempo, Noble and even Google Cloud Universal Ledger are all building payments-first L1s for 2026 launch

Traditional fintech giants can subsidise fees with ad budgets; crypto-native chains must win on speed, cost and developer moats—the exact sandbox Plasma is betting on.

5. Tech Scorecard: Zero-Fee + 3-Second Finality
Consensus: PlasmaBFT (Tendermint variant)
Benchmarks after 24 h:

• $4 billion DeFi deposits (8th among all chains)

• $7 billion USDT minted on Plasma

• 100+ DeFi integrations at genesis (Aave, Ethena, Fluid, Euler, etc.)

The network processes USDT transfers at zero gas, paid instead by sequencers that stake XPL—similar to SOL-funded votes on Solana but denominated in the stable-coin users actually care about.

6. Plasma One – Neobank in a Box
Launching Q4 25, Plasma One is a consumer app + Visa card targeting the 150 countries where USD access is premium. Pitch:

• Spend USDT balance at 150 million merchants

• 4 % cash-back in XPL

• 10 %+ yield auto-paid from on-chain lending vaults

• Zero-fee remittance inside the app

If adoption scales, every swipe becomes buy-pressure for XPL (cash-back) while simultaneously locking USDT inside the Plasma economy.

7. Risks & Reality Checks

• Regulation: Tether’s NYAG settlement and EU MiCA reserve rules could spill over to Plasma-backed USDT

• Centralisation: Zero-fee sequencers are whitelisted; censorship resistance is still unproven

• Competitive fees: Google or Stripe can under-cut to zero or negative ad-funded rates

• Valuation: At $1.51 XPL trades at ~15× fully-diluted protocol revenue, a tech-style multiple rarely seen in L1 land

8. Bottom-Line Narrative
Plasma turned a meme drop into a $4-billion-TVL launch pad in one day. Backed by the stable-coin with the deepest real-world reach, armed with zero-fee rails and a neobank app ready for emerging markets, it has the fastest on-ramp to become the SWIFT replacement crypto keeps promising.

Whether that story ends in a top-5 settlement layer or deflates under competitive pressure depends on:

1. Continuous USDT in-flows

2. Plasma One card shipping on schedule

3. Regulatory clarity in the US & EU

For now, the same market that rewarded a ten-cent curiosity with four-figure tokens is pricing Plasma not on today’s revenue, but on the possibility that USD itself—tokenised, gas-less, cash-back-enhanced—finally finds its native internet highway.

• BTCFi TVL ↑ 2 200 % YoY

• Lombard community sale 14× oversubscribed, 21 340 wallets, 132 countries.

• Babylon’s first staking epoch filled 24 000 BTC ($1.5 bn) in 100 minutes—Ticketmaster-level FOMO.

The Ferrari is finally leaving the garage.

2. Staking 1.0 – Native, Non-Custodial, Liquid
Babylon

• Script-level timestamp slashing → BTC never leaves owner’s cold-storage.

• Security budget now subsidises CoreDAO, Cosmos, Osmosis.

CoreDAO

• Satoshi-PoW + DPoS hybrid; 30 % of hash-rate already dual-mining.

• CORE token airdrops to stakers = 8-12 % APY on top of BTC base-layer.

Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs)

• LBTC (Lombard) – 92 days to $1 bn float; whitelisted on Aave, Spark, EigenLayer.

• pumpBTC – omnichain receipt, live on 7 L2s, 1:1 native BTC backing.

• Allo Protocol – basket-style BTC ETF wrapper with on-chain NAV oracle.

Users now keep exposure, collect yield and keep DeFi composability—the holy trinity.

3. Virtual-Machine Wars – Who Gives BTC a Smart Brain?
BOB (Build on Bitcoin)

• BitVM optimistic roll-up; 3 000 BTC already bridged; EVM dev-tooling unchanged.

Arch Network

• ArchVM inside Bitcoin script → Turing-complete, no soft-fork; test-net TPS 1 500, main-net Q1-26.

Hemi

• Bitcoin node embedded in EVM block; inherits BTC finality in 15 s.

Stacks v3

• sBTC decentralised peg; 1:1 mint/burn, no federation.

Rootstock

• 2015 OG side-chain; still carries 2 600 BTC; new “PowPeg” removes 95 % multisig footprint.

Race condition: security budget vs developer surface. Whoever ships production-ready tooling first captures the mind-share (and the 21 m BTC float).

4. Demand Shift – Wall St. Wants Yield, Retail Wants Early Access

• BlackRock, Fidelity now requesting staking-enabled BTC wrappers for model portfolios.

• Private banks pitching “BTC Enhanced Cash” (LBTC + repo) at 4-5 % APY.

• Retail community-sales outperform VC rounds—token democracy beating Sand-Hill cap-tables.

KYC-compliant wrappers (LBTC, sBTC) are gateways for institutional mandates; permissionless wrappers (pumpBTC, tBTC v2) service DeFi degens. Both sides win.

5. Numbers That Matter

• Total BTC in DeFi: 470 k (~2.2 % supply) vs 0.6 % one year ago.

• Cumulative BTC-denominated CDP debt: $9.4 bn (Maker, Aave, Spark).

• Annualised protocol revenue paid to BTC stakers: $380 m—real cash-flow, not emissions.

At 5 % supply utilisation BTCFi would surpass $100 bn TVL—equal to entire 2021 DeFi summer.

6. Risks & Bottlenecks

• Peg risk – every LST is still an IOU; slashing or bridge exploit → instant de-peg.

• Regulatory overhang – SEC staff letter (Aug-25) hints BTC staking ETFs may need 40-Act wrapper.

• Fee market – Babylon timestamp txs already 8 % of daily miner revenue; congestion could price out vanilla transfers.

• Liquidity fragmentation – seven competing wrapped-BTC tickers = no single oracle, no single DEX book.

7. Winning Ticket checklist

1. Security – minimise trusted committee size (BitVM > multisig).

2. Liquidity – deep secondary market + top-tier DEX pools.

3. Composability – plug-and-play with existing DeFi legos (Aave, Pendle, Pendle-style LST-fi).

4. Compliance – on-chain KYC layer for institutional sub-pools.

Projects scoring 4/4 (LBTC, sBTC, pumpBTC v3) capture 80 % of net inflows in 2025 YTD.

8. End-Game Scenarios (2026-27)
Base: BTCFi TVL $150 bn (7 % BTC supply), 30 % annualised staking yield, $5 bn protocol revenue.
Bull: Spot BTC ETF issuers auto-convert to LST wrappers → $500 bn AUM instantly yield-bearing.
Bear: Major bridge hack → global LST discount 8-12 %, regulatory halt on new wrappers, flight back to cold-storage.

Most probable: gradual institutional roll-out, SOL-style fee-accruing L1 tokens for BTC side-chains, and BTC-denominated stablecoin (yBTC) becoming “risk-free” collateral in global DeFi.

9. Take-away
Bitcoin is no longer “digital gold”—it is programmable collateral with native yield.
Infrastructure race is early-round, but 132-country community stampedes and billion-dollar bridge flows show product-market-fit is real.

Pick your horse:

• Security maximalists → Babylon, Arch.

• Yield hunters → LBTC, sBTC, pumpBTC.

• Equity punters → long BOB, Stacks, RSK ecosystem tokens.

The Ferrari is on the highway—don’t keep it in the garage.

Japan’s Economic Squeeze

• Real wages fell 2.9 % YoY in May 2025—the steepest drop since September 2023.

• Consumer prices jumped 4 %, with rice up 101 % YoY, the fastest since the 1970s.

• LDP–Komeito coalition lost its Upper-House majority on 21 July, forcing cross-party talks .
  Tokyo needs new growth levers; crypto is now framed as part of the “New Capitalism” agenda.

Two-Step Roadmap

1. Tax Law Amendment – re-label crypto as “separately declared capital gains,” 20 % flat.

2. Legal Re-categorization – migrate oversight from Payment Services Act (PSA) to Financial Instruments & Exchange Act (FIEA).

   • Brings insider-trading rules, disclosure standards and investor-protection safeguards .

Market Catalysts Waiting in the Wings

• Crypto ETFs: Lower tax parity removes the last regulatory friction for a spot-Bitcoin ETF (currently under FSA review).

• JPY Stablecoins: FSA-approved JPYC plans ¥1 trillion issuance within three years, backed by deposits and JGBs.

• Institutional appetite: Nomura × Laser Digital survey shows 54 % of Japanese institutions plan crypto allocation within three years .

Flow-of-Funds Estimate

• Domestic spot volume grew only ~2× (USD 66 B → 133 B) while global market cap tripled (USD 872 B → 2.66 T) .

• Household savings exceed USD 15 T; even a 1 % incremental shift equals USD 150 B in potential crypto inflows—larger than today’s entire Japanese market cap.

Political Clock

• December 2025: Cabinet must finalize tax-reform outline.

• March–April 2026: Bill enters Diet.

• June 2026: Passage target; earliest effective date July 2026.
  Key power-brokers: Masaaki Taira, Katsunobu Kato (LDP Web3 PT), Noriyuki Hirosue (Bitbank CEO) and Katayama herself .

Bottom Line
If the 20 % regime lands on schedule, Japan’s high-saving households and cash-rich corporates could unleash a systematic bid across BTC, ETH and yen-denominated DeFi yields.
The risk: coalition politics may water down the bill or delay it past 2026.
Either way, Tokyo has signaled that crypto is no longer a policy afterthought—it is a macro-economic lifeline.

Attention-Economy Flywheel: Behavior = Value
For the first time, virality, cultural consensus and on-chain rewards are hard-wired together.
• Proof-of-Meme (PoM) consensus converts creation, sharing and engagement into real token flows.
• MemeVault auto-spawns with every MRC-20 launch and taps the Viral Grants Reserve when KPIs (TVL, volume, social heat) are met.
• Result: attention is no longer extracted; it is paid for—permanently.

Vertical L1 Advantages over Generic Chains
• EVM-compatible: Solidity out-of-the-box, lower gas, faster blocks—perfect for high-frequency meme trading.
• Modular stack: execution + consensus layers tuned for meme workloads, not DeFi Lego.
• Culture-native tooling: gas rebates, NFT licensing rails, DAO factories—built-in, not bolt-on.

Dual-Deflation Tokenomics
Token: $M | Fixed supply: 5 B
• 58 % to community incentives (PoM emissions, grants).
• Burn: every tx fee is 50 % burnt.
• Stake: delegate to MemeVaults to lock float and earn protocol fees.
Net effect: supply shrinks as culture expands.

Roadmap & Flagship App: MemeX (PumpFun+X)
Phase 1 – Aggregation: onboard multi-chain meme projects via bridge & farming.
Phase 2 – Expansion: native DeFi (indexes, perps), GameFi, IP DAOs.
MemeX already delivered: Top-10 launched tokens +8,000 % peak, 190 k users, proving social heat can be minted into liquid markets.

Team & Funding Snapshot
• Strategic round: IBC Group, Waterdrip, Catcher VC, K300, AC Capital, WAGMI (Mar 2025).
• Klein Labs strategic follow-on (Jul 2025).
• Core team:
– CEO Jun Ahn (ex-Ledger, 0xLootBox)
– CBO Cherry Hsu (7-year game-dev BD, CS master)
– CGO Rudy Rong (ex-Karat DAO, USC Finance)

Tech Deep-Dive

1. EVM-Compatible MRC-20 Standard
   • One-click Solidity migration.
   • Optimized execution layer → <1 ¢ average gas, 4 s finality.

2. Proof-of-Meme (PoM) in Three Steps
   a. Deploy MRC-20 → MemeVault auto-created.
   b. Hit KPI thresholds (TVL, volume, social score) → Viral Grants Reserve unlocks.
   c. Full PoM integration → delegated staking & governance rights.

3. Multi-Reward Flywheel
   • $M rewards for creators, curators, validators.
   • Culture-NFT licensing fees streamed back to vaults.
   • Gas-cashback for power users.

On-Chain Metrics (Post-TGE)
• 1.27 M total transactions → highest activity among meme-centric L1s.
• Peak FDV: USD 1.2 B (Top-60 on CMC).
• Current FDV: ≈ USD 450 M (Top-100) without Binance listing—organic traction.

Closing Thesis
MemeCore is not another pump pad; it is the sovereign infrastructure for meme culture. By hard-coding attention into incentives, it closes the loop between virality and value and gives every shit-poster, remixer and lurker skin in the game. In the age of infinite content, the chain that monetizes memes owns culture itself.

Enter the FUN100x Foundation
On August 1 the team unveiled The FUN100x Foundation, a non-profit endowment seeded with $10 million in assets. The mandate is straightforward but ambitious: keep the protocol open, inclusive, and decentralized, while financing the next wave of builders through community-approved grants.

An Ecosystem Where Games, Entertainment, and AI Collide
FUNToken’s thesis is simple: embed crypto incentives so seamlessly into entertainment that users forget they’re using crypto. The first building blocks are already live.

1. The Telegram Bot That Pays for Good Banter

June saw the launch of @fun_message_scoring_bot, an AI agent that patrols official chat groups, scores messages for quality, and dispenses instant FUN rewards—no human mods, no manual claims. Upgrades followed fast:

• Wheel of Fortune: spin for 1–100 000 FUN (up to $500) after chatting, quizzing, or completing tasks.

• Daily Active Users: >100 k; concurrent chatters regularly >10 k.

2. A Pipeline of 40+ Micro-Games

The roadmap calls for 10 new titles each quarter—trivia, jackpot pools, social party games—until the library hits 40 in Q1 2026. All games plug directly into the reward bot and the token economy.

The Swiss-Army Token: What FUN Does

• Medium of exchange for in-game bets and entry fees.

• Reward currency distributed by the AI bot and game jackpots.

• Staking asset with real-time, no-lock yields currently ranging 6 %–87 %.

• Deflationary pressure: 50 % of quarterly revenue is used to buy back and burn FUN.
  – 24 June: 25 M FUN burned.
  – 22 July: 12 M FUN burned.

• Security: admin keys renounced; all logic on-chain; CertiK audited (AA grade) and monitored 24/7 by Skynet.

• Liquidity: listed on Binance, Gate, HTX, Poloniex and major DEXs.

Why FUNToken Wins Where Others Stagnate

1. AI-driven distribution replaces ads and manual curation.

2. Telegram as the funnel taps 800 M users with almost zero onboarding friction.

3. Deflation + multi-venue liquidity cushions price even when broader GameFi tokens bleed.

4. Fully on-chain, admin-less contracts add trust and transparency.

The FUN100x Grant Playbook
Community proposals compete for slices of the $10 million treasury across nine verticals:

• Neutral core infrastructure (audits, formal verification)

• Open-source tooling & SDKs

• Governance R&D

• Global inclusion & education

• Public goods & social impact

• Security & incident response

• Sustainable treasury policy

• Standards & regulatory advocacy

• Education & grassroots outreach

Every funding decision is on-chain, voted by FUN holders.

Half-a-Billion Dollar Party Incoming
To keep the momentum, the team will shortly announce a $5 million airdrop campaign open only to FUN holders. Details drop soon.

Roadmap & User Forecast

• Q3 2025: 10 hyper-casual games + viral mechanics.

• Q4 2025: 10 more games + FUN Wallet (iOS/Android) with NFT tab, leaderboards, and quest engine.

• Q1 2026: 10 final titles (library = 40 games), fiat on-ramps, multi-chain support, external studio partnerships.

If the flywheel spins as planned, FUNToken expects 10 million gamers and 1 million wallet users by Q1 2026. Judging by the trajectories of Notcoin, Hamster Kombat, and Catizen, the target looks aggressive but not impossible.

$30M Funding Round Led by Polygon

Earlier this month, Billions announced a $30 million funding round led by Polygon, with participation from Polychain, Coinbase Ventures, LibertyCity Ventures, BITKRAFT Ventures, and other prominent crypto and AI infrastructure investors.

Shortly after the announcement, Kaito’s Web3 crowdfunding platform, CapitalLaunchpad, revealed plans to list Billions Network on August 6. According to Kaito’s real-time data, Billions currently accounts for 8.03% of recent on-chain activity, ranking first on its leaderboard.

Originally spun out from Polygon ID, Billions has carved a niche in decentralized identity with its innovative approach.

Roots in Polygon: Team and Tech Legacy

Billions’ successful $30M raise stems not only from its focus on digital identity—a sector poised for growth—but also from its team’s deep ties to Polygon.

The project evolved from Privado ID, formerly known as Polygon ID, which spun off from Polygon Labs in June 2024 to specialize in on-chain identity and reputation solutions.

Key team members include:

• David Z (Co-founder): A Polygon founder and former CTO, he led Polygon ID and Polygon zkEVM and oversees the ZKP-based identity protocol Iden3.

• Evin McMullen (Co-founder & CSO): A decentralized identity pioneer, she founded Disco.xyz and merged it with Privado ID in September 2024 to accelerate cross-chain identity infrastructure.

While Polygon co-founders like Sandeep Nailwal (now CEO of Polygon Foundation) remain advisors, others, such as Antoni Martin and Jordi Baylina, have stepped back from active roles.

The First Human-AI Universal Network

Launched in February 2025, Billions bills itself as the first network bridging humans and AI agents. Its key innovations:

• Hardware-Free Verification: Users authenticate via passport and smartphone (NFC or camera) in seconds, with ZK-proofs securing sensitive data.

• AI Agent Integration: AI systems can verify training models and data sources, enabling trust in scenarios like customer service and content generation.

• Scalable Adoption: A mobile app released in June attracted 1M+ pre-registered users, offering reusable Verifiable Credentials and a "one-login, multi-access" feature.

The network also adopts a B2B2C model, charging per verification while sharing fees with node operators. Early partners include Aurora, Avalanche, SingularityNET, and major banks like Deutsche Bank and HSBC.

Balancing Uniqueness and Anonymity

Billions tackles a core challenge in decentralized identity: preserving anonymity while ensuring uniqueness. Its solution:

• Profiles Mechanism: Generates unique, non-linkable DIDs per app using random profileNonce and a master genesis_identifier.

• Context-Based Unique Identifiers (CBUID): Allows compliance-ready identity recovery without sacrificing default privacy.

Built on Circom (a ZK library powering Worldcoin, TikTok, and 9,000+ projects), Billions eliminates reliance on centralized databases or biometric hardware.

Global Ecosystem and Regulatory Challenges

Billions’ partnerships span governments, institutions, and crypto projects:

• SingularityNET: Co-developing a Decentralized AI Agent Trust Registry for verifiable AI credentials.

• Sentient: Integrating ZK proofs for AI model auditing without exposing training data.

• India’s Aadhaar: Piloting decentralized identity for national ID holders.

However, regulatory hurdles loom. While Billions avoids biometrics (unlike Worldcoin, recently flagged by China for iris-data risks), its cross-border data flows will face scrutiny over sovereignty and compliance.

Conclusion: Identity for the Human-AI Era

Billions redefines digital identity by merging privacy, scalability, and AI compatibility. As it navigates global adoption, its success hinges on balancing innovation with regulatory trust—a challenge as complex as the technology itself.

For developers, its SDKs (React, Vue, Android, iOS) promise seamless integration. For users, it offers control: self-sovereign identities, revocable credentials, and immunity to mass surveillance.

The question remains: Can Billions become the universal standard before regulators draw harder lines? Time—and technology—will tell.

I. 1H 2025 in Review: Three Macro Forces That Moved Crypto

1. Trump-era tariff policy

2. Fed interest-rate decisions

3. Russia-Ukraine & Middle-East geopolitics

These drivers remain in play for the second half of the year. Below, we detail the scenarios most likely to shape crypto prices through 2025.

II. Trump Tariffs: The Inflation Wildcard
Tariffs are President Trump’s weapon of choice for three economic goals:

• Lower foreign trade barriers and boost U.S. exports

• Lock in a 10 %+ baseline tariff to swell Treasury coffers

• Reshore high-end manufacturing

Negotiation Scorecard (as of 25 July)

• Japan: Done—U.S. auto tariff cut to 15 % in exchange for ¥5.5 trn Japanese capex in AI & semis.

• EU: Deadline 1 Aug; talks ongoing in Washington.

• China: Third round scheduled 27–30 Jul in Sweden; 90-day extension likely if no deal.

• Philippines & Indonesia: Bilateral deals already signed.

Economic Logic
Tariffs are a negative supply shock → cost-push inflation. Corporations pass the tax to U.S. consumers. Unless data show muted price pressures, the Fed may delay or downsize rate cuts.

Net takeaway for crypto: higher-for-longer rates are a headwind, but inflation hedging could add incremental bid for BTC.

III. Dollar-Tide Cycle: Weak USD = Crypto Tailwind
Although the Fed did not cut in 1H 2025, the DXY fell from 110 to 96.37—textbook weak-dollar phase.

Why the USD Is Soft

• Tariffs shrink the U.S. trade deficit, breaking the recycling loop that props the dollar.

• Ballooning fiscal deficits and rising real yields undermine confidence.

• Petro-dollar deal expires un-renewed; central-bank USD reserves drop from 71 % (2000) to 57.7 %.

• Rumored “Mar-a-Lago Accord” hints at a deliberate policy pivot.

Historical Rhythm

• Full USD-tide cycle ≈ 4–5 yrs.

• Weak-dollar leg ≈ 2–2.5 yrs.

• Starting Jun 2024 → likely extends to mid-2026.

BTC vs. DXY Correlation
Bitcoin and the dollar index trade -0.78 over rolling 90-day windows. If the weak-dollar regime persists, global liquidity loosens—bullish for crypto.

IV. Fed Policy: Cautious, Data-Dependent, Politically Fraught
Remaining 2025 Meetings & Market Implied Odds (CME FedWatch)

• Jul 30: 95.7 % unchanged

• Sep: 60.3 % chance of ‑25 bps

• Nov/Dec: 1–2 cuts priced for full year

Why the Fed Is Stalling
1⃣ Sticky inflation—Jun CPI +0.3 % m/m; core PCE 2.8 % y/y; tariff pass-through still ahead.
2⃣ Growth merely sluggish—2025 GDP est. 1.5 %; but retail & consumer-sentiment prints surprise to the upside.
3⃣ Resilient labor—unemployment 4.1 %; Q3/Q4 forecasts 4.3 % / 4.4 %.

Political Overlay
President Trump has publicly pressured Chair Powell on X, even threatening dismissal. Powell’s term ends May 2026; a replacement nominee is expected Dec 2025 or Jan 2026. Yet the FOMC vote on 30 July is almost certain to stand pat.

Bottom line: Expect one or two token cuts in 2H. Historically, Bitcoin has shown low sensitivity to the Fed Funds rate; global liquidity (proxied by USD weakness) remains the stronger driver.

V. Geopolitics: A September Cliff Edge

• Russia-Ukraine: Trump’s 50-day cease-fire ultimatum (set to expire 2 Sep) faces a Russian build-up of 160 k troops near Donbas and Ukrainian drone strikes on Moscow airports.

• Russia-Germany military accord dissolved; EU relations at a new low.

If the cease-fire collapses, 100 % secondary tariffs on Russia plus NATO escalation could roil risk assets, crypto included.

VI. U.S. Crypto Policy Enters Its Honeymoon
GENIUS Act (effective Jul 2025):

• Stablecoin issuers may not pay interest to holders, but can share reserve income (e.g., USDC 12 % APY via Coinbase).

• Designed to protect bank deposits from migrating to yield-bearing stablecoins.

CLARITY Act (passed House, in Senate):

• SEC regulates security tokens.

• CFTC regulates commodity tokens (BTC, ETH).

• “Mature Blockchain” pathway lets decentralized projects exit SEC oversight after certification.

• DeFi exemptions for code writers, node operators, non-custodial front ends.

Together with the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, these bills shift the U.S. from “regulation-by-enforcement” to sunshine regulation, defending dollar dominance while inviting compliant innovation.

VII. The “Coin-Equity” Trade: Sizzle, But Can It Sizzle On?
MicroStrategy’s “Bitcoin playbook” has gone viral. Corporations are now adding ETH, BNB, SOL, XRP, DOGE, HPYE, TRX, LTC, TAO, FET—a dozen altcoins—to treasury reserves.

MicroStrategy’s Triple Flywheel

1. Stock-Coin Feedback Loop
   Premium to NAV (1.61×) → cheap equity funding → buy BTC → BTC price up → NAV per share up → valuation re-rates → repeat.

2. Equity-Bond Coordination
   Zero-coupon converts shift debt pressure to equity; hedge-fund arb flows provide cheap liquidity.

3. Fiat-Debt Arbitrage
   Borrow depreciating fiat, stack appreciating crypto—long-cycle wealth transfer.

Capital Stack Tactics

• Preferred shares → fixed-income buyers

• Converts → arbitrage funds

• Common stock → risk-takers

The question for 2H 2025: how many corporates can replicate this alchemy without balance-sheet stress if crypto volatility surges or equity premiums collapse?

Trim the Sails
Bull case: Weak USD + regulatory clarity + corporate treasuries = sustained risk-on bid.
Bear case: Stagflation scare, Fed stand-pat, cease-fire failure = liquidity shock.

For now, the wind is at crypto’s back—but every sailor knows the weather can change faster than the forecast.

The TAC token ($TAC) surged over 50% shortly after the mainnet launch, peaking at $0.0248 before settling around $0.026 at press time.

Technical Path: How TAC Brings Ethereum DeFi to Telegram
TAC is built as a CosmosEVM-based Layer 1 blockchain. Its core design centers on providing a "TON-specific cross-chain layer" to bridge Ethereum’s DApps and developers with Telegram’s over 1 billion monthly active users. This approach addresses TON’s inherent incompatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), allowing EVM-based DApps to integrate with Telegram’s native blockchain infrastructure—TON—via TAC.

Additionally, TAC’s ecosystem is bolstered by major infrastructure partners, including LayerZero, RedStone, Blockscout, and Babylon. These collaborations enable cross-chain messaging and oracle data services, ensuring seamless DeFi operations and data accuracy within Telegram.

Currently, leading Ethereum DeFi protocols like Curve Finance, Morpho, and Euler are already live on Telegram through TAC, offering decentralized trading and lending services.

Distribution Strategy: Leveraging Telegram’s User Base
In DeFi, distribution channels are critical to success.

Take Base chain as an example—its user growth is tightly linked to Coinbase’s distribution network. TAC’s strategy hinges on accessing the TON ecosystem and tapping into Telegram’s vast user base. Reportedly, users can access DeFi apps with just "one click" to trade or engage in yield farming.

Andrew Klebanov, Executive Partner at The Open Platform (TOP) Labs, stated that TAC’s mainnet launch is "a major step toward bringing DeFi into the mainstream," aiming to deliver "real utility" to over a billion users.

Telegram’s ambitions go even further. In January, the messaging giant partnered with the TON Foundation, mandating that all blockchain mini-apps be built on TON. It later rolled out a digital asset tokenization plan, with founder Pavel Durov emphasizing the fusion of social and financial services: "We want every chat window to become a financial gateway."

The Open Platform Labs (TOP) recently closed a $28.5 million Series A+ funding round in early July, surpassing a $1 billion valuation. Insiders reveal that investors include a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund. Unlike other Layer 1 projects, TAC’s unique advantage lies in its ability to bypass the challenge of cultivating user habits from scratch—it stands directly on Telegram’s shoulders.

TON Ecosystem: High Hopes, Harsh Reality
However, whether investor enthusiasm translates into tangible ecosystem growth remains to be seen. Despite strong funding and resources, TON faces real-world challenges.

Recall 2024: a year of extremes for TON. Its Total Value Locked (TVL) soared past $760 million in the first half, only to plummet by over 50% in August, now languishing below $150 million.

TAC now confronts three key hurdles:

1. Attracting quality DApp developers to build despite TON’s overall slump.

2. Moving beyond hype to genuinely engage Telegram’s billion-user base.

3. Navigating the ever-present regulatory uncertainties, particularly around on-chain activities.

Ultimately, transforming billions of chat users into DeFi natives is no simple feat. How far this experiment in bridging two ecosystems will go? Only time will tell.

The next phase of RWA growth will be led by chains that successfully integrate three elements: on-chain regulatory compatibility, a service ecosystem built around real-world assets, and meaningful on-chain liquidity.

1. Where Is the RWA Market Growing?

The tokenization of real-world assets (RWA) has become one of the most prominent themes in the blockchain industry. Global consulting firms like BCG have published extensive market forecasts, and Tiger Research has also conducted in-depth analyses of emerging markets such as Indonesia—highlighting the growing importance of this field.

So, what exactly are RWAs? They refer to the process of converting tangible assets such as real estate, bonds, and commodities into digital tokens. This tokenization process requires blockchain infrastructure, and currently, Ethereum is the primary infrastructure supporting these transactions.

Ethereum's Dominance in the RWA Market: Who Will Take the Baton Next?

Source: rwa.xyz, Tiger Research

Despite increasing competition, Ethereum still maintains its dominant position in the RWA market. Specialized RWA blockchains have emerged, and mature platforms in the DeFi space, such as Solana, are also expanding into the RWA domain. Even so, Ethereum accounts for over 50% of total market activity, highlighting the stability of its current position.

This report examines the key factors behind Ethereum's current dominance in the RWA market and explores the evolving conditions that may shape the next phase of growth and competition.

2. Why Has Ethereum Maintained Its Lead?

2.1 First-Mover Advantage and Institutional Trust

There are clear reasons why Ethereum has become the default platform for institutional tokenization. It was the first to introduce smart contracts and actively prepared for the RWA market.

With the support of a highly active developer community, Ethereum established key tokenization standards, such as ERC-1400 and ERC-3643, long before competing platforms emerged. This early foundation provided the necessary technical and regulatory basis for pilot projects.

As a result, many institutions began evaluating Ethereum before considering alternatives. Several notable initiatives in the late 2010s helped validate Ethereum's role in institutional finance:

• JPMorgan's Quorum and JPM Coin (2016-2017): To support enterprise use cases, JPMorgan developed Quorum, a permissioned fork of Ethereum. The launch of JPM Coin for interbank transfers demonstrated that Ethereum's architecture—even in its private form—could meet regulatory requirements for data protection and compliance.

• Société Générale Bond Issuance (2019): SocGen FORGE issued a €100 million covered bond on the Ethereum public mainnet. This showed that regulated securities could be issued and settled on a public blockchain with minimal involvement of intermediaries.

• European Investment Bank Digital Bond (2021): The European Investment Bank (EIB), in collaboration with Goldman Sachs, Santander, and Société Générale, issued a €100 million digital bond on Ethereum. The bond was settled using the central bank digital currency (CBDC) issued by the Banque de France, highlighting Ethereum's potential in a fully integrated capital market.

These successful pilot cases enhanced Ethereum's credibility. For institutions, trust is based on proven use cases and references from other regulated participants. Ethereum's track record continues to attract attention, creating a reinforcing adoption cycle.

Ethereum's Dominance in the RWA Market: Who Will Take the Baton Next?

Source: Securitize

For example, in 2018, Securitize announced in official documents that it would build tools on Ethereum to manage the entire lifecycle of digital securities. This move laid the foundation for the eventual launch of BlackRock's BUIDL fund, which is currently the largest tokenized fund issued on Ethereum.

2.2 A Platform for Real Capital Flows

Another key reason for Ethereum's continued dominance in the RWA market is its ability to convert on-chain liquidity into real purchasing power. The tokenization of real-world assets is not just a technical process. A well-functioning market needs capital that can actively invest in and trade these assets. In this regard, Ethereum is the only platform with deep and deployable on-chain liquidity.

Ethereum's Dominance in the RWA Market: Who Will Take the Baton Next?

Source: rwa.xyz, Arkham, Tiger Research

This is evident on platforms such as Ondo, Spark, and Ethena, all of which hold significant amounts of tokenized BUIDL funds on Ethereum. These platforms have attracted hundreds of millions of dollars by offering products based on tokenized US Treasury bonds, stablecoin-based lending, and synthetic interest-bearing USD instruments.

• Ondo Finance has accumulated over $600 million in total value locked (TVL) through its Treasury-backed products, USDY and OUSG.

• Spark Protocol has used DAI liquidity from MakerDAO to purchase over $2.4 billion worth of real-world Treasury bonds.

• Ethena has built a bankless yield infrastructure on Ethereum using its synthetic stablecoins USDe and sUSDe, attracting institutional demand and DeFi liquidity.

These examples show that Ethereum is not just a platform for asset tokenization. It provides a robust liquidity base that enables real investment and asset management. In contrast, many emerging RWA platforms struggle to ensure capital inflows or secondary market activities after their initial token issuance.

The reason for this difference is clear. Ethereum has integrated stablecoins, DeFi protocols, and compliance-ready infrastructure. This creates a comprehensive financial environment where issuance, trading, and settlement can all be conducted on-chain.

Therefore, Ethereum is the most effective environment for converting tokenized assets into real purchasing activities. This gives it a structural advantage beyond mere market share.

2.3 Building Trust Through Decentralization

Decentralization plays a crucial role in building trust. The tokenization of real-world assets involves transferring the ownership and transaction records of high-value assets to a digital system. In this process, institutions focus on the reliability and transparency of the system. This is where Ethereum's decentralized architecture provides a significant advantage.

Ethereum operates as a public blockchain, supported by thousands of independently run nodes worldwide. The network is open to anyone, with changes decided by participant consensus rather than centralized control. As a result, it avoids single points of failure, ensures resistance to hacking and censorship, and maintains uninterrupted uptime.

In the RWA market, this structure creates tangible value. Transactions are recorded on an immutable ledger, reducing the risk of fraud. Smart contracts enable trustless transactions without intermediaries. Users can access services, execute agreements, and participate in financial activities without centralized approval.

These characteristics—transparency, security, and accessibility—make Ethereum an attractive choice for institutions exploring asset tokenization. Its decentralized system meets the key requirements for operating in high-risk financial environments.

3. Emerging Challengers Reshaping the Landscape

Ethereum's mainnet has proven the feasibility of tokenized finance. However, with its success have come structural limitations that hinder wider institutional adoption. Key obstacles include limited transaction throughput, latency issues, and unpredictable fee structures.

To address these challenges, Layer 2 Rollup solutions such as Arbitrum, Optimism, and Polygon zkEVM have emerged. Major upgrades, including The Merge (2022), Dencun (2024), and the upcoming Pectra (2025), have brought improvements in scalability. Nevertheless, the network still falls short of traditional financial infrastructure. For example, Visa processes over 65,000 transactions per second, a level Ethereum has yet to reach. For institutions requiring high-frequency trading or real-time settlement, these performance gaps remain a key constraint.

Latency also poses challenges. Blocks are generated on average every 12 seconds, and with additional confirmations needed for secure settlement, finality can take up to three minutes. During network congestion, this latency can increase further—causing difficulties for time-sensitive financial operations.

Moreover, the volatility of gas fees remains a concern. During peak times, transaction fees have exceeded $50, and even under normal circumstances, costs often rise above $20. This level of fee uncertainty complicates business planning and may undermine the competitiveness of Ethereum-based services.

Securitize illustrates this dynamic well. After encountering Ethereum's limitations, the company expanded to other platforms such as Solana and Polygon, while also developing its own chain, Convergence. Although Ethereum played a crucial role in facilitating early institutional experiments, it now faces increasing pressure to meet the demands of a more mature, performance-sensitive market.

3.1 The Rise of General-Purpose Blockchains with Fast, Efficient, and Low-Cost Transactions

As Ethereum's limitations become more apparent, institutions are increasingly exploring general-purpose blockchains that offer alternative advantages in key performance bottlenecks such as transaction speed, fee stability, and finality time to complement Ethereum.

Ethereum's Dominance in the RWA Market: Who Will Take the Baton Next?

Source: rwa.xyz, Tiger Research

However, despite ongoing collaboration with institutional participants, the actual number of tokenized assets (excluding stablecoins) on these platforms is still much lower compared to Ethereum. In many cases, tokenized assets launched on general-purpose chains are part of an Ethereum-dominated multi-chain deployment strategy.

Nevertheless, there are signs of substantial progress. In the private credit space, new tokenization initiatives are emerging. For example, on zkSync, the Tradable platform has gained attention, accounting for over 18% of activity in this space—second only to Ethereum.

At this stage, general-purpose blockchains are just beginning to establish a foothold. Platforms like Solana, whose DeFi ecosystems have experienced rapid growth, now face a strategic question: How to translate this momentum into a sustainable position in the RWA space. Superior technical performance alone is not enough. To compete with Ethereum, they need to provide infrastructure and services that meet institutional investors' trust and compliance expectations.

Ultimately, the success of these blockchains in the RWA market will depend less on raw throughput and more on their ability to deliver tangible value. Differentiated ecosystems built around each chain's unique strengths will determine their long-term positioning in this emerging field.

3.2 The Emergence of RWA-Specific Blockchains

An increasing number of blockchain platforms are moving away from general-purpose designs in favor of domain-specific specialization. This trend is also evident in the RWA space, with a new wave of specialized chains optimized for real-world asset tokenization emerging.

Ethereum's Dominance in the RWA Market: Who Will Take the Baton Next?

Source: Tiger Research

The rationale for RWA-specific blockchains is clear. The tokenization of real-world assets requires direct integration with existing financial regulations, making the use of general-purpose blockchain infrastructure insufficient in many cases. Specific technical requirements—especially around regulatory compliance—must be addressed from the ground up.

A key area is compliance processing. KYC and AML procedures are crucial for tokenization workflows, but these have traditionally been handled off-chain. This approach limits innovation as it merely wraps traditional financial assets in a blockchain format without redesigning the underlying compliance logic.

The shift now is to move these compliance functions entirely on-chain. There is growing demand for blockchain networks that can not only record ownership but also natively enforce regulatory requirements at the protocol level.

In response, some RWA-focused chains have begun to offer on-chain compliance modules. For example, MANTRA includes decentralized identity (DID) functionality to support compliance enforcement at the infrastructure layer. Other specialized chains are expected to follow a similar path.

In addition to compliance, many of these platforms leverage deep domain expertise to target specific asset classes. Maple Finance focuses on institutional lending and asset management, Centrifuge on trade finance, and Polymesh on regulated securities. These chains do not tokenize widely held assets such as sovereign bonds or stablecoins but use vertical specialization as a competitive strategy.

That said, many of these platforms are still in the early stages. Some have yet to launch their mainnets, and most remain limited in scale and adoption. If general-purpose chains are just beginning to gain attention in the RWA space, then specialized chains are still at the starting line.

4. Who Will Lead the Next Phase?

Ethereum's dominance in the RWA market is unlikely to continue in its current form. Today, the market for tokenized assets is less than 2% of its estimated potential, indicating that the industry is still in its early stages. So far, Ethereum's advantage has mainly stemmed from its early product-market fit (PMF). However, as the market matures and scales, the competitive landscape is expected to change significantly.

Signs of this shift are already evident. Institutions are no longer focusing solely on Ethereum. Both general-purpose and RWA-specific blockchains are being evaluated, and an increasing number of services are exploring custom chain deployments. Tokenized assets initially issued on Ethereum are now expanding into a multi-chain ecosystem, breaking the previous monopoly structure.

A key turning point will be the application of on-chain compliance. For blockchain-based finance to represent true innovation, regulatory processes such as KYC and AML must be conducted directly on-chain. If specialized chains successfully provide scalable, protocol-level compliance and drive widespread industry adoption, the current market landscape could be significantly disrupted.

Equally important is the presence of real purchasing power. Tokenized assets only become investible when there is active capital willing to acquire them. Regardless of the technology, without meaningful liquidity, the utility of tokenization is limited. Therefore, the next generation of RWA platforms must cultivate a robust service ecosystem built on tokenized assets and ensure strong liquidity participation from users.

In short, the conditions for success are becoming increasingly clear. The next leading RWA platform is likely to be the one that achieves the following three elements:

• A fully integrated on-chain compliance framework

• A service ecosystem built on tokenized assets

• Deep and sustainable liquidity to facilitate real investment

The RWA market is still in its infancy. Ethereum has validated the concept. The opportunity now lies with platforms that can offer superior solutions—those that meet institutional requirements while unlocking new value in the tokenized economy.

On the same day, Espresso announced a major milestone on its path to Mainnet 1.0: a collaboration with 22 node operators to upgrade the Decaf testnet into a permissionless proof-of-stake system. This upgrade, a critical step toward Mainnet 1.0 (expected to launch this year), will also introduce ESP (Espresso’s native token) via TGE (Token Generation Event).

Espresso Systems Overview

Espresso Systems is an infrastructure protocol focused on modular blockchains and shared sequencing. Its core innovation, the Global Finality Layer (GFL), provides BFT consensus-backed rapid and reliable finality for Layer 2 (L2) chains. The GFL aims to solve Rollup interoperability and decentralized sequencing challenges by preventing ambiguous sequencing, reorgs, and finality issues in intent-based systems.

According to the team, the GFL not only adds an extra layer of security but also enables faster and cheaper bridging. Its composability creates interdependencies between Rollups, allowing nodes to quickly read data and states from other chains.

Espresso’s Core Advantages

1. Enhanced Rollup Interoperability

   • Partnered with Catalyst (the first app dedicated to Espresso’s Sequencer ecosystem) to improve interoperability.

   • Enables atomic and shared liquidity across Rollups via the GFL.

2. MEV-Resistant Design

   • Espresso and SUAVE treat MEV as an ecosystem component, even offering tools to facilitate PBS (Proposer-Builder Separation)-based MEV.

3. Modular Architecture

   • Compatible with data availability layers like Ethereum and Celestia, supporting flexible scaling.

   • Its modular design allows easy addition, removal, or replacement of components, adapting to diverse use cases and demands.

The Espresso Team

Founded by a team deeply embedded in Web3 ecosystems, key members include:

• Ben Fisch (Co-Founder & CEO)

  • Former CTO/Advisor at Temujin Labs Inc.

  • Ph.D. candidate in Computer Science at Stanford University.

  • Teaching Assistant at Yale University.

• Charles Lu (Co-Founder)

  • Former Head of Labs at BN.

  • Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford.

• Benedikt Bünz (Co-Founder & Chief Scientist)

  • Ph.D. candidate in Dan Boneh’s Applied Cryptography Group at Stanford.

  • Graduate of Stanford and the University of Zurich.

Espresso’s Funding

• Total Raised: $60 million (led by Andreessen Horowitz (A16z)).

• Investors: A16z, Electric Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and others.

The Road Ahead for Espresso Systems

In the competitive public blockchain landscape, Espresso Systems faces rivals like Ethereum, as well as privacy-focused networks like Aleo, Nym, Secret Network, and Concordium. As a middleware provider of shared sequencing services, Espresso aims to unify Rollups and the Ethereum ecosystem through a shared sequencing marketplace and robust finality tools.

By addressing Rollup fragmentation today, Espresso lays the groundwork for cross-chain interoperability and a broader, more efficient ecosystem tomorrow.

Why Espresso Matters
Espresso Systems is redefining blockchain scalability and interoperability. Its Global Finality Layer and MEV-resistant design position it as a critical piece in the modular blockchain puzzle. With Mainnet 1.0 on the horizon and A16z’s backing, Espresso is poised to become a cornerstone of the next-generation Web3 infrastructure.

Stay tuned for the TGE and the launch of Espresso’s Mainnet 1.0—this could be the shot of caffeine the blockchain space needs. ☕✨

Contact: [Espresso Systems Official Website/Social Media]
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Always DYOR before investing.

TROLL's recent meteoric rise can be attributed to three key catalysts:

1. Community Creativity Incentive Program: Launched by the project team, this initiative has effectively galvanized user participation, fueling ecosystem engagement.

2. Listings on Major Exchanges: TROLL's debut on platforms like Bitget Onchain, Bitrue, and KuCoin has provided crucial liquidity support.

3. Overall Market Recovery: The recent uptick in the broader market environment has created a favorable landscape for the Meme sector.

TROLL Goes Live on Solana-Powered Platforms: TROLL is now available on Bitrue Spot, KuCoin, and Bitget Onchain on the Solana network!

[Image Placeholder]

TROLL Market Updates

• Current Price: US$0.02283 (▲57.32% in 24 hours)

• Market Cap: US$22.54 million (▲57.31% in 24 hours)

• 24-Hour Trading Volume: US$20.52 million

TROLL Project Overview
Inspired by the "trolling" culture prevalent on the internet, TROLL aims to blend entertainment with community engagement.

TROLL's Journey So Far
(Brief historical timeline or milestones can be inserted here if available.)

TROLL's Competitive Edge

1. Social Virality Advantage

• TROLL has crafted a highly recognizable brand identity, leveraging entertaining content and interactive incentives to foster a self-sustaining viral network across social platforms, continuously expanding its community reach.

2. Innovative Community Incentive Model

• Adopting a "hold-to-participate" economic framework, TROLL rewards users for holding tokens, creating content, and engaging with the community, fostering a virtuous cycle of value co-creation and sharing.

3. Smart Liquidity Management

• The system automatically allocates a portion of transaction fees to liquidity pools, dynamically adjusting to maintain market stability.

4. Cultural Value Co-Construction

• By hosting creative contests, community votes, and other activities, TROLL empowers participants to become co-builders of cultural value within the blockchain space.

TROLL's Vision for the Future
Looking ahead, TROLL aims to deepen its community culture by developing more lightweight DApp tools and creative interactive features, thereby enriching its practical use cases.

As TROLL expands its cross-social collaborations, it aspires to become a bridge connecting crypto culture with mainstream social platforms, injecting greater fun and participation into the digital realm.

BlackRock's CEO has explicitly stated that following the Bitcoin spot ETF, the next step will be the tokenization of stocks, bonds, and all financial assets. This strategic direction has been quickly validated by the market, with Boston Consulting Group predicting that by 2030, the market size of tokenized assets may exceed $16 trillion, accounting for 10% of the global GDP. This data not only highlights the potential of RWA but also reveals the inevitable trend of integration between traditional finance and blockchain.

RWA is not a new concept; its prototype can be traced back to early stablecoins (such as USDT, USDC), which successfully mapped the credit of the US dollar onto the chain, becoming the cornerstone of the crypto economy. Today, the scope of RWA has significantly expanded to include a diverse range of asset categories such as government bonds, private credit, real estate, and commodities. The influx of institutional investors has further accelerated this process—BlackRock's BUIDL fund, Franklin Templeton's US Treasury tokenization product, and MakerDAO's $2.4 billion RWA collateral strategy have all become industry benchmark cases.

However, the explosion of RWA is not accidental. Against the backdrop of declining DeFi yields and the traditional financial market's search for efficiency breakthroughs, RWA offers a win-win solution: on the one hand, it endows illiquid assets (such as private equity and real estate) with greater trading flexibility; on the other hand, it automates compliance processes through smart contracts, reducing financial friction costs. Meanwhile, the gradual improvement of the global regulatory framework (such as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's "Ensemble Sandbox") has cleared the way for institutional entry.

Nevertheless, RWA still faces triple challenges of technology, regulation, and market acceptance. Issues such as smart contract vulnerabilities, the trust mechanism of asset on-chain and off-chain mapping, and cross-border compliance differences still need to be tackled collectively by the industry. But it can be foreseen that with the maturation of infrastructure and the continuous addition of institutional capital, RWA will become a key force in reshaping the global financial system, and its impact may far exceed current imagination.

For consultation, add: Real-World-Assets

Why Institutions Are Betting on RWA: Core Driving Forces Analysis

Against the backdrop of slowing growth in traditional financial markets and declining DeFi yields, Real World Assets (RWA) are becoming the new favorite of institutional funds. The core logic of institutional RWA deployment can be summarized into four main driving forces: enhanced liquidity, cost reduction and efficiency improvement, yield demand, and regulatory compliance progress.

Firstly, enhanced liquidity is the most direct attraction of RWA. In traditional finance, assets such as real estate and private equity have extremely low liquidity and long transaction cycles. However, after tokenization, these assets can be traded 24/7 on the chain, significantly shortening settlement times. For example, the US Treasury tokenization product OUSG allows investors to redeem at any time, with liquidity close to that of stablecoins.

Secondly, cost reduction and efficiency improvement drive institutions to embrace blockchain. Traditional financial transactions rely on multiple layers of intermediaries, with high clearing and custody costs. RWA automates processes through smart contracts, reducing human intervention. For instance, in the bond market, traditional settlement requires T+2, while on-chain tokenization can achieve nearly instant settlement, reducing friction costs.

Thirdly, the demand for stable yields accelerates the adoption of RWA. As DeFi yields have fallen to 2%-4%, institutional funds are turning to the stable returns of over 5% offered by RWA. BlackRock's BUIDL fund has an annualized yield of 5%, and MakerDAO's RWA strategy even provides an 8% DAI deposit rate, becoming a new anchor for DeFi funds.

Lastly, regulatory compliance breakthroughs pave the way for RWA. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched the "Ensemble Sandbox," the US SEC has approved security tokenization pilots, and several European countries have opened tokenized stock trading. These measures have lowered the threshold for institutional entry, transforming RWA from an experimental concept into a compliant financial instrument.

Overall, RWA is not a short-term hype but a strategic choice for institutions in terms of liquidity, efficiency, yield, and compliance needs. As infrastructure improves, its penetration rate will continue to rise, reshaping the global asset allocation landscape.

Institutional RWA Practice Cases: Integration Exploration of Traditional Finance and DeFi

Institutional deployment of RWA has shifted from proof of concept to scaled implementation, covering a diverse range of asset classes such as bonds, real estate, and private credit. Here are three typical models:

1. Traditional Asset Management Giants: On-chain US Treasuries and Compliant Funds

   • BlackRock BUIDL Fund: With a management scale exceeding $500 million, it invests in US Treasuries and repurchase agreements, issues tokenized securities through Securitize, and collaborates with Circle to achieve instant USDC redemption, with an annualized yield stable at over 5%. Its core advantage lies in its compliant structure—only KYC/AML whitelisted users can participate, meeting the SEC's regulatory requirements for security tokens.

   • Franklin Templeton FBOXX: It has launched a tokenized US Treasury fund, allowing investors to trade 24/7 via blockchain, shortening the traditional T+2 settlement cycle and reducing custody costs.

2. DeFi Protocols: MakerDAO's Collateral Strategy

   • MakerDAO supports the issuance of the stablecoin DAI with RWA collateral (such as US Treasuries and corporate bonds), with a scale reaching $2.4 billion. Its "DAI Savings Rate" mechanism offers deposit users an annualized yield of 8%, far exceeding traditional bank interest rates. This model bridges DeFi and TradFi yields by linking off-chain asset revenues to the chain through trust institutions (such as Monetalis).

3. Physical Asset Tokenization: New Energy and Carbon Finance

   • Langxin Technology Charging Pile RWA: It tokenized the revenue rights of 9,000 charging piles, raising 100 million yuan through Ant Blockchain, solving financing difficulties for small and medium-sized operators. Its innovation lies in the "two chains and one bridge" architecture, linking mainland asset chains with Hong Kong capital chains to achieve cross-border compliant circulation.

   • GCL Energy Photovoltaic RWA: It tokenized the revenue rights of a 200 million yuan photovoltaic power station, allowing investors to share power generation revenues while enhancing return potential through carbon asset appreciation.

These cases show that RWA is becoming the "new infrastructure" for institutional asset allocation, but its success depends on two key elements: technical reliability (such as oracle data validation) and regulatory compatibility (such as SPV risk isolation).

Core Challenges of RWA and Institutional Coping Strategies

Despite its huge potential, RWA still faces triple challenges of technology, regulation, and market acceptance during institutional deployment, requiring systematic solutions.

1. Technical Risks: The Trust Issue Between On-chain and Off-chain

   • Asset Mapping Authenticity: How to ensure the 1:1 pegging of off-chain assets (such as real estate and bonds) with on-chain tokens? Some projects adopt multi-signature custody + regular auditing (such as MakerDAO's RWA assets held by trust institutions), but decentralized validation still relies on oracles, with risks of data tampering.

   • Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: In 2023, a real estate tokenization project on the Polygon chain suffered a contract vulnerability that froze $2 million in assets, highlighting the necessity of code security. Institutions generally choose mature public chains audited by CertiK (such as Ethereum) or compliant sidechains (such as Polygon Supernets).

2. Regulatory Uncertainty: The Global Compliance Puzzle

   • Security Attribute Definition: The US SEC views most RWA tokens as securities (such as BUIDL needing to comply with Reg D exemption), while Switzerland and Singapore allow more flexible structures. Institutions adopt a "regulatory arbitrage" strategy—BlackRock issued BUIDL through a Bermuda SPV to avoid direct SEC regulation.

   • Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Implementation: Tokenized funds require on-chain KYC, but the participation of anonymous wallets may pose compliance risks. Solutions include "whitelist + permissioned chain" (such as FBOXX only allowing Verified Credential users to trade).

3. Market Education: From Skepticism to Acceptance

   • Traditional investors still have doubts about on-chain assets; for example, the gold token PAXG only accounts for 1% of the physical gold ETF scale. Institutions enhance trust through "hybrid custody"—for instance, Franklin Templeton deposits the underlying US Treasuries of FBOXX into Bank of New York Mellon while providing on-chain trading access.

Summary of Coping Strategies: Technically, adopt "gradual decentralization"; in terms of regulation, embrace the "first-mover advantage in compliance"; and in the market, establish long-term credibility through transparent disclosure (such as Chainlink's proof of reserves). These measures will determine whether RWA can move from experimentation to the mainstream.

Future Trends: How Will RWA Reshape the Financial System?

With the continuous improvement of infrastructure, RWA is evolving from experimental projects to mainstream financial instruments, with three clear development paths:

Deep Integration of Traditional Finance and DeFi

Large financial institutions are bringing more traditional assets onto the chain. Goldman Sachs predicts that within the next three years, 5-10% of global investment-grade bonds will be tokenized. Banks like JPMorgan Chase have already begun testing private blockchain-based cross-border payment and bond issuance systems, which will eventually migrate to public chains. This "institution-DeFi" hybrid model may become the new normal.

Continuous Expansion of Asset Categories

In addition to bonds and real estate, RWA is penetrating into a wider range of asset fields. Alternative assets such as carbon credits, intellectual property, and royalties, which are naturally divisible, are particularly suitable for tokenization. The ClimateFi project supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore has successfully tokenized 2 million tons of carbon credits, setting a new benchmark for the industry.

Professional Evolution of Infrastructure

Blockchain infrastructure specifically designed for RWA is emerging. Compliance public chains like Polymesh have built-in identity verification, dividend distribution, and regulatory reporting functions, significantly reducing compliance costs. Meanwhile, the application of zero-knowledge proof technology allows institutions to provide necessary audit information to regulators while protecting trade secrets.

These trends point to a future where the issuance, trading, and management of financial assets will be completely restructured. However, this transition will not be a revolutionary sudden change but will have a gradual development characteristic. Institutional investors will prioritize tokenization in areas with clear regulation (such as government bonds and high-quality credit assets) and then expand to riskier asset classes as the market matures.

Conclusion

RWA is rewriting the rules of the global financial market. This innovation not only bridges the boundary between traditional assets and blockchain but also redefines the way value flows.

We have seen that from BlackRock's tokenized funds to MakerDAO's collateral strategies, RWA has completed the leap from proof of concept to practical application. Institutional investors are embracing this change with unprecedented enthusiasm because RWA perfectly solves the pain points of traditional finance: insufficient liquidity, low efficiency, and yield bottlenecks.

Although current challenges remain in terms of technological maturity and regulatory clarity, the development momentum of RWA is unstoppable. With the improvement of underlying infrastructure and the entry of more high-quality assets, RWA will gradually move from niche to mainstream.

In the future, we may witness a new financial era where all assets can flow freely on the chain. This is not a simple technological upgrade but a profound financial paradigm revolution. Institutions that have made early deployments are laying a solid foundation for winning the competitive advantage of the next decade. RWA is not only a current investment hotspot but also a key force in shaping the future financial landscape.

Trump's "trade war" remains the largest macro financial variable globally this week. His dramatic performance has left the world speechless, with China's countermeasures producing the strongest response.

In the "game of chicken," the first to blink is likely to lose. The trade war against the world has triggered visible or hidden counteraction forces globally, including but not limited to political, business, and capital levels.

Ultimately leading to capital fleeing the U.S. market, resulting in a rare triple kill of "stocks, bonds, and currency" in the U.S.

Faced with a huge financial crisis, the Trump administration chose to step back, either partially suspending the implementation of equal tariffs, or reducing the intensity and supplementing the exemption list of goods, and releasing goodwill towards the biggest opponent, China, on the public opinion front. Since then, the "trade war" has gradually entered phase two, with multiple parties beginning negotiations and compromises.

The risk equity market, which plummeted due to the first phase, has thus welcomed a significant rebound. Perhaps the most terrible phase triggered by the "trade war" has passed, but subsequent chaos will continue to dominate various markets. The crisis of the trade war will neither easily pass nor easily lead to new crises. Whether the "trade war" will escalate, whether the Federal Reserve will "timely" cut interest rates, and whether the U.S. economy will fall into recession have become the main points of observation.

Policies, Macro Finance, and Economic Data Because most countries are powerless to counter the "trade war,", China and the EU's countermeasures have become the main forces resisting U.S. hegemony, with China's sharp countermeasures being the central pillar.

After several rounds of confrontation, the U.S. tariffs on China have increased to 145%, and China's countermeasure tariffs on the U.S. have increased to 125%. This has essentially cut off the possibility of normal trade relations, hence China subsequently announced that it will no longer respond to any further tariff actions by the U.S.

On April 10th, the U.S. suspended most countries' (excluding China) equal tariffs, retaining a 10% "base tariff," and began negotiations. The U.S. stock market therefore surged, with the Nasdaq creating the second-largest single-day gain in history.

China's seemingly passive behavior actually exerts tremendous pressure on the U.S. On April 12th, the U.S. exempted some Chinese goods from the 145% "trade war" tariffs, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, semiconductors, integrated circuits, flash memory, and display modules.

What really pushed the Trump administration into the "second phase" was not only China's countermeasures but also strong "opposition" from the U.S. political and business sectors and the stock and bond markets.

On Monday, April 7th, the three major U.S. stock indexes fell sharply to record lows, entering or approaching a technical bear market. The next day, the VIX panic index hit a high of 52.33, the third peak since the 2008 subprime crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

As the "trade war" enters the second phase, global risk assets begin bottoming out. The S&P 500 VIX index.

At the same time, short-term Treasury yields fell to 3.8310% on Thursday, while long-term Treasury yields rebounded sharply on Friday, closing at a high of 4.4950%.

As the "trade war" enters the second phase, global risk assets begin bottoming out.

Yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond

After the large-scale sell-off in the U.S. stock market, U.S. Treasury funds also joined the selling action, coupled with funds fleeing the U.S. for Europe and other places, the U.S. Dollar Index DXY also fell sharply.

The "trade war" entering the second phase, global risk assets begin bottoming out.

U.S. Dollar Index

The "triple kill" of stocks, bonds, and currency forced the Trump administration to release signals of easing the tariff war and announce the exemption list. At the same time, the Federal Reserve also released "dovish" signals. Boston Fed Chairman柯林斯 (Eric S. Rosengren) said in an interview with the Financial Times on Friday that the Fed is "absolutely ready" to use various tools to stabilize the financial market when necessary.

The easing of tariffs and the Fed's verbal market rescue have temporarily eased U.S. financial markets. On Friday, the three major U.S. stock indexes also ended the turbulent week with gains.

EMC Labs believes that as the U.S. "trade war" enters the second phase, market fears have eased somewhat, and have gradually begun bottoming out, but given the "irrationality" of the Trump administration, as well as the huge risks of U.S. economic recession and inflation (this week's University of Michigan consumer confidence index continued to decline to 50.8), achieving a V-shaped reversal is a low-probability event.

Selling Pressure and Dumping This week, selling pressure on both short and long chains has weakened somewhat, slightly stopping the panic selling that has continued for three consecutive weeks. The total selling scale for the whole week was 1,888,161 coins, including 1,782,637 short positions and 10,553,341 long positions. On the 7th and 9th, short positions suffered significant losses amid global market panic.

The long positions are still playing a stabilizing role, with an increase of nearly 60,000 coins this week, showing that market liquidity is still quite scarce. By the weekend, the short positions were still at an overall 10% floating loss, indicating that the market is still under great pressure.

Is it just good luck for the miners? Is independent mining becoming more and more common? Compared with publicly traded miners, can ordinary people connect an amateur mining machine and achieve success with minimal resources?

The answers vary. The term "independent miner" is used to describe various types of miners, ranging from miners who do it as a personal hobby to groups that prefer to operate privately and discreetly. They are achieving success with increasing frequency, but not significantly so—and the total number is unlikely to soar dramatically.

Scott Norris, CEO of independent Bitcoin miner Optiminer, said that mining without the support of large mining pools "is still like buying a lottery ticket."

In 2022, independent miners using Solo CKPool (a service that allows anonymous miners to mine without running their own full Bitcoin nodes) processed 7 blocks. In 2023, this number jumped to 12 blocks. In 2024, the number reached 16 blocks.

However, just because a block is mined using Solo CKPool doesn't necessarily mean that someone is mining Bitcoin alone in their bedroom with an extremely low hash rate. Some in the cryptocurrency community have made this claim, but it is incorrect.

The mining pool industry is dominated by a few large companies—such as Foundry, AntPool, and F2Pool. Miners connect to the mining pool, share resources, and distribute rewards. When using a service like Solo CKPool, miners receive a reward once they find a block and keep almost all of the rewards.

As the Bitcoin network has developed, mining requires more electricity and resources, and mining is usually a business operated by listed companies. Some Bitcoin enthusiasts believe this is not good for Bitcoin because the Bitcoin network should be as decentralized as possible.

Amateur mining devices like Bitaxe and FutureBit Apollo, which cost between $200 and $500, have now become the favorite devices of "Bitcoin extremists." In January this year, a FutureBit Apollo processed a block, but this was thanks to a non-profit organization donating the hash rate from other machines to this one.

At that time, the anonymous Bitcoin miner Econoalchemist said on the X platform that their idea was to "disintegrate the proprietary mining empire and make Bitcoin and free technology accessible to everyone."

Although the likelihood of this vision being realized is small, in recent months, the rise of amateur miners may be driving a noticeable increase in the success rate of individual mining.

Econoalchemist said: "Every once in a while, and increasingly frequently, a Bitaxe or a similar small mining device independently processes a block and runs quietly in someone's home."

Scott Norris of Optimer pointed out that companies can process blocks by having a large amount of hash rate instead of going through large mining pools.

Even Solo Satoshi, which is based in Houston, Texas and sells mining devices such as Bitaxe Gamma, states on its website that using a Bitaxe machine worth $180 with a hash rate of 1.2 TH/s, the probability of mining a block every day is 0.00068390%.

But Matt Howard, the founder of Solo Satoshi, said that investing in independent mining is not necessarily for making money. "The main goal is to further decentralize. Finding a block and receiving a Bitcoin reward is an added bonus. For Bitcoin extremists, they understand that mining needs to be decentralized.

CZ's Fireside Chat: The HODL Strategy Challenged, Survival Rules in a Volatile Market

On the evening of April 6, CZ made a surprise appearance at the BNB Chain Super Meetup in Hong Kong, engaging in a candid fireside chat with community representative "Master Brother from Australia." Confronting the current industry landscape—marked by meme coin mania, ideological divides, and market volatility—CZ bluntly stated, "Chasing meme coins shouldn’t be the only thing in crypto."

"IF You can’t hold, You won’t be rich." This iconic mantra from Binance founder CZ once influenced countless investors. Yet, in this new cycle, the HODL strategy appears to be under scrutiny. During this deep-dive conversation with the Hong Kong community, CZ publicly dissected BNB Chain’s growth challenges, the community debates around meme coins, and his hopes for a "healthy ecosystem." He stressed the need to "balance fast money and slow money," offering investors a survival guide that navigates both risk and opportunity.

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Master Brother from Australia: I’ve known CZ online for years, but this is my first time meeting him in person—a true "online friends turned real-life" moment. I go by Master Brother from Australia, and I entered the industry after moving to Australia in 2016. One of the best decisions I’ve made in crypto was joining Binance early on, participating in its ICO, and holding its tokens ever since. So, it’s an honor to represent the community in this interview today.

I’ve collected many questions from the community, though I haven’t had time to organize them all… Given our limited time, I’ll try to pick some of the more provocative ones.

Master Brother from Australia: First off, many people feel this cycle is very different. Whether it’s the gradual decline of VC-backed coins, the rise of meme coins, or even Donald Trump’s endorsement of crypto, there seems to be a crisis of faith. So, CZ, how do you view the current market?

CZ: Let me ask first—how many of you are here chasing meme coins? (*Many raise their hands*). Well, I might upset some of you with what I’m about to say: Chasing meme coins is fine, but it shouldn’t be the only thing in crypto. The current meme coin frenzy isn’t healthy for the industry.

The industry needs both people chasing quick gains and long-term builders. But right now, all the attention is on meme coins, leaving those builders in the shadows. Even meme coin traders are frustrated because not every coin delivers 10x or 100x returns overnight. Exchanges don’t know which coins to list, and the community feels unbalanced. We need a breakthrough.

Master Brother from Australia: Have you found a solution yet?

CZ: It’s a process, not an overnight fix. For us, the long-term focus is on supporting builders. Real growth comes from real users, real revenue, and real profits—where everyone benefits, and token prices stabilize sustainably. There should be room for both fast and slow money, but right now, slow-money builders aren’t getting enough support. That’s why we launched MVB and are investing in projects. I’ve also been personally engaging with builders.

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Master Brother from Australia: I consider myself a "HODLer." Many of us took your early advice to heart—especially your quote, "IF You can’t hold, You won’t be rich." My friends and I treated it as gospel, and it paid off in past cycles. But this cycle, we’ve been punished. Do you still believe in HODLing?

CZ: It depends on the token’s fundamentals. You can’t just HODL every one of the millions of coins out there—most will eventually go to zero. But for projects with solid fundamentals and real utility, holding long-term makes sense.

Master Brother from Australia: So besides Bitcoin, are there other projects that could outperform it?

CZ: Quite a few have already outperformed Bitcoin. Ethereum, for instance, has beaten Bitcoin since its inception (though holders might not be happy right now). BNB has also outperformed both Bitcoin and Ethereum since their respective launches (*CZ clarifies he’s comparing post-launch performance, not against Bitcoin’s original price*). That said, Bitcoin is now a reserve asset—it will appreciate long-term. Still, dozens, maybe even hundreds, of coins could outperform it.

Master Brother from Australia: That’s more than I expected—I thought maybe just a handful?

CZ: Bitcoin’s market cap is so large that another 100x surge is unlikely. But fundamentally strong projects can outperform it temporarily. The key is having the insight to spot them and the patience to hold.

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Master Brother from Australia: What’s your outlook for BNB? Some articles predict it could surpass $3,000.

CZ: That was probably Hash Global—they’ve been long-term supporters, predicting $40 when BNB was at $6, $140 at $40, and now $1,000. Their research might be deeper than ours. Ultimately, the market decides BNB’s value. Our focus is expanding its utility—whether on centralized exchanges, DEXs, or other chains. More use cases mean higher value. We’re pushing adoption globally, both online and offline.

We’re also investing in DeFi, NFTs, and GameFi to grow BNB Chain’s ecosystem. Some countries have even approached us about adopting BNB as a recognized digital currency.

This model is viable, and progress is steady. There’s no secret—just execution and expanding utility.

Master Brother from Australia: Where do you see BNB’s price heading?

CZ: I can’t predict numbers, nor can I control them. Our job is to keep building so more people want to hold BNB.

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Master Brother from Australia: Speaking of BNB holders, there’s a saying that "BNB whales are retirees"—they get hefty rewards from new listings, then dump, leaving retail investors holding the bag. Isn’t that problematic?

CZ: More BNB holders are better—even "retirees." BNB’s supply is limited, so broader holding strengthens the ecosystem. Some say holders aren’t contributing, but holding is contributing. BNB’s price resilience owes much to them, so we’re grateful.

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Master Brother from Australia: Let’s talk BNB Chain. It’s worked hard to create an "artificial bull run." Has it met your expectations?

CZ: Frankly, it’s fallen short. As Binance’s former CEO, I devoted more time to it. But BNB Chain was designed to grow organically through the community. Over the past year, my focus shifted to U.S. compliance, leaving BNB Chain underattended. That’s why it missed the meme coin wave.

Recently, BNB Chain has rebounded slightly, but there’s much more to do. Whatever the next trend is—AI, DeSci, etc.—BNB Chain won’t miss out again.

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Master Brother from Australia: You’ve recently dabbled in meme coins. What’s your take on trends like PVP?

CZ: My meme coin experiment was a fail—it caused issues. Posting dog photos seemed fun, but it triggered a flood of copycat meme coins and PVP (player-vs-player) chaos. The community wanted me to pick winners, but that’s not my role. Meme coins thrive on hype but lack sustainability. We’ll support what the community embraces, provided it’s legal and valuable.

Will meme coins stay hot? I’m unsure. Solana’s had billion-dollar meme coins—BNB Chain hasn’t yet. But replicating that now seems tough. My focus is on being a builder, not a trader.

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Master Brother from Australia: You’re active on Twitter. Do you take community feedback to heart?

CZ: I browse often, but it depends on my schedule. Criticism doesn’t bother me—I look for constructive points. Misinformation gets corrected, but feedback helps us improve.

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Master Brother from Australia: Final question: Is now a good time for newcomers? How should they manage risk?

CZ: It’s never too late, but approach wisely. Research projects—don’t expect overnight riches. Start small, diversify, and use dollar-cost averaging (DCA). Stick to mainstream coins, avoid all-in bets, and embrace volatility. The industry is young; long-term potential is solid, but short-term swings are wild.

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Master Brother from Australia: What are you reading now?

CZ: The Nvidia Way—a great book on entrepreneurship.

Master Brother from Australia: Any closing words for the community?

CZ: Focus on fundamentals and long-term building. Speculate if you must, but assess risks. Crypto is volatile—stay rational. We’ll keep investing in the ecosystem to support you.

Master Brother from Australia: Thanks, CZ! That’s a wrap.

Cryptocurrency Price Action Update

Bitcoin (BTC): Today's price is US$84,984.79, with a 24 - hour trading volume of US$29,584,715,510. The price has risen by 2.92% in the past 24 hours and dropped by - 3.04% over the past 7 days. The circulating supply is 19.85 million BTC, and Bitcoin's market cap is US$1,686,539,069,551.

Ethereum (ETH): Today's price is US$1,887.26, with a 24 - hour trading volume of US$14,480,166,255. The price has risen by 3.40% in the past 24 hours and dropped by - 8.84% over the past 7 days. The circulating supply is 120.66 million ETH, and Ethereum's market cap is US$227,689,787,759.

Ripple (XRP): Today's price is US$2.11, with a 24 - hour trading volume of US$3,598,730,684. The price has risen by 1.61% in the past 24 hours and dropped by - 14.03% over the past 7 days. The circulating supply is 58.21 billion XRP, and Ripple's market cap is US$122,816,163,715.

On April 2, 2025, the cryptocurrency market is filled with many concerns and panic. Even though Musk Coin surged by 500% within 24 hours, the uncertainty of Trump's tariff policy has also affected market sentiment, as his previous tariff - related comments had caused turmoil in the cryptocurrency market.

Trump is scheduled to announce tariffs on global trade partners at an event in the White House Rose Garden at 4 p.m. local time on April 2 (4 a.m. Beijing time on April 3).

Market Panic Leads to Selling: Tariff policies can escalate global trade tensions and exacerbate worries. In such a panic - stricken environment, there is often a reduction in the allocation of risky assets. As a high - risk asset, cryptocurrencies are frequently sold off in large quantities. For example, in February 2025, when Trump stated that he would impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico as scheduled, the cryptocurrency market plummeted sharply. Bitcoin once fell below $91,000, with a drop of over 5% within 24 hours. Ethereum, Solana, Dogecoin, Cardano, and others all fell by more than 10%.

Strong Dollar, Weak Crypto: Historically, the price movements of Bitcoin and many other crypto - assets have often moved in the opposite direction of the US dollar. If tariffs cause the dollar to strengthen in the short term (which sometimes happens), the prices of crypto - assets tend to fall.

Reduced Global Capital Flows: Trade restrictions can lead to a decrease in global economic activity and capital flows. When there is less money in the entire financial system, the demand for speculative investments like crypto - assets may also decline.

Why Are Altcoins Still Hitting New Lows?

Today, while browsing Twitter, I came across an interesting and widely - discussed question: The market was already tough during the pandemic, but the declines then were not as severe as they are now. Why are so many altcoins still hitting new lows?

Many people are curious about this, especially those who bought altcoins at the bottom after the crash in September last year. They are likely to have lost 30% - 70% of their investments. Everyone is wondering: If the market fully enters a bear phase next, will these altcoins experience another 90% plunge as they did after the last bull run?

Looking back at the pandemic, the US economy did experience a recession. However, it was the shortest - lived recession in US history, lasting only two months. The unemployment rate once soared to 14.7%, and in response to the crisis, the Federal Reserve launched a large - scale money - printing mode and promised to maintain zero interest rates until 2023. But by 2022, the Fed began to raise interest rates, and the market quickly entered a bear phase. In comparison, although the market seemed tough during the pandemic, the actual trading difficulty was not that high. However, now, even though the economy has not yet entered a recession, the trading difficulty has soared. If the economy or trading does enter a recession, the difficulty will likely increase further.

Even if the market rebounds in the next 2 - 4 months, I believe the performance of most altcoins will still be bleak. This requires identifying which altcoins have more potential for a rebound, which is why I have always advised everyone to switch positions in a timely manner. Currently, I have been gradually switching my holdings of altcoins. Considering that everyone's investment philosophy is different, I won't disclose the specific targets for switching. I mainly choose altcoins that have fallen significantly and have a chance of rebounding, as well as some mainstream altcoins with higher market caps. If you are unsure whether to switch the altcoins in your hand, feel free to contact me privately.

Take the sudden plunge of ACT, for example. It looks like it's about to go to zero, which is clearly a sign of the whales running away. For those altcoins with poor fundamentals, if you are unwilling to switch positions, be sure to set a stop - loss. At present, among the secondary altcoins with poor fundamentals, there is always a risk of a sharp plunge, which should not be underestimated.

In the current context of the deep integration of technology and finance, the Web3 and AI fields have become the focus of global attention, with countless innovative projects emerging like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, all trying to make a mark on this new track full of opportunities and challenges. Among them, SLING (the little overlord of the Web3 + AI sector) is undoubtedly a shining new star. It has successfully raised $19 million in funding and, with a profit of up to 930% at the peak price of $0.07452 during its debut launch last night, it has shaken the entire industry with a thunderous force, embarking on a journey full of imagination.

The emergence of SLING is not accidental. Web3, as a new stage in the development of the Internet, aims to achieve decentralized storage and management of data through blockchain technology, allowing users to truly take control of their own data and reshape the Internet ecosystem. Meanwhile, AI, with its powerful capabilities in data analysis, pattern recognition, and intelligent decision-making, is gradually permeating various industries, bringing unprecedented changes to traditional industries. SLING has cleverly combined these two elements to create a unique and innovative model, standing at the forefront of the times.

From a technical perspective, SLING has built a decentralized AI application platform. On this platform, developers can create various AI applications based on blockchain technology, leveraging the decentralized, tamper-proof, and traceable characteristics of blockchain to ensure data security and privacy. It also addresses the issue of data silos in AI model training, allowing data from different sources to be integrated and collaborated in a secure environment. Users can access AI services through the SLING platform in a fairer and more transparent manner, free from the monopoly of traditional Internet giants, truly realizing the democratization of AI technology.

The successful $19 million funding round of SLING has attracted the participation of many well-known investment institutions. These investors are not only impressed by SLING's technical strength but also by the huge market potential behind it. With the continuous popularization of Web3 and AI technologies, the related market size is experiencing explosive growth. According to market research institutions, the market size of the Web3 and AI integration field is expected to reach hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years, and SLING is poised to capture a significant share of this vast market.

The debut launch with a 930% profit has made SLING the focus of market attention. This achievement is due to SLING's precise market positioning and excellent operational strategies. In product design, SLING has fully considered user needs and pain points, offering a series of innovative and practical features that have attracted a large number of users. At the same time, SLING has actively collaborated with major exchanges and partners, promoting through various channels to quickly enhance brand visibility and market influence.

However, SLING's success has also sparked some controversy and skepticism. On one hand, the Web3 and AI fields are still in their early stages of development, with significant uncertainties in both technology and market. Whether SLING can maintain its leading position remains to be tested by time. On the other hand, the volatility of the cryptocurrency market is considerable, and the high profit of SLING also hides certain risks. Investors need to remain cautious.

For the industry, the rise of SLING undoubtedly has significant demonstrative significance. It proves that the combination of Web3 and AI has huge potential and provides reference and inspiration for more innovative projects. At the same time, SLING's success will attract more capital and talent into the Web3 + AI field, accelerating industry development and innovation.

In the future, SLING is expected to continue to delve into the Web3 + AI field, continuously expanding its business boundaries and enhancing its technical capabilities. On one hand, SLING may further optimize platform functions, introduce more advanced AI algorithms and technologies, and provide users with smarter and more efficient services. On the other hand, SLING may also actively explore new application scenarios, such as decentralized finance (DeFi), digital identity verification, and supply chain management, to maximize the advantages of Web3 and AI technologies.

Conclusion:

The story of SLING has only just begun. Its successful funding and impressive debut launch are just the starting point of its journey in the Web3 + AI field. In the days to come, how SLING will continue to create brilliance and what kind of changes it will bring to the entire industry remain to be seen. For investors and entrepreneurs, the rise of SLING also provides an important signal: In the wave of the Web3 and AI era, as long as you dare to innovate and explore bravely, you can create infinite possibilities.

Odin.fun, born in February 2025 and founded by the creator of Bitcoin's ordinal market Bioniq, is essentially a launch and trading platform for the Runes protocol. Recently, this project has sparked a wave of interest in a small community, bringing some much-needed heat to the dormant Bitcoin ecosystem. However, on March 7th, community members reported the disappearance of 74 BTC on the Odin.fun chain, potentially due to a hack. The project's co-founder quickly responded on X, explaining that an error in the hard deposit synchronization code caused some user balances to exceed their deposit amounts. As a result, the 74 BTC deposit transactions could not be found on-chain, but the funds of current users are safe.

When discussing the relationship between public chains and token launch platforms, one cannot help but think of examples like Solana and Pump.fun, or Base and Viturals. A popular token launch platform can bring significant traffic to its host public chain. For instance, during the peak of Viturals, the net inflow of funds on Base surpassed that of Solana.

This is one of the reasons why token launch platforms have become so popular. Unlike other token launch platforms on different public chains, Bitcoin-based platforms like Odin.fun do not operate directly on the Bitcoin chain. To enhance user experience and reduce transaction fees, they typically run on Bitcoin's Layer 2 networks. The challenge they face is that these projects struggle to share the security of the Bitcoin main chain. The recent hacker fiasco at Odin.fun is a manifestation of this issue.

A more critical question is whether token launch platforms on Layer 2, like Odin.fun, have the potential to attract sufficient funds and traffic to revive the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Odin.fun, launched in February 2025 by the founder of Bitcoin's ordinal market Bioniq, is essentially a launch and trading platform for the Runes protocol. According to official disclosures, within a month, Odin.fun's trading volume exceeded 1,000 BTC, with over 37,000 platform addresses. The leading rune ODINDOG•ID•YTTL•ODIN reached a peak market cap of $35 million.

The Runes protocol is not new; it emerged after the 2024 Bitcoin halving. Developer Casey initially introduced the Ordinals inscription protocol, which later led to the derivative BRC-20 token protocol. However, BRC-20 exposed issues such as low transfer efficiency and UTXO bloat. To address these problems, Casey proposed the Runes protocol.

Thanks to these two protocols, Bitcoin now offers more than just a store of value; it has become a platform for asset issuance. This has spurred explosive growth in Bitcoin's infrastructure and related developments in 2023 and 2024.

In the crypto industry, innovation in asset issuance has never ceased. Odin.fun represents a transformation in the issuance and trading of Runes protocol assets.

For a token launch platform, success hinges on the "casino" experience design—whether it can provide a good "gambling" experience.

In terms of user experience, Odin.fun enables the issuance of Runes assets in seconds and one-click trading of Runes assets launched on the platform. According to its official explanation, Odin.fun uses a Layer 2 solution called Valhalla, which allows transactions to be finalized in just 2 seconds.

In addition to speed, users can also enjoy account abstraction (no social login), no-Gas transactions, and transactions without repeated signature confirmations—extremely convenient features.

These conveniences are due to Odin.fun's ability to hide the underlying complexity of the blockchain. As a Layer 2 product under the Bitcoin main chain, Odin.fun's Layer 2 solution is called Valhalla.

Since it is built on Bitcoin's Layer 2, users need to create an account with their Bitcoin wallet and deposit Bitcoin into the account. The process of depositing Bitcoin is essentially cross-chaining Bitcoin to the Layer 2 built by the project.

The Layer 2 solution provides convenience to users, but the project has not disclosed the detailed technology behind it. The recent hacker fiasco has revealed some potential technical flaws or immaturity.

According to the co-founder, when users deposit funds into the platform, the funds are stored in a threshold signature setup, a decentralized 12/34 threshold signature setup that ensures the security of BTC. These funds are then sent to the ODIN•FUN smart contract. All user BTC is pegged 1:1 with BTC on the Odin.fun platform. The disappearance of the 74 BTC was due to a deposit synchronization error that prevented it from being displayed.

How is the security of the deposited Bitcoin ensured? The official explanation is through a multi-signature mechanism. However, multi-signature is not absolutely secure. For users, not being able to manage their own assets but instead entrusting them to the Odin platform essentially follows the logic of a centralized exchange.

Previously, X user @Real0xJason noted that the BTC held by users on Odin.Fun essentially exists as ckBTC on the ICP blockchain. The ultimate security guarantee comes from the ICP blockchain. There is no need for a cross-chain bridge between ICP and the Bitcoin mainnet. ICP's chain fusion encryption technology allows its smart contracts to interact directly with other networks, making it more secure than wrapped BTC generated by typical Bitcoin L2 cross-chain bridges.

On the platform, the token launch process is called Ascend, which is the token bonding process. Initially, tokens created on Odin trade along a bonding curve. On this curve, 80% of the token supply is sold at a price of 0.211 BTC. The token price on Odin uses sats (satoshis), with a starting price of 0.11 sats (a market cap of $3,000) and an Ascend completion at 4.76 sats (a market cap of $100,000).

Once Ascend is completed, a project enters the next phase, the AMM stage. According to the official website, after token bonding (Ascend) is completed, the remaining 20% of the token supply and 0.2 BTC are deposited into the AMM pool to support further trading. Subsequent token trading follows the AMM curve k = X * Y, no longer the previous bonding curve y = e^x.

For platform users, they can not only launch and trade tokens but also provide liquidity (LP) on top of this. The platform also employs a referral reward marketing model, with 25% of platform fees going to the referrer.

Currently, the state of the Bitcoin ecosystem is not optimistic. There is no project like the previous inscriptions that can ignite widespread participation. Because of this, the inflow of funds and traffic cannot spark a new round of enthusiasm for the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Pump.fun and Viturals both gained popularity due to the fervor of Meme trading on their platforms, which in turn increased the heat and development of Solana and Base's on-chain ecosystems. However, Odin.fun has not yet sparked a similar on-chain ecosystem boom. Moreover, its leading token's peak market cap was only around $35 million.

Odin.fun does not fit this logic. Similar MemePumps have appeared in the Bitcoin ecosystem before, such as Satspump.fun on Bitcoin's Layer 2 Fractal, Lnpump.fun on the Lightning Network, and Stx.city on Stacks. However, none of these Layer 2 or sidechain Meme Pump platforms have achieved the same level of popularity as Pump.fun.

After all, it is difficult for a follower to surpass a successful predecessor. A more significant reason is that these Layer 2 or sidechain Meme Pump platforms lack the legitimacy of the Bitcoin main chain. This time, Odin.fun was able to generate some buzz because it capitalized on Runes, a new asset issuance method closely related to the Bitcoin mainnet. Additionally, during a cold market, there are fewer hotspots to stir up speculation.

However, Odin.fun's influence is limited to this extent. For the Bitcoin ecosystem, it is not an innovative and highly speculative project like inscriptions. It merely combines the previously popular narratives of Runes and Meme pumps. Currently, both of these narratives are old. Therefore, the project itself can only generate limited enthusiasm. For the Bitcoin ecosystem, such a project with a weak narrative cannot lead the revival of Bitcoin.

For investors, it is possible to participate with small amounts of capital. To choose a potentially high-growth token, one should look at the community and the whales. Essentially, this is more of a gamble, similar to the Meme trading playbook.